query: Claire Danes is married to Hugh Dancy.

pos: Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes ( born April 12 , 1979 ) is an American actress . She is the recipient of three Emmy Awards , four Golden Globe Awards , and two Screen Actors Guild Awards . In 2012 , Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world , and she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015 .   Danes gained recognition with her role as Angela Chase in the acclaimed 1994 teen drama series My So-Called Life . The role won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series . She made her film debut the same year in Little Women ( 1994 ) . Her other films include Romeo + Juliet ( 1996 ) , The Rainmaker ( 1997 ) , Les Misérables ( 1998 ) , Brokedown Palace ( 1999 ) , the 1999 English dub of Princess Mononoke ( 1997 ) , Igby Goes Down ( 2002 ) , The Hours ( 2002 ) , Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines ( 2003 ) , Shopgirl ( 2005 ) and Stardust ( 2007 ) .   From 1998 to 2000 , Danes attended Yale University before dropping out to return to acting . She appeared in an Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues in 2000 , and made her Broadway debut playing Eliza Doolittle in the 2007 revival of Pygmalion . In 2010 , she portrayed Temple Grandin in the highly acclaimed HBO TV film Temple Grandin , which won her a second Golden Globe and her first Primetime Emmy Award for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie . Since 2011 , she has starred as Carrie Mathison in the Showtime drama series Homeland , for which she has won two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series , two Golden Globe Award for Best Actress -- Television Series Drama , and the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama . She is married to actor Hugh Dancy , with whom she has one child .

neg: Joan Dillon Joan de Noailles , Dowager Duchess of Mouchy and Poix ( née Joan Douglas Dillon ; born 31 January 1935 ) is an American-born French duchess , the first commoner to marry into the reigning dynasty of Luxembourg , and is the former president of French Bordeaux wine company Domaine Clarence Dillon .

neg: Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama and mystery series created by Marc Cherry , and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions . It originally aired for eight seasons on ABC , from October 3 , 2004 to May 13 , 2012 . Executive producer Cherry served as showrunner . Other executive producers since the fourth season included Bob Daily , George W. Perkins , John Pardee , Joey Murphy , David Grossman , and Larry Shaw .   Set on Wisteria Lane , a street in the fictional town of Fairview in the fictional Eagle State , Desperate Housewives follows the lives of a group of women as seen through the eyes of their late friend and neighbor who committed suicide in the pilot episode . The storyline covers 13 years of the women 's lives over eight seasons , set between the years 2004 -- 2008 , and later 2013 -- 2017 ( the story arc includes a five-year passage of time , as well as flashbacks ranging from the 1980s to the 2020s ) . They work through domestic struggles and family life , while facing the secrets , crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their -- on the surface -- beautiful and seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood .   The series features an ensemble cast , headed by Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer , Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo , Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp , and Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis . Brenda Strong narrates the series as the late Mary Alice Young , appearing sporadically in flashbacks or dream sequences .   Desperate Housewives was well received by viewers and critics alike . It won multiple Primetime Emmy , Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards . From the 2004 -- 05 through the 2008 -- 09 television seasons , its first five seasons were rated amongst the top ten most-watched series . In 2007 , it was reported to be the most popular show in its demographic worldwide , with an audience of approximately 120 million and was also reported as the third most watched television series in a study of ratings in twenty countries . In 2012 , it remained the most-watched comedy series internationally based on data from Eurodata TV Worldwide , which measured ratings across five continents ; it has held this position since 2006 . Moreover , it was the third highest revenue earning series for 2010 , with $ 2.74 million per half an hour . The show was ranked at number fifty-six on Entertainment Weekly `` New TV Classics '' list .   In 2011 , it was confirmed that Desperate Housewives would conclude after its eighth season ; the series finale aired on May 13 , 2012 . By the end of the series , it had surpassed Charmed as the longest running hour-long television series featuring all female leads by two episodes .

neg: Clair Huxtable Clair Olivia Huxtable ( née Hanks ) is a fictional character who appears in the American sitcom The Cosby Show . Portrayed by actress Phylicia Rashad , Clair , the wife of Dr. Cliff Huxtable and mother of their five children , is the matriarch of the show 's central Huxtable family . Working as a lawyer , Clair values the importance of maintaining a successful career while running a formidable household . The character debuted alongside most of her family in The Cosby Show 's pilot , `` Theo 's Economic Lesson '' , which premiered on September 20 , 1984 .   Created by comedian Bill Cosby , Clair is based on Cosby 's own wife , Camille . Cosby originally intended for the character to be a plumber , but the producers and Camille ultimately convinced him to rewrite her into a lawyer to reflect a family that closer resembled their own . At one point , Clair had also been envisioned as a Dominican housewife who speaks Spanish when frustrated , inspired by Ricky Ricardo from the sitcom I Love Lucy , but this idea was also abandoned . Rashad , originally credited as Phylicia Allers-Allen , won the role by exhibiting a subtlety in her audition that other candidates lacked . After marrying husband Ahmad Rashad and adopting his surname , Rashad became pregnant with their child during the show 's third season , thus requiring her to conceal her pregnancy during tapings .   Typically playing straight woman to Cosby 's humorous Cliff , Rashad 's character began to adopt more comedic material during the show 's second season , although she maintains her disciplinarian status within her own household . Since The Cosby Show 's inception , Cosby had always intended for Clair to reflect the ways in which women 's roles have evolved in both the home and workplace . Clair is depicted as a hardworking career woman with strong feminist principles , most evident in the character 's early confrontations with chauvinistic son-in-law Elvin . One particularly memorable interaction , dubbed Clair 's `` feminist rant '' by the media , has become so popular that the scene continues to be heavily circulated on the Internet and social media , 30 years after its initial appearance .   Both Clair 's role and Rashad 's performance have garnered significant acclaim ; Clair was the series ' only main character who avoided criticisms that regularly plagued other aspects of The Cosby Show . Rashad was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series . Despite the actress ' continued success , Clair remains the role for which Rashad is best known , credited with establishing her as a television icon . A feminist icon , Clair is revered as one of television 's most beloved mothers ; as one of television 's first working mothers , the character 's profound influence on African-American women and female lawyers in television has been dubbed the `` Clair Huxtable effect '' . However , in light of several recent sexual assault allegations made against Cosby , some critics have begun to question the comedian 's intentions behind creating Clair .

neg: Supporting Healthy Marriage Project The Supporting Healthy Marriage Project , SHM , is part of the Healthy Marriage Initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Administration for Children and Families , that was launched in 2003 as `` the first large-scale , multisite , multiyear , rigorous test of marriage education programs for low-income married couples . '' The project is motivated by research that `` indicates that married adults and children raised by both parents in stable , low-conflict households do better on a host of outcomes . '' The evaluation is led by MDRC , in collaboration with Abt Associates and other partners . USASpending.gov reports payments of more than $ 30 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to MDRC for work on the Supporting Healthy Marriage Project from 2009 to 2012 .   Major study questions of the Supporting Healthy Marriage Project include :  What are the experiences , issues and challenges in designing , implementing and operating healthy marriage education and related services for lower-income couples with children ?  What are the net impacts of the programs on : marital stability and relationship quality ; attitudes and expectations regarding their marriage ; parenting attitudes and behaviors ; measures of adult well-being and child well-being and development ( e.g. , cognitive , social , emotional , health ) , and economic outcomes for families ?   Limited federal funding for a Healthy Marriage Initiative began in 2001 to `` help couples who choose to get married gain greater access to marriage education services that will enable them to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to form and sustain a healthy marriage . '' In 2005 , Wade Horn , Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families , highlighted plans for a significant expansion of funding in testimony before the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness , House Committee on Education and the Workforce :   `` Although I have focused on the areas of primary interest to your committee , I would be remiss if I did not briefly highlight other key areas of our proposal that play a critical role in the well-being of children , teenagers , and families . Indeed , we establish improving the well-being of children as the overarching purpose of TANF ... . In support of that overarching purpose , our proposal seeks to improve child well-being through programs aimed at encouraging responsible fatherhood and healthy marriages . By discontinuing the Out of Wedlock Birth Reduction Bonus and redirecting part of the High Performance Bonus Funding , we provide $ 200 million for programs aimed at promoting family formation and healthy marriages . We also provide $ 40 million in funding for the support of responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage programs to reverse the rise in father absence and its subsequent impact on children . ''

neg: You're Gonna Love Tomorrow `` You 're Gon na Love Tomorrow '' is the fifth season premiere episode of the American comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives , and the 88th episode overall . It originally aired on September 28 , 2008 , in the United States on ABC ( American Broadcasting Company ) . The episode was written by series creator Marc Cherry and directed by Larry Shaw . `` You 're Gon na Love Tomorrow '' , as well as all subsequent episodes , takes place five years after the events of the fourth season finale following Cherry 's decision to revamp the series with a time jump .   In the episode , Edie ( Nicollette Sheridan ) returns to Wisteria Lane after a five-year absence with her new husband , Dave ( Neal McDonough ) . While Susan ( Teri Hatcher ) hesitates to make a romantic commitment to Jackson ( Gale Harold ) , Lynette ( Felicity Huffman ) struggles with her defiant teenage children and her husband 's midlife crisis . Gabrielle ( Eva Longoria ) deals with her daughters ' weight problems and Bree ( Marcia Cross ) faces the ramifications of her success .   `` You 're Gon na Love Tomorrow '' received mostly positive reviews from television critics , most of whom agreed that the time jump refreshed the show . According to Nielsen ratings , the episode drew over 18 million viewers , making it the most-watched show of the night and the second most-watched program of the week across all networks .

neg: Rachel Zoe Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig ( born September 1 , 1971 ) better known as Rachel Zoe , is an American fashion designer , businesswoman , and writer . She is best known for working with celebrities , fashion houses , beauty firms , advertising agencies , and magazine editors . Zoe has been involved in the fashion industry for nearly two decades and has since become a renowned stylist and designer . She is known for her extensive influence in the fashion world and for her A-list clients . In 2008 , the first season of her Bravo reality television series The Rachel Zoe Project debuted . She is married to Rodger Berman , President of Rachel Zoe , Inc. . The couple has two sons .

neg: Claire Dan Claire Dan AM OBE ( 1919 or 192022 October 2012 ) was a Hungarian-Australian actress and philanthropist , best known for founding the Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977 .

neg: Claire Foy Claire Foy ( born 16 April 1984 ) is an English actress . She studied drama and screen studies at Liverpool John Moores University and trained at the Oxford School of Drama , where she appeared in four plays , including Watership Down . She made her screen debut in the pilot episode of Being Human ( 2008 ) and in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors ( 2008 ) . Following her professional stage debut at the Royal National Theatre , she played the title role in the BBC One production of Little Dorrit , ( 2008 ) , and made her film debut as Anna in Season of the Witch ( 2011 ) .   She had main roles as Erin Matthews in the Channel 4 series The Promise ( 2011 ) and several other television films and miniseries , including as Kate Balfour in the NBC series Crossbones ( 2014 ) . She received unanimous praise for her performance as Anne Boleyn in BBC2 's Wolf Hall ( 2015 ) , for which she was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress and the Critics ' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries . Since 2016 , she has portrayed the young Queen Elizabeth II on the Netflix series The Crown , a role for which she has received critical acclaim and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series , and was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress .

neg: Romeo + Juliet William Shakespeare 's Romeo + Juliet ( shortened to Romeo + Juliet ) is a 1996 American romantic drama film directed , co-produced and co-written by Baz Luhrmann , co-produced by Gabriella Martinelli and co-written by Craig Pearce , being an adaption and modernization of William Shakespeare 's tragedy Romeo and Juliet . The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the leading roles of Romeo and Juliet , who instantly fall in love when Romeo crashes a party and meets her despite them being members of the Montague and Capulet family ; Brian Dennehy , John Leguizamo , Pete Postlethwaite , Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora star in supporting roles .   While it retains the original Shakespearean dialogue , the Montagues and the Capulets are represented as warring mafia empires ( with legitimate business fronts ) and swords are replaced with guns ( with brand names such as `` Dagger '' and `` Sword '' ) . Some of the characters ' names are also changed . Lord and Lady Montague and Lord and Lady Capulet are given first names ( as opposed to the Shakespeare original where their first names are never mentioned ) , Friar Lawrence becomes Father Lawrence , and Prince Escalus is renamed Captain Prince . There is also no Friar John , who was in the original play . Also , some characters were switched from one family to the other -- in the original , Gregory and Sampson are Capulets , but in the film , they are Montagues . ( Abram , as Abra , and Petruchio , conversely , are shifted from the Montague to the Capulet family . ) In addition , a few plot details are shifted , most notably near the ending .   The film was released on November 1 , 1996 by 20th Century Fox to commercial and generally critical success , grossing over $ 147.5 million over a $ 14.5 million budget and receiving generally positive reviews . At the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997 , DiCaprio won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Prize . Luhrmann was also nominated for the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture . At the 69th Academy Awards , Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration .

neg: DJ (H & Claire song) `` DJ '' was the debut single from former Steps members H & Claire . The song was their most successful single . Debuting at # 3 and spending 11 weeks on the British charts .

neg: Clairet Clairet is a wine that is dark pink in style , and may be described as a full bodied and deep coloured type of rosé . It is considered a specialty of the Bordeaux region and is thought to have originated in Quinsac in Premieres Côtes de Bordeaux . Similar to the light wine of the Middle Ages that was exported to England , also called `` vinum clarum '' and `` vin clar '' or `` bin clar '' , the name is the source of the English term `` claret '' , although that term does not refer to a clairet but to a red wine .   The wine is bottled under the AOC of Bordeaux clairet .

neg: Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant ( born 9 September 1960 ) is an English actor and film producer . Grant has received a Golden Globe , a BAFTA , and an Honorary César for his work . His films have earned more than US$ 2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide . Grant first received attention after earning the Volpi Cup for his performance in James Ivory 's Maurice ( 1987 ) but achieved international success after appearing in the Richard Curtis-scripted Four Weddings and a Funeral ( 1994 ) . Grant used this breakthrough role as a frequent cinematic persona during the 1990s , delivering comic performances in films such as Mickey Blue Eyes ( 1999 ) and Notting Hill ( 1999 ) . One of the best known figures in 1990s British popular culture , Grant was in a high-profile relationship with Elizabeth Hurley , which was the focus of much attention in the British and international media .   By the turn of the 21st century , Grant had established himself as a leading man , skilled with a satirical comic talent . Grant has expanded his oeuvre with critically acclaimed turns as a cad in Bridget Jones 's Diary ( 2001 ) , About a Boy ( 2002 ) , and American Dreamz ( 2006 ) . Grant later played against type with multiple cameo roles in the epic sci-fi drama film , Cloud Atlas ( 2012 ) . He 's also known for appearing in period pieces such as The Remains of the Day ( 1993 ) , Sense and Sensibility ( 1995 ) and Florence Foster Jenkins ( 2016 ) .   Within the film industry , Grant is cited as an anti-star who approaches his roles like a character actor , and attempts to make his acting appear spontaneous . Hallmarks of his comic skills include a nonchalant touch of irony/sarcasm and studied physical mannerisms , as well as his precisely-timed dialogue delivery and facial expressions . The entertainment media 's coverage of Grant 's life off the big screen has often overshadowed his work as an actor . Grant has been outspoken about his antipathy towards the profession of acting , and in his disdain towards the culture of celebrity and hostility towards the media . In a career spanning 30 years , Grant has repeatedly claimed that acting was not his true calling , but rather a career that unintentionally developed by happenstance .

neg: Les Amants du Pont-Neuf Les Amants du Pont-Neuf ( -LSB- lez ‿ amɑ̃ dy pɔ̃ nœf -RSB- ) is a 1991 French film directed by Leos Carax , starring Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant . The title refers to the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris . The North American title of the film is The Lovers on the Bridge , and , in a mistranslation of the original title , the Australian title is Lovers on the Ninth Bridge ( instead of `` Lovers on the New Bridge '' ) .

neg: Julie St. Claire Julie St. Claire ( born Juliette Marie Capone ; June 10 , 1970 ) , is an American actress , director and producer .

neg: Rufus Gifford John Rufus Gifford ( born August 5 , 1974 ) is an American diplomat . He served as the United States Ambassador to Denmark from 2013 to 2017 , and was the Finance Director for Barack Obama 's presidential re-election campaign in 2012 . On August 1 , 2013 , Gifford 's nomination from President Obama to be the next United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark was confirmed by the United States Senate . He was sworn into the role on August 15 , 2013 , and presented his credentials to the Queen of Denmark on September 13 , 2013 .

neg: Danner Danner is a Scottish , German surname . Notable persons with that surname include :  Blythe Danner ( born 1943 ) , American actress  Christian Danner ( born 1958 ) , German race car driver  Pat Danner ( born 1934 ) , American politician from Missouri  Richard Danner , American Professor of Law  Joel Buchanan Danner ( 1804-1885 ) , American politician from Pennsylvania  Mark Danner ( born 1958 ) , American writer , journalist , and educator  Countess Danner or Louise Rasmussen ( 1815-1874 ) , Danish ballet dancer and stage actor , wife of Frederick VII of Denmark

neg: Daniel Duchovny Daniel Duchovny ( known as Danny Ducovny ; also credited as Daniel Duchovny ) is an award-winning director of commercials . In 1990 he founded his own production company , Cucoloris , with partner Linda Stewart . Before moving into directing commercials and the occasional TV series episode , he had worked on several movies in the camera department .   Daniel is the older brother of X-Files star David Duchovny .

neg: Dandy A dandy historically , is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance , refined language , and leisurely hobbies , pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self . A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle despite coming from a middle-class background , especially in late 18th - and early 19th-century Britain .   Previous manifestations of the petit-maître ( French for small master ) and the Muscadin have been noted by John C. Prevost , but the modern practice of dandyism first appeared in the revolutionary 1790s , both in London and in Paris . The dandy cultivated cynical reserve , yet to such extremes that novelist George Meredith , himself no dandy , once defined cynicism as `` intellectual dandyism . '' Some took a more benign view ; Thomas Carlyle wrote in Sartor Resartus that a dandy was no more than `` a clothes-wearing man '' . Honoré de Balzac introduced the perfectly worldly and unmoved Henri de Marsay in La fille aux yeux d'or ( 1835 ) , a part of La Comédie Humaine , who fulfils at first the model of a perfect dandy , until an obsessive love-pursuit unravels him in passionate and murderous jealousy .   Charles Baudelaire defined the dandy , in the later `` metaphysical '' phase of dandyism , as one who elevates æsthetics to a living religion , that the dandy 's mere existence reproaches the responsible citizen of the middle class : `` Dandyism in certain respects comes close to spirituality and to stoicism '' and `` These beings have no other status , but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons , of satisfying their passions , of feeling and thinking ... . Dandyism is a form of Romanticism . Contrary to what many thoughtless people seem to believe , dandyism is not even an excessive delight in clothes and material elegance . For the perfect dandy , these things are no more than the symbol of the aristocratic superiority of mind . ''   The linkage of clothing with political protest had become a particularly English characteristic during the 18th century . Given these connotations , dandyism can be seen as a political protest against the levelling of egalitarian principles , often including nostalgic adherence to feudal or pre-industrial values , such as the ideals of `` the perfect gentleman '' or `` the autonomous aristocrat '' . Paradoxically , the dandy required an audience , as Susann Schmid observed in examining the `` successfully marketed lives '' of Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron , who exemplify the dandy 's roles in the public sphere , both as writers and as personae providing sources of gossip and scandal . Nigel Rodgers in The Dandy : Peacock or Enigma ? questions Wilde 's status as a genuine dandy , seeing him as someone who only assumed a dandified stance in passing , not a man dedicated to the exacting ideals of dandyism .

neg: Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner ( born April 9 , 1926 ) is an American men 's lifestyle magazine publisher , businessman , and a well-known playboy . Hefner is a native of Chicago , Illinois and a former journalist for Esquire . He is best known for being the founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises . A self-made multi-millionaire , his net worth is over $ 43 million due to his success as the founder of Playboy magazine . Hefner is also a political activist and philanthropist active in several causes and public issues . He is a World War II veteran .

neg: Dan Grimaldi Daniel `` Dan '' Grimaldi is an American actor and mathematics professor who is known for his roles as twins Philly and Patsy Parisi on the HBO TV series The Sopranos .


query: The Bible contains writings.

pos: Bible The Bible ( from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία , tà biblía , `` the books '' ) is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans .   Many different authors contributed to the Bible . What is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups ; a number of Bible canons have evolved , with overlapping and diverging contents . The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint ; the Hebrew Bible is known in Judaism as the Tanakh . The New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians , believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ , written in first-century Koine Greek . These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives , letters , and apocalyptic writings . Among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon , primarily the Apocrypha , a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect .   Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups . Roman Catholics , Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox Christians stress the harmony and importance of the Bible and sacred tradition , while Protestant churches focus on the idea of sola scriptura , or scripture alone . This concept arose during the Protestant Reformation , and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching .   With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies , the Bible is widely considered to be the best-selling book of all time . It has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies , and has been a major influence on literature and history , especially in the West , where the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed using movable type .

neg: Book of Ezra The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible . Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra -- Nehemiah , the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era . Its subject is the Return to Zion following the close of the Babylonian captivity , and it is divided into two parts , the first telling the story of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus the Great ( 538 BC ) and the completion and dedication of the new Temple in Jerusalem in the sixth year of Darius I ( 515 BC ) , the second telling of the subsequent mission of Ezra to Jerusalem and his struggle to purify the Jews from what the book calls the sin of marriage with non-Jews . Together with the Book of Nehemiah , it represents the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible .   Ezra is written to fit a schematic pattern in which the God of Israel inspires a king of Persia to commission a leader from the Jewish community to carry out a mission ; three successive leaders carry out three such missions , the first rebuilding the Temple , the second purifying the Jewish community , and the third sealing of the holy city itself behind a wall . ( This last mission , that of Nehemiah , is not part of the Book of Ezra . ) The theological program of the book explains the many problems its chronological structure presents . It probably appeared in its earliest version around 399 BC , and continued to be revised and edited for several centuries before being accepted as scriptural in the early Christian era .

neg: Josephus on Jesus The extant manuscripts of the writings of the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus include references to Jesus and the origins of Christianity . Josephus ' Antiquities of the Jews , written around 93 -- 94 AD , includes two references to the biblical Jesus Christ in Books 18 and 20 and a reference to John the Baptist in Book 18 .   Scholarly opinion varies on the total or partial authenticity of the reference in Book 18 , Chapter 3 , 3 of the Antiquities , a passage that states that Jesus the Messiah was a wise teacher who was crucified by Pilate , usually called the Testimonium Flavianum . The general scholarly view is that while the Testimonium Flavianum is most likely not authentic in its entirety , it is broadly agreed upon that it originally consisted of an authentic nucleus , which was then subject to Christian expansion/alteration . Although the exact nature and extent of the Christian redaction remains unclear , there is broad consensus as to what the original text of the Testimonium by Josephus would have looked like .   Modern scholarship has largely acknowledged the authenticity of the reference in Book 20 , Chapter 9 , 1 of the Antiquities to `` the brother of Jesus , who was called Christ , whose name was James '' and considers it as having the highest level of authenticity among the references of Josephus to Christianity .   Almost all modern scholars consider the reference in Book 18 , Chapter 5 , 2 of the Antiquities to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist also to be authentic and not a Christian interpolation .   The references found in Antiquities have no parallel texts in the other work by Josephus such as the Jewish War , written 20 years earlier , but some scholars have provided explanations for their absence . A number of variations exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the deaths of James and John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts . Scholars generally view these variations as indications that the Josephus passages are not interpolations , for a Christian interpolator would have made them correspond to the New Testament accounts , not differ from them .

neg: List of languages by year of first Bible translation The Bible has been translated into many languages . The Jewish Tanakh ( similar to the Protestant Old Testament ) was originally written in Hebrew , with the exception of some passages of Daniel , Ezra , and Jeremiah which are in Aramaic . The New Testament is widely agreed to have originally been written in Greek , although some scholars hypothesize that certain books ( whether completely or partially ) may have been written in Aramaic before being translated for widespread dissemination .

neg: Bible translations into Bulgarian The royal Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander is an illuminated manuscript Gospel Book in Middle Bulgarian , prepared and illustrated in 1355 -- 1356 for Tsar Ivan Alexander of the Second Bulgarian Empire . The manuscript is regarded as one of the most important manuscripts of medieval Bulgarian culture . The manuscript , now in the British Library ( Add . MS 39627 ) , contains the text of the Four Gospels illustrated with 366 miniatures and consists of 286 parchment folios , 33 by 24.3 cm in size .   Bible translations into modern Bulgarian date from the 1820s and were largely organised by Protestant missionaries . The Bulgarian Orthodox Church initially preferring the continued use of Old Church Slavonic .   The archimandrite Theodosius , abbot of the Bistritsa Monastery in Romania , translated the New Testament for the British and Foreign Bible Society , which was printed at St. Petersburg in 1823 . `` It was begun by the Archimandrite Theodosius , with the sanction of Gregory , Patriarch of Constantinople . ( St. Matthew 's Gospel in Church Slavic and Bulgarian 1823 ) was published by the Russian Bible Society . '' This attempt to translate the Bible into modern Bulgarian was characterized with poor grammatical style and was greatly influenced by the Church-Slavonic version . The entire edition was sent to Saint Petersburg and is said to have been destroyed there . The BFBS had also contracted nationalist journalist Konstantin Fotinov who translated the New Testament but the BFBS did not approve it because `` it was neither Slav -LSB- onic -RSB- nor Bulgarian '' .   An independent attempt to publish a Bulgarian translation of the New Testament occurred in 1828 , as Petar Sapunov and his brother Father Serafim published a translation of the four gospels at the Bucharest metropolitan press in Wallachia ( Romania ) . This translation was completed in the Eastern Bulgarian dialect .   In 1835 Bulgarian monk Neofit Rilski started a new translation of the New Testament . The translation was completed on April 18 , 1838 . The translation was done in the Bulgarian dialect from the area of Gorna Dzhumaya ( present day Blagoevgrad in the region of Macedonia ) . In 1840 5,000 copies of the first complete translation of the New Testament were printed in Smyrna by the British and Foreign Bible Society . A second edition which was printed in Smyrna in 1850 was an almost exact reprint of the 1840 edition . A third edition followed in 1853 with 15,000 copies . The fourth edition was published in 1857 in Bucharest , and for the first time civil characters type was used . In 1859 , two more editions were published . In 1866 , a new `` pocket '' edition with text revised by Elias Riggs and Dr. Albert Long was printed in Constantinople . The New Testament was revised and reprinted a total of nine times .   In the period from 1840 to 1860 the Eastern ( Tarnovo ) dialect was adopted as literary Bulgarian language and the Macedonian dialect , in which the New Testament had been translated , was widely rejected . By 1858 Neofit Rilski had finished large portion of the Old Testament . Riggs met with Neofit Rilski and discussed a possible revision of the Bulgarian New Testament to remove the Macedonian dialect elements . Neofit objected the revision , so Riggs took the translation and returned to Constantinople . In January 1859 Riggs invited the Bulgarian teacher Hristodul Kostovich to help him with the revision .   In 1862 Long and Riggs visited the noted Bulgarian writer and poet Petko Rachov Slaveykov in Tryavna . Slaveykov agreed to help with the translation and began the work on the revising of Neofit 's New Testament at once . Long joined the revision of the New Testament into the Eastern dialect in 1863 and later assisted with the translation of the Old Testament . In June 1871 , after more than 12 years of revision and translation , 36,000 copies of the complete Bible translation in Bulgarian were published in Constantinople . The translation came to be known as the Tsarigrad ( Constantinople ) edition .   The decision to revise and publish the Bible in the Eastern dialect was the historical factor based on which the modern Bulgarian language departed from the Macedonian dialect to adopt the Eastern/Thracian dialect .   With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 , several organizations attempted to provide a new translation of the Bible in Bulgarian . In 1993 a Protestant New Testament was printed . A complete new Orthodox translation was published in 1995 , followed by three new Protestant revisions of the Bulgarian Bible in the period of 2000 -- 2001 by publishing houses of Veren ( Faithful ) , Nov Chovek ( New Man ) and the Bible League .   Jáni Vasilčin published in 1998 the New Testament in Banat Bulgarian language . The Banat Bulgarians are a Catholic minority group in western Romania and northeastern Serbia .   Jehovah 's Witnesses have translated their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures into Bulgarian .

neg: An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture is a dissertation by the English mathematician and scholar Sir Isaac Newton . This was sent in a letter to John Locke on 14 November 1690 and built upon the textual work of Richard Simon and his own research . The text was first published in English in 1754 , 27 years after his death . The account claimed to review all the textual evidence available from ancient sources on two disputed Bible passages : and .   Newton describes this letter as `` an account of what the reading has been in all ages , and what steps it has been changed , as far as I can hitherto determine by records '' , and `` a criticism concerning a text of Scripture '' . He blames `` the Roman church '' for many abuses in the world and accuses it of `` pious frauds '' . He adds that `` the more learned and quick-sighted men , as Luther , Erasmus , Bullinger , Grotius , and some others , would not dissemble their knowledge '' .

neg: An American Translation The Bible , An American Translation ( AAT ) ( not to be confused with Beck 's American Translation done later ) consists of The Old Testament translated by a group of scholars under the editorship of John Merlin Powis Smith , the Apocrypha translated by Edgar J. Goodspeed , and The New Testament translated by Edgar J. Goodspeed .   In a foreword to the 1949 edition , Goodspeed wrote , `` The rapid advance of learning in recent years in the fields of history , archaeology , and language has thrown new light upon every part of the Bible . At the same time our changing English speech has carried us farther and farther from the sixteenth-century diction in which all our standard versions of it are clothed . Yet the great messages of the Old and New Testaments were never more necessary than in our present confused and hurried life . We have , therefore , sought to produce a new translation of them , based upon the assured results of modern study , and put in the familiar language of today . ''

neg: Prayer of Manasseh The Prayer of Manasseh is a short work of 15 verses of the penitential prayer of king Manasseh of Judah . The majority of scholars believe that the Prayer of Manasseh was written , in Greek , in the first or second century BC . Another work by the same title , though written in Hebrew and containing distinctly different content , was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls .   Manasseh is recorded in the Bible as one of the most idolatrous kings of Judah . The Books of Chronicles , but not the Books of Kings , records that Manasseh was taken captive by the Assyrians . While a prisoner , Manasseh prayed for mercy , and upon being freed and restored to the throne turned from his idolatrous ways . A reference to the prayer , but not the prayer itself , is made in , which says that the prayer is written in the `` history of the seers . ''   The prayer is considered apocryphal by Jews , Catholics and Protestants . It was placed at the end of 2 Chronicles in the late 4th-century Vulgate . Over a millennium later , Martin Luther included the book in his 74-book translation of the Bible . It was part of the 1537 Matthew Bible , and the 1599 Geneva Bible . It also appears in the Apocrypha of the King James Bible . Pope Clement VIII included the prayer in an appendix to the Vulgate stating that it should continue to be read `` lest it perish entirely . '' In the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours ; in the corpus of responsories sung with the readings from the books of Kings between Trinity Sunday and August , the seventh cites the Prayer of Manasseh , together with verses of Psalm 50 , the penitential Psalm par excellence.R . Peccavi super numerum arenae maris , et multiplicata sunt peccata mea , et non sum dignus videre altitudinem caeli prae multitudine iniquitatis meae : quoniam irritavi iram tuam , * Et malum coram te feci . V. Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco : et delictum meum contra me est semper , quia tibi soli peccavi . Et malum coram te feci.R . My sins are more in number of the sands of the sea , and my sins are multiplied , and I am not worthy to look up the height of heaven , because of the multitude of my iniquity ; for I have provoked thee to anger , * and done evil before Thee . V. For I know my iniquity , and my sin is always before me , for the Thee only have I sinned , and done evil before Thee .   The prayer is included in some editions of the Greek Septuagint . For example , the 5th century Codex Alexandrinus includes the prayer among fourteen Odes appearing just after the Psalms . It is accepted as a deuterocanonical book by some Orthodox Christians , though it does not appear in Bibles printed in Greece . The prayer is chanted during the Orthodox Christian and Byzantine Catholic service of Great Compline . It is used in the Roman Rite as part of the Responsory after the first reading in the Office of Readings on the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time ( along with Psalm 51 ) . It is used also as a canticle in the Daily Office of the 1979 U.S. Book of Common Prayer used by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America .   The prayer appears in ancient Syriac , Old Slavonic , Ethiopic , and Armenian translations . In the Ethiopian Bible , the prayer is found in 2 Chronicles .

neg: Sefer Torah A Sefer Torah ( ; plural : Sifrei Torah ; `` Book ( s ) of Torah '' or `` Torah scroll ( s ) '' ) is a handwritten copy of the Torah , the holiest book in Judaism . It must meet extremely strict standards of production . The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers . At other times , it is stored in the holiest spot within a synagogue , the Torah ark , which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem , the direction Jews face when praying .   The text of the Torah is also commonly printed and bound in book form for non-ritual functions . It is then known as a Chumash ( `` five-part '' , for the five books of Moses ) , and is often accompanied by commentaries or translations .

neg: Instrumentality (theology) Instrumentality is a theological theory that falls under the broader category of the prophetic model of biblical inspiration . Those who espouse the prophetic model consider the writers of all the books of the bible to have been inspired in the same way as prophets have been inspired by God to preach . This makes sense given that the vocation of the prophet and the vocation of the writer of Holy Scripture is more or less the same ; they are called to communicate the message of God to a community that is in need of hearing it . Though , as Reginald-Garigou Lagrange , O.P. notes , a prophet can act based on direct revelation from God or from inspiration . The latter is what is relevant when it comes to biblical interpretation . This model of biblical inspiration played a dominant role in the Early Church and was fully and systematically explained by medieval theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas . Thomas discusses prophesy in Questions 171-174 of the Second Part of the Second Part of the Summa Theologica . Thomas uses earlier theologians , namely St. Augustine and Pope St. Gregory the Great , to support his argument . Jewish theologians such as Moses Maimonides also defended this model .

neg: Christian worldview Christian worldview ( also called Biblical worldview ) refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which a Christian individual , group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it . Various denominations of Christianity have differing worldviews on some issues based on biblical interpretation , but many thematic elements are commonly agreed-upon within the Christian worldview . A common theme is the distrust of secular authority .

neg: Bible translations into the languages of Africa The Bible , or portions of it , have been translated into various languages of Africa . This effort continues .

neg: Syriac studies Syriac studies is the study of the Syriac language and Syriac Christianity . A specialist in Syriac studies is known as a Syriacist . Specifically , British , French , and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Syriac/Aramaic language and literature were commonly known by this designation , at a time when the Syriac language was little understood outside Assyrian , Syriac Christian and Maronite Christian communities . In Germany the field of study is distinguished between Aramaistik ( Aramaic studies ) und Neuaramaistik ( Syriac studies ) .   At universities Syriac studies are mostly incorporated into a more general ' field of studies , such as Eastern Christianity at the School of Oriental and African Studies , London , Aramaic studies at the University of Oxford and University of Leiden , Eastern Christianity at Duke University , or Semitic Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin . Most students learn the Syriac language within a biblical studies program . Conferences for Syriac studies include the Symposium Syriacum , the Section `` Bible and Syriac Studies in Context '' at the International Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature , and the Section `` Syriac Literature and Interpretations of Sacred Texts '' at the Annual Meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature . Syriac journals include the annual Oriens Christianus ( Wiesbaden ) and Syriac Studies Today '' .

neg: Direct revelation Direct revelation is a term used by some Christian churches to express their belief in a communication from God to a person , by words , impression , visions , dreams or actual appearance . Direct revelation is believed to be an open communication between God and man , or the Holy Spirit and man , without any other exterior ( secondary ) means . Direct revelation from evil spirits can also occur .   Examples of this is seen in God communicating the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai ( Exodus 34:4 ) ; or the devil communicating knowledge to Jesus Christ during his temptation in the wilderness ( Luke 4:1 -12 ) or the appearance of an angel to the wife of Manoah telling her that she shall bear Samson ( Judges 13:2 ) . Direct revelation is classified as special revelation , but the word `` direct '' has come to make this type of revelation distinct . It is believed by mainstream Christianity that direct revelation had ceased with the death of the early apostles in the first century .

neg: Two-gospel hypothesis The two-gospel hypothesis is that the Gospel of Matthew was written before the Gospel of Luke , and that both were written earlier than the Gospel of Mark . It is a proposed solution to the Synoptic Problem , which concerns the pattern of similarities and differences between the three Gospels of Matthew , Mark , and Luke . The hypothesis , following an original proposal by Augustine and expanded by Johann Jakob Griesbach ( it was once called the Griesbach hypothesis ) , was introduced in its current form by William Farmer in 1964 . This hypothesis is the most serious alternative to the two-source hypothesis . Its main advantages over the two-source hypothesis include the fact that it relies not just on internal evidence , that it does not require lost sources like the Q document , and that it is supported by the view of the early Church . Unlike the two-source hypothesis , the two-gospel hypothesis concludes that the traditional accounts of the gospels ( order and date of publication , as well as authorship ) are accurate . A further development of the Augustinian and Griesbach hypotheses is found in the hypothesis of Eta Linnemann , followed by F. David Farnell , that the `` two Gospels '' were required by the `` two witnesses '' rule of Deuteronomy .

neg: Matthew 7:29 Matthew 7:29 is the twenty-ninth , and final , verse of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament . It ends a two verse conclusion following the Sermon on the Mount .   In the Westcott-Hort edition of the original Greek , this verse reads :  ην γαρ διδασκων αυτους ως εξουσιαν  εχων και ουχ ως οι γραμματεις αυτων   In the King James Version of the Bible , the text reads :  For he taught them as one having  authority , and not as the scribes .   The English Standard Version translates the passage as :  for he was teaching them as one who  had authority , and not as their scribes .   In the previous verse , the crowd of onlookers were described as astonished at Jesus ' sayings ( τους λογους τουτους , tous logous toutous ) which complete Matthew 's narrative known as the `` Sermon on the Mount '' , and this verse explains why . The final phrase is a verbatim copy of , set in a very different context . Mark 's Gospel simply asserts Jesus ' authority ; Matthew uses it as a concluding argument after presenting the Sermon on the Mount as evidence .   In some translations this verse refers to their scribes . Ulrich Luz suggests that this is a clear indicator that Jesus ' followers saw themselves as separate from the mainstream Jewish community at the time this gospel was written . Scribes refers to the trained rabbis who would quote scribal authorities , and makes clear that Jesus is greater than the most important rabbi . A sermon by the rabbis would have been replete with references to scripture to validate each teaching . The contrast presented by Matthew is that Jesus speaks based on his own authority , not that of past figures .   A few authorities add '' ... and the Pharisees '' ( e.g. Wycliffe 's Bible , the Vulgate Latin , the Syriac , the Persic versions , and the Hebrew edition of Matthew by Munster ) . The Pulpit Commentary suggests that this `` may either be derived from or be an independent gloss due to the fact that the Pharisees were looked upon as the typical Jewish teachers '' .

neg: Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity . Two creation stories are found in the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis . In the first Elohim , the Hebrew generic plural word for God , creates the heavens and the earth in six days , starting with light on the first day and ending with mankind on the sixth ( creating man and woman independently and at the same time ) , then rests on , blesses and sanctifies the seventh . In the second story , God , now referred to by the personal name Yahweh , creates Adam , the first man , from dust and places him in the Garden of Eden , where he is given dominion over the animals . Eve , the first woman , is created from Adam and as his companion .   Borrowing themes from Mesopotamian mythology , but adapting them to the Israelite people 's belief in one God , the first major comprehensive draft of the Pentateuch ( the series of five books which begins with Genesis and ends with Deuteronomy ) was composed in the late 7th or the 6th century BCE ( the Jahwist source ) and was later expanded by other authors ( the Priestly source ) into a work very like the one we have today . The two sources can be identified in the creation narrative : is Priestly and is Jahwistic . The combined narrative is a critique of the Mesopotamian theology of creation : Genesis affirms monotheism and denies polytheism . Robert Alter described the combined narrative as `` compelling in its archetypal character , its adaptation of myth to monotheistic ends '' .   Misunderstanding the genre of the Genesis creation narrative , meaning the intention of the author/s and the culture within which they wrote , can result in a misreading . Reformed evangelical scholar Bruce Waltke cautions against one such misreading , the approach which reads it as history rather than theology and so leads to Creationism and the denial of evolution . As noted scholar of Jewish studies , Jon D. Levenson , puts it : `` How much history lies behind the story of Genesis ? Because the action of the primeval story is not represented as taking place on the plane of ordinary human history and has so many affinities with ancient mythology , it is very far-fetched to speak of its narratives as historical at all . ''

neg: Man of God Man of God is a biblical title of respect applied to prophets and beloved religious leaders . The term appears 78 times in 72 verses of the Bible , in application to up to 13 individuals :   Moses ( Deut . 33:1 ; Josh . 14:6 ; Ps . 90:1 ; Ezra 3:2 ; 1 Chron . 23:14 ; 2 Chron . 30:16 ) Moses is the only person called `` man of God '' in the Torah .  The angel of the Lord who appeared to Samson 's mother ( Judges 13:6 , 8 ) whom she may have taken to be a prophet ( Leviticus Rabbah 1:1 )  The man who chastised the Priest Eli ( 1 Sam . 2:27 ) whom Sifre identifies as Samuel 's father Elkanah ( Sifre to Deut . 342:4 )  Samuel ( 1 Sam . 9:6 , 7 , 8 , 10 )  David ( Neh . 12:24 , 36 ; 2 Chron . 8:14 )  Shemaiah ( 1 Kings 12:22 ; 2 Chron . 11:2 )  The man from Judah who cried out against King Jeroboam of Israel ( 1 Kings 13:1 ( twice ) , 4 , 5 , 6 ( twice ) , 7 , 8 , 11 , 12 , 14 ( twice ) , 21 , 26 , 29 , 31 ; 2 Kings 23:16 , 17 ) whom some rabbis identify as Iddo ( Sifre to Deut . 342:4 ; Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 2:85 ; Zohar 2:64 a )  Elijah ( 1 Kings 17:18 , 24 ; 2 Kings 1:9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 )  The man who told King Ahab of Israel that Israel could defeat the Arameans ( 1 Kings 20:28 ) whom Sifre identifies as Micah ( Sifre to Deut . 342:4 ) , but who from context might also be Elijah  Elisha ( 2 Kings 4:7 , 9 , 16 , 21 , 22 , 25 , 27 ( twice ) , 40 , 42 ; 5:8 , 14 , 15 , 20 ; 6:6 , 9 , 10 , 15 ; 7:2 , 17 , 18 , 19 ; 8:2 , 4 , 7 , 8 , 11 , 19 )  Hanan son of Igdaliah ( Jer . 35:4 )  The man who warned King Amaziah of Judah not to go to war ( 2 Chronicles 25:7 , 9 ( twice ) ) , whom some rabbis identify as Amoz ( Sifre to Deut . 342:4 ; Seder Olam Rabbah 20 )  Saint Timothy ( 1 Timothy 6:11 )   Category : Hebrew Bible words and phrases  Category : New Testament words and phrases

neg: Theodicy and the Bible Theodicy , in its most common form , is the attempt to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil . Theodicy attempts to resolve the evidential problem of evil by reconciling the traditional divine characteristics of omnibenevolence and omnipotence , in either their absolute or relative form , with the occurrence of evil or suffering in the world . `` Writings and discourses on theodicy by Jews , Greeks , Christians , and Eastern religions have graced our planet for thousands of years , '' and `` debates about theodicy continue among believers and unbelievers alike '' .   Theodicy is an `` intensely urgent '' and `` constant concern '' of `` the entire Bible '' . Relating theodicy and the Bible is crucial to understanding Abrahamic theodicy because the Bible `` has been , both in theory and in fact , the dominant influence upon ideas about God and evil in the Western world '' . The Bible raises the issue of theodicy by its portrayals of God as inflicting evil and by its accounts of people who question God 's goodness by their angry indictments . However , the Bible `` contains no comprehensive theodicy '' .   `` The most common theodicy is the free will theodicy . '' It lays the blame for all moral evil and some natural evil on humanity 's misuse of its free will . This article shows that the free will theodicy interacts with the Bible at its core : what Jesus and Paul say about the freedom of the will and with what kind of freedom of the will God endowed humanity at the Creation .

neg: Ancient Egyptian literature Ancient Egyptian literature was written in the Egyptian language from ancient Egypt 's pharaonic period until the end of Roman domination . It represents the oldest corpus of Egyptian literature . Along with Sumerian literature , it is considered the world 's earliest literature .   Writing in ancient Egypt -- both hieroglyphic and hieratic -- first appeared in the late 4th millennium BC during the late phase of predynastic Egypt . By the Old Kingdom ( 26th century BC to 22nd century BC ) , literary works included funerary texts , epistles and letters , hymns and poems , and commemorative autobiographical texts recounting the careers of prominent administrative officials . It was not until the early Middle Kingdom ( 21st century BC to 17th century BC ) that a narrative Egyptian literature was created . This was a `` media revolution '' which , according to Richard B. Parkinson , was the result of the rise of an intellectual class of scribes , new cultural sensibilities about individuality , unprecedented levels of literacy , and mainstream access to written materials . However , it is possible that the overall literacy rate was less than one percent of the entire population . The creation of literature was thus an elite exercise , monopolized by a scribal class attached to government offices and the royal court of the ruling pharaoh . However , there is no full consensus among modern scholars concerning the dependence of ancient Egyptian literature on the sociopolitical order of the royal courts .   Middle Egyptian , the spoken language of the Middle Kingdom , became a classical language during the New Kingdom ( 16th century BC to 11th century BC ) , when the vernacular language known as Late Egyptian first appeared in writing . Scribes of the New Kingdom canonized and copied many literary texts written in Middle Egyptian , which remained the language used for oral readings of sacred hieroglyphic texts . Some genres of Middle Kingdom literature , such as `` teachings '' and fictional tales , remained popular in the New Kingdom , although the genre of prophetic texts was not revived until the Ptolemaic period ( 4th century BC to 1st century BC ) . Popular tales included the Story of Sinuhe and The Eloquent Peasant , while important teaching texts include the Instructions of Amenemhat and The Loyalist Teaching . By the New Kingdom period , the writing of commemorative graffiti on sacred temple and tomb walls flourished as a unique genre of literature , yet it employed formulaic phrases similar to other genres . The acknowledgment of rightful authorship remained important only in a few genres , while texts of the `` teaching '' genre were pseudonymous and falsely attributed to prominent historical figures .   Ancient Egyptian literature has been preserved on a wide variety of media . This includes papyrus scrolls and packets , limestone or ceramic ostraca , wooden writing boards , monumental stone edifices and coffins . Texts preserved and unearthed by modern archaeologists represent a small fraction of ancient Egyptian literary material . The area of the floodplain of the Nile is under-represented because the moist environment is unsuitable for the preservation of papyri and ink inscriptions . On the other hand , hidden caches of literature , buried for thousands of years , have been discovered in settlements on the dry desert margins of Egyptian civilization .

neg: Pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha ( also anglicized as `` pseudepigraph '' or `` pseudepigraphs '' ) are falsely-attributed works , texts whose claimed author is not the true author , or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past . Pseudepigraphy covers the false ascription of names of authors to works , even to authentic works that make no such claim within their text . Thus a widely accepted but incorrect attribution of authorship may make a completely authentic text pseudepigraphical . Assessing the actual writer of a text locates questions of pseudepigraphical attribution within the discipline of literary criticism .   In biblical studies , the term pseudepigrapha typically refers to an assorted collection of Jewish religious works thought to be written c 300 BC to 300 AD . They are distinguished by Protestants from the Deuterocanonical books ( Catholic and Orthodox ) or Apocrypha ( Protestant ) , the books that appear in extant copies of the Septuagint from the fourth century on , and the Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Bible or in Protestant Bibles . The Catholic Church distinguishes only between the deuterocanonical and all the other books , that are called biblical apocrypha , a name that is also used for the pseudepigrapha in the Catholic usage . In addition , two books considered canonical in the Orthodox Tewahedo churches , viz . Book of Enoch and Book of Jubilees , are categorized as pseudepigrapha from the point of view of Chalcedonian Christianity .


query: The brown bear is not listed as a least concern species.

pos: Brown bear The brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) is a large bear with the widest distribution of any living ursid . The species is distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America . It is one of the two largest terrestrial carnivorans alive today , rivaled in body size only by its close cousin , the polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) , which is much less variable in size and averages larger due to this . There are several recognized subspecies , many of which are quite well-known within their native ranges , found in the brown bear species .   The brown bear 's principal range includes parts of Russia , Central Asia , China , Canada , the United States ( mostly Alaska ) , Scandinavia and the Carpathian region ( especially Romania ) , Anatolia , and Caucasus . The brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries .   While the brown bear 's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions , it remains listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) with a total population of approximately 200,000 . As of 2012 , this and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN . However , the Californian , North African ( Atlas bear ) , and Mexican subspecies were hunted to extinction in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries , and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered . One of the smaller-bodied subspecies , the Himalayan brown bear , is critically endangered , occupying only 2 % of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its parts . The Marsican brown bear , one of several currently isolated populations of the main Eurasian brown bear race , in central Italy is believed to have a population of just 30 to 40 bears .

neg: Red-bellied lemur The red-bellied lemur ( Eulemur rubriventer ) is a medium-sized strepsirrhine primate with a luxuriant chestnut brown coat . This lemur is endemic to eastern Madagascan rainforests and is distinguished by patches of white skin below the eyes , giving rise to a `` teardrop '' effect , particularly conspicuous in the male .   The species , first identified in the year 1850 , exhibits diurnal behaviour and marked sexual dimorphism . The red-bellied lemur has been studied extensively since the mid-1980s , primarily in Ranomafana National Park . This lemur species is designated as vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List , due to threats endangering habitats from slash-and-burn agriculture in Madagascar .

neg: Climate change denial Climate change denial , or global warming denial , is part of the global warming controversy . It involves denial , dismissal , unwarranted doubt or contrarian views which strongly depart from the scientific opinion on climate change , including the extent to which it is caused by humans , its impacts on nature and human society , or the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions . Some deniers do endorse the term , but others often prefer the term climate change skepticism , although this is a misnomer for those who deny anthropogenic global warming . In effect , the two terms form a continuous , overlapping range of views , and generally have the same characteristics : both reject , to a greater or lesser extent , mainstream scientific opinion on climate change . Climate change denial can also be implicit , when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action . Several social science studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism .   Campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science has been described as a `` denial machine '' of industrial , political and ideological interests , supported by conservative media and skeptical bloggers in manufacturing uncertainty about global warming . In the public debate , phrases such as climate skepticism have frequently been used with the same meaning as climate denialism . The labels are contested : those actively challenging climate science commonly describe themselves as `` skeptics '' , but many do not comply with common standards of scientific skepticism and , regardless of evidence , persistently deny the validity of human caused global warming .   Although scientific opinion on climate change is that human activity is extremely likely to be the primary driver of climate change , the politics of global warming have been affected by climate change denial , hindering efforts to prevent climate change and adapt to the warming climate . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none .   Of the world 's countries , the climate change denial industry is most powerful in the United States . Since January 2015 , the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has been chaired by oil lobbyist and climate change denier Jim Inhofe . Inhofe is notorious for having called climate change `` the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against the American people '' and for having claimed to have debunked the alleged hoax in February 2015 when he brought a snowball with him in the Senate chamber and tossed it across the floor . Organised campaigning to undermine public trust in climate science is associated with conservative economic policies and backed by industrial interests opposed to the regulation of emissions . Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby , the Koch brothers , industry advocates and libertarian think tanks , often in the United States . More than 90 % of papers sceptical on climate change originate from right-wing think tanks .  The total annual income of these climate change counter-movement-organizations is roughly $ 900 million . Between 2002 and 2010 , nearly $ 120 million ( # 77 million ) was anonymously donated via the Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund to more than 100 organisations seeking to undermine the public perception of the science on climate change . In 2013 the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the State Policy Network ( SPN ) , an umbrella group of 64 U.S. think tanks , had been lobbying on behalf of major corporations and conservative donors to oppose climate change regulation .   Since the late 1970s , oil companies have published research broadly in line with the standard views on global warming . Despite this , oil companies organized a climate change denial campaign to disseminate public disinformation for several decades , a strategy that has been compared to the organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking by tobacco companies .

neg: Environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical , biological and information sciences ( including ecology , biology , physics , chemistry , zoology , mineralogy , oceanology , limnology , soil science , geology , atmospheric science , and geodesy ) to the study of the environment , and the solution of environmental problems . Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment . Today it provides an integrated , quantitative , and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems .   Related areas of study include environmental studies and environmental engineering . Environmental studies incorporates more of the social sciences for understanding human relationships , perceptions and policies towards the environment . Environmental engineering focuses on design and technology for improving environmental quality in every aspect .   Environmental scientists work on subjects like the understanding of earth processes , evaluating alternative energy systems , pollution control and mitigation , natural resource management , and the effects of global climate change . Environmental issues almost always include an interaction of physical , chemical , and biological processes . Environmental scientists bring a systems approach to the analysis of environmental problems . Key elements of an effective environmental scientist include the ability to relate space , and time relationships as well as quantitative analysis .   Environmental science came alive as a substantive , active field of scientific investigation in the 1960s and 1970s driven by ( a ) the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to analyze complex environmental problems , ( b ) the arrival of substantive environmental laws requiring specific environmental protocols of investigation and ( c ) the growing public awareness of a need for action in addressing environmental problems . Events that spurred this development included the publication of Rachel Carson 's landmark environmental book Silent Spring along with major environmental issues becoming very public , such as the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill , and the Cuyahoga River of Cleveland , Ohio , `` catching fire '' ( also in 1969 ) , and helped increase the visibility of environmental issues and create this new field of study .

neg: Gobi bear The Gobi bear , Ursus arctos gobiensis ( known in Mongolian as the mazaalai / Мазаалай ) is a subspecies of the brown bear , Ursus arctos , that is found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia . It is listed as critically endangered by Mongolian Redbook of Endangered Species and by the Zoological Society of London using IUCN standards , the population included only around 20 adults and were separated by enough distance .   `` Break camp about 9.30 a.m. and head for the Atis Mountains . We cross a large open plain and then enter a steep-sided , black , shale-strewn valley . Just before we entered the valley we discovered the footprints of the extremely rare Gobi Bear ( ursus gobiensis ) -LSB- there are presumed to be approximately only thirty-two in the world and there is continuing debate among scientists over whether they are a true species or a sub-species -RSB- . ''   Gobi bears mainly eat roots , berries , and other plants , sometimes rodents , there were no evidence that they ate large mammals . Small compared to other brown bear subspecies , adult males weigh about 96.0 -- and females about 51.0 -- .   The Gobi brown bear is sometimes classified as being of the same subspecies as the Tibetan blue bear ; this is based on morphological similarities , and the belief that the desert-dwelling Gobi bear represents a relict population of the blue bear . However , the Gobi bear is sometimes classified as its own subspecies , and closely resembles other Asian brown bears . There are only 22 Gobi bears left .

neg: Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 `` MBTA '' redirects here . For the Boston , MA based transportation company , see Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority .   The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 ( MBTA ) , codified at ( although § 709 is omitted ) , is a United States federal law , first enacted in 1916 in order to implement the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Great Britain ( acting on behalf of Canada ) . The statute makes it unlawful without a waiver to pursue , hunt , take , capture , kill or sell birds listed therein ( `` migratory birds '' ) . The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers , eggs and nests . Over 800 species are currently on the list .   Some exceptions to the act , including the eagle feather law , are enacted in federal regulations , which regulates the taking , possession , and transportation of bald eagles , golden eagles , and their `` parts , nests , and eggs '' for `` scientific , educational , and depredation control purposes ; for the religious purposes of American Indian tribes ; and to protect other interests in a particular locality . '' Enrolled members of federally recognized tribes may apply for an eagle permit for use in `` bona fide tribal religious ceremonies . ''   The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits for otherwise prohibited activities under the act . These include permits for taxidermy , falconry , propagation , scientific and educational use , and depredation , an example of the latter being the killing of geese near an airport , where they pose a danger to aircraft .   The Act was enacted in an era when many bird species were threatened by the commercial trade in birds and bird feathers . The Act was one of the first federal environmental laws ( the Lacey Act had been enacted in 1900 ) . The Act replaced the earlier Weeks-McLean Act ( 1913 ) . Since 1918 , similar conventions between the United States and four other nations have been made and incorporated into the MBTA : Mexico ( 1936 ) , Japan ( 1972 ) and the Soviet Union ( 1976 , now its successor state Russia ) . Some of the conventions stipulate protections not only for the birds themselves , but also for habitats and environs necessary for the birds ' survival .   Constitutionally this law is of interest as it is a use of the federal treaty-making power to override the provisions of state law . The principle that the federal government may do this was upheld in the case Missouri v. Holland .

neg: List of mammals of Ecuador This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Ecuador . There are 317 mammal species in Ecuador , of which 2 are critically endangered , 10 are endangered , 23 are vulnerable , and 7 are near-threatened .  2 of the species listed for Ecuador are considered to be extinct .   The following tags are used to highlight each species ' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN :   Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria . Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories :

neg: World Charter for Nature World Charter for Nature was adopted by United Nations member nation-states on October 28 , 1982 . It proclaims five `` principles of conservation by which all human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged . ''   Nature shall be respected and its essential processes shall not be impaired .  The genetic viability on the earth shall not be compromised ; the population levels of all life forms , wild and domesticated , must be at least sufficient for their survival , and to this end necessary habitats shall be safeguarded .  All areas of the earth , both land and sea , shall be subject to these principles of conservation ; special protection shall be given to unique areas , to representative samples of all the different types of ecosystems and to the habitats of rare or endangered species .  Ecosystems and organisms , as well as the land , marine and atmospheric resources that are utilized by man , shall be managed to achieve and maintain optimum sustainable productivity , but not in such a way as to endanger the integrity of those other ecosystems or species with which they coexist .  Nature shall be secured against degradation caused by warfare or other hostile activities .   The vote was 111 for , one against ( United States ) , 18 abstentions .

neg: Illegal logging in Madagascar Illegal logging has been a problem in Madagascar for decades and is perpetuated by extreme poverty and government corruption . Often taking the form of selective logging , the trade has been driven by high international demand for expensive , fine-grained lumber such as rosewood and ebony . Historically , logging and exporting in Madagascar have been regulated by the Malagasy government , although the logging of rare hardwoods was explicitly banned from protected areas in 2000 . Since then , government orders and memos have intermittently alternated between permitting and banning exports of precious woods . The most commonly cited reason for permitting exports is to salvage valuable wood from cyclone damage , although this reasoning has come under heavy scrutiny . This oscillating availability of Malagasy rosewood and other precious woods has created a market of rising and falling prices , allowing traders or `` timber barons '' to stockpile illegally sourced logs during periodic bans and then flood the market when the trade windows open and prices are high .   The unsustainable exploitation of these tropical hardwoods , particularly rosewood from the SAVA Region , has escalated significantly since the start of the 2009 Malagasy political crisis . Thousands of poorly paid Malagasy loggers have flooded into the national parks -- especially in the northeast -- building roads , setting up logging camps , and cutting down even the most difficult to reach rosewood trees . Illegal activities are openly flaunted , armed militia have descended upon local villages , and a rosewood mafia easily bribe government officials , buying export permits with ease . These illegal operations are funded in part by advance payments for future shipments ( financed by Chinese expatriates and Chinese importers ) and by loans from large , international banks . Demand is fueled mostly by a growing Chinese middle class and their desire for exotic imperial-style furniture . European and American demand for high-end musical instruments and furniture have also played a role . However , public scrutiny has put significant pressure on shipping companies involved in the trade , and the United States is starting to enforce the Lacey Act by investigating companies with suspected involvement in the illegal trade of Malagasy precious woods .   Logging in Madagascar 's tropical rainforests has had many secondary effects , beyond the risk of depletion of rare , endemic trees . Habitat has been disturbed , illegal mining has begun , local people have turned in desperation to the forests for resources , and poaching of endangered wildlife has escalated . Lemurs , the most well-known faunal group from the island , have been captured for the exotic pet trade as well as killed for food . Even the most critically endangered species have been targeted , primarily to feed a growing demand for delicacy food in up-scale restaurants . The local villagers have also suffered as tourism has declined sharply or ceased almost entirely . Some have resorted to working as loggers for minimal pay , while others have spoken out against it , often receiving death threats from the rosewood mafia in return .

neg: Pack hunter A pack hunter or social predator is a predator belonging to the animal kingdom which has evolved to hunt its prey by working together with other members of its species . Normally animals hunting in this way are closely related , and with the exceptions of humans and chimpanzees where only males normally hunt , all individuals in a family group will contribute to hunting . The most commonly known pack hunter is the gray wolf , the closest wild relative of all breeds of domesticated dog . Humans and their closest-living relatives chimpanzees are also pack hunters . Other pack hunting mammals include dolphins , lions , dwarf and banded mongooses and spotted hyenas . A number of avian social predators exist , including the Harris 's hawk , butcherbirds , three of four kookaburra species and many helmetshrikes . There are a few cold-blooded pack hunters including simple arthropods such as army ants , the yellow saddle goatfish and occasionally crocodiles .   There is a possibility that some non-avian theropod dinosaurs displayed pack behavior as well .   A social animal that always hunts , singly such as the domestic cat , is not a pack hunter .   Pack hunting is typically associated with cooperative breeding and its concentration in the Afrotropical Region is a reflection of this . Most pack hunters are found in the southern African savannas , with a notable absence in tropical rainforests and with the exception of the wolf and coyote , higher latitudes . It is thought that either on the ancient and poor soils of the southern African savanna it is not possible for individual predators to find adequate food , or that the environment 's inherent unpredictability due to ENSO or IOD events means that in very bad conditions it will not be possible to raise the young necessary to prevent declining populations from adult mortality . It is also argued that Africa 's very large area of continuous flat and open country , which was even more extensive while rainforest contracted during glacial periods of the Quaternary , may have helped encourage pack hunting to become much more common than on any other continent .   A shared pack hunting history is thought to be the main conduit through which humans have been able to form a mutual relationship with dogs ( that is , domestication ) , as both species are highly social and inter-dependent . Humans easily take over the dominance hierarchy of dogs as subordinates instinctively follow the `` alpha '' individual and dogs are accustomed to living very close together   When wolves hunt a Moose or Elk , it sometimes takes to deep water to avoid the pack . A wolf response to this behavior is that the pack rests with one or two wolves annoying the prey until it gets fatigued .

neg: Tibetan blue bear The Tibetan bear or Tibetan blue bear ( Ursus arctos pruinosus ) is a subspecies of the brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) found in the eastern Tibetan Plateau .   It is also known as the Himalayan blue bear , Himalayan snow bear , Tibetan brown bear , or the horse bear . In Tibetan , it is known as Dom gyamuk .   One of the rarest subspecies of bear in the world , the blue bear is rarely sighted in the wild . The blue bear is known in the west only through a small number of fur and bone samples . It was first classified in 1854 .

neg: Ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur ( Lemur catta ) is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long , black and white ringed tail . It belongs to Lemuridae , one of five lemur families , and is the only member of the Lemur genus . Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar . Known locally in Malagasy as maky ( -LSB- makʲ -RSB- , spelled maki in French ) or hira , it inhabits gallery forests to spiny scrub in the southern regions of the island . It is omnivorous and the most terrestrial of extant lemurs . The animal is diurnal , being active exclusively in daylight hours .   The ring-tailed lemur is highly social , living in groups of up to 30 individuals . It is also female dominant , a trait common among lemurs . To keep warm and reaffirm social bonds , groups will huddle together . The ring-tailed lemur will also sunbathe , sitting upright facing its underside , with its thinner white fur towards the sun . Like other lemurs , this species relies strongly on its sense of smell and marks its territory with scent glands . The males perform a unique scent marking behavior called spur marking and will participate in stink fights by impregnating their tail with their scent and wafting it at opponents .   As one of the most vocal primates , the ring-tailed lemur uses numerous vocalizations including group cohesion and alarm calls . Experiments have shown that the ring-tailed lemur , despite the lack of a large brain ( relative to simiiform primates ) , can organize sequences , understand basic arithmetic operations and preferentially select tools based on functional qualities .   Despite reproducing readily in captivity and being the most populous lemur in zoos worldwide , numbering more than 2,000 individuals , the ring-tailed lemur is listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List due to habitat destruction and hunting for bush meat and the exotic pet trade . At present ( as of early 2017 ) , the population in the wild is believed to have crashed as low as 2,000 individuals due to habitat loss , poaching and hunting , making them far more critically endangered .

neg: Animal testing on non-human primates Experiments involving non-human primates ( NHPs ) include toxicity testing for medical and non-medical substances ; studies of infectious disease , such as HIV and hepatitis ; neurological studies ; behavior and cognition ; reproduction ; genetics ; and xenotransplantation . Around 65,000 NHPs are used every year in the United States , and around 7,000 across the European Union . Most are purpose-bred , while some are caught in the wild .   Their use is controversial . According to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics , NHPs are used because their brains share structural and functional features with human brains , but '' -LSB- w -RSB- hile this similarity has scientific advantages , it poses some difficult ethical problems , because of an increased likelihood that primates experience pain and suffering in ways that are similar to humans . '' Some of the most publicized attacks on animal research facilities by animal rights groups have occurred because of primate research . Some primate researchers have abandoned their studies because of threats or attacks .   In December 2006 , an inquiry chaired by Sir David Weatherall , emeritus professor of medicine at Oxford University , concluded that there is a `` strong scientific and moral case '' for using primates in some research . The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection argues that the Weatherall report failed to address `` the welfare needs and moral case for subjecting these sensitive , intelligent creatures to a lifetime of suffering in UK labs . ''

neg: Free the Bears Fund The Free the Bears Fund ( FBF ) is an Australian charitable wildlife-protection organisation . It was started by Mary Hutton , after she watched a documentary in 1993 on bears kept in small cages for bile farming . The fund was registered as a not-for-profit charity on 23 March 1995 . The Free the Bears Fund supports animal welfare projects in Cambodia , India , Indonesia , Laos , Thailand and Vietnam , working with rescued and confiscated Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) , Sun bear ( Helarctos malayanus ) , and Sloth bear ( Ursus ursinus ) . A sister charity Free the Bears UK was established in the United Kingdom in 2010 .

neg: List of mammals of Belgium This is a list of the mammal species recorded in Belgium . There are 71 mammal species in Belgium , of which 0 are critically endangered , 1 is endangered , 8 are vulnerable , and 3 are near-threatened .   The following tags are used to highlight each species ' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN :   Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria . Species assessed using this system have the following instead of Near Threatened and Least Concern categories :

neg: Taiga Taiga ( -LSB- ˈtaɪɡə -RSB- -LSB- тайга́ , p = tɐjˈɡa -RSB- from Turkic ) also known as boreal forest or snow forest , is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines , spruces and larches .   The taiga is the world 's largest biome apart from the oceans . In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States ( northern Minnesota through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Upstate New York and northern New England ) , where it is known as the Northwoods or `` North woods '' . In Eurasia , it covers most of Sweden , Finland , much of Norway , some of the Scottish Highlands , some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland , much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific Ocean ( including much of Siberia ) , and areas of northern Kazakhstan , northern Mongolia , and northern Japan ( on the island of Hokkaidō ) . However , the main tree species , the length of the growing season and summer temperatures vary . For example , the taiga of North America mostly consists of spruces ; Scandinavian and Finnish taiga consists of a mix of spruce , pines and birch ; Russian taiga has spruces , pines and larches depending on the region , while the Eastern Siberian taiga is a vast larch forest .   A different use of the term taiga is often encountered in the English language , with `` boreal forest '' used in the United States and Canada to refer to only the more southerly part of the biome , while `` taiga '' is used to describe the more barren areas of the northernmost part of the biome approaching the tree line and the tundra biome . Hoffman ( 1958 ) discusses the origin of this differential use in North America and why it is an inappropriate differentiation of the Russian term . Although at high elevations taiga grades into alpine tundra through Krummholz , it is not exclusively an alpine biome ; and unlike subalpine forest , much of taiga is lowlands .

neg: List of mammals of Greenland This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in Greenland . There are 26 mammal species native to Greenland , of which none are critically endangered , three are endangered , three are vulnerable , two are near-threatened and four are data-deficient . Only seven of these species are fully terrestrial . Introduced species ( e.g. , the house mouse and brown rat ) are not included .   The following tags are used to highlight each species ' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN :

neg: Tom Brown Jr. Tom Brown Jr. ( born January 29 , 1950 ) is an American naturalist , tracker , survivalist , and author from New Jersey , where he runs the Tom Brown Jr. . Tracker School .   In his books , Brown claims that , from the age of seven , he and his childhood friend Rick were trained in tracking and wilderness survival by Rick 's grandfather , `` Stalking Wolf '' ( whom Brown claims was Lipan Apache ) . There is no evidence that `` Stalking Wolf '' ever existed . Brown writes that Stalking Wolf died when Brown was 17 , and that Rick was killed in a horse riding accident in Europe shortly thereafter .   Brown spent the next ten years working odd jobs to support his wilderness adventures . He then set out to find other people in New Jersey who were interested in his experiences . Initially Brown met with little success , but was eventually called on to help locate a crime suspect . Though the case won him national attention , he was subsequently sued for 5 million dollars for finding the wrong person . Despite this failure , he was able to build on this exposure to develop a profession as a full-time tracker , advertising his services for locating lost persons , dangerous animals , and fugitives from the law . According to People magazine , `` He stalks men and animals , mostly in New Jersey . ''

neg: List of World Heritage Sites in Northern and Central Asia The UNESCO ( United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization ) has designated 19 World Heritage Sites in six countries ( also called `` state parties '' ) of Central and North Asia : Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and the Asian part of Russia . The European part of Russia is included in Eastern Europe .   Russia is home to the most inscribed sites with 7 sites , one of which is a transborder property shared with Mongolia in Eastern Asia . The first site from the region was the Itchan Kala in Uzbekistan inscribed in 1990 . Each year , UNESCO 's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list , or delist sites that no longer meet the criteria . Selection is based on ten criteria : six for cultural heritage ( i -- vi ) and four for natural heritage ( vii -- x ) . Some sites , designated `` mixed sites , '' represent both cultural and natural heritage . In Northern and Central Asia , there are 11 cultural , 8 natural , and no mixed sites . All of the Russian sites ( 7 ) are natural and with the exception of Sayarka , all of the sites in Central Asia are cultural .   The World Heritage Committee may also specify that a site is endangered , citing `` conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List . '' None of the sites in this region has ever been listed as endangered , but possible danger listing has been considered by UNESCO in a number of cases .

neg: Fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking , chase and , if caught , the killing of a fox , traditionally a red fox , by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds , and a group of unarmed followers led by a `` master of foxhounds '' ( `` master of hounds '' ) , who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback .   Fox hunting with hounds , as a formalised activity , originated in England in the sixteenth century , in a form very similar to that practised until 2005 , when the traditional form was made unlawful in England and Wales . A ban on hunting in Scotland had been passed in 2002 , but it continues to be within the law in Northern Ireland and several other countries , including : Australia , Canada , France , Ireland , Italy , and the United States . In Australia , the term also refers to the hunting of foxes with firearms , similar to deer hunting or spotlighting . In much of the world , hunting in general is understood to relate to any game animals or weapons ( e.g. , deer hunting with bow and arrow ) ; in Britain and Ireland , `` hunting '' without qualification implies fox hunting ( or other forms of hunting with hounds -- beagling , drag hunting , hunting the clean boot , mink hunting , or stag hunting ) , as described here .   This sport is controversial , particularly in the UK , where its traditional form was banned in Scotland in 2002 , and in England and Wales in November 2004 ( law enforced from February 2005 ) , although certain modified forms of hunting foxes with hounds are still within the law , and shooting foxes as vermin also remains lawful .   Proponents of fox hunting view it as an important part of rural culture , and useful for reasons of conservation and pest control , while opponents argue that it is cruel and unnecessary .

neg: List of birds of Brazil Brazil has one of the richest bird diversities in the world . The avifauna of Brazil include a total of 1799 species , of which 231 are endemic . Four have been introduced by humans , 69 are rare or accidental , and four are extinct or extirpated . An additional 24 species are hypothetical ( see below ) .   Brazil hosts about 60 % of the bird species recorded for all of South America . These numbers are still increasing almost every year , due to new occurrences , new species being described , or splits of existing species . About 10 % of the bird species found in Brazil are , nonetheless , threatened .   In June 2013 a simultaneous discovery of fifteen bird species in Brazil was announced , the first such since 1871 , when August von Pelzeln described forty new species . The birds were from the families Corvidae , Thamnophilidae , Dendrocolaptidae , Tyrannidae , and Polioptilidae . Eleven of the new species are endemics of Brazil and four also inhabit Peru and Bolivia .   This list 's taxonomic treatment ( designation and sequence of orders , families , and species ) and nomenclature ( common and scientific names ) follow the conventions of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World , 2016 edition . Except as an entry is cited otherwise , the list of species is that of the South American Classification Committee ( SACC ) of the American Ornithologists ' Union . The taxonomy used by the SACC differs from `` Clements '' , and significant differences in names are noted . Especially see typical antbirds and puffbirds ; entries in those families increase the above total species count by two and decrease the endemic count by one , respectively .   Differences from `` Clements '' in the sequence of orders , families , and species within families are not noted . Several new species have been proposed and are under consideration by the SACC ; one is listed here .   The following tags have been used to highlight certain categories , but not all species fall into one of these categories . Those that do not are commonly occurring native species .   ( A ) Accidental - a species that rarely or accidentally occurs in Brazil  ( E ) Endemic - a species endemic to Brazil  ( I ) Introduced - a species introduced to Brazil as a consequence , direct or indirect , of human actions  ( H ) Hypothetical - a species recorded but with `` no tangible evidence '' according to the SACC