Problem: Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers. The site was started by the journalist Robert Wright (The Evolution of God, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, The Moral Animal) and the blogger and journalist Mickey Kaus on November 1, 2005. (Kaus has since dropped out of operational duties of the site as he didn't want his frequent linking to be seen as a conflict of interest.) Most of the earlier discussions posted to the site involved one or both of those individuals, but since has grown to include a total of over one thousand individual contributors, mostly journalists, academics, scientists, authors, well known political bloggers, and other notable individuals.

Due to the fairly limited medium of using webcams to record the video used in the Bloggingheads.tv episodes, a variety of visual aids and enhancements are sometimes added to the program by the participants. Generally this takes the form of holding up books, newspapers, or other objects that are being discussed to the camera, but sometimes it involves other, more exotic, items to either enhance a point or add something to the diavlog.  Mickey Kaus is particularly known for using visual aids such as masks (of Al Gore, Laura Bush, and others), an Ann Coulter doll, and perhaps most recognizably, a stuffed moose doll. According to Kaus, "deploying the moose" symbolizes Pinch Sulzberger's idea of "the unaddressed important issue" similar to the "elephant in the room." Robert Wright has since received a stuffed moose of his own.  Also, various live animals (usually pets) have been displayed onscreen during the course of conversations. Wright has displayed his family pet, a poodle mix named Frazier, several times. (Frazier was popular enough to subsequently get his own Facebook and Twitter profiles.) Other people have had their cat displayed onscreen, such as that of Ana Marie Cox, John McWhorter, and Jonah Goldberg.  Other interesting onscreen visual aids that have been employed include the use of a kazoo by Matt Welch, hats by various people (e.g. a Santa hat by Jonah Goldberg, and a New Years Day hat by Mickey Kaus), and the display of a sextant by Robert Farley in a discussion on pirates.

When did these visual aids first appear?

Answer with quotes: 


Problem: Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier; February 4, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spans over fifty years. With his distinctive raspy voice and a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, deadly snakes, baby dolls, and dueling swords, Cooper is considered by music journalists and peers alike to be "The Godfather of Shock Rock". He has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre and theatrical brand of rock designed to shock people. Originating in Phoenix, Arizona, in the late 1960s after he moved from Detroit, Michigan, "Alice Cooper" was originally a band consisting of Furnier on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and drummer Neal Smith.

Cooper is a fan of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. On February 18, 2012, the Coyotes gave away his bobblehead in a promotion for the first 10,000 fans for a game with the Dallas Stars. Cooper is a longtime baseball fan, supporting the Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers. As a child, he dreamed of playing left field in the Tiger's outfield alongside Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline. He has coached Little League baseball teams since his son played in the early 1990s. Cooper is also a fan of NBA basketball, supporting the Detroit Pistons.  Cooper has on several occasions credited golf with playing a major role in helping him overcome his addiction to alcohol, and has even gone so far as to say that when he took up golf, it was a case of replacing one addiction with another. The importance that the game has had in his life is also reflected in the title to his 2007 autobiography, Alice Cooper, Golf Monster. Cooper, who has participated in a number of Pro-Am competitions, plays the game six days a week, off a handicap of two.  Since 1997 he has hosted an annual golf competition, the Alice Cooper Celebrity AM Golf Tournament, all proceeds from which go to his charity, the Solid Rock Foundation.  Cooper has also appeared in commercials for Callaway Golf equipment and was a guest of veteran British player and broadcaster Peter Alliss on A Golfer's Travels. He wrote the foreword to the Gary McCord book Ryder Cup and participated in the second All*Star Cup in Newport, Wales. In an interview with VH1, friend and fellow golfer Pat Boone said that Cooper was "this close" to being a pro.

did he ever play golf?

Answer with quotes: Cooper was "this close" to being a pro.


Problem: Tilak was born in a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin family in Ratnagiri as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak, as mentioned above. In headquarters of the eponymous district of present-day Maharashtra (then British India) on 23 July 1856. His ancestral village was Chikhali. His father, Gangadhar Tilak was a school teacher and a Sanskrit scholar who died when Tilak was sixteen.

On 30 April 1908, two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzzafarpur, to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed two women traveling in it. While Chaki committed suicide when caught, Bose was hanged. Tilak, in his paper Kesari, defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or self-rule. The Government swiftly charged him with sedition. At the conclusion of the trial, a special jury convicted him by 7:2 majority. The judge, Dinshaw D. Davar gave him a six years jail sentence to be served in Mandalay, Burma and a fine of Rs 1,000. On being asked by the judge whether he had anything to say, Tilak said:  All that I wish to say is that, in spite of the verdict of the jury, I still maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations; and I think, it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may be benefited more by my suffering than by my pen and tongue.  In passing sentence, the judge indulged in some scathing strictures against Tilak's conduct. He threw off the judicial restraint which, to some extent, was observable in his charge to the jury. He condemned the articles as "seething with sedition", as preaching violence, speaking of murders with approval. "You hail the advent of the bomb in India as if something had come to India for its good. I say, such journalism is a curse to the country". Tilak was sent to Mandalay from 1908 to 1914. While imprisoned, he continued to read and write, further developing his ideas on the Indian nationalist movement. While in the prison he wrote the Gita Rahasya. Many copies of which were sold, and the money was donated for the Indian Independence movement..

When was he imprisoned?

Answer with quotes:
Tilak was sent to Mandalay from 1908 to 1914.