1.
County Wexford
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County Wexford is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region and it is named after the town of Wexford and was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella, whose capital was Ferns. Wexford County Council is the authority for the county. The population of the county is 145,273 according to the 2011 census, the county is rich in evidence of early human habitation. Portal tombs exist at Ballybrittas and at Newbawn — and date from the Neolithic period or earlier, remains from the Bronze Age period are far more widespread. Early Irish tribes formed the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnsealaig, an area that was larger than the current County Wexford. County Wexford was one of the earliest areas of Ireland to be Christianised, later, from 819 onwards, the Vikings plundered many Christian sites in the county. Wexford town became a Viking settlement near the end of the 9th century, the native Irish began to regain some of their former territories in the 14th century, especially in the north of the county, principally under Art MacMurrough Kavanagh. Under Henry VIII the great houses were dissolved, 1536–41, in County Wexford this included Glascarrig Priory, Clonmines Priory, Tintern Abbey. On 23 October 1641, a rebellion broke out in Ireland. Oliver Cromwell and his English Parliamentarian Army arrived 1649 in the county, the lands of the Irish and Anglo-Normans were confiscated and given to Cromwells soldiers as payment for their service in the Parliamentarian Army. At Duncannon, in the south-west of the county, James II, after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, embarked for Kinsale, the famous ballad Boolavogue was written in remembrance of the Wexford Rising. At Easter 1916, a rebellion occurred at Enniscorthy town. During World War II, German planes bombed Campile, in 1963 John F. Kennedy, then President of the United States, visited the county and his ancestral home at Dunganstown, near New Ross. Wexford is the 13th largest of Irelands thirty-two counties in area and it is the largest of Leinsters 12 counties in size, and fourth largest in terms of population. The county is located in the south-east corner of the island of Ireland and it is bounded by the sea on two sides—on the south by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by St. Georges Channel and the Irish Sea. The River Barrow forms its western boundary, the Blackstairs Mountains form part of the boundary to the north, as do the southern edges of the Wicklow Mountains. The adjoining counties are Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Wicklow and this has resulted in Wexford becoming one of the most popular places in Ireland in which to reside
2.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
3.
Malibu, California
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Malibu is a beach city in Los Angeles County, California, situated 30 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles. Known for its Mediterranean climate, a 21-mile strip of the Malibu coast incorporated in 1991 into the City of Malibu, the area is known for being the home of Hollywood movie stars, people in the entertainment industry, and other affluent residents. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,645, signs around the city proclaim 27 miles of scenic beauty, referring to the historical 27-mile Malibu coast spanning from Tuna Canyon west to Point Mugu in Ventura County. Most Malibu residents live within a few hundred yards of Pacific Coast Highway, for many residents of the unincorporated canyon areas, Malibu has the closest commercial centers and are included in the Malibu zip codes. The city is bounded by Topanga to the east, the Santa Monica Mountains to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south. Nicknamed the Bu by surfers and locals, beaches along the Malibu coast include Surfrider Beach, Zuma Beach, Malibu Beach, Topanga Beach, Point Dume Beach, County Line and they named it Humaliwo or the surf sounds loudly. The citys name derives from this, as the Hu syllable is not stressed, explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo is believed to have moored at Malibu Lagoon, at the mouth of Malibu Creek, to obtain fresh water in 1542. The Spanish presence returned with the California mission system, and the area was part of Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit—a 13 and that ranch passed intact to Frederick Hastings Rindge in 1891. Few roads even entered the area before 1929, when the state won another court case, by then May Rindge was forced to subdivide her property and begin selling and leasing lots. In 1926, in an effort to selling land to stave off insolvency. At its height, Malibu Potteries employed over 100 workers, and produced decorative tiles which furnish many Los Angeles-area public buildings, the factory, located one-half mile east of the pier, was ravaged by a fire in 1931. Although the factory reopened in 1932, it could not recover from the effects of the Great Depression. A distinct hybrid of Moorish and Arts and crafts designs, Malibu tile is considered highly collectible. Fine examples of the tiles may be seen at the Adamson House and Serra Retreat, the unfinished building was sold to the Franciscan Order in 1942 and is operated as a retreat facility, Serra Retreat. It burned in the 1970 fire and was using many of the original tiles. Most of the Big Rock Drive area was purchased in 1936 by William Randolph Hearst and he sold the lower half of his holdings there in 1944 to Art Jones. Jones was one of the prominent early realtors in Malibu, starting with the leases of Rindge land in Malibu Colony. He was also the owner/part-owner of the Malibu Inn, Malibu Trading Post, mcAnany Way is named after him
4.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
5.
University College Dublin
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University College Dublin is a research university in Dublin, Ireland. It has over 1,482 faculty and 32,000 students, the university originates in a body founded in 1854 with John Henry Newman as the first rector known as the Catholic University of Ireland, re-formed in 1880 and chartered in its own right in 1908. Originally located in locations across Dublin city, all of the faculties have since been relocated to a 133-hectare campus at Belfield. University College Dublin is frequently ranked among the top universities in Europe, there are five Nobel Laureates amongst University College Dublins alumni and current and former staff. The 2016 QS World University Rankings ranks UCD #176 worldwide, and puts it in the 151-200 bracket, a report published in May 2015 showed that the total economic output generated by UCD and its students in Ireland amounted to €1.3 billion annually. In the 19th century, the question of education in Ireland was a contentious one. It had divided Daniel OConnell and the Young Ireland Movement for many years, the Catholic Hierarchy wanted to counteract the Godless Colleges established in Galway, Belfast and Cork and to provide a Catholic alternative to Trinity College, Dublin. In 1850 at the Synod of Thurles it was decided to open a Catholic University, as a result of these efforts a new Catholic University of Ireland was opened in 1854 and John Henry Newman was appointed as its first rector. Newman had been a figure in the Oxford Movement in the 19th Century. The Catholic University opened its doors on the feast of St Malachy,3 November 1854, to prepare students for entry to the new University, the Catholic University School was established as a feeder school under the guidance of Bartholomew Woodlock and Cardinal Newman. Among the first students enrolled were the grandson of Daniel O’Connell, OShea clashed with Newman and left to go to Trinity, however, after one year. Of the eight students in Newmans own home, two were Irish, two English, two Scottish and two French. Among them were a French viscount, and Irish baronet Sir Reginald Barnewall, the son of a French countess, the grandson of a Scottish marquis, later were added to his care two Belgian princes and a Polish count. Many were attracted to the University on the basis of the reputation of Newman, as a private university, the Catholic University was never given a royal charter, and so was unable to award recognized degrees and suffered from chronic financial difficulties. Newman left the university in 1857, after which the school went into a serious decline, Bartholomew Woodlock was appointed Rector and served until he became Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise in 1879. In this period he attempted to secure a site of 34 acres at Clonliffe West and he then turned his attention to expanding along St Stephens Green and over these years bought from No.82 to 87. The decline was halted in 1880 with the establishment of the Royal University of Ireland, the Royal Universities charter entitled all Irish students to sit the Universities examinations and receive its degrees. In order to avail of the benefits of the Royal University of Ireland arrangement, the college rapidly attracted many of the best students and academics in Ireland including Fr
6.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
7.
Fail Safe (1964 film)
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Fail Safe is a 1964 Cold War thriller film directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. It portrays a fictional account of a nuclear crisis, the film features performances by actors Henry Fonda, Dan OHerlihy, Walter Matthau and Frank Overton. Larry Hagman, Fritz Weaver, Dom DeLuise and Sorrell Booke appeared in film roles. Fail Safe describes how Cold War tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States lead to an accidental thermonuclear first strike after an error sends a group of US bombers to bomb Moscow. In 2000, the novel was adapted again as a play, starring George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss and Noah Wyle. Defense protocols dictate that SAC must keep several bomber groups airborne 24 hours a day in the event of an attack on the United States. Following the alert, bombers are ordered to proceed to predetermined aerial fail-safe points to await the final go-ahead before proceeding towards Soviet targets, shortly after they reach those points, the alert is canceled. The intruder is identified as a civilian airliner. However, an error results in a go code being sent to one bomber group, ordering them to attack their predetermined target. SAC headquarters begins trying to rescind the order and it fails because a new Soviet countermeasure has begun radio jamming communications between the bomber group and SAC. With his orders apparently confirmed, Colonel Jack Grady, the US bomber groups commander, with pressure mounting, the President of the United States and his advisers attempt to recall the group or shoot them down. Communications are initiated with the Soviet Chairman in which mistakes on both sides are acknowledged, the jamming ceases, but the crew follows their training and protocols and dismisses the counter-orders as a Soviet ruse. The President struggles to find a resolution that will stop the Soviet Union from launching a counterattack, if he fails and he offers to sacrifice an American target to appease the Soviets, and he orders an American bomber towards New York City. The Presidents advisers in the Pentagon discover that the President has sacrificed the First Lady, the lone surviving American bomber devastates Moscow. The President orders General Black, whose wife and children live in New York, to drop the same nuclear payload on that city, after releasing the bombs, Black, who is flying the bomber, commits suicide. The last moments of the film images of people in New York going about their daily lives. The film was shot in black and white, in a dramatic, theatrical style with claustrophobic close-ups, sharp shadows, there was no musical underscoring or any music played, except as radio background during a scene at an Air Force base in Alaska. With few exceptions, the takes place largely in the White House underground bunker, the Pentagon war conference room, the SAC war room
8.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
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Halloween III, Season of the Witch is a 1982 American science fiction horror film and the third installment in the Halloween film series. It is the first film to be written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the creators of Halloween, returned as producers. It, in fact, treats the first film as a fictional film and it also departs from the slasher genre which the first two installments were part of, instead featuring a witchcraft theme with science fiction aspects and parallels to old Celtic fairy tales. However, after the disappointing critical reception and box-office gross, Michael Myers was brought back six years later in Halloween 4. The frequency of violence and gore is less than that of Halloween II. As with other films in the series, suspense and dramatic tension is a key theme, the dramatic element of violence against young children, something often taboo even for horror films, is explored. Produced on a budget of $2.5 million, Halloween III grossed $14.4 million at the box office in the United States, in addition to weak box office returns, most critics gave the film negative reviews. One critic suggests that if Halloween III was not part of the Halloween series, then it would simply be a fairly nondescript eighties horror flick, no worse and no better than many others. Some cultural and film historians have read significance into the plot, linking it to criticism of large corporations. On October 23, shop owner Harry Grimbridge runs along a road in Northern California. He makes it to a gas station clutching a Silver Shamrock jack-o-lantern mask and he is driven to the hospital by station attendant Walter Jones, all the while rambling, Theyre going to kill us. At the hospital, Grimbridge is placed in the care of Dr. Dan Challis and that night, another mysterious man in a suit enters Grimbridges hospital room, kills him, then goes to his car and immolates himself. The next morning, Grimbridges daughter Ellie arrives to identify her fathers remains, Ellie and Challis agree to investigate his murder, leading them to the small town of Santa Mira, California. The motel manager explains that Conal Cochran and his company, Silver Shamrock Novelties, while signing the motel register, Challis learns that Grimbridge stayed at the same motel. Other motel guests include shop owners Marge Guttman and Buddy Kupfer, Buddys wife Betty, and their son Little Buddy, Guttman finds a microchip on the back of a Silver Shamrock button, and is fatally electrocuted after poking it with a hairpin. Challis and Ellie learn of Guttmans accident, and Challis attempts to help but is forced away by a group of men dressed in lab coats who drive away in a van with Marges body. The next morning, Challis and Ellie tour the factory with the Kupfers and discover Grimbridges car there and they return to the motel but cannot contact anyone outside the town. While Challis attempts to phone for the authorities, Ellie is kidnapped by the men in suits, Challis pursues them, breaks into the factory, and discovers that the men in suits are androids created by Cochran
9.
RoboCop
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RoboCop is a 1987 American cyberpunk action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan OHerlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, themes that make up the basis of RoboCop include media influence, gentrification, corruption, authoritarianism, greed, privatization, capitalism, identity, dystopia, and human nature. The film was produced for a relatively modest $13 million, honors for the film include five Saturn Awards, two BAFTA Award nominations and the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, along with nominations for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing. In the near future, Detroit, Michigan is a dystopia and on the verge of collapse due to financial ruin. The mayor signs a deal with the mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products, in exchange, OCP will be allowed to turn the run-down sections of Detroit into a high-end utopia called Delta City, which will function as an independent city-state free of the United States. OCP senior president Dick Jones proposes replacing the police with the ED-209 enforcement droid, at its first demonstration, however, ED-209 malfunctions and gruesomely kills a board member. Bob Morton, an employee, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design. To Joness anger, the company chairman approves Mortons plan, meanwhile, police officer Alex Murphy arrives at his new precinct following an OCP-directed transfer where he is introduced to his partner Anne Lewis. On their first patrol, they chase down a gang led by the ruthless criminal Clarence Boddicker, when he and Lewis get separated, Murphy is caught and fatally injured by Boddickers gang just before Boddicker himself executes the helpless cop. Morton selects Murphy for the RoboCop program and replaces most of his body with cybernetics, except for his brain and part of his digestive system. RoboCop is given three primary directives, Serve the public trust, Protect the innocent, and Uphold the law and he single-handedly and efficiently cleans Detroit of crime, earning Morton a promotion to vice president. Enraged, Jones hires Boddicker to murder Morton in his home, meanwhile, Lewis realizes that RoboCop is really Murphy, and tells him his real name. RoboCop remembers past events from his life and returns to his home, only to find that his wife. He connects to the database, looks up Murphys entry and discovers Boddickers gang. RoboCop tracks down Boddicker to a factory and after a battle. Panicked, Boddicker admits his affiliation with Jones, verbally triggering RoboCops law-abiding programming, RoboCop arrests Boddicker and turns him over to the police. He then confronts Jones and attempts to arrest him, but begins to shut down, Jones reveals that he planted the fourth directive, which prevents RoboCop from arresting any member of OCPs executive board. Jones explains his goal of taking over OCP, and confesses to Mortons murder before activating his personal ED-209 to destroy RoboCop
10.
Twin Peaks
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Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by Mark Frost and David Lynch that premiered on April 8,1990, on ABC. It was one of the shows of 1990, but declining ratings led to its cancellation after its second season in 1991. It nonetheless captured a cult following and has been referenced in a variety of media. In subsequent years, Twin Peaks has often been ranked as one of the greatest television dramas ever made, the series follows an investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper into the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington. Like much of Lynchs work, it is distinguished by surrealism and offbeat humor, the shows acclaimed score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti in collaboration with Lynch. Twin Peaks was followed by a 1992 feature film, Twin Peaks, Fire Walk with Me, in October 2014, Showtime announced that the series would return as a limited event series, scheduled to premiere on May 21,2017. The limited series is written by Lynch and Frost and directed by Lynch, many original cast members, including MacLachlan, returned. In 1989, logger Pete Martell discovers a corpse wrapped in plastic on the bank of a river outside the town of Twin Peaks. When Sheriff Harry S. Truman, his deputies, and Dr. Will Hayward arrive, a badly injured second girl, Ronette Pulaski, is discovered in a fugue state. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate, Coopers initial examination of Lauras body reveals a tiny typed letter R inserted under her fingernail. The authorities discover that Laura has been living a double life and she was cheating on her boyfriend, football captain Bobby Briggs, with biker James Hurley, and prostituting herself with the help of truck driver Leo Johnson and drug dealer Jacques Renault. Laura was also addicted to cocaine, which she obtained by coercing Bobby into doing business with Jacques, Lauras father, attorney Leland Palmer, suffers a nervous breakdown. Her best friend, Donna Hayward, begins a relationship with James, with the help of Lauras cousin Maddy Ferguson, Donna and James discover that Lauras psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, was obsessed with Laura, but he is proven innocent of the murder. Hornes sultry, troubled daughter, Audrey, becomes infatuated with Cooper, Cooper has a dream in which he is approached by a one-armed otherworldly being who calls himself Mike. Mike says that Lauras murderer is an entity, Killer Bob. Cooper finds himself decades older with Laura and a dwarf in a red business suit, the next morning, Cooper tells Truman that, if he can decipher the dream, he will know who killed Laura. Cooper and the sheriffs department find the man from Coopers dream. Gerard knows a Bob, the veterinarian who treats Renaults pet bird, Cooper interprets these events to mean that Renault is the murderer and, with Trumans help, tracks Renault to One-Eyed Jacks, a brothel owned by Horne across the border in Canada
