IN: Sam Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American author, philosopher, neuroscientist, blogger, and podcast host. He is a critic of religion and proponent of the liberty to criticize religion. He is concerned with matters that touch on spirituality, morality, neuroscience, free will, and terrorism. He is described as one of the "Four Horsemen of atheism", with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett.

Harris was born on April 9, 1967 in Los Angeles, the son of actor Berkeley Harris and TV producer Susan Harris (nee Spivak), who created The Golden Girls. His father came from a Quaker background and his mother is a secular Jew. He was raised by his mother following his parents' divorce when he was aged two. Harris has stated that his upbringing was entirely secular, and his parents rarely discussed religion, though it was always a subject that interested him. Fellow critic of religion Christopher Hitchens once referred to Harris as a "Jewish warrior against theocracy and bigotry of all stripes". While a student at Stanford University, Harris experimented with MDMA, and has written and spoken about the insights he experienced under its influence.  Though his original major was in English, he became interested in philosophical questions while at Stanford University after an experience with the psychedelic drug MDMA. The experience led him to be interested in the idea that he might be able to achieve spiritual insights without the use of drugs. Leaving Stanford in his second year, a quarter after his psychedelic experience, he went to India and Nepal, where he studied meditation with Buddhist and Hindu religious teachers, including Dilgo Khyentse. Eleven years later, in 1997, he returned to Stanford, completing a B.A. degree in philosophy in 2000. Harris began writing his first book, The End of Faith, immediately after the September 11 attacks.  He received a Ph.D. degree in cognitive neuroscience in 2009 from the University of California, Los Angeles, using functional magnetic resonance imaging to conduct research into the neural basis of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty. His thesis was titled "The moral landscape: How science could determine human values", and his advisor was Mark S. Cohen.

where was he born?

OUT: Los Angeles,


IN: Nieuwendyk was born September 10, 1966 in Oshawa, Ontario, and grew up in Whitby. He is the youngest of four children to Gordon and Joanne Nieuwendyk, who immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands in 1958. Gordon owned a car repair shop in Whitby. Joe grew up in a sporting family.

The Stars immediately signed Nieuwendyk to a new deal worth US$11.3 million over five years. Bob Gainey, the team's general manager, hoped that the acquisition of Nieuwendyk would help the franchise, which had relocated from Minnesota three years previous, establish its place in Dallas. Nieuwendyk scored 14 goals and 32 points in 52 games with the Stars to finish the 1995-96 season.  Nieuwendyk improved to 30 goals in 1996-97 despite missing the first month of the season with fractured rib cartilage. A 39-goal season followed, but he was again sidelined by injury after appearing in only one game of the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs. In the opening game of the Stars' first-round series against the San Jose Sharks, he suffered a torn ACL as a result of a check by Bryan Marchment. The injury required two knee surgeries to repair and six months to heal, which caused him to miss the beginning of the 1998-99 NHL season.  He finished the regular season with 28 goals and 55 points in 67 games, and added 11 goals and 10 assists in the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs to help the Stars win the first Stanley Cup in their franchise history. Six of his playoff goals were game winners, and he was voted the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs. Injuries again limited Nieuwendyk in 1999-2000. He missed ten games due to a bruised chest then suffered a separated shoulder a week after his return that kept him out of the lineup for several weeks. He played only 47 regular season games, but added 23 more in the playoffs as the Stars reached the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals. They lost the series in six games to the New Jersey Devils, however.  Nieuwendyk played in his 1,000th career game on January 20, 2002, against the Chicago Blackhawks. Two months later, on March 19, 2002, he was traded to the Devils, along with Jamie Langenbrunner, in exchange for Jason Arnott, Randy McKay and a first round selection in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

How long before he was able to play again?

OUT: 1998-99


IN: The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney, New South Wales, in 1991. The current members of the group are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, and Emma Watkins. The original members were Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album.

In mid-2012, The Wiggles announced that Page, Fatt, and Cook would be retiring from touring with the group; Emma Watkins, the first female member of The Wiggles, replaced Page, Lachlan Gillespie replaced Fatt, and Simon Pryce replaced Cook. Anthony Field remained in the group because he found it too difficult to give up and because he still had a passion for educating children. According to Paul Field, his brother staying in the band "was a vital decision to placate American, British and Canadian business partners". Page, Fatt, and Cook remained involved with the creative and production aspects of the group. Fatt and Cook had been talking about quitting touring for many years; Cook announced his intention to retire first, citing a desire to spend more time with his family, and then Fatt announced his own retirement shortly thereafter. Page, who was still struggling with his health issues and had stated that his interest was in working with the group's original line-up, was subsequently asked to extend his stay until the end of the year so he would leave alongside Cook and Fatt, to which he agreed. Cook reported that the original members were confident that the new group would be accepted by the fans because they passed on their founding concepts of early childhood education to Watkins, Gillespie, and Pryce. The new members, like Moran, who was not approached to return, were salaried employees.  The group, for their farewell tour, visited 8 countries and 141 cities, for a total of almost 250 shows in over 200 days for 640,000 people. Watkins, Gillespie, and Pryce wore "In Training" T-shirts, and debuted the song "Do the Propeller!" during these concerts. The final televised performance of the original band members, along with the new members, was on 22 December 2012, during the annual Carols in the Domain in Sydney. Their final performance, after over 7000 shows over the years, was on 23 December at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.  Also by 2012, The Wiggles performed to audiences whose parents attended their shows in their early years, and they were hiring performers who were part of their audience as young children. The Wiggles began airing a show on Sirius XM satellite radio in late 2012, featuring the original members and their replacements, and stories and games for young listeners. In December, the group auctioned their famous "Big Red Car" (called the "iconic Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet") for charity for almost A$36,000 on the auction site eBay. The money was donated to the Melbourne-based charity SIDS and Kids.

Why did those 3 depart the group?

OUT:
In mid-2012, The Wiggles announced that Page, Fatt, and Cook would be retiring from touring with the group;