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CompUSA

CompUSA, Inc., was a retailer and reseller of personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, by the 1990s CompUSA had grown into a nationwide big box chain. At its peak, it operated at least 229 locations. Crushed by competition from other brick-and-mortar retailers, corporate oversight which was out of touch with evolving market realities, and a failure to make a strong transition to online sales, CompUSA began closing what they classified as "low performing" locations in 2006. By 2008 only 16 locations were left to be sold to Systemax. In 2012, remaining CompUSA and Circuit City stores were converted to TigerDirect stores, and later closed. As of 2023, the CompUSA online website redirects to an error page hosted on Wix.com.

History

Founded in 1984 as Soft Warehouse in Addison, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas, Texas, by Errol Jacobson and Mike Henochowicz, the company began national expansion in 1988 with its first megastore opening in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1991, the company's name was changed to CompUSA, and the company became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. While under Nathan P. Morton's leadership, CompUSA grew to over $2 billion in revenues. Morton resigned in 1993.

Formerly headquartered in Miami, Florida, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Commercial Corp S.A.B. de C.V. associated with Grupo Carso and indirectly controlled by a common shareholder, Carlos Slim.

On December 7, 2007, an affiliate of the restructuring and disposition firm Gordon Brothers Group, Specialty Equity, bought the company. Systemax purchased the CompUSA name, 16 retail locations and other company assets in January 2008.

Systemax operated CompUSA retail stores in California, Florida, Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Illinois, Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Puerto Rico, as well as CompUSA.com, a retail website and a dedicated catalog site for businesses.

On November 2, 2012, Systemax announced that it would drop both the CompUSA and Circuit City storefront names, consolidating their businesses under the name, TigerDirect. On December 4, 2013, CompUSA intellectual properties were sold to JASALI 645 Realty LLC. On October 25, 2018, the intellectual properties of CompUSA were leased to DealCentral, and has announced to relaunch CompUSA.com in that same day.

Timeline

 * 1986 – Under the original name Soft Warehouse, the first of their super stores opens on Marsh Lane and Belt Line Road in Addison, Texas
 * 1988 – Opened their second store in Atlanta, Georgia
 * 1990 – Long running radio ad campaign featuring character "P.C. Modem" (played by actor Jack Riley) begins.
 * 1993 – Began offering technical services at customer locations.
 * 1996 – Launched retail sales on CompUSA.com.
 * 1997 – Partners with Apple Computer in a "store within a store" concept for selling Macintosh computers. By January 19, 1998, 57 stores had been built with the remainder to be built by February 1998.
 * 1998 – Acquired Tandy's Computer City subsidiary with the help of former CEO Nathan P. Morton.
 * 1998 – In May, the company invested in facilities, technology, and expertise to form CompUSA Call Center Services, a division that provided contact center services to OEMs, corporate help desks, software publishers, and cellular service providers.
 * 2000 – Became privately held company under Grupo Sanborns, a Mexican retail company as they purchased 85 percent of the company.
 * 2001 – In July, CompUSA Call Center Services became The Telvista Company.
 * 2003 – Acquired Good Guys.
 * 2005 – Converted three CompUSA stores and 13 Good Guys stores into megastores. Closed all 46 Good Guys locations. Began marketing in California and Hawaii as "CompUSA with Good Guys Inside" in response to Best Buy's marketing campaign "with Magnolia Inside".
 * 2005 – CompUSA started a customer loyalty program called The CompUSA Network. For every dollar spent at any CompUSA store, the customer received 13 points.
 * 2006 – Sales of the CompUSA Network membership cards were suspended pending further investigation onto the operation's effect on customer retention and "program awareness among low-visit customers."
 * 2006 – CompUSA announced the end of the Network Reward program. All customers were issued coupons for the remaining reward value. They were also offered a refund of the original purchase price in the original form of payment, surrendering remaining points.
 * 2006 – Announced the closing of 15 stores across the United States including several locations in California. These stores were being used to liquidate discontinued items from other stores across the nation until the end of October. Roman Ross, a former Philip Morris executive, replaced Tony Weiss as president and CEO after only four months in office. In November, CompUSA launched their new "Home Entertainment" rollout in 40 of its stores, including Puerto Rico, that sold a variety of high definition televisions and home theater equipment. Ross claimed that home entertainment was one of his chief focuses as the new CEO. In September, it was reported that CompUSA's Mexican parent, Grupo Carso, was interested in putting CompUSA up for sale.
 * 2007 – The company announced the closing and liquidation of 126 stores due to the "need to close and sell stores with low performance or non strategic, old store layouts and locations faced with market saturation," according to CEO Roman Ross. The realignment included a $440 million cash infusion, store closures, major expense reductions, and a corporate restructuring.
 * 2007 – On May 14, CompUSA finalizes the first round of store closures as liquidation sales end.

 * 2007 – On December 7, CompUSA was acquired by Specialty Equity, an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group, as discussions led to the agreement on store sales and closeouts for the remaining 103 stores.
 * 2008 – On January 6, Systemax Inc. announced an agreement on the acquisition of the CompUSA brand, trademarks, e-commerce business, and as many as 16 CompUSA retail outlets in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
 * 2008 – On March 2, CompUSA finalizes the round of store closures that started on Dec 7. AT&T Consumer Home Services agrees in principle to purchase the TechPro group for an unstated amount.
 * 2008 – On March 21, CompUSA announces that 12 CompUSA stores are open to the public.
 * 2008 – On October 1, CompUSA announces a new strategy called 'Retail 2.0' which integrates Internet shopping convenience throughout retail stores. Concept store debuts to public at Dadeland Miami, Florida location.

Closings and sale to Systemax
On or immediately before February 28, 2007, CompUSA retained the services of Gordon Brothers, a company that specializes in asset recovery and restructuring, for the purposes of closing 126 stores nationwide. The closing locations were chosen based upon their overall performance, profitability, and proximity to competitors such as Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, Micro Center, and Circuit City. This first round of closings reduced the number of stores to less than half of its previous number.

During the liquidation process, the stores typically offered discounts starting at 5 to 30 percent off of retail prices, ending at up to 95 percent. Liquidation was completed on May 14, 2007.

On December 7, 2007, CompUSA was sold to Specialty Equity, an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group.

On January 6, 2008, a month after CompUSA was sold to liquidators, Systemax, Inc. (TigerDirect's then-parent company) announced its purchase of 16 CompUSA locations as well as the brand, trademarks, e-commerce business, and technical services.

Systemax also had announced that the eleven existing and three TigerDirect-branded retail stores that were under construction would be converted to the CompUSA brand over the spring of 2008.

On November 2, 2012, it was announced that Systemax would drop both the CompUSA and Circuit City storefront brands by consolidating their businesses under the TigerDirect brand and website. That officially marked the end of the heritage CompUSA brand name as used by Systemax. Customers of both businesses were informed via e-mail on November 7, 2012.

Online relaunch
In 2018, the CompUSA brand returned as an affiliate website, though it later shut down.

As of early July 2023, CompUSA's website is offline and inactive at its original domain.

title: CompUSA


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The Rhythm of the Saints

The Rhythm of the Saints is the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released on October 16, 1990, by Warner Bros. In much the same way that Simon's previous album, Graceland, released in 1986, drew upon South African music, this album was inspired by Brazilian musical traditions. Like its predecessor, the album was commercially successful and received mostly favorable reviews from critics.

In 1992, The Rhythm of the Saints earned two nominations for the 34th Grammy Awards – Album of the Year and Producer of the Year.

Reception
The Rhythm of the Saints peaked at No. 4 on the US album chart, while Graceland had peaked at No. 3, ranking them both among Simon's most commercially successful albums. The album was also successful across the Atlantic, reaching No. 1 on the UK album chart. However, with the exception of "The Obvious Child", none of its three singles—including "Proof" and "Born at the Right Time"—charted or received substantial radio play. "The Obvious Child" also failed to reach the US top 40, although it reached No. 15 in the UK, becoming Simon's last major hit there. The album was certified Multi-Platinum.

Central Park concert
Alongside various musicians, Simon performed live versions of many of the songs from the album at a free concert in Central Park, New York City on August 15, 1991, in front of an audience of around 500,000 people. The performance was recorded and later released as the album Paul Simon's Concert in the Park.

Track listing
All tracks composed by Paul Simon, except "The Coast" (music by Simon and Vincent Nguini) and "Spirit Voices" (Portuguese lyrics by Milton Nascimento).

 * 1) "The Obvious Child" – 4:10
 * 2) "Can't Run But" – 3:36
 * 3) "The Coast" – 5:04
 * 4) "Proof" – 4:39
 * 5) "Further to Fly" – 5:36
 * 6) "She Moves On" – 5:03
 * 7) "Born at the Right Time" – 3:48
 * 8) "The Cool, Cool River" – 4:33
 * 9) "Spirit Voices" – 3:56
 * 10) "The Rhythm of the Saints" – 4:12

Bonus tracks (2004 reissue)

 * 1) "Born at the Right Time" (acoustic demo) – 3:50
 * 2) "Thelma" (outtake) – 4:14
 * 3) "The Coast" (work-in-progress version) – 5:13
 * 4) "Spirit Voices" (work-in-progress version) – 3:49

Notes:

 * "Thelma" previously appeared on Paul Simon 1964/1993.
 * According to Robert J. Reina of Stereophile magazine, Simon's original track sequence was changed when "the boys in Warners' front office insisted the album's lead single, 'The Obvious Child' be given pride of place." To hear Simon's preferred track order, the current release would have to be re-sequenced as 3-6-4-7-8-1-2-9-5-10. At least two sleeves reflecting this track listing are known to exist.

Personnel

 * Paul Simon – vocals, guitars (1, 3, 7, 8, 9), horn arrangements (1, 2, 3, 5–10), guitar arrangements (1, 5–8), backing vocals (4)

Keyboards
 * with
 * Greg Phillinganes – synthesizers (3, 4, 5, 8)
 * Justin Tchounou – synthesizers (4)
 * Jimmy McDonald – accordion (4)
 * C. J. Chenier – accordion (7)
 * Joao Severo Da Silva – accordion (10)

Guitars and bass
 * J. J. Cale – guitars (2, 7)
 * Vincent Nguini – guitars (3, 5–10, 12), guitar arrangements (3, 5, 6, 8, 9), horn arrangements (4), bass (5, 8), claves (9)
 * Martin Atangana and Georges Seba – electric guitar and guitar arrangements (4)
 * Rigo Star – guitars (5) [Liner notes erroneously credit him as "Ringo Star"]
 * Raphael Rabello – classical guitar (5)
 * Ray Phiri – guitars and guitar arrangements (6)
 * Adrian Belew – guitar synthesizer (9), guitars (12)
 * Kofi Electrik – guitars and guitar arrangements (10)
 * Tommy Bilson-Ogoe – guitars (10)
 * Armando Macedo – baiana (10)
 * Jerry Douglas – dobro (12)
 * Bakithi Kumalo – bass (3, 4, 7, 9)
 * André Manga – bass (4)
 * Armand Sabal-Lecco – bass (6, 7, 9, 10, 12)

Drums and percussion
 * Grupo Cultural Olodum – drums (1)
 * Steve Gadd – drums (2, 4, 12)
 * Felix Sabal-Lecco – drums (7)
 * Naná Vasconcelos – percussion (2, 10, 12), gourd (3, 5, 8, 9), voice (3), berimbau (8), congas and triangle (9)
 * Mingo Araujo – castanets (2), talking drum (2, 4), triangle (2, 8), shaker and African bells (3), bass drum (4, 9), cymbals (4), percussion (5), congas (6, 7, 8, 12), agogo bells (7), surdo (12)
 * Uakti – percussion (2, 10), percussion effects (8)
 * Marco Antōnio Guimarães – basic track arrangements (2)
 * Paulo Sérgio Santos and Mazzola – chicote (2)
 * Remi Kabaka – talking drum (2)
 * Dom Chacal – bongos (4, 6, 12), congas (5, 7), batá drum (5, 12), gourd (9)
 * Madeleine Yayodele Nelson – shekere (4, 7)
 * Sidinho Moreira – water bowl (4), congas (5, 6, 7, 9), bongos (5), bass drum and bottles (7), tambourine (9), surdo (12)
 * Wilson das Neves – percussion (5), cowbell (6)
 * Beloba, Wilson Canegal, Jorginho do Pandeiro, Marçalzinho and Roberto Bastros "Luna" Pinheiro – additional percussion effects (5)
 * Pedro Sorongo – additional percussion effects (5), scraper (6)
 * Antenor Marques "Gordinho" Filho – surdo (6)
 * Isaac Okyerema Asante – cajón (8)
 * Anthony Carrillo – bongos (9)
 * Giovanni Hidalgo and Francisco Aguabella – congas (9)

Reed and brass instruments
 * Kim Wilson – harmonica (1)
 * Michael Brecker – Akai EWI controller (1, 3, 5, 8, 12), saxophone (6)
 * Charles Doherty – alto saxophone (3, 8), tenor saxophone (8)
 * Jude Bethel – tenor saxophone (3)
 * Errol Ince and Clyde Mitchell – trumpet (3, 8)
 * Clifton Anderson – trombone (3, 8)
 * Alain Hatot – saxophones (4)
 * Phillipe Slominski – trumpet (4)
 * Jacques Bolognesi – trombone (4)
 * Randy Brecker – trumpet (5), piccolo trumpet (6)
 * Dave Bargeron – euphonium (5)

Vocals
 * Briz – backing vocals (1)
 * Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Karen Bernod, Kia Jeffries, Myrna Lynn Gomila – backing vocals (3)
 * Charlotte Mbango, Djana'd, Elolongue Mbango Catherine, Florence Gnimagnon – backing vocals (6, 7)
 * Milton Nascimento – vocals (9)

Production

 * Paul Simon – producer
 * Marco Mazzola – basic rhythm track production (2–10)
 * Phil Ramone – original Olodum recording supervisor (1), Transamerica sessions supervisor (2, 3, 5, 8, 10)
 * Roy Halee – engineer
 * Rich Travali – assistant engineer
 * Luiz "Mequinho" Felipe – assistant engineer (1)
 * Vanderley Loureiro – assistant engineer (2–10)
 * Geraldo Tazares – assistant engineer (2–10)
 * Bruce Keen – assistant engineer (4, 7)
 * Greg Calbi – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
 * Danny Harrison – album coordinator
 * Marc Silag – album coordinator
 * Dolores Lusitana – associate coordinator
 * Yolanda Cuomo – art direction, design
 * Miguel Rio Branco – front cover photography
 * Bruno Barbey – back cover photography
 * Sylvia Plachy – photograph of Paul Simon

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

title: The Rhythm of the Saints


text:
Andrei Kirilenko

Andrei Gennadyevich Kirilenko (Андрей Геннадьевич Кириленко; born 18 February 1981) is a Russian basketball executive and former professional basketball player.

At age fifteen, Kirilenko began playing professional basketball in the Russian Basketball Super League. He played for CSKA Moscow from 1998 to 2001, winning the Russian league MVP award in 2000. In 1999, the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association selected Kirilenko with the twenty-fourth overall pick of the NBA draft. He became the first Russian player selected in the first round of an NBA draft and the youngest European player ever chosen in the NBA draft. Kirilenko joined the Jazz in 2001 and played for the team until 2010. He made the NBA All-Rookie First Team, was an NBA All-Defensive Team pick three times, played in the 2004 All-Star Game, and led the NBA in blocked shots in the 2004–2005 season. During the 2011 NBA lockout, Kirilenko returned to Russia to play for CSKA Moscow, leading the team to the 2012 EuroLeague Final. That year, he was named the EuroLeague MVP, earned an All-EuroLeague first team selection and won the EuroLeague Best Defender award. Kirilenko returned to the NBA for the 2012–2013 season to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves before finishing his NBA career as a member of the Brooklyn Nets in 2014.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Kirilenko became a regular member of the Russian national team. With Russia, he won the EuroBasket title in 2007, earning MVP honors in the process. In 2011, he and his team won a bronze medal. He was selected to the All-Tournament Team on both occasions. Kirilenko was named FIBA Europe Men's Player of the Year twice and won a Euroscar Player of the Year award in 2012.

Kirilenko was elected president of the Russian Basketball Federation in 2015.

Early life
Kirilenko was born in the Soviet city of Izhevsk, Russia. When he was ten, he began playing organized basketball.

Spartak St. Petersburg (1997–1998)
In 1997, Kirilenko became the youngest player ever to compete in the Russian Super League, spending two seasons with Spartak Saint Petersburg.

CSKA Moscow (1998–2001)
Kirilenko joined CSKA Moscow in 1998. In his first season, he helped his new team win the Russian Super League championship. He was also selected to participate in the Russian All-Star game, helping the West beat the East 138–107 and winning the slam dunk contest.

On June 30, 1999, at age 18 years, 135 days, Kirilenko was the youngest foreign player at the time to be drafted in the National Basketball Association, when the Utah Jazz selected him with the 24th pick. Kirilenko was also the first Russian picked in the first round of an NBA Draft. However, he remained with CSKA Moscow for the next two seasons. In the 1999–2000 season, he helped his team win the championship of the North European Basketball League and its second Russian Super League championship in a row. On April 23, 2000, he participated in his second Russian All-Star game, helping the West beat the East 122–111. Despite being the odds-on favorite to win the slam dunk contest, he finished second to Harold Deane of Lokomotiv Mineralnye Vody.

He showed off his all-around skills in the 2000–01 SuproLeague, finishing in the top ten in 7 out of 8 statistical categories.

Partizan
In August 2001, Kirilenko signed a contract with Yugoslav team Partizan ICN which included an NBA-out clause option.

Utah Jazz (2001–2011)
Kirilenko joined the Utah Jazz on a rookie-scale contract in September 2001. On March 15, 2002, when starting in place of injured teammate Karl Malone, Kirilenko scored a then-career-high 27 points during a 100–97 win over the Detroit Pistons. He was named to the first team on the NBA All-Rookie Team. He would emerge as one of the top young players in the NBA, and one of the league's top weak-side defenders. He was selected to play in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. In the 2003–04 NBA season, he ranked third in the league in blocked shots per game and fourth in the league in steals per game, becoming just the second player in NBA history to rank in the top five in both categories (David Robinson ranked first in blocked shots per game and fifth in steals per game in the 1991–92 NBA season). During the NBA off-season, Kirilenko played for the Russian national basketball team.

Kirilenko became the leader of the Jazz in 2003 after John Stockton retired and Karl Malone left Utah to join the Los Angeles Lakers. He played and started in 78 of the Utah's 82 games and led them to a 42–40 record. Utah missed the playoffs by one game behind the Denver Nuggets. He finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and fourth in Most Improved Player voting and was named to the second team on the All-NBA Defensive Team. Kirilenko led the Jazz in many statistical categories:

 * Total points: 1,284
 * Points per game: 16.5
 * Total rebounds: 629
 * Rebounds per game: 8.1
 * Blocks: 215
 * Blocks per game: 2.8
 * Steals: 150
 * Steals per game: 1.9
 * Free throws made: 392
 * Free throws attempted: 496
 * Three-pointers made: 68
 * Three-pointers attempted: 201

In the middle of the 2004–05 season against the Washington Wizards, Kirilenko sustained a broken right wrist, sidelining him for the remainder of the season. Despite only playing in 41 of 82 games for the Jazz, he amassed enough blocked shots during the season to qualify as the league leader in blocks per game, and was named to the second team on the NBA All-Defensive Team.

In the 2005–06 season Kirilenko was again among the league's best shot blockers and defenders. He recorded a career high 10 blocks against Indiana on March 26, and finished first in the league with total blocks (220) and second in blocks per game with 3.2, just behind league leader Marcus Camby at 3.3. He was named to the first team on the NBA All-Defensive Team.

Kirilenko averaged 15.3 points, 8 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 3.2 blocks and 4.3 assists per game in the 2005–2006 season.

Kirilenko and Hakeem Olajuwon are the only 2 NBA players who have finished a game with at least 6 steals, 6 blocks, 6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists since 1985–86.

The 2006–2007 season was a tremendous disappointment for Kirilenko. While playing in 70 games and not missing much playing time, he averaged career lows in points (8.3) and field goal attempts (6.0). It has been said that much of this decline can be attributed to the main offensive emphasis on Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, and Mehmet Okur, and that Kirilenko was uncomfortable losing his position as the main go-to guy on the team. His frustration eventually culminated in a widely publicized breakdown near the end of the Jazz's first-round playoffs series against the Houston Rockets. Kirilenko bounced back to lead Russia to the championship in EuroBasket 2007, and was named MVP of the tournament. Following his performance in the 2007 EuroBasket, he asked to be released from his contract to return to Russia to play basketball. Despite the trade rumors and controversy created by these statements, he rebounded in the 2007–08 NBA season and backed off on trade demands. His statistics for the 2007–08 NBA season were 11.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.2 spg, and 1.5 bpg, all of which were improvements over his previous season's stats (with the exception of blocks and rebounds). He worked out personally with former Jazz shooting guard Jeff Hornacek on his shooting in the 2007 off-season, and his field goal percentage improved from 47% to 51%. Most impressively, his 3-point shooting improved from 21% to a career-high 38%.

Return to CSKA (2011–2012)
Amid the 2011 NBA lockout, Kirilenko returned to Russia to play for his old team CSKA Moscow. Although the lockout was resolved in December, Kirilenko remained with CSKA Moscow for the rest of the season rather than pursuing an immediate return to the NBA. Over 17 games in the EuroLeague, he averaged 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game, leading the team to the 2012 EuroLeague Final. Kirilenko was named the EuroLeague MVP, earned an All-EuroLeague first team selection and won the EuroLeague Best Defender award.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2012–2013)
On July 27, 2012, Kirilenko signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was the team's starting small forward, playing in 64 games during the 2012–13 NBA season. Kirilenko missed 18 games because of back spasms, then a right quadriceps strain, and finally a calf strain. He finished the season with averages of 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and a 51% field goal percentage per game. He had his best game on November 14, 2012, when he had 26 points and 12 rebounds on an 89–87 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. On June 29, 2013, Kirilenko opted out of the final year of his contract with the Timberwolves (worth $10 million) to become a free agent.

Brooklyn Nets (2013–2014)
On July 12, 2013, Kirilenko signed a two-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets. On June 23, 2014, he exercised his $3.3 million player option, re-signing with the Nets for the 2014–15 season. On November 21, 2014, he took a leave of absence from the Nets for personal reasons.

Third stint with CSKA (2015)
On December 11, 2014, Kirilenko was traded, along with Jorge Gutiérrez, the Nets' second round draft pick in 2020 and the right to swap second round picks in 2018, to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Brandon Davies. The 76ers suspended Kirilenko without pay on January 9, 2015 for failing to report after the trade, and on February 21, he was waived by the 76ers before playing in a game for them.

On February 24, 2015, Kirilenko signed with CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League for the rest of the 2014–15 season, returning to the club for a third stint. With Kirilenko at the club for the second half of the season, CSKA Moscow managed to advance to the EuroLeague Final Four for the fourth straight season, after eliminating Panathinaikos for the second straight season in the quarterfinals, with a 3–1 series win. However, in the semi-final game, despite being dubbed by media as an absolute favorite to advance, Kirilenko's team, CSKA, once again lost to Olympiacos. The final score was 70–68, after a great Olympiacos comeback in the fourth quarter, led by Vassilis Spanoulis. CSKA Moscow eventually won the third place game, after defeating Fenerbahçe 86–80. Over 11 games played in the EuroLeague, he averaged 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. CSKA Moscow finished the season by winning the VTB United League, after eliminating Khimki with a 3–0 series win in the league's finals series.

On June 23, 2015, Kirilenko announced his retirement as a professional basketball player.

National team career
As a member of the Russian junior national team, Kirilenko was the MVP of the 1999 FIBA Under-19 World Cup. Kirilenko's first major international tournament with the senior Russian national basketball team was at the 2000 Summer Olympics, where Russia finished the games in 8th place. Later, he played at the EuroBasket 2001, where Russia finished 5th among 16 teams. The only time that Kirilenko played in a FIBA World Cup was at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, where the Russian team finished 10th out of 16 teams. Kirilenko has also played at 4 more EuroBaskets: the EuroBasket 2003, the EuroBasket 2005, the EuroBasket 2007, where he won the gold medal of the competition, and was named the MVP of the tournament, and the EuroBasket 2011. With the win in the 2007 EuroBasket, Russia qualified to the 2008 Summer Olympics, where Kirilenko also played for Russia, and he was also named Russia's flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the games.

In the first game of the 2008 Olympics tournament against Iran, Kirilenko scored 15 points, pulled down 5 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. Against Croatia, he led his team in points scored with 18, and he scored his personal best in the games against Argentina, scoring 23.

Kirilenko won a bronze medal with Russia at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Career as executive
In August 2015, Kirilenko was elected president of the Russian Basketball Federation. He was re-elected to the post in August 2020.

EuroLeague

 * style="text-align:left;"| 2011–12
 * style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| CSKA Moscow
 * 17 || 17 || 29.9 || .533 || .417 || .758 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|7.5* || 2.4 || 1.5 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|1.9* || 14.1 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|24.2*
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2014–15
 * 11 || 9 || 19.3 || .518 || .462 || .682 || 5.3 || 1.2 || 1.1 || 1.2 || 8.5 || 13.9
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
 * 28 || 26 || 25.8 || .529 || .426 || .734 || 6.6 || 1.9 || 1.4 || 1.6 || 11.9 || 20.2
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
 * 28 || 26 || 25.8 || .529 || .426 || .734 || 6.6 || 1.9 || 1.4 || 1.6 || 11.9 || 20.2

Player profile
Kirilenko was a versatile "big man" who could play either forward spot. He was noted for his high-level play in both offense (11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game NBA career averages) and defense (twice topping three blocks per game for a season). On offense, he was proficient in drawing fouls, passing, and possessed a quick first step. He was three times selected into the NBA All-Defensive First or Second Team. Staples of Kirilenko's defensive power were his shot blocking (with an NBA career average of 1.8 per game) and in stealing the ball (NBA career average of 1.4 per game).

On January 3, 2006, against the Los Angeles Lakers, Kirilenko posted a stat line of 14 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 6 steals, and 7 blocks. This was the third time in his career he achieved a five-by-five, making him one of only two players (the other being Hakeem Olajuwon) to achieve this feat more than once in NBA history. It was also the first-ever regulation "5×6" — a game in which a player registers at least 6 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 blocks, and 6 steals — since the NBA began recording blocks and steals in the 1973–74 season. In 1987, Olajuwon had 38 points, 17 rebounds, 12 blocks, 7 steals, and 6 assists for the Houston Rockets, in a double-overtime win over the Seattle SuperSonics, the only other time a player has earned a 5×6.

In June 2015, FiveThirtyEight reviewed Kirilenko's statistics, finding that his efficiency in scoring, steals, blocks, assists, offensive rebounds, and all-around versatility would justify consideration for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Kirilenko is nicknamed "AK-47" in reference to his initials, the jersey number he wore, and the AK-47 rifle. Coincidentally, Kirilenko was born in the city of Izhevsk, in the former Soviet Union (now in Russia) where the weapon was first manufactured.

Personal life
Kirilenko is married to Russian pop singer Masha "Marina" Lopatova, whose stage name is MaLo. Lopatova is the daughter of Russian basketball player Andrey Lopatov. Kirilenko met Lopatova at a youth basketball camp in Moscow, and Kirilenko appeared in one of Lopatova's music videos. In January 2011, Kirilenko and his wife acquired American citizenship. The couple have three sons, Fedor, Stepan and Andrey, and a daughter named Alexandra. They live in Los Angeles. ESPN The Magazine reported in 2006 that Masha allows Andrei to have sex with another woman once per year and quoted her: "Male athletes in this country are extremely attractive. They get chased by women. It's hard to resist. It's the way men are by nature."

Sources suggest Kirilenko was a World of Warcraft (WoW) gamer while playing in the NBA. In the words of former NBA player Channing Frye, he shared a story about being up at 3am the night before an NBA game while playing WoW, when he noticed Kirilenko was online as well. Frye asked Kirilenko if he was ready for the next day's NBA game, and Kirilenko replied "Yeah, probably."

title: Andrei Kirilenko


text:
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Hello Hlaw, welcome to Wikipedia! Thanks for all your contributions. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them: 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!
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—Noldoaran (Talk) 04:56, Dec 13, 2003 (UTC)

Has the West Rail been opened yet??? olivier 08:39, Dec 16, 2003 (UTC)

 * It opens today (Dec 16, 2003) for "trial" ride, see RTHK news. It is actually in full operation to test out the logistics. Formal opening will be a few days later. Hlaw 09:11, 16 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Thanks. Interesting way to get the news from Wikipedia... olivier 09:21, Dec 16, 2003 (UTC)

Thanks for catching that incorrectly labelled bell tower photo at Yau Tsim Mong! I was comparing that photo to another one and didn't understand why they don't look exactly alike. I just thought it's renovation. It's from U of HK, huh? Unbelievable. :-) Good job! --Menchi (Talk)ü| â 12:55, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Yes it is from the University of Hong Kong. Comparing [[Media:MainBldg.JPG|it]] (original clock tower photo) with the 4th picture here (HKU web site). Hlaw 13:08, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * Well, good eyes! Nice work! Keep it up! --Menchi (Talk)ü| â 13:28, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Translation
Thanks for the translation of the text on Sites that use Wikipedia for content. It seems that the auto-response is due to them not providing some service or something. I'll try and contact them again. --snoyes 15:56, 31 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Hong Kong election
It's good that you're keeping the Hong Kong articles tidy...In case you haven't noticed, there's a stub on the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections, 2004. Apparently, it needs some help so go and expand it if you're interested. Otherwise, feel free to ignore me. Cheers, Jiang 04:44, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * While there are reports/rumours on coordination efforts, the real game only begins after the nomination period. Perhaps I could contribute something by then. Hlaw 06:13, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Indigenous Communists in Hong Kong
I saw that you added a NPOV tag to Indigenous Communists in Hong Kong. You will need to specify on the talk page what exactly is POV about the text.

Please do not remove links to articles simply because they are POV because there is room for improvement. Only orphan articles listed for deletion and in an inclusion dispute.

Please also list whatever pictures you orphan at images for deletion. --Jiang 04:11, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Thanks. Done. Hlaw 11:11, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Hong Kong category
I was just wondering: you removed Hong Kong from the East Asian countries category, which may literally be correct, but for the purposes of searching and categorizing I think it could be useful to include it in the category as "Hong Kong Special Administrative District" or some such. If Taiwan is listed in the category, we're not being too strict with interpretation, afterall. I listed Hong Kong under the category, discuss it on my talk or the article's talk page if you like. --ABQCat 05:09, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Civic Act-up
Some anon cut&pasted the article from Civic Act-Up to Civic Act-up, and I was trying to merge the histories, but made an error--see Village_pump. If nothing else, at least there are plenty of WP mirrors/forks to retrieve the contents from. Niteowlneils 18:31, 25 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Respect
Could you please respect others and don't delete others' materials unless you have raise the topic in the discussion page and it is settled. Thank you. -- 10:24, December 7, 2004 (UTC)

 * It is anon who keep changing China to China (mainland) etc all over wikipedia, without regard to the existing conventions, etc. This is obviously controversial and should be reverted asap. Please respect the conventions and the need to collaborate. All my deletions are given reasons. This is basically how wikipedia works. -Hlaw 10:42, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * That is a much more clear or accurate way to tell the situation.
 * What about KCR West Rail? -- 11:04, December 8, 2004 (UTC)

 * Please check the discussion pg of West Rail (KCRC) (and also the list of metro system) - the reasons for deletion are provided alongside with the deleted text when the deletion was made. You would also appreciate that as anons have no account there is no way to leave a message for you like what you have just done. -Hlaw 11:12, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * It is my choice to stay anonymous and it does not mean that I don't have any account. It has always been your problem for not respecting others' opinion and choice. -- 14:05, December 8, 2004 (UTC)

 * You seem still unable to get it that it is you who do not respect the conventions and manners in this collaboration effort, and despite repeated advice and revert from others, insisted your way of changing PRC first to China (Peking), then to mainland China etc, and other annoyances you know you have committed. Look at the number of reversions you get from others. Do you think that it is a good use of other's time or great fun tracing you out and revert your changes?  Do you think that it is always their problem? And others all collaborate to pinpoint you, an unknown anon?   No one forces you to log in (which in fact provides better privacy).  But don't complain of others "discriminating" against anons (e.g. in voting). -Hlaw 15:50, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * How can I look at the number of reversions? -- 16:47, December 8, 2004 (UTC)

 * Is it you who asked here? -Hlaw 18:18, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Romanization
Would you be able to add to the party names in Hong Kong the romanization of the Chinese names. Electionworld 06:41, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Image Tagging for Image:Jasper_tsang_hong_kong.jpg
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Unreferenced BLPs
Hello Hlaw! Thank you for your contributions. I am a bot alerting you that 1 of the articles that you created  is tagged as an Unreferenced Biography of a Living Person. Please note that all biographies of living persons must be sourced. If you were to add reliable, secondary sources to this article, it would greatly help us with the current Category:All_unreferenced_BLPs article backlog. Once the article is adequately referenced, please remove the unreferencedBLP tag. Here is the article:

Thanks!--DASHBot (talk) 20:32, 2 January 2010 (UTC)
 * 1) Ambrose Lau -

ArbCom elections are now open!
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title: User talk:Hlaw


text:
Akbar Rafsanjani

Ali Akbar Hashimi Bahramani Rafsanjani (25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician and writer who served as the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding fathers of the Islamic Republic, Rafsanjani was the head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 until 2011 when he decided not to nominate himself for the post. He was also the chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council.

During his 40-year tenure, Rafsanjani amassed a large amount of power serving as the speaker of parliament, Commander-in-Chief during the Iran–Iraq War, President, and chose Ali Khamenei as the supreme leader of Iran.

Rafsanjani became president of Iran after winning the 1989 election. He served another term by winning the election in 1993. In the 2005 election he ran for a third term in office, placing first in the first round of elections but ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the run-off. He and his family faced political isolation for their support of the opposition in 2009. Rafsanjani entered the race for the 2013 presidential election, but he was disqualified by the Guardian Council. With Hassan Rouhani's election, in which Rafsanjani openly supported him, the Rafsanjani family gradually recovered their political reputation. Rafsanjani died in 2017, following a heart attack, in a hospital in Tehran at the age of 82. Although government officials attributed his death to cardiac arrest, his sudden death prompted speculation that he had been assassinated. His family strongly asserted that he had been murdered. Further investigation revealed that his body was highly radioactive.

Rafsanjani has been described as a pragmatic Islamic conservative. The Economist called him a "veteran kingmaker". He supported a capitalist free market position domestically, favoring privatization of state-owned industries and a moderate position internationally, seeking to avoid conflict with the United States and the West. He was also the founder of, and one of the Board of Trustees of, Azad University. In 2003, Forbes estimated his personal wealth to be in excess of US$1 billion.

Early life and education
Rafsanjani was born on 25 August 1934 in the village of Bahraman near the city of Rafsanjan in Kerman Province, to a wealthy family of pistachio farmers. He had seven siblings. His father, Mirza Ali Hashemi Behramani, was a pistachio merchant, one of Kerman's famous businessmen. His mother, Hajie Khanom Mahbibi Hashemi, died at the age of 90 on 21 December 1995. One of his brothers, Mohammad Hashemi, is the former director of IRIB. From childhood onward Rafsanjani did not see himself as a peasant, according to family members.

He left at the age of 14 to study theology in Qom. There he became acquainted with the ideas of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the most senior dissident cleric who later became the founder of the Islamic Republic, on the political rule of the clergy. He studied theology. His other teachers were Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi, Mohammad-Reza Golpaygani, Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari, Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi, Shahab al-Din Mar'ashi Najafi, Nematollah Salehi Najafabadi, Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, and Hussein-Ali Montazeri.

Pre-Revolution struggles
When he was studying at Qom Seminary, he became interested in politics under Ruhollah Khomeini. He was one of the opposers of Mohammad Reza Shah's White Revolution and accompanied Khomeini. With Khomeini's exile, Hashemi's role in the fight against the Shah and representing Khomeini in the country was highlighted. This opposition eventually led to his arrest and imprisonment. He was arrested 7 times from 1960 until 1979 and was in jail for four years and 5 months in total due to his clandestine activities against the Pahlavi regime. Khomeini made him the financial manager of the revolutionary struggle as well as the bridge with other revolutionary groups.

Among the groups that had a deep bond with Hashemi, was the Islamic Coalition Party, which is known as responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Mansur. This communication was another reason for his arrest. In prison, he found the opportunity to become familiar with other groups opposed to the Shah.

In the mid-1970s, Rafsanjani travelled to various countries to evaluate the position of anti-Shah resistance groups abroad, including the United States, where his brother Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani was studying. Rafsanjani travelled across sixteen states during his two-week stay, where his brother showed him locations such as Hollywood, the Statue of Liberty, and Yosemite National Park. According to Rafsanjani's brother, a bear broke into their car at Yosemite after they ignored a sign warning visitors not to keep food in their car. Rafsanjani had previously been to the West, visiting several European countries with his wife and children. He made a habit of taking notes about these developed countries to study their living conditions, industry, and resources, in a desire to replicate the same prosperity in his home country. Upon his return to Iran, Rafsanjani was arrested by SAVAK and remained in prison until the victory of the Iranian revolution.

After the revolution
After the victory of Iranian Revolution, Rafsanjani became one of the members of Council of Islamic Revolution. He was one of the powerful members of the council from its establishment. He was also deputy interior minister at that time and later became the acting interior minister.

He was one of the 28 founders of Traditional right-wing Combatant Clergy Association and also one of the members of the central committee of Islamic Republican Party at the first years of the revolution. Years later, it was he who requested IRP's dissolution. His political acumen and Khomeini's full trust helped Rafsanjani as one of the most powerful politicians in Iran at that time. At the time, he was the closest person to the Khomeini and ruled as his "eyes and ears". According to the Gold, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was established with the help of Rafsanjani.

During the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980, Rafsanjani mentioned it as "one of the largest manufacturer in the history". However, on the tenth anniversary of the revolution, he said in an interview that according to the experiences of these years, the hostage was "wrong".

Rafsanjani served as one of the Tehran's Friday Prayer Imams (for next thirty years), Representative of Khomeini at Defense High Council (after death of Mostafa Chamran) and Second-in-Command of Iran's Joint Chiefs of Staff in the last year of Iran–Iraq War. He forced Khomeini to accept to end the war. Only three months after his appointment as Iran's deputy commander-in-chief, Iran accepted United Nations Security Council Resolution 598 and eight-year war was ended.

Chairmanship of the Parliament (1980–1989)
Iran's first Election Law was developed with Rafsanjani's partnership. He nominated as one of the Islamic Republican Party's candidates in the 1980 legislative election in Tehran. He gained 1,151,514 (54%) votes and ranked 15. Rafsanjani was the Speaker of Parliament of Iran for 9 years. He was elected as the speaker in 1980 in the first season of Parliament after the Iranian Revolution. He was also chairman in the second season and first year of the third parliament. After the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic and election of then-President Ali Khamenei as new supreme leader, he joined the 1989 presidential race and became the President, leaving Parliament.

He had a determining role in the dismissal of Abulhassan Banisadr as commander-in-chief of Iranian military and then his impeachment in the parliament as Iran's first president in June 1981. In the summer of 1981, he protested to the veto of the parliament's plan by the Guardian Council and informed it to Ruhollah Khomeini. This led to the establishment of Expediency Discernment Council, which later he chaired the council. He had an active role in Iran–Contra affair, which was divulged by Mehdi Hashemi and failed. Mehdi Hashemi was executed but Rafsanjani was the loser at internal dimension.

In the October 1981 presidential election, when he voted for Ali Khamenei, he described it as a vote of "Imam (Khomeini), clerics and the parliament". During differences between Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Khamenei, Hashemi managed to maintain a compromise between Mousavi's reformists and Khamenei's principlists. With the death of Rafsanjani, the reformists, whom he had supported, were weakened.

Presidency (1989–1997)
Rafsanjani's presidency reportedly began on 16 August 1989. adopted an "economy-first" policy, supporting a privatization policy against more state-owned economic tendencies in the Islamic Republic. Another source describes his administration as "economically liberal, politically authoritarian, and philosophically traditional" which put him in confrontation with more radical deputies in the majority in the Majles of Iran.

As president, Rafsanjani was credited with spurring Iran's reconstruction following the 1980–88 war with Iraq. His reforms, despite attempting to curb the powers of the ultra-conservatives, failed to do so, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards received increasing power from Khamenei during his presidency. He was also accused of corruption by both conservatives and reformists, and was known for tough crackdowns on dissent.

Domestic policy
Rafsanjani advocated a free market economy. With the state's coffers full, Rafsanjani pursued an economic liberalization policy. Rafsanjani's support for a deal with the United States over Iran's nuclear program and his free-market economic policies contrasted with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies, who advocate maintaining a hard line against Western intervention in the Middle East while pursuing a policy of economic redistribution to Iran's poor. By espousing World Bank inspired structural adjustment policies, Rafsanjani desired a modern industrial-based economy integrated into the global economy.

Rafsanjani urged universities to cooperate with industries. Turning to the quick pace of developments in today's world, he said that with "the world constantly changing, we should adjust ourselves to the conditions of our lifetime and make decisions according to present circumstances". Among the projects he initiated are Islamic Azad University.

During his presidency, a period in which Rafsanjani is described by western media sources as having been the most powerful figure in Iran, people ordered executed by the judicial system of Iran included political dissidents, drug offenders, Communists, Kurds, followers of the Baháʼí Faith, and even Islamic clerics.

Regarding the Iranian People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, Rafsanjani said (Ettela'at, 31 October 1981):

"God's law prescribes four punishments for them (the Mojahedin). 1-Kill them. 2-Hang them, 3-Cut off their hands and feet 4-Banish them. If we had killed two hundred of them right after the Revolution, their numbers would not have mounted this way. I repeat that according to the Quran, we are determined to destroy all [Mojahedin] who display enmity against Islam."

Rafsanjani also worked with Khamenei to maintain the stability of government after the death of Khomeini.

Foreign policy
Following years of deterioration in foreign relations under Khomeini during the Iran–Iraq War, Rafsanjani sought to rebuild ties with Arab states as well as with countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. However, relations with European countries and the United States remained poor, even though Rafsanjani had a track record of handling difficult situations and defusing crises.

He condemned both the United States and Ba'athist Iraq during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. After the war he strove to renew close ties with the West, although he refused to lift Khomeini's fatwa against the British author Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses. Rafsanjani said that Iran is ready to assist Iraq, "expecting nothing in return", he also said that "peace and stability" is a function of the "evacuation of the occupiers." Iran gave humanitarian help to the victims of the conflict. Iran sent truckloads of food and medicine to Iraq, and thousands of Kuwaiti refugees were given shelter in Iran.

Rafsanjani voiced support to Prince Abdullah's peace initiative and to "everything the Palestinians agree to". He also stated that what he called "Iran's international interests" must take precedence over those of Iranian allies in Syria and Lebanon.

Ayatollah Rafsanjani was a supporter of Iran's nuclear program. In 2007 Rafsanjani reiterated that the use of weapons of mass destruction was not part of the Islamic Republic culture. Rafsanjani said: "You [US and allies] are saying that you cannot trust Iran would not use its nuclear achievements in the military industries, but we are ready to give you full assurances in this respect." According to The Economist, he is regarded by many Iranians "as the only person with the guile and clout to strike a deal with the West to end economic sanctions" imposed upon the country due to its nuclear program.

Construction
After the end of the Iran-Iraq war, the need for a road map for the future was felt in order to end the historical gap between the country Iran development programs in the first government of Rafsanjani. The fifth government soon managed to recover the economy and moved the arrowhead of the indicators in a different direction. The first action of the fifth government was devoted to designing the first development plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The men that Rafsanjani had chosen to run the country took over the task of drafting the plan, and the first development plan was approved by the parliament at the end of 1990. The general goals of this program are rebuilding and equipping the defense base, rebuilding and modernizing production and infrastructure capacities and population centers damaged during the imposed war, quantitative expansion and qualitative improvement of public culture, creating economic growth, providing the minimum basic needs of the people, determining and modifying the pattern Consumption, organization reform and executive and judicial management of the country were considered. The most important characteristics of the two periods of Rafsanjani's government were the developmental and building approach, the establishment of a free economy in the country, and the use of Extraterritorial jurisdiction managers and technocrats. Characteristic of the construction government was that it paid much attention to the development of industrial and transportation infrastructure.

After the presidency
Post-presidency, Rafsanjani delivered a sermon at Tehran University in the summer of 1999 praising government use of force to suppress student demonstrations.

In 2000, in the first election after the end of his presidency, Rafsanjani ran again for Parliament. In the Tehran contest, Rafsanjani came in 30th, or last, place. At first, he was not among the 30 representatives of Tehran elected, as announced by the Iranian Ministry of the Interior, but the Council of Guardians then ruled numerous ballots void, leading to accusations of ballot fraud in Rafsanjani's favor.

In December 2006, Rafsanjani was elected to the Assembly of Experts representing Tehran with more than 1.5 million votes, which was more than any other candidate. Ahmadinejad's opponents won the majority of local election seats. On 4 September 2007 he was elected Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body that selects Iran's supreme leader, in what was considered a blow to the supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He won the chairmanship with 41 votes of the 76 cast. His ultraconservative opponent, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, received 31 votes. Rafsanjani was re-elected to the position on 10 March 2009, running against Mohammad Yazdi. He received 51 votes compared to Yazdi's 26. On 8 March 2011, he withdrew from the election and Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani was elected as his replacement.

Following his presidency, Rafsanjani also became an advocate of greater freedom of expression and tolerance in Iranian society. In a speech on 17 July 2009, Rafsanjani criticized restriction of media and suppression of activists, and put emphasis on the role and vote of people in the Islamic Republic constitution. The event has been considered by analysts as the most important and most turbulent Friday prayer in the history of contemporary Iran. Nearly 1.5 to 2.5 million people attended the speech in Tehran.

2009 election protests
During the 2009 presidential election, Rafsanjani's former rival and incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, won a disputed landslide victory over challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi. His daughter was arrested on 21 June by plain clothes Basij during the subsequent protest and later sentenced to six months in jail on charges of spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Akbar Rafsanjani was chairman of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the Supreme Leader, who has been rumored to not be in the best of health. After the disputed results of the election were certified by the Supreme Leader, Rafsanjani was reported to have called a meeting of the Assembly of Experts, but it is unknown what the outcome or disposition of this meeting actually was. During this time Rafsanjani relocated from Tehran to Qom, where the country's religious leaders sit. However, for the most part, Rafsanjani was silent about the controversial 12 June election and its aftermath.

On 17 July 2009, Rafsanjani publicly addressed the election crisis, mass arrests and the issue of freedom of expression during Friday prayers. The prayers witnessed an extremely large crowd that resembled the Friday prayers early after the revolution. Supporters of both reformist and conservative parties took part in the event. During prayers, Rafsanjani argued the following:

All of us the establishment, the security forces, police, parliament and even protestors should move within the framework of law... We should open the doors to debates. We should not keep so many people in prison. We should free them to take care of their families. ... It is impossible to restore public confidence overnight, but we have to let everyone speak out. ... We should have logical and brotherly discussions and our people will make their judgments. ... We should let our media write within the framework of the law and we should not impose restrictions on them. ... We should let our media even criticize us. Our security forces, our police and other organs have to guarantee such a climate for criticism.

His support for the Green Movement reinvigorated his image among the urban middle-class segments of Iranian society who made up the bulk of the movement and solidified Rafsanjani's role as a backer of factions within Iran that advocated the reform of the system to ensure its survival.

Assembly of Experts election
On 8 March 2011 Rafsanjani lost his post as chairman of the powerful Assembly of Experts, replaced by Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani. Rafsanjani stated that he withdrew from the election for chairman to "avoid division." The loss was said to be the result of intensive lobbying "in recent weeks" by "hardliners and supporters" of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and part of Rafsanjani's gradual loss of power over the years.

2013 presidential elections
On 11 May 2013, Rafsanjani registered for the 14 June presidential election with just minutes to spare. Former reformist president Mohammad Khatami endorsed him. However, on 21 May 2013, Iran's electoral center, Guardian Council disqualified him from standing in the presidential election. On 11 June 2013, Rafsanjani endorsed moderate Hassan Rouhani in the elections for Iran's presidency saying the candidate was "more suitable" than others for presidency.

Later years
Reformers had enjoyed his support in recent years, helping to tilt the balance of power towards more moderate forces who managed to win the presidential poll in 2013 with the victory of Hassan Rouhani and parliamentary elections in 2016.

Rafsanjani was viewed as having enough influence over Khamenei to bring moderate views into consideration. His death was therefore regarded as an event that strengthened the power of hardliners and weakened the influence of moderates.

He also kept his traditional connections with the clergy in the holy city of Qom and with conservative forces within the political establishment, which made it difficult for hardliners to form a strong front against moderate forces.

After winning reelection to his seat at Assembly of Experts as Tehran district's first person, Rafsanjani announced that it was the last time that he joined an election as a candidate and will be retired from politics at the end of the current term. He also said "Now I can die with peace of mind" after seeing election of a moderate parliament in the 2016 legislative election.

Death
Rafsanjani died on 8 January 2017, at 19:30 (UTC+03:30) due to a heart attack in a pool. He was brought immediately to Tajrish's Shohada-ye Tajrish Hospital in north Tehran, as reported by Iranian state-run media. He was 82 years old at the time of his death. The government announced three days of national mourning and a public holiday on his funeral day. Black banners were raised in Tehran and other cities and some posters showed the Supreme Leader and Rafsanjani together smiling. Five days of mourning also observed in the southern province of Kerman, where Ayatollah Rafsanjani's hometown of Rafsanjan is located.

Two months after his death, a highway in Northern Tehran was renamed in his honour. Many streets in other cities also named Rafsanjani. The central building of Azad University also named as Building and a statue of him was installed outside of the building. Kerman International Airport was also renamed to Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani Airport.

In 2018 Hassan Rouhani ordered the Iranian supreme national security council to reopen an investigation into Rafsanjani's death. Family members stated that although an autopsy had not been performed, the level of radioactivity in his body was "10 times what is considered permissible" and that Rafsanjani's daughter Fatemeh and his wife also had unusually high levels of radioactivity.

Accusations

Rafsanjani was sought by the Argentinian government for ordering the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires. It was based on the allegation that senior Iranian officials planned the attack in an August 1993 meeting, including Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, Mohammad Hejazi, Khamenei's intelligence and security advisor, Rafsanjani, then president, Ali Fallahian, then intelligence minister, and Ali Akbar Velayati, then foreign minister.

Tension with Ahmadinejad
After his loss at the presidential elections in 2005, a growing tension between him and President Ahmadinejad arose. Rafsanjani had criticized Ahmadinejad's administration several times for conducting a purge of government officials, slow move towards privatization and recently hostile foreign policy in particular the atomic energy policy. In return Ahmadinejad fought back that Rafsanjani failed to differentiate privatization with the corrupt takeover of government-owned companies and of foreign policies which led to sanctions against Iran in 1995 and 1996. He also implicitly denounced Rafsanjani and his followers by calling those who criticize his nuclear program as "traitors".

During a debate with Mir-Hossein Moussavi in 2009 presidential election, Ahmadinejad accused Rafsanjani of corruption. Rafsanjani released an open letter in which he complained about what he called the president's "insults, lies and false allegations" and asked the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to intervene.

Tension with Khamenei
In his latter years, Rafsanjani had disagreements with Ali Khamenei who has the last say in everything in Iran. Khamenei even indirectly called Rafsanjani a traitor. Following his death, Khamanei said of Rafsanjani, " I don't know any other figure with whom I have had so many shared experiences and long history in ups and downs of this era which made history."

Political parties
Before Iranian Revolution, Rafsanjani was active in the anti-Shah activities and reportedly associated with the Islamic Coalition's shura-ye ruhaniyat (lit. 'Council of the Clergy') and the People's Mujahidin.

Although Rafsanjani was a member of the pragmatic-conservative Combatant Clergy Association, he had a close bond to the Executives of Construction Party and Moderation and Development Party. In 2009, Rafsanjani ceased activity in the Combatant Clergy Association, despite remaining a member.

He was regarded as flip-flopping between conservative and reformist camps since the election of Mohammad Khatami, supporting reformers in that election, but going back to the conservative camp in the 2000 parliamentary elections as a result of the reformist party severely criticizing and refusing to accept him as their candidate. Reformists, including Akbar Ganji, accused him of involvement in murdering dissidents and writers during his presidency. In the end, the major differences between the Kargozaran and the reformists party weakened both and eventually resulted in their loss at the presidential elections in 2005. However, Rafsanjani regained close ties with the reformers since he lost the 2005 presidential elections to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Personal life
From his marriage to Effat Marashi in 1958, Rafsanjani had three sons: Mohsen, Mehdi, and Yasser, as well as two daughters, Fatemeh and Faezeh. Only Faezeh Hashemi chose a political life, which led to her becoming a Majlis representative and then the publisher of the weekly newspaper Zan (meaning Woman in English), which was closed in February 1999. In 2016, his daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, sparked a debate on religious persecution in Iran by visiting the female leader of the persecuted Baháʼí religious minority. The two women had met in prison, when Faezeh was serving a six-month sentence for "spreading propaganda against the system". Rafsanjani's daughter, Fatemeh is President of Charity Foundation for Special Diseases and Mohsen was chairman of Tehran Metro Organization and now is vice president of Azad University. His wife, Effat is the granddaughter of Mohammed Kazem Yazdi.

Assets
The Rafsanjani family took their name from his great grandfather, whose last name was Hashem. When Akbar Hashemi was born, his father was a rich businessman with a valuable pistachio business.

Hashemi and his partners also owned Islamic Azad University, worth an estimated US$20–25 billion.

Rafsanjani's three sons own properties in Dubai, including two apartments in the Burj Khalifa.

Assassination attempts
Months after the revolution, Rafsanjani was shot once in the stomach by one of the groups vying for power amid the political turmoil. He was not seriously wounded, and neither was his wife who jumped in front to shield him from the attack. "Great men of history do not die", Khomeini said in announcing that Rafsanjani had survived.

Books

 * Memories
 * The Combat Era
 * Amir Kabir: the Hero of Fighting against Imperialism (1968)
 * Tafsir Rahnama
 * Explicit Letters

In addition, the full text of his Friday Prayer sermons and his congress keynote speeches are also published separately. Based on his diary, viewpoints, speeches and interviews, several independent books have been published so far. The book in fact considered as a key to the subjects and concepts of Quran. The book has been written by Rafsanjani and several other scholars. Reception and legacy
 * Encyclopedia of Quran (Farhang-e-Quran)

Although he was a close follower of Ayatollah Khomeini and considered as a central elite during Islamic revolution, at the same time he was fan of reconstruction of shattered country after war and according to this fact, he selected his cabinets from western-educated technocrats and social reformers. His cabinet largely was a reformist one. Rafsanjani acquired both the support of Imam Khomeini in one hand and Majlis in other hand. In fact, he tried to transfer the economy towards the free-market system. There was a gap among Rafsanjani and Khatami and reform agenda because of his partnership with those who were conservative. The first face of reformist movements began by Rafsanjani. His powerful role and control over Iranian politics earned him the name "Akbar Shah".

title: Akbar Rafsanjani


text:
St. Paul Academy and Summit School

St. Paul Academy and Summit School is a college preparatory independent day school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, for students in grades K–12.

The school was established through a merger in 1969 of St. Paul Academy, a school for boys, and Summit School, a school for girls. St. Paul Academy was founded in 1900 and Summit School in 1917. Accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States, SPA is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the Cum Laude Society, and The College Board.

Recent commencement speakers have included Al Franken, Wilhelmina Wright, Coretta Scott King, and Garrison Keillor.

Academics
In the Upper School (grades 9–12), SPA has a college-preparatory liberal arts curriculum. SPA teaches an independent curriculum that does not follow either the AP or IB curriculum models, though individual students may opt to take AP tests. Courses have been taught using Harkness tables, distinctive elliptical wooden tables that seat 12–15 students, since 2005. Each year, the school sends several juniors to semester-away programs including the School for Ethics and Global Leadership in New York, Maine Coast Semester in Maine, and High Mountain Institute in Colorado.

General courses are offered during freshman and sophomore years, while semester-long electives are offered during junior and senior years.

The language department offers instruction in French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese (simplified characters) and has optional international exchange programs for students in grades 10–12 with partner schools in France, Germany, Spain, and China. All students in grades K-5 study Spanish and then are given the option to change their course of study in the Middle and Upper School.

For freshman through junior year, the history department has required courses which include two years of World History and one year of American history. In senior year, all history courses are electives.

SPA's math department offers a variety of courses that take most students through a study of Calculus as a senior, prefaced with Algebra 2, Geometry, and Pre-Calculus.

The science department at SPA offers physics, biology, and chemistry for freshman, sophomore, junior years, respectively. In senior year, semester long electives are offered, including environmental science, space science, human physiology, neuroscience, forensics, electricity and magnetism, advanced mechanics, relativity and quantum mechanics, organic chemistry, and advanced science research.

The music offerings include a jazz band, two orchestras, a wind ensembles, a coed choir, a female choir, and two smaller choral groups. The ensembles all offer a fall concert ("Pops Concert") where contemporary music is played as well as a spring concert where more traditional music is featured. SPA also hosts a free music competition every spring for singers and musicians from SPA and the surrounding area.

Graduation requirements include that seniors complete a 5–8 minute speech in front of the Upper School on a topic of their choice (Senior Speech), as well as a month-long internship in May (Senior Project).

Athletics
St. Paul Academy and Summit School is a member of the Independent Metro Athletic Conference (IMAC), part of the Minnesota State High School League. The school mascot is a Spartan, and the school's main rivals are Breck School, Blake School and Minnehaha Academy. According to school legend, SPA won the right to wear its school colors (Navy Blue and Vegas Gold) in a football game against Blake more than a century ago. The SPA-Blake rivalry is still regarded as the oldest high school rivalry in the state of Minnesota. SPA offers 15 varsity sports, and 34 teams. To date, Spartan sports teams have won 39 State titles since the school joined the MSHSL in 1975. Varsity letter-winners receive the Academy 'A', a reference to the longtime tradition of simply referring to the school as 'The Academy'.

Hockey
SPA has the oldest varsity hockey squad in the state of Minnesota. The first official team was recorded in 1905. The opponents the team faced during the early years included local colleges St. Thomas as well as the University of Minnesota, which did not field a varsity team until a few years after the academy. The hockey team has won five Minnesota Independent School League (MISL) championships, in 1941, 1942, 1961, 1962, and 1974.

Campuses
The school consists of two campuses: the Goodrich Campus and the Randolph Campus. School hours are from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., (8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays), with exceptions for after-school activities.
 * The Goodrich Campus, site of the old Summit School for girls, is the current home of the Lower School (grades K–5, ~290 students) and contains the Sarah Converse Auditorium, formerly the home of SPA theater productions. It is located at 1150 Goodrich Avenue.
 * The Randolph Campus, site of the old St. Paul Academy for boys, is the current home of the Middle School (grades 6–8, ~240 students) as well as the Upper School (grades 9–12, ~380 students). Drake hockey arena, the Harry M. Drake Gallery, and the Huss Center for the Performing Arts are located on this campus, 1712 Randolph Avenue.

Arts
With four orchestras, two bands, and four choral groups, SPA has a standing culture in the arts. These options feature different musical opportunities for students. SPA's Upper School dramatic program also hosts a fall play, winter student-directed one-act plays, and a spring musical. The Huss Center for Performing Arts was completed on the Randolph Campus in 2015, with a large stage and rooms for artistic work to be displayed. Before its completion, theater was performed at the Goodrich Campus in the Sarah Converse Auditorium, and orchestral and choral performances were held in the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherine University. Studio arts are displayed in the Harry M. Drake gallery. In September 2017, SPA's first student-directed musical was performed on the Huss Center stage. The musical was The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was directed by Jonah Harrison ('17)

Academic teams
SPA currently has a Quiz Bowl team, which is registered with NAQT and participates in the Minnesota High School Quiz Bowl's East Division. SPA sent its A team to the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament in 2014, and both its A and B team in 2015 and 2016. They have continued to send teams in the past years, with one team going in 2017 and 2018. They also have competitive math, chess, debate and science teams. As of the 2014–2015 debate season, the debate team has made the Minnesota State High School Debate Tournament 14 straight years and 17 out of the last 18 years.

SPA also has a print and online news organization: The Rubicon. For over a century, SPA's publication has been one of the school's most prized possessions. In 2018, the publication received a Gold Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the most prestigious award given to a student news organization. The Rubicon has also picked up Pacemaker awards from the National Scholastic Press Association—the "Pulitzer Prize" of student journalsim—for three years in a row. The online newspaper, RubicOnline.com, updates each of its sections several times per week, and the print edition is released every academic month. Over 40 students are staff members on the publication.

Notable alumni

 * Laura Coates (1997) is an American attorney and legal analyst for CNN, as well as the host of the 11 p.m. hour of CNN Tonight. Since 2017, she has hosted a talk radio show, The Laura Coates Show, on SiriusXM's Urban View. In January 2021, The Laura Coates Show moved to SiriusXM's POTUS.
 * Karen Ashe (1972) is director of Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory at the University of Minnesota.
 * Ann Bancroft (1974) was the first woman to successfully complete expeditions across the Arctic and Antarctic.
 * Leo Cullen (1994) is a former soccer player.
 * John Doar (1940) prominent civil rights attorney in the 1960s, who most notably defended James Meredith in his attempt to enroll in the then-segregated University of Mississippi. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
 * F. Scott Fitzgerald attended the school from 1908 to 1911, though was asked to leave and did not graduate from the school. His works include The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise.
 * Bill Frenzel (1946) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota.
 * Christopher Gores (1996) played soccer professionally for a team in Puerto Rico.
 * Reynolds Guyer (1953) invented the Nerf children's toys, along with inventing Twister.
 * Stanley S. Hubbard (1951) is the founder of Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns TV stations across Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and New Mexico (including the Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP).
 * Rebecca Jarvis (1999) is a financial reporter for CNBC and was a finalist on The Apprentice (Season 4).
 * Dave Kansas (1985) was the chief operating officer of American Public Media Group, a position that he assumed in 2011. Prior, Kansas was a journalist living in London and working for The Wall Street Journal.
 * Roger G. Kennedy (1944) served as Director of the National Park Service and of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. He was a Vice President of the Ford Foundation and has worked for the departments of Labor, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Education.
 * Manuel Lagos (1990) Played soccer professionally and for the United States national team during the Olympics.
 * Steven Levitt (1985) is the author of 2005 New York Times bestselling book Freakonomics. He led the SPA Quiz Bowl team to nationals two years in a row.
 * John C. Lilly (1933) was a neuroscientist, psychoanalylist, philosopher, and inventor, known for his research on dolphin communication and psychedelic drugs. His family is the namesake of SPA's Lilly Courtyard.
 * Amos Magee (born 1971), soccer player, coach, and front office
 * John Watson Milton is a Minnesota State Senator and writer.
 * Joan Mondale (1948) was an author, advocate for the arts, and the Second Lady of the United States. She graduated from Summit School, the girls school associated with SPA (the two later merged to become St Paul Academy and Summit School).
 * William Pedersen (1956), partner in Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, is the lead architect on the Shanghai World Financial Center, one of the world's tallest buildings.
 * Tony Sanneh (1990) is a professional soccer player who has won two Major League Soccer Cups and played every minute for the United States in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.
 * John Tate (1942) is a number theorist and winner of the 2010 Abel Prize.
 * Shirley Williams (attended 1940–43) was a politician and a House of Commons cabinet member in the United Kingdom
 * Matthew Wolff is a graphic designer known for making soccer logos and jerseys.

title: St. Paul Academy and Summit School


text:
Cutlery

Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware) includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffield in England has been famous for the production of cutlery since the 17th century and a train – the Master Cutler – running from Sheffield to London was named after the industry. Bringing affordable cutlery to the masses, stainless steel was developed in Sheffield in the early 20th century.

The major items of cutlery in Western culture are the knife, fork and spoon. These three implements first appeared together on tables in Britain in the Georgian era. In recent times, hybrid versions of cutlery have been made combining the functionality of different eating implements, including the spork ('oon / f'), spife ('oon / kn'), and knork ('ife / f'). The sporf or splade combines all three.

Etymology
The word cutler derives from the Middle English word 'cuteler' and this in turn derives from Old French 'coutelier' which comes from 'coutel'; meaning knife (modern French: couteau). The word's early origins can be seen in the Latin word 'culter' (knife).

Metallic
Sterling silver is the traditional material from which good quality cutlery is made. Historically, silver had the advantage over other metals of being less chemically reactive. Chemical reactions between certain foods and the cutlery metal can lead to unpleasant tastes. Gold is even less reactive than silver, but the use of gold cutlery was confined to the exceptionally wealthy, such as monarchs.

Steel was always used for more utilitarian knives, and pewter was used for some cheaper items, especially spoons. From the nineteenth century, electroplated nickel silver (EPNS) was used as a cheaper substitute for sterling silver.

In 1913, the British metallurgist Harry Brearley discovered stainless steel by chance, bringing affordable cutlery to the masses. This metal has come to be the predominant one used in cutlery. An alternative is melchior, corrosion-resistant nickel and copper alloy, which can also sometimes contain manganese and nickel-iron.

Titanium has also been used to make cutlery for its lower thermal conductivity and weight savings compared to steel, with uses in camping.

Plastic
Plastic cutlery is made for disposable use, and is frequently used outdoors for camping, excursions, and barbecues for instance. Plastic cutlery is also commonly used at fast-food or take-away outlets and provided with airline meals in economy class. Plastic is also used for children's cutlery. It is often thicker and more durable than disposable plastic cutlery.

Wooden
Wooden disposable cutlery is available as a popular biodegradable alternative. Bamboo (although not a wood) and maple are popular choices.

Edible
Edible cutlery is made from dried grains. These are made primarily with rice, millets or wheat. Since rice cultivation needs a lot of water, manufacturers market millet based products as more environment friendly. The batter is baked in moulds which hardens it. Some manufacturers offer an option of flavoured cutlery. Edible cutlery decomposes in about a week if disposed.

Industry
At Sheffield the trade of cutler became divided, with allied trades such as razormaker, awl bladesmith, shearsmith and forkmaker emerging and becoming distinct trades by the 18th century.

Before the mid 19th century when cheap mild steel became available due to new methods of steelmaking, knives (and other edged tools) were made by welding a strip of steel on to the piece of iron that was to be formed into a knife, or sandwiching a strip of steel between two pieces of iron. This was done because steel was then a much more expensive commodity than iron. Modern blades are sometimes laminated, but for a different reason. Since the hardest steel is brittle, a layer of hard steel may be laid between two layers of a milder, less brittle steel, for a blade that keeps a sharp edge well, and is less likely to break in service.

After fabrication, the knife had to be sharpened, originally on a grindstone, but from the late medieval period in a blade mill or (as they were known in the Sheffield region) a cutlers wheel.

Plastic
Introduced for convenience purposes (lightweight, no cleanup after the meal required), disposable cutlery made of plastic has become a huge worldwide market. Along with other disposable tableware (paper plates, plastic table covers, disposable cups, paper napkins, etc.), these products have become essential for the fast food and catering industry. The products are emblematic of throw-away societies and the cause of millions of tons of non-biodegradable plastic waste. The European Union has banned such plastic products from 3 July 2021 as part of the European Plastics Strategy. Bans are also planned in the UK and Canada.

Wooden
As an ecofriendly alternative to non-degradable plastic, wooden cutlery is gaining popularity. Some manufacturers coat their products in food-safe plant oils, waxes and lemon juice for a longer shelf life making these safe for human consumption. Cutlery is then cured for a few days before leaving the manufacturing plant.

Manufacturing centres
Traditional centres of cutlery-making include:
 * Caldas das Taipas in Portugal
 * Albacete in Spain
 * Meriden and Oneida in United States of America
 * Premana in Italy
 * Sheffield in the United Kingdom
 * Solingen in Germany
 * Seki and Sakai in Japan
 * Styria in Austria
 * Thiers and Laguiole in France
 * Toledo in Spain
 * Wazirabad in Pakistan
 * Galway in Ireland
 * Carlos Barbosa in Brazil

title: Cutlery


text:
User talk:Peter Gallagher

Hi Peter — welcome to Wikipedia! Thanks for your contributions on the WTO dispute settlement process and GIs — I'm hoping we can one day make Wikipedia the first point of reference on the nature and realpolitik of international IP law. -- pde 05:07, 13 Dec 2003 (UTC)

title: User talk:Peter Gallagher


text:
Silverware

Silverware may refer to:
 * Household silver including
 * Tableware, dishes used for serving or eating food
 * Cutlery, hand implements used for serving or eating food
 * Candlestick, a device used to hold a candle in place
 * The work of a silversmith
 * Silverware is also a slang term for a collection of trophies

title: Silverware


text:
All I Want

All I Want may refer to:

Albums

 * All I Want (PSD album)
 * All I Want (The Reverb Junkie album)
 * All I Want (Tim McGraw album)

Songs

 * "All I Want" (702 song)
 * "All I Want" (A Day to Remember song)
 * "All I Want" (Captain Hollywood Project song)
 * "All I Want" (E'voke song)
 * "All I Want" (Howard Jones song)
 * "All I Want" (Kodaline song)
 * "All I Want" (Melissa Tkautz song)
 * "All I Want" (Mis-Teeq song)
 * "All I Want" (The Offspring song)
 * "All I Want" (Olivia Rodrigo song)
 * "All I Want" (Skunk Anansie song)
 * "All I Want" (Toad the Wet Sprocket song)
 * "All I Want (For Christmas)", a 2019 song by Liam Payne
 * "All I Want", by B.o.B from Underground Luxury
 * "All I Want", by Chris Brown featuring Tyga from Indigo
 * "All I Want", by The Cure from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
 * "All I Want", by Disney from Song of the South
 * "All I Want", by Doro from Angels Never Die
 * "All I Want", by Echo & The Bunnymen from Heaven Up Here
 * "All I Want", by Joni Mitchell from Blue
 * "All I Want", by LCD Soundsystem from This Is Happening
 * "All I Want", by The Lightning Seeds from Cloudcuckooland
 * "All I Want", by The Mekons from I Love Mekons
 * "All I Want", by Puressence from Only Forever
 * "All I Want", by Ride from Weather Diaries
 * "All I Want", by Saigon Kick from The Lizard
 * "All I Want", by Sizzla from Soul Deep
 * "All I Want", by Staind from The Illusion of Progress
 * "All I Want", by Wet Wet Wet from Wet Wet Wet: The Greatest Hits
 * "All I Want", by Younger Brother from The Last Days of Gravity
 * "All I want", by Shaz Sparks from Shaz Sparks (formerly of DBA)

Other uses

 * All I Want (film), a 2002 coming-of-age dramedy
 * All I Want (Rufus Wainwright DVD)

title: All I Want


text:
Mohammad-Ali Rajai

Mohammad-Ali Rajai (15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was an Iranian politician who served as the second president of Iran from 2 August 1981 until his assassination 4 weeks later. He served also as prime minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. In addition, Rajai was minister of foreign affairs from 11 March 1981 to 15 August 1981, while he was prime minister. He was assassinated in a bombing on 30 August 1981 along with prime minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar.

Early life and education
Mohammad-Ali Rajai was born on 15 June 1933 in Qazvin, Iran. His father, a shopkeeper named Abdulsamad, died when he was four years old. Rajai grew up in Qazvin and moved to Tehran in the late 1940s. He joined the Air Force at age sixteen or seventeen. In 1959 he graduated from Tarbiat Moallem University with a degree in education. He worked as a teacher of mathematics.

Before the Islamic revolution
After moving to Tehran, Rajai became involved in the anti-Shah movement and was associated with Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani and the Fadaeian group. At one time a member of the largely anti-clerical People's Mujahedin of Iran (MKO), Rajai turned against its leftist orientation and in 1960 joined the Freedom Movement of Iran. He was arrested at least twice by the Shah's forces for his opposition activities. He displayed his bare foot at the United Nations while describing being tortured by the Shah's interrogators in 1980. His longest detention extended from May 1974 to late 1978.

After the Islamic revolution
He was actively involved in the Iranian Revolution and was a leader in the movement to purge Iranian universities of American and European influences, which was later called the Cultural Revolution. Rajaei was appointed to important occupations after the victory of Islamic revolution. The occupations were as follow:
 * As the minister of Ministry of Education (Iran)
 * As the candidate of Islamic Consultative Assembly
 * As the prime minister
 * As the president

Ministry of Education
At the beginning, Gholam Hosein Shokohi was the minister of education, and Rajaei was one of his chancellors. After Shokohi's resigning due to illness, Muhammad Ali Rajaei was appointed as the supervisor of the ministry of education. He was introduced by Muhammad Javad Bahonar, and he became the supervisor of education ministry from 18th Shahrivar month to 7th Mehr at 1357 solar. Finally, Mehdi Bazargan presented him as the minister of education in his cabinet. His programs in the ministry of education included fair distribution of facilities, fair distribution of finance among staffs, reforming of centers of educating teachers, creating a suitable pedagogical system for Muslim society, developing of Islamic ethics among teachers and pupils, creating a good relation between parents and teachers and respect to dignity of teachers according to Islam. These schedules were very important for Rajaei, and he tried to realize them. He was in charge of the ministry for nine months. The most important achievements were the consistency of all schools and also trying to do away with discrimination and differences. He also tried to change the contents of educational books and also made attempts of Islamization of their contents.

Appointment as Prime Minister
In 1979, Rajai left the Freedom Movement. Following the Iranian Revolution, he was appointed minister of education in the government of Mehdi Bazargan, and although Bazargan's cabinet resigned on 6 November 1979, he did not resign and remained in the post until 12 August 1980 when he became prime minister. Following the presidency of Bani Sadr, after 5 months, he nominated Rajai for the position, and parliament voted him in. He appointed Khodapanahi as foreign minister, Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani as interior minister and Javad Fakori as defense minister. During his premiership, the Iran–Iraq War started and his government's first policy became the "victory and defence". He was in office until 2 August 1981 when he became the second president of Iran.

Presidency
Banisadr was impeached on 22 June 1981 by parliament, and Khomeini held a Provisional Presidential Council by 6 people headed by Mohammad Beheshti and later Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili. Rajai was one of the members of that Council. He nominated himself for the presidential election in 1981. He was the first president from the Islamic Republican Party after winning 91% of the votes. He officially became the president after the Oath of Office on 2 August 1981. He named Mohammad-Javad Bahonar to the Parliament to become the next prime minister. Parliament voted in Bahonar and he formed a new government.

Assassination
On 30 August 1981, President Rajai held a meeting of Iran's Supreme Defence Council, along with the Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar. Witnesses later stated that a trusted aide brought a briefcase into the conference room, set it between the two leaders, and then left. Another person opened the case, triggering a bomb that set the room ablaze and killed Rajai, Bahonar, and three others. This attack occurred two months after the Hafte Tir bombing. Iranian officials identified Massoud Keshmiri as the culprit, an operative of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, though others allege the bombing was orchestrated by political rivals within the Islamic Republican Party. Rajai was buried in Behesht-e Zahra.

Political positions
Rajai's political programs were based on a form of constitutional law that included a position of privilege for Islam. He insisted that those in control of the state must be Muslim, emphasized the Velayat-e Faqih, and believed it essential that the government cooperate with institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and Islamic Revolutionary Court. He respected people's freedom insofar as it did not contravene Islamic law and tried during his tenure to create a consistent government.

title: Mohammad-Ali Rajai


text:
User:Dannsiems

Dann Siems Evolutionary Ecology, Natural History, Science Education Bemidji, Minnesota

title: User:Dannsiems