City

A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.

Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation. The concentration of development greatly facilitates interaction between people and businesses, benefiting both parties in the process, but it also presents challenges to managing urban growth.

A big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are usually associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas, creating numerous business commuters traveling to urban centers for employment. Once a city expands far enough to reach another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. In terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai.

Origins

There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities. Some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces.

Kabbalah Centre

The Kabbalah Centre International is a non-profit organization for spiritual connection, guidance, and education headquartered in Los Angeles, California, that provides courses on the Zohar and Kabbalistic teachings online as well as through its regional and city-based centres and study groups worldwide. The modern-day, universal presentation of Kabbalah was developed by its leader, Philip Berg (a traditionally trained orthodox rabbi who had left the religious clergy, went into the insurance business, and then focused his life on learning and sharing Kabbalah with the world) along with his wife, Karen Berg. The Kabbalah Centre International has a multi-ethnic, international staff of teachers that offers training and guidance to its worldwide student community. Philip Berg died on September 16, 2013. His wife and two sons Yehuda and Michael have worked together to continue Philip Berg's efforts to bring Kabbalah to the world through the Kabbalah Centre since his stroke in 2004.

Sarah McLachlan

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Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and pianist. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2009, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards (out of four nominations) and four Juno Awards. In addition to her personal artistic efforts, she founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians on an unprecedented scale. The Lilith Fair concert tours took place from 1997 to 1999, and resumed in the summer of 2010. On May 6, 2014, she released her first album of original music in four years, titled Shine On.

Early and personal life

Sarah McLachlan was born on January 28, 1968, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and adopted. Her biological father is Paddy Maiorana and her biological mother was Tracey Robertson. Her parents have Scottish ancestry. As a child, she took voice lessons, along with studies in classical piano and guitar. When she was 17 years old and still a student at Queen Elizabeth High School in Halifax, she fronted a short-lived rock band called The October Game. One of the band's songs, "Grind," credited as a group composition, can be found on the independent Flamingo Records release Out of the Fog and the CD Out of the Fog Too. It has yet to be released elsewhere. Her high school yearbook predicted that she was "destined to become a famous rock star."

Surname

A surname or family name is a name added to a given name. In many cases, a surname is a family name and many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name". In the western hemisphere, it is commonly synonymous with last name because it is usually placed at the end of a person's given name.

In most Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries, two or more last names (or surnames) may be used. In China, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, Taiwan, Vietnam, and parts of India, the family name is placed before a person's given name.

The style of having both a family name (surname) and a given name (forename) is far from universal. In many countries, it is common for ordinary people to have only one name or mononym.

The concept of a "surname" is a relatively recent historical development, evolving from a medieval naming practice called a "byname". Based on an individual's occupation or area of residence, a byname would be used in situations where more than one person had the same name.