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Black Friday (1869)

The Black Friday is the term for a gold panic on September 24, 1869, which triggered a financial crisis in the United States. It was the result of a conspiracy between two investors, Jay Gould, later joined by his partner James Fisk, and Abel Corbin, a small time speculator who had married Virginia (Jennie) Grant, the younger sister of President Ulysses S. Grant. They formed the Gold Ring to corner the gold market and force up the price of the metal on the New York Gold Exchange. The scandal took place during the Grant Presidency. The Secretary of the Treasury, George S. Boutwell, had a policy to sell Treasury gold at biweekly intervals for a to pay off the national debt. Along with other, non-routine gold sales, this acted to stabilize the dollar and boost the economy. The country had gone through tremendous upheaval during the Civil War and was not yet fully restored.

Gould hoped to take advantage of Corbin's relationship with his brother-in-law, President Grant, and Gould persuaded Corbin to introduce him to Grant. Gould and Fisk hoped that befriending the President would get them privy information about the government's gold policy—and even prevent the sale of gold—and thereby manipulate the market. It did not work, being foiled by the government, yet resulted in a scandal that undermined both the credibility of Grant's presidency and the national economy. Gould and Fisk used their personal appearances with Grant to gain credibility on Wall Street in addition to using their insider information.

During the first week of September, Grant's Secretary of the Treasury George S. Boutwell received a letter from Grant. It told him that gold sales would be harmful to Western farmers, a notion planted by Gould and Fisk. Boutwell countermanded his own order to sell a great deal of gold, suspending non-routine Treasury gold sales for the rest of the month. At the same time, Gould, now joined by Fisk, continued buying gold through New York City's Gold Room, raising the price of gold. After learning about the nature of their scheme, Grant first told Corbin to unload his gold holdings before ordering the release of $4 million in government gold on September 24. Grant's move immediately drove down the price of gold, crushing the Gold Ring's corner on the market. A panic on Wall Street ensued and the country went through months of economic turmoil, although a national depression was averted. Gould and Fisk hired the best defense available. Favored by Tweed Ring judges, the conspiratorial partners escaped prosecution. An 1870 government investigation, headed by fellow Republican James A. Garfield, exonerated Grant of any illicit involvement in the conspiracy.

History
To finance the Civil War and Reconstruction, the federal government had assumed a large national debt, escalating from $64 million in 1860 to $2.8 billion by the end of the Andrew Johnson administration, when Grant was elected president in 1868. The problem was further compounded when the federal government issued paper money. during the Civil War, known as "greenbacks", which were not redeemable in gold. Mandated as the only payment for federal debts, "both public and private", these "notes" served to take gold currency out of circulation, causing the price of gold to rise sharply. It was generally believed that the U.S. Government would eventually redeem the "greenbacks" with gold.

Grant believed that putting "sound money" back into circulation was the best approach to restoring the nation's economy. Determined to return the national economy to pre-war monetary standards, one of his first actions as president was to sign the Public Credit Act of 1869, which established a 10-year timetable for returning to the Gold standard by repaying U.S. bonds in "gold or its equivalent" and redeeming greenbacks from the economy as soon as possible.

Grant had put the talented George S. Boutwell in charge of the U.S. Treasury. Boutwell's primary task was to reduce the national debt. To accomplish this, he ordered his assistant treasurer to begin selling gold from the Treasury and buying up wartime bonds in April 1869. He also initiated reforms in the Treasury Department by improving methods of tax collecting and attacking the problem of counterfeiting. By the end of May, the national debt had been reduced by $12 million. Boutwell's treasury policy of reducing the national debt kept the money supply level and the gold price artificially low. The goal of Grant's policy was to reduce the amount of greenbacks in circulation that could be redeemed in gold at some future date.

Cornering the gold market
In 1869, Jay Gould, a director of the Erie Railroad, sought to corner the gold market with the connivance of Abel Corbin, a financier with a shady past who was President Grant's brother-in-law. They worked to persuade the President to stop Secretary of the Treasury Boutwell from releasing weekly gold (but not affecting those routine gold sales for the sinking fund) from U.S. Treasury, with the intention of raising the gold price. James Fisk, another director who had made his fortune as a cotton smuggler during the Civil War, controlled the Erie Railroad in conjunction with Gould. He joined the conspiracy in force later on. The first step in Corbin and Gould's plan was to recruit Daniel Butterfield, a former Major General and war hero during the Civil War who lacked any experience in finance. Both Corbin and Gould lobbied successfully for Butterfield's appointment as the assistant treasurer, through whom Boutwell gave orders to sell Treasury Department gold. Gould bribed Butterfield with a $10,000 check, more than Butterfield's annual salary of $8,000. Butterfield agreed to tip the men off when the government intended to sell gold.

Corbin was considered a smooth talker and had made money speculating in real estate. More importantly to Fisk and Gould, he had direct access to Grant. They used Corbin's relationship to get close to Grant in social situations, where they argued against government sale of gold, reinforced by Corbin. Gould also attempted to bribe Grant's personal secretary Horace Porter by giving him a $500,000 gold account in his name, but Porter, a former military aide to Grant, stated that he declined the offer. Not accustomed to having such offers turned down, Gould went ahead and made the purchase and opened a brokerage account in Porter's name regardless. When Porter was informed of Gould's unauthorized transaction, he refused the offer in writing. In similar fashion, Corbin approached Grant's wife Julia and attempted to entice her into accepting half interest in $250,000 in bonds, but she turned that offer down.

Gould secured controlling interest in the federally audited New York's Tenth National Bank, a Wall Street broker's bank that was used as a facility to contract business. In addition to meeting at Corbin's mansion, Fisk and Gould also talked with Grant on their Erie Canal railroad car and in Fisk's box seats at New York's Fifth Avenue Theatre. Gould suggested to Grant that increasing gold prices would lower the dollar and allow farmers in the West to sell their crops overseas, but Grant gave no response. Both Grant and Boutwell strongly felt that the nation's wartime debt had to be paid to assure the credibility of the United States in the eyes of the European banks. To accomplish this, Boutwell began selling gold from the Treasury's reserve of $100 million in gold bars, initially without the President's express consent, and using the proceeds to buy back U.S. bonds. Boutwell's controversial approach was later endorsed by Grant, giving Boutwell all the latitude he needed. Boutwell later wrote that only outsiders unaware of the finer designs of his dealings thought "the President was taking any part in the operations of the treasury concerning the price of gold". Grant, meanwhile, was unaware that his appearances in the company of Gould and Fisk sent a message to Wall Street that he supported raising the gold price.

When buying gold and bonds, Boutwell placed all his orders through Daniel Butterfield in New York. To reduce the temptation of illicit dealing, Boutwell, at Butterfield's recommendation, publicly announced his orders by telegraphing the news to the Associated Press. Over the next few months Treasury gold began to flood the market while Boutwell began buying back wartime bonds. By September 1, Boutwell had reduced the national debt by $50 million. He continued this practice at an accelerated rate while Grant, having closely followed Boutwell's dealings, began to express reservations and sent him a letter criticizing that driving the price of gold down would hurt farmers. Many brokerage firms collapsed while trade volume and agriculture prices plummeted, causing a mild recession, but by January 1870, the economy resumed its post-war recovery. Boutwell saw little merit in either Grant's or Gould's arguments, feeling that the government had no place in manipulating the market regardless of who benefited. However, not wanting to go against the President, Boutwell ordered Butterfield to halt semi-weekly September government gold sales. Believing he now had a "green light" from Grant, Gould began buying gold through brokers at an accelerated rate, increasing his gold stake from $10 to $18 million in specie.

Breaking the Gold Ring
Starting on September 1, 1869, Gould and Fisk put their plot into motion by purchasing $1.5million in gold in the names of Corbin and Butterfield. The conspirators would make $15,000 ($ in ) for every dollar rise in the price of gold (which was quoted in increments of $100 face value of gold coin, each containing 4.8375 troy ounces). By September 6, the gold quote had risen from $132.50 to $137. By September 7, Gould was faced with a startling reversal when were directed to sell off the $6million they had achieved during the  Prices of gold fell sharply from $137 to $134 in one day. Gould lost more than $100,000 in two days.

Abandoned by his associates, Gould looked to Fisk for assistance, but he was away on railroad business. Fisk returned to New York on September 8 and found Gould worried and depressed. Fisk reminded Gould that he still had "enough gold to sink a ship" while the two looked to others and devised other schemes to come out on top, but they knew by this time that if they began buying again, the Treasury would counter their efforts and begin selling at an accelerated rate once again.

Gould and Fisk had a list of every broker and speculator who had borrowed gold from the gold exchange, some 250 in all, including Jay Cooke, the biggest financier on Wall Street and a prominent voice urging Grant to step in and break the Gold Ring. Fisk proposed that the list be published in the newspapers the next day with the demand that the "bulls and bears" settle on their debts by three o'clock, at a fixed rate of $160. If they refused, Fisk was ready to squeeze them at an even higher rate, a scheme that bordered on blackmail. Fisk's associates scoffed at the scheme and criticized Fisk of being true to form for suggesting such an unconventional idea. After being warned that the idea violated New York State criminal conspiracy law, Gould, Fisk and their associates chose another approach: On Friday, they drove the price of gold to an even higher price by buying large amounts of gold at the current high price regardless of the political and economic effects. Fisk, however, saw the flaw to this alternative approach, fearing that pushing the price of gold up too quickly would provoke the President to step in and break the gold corner. On September 12, Grant warned Boutwell that a "desperate struggle" was taking place between the "bulls and bears" of the gold market and that Boutwell should continue the current policy, which was to suspend the sales of gold. Corbin told Gould he was concerned that Grant would start selling gold from the Treasury, so Gould told Corbin to write a letter to Grant encouraging him not to sell. Corbin wrote Grant the letter, now lost, encouraging Grant not to sell gold. Fisk had the letter delivered by William Chapin of the Erie Railroad, to Washington, Pennsylvania, where Grant was vacationing with his wife's cousin. Interrupting Grant's croquet game, Chapin gave him Corbin's letter, whereupon Grant read the letter and told Chapin that it was satisfactory, but said, "No, nothing" when Chapin asked for a reply. When Chapin had left, Porter told Grant about Gould setting up a $500,000 gold account in Porter's name. Upon hearing this, Grant finally realized what Gould and Fisk were up to. Through a letter his wife was writing to his sister, Grant urged Corbin to have nothing to do with Gould and Fisk and get out of the speculation, and Grant promptly arranged a meeting with Boutwell. On September 20, 1869, Gould and Fisk started hoarding gold, driving the price higher. Gold closed at $141 on September 22, at which time Fisk and Gould owned between $50 and $60million in gold between the two of them, about three times the public supply available in New York. The increase in gold prices on this day alone had netted a profit of $1.75million for the two conspirators. On Thursday, September 23, Gould visited Corbin's house and was informed of Julia's letter, which had arrived that day. After reading it and discovering that Grant was annoyed with Corbin's speculations, Gould knew that Grant was likely to sell government gold on Friday. Subsequently, Corbin asked Gould if he would buy Corbin's account so he could tell Grant that he no longer owned any gold, but Gould refused to bail Corbin out, fearing it would trigger a collapse in the market. Instead, he offered Corbin $100,000 interest and exclaimed, "Mr. Corbin, I am undone if that letter gets out". Gould chose not to inform Fisk of this recent development. When Grant returned to Washington D.C., he found $60,000 worth of gifts from the Gold Ring sent to the White House. Sensing bribery, Grant immediately ordered the paintings and statues boxed up and returned.

On September 23, Grant and Boutwell met and the two decided to break the Gold Ring by selling gold from the treasury if the gold price continued to rise. On September 24, Gould began quietly selling his gold while Gold Room agents put up a public front and continued buying at a lesser rate with Fisk leading the spurious buying activity. When gold had surpassed $155 on Friday, September 24, Grant ordered Boutwell to release $4million in gold and buy $4million worth of bonds. Within minutes, the price of gold dropped from $160 to $138 and Gould's and Fisk's gold corner was broken. Some speculators were ruined, while gamblers who had bet that the gold price would go down made money. Corbin lost money on the loan he had taken to buy gold.

Aftermath and investigation

The Black Friday September 24 gold crash caused the United States financial devastation for months. On Saturday, September 25, Gould, Fisk and Corbin met at Gould's office at the Opera House, each claiming to be the victim and blaming the other for the disaster. Obligated to make good on all debts, the Gold Exchange Bank no longer had enough reserves to cover the mounting debts, while the situation there deteriorated by the hour. The Tenth National Bank, which normally closed at 3:00 pm on that day, had depositors and speculators crowding the sidewalk at its front door. The police set up patrols inside and outside the bank.

Stock prices dropped by 20 percent from September 24 to October 1, while trade was minimal. Between January 1870 and September 1870, only 4 million shares of stock were exchanged. Dozens of brokerage firms went bankrupt, those who bought paper gold from Fisk's gold room going unpaid. Farmers, who constituted 50 percent of the country's workforce, suffered the worst: wheat prices on the Chicago trade fell from $1.40 to $0.77 a bushel, corn dropped from $0.95 to $0.68, and other commodities such as rye, oats, and barley had similar losses. The New York Tribune reported that goods ready for export could not be shipped. Grant's and Boutwell's actions to break the Gold Ring, however, kept the Wall Street panic from growing into a national depression. Butterfield was allowed to resign from the U.S. Treasury without an investigation in October, 1869.

The subsequent Congressional investigation was chaired by Republican James A. Garfield. Grant's decision to counter the escalating price of gold did not completely dispel rumors that he and his administration had profited from the affair. It has been alleged on the one hand that the investigation had been limited because Virginia Corbin and First Lady Julia Grant were not called to testify at President Grant's behest. Julia Grant may even have received $25,000 in profits from the speculation. The committee's Republican majority rejected the proffered testimony from a D.C. businessman who reported seeing the $25,000 entry in an Adams Express Company ledger. When forced to confront the entry in the ledger, however, even the Adams Express executive who brought the ledger in admitted that his first impression was that the figures in the entry for Mrs. U. S. Grant were $25,000. The committee's Republicans put forth the excuse this was really a $250.00 entry and denied "the groundless and wicked charge, that Mrs. Grant was interested in this speculation." Garfield's biographer, Alan Peskin maintains that the investigation was quite thorough. The investigation cleared Grant of wrongdoing, but excoriated Gould for his manipulation of the gold market and Corbin for exploiting his personal connections to Grant. Butterfield was implicated for serving as a double agent giving information to Gould. In his Congressional testimony, Gould said Grant "was a very pure, high-minded man; that if he was satisfied what was the best thing to do, that was what he would do."

Dodging any financial harm, Fisk and Gould escaped conviction, spending money to buy the best legal defense, including talented attorney David Dudley Field, while Democratic Tweed Ring judges such as Albert Cardozo shielded them in court. Gould remained a force on Wall Street, and when he died in December 1892, his estate was worth $70 million. Fisk remained wealthy, but was caught in a scandalous love triangle and shot to death on January 6, 1872. Boutwell served the remainder of Grant's first term, and resigned in 1873 to run for United States senator from Massachusetts, serving until 1877 before retiring to private life. In 1871, the Tweed Ring run by "Boss" Tweed was broken by New York reformers including Edwards Pierrepont, Grant's future Attorney General, and prominent member of the Committee of Seventy.

Henry Adams believed that President Ulysses S. Grant was much too tolerant of his corrupt associates. In 1870, Adams wrote an article, "The New York Gold Conspiracy", that detailed Gould and Fisk's scheme to corner the gold market, and hinted that Grant had participated in or at least known of the scheme.

title: Black Friday (1869)


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Lérins Islands

The Lérins Islands (in les Îles de Lérins, ) are a group of four Mediterranean islands off the French Riviera, in Cannes. The two largest islands in this group are the Île Sainte-Marguerite and the Île Saint-Honorat. The smaller Îlot Saint-Ferréol and Îlot de la Tradelière are uninhabited. Administratively, the islands belong to the commune of Cannes.

The islands are first known to have been inhabited during Roman times.

The Île de Saint-Honorat bears the name of the founder of the monastery of Lérins, Saint Honoratus. It was founded around the year 410. According to tradition, Saint Patrick, patron of Ireland, studied there in the fifth century. Around 500, the community was led by Porcarius I. Around 732, the Abbot Porcarius II was killed during a Saracen raid.

In 1047 the islands were raided by pirates from Andalusia. Thereafter, a fortified monastery was built between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. The monastic community today lives in a monastery built during the nineteenth century.

The Île Sainte-Marguerite held a fortress where the Man in the Iron Mask was held captive for a time.

In 1707 the Lérins were occupied by the English navy, under the command of Sir Cloudesley Shovell. This was done in order to block the military port of Toulon to help the army of Victor Amadeus II Duke of Savoy and his cousin Eugene besiege that city.

Under the French Revolution, the Île Sainte-Marguerite and the Île Saint-Honorat were renamed the Île Marat and the Île Lepeletier, after secular martyrs.

Île Sainte-Marguerite
Île Sainte-Marguerite (Saint Margaret Island) is about a 15-minute boat ride away from Cannes harbour. The cell of the mysterious 'Man with the Iron Mask' can be visited in the Fort of Sainte-Marguerite, now renamed the Musée de la Mer (Museum of the Sea). This museum also houses archaeological discoveries from shipwrecks off the coast of the island, including Roman and Saracen ceramics. There is a regular boat service from the mainland.

Île Saint-Honorat
Île Saint-Honorat (Saint Honorat Island), the smaller, southern island, is only inhabited by Cistercian monks. Monks have inhabited the island more or less continuously since AD 410 and, at the height of their secular power, owned Cannes, Mougins, and Vallauris, plus Seborga, Italy. Medieval vestiges remain in the stark church, which is open to the public, and in the ruins of the 11th-century monastery on the sea's edge. The monks divide their time between prayer and producing red and white wine, honey, lavender oil and Lérina, a herbal liqueur. Although closed to the general public, the monastery welcomes guests for week-long retreats. The monks also run the only boat trips to the island, with departures from Cannes' jetty Albert-Edouard.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Lérins Islands


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IAP

IAP may refer to:

Medicine

 * Intra-abdominal pressure

Organizations

 * Adventist Church of Promise (Portuguese: Igreja Adventista da Promessa), evangelical Christian church based in Brazil
 * Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research, a German institute operated by the Fraunhofer Society
 * Independent American Party of Nevada, the Nevada Constitution Party affiliate
 * Information Age Publishing, American academic publisher in Charlotte, North Carolina
 * Institut d'astrophysique de Paris (Paris Astrophysical Institute), a French scientific organization
 * Institution of Analysts and Programmers, an international institution for professions involved in the analysis, development and testing of software
 * Integrated Applications Promotion, a European Space Agency programme for developing applications of space-based technology
 * InterAcademy Panel, an international organization for cooperation of science academies
 * International Academy of Pathology, an international organization dedicated to the advancement of Pathology through educational exchanges worldwide.
 * International Association of Prosecutors, a non-governmental organisation established by the United Nations in 1995
 * Irish Academic Press, independent Irish academic publisher based in Newbridge, County Kildare
 * Islamic Association of Palestine, a defunct Islamic fund-raising organization
 * Italian African Police (Polizia dell'Africa Italiana), the police force of Italian-controlled areas in Africa in 1936-1941

Science and technology

 * Identical ancestors point, a point in time in the past where every living member of a species at that time is either an ancestor to all living of that species or none living
 * Identity-Aware Proxy, part of the Google Cloud Platform, that uses identity and context to guard access to your applications and VMs
 * Imaging atom probe
 * In-app purchase, a way of purchasing virtual goods in mobile applications
 * In-application programming, a way to program computer logic devices while they are being operated by the system
 * Indanylaminopropane, an uncommon psychoactive chemical sometimes compared to MDMA
 * Index of air purity, a measure of air quality
 * Inhibitor of apoptosis, a protein family involved in the suppression of programmed cell death (apoptosis)
 * Integrated automation platform
 * Integrin Associated Protein or CD47 protein
 * Internet access provider, also known as an Internet service provider
 * Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis, for Group B streptococcal infection
 * IPTV Application Platform, an IPTV application platform from Ericsson
 * Indoor Air Pollution Indoor air quality
 * Intracisternal A particle, a retrotransposable element subfamily linked to epigenetic variability

Transportation

 * Instrument approach procedure, a published procedure for the final approach for landing at an airport under instrument flight rules
 * International airport

Other uses

 * Independent Activities Period, held at MIT every year immediately after winter vacation
 * The Italian Asphalt & Pavement Company, a former name of the American musical group The Duprees

title: IAP


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Islamic Association of Palestine

Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP, also known as Islamic Association for Palestine) was an organization convicted of providing material support for terrorism in the United States for Hamas. The organization was established in 1981 and has been defunct since 2004. It described itself as "a not-for-profit, public-awareness, educational, political, social, and civic, national grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a just, comprehensive, and eternal solution to the cause of Palestine and suffrages of the Palestinians." For a time it also used the name American Muslim Society (AMS) and operated as the American Middle Eastern League for Palestine (AMEL).

The Islamic Association of Palestine had strong ties to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and to several organizations established in the U.S. that were alleged to serve as fronts for Hamas. Founders included Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, funder and 1989 member of IAP Board of Directors.

Establishment and goals
Matthew Levitt, a fellow at pro-Israeli think tank Washington Institute, alleged that Hamas invested considerable resources to give "the Palestinian cause an Islamic flavor." During the Holy Land Foundation trial, Levitt acted as a key witness to help convict the organization of providing material support for terrorism.

The Islamic Association of Palestine was intimately tied to Hamas, and especially to its senior leadership. Levitt observed that the organization "was originally formed in 1981 by Dr. Aly Mishal at the personal direction of Khaled Mishal (who was then a senior Muslim Brotherhood activist and would later become secretary general of Hamas." When the Muslim Brotherhood leader in Gaza formally established Hamas in 1987, "the IAP became the group's mouthpiece in North America."

Affiliation with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood
In a May 1991, a memo by an alleged Muslim Brotherhood member argued that IAP and numerous other organizations should unite around the goal of turning America into a Muslim country and promoting the Western civilization. According to The Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University, the memo's "language is wishful, and does not reflect the Muslim Brotherhood's agenda as outlined in documents obtained by the FBI."

Several among IAP officers and founding members were Hamas senior leaders who participated to the 1993 Philadelphia meeting attended by Hamas officers. Some former Islamic Association of Palestine staffers and members were founding members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). This is the case of Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director who was affiliated to the Islamic Association of Palestine, and who was also a "self-identified supporter of the Hamas movement." In a March 1994 speech at Barry University, future CAIR Executive Director Awad said in response to an audience question about the various humanitarian efforts in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, "I am in support of the Hamas movement more than the PLO... there are some [Hamas] radicals, we are not interested in those people." The statement was made before Hamas carried out its first suicide bombing and was designated a terrorist organization by the United States government.

IAP founders included Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, funder and 1989 member of IAP Board of Directors. Abu Marzook served as the chairman of the advisory committee and allegedly donated startup funds to IAP, while providing seed money to the Holy Land Foundation "and operational funds for Mohammed Salah [a self-confessed Hamas member and military commander based in Chicago] to deliver to Hamas operatives in the West Bank." Allegedly, seven checks, for a total amount of $125,000, were deposited into IAP bank account between 1990 and 1991.

Since the establishment of Hamas, IAP served as Hamas's public voice in the United States. The Islamic Association of Palestine published a magazine, Tareeq Filistine (Road to Palestine), Ila Filastin (To Palestine) and the newspapers Al-Zaytuna (The Olive) and Muslim World Monitor. In general, most of its publications consisted of flyers and communiqués encouraging jihad and endorsing Hamas's mission. Oliver Revell, former chief of the FBI's counter-terrorism department, called IAP "a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants."

Matthew Levitt reported that IAP published the Hamas charter and distributed Hamas publication in the U.S. Filisteen al-Muslima, "which pays glowing tributes to Hamas suicide bombers, justifies their attacks, and suggests they be models for future suicide bombers."

IAP also held conventions and workshop to rally support for Hamas. Allegedly, the organization often declared its support for Hamas' role in the Palestinian Intifada against Israel. In his 2006 book titled "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad" Matthew Levitt extensively referenced a December 1989 communiqué published by IAP that serves as a clear example of IAP's efforts to endorse Hamas' mission. The 1989 communiqué reads: "the only way to liberate Palestine, all of Palestine, is the path of Jihad," and "Hamas is the conscience of the Palestinian Mujahid people."

Hamas's fundraiser
IAP publicly called for donations to be directed to the Holy Land Foundation and assisted the foundation in its efforts to fundraise on behalf of Hamas. For instance, the December 1989 communiqué quoted in Matthew Levitt's book invited readers to "perform jihad for the sake of God with your money and donate as much as you can to support the Intifada in Palestine," and directs the funds to the Holy Land Foundation. Generally, solicitations for the Holy Land Foundation were included in almost all of IAP publications.

Furthermore, Levitt recorded that the Islamic Association of Palestine "negotiated fundraising contracts by which the HLFRD [Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development] paid the IAP $40,000 for the IAP fundraising services."

IAP fundraising efforts on behalf of Hamas were confirmed by Hamas officers. In February 1996 a Hamas activist affiliated with IAP told an FBI source that IAP devolved $3 million per year to the Palestinian cause, funds that were sent to the Holy Land Foundation in Palestine and ultimately received by Hamas.

Legal issues
In December 2004, a federal judge in Chicago ruled that the IAP (along with the Holy Land Foundation) was liable for a $156 million lawsuit for aiding and abetting the terror group Hamas in the death of 17-year-old David Boim, an American citizen. In December 2007 the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the judge's ruling, holding that plaintiffs failed to prove that financial contributions to Hamas played a direct role in Boim's slaying. In 2008, the Seventh Circuit reheard the case en banc, and ruled in favor of the Boims.

Former Islamic Association of Palestine staffers and members were founding members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

title: Islamic Association of Palestine


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Fly by Night (album)

Fly by Night is the second studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released on February 14, 1975, by Mercury Records. It was the first Rush album to showcase elements of progressive rock for which the band has become known. It was also the first to feature lyricist and drummer Neil Peart, who replaced original drummer John Rutsey the previous summer just prior to the band's first North American tour. Peart took over as Rush's primary lyricist, and the abundance of fantastical and philosophical themes in his compositions contrasted greatly with the simpler hard rock of the band's debut album.

Background and recording
In March 1974, the second Rush line-up, consisting of guitarist Alex Lifeson, drummer John Rutsey, and singer and bassist Geddy Lee, released their self-titled debut album. In the following four months, however, Rutsey fell ill following complications with diabetes and had to sit out while the group continued with a replacement, Jerry Fielding. Rutsey rejoined the group for a month of club dates before Lifeson and Lee decided it was best for Rutsey to leave due to the difficulty in managing his health on tour and musical differences between them. Lee recalled: "We were guilt-ridden at first, but we realised that it's just the way it had to be. He wasn't happy and we weren't happy".

Rush auditioned five drummers, the fourth of which was Neil Peart of a local band named J.R. Flood. The three played along to "Anthem", a song mostly written while Rutsey was in the group that Rush later recorded for Fly by Night. Lifeson and Lee were so impressed with Peart's style they felt embarrassed for the fifth drummer who had prepared by writing charts to their songs to follow. Peart joined on July 29, 1974, Lee's 21st birthday, two weeks before the band's first U.S. tour kicked off on August 14 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, opening for Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. By the end of the year the group had written new material for a follow-up album.

After a five-day break, Fly by Night was recorded in December 1974 and mixed in January 1975 at Toronto Sound Studios during a gap in their U.S. and Canadian tour. Lifeson said it took around five days to record and once the mixing had finished, the group packed their cases and travelled to Winnipeg for a concert on January 15. It was the band's first album co-produced by Terry Brown who would maintain this role through to Signals (1982). Lifeson was pleased with the songs on the album and felt like it was a second beginning for the group. Lee recalled the difficulty that their label's management had in understanding the material on the album, particularly "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" as they had wanted material in the style of their debut.

Songs
The band wanted each song on Fly by Night to show a different side to their writing and playing, which resulted in an album of varied styles. As Peart was a keen reader, he became the group's primary lyricist, which suited Lifeson and Lee because they preferred to write music. A Rolling Stone article reasoned this shift in roles to the "massive" difference in the lyrical styles between their first album and Fly by Night which contains more literary themes and references. The songs "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" and "Rivendell" are examples of the inclusion of fantasy themes into Rush's music. The original hand-penned lyrics for "Anthem" and "Fly by Night" include different or additional lyrics not sung in the final recording, including a prologue for the latter. The tracks "Best I Can" and "In the End" were written before Peart joined the band, and were performed regularly during Rush's first North American tour.

Side one
"Anthem" originated by Lifeson and Lee while Rutsey was still in the band and features a heavier sound with more complex arrangements than previous Rush tracks. Peart named the track and its lyrics after the same-titled dystopian novella by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand, who would become a greater inspiration to lyrics on their later album 2112 (1976).

The lyrics to "Beneath, Between and Behind" were the first that Peart wrote for Rush. Lee and Lifeson wrote the music after he had finished, the reverse of the process they used for most of the rest of the album.

The eight-minute "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" is arranged in eight distinct sections and marked a key point in the development of the group's songwriting. The first part, "At the Tobes of Hades", remained a mystery to the group years later in regard to its meaning, which is what Peart liked about the track in particular. "But it's something that my friend's father used to say: 'It's hotter than the Tobes of Hades! It is a good versus evil fantasy song that originated from two dogs owned by Rush's manager Ray Danniels which their lighting man Howard Ungerleider named Biter and Snow Dog. Lee later said: "We must have been high one day, imagining a song about these two dogs. And then Neil went ahead and wrote it" which had the two characters fight with Snow Dog emerging victorious. He later deemed the track "a joke that got out of control". On the original vinyl release, the chimes at the end continue into a locked groove, and thus plays indefinitely on manual record players. The song "The Necromancer" from their following album Caress of Steel (1975) was described by Peart as the "mythological sequel" to "By-Tor and the Snow Dog."

Side two
"Fly by Night" is based on Peart's experience of moving from Canada to London as a young musician before joining Rush.

"Making Memories" came about after the band had taken a wrong turn on a drive. Lifeson proceeded to write a tune on his acoustic guitar, and had a fully arranged piece by the time the band had entered the studio to record.

"Rivendell" is a slower ballad, named after the fictional Elven settlement in The Lord of the Rings legendarium by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Release and reception
Fly by Night was released in February 1975 and reached No. 9 in Canada and No. 113 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The title track was released as a single in May 1975, reaching No. 45 in Canada and No. 88 in the United States. By October 1975, the album had sold 110,000 copies. The original vinyl pressings contained an inner sleeve of photographs and handwritten lyrics by Peart.

Rush supported the album with a U.S. and Canadian tour that covered more than 70 cities from February to June 1975, opening for Kiss and Aerosmith. They performed their first major headline shows across Canada, including a sold-out gig at Massey Hall in Toronto for 4,000 people.

In a review for Statesville Record & Landmark, Pam Simon thought the album "is a strange schizophrenic album, almost evenly divided between second-rate acoustic music and the dated concept of the power-trio format". She was critical of their "heavy-metal material [which] tends toward highly pretentious compositions with epic overtones." Simon picked out "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" as such an example which she called "especially horrendous". Though Simon praised Lifeson's "more than competent" guitar work and Peart's drumming, she criticised Lee's "mediocre" voice for sounding too similar to Robert Plant. Michael Dolgy in RPM Weekly wrote the album is "a loud but sensitive excursion into ball-blaster rock/roll". Greg Prato of AllMusic said that the album was less straightforward than their debut album, and while it was not one of their best albums, it was one of their most important because it heralded the band's new direction.

Ultimate Classic Rock included the album on their list of the "Top 100 '70s Rock Albums", writing "Neil Peart wasn't just the new drummer; he was the spark that pushed them to greatness."

Reissues
A remaster was issued in 1997. It was remastered again in 2011 by Andy VanDette as part of the three-volume "Sector" box sets, which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. In addition to the standard audio CD, the album was also included on an audio DVD in the Sector 1 set, remixed into 5.1 surround sound.

The complete album, along with the self-titled debut and Caress of Steel, was included as part of the 1978 Anthem release Archives.

Fly By Night was remastered for vinyl in 2015 by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios as a part of the official "12 Months of Rush" promotion. The high definition master prepared for this release was also made available for purchase in 24-bit/96 kHz and 24-bit/192 kHz formats, at several high-resolution audio online music stores. These masters have significantly less dynamic range compression than the 1997 remasters and the "Sector" remasters by Andy VanDette.

Track listing
All lyrics written by Neil Peart, except where noted.

Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

Rush
 * Geddy Lee – bass guitars, classical guitar, vocals
 * Alex Lifeson – electric guitars, 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars
 * Neil Peart – drums, percussion, lyrics

Production
 * Rush – production, arrangement, cover concept
 * Terry Brown – producer, engineer, arrangement
 * John Woloschuk – assistant engineer
 * Gilbert Kong – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
 * Eraldo Carugati – cover painting
 * AGI Chicago – art direction
 * Jim Ladwig – art direction
 * Joe Kotleba – design
 * Richard Fegley – photography
 * Howard "Herns" Ungerleider – By-Tor characters inspiration
 * Moon Records – executive producer

title: Fly by Night (album)


text:
Happy Together (1997 film)

Happy Together is a 1997 Hong Kong romantic drama film directed by Wong Kar-wai starring Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, depicting a couple's turbulent romance. The English title is inspired by the Turtles' 1967 song of the same name, which is covered by Danny Chung on the film's soundtrack. The Chinese title (previously used for Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup) is an idiomatic expression suggesting "the exposure of something intimate".

The film was regarded as one of the best LGBT films in the New Queer Cinema movement and received critical acclaims and screened at several film festivals such as the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival; it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won Best Director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2022, Happy Together was ranked the 225th greatest film of all time in the Sight & Sound critics' poll. In 2016, the film was ranked the 3rd greatest LGBT film of all time in the British Film Institute poll. In 2018, it was ranked the 71st greatest foreign-language film of all time in the BBC poll.

Plot
Ho Po-Wing and Lai Yiu-Fai are a gay couple from Hong Kong with a tumultuous relationship marked by frequent separations and reconciliations. They visit Argentina together but break up after they become lost while traveling to visit the Iguazu Falls. Without the money to fly home, Fai begins to work as a doorman at a tango bar in Buenos Aires, while Po-Wing lives promiscuously, often seen by Fai with different men. After Fai accuses Po-Wing of spending all of his money and stranding him in Argentina, Po-Wing steals from one of his acquaintances and is severely beaten. Fai allows Po-Wing to live with him in his small rented room and cares for his injuries. They attempt to reconcile their relationship, though it is marred by mutual suspicion and jealousy.

Fai loses his job at the tango bar after beating the man who injured Po-Wing. He begins working at a Chinese restaurant where he befriends Chang, a Taiwanese co-worker. Later, Po-Wing and Fai have a final argument where Fai refuses to return Po-Wing's passport. Po-Wing moves out of the apartment when he fully recovers. Sometime thereafter, Chang leaves Buenos Aires to continue his travels. Having finally earned enough money to fly home, Fai decides to visit the Iguazu Falls alone before he leaves. Meanwhile, Po-Wing returns to the empty apartment, heartbroken, realizing that Fai is gone for good.

Fai returns to Hong Kong but has a stopover in Taipei. Coincidentally, he ends up eating at a food stall in a night market run by Chang's family. He steals a photo of Chang from the booth, saying that even though he does not know if he will ever see Chang again, he knows where to find him.

Cast

 * Leslie Cheung as Ho Po-Wing
 * Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Lai Yiu-Fai
 * Chen Chang as Chang

Box office
During its Hong Kong theatrical release, Happy Together made HK$8,600,141 at the box office.

Happy Together also had a limited theatrical run in North America through Kino International, where it grossed US$320,319.

Censorship
The producers of the film considered censoring the film, specifically the opening sex scene for certain audiences. Posters for the movie featuring the two leads fully clothed with their legs intertwined was banned from public places in Hong Kong and removed all together before the movie's release.

Home media
Kino International released the film on DVD and Blu-ray on June 8, 2010. This release has gone out of print.

The film was picked up by the Criterion Collection and released on March 23, 2021 on Blu-ray in a collection of seven Wong Kar-wai films.

Critical reception
The film was generally well received in Hong Kong and has since been heavily analyzed by many Chinese and Hong Kongese scholars and film critics such as Rey Chow (周蕾) and 陳劍梅.

A Hong Kong film review site called it an "elliptical, quicksilver experiment" that is "pure Wong Kar-Wai, which is equal parts longing, regret, and pathetic beauty" and applauding it for its cinematography.

Due to the international recognition that the film received, it was reviewed in several major U.S. publications. Edward Guthmann, of the San Francisco Chronicle, gave the film an ecstatic review, lavishing praise on Wong for his innovative cinematography and directorial approach; whilst naming Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs amongst those who would have been impressed by his film. Stephen Holden, of the New York Times, said it was a more coherent, heartfelt movie than Wong's previous films, without losing the stylism and brashness of his earlier efforts.

Derek Elley for Variety gave an overall positive review despite its lack of plot, calling it Wong's "most linear and mature work for some time". Elley praised the mise-en-scène, music, and William Chang's production design. He emphasized that Christopher Doyle was the "real star" of the film for his grainy and high contrast cinematography. Both Elley and Andrew Thayne for Asian Movie Pulse stated that both Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai excelled as the main characters in the film.

However, Jonathan Rosenbaum gave the film a mixed review in the Chicago Reader. Rosenbaum, in a summary of the film, criticised it for having a vague plotline and chastised Wong's "lurching around". In Box Office Magazine, Wade Major gave the film one of its most negative reviews, saying that it offered "little in the way of stylistic or narrative progress, although it should please his core fans." He deprecated Wong's cinematography, labelling it "random experimentation" and went on to say this was "unbearably tedious" due to the lack of narrative.

As per the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40 out of 10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Happy Together's strong sense of style complements its slice of life love story, even if the narrative slogs". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, with 71% positive reviews based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Awards and nominations
In 1997, Wong Kar-wai was already well known in the art house Chinese cinema world because of the success of his previous films: Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, and Ashes of Time. However, by winning the Cannes festival award for Best Director for Happy Together, his first major award, Wong was given a spotlight on the international stage.

Music
In this film, Wong Kar-wai moved away from his previous centralization of American and British music, favouring South American music instead. This transnationalism "decentralizes America" and forms new connections between cultures that are not conventionally linked (Hong Kong and Argentina). The first song of the film, Caetano Veloso's cover of "Cucurrucucú paloma", a sad ballad about a man waiting for his lover to return, plays when the couple breaks up for the first time in the film. Here, the Iguazu Falls are seen for the first time and it is also the first shot of the film that is in colour. The song extends Fai's thoughts, where he is imagining the waterfall, which he associated with Po-Wing. His sadness and lovesickness thereby become apparent in this South American setting.

Musical motifs
The Frank Zappa song "Chunga's Revenge" is played throughout the movie "emphasizing [Fai's] difficult relationship with [Po-Wing]." The loud guitar chorus represents Po-Wing's "volatile, flamboyant nature", which contrasts the somber trumpet and slower beat representing Fai's sensitivity and steadiness. This song is also linked to Lai's loneliness and his longing to be "happy together" while showing the difference between the two characters and the increasing emotional distance between them as the film progresses.

Astor Piazzolla's "Prologue (Tango Apasionado)", "Finale (Tango Apasionado)", and "Milonga for Three" and similar bandoneon songs play when the couple is both together and apart, representing their relationship. These songs play during romantic scenes such as the taxi scene and the tango in the kitchen. However, it is also played after Fai and Po-Wing break up for the last time and Po-Wing dances the tango with a random man while thinking about when he danced with Fai. The last time this song is played is when Fai reaches the waterfall and the same shot of the Iguazu Falls at the beginning of the film is seen but this time with the "Finale" song. This "eulogizes that relationship" as Po-Wing breaks down in Fai's old apartment, realizing that he has abandoned their relationship because Fai left behind the lamp while Fai mourns their relationship at the falls. Wong Kar-wai discovered Piazzolla's music when he bought his CDs in the Amsterdam airport on his way to Buenos Aires to film this movie.

"Happy Together", the Turtles' song covered by Danny Chung, is the last song to be played in the film, when Fai is on the train in Taipei. This song is used to subvert Western music tropes that use it "to celebrate a budding romance or as an ironic commentary on the lack of such a romance." It also shows that "Lai is at peace with their relationship, making it a crucial narrative device denoting the meaning of the film."

While interpretations vary, Wong Kar-wai has said that:

 * "In this film, some audiences will say that the title seems to be very cynical, because it is about two persons living together, and at the end, they are just separate. But to me, happy together can apply to two persons or apply to a person and his past, and I think sometimes when a person is at peace with himself and his past, I think it is the beginning of a relationship which can be happy, and also he can be more open to more possibilities in the future with other people."

Nationality, belonging, and cultural identity
At the very beginning of the movie, Wong includes shots of Fai's British National Overseas Passport as a way to indicate to the audience that this film will be dealing with issues of nationality.

The Handover of Hong Kong
Released in May 1997, intentionally before the handover of Hong Kong from the British to China on 30 June 1997 after 100 years of colonial rule, the film represents the uncertainty of the future felt by Hongkongers at the time. The film's subtitle: "A Story About Reunion" also implies that the film would comment on the handover. The inclusion of the date in the opening and the news broadcast of Deng Xiaoping's death on 20 February 1997 serve to place the audience explicitly in the time period immediately before the Handover of Hong Kong. Some have suggested that the English title of the film is in relation to the uncertainty around if Hong Kong and China would be "happy together" after their reunion.

In one interpretation, Po-Wing and Fai represent two sides of Hong Kong that cannot be reconciled: Po-Wing stays in Buenos Aires without a passport, like Hong Kong Chinese people who don't have a real British passport, representing an "eternal exile and diaspora". Fai, however, is able to see the waterfall and go to Taiwan but it is not shown whether Fai is able to reconcile with his father or not. Since Po-Wing wants his passport, meaning he wants to leave Buenos Aires, both main characters show that they feel uncertain about their place in the diaspora.

A different interpretation stated that Fai, a gay man, represents the social freedoms that Hongkongers possess and the runaway son who travelled to the other side of the world: Buenos Aires in the film and Britain historically. But, this son (Hong Kong and Fai) "must return and reconcile his differences with old-fashioned China," which is represented by Fai's father. Chang represents Taiwan, a country with a similar past as Hong Kong with China, who comforts Fai (Hong Kong), showing him that there is hope for the future. This hope is demonstrated through the increasing saturation of the film as Fai's life becomes more and more stable.

Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Buenos Aires
Wong's choice of Buenos Aires is particular because it is the antipode of Hong Kong, meaning it is on the opposite side of the world and in an opposite time. This had been interpreted as a place where Fai and Po-Wing were looking for the opposite of home and Hong Kong. They do not describe this as a political allegory but rather a questioning of cultural identity and the definitions of "home, belonging, and migrancy". Another interpretation viewed the scenes of Hong Kong shot upside down not as a political allegory either, but a way to show how far the characters were from their roots.

Similarly, the theme of displacement from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires interestingly emphasizes their similarities rather than their differences when compared to the shots of Hong Kong in Wong Kar-wai's previous films. Despite being on the other side of the world and far from their "home", the couple experiences the same problems, implying the inevitability of their relationship's deterioration. By emphasizing the similarities between these two places, Wong emphasizes the homelessness and lack of belonging of both Fai and Po-Wing.

Confinement
Another theme of the film is the sense of confinement and claustrophobia that accompanies the sense of non-belonging of Fai and Po-Wing. This is conveyed through the shaky handheld camera, the small size, poor lighting, and dirtiness of Fai's apartment, the kitchen, alleys, the tango bar, the restaurant kitchen, and the public bathroom corridor. This confinement is also manifested through Po-Wing's confinement to Fai's apartment because his injured hands prevent him from taking care of himself. Later, Po-Wing is also confined to Buenos Aires because Fai refuses to return his passport. Yet, the imagery of the Iguazu Falls contrasts the theme of confinement with the symbolic openness of possibility and hope for Po-Wing and Fai's relationship.

Marginalization
One interpretation explained that the lack of a sense of belonging due to a combination of their marginal race, sexuality, and language in Buenos Aires and Hong Kong prevented Po-Wing and Fai from forming a stable relationship. This instability is in part shown through the instability of the camera in some shots, relating to the characters's inability to find their own place in the world. Neither place is welcoming and the couple experiences the same problems in both places.

The marginalization of Fai specifically is demonstrated by the way he visually cannot blend into the crowds and environments in Buenos Aires in comparison to Taipei. It is only in Taipei that Fai smiles, and it is implied that he feels a sense of belonging as he visits the Chang family noodle shop and takes the train. The movie does not definitively show that Fai returns to Hong Kong, making it possible that he stayed in Taipei, where he feels like he belongs and begins to have hope for the future.

The Iguazu Falls and the lamp
The importance of the Iguazu Falls is established early on in the film when it is shown on the lamp that Po-Wing bought for Fai and is said to be the entire reason the couple chose to go to Buenos Aires in the first place. The real waterfall is then shown in Fai's imaginings after the first breakup as the first shot in colour. It is also shot from a bird's-eye view and given unrealistic blue and green colouring, giving it a supernatural visual effect.

One scholar interpreted the representation of the falls as a contemplation on the immensity of mother nature's power and the unpredictable nature of the future since the end of the waterfall is imperceivable. It also evokes a feeling of powerlessness in the face of nature and the future, paralleling the inevitability of the deterioration of Po-Wing and Fai's relationship.

Another scholar interpreted the waterfall itself as a symbol of Po-Wing and Fai's relationship because "their passion is indeed torrential, destructive, always pounding away as it falls head forward and spirals downward towards an uncertain end".

The falls are seen throughout the film on the lamp in Fai's apartment, representing the continued hope and investment in his relationship with Po-Wing. However, when Fai finally visits the Iguazu Falls but without Po-Wing, leaving the lamp behind, Po-Wing understands that Fai has finally abandoned their relationship. Both Fai and Po-Wing mourn their relationship by looking at the waterfall, Fai seeing it in reality, and Po-Wing after having fixed the lamp's rotating mechanism.

Homosexuality
The portrayal of homosexuality in the film is indisputable. On one hand, it is characterized as "one of the best films chronicling gay love ever made" because of the universality of the problems that Fai and Po-Wing face in their relationship that exist in any relationship no matter the gender of the participants. Many scholars and film critics agree that while being gay is not the subject of the film, its portrayal of gay romance is realistic. The film was praised for not casting the characters on gendered lines, questioning their manliness, and showing the complexity of gay men as social beings and individuals.

Wong Kar-wai explained that: "'In fact, I don't like people to see this film as a gay film. It's more like a story about human relationships and somehow the two characters involved are both men. Normally I hate movies with labels like 'gay film,' 'art film' or 'commercial film.' There is only good film and bad film.'"On the other hand, some scholars argue that one of the reasons that Po-Wing and Fai ended up in Buenos Aires is because they are gay and are thus exiled homosexual men. Jeremy Tambling, an author and critic, noted that the universalization of the gay relationship is not a positive aspect of the film because it erases the specificity of their experiences and the film's theme of marginalization. Furthermore, the film broadly portrays neo-Confucian values of hard work, frugality, and normativity, emphasizing social conformity to Chinese working values. Fai is rewarded for following these values, as he works constantly, cooks, cares for others, wants to reconcile with his father, and saves his money, while Po-Wing lives in excess through his numerous sexual encounters, spending, lack of traditional work, and flamboyance. At the end of the film, Fai is able to reach his destination, Hong Kong/Taiwan and the Iguazu Falls, while Po-Wing is stuck in Buenos Aires. Chang also represents these values, as he works hard at the restaurant, saves enough money for his trip to the 'end of the world,' and has a loving family to return to in Taipei. The characters who conform to this normativity are rewarded while others are punished, thus emphasizing a narrative wherein gay men "succeed" when conforming to other cultural etiquettes unrelated to their sexualities.

Legacy
Since its release, Happy Together has been described as the "most acclaimed gay Asian film", remaining in the public consciousness.

South African singer, songwriter, and actor Nakhane cited Happy Together as one of their three favourite films of all time.

James Laxton, the cinematographer for the critically acclaimed film Moonlight (2016), explained in a Time article that he was inspired by Happy Together and another Wong work, In the Mood for Love (2000). The use of natural and ambient light mixed with small warm fill lights, as well as touches of colour enlightened Laxton to create a "dream-like sense of reality" in his film. More specifically, he cited the scene where Chiron's mother scolds him and the pink light emanates from her bedroom as particularly inspired by Wong Kar-wai's works.

The 2006 Russian sitcom Happy Together took its name from the name of the film.

At the 2017 Golden Horse Awards, Happy Together was re-screened in celebration of the film's 20th anniversary. The main promotional poster for the award ceremony used a screenshot from the film of the main actors as well as shots of the Iguazu Falls.

At the 2022 Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, Happy Together was re-screened in celebration of the film's 25th anniversary. Rolling Stone magazine called this a "non-official protagonist of the festival", since the debut documentary film, BJ: The Life and Times of Bosco and Jojo, was premiered in the festival ("Special Nights" section), narrating the encounter with the Hong Kong filmmaker.

title: Happy Together (1997 film)


text:
Talk:Islamic Association of Palestine

Semites
"As Palestinians are are speakers of Arabic, they are by definition Semites. Therefore, a pro-Palestinian organization is inherently incapable of being anti-Semitic."

I removed the above because it is amateurish - not that its incorrect, rather, find some real things to to with this article rather than just blow over and talk dumb... -PackardGoose

Front
The sentence "It is widely considered by the U.S. Government to be a front for Hamas in the United States" is badly qualified. Which of these is more correct:
 * The U.S. government considers the IAP a front for Hamas in the United States
 * The IAP is widely considered a front for Hamas in foreign countries, such as the United States
 * The IAP is widely considered a front for Hamas by governments, such as that of the United States

I was gonna change it to the first one unilaterally, but I thought others who are more knowledgeable may prefer one of the other two. Tuf-Kat

This article is extremely biased toward Republican, conservative, thinking. The only source for this article is from a right-wing quarterly. Some of the editors are Fox News "analysts".
 * Agreed. the author in the source is quite extreme and doesn't cite his own sources for his claims. Should we say "alleged" Islamist group? The founders are still operating in respectable jobs today. BrotherSulayman (talk) 05:49, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

Inactive
The IAP website is inactive and according to one source 1 has been for a couple of years. Is the organization defunct then? Jabbi 02:25, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Defunct, according to Comm Director at Chicago CAIR. (SEWilco 18:45, 18 October 2006 (UTC))

Edit
This last edit deleted sourced information, because of the editor's personal view that it is false. Please restore that information which was deleted that was sourced. --Epeefleche (talk) 00:39, 27 April 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Biased AF
This article remains incredibly biased, working entirely off the works of either Matthew Levitt, a pro-israeli founder of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and a source from Georgetown which is actually debunking the conspiracy theory that every other islamic association in the country is a secret front for the Muslim Brotherhood.

User:Sawerchessread (talk) 22:40, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Islamic Association of Palestine


text:
Talk:1788–89 United States presidential election

Popular vote figures
I request a complete overhaul of this article in terms of its numbers. I've already changed the popular vote figures in Maryland to reflect just the highest elector, so Maryland's votes aren't counted twice due to having two at-large votes for each shore. There are also problems with other states, such as Virginia, having no ballots listed for Anti-Federalist, even though the state gave 3 electoral votes to the Anti-Federalist candidate.

My biggest problem, and why I'm discussing this on the talk page, is the total popular vote numbers listed in the article. The article lists 39,624 votes for Federalists and 4,158 for Anti-Federalists, making a total of 43,782 for Washington, which is proudly displayed in the infobox. Looking through the history, the number appears to come from a now dead user linking to OurCampaigns. This source was later replaced by, citing Dubin's United States Presidential Elections, 1788-1860: The Official Results by County and State, a book I happen to own.

The funny thing about these numbers is that they don't appear on pages 1-3, which are cited, nor can I find them on any of the earlier pages. In fact, the numbers listed on this page don't add up to those in the book either. Most of the candidates in that book are not given their party, and the ones that are listed with a party add up to only around 2,000 for the Anti-Federalists and certainly not nearly 40,000 for the Federalists. More funny the numbers don't even match the original OurCampaigns source, they're thousands off from that one too. The only way I could see someone getting close to 40,000 would be by adding up all the candidates, including electors who weren't the highest result for their faction. As far as I can tell, these numbers are completely made up.

Because of this, I request to do a complete overhaul of this article, vaporizing the national vote numbers, and building the total from the ground up with the numbers from A New Nation Votes, a source that, in my opinion, is better for these early election articles. Wowzers122 (talk) 23:43, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

 * As a general rule, I don't defend edits that I don't have a specific recollection of making, and this one is no exception. I can confirm that those numbers don't appear in the book (I am looking at my copy as I write this comment) so I'm not sure where I got them from. I'd be happy to see the article updated and agree that ANNV is a generally more accurate source. ThadeusOfNazereth(he/him)Talk to Me! 00:34, 11 July 2024 (UTC)


text:
Caress of Steel

Caress of Steel is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 24, 1975, by Mercury Records. It was recorded immediately after the band concluded touring in support of their previous album, Fly By Night, and marked a development in the group's sound, moving from the blues-based hard rock style of their debut towards progressive rock. Songs such as "The Necromancer" furthered Rush's advancement into narrative-driven, fantasy-based compositions, while "The Fountain of Lamneth" was their first prog-rock "epic" to span an entire side of vinyl. Other tracks like "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park" became staples of the band's live setlists.

Though the band members were initially proud of their work on Caress of Steel, the album proved to be a commercial and critical nadir for Rush as the album's darker sound and fantastical compositions failed to find an audience and confused some of the band's peers, while poor sales put the band in danger of being dropped by Mercury. The mediocre reception impacted the band's gigging opportunities, leading them to dub the supporting tour the "Down The Tubes Tour". Despite being more positively viewed by the band's fans in retrospect, Ultimate Classic Rock noted that the album is still considered "the black sheep of their catalog".

Background and recording
By mid-1975, Rush had stabilised with a line-up of guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee, and drummer and primary lyricist Neil Peart, who had joined the group in 1974. They released Fly by Night (1975), which marked Rush's first foray into multi-part and conceptual songs with "By-Tor and the Snow Dog". The group were on a rise in popularity, and received a Juno Award for Most Promising Group. In June 1975, they finished touring Fly by Night, which culminated in a Canadian leg that had them as headliners for the first time.

While preparing their follow-up album, Rush took the extended and conceptual song elements that they had introduced on Fly by Night and made it the central focus for their new material. As a result, this marked a development in their sound from blues-inspired hard rock towards progressive rock. Peart recalled that the band approached Caress of Steel feeling "serene and confident" and that all three members were proud of the result. He considered the album a "major step" in their development with its variety of musical dynamics and original ideas. Lee said that the band were "pretty high" while making the album.

The album was recorded in July 1975 at Toronto Sound Studios in Toronto, Ontario. Mixing took place in the same studio.

Side one
"Bastille Day" concerns the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution.

"I Think I'm Going Bald" was written in reference to Kim Mitchell, lead guitarist and vocalist for Max Webster who shared management and touring

"Lakeside Park" is about the park of the same name in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines, Ontario, where Peart grew up and worked during the summer as a teenager.

"The Necromancer" is a 12-minute track in three parts. It concerns a necromancer, someone who practices necromancy, a type of divination involving the summoning of spirits of the deceased. The song was influenced by the works of author J. R. R. Tolkien; the necromancer is an alias used by the character Sauron in Tolkien's novel The Hobbit (1937).

The introduction contains the lyric, "Three travelers, men of Willow Dale", a reference to the band itself, as Lifeson had formed the first incarnation of Rush in the Toronto suburb of Willowdale. The final section, "Return of the Prince", sees the return of the character By-Tor from the song "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" on Fly by Night, but in "The Necromancer", the character is a hero and not a villain. "Return of the Prince" was released as a single in Canada.

Side two
"The Fountain of Lamneth" is the band's first of three side-long tracks, the others being the title track of 2112 in 1976 and "Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres" from Hemispheres in 1978. It consists of six parts and tells the story of a man in search of the Fountain of Lamneth as he chronicles the occurrences on his journey. The second part, "Didacts and Narpets", consists mostly of a drum solo. In 1991, Peart said that the shouted words heard are an argument between the central character and the Didacts and Narpets (anagrams of "addicts" and "parents", respectively). He could not remember what the words were, "but they took up opposite positions like: 'Work! Live! Earn! Give!' and like that."

Cover
The album cover for Caress of Steel was intended to be printed in a silver colour to give it a "steel" appearance. A printing error resulted in giving the album cover a gold colour. This error has never been corrected on subsequent printings of the album. The cover artwork for Caress of Steel was designed by Hugh Syme, the first Rush album to feature his work. Syme has designed the cover artwork for every Rush album since.

On the inside gatefold of the album, just below the lyrics to "The Necromancer", the Latin phrase "Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus" appears, which translates (loosely) to:
 * "[as] The hour ends the day; the author ends his work."

The source of this phrase is Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus (1592).

Release
Caress of Steel was released on September 24, 1975. By March 1976, it had sold around 40,000 copies in Canada. Although the band initially had high hopes for the album, it sold fewer copies than Fly by Night and was considered a disappointment by the record company. The album eventually became known as one of Rush's most obscure and overlooked recordings, consequently being considered under-rated by fans.

Due to poor sales, low concert attendance and overall media indifference, the 1975–76 tour supporting Caress of Steel became known by the band as the "Down the Tubes" tour. That, in addition to the record company's pressure to record more accessible, radio-friendly material similar to their first album – something Lee, Lifeson and Peart were unwilling to do – made the trio fear that the end of the group was near. Ignoring their record label's advice and vowing to "fight or fall", the following year's 2112 album would ultimately pave the way for lasting commercial success, despite opening with a 20-and-a-half-minute conceptual title track.

Caress of Steel did not attain gold certification in the United States until December 1993, nearly two decades after its release. It remains one of the few Rush albums to not go platinum in the United States.

The complete album, along with the self-titled debut and Fly by Night, was included as part of the 1978 Anthem release Archives.

Reception
Caress of Steel received negative reviews from professional critics. AllMusic's Greg Prato described the album as "one of Rush's more unfocused albums", while Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen called it "a tentative step for Rush, one which would lead to their masterpiece in conceptual work", in reference to the group's next album, 2112.

Remasters
A remaster was issued in 1997.
 * The tray has a picture of the star with man painting (mirroring the cover art of Retrospective I) with "The Rush Remasters" printed in all capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Rush through Permanent Waves (1980) are like this.
 * The remaster adds the album's back cover and gatefold (which included band pictures and lyrics) to the packaging which was not included on the original CD.

Caress of Steel was remastered again in 2011 by Andy VanDette for the "Sector" box sets, which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. Caress Of Steel is included in the Sector 1 set.

Caress of Steel was remastered for vinyl in 2015 as a part of the official "12 Months of Rush" promotion. The high definition master prepared for this release was also made available for purchase in 24-bit/96 kHz and 24-bit/192 kHz formats, at several high-resolution audio online music stores. These masters have significantly less dynamic range compression than the 1997 remasters and the "Sector" remasters by Andy VanDette.

Track listing
All songs written by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, except where noted.

Personnel
Rush
 * Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar
 * Alex Lifeson – 6 and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, classical guitar, steel guitar
 * Neil Peart – drums, percussion, lyrics, spoken word on "The Necromancer"

Technical
 * Rush – co-producers, arrangements
 * Terry Brown – co-producer, engineer, arrangements
 * AGI – art direction
 * Hugh Syme – graphics
 * Terrance Bert – photography
 * Gerard Gentil – photography
 * Barry McVicker – photography

title: Caress of Steel


text:
Daniel Johns

Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociatives with Paul Mac and one half of Dreams with Luke Steele. He released his first solo album, Talk, in 2015. Johns' second solo album, FutureNever, was released on 22 April 2022.

In 2007, Johns was ranked at number 18 on Rolling Stone's list of The 25 Most Underrated Guitarists. Johns has won 21 ARIA Awards from 49 nominations as a member of Silverchair, and has earned four other nominations as a solo artist.

Early life
Johns was born on 22 April 1979 to Greg and Julie Johns. His father owned a fruit shop in Newcastle, and his mother was a housewife. He grew up in Merewether, New South Wales, Australia, with two younger siblings.

Johns attended Newcastle High School, from which he graduated in 1997.

Silverchair (1992–2011)
At the age of 12, Johns and school friends Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou formed a band, originally named "The Innocent Criminals", and practiced daily after school for periods of four hours or more.

The band's career began when the three members were 15 years old when a demo recording of their song "Tomorrow" won a competition that was run by the SBS TV programme Nomad. The group, now named Silverchair, subsequently accepted a three-album deal from Sony Music in 1994, and the label hurriedly released their first album Frogstomp in 1995 after "Tomorrow" remained in the No. 1 position on the Australian singles chart for six weeks.

The band released Freak Show in 1997, followed by Neon Ballroom in 1999, and then Diorama in 2002. Following Diorama, Silverchair embarked on a lengthy hiatus before the release of the next album.

In late 2005, Johns and Silverchair reunited and announced the production of a new album entitled Young Modern, whose title comes from a nickname given to Johns by composer Van Dyke Parks. The new album was released on 31 March 2007 and was followed by the Across the Great Divide tour with fellow Australian band Powderfinger.

In May 2011, Silverchair announced on their website that the band was going into "indefinite hibernation" and explained that "it's become increasingly clear that the spark simply isn't there between the three of us at the moment". Later that month, Johns and filmmaker Josh Wakely presented a talk at TEDx Sydney in which they discussed a film that they were working on that was tentatively titled My Mind's Own Melody. A video of the talk was uploaded to YouTube in June 2011, and a trailer for the completed film was released in mid-2012.

I Can't Believe It's Not Rock and The Dissociatives (2000–2004)
During the post-Diorama hiatus, Johns worked on several side projects, the most notable being The Dissociatives with dance musician/producer Paul Mac. Johns and Mac worked together since Mac's 1997 remix of "Freak" and his contribution to Neon Ballroom. In 2000, they recorded a five-track EP I Can't Believe It's Not Rock. Their debut album The Dissociatives (2004) was initially recorded in London, United Kingdom, and a few months later, the two regrouped in Sydney and Newcastle to finish off the project. The Dissociatives toured with musicians Kim Moyes on drums, Julian Hamilton on keys, and James Haselwood on bass.

Collaborations
On 13 June 2008, it was reported on Silverchair's website that Johns was working on a new side project with Luke Steele (The Sleepy Jackson, Empire of the Sun), but a release date was not confirmed for the collaboration. In 2008, the name of the project was "Hathaway and Palmer," according to a radio interview that Steele conducted, but this has not been confirmed since.

In December 2008, Johns was named as the producer of The Scare's album.

In 2012, Johns collaborated with the Australian Chamber Orchestra to create the soundtrack Atlas for a Qantas Airlines commercial that began airing a week before the 2012 Olympics. Johns explained:

"When Qantas first approached me, I agreed to the project as I was really into the idea of creating a piece of music that represented Australia. I wanted it to sound big, something special. It was a conscious effort to create a good piece of music and not just a jingle. I've also wanted to work with the Australian Chamber Orchestra for a long time now, so it was great to finally be able to do that."

In May 2012, Johns wrote and recorded music with pop duo The Veronicas for the latter's third album. The writing process began in November 2011, and the twin sisters stated that working with Johns "was one of our greatest experiences."

As of January 2013, Johns was scheduled to appear in a live performance with Van Dyke Parks as part of the Adelaide Festival on 8 March 2013 and was also rumoured to be working on a debut solo album. In May 2013, Steele revealed that he and Johns were completing the project that they had started in 2008.

In January 2014, Johns co-wrote the song "Impossible", released by Australian rapper 360, and also sang on the song's chorus. Johns met 360 through his brother Heath, who is also 360's publisher.

In 2016, Johns was a musical director and arranged and produced the music for the Netflix animated children's series Beat Bugs. He was also the singing voice for the characters Walter, and Mr. Mudwasp. He stated, "It's a dream job to go into the studio and dissect all of The Beatles' music". Johns said that Eddie Vedder liked his version with the guide vocals for "Magical Mystery Tour" so much that he kept Johns's backing vocals in the finished song.

In May 2016 Johns collaborated with Perth duo Slumberjack on their track "Open Fire", and also featured in the music video. In the same year he co-wrote and provided uncredited backing vocals to 'Say It' from Flume's Skin LP.

Johns has also worked with artists such as Zhu in the track "Modern Conversation" in 2017 and fellow Australian artist What So Not in the album Not All The Beautiful Things, released in 2018, where he contributed to a good portion of the music.

Johns premiered the band 'Boom Tish' back in 2017. They've released just one song, a cover of the Easybeats' 'Hello, How Are You'. However, band members Beau Golden and Dave Jenkins Jnr both posted new photos of Boom Tish in the studio in January 2020. Boom Tish evolved out of Johns' live band for his consecutive Sydney Opera House shows in 2015.

Johns teamed up with Luke Steele from Empire of the Sun to form Dreams, releasing the single "No One Defeats Us" in March 2018. Dreams' debut album, No One Defeats Us, was released in September 2018 through EMI.

Solo career (2013–present)
In November 2013, it was reported by various media outlets that Johns was in the process of working on a solo album due for release sometime in 2014. His manager John Watson was quoted as saying: "it's looking extremely likely that it'll be out next year."

For the 40th birthday of the Triple J radio station, Beat the Drum, held at The domain, Sydney, on 16 January 2015, Johns performed a piano version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Johns debuted a new song as a solo artist on 29 January 2015 on Triple J. Titled "Aerial Love", Peter Vincent, National Music Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, described the song as "sexy" and "soulful". "Aerial Love" debuted at No. 50 on the Australian Singles Chart, later peaking at No. 21. Johns released his fifteen-track debut album as a solo artist on 22 May 2015, entitled Talk. The record features multilayered arrangements of R&B, soul, synthpop, and electronic melodies. Talk peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart in Australia within the first two weeks of its release. The album also achieved some unexpected success in other parts of the world, coming in at No. 1 on the Slovakian iTunes albums chart shortly after release.

In October 2021, Johns released a Spotify Original Podcast, Who Is Daniel Johns?, of which he is both the host and subject. The five-part podcast, produced by Kaitlyn Sawrey, Amelia Chappelow and Frank Lopez, features interviews with key figures in Johns' life, including ex-wife Natalie Imbruglia, Paul Mac, Van Dyke Parks and Billy Corgan. Who Is Daniel Johns? became Spotify's most popular podcast in Australia. In an October 2021 interview on Network 10's The Project to promote the podcast, Johns said that while he still plans to work on new music, he may never play live again.

On 7 December 2021, Johns announced via a personal letter to fans that his second solo album, FutureNever, would be released on 1 April 2022; however, this was later pushed back to 22 April. The album was made available for pre-order on the FutureNever.art website. FutureNever is the first album Johns released on his own label via a new global deal with BMG.

Controversy
In July 2007, Johns claimed on Australian radio station Triple J that he had shared a joint with his then-wife Natalie Imbruglia, Australian Federal MP and ex-Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, and U2 frontman Bono in November 2006 while they listened to a demo recording of Silverchair's album Young Modern. In response, Tony Wood, whose daughter Anna Wood died of water intoxication secondary to use of MDMA, suggested that Garrett be subject to a drug test. Garrett asserted that he had not touched marijuana since his twenties, and Johns said the original statement was a joke, adding he thought it would be obvious that it was a joke, as both Garrett and Bono were publicly against drugs.

On 28 October 2014, Johns was stopped by police when they spotted his black Jaguar travelling at a speed of between 70 and 80 km/h along Morgan Street in Merewether, which is governed by a speed limit of 50 km/h. Johns, who was arrested for driving under the influence, told police that he had consumed four large wines between 4.30pm and 7.40pm. Johns was required to attend a traffic offenders course; he reappeared in Newcastle Local Court in February 2015 and was convicted of mid-range drunk driving, receiving an $880 fine and disqualification from driving until June 2015. "I made a mistake, for which I am really sorry," the singer told reporters outside the court that day. "I completed the traffic offenders program, and it will never happen again." However, in March 2022, Johns was again charged with a DUI (this time in the high range, testing 0.157, which is more than three times the legal limit) after his SUV crossed to the wrong side of the Pacific Highway at North Arm Cove and collided with a van travelling in the opposite direction. A woman passenger of the van was hospitalised, but there were no serious injuries and she was released from the hospital that same night. Johns said of the incident, "I have to step back now as I'm self-admitting to a rehabilitation centre and I don't know how long I'll be there." Johns said he had been medicating with alcohol to deal with his PTSD, anxiety and depression. On 7 July 2022, Johns was sentenced. The judge said the charge was serious but Johns' background and circumstances were exceptional and gave him a relatively light punishment by disqualifying him from driving for seven months and a 10-month intensive corrections order.

On 11 August 2019, The Sunday Telegraph and the Daily Mail published a false story about Johns alleging that he had been spending his time at a notorious Sydney S&M brothel and bondage club called The Kastle. Johns sued The Sunday Telegraph and the Daily Mail for defamation and denied the allegations, describing them as "simply untrue" and "hurtful, humiliating, and damaging to me and my family". The Kastle's proprietor also denied that Johns had ever been at the club. The Telegraph's publisher News Corp has paid Johns a $470,000 settlement. The Sunday Telegraph issued a retraction and apology to Johns on 3 May 2020. The Daily Mail issued a retraction and apology on 8 August 2020: "The story was wrong. Mr Johns had not been there and he has never been there. Daily Mail retracts the story and apologises to Mr Johns for the error and for the hurt and damage caused to him."

Health
In late 1997, during the Freak Show tour, Johns experienced depression. In 2004, Johns spoke at length to ABC interviewer Andrew Denton about his battle with anorexia nervosa at that time, saying that he weighed less than 50 kg at his thinnest. He also revealed that at one point he had considered suicide. However he was by then married to singer Natalie Imbruglia, who provided him with emotional support, and he was healthy.

After recording Diorama, Johns was diagnosed with a rare but serious case of reactive arthritis. After treatment in Los Angeles, he was able to tour with the band for the Across the Night Tour.

After putting Silverchair into "indefinite hibernation" in 2011, Johns retreated to his home in Merewether, later stating "I felt like I was losing who I was". He checked the surf conditions obsessively every morning even though he hadn't surfed since his teens. By his own admission, he spent four years hiding and shutting things out. He kept company with his shar-pei–whippet crossbred dog named Gia, watched movies with the blinds closed, and ordered online grocery deliveries.

Animal rights
Johns is known for his animal rights support, having revealed that he was a vegan in 1998, although it was stated that he was a pescetarian in 2009. The Neon Ballroom song "Spawn Again" features Johns' views on animal liberation.

Relationships
In 1999, Johns met Australian actress, singer, and model Natalie Imbruglia backstage at a Silverchair concert in London. They started dating after meeting again at the ARIA awards after-party at the Gazebo Hotel in Sydney in October of the same year. After years of an on-and-off relationship, Johns announced their engagement shortly before Christmas 2002, and they married on New Year's Eve 2003. Johns wrote the song "Satisfied" for Imbruglia's 2005 album Counting Down the Days, which he also produced, and co-wrote the song "Want" from Imbruglia's 2009 album Come to Life. Imbruglia wrote her 2005 single "Counting Down the Days" about their long-distance relationship, as Imbruglia was based in London and Johns in Newcastle. On 4 January 2008, they announced that they were divorcing, stating, "We have simply grown apart through not being able to spend enough time together."

In 2008, Johns was dating Australian model Louise Van der Vorst. In 2009, the couple moved from Australia to New York City so that Van der Vorst could expand her modelling career. By July 2011, the couple were living together in Newcastle, Australia. They split in 2012.

In early 2013, Johns was spotted with fashion designer Estelita Huijer in Sydney. Johns commenced a relationship with former model Michelle Leslie in October 2016.

AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

! Ref.
 * rowspan="2"| 2023
 * rowspan="2"| FutureNever
 * Independent Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"|
 * Best Independent Pop Album or EP
 * Won
 * Best Independent Pop Album or EP
 * Won

APRA Awards
The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.

! Ref.
 * rowspan="3"| 2008
 * rowspan="2"|"Straight Lines"
 * Song of the Year
 * Won
 * rowspan="3"|
 * Most Played Australian Work
 * Won
 * Daniel Johns
 * Songwriter of the Year
 * Won
 * 2016
 * "Aerial Love"
 * rowspan="2"| Song of the Year
 * 2023
 * "I Feel Electric"
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"| Song of the Year
 * 2023
 * "I Feel Electric"
 * Nominated
 * 2023
 * "I Feel Electric"
 * Nominated

ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

! Ref.
 * 2002
 * Silverchair's Diorama
 * Producer of the Year
 * Won
 * rowspan="2"| 2015
 * Daniel Johns Talk
 * Best Male Artist
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"|
 * Lorin Askill for Daniel Johns – "Aerial Love"
 * Best Video
 * Nominated
 * 2022
 * FutureNever
 * Best Solo Artist
 * Nominated
 * 2022
 * FutureNever
 * Best Solo Artist
 * Nominated
 * Nominated

title: Daniel Johns


text:
Extreme ironing

Extreme ironing (also called EI) is an extreme sport in which people take ironing boards to remote locations and iron items of clothing. According to the Extreme Ironing Bureau, extreme ironing is "the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt."

Part of the attraction and interest the media has shown towards extreme ironing seems to center on the issue of whether it is really a sport or not. It is widely considered to be tongue-in-cheek.

Some locations where such performances have taken place include a mountainside of a difficult climb; a forest; in a canoe; while skiing or snowboarding; on top of large bronze statues; in the middle of a street; underwater; in the middle of the M1 motorway; in a keirin cycle race; while parachuting; and under the ice sheet of a frozen lake. The performances have been conducted solo or by groups.

History
Extreme ironing was invented in 1997 in Leicester, England, by resident Phil Shaw in his back garden. Shaw came home from what he recalls as a hard day in a Leicester knitwear factory. Shaw had a number of chores to do, including ironing. Preferring the idea of an evening out rock climbing, he decided to combine the two activities into a new extreme sport. In June 1999, Shaw, who uses the nickname "Steam", embarked on an international tour to promote the activity. The stops included the United States, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. An encounter with German tourists in New Zealand led to the formation of a group called "Extreme Ironing International", and the German Extreme Ironing Section or GEIS. This has yet to popularize in North America.

As extreme ironing has branched off, the conditions can gain in extreme activity. For example, a branch of ironing has been developed that includes both bungee jumping and well-pressed clothing. Bungee ironing is what some would call the ultimate in the thrill of extreme ironing.

The sport gained international attention in 2003 after a documentary entitled Extreme Ironing: Pressing for Victory, was produced for Britain's Channel 4 by Wag TV. The program followed the British team's efforts and eventual Bronze and Gold placings in the 1st Extreme Ironing World Championships in Germany. A side-story looked at the rivalry between the EIB (Extreme Ironing Bureau) and a breakaway group called Urban Housework who were trying to establish their own extreme sport based around vacuum-cleaning. The film later aired on the National Geographic Channel.

In 2003, John Roberts and Ben Gibbons from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and Christopher Allan Jowsey (boots) from Newcastle, Whitley Bay, ironed a Union Jack just above Everest Base Camp. This is believed to be the world altitude record for the sport. The reported height was 5440 m above sea level.

In 2003 the Rowenta Trophy was won by a group from South Africa by ironing across a gorge at the Wolfberg Cracks.

In 2004, the EIB traveled to the US on the Rowenta Tour to recruit additional ironists and ironed at Mount Rushmore, New York City, Boston and Devils Tower.

On 18 April 2011, tenor Jason Blair was filmed ironing on the M1 motorway in London, UK, a section of which had been closed following a fire.

In 2012, Extreme Ironing pioneer Steam came out of retirement to take on a new challenge and run the Hastings Half Marathon in March wearing an ironing board, pressing garments on the way.

Underwater
In March 2008, a team of 72 divers simultaneously ironing underwater set a new world's record for number of people ironing underwater at once.

On 10 January 2009, 128 divers including 6 freedivers, attempted to break the previous world record, managing to confirm 86 divers ironing within a 10-minute period. The event took place at the National Diving and Activity Centre (NDAC) near Chepstow, Monmouthshire, and was organised by members of the Yorkshire Divers internet forum. In addition to breaking the world record, the event raised over £15000 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

On 1 May 2010, a group of Dive Centers in Key Largo, Florida, attempted to claim the record. The event was part of the Conch Republic Days in the Florida Keys and was attempted by Keys Diver, Silent World Dive Center, and Captain Slates Atlantis Dive Center. The attempt took place at the historic site of the Christ of the Abyss at Key Largo Dry Rocks.

On 28 March 2011 Dutch diving club De Waterman from Oss, Netherlands, set the new (official) world record extreme underwater ironing. A group of 173 divers set the new world record in an indoor swimming pool in Oss. De Waterman organized this event to mark their 40-year anniversary.

On 16 June 2018 a freediver, Roland Piccoli, ironed a T-shirt at a depth of 42 m (138 ft) in the world's deepest pool (Y-40) in Montegrotto Terme Italy.

Related activities
Extreme Ironing has inspired other forms of unusual extreme activity, such as Extreme Cello Playing.

In popular culture
The activity rose high enough in the zeitgeist to land an appearance on the long-running soap opera EastEnders. The 2 August 2004 episode featured a reference to the then-current altitude record holders the Hot Plate Brothers. As the party-loving Kat and Zoe Slater are preparing to go out, they are invited to the launch party at Angie's Den where celebrities—including the brothers—are supposed to appear.

It is also mentioned in Netflix’s show Dino Girl Gauko Season 1, Episode 6.

title: Extreme ironing