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Help talk:Archiving a talk page

Feedback: Archiving in the context of a page that uses level-one headings as dividers
Please see this discussion about a proposal to enable archiving of level-two discussions at a page (like WP:Help desk) that uses level-one headings to group atomic discussions by date. Mathglot (talk) 19:03, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

Unclear whether "lowest number" means 0 or 1
I.e. "where N is the lowest number for which no archive exists." under Manual archiving. Ybllaw (talk) 17:35, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

 * Normally archives will begin at 1, so /Archive 1, /Archive 2, etc. If there's no archives, you'll want to start at 1. Aidan9382 (talk) 18:05, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

When to archive a talk page
So I've recently been having this very strange interaction with, now ending with - it's a talk page that is over 30 KB long and has a thread from 10 years ago, but this user doesn't want to let me enable archiving that. Is this normal? Am I crazy? :D --Joy (talk) 19:39, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

 * Um, no, that's not what's happening. You want to archive all discussions except the most recent.  JayBeeEll wants to archive all discussions except the most recent five (which is the default).  Just leaving one does seem over-aggressive. Dan Bloch (talk) 20:48, 6 June 2024 (UTC)
 * So there's 15 threads there now. Leaving up to 5 will leave discussions from mid-2020 there, which is already 4 years ago. Are these actually relevant? What's the aggressive part? --Joy (talk) 12:22, 7 June 2024 (UTC)
 * 5 is pretty typical, even when there are years-old threads. It lets people easily see if what they came in to discuss has been discussed recently -- whatever that means for that talk page -- and whether new threads even typically receive any responses. I recently came into a talk with a concern about something and saw there'd been a discussion three years earlier, so I knew who to ping. I'll even manually archive newer discussions to prevent the archiving of older ones if the older ones seem more helpful. Valereee (talk) 13:33, 7 June 2024 (UTC)
 * I agree with and .  Archiving has a benefit as the solution of a particular problem (the unnavigability of large talk-pages) but it also has costs (it makes it hard to see past discussions and the conclusions that they reached).  Fast (90 days on lightly-used pages) or aggressive (leaving only 0 or 1 threads) archiving settings increase the costs without providing any extra benefit. --JBL (talk) 18:37, 7 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Guys, I'm sympathetic to these general arguments, but I feel like you didn't actually have a look at the context of this particular Talk:Jon Entine page... even once the bot archives the 10-year-old threads, and even if we let it archive the 4-year-old threads, it's still going to take 7 PageDowns to get to the discussion from March last year. That talk page already provides so much context that it's actually borderline unwelcoming. --Joy (talk) 08:54, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
 * No, I looked at it. I'd say the answer is set up typical archiving (generally I default to 90 days and 5 threads kept), then manually archive any threads you think are not worth keeping. Valereee (talk) 11:38, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

Updates
Based on discussions at Template talk:Archives, I plan to update this page soon. Feel free to join in the conversation there or to offer any feedback on things that should be fixed. Regards, Rjjiii  (talk) 00:40, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

Merging two different archiving styles?
The Amanita Muscaria Talk page has two archive methods—traditional numbered archives, and a CluBot III archive since 2020. Shouldn't these two be merged, and if so, how is this done? — al-Shimoni  (talk) 15:40, 23 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, they should, and I've gone and done this. The page receives far too little traffic for date-based archives (they mostly only contained one section each), so I cut-and-pasted all the text from the newer archives into Talk:Amanita muscaria/Archive 3 (except for the October 2022 archive, which only contained an earlier version of the section in the June 2023 archive). I switched the archiving bot over to Lowercase sigmabot III because that's just easier at this point, but automated archiving probably won't be needed there again for a while yet. I also attended to a broken link anchor notice on that talk page and, as an admin, deleted the useless ClueBot indexing subpages. Graham87 (talk) 03:43, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

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

title: Help talk:Archiving a talk page


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Quickdraw

A quickdraw (also known as an extender) is a piece of climbing equipment used by rock and ice climbers to allow the climbing rope to run freely through protection such as bolt anchors or other traditional gear  while leading.

A quickdraw consists of two carabiners connected by a semi-rigid material (sometimes called the "dogbone"). One carabiner has a straight gate and connects to an anchoring device. The other carabiner is for the climbing rope, and uses a bent gate. Quickdraws are manufactured with either a solid carabiner gate or a wire carabiner gate for its lighter weight.

Use
A quickdraw is a specific type of runner. Runners are used by rock and ice climbers to extend the distance between an anchoring device and the rope.

A quickdraw is differentiated from a simple open loop of webbing with 2 carabiners on it by the following attributes:

 * 1) The material that connects the 2 carabiners is semi-rigid. It is not as flexible as an open loop of webbing. This rigidity facilitates quicker clipping to an anchoring device.
 * 2) The gate (on the carabiner that clips to a rope) is held in a specific orientation that facilitates quicker clipping to a rope.

These two attributes differentiate a quickdraw from other types of runners. These two attributes are what makes this special type of runner "quick" to "draw". If either of these two elements is missing the runner is not a "quickdraw".

The methods by which a quickdraw maintains gate orientation vary. The most popular method involves the use of an elastic polymer band around the outside of the point of connection between the carabiner and the semi-rigid material. The elastic band should only be installed on the rope-end, and not on the anchor end. The elastic band is not a load-bearing element, and the carabiner must pass through the dogbone to hold body weight. Incorrect assembly has led to at least one death.

While historically the orientation of the gates varied, it is now generally recommended that both gates face the same direction, and that the quickdraw is clipped with both gates facing away from the climber's path. This lessens the chances of the carabiner getting "nose-hooked" and breaking, or of either carabiner unclipping, during a fall or due to rope drag.

Permadraw
A permadraw is a quickdraw that is made from steel cable that has steel carabiners and remains permanently attached to the bolts. Developed in places such as Rifle Mountain Park in Colorado as a safer alternative; steel is much harder-wearing than the aluminum used in normal quickdraws. In addition, unlike quickdraws, climbers don't need to retrieve the permadraws at the end of a climb.

Alpine draw
Alpine quick draws feature long slings wrapped or folded multiple times to save space on a climbers harness in place of a dogbone. Alpine draws are often used to extend pieces of protection and reduce rope drag but may also be attached to the harness simply as a convenient way to store slings for other purposes, such as building an anchor or use in natural protection. The softer sling of an alpine draw may be considered superior to the stiffer dogbone of most quick draws as it causes less perturbation of traditional protection and may reduce the chance of the rope unclipping itself from the carabiner.

title: Quickdraw


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Johnny Ball

Johnny Ball (born Graham Thalben Ball; 23 May 1938) is an English television personality and a populariser of mathematics. He is also the father of BBC Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball.

Early life
Ball was born in Bristol and attended Kingswood Primary School on the eastern edge of the city. Later in his childhood the family moved to Bolton, then part of Lancashire, where he attended Bolton County Grammar School. He left formal education with two "O" Levels, one in mathematics and one in geography. He was called up for national service and spent three years in the Royal Air Force. He was posted to Wales as a radar operator and was later sent to Germany to monitor the Hamburg-Berlin air corridor.

Ball began his entertainment career by working as a Butlin's Redcoat, and was an entertainer in northern clubs and cabaret. He was nicknamed Johnny after John Ball, who played for Bolton Wanderers from 1950 to 1958 and the name stuck.

Television and radio career
Ball was a regular fixture on children's television from the mid 1970s and throughout the 1980s, presenting several series of science and technology programmes intended for children (including Think of a Number; Think Again; Think Backwards; Think...This Way and Johnny Ball Reveals All). He was also one of the hosts of pre-school programme Play School beginning in 1967 and continuing throughout the 1970s and beyond. As well as appearing on screen Ball wrote jokes for some shows including Crackerjack. All of these shows (except the ITV programme ...Reveals All) appeared on the BBC. Ball's shows were known for presenting scientific and technological principles in an entertaining and accessible way for young people.

In 2003, Ball appeared on The Terry and Gaby Show in which he answered viewers' questions. In July 2004, he was named in the Radio Times list of the top 40 most eccentric TV presenters of all time. In July 2012, he presented a Horizon special on ageing on BBC Four. He has starred in ITV and Channel 4 television adverts as well as radio adverts for the Yorkshire-based firm Help-Link.

In 2012, Ball took part in the Strictly Come Dancing television show, where he was paired with Aliona Vilani. A training accident in the three-week interval resulted in torn ligaments for Vilani, causing her to retire temporarily from the show. She was replaced by Iveta Lukošiūtė who, with Ball, was eliminated in the first week. Vilani returned in the final group dance alongside Ball. In an interview in October 2017, Ball said that Vilani faked the injury, with Vilani denying the allegation and saying she would take legal advice over Ball's comments. There are no reports that she subsequently took any form of legal action.

Personal life
Ball's daughter Zoe by his first wife, Julia née Anderson, previously presented Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two for BBC TV and currently presents the breakfast show on BBC Radio 2. The couple divorced when Zoe was two. .

Ball lives with his current wife Diane in Buckinghamshire.

Series guide
Think of a Number
 * Pilot: 2 April 1977
 * Series 1: 6 editions – 12 April 1978 – 17 May 1978
 * Series 2: 6 editions – 12 September 1979 – 17 October 1979
 * Series 3: 6 editions – 10 September 1980 – 15 October 1980
 * Series 4: 6 editions – 15 September 1982 – 20 October 1982
 * Series 5: 6 editions – 4 January 1984 – 8 February 1984
 * Series 6: 6 editions – 26 September 1984 – 31 October 1984

Think Again
 * Series 1: 5 editions – 9 January 1981 – 6 February 1981
 * Series 2: 6 editions – 8 January 1982 – 12 February 1982
 * Series 3: 6 editions – 7 January 1983 – 11 February 1983
 * Series 4: 6 editions – 13 September 1983 – 18 October 1983
 * Series 5: 6 editions – 10 September 1985 – 15 October 1985

Think!Backwards
 * Five editions shown over one week – 28 September 1981 – 2 October 1981

''Think! This Way''
 * Five editions shown over one week – 28 March 1983 – 1 April 1983

''Think It ... Do It''
 * Series 1: 6 editions – 11 March 1986 – 15 April 1986
 * Series 2: 6 editions – 27 February 1987 – 3 April 1987

Knowhow
 * Series 1: 6 editions – 8 March 1988 – 12 April 1988
 * Series 2: 6 editions – 25 October 1988 – 29 November 1988
 * Series 3: 6 editions – 2 January 1990 – 6 February 1990 (does not feature in series 3)

Johnny Ball Reveals All
 * Series 1: 7 editions – 14 June 1989 – 26 July 1989
 * Series 2: 6 editions – 3 August 1990 – 7 September 1990
 * Series 3: 7 editions – 18 March 1992 – 29 April 1992
 * Series 4: 7 editions – 5 July 1993 – 16 August 1993
 * Series 5: 5 editions – 8 August 1994 – 1 September 1994

(source: BBC)

Other activities

 * Ball was the Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1993 to 1996.
 * In November 2006, Ball voiced his opposition to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, which would require any adult working with children to be vetted by the Criminal Records Bureau. In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said: "It is like George Orwell's 1984... a quarter of adults will have to be checked... The fear we are instilling in [children] is abhorrent."
 * In 2007 it was reported that Ball rejected the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, stating that "carbon dioxide has been unfairly victimised in the debate." He supports the expansion of nuclear power and has given speeches arguing for its development. On 15 December 2009, he was booed off stage at a London show for his climate change denial.
 * From 2020 to 2021 Ball appeared five times as a speaker on Numberphile, a YouTube channel hosted by Brady Haran. In his episodes he spoke about "Russian multiplication", "The Mesolabe Compass and Square Roots", "Parabolas and Archimedes", "The Volume of a Sphere", and "Area of the Q".

title: Johnny Ball


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Talk:Ryan White

Ryan White's story
This life-story infuriates me! I know that my one voice isn't enough but maybe it'll inspire one of many friend on Facebook. I feel like sending a letter to those idiots at his school too! I'm so mad! But I'm also proud because I never heard him feeling like a victim, that's wisdom for such a young man! Wisdom that a lot of us could use!

I'm Lori Williams willial64@gmail.com

Presbyterian?
There is no evidence that White is a Presbyterian. The sources say that "The massive [Presbyterian] church was chosen [for his funeral] because it could accomodate a large crowd." I am removing the categories per WP:EGRS and WP:CATV. 2600:8800:1880:91E:5604:A6FF:FE38:4B26 (talk) 02:38, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

 * We know that Ryan and his family were Methodists. Their family had been members of a Methodist church in Kokomo, Indiana for three generations. In Weeding Out The Tears Jeanne White Ginder tells a family story about how her parents and grandparents relied upon the church during the Great Depression. It helps account for why she thought the congregation would be supportive and help care for them when Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS. 2001:1970:4F67:B800:C5AC:5C26:6A5D:E868 (talk) 19:45, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
 * In addition, in Weeding Out The Tears Jeanne White thought it was quite sad that Ryan couldn't have had his funeral at his own church. Not that she didn't appreciate the large church in Indianapolis. But he didn't have the funeral with his own congregation. A junior minister Ryan knew at the church did come to proceed over the funeral. Rev. Bud Probasco. Probasco later endorsed Donald Trump in the Republican Presidential primary in Indiana. Bud was impressed that Trump had shown some kindness to the family after Ryan died. 2001:1970:4F67:B800:C5AC:5C26:6A5D:E868 (talk) 19:48, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

Inconsistencies
White was diagnosed on December 17, 1984 with AIDS based on the CDC's surveillance definition then in force. Most critically, the Abbott Labs HIV test was not "approved" by the FDA until either March 2 or March 7 1985 (there is some evidence the FDA did not actually approve the test but HHS Secretary Margaret Heckler just announced it on March 7th as approved for political reasons and later the FDA pretended it had held an approval committee meeting on March 2cd - the reporting on this is by John Crewdson). For the rest of 1985, it was heavily rationed and only used for screening - not diagnostics. In other words there is no way during the School controversy that White could have had an HIV test - he was diagnosed with AIDS because he had PCP pneumonia - The HIV infection was purely presumptive. Even in 1987, over 70% of San Francisco's AIDS cases were diagnosed without an HIV test, and the CDC did not change its surveillance definition until 1987. Nowhere in the court pleadings does White ever claim he had HIV infection - it always says AIDS, and nowhere in Christopher McNeil's reporting for the Kokomo Tribune (300 articles) does he say White had HIV. He always said White had AIDS. Western Virginia Tech university professor Harry Bauer has stated that this diagnosis was incorrect because an AIDS diagnosis based on PCP Pneumonia under the 1984 criteria to have no other explanation - but there was a perfectly logical one: White's hemophilia.

According the McNeil, Jeanne White told the School Board that White "was infected with the AIDS Virus" in February 1984- but the test wasn't available in February 1984. She did this in response to the Schools asking about White's frequent absences - he missed the majority of his 7th grade courses. McNeil claimed he was tipped off about the White family from the Red Cross in early March 1985 when he was reporting on the Abbott Labs test - but what's strange is why would the Red Cross give out this type of personal information and why would McNeil disclose White's status to the public? There was a local television station that later filmed Jeanne White and McNeil embracing in a sexual manner and it caused a scandal. The White family made a-lot of money on the contraversy - the Goodfellows Foundation gave them $100,000, and the P/R savvy of the coverage is fairly self-evident.

In this context, I want to suggest that the P/R strategy was really about special education. There was legal precedent for requiring White to go into special education on account of his hemophelia and frequent absences but by claiming an AIDS diagnosis, White had legal standing to fight the School Corporation. Tellingly, White's death certificate was never released. Also, in regard to White's death, Radio announcements indicated White had been rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding, and later a graduate student of Harry Rubin at UC Berkeley named Brian Ellison called the Indiana Hemophelia Foundation, and was told by somebody with direct knowledge of the case that White died of complications from Hemophilia, not AIDS. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.126.71.24 (talk) 07:05, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
 * You have made a lot of claims here without a shred of evidence. We need reliable sources. Sundayclose (talk) 02:15, 11 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Ryan received a clinical diagnosis of AIDs after suffering from a viral pneumonia. She was not aware that he was HIV positive prior to the diagnosis. The family had some concerns about reports of hemophiliacs having AIDS due to Factor 8 treatments, but never went to be tested. Not long after Ryan was diagnosed many hemophiliacs were given HIV tests. The vast majority of sever hemophiliacs were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. That's hemophiliacs that treated regularly with Factor 8. The hemophilia community told their members to keep treating and withheld information regarding tainted Factor 8 products. They also didn't want hemophiliacs to face the same public backlash as gays had up until that point. There was a common expression of "Hemo Not Homo" 2001:1970:4F67:B800:C5AC:5C26:6A5D:E868 (talk) 19:52, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

Adjustment to Paragraph Placement?
"During the 1980s, AIDS was largely stigmatized as an illness impacting the gay community. In the US, that perception shifted with the media focus placed on White and other prominent straight HIV-infected people such as Magic Johnson, Arthur Ashe and the Ray brothers, although these cases were often framed as "innocent" against gay men who were seen as "guilty" subjects."

This paragraph is placed 2nd in the article about Ryan White. I believe it is important information, yet I am curious why it was placed 2nd? As we read about the life of Ryan White it feel natural to move into the information of his youth and illness which we see in paragraph 3. It did not feel natural to move into a contemplation of HIV/AIDS on the gay community. This is an important topic to address, it may simply fit better at a later point in the article. Avaloowhoo (talk) 23:43, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

 * The portion of a Wikipedia article that comes before the first section header (in this article, the first two paragraphs) is the "lede"/"lead", which is a summary of the entire article. Arguably the main reason the White is notable enough to have a Wikipedia article is because he was one of the first non-homosexual people to become infected with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. The contents of the second paragraph reflect the last portion of the article, especially the section named "Ryan White and public perception of AIDS". Indyguy (talk) 04:38, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Ryan White


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Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill is an Arctic port town in northern Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay, roughly 140 km from the Manitoba–Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" and to the benefit of its burgeoning tourism industry.

Geography
Churchill is located on Hudson Bay, at the mouth of the Churchill River on the 58th parallel north, far above most Canadian populated areas. Churchill is far from any other towns or cities, with Thompson, approximately 400 km to the south, being the closest larger settlement. Manitoba's provincial capital, Winnipeg, is approximately 1000 km south of Churchill. While not part of the city, Eskimo Point and Eskimo Island is located across the river at the former site of the Prince of Wales Fort.

History
Various nomadic Arctic peoples lived and hunted in this region. The Thule people arrived around the year 1000 from the west, the ancestors of the present-day Inuit. The Dene people arrived around the year 500 from farther north. Since before the time of European contact, the region around Churchill has been predominantly inhabited by the Chipewyan and Cree peoples.

Europeans first arrived in the area in 1619 when a Danish expedition led by Jens Munk wintered near where Churchill would later stand. Only 3 of 64 expedition members survived the winter and sailed one of the expedition's two ships, the sloop Lamprey, back to Denmark. Danish archaeologists in 1964 discovered remains of the abandoned ship, the frigate Unicorn, in the tidal flats some kilometres from the mouth of the river. The discoveries were all taken to Denmark; some are on display at the National Museum in Copenhagen.

After an abortive attempt in 1688–89, in 1717, the Hudson's Bay Company built the first permanent settlement, Churchill River Post, a log fort a few kilometres upstream from the mouth of the Churchill River. The trading post and river were named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who was governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in the late 17th century. The fort, Prince of Wales Fort, was rebuilt at the mouth of the river. The fort was primarily built to capitalize on the North American fur trade, out of the reach of York Factory. It dealt mainly with the Chipewyan living north of the boreal forest. Much of the fur came from as far away as Lake Athabasca and the Rocky Mountains. A defensive battery, Cape Merry Battery, was built on the opposite side of the fort to provide protection.

As part of the Anglo-French dispute for North America, in 1731–1741, the original fort was replaced with Prince of Wales Fort, a large stone fort on the western peninsula at the mouth of the river. In 1782, the French Hudson Bay expedition, led by La Pérouse, captured it. Since the British, under Samuel Hearne, were greatly outnumbered and, in any event, were not soldiers, they surrendered without firing a shot. The leaders agreed Hearne would be released and given safe passage to England, along with 31 British civilians, in the sloop Severn, on condition he immediately publish his story A Journey to the Northern Ocean. In return, the British promised the same number of French prisoners would be released, and a British seaman familiar with the waters safely navigated the French away from the Hudson's Bay coastline at a time of year when the French risked becoming trapped in winter ice. The French made an unsuccessful attempt to demolish the fort. The worst effect was on the local indigenous peoples, who had become dependent on trade goods from the fort, and many of them starved. Extensive reconstruction and stabilization of the fort's remains have occurred since the 1950s.

In 1783, Hearne returned to build a new fort a short distance upriver. Due to its distance from areas of heavy competition between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, it remained a stable, if not profitable, source of furs. Between the years of decline in the fur trade and the emergence of Western agricultural success, Churchill phased into and then back out of obsolescence. After decades of frustration over the monopoly and domination of the Canadian Pacific Railway, western Canadian governments banded together. They aggressively negotiated for the creation of a significant new northern shipping harbour on Hudson Bay, linked by rail from Winnipeg. Initially, Port Nelson was selected for this purpose in 1912. After several years of effort and millions of dollars, this project was abandoned, and Churchill was chosen as the alternative after World War One. Surveys by the Canadian Hydrographic Service ship CSS Acadia opened the way for safe navigation. Construction was completed by 1929.

Once this transportation rail link from farms to the Churchill port was completed, commercial shipping took many more years to pick up. In 1932, Grant MacEwan was the first person to cross through Churchill customs as a passenger. This was purely due to his determination to take the Hudson Bay route to Saskatchewan from Britain—most passengers returned via the St. Lawrence River.

In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces established a base called Fort Churchill, 8 km east of the town. After World War II, the base served several other purposes, including being a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and a Strategic Air Command facility. Following the demolition of the base it was repurposed into the town's airport.

Naval Radio Station Churchill, call sign CFL, was activated as an ionospheric study station by the Royal Canadian Navy in support of the U-boat high-frequency direction finding (HFDF) net and became operational on 1 August 1943. Around 1949, Churchill became part of the Canadian SUPRAD (signals intelligence) network and remained in that role until it closed its doors in 1968. The Operations and Accommodations building remains today but is abandoned.

This area was also the site of the Churchill Rocket Research Range, part of Canadian-American atmospheric research. Its first rocket was launched in 1956, and it continued to host launches for research until closing in 1984. The site of the former rocket range now hosts the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a facility for multidisciplinary Arctic research.

In the 1950s, the British government considered establishing a site near Churchill for testing their early nuclear weapons before choosing Australia instead.

Environment
Churchill is situated at the estuary of the Churchill River at Hudson Bay. The small community stands at an ecotone, on the Hudson Plains at the juncture of three ecoregions: the boreal forest to the south, the Arctic tundra to the northwest, and the Hudson Bay to the north. Wapusk National Park, located at 57.77389°N, -93.37139°W, is to the southeast of the town.

The landscape around Churchill is influenced by shallow soils caused by a combination of subsurface permafrost and Canadian Shield rock formation. The black spruce dominant tree cover is sparse and stunted by these environmental constraints. There is also a noticeable ice pruning effect on the trees. The area also offers sport fishing. Several tour operators offer expeditions on land, sea and air, using all-terrain vehicles, tundra buggies, boats, canoes, helicopters, and ultralight aircraft.

Aurora borealis
Like all northern communities in Canada, Churchill can sometimes see the aurora borealis (Northern Lights) when there is a high amount of solar activity and the skies are clear, usually in February and March. Visibility also depends on the sky being dark enough to see them, which usually precludes their visibility in the summer due to nautical twilight all night long.

Climate
Churchill has a very harsh subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfc) with long, frigid winters (from early October to May) and short, cool to mild summers. Churchill's winters are much colder than a coastal location at a latitude of 58 degrees north should warrant. The shallow Hudson Bay freezes over in the winter, eliminating maritime transit. Prevailing northerly winds from the North Pole jet across the frozen bay, leading to a January average temperature of -26.0 C, comparable to the frigid cold in the Siberian Arctic city of Norilsk, which is at a much higher latitude of 69 degrees north. Juneau, Alaska, by contrast, is also at a latitude of 58 degrees north but is moderated by the warmer and much deeper Pacific Ocean. Juneau's −3.5 C January average temperature is a full 22.5 C-change warmer than Churchill's.

Economy
Tourism and ecotourism are significant contributors to the local economy, with the polar bear season (October and November) being the largest. Tourists also visit to watch beluga whales in the Churchill River in June and July. The area is also popular for birdwatchers and to view the aurora borealis.

The Port of Churchill is the terminus for the Hudson Bay Railway operated by the Arctic Gateway Group. The port facilities handle shipments of grain and other commodities around the world. The Churchill Northern Studies Centre also attracts visitors and academics from around the world who are interested in sub-Arctic and Arctic research. The town also has a health centre, several hotels, tour operators, and restaurants; it serves locals and visitors.

Ecotourism

Churchill is situated along Manitoba's 1400 km coastline, on Hudson Bay at the meeting of three major biomes: marine, boreal forest and tundra,   each supporting a variety of flora and fauna. Each year, 10,000–12,000 eco-tourists visit, about 400–500 of whom are birders.

Polar bears
Polar bears were once considered solitary animals that would avoid contact with other bears except for mating. In the Churchill region, however, many alliances between bears are made in the fall. These friendships last only until the ice forms. Then, it is every bear for itself to hunt ringed seals. Starting in the 1980s, the town developed a sizable tourism industry focused on the migration habits of the polar bear. Tourists can safely view polar bears from specially modified vehicles built to navigate the tundra terrain. Utilizing a set of trails created by the Canadian and US military, responsible tour operators are granted permits to access these trails for wildlife viewing. Staying on these established trails ensures that the tundra ecosystem is maintained. October and early November are the most feasible times to see polar bears, thousands of which wait on the vast peninsula until the water freezes on Hudson Bay so they can return to hunt their primary food source, ringed seals. There are also opportunities to see polar bears in the non-winter months, with tours via boat visiting the coastal areas where polar bears can be found on land and swimming in the sea.

Many locals even leave their cars unlocked in case someone needs to quickly escape the polar bears in the area. Local authorities maintain a so-called "polar bear jail" where bears (primarily adolescents) who persistently loiter in or close to town, are held after being tranquillised, pending release back into the wild when the bay freezes over. It is the subject of a poem, Churchill Bear Jail, written by Salish Chief Victor A. Charlo.

Beluga whales
Thousands of beluga whales, which move into the warmer waters of the Churchill River estuary during July and August to calf, are a significant summer attraction. Polar bears are present as well and can sometimes be seen from boat tours at this time of year.

Birds
Churchill is also a destination for birdwatching from late May until August; normally, 175 species are found there. Birders have recorded more than 270 species within a 25 mi radius of Churchill, including snowy owl, tundra swan, American golden plover and gyrfalcon. More than 100 birds, including parasitic jaeger, Smith's longspur, stilt sandpiper, and Harris's sparrow nest there. Other birds that are seen around Churchill, but less often, include the northern hawk-owl, three-toed woodpecker and the Ross's gull.

Health care
The town has a modern health centre, operated by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, which employs about 129 people, including six doctors and eighteen nurses. It provides 21 acute care beds, dental care and diagnostic laboratories to service the residents of Churchill and the regions of Nunavut.

Churchill Northern Studies Centre
The Churchill Northern Studies Centre is a non-profit research and education facility 23 km east of the town of Churchill. It provides accommodations, meals, equipment rentals, and logistical support to scientific researchers who work on a diverse range of topics of interest to northern science.

Churchill Marine Observatory
The Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO), operated by the University of Manitoba, was constructed with federal funds beginning in 2015. The observatory became operational in December 2021. It facilitates studies to address technological, scientific and economic issues pertaining to Arctic oil spills, gas exploration, and other contaminants. The facility is located in the Churchill River estuary, and consists of two saltwater sub-pools designed to simultaneously accommodate contaminated and control experiments on various scenarios of the behaviour of oil spills in sea ice. The concrete pools are equipped with a movable fabric roof to control snow cover and ice growth, and various sensors and instruments to allow real-time monitoring. The project is estimated to cost about $32 million.

Transportation

Churchill Airport, formerly a United States and Canadian military base, is serviced by Calm Air operating scheduled flights connecting Churchill to Winnipeg.

The privately owned Port of Churchill is Canada's principal seaport on the Arctic Ocean. The port was originally constructed by the government in the 1930s, although the idea of building such an Arctic deep-water port originated in the 19th century. It is the only Arctic Ocean seaport connected to the North American railway grid. The port is capable of servicing Panamax vessels. The presence of ice on Hudson Bay restricts navigation from mid-autumn to mid-summer. Churchill experiences the highest tides in Hudson Bay. The Churchill estuary has a narrow entrance, and ships planning to moor at the port have to execute a relatively tight 100-degree turn. Maritime transportation companies, Nunavut Sealink and Supply (NSSI) as Groupe Desgagnés, and Nunavut Eastern Arctic Sealink (NEAS) both have bases in Churchill and provide sealift to Nunavik and all Nunavut communities. The port was used for the export of Canadian grain to European markets, with rail-sea connections made at Churchill.

There are no roads from Churchill that connect to the Canadian highway network. The only overland route connecting Churchill to the rest of Canada is the Hudson Bay Railway, formerly part of the Canadian National Railway (CN) network, which connects the Port of Churchill and the town's railway station to CN's rail line at The Pas. The Winnipeg–Churchill train, operated by Via Rail, provides passenger service between Churchill station in downtown Churchill and Union Station in downtown Winnipeg twice per week and from The Pas once per week. The 1700 km journey from Winnipeg takes approximately 40 hours, and services many smaller communities in northern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan.

In 1997, the railway line and port were sold by the Canadian government to the American railway-holding company OmniTRAX. The government of Manitoba proposed in 2010 that the Port of Churchill could serve as an "Arctic gateway," accepting container ships from Asia whose containers would then be transported south by rail to major destinations in North America. Churchill has been used to transship grain since 1929. In October 2012, the Financial Post reported that due to delays in the approval of several new pipelines from Alberta's oil fields, oil industry planners were considering shipping oil by rail to Churchill, for loading on panamax oil tankers. Under this plan icebreakers would extend the shipping season. In July 2016, OmniTRAX announced the closure of the Port of Churchill and the end of daily rail freight service to the port. Weekly freight service to the town remained until May 2017, when floods washed out the track.

In 2018, the Port of Churchill, the Hudson Bay Railway, and the Churchill Marine Tank Farm were purchased by Arctic Gateway Group, a public-private partnership that includes Missinippi Rail LP (a consortium of First Nations and local governments), Fairfax Financial and AGT Food and Ingredients. The group engaged Cando Rail Services and Paradox Access Solutions to repair the flood damage. On 1 November 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Churchill residents to celebrate the resumption of rail freight service to the town. Regular freight shipments resumed in late November and passenger service in early December 2018.

Demographics
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Churchill had a population of 870 living in 389 of its 540 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 899. With a land area of 50.83 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

As of the 2021 Canada Census, just over 56 percent of the population is Indigenous, and the rest (43 percent) are non-native. Of the Indigenous population, there were 345 First Nations (69 percent), 80 Métis (16 percent), 25 Inuit (5 percent) and 35 people (7 percent) had multiple Indigenous ancestry.

The non-native population is mainly of European descent, although a small number of Black Canadians (2.3%) and Latin Americans (1%) also reside in Churchill.

English is the most commonly spoken language, followed by Cree, Inuktitut, French and Dene.

Attractions
The town has a modern multiplex centre housing a cinema, cafeteria, public library, hospital, health centre, daycare, swimming pool, ice hockey rink, indoor playground, gym, curling rinks and basketball courts. Nearby is the Itsanitaq Museum, operated by the Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson, with over 850 high quality Inuit carvings on permanent display. The exhibits include historical and contemporary sculptures of stone, bone, and ivory, as well as archaeological and wildlife specimens. The Parks Canada visitor centre also has artifacts on display and makes use of audiovisual presentations of various topics involving the region's natural and archaeological history.

By the late 1980s, both the local government and Parks Canada had successfully educated its population on polar bear safety, significantly reducing lethal confrontations and fuelling ecotourism such that both the community and the polar bears benefited.

Radio

 * CHFC 1230 AM – CBC Radio One and the station repeats CBWK-FM from Thompson. CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge got his start here.
 * VF2312 96.9 FM – Native Communications

Newspapers
Churchill has a newspaper called The Hudson Bay Post. It is a monthly newspaper "published occasionally," according to the front page.

In the late 1950s, the first local paper, the weekly Churchill Observer was produced by an avocational journalist, Jack Rogers, at Defence Research Northern Laboratories (DRNL) and continued for some years even after his departure. Later another small paper, the Taiga Times was published for a few years.

Notable people

 * Susan Aglukark, singer
 * Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse
 * Samuel Hearne, explorer
 * Joseph Lofthouse, an Anglican bishop
 * Peter Mansbridge, Canadian broadcaster and news anchor
 * Jens Munk, Danish explorer
 * Doreen Patterson Reitsma, served a term at the Naval Radio Station
 * Doreen Redhead, Manitoba Provincial Court Judge
 * David Thompson, explorer
 * Jordin Tootoo, NHL player

title: Churchill, Manitoba


text:
Roe Messner

Ronald Roe Messner (born August 1, 1935) is an American building contractor who has built more than 1,700 churches, including several megachurches.

Having divorced his first wife, he married televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in 1993 after her divorce from husband and PTL Club founder Jim Bakker.

Early life
Messner grew up in Waldron, Kansas, on the Kansas-Oklahoma border. He founded Messner Construction in Andover, Kansas, and began building churches.

Heritage USA
Roe Messner gained fame with the construction of Heritage USA in 1978 at the behest of Jim Bakker. In 1987, he and his first wife, Ruth Ann, wrote a book titled Building for the Master. He was reportedly the person who produced the money for the $265,000 payment to Jessica Hahn to cover up a sexual assault. Messner later billed PTL for work never completed on the Jerusalem Amphitheater at Heritage USA, thus playing a behind-the-scenes role in the downfall of the PTL Club. Revelations of the payoff invited scrutiny of Bakker's finances, prompting him to be charged with fraud. In Bakker's fraud trial, Messner testified for Bakker's defense, asserting that Jerry Falwell had attempted to take over PTL and its associated cable television network by dispatching Messner to the Bakker home in Palm Springs, California to make an offer to "keep quiet".

According to Messner's testimony, Tammy wrote the offer on her stationery, listing a $300,000-a-year lifetime salary for Jim, $100,000 a year for Tammy, a house, and a year's worth of free phone calls and health insurance. However, Messner said Bakker wrote on it: "I'm not making any demands on PTL. I'm not asking for anything." Falwell denied making any offer. In the messy bankruptcy of PTL, Messner was listed as the single biggest creditor of PTL with an outstanding claim of $14 million. In court papers, the new operators accused Messner of $5.3 million in inflated or phony billings to PTL.

Marriage to Tammy Faye
Messner divorced his first wife in 1993. At about the same time, Tammy Faye divorced Bakker. Messner and Tammy Faye were married in and lived in Rancho Mirage, California.

In 1996, Roe was convicted of bankruptcy fraud, having claimed to owe nearly $30 million to over 300 creditors in 1990. As he faced sentencing in 1996, he said he could not afford to treat his prostate cancer because he lacked health insurance. He was sentenced to and served 27 months in prison.

Messner published Church Growth by Design, another book on church building, in 2003.

Tammy Faye Messner's death
Messner and Tammy Faye moved to the gated community of Loch Lloyd, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City, in 2007. Tammy Faye died from cancer on July 20 that year; her last public appearance was a taped interview on CNN from their home the day before. Her ashes were interred in the Messner family plot in Waldron, immediately next to Messner's mother.

Roe Messner himself is known to have received a diagnosis of prostate cancer in the past, though he told Larry King that his doctors had told him that he would not die from the disease.

Notable churches
Messner is reported to have been the biggest church builder in the United States. On August 7, 2007, he told Larry King that he had built 1,784 churches in 47 states. Messner supervised construction of the churches but was not the architect. He has designed and/or built over 1,800 churches in all 50 states.
 * Calvary Temple (1958) - Denver, Colorado
 * Pleasant Valley Methodist (1960) - Wichita, Kansas
 * Oak Cliff Assembly of God (1963) - Dallas, Texas
 * Evangelical United Brethren (1967) - Marion, Kansas
 * World Harvest Church (1983) - Columbus, Ohio
 * Dream City Church (1984) - Phoenix, Arizona
 * Rockford First Assembly of God (1984) - Rockford, Illinois
 * Capitol Christian Center (1984) - Sacramento, California
 * Hillside Christian Center (1986) - Napa, California
 * Carpenter's Home Church (1986) - Lakeland, Florida
 * Church on the Rock (1986) - Rockwall, Texas
 * Bethel Church - Los Angeles, California
 * Calvary Church (Charlotte) (1988) - Charlotte, North Carolina
 * Bellevue Baptist Church (1989) - Memphis, Tennessee
 * Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (1989) - Decatur, Georgia
 * The Gate Church (1990) - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 * Deliverance Church (1990) - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * Central Community Church (1990) - Wichita, Kansas
 * Point Harbor Community Church (2003) - Chesapeake, Virginia
 * Redemption (2003) - Greenville, South Carolina

title: Roe Messner


text:
Talk:Hawker Siddeley Hawk

Regrettably 'free for non-commercial' is not enough permission for Wikipedia, so the image has to go. DJ Clayworth 21:18, 10 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * That's fine for the online Wikipedia. As long as it says clearly what the rights are, so derivative users know about it. Not ideal - but not a copyvio either.JamesDay 08:51, 12 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hawker Siddeley Hawk


text:
Adenovirus serotype 36

Human adenovirus 36 (HAdV-36) or Ad-36 or Adv36 is one of 52 types of adenoviruses known to infect humans. AD-36, first isolated in 1978 from the feces of a girl suffering from diabetes and enteritis, has long been recognized as a cause of respiratory and eye infections in humans. It was first shown to be associated with obesity in chickens by Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar.

AD-36 infection can induce cellular differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and stem cells derived from human adipose tissue.

Role in obesity
There has been a positive correlation between body fat and the presence of AD-36 antibodies in the blood. Previous research showed that chickens or mice injected with similar types of viruses show a statistically significant weight gain.

To date, AD-36 is the only human adenovirus that has been linked with human obesity, present in 30% of obese humans and 11% of nonobese humans. In addition, a study of obese Americans indicates that about 30% of the obese individuals and only 5% of non-obese individuals have antibodies to Ad-36. Another study determined that children with the virus averaged 52 pounds heavier than those with no signs of it and obese children with the virus averaged 35 pounds heavier than obese children with no trace of the virus. AD-36 also causes obesity in chickens, mice, rats, and monkeys.

Public awareness
On March 18, 2006, the research of Richard Atkinson (University of Wisconsin) was posted on some websites. In those studies, blood tests conducted on over 2000 Australians showed that more than 20% of the study participants had contracted Ad-36 viral infection.

On January 26, 2009, many popular internet news portals ran reports of the pending release of scientific research by Professor Nikhil Dhurandhar (Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana) implicating AD-36 as a potential cause for Britain's relatively high rate of adult obesity.

title: Adenovirus serotype 36


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James Loy

James Milton Loy (born August 10, 1942) is a retired admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the acting U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security in 2005 and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) from November 4, 2003, to March 1, 2005. Prior to his appointment as deputy secretary, he served as the second administrator of the Transportation Security Administration from 2002 to 2003, and before that as the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1998 to 2002. Also in 2004, Loy was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Early life and education
Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Loy earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America as a youth and was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award as an adult. Loy entered the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1960. Subsequently, he earned master's degrees in history and government from Wesleyan University, and in Public Administration from University of Rhode Island.

Career

Loy served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, served in combat as commanding officer of patrol boat USCGC Point Lomas during the Vietnam War, and eventually rose to the rank of admiral. In May 1998, Loy became the twenty first Commandant of the Coast Guard, serving in that post until 2002.

As the USCG Commandant, Loy reacted to the September 11 attacks of 2001. In the short term, he supervised the resumption of sea-borne trade throughout the U.S., after the USCG had shut down most major ports after the attacks. In the long term, Loy led the U.S. delegation to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and was instrumental in ensuring that the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code was approved and implemented in 2002. The code came into effect in 2004. In May 2002, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Norman Mineta, appointed Loy to become the Deputy Undersecretary for the newly formed Transportation Security Administration. Loy led the agency through its creation and subsequent incorporation into the Department of Homeland Security.

On October 23, 2003, Loy was nominated as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security by U.S. President George W. Bush, and sworn in on November 4, 2003. Following the departure of Tom Ridge, Loy filled in as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security from February 1, 2005, until February 15, 2005, when Michael Chertoff was confirmed and sworn into office. Joining the exodus of leadership, Loy resigned as Deputy Secretary, effective March 1, 2005.

On April 7, 2005, the Cohen Group announced that Loy had joined the firm as a Senior Counselor, effective April 18. On August 5, 2005, Loy joined the Board of Directors for Lockheed Martin.

In the fall of 2006 it was announced that Loy was being honored as the first Chair of the Tyler Institute for Leadership at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. As such Loy has played a significant role in speaking and drawing other distinguished visitors to the Academy. His first class was designed to teach a select group of cadets about the international shipping industry and how it might be secured.

In March 2007, The Washington Post had a feature on Loy and his relation to the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater contract, which was awarded to Lockheed Martin in summer of 2002. When asked by the Washington Post if he ever faced improper influence on Deepwater decisions while serving as the USCG Commandant, Loy said: "The question is almost insulting. I will pass on giving you any kind of answer."

Awards and decorations

 * DESA_ribbon.png Admiral Loy is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

Post career activities
In 2020, Loy, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."

In July 2022, Loy joined with other former U.S. military leaders in condemning former president and commander in chief, Donald Trump. "While rioters tried to thwart the peaceful transfer of power and ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the president and commander in chief, Donald Trump, abdicated his duty to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

title: James Loy


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User:Wikipedia.contributor

Welcome!

In case you want to contact me on the (few, and very minor) contributions I made to Wikipedia, please use the talk page: Although I re-enabled my E-Mail address again, I prefer the talk page for the time being, hoping that the E-Mailing system gets updated in a way that allows communication via Wikipedia without actual E-Mail addresses being disclosed. I already filed a feature request on this subject.

title: User:Wikipedia.contributor


text:
Talk:Radclyffe Hall

Contradiction with "Girls of Radcliff Hall" entry
Here it says "Girls" is included in Lord Berners' Collected tales, on the novel's entry it says it's not included. Can anyone verify? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.180.186.244 (talk) 18:26, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

Incorrect reference re: EM Forster?
From the article: "It sold very well, was critically acclaimed, and won both the Prix Femina and the James Tait Black Prize, a feat previously achieved only by E. M. Forster's A Passage to India.[12]"

Checking the entry for the Prix Femina, I found no mention of Forster.
 * It was actually the Femina -- Vie Heureuse Prize, which despite its name was the British version of the Prix Femina, awarded annually from 1920 to 1940. Khamba Tendal (talk) 12:27, 15 August 2020 (UTC)

External links modified
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A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 19:08, 12 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Author Radclyffe Hall, right, and Lady Una Troubridge with their dachshunds at Crufts dog show, February 1923.jpg

title: Talk:Radclyffe Hall


text:
Flail (weapon)

A flail is a weapon consisting of a striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain. The chief tactical virtue of the flail was its capacity to strike around a defender's shield or parry. Its chief liability was a lack of precision and the difficulty of using it in close combat, or closely-ranked formations.

There are two broad types of flail: a long, two-handed infantry weapon with a cylindrical head, and a shorter weapon with a round metal striking head. The longer cylindrical-headed flail is a hand weapon derived from the agricultural tool of the same name, commonly used in threshing. It was primarily considered a peasant's weapon, and while not common, they were deployed in Germany and Central Europe in the later Late Middle Ages. The smaller, more spherical-headed flail appears to be even less common; it appears occasionally in artwork from the 15th century onward, but many historians have expressed doubts that it ever saw use as an actual military weapon.

The peasant flail
In the Late Middle Ages, a particular type of flail appears in several works being used as a weapon, which consists of a very long shaft with a hinged, roughly cylindrical striking end. In most cases, these are two-handed agricultural flails, which were sometimes employed as an improvised weapon by peasant armies conscripted into military service or engaged in popular uprisings. For example, in the 1420–1497 period, the Hussites fielded large numbers of peasant foot soldiers armed with this type of flail.

Some of these weapons featured anti personnel studs or spikes embedded in the striking end, or are shown being used by armored knights, suggesting they were made or at least modified specifically to be used as weapons. Such modified flails were used in the German Peasants' War in the early 16th century. Several German martial arts manuals or Fechtbücher from the 15th, 16th and 17th century feature illustrations and lessons on how to use the peasant flail (with or without spikes) or how to defend against it when attacked.

The military flail

The other type of European flail is a shorter weapon consisting of a wooden haft connected by a chain, rope, or leather to one or more striking ends. The kisten, with a non-spiked head and a leather connection to the haft, is attested in the 10th century in the territories of the Rus', probably being adopted from either the Avars or Khazars. This weapon spread into central and eastern Europe in the 11th–13th centuries. The medieval military flail (fléau d'armes in French and Kriegsflegel in German), then, might typically have consisted of a wooden shaft joined by a length of chain to one or more iron-shod wooden bars, or it may have been a Kettenmorgenstern ("chain morning star") with one or more metal balls or morning star in the place of the wooden bars. Artwork from the 15th century to the early 17th century shows most of these weapons having handles longer than 3 ft and being wielded with two hands, but a few are shown used in a single hand or with a haft too short to be used two-handed.

Despite being very common in fictional works such as cartoons, films and role-playing games as a "quintessential medieval weapon", historical information about flails other than the kisten or derivatives of the peasant flail is somewhat scarce. Some doubt they were used as weapons at all due to the scarcity of genuine specimens as well as the unrealistic way they are depicted in art, as well as the number of pieces in museums that turned out to be 19th century forgeries when analyzed. Waldman (2005) documented several likely authentic examples of the ball-and-chain flail from private collections as well as several restored illustrations from German, French, and Czech sources. Nonetheless, he states that the scarcity of artifacts and artistic depictions, combined with the almost complete lack of text references, suggests they were relatively rare weapons and never saw widespread use. One of the reasons was the hazard the weapon posed to its wielder, especially the varieties with long chains and short handles. A missed swing would still retain momentum, and, even if a blow were struck, there may have been a long time before the user could ready another swing.

Variations outside Europe
In Asia, short flails originally employed in threshing rice were adapted into weapons such as the nunchaku or three-section staff. In China, a very similar weapon to the long-handled peasant flail is known as the two-section staff, and Korea has a weapon called a pyeongon. In Japan, there is also a version of the smaller ball-on-a-chain flail called a chigiriki.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the long-handled flail is found in use in India. An example held in the Pitt Rivers Museum has a wooden ball-shaped head studded with iron spikes. Another in the Royal Armouries collection has two spiked iron balls attached by separate chains.

The knout, a whip or scourge formerly used in Russia for the punishment of criminals, was the descendant of the flail. It was manufactured in many forms, and its effect was so severe that few of those who were subjected to its full force survived the punishment. The Emperor Nicholas I substituted a milder whip for the knout.

title: Flail (weapon)