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Grumman LLV

The Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV) is an American light transport truck model designed as a mail truck for the United States Postal Service, which has been its primary user since it first entered service in 1986, 38.602833624460935 years ago. It was also used by Canada Post. The LLV uses a chassis built by GM based on the S-10 with an aluminum body built by Grumman.

In 2021, after a long competition, the USPS announced it had awarded a $6 billion contract to Oshkosh Defense to produce the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle, which will replace the LLV. In February 2023, the USPS announced the purchase of 9,250 each of stock Ford E-Transit vans and Stellantis gasoline-powered vans. , the first custom NGDVs were scheduled to enter service in June 2024, nine months after the original October 2023 target date.

History
In the United States, the Grumman LLV is the most common vehicle used by letter carriers for curbside and residential delivery of mail, replacing the previous standard letter-carrier vehicle, the Jeep DJ-5. Curbside delivery from a driver seated in a vehicle to a curbside mailbox is sometimes termed "mounted delivery", in contrast to walking delivery.

The Grumman LLV was the first vehicle specifically designed for the United States Postal Service (USPS); the USPS provided a specification and three teams created prototypes that were tested in Laredo, Texas in 1985: Grumman in partnership with General Motors, Poveco (a joint venture of Fruehauf and General Automotive Corporation), and American Motors Corporation. The main design points of the vehicle in contract competition were serviceability, handling in confined areas, and overall economical operation. Prototypes were each subjected to a 24000 mi road test, including frequent starts and stops, gravel surfaces, cobblestones and potholes, hauling a payload of up to 2000 lb.

Previously, Grumman had built a limited number of KurbWatts, a battery electric vehicle with an aluminum delivery van body, which was tested by the USPS in the early 1980s. At about the same time, Grumman also built 500 KubVans, which used a similar lightweight aluminum delivery body on a Volkswagen Pickup diesel chassis and also underwent testing by the USPS. These designs influenced Grumman's candidate body design for the LLV. Grumman won the competition and was awarded a $1.1 billion contract to produce 99,150 LLVs in April 1986; USPS also held an option for an additional 54,000 LLVs.

Production
The vehicles were assembled by the Allied Division of Grumman in Clinton Township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The first vehicle was completed in April 1986. At peak production, 95 LLVs were completed each day, at a rate of approximately one every 5 minutes. Grumman invested $28 million into the factory, doubling its size to 213000 ft2 and increasing the workforce from 250 to 600.

The USPS purchased more than 100,000 of these vehicles, the last one in 1994. As its name suggests, the Grumman LLV is easily capable of a long life. The required lifespan specified by the U.S. Postal Service was 24 years, but in 2009 this was extended to 30 years. The Grumman LLV can easily last over 200,000 miles on its original engine and transmission before needing an overhaul.

The USPS acquired 21,000 Ford-Utilimaster FFVs in 2000 and 2001 to supplement the LLV fleet. The FFVs have a similar aluminum body and also are right-hand drive, but ride on a chassis built by Ford Motor Company with a body built by Utilimaster.

In 2010, approximately 140,000 LLVs remained in the USPS delivery fleet; retirement and attrition had reduced that to 126,000 by 2021. A number were also sold to Canada, Mexico, and several other countries.

Technical description
Like the older postal-service Jeep DJ-5, the Grumman LLV features a right-hand drive (RHD) configuration, in contrast to the typical left-hand drive (LHD) position of vehicles in North America. It also features a large metal tray, which is able to hold three trays of letter mail, mounted where a passenger seat would normally be. This arrangement positions the driver on the side of the vehicle closest to the curb, enabling the carrier to easily grab sorted mail and place it into mailboxes without having to leave the seat. Other notable features are an exceptionally tight turning radius and a low-geared, 3 speed transmission for hauling heavy cargo. The LLV has a 1000 lb cargo capacity, double what the Jeep DJ-5 could hold.

The body and final assembly is by Grumman, and the chassis is made by General Motors, based on the 1982 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, powered by GM engines including the 2.5-liter inline-four TBI Iron Duke and, in later production, 2.2-liter inline-four SPFI LN2; the instrument cluster and front suspension are similar to those used in the Chevrolet S-10 pickup and S-10 Blazer sport utility vehicle.

The LLV has a unique footprint. The front wheels (taken from the two-wheel-drive S-10 Blazer model) have narrower spacing than the rear wheels (using the rear axle from the four-wheel-drive S-10 Blazer model). The front of the vehicle also has low ground clearance. While this has advantages, there are some trade offs. The vehicle was tested successfully in warmer climates, but when used in places with substantial snowfall, they became difficult to control and were poorly adapted to those conditions.

The Grumman LLV's estimated average combined EPA fuel economy is 17 mpgus [16 / on the city/highway cycles, respectively]. In actual use by the USPS, which includes extensive stop-and-go driving for residential delivery, average fuel economy is about 8.2–10 mpgus.

Like other U.S. Postal Service vehicles before it, the Grumman LLV does not carry a license plate and instead uses a seven-digit U.S. Postal Service serial number, usually starting with 020, 021, 120, 125, 126, 220, 221, 330, 331, 430, 431, 720, 820, 821, 920, or 921. The first digit of the serial number represents the last digit of the year in which it was made, ranging from 7 (1987) to 4 (1994). The USPS does not permit reselling the LLV, so when they are retired, they are scrapped for parts; however, at least one was sold by the State of Georgia at auction in 2013.

Commercial version
Grumman also planned to market a commercial variant of the LLV with right-hand drive as the CLLV through Chevrolet. The CLLV was essentially the same as the LLV, with the same chassis, built by GM at Moraine Assembly using S-10 components, driven by the 2.5L Iron Duke through a 3-speed automatic transmission and a 7-$5/8$" positraction rear differential with 3.42:1 final drive ratio. The CLLV was rated to carry a payload of 1400 lb, including the driver, and could accommodate up to 121 ft3 of cargo.

Electric versions
Ten LLVs were converted in 1995, 1997, and 1999 for a pilot program, adding a battery electric drivetrain developed by GM Hughes and U.S. Electricar. They used lead-acid battery chemistry. The resulting Electric Long Life Vehicles (ELLVs) were deployed to post offices in Harbor City, California near Los Angeles, Merrifield, Virginia, and Westminster, California. When GM canceled its electric vehicle program, the vehicles were taken out of service at the end of 2000.

At about the same time, Transport Canada commissioned Solectria Corporation in November 1998 to convert two LLVs to battery-electric; they were delivered to Canada Post in February 1999. The performance report, comparing the converted LLV to a conventional LLV, was published in February 2000. The Solectria/Grumman LLV was equipped with a 12 kWh lead-acid traction battery and 5 kW diesel-fired heater, giving it a nominal range of 30 km. The traction motor was an AC induction type, with a peak output of 50 kW and continuous rated output of 20 kW. Testing showed the typical consumption on a postal driving cycle was 19.74 kWh/100km at an ambient temperature of -20 C, giving a range of 27.39 km; these figures improved to 16.04 kWh/100km consumption and 29.58 km range at 20 C. By comparison, the conventionally-powered LLV on the same driving cycle returned fuel consumption of undefined L/km at -20 C and undefined L/km at 20 C.

This was followed by a larger fleet test, consisting of 500 Electric Carrier Route Vehicles (ECRV) from 2000 to 2003. The ECRV was equipped with a body similar to the LLV, built by Grumman/Allied on a RHD Ford Ranger EV chassis. Most were tested in California, with the remainder tested in Washington, D.C., and White Plains, New York. Southern California Edison tested six prototype ECRVs at the Electric Vehicle Technical Center (EVTC) in Pomona, California. The ECRV uses a 90 hp AC induction traction motor driving the rear wheels, drawing power from a 2000 lb lead-acid battery consisting of 39 modules at 8 volts each, connected in series. It has a curb weight of 4950 lb and a payload of 1250 lb; the estimated driving range is 50 mi and the maximum speed is 60 mph. Testing at EVTC showed the ECRV met or exceeded its performance requirements, including an accelerated 20000 mi reliability test. Real-world testing at the Fountain Valley, California post office during July and August demonstrated the average route covered 13–16 mi, consuming an average of 41% of the battery state of charge. After Ford announced they were also canceling their electric vehicle program in October 2002, the battery manufacturer (East Penn Manufacturing Company) offered to sell replacement traction batteries for the ECRVs to be held in cold storage as experience showed the batteries would need to be replaced after two years of service. The USPS instead traded the ECRVs in August 2003 back to Ford in exchange for Windstar minivans.

A second round of testing five converted all-electric LLVs began in 2011. Each second-generation eLLV was converted by a different group, funded by the USPS through a $50,000 grant to each electromodder, and tested in Washington, D.C. In the nine-month period from March to December 2011, the five vehicles had taken an aggregated 9,181 trips and traveled a total distance of 3965 mi, consuming an average of 0.645 kWh/mi of AC power (from the wall). By March 2014, only one of the modified eLLVs (from ZAP) remained in service.

 * Notes

Replacements

Because the United States Postal Service owns more than 100,000 Grumman LLVs, of which most have reached the end of their lifespan, the USPS has been preparing to replace the LLVs. In fiscal year 2009, the USPS spent $524 million to repair and retrofit its fleet of Grumman LLVs, and estimated that it would cost $4.2 billion to replace the entire fleet. By 2021, it was estimated that each LLV required maintenance costing more than $5,000 per year; the all-aluminum body had proven to be robust and corrosion-resistant, but the chassis frame and powertrain components had required reverse-engineering as the original designs were out of production.

The LLVs also suffer from several design deficiencies, including inadequate cabin climate controls (no air conditioning and a heater prone to breaking down). The wheels and suspension are not suited for the all-terrain and all-weather needs of delivering mail and require snow chains during inclement weather. Also, because the windshield washer fluid line is routed above the fusebox, LLVs are prone to catching fire; between 2015 and 2019, over 120 fires occurred. According to documents obtained in 2020 via a Freedom of Information Act request as part of a Vice Media investigation, 407 LLVs have been damaged or destroyed since May 2014.

In some areas, LLVs have been supplemented or replaced with vans and minivans, including the 2008-2010 purchase of Dodge Grand Caravan and Chevrolet Uplander minivans, which tend to be more comfortable for postal workers, especially in extreme climates. The United States Postal Service has announced that they will purchase 7,160 Ram ProMaster (to replace Caravan & Uplander vehicles) and up to 30,608 right-hand drive Mercedes Metris vehicles as part of the Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) vehicle program announced on August 3, 2018, to replace and upgrade its fleet of delivery vehicles.

In 2014, the USPS reviewed options for replacement. The Office of Inspector General found that the Postal Service's acquisition plan for replacements lacked details and while the USPS could continue deliveries until 2017, there were concerns over the aging vehicles.

Canada Post also adopted the Grumman LLV, but around 2008, it began studying whether to refurbish, upgrade, or replace its fleet. On March 18, 2010, Canada Post and Ford Motor Company announced that Canada Post would purchase a fleet of Transit Connect vans.

Next Generation Delivery Vehicle
On January 20, 2015, the USPS released solicitation RFI-NGDV for the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle. Potential bidders had until March 5, 2015, to submit comments and pre-qualification responses. The USPS was to then select companies to receive the RFP for prototype development. On February 13, 2015, it was announced that General Motors was actively pursuing this new contract, which would have them provide the USPS with 180,000 new vehicles at a cost of at least $5 billion. On September 22, 2016, the United States Postal Service awarded the NGDV Prototype Contract to six selected suppliers: AM General, Karsan, Mahindra, Oshkosh, Utilimaster, and a joint-venture bid involving Workhorse and VT Hackney. Half of the prototypes will feature hybrid and new technologies, including alternative fuel capabilities. The prototypes will represent a variety of vehicle sizes and drive configurations, in addition to advanced power trains and a range of hybrid technologies.

On February 23, 2021, USPS announced that Oshkosh Defense was awarded the contract for design and manufacture of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) to replace the LLV and FFV, delivering up to 165,000 vehicles over a 10-year period.

title: Grumman LLV


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Raymond II, Count of Tripoli

Raymond II (Raimundus; c. 1116 – 1152) was count of Tripoli from 1137 to 1152. He succeeded his father, Pons, Count of Tripoli, who was killed during a campaign that a commander from Damascus launched against Tripoli. Raymond accused the local Christians of betraying his father and invaded their villages in the Mount Lebanon area. He also had many of them tortured and executed. Raymond was captured during an invasion by Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg of Mosul, who gained the two important castles of Montferrand (at present-day Baarin in Syria) and Rafaniya in exchange for his release in the summer of 1137.

Since his army proved unable to secure the defence of the eastern borders of his county, Raymond granted several forts to the Knights Hospitaller in 1142. The sudden death of his father's uncle, Alfonso Jordan, Count of Toulouse, during the Second Crusade gave rise to gossip which suggested that Raymond had poisoned him because Alfonso Jordan had allegedly wanted to lay claim to Tripoli. Alfonso Jordan's illegitimate son, Bertrand of Toulouse, actually seized the fortress of Areimeh in the County of Tripoli in 1149, but Raymond recaptured it with the assistance of Muslim rulers. Raymond ceded the castle to the Knights Templar.

The marriage of Raymond and his wife, Hodierna of Jerusalem, was unhappy. Her sister, Melisende of Jerusalem, came to Tripoli to put an end to their conflict. Hodierna preferred to leave Tripoli for Jerusalem along with her sister and Raymond escorted them for a short distance. On his way back to Tripoli, a group of Assassins stabbed him at the southern gate of the town. He was the first Christian ruler to be murdered by Assassins.

Early life
He was the elder son of Pons, Count of Tripoli and Cecile of France. The date of his birth is unknown, but William of Tyre noted that Raymond was "adolescent" when his father died, implying that he was at least fifteen in 1137. He and his younger brother, Philip, were mature enough to sign their father's charters in the early 1130s. Historian Kevin J. Lewis argues that Raymond "could easily have been in his early twenties" in 1137, suggesting that he was born around 1116. Lewis also states that Raymond was most probably betrothed to Hodierna, who was a younger daughter of Baldwin II of Jerusalem, "as early as 1127".

War with Muslim powers

Bazwāj, the mamluk (or slave) commander of Damascus made a raid against Tripoli and defeated Pons in a battle. Pons fled from the battlefield, but native Christians captured and handed him over to Bazwāj who had him executed on 25 March 1137. Bazwāj captured a frontier fort but returned to Damascus without attacking Tripoli. To take vengeance for his father's death, Raymond invaded the local Christians' settlements in the Mount Lebanon area and captured many of them. The captured men, women and children were taken to Tripoli where the majority were tortured and executed. William of Tyre remarked that Raymond's campaign against the local Christians provided "the first lessons of his martial courage".

After learning of Pons' death, Zengi invaded Tripoli in July 1137. A Muslim historian, Kamal al-Din, would later claim that Zengi attacked Tripoli only after Raymond mustered his troops to force Zengi to lift the siege of Homs. Lewis emphasizes that Kamal al-Din's report is doubtful, because Bazwāj had almost annihilated the army of Tripoli, preventing Raymond from launching major campaigns. After Zengi laid siege to Montferrand, Raymond sent envoys to his maternal uncle, Fulk, King of Jerusalem, urging him to hurry to the besieged fortress. Shortly after Fulk and his army crossed the frontier of the County of Tripoli, the envoys of Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, informed him that the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos had invaded Antioch.

Fulk and Raymond of Tripoli decided to launch an assault on Zengi's forces before marching to Antioch, because they thought they could easily defeat the atabeg. However, Zengi lifted the siege of Homs and made an unexpected attack on the united forces of Jerusalem and Tripoli. Thousands of Christian soldiers were killed during the battle, and even more (including Raymond) were captured; Fulk and his retinue fled to Montferrand. Zengi again besieged Montferrand, but began negotiations with the besieged when he heard that further relief was on its way from Raymond of Poitiers, Joscelin II of Edessa, and emperor John II Komnenos. Those besieged in the fortress did not know of these movements but readily agreed to hand over the castle to Zengi in exchange for a safe passage and the release of Raymond and all other Christian captives.

Attempts to consolidate
The Byzantine author, Theodore Prodromos, praised John II Komnenos for having made Tripoli subject shortly after 1137. Decades later the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates would also describe Raymond as a liegeman (vassal) of John II Komnenos. Both sources suggest that Raymond renewed his predecessors' oath of loyalty towards the Byzantine emperor, according to Lewis. Nevertheless, Raymond did not participate in John II Komnenos' military campaign against the Muslim rulers of Northern Syria in 1138. Historian Ralph-Johannes Lilie says the lack of sufficient military forces prevented Raymond from assisting the Byzantines.

Raymond granted several settlements to the Knights Hospitallers along the eastern borders of his county in 1142. His grant included "the fortress of the Kurds" which developed into the important Crusader castle of Krak des Chevaliers during the following decades. He also transferred his rights to Montferrand and Rafaniya, both seized by Zengi in 1137, to the Hospitallers if they could recapture them. When establishing a military order on the eastern borderland, Raymond only wanted to secure the defence of his county, but his magnanimous grant laid the foundation of an almost independent ecclesiastic state.

Family affairs

Raymond was a great-grandson of Raymond of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse, one of the leaders of the First Crusade who was the first to style himself as count of Tripoli (even before Tripoli had been captured). However, Raymond was descended from Saint-Gilles through Bertrand of Toulouse, a son with disputed legitimacy. Saint-Gilles' legitimate son, Alfonso-Jordan, was born after Saint-Gilles started to use the title of count of Tripoli, making him his father's lawful heir in accordance with the idea of porphyrogeniture.

Alfonso-Jordan was one of the supreme commanders of the Second Crusade, but he died shortly after he landed at the Holy Land in April 1148. Because of his unexpected death, gossip about his murder started spreading among the Crusaders, although he most probably died of natural causes, as a consequence of his lengthy voyage across the Mediterranean Sea. An anonymous Syrian chronicler accused Raymond of the crime, stating that he poisoned Alfonso-Jordan because he feared that his uncle had come to seize Tripoli. Lewis emphasizes, the chronicle "is hardly the most reliable piece of evidence, so some skepticism about Raymond's involvement in Alfons's death is surely advisible". Another contemporaneous author—the continuator of Sigebert of Gembloux's chronicle—was convinced that Raymond's sister-in-law, Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem, had poisoned Alfons-Jordan because she wanted to prevent him from claiming Tripoli.

Raymond did not attend the assembly of the leaders of the crusade at Acre on 24 June 1148. He also kept away from the Crusaders' siege of Damascus in 1148. In contrast with Raymond, Alfons-Jordan's illegitimate son, Bertrand, who had arrived in his father's retinue, participated in the Crusaders' fights. He decided to lay claim to Tripoli and took possession of the fortress of Areimeh in the summer of 1149. After being unable to expel Bertrand from the fort which controlled important roads in the county, Raymond sought assistance from Mu'in ad-Din Unur, the Muslim ruler of Damascus, as well as from Zengi's son, Nur ad-Din. The two Muslim rulers captured Areimeh and imprisoned Bertrand and his family. After destroying the castle, they returned the territory to Raymond. Raymond granted the land to the Knights Templar in the early 1150s.

Last years

Baldwin III of Jerusalem crossed Tripoli during his march towards northern Syria in the summer of 1150. He wanted to meet with the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos who had purchased the last fortresses of the County of Edessa. Because of a conflict between Baldwin and his mother, Melisende, her supporters had refused to accompany the king, who thus asked Raymond to join him. Raymond agreed and accompanied Baldwin to the meeting and they jointly supervised the transfer of the castles to the Byzantines.

A Fatimid fleet pillaged Tripoli during a plundering raid against the coastal towns in the summer of 1151. The Egyptians destroyed ships and killed or captured hundreds of people in the harbour. In December, Crusader troops invaded the Beqaa Valley, seizing prisoners and booty during their campaign before the Muslim governor of Baalbek routed them. Nur ad-Din broke into the county in April or May 1152 and captured Tortosa, leaving a garrison there. Baldwin III came to Tripoli and held a "general court", attended by the leading barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli. After the king's arrival, the Nur ad-Din's troops left Tortosa, but they destroyed the fortress. Since its restoration proved costly, Raymond ceded Tortosa first to the local bishop, then to the Templars who transformed it into one of their most important headquarters.

An "enmity born from marital jealousy" had meanwhile emerged between Raymond and his wife, according to William of Tyre. Her sister, Melisende, who attended the assembly at Tripoli, tried to mediate between them, but their relationship remained tense. After the assembly was closed, Melisende and Hodierna left Tripoli for Jerusalem. Raymond rode out with them for a short distance, and on his way back to Tripoli, he was killed by a group of Assassins—fanatics employed by the head of the Nizari to murder their enemies—at the southern gate to the city, along with two of his knights. The motivation of the crime is unknown. Since the Nizari had not previously killed Christian rulers, modern historians propose that the establishment of the Templars at Tortosa had outraged them.

Family
The exact date of the marriage of Raymond and Hodierna is unknown. According to historian Peter Lock, it took place in the spring of 1133, after her brother-in-law, Fulk of Jerusalem, provided military assistance to Raymond's father against Zengi. Raymond and Hodierna's son, Raymond III, was born only in 1140, thus he was still a minor when he succeeded his father in 1152. Raymond and Hodierna's daughter, Melisende, was famed for her beauty, but her delicate health and rumours about her mother's possible infidelity prevented her marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.

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

title: Raymond II, Count of Tripoli


text:
Communist Party of Nepal

The Communist Party of Nepal (नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी), abbreviated CPN, was a communist party in Nepal from 1949 to 1962. It was founded on 15 September 1949 to struggle against the autocratic Rana regime, feudalism, and imperialism. The founding general secretary was Pushpa Lal Shrestha. The founding members of the Communist Party of Nepal were Moti Devi Shrestha, Niranjan Govinda Vaidya, Nar Bahadur Karmacharya and Narayan Bilas Joshi.

Formation and early years, 1949–1951
The party was formed by Pushpa Lal Shrestha, a former member of the Nepali National Congress, who had grown disillusioned with the infighting in the party and the willingness to cooperate and make concessions with the Ranas. After his resignation from the Nepali National Congress–which would later become the Nepali Congress–he had been inspired by Marxist literary criticism and in April 1949 published a translated version of The Communist Manifesto in the Nepali language. There were initial plans to work within the Nepali National Congress as a leftist group or organize as a workers-peasants party but this was eventually scrapped.

Shrestha who was in Kolkata at the time joined the Marxist Study Circle in Campbell Medical School. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi who was studying at Campbell and Man Mohan Adhikari who was studying in Benaras at the time were also members of the group. On 22 April 1949, Pushpa Lal became the secretary of an organizing committee which was to become the Communist Party of Nepal. The members of the organizing committee at the time were Moti Devi Shrestha, Niranjan Govinda Vaidya, Nar Bahadur Karmacharya and Narayan Bilas Joshi.

The Central Organising Committee of the CPN published the first issue of the Communist Pachhik Prachar Patra on 15 September 1949 as the manifesto of the CPN. The date was symbolic as exactly one hundred and three years ago Jang Bahadur Rana had started the Rana regime in Nepal after orchestrating the Kot massacre. The first central committee of the CPN did not include any other members of the original organizing committee except for Shrestha. The members of the first central committee were Man Mohan Adhikari, Tulsi Lal Amatya, Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, D.P. Adhikari and Communist Party of India member Ayodhya Singh.

The CPN played an important role in the 1951 uprising that overthrew the Rana regime. The party was one of the constituents of the United Democratic Front along with smaller communist and leftist groups. The UDF organized civil disobedience movements and also demanded the release of political prisoners.

Ban, 1952–1954
On 8 June 1952, the Kisan Sangh (Farmer's Union), the farmers-wing of the CPN, declared a revolt against landlords and demanded that land be distributed to landless peasants. Earlier in the year in January, a coup was attempted by the Rakshya Dal under the leadership of Kunwar Inderjit Singh. The party had occupied the airfield, radio station, the post and the telegraph office at Singha Durbar. They had demanded that an all-party government be formed that included the Communists but excluded the far-right Nepal Rashtrabadi Gorkha Parishad. The military intervened and Singh was arrested. As a consequence of this event, the CPN was banned on 24 January 1952.

The party contested the 1953 Kathmandu municipal election as independents and won half of the votes and six seats to the nineteen-member council. Janak Man Singh from the party was elected as the first elected mayor of Kathmandu. In the end of 1955, the party organized the Rastriya Janamorcha (National People's Front) under the leadership of general secretary Keshar Jung Rayamajhi.

First general convention, 1954–1958
In 1954, the first party congress was held clandestinely in Patan, Lalitpur. Man Mohan Adhikari was elected as the party's general secretary, the party also approved a programme to replace monarchism with a republican system framed by an elected constituent assembly.

In 1956, when the Tanka Prasad Acharya-led government became an ally of the Communist Party of Nepal, the party had to accept constitutional monarchy as a condition to lift the ban on the party. In April 1956, the ban on the party was lifted. The party was also considered to be relatively tamed at this point as the leadership had displayed a level of deference towards the monarchy that most communist movements did not. In 1957, the second party congress was held in Kathmandu. For the first time, the party could hold its congress openly, and Keshar Jung Rayamajhi was elected general secretary.

First elections and royal coup, 1959–1961
The party contested the 1959 Nepalese general election and won four seats to the first House of Representative. Tulsi Lal Amatya was elected as the party's parliamentary party leader in the House of Representatives. CPN also had one member in the Senate (the upper house at the time) when Sambhu Ram Shrestha was elected in 1959. When King Mahendra took power and started his own direct rule, two major blocks developed in the party. The block led by Keshar Jung Rayamajhi supported the royal coup and the other block led by Tulsi Lal Amatya called for a united struggle against the coup. Rayamajhi's position prompted Ajoy Ghosh, leader of the Communist Party of India to advice Rayamjhi to rectify his positions and retain the struggle against the monarchy. In early 1961, all political parties were banned. A wave of repression against CPN was initiated by the government. Rayamajhi had expressed certain faith in the politics of the monarch, something that provoked stern reaction from other sectors of the party.

To resolve the conflict a central plenum was convened in Darbhanga, India as all political gatherings in Nepal had been banned by royal decree. The plenum unanimously passed the line of armed struggle that was proposed by Pushpa Lal. Three lines had now emerged in the party, that of a pro-constitutional monarchy line led by Rayamajhi, a line that wanted to restore the dissolved parliament and launch broad mass movements led by Pushpa Lal, and a third line which favoured a constitutional assembly led by Mohan Bikram Singh. The latter line emerged victorious, but its sole representative in the Central Committee was Singh.

Split and dissolution, 1962
In April 1962, one section of the party convened the third party congress in Varanasi, India. The congress approved the programme of National Democratic Revolution proposed by Tulsi Lal Amatya. Amatya was also elected as the general secretary. Pushpa Lal was in the capital at the time of the congress but had supported the decision. The congress also decided to expel Rayamajhi who supported the monarchy, but the faction led by Rayamajhi, who controlled the Central Committee, did not recognize this congress as legitimate. The party then split into the Communist Party of Nepal (Amatya) and Communist Party of Nepal (Rayamjhi).

Ideology
The main objective of the Communist Party of Nepal in the 1950s was to transform Nepal into a republic, later on during the decade the party adopted Leninist principles of class struggle against the urban centered and the elite oriented. The party was also critical of the Nepali Congress, which was considered close to the ruling Indian National Congress. The party had opposed what it called cultural imperialism of India.

General Secretaries

 * Pushpa Lal Shrestha, 1949–1954
 * Man Mohan Adhikari, 1954–1957
 * Keshar Jung Rayamajhi, 1957–1962
 * Tulsi Lal Amatya, 1962

title: Communist Party of Nepal


text:
General Atomics Gnat

The General Atomics Gnat is an aerial reconnaissance UAV developed in the United States in the late 1980s and manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). As initially designed, it was a simplified version of the LSI Amber intended for foreign sales. The Gnat 750 made its first flight in 1989.

Design and development
The Gnat 750's configuration was similar to that of the Amber, except that the Gnat 750's wing was mounted low on the fuselage, instead of being mounted on a pylon on top. The Gnat 750 was somewhat larger than the Amber, but weighed less and could carry a heavier payload. The original name of the developing company before its acquisition by General Atomics was Leading Systems Incorporated (LSI).

The aircraft is powered by a Rotax 912 piston flat-four four-cycle engine with 64 kW (85 hp). It can fly to an operational area from 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) away and loiter there for 12 hours before returning home.

Eight Gnat 750s were in development when General Atomics bought out LSI. General Atomics continued the program, which led to a contract from the Turkish government for a number of the UAVs in 1993. The Turkish Air Force operates 6 Gnat-750 and 16 I-Gnat ER unmanned aerial vehicles.

By this time, the breakup of the old Communist states of Eastern Europe was in full swing, and the United States government wanted to obtain an intelligence asset to help it deal with trouble spots in the region, specifically the former Yugoslavia. A contract was issued to General Atomics for Gnat 750s with minor modifications. The aircraft were to be operated by the CIA.

The program encountered a number of difficulties, much of them due to bureaucratic factionalism and squabbling. One aircraft crashed during tests when it was hit by a gust of wind, causing it to indicate zero airspeed. The UAV's software decided that meant it had landed and shut down the engine, causing the Gnat to fall to earth.

The Gnat 750 effort squeaked through, and in early 1994 the CIA sent a team equipped with a Gnat 750 to Albania to monitor events in the former Yugoslavia. The operation was not a success. The aircraft suffered from a number of bugs and was limited by bad weather, and the team was finally withdrawn. However, the Gnat 750 continued to be built, leading to an "Improved Gnat" or "I-Gnat" variant, with a turbocharged engine and general overall refinements to increase reliability, reduce maintenance, and enhance capability. The Gnat 750 also led to a next-generation derivative, the "Gnat 750-45", much better known as the Predator.

Prowler
General Atomics also used the Gnat 750 as the basis for a tactical UAV known as the "Prowler". It appears similar to a Gnat 750, but is smaller, with a wingspan of 7.31 meters (24 ft) and a length of 4.24 meters (13.9 ft). It has an endurance of over 16 hours, and some commonality with Gnat 750 subsystems.

Operators

 * Turkish Air Force: used to operate 22 units. (Former operator, replaced by TAI Anka)
 * Central Intelligence Agency: operated Gnat 750 to monitor activity in Albania and Yugoslavia
 * Central Intelligence Agency: operated Gnat 750 to monitor activity in Albania and Yugoslavia
 * Central Intelligence Agency: operated Gnat 750 to monitor activity in Albania and Yugoslavia

Aircraft on display

 * 11 – Gnat 750 on static display at the Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles, California.

title: General Atomics Gnat


text:
I Am Canadian

I Am Canadian was the slogan of Molson Canadian beer from 1994 until 1999 (via ad agencies Maclaren Lintas, then MacLaren McCann), and between 2000 and 2005 (by Bensimon Byrne). It was also the subject of a popular ad campaign centred on Canadian nationalism, the most famous examples of which are "The Rant" and "The Anthem". The ads aired in both English Canada and the United States. In 2005, shortly after Molson's merger with American brewer Coors, it announced it was retiring the "I Am Canadian" campaign. In 2017, Molson's "red beer fridge" ad, created as part of its "I Am Canadian" campaign, had a resurgence in social media as a result of the United States' immigration and refugee ban.

"The Rant"
In March 2000, using nationalism as a platform, the ad starred a man named Joe: an average Canadian, standing in a movie theatre, with a cinema screen behind him showing different images relating to Canadian culture. Joe proceeds to give a speech about what is it to be a Canadian and what it is not to be a Canadian, making particular efforts to distinguish himself both from common Canadian stereotypes of Americans ("I believe in peacekeeping, not policing") and common American stereotypes of Canadians ("I don't live in an igloo," "I say 'about,' not 'aboot'").

It was performed by Nova Scotian/Canadian actor Jeff Douglas and directed by an American, Kevin Donovan, but written by a Canadian, Glen Hunt. The commercial won local, national and international success.

The ad was tested live in front of movie goers in theatres in Ottawa and deemed successful enough to run on-air. It was the work of the public relations agency Thornley Fallis together with Molson that helped garner local, national and International awards. Director, Kelly Swinney(Donovan),and team successfully won the Canadian Public Relations award, the national Gold Quill award & the prestigious International Public Relations award in 2001.

In addition to the commercial “Joe Canada” as he was called did a cross rogue tour on Canada Day crossing the Nation in 26 hours and visiting Provinces to recite the rant. Beginning in Newfoundland and ending in Vancouver.

In 2002, John Robert Colombo included the Rant in the Penguin Treasury of Popular Canadian Poems and Songs. Colombo acknowledged that it was unusual to include the text of a beer commercial in a poetry collection, but emphasized that "the open-minded reader will respond to the power of the words that express a human need to affirm an identity in the face of ignorance and indifference," and compared it to the works of Christopher Smart, Ebenezer Elliot, and Vachel Lindsay.

Parodies
The popularity of "I Am Canadian" in Canada led to many parodies of the advertisement. Several radio stations have produced provincial variations on the theme. These include I am an Albertan, I am a British Columbian, I am a Newfoundlander, and I Am Not Canadian, the last of which focused on a Quebec sovereignist.

William Shatner performed his own variation on the idea in a Just for Laughs appearance. He announced to the world: "I am not a Starfleet commander, ...or T.J. Hooker." The rant continues, making fun of Trekkies and his own typecasting as James T. Kirk, as well as Molson itself ("I drink Labatt's, not Romulan ale!").

Weasel, the lead character of I Am Weasel, parodied the advertisement in a promotional ad for the series' home, Cartoon Network. The ad later aired on a similar Canadian outlet, Teletoon.

During the 2002 Swiss National Exposition, the Swiss National Bank pavilion featured an "Ich bin Schweizer" adaptation of the ad, using stereotypes held by Germans about the Swiss.

At the Juno Awards of 2022, actor and host Simu Liu opened the ceremony with an updated riff on the "I Am Canadian" ad, highlighting contemporary signifiers such as multicultural food, runaway housing prices and the legalization of marijuana.

Trivia
This commercial premiered during the Academy Awards, which, in that year, included Robin Williams singing the song "Blame Canada", a satirical song from the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

"The Anthem"
This ad features famous moments from Canadian history (including the pounding of the Last Spike and the raising of the Maple Leaf flag), as well as a variety of average Canadians (including William Shatner), singing a song extolling the virtues of Canada and its citizens.

title: I Am Canadian


text:
Talk:Blowing Rock (land feature)

Geography
IMO, the article Blowing Rock (land feature) also deserves names of gorge and its enclosing ridges, and vertical and horizontal dimensions, which i don't have at immediate hand.

Wind speed
Wind-speed estimates if available, and a slightly less handwaving treatment of the aerodynamics, would IMO ensure moving this out of stubdom.

Legend
But i am not inclined to add the romantic and patronizing legend involving local Indians unless there is some scholary folklore research showing it's more than an fabrication for the benefit of tourism. --Jerzy 04:47, 2003 Nov 24 (UTC)

The AAA 2002 tourbook for Georgia, NC, and SC says that the legend about the rock involves a Chickasaw maiden, whose prayers brought her lover back to her on the winds after he jumped. However, this article refers to a Cherokee brave as the leaper... I don't know anything else about it, so maybe the legend does involve two different tribes, but maybe somebody familiar with the story should check on that... --Steve-o Stonebraker 01:35, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Blowing Rock (land feature)


text: Talk:Flag of Serbia

title: Talk:Flag of Serbia


text: Talk:I Am Canadian

title: Talk:I Am Canadian


text:
Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Pushpa Kamal Dahal (पुष्पकमल दाहाल; born Ghanashyam Dahal, 11 December 1954), alias Prachanda (प्रचण्ड,, "fierce"), is a Nepalese politician, currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition, since July 2024. He has served as the Prime Minister of Nepal on three separate occasions, from 2008 to 2009 as the first prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, from 2016 to 2017, and again from 2022 to 2024.

Having been drawn to left-wing politics after seeing severe poverty during his youth, Dahal joined the Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention) in 1981, and later became general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) in 1989. This party later became the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Dahal was the leader of the CPN (M) during the country's civil war and subsequent peace process and the 1st Nepalese constituent assembly. In the 2008 elections, CPN(M) emerged as the largest party, and Dahal became prime minister in August of that year. He resigned from the post on 4 May 2009, after his attempt to sack the then army chief, Rookmangud Katawal, was opposed by then President Ram Baran Yadav. Dahal was sworn in as prime minister for a second time in 2016, as per an agreement to form a rotational government with the Nepali Congress, and resigned on 24 May 2017 to make way for Congress' Sher Bahadur Deuba. Following the 2022 general election, Dahal was sworn in as prime minister again in December 2022, with support from a coalition of parties including CPN (UML), Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party. Dahal remained in power for 19 months, changing alliances between the UML and Congress three times, before he was ousted by a failed motion of confidence in the parliament on 12 July 2024.

Early life
He was born Ghanashyam Dahal on 11 December 1954 in Lewade, Dhikur Pokhari, a VDC 20km north from Pokhara, to Muktiram and Bhawani, a Brahmin Hindu family. He later changed his name during a matriculation examination to Pushpa Kamal (meaning: Lotus Flower). At the age of eight, his family migrated to the Terai, a fertile lowland region in southern Nepal, and settled in Chitwan District. In the 1950s, his father Muktiram moved to Indian state of Assam, where he worked as a firewood collector, and returned home in 1961. In 1971, Pushpa Kamal Dahal moved to Kathmandu for his studies, and was enrolled in Patan Multiple Campus for two years. He moved back to Chitwan and received a diploma of science in agriculture from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in Rampur, Chitwan. After completing studies and failing to find jobs in bureaucracy, Dahal became a schoolteacher in a village, where he worked until 1979. He was also a home teacher at the same village.

Nepalese Civil War

On 4 February 1996, Baburam Bhattarai gave the government, led by Nepali Congress Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, a list of 40 demands, threatening civil war if they were not met. The demands related to "nationalism, democracy, and livelihood" and included such line items as the "domination of foreign capital in Nepali industries, business and finance should be stopped", and "discriminatory treaties, including the 1950 Nepal-India Treaty, should be abrogated", and "land under the control of the feudal system should be confiscated and distributed to the landless and the homeless." After that, and until 26 April 2006, Dahal directed the military efforts of the CPN (Maoist Centre) towards establishing areas of control, particularly in the mountainous regions and in western Nepal. The 40 demands were whittled down to 24 in subsequent political negotiations.

In late 2004 or early 2005, relations between Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai soured. This was reportedly due to disagreement on power-sharing inside the party. Bhattarai was unhappy with the consolidation of power under Dahal. At one point, Dahal expelled Bhattarai from the party, though he was later reinstated. They later reconciled at least some of their differences. On 22 November 2005, Dahal and the Seven Party Alliance released a 'twelve-point agreement' that expressed areas of agreement between the CPN(M) and the parties that had won a large majority in the last parliamentary election in 1999. Among other points, this document stated that the dictatorial monarchy of King Gyanendra was the chief impediment to progress in Nepal. It claimed further that the Maoists were committed to human rights and press freedoms and a multi-party system of government. It pledged self-criticism and the intention of the Maoists and the Seven Parties to not repeat past mistakes.

On 26 April 2006, CPN (Maoist Centre) announced a ceasefire with a stated duration of 90 days. The move followed weeks of massive protests—the April 2006 Nepalese general strike— in Kathmandu and elsewhere that had forced King Gyanendra to give up the personal dictatorship he had established on 1 February 2005, and restore the parliament that had been dissolved in May 2002. A new government was then established by the Seven-Party Alliance. The parliament and the new government supported the ceasefire and started negotiations with the Maoists on the basis of the twelve-point agreement. The two sides agreed that a new constituent assembly would be elected to write a new constitution and decide the fate of the monarchy. The Maoists wanted this process to end with Nepal becoming declared as a republic.

First premiership
Dahal met for talks with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on 16 June 2006, which was thought to be his first visit to the capital Kathmandu in more than a decade. This meeting resulted in the Comprehensive Peace Accord to dissolve parliament, incorporate the CPN(M) into a new interim government, draft a new constitution, and disband the CPN(M)'s "people's governments" operating in rural Nepal. The two sides also agreed to disarm at a later date, under international supervision. On 18 September 2007, the CPN(M) left the coalition government ahead of the Constituent Assembly election, demanding the declaration of a republic by parliament, and a system of proportional representation in the election. The CPN(M) rejoined the government on 30 December 2007, after an agreement to abolish the monarchy following the election, and to have a system of partial proportional representation in the election. Following power-sharing discussions that lasted several months, Dahal was elected as prime minister by the Constituent Assembly on 15 August 2008, and he was sworn in as prime minister on 18 August 2008.

The decade-long war ultimately led the Maoists to Nepal's parliament. After winning a remarkable majority in the Constitutional Assembly elections, Dahal was nominated for the Prime Ministership by the party. In the April 2008 Constituent Assembly election, he was elected from Kathmandu constituency-10, winning by a large margin, and receiving nearly twice as many votes as his nearest rival, the candidate of the Nepali Congress. He also won overwhelmingly in Rolpa constituency-2, receiving 34,230 votes against 6,029 for Shanta Kumar Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), CPN(UML). With the CPN(M) appearing to have won the election, Dahal pledged that the party would work together with other parties in crafting the new constitution, and he assured the international community, particularly India and China, that the party wanted good relations and co-operation. He also said that the party had expressed its commitment to multi-party democracy through the election.

Second premiership
In August 2016 Pushpa Kamal Dahal was elected for a second stint as Prime Minister of Nepal. Dahal became the 24th prime minister since Nepal's adoption of multi-party democracy in 1990 and the eighth since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008. He resigned from the post of prime minister on 24 May 2017 and was succeeded by Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress in June.

Third premiership
Pushpa Kamal Dahal was appointed prime minister for the third time on 25 December 2022, following the 2022 Nepalese general election. He won the vote of confidence in the House on 10 January 2023 after 268 out of the present 270 members voted in favor of him.

Following Dahal's support for the candidature of Ram Chandra Poudel in the presidential election, the CPN (UML) withdrew its support from the government, and Dahal again joined hands with the Congress to revive the pre-election alliance.

Dahal condemned the actions of Hamas during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, but also expressed support for Palestine and spoke in favor of a ceasefire, saying "we support the oppressed, those who deserve independence. We support Palestine".

On 4 March 2024, Dahal ended his coalition with the Nepali Congress and formed a new coalition with the CPN (UML) and other smaller parties.

On 12 July 2024, Dahal lost a vote of confidence in the House after 194 out of the present 258 members voted against his favour leading to the end of his third tenure as prime minister.

Personal life
In 1969, Dahal married Sita Poudel (5 July 1954 – 12 July 2023) when he was fifteen. They had three daughters (including Renu Dahal) and a son.

In keeping with Marxist ideology, Dahal is an atheist, having stopped practicing Hinduism in his teenage years.

title: Pushpa Kamal Dahal


text:
User talk:Maryamjoon

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them;

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If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

snoyes 04:57, 24 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: User talk:Maryamjoon


text:
Mohamed Boudiaf

Mohamed Boudiaf (23 June 1919 – 29 June 1992, محمد بوضياف; ALA-LC: Muḥammad Bū-Ḍiyāf), also called Si Tayeb el Watani, was an Algerian political leader and one of the founders of the revolutionary National Liberation Front (FLN) that led the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962). Boudiaf was exiled soon after Algerian independence, and did not go back to Algeria for 27 years. He returned in 1992 to accept a position of Chairman of the High Council of State, but was assassinated four months later.

Early years in the nationalist movement
Mohamed Boudiaf was born in Ouled Madhi (now in M'Sila Province), French Algeria, to a family of erstwhile nobility which had lost its standing and influence during colonial times. His education was cut short after primary school by poor health (tuberculosis) and his increasing activism in the nascent nationalist movement. A member of the nationalist Parti du Peuple Algérien (PPA) of Messali Hadj, he later joined the successor organization MTLD and its secret paramilitary wing, the Organisation Spéciale (OS). Boudiaf was responsible for organizing the OS network in the Sétif region, storing arms, collecting funds and preparing guerrilla forces. He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years of prison by the French authorities, but avoided arrest.

When Messali decided to dissolve the OS, his rivals combined with stalwarts of the guerrilla strategy to form the CRUA, a breakout committee designed to lay the groundwork for revolutionary war. Boudiaf was among them, after falling out with Messali, whom he accused of authoritarian tendencies. The CRUA - PPA/MTLD rivalry quickly spiralled towards violence, and would continue during the Algerian War until the PPA/MTLD (then reorganized as the Mouvement National Algérien, MNA) was largely destroyed. In July 1954, the CRUA-aligned Boudiaf survived an assassination attempt by his former comrades-in-arms, wounded and left for dead on an Algiers sidewalk.

Algerian war of independence
The CRUA re-emerged as the Front de Libération Nationale, or FLN, which began a nationwide armed insurrection against France on November 1, 1954. Boudiaf was by this time a main leader of the movement, and emerged as an important member of the exiled leadership working from Cairo and Algeria's neighbouring countries. In 1956, he was captured along with Ahmed Ben Bella and several other FLN leaders in a controversial aircraft hijacking by French forces, and imprisoned in France. While prisoner, he was symbolically elected minister in the FLN's government-in-exile, the GPRA, at its creation in 1958, and re-elected in 1960 and 1961. Additionally, he was named one of the Vice Presidents. He was not released until immediately before the independence of Algeria in 1962, after a brutal eight-year war that had cost between 350,000 and 1.5 million lives.

After independence: opposition and exile
On independence, internal conflict racked the FLN, which split into rival factions as French forces withdrew. A military-political alliance between col. Houari Boumédiène of the Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN) and Ahmed Ben Bella, of the exiled leadership, brought down their rivals and set up a single-party state under Ben Bella's presidency.

The increasingly marginalized Boudiaf protested these developments, and founded a clandestine opposition party, the PRS, which briefly revolted against the FLN's single-party government. Boudiaf was forced into exile, and settled in neighbouring Morocco. After Colonel Boumédiène's coup d'état in 1965, Boudiaf remained in opposition, as he did under his successor, Colonel Chadli Bendjedid (in power 1979-92). His PRS group remained intermittently active in its opposition towards the government, but for all intents and purposes, Boudiaf had ceased to be a force of any stature in Algerian politics early on after his exile.

Return as head of state

In February 1992, after a 27-year exile in Kenitra, 15 miles north of Morocco's capital Rabat, the military invited him back to become chairman of the High Council of State (HCE) of Algeria, a figurehead body for the military junta, following the annulment of the election results (see Algerian Civil War). He quickly accepted, and was instantly signed into the post. Publicly, he was presented as a leader exiled for too long to be tainted by the violence and corruption of Algeria's internal post-revolutionary politics, but the downside was that he was little known to most of the Algerian public. However, his calls for comprehensive reform and an end to military domination of politics instilled hope, and he quickly gained some popularity, even if many still associated him with the military clique that effectively ruled Algeria in his name.

Even as head of state, Boudiaf was completely dependent on the forces that had brought him to power, and his powers were circumscribed by the military and security establishment. In addition, the country continued to drift towards civil war, with increasing Islamist violence in the regions surrounding Algiers and brutal military countermeasures both escalating the situation. The political scene remained chaotic, the economy was fraying, and Boudiaf seemed unable to effectively carry out the reforms he had promised.

Assassination and legacy
On June 29, 1992, Boudiaf's term as HCE chairman was cut short when he was assassinated by a bodyguard during a televised public speech at the opening of a cultural center in Annaba, on his first visit outside Algiers as head of state. The murder caused intense shock in Algeria, and remains a moment of iconic importance in the country's modern history. Boudiaf himself has gained considerably in political stature after his death, and is now referred to by many political commentators as a martyr for Algeria, with many arguing that he could have been the country's savior.

The assassin, Lieutenant Lambarek Boumaarafi, was said to have acted as a lone gunman due to his Islamist sympathies. He was sentenced to death in a closed trial in 1995, but the sentence was not carried out. The murder has, unsurprisingly, been subject to significant controversy and a major magnet for Algerian conspiracy theories, with many suggesting that Boudiaf was in fact assassinated by the military establishment responsible for the coup (and for his installment as HCE chairman). These theories have centered on the fact that Boudiaf had recently initiated a drive against the corruption of the Algerian regime, and stripped several important military officials of their posts.

Boudiaf was survived by his wife, Fatiha. She remains insistent that his death has not been properly investigated.

National honour

 * National Order of Merit - Athir v.1 (Algeria) - ribbon bar.gif Grand Master of the National Order of Merit

Literature

 * Achour Cheurfi, La classe politique algérienne, de 1900 à nos jours. Dictionnaire biographique (Casbah Editions, 2nd edition, Algiers 2006)

title: Mohamed Boudiaf


text:
User talk:Reiner Martin

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them;

 * How to edit a page
 * How to write a great article
 * Naming conventions
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If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

snoyes 05:10, 24 Nov 2003 (UTC)

The Humungous Image Tagging Project
Hi. You've helped with the WikiProject Wiki Syntax, so I thought it worth alerting you to the latest and greatest of Wikipedia fixing project, User:Yann/Untagged Images, which is seeking to put copyright tags on all of the untagged images. There are probably, oh, thirty thousand or so to do (he said, reaching into the air for a large figure). But hey: they're images ... you'll get to see lots of random pretty pictures. That must be better than looking for at at and the the, non? You know you'll love it. best wishes --Tagishsimon (talk)

ArbCom elections are now open!
Hi, You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:12, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Reiner Martin


text:
User talk:Ashera~enwiki

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them;

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If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

snoyes 05:14, 24 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Ashera. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Ashera~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 22:16, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 10:43, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ashera~enwiki


text:
User:Idiotfromia

es:User:IdiotaDeIowa Idiotfromia

Biography
I am just a teen geek from small town Iowa. My hobbies include web design, programming on my TI-83 Plus, and reading Slashdot.

I also spend time working on my personal website, ChadBrandos.com.

Created Articles

 * Egg slicer
 * Frank Gotch
 * Frosting spatula
 * Hy-Vee Food Stores
 * Hy-Vee Inc.
 * Iowa State Parks
 * Potato masher
 * Whisk

Created Images

 * Image:Wooden rolling pin.jpg
 * Image:Egg Slicer.jpg
 * Image:Frosting spatula.jpg
 * Image:Potato masher.jpg

Major Additions/Changes

 * Humboldt, Iowa - Added History and Famous Citizens Sections

Minor Additions/Changes

 * Dakota City, Iowa - Added Famous Citizens Section and Harry Reasoner
 * Festivus - Grammar + Links
 * List of hospitals in Iowa
 * List of Articles based upon Websites
 * List of supermarkets
 * Rolling pin
 * Seinfeld - Formatting + Links
 * Wrestling - Added Frank Gotch

title: User:Idiotfromia


text:
Talk:Great Zimbabwe

City or village?
Is the term "city" really justified for something this size? Wouldn't "village" be more accurate? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.195.1.165 (talk) 13:06, 13 October 2021 (UTC)

History
Ndebele State 217.15.117.118 (talk) 18:05, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

Lemba
Is it necessary to have the paragraph about the Lemba genetic and cultural origins? It is covered in Lemba people, and this level of detail is not pertinent to discussion of the hypothesis of their involvement in Gt Z. Babakathy (talk) 17:20, 13 December 2023 (UTC)

 * The ancestors of the Lemba are postulated as being the originators of Greater Zimbabwe (a discussion that is repressed in Zimbabwe) so I guess it is pertinent. Although I note there is no note of their semitic DNA which would be especially relevant in that semitic peoples were heavily involved in the trade of ores from the region in History. 2001:8003:70F5:2400:4D5D:CCB:F17F:E633 (talk) 02:51, 13 May 2024 (UTC)

I'm happy not relying on Gayre, but now we have the Lemba claimed sourced only to Bolts and Anderson, both unreferenced. Anderson's main work archived doesn't mention the Lemba at all, saying no black people could be the builders. Babakathy (talk) 09:56, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

 * @Babakathy Sorry. I'm not at all sure this is ok, but see Lemba people. That article has had a lot of pov editing in the past. Doug Weller  talk 10:45, 19 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Indeed, as does this one.
 * What we need in the Lemba section is to be able to summarise research done in the relevant period, as we have on Mauch and Bent and so on.
 * Bolts I can only find the primary reference, Gayre and his derivatives.
 * Bolts, W.B., 1777. “Report sent to Mr Andrew Daniel Pollett (Agent for their Imperial Majestics)”, p. 6; Transvaal Argief A497.
 * Babakathy (talk) 10:52, 19 May 2024 (UTC)
 * As this is a subsection of history of research would it be better to put Bolts in his correct historic epoch, rather than under Lemba? Babakathy (talk) 10:55, 19 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Probably. But we should use nothing to do with Gayre. If we can't find anything better maybe it should be left out. I thought I'd fixed this some time ago, hopefully I didn't make it worse! Doug Weller  talk 13:59, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Great Zimbabwe


text:
Talk:Atlantic horseshoe crab

WikiProject Pharmacology
This arthropod is cited as a homeopathic remedy by Virtual Health Library

title: Talk:Atlantic horseshoe crab


text:
Talk:Limulus Polyphemus

This article should be merged with the Horseshoe crab article. -- Derek Ross

 * Completed RedWolf 04:46, Jan 28, 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Limulus Polyphemus


text:
The Party (1968 film)

The Party is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. The film has a very loose structure, and essentially serves as a series of set pieces for Sellers's improvisational comedy talents. Based on a fish-out-of-water premise, the film is about a bungling actor from India, Hrundi V. Bakshi (portrayed by Sellers), who accidentally gets invited to a lavish Hollywood dinner party and "makes terrible mistakes based upon ignorance of Western ways".

The protagonist Hrundi Bakshi was influenced by two of Sellers' earlier characters: the Indian doctor Ahmed el Kabir in The Millionairess (1960) and Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series. In turn, the character Hrundi Bakshi went on to be influential, inspiring several later popular characters, including Amitabh Bachchan's character Arjun Singh in the 1982 Bollywood blockbuster Namak Halaal, and Hank Azaria's character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.

Plot
A film crew is making a Gunga Din-style costume epic. Unknown Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi plays a bugler, but continues to play after repeatedly being shot and after the director yells "cut." Hrundi then accidentally blows up an enormous fort set rigged with explosives, ruining the film. The director fires Hrundi immediately and calls the studio head, General Fred R. Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck writes down Hrundi's name to blacklist him, but he inadvertently writes it on the guest list of his upcoming dinner party.

Hrundi receives his invitation and drives to the party. Upon parking his car, he steps into mud. Hrundi tries to rinse the mud off his shoe in a pool that flows through the house, but he loses his shoe. After many failures, he is reunited with his shoe served to him on a silver platter by one of the waiters.

Hrundi has awkward interactions with everyone at the party, including Clutterbuck's dog, Cookie. He meets famous Western movie actor "Wyoming Bill" Kelso, who gives Hrundi an autograph. Hrundi later accidentally shoots Kelso with a toy gun, but Kelso doesn't see who did it. Hrundi feeds a caged macaw food from a container marked "Birdie Num Num" and drops the food on the floor. Hrundi at various times during the film activates a panel of electronics that control the intercom, a copy of the Manneken Pis (soaking a guest), and a retractable bar (while Clutterbuck is sitting at it). After Kelso hurts Hrundi's hand while shaking it ("My goodness, I would have been disappointed if you hadn't crushed my hand"), Hrundi sticks his hand into a bowl of crushed ice containing caviar. While waiting to wash his hand, he meets aspiring actress Michèle Monet, who came with producer C.S. Divot. Hrundi shakes Divot's hand, and Divot then shakes hands with other guests, passing around the fishy odor, and back to Hrundi after he has washed his hand.

At dinner, Hrundi's place setting by the kitchen door has a very low chair that puts his chin near the table. An increasingly drunk waiter, Levinson, tries to serve dinner and fights with the other staff. During the main course, Hrundi's roast chicken catapults off his fork and becomes impaled on a guest's tiara. Hrundi asks Levinson to retrieve his meal, but the woman's wig comes off along with her tiara, as she obliviously engages in conversation. Levinson ends up brawling with other waiting staff, and dinner is disrupted.

Hrundi apologizes to his hosts; then needs to go to the bathroom. He wanders through the house, opening doors and barging in on various servants and guests in embarrassing situations. He ends up in the backyard, where he accidentally sets off the irrigation sprinklers. At Divot's insistence, Michèle gives an impromptu guitar performance of "Nothing to Lose" to impress the guests. Hrundi goes upstairs, where he saves Michèle from Divot's unwanted advances by dislodging Divot's toupee. Hrundi finally finds a bathroom, but he breaks the toilet, drops a painting in it, gets toilet paper everywhere, and floods the bathroom. To avoid being discovered Hrundi sneaks onto the roof and falls into the pool. Michèle leaps in to save him, but he's then coerced to drink alcohol to warm up. A Russian dance troupe arrives at the party. Upstairs, Hrundi finds Michèle crying in the next room and consoles her. Divot bursts in and demands Michèle leave with him. Michèle says no, and Divot cancels her screen test the next day. Hrundi persuades her to stay and have a good time with him. They return to the party in borrowed clothes. The party gets wilder, and Hrundi offers to retract the bar to make room for dancing. Instead, he opens a retractable floor with a pool underneath, causing guests to fall in the pool. Levinson makes more floors retract, and more guests fall in. Clutterbuck's daughter arrives with friends and a baby elephant painted with "THE WORLD IS FLAT" on its forehead and hippie slogans over its body. Hrundi takes offense and asks them to wash the elephant. The entire house is soon filled with soap bubbles.

Back at his home, Divot suddenly realizes that Hrundi is the fired actor who blew up the set, and he races back to the party. As the band plays on, Clutterbuck tries to save his suds-covered paintings. The air conditioning blows suds everywhere as the guests dance to psychedelic music, and Clutterbuck's distraught wife falls into the pool three times. Divot pulls up as the police and fire department personnel work to resolve everything. Hrundi apologizes one last time to Clutterbuck as Divot reveals who Hrundi is, but Clutterbuck accidentally chokes the headwaiter instead of Hrundi. Kelso gives Hrundi an autographed photo and Stetson hat as Hrundi and Michèle leave in Hrundi's Morgan three-wheeler car. Outside her apartment, Hrundi and Michèle appear on the verge of admitting that they have fallen for each other. Hrundi gives Michèle the hat as a keepsake, and she says he can come get it any time. Hrundi suggests he could come by next week, and she readily agrees. Hrundi smiles and drives off as his car backfires.

Cast
Cast notes
 * Vin Scully is uncredited and does not appear onscreen, but his voice can be heard announcing a Los Angeles Dodgers game on the kitchen radio.

Production
The Party was the only non-Pink Panther collaboration between Sellers and Edwards. Producer Walter Mirisch knew that Sellers and Edwards were considered liabilities; in his autobiography, Mirisch wrote "Blake had achieved a reputation as a very expensive director, particularly after The Great Race." Sellers had played an Indian man (Dr. Ahmed el Kabir) in his hit film The Millionairess (1960), and another Indian physician in  The Road to Hong Kong (1962). He is mostly remembered as a similar klutz as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series.

The film's interiors were shot on a set, at the MGM lot, though this may be a mistake as IMDb lists the Samuel Goldwyn Studios on Formosa as the correct address, likely as other Mirisch Productions, including West Side Story, were shot there as well. The original script was only 63 pages in length. Edwards later said it was the shortest script he ever shot from, and that the majority of the content in the film was improvised on set.

The film started shooting in May 1967 under the title RSVP, and lasted for 12 weeks over the summer of 1967. Edwards and Sellers had initially attempted to film part of it as a modern silent picture with subtitles, but Sellers soon found a need to speak and develop the character of Hrundi V. Bakshi, a name he came up with on the spot. Several cast and crew members described the production as the most enjoyable of their career, with Denny Miller describing it as "heaven", stating that they knew it was something special when cast and crew not even involved with the shooting of certain scenes would stick around just to watch the filming. Claudine Longet very visibly found it difficult to keep a straight face in many scenes. Steve Franken, who played the drunken butler, thoroughly enjoyed being allowed to improvise, but noted the dangers of the foam in the water and struggled to breathe. The pool scene where his love interest pours a bottle on his face was improvised due to him murmuring to her to clear the foam from his face as he couldn't breathe.

The film draws much inspiration from the works of Jacques Tati; Bakshi arrives at the party in a Morgan three-wheeler which may suggest Monsieur Hulot's car in Monsieur Hulot's Holiday. However, it was not the same car (Salmson AL3). The entire film storyline is reminiscent of the Royal Garden restaurant sequence of Playtime, and the comedic interaction with inanimate objects and gadgets parallels several of Tati's films, especially Mon Oncle.

Soundtrack
The score of The Party was composed by Henry Mancini, including the song "Nothing to Lose," performed onscreen by Claudine Longet. Mancini, commenting on audience reactions, noted, "That's what I get for writing a nice song for a comedy. Nobody's going to hear a note of it." During a scene later in the film, the band can be heard playing "It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio stasera)," a song Mancini composed for the first Pink Panther film. The CD originally was released on August 20, 1995, by BMG Victor.

Track listing

Side 1: Side 2:
 * 1) "The Party" (Vocal) 2:14
 * 2) "Brunette in Yellow" 2:56
 * 3) "Nothing to Lose" (Instrumental) 3:18
 * 4) "Chicken Little Was Right" 2:54
 * 5) "Candleleight on Crystal" 3:05
 * 6) "Birdie Num-Num" 2:21
 * 1) "Nothing to Lose" (Vocal) 2:25
 * 2) "The Happy Pipers" 2:17
 * 3) "Party Poop" 2:34
 * 4) "Elegant" 4:44
 * 5) "Wiggy" 3:02
 * 6) "The Party" (Instrumental) 3:12

Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 23 reviews, with an average score of 6.60/10.

The Party is considered a classic comedic cult film. Edwards' biographers Peter Lehman and William Luhr said, "The Party may very well be one of the most radically experimental films in Hollywood history; in fact it may be the single most radical film since D.W. Griffith's style came to dominate the American cinema." Saul Austerlitz wrote "Despite the offensiveness of Sellers's brownface routine, The Party is one of his very best films...Taking a page from Tati, this is neorealist comedy, purposefully lacking a director's guiding eye: look here, look there. The screen is crammed full of activity, and the audience's eyes are left to wander where they may."

Racial criticism
The Party has been criticized as having perpetuated brown stereotypes and using "brownface" with an exaggerated accent. Shane Danielson described it in The Guardian as "A comic masterpiece - yet hardly the most enlightened depiction of our subcontinental brothers. Still, propelled by Seller's insane brio, this late display of blackface provided some guilty chuckles, and at least one enduring catchphrase (the immortal 'Birdie num-num')." (Edwards has run into similar later criticism for his inclusion of Mickey Rooney's overbroad Japanese caricature in Breakfast at Tiffany's).

However, the film was also hugely popular in India. The late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was a fan and was very fond of repeating Bakshi's line "In India we don't think who we are, we know who we are!", the character's reply to a hostile "Who do you think you are?" The character Hrundi Bakshi also inspired Amitabh Bachchan's character Arjun Singh in the 1982 Bollywood blockbuster Namak Halaal. Additionally, for his film The Alien, Indian director Satyajit Ray was planning on casting Sellers as a Marwari businessman. Ray was a fan of Sellers, and believed he could convincingly portray Indian characters based on his performances in The Party and The Millionairess. Sellers eventually pulled out of the project and the film fell apart.

title: The Party (1968 film)


text:
Talk:Tatar language

Untitled
The following was moved here from the article page: olivier 05:37, Nov 24, 2003 (UTC)

Tatar tele törki telder.

Ul Tatarstan Cömhüriäteneñ räsmi tele, häm dä Seber, China, Türkey, Ukraine häm Central Asia illärendä qullanıla.

Donya yözendä yaqınça 7 million tatarça söyläşüçe bar. İske Kiril älifbasınnan Latínğa qaytu 2011dä betärgä tieş.

Could somebody insert IPA or X-SAMPA for the pronunciation? Using English pronunciation as a reference brings up the problem of differing English dialects. -   — G↭a⇅a | Talk 18:05, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Tatar also has dialects with different pronouncing. --Untifler 21:43, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)

The point is that interpreting a language's pronunciation (dialects aside) is a bit hazy when going through something that is referencing pronunciation to English, when not everyone speaks the same dialect. A transcription system (i.e., IPA, SAMPA) that does not base itself with reference to how English speakers pronounce something will be able to take all dialects of a language in question into account. --Alcarilinque 00:47, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The Tatar language or Tatar language... Huh? Beginning 23:04, Aug 30, 2004 (UTC)

Vowel harmony is not a feature of -all- Ural-Altaic languages, but a vast chunk of them. --Alcarilinque 00:40, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Polish Tatars don't know Tatar language
Main article says: Tatar is spoken in (...) Poland, ... etc

It is not true.

I am "an eyewitness" - I live in Poland, I am Polish with the Tatar background. Lately Association of Tatars of Polish Republic started agenda for teaching its members language of their ancestors however they teach them not ... Tatar (Kazan-Tatar) but Crimean Tatar language (they are so different that mutually unintelligible).

See also: http://www.ethnologue.com/language/tat

Issue of alphabet
The official alphabet of Tatar language in The Republic of Tatarstan, so in the country of most Tatars is a Cyrillic script. Just this script is used in Tatar Wikipedia, also in most papers and books printed in Tatar. But not here in the article on Tatar language. In my opinion it has to be corrected. The script of Tatar words and characters in the article has to be converted from Jaꞑalif to Cyrillic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.71.238.188 (talk) 19:31, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

Ural-Altaic family
I don't think the Ural-Altaic family should be mentioned in the leading section or in the taxobox. As far as I know, the Ural-Altaic theory is pretty much disproven now.--Jyril 18:53, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Help with translation
I'm currently working on a script intended to create short articles on political parties on a variety of wikipedias simultaneously. However, in order for the technique to work I need help with translations to various languages. If you know any of the languages listed at User:Soman/Lang-Help, then please help by filling in the blanks. For example I need help with Tatar. Thanks, --Soman 15:15, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Chuvash
The article contains a statement that Tatar is used as a language of communication between several groups including Chuvash. My understanding is that Chuvash is a West Turkic language while Tatar is in a branch of the East Turkic languages. While there is a lot of mutual intelligibility between East Turkic languages, this is not true of Chuvash and any East Turkic language. Also, the Mordvin and Udmurt languages are Finnic and therefore not mutually intelligible with Tatar.

What evidence is there that Tatar is used by these groups as a lingua franca?

 * No evidence at all, of course, because obviously the lingua franca everywhere within the former SU is Russian. Duh... 64.198.215.3 (talk) 23:01, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

İQTElif
Does anyone know anything about İQTElif?

Please see Talk:İQTElif and Talk:Tatar alphabet.

Thanks. --Amir E. Aharoni 13:32, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

ethnologue
Here's another source about the number of Tatar speakers - http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/ttr.htm (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights). It's written there that there were 7 million Tatar speakers in 1991. So I think that Ethnologue did make a mistake... Alæxis¿question? 17:44, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

İQTElif again
Hi,

The article İQTElif looks like original research by User:Ultranet.

I think that as an article it should be deleted. However, it does seem to include some correct and sourced information about Tatar phonology, which may be useful in other articles. I can't verify it myself, because i don't know Tatar. Any help would be appreciated. --Amir E. Aharoni 06:50, 18 July 2007 (UTC) A few words in tatar are like for example, yaratam means love, and keel means come.Italic text —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.114.90.164 (talk) 21:26, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Religion not relevant in linguistics
The existence of "Allah" in a language has nothing to do with linguistic change. A period of enforced atheism has nothing to do with linguistic change. The only effect that religion has on language is bringing two languages in contact that might not otherwise have been in contact. In the case of a people converting to Islam, for example, it puts their language in contact with Classical Arabic. To the extent that Arabic might (or might not) influence the language, that would be the extent of "religion's" influence on the language--not a direct influence, to be sure. While Soviet presence might put Russian in contact with a language, "atheism" does not have a "liturgical language" associated with it. Therefore, the mention of "atheistic" in this article is totally inappropriate. Russian incursion into Tatar areas was beginning long before the Soviet period, but was accelerated during the 20th century. However, "Soviet" presence is only relevant in a linguistic article to the extent that the Russian language influenced Tatar. The religious comments about "Allah" and "atheistic" (and probably even "Soviet") are inappropriate here. Comments about the influence on the language of Arabic and Russian are appropriate. (Taivo (talk) 11:47, 7 February 2009 (UTC))
 * Atheism is totally irrelevant when discussing linguistic topics. Stop inserting it into the discussion.  (Taivo (talk) 13:33, 7 February 2009 (UTC))
 * Stop adding religious issues back into the article. Religion has NOTHING to do with language change, only language contact.  The keys are contact with Arabic and Persian and then Russian.  The issue of atheism is especially IRRELEVANT.  (Taivo (talk) 11:17, 8 February 2009 (UTC))
 * Religion does not influence language change--Language contact influences language change. Please stop adding "Allah" and "atheistic" back into the article.  While Islam had a part to play in putting Arabic in contact with Tatar, "atheism" has zero to do with putting Russian in contact with Tatar.  Stop adding in this POV detail into the article.  Second, the old version of this article had too many subdivisions at the beginning.  The template box has this information in table form for a quick read, but too many subheadings makes text unreadable.  Compare this with other language articles and you will see what I mean.  If you have issues, then discuss them here.  Right now you are carrying on absolutely zero discussion.  (Taivo (talk) 13:06, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * I keep requesting that you discuss your edits here on the Talk Page. Do not keep adding your religious POV back into the article or formatting the article in ways that are contrary to Wikipedia practices.  This page is here for discussion.  (Taivo (talk) 14:26, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * Edit summaries are NOT discussion. I have reverted your edits for two reaons:  1) There were too many subheadings in the opening paragraph making the text unreadable.  Your population figures, for example, were scattered in two different places in the article--the number of speakers in Russia was halfway down the page while the number of Bashkirs who speak Tatar was in the second subheading.  Subheadings should NOT be used for single sentences.  If a person wants to quickly find population figures, that is what the language template box is for.  2) Religion has absolutely nothing to do with language change beyond the fact that it brings languages in contact.  It is only language contact that promotes language change.  The notion that "atheism" promotes language change is completely ludicrous.  (Taivo (talk) 14:47, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * Once again, edit summaries are not sufficient. Your comment "Mine is better" is not sufficient for Wikipedia purposes of discussion.  I am enumerating the reasons for why I have made the edits I have.  You need to provide the same reasoning why your version is better.  You have done nothing to discuss the issue.  There is obviously a disagreement here.  I have provided you with linguistic reasons why religion is not an appropriate thing to list in a linguistic article other than its purpose in bringing languages in contact, but not in terms of influencing language change.  Atheism is especially irrelevant.  I have also discussed why subheaders should not be overused in an article and especially a subheader over a single sentence.  Please discuss why you think otherwise.  (Taivo (talk) 14:57, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * Edit summaries are no substitute for discussion. Your edit summaries consist only of "My version is better".  That is NOT discussion.  (Taivo (talk) 15:05, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * You have a serious religious POV that needs to be deleted from the article. Religion has ZERO to do with Linguistics other than its effect in putting languages in contact.  It is ONLY the languages in contact that effect change. (Taivo (talk) 15:10, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * I won't quibble anymore over the subheading "Geographic Distribution". It doesn't match what is found in other language articles, however.  But your religious POV must be removed from the article.  It's not "atheism" that reduced the frequency of [h] in Tatar and it wasn't Allah who put it there. (Taivo (talk) 15:32, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * To any third party readers. I have clearly stated my reasons for removing references to "Allah" and "atheism" in the above paragraphs.  The other editor refuses to either read or respond to issues here on the Talk Page.  He uses the revert button and edit comments to "debate", although he has presented no arguments.  I'm at a loss and frustrated that an edit war has ensued.  (Taivo (talk) 18:06, 9 February 2009 (UTC))
 * Anonymous IP, if you want to include the comment about Arabic, Persian, and Russian influence, then we must remove the irrelevant religious references to "allah" and "atheism". Otherwise, we stick with the strictly neutral referenced comment without mentioning Arabic, Persian, and Russian loanwords specifically. (Taivo (talk) 18:53, 9 February 2009 (UTC))

Anon: We require sources. You've been deleting sources. I'm placing the page under protection until you deign to discuss the issue here. kwami (talk) 19:18, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Hello, I was responding to your request for a third opinion. However, the third opinion process needs both parties to be engaged in the discussion. Since 195.210.193.94 isn't discussing his edits here, kawmi's semi-protect will be much more helpful than anything I could do. I'll keep this watched, though, in case things change. AlekseyFy (talk) 23:28, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Official status
From the article: “The Tatar language was made a de facto official language in Russia in 1917 (for the first time since 1552, when the Kazan Khanate was annexed by Russia) [..].” Could anyone provide a source, which says that Tatar had an official status in Kazan Khanate? Otherwise, the sentence in brackets should be removed. — Glebchik (talk) 07:34, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Relation to Chagatai language
Does anybody know anything about the relationship between Tatar language and Chagatai language? They are very similar in Grammar und Phonetics and I know that Chagatai was used by Tatars, so can one say, that the effect on the Tatar language was very big? Einstein92 (talk) 21:06, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

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Talk:Blowing Rock, North Carolina

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Text moved
The following text moved from an article listed on Cleanup in November 2003, then titled Blowing Rock (which is a now disamb, its content having been divided into Blowing Rock, North Carolina and Blowing_Rock_(land_feature).  The italicized passages have been added (generally with rewording) to the articles indicated; those left in normal face may be appropriate in other articles.

''The town of Blowing Rock dates from the last years of the nineteenth century and began as a resort destination. The town's elevation of 3500-3600 feet above sea level provides a cool relief to the summer heat compared with temperatures a relatively few miles away "down the mountain." '' [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.] Population estimates for 2002 are 1550. ''The town has a vibrant economy based in part on tourism. A small, quaint downtown area is characterized by numerous shops of varying types, a pleasant public park, diverse restaurants, [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, in Miscellaneous section, which raises possibility of deletions not recorded here.]  and two churches of archetectural note, St. Mary's of the Hills Episcopal Church and Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church. [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, in history section.] The mountainous terrain provides scenic views with long-range vistas from some locations around town. '' [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, in Miscellaneous section, which raises possibility of deletions that might not get recorded here.]

Two state parks are nearby, Moses Cone State Park and Julian Price State Park. These areas provide camping, canoeing, and hiking opportunities. The Blue Ridge Parkway, famous for its scenic beauty, is located minutes from the town. Shopping ranging from the quirky and unusual to upscale. Outlet-type shopping is also available.

The town's high altitude in the Blue Ridge Mountains results in chilly winters with frequent snowfalls from December through April. [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.] Snow skiing is available nearby. Ice storms are possible in the cooler months. [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.]  The area is famous for the beauty of its autumn leaves. Peak leaf time varies from year to year but generally falls around October 15-22. ''Springtime in Blowing Rock is cool and generally pleasant. Summer temperatures are typically in the 70's with cool nights. Rainfall is moderate. Thunderstorms are occasional and rarely severe. '' [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.]

Coordinates for Blowing Rock are approximately 36º 08' 06" North latitude by 81º 40' 40" West longitude. [Geographic coordinates differ slightly from the US Census values that are used in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. ] Blowing Rock is located approximately 76 air miles northwest of Charlotte, N.C., 232 air miles northeast of Atlanta, and 530 air miles southwest of New York. Terrain is hilly to mountainous. Several mountain peaks exceeding 4500 feet in height are located in the area, and Grandfather Mountain, with an altitude of nearly 6000 feet, is nearby.

''Most essential services are availavble in or near Blowing Rock. The town is located approximately eight miles from Boone, North Carolina, [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.] the county seat of Watauga County and market town for the area. [Foregoing to Boone, North Carolina.]  A hospital, retail mall, and Appalachian State University, a branch of the state university system, are located in Boone.'' [Foregoing to Boone, North Carolina.] Several golf courses operate in the region during the more temperate months. A small general aviation airstrip is located in Boone. [Foregoing to Boone, North Carolina and Watauga County, North Carolina.] Transportation to Blowing Rock is limited to surface travel by automobile. [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.] No commerical airports or passenger train depots are nearby. [Foregoing to Watauga County, North Carolina.] The town is served by U.S. Highways 221 and 321. [Foregoing to Blowing Rock, North Carolina.] Commerical airline passengers typically utilize the airports at Charlotte, N.C. or at Greensboro, N.C. Some passengers use the Raleigh/Durham airport, which may have lower airfares on some routes but is a considerable distance away. [Foregoing to Watauga County, North Carolina.]

Moses Cone Estate
If anyone knows which county the Moses Cone Estate is in, could you please add the appropriate category to Commons:Image:Moses Cone estate.jpg? Thanks. - 00:19, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Done. - Ken Thomas (talk) 02:40, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Watauga County NC —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.82.206.234 (talk) 21:48, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Blowing Rock, North Carolina