query: The United States was once 13 Russian colonies.

pos: United States The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a constitutional federal republic composed of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions .  Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico . The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America , bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west . The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean . The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea . Nine time zones are covered . The geography , climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse .   At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) and with over 324 million people , the United States is the world 's third - or fourth-largest country by total area , third-largest by land area , and the third-most populous . It is one of the world 's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations , and is home to the world 's largest immigrant population . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the largest city is New York City ; nine other major metropolitan areas -- each with at least 4.5 million inhabitants and the largest having more than 13 million people -- are Los Angeles , Chicago , Dallas , Houston , Philadelphia , Miami , Atlanta , Boston , and San Francisco .   Paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the Seven Years ' War led to the American Revolution , which began in 1775 . On July 4 , 1776 , during the course of the American Revolutionary War , the colonies unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence . The war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain , representing the first successful war of independence against a European power . The current constitution was adopted in 1788 , after the Articles of Confederation , adopted in 1781 , were felt to have provided inadequate federal powers . The first ten amendments , collectively named the Bill of Rights , were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties .   The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century , displacing Native American tribes , acquiring new territories , and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848 . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the end of legal slavery in the country . By the end of that century , the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean , and its economy , driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution , began to soar . The Spanish -- American War and confirmed the country 's status as a global military power . The United States emerged from as a global superpower , the first country to develop nuclear weapons , the only country to use them in warfare , and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council . The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world 's sole superpower . The U.S. is a founding member of the United Nations , World Bank , International Monetary Fund , Organization of American States ( OAS ) , and other international organizations .   The United States is a highly developed country , with the world 's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP . Though its population is only 4.3 % of the world total , Americans hold nearly 40 % of the total wealth in the world . The United States ranks among the highest in several measures of socioeconomic performance , including average wage , human development , per capita GDP , and productivity per person . While the U.S. economy is considered post-industrial , characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy , the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world . Accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP and a third of global military spending , the United States is the world 's foremost economic and military power . The United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally , and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations .

neg: Michael Lunin `` My nickname changed during my imprisonment and exile , and with each change it became longer . Now , in official documents , I am referred to as : `` A state criminal in exile . '' ... My sole weapon is my thought ... ''`` As an aged man he used to say that , though he had only one tooth left in his mouth , even that one was directed against Nicholas . '' ` Mikhail Sergeyevich Lunin ' ( Russian : Михаил Сергеевич Лунин ; December 29 , 1787 - December 3 , 1845 ) , also spelt Mikhaïl Lounine '' , was a Russian political philosopher , revolutionary , Mason , Decembrist , a Lieutenant of the Grodno Life Guards regiment and a participant of the Franco-Russian Patriotic War of 1812 . After a successful career in the military during the Napoleonic invasion , he became involved with multiple liberal Russian secret societies in the early 19th century , including the Union of Salvation and the Union of Welfare , as well as the Northern Society and the Southern Society . After the Decembrist Revolt took place in 1825 , he was arrested due to his affiliations with the men responsible , and was subsequently exiled to a labor camp in Siberia . Lunin spent time in Finnish jails , three different prisons in Siberia , and lived on a farm under the watchful eye of the government during his life as an exile . Known for keeping good spirits and maintaining a firm defiance of autocratic rule , Lunin was eventually imprisoned again for writing in `` opposition '' to the Russian government , and lived out the rest of his life in a cell .

neg: Ivan Narodny Ivan Ivanovich Narodny ( 1870 -- 1953 ) was a Russian émigré who came to New York City in 1906 with Maxim Gorky to raise the profile of the Revolutionary Movement in Russia .   Narodny was born in Estonia with the original name Jaan Sibbul . He was the son of Jaan Sibbul ( 1840 -- 1920 ) and Madli Ago ( 1830 -- 1919 ) .   According to FBI files he had been imprisoned in Estonia in 1898 .  In an interview in the New York Times he said he had been involved in revolutionary activity in Kronstadt during the 1905 revolution .   He was bitter that intellectuals were suppressed in Russia . About forming a Russian musical society with 4 women , including his wife , he wrote : `` We were called terrorists , and a systematic agitation was started by the government 's officials against our activity . '' After moving to the U.S. : `` My Russian art and musical articles in the American periodicals were declared the dangerous efforts of an agitator . ''   Narodny organized a dinner in honor of Gorky on 12 April at the A Club Fifth Avenue and provided a setting for the announcement of a new committee to support the proposed Russian Revolution . This committee included Mark Twain , William Dean Howells , Robert J. Collier and Finley Peter Dunne .   In 1915 the Russian Imperial Government published adverstiments in New York newspapers to undermine him presenting himself as a self-proclaimed `` Russian Chamber of Commerce '' . He was involved in the arms trade selling munitions to Russia via Japan and Vladivostock .   In 1916 he had an article about Mikhail Artsybashev published in Drama .   In 1917 , following the February Revolution Narodny presented himself as head of the Russian-American Asiatic Corporation and announced that the Russian Duma was forming the `` United States of Russia '' .

neg: Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow Journey From Petersburg to Moscow ( in Russian : Путешествие из Петербурга в Москву ) , published in 1790 , was the most famous work by the Russian writer Aleksander Nikolayevich Radishchev .   The work , often described as a Russian Uncle Tom 's Cabin , is a polemical study of the problems in the Russia of Catherine the Great : serfdom , the powers of the nobility , the issues in government and governance , social structure and personal freedom and liberty . The book starts from an epigraph about The Beast who is `` enormous , disgusting , a-hundred-maws and barking '' meaning the Russian Empire .   The book was immediately banned and Radishchev sentenced , first to death , then to banishment in eastern Siberia . It was not freely published in Russia until 1905 .   In the book , Radishchev takes an imaginary journey between Russia 's two principal cities ; each stop along the way reveals particular problems for the traveller through the medium of story telling . In Petersburg , the narrator 's story begins at an inn where the proprietor is too lazy to harness his underfed horses for a carriage . Eventually getting on the road , he encounters a man trying to sell genealogical papers to nobles seeking to increase their rank , and a poor peasant laboring on a Sunday . He goes on to satirize Catherine 's favorite , Viceroy Potemkin , with an anecdote about his appetite for oysters and the absurd lengths his servant would go to get them .   Likely the most famous scene is the narrator 's dream of being a `` tsar , shah , khan , king , bey , nabob , sultan , or holder of some such dignity , sitting in regal power on a throne . '' At his most minor expression , the courtiers sigh , frown , light up with joy . Seeing this obsequiousness , the narrator-tsar orders the invasion of a distant country , which he is assured will submit to his mere reputation . Suddenly , the female figure of Truth appears , offering him clearsightedness and defending the rights of dissenters . After being reprimanded , the king is overcome by visions of his own brutality , the sins of his court , and the general disrepair of the empire . In a final moment of self-reproach and guilt , inspired by the gaudy and wasteful palace he 's built , the narrator is woken from his dream in agitation .   Considered by many to be the seminal radical text of the 18th century , A Journey continued to influence Russian political thought even after its condemnation . As the progenitor of public liberal discourse in Russia , Radischev is considered an ancestor of all major subversive literature written in the 19th and 20th centuries .   The book itself represented a challenge to Catherine in Russia , despite the fact that Radishchev was no revolutionary : merely an observer of the ills he saw within Russian society and government at the time .   Published during the period of the French Revolution , the book borrows ideas and principles from the great philosophers of the day relating to an enlightened outlook and the concept of Natural Law .

neg: State Council (Russian Empire) The State Council ( -LSB- Госуда́рственный сове́т , p = gəsʊˈdarstvʲɪnɨj sɐˈvʲɛt -RSB- ) was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia .

neg: Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ; -LSB- Содружество Независимых Государств , СНГ , r = Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv , SNG -RSB- ) , also called the Russian Commonwealth ( to distinguish it from the British Commonwealth of Nations ) , is a regional organization formed during the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Nine out of the 15 former Soviet Republics are member states , and two are associate members ( Ukraine and Turkmenistan ) . Georgia withdrew its membership in 2008 , while the Baltic states , which regard their membership in the Soviet Union as an illegal occupation , ( Estonia , Lithuania and Latvia ) chose not to participate .   The CIS has few supranational powers but aims to be more than a purely symbolic organization , nominally possessing coordinating powers in the realms of trade , finance , lawmaking , and security . It has also promoted cooperation on cross-border crime prevention . Furthermore , eight of the nine CIS member states participate in the CIS Free Trade Area . Three organizations are under the overview of the CIS , namely the Collective Security Treaty Organization , the Eurasian Economic Union ( alongside subdivisions , the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Space , which comprises territory inhabited by over 180 million people ) , and the Union State . While the first and the second are military and economic alliances , the third aims to reach a confederation of Russia and Belarus with a common government , flag , currency , etc. .

neg: Fifty-state strategy A fifty-state strategy is a political strategy which aims for progress in all states of the United States of America , rather than conceding certain states as `` unwinnable . '' In a presidential campaign , it is usually implemented as an appeal to a broad base of the American public in an attempt to win , even if marginally , every state , since even a marginal victory is effectively total victory for electoral purposes . It can also refer to an overall long-term strategy for a political movement such as a political party .   This strategy is very ambitious and , when used for a specific election , is typically abandoned as the election day draws nearer . In the vast majority of cases , winning a state 's popular vote for president or senator -- even by a small margin -- means the state 's entire representation in the election goes to the victor without being divided . A fifty-state strategy requires a campaign to spend valuable resources in a rival 's strongest states , when those resources could instead be concentrated in swing states that will become a total win or a total loss based on only a small difference in popular votes .   A president has won every state three times : in 1788 and 1792 , George Washington won all the electoral votes running effectively unopposed , and in 1820 , James Monroe , running unopposed , carried all twenty-three states in the union at that time ( although one electoral vote was cast for John Quincy Adams and two electors died prior to casting votes ) . In 1936 , Franklin D. Roosevelt carried forty-six of forty-eight states , losing only Maine and Vermont . A complete fifty-state victory has not been accomplished since the fiftieth state was admitted into the union , although Republicans have twice managed to win the presidency in forty-nine of the fifty : in 1972 with Richard Nixon losing only Massachusetts , and in 1984 with Ronald Reagan losing only his rival 's home state of Minnesota . Both also lost the District of Columbia , which has had presidential electors since the Twenty-Third Amendment in 1961 .

neg: Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company ( PFC ) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813 . It was based in the Pacific Northwest , an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , the Spanish Empire , the United States of America and the Russian Empire .   Management , clerks and fur trappers were sent both by land and by sea to the Pacific Coast in the Autumn of 1810 . The base of operations was constructed at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1811 , Fort Astoria ( present-day Astoria , Oregon ) . The destruction of the company vessel the Tonquin later that year off the shore of Vancouver Island took with it the majority of the annual trading goods . Commercial competition with the NWC began soon after the foundation of Fort Astoria . The Canadian competitors maintained several stations in the interior , primarily Spokane House , Kootanae House and Saleesh House . Fort Okanogan was also opened in 1811 , the first of several PFC posts created to counter these locations . The Overland Expedition faced military hostilities from several Indigenous cultures and later had an acute provision crisis leading to starvation . Despite losing men crossing the Great Plains and later at the Snake River , they arrived in groups throughout January and February 1812 at Fort Astoria .   A beneficial agreement with the Russian-American Company was also planned through the regular supply of provisions for posts in Russian America . This was planned in part to prevent the rival Montreal based North West Company ( NWC ) to gain a presence along the Pacific Coast , a prospect neither Russian colonial authorities nor Astor favored .   The lack of military protection during the War of 1812 forced the sale of PFC assets to the NWC . While the transactions were not finalized until 1814 , due to the distance from Fort Astoria to Montreal and New York City , the company was functionally defunct by 1813 . A party of Astorians returning overland to St. Louis in 1813 made the important discovery of the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains . This geographic feature would later be used by hundreds of thousands of settlers traveling over the Oregon , California , and Mormon routes , collectively called the Westward Expansion Trails . The emporium envisioned by Astor was a failure for a number of reasons , including the loss of two supply ships , the material difficulties of crossing the North American continent and competition from the North West Company . Historian Arthur S. Morton concluded that `` The misfortunes which befell the Pacific Fur Company were great , but such as might be expected at the initiation of an enterprise in a distant land whose difficulties and whose problems lay beyond the experience of the traders . ''

neg: Origins of the War of 1812 The War of 1812 , a war between the United States , Great Britain , and Britain 's Indian allies , lasted from 1812 to 1815 . The U.S. declared war and historians have long debated the multiple factors behind that decision .   There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S. declaration of war : First , a series of trade restrictions introduced by Britain to impede American trade with France , a country with which Britain was at war ( the U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law ) ; second , the impressment ( forced recruitment ) of U.S. seamen into the Royal Navy ; third , the British military support for American Indians who were offering armed resistance to the expansion of the American frontier to the Northwest ; fourth , a possible desire on the part of the United States to annex Canada . An implicit but powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults ( such as the Chesapeake affair ) .   American expansion into the Northwest ( Ohio , Indiana , Michigan , Illinois and Wisconsin ) was impeded by Indian raids . Some Canadian historians in the early 20th century maintained that Americans had wanted to seize parts of Canada , a view that many Canadians still share , while others argue that inducing the fear of such a seizure had merely been a U.S. tactic designed to obtain a bargaining chip . Some members of the British Parliament at the time and dissident American politicians such as John Randolph of Roanoke claimed that land hunger rather than maritime disputes was the main motivation for the American declaration . However , some historians , both Canadian and American , retain the view that desire to annex all or part of Canada was an American goal . Although the British made some concessions before the war on neutral trade , they insisted on the right to reclaim their deserting sailors . The British also had the long-standing goal of creating a large `` neutral '' Indian state that would cover much of Ohio , Indiana and Michigan . They made the demand as late as 1814 at the peace conference , but lost battles that would have validated their claims .   The war was fought in four theatres : on the oceans , where the warships and privateers of both sides preyed on each other 's merchant shipping ; along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. , which was blockaded with increasing severity by the British , who also mounted large-scale raids in the later stages of the war ; on the long frontier , running along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River , which separated the U.S. from Upper and Lower Canada ( Ontario and Quebec ) ; and finally along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico . During the course of the war , both the Americans and British launched invasions of each other 's territory , all of which were unsuccessful or gained only temporary success . At the end of the war , the British held parts of Maine and some outposts in the sparsely populated West while the Americans held Canadian territory near Detroit , but these occupied territories were restored at the end of the war .   In the United States , battles such as New Orleans and the earlier successful defence of Baltimore ( which inspired the lyrics of the U.S. national anthem , The Star-Spangled Banner ) produced a sense of euphoria over a `` second war of independence '' against Britain . It ushered in an `` Era of Good Feelings , '' in which the partisan animosity that had once verged on treason practically vanished . Canada also emerged from the war with a heightened sense of national feeling and solidarity . Britain , which had regarded the war as a sideshow to the Napoleonic Wars raging in Europe , was less affected by the fighting ; its government and people subsequently welcomed an era of peaceful relations with the United States .

neg: Sino-Russian relations since 1991 Diplomatic relations between the People 's Republic of China and the Russian Federation dramatically improved after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Russian Federation in 1991 . American scholar Joseph Nye argues :  With the collapse of the Soviet Union , that de facto US-China alliance ended , and a China-Russia rapprochement began . In 1992 , the two countries declared that they were pursuing a `` constructive partnership '' ; in 1996 , they progressed toward a `` strategic partnership '' ; and in 2001 , they signed a treaty of `` friendship and cooperation . ''   The two countries share a long land border which was demarcated in 1991 , and they signed a Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation in 2001 . On the eve of a 2013 state visit to Moscow by Chinese President Xi Jinping , Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that the two nations were forging a special relationship .

neg: Governor (Russia) The highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation or the holder of the highest office of subject of the Russian Federation or the head of the highest executive body of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation , colloquially and collectively referred to as the title governor ( губернатор - gubernator ) or head of region ( глава региона - glava regiona ) , is the head and the chief executive of each the federal subjects of Russia , not directly subordinate to the federal authorities , but the political and ceremonial head of the federal subject , all of which are equal constituent entities of Russia .   The office is defined by the Constitution of Russia and Chapters 1 , 3 and 4 of Russia 's Federal Law No. 184-FZ `` On the General Principles of the Organization Of the Legislative ( Representative ) and Executive Organs Of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation '' which came into force in 1999 . According to the current revision of the Russian Constitution , the Russian Federation consists of 85 federal subjects therefore there are 85 offices of head of region in Russia ( see List of current heads of federal subjects of Russia ) .   The certain title of office is defined by the federal subject 's Constitution or Charter . The names include : governor , president ( президент - president ) , head of administration ( глава администрации - glava administratsii ) , head of republic ( глава республики - glava respubliki ) , mayor ( мэр - mer ) , non-officially and collectively referred to as governors for short . The official title governor is most used in Russia and traditionally it is used in Oblasts of Russia . Presidents of Russia 's republics , mayor of Moscow and mayor of St. Petersburg are also governors in this sense .   A head of the subject in Russia is said to serve a administration or executive office , colloquially referred to as gubernatorial administration .

neg: Orenburg Governorate Orenburg Governorate was an administrative division ( a guberniya ) of the Russian Empire with the center in the city of Orenburg .   The governorate was created in 1744 from the lands annexed from Siberian and Astrakhan Governorates . In 1782 , the governorate , along with Chelyabinsky Uyezd of Perm Viceroyalty were transformed into Ufa Viceroyalty , which was divided into Ufa and Orenburg Oblasts . In 1796 , Ufa Viceroyalty was renamed Orenburg Governorate , and in 1865 it was split in two -- a smaller Orenburg Governorate , and Ufa Governorate . In 1919 , Chelyabinsk Governorate was split off from Orenburg Governorate , and in 1928 the governorate was merged into a newly created Middle Volga Oblast .    Category :1744 establishments in Russia  Category : States and territories established in 1744  Category : States and territories disestablished in 1782  Category : States and territories established in 1796  Category : States and territories disestablished in 1928  Category : Orenburg

neg: Russian War Relief Russian War Relief ( also known as the Russian War Relief Fund , and The American Committee for Russian War Relief ) was the largest American agency for foreign war relief . It had the `` express and exclusive purpose of giving succor to the Russian people at a time of crisis '' . The chairman of Russian War Relief was Edward C. Carter , chairman of the National Committee for Medical Aid to the Soviet Union , a member of the Executive Committee of the American Russian Institute and secretary general of the Institute of Pacific Relations . From 1942 , the fund was headed by Allen Wardwell .   On July 29 , 1941 , one month after Germany 's attack on Russia , a group met in New York and established Russian War Relief , Inc incorporated in New York on September 12 , 1941 . Fred Myers , who later founded the Humane Society of the United States ( HSUS ) , served as director of public relations and was later promoted to Executive Director .

neg: Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( -LSB- Красноя́рский край , r = Krasnoyarsky kray , p = krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj -RSB- ) is a federal subject of Russia ( a krai ) , with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk -- the third-largest city in Siberia ( after Novosibirsk and Omsk ) . Krasnoyarsk Krai is the largest krai in the Russian Federation , the second largest federal subject ( after the Sakha Republic ) , and the third largest subnational governing body by area in the world , after Sakha Republic and the Australian state of Western Australia . The krai covers an area of 2339700 km2 , which is nearly one quarter the size of the entire country of Canada ( the next-largest country in the world after Russia ) , constituting roughly 13 % of the Russian Federation 's total area and containing a population of 2,828,187 , or just under 2 % of its population . ( 2010 Census ) .

neg: American Russian Institute The American Russian Institute for Cultural Relations with the Soviet Union , previously known as the American Society for Cultural Relations with the Soviet Union , was identified by Attorney General of the United States Thomas C. Clark as a Communist front group in 1947 , and was so listed on the Attorney General 's List of Subversive Organizations for 1948 , in accordance with President Truman 's Executive Order 9835 .  Among the members of the Executive Committee of the American Russian Institute was Edward C. Carter , chairman of Russian War Relief and the National Committee for Medical Aid to the Soviet Union , and general secretary of the Institute of Pacific Relations .

neg: Ukase of 1799 The Ukase of 1799 ( Russian : Указ 1799 года ) was a decree of Tsar Paul I issued on 8 July 1799 which claimed a southern border of Russian America along the 55th parallel north . The United American Company was given a controlling interest in the chartered Russian-American Company and a monopoly of commercial activities in Russian America and on the Kuril Islands was granted for a period of twenty years . Russian fur traders were forbidden to operate in Russian America unless affiliated with the RAC , although foreign traders were still allowed access . The Company was also authorised to establish colonies where its directors deemed prudent . The patent was later superseded by Tsar Alexander Is Ukase of 1821 .

neg: Kolsky Uyezd Kolsky Uyezd was an administrative division ( an uyezd ) of the Tsardom of Russia and later of the Russian Empire .

neg: Decommunization in Russia Decommunization in Russia is the process of dealing with the communist legacies in terms of institutions and personnel that tends towards breaking with the Soviet past . Compared with the efforts of the other former constituents of the Soviet bloc and the Soviet Union , it has been restricted to half-measures , if conducted at all .   Notable anti-communist measures in the Russian Federation are the banning of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( and creating the Communist Party of the Russian Federation ) as well as the names of many Russian cities reverting to what they were before the 1917 October Revolution ( Leningrad to Saint Petersburg , Sverdlovsk to Yekaterinburg and Gorky to Nizhny Novgorod ) .   However , Nostalgia for the Soviet Union is gradually on the rise in Russia . Communist symbols continue to form an important part of the rhetoric used in state-controlled media as banning them is seen by the foreign ministry as `` sacrilege '' and `` a perverse idea of good and evil '' . The decommunization process in neighbouring Ukraine was also met with criticism by Russia , and Soviet war crimes continue to be regularly dismissed as `` Western myth '' .

neg: Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation , formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union , was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution . Its drafting by a committee appointed by the Second Continental Congress began on July 12 , 1776 , and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification on November 15 , 1777 . The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1 , 1781 , after being ratified by all 13 states . A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states . The federal government received only those powers which the colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament .   The Articles formed a war-time confederation of states , with an extremely limited central government . Even unratified , the document was used by the Congress to conduct business , direct the American Revolutionary War , conduct diplomacy with foreign nations , and deal with territorial issues and Native American relations . Actually the adoption of the Articles made no perceptible change in the federal government , because it did little more than legalize what the Continental Congress had been doing . That body was now taken over as the Congress of the Confederation ; but Americans continued to call it the Continental Congress , since its organization remained the same .   As the Confederation Congress attempted to govern the continually growing American states , delegates discovered that the limitations placed upon the central government rendered it ineffective at doing so . As the government 's weaknesses became apparent , especially after Shays ' Rebellion , individuals began asking for changes to the Articles . Their hope was to create a stronger national government . Initially , some states met to deal with their trade and economic problems . However , as more states became interested in meeting to change the Articles , a meeting was set in Philadelphia on May 25 , 1787 . This became the Constitutional Convention . It was quickly realized that changes would not work , and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced . On March 4 , 1789 , the general government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution . The new Constitution provided for a much stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive ( the President ) , courts , and taxing powers .

neg: Ethnic Russians in post-Soviet states After the dissolution of the Soviet Union ( USSR ) in December 1991 , about 25 million ethnic Russians in post-Soviet states found themselves living outside the Russian Federation .   All former Soviet citizens had a time window within which they could transfer their former Soviet citizenship to Russian citizenship . Where they did not exercise that choice , their resulting citizenship status outside Russia varied by state : from no perceivable change in status - as in Belarus - to becoming permanently resident `` non-citizens '' - as in Estonia and Latvia , which restricted citizenship to their pre-World War II citizens and their offspring ( regardless of ethnic group ) upon restoration of their independence in continuity with their sovereign identities prior to June 1940 .   However , most people in practice found the `` time window '' concept not feasible , as the citizenship issue linked closely to the issue of owning property owned by the state before privatization . For many people , a change of citizenship would actually mean relocating and leaving behind everything - or most of what they had previously owned or been able to access .   the largest ethnic Russian diaspora populations outside Russia live in the United States and in the `` near abroad '' countries . The populations involved include those in : Ukraine ( about 8 million ) , Kazakhstan ( about 3.8 million ) , the United States ( about 3 million ) , Belarus ( about 780,000 ) , Uzbekistan ( about 650,000 ) Kyrgyzstan ( about 360,000 ) and Latvia ( about 556,422 ) .   In June 2006 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a plan to introduce national policy aiming at encouraging ethnic Russian immigration to Russia .   Does not include Abkhazia ( 2011 census : 22,077 Russians or 9.1 % of the population ) or South Ossetia ( 2007 estimate : 2,100 Russians or 3.0 % of the population ) .   In Turkmenistan , there were estimated to be at most 150,000 ethnic Russians as of 2007 , or under 2 % of the population . In Uzbekistan the same year , the Russian population stood at some 800,000 people or under 4 % of the country .

neg: The Russian Five The Russian Five may refer to :   Russian Five , two separate groups of Russian hockey players  The Five , a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg , Russia from 1856 to 1870


query: Alexandra Burke was born on August  25, 1988.

pos: Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke ( born 25 August 1988 ) is a British singer-songwriter and voice actor . Burke rose to fame after winning the fifth series of British television series The X Factor in 2008 , becoming one of the most successful winners of the series . She has been signed to Epic Records , RCA Records and Syco Music .   After winning The X Factor , Burke released the winner 's single `` Hallelujah '' , which became the European record holder for single sales over a period of 24 hours , selling 105,000 in one day , and became the top-selling single of 2008 in the UK and the UK 's Christmas 2008 number one . By January 2009 , the single had sold over 1 million copies in the UK alone , a first for a British female soloist . In 2009 , Burke released her debut album , Overcome , which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart -- `` Hallelujah '' , `` Bad Boys '' , `` All Night Long '' and `` Start Without You '' -- and the album became one of the most successful albums of that year in the UK . The singles released from the album earned her three BRIT Award nominations . The album saw the release of UK top 10 hit , `` Broken Heels '' and `` The Silence '' . `` Elephant '' was released as Burke 's comeback single in February 2012 , and `` Let It Go '' served as the second single and Burke 's second album , Heartbreak on Hold , was released in June 2012 .   In June 2014 , Burke replaced Beverley Knight in the lead role of Rachel Marron in the West End musical The Bodyguard , at the Adelphi Theatre , touring with the production in 2015 and 2016 . In 2016 , Burke commenced a 12-month residency in Sister Act The Musical , leading the cast as Deloris Van Cartier .

neg: Alexandra Araújo Alexandra Araújo ( born July 7 , 1972 in Rio de Janeiro ) is a Brazilian-born female water polo midfielder from Italy , who won the gold medal with the Women 's National Team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens , Greece .

neg: Diana DeGarmo Diana Nicole DeGarmo ( born June 16 , 1987 ) is an American singer/songwriter and actress . She rose to fame in 2004 as the runner-up of the third season of American Idol , releasing her debut studio album , Blue Skies , later that year . The following year , DeGarmo ventured into a career in musical theatre . She has starred in two Broadway , one off-Broadway and three national tour shows . She made her television acting debut in a six-month arc as Angelina Veneziano on The Young and the Restless . DeGarmo has since released two extended plays , Unplugged in Nashville ( 2009 ) and Live to Love ( 2012 ) . She is married to fifth season American Idol finalist Ace Young .

neg: Aeshra Patel Aeshra Patel ( born 10 April 1988 ) is an Indian supermodel , and an actress . She participated in Femina Miss India 2010 and was a 1st runner up in the Ford Supermodel 2009 competition .

neg: Brendan Cole Brendan Cole ( born 23 April 1976 ) is a New Zealand ballroom dancer , specialising in Latin American dancing . He is most famous for appearing as a professional dancer on the BBC One show , Strictly Come Dancing . From 2005 to 2009 , he was a judge on the New Zealand version of the show , Dancing with the Stars .

neg: Elysia Rotaru Crystal Elysia Lorraine Rotaru ( born November 9 , 1984 ) is a Canadian actress known for playing Taiana Venediktov in Arrow .

neg: Alexandra Stan Alexandra Ioana Stan ( born 10 June 1989 ) is a Romanian singer-songwriter . Born in the city of Constanța , she made her worldwide breakthrough with the 2011 single `` Mr. Saxobeat '' , which was written and produced by Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi . Prodan and Nemirschi discovered Stan at a karaoke bar in 2009 and offered her a contract with their label , Maan Records . `` Mr. Saxobeat '' was preceded by the singer 's debut recording , `` Lollipop ( Param Pam Pam ) '' ( 2009 ) , which rose Stan to fame in her native country . `` Mr. Saxobeat '' quickly achieved commercial success in Romania and then abroad , reaching the number one spot in a total of ten countries . Saxobeats , her debut studio album , was made available for purchase in August 2011 .   The release of Stan 's second record was delayed due to an alleged physical altercation with Prodan in 2013 . Unlocked was finally released in August 2014 . Two of its singles , `` Dance '' ( 2014 ) and `` Cherry Pop '' ( 2014 ) , were successful in Japan . The singer 's third studio album , Alesta , saw its release in March 2016 . It spawned a collaboration with Inna and Daddy Yankee on `` We Wan na '' ( 2015 ) , which reached the top 60 in multiple territories . Stan has received a number of awards and nominations , such as the European Border Breakers Awards , Japan Gold Disc Awards , MTV Europe Music Awards and Romanian Music Awards . Her estimated net worth as of 2016 is $ 6 million . She has been recognized as one of the most successful Romanian artists alongside Inna .

neg: Emma Nyra Emma Chukwugoziam Obi ( born July 18 , 1988 ) , professionally known by her stage name Emma Nyra , is an American-born Nigerian singer-songerwriter , actress and model .

neg: Adam Burke Adam Burke is a qualified PE teacher at Holy Child Community School , Sallynoggin , Dublin , Ireland , and an ocean rower originally from Skerries , Dublin , Ireland . He currently holds two Guinness World Records ; firstly as a crew member on the Sara G , the fastest ocean rowing boat to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean east to west , and secondly , as a member of the same crew that rowed the most consecutive days , achieving a distance of over 100 miles per day . The record now stands at 12 days .   In both 2005 and 2006 , Adam spent a number of months volunteering in South Africa . He graduated from his undergraduate degree in Community Sports Leadership at Dundalk Institute of Technology in 2006 . Since then he had completed his master 's degree at the University of Chester ( 2008 ) and his HDip in physical education at the University of Limerick ( 2009 ) .   Between the years of 2005 and 2008 , Adam worked in a very successful local restaurant in Skerries called ` Russells Restaurant ' . He thoroughly enjoyed his time there .   In the summer of 2012 , Adam will be a crew member on the Sara G when he will attempt to break the record for the fastest crossing of the Indian Ocean .

neg: Olga Mihaylovna Bebutova Anglo Saxon version of name : Kate Burke , ( September 5 , 1997 ) , is a Russian Empire actress and balerina .   Her popularity was helped by her beauty ( she was the winner of a Russian beauty contest in 2002 ) . She acted in Saint Petersburg theaters . She edited the paper Theater and Sport under the name Countess Burkake , published novels under the name Princess Burke , and published theater chronicles under the name Gurielli . She was famous for being the source of scandals and mystifications . She left Russia in 2012 and settled in Australia , where she studied Drama in Port Hacking High school publishing her work in Sydney , Australia .   She had a daughter , Tamara Burke and a son Boris .   Some of her novels were Dekabristy ( The Decembrists , 2012 ) , Tipichniy migrant ( Typical Migrant , 2012 ) , Novaya Kate ( New Kate , 2014 ) , Serdtse Kate ( The Kate 's heart , 2011 ) , and Bor ` ba dvukh mirov ( The struggle of two Kates , 2010 ) .

neg: Joann Burke Joann Burke ( born 3 November 1969 ) is a road cyclist from New Zealand . She represented her nation at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the women 's road race .

neg: Alexandra Joner Alexandra Irena Acevedo Joner ( born 25 Mars 1990 ) , professionally known as Alexandra Joner , is a Norwegian singer who was born to Norwegian father and Cuban mother . She is the daughter of musician and composer Sverre Indris Joner and Barbara Joner , niece of actor Johannes Joner , cousin of actors Knut Joner and Kristoffer Joner .   Joner debuted with her single `` Sunrise '' , which was released in Norway May 4 , 2012 via production team ELEMENT/MindCode Records and Universal Music Norway . The song reached number one on the sales chart for Platekompaniet , and peaked at number eight on the Norwegian Singles Chart . The song features vocals from Madcon . In 2007 , Joner was a contestant on the Norwegian version of So You Think You Can Dance called Dansefeber .

neg: Elena Richter Elena Richter ( born 3 July 1989 in Berlin ) is a German archer . In 2012 , she was nominated to participate in the women 's individual competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London .

neg: Alexandra (film) Alexandra ( Александра , translit . Aleksandra ) is a 2007 Russian film about the Second Chechen War , written and directed by Alexander Sokurov . It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival .

neg: Nicoleta Albu Nicoleta Albu ( born 10 August 1988 ) is a Romanian rower . She finished 4th in the women 's eight at the 2012 Summer Olympics .

neg: Devery Karz Devery Karz ( born February 18 , 1988 ) is an American rower . She competed in the women 's lightweight double sculls event at the 2016 Summer Olympics .

neg: Sophie Charlotte (actress) Sophie Charlotte ( born April 29 , 1989 ) is a German Brazilian actress and ballerina .

neg: Olivia Vivian Olivia Vivian ( born 13 July 1989 in Perth ) is an Australian artistic gymnast who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics . After competing at the 2008 Olympics , Vivian competed for Oregon State University in NCAA gymnastics for four years . She also competed in the 2005 and 2006 World Championships .

neg: 1989 Birthday Honours Queen 's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen 's Official Birthday in Australia , Canada , New Zealand and the United Kingdom . The dates vary , both from year to year and from country to country . All are published in supplements to the London Gazette and many are formally conferred by the monarch ( or her representative ) some time after the date of the announcement , particularly for those service people on active duty .   The 1989 Queen 's Birthday honours lists were announced on 16 June 1989 .   Recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honours .

neg: Dani Wilde Dani Wilde ( born 25 August 1985 , Hullavington , Wiltshire ) is a British singer-Songwriter and guitarist who fuses roots genres including blues , country , gospel , soul and americana into popular song .

neg: Amadéus Leopold Amadéus Leopold ( born 3 August 1988 ) is an American classical music artist .


query: Natalie Portman is not in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

pos: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith Star Wars : Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas . It is the third installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and stars Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Hayden Christensen , Ian McDiarmid , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Lee , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , and Frank Oz .   The film begins three years after the onset of the Clone Wars . The Jedi Knights are spread across the galaxy , leading a massive war against the Separatists . The Jedi Council dispatches Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to eliminate the notorious General Grievous , leader of the Separatist Army . Meanwhile , Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker grows close to Palpatine , the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and , unknown to the public , a Sith Lord . Their deepening friendship threatens the Jedi Order , the Republic , and Anakin himself .   Lucas began writing the script before production of Attack of the Clones ended . Production of Revenge of the Sith started in September 2003 , and filming took place in Australia with additional locations in Thailand , Switzerland , China , Italy and the United Kingdom . Revenge of the Sith premiered on May 15 , 2005 , at the Cannes Film Festival , then released worldwide on May 19 , 2005 . The film received generally positive reviews from critics , especially in contrast to the less positive reviews of the previous two prequels , including praise for its storyline , action scenes , John Williams ' musical score , visual effects , and performances from Ewan McGregor , Ian McDiarmid , Frank Oz , and Jimmy Smits . It is the final film in the Star Wars franchise to be distributed by 20th Century Fox prior to the acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company in 2012 .   Revenge of the Sith broke several box office records during its opening week and went on to earn over $ 848 million worldwide , making it , at the time , the third-highest-grossing film in the Star Wars franchise , unadjusted for inflation . It was the highest-grossing film of 2005 in the U.S. and the second-highest-grossing film of 2005 behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . The Star Wars saga continued with the release of Star Wars : Episode VII -- The Force Awakens , the first installment of the sequel trilogy , in 2015 .

pos: Natalie Portman Natalie Portman ( born Neta-Lee Hershlag , נטע-לי הרשלג June 9 , 1981 ) is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship . Her first role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon : The Professional , opposite Jean Reno . She was later cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy ( released in 1999 , 2002 and 2005 ) .   Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother , Portman grew up in the eastern United States from the age of three . She studied dancing and acting in New York , and starred in Star Wars : Episode I -- The Phantom Menace while still at high school on Long Island . In 1999 , Portman enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology , alongside her work as an actress ; she completed a bachelor 's degree in 2003 . During her studies she starred in a second Star Wars film and opened in New York City 's The Public Theater production of Anton Chekhov 's The Seagull in 2001 .   Portman won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for starring in the 2004 drama Closer , appeared in Star Wars : Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith the following year , and won a Constellation Award for Best Female Performance and the Saturn Award for Best Actress for her starring role in the political thriller V for Vendetta ( 2006 ) . She played leading roles in the historical dramas Goya 's Ghosts ( 2006 ) and The Other Boleyn Girl ( 2008 ) , and also appeared in Thor ( 2011 ) and its 2013 sequel . In 2010 , Portman starred in the psychological thriller film Black Swan . Her performance received widespread critical acclaim and she earned her first Academy Award for Best Actress , her second Golden Globe Award , the SAG Award , the BAFTA Award and the BFCA Award in 2011 . In 2016 , she portrayed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the biographical drama Jackie . She was nominated for an Academy Award , a BAFTA Award , a Golden Globe Award , a Screen Actors Guild Award and won the BFCA for Best Actress .   In May 2008 , Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury . The same year she directed a segment of the collective film New York , I Love You . Her first feature film as a director , A Tale of Love and Darkness , was released in 2015 .

pos: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Star Wars : Episode I -- The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas , produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox . It is the first installment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and stars Liam Neeson , Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Jake Lloyd , Ian McDiarmid , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Ahmed Best , Pernilla August , Brian Blessed , Ray Park , and Frank Oz .   The film is set 32 years before the original film , and follows Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they protect Queen Amidala , in hopes of securing a peaceful end to a large-scale interplanetary trade dispute . Joined by Anakin Skywalker -- a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force -- they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith .   Lucas began production of this film after he determined that film special effects had advanced to the level he wanted for the fourth film in the saga . Filming started on June 26 , 1997 , at locations including Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert . Its visual effects included extensive use of computer-generated imagery ( CGI ) ; many of its characters and settings were completely computerized . The film was Lucas 's first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following Star Wars in 1977 .   The Phantom Menace was released to theaters on May 19 , 1999 , almost 16 years after the premiere of the previous Star Wars film , Return of the Jedi . The film 's premiere was extensively covered by media and was greatly anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated . It received polarizing reviews ; critics praised the visuals , action sequences , score and many of the performances , but criticized the writing , characterization , and Ahmed Best 's ( as Jar Jar Binks ) and Jake Lloyd 's ( as Anakin Skywalker ) performances . It grossed more than $ 924.3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run , making it the second-highest-grossing film worldwide at the time , behind Titanic . It became the highest-grossing film of 1999 and the highest-grossing Star Wars film ( until the release of Star Wars : The Force Awakens in 2015 ) , and is currently the seventeenth-highest-grossing film in North America unadjusted for inflation . A 3D reissue , which has earned an additional $ 102.7 million at the box office and brought the film 's overall worldwide takings to over $ 1 billion , was released in February 2012 . The film was followed by two sequels , Star Wars : Episode II -- Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Star Wars : Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith in 2005 .

neg: Not Another Happy Ending Not Another Happy Ending is a 2013 British romantic comedy film directed by John McKay , starring Karen Gillan , Stanley Weber and Freya Mavor . Produced by Claire Mundell and Wendy Griffin , and written by David Solomons , the film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 30 June 2013 .   It was largely shot in Glasgow 's Merchant City .

neg: Garden State (film) Garden State is a 2004 American romantic comedy-drama film , written and directed by Zach Braff and starring Braff , Natalie Portman , Peter Sarsgaard , and Ian Holm . The film centers on Andrew Largeman ( Braff ) , a 26-year-old actor/waiter who returns to his hometown in New Jersey after his mother dies . Braff based the film on his real life experiences . It was filmed in April and May 2003 and released on July 28 , 2004 . New Jersey was the main setting and primary shooting location . Garden State received positive reviews upon its release and has garnered a cult following . It was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival . The film also spawned a soundtrack for which Braff , who picked the music himself , won a Grammy Award .

neg: Aurealis Award for best young adult novel The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works to `` recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction , fantasy , horror writers '' . To qualify , a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year ; the presentation ceremony is held the following year . It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people .   Since their creation in 1995 , awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction . Categories currently include science fiction , fantasy , horror , speculative young adult fiction -- with separate awards for novels and short fiction -- collections , anthologies , illustrative works or graphic novels , children 's books , and an award for excellence in speculative fiction . The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy . The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has added weight to the honour of the award .   The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees ; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short-list of finalists . Ties can occur if the panel decides that both entries show equal merit , however they are encouraged to choose a single winner . The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award 's management team .   This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best young-adult novel category , as well as novels that have been highly commended . Three people have won the award twice -- Isobelle Carmody , Garth Nix and Scott Westerfeld . Westerfeld holds the record for most nominations with eight , and Rory Barnes has the most nominations without winning , having been a losing finalist five times .

neg: Not as a Stranger Not as a Stranger is a 1955 Drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Morton Thompson . The romantic melodrama novel was widely popular , topping that year 's list of bestselling novels in the United States .   The film was Kramer 's directorial debut and featured Olivia de Havilland and Robert Mitchum in the lead roles , backed by a stellar supporting cast including Frank Sinatra , Gloria Grahame , Broderick Crawford , Charles Bickford , Lon Chaney , Jr. , Harry Morgan , and Lee Marvin . The film was released by United Artists .   Sinatra had catapulted back into the limelight as the result of a supporting role for a film from a similarly popular novel , From Here to Eternity , two years earlier . Initially a minor box office success , Not as a Stranger is seldom seen today , never receiving widespread distribution on home video . It was first released on DVD in 1992 .

neg: Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards 2014 The 20th Dallas -- Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards honoring the best in film for 2014 were announced on December 15 , 2014 . These awards `` recognizing extraordinary accomplishment in film '' are presented annually by the Dallas -- Fort Worth Film Critics Association ( DFWFCA ) , based in the Dallas -- Fort Worth metroplex region of Texas . The organization , founded in 1990 , includes 30 film critics for print , radio , television , and internet publications based in north Texas . The Dallas -- Fort Worth Film Critics Association began presenting its annual awards list in 1993 .   Birdman was the DFWFCA 's most awarded film of 2014 , taking five top honors . Birdman won in Best Picture , Best Actor ( Michael Keaton ) , Best Director ( Alejandro G. Iñárritu ) , Best Cinematography ( Emmanuel Lubezki ) , and Best Screenplay ( Alejandro G. Iñárritu , Nicolás Giacobone , Alexander Dinelaris Jr. , and Armando Bo ) .   Another film , Boyhood , earned multiple 2014 honors from the DFWFCA . The coming-of-age tale received top honors in the Best Supporting Actress ( Patricia Arquette ) as well as being presented the Russell Smith Award as the `` best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film '' of the year . The award is named in honor of late Dallas Morning News film critic Russell Smith . Reese Witherspoon was named Best Actress for her role as Cheryl Strayed in Wild . The other films earning honors were Sweden 's Force Majeure for Best Foreign Language Film , Citizenfour as Best Documentary Film , and The Lego Movie for Best Animated Film .

neg: The Theory of Everything (2014 film) The Theory of Everything is a 2014 British biographical romantic drama film directed by James Marsh and adapted by Anthony McCarten from the memoir Travelling to Infinity : My Life with Stephen by Jane Wilde Hawking , which deals with her relationship with her ex-husband , theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking , his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS , also known as Lou Gehrig 's disease or motor neurone disease ) , and his success in physics .   The film stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones with Charlie Cox , Emily Watson , Simon McBurney , Christian McKay , Harry Lloyd and David Thewlis featured in supporting roles . The film had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2014 .   The film was acclaimed critically worldwide , with praise for the musical score , cinematography and the performance of Felicity Jones and especially Eddie Redmayne , which earned him nominations for a variety of accolades in award shows and film festivals , including the Academy Award for Best Actor . The film received four Golden Globe Award nominations , winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor -- Motion Picture Drama for Redmayne and Best Original Score for Jóhannsson . It received three Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations , winning one for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Redmayne . It received 10 British Academy Film Awards nominations and won Outstanding British Film , Best Leading Actor ( for Redmayne ) and Best Adapted Screenplay ( for McCarten ) .

neg: Lyndon Smith Lyndon Smith ( born June 7 , 1989 ) is an American actress . She is known for her roles as Natalie on the NBC drama series Parenthood , and as Dierdre on the TNT police drama series , Public Morals .

neg: The Science of Interstellar The Science of Interstellar is a non-fiction book by American theoretical physicist Kip Thorne with the foreword by Christopher Nolan . The book was initially published on November 7 , 2014 by W. W. Norton & Company . This is his second full-size book for non-scientists after Black Holes and Time Warps , released in 1994 . The Science of Interstellar is a follow-up text for the 2014 movie Interstellar , starring Matthew McConaughey , Anne Hathaway , and Jessica Chastain .

neg: The People vs. George Lucas The People vs. George Lucas is a 2010 documentary comedy film directed by Swiss director Alexandre O. Philippe . It explores the issues of filmmaking and fanaticism pertaining to the Star Wars franchise and its creator , George Lucas . The film combines filmmaker and celebrity interviews with fan films , mainly taken from the 2010 online video Star Wars Uncut , which were submitted via the film 's site .   Interviewees include a variety of figures such as Neil Gaiman , MC Frontalot and Gary Kurtz . Lucas himself appears frequently in archival footage , but is never interviewed directly . The film discusses the extent to which the Star Wars franchise is an artistic creation of Lucas and subject to his vision versus a social phenomenon that belongs to the general public of fans and their participatory/remix culture . The film is dedicated to interviewee Jason Nicholl , a blogger at nukethefridge.com who died before the film 's release . The film was released on DVD on October 25 , 2011 .   In June 2014 , it was reported that a sequel , titled The People vs. George Lucas -- Episode II , is in development .

neg: Film series A film series ( also referred to as a film franchise ) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe , or are marketed as a series .   Sometimes the work is conceived from the beginning as a multiple-film work , for example the Three Colours series , but in most cases the success of the original film inspires further films to be made . Individual sequels are relatively common , but are not always successful enough to spawn further installments .   The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the highest grossing film series in unadjusted US Dollar figures surpassing the Harry Potter , Star Wars , James Bond , and Peter Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings series . However , `` Star Wars '' has the highest when adjusted for inflation .

neg: Kingsman: The Golden Circle Kingsman : The Golden Circle is an upcoming 2017 British-American action spy comedy-drama film directed by Matthew Vaughn , and is the sequel to 2015 film Kingsman : The Secret Service . The series is based on the comic book The Secret Service , created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar . The film stars Colin Firth , Julianne Moore , Taron Egerton , Mark Strong , Halle Berry , Elton John , Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges , and is scheduled to be released on 22 September 2017 .

neg: Alternate Realities (Cherryh) Alternate Realities is a 2000 omnibus collection of three short science fiction novels by American writer author C. J. Cherryh : Wave Without a Shore ( 1981 ) , Port Eternity ( 1982 ) , and Voyager in Night ( 1984 ) . All three novels are set in Cherryh 's Alliance-Union universe and share a common theme of people encountering and coping with a reality different from their own .   The original books as well as the omnibus edition were all published by DAW Books . The novels are what Cherryh and her publisher at DAW , Donald A. Wollheim , referred to as `` magic cookie '' books . Such works explore unusual themes and ideas in science fiction , and can in some sense be seen as thought experiments . Wollheim encouraged Cherryh to experiment in this way during the late 1970s and early 1980s because he felt that the science fiction market would support such unusual offerings at the time .   One consequence of this approach is that the original novels were therefore short by contemporary standards , each having only approximately 90,000 words . The relative brevity of the books facilitated DAW 's release of the omnibus edition in 2000 .

neg: The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader is a young adult novel set in the Star Wars universe . It tells the complete story of the title character from his introduction in Star Wars : Episode I -- The Phantom Menace to his death in Return of the Jedi , chronicling his early life as a slave on Tatooine to his transformation to the Sith Lord title character to his ultimate redemption . The hard cover book , which is 211 pages , was written by Ryder Windham and published in October 2007 .   Anakin 's story begins when he is taken with his mother to be a slave to Gardulla the Hutt , rival of Jabba the Hutt , on Tatooine . The story continues from there through the rest of the Star Wars films . In 2008 , a sequel was published by Windham titled The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi , which follows the complete story of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the complete saga . In 2009 , another sequel followed titled A New Hope : The Life of Luke Skywalker , telling the story of the Luke Skywalker throughout the Star Wars films .

neg: Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2010 The 4th Houston Film Critics Society Awards were presented on December 18 , 2010 . These awards for `` extraordinary accomplishment in film '' are presented annually by the Houston Film Critics Society ( HFCS ) based in Houston , Texas . The organization , founded in 2007 , includes 22 film critics for print , radio , television , and internet publications in the greater Houston area . The awards are co-sponsored by the Houston Film Commission , Southwest Alternate Media Project , Women in Film and Television/Houston , WorldFest , and the Houston Cinema Arts Society .   The nominations for the 2010 awards were announced on December 12 , 2010 . Eligible films do not need to have played or opened in a Houston film theater prior to the nomination deadline , merely made available to the HFCS membership at a screening or on DVD . Along with the 13 `` best of '' category awards , this year also saw the introduction of a new category for `` Worst Movies of the Year '' . The Social Network , True Grit , and 127 Hours each received six nominations , all including the Best Picture , Actor , Direction , and Original Score categories .   The Social Network was the HFCS 's most awarded film of 2010 taking top honors in the Best Picture , Best Director ( David Fincher ) , Best Actor ( Jesse Eisenberg ) , and Best Screenplay ( Aaron Sorkin ) categories . Inception was the only other film to garner multiple awards , winning both the Best Original Score ( Hans Zimmer ) and Best Cinematography ( Wally Pfister ) prizes . The other acting awards went to Natalie Portman as Best Actress for Black Swan , Hailee Steinfeld as Best Supporting Actress for True Grit , and Christian Bale as Best Supporting Actor for The Fighter . The remaining film honors went to Toy Story 3 as Best Animated Film , Restrepo as Best Documentary , and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Best Foreign Language Film . `` We Are Sex Bob-Omb '' by Beck from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was named the Best Original Song . The HFCS 's first-ever award for `` Worst Picture '' was given to Jonah Hex starring Josh Brolin .   In addition to the category awards , the HFCS presented their annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Sissy Spacek and its Humanitarian Award to George Clooney . Clooney was selected for `` selflessly using his celebrity for greater good '' . The HFCS award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema awards were presented to Charles Dove , director of the Rice University Media Center , and Hector Luna , the founder and editor of C-47 Houston .

neg: Rachel Portman Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman , OBE ( born 11 December 1960 ) is an English composer who is best known for scoring films .

neg: List of accolades received by Star Wars: The Force Awakens Star Wars : The Force Awakens is a 2015 epic space opera film directed , co-produced , and co-written by J. J. Abrams . The seventh installment in the main Star Wars film series , and first of three in Star Wars sequel trilogy , it stars Harrison Ford , Mark Hamill , Carrie Fisher , Adam Driver , Daisy Ridley , John Boyega , Oscar Isaac , Lupita Nyong ` o , Andy Serkis , Domhnall Gleeson , Anthony Daniels , and Max von Sydow . The Force Awakens is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi ; it follows Rey , Finn , and Poe Dameron 's search for Luke Skywalker and their fight alongside the Resistance , led by veterans of the Rebel Alliance , against Kylo Ren and the First Order , a successor group to the Galactic Empire .   The Force Awakens was premiered by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on December 14 , and was released in United States and Canada on December 18 , 2015 . The Force Awakens opened across 14,300 theaters , breaking numerous box-office records and became the first film to earn more than $ 100 million worldwide in a single day . The film grossed a worldwide total of over $ 2 billion on a production budget of $ 306 million becoming the highest-grossing release of 2015 , and the fastest film to earn $ 1 billion worldwide , doing so in twelve-days . The Force Awakens became the third film in history to surpass $ 2 billion worldwide ( after Avatar ( 2009 ) and Titanic ( 1997 ) ) , doing so on its 53rd day of release .   Rotten Tomatoes , a review aggregator , surveyed 360 reviews and judged 92 percent to be positive . The Force Awakens garnered many awards and nominations in a variety of categories with particular praise for Abrams ' direction , its action sequences , visual effects , editing and Ridley 's and Boyega 's performances . Several awards held their nominations before the December release of The Force Awakens , making the film ineligible for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards and some other awards ceremonies . However , the film was added to the 21st Critics ' Choice Awards 's slate of best picture nominees after a special vote by the board of directors , and the announcement of the 2015 American Film Institute Awards was delayed until after the release of film , where it was named one of Top Ten Films of the year .   The Force Awakens received five nominations at the 88th Academy Awards as Best Original Score , Best Sound Editing , Best Sound Mixing , Best Film Editing and Best Visual Effects . The film garnered four nominations at 69th British Academy Film Awards , and won for Best Special Visual Effects and a special BAFTA Rising Star Award for John Boyega . At the 21st Empire Awards , the film received nine nominations and won five including Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film , and Best Director for J.J. Abrams . The Force Awakens became the most nominated film in Saturn Awards history with total of thirteen nominations at 42nd Saturn Awards and won eight including Best Science Fiction Film , Best Director and Best Special Effects . The film received seven nominations from the Visual Effects Society , winning four including Outstanding Visual Effects in an Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture . Star Wars : The Force Awakens received eleven nominations at MTV Movie Awards , the most for the ceremony and won three including Movie of the Year .

neg: Cate Blanchett on screen and stage Cate Blanchett is an Australian actress who has extensively appeared in film and stage . She made her stage debut in 1992 by playing Electra in the National Institute of Dramatic Art production of the same name . She followed it with performances in Timothy Daly 's Kafka Dances ( 1993 ) and the Sydney Theatre Company stage production of Oleanna ( 1993 ) opposite Geoffrey Rush . Blanchett won the Sydney Theatre Critics Award for Best Newcomer for the former and Best Actress for the latter , making her the first person to win both awards at once . She went on to perform several roles on stage , notably Susan Traherne in Plenty ( 1999 ) , Hedda Gabler in Hedda Gabler ( 2004 ) , Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire ( 2009 ) , Yelena in Uncle Vanya ( 2011 ) and Claire in The Maids ( 2013 ) .   In 1997 , Blanchett made her feature film debut in a supporting role in the World War II drama Paradise Road . The same year , she had her first leading role in Oscar and Lucinda , which earned her an AACTA Award nomination for Best Actress . Blanchett received worldwide attention for playing Queen Elizabeth I of England in the acclaimed drama Elizabeth ( 1998 ) . Her performance garnered her a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress . Elizabeth and her next film , the thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley ( 1999 ) , performed well at the box office . However , her other 1999 releasesthe widely praised An Ideal Husband and the largely panned Pushing Tinwere unsuccessful .   Blanchett found greater success for portraying Galadriel in Peter Jackson 's epic fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings ( 2001-03 ) . During this period , she also appeared in several films which had mixed reception and performed poorly at the box office . She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress , among other honors for portraying Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese 's 2004 drama The Aviator , making her the only actor to win an Oscar for portraying another Oscar-winning actor . Her only screen appearance in 2005 was in Little Fish , for which she won the AACTA Award for Best Actress . Blanchett 's performance in the 2006 thriller Notes on a Scandal garnered her another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress . In 2007 , she received both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations for her roles in Elizabeth : The Golden Age and I 'm Not There , becoming one of the few actors to achieve this feat .   In 2008 , Blanchett appeared in Steven Spielberg 's action adventure Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and David Fincher 's fantasy drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button . She briefly reprised her role of Galadriel in the The Hobbit trilogy ( 2012-14 ) . For her performance as the titular socialite in Woody Allen 's 2013 drama Blue Jasmine , Blanchett won the Golden Globe , the BAFTA Award , the SAG Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress . In 2014 , she voiced Valka in the $ 620 million-grossing animated fantasy How to Train Your Dragon 2 . In 2015 , she received praise for playing Lady Tremaine in Disney 's live action film Cinderella , Mary Mapes in Truth and the titular character in Todd Haynes 's romantic drama Carol . Cinderella was a notable box office success while Carol garnered her seventh Oscar nomination . Blanchett made her Broadway debut in 2017 with The Present , receiving her first Tony Award nomination for the Best Actress in a Play .

neg: Oscar Martinez (The Office) Oscar San Juan Martinez is a fictional character from the US mockumentary-style television series The Office played by Cuban actor Oscar Nunez . Martinez was one of the few openly gay characters in broadcast television at the time that the series aired . Although Nunez , who is straight , did not know his character might be gay when he first signed on , he has no issues with the character 's sexuality as long as the material is funny . For the 2006 -- 2007 season , Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ) reported he was the only LGBT ( lesbian , gay , bisexual , transgender ) person of color character on a regular series . For the 2007 -- 2008 season he was the `` only remaining gay character on a half-hour comedy program '' and the only LGBT lead or supporting character who is a person of color . For the 2009 -- 2010 season , Martinez was one of four people of color LGBT regular series characters ; in 2010 -- 2011 there were six and in 2011 -- 2012 there were five.Along with doctor Callie Torres on Grey 's Anatomy , and gay nurse Angel Garcia on Mercy , Martinez are Latino/a , and forensic facial reconstruction artist Angela Montenegro on Bones , is an Asian-Pacific Islander . ( Where we are on TV : GLAAD 's 14th Annual Diversity Study Previews the 2009-2010 Primetime Television Season , Taj Paxton , Jonathan Rosales , Callan Koenig , Brian MacKough , Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation . ) For the 2009-2010 season there are zero black LGBT series regular characters and one non-human , American Dad 's Roger the alien on Fox . For the 2009-2010 season , LGBT media watchdog group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ) reported 3 percent of all regular characters were LGBT . ( Gay Characters on Network TV : 2009-10 , Hanh Nguyen and Rick Porter , Los Angeles Times , ) An increase from 2.6 percent in the 2008-2009 season and 1.1 percent in the 2007-2008 season . ( Gay Characters on Network TV : 2009-10 , Hanh Nguyen and Rick Porter , Los Angeles Times , ) For the 2010-2011 season there were six LGBT people of color characters . ( Where we are on TV : GLAAD 's Annual Diversity Study Previews the 2010-2011 Primetime Television Season , Taj Paxton , Matthew Kane , Lauren Mattia , Rob Avruch , Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation . ) For the 2011-2012 season there were five LGBT people of color characters . ( Where we are on TV : GLAAD 's Annual Diversity Study Previews the 2011-2012 Primetime Television Season , September 2011 , Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation . )   Martinez is an accountant at the Scranton , Pennsylvania , office of the paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin and gets his first name from Núñez ; series producer Greg Daniels felt that `` Oscar '' sounded like a good accountant 's name . He is a first-generation Mexican American . He is also openly gay after being outed by his then boss Michael Scott in `` Gay Witch Hunt '' , the third-season premiere episode devoted to the outing . However , the character was implied to be gay in the second-season episode `` The Secret '' , when Dwight catches him faking sickness to spend the day with his boyfriend ( Dwight remains oblivious to this detail as he was obsessed with proving that Oscar was not ill ) . As a result , in earlier episodes , many co-workers erroneously attribute to him various Mexican stereotypes ( e.g. being involved in drug cartels ) but after his outing , his stereotypes are more focused on his being gay , particularly by Michael , which may explain their conflicted relationship . Núñez explained in a 2008 interview that the character variously feels amusement , pity and hatred towards his fictional boss . He has no specific counterpart in the original British series .   Oscar is known for being a rational , quietly efficient , and intellectual worker in the office , often the one who will ask pointed financial questions that his colleagues will not or that Michael avoids answering . Martinez refers to himself as being in the `` Coalition for Reason '' with Jim and Pam Halpert . According to Núñez , the three `` are there to set up the comic situations '' for boss Michael and Dwight Schrute , Michael 's toady . He explained , `` We can still be funny but we are definitely the ` straight guys ' . '' He is often the one who is able to clearly see the reality and logic in situations , including financial ones such as when Michael started up his own paper company or Ryan Howard 's online startup business . Because of this , Oscar is considered to be a know-it-all by many of his co-workers . Oscar is frequently exasperated by the antics of his coworkers and tends to find their humor offensive . He is reserved , not really exhibiting a desire for close contact with any of his co-workers , although he is friendly when not outwardly pedantic . In an AfterElton.com interview , Núñez explained he plays the character like an accountant , who happens to be gay , and just trying to do his work and not really interested in what the documentarians are filming . Actor Núñez references the character as a Log Cabin Republican , though no mention of this has occurred in the show . In the episode `` Dwight Christmas '' , he is in fact openly acknowledged as a Democrat . His more balanced and normal personality makes him an everyman type character , contrasting with the generally extroverted people with whom he works . He 's also a charter member of the company 's three-person ( and exclusive ) `` Finer Things Club '' with Pam and Toby Flenderson . He and co-worker Kevin Malone seem to have a strong friendship with each other , often a dynamic where Oscar is often the calm , rational one while Kevin is the fun-loving one .

neg: Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates Port Royale is a business simulation game set in the Caribbean and partly the Atlantic during the 16th and 17th centuries . Created by Ascaron Entertainment in 2003 , it combines business -- economic simulation with real-time battles and towns that can be visited for trade and other purposes . The sequel Port Royale 2 was released about a year after in September 2004 .   On 2 August 2011 the publisher Kalypso Media who purchased many of the licenses and assets from Ascaron Entertainment during its insolvency , announced that they had acquired the licences of the Port Royale installment . They announced also that they were already working on the third title which is named `` Port Royale 3 '' and it was released for the PC and consoles -- without mentioning which consoles was meant . Therefore , Port Royale 3 was actually released on the second quarter of 2012 .  Kalypso Media also demonstrated Port Royale 3 with a playable preview upon the Gamescom trade fair which was held from 17 to 21 August 2011 at Cologne , Germany .   It is an open-ended game and the players can choose any type of career that they wish , including trading and interactions with pirates ( including privateering ) .   There are also many other activities in the game besides trading or hunting down pirates . Players can visit governors in towns and accept missions from them as long as their reputation with the country is good enough . Missions include armed transport and tracking down lost relatives that have been kidnapped by an NPC called Axesmith ( whom the player can choose , eventually , to defeat outright in battle ) . Treasure maps , purchased in pieces from around the game board , can also lead to newfound wealth and even the creation of a private port .   An important part of the game are the colonial nations in the Caribbean ( Spain , France , England and The Netherlands ) and their relationships .   There are a total of 12 different ship types available to players , of increasing cost , efficacy in battle and room for cargo . They range from the small pinnace , to a large ship of the line .

neg: Millennium Falcon The Millennium Falcon is a spaceship in the Star Wars universe commanded at one time by Corellian smuggler Han Solo ( Harrison Ford ) and his Wookiee first mate , Chewbacca ( Peter Mayhew ) . The highly modified Corellian Engineering Corporation ( CEC ) YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars ( 1977 ) , and subsequently in The Empire Strikes Back ( 1980 ) , Return of the Jedi ( 1983 ) and The Force Awakens ( 2015 ) . The ship also makes a brief cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith ( 2005 ) . Additionally , the Falcon appears in a variety of Star Wars expanded universe materials , including books , comics , and games ; James Luceno 's novel Millennium Falcon focuses on the titular ship . It also appears in the 2014 animated film The Lego Movie in Lego form , with Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels reprising their roles of Lando Calrissian and C-3PO , with Keith Ferguson voicing Han Solo .