Zavan Kerr "Zay" Harding (born November 1, 1974, Lihue, Hawaii) is an American television personality and actor, who may be best known as "Jeff Northcutt" on the television serial, ''Spyder Games'', and as one of the hosts of the adventure travel television series, ''Globe Trekker''. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in 1997.

References

External links

Zay Harding IMDb profile

Zay Harding website

Category:1974 births Category:Actors from Hawaii Category:American television actors Category:American television personalities Category:Living people Category:Southern Methodist University alumni Category:People from Lihue, Hawaii

name	The Slants
background	group_or_band
origin	Portland, Oregon USA
genre	Rock, Synthpop, Electroclash, Dance music
years active	2006–present
label	Independent
associated acts	The Stivs, Silversafe, Veritas
website	http://www.theslants.com
current members	Aron Moxley - VocalsSimon Young - BassJohnny Fontanilla - GuitarTyler Chen- DrumsThai Dao - Guitar/Keyboards
past members	Jen Cho- KeysAC- DrumsAlex- DrumsGaijin (Michael) - KeysAimee Scarlett - VocalsGwei Lo (Pete)- GuitarJon Bailey - Drums }}

The Slants are the first all-Asian American dance rock band in the world. The band was founded by Simon Young in 2006 in Portland, Oregon. Often compared with 80’s synth-pop bands such as Depeche Mode, New Order, and Joy Division, as well as modern acts such as The Killers and The Bravery, the band often refers to their sound as “Chinatown Dance Rock.” All five members of the current lineup are of Asian Pacific Islander descent and they are well known for their involvement with the Asian American community, often playing at large cultural festivals and anime conventions, and fighting racist ideas/stereotypes.

Formation

The band was formed after posting ads to local classifieds, Craigslist and locations such as Asian supermarkets. The process took 2 years to finalize the initial line-up.

The band name, ''The Slants'', is a reference to the perception that Asians have “slanted eyes.” Of the band name, bass player Young has said:

"We want to take on these stereotypes that people have about us, like the slanted eyes, and own them. We’re very proud of being Asian — we’re not going to hide that fact. The reaction from the Asian community has been overwhelmingly positive."

After multiple lineup changes with different instrumentation, the band finally settled on being a five-piece outfit featuring the members Aron Moxley as lead singer, Simon Young on bass, guitarist Johnny Fontanilla, and Tyler Chen playing drums, and Thai Dao on keyboards/guitar.

Musical Characteristics and Influence

The Slants describe themselves as "Chinatown Dance Rock," and are often compared to electro rock bands such as The Faint or early 80's synthpop groups such as Depeche Mode, The Cure, Duran Duran, The Cult, and Joy Division. Critics also compare The Slants with modern artists such as The Killers, VNV Nation, and Mindless Self-Indulgence.

Notable Accomplishments

The Slants are the world’s only Fender Music spotlight artist.

In 2008, ''The Slants'' competed in ''Bodog Music Battle of the Bands'' for the opportunity to be featured on the Fuse TV reality show and win a $1 million dollar recording contract. The band consistently placed first in every round of the competition. However, when they learned that they would be required to sign a 73-page non-negotiable contract in order to continue the competition, they dropped out. The band reasoned: "This was just not the right fit for our band at this time – or any band, really."

The Slants have garnered a niche fan-base of otaku as a result of their appearances at anime conventions. The band has also been featured in the shōjo manga magazine Shojo Beat, as well as partnering with the magazine and Sakura-Con for a Hello Kitty guitar contest.

Their debut ''Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts'' was listed in the top 5 Asian-American albums of 2007 by AsiaXpress and has won accolades such as “Album of the Year” from the Portland Music Awards, Willamette Week, RockWired, and others.

In 2009, the band released a collection of Dance Dance Revolution-styled remixes of their debut album, "Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts" and donated 100% of the profits to cancer research for Asian women.

In 2011, The Slants were featured on the front page of the Oregonian for fighting the United States Patent and Trademark Office over the right to protect their name.

In 2012, The Slants were added to the Armed Forces Entertainment roster and invited to perform for active troops serving overseas. .

Official Biography

It is rare for a band to be headlining shows with 5,000-15,000 fans internationally in their first year as a band. What originated as a side project for Simon Young (of The Stivs) in 2007 proved to be one of the most energetic, contagious movements of music in our time. The Slants are the first and only all Asian synth-pop bands in North America and are increasing in popularity.

Kicking off the band's career at a tiny dive bar in Portland, OR, The Slants soon found themselves on tour and in demand worldwide performing at music halls, colleges, and anime conventions. Within months, they released their debut album "Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts" winning multiple awards from the likes of Willamette Week, Rockwired, AsiaXpress, and the Portland Music Awards. Since that first iconic show in 2007, The Slants have been cited as the "Hardest Working Asian American Band" (slanteyefortheroundeye.com), toured North America ten times, rejected a million dollar recording contract, were the first and only Asian band to be a Fender Music artist, and according to U.S Congress, the first rock band to play inside a state library.

The Willamette Week, summarizes The Slants' history perfectly: "It's a great story: All-Asian synthcore troupe lands anime festival, achieves instantaneous notoriety from overpacked fireball-laden maelstrom, inspires John Woo and Dragon Ball Z fans toward aggro electro and--just months after its first practice--books gigs across the globe. As shadow-warriory as the Slants' rise has been, it's still all about the tunes, and the band's debut--floor-filling synth pop bristling with all the menace and grandeur of its oft name-checked cultural icons--is propulsive, cinematic and impossible to ignore."

By the end of 2008, the band had been featured in over 1,200 magazines, radio stations, websites, and television shows for their self-proclaimed "Chinatown Dance Rock," including a feature on NPR's "All Things Considered" that blasted across 700 FM stations across the country for months.

The following year, The Slants headlined a SXSW showcase (other acts at the festival included Katy Perry, Metallica, and Devo), launched several more tours spanning North America, and released a dance remix album entitled "Slants! Slants! Revolution," while donating 100% of the proceeds to benefit cancer research affecting Asian American women.

2010 saw the release of The Slants' third album, "Pageantry." Pageantry featured a number of local icons including Cory Gray (The Decemberists), Krista Herring, Mic Crenshaw, and Gabe Kniffin (Silversafe). The harder hitting, guitar driven songs still featured The Slants' signature dance rock flavor and again, massive touring followed.

The Slants have shared the stage with acts such as Apl.de.Ap (Black Eyed Peas), Vampire Weekend, Girl Talk, Girugamesh, M.O.V.E and Boom Boom Satellites.

Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts

{{tracklist | all_writing = | title1 = Sakura Sakura | length1 = 3:48 | title2 = Capture Me Burning | length2 = 3:53 | title3 = We Will Never Die | length3 = 3:34 | title4 = Stranglehold | length4 = 3:36 | title5 = Haruki Murakami | length5 = 1:12 | title6 = Love Within My Sins | length6 = 3:55 | title7 = Jin-Do | length7 = 0:59 | title8 = I Want Everything | length8 = 2:47 | title9 = Kokoro (I Fall to Pieces) | length9 = 4:27 | title10 = Welcome to Doomtown | length10 = 4:35 | title11 = Vice Versus Virtue | length11 = 4:08 }}

Slants Slants Revolution

{{tracklist | all_writing = | title1 = Kokoro (Son of Rust Heart of Everything Mix) | length1 = 6:40 | title2 = Vice Versus Virtue (Bad Love Mix) | length2 = 4:03 | title3 = Love Within My Sins (Dreamland Mix) | length3 = 5:11 | title4 = Capture Me Burning (Everything is Falling Apart) | length4 = 3:15 | title5 = Sakura Sakura (Warehaus Mix) | length5 = 4:27 | title6 = We Will Never Die (Hong Kong Mix) | length6 = 4:32 | title7 = Strangehold (Tokyo Mix) | length7 = 4:04 | title8 = Welcome to Doomtown (Downtown Mix) | length8 = 5:33 }}

Pageantry

{{tracklist | all_writing = | title1 = Every Chance I Get| | length1 = 3:41 | title2 = You Make Me Alive| | length2 = 4:19 | title3 = Lucky Strike | length3 = 3:58 | title4 = Who Shot The Radio?| | length4 = 3:59 | title5 = The Pagentry | length5 = 4:35 | title6 = I Wanna Break You Down | length6 = 4:51 | title7 = Astoria | length7 = 4:27 | title8 = Running With The Dead | length8 = 4:15 | title9 = Fight For Future | length9 = 4:40 | title10 = How The Wicked Live | length10 = 4:32 | title11 = Heartbeat Is Heaven (exclusive download) | length11 = 5:12 }}

References

External links

The Slants' Official Website

The Slants' Facebook

The Slants' myspace page

The Slants' YouTube video channel

Category:American rock music groups Category:Asian American culture Category:American musicians of Asian descent

Name	Angelina Jolie
Birth name	Angelina Jolie Voight
Birth date	June 04, 1975
Birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Citizenship	United States, Cambodia, Sarajevo (honorary)
Occupation	Actress, director, writer, producer, humanitarian
Years active	1982; 1991–present
Spouse	Jonny Lee Miller (1996–1999)Billy Bob Thornton (2000–2003)
Partner	Brad Pitt (2005–present) (engaged)
Children	6
Parents	Jon VoightMarcheline Bertrand
Relatives	James Haven (brother)Chip Taylor (uncle) }}

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Header1	Film awards
data2	{{Infobox | child yes | title Academy Awards | label1 | data1 | label2 2000 | data2 Best Supporting Actress }}

| data3 =

{{infobox | child	yes | title Golden Globe Awards | label1 1998 | data1 Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | label2 1999 | data2 Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | label3 2000 | data3 Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture }}

| data4 =

{{infobox | child	yes | title Screen Actors Guild Awards | label1 1999 | data1 Outstanding Female Actor – Miniseries or Television Movie | label2 2000 | data2 Outstanding Supporting Female Actor }}

}}

Angelina Jolie ( , born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress and director. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by ''Forbes'' in 2009 and 2011. Jolie promotes humanitarian causes, and is noted for her work with refugees as a Special Envoy and former Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has been cited as the world's "most beautiful" woman, a title for which she has received substantial media attention.—and received further critical acclaim for her performances in the dramas ''A Mighty Heart'' (2007) and ''Changeling'' (2008), which earned her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Jolie made her directorial debut with the wartime drama ''In the Land of Blood and Honey'' (2011).

Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie now lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship notable for fervent media attention. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, and three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne.

Early life and family

Born in Los Angeles, California, Jolie is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. She is the sister of actor James Haven, niece of singer-songwriter Chip Taylor, and goddaughter of actors Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. On her father's side, Jolie is of German and Slovak descent, and on her mother's side, she is of primarily French Canadian, Dutch, and German ancestry. Like her mother, Jolie has stated that she is part Iroquois; her only known Native ancestor was a Huron woman born in 1649.

After her parents' separation in 1976, Jolie and her brother lived with their mother, who abandoned her acting ambitions to focus on raising her children. As a child, Jolie regularly saw movies with her mother and later explained that this had inspired her interest in acting; she had not been influenced by her father. When she was six years old, her mother and stepfather, filmmaker Bill Day, moved the family to Palisades, New York; they returned to Los Angeles five years later. She then decided she wanted to act and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she trained for two years and appeared in several stage productions.

At the age of 14, Jolie dropped out of her acting classes and aspired to become a funeral director. She began working as a fashion model, modeling mainly in Los Angeles, New York, and London. During this period, she wore black clothing, experimented with knife play, and went out moshing with her live-in boyfriend. Two years later, after the relationship had ended, she rented an apartment above a garage a few blocks from her mother's home.

Jolie suffered episodes of suicidal depression throughout her teens and early twenties. later commenting, "I collected knives and always had certain things around. For some reason, the ritual of having cut myself and feeling the pain, maybe feeling alive, feeling some kind of release, it was somehow therapeutic to me." She also began experimenting with drugs; by the age of 20, she had tried "just about every drug possible," including heroin.

Jolie has had a difficult relationship with her father. Due to Voight's marital infidelity and the resulting breakup of her parents' marriage, she was estranged from her father for many years. They reconciled and he appeared with her in ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001), but their relationship again deteriorated. In August of that year, Voight claimed his daughter had "serious mental problems" on ''Access Hollywood''. In response, Jolie released a statement in which she indicated that she no longer wished to pursue a relationship with her father. She explained that because she had adopted her son Maddox, she did not think it was healthy for her to associate with Voight. In the wake of her beloved mother's death from ovarian cancer on January 27, 2007, Jolie again reconciled with her father after a six-year estrangement.

Career

Early work: 1982; 1991–1997

When she was seven years old, Jolie had a small part in ''Lookin' to Get Out'' (1982), a movie co-written by and starring her father, Jon Voight. She committed to acting at the age of 16, but initially found it difficult to pass auditions, often being told that she was "too dark." The movie failed to make a profit at the box office, but developed a cult following after its video release.

She next appeared in the 1996 comedy ''Love Is All There Is'', a modern-day loose adaptation of ''Romeo and Juliet'' set among two rival Italian family restaurant owners in The Bronx, New York. In the road movie ''Mojave Moon'' (1996) she played a young woman who falls for Danny Aiello's middle-aged character, while he develops feelings for her mother, played by Anne Archer. That same year, Jolie also portrayed Margret "Legs" Sadovsky, one of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond in the film ''Foxfire'' after they beat up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote about her performance, "It took a lot of hogwash to develop this character, but Jolie, Jon Voight's knockout daughter, has the presence to overcome the stereotype. Though the story is narrated by Maddy, Legs is the subject and the catalyst."

In 1997, Jolie starred with David Duchovny in the thriller ''Playing God'', set in the Los Angeles underworld. The movie was not well-received by critics; Roger Ebert noted that "Angelina Jolie finds a certain warmth in a kind of role that is usually hard and aggressive; she seems too nice to be [a criminal's] girlfriend, and maybe she is." She then appeared in the television film ''True Women'' (1997), a historical romantic drama set in the American West and based on the book by Janice Woods Windle. That year, she also appeared as a stripper in the music video for "Anybody Seen My Baby?" by the Rolling Stones.

Breakthrough: 1998–2000

Jolie's career prospects began to improve after she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in TNT's ''George Wallace'' (1997). She portrayed Cornelia Wallace, the second wife of Alabama Governor George Wallace, played by Gary Sinise. The film was very well-received by critics and won, among other awards, the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film. Jolie also received an Emmy Award nomination for her performance.

In 1998, Jolie starred in HBO's ''Gia'', portraying supermodel Gia Carangi. The film chronicled the destruction of Carangi's life and career as a result of her addiction to heroin, and her decline and death from AIDS in the mid-1980s. Vanessa Vance from Reel.com noted, "Angelina Jolie gained wide recognition for her role as the titular Gia, and it's easy to see why. Jolie is fierce in her portrayal—filling the part with nerve, charm, and desperation—and her role in this film is quite possibly the most beautiful train wreck ever filmed." For the second consecutive year, Jolie won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. She also won her first Screen Actors Guild Award.

In accordance with Lee Strasberg's method acting, Jolie preferred to stay in character in between scenes during many of her early films, and as a result had gained a reputation for being difficult to deal with. While shooting ''Gia'', she told her then-husband Jonny Lee Miller that she would not be able to phone him: "I'd tell him: 'I'm alone; I'm dying; I'm gay; I'm not going to see you for weeks.'" After ''Gia'' wrapped in 1997, Jolie announced that she had given up acting for good, because she felt that she had "nothing else to give." She separated from Miller and moved to New York, where she enrolled at New York University to study filmmaking and attend writing classes; she later described it as "just good for me to collect myself." Encouraged by her Golden Globe Award win for ''George Wallace'' and the positive critical reception of ''Gia'', she resumed her career. Jolie won the Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.

In 1999, she starred in the comedy-drama ''Pushing Tin'', alongside John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett. The film received a mixed reception from critics, and Jolie's character—Thornton's seductive wife—was particularly criticized. ''The Washington Post'' wrote, "Mary (Angelina Jolie) [is] a completely ludicrous writer's creation of a free-spirited woman who weeps over hibiscus plants that die, wears lots of turquoise rings and gets real lonely when Russell spends entire nights away from home." She then co-starred with Denzel Washington in ''The Bone Collector'' (1999), an adaptation of a crime novel by Jeffery Deaver. Jolie played a police officer haunted by her cop father's suicide, who reluctantly helps Washington track down a serial killer. The movie grossed $151 million worldwide, but was a critical failure. The ''Detroit Free Press'' concluded, "Jolie, while always delicious to look at, is simply and woefully miscast."

Jolie next took the supporting role of the sociopathic mental patient Lisa Rowe in ''Girl, Interrupted'' (1999), an adaptation of author Susanna Kaysen's memoir of the same name. While Winona Ryder played the main character in what was hoped to be a comeback for her, the film instead marked Jolie's final breakthrough in Hollywood. She won her third Golden Globe Award, her second Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. ''Variety'' noted, "Jolie is excellent as the flamboyant, irresponsible girl who turns out to be far more instrumental than the doctors in Susanna's rehabilitation."

In 2000, Jolie appeared in her first summer blockbuster, ''Gone In 60 Seconds'', in which she played Sarah "Sway" Wayland, the ex-girlfriend of car thief Nicolas Cage. The role was small, and ''The Washington Post'' criticized that "all she does in this movie is stand around, cooling down, modeling those fleshy, pulsating muscle-tubes that nest so provocatively around her teeth." She later explained that the film had been a welcome relief after the emotionally heavy role of Lisa Rowe. It became her highest grossing movie up until then, earning $237 million internationally.

International success: 2001–present

Although highly regarded for her acting abilities, Jolie's films to date had often not appealed to a wide audience, but ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) made her an international superstar. An adaptation of the popular ''Tomb Raider'' videogame, Jolie was required to learn an English accent and undergo extensive martial arts training to play the title role of Lara Croft. She was generally praised for her physical performance, but the movie generated mostly negative reviews. ''Slant'' commented, "Angelina Jolie was born to play Lara Croft but [director] Simon West makes her journey into a game of Frogger." The movie was an international success nonetheless, earning $275 million worldwide, and launched her global reputation as a female action star.

Jolie then starred opposite Antonio Banderas as his mail-order bride in ''Original Sin'' (2001), a thriller based on the novel ''Waltz into Darkness'' by Cornell Woolrich. The film was a major critical failure, with ''The New York Times'' noting, "The story plunges more precipitously than Ms. Jolie's neckline." In 2002, she starred in ''Life or Something Like It'' as an ambitious television reporter who is told that she will die in a week. The film was poorly received by critics, though Jolie's performance received positive reviews. CNN's Paul Clinton wrote, "Jolie is excellent in her role. Despite some of the ludicrous plot points in the middle of the film, this Academy Award-winning actress is exceedingly believable in her journey towards self-discovery and the true meaning of fulfilling life."

Jolie reprised her role as Lara Croft in ''Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life'' (2003), which established her among Hollywood's highest-paid actresses. The sequel was not as lucrative as the original, earning $156 million at the international box office. She appeared in the music video for Korn's "Did My Time," which was used to promote the film. She next starred in ''Beyond Borders'' (2003), as a socialite who joins aid workers in Africa and Asia. The film reflected Jolie's real-life interest in promoting humanitarian relief, but it was critically and financially unsuccessful. The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote, "Jolie, as she did in her Oscar-winning role in ''Girl, Interrupted'', can bring electricity and believability to roles that have a reality she can understand. She can also, witness the ''Lara Croft'' films, do acknowledged cartoons. But the limbo of a hybrid character, a badly written cardboard person in a fly-infested, blood-and-guts world, completely defeats her."

In 2004, Jolie starred alongside Ethan Hawke in the thriller ''Taking Lives''. She portrayed an FBI profiler summoned to help Montreal law enforcement hunt down a serial killer. The movie received mixed reviews and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' concluded, "Angelina Jolie plays a role that definitely feels like something she has already done, but she does add an unmistakable dash of excitement and glamour." She also provided the voice of the angelfish Lola in the DreamWorks animated movie ''Shark Tale'' (2004), and had a brief appearance in ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'' (2004), a science fiction adventure film shot entirely with actors in front of a bluescreen. That same year, Jolie played Olympias in ''Alexander'', about the life of Alexander the Great. The film failed domestically, which director Oliver Stone attributed to disapproval of the depiction of Alexander's bisexuality, but it succeeded internationally, with revenue of $139 million outside the United States.

Jolie then starred opposite Brad Pitt in the 2005 action-comedy ''Mr. & Mrs. Smith'', which tells the story of a bored married couple, John and Jane Smith, who find out that they are both secret assassins. The film received mixed reviews, but was generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads. The ''Star Tribune'' noted, "While the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry." The movie earned $478 million worldwide, making it the seventh-highest grossing film of 2005.

Jolie next appeared in Robert De Niro's ''The Good Shepherd'' (2006), a film about the early history of the CIA, as seen through the eyes of Edward Wilson, an officer based on James Jesus Angleton and played by Matt Damon. Jolie played the supporting role of Margaret "Clover" Russell, Wilson's neglected wife. According to the ''Chicago Tribune'', "Jolie ages convincingly throughout, and is blithely unconcerned with how her brittle character is coming off in terms of audience sympathy."

In 2007, Jolie made her directorial debut with the documentary ''A Place in Time'', which captures daily life in 27 locations around the world during a single week. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and was intended for distribution to high schools through the National Education Association. Jolie then starred as Mariane Pearl in the documentary-style drama ''A Mighty Heart'' (2007). Based on Pearl's memoir of the same name, the film chronicles the kidnapping and murder of her husband, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reporter Daniel Pearl, in Pakistan. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' described Jolie's performance as "well-measured and moving," played "with respect and a firm grasp on a difficult accent." Jolie was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance. She also played Grendel's mother in the animated epic ''Beowulf'' (2007), which was created through the motion capture technique.

Jolie co-starred alongside James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman in the 2008 action movie ''Wanted'', an adaptation of Mark Millar's graphic novel of the same name. The film received predominately favorable reviews and proved an international success, earning $342 million worldwide. She also provided the voice of Master Tigress in the DreamWorks animated movie ''Kung Fu Panda'' (2008). With revenue of $632 million internationally, it became the third-highest grossing film of 2008. That same year, Jolie took on the lead role in Clint Eastwood's drama ''Changeling''. Based in part on the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, the film stars Jolie as Christine Collins, who is reunited with her kidnapped son in 1928 Los Angeles—only to realize the boy is an impostor. The ''Chicago Tribune'' noted, "Jolie really shines in the calm before the storm, the scenes [...] when one patronizing male authority figure after another belittles her at their peril." Jolie received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award.

Jolie next starred in the 2010 thriller ''Salt'', her first film in two years. She starred alongside Liev Schreiber as CIA agent Evelyn Salt, who goes on the run after she is accused of being a KGB sleeper agent. Originally written as male, the character Salt underwent a gender change after a Colombia Pictures executive suggested Jolie for the role to director Phillip Noyce. The film was an international success with revenue of $294 million. It received mixed to positive reviews, with Jolie's performance earning praise; ''Empire'' remarked, "When it comes to selling incredible, crazy, death-defying antics, Jolie has few peers in the action business." She also starred opposite Johnny Depp in ''The Tourist'' (2010), which was a major critical failure. Peter Travers wrote, "Depp and Jolie hit career lows, producing the chemistry of high-fashion zombies." After a slow start at the domestic box office, the film went on to gross $278 million worldwide. Jolie received a controversial Golden Globe Award nomination, which was speculated to have been given merely to ensure her high-profile presence at the awards ceremony.

In 2011, Jolie reprised her voice role as Master Tigress in the animated DreamWorks sequel ''Kung Fu Panda 2''. It became the fourth-highest grossing film of 2011 and Jolie's highest grossing film to date, earning $666 million at the international box office. She also made her directorial feature debut with ''In the Land of Blood and Honey'' (2011), a love story between a Serb soldier and a Bosniak prisoner of war, set during the 1992–95 Bosnian War. Jolie, who had twice visited Bosnia-Herzegovina in her capacity as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, explained that she made the film to rekindle attention for the survivors of a war that took place in recent history. The film, which Jolie also scripted and co-produced, aroused both praise and criticism in the Balkans; the response from Bosniak war-victims advocacy organizations was "overwhelmingly positive," while a Serb war prisoners group decried the film for its alleged anti-Serb bias. Sarajevo's regional government named Jolie an honorary citizen of the capital for raising awareness of the war. ''In the Land of Blood and Honey'' won the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America, which honors films that highlight provocative social issues. It also received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Jolie will play the Disney villain Maleficent in the upcoming film of the same name, where the character's background story will be revealed.

Humanitarian work

Jolie stated that she first became personally aware of worldwide humanitarian crises while filming ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) in Cambodia. She contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for information on international trouble spots. To learn more about the conditions in these areas, Jolie began visiting refugee camps around the world. In February 2001, she went on her first field visit, an 18-day mission to Sierra Leone and Tanzania; she later expressed her shock at what she had witnessed. In the following months, she returned to Cambodia for two weeks and met with Afghan refugees in Pakistan. She covered all costs related to her missions and shared the same rudimentary working and living conditions as UNHCR field staff on all of her visits. Jolie was named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva on August 27, 2001.

Since then, Jolie has been on field missions around the world and met with refugees and internally displaced persons in more than 30 countries. Asked what she hoped to accomplish, she stated, "Awareness of the plight of these people. I think they should be commended for what they have survived, not looked down upon." Jolie aims to visit what she terms "forgotten emergencies," crises that media attention has shifted away from. She is noted for not shying away from traveling to areas that are at war: she visited the Darfur region of Sudan during the Darfur conflict in 2004; Chad during its civil war in 2007; Iraq during the Second Gulf War in 2007 and 2009; Afghanistan during the ongoing war in 2008 and 2011; and Libya during the Libyan revolution in 2011.

After more than a decade of service as Goodwill Ambassador, Jolie was promoted to the rank of Special Envoy of High Commissioner António Guterres on April 17, 2012. As Special Envoy, she represents the UNHCR and High Commissioner António Guterres at the diplomatic level and works to facilitate long-term solutions for people displaced by large-scale crises, such as Afghanistan and Somalia. "This is an exceptional position reflecting an exceptional role she has played for us," said a UNHCR spokesman.

In addition to her work with the UNHCR, Jolie uses her public profile to promote humanitarian causes through the mass media. Her early field visits were chronicled in her book ''Notes from My Travels'', which was published in conjunction with the release of her film ''Beyond Borders'' (2003). She filmed a 2005 MTV special, ''The Diary of Angelina Jolie & Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa'', portraying her and noted economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on a trip to a remote group of villages in Western Kenya. Jolie has also regularly released public service announcements promoting World Refugee Day and other causes.

Over time, Jolie became more involved in promoting humanitarian causes on a political level. She has regularly attended World Refugee Day in Washington, D.C., and she was an invited speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005 and 2006. She also began lobbying humanitarian interests in the U.S. capital, where she met with members of Congress at least 20 times between 2003 and 2006, during which she pushed for several bills to aid refugees and vulnerable children in the Third World and the United States. She explained in 2006, "As much as I would love to never have to visit Washington, that's the way to move the ball." In 2007, she became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jolie has established several charitable organizations. In 2003, she founded the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation—named the Maddox Jolie Project until 2007—which is dedicated to community development and environmental conservation in Cambodia's northwestern province Battambang. In 2006, she partnered with the Global Health Committee to establish the Maddox Chivan Children's Center, a daycare facility for children afflicted and affected by HIV in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. That same year, she and her partner Brad Pitt founded the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, to aid humanitarian causes worldwide. In 2007, Jolie and noted economist Dr. Gene Sperling founded the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which funds education programs for children affected by man-made or natural disasters. In 2008, she collaborated with the Microsoft Corporation to establish Kids in Need of Defense, a pro bono movement of law firms, corporate law departments, NGOs and volunteers committed to providing legal counsel to unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S. In 2010, she established the Jolie Legal Fellows Programme, which recruits lawyers to support governmental child protection efforts in Haiti.

Jolie has received wide recognition for her humanitarian work. In 2002, she received the inaugural Humanitarian Award by the Church World Service's Immigration and Refugee Program. In 2003, she was the first recipient of the Citizen of the World Award by the United Nations Correspondents Association. In 2005, she was awarded the Global Humanitarian Award by the UNA-USA. On July 31, 2005, King Norodom Sihamoni awarded Jolie Cambodian citizenship for her conservation work in the country. In 2007, Jolie received the Freedom Award by the International Rescue Committee. In 2011, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres presented Jolie with a gold pin reserved for the most long-serving staff, in recognition of her decade as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

Personal life

Relationships

Jolie had a serious boyfriend for two years from the age of 14. Her mother allowed them to live together in her home, of which Jolie later said, "I was either going to be reckless on the streets with my boyfriend or he was going to be with me in my bedroom with my mom in the next room. She made the choice, and because of it, I continued to go to school every morning and explored my first relationship in a safe way." She has compared the relationship to a marriage in its emotional intensity, and said that the breakup compelled her to dedicate herself to her acting career at the age of 16.

During filming of ''Hackers'' (1995), Jolie had a romance with British actor Jonny Lee Miller, her first lover since the relationship in her early teens. Jolie and Miller separated in September 1997 and divorced on February 3, 1999. They remained on good terms, and Jolie later explained, "It comes down to timing. I think he's the greatest husband a girl could ask for. I'll always love him, we were simply too young."

Jolie had a brief relationship with model-actress Jenny Shimizu on the set of ''Foxfire'' (1996). She later said, "I would probably have married Jenny if I hadn't married my husband. I fell in love with her the first second I saw her." Shimizu claimed in 2005 that her relationship with Jolie had lasted many years and continued even while Jolie was romantically involved with other people. In 2003, asked if she was bisexual, Jolie responded, "Of course. If I fell in love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that it's okay to want to kiss and touch her? If I fell in love with her? Absolutely! Yes!"

After a two-month courtship, Jolie married actor Billy Bob Thornton on May 5, 2000, in Las Vegas. They met on the set of ''Pushing Tin'' (1999), but did not pursue a relationship at that time as Thornton was engaged to actress Laura Dern. As a result of their frequent public declarations of passion and gestures of love—most famously wearing one another's blood in vials around their necks—their marriage became a favorite topic of the entertainment media. Jolie and Thornton announced the adoption of a son from Cambodia in March 2002, but abruptly separated three months later. Their divorce was finalized on May 27, 2003. Asked about the sudden dissolution of their marriage, Jolie stated, "It took me by surprise, too, because overnight, we totally changed. I think one day we had just nothing in common. And it's scary but... I think it can happen when you get involved and you don't know yourself yet."

In early 2005, Jolie was involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal when she was accused of being the reason for the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. She and Pitt were alleged to have started an affair during filming of ''Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005). She denied this on several occasions, but later admitted that they "fell in love" on the set. She explained in 2005, "To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife." Pitt and Jolie announced their engagement in April 2012, after seven years together. The couple—dubbed "Brangelina" by the entertainment media—are the subject of worldwide media coverage.

Children

On March 10, 2002, Jolie adopted her first child, seven-month-old Maddox Chivan, from an orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He was born as Rath Vibol on August 5, 2001, in a local village. Jolie applied for adoption after she had visited Cambodia twice, while filming ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' (2001) and on a UNHCR field mission. The adoption process was halted in December 2001 when the U.S. government banned adoptions from Cambodia amid allegations of child trafficking. Once the adoption was finalized, she took custody of Maddox in Namibia, where she was filming ''Beyond Borders'' (2003). Although Jolie and her then-husband Billy Bob Thornton announced the adoption together, she in fact adopted Maddox as a single parent.

Jolie adopted a daughter, six-month-old Zahara Marley, from an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on July 6, 2005. Zahara was born as Yemsrach on January 8, 2005, in Awasa. At the time of the adoption, Zahara was wrongly believed to be an AIDS orphan and it was unknown whether she herself had contracted HIV, but she later tested negative. Shortly after they returned to the United States, Zahara was hospitalized for dehydration and malnutrition. In November 2007, media outlets reported that Zahara's biological mother wanted her daughter back, but she denied these reports, saying she thought Zahara was "very fortunate" to have been adopted by Jolie.

Jolie was accompanied by her partner Brad Pitt when she traveled to Ethiopia to take custody of Zahara. She later indicated that she and Pitt had made the decision to adopt from Ethiopia together. In December 2005, Pitt's publicist announced that Pitt was seeking to adopt Maddox and Zahara. To reflect this, Jolie filed a request to legally change her children's surnames from Jolie to Jolie-Pitt, which was granted on January 19, 2006. The adoptions were finalized soon after.

In an attempt to avoid the media frenzy surrounding their relationship, Jolie and Pitt went to Namibia for the birth of their first biological child. On May 27, 2006, Jolie gave birth to a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel, in Swakopmund. Pitt confirmed that their newborn daughter would have a Namibian passport. The couple decided to sell the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images themselves, rather than allowing paparazzi to make these valuable photographs. ''People'' paid a reported $4.1 million for the North American rights, while ''Hello!'' obtained the British rights for a reported $3.5 million. All profits were donated to charities serving African children.

On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a son, three-year-old Pax Thien, from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Jolie adopted Pax as a single parent, because Vietnam's adoption regulations do not allow unmarried couples to co-adopt. The rights for the first post-adoption images of Pax were sold to ''People'' for a reported $2 million, as well as to ''Hello!'' for an undisclosed amount. In April, Jolie filed a request to legally change her son's surname from Jolie to Jolie-Pitt, which was approved on May 31, 2007. Pitt's adoption of Pax was finalized in the United States on February 21, 2008.

At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008, Jolie confirmed that she was expecting twins. For the two weeks she spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, France, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade. She gave birth to a son, Knox Léon, and a daughter, Vivienne Marcheline, on July 12, 2008. The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to ''People'' and ''Hello!'' for a reported $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The proceeds were donated to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.

In the media

During the first decade of her career, Jolie—who does not employ a publicist or an agent—maintained a "wild child" persona in her communication with the media. She openly discussed her love life, including her bisexuality and her interest in BDSM. After she kissed her brother during the Academy Awards in 2000, their close relationship became the subject of tabloid media speculation, which she dismissed. She spoke about her experiences with drugs and depression, and recalled the time, in 1997, when she almost hired a hitman to kill her, as well as the three days, just before her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton, that she was sectioned at UCLA's psychiatric ward. ''Esquire'' in 2004, American ''FHM'' and British ''Harper's Bazaar'' in 2005, ''People'' and ''Hello!'' in 2006, ''Empire'' in 2007, and ''Vanity Fair'' in 2009. Jolie's extensive collection of tattoos has often been addressed by interviewers. She has fourteen known tattoos, among which the Latin proverb "quod me nutrit me destruit" (what nourishes me destroys me), the Tennessee Williams quote "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages," two sak yant designs featuring a prayer of protection and a twelve-inch-by-eight-inch tiger, and six sets of geographical coordinates indicating the origins of her children. Over time, she has covered or lasered several of her tattoos, including the name of her second husband, "Billy Bob", and the Chinese characters "死" (death) and "勇" (courage).

Today, Jolie is one of the best-known celebrities around the world. According to the Q Score, in 2000, subsequent to her Oscar win, 31% of respondents in the United States said Jolie was familiar to them; by 2006 she was familiar to 81% of Americans. In a 2006 global industry survey by ACNielsen in 42 international markets, Jolie, together with her partner Brad Pitt, was found to be the favorite celebrity endorser for brands and products worldwide. She was the face of St. John and Shiseido from 2006 to 2008, and in 2011 had an endorsement deal with Louis Vuitton reportedly worth $10 million—a record for a single advertising campaign. She was among the ''Time'' 100, a list of the most influential people in the world as assembled by ''Time'', in 2006 and 2008. ''Forbes'' named her Hollywood's highest-paid actress in 2009 and 2011, with estimated annual earnings of $27 million and $30 million respectively, and she topped the magazine's Celebrity 100, a ranking of the world's most powerful celebrities, in 2009. ''People'' named her one of 2012 Most Beautiful at Every Age.

Filmography

+ Actor
Title	Year	Role	Notes
''Lookin' to Get Out''	1982	Tosh	As Angelina Jolie Voight
''Cyborg 2''	1993	Casella "Cash" Reese	Direct-to-video film
''Without Evidence''	1995	Jodie Swearingen
! scope="row"	1995	Kate "Acid Burn" Libby
''Love Is All There Is''	1996	Gina Malacici
''Mojave Moon''	1996	Eleanor "Elie" Rigby
! scope="row"	1996	Margret "Legs" Sadovsky
''True Women''	1997	Georgia Virginia Lawshe Woods	TV film
! scope="row"	1997	Cornelia Wallace
! scope="row"	1997	Claire
''Gia''	1998	Gia Carangi	TV filmGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmSatellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film	1998	Gloria McNeary
''[[Playing by Heart">Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
! scope="row"	1998	Gloria McNeary
''[[Playing by Heart''	1998	Joan
''Pushing Tin''	1999	Mary Bell
''''	1999	Amelia Donaghy
! scope="row"	1999	Lisa Rowe
! scope="row"	2000	Sara "Sway" Wayland
''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider''	2001	Lara Croft
! scope="row"	2001	Julia Russell/Bonny Castle
''Life or Something Like It''	2002	Lanie Kerrigan
''Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life''	2003	Lara Croft
''Beyond Borders''	2003	Sarah Jordan
! scope="row"	2004	Illeana Scott
''Shark Tale''	2004	Lola	Voice
''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow''	2004	Francesca "Franky" Cook
! scope="row"	2004	Olympias
! scope="row"	2005	Jane Smith	Nominated— ''''	2006	Margaret "Clover" Russell
''''	2007	[[Mariane Pearl">32nd People's Choice Awards
''''	2006	Margaret "Clover" Russell
''''	2007	[[Mariane Pearl	Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance of the YearNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Female LeadNominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the YearNominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress – Motion PictureNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Leading Female Actor
! scope="row"	2007	Grendel's mother
''Kung Fu Panda''	2008		Voice
! scope="row"	2008	Fox	People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Action StarNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Female PerformanceNominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Movie Star
! scope="row"	2008	Christine Collins	Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaSaturn Award for Best ActressNominated—Academy Award for Best ActressNominated—	2010	Evelyn Salt	Nominated—[[37th People's Choice Awards
''''	2010	Elise Clifton-Ward	Nominated—[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy">BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
! scope="row"	2010	Evelyn Salt	Nominated—[[37th People's Choice Awards
''''	2010	Elise Clifton-Ward	Nominated—[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
''Kung Fu Panda 2''	2011	Master Tigress	Voice

+ Director
Title	Year	Notes
''A Place in Time''	2007	Documentary
''In the Land of Blood and Honey''	2011	Also writer and producerNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Foreign Motion PictureProducers Guild of America Stanley Kramer AwardNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language FilmNominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing – Motion Picture

Selected awards

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1998	Emmy Award
1998	Golden Globe Award		''George Wallace''
1998		Breakthrough Performance	''Playing by Heart''
1998	Emmy Award		''Gia''
1999	Golden Globe Award		''Gia''
1999	Screen Actors Guild Award		''Gia''
2000	Academy Award
2000	Golden Globe Award		''Girl, Interrupted''
2000	Screen Actors Guild Award		''Girl, Interrupted''
2008	Golden Globe Award		''''
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award		''''
2009	Academy Award
2009	BAFTA Award		''Changeling''
2009	Golden Globe Award	Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama	''Changeling''
2009	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Leading Female Actor	''Changeling''
2011	Golden Globe Award
2012	Golden Globe Award		''In the Land of Blood and Honey''
2012	Producers Guild of America Award		''In the Land of Blood and Honey''

Bibliography

''Notes from My Travels''. Pocket Books. 2003. ISBN 0-7434-7023-0.

"Justice for Darfur". ''The Washington Post''. February 28, 2007.

"A Year for Accountability". ''The Economist''. November 15, 2007.

"The 2009 TIME 100: Somaly Mam". ''Time''. April 30, 2009.

"The Case Against Omar al-Bashir". ''Time''. June 5, 2009.

"Justice Delayed Is Not Justice Denied". ''Newsweek''. December 10, 2009

References

Further reading

McFay, Edgar. ''Angelina Jolie: Angel in Disguise''. Icon Press, 2005. ISBN 1-894864-25-5.

Wolf, Naomi. "The Power of Angelina". ''Harper's Bazaar''. June 8, 2009.

External links

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, official homepage at UNHCR.org

Journey Through Eastern Congo, multimedia journal narrated by Jolie

Interviews with Angelina Jolie by Charlie Rose

Category:1975 births Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American aviators Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American humanitarians Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of French-Canadian descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Slovak descent Category:American voice actors Category:American writers Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Bisexual actors Category:Female aviators Category:Female film directors Category:Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute alumni Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:Living people Category:Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:Saturn Award winners Category:United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassadors

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Name	Paul Watson
Birth date	December 02, 1950
Birth place	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canada
Occupation	activist, television personality
Spouse	Starlet LumLisa DiStefanoAllison Lance
Website	SeaShepherd.org
Footnotes	}}

Paul Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist, who founded and is president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation.

The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was an early and influential member of Greenpeace, crewed and skippered for it, and later was a board member. Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, was ousted from the board in 1977, and subsequently left the organization. That same year, he formed Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group is the subject of a reality show, ''Whale Wars''.

He also promotes veganism, voluntary human population control, and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview.

Early and personal life

Paul Watson was born in Toronto to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson "rode the rails" in boxcars west to Vancouver.

In 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders. He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 35,000 ton bulk carrier ''Bris'' as a deck hand. The ''Bris'' was registered in Oslo, Norway and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade.

Watson has one child (born 1980) with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd. His second wife, Lisa DiStefano, a former model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor. His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd.

Activism

Early years

In October 1969, Watson joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing at Amchitka Island. The group which formed as a result of that protest was the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which evolved into the group known today as Greenpeace. Watson sailed as a crewmember aboard the ''Greenpeace Too!'' ship in 1971 and skippered the Greenpeace boat ''Astral'' in 1972. Paul Watson continued as a crew member, skipper, and officer aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. According to Watson, in June 1975 during a Greenpeace campaign to confront Soviet whaling, an incident occurred which changed his life.

Greenpeace states that Watson "...was an influential early member but not, as he sometimes claims, a founder." Paul Watson maintains he was indeed a founding member.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

The first Sea Shepherd vessel, the ''Sea Shepherd'', was purchased in December 1978 with assistance from Fund for Animals. Sea Shepherd soon established itself as one of the more controversial environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics. These tactics have included throwing objects onto the decks of whaling ships, the use of "prop foulers" in an attempt to sabotage the ships, boarding whaling vessels, and the scuttling of two ships in an Icelandic harbor. Watson uses the title "captain", although he has never been licensed as a ship's captain. The organization and its activities to halt whaling are the focus of a reality TV series, ''Whale Wars'', airing on Animal Planet.

Other environmental activities

Watson was a field correspondent for Defenders of Wildlife from 1976 to 1980 and a field representative for the Fund for Animals from 1978 to 1981. Watson also was a co-founder of Friends of the Wolf and Earthforce Environmental Society.

During the 1980s, Watson declared his support for Earth First! and cultivated friendships with David Foreman and Edward Abbey. He proclaimed Sea Shepherd to be the "navy" of Earth First! Watson has claimed to have invented the tactic of tree spiking.

Although currently unaffiliated with it, Watson did work with the Green Party of British Columbia in Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s. He ran for mayor in 1996, placing fourth.

In April 2003, Watson was elected to the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term. In 2006, he did not seek re-election. He resigned from the board a month before his term ended, in protest against the organization's sponsorship of a "Why I Hunt" essay contest.

Watson feels that "no human community should be larger than 20,000 people," human populations need to be reduced radically to "fewer than one billion," and only those who are "completely dedicated to the responsibility" of caring for the biosphere should have children, which is a "very small percentage of humans." He likens humankind to a virus, the biosphere needs to get cured from with a "radical and invasive approach," as from cancer.

In January 2008 Paul Watson was named by ''The Guardian'' as one of its "50 people who could save the planet" for the work of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Writings on activism

Watson published ''Earthforce!'', a guide to strategy for environmental activists in 1993. In it, he specifically endorsed the tactics of "monkeywrenching" previously described by Dave Foreman and Edward Abbey. According to Foreman in ''Eco-Defense—The Field Guide to Monkey-Wrenching'', these are tactics of sabotage, covert activity, and direct action. Watson says he incorporated his own personal experience in writing the book.

In ''Earthforce! An Earth Warrior’s Guide to Strategy'', Watson also expresses disdain for truthfulness in the pursuit of environmental protection goals:

The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was “old news.” A headline comment on Monday’s newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Watson was explicit on this score: “If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, then simply follow the example of an American President and do as Ronald Reagan did—make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation.” In a subsequent book, ''Ocean Warrior'', Watson reiterated this view, saying: “Survival in a media culture meant developing the skills to understand and manipulate media to achieve strategic objectives.”

Controversy

Removal from Greenpeace Board

Paul Watson continued as a crewmember, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a founding member of Greenpeace and Greenpeace International, a claim Greenpeace disputes. Friends noted that his personality, his liking to "push himself front and centre", was to blame in addition to his espousing direct actions that Greenpeace did not agree with.

In 1977, Watson was expelled from the Greenpeace's board of directors by a vote of 11 to 1 (Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong, "front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's interpretation of "nonviolence" were too divisive. Watson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

During an interview in 1978 with CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the anti-sealing campaigns. Watson accused these organizations of campaigning against the Canadian seal hunt because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the organizations.

Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities. Watson was arrested in 1993 in Canada on charges stemming from actions against Cuban and Spanish fishing boats off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1997, Watson was convicted ''in absentia'' and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail by a court in Lofoten, Norway on charges of attempting to sink the small scale Norwegian fishing and whaling vessel ''Nybrænna'' on 26 December 1992. Dutch authorities refused to hand him over to Norwegian authorities although he did spend 80 days in detention in the Netherlands pending a ruling on extradition before being released.

There have not been any successful attempts at prosecuting Watson for his activities with Sea Shepherd since the trial in Newfoundland. Watson himself defends his actions as falling within international law, in particular Sea Shepherd's right to enforce maritime regulations against illegal whalers and sealers. Watson caught a Costa Rican fishing boat poaching in Guatemalan waters while he was on a journey to Costa Rica, having been invited by its president to help in the fight against shark poaching there. The authorities in Costa Rica later filed a charge of attempted murder against Watson and a colleague, Rob Stewart, in what Watson and Stewart have described as an effort to cover up mafia-funded illegal shark finning operations. They eventually fled to international waters to escape arrest by Costa Rican coast guards after they had filmed what they attest was mafia-funded shark-finning in private docks. These events are featured in ''Sharkwater'', a documentary about sharks and activism.

Watson was also told to leave Iceland after disabling two ships in harbor and turning himself in to the Icelandic police . Kristjan Loftsson of Iceland's largest whaling company told ''The New Yorker'' that Watson is ''persona non grata'' in that country.

In April 2010, the Japanese Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for Watson "...on suspicion of ordering sabotage activities against Japan's whaling fleet", and Interpol has listed him as wanted at the request of Japan. The blue notice asks national police forces to provide information on Watson's whereabouts and activities, but does not seek an arrest.

Sierra Club immigration stance

After his election to the national Sierra Club Board of Directors in 2003, Watson supported an unsuccessful slate of candidates supporting strict immigration controls as an element of a population stabilization policy. This effort was denounced by another candidate in the election, Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists." Watson responded by saying that the only change he was seeking in the organization's immigration stance was to restore the position it had held before its 1996 "neutrality policy." Watson left the Sierra Club board in 2006.

Anti-sealing activities

In April 2008, Watson stated that, while the deaths of three Canadian seal hunters (a fourth one is still missing) in a marine accident involving a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a fishing boat during the 2008 Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt were a tragedy, he felt that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals is an even greater tragedy. Canadian Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn accused Watson of trivializing the memory of the lost sealers. Watson replied that Mr. Hearn was trying to distract attention from his government's incompetence as the boat the men were on capsized while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, while his political ambitions continued to support and subsidize an industry that had no place in the 21st Century. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams was quoted as saying, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this man is a terrorist." Due to the operations against Canadian seal hunters, Danny Williams called Watson a terrorist and said that the Sea Shepherds were not welcome in the province.

Australian visa issues

In October 2009 Watson, who carries a US passport, complained to media outlets about having his request for an Australian visa denied. He states that the Australian government was attempting to sabotage the upcoming 2010 Sea Shepherd campaign by denying him entry into the country. Watson and several other shipmates were also unable to join the MV Steve Irwin on its promotional tour of Australia until they were able to provide documentation from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway, exonerating them from previously claimed acts of violence, specifically claims by Sea Shepherd of intentionally sinking a ship in Norway.

Anti-whaling activities and alleged shooting

On March 17, 2008 Paul Watson said that he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the Operation Migaloo anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean. The incident is documented during the season finale of season 1 of the ''Whale Wars'' TV reality show, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign. The footage in ''Whale Wars'' shows Watson standing on the deck of the ''Steve Irwin'' while Sea Shepherd crew throws glass bottles filled with butyric acid at the ''Nisshin Maru'' whaling vessel. Butyric acid was used for its foul odor and sticky properties. The Japanese respond by throwing flashbang devices. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and body armour and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest.

The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research has dismissed Sea Shepherd's statements as lies. The Institute and Coast Guard said that they used seven flashbang devices designed to flash and make noise in the air without causing harm. Neither of the two conflicting accounts have been independently verified. The Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned "actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury". Two media releases were made on the same day from the office. One said that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" while the updated version used the phrase "'warning balls' – also known as 'flashbangs' – had been fired".

Watson has been called an eco terrorist by the Japanese government for his direct action tactics against whalers, and have repeated their position after conflicts during the 2009-10 whaling season.

Leadership style

His leadership style has variously been called arrogant, as well as pushing himself too much "front and center", which was cited as being one of the reasons he and Greenpeace parted ways. The atmosphere aboard his vessels has been compared to an "anarchy run by God".

The former member of Sea Shepherd and captain of the ''Ady Gil'' Pete Bethune described Watson as “morally bankrupt” who would order the intentional sinking of his own ships like the Ady Gil as a means to “garner sympathy with the public and to create better TV”.

Attitudes about his activism

At an animal rights convention in 2002, Paul Watson was also quoted as saying, "There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history." Recently, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck also discussed the comment, criticizing Watson's views. Watson responded to Beck's comments on the official Sea Shepherd website by stating that he had said that but that it was taken out of context, quoting Gerald Seymour's "One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter.”

Watson has stated that he does not consider himself a 'protester', but an 'interventionist', as he considers protesting as too submissive. He often takes the attitude that he represents (or stands in for) law enforcement which is either unwilling or unable to enforce existing laws.

In popular culture

A biographical documentary on Paul Watson's early life and background entitled ''Pirate for the Sea'' was produced by Ron Colby in 2008. The 2009 documentary ''At the Edge of the World'' chronicled the efforts of Watson and 45 volunteers to hinder the Japanese whaling fleet in the waters around Antarctica.

Watson, ''Whale Wars'', and the Japanese whaling industry were satirized in the ''South Park'' episode "Whale Whores". Watson himself was called "An unorganized incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause" and "A smug, narcoleptic liar with no credibility". Watson responded to the ''South Park'' episode by stating; "My understanding is that the Japanese prime minister was not amused, and the whalers and dolphin killers are enraged at the way they were portrayed," Watson said. "That’s music to my ears. If the humorless whale killers and the bank-rollers of the dolphin killers did not like the show, then that’s all I need to applaud it."

Works

''Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals'' (1981) (ISBN 0-393-01499-1)

''Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy'' (1993) (ISBN 0-9616019-5-7)

''Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas'' (1994) (ISBN 1-55013-599-6)

''Seal Wars: Twenty-Five Years on the Front Lines With the Harp Seals'' (2002) (ISBN 1-55297-751-X)

Contributor to ''Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberations of Animals'' (2004) (ISBN 1-59056-054-X)

References

Further reading

''Earth Warrior: Overboard With Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society'', by David B. Morris (1995) (ISBN 1-55591-203-6)

''Eco-Warriors'', by Rik Scarce (2006) (ISBN 1-59874-028-8)

External links

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society official website

Category:1950 births Category:Canadian environmentalists Category:Canadian vegans Category:Green Party of British Columbia politicians Category:Sierra Club Category:Living people Category:Green thinkers Category:Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Category:Sustainability advocates Category:People from Charlotte County, New Brunswick Category:People from Toronto Category:Animal rights advocates Category:People associated with Greenpeace

de:Paul Watson es:Paul Watson fr:Paul Watson is:Paul Watson it:Paul Watson nl:Paul Watson ja:ポール・ワトソン no:Paul Watson pl:Paul Watson pt:Paul Watson ru:Уотсон, Пол fi:Paul Watson sv:Paul Watson tr:Paul Watson

Wayne Madsen (born April 25, 1954) is a Washington, D.C.-based author, columnist, and investigative journalistspecializing in intelligence and international affairs. He is the author of the blog ''Wayne Madsen Report''.

He has been described by some journalists including Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic Monthly, CBS, and Salon as a conspiracy theorist.

Background and Early Life

Madsen was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania on 28 April 1954 to an American mother and a Danish mariner. His grandmother, who emigrated to the U.S. with his father after World War II was Victoria Madsen, a Danish communist party official. In the 1950s Victoria Madsen was deported by the FBI

Madsen attended the University of Mississippi where he joined the Navy ROTC.

Career

U.S. Navy

Upon graduation from University of Mississippi, he joined the U.S. Navy. He was commissioned an ensign and underwent training at the Surface Warfare School. Later he was assigned to anti-submarine acoustic sensing operations. He subsequently received a Navy Unit Commendation for being part of the team that found the first acoustic signature of a Soviet Alfa class submarine. He was later given a bad fitness report by his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Marney Finch.

His new commanding officer at Coos Bay transferred him to Washington D.C. He resigned from the Navy in 1985 as a lieutenant, having been passed over for promotion. Madsen described himself as the "most senior lieutenant in the Navy" at the time of his resignation and has blamed his lack of advance on a powerful group of pedophiles hidden in the top of the U.S. Navy ranks. Madsen says that independent investigations into illegal homosexual activity in the federal government by other journalists were eventually published by the Washington Times in 1989.

In 1984 he "benefitted from the 1983 bombing of the Computer Area in the Washington Navy Yard" and the 1984 White House screening of the movie War Games which he suggests prompted President Reagan into putting money into computer security. He was loaned in 1984 to the NSA by the Navy to work in computer security.

In 2005 Madsen began working as a free-lance journalist for publications such as ''The American Conservative'', CorpWatch, ''CounterPunch'', ''CovertAction Quarterly'', ''In These Times'', ''Multinational Monitor'', ''The Progressive'' and ''The Village Voice''. His columns have appeared in the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', ''Columbus Dispatch'', ''Houston Chronicle'', ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', ''Miami Herald'' and the ''Sacramento Bee''. Madsen also publishes his own news blog.

In January 2002 he expressed concern over the possible use of torture by the United States government against suspected terorrists, as well as possible plans to use the military in domestic law enforcement, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.

In 2003 he said that he had uncovered information linking the September 11 attacks to the government of Saudi Arabia as well as to Bush administration. In 2005, he wrote than an unidentified former CIA agent claimed that the USS Cole was actually hit by a Popeye cruise missile launched from an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine.

In 2005 he said that the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, had pressured American politicians to stay away from protests against the Iraq War.

In 2006 he criticized the Iraq Study Group, saying: :"I think it is a whitewash group and nothing will come of it, except that they may concoct some reason for the US to stay the course in Iraq, with perhaps a little more international support, like Germany and Canada. The commission is a whitewash because the members are all consummate Washington insiders, many of whom have a political and financial stake in the successful outcome of the war. The longer the war goes on the more money they make."

Later that year he criticized the movie industry for indirectly causing suffering in Africa by promoting diamonds in movies like ''Breakfast At Tiffany's'' and ''Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend''. He included Leonardo DiCaprio, whose film ''Blood Diamond'' dealt with the issue, as well as Russell Simmons who is selling a line of "nonconflict diamonds." Madsen said about them, "It's a p.r. campaign. They should be saying, 'Don't buy diamonds at all.'"

In a 2008 ''ArabNews'' article, Madsen is quoted as suggesting that the criminal prosecution of New York State governor Eliot Spitzer was partly due to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

On June 9, 2008 he reported that unnamed "GOP dirty tricks operatives" had found a Kenyan birth certificate registering the birth of Barack Obama, Jr. on August 4, 1961. "However, the registration is a common practice in African countries whose citizens abroad have families with foreign nationals." This birth certificate was a cornerstone of the "Kenyan Born" subset of the birther conspiracy theories, and Madsen's article was cited in a Washington state petition challenging Obama's eligibility to serve.

On April 25, 2009, Madsen reported that some unidentified UN World Health Organization officials and scientists believed the 2009 new H1N1 strain of swine flu virus appeared to be the product of U.S. military sponsored gene splicing, as opposed to natural processes. While it can not be ruled out that the virus was created in a research laboratory or vaccine factory, the most plausable explanation is that the virus is the result of modern farming techniques. New Scientist magazine cited the example of a H1N2 influenza pandemic in the 1990s that only affected pigs in the United Kingdom. This subtype of the H1N2 was also a reassortment (mix) of swine, human and avian strains.

In July 2009, Madsen released a report saying there was a Q Group within the National Security Agency tasked with concealing US government involvement in 9/11.

In 2010, Madsen reported in the Pakistan Daily that unnamed sources suggested that the company formerly known as Blackwater, had been conducting false-flag operations in Pakistan that were blamed on the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Bibliography

''Jaded Tasks—Brass Plates, Black Ops & Big Oil: The Blood Politics of Bush & Co.'' (TrineDay, 2006) ISBN 0-9752906-9-X

''America's Nightmare: The Presidency of George Bush II'' with John Stanton (Dandelion Books, 2003) ISBN 1893302296

''Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy, Saudi Arabia and the Failed Search for bin Laden'' (foreword) Jean-Charles Brisard, Guillaume Dasquie (Nation Books, 2002) ISBN 1560254149

''Genocide and Covert Operations in Africa 1993-1999 (African Studies)'' (Edwin Mellen Press, 1999) ISBN 0773480021

''Handbook of Personal Data Protection'' (New York: Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 1992) (reference book on international data protection law) ISBN 1561590460

References

External links

Wayne Madsen Report

Category:American alternative journalists Category:American foreign policy writers Category:American political writers Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:Analysts of the National Security Agency Category:Living people Category:American people of Danish descent Category:1954 births Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:9/11 conspiracy theorists

no:Wayne Madsen ro:Wayne Madsen