Look up somatic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The term somatic (from the Greek σωματικός) means 'of the body' - relating to the body. In medicine, somatic illness is bodily, not mental, illness.

The term is often used in biology to refer to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells which usually give rise to the gametes (ovum or sperm). These somatic cells are diploid containing two copies of each chromosome, whereas the germ cells are haploid as they only contain one copy of each chromosome. Although under normal circumstances all somatic cells contain identical DNA, they develop a variety of tissue-specific characteristics. This process is called differentiation, through epigenetic and regulatory alterations. The grouping of like cells and tissues creates the foundation for organs.

Somatic mutations are changes to the genetics of a multicellular organism which are not passed on to its offspring through the germline. Many cancers are somatic mutations.

Somatic is also defined as relating to the wall of the body cavity, particularly as distinguished from the head, limbs or viscera.

It is also used in the term somatic nervous system which is the portion of the vertebrate nervous system which regulates voluntary movements of the body.

See also[link]

• Somatics
• Somatic theory
• Somatic marker hypothesis
• Soma (biology)

References[link]

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Phil Valentine is an American conservative talk radio show host in Nashville, Tennessee. He broadcasts daily on flagship station WWTN, a Cumulus Media station, from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Central Time^[1] and is syndicated through Dial Global on over 110 radio stations.^[2] He is probably best known in Tennessee for leading protests against a state income tax.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Valentine is the son of former six-term Democratic U.S. Representative Tim Valentine of North Carolina, but is nonetheless a self-described conservative. His mother is the late Betsy Valentine who was killed in an auto accident one month shy of Valentine's 22nd birthday. He grew up in Nashville, North Carolina, and graduated from Northern Nash High School. After attending East Carolina University, he decided on a career in radio. ECU did not offer a broadcast major so Valentine left the university and enrolled in Carolina School of Broadcasting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Books[link]

Valentine is the author of three books, The Conservative's Handbook, Right from the Heart: The ABC's of Reality in America,^[4] and Tax Revolt. Mr. Valentine was very active as a community organizer for the people of Tennessee to stop the passage of this bill against their wishes as citizens of that state. The Conservative's Handbook is a revision of Right from the Heart with new chapters and updated information. The foreword for both books was written by Sean Hannity.^[5]

Film and television[link]

In August 2009 Valentine launched production of his documentary, An Inconsistent Truth, a rebuttal to Al Gore's movie. The movie held its world premiere on January 26, 2012, and officially opened on January 27, 2012. For the first two weeks after the film's release, Truth was the top-grossing movie per screen in the country. At the time, it was playing at a single movie theater and earned a total of $36,439 for those two weeks.^[6] It picked up second place at the Appalachian Film Festival in Huntington, West Virginia, in February 2012.

Valentine's other movie credits include a supporting role in the 1998 movie A Letter From Death Row, written and co-directed by Bret Michaels' of the rock group Poison. He was also the voice of a radio talk show host in a 2003 episode of ABC-TV's Threat Matrix television drama. Valentine has made numerous appearances on Fox News Channel and MSNBC.^[7]

Awards and honors[link]

Valentine has received numerous AIR Awards (Achievement in Radio) in Philadelphia and Nashville and the Gold World Medal for Best Talk Show Host from the New York Festivals International Radio Awards.^[8]

Valentine is consistently listed in the Talkers Magazine "Heavy Hundred" as one of the 100 most influential talk show hosts in America and is listed by Talkers as one of the 100 most influential talk show hosts of all time. For 2012, he is ranked #42 on the Heavy Hundred list.^[9]

References[link]

Notes

Further reading

• "Phil Valentine Finds the Philadelphians Unexpectedly Delightful". Philadelphia Inquirer. October 4, 1996. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB32DD175DD2CE4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved May 23, 2012.  (Subscription required)
• "Talk radio's Valentine offers 'rehab' for liberals". The Tennessean. 2003-10-02. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tennessean/access/1821224591.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+02%2C+2003&author=ROBERT+L+DOERSCHUK&pub=The+Tennessean&desc=Talk+radio's+Valentine+offers+'rehab'+for+liberals&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2012-05-23.  (Subscription required)

External links[link]

• Phil Valentine's official website
• Phil Valentine at the Internet Movie Database