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Hans Fischerkoesen

Hans Fischerkoesen, also known as Hans Fischerkösen or Hans Fischer (18 May 1896 – 23 April 1973) was a German commercial animator. Fischerkoesen is considered an animation pioneer, due to the inventions and innovations he applied to animation technology, especially the use of three-dimensional elements in his animations. Later he becomes Germany's most influential cartoonist, often nicknamed “Germany’s Walt Disney” alongside Rolf Kauka. He won both first and second prizes at a Dutch-sponsored international competition in 1937, for advertising films (the runners up included George Pal and Alexander Alexeieff ). By 1956 he had won major prizes at commercial film festivals in Rome, Milan (three times), Venice, Monte Carlo and Cannes. Most notable was the participation in the 1st Berlin International Film Festival, where Fischerkoesen's film Blick ins Paradies won the Bronze Medal (Advertising Film) award.

Filmography

 * 1919: Das Loch im Westen (The Hole in the West)
 * 1921: Bummel-Petrus (Strolling Peter)
 * 1922: Seemansliebe (Sailors Love)
 * 1923: Die Besteigung des Himalaja (Climbing of the Himalaya)
 * 1924: Der Pfennig muß es bringen (The penny must bring it)
 * 1925: ''Der Kluge Einfall (The Clever Idea)
 * 1926: Die Geschichte vom Schokoladenkasper (The History of Chocolate Kasper)
 * 1927: Auf der Skitour (On the Ski Tour)
 * 1928: Zur gefälligen Beachtung (For Your Attention)
 * 1929: Der möblierte Herr (The Furnished Mister)
 * 1930: Tanztee (Tea Dance)
 * 1933: Schall und Rauch (Smoke and Mirrors)
 * 1934: Vertrag mit der Hölle (The Contract with the Hell)
 * 1935: Das blaue Wunder (The Blue Wonder)
 * 1936: Gesang des Kragenknopfes (Song of the Collar Button)
 * 1937: Zwei Minuten von Bedeutung (Two Minutes of Importance)
 * 1938: Dicke Luft (Thick Air)
 * 1940: Im Glückshimmel (In Happiness Heaven)
 * 1942: Verwitterte Melodie (Weather-Beaten Melody)
 * 1944: Der Schneemann (The Snowman)
 * 1944: Das dumme Gänslein (The Silly Goose)
 * 1944: La Prairie Enchantée (French title for The Enchanted Meadow, projected in color in 1944 at Paris)
 * 1951: Blick ins Paradies (Looking into Paradise)
 * 1955: Durch Nacht zum Licht (Through Night to Light)
 * 1964: Die Kleine Null (The Little Zero)

Early life
Hans Fischer was born on 18 May 1896 in the small town of Bad Kösen, near Naumburg, at the River Saale in the German state of Saxony. Because the name “Fischer” was a very common name in the film industry, he later created the alias of Fischerkoesen, by combining his name – Fischer and his birthplace - Kösen, in order to distinguish himself from others. His father was a middle-class entrepreneur, dealing with building materials. He was a sensitive child, affected by asthma, which determined his parents to spoil both him and his sister Leni, by creating puppet shows and home entertainment, thus they developed a taste for fantasy and spectacle. Confined in bed most of his childhood by this bad case of asthma, he developed a great passion for drawing. Later, in 1916 he and his equally talented sister Leni, attended for three years the Academy of Graphic Arts, in Leipzig. Over the years, Leni was Fischerkoesen's closest collaborator on many animation film projects.

During the First World War, Fischerkoesen could not serve as a soldier because of his asthma, but he worked in army hospitals near to the front line where he witnessed the shocking horrors of trench warfare. Profoundly impressed by these terrifying experiences, at his return home when the war was ended, Fischerkoesen planned to make an animation film, Das Loch im Westen (The Hole in the West), which would expose the war profiteer as the real cause of the war. Thus, he spent months drawing about 1600 sequential images, designed his own animation stand and shot the animation movie himself, and successfully sold it to a local distributor for 3,000 marks which allowed him to pursue an animation career. Hole in the West, Fischerkoesen's first film, premiered in 1919 and made history as the first animated film ever produced in Germany.

Commercial Animator Career
In 1921, Fischerkoesen launched a highly successful advertising career with an ad for the Leipzig shoe factory Nordheimer, Bummel –Petrus (Strolling Peter). In the same year he made another three animated advertising ads: Die Entführung and König Grogs Löwenabenteuer (both Transocean-Film) and Professor Sprit (Dux- Film). The success led to a two-year contract with Julius Pinschewer, owner of the leading Berlin advertising company Werbefilm G.m.b.H.-Pinschewer, who had pioneered the use of animated commercials in movie theatres back in 1911. As a result of this collaboration, he produced Die Besteigung des Himalaja (1923), Abbau auch im Harem (1924), Brand im Wolkenkratzer (1924), Glück auf! (1924), Der Glücksvogel (1924), Im Urwald (1924), Nunak, die Eskima (1924), Der Pfennig muss es bringen (1924), Sonnenersatz (1924), Das Zauberpferd (1924), Der kluge Dackel (1925), Jette’s Ausgang (1925), Meier glüht (1925), Der kluge Einfall (1925), Das Seegespenst (1925), Die Geschichte vom Scholokadenkasper (1926), Auf der Skitour (1926) and many other. Probably, the most important film of this period was Der Pfennig muss es bringen (The penny must bring it), an advertisement for the German Saving Bank and the Giro Co-operative Bank done in November 1924, which would fuel the later accusation of collaboration with the Nazi regime as both banks were to become an integral part of the Nazi plan for funding the war. Fischerkoesen worked for Pinschewer until 1928, when he temporarily worked for the propaganda film society “Epoche”, shortly after starting to work at Ufa's (Universum Film AG) propaganda department. After becoming chief draughtsman, he established his own studio in Potsdam.

In 1931, Fischerkoesen was celebrated by a Leipzig newspaper, with an article entitled “Watch out Mickey Mouse, Felix the Cat, and Co.”, article illustrated with images from his ads, such as a cow with a lyre built into her horns, a bull in a tuxedo or an Art-Deco style kangaroo ballet. He continued his successful advertising career and made over 1000 publicity films, most of which are unfortunately lost. However, he did not limit just to commercials and advertising films, but he contributed with several animated sequences to culture films and he has done as well military training films for the Army High Command (OKW) and Mars-Film G.m.b.H.

The Nazi Era
Although the installation of the Nazi regime in 1933 did not affect too much of Fischerkoesen’s activity, the outbreak of the Second World War pushed his career on the verge of collapse, as the products that he had promoted so successfully were increasingly becoming luxury items. The decline was accentuated in 1941, when Joseph Goebbels, head of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) decided, through an order issued on October 14 by the Werberat (Advertising Council of German Industry), to prohibit advertising of so-called Mangelware (scarce goods, especially food and clothes). With no future in the advertising industry, Fischerkoesen saw his career taking an unexpected turn as both Hitler and Goebbels loved cinema in general and they had a great passion for animated cartoons, especially for Walt Disney’s productions, and dreamed to create a German animated film industry bigger and better than the one in the United States. Thus, on 25 June 1941 Goebbels founded a new animated film company Deutsche Zeichentrickfilme G.m.b.H (DZF), regarded as an important war facility which offered training for young cartoonists.

The German Animation Film Company (DZF) was aimed to start the production of feature-length animated films by 1947 and the successful animator Fischerkoesen was a natural choice to be involved in this strategic project. In this context, Fischerkoesen was required to move his staff and studio to Potsdam, near UFA’s studios. Fischerkoesen did not reject a collaboration with the Nazi propaganda machine, but he argued that he was not really talented to invent ideas for story films as he was experienced in the advertising industry. Consequently, he was assigned to work with Horst von Mollendorf, a popular Berlin newspaper cartoonist who was expected to help him with the scrips for the future animations. In these circumstances, Fischerkoesen was commissioned by Goebbels to create cartoons that were technologically equal or better than Disney’s animations, and received enough funding to produce his three most important and costly films: Die Verwitterte Melodie (Weather-Beaten Melody) in 1942, Der Schneemann  (The Snowman) in 1943 and  Das dumme Gänslein (The Silly Goose) in 1944. All three films respected Goebbels’ directives, as they were made without spoken dialogue, so it was easy to be played internationally without costly subtitles synchronisation, and used the “three dimensional” effects (especially The Snowman was highly appreciated during the rule of the National Socialists).

Weather-Beaten Melody or Scherzo tells the story of a wasp who discovers an abandoned gramophone in a meadow and, with its stinger manages to make it play the Foxtrott Wenn die Woche keinen Sonntag hätt (If the Week had no Sunday). Der Schneemann presents the adventures of a special snowman, a “humanly” one with a warm spot in his heart who after seeing pictures with the summer in a calendar, decided to see the warm season at any costs and ended melted in July. For the last short animation of the series, The Silly Goose, Fischerkoesen preferred to renounce his collaboration with Horst von Mollendorf, and produced the film on his own. The film tells the story of a vain goose who ventures beyond the borders of the farmhouse where she lived and nearly ended killed by a fox. In contrast to the first two short animations, in this last film can be noticed several antisemitic symbols, such as the fox who represents the “malicious Jew”, or the well-known Yiddish song Bei Mir Bistu Shein played in the background while the fox attempt to ambush the undisciplined goose.

The animations satisfied Goebbels’ expectations, thanks to their technical qualities and to the message transmitted, similar to the Nazi ideology of Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil), which glorified the simplicity and the virtue of the rural life, the return to the nature and required everyone to stay where they belong. On the other hand, elements which indicate a relative insubordination to the Nazi rhetoric can be found, such as the forbidden jazz music in Die verwitterte Melodie, the snowman’s anticipation of better days in Der Schneemann or the ambiguous narrative created in  Das Dumme Ganslein.

Post Second World War Career
When the Second World War ended, Fischerkösen was arrested by the Russian troops under the suspicion of Nazi collaboration and was kept for three years in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, until he proved not just that he was not a Nazi sympathizer, but that he was actually part of an underground resistance group of artists. During the imprisonment time he was detached to work in the kitchen and in order to survive captivity he occasionally drew portraits of the Soviet guards in exchange for a piece of bread, or to maintain a good morale he painted allegorical murals using vegetable caricatures, which are now preserved as a national historical monument. Released in 1948, Fischerkoesen fled with his wife and two children from the Soviet-controlled zone of Germany to the French-controlled sector, where he returned to his pre-Nazi career, founding Fischerkoesen-Studios in Mehlem. He became Germany’s leading producer of animated commercials and his notoriety and success was recognized by a cover story in Der Spiegel, on 29 August 1956. By the mid-1960s, due to the development of television and the request for shorter and snappier clips, Fischerkoesen found it more difficult to keep up with the modern times, thus his commercials became briefer. Fischerkoesen Studios were closed in 1972, just a year before his death, but his son reorganized it and developed it into a new company. Hans Fischerkösen died of a stroke at the age of 76, on 25 April 1973.

title: Hans Fischerkoesen


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Thousand Islands Bridge

The Thousand Islands International Bridge (Pont des Mille-îles) is an American-maintained international bridge system over the Saint Lawrence River connecting northern New York in the United States with southeastern Ontario in Canada. Constructed in 1937, with additions in 1959, the bridges span the Canada–US border in the middle of the Thousand Islands region. All bridges in the system carry two lanes of traffic, one in each direction, with pedestrian sidewalks.

Structure
The Thousand Islands International Bridge system is a series of five bridges spanning the St. Lawrence River. From south to north, they are:
 * 1) American mainland to Wellesley Island (main span )
 * 2) Wellesley Island to Hill Island (international crossing)
 * 3) Hill Island to Constance Island
 * 4) Constance Island to Georgina Island
 * 5) Georgina Island to Canadian mainland

The system's southern end connects with Interstate 81 and the northern end with Highway 401 via Highway 137. There is also an interchange with the Thousand Islands Parkway on the Ontario side.

The actual international border bridge crossing is a set of two parallel 90 ft bridges between Wellesley Island in the United States and Hill Island in Canada.

Administration
The bridge system is administered by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, a New York State public benefit corporation, whose seven board members (Four Americans and three Canadians) are appointed by the Jefferson County Board of Legislators. The Authority also maintains and administers Boldt Castle.

Tolls are paid only by cash, E-ZPass, or Commuter Discount Fare Trip Tags, which are prepaid for either 16 trips (US$20.00) or 72 trips (US$32.00). The Bridge Authority is a member of the multi-state E-ZPass consortium, and introduced electronic toll collection in June 2019. No other ETC transponders are currently offered or accepted, although the Bridge Authority offers sales of transponders of Florida's SunPass for the convenience of Canadian travelers en route to Florida.

Border crossing
The Thousand Islands Border Crossing connects the towns of Alexandria Bay, New York and Ivy Lea, Ontario at the Thousand Islands Bridge.

It is the westernmost of the three St. Lawrence River crossings, and is very busy, with up to two-hour waits in the summer. The US border station at Alexandria Bay is sometimes called Thousand Islands. The Canada border station of Lansdowne is sometimes called Gananoque, for the nearby town where international ferry service is provided. These border stations are also responsible for inspecting vessel traffic between the countries. The US has seasonal vessel inspection stations on Heart Island and at Cape Vincent, NY, and Canada has seasonal vessel inspection stations at Rockport, Ontario and Gananoque, Ontario. Both Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) travel to selected ports and marinas on request for inspections.

History
The entire Thousand Islands Bridge system took sixteen months to build, beginning with a ground-breaking on April 30, 1937. Completed ten weeks ahead of schedule, the bridges opened on August 18, 1938, with the ribbon cut by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Its total cost was $3.05 million (equivalent to $ million in dollars).

Shortly after opening, the bridge displayed aerodynamic oscillation problems that were quickly corrected via structural upgrades.

In its first year of operation, over 118,000 vehicles crossed the bridge. Today, annual crossings exceed 2,000,000 vehicles.

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

title: Thousand Islands Bridge


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Scary Movie 2

Scary Movie 2 is a 2001 American supernatural parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It is the sequel to Scary Movie and the second film in the Scary Movie film series. The film stars Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans (all reprising their roles from the first film, despite their characters having been killed), as well as Tim Curry, Tori Spelling, Chris Elliott, Chris Masterson, Kathleen Robertson, David Cross and James Woods. The film is the last in the series to feature the involvement of stars Marlon and Shawn Wayans, and director Keenan. Marlon would eventually go on to produce a similar horror-themed parody, A Haunted House, and its sequel, both starring himself. In the latter film, Wayans pokes fun at the Scary Movie series' decline in quality after his family's departure.

Where the original film was mainly based on the slasher films of the 1990s, Scary Movie 2 parodies an array of supernatural and haunted house films from various decades, namely The Haunting (1999), Stigmata (1999), The Exorcist (1973), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), The Amityville Horror (1979), Poltergeist (1982), The Legend of Hell House (1973), House on Haunted Hill (both the 1959 and 1999 versions), The Changeling (1980), What Lies Beneath (2000) and Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) while also making many references to the slasher flick I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). It also spoofs the comedy film Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and some contemporary films, such as Hannibal (2001), Hollow Man (2000) and Charlie's Angels (2000).

Scary Movie 2 was commercially successful, grossing $141.2 million worldwide from a $45 million budget, but received largely negative reviews from critics. A sequel was released in 2003.

Plot
At the haunted mansion Hell House, teenager Megan Voorhees becomes possessed by the spirit of Hugh Kane, the house's cruel, wicked previous owner. She interrupts a formal dinner party, thrown by her mother, who seeks help from two priests, Fathers McFeely and Harris. After an unsuccessful attempt to exorcise Kane's ghost, McFeely pulls a gun and shoots Megan.

One year later, Cindy Campbell, Brenda Meeks, Ray Wilkins and Shorty Meeks are at college, trying to live new lives after surviving the events of the first film. Cindy and Brenda are tagged by socially maladjusted Alex. Shorty is still the same stoner he was before. Ray, still confused about his sexuality, has two new male friends, Tommy and Buddy, the latter of whom becomes romantically interested in Cindy. She rebuffs him but agrees to be friends.

The sinister Professor Oldman and his charming paraplegic assistant, Dwight Hartman, plan to study the paranormal activity at Hell House. They recruit Cindy and her friends as test subjects under the pretense of a psychological experiment on sleep paralysis. On her drive to the mansion, Cindy listens and sings badly along to Graduation by Vitamin C whom through the radio tells her to shut up. At the mansion, Cindy encounters a foul-mouthed parrot and Hanson, a creepy caretaker with a badly malformed hand. Later, the attractive Theo joins the group. They sit down for dinner but soon lose their appetite due to Hanson's repulsive handling of the food.

That night, Cindy hears voices directing her to a secret room, where she and Buddy discover Kane's wife's diary. Seeing her portrait, they note Cindy's (slight) resemblance. Meanwhile, the others also experience bizarre encounters. Kane's ghost has sex with Alex in her bedroom and quickly departs at the mention of commitment. Cindy gets into a fistfight with the house cat, Mr. Kittles. When Cindy tries to tell Oldman, he dismisses it and sends Theo to take Cindy to bed.

Later, Cindy is possessed by Kane's wife, and she seduces Oldman. She quickly returns to normal, with no memory of the event. A toy clown attempts to kill Ray, but in a strange turn of events, the doll is molested by him instead. A weed-monster rolls Shorty into a joint. It proceeds to smoke him (to his enjoyment), but gets distracted and lets him escape.

The next morning, Oldman tells Dwight that no one is leaving the house despite the attacks and shows his lecherous nature. Dwight is given the only house keys and told to give them to nobody. Theo offers oral sex to no avail; Dwight does it to himself. She knocks him out and takes the keys.

Oldman is seduced and killed by the ghost of Kane's mistress, Victoria Crane. Shorty later encounters the same ghost but charms and has sex with her. After Dwight equips the teens with weapons that can injure their spectral enemy, they are pursued throughout the mansion, Alex attempts to win Kane's love, but is killed by Crane's ghost. Buddy and Cindy are locked in the walk-in freezer. Cindy uses a collection of random objects to produce a Caterpillar 2-Ton tractor and escapes the freezer. Hanson becomes possessed by Kane and kidnaps an inebriated Shorty. Cindy, Brenda, and Theo team up to battle him with highly stylized fight choreography but are defeated. Dwight regroups with the teens, and Cindy volunteers to act as bait to lure Kane into a device that will destroy him. The plan succeeds, freeing the group from the house's curse.

Two months later, Cindy and Buddy are in a relationship. They are out on a walk when Hanson appears to take her away with him. Buddy disappears as Hanson gets hit by a car, driven by Shorty.

Cast

 * Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell
 * Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks
 * Shawn Wayans as Ray Wilkins
 * Marlon Wayans as Shorty Meeks
 * Christopher Masterson as Buddy Sanderson
 * Kathleen Robertson as Theo
 * David Cross as Dwight Hartman
 * Tim Curry as Professor Oldman
 * Tori Spelling as Alex Monday
 * Chris Elliott as Hanson
 * James Woods as Father McFeely
 * Andy Richter as Father Harris
 * Richard Moll as Hugh Kane (Hell House Ghost)
 * Veronica Cartwright as Mrs. Voorhees
 * Natasha Lyonne as Megan Voorhees
 * Beetlejuice as Shorty's brain
 * Matt Friedman (voice) as Polly the parrot
 * Vitamin C (voice) as herself
 * Suli McCullough (voice) as Clown
 * Jennifer Curran as Victoria Crane, Hugh's mistress

Parodies

 * House on Haunted Hill (1959)
 * Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
 * The Exorcist (1973)
 * The Legend of Hell House (1973)
 * The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
 * The Amityville Horror (1979)
 * The Changeling (1980)
 * Poltergeist (1982)
 * Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984)
 * A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
 * Ghostbusters (1984)
 * Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
 * Rocky IV (1985)
 * Red Heat (1988)
 * High Spirits (1988)
 * Road House (1989)
 * Days of Thunder (1990)
 * Jumanji (1995)
 * Twister (1996)
 * Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
 * Titanic (1997)
 * Alien: Resurrection (1997)
 * Paulie (1998)
 * Very Bad Things (1998)
 * I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
 * The Mummy (1999)
 * Wild Wild West (1999)
 * The Haunting (1999)
 * Stigmata (1999)
 * House on Haunted Hill (1999)
 * Final Destination (2000)
 * Gladiator (2000)
 * Mission: Impossible II (2000)
 * Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
 * What Lies Beneath (2000)
 * Hollow Man (2000)
 * Snatch (2000)
 * Charlie's Angels (2000)
 * Cast Away (2000)
 * Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
 * Save the Last Dance (2001)
 * Hannibal (2001)
 * A Knight's Tale (2001)
 * Cats & Dogs (2001)
 * Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
 * The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
 * Dirty Harry (1971)

Production
The film is a sequel to Scary Movie. According to director Keenen Ivory Wayans, the filmmakers watched over 130 horror films for background research. Marlon Brando was originally cast as Father McFeely and completed one day of filming before he had to leave the production due to illness. He was replaced by James Woods who was paid $1 million for four days work. Charlton Heston had also turned down the Woods role. At one point, former President Bill Clinton, who had just left office the year the film came out, was also considered.

Because Miramax had not greenlit this sequel until the massive box office success of the first, the film faced a punishing production schedule that involved coming up with a script and tearing through production and post-production in a total of less than nine months, roughly half the average time for all those steps to be completed on a standard Hollywood production in 2000–2001. It was this rushed production that made the Wayans never want to make another Scary Movie, and they were not involved in any of the sequels.

Music
Unlike its predecessor, the film does not have an official soundtrack. It features a heavily hip hop and rap catalogue, with some rock and techno songs.

 * "Hello, Dolly!" (Jerry Herman)
 * "Shake Ya Ass" – Mystikal
 * "Tubular Bells" – Mike Oldfield
 * "I Walk Alone" - Oleander
 * "Killer Bee" - Meeks
 * "If I Had No Loot" - Tony! Toni! Toné!
 * "Givin' My Dick Away" - Trace
 * "Holiday Party" - Big Daddy
 * "Sorry Now" – Sugar Ray
 * "Evel Knieval" - Ceasefire V Deadly Avenger
 * "U Know What's Up" – Donell Jones
 * "Graduation (Friends Forever)" – Vitamin C
 * "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" – Eve ft. Gwen Stefani
 * "History Repeating" – Propellerheads ft. Shirley Bassey
 * "Fever" – Richard Marino & His Orchestra
 * "Insane in the Brain" – Cypress Hill
 * "Smack My Bitch Up" – The Prodigy
 * "Skullsplitter" – Hednoize
 * "Ride Wit Me" – Nelly ft. City Spud (played over the end credit sequence)
 * "So Erotic" – Casey Crown ft. Jay Dee
 * "When It's Dark" – Trace ft. Neb Luv

Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Dimension Home Video banner on December 18, 2001, with an array of special features, including commentaries and various deleted scenes.

Following the sale of Miramax to Farmyard Holdings, Lionsgate Home Entertainment later reissued the DVD, and released the film on Blu-ray on September 20, 2011.

Box office
Scary Movie 2 opened on the Fourth of July weekend and ranked second at the US box office behind Cats & Dogs, with $20.5 million. In North America, the film grossed $71.3 million. With $69.9 million internationally, the worldwide gross comes to $141.2 million. Out of the first four Scary Movie films, this was the least successful to date, until the fifth film in 2013.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, Scary Movie 2 has an approval rating of 14% based on 112 reviews and an average rating of 3.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Instead of being funny, this gross-out sequel plays like a sloppy, rushed-out product." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 29 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

title: Scary Movie 2


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User talk:Ravn/Archive/2006-03-07

Welcome on my talk page.

Please add your messages at the bottom. I will usually reply on this page, as I like coherent discussion threads. -- Ravn 17:32, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

A welcome
Hello there Ravn, welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay.

If you ever need editing help visit How does one edit a page or how to format them visit our manual of style.

Experiment at Sandbox.

If you need pointers on how we title pages visit Naming conventions.

If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump.

And of course, feel free to talk with me at my talk page. Pfortuny 12:35, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Thanks. =) Ravn

Germans
I've for long (a year, actually) been itched by the way Wikipedia-links are done with often sloppy distinctions between nationality, citizenship and ethnicity (with regard to persons) and also between nations and countries. This is particularly obvious in the case of people or entities that are denoted as German. A link to the Federal Republic of Germany is often outright unhistorical and wrong, but this has until now been the most usual.

That's why I'm considering an article on Germans, which I've started at the temporary location User:Ruhrjung/Germans. I would wish to avoid too much of edit wars after having started to link to the article. In particular, I would not wish to see the current disputes over German-Polish matters automatically extend also to this article, why I kindly ask you for comments now, in advance, in order to try to find wordings acceptable to as many as possible of concerned wikipedians.

I look forward to your comments at User talk:Ruhrjung/Germans. --Ruhrjung 00:06, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Learning Project
Hi there, since I saw you registered as a translator I would like to know if you are interested in this. I have written a program for learning vocabulary. It is based on the belief that it is best to learn foreign words by learning typical sentences. I currently have files in English, French (with sound), Spanish, and Portuguese, Catalan is in the planning. The program can also be used for learning other stuff that works with the question/answer scheme, e.g. the theory for the driving licence or anatomy. It also uses images and sound files for alternation and in order to work on the pronunciation. If you are interested please check my page and let me know. Get-back-world-respect 00:57, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

Hi Get-back-world-respect. I had a look at your project. Since I am a heavy linux user, I would have trouble contributing, since neither qbasic, winamp or the other required programs are very portable. But I had a severe nostalgic flash when reading that QBasic is still alive. It was also one of my first languages to use. ;)

Best, Ravn 12:35, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

Wikifun
Hey there Ravn looks like you got the most correct answers for Wikifun! You can now start up the new tasks if you have any ideas. Wikifun feel free to contact me if you like before posting tasks. --Larsie 18:58, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

wikifun
good job on the new tasks! i like your style, but don't go too fast as when i was posting tasks i would post one or two per day. the reason being if a person starts the first task near the ending of round two they may not have time to finish them all. hey, keep up the good work!--Larsie 15:46, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

wikifun 2
hey there again. i actually changed the fact that it would be open so we need to keep an eye out for those who place new tasks besides ourselves, vandalism, etc. when this next round is done the winner will go ahead and pretty much take your position. however keep in mind if oyu can get the most right answers for the round after you can regain your controll. hey would you mind actually placing that info on the wikifun main page?--Larsie 16:32, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

hey there forget to say if you happen to find any good place to add a wikifun link go ahead and try to get as much exposure as possible. --Larsie 18:23, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

department of fun
i added you as a member to Department of Fun i just started this page so it is not quite finished (if it will ever be) but feel free to give me ideas. if you don't want to be involved you can just take your link off.--Larsie 19:32, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

hello, just wanted to ask you to replace your link on the dept of fun page w/ signiature/timestamp so we can record when we became members of the department

mind benders
good job on the mind benders--Larsie 17:13, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Historical Abbots
Yes, there is. I would like (though I had to stop before I really got started yesterday) to move all small, not particularly famous abbots into one larger page. It makes life a little easier. I would leave in place all the abbots who are more historically notable or who have larger pages. Sort of like Minor characters in Star Wars, these monks are alltogether an important thing, but seperately are completely unnotable. I was doing this in the interest of preserving the information - small articles (especially orphans) tend to get VfD'd easier. I'd prefer that you didn't revert my change before we talked it out. PMC 23:25, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC) Edit: On a side note, Historical abbots is a compendium of your two pages - none of your information is actually lost.

Lol, my apologies about the snappish edit summary. I was trying to calm down from a heated discussion elsewhere and as you can see it didn't work...I figured they were orphan articles no one cared about anyway, but I was wrong. I'm glad that we've come to a resolution on it =D PMC 00:11, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Frogs and other things
I'm by no means an expert for egyptian hieroglyphs, but I thought was 100'000; not

I based this on and. Anyway, check the brand-new article on egyptian numerals! I'm sure an expert will correct I8 to I7 if indeed the frog should be the correct number sign. Lupo 15:49, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

 * Oh, and thanks a lot for these highly interesting questions. I had a lot of fun searching for the solutions, even if I would have preferred to see more other Wikipedians participating. (Well, maybe there were others, and I just happened to be the quickest.) Lupo 15:53, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Economy of Europe
Hi, I noticed you'd earlier supported this new article's nomination for Collaboration of the Week. It has been re-nominated, having been worked on a little and has gained backers. Simply add your support here. Obviously such a big project needs as many users with relevant knowledge as possible, so hopefully this will promote it a little. Thanks, Grunners 00:37, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Wikifun
Hi Ravn, I'm writing a number of questions for a new quiz. If you want, I'll try to write 20 of them, or else you can get the ones I've got so far. Eugene van der Pijll 11:55, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * I have been working hard today, and I have just finished my 20th question. If you want to send that sucmission, you still can, of course; then I'll change one of my questions. The "E-mail this user" on my user page should work. You can also keep it for the next round, if you prefer. I'll put up an announcement on the Wikifun page with a starting date: for example tomorrow evening (UTC). Eugene van der Pijll 19:18, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Partition of India
You voted for Partition of India, this week's Collaboration of the week. Please come and help it become a featured-standard article.

WikiProject Historical Figures still active?
I've moved WikiProject Historical Figures to the Inactive section of the WikiProject page, as it hasn't been edited since Nov 1st; I wanted to let you know, and ask if you're still working on it. If so, feel free to move it back up into the active section. JesseW 07:33, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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

Article Licensing
Hi, I've started a drive to get users to multi-license all of their contributions that they've made to either (1) all U.S. state, county, and city articles or (2) all articles, using the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC-by-sa) v1.0 and v2.0 Licenses or into the public domain if they prefer. The CC-by-sa license is a true free documentation license that is similar to Wikipedia's license, the GFDL, but it allows other projects, such as WikiTravel, to use our articles. Since you are among the top 2000 Wikipedians by edits, I was wondering if you would be willing to multi-license all of your contributions or at minimum those on the geographic articles. Over 90% of people asked have agreed. For More Information:
 * Multi-Licensing FAQ - Lots of questions answered
 * Multi-Licensing Guide
 * Free the Rambot Articles Project

To allow us to track those users who muli-license their contributions, many users copy and paste the " " template into their user page, but there are other options at Template messages/User namespace. The following examples could also copied and pasted into your user page:

 * Option 1
 * I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

OR
 * Option 2
 * I agree to multi-license all my contributions to any U.S. state, county, or city article as described below:

Or if you wanted to place your work into the public domain, you could replace " " with "  ". If you only prefer using the GFDL, I would like to know that too. Please let me know what you think at my talk page. It's important to know either way so no one keeps asking. -- Ram-Man (comment| talk)

 * Could you please consider this? Many of your images would be great for Wikitravel. Jpatokal 11:53, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Deutsch: Veganismus
Ich hätte gerne gewusst, wo sich Linsay Allen von ihrer eigenen These distanziert hat.

Da du aber selber Veganer bist (oder wenigstens an dem Mist interressiert), wüsste ich gerne, wo sie sich hierbei distanziert hat! Natürlich eine Nicht-Vegane Quelle!

Ansonsten ist es wieder mal die übliche vegane Zensurpolitik, die man ja eh schon Genügend kennt!

 * Bitte bleibe sachlich.

 * Frau Allen hat sich nicht von ihrer These distanziert, sondern von der Berichterstattung in den Medien. In der Diskussion zum Revert habe ich zwei Quellen genannt, die beide nichts mit Veganismus zu tun haben. Das eine ist ein unabhängiger Medien-Beobachter, das andere das Uni-Journal der UC Davis, an der Lindsay Allen lehrt. Angeblich kannst Du ihr auch selbst eine Mail schreiben, um einen diesbezüglichen Standardbrief zu bekommen. Das habe ich aber auch bloß nicht ausprobiert. Wenn Du den Wortlaut ihrer Mail (oder der Studie) online findest, wäre ich für einen Hinweis dankbar.

 * Dein Vorwurf, irgendetwas würde zensiert, ist unberechtigt. Ich habe Deine Aussage hauptsächlich deshalb reverted, weil sie eine stark umstrittene Studie als absolute Wahrheit darstellt. Dies entspricht nicht dem NPOV, solange nicht auch auf die Schwächen derselben hingewiesen wird. Wenn Du die Studie gerne erwähnen möchtest, würde ich vorschlagen, zumindest den Artikel des BBC zu verlinken, der beide Positionen und die (IMHO berechtigte) Kritik erwähnt.

 * Wenn Du häufiger in der Wikipedia schreibst, solltest Du Dir überlegen, ob Du Dich anmeldest. Dies erlaubt anderen Wikipedianern, Deine Erfahrung im Edieren von Artikeln besser einzuschätzen. Beiträge von anonymen IP-Adressen werden auch einfach deshalb häufiger reverted, weil man nicht sagen kann, ob es sich um einen ernsthaften Beitrag oder um einen Troll handelt - gerade bei Beiträgen mit Provokationspotenzial und Rechtschreibfehlern. Ausserdem erlaubt Dir das, Deine Beiträge zu unterschreiben, damit ich Dir auf Deiner Benutzerseite antworten kann. -- Ravn 12:27, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)

User:Larsie
Hello,

I am looking into contributions made by User:Larsie, specifically the issues raised at Votes for deletion/Lars Olsen.

User:Larsie left some cryptic messages on User talk:Chrispy about trying to avoid something being public and getting kicked off Wikipedia.

I see he also left some messages for you in a similar time period, perhaps about some game or activity. Do you have any information you can provide about what User:Larsie was up to? -- Curps 22:56, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Mind Benders
Hello! I've noticed your past interest in Mind Benders and wanted to share the following announcement with you! I've taken over the responsibilities of Mind Benders, and the page will now be regularly updated. Right now, the pre-round is open (it's more of a creative artistic competition), and round one will open soon (the questions are done, we just need to wait for the pre-round to begin/finish)! So why not check it out? I'll keep you updated! Thanks, Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 01:23, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

P.S. Feel free to pass this news on to other Wikipedians.

Mind Benders
Hello! I've noticed your past interest in Mind Benders and wanted to let you know that round one is now officially open! Consisting of ten challenging, puzzling questions, it is sure to be tons of WikiFun! In addition, take a look at all 9 of our great artistic entries and vote for one of them! Hope to see you there! Flcelloguy | A note? | Desk 15:48, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

Wikifun
Hi, I've noticed you've taken part in Wikifun before.

Just to let you know, Round 11 began today at 0900 GMT. Dmn 09:39, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Congratulations
Congratulations! You are the winner of Wikifun Round 11. Would you like to prepare the questions for the next Wikifun? Dmn 20:17, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Congratulations, indeed! I had figured out #9 was talking about the Security Council, but couldn't figure out how Doctor Who and poutine figured in. Brilliantly solved! --Dmleach 20:27, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

 * Thank you both! I'd very much like to prepare the next questions.
 * @Dmleach: For me, the name "poutine" was quite a giveaway. I had never heard of it before and immediately though it sounds like Putin when I first read it. I had to struggle to stumble on the Council though. I was quite stuck with the UNIT from Doctor Who.

 * Oh, and thanks to Dnm for inviting me.. I missed Wikifun a lot, and missed quite a few rounds as well. --Ravn 19:14, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the invitation to Wikifun 12; I'm really looking forward to it! --Dmleach 18:24, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedians/Germany is being replaced by a category
Hello! You were listed on the Wikipedians/Germany page as living in or being associated with Germany. As part of the User categorisation project, these lists are being replaced with user categories. If you would like to add yourself to the category that is replacing the page, or one of the Bundesland-based subcategories, please visit Category:Wikipedians in Germany for instructions. --Angr ( tɔk ) 15:17, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

transparency
update on the talk page reg. Mion 05:19, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Binary
I liked your edit but I would like Binary numeral system or the entire line to be emphasize. Also for it to become a redirect to Binary numeral system or Binary moved to Binary (disambiguation), Binary numeral system moved to binary -- A dam1213 Talk + 07:40, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

DabMachine
Heya, good work with DabMachine, however could you make the edits with a logged-in account? It makes RC patrol of not-logged-in edits a little easier. Thanks in advance. --W(t) 21:33, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Oops, failed to read your FAQ, sorry about that. Why don't you just grab the session cookies from your browser though? --W(t) 21:34, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks - I can login and get a valid session cookie. Copying it into my browser works fine. However, when I send it while saving an edit, I get the message "session data lost". Sorry - I will try to sort this out, before doing further edits. I didn't think about the RC patrol. -- Ravn 21:44, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

In case you're not reading User talk:DabMachine, why are you doing this? See Redirects. What purpose are you hoping to accomplish here? --TreyHarris 04:44, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
 * -> User_talk:DabMachine

seconds
Dab to  instead of  ? Femto 18:51, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Yup. That would be better. I'm just implementing that special case. -- Ravn 09:54, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Done -> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1954-55_in_English_football&diff=40997283&oldid=40997182 -- Ravn 10:43, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Games Workshop?
I apologize for this intrusion. As of late, I have noticed gaming areas recieving less attention than they should. I don't know much about Games Workshop's Warhammer or Warhammer 40k (I find the universe created by Games Workshop very interesting, although the actual gaming part is too expensive a hobby for me) and I find some wikipedia articles falling short (I try to add to my best extent to some), it also seems that you know a bit about board gaming and wargaming. Mayhaps if your bored, a good project would be additions to those wargames.

I don't want to sound bossy, but I have noticed that wargames have fallen short compared to other articles. This is just a mere request of knowledge, basically, are you knowledgable of Games Workshop's games, or gaming in general? If so, we need anyone who can help spread the knowledge of any kind of Gaming material or universe. If this is not your area, I apologize and please disregard my message.

--Exander 08:31, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Feel welcome to intrude on my talk page anytime. Unfortunately, I've never played Warhammer or the like. I'm more into roguelikes, German-style boardgames and roleplay. -- Ravn 09:43, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Question.
Hey man you posted a photo of a guy longboarding on a blue longboard, just wondering what kind of longboard it was. if you can email me back at catalyst_46@hotmail.com, that would be great. thanks

title: User talk:Ravn/Archive/2006-03-07


text:
Alfa Group

Alfa Group Consortium (Консорциум «Альфа-Групп») is Russian international privately owned investment groups, with interests in oil and gas, commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, telecommunications, water utilities and special situation investments.

The group was founded in 1989 as Alfa-Eco by Israeli-Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman together with US/(former USSR) businessman Anatoly Potik. Alfa Eco was formed as a joint venture by Anatoly Potik's company ADP Trading (20% stake) and Mikhail Fridman's company Alfa-Foto (80% stake) Russian Ministry of Finance TIN Number 7728112961. Later German Khan, Alexei Kuzmichov, Alexander Kushev, and several other partners joined.

As a holding company, in the financial year ending December 2010 Alfa Group had total assets of US$59,900 million, total equity of US$21,790 million and profit for the financial year of US$2,810 million. Return on shareholders' equity were recorded at 13.4%.

In April 2012, Altimo sold its entire 25.1% stake in MegaFon to a private investor and to MegaFon for US $5.2 bln.

Ownership structure and joint ventures
Its central holding company is located in Gibraltar and under the direction of Franz Wolf, the son of Markus Wolf. Alfa Group has ownership stakes in the following companies and joint ventures: There are a number of current disputes regarding Alfa's ownership of various stakes in telecoms companies.
 * ABH Holdings S.A. — a private investment holding company headquartered in Luxembourg with investments in banking groups across the CIS and Europe, which includes:
 * ABH Financial Limited, operates mainly through Alfa-Bank (Russia) — wholly owned commercial and investment bank and one of Russia's largest, private banks,
 * Alfa-Bank (Ukraine), one of the ten largest Ukrainian banks,
 * Amsterdam Trade Bank in the Netherlands — a subsidiary of Alfa-Bank (Russia),
 * Alfa-Bank (Belarus),
 * Alfa-Bank (Kazakhstan),
 * Alfa Capital Markets, а financial subsidiary in Cyprus.
 * AlfaStrakhovanie Group, one of the largest Russian insurers with a diversified portfolio of comprehensive business and retail insurance products.
 * X5 Group, the largest food retail operator in Russia in terms of sales. Operates Pyaterochka, one of the largest discount grocery retailers in Russia in terms of sales, Perekrestok, which runs a leading chain of supermarkets in Russia, and Karusel, one of the largest hypermarket chains in Russia. Listed on London Stock Exchange under the symbol FIVE. Alfa Group owns 47.86% of the company, 19.85% stake belongs to the founders of Pyaterochka.
 * TNK-BP, one of the top ten privately owned oil companies in the world in terms of crude oil production. The company was formed in 2003 as a result of the merger of BP's Russian oil and gas assets and the oil and gas assets of Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova Group (AAR). BP and AAR each own 50% of TNK-BP. In 2013, the company was acquired by Rosneft, with Alfa Group's cut almost fourteen billion.
 * VimpelCom, one of the world's largest groups of integrated telecommunications services operators. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VIP. Alfa through Altimo owns 24.998%, Norwegian telco Telenor owns 25.007% of shares, and 29.626% stake is owned by Weather Investments of Sawiris family.
 * Turkcell, Turkey's largest mobile operator. Alfa Group controls 13.22% stake in the company with Swedish telco TeliaSonera.
 * Rosvodokanal Group, a leading private operator of water utilities in Russia and CIS.
 * A1 Group, former Alfa-Eco, wholly owned special situations investment company.
 * LetterOne Group, an investment vehicle specialising in energy, technology and private equity.
 * Alfa Capital Management, an asset management company, which serves Russian as well as international institutional and private clients.
 * IDS Borjomi International, the manufacturer of naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of central Georgia.

Alfa Group is notably involved in a commercial dispute with Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor over the control of Russian company Vimpelcom

Legal disputes
Over 10 years, Alfa Group has found itself in legal battle with business partners from Canada (NoreX), Great Britain (BP), Sweden (TeliaSonera), Norway (Telenor), Turkey and Indonesia. Federal Reserve executive Paul Volcker has accused Alfa Group of violation of the UN sanctions against Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime, and for pressure exercised against KPMG during their spring 2005 investigation of a Bermuda registered, Russian telecom company, Ipoc International. To counter the Bermuda government supported audit by KPMG of Ipoc International, Alfa Group hired Diligence, founded by Richard Burt and Lord Powell of Bayswater with Diligence Europe headed by Michael Howard. Diligence began its Project Yucca to infiltrate KPMG. The Bermuda government accused Diligence of impersonating secret service personnel to obtain KPMG information about KPMG's audit of IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd. The Bermuda government accused Alfa Group's Ipoc International of money laundering. Alfa Group stated that Diligence was not hired by Alfa Group but by BGR which was founded by Haley Barbour. BGR had worked for Alfa Group's telecom Altimo. Project Yucca ended on October 18, 2005, when KPMG received papers from Project Yucca. During Project Yucca, the shareholders of Diligence were CEO Nick Day who was a former British agent, Chairman of Diligence Richard Burt who was a former United States ambassador to Germany under Reagan, the Exxel Group which is a Buenos Aires private equity firm, and Edward Mathias from Carlyle Group which is a private equity company from Washington, D.C.

Dispute with NoreX and BP
Alfa Group's legal disputes with BP date back to 1991, when the Canadian oil company Norex represented a newly formed, Russian-Canadian joint venture in Siberia's oil industry, operating the marginal Chernogor oil-fields close to Khanty-Mansijsk. With the Russian company Chernogorneft, the Canadian company entered into a 60% ownership in the joint-venture Yugraneft. Later on, NoreX increased their stake to 97,64%, and in September 1998 Chernogorneft was filed with bankruptcy by the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK). The arbitration court of Khanty-Mansinsk proclaimed for Chernegorneft a new chief executive officer, with a background from Alfa Group. The main owner of Chernogorneft was BP, via their holding company Sidanko.

TNK gained control over 60% of Chernogorneft's debts, and the debt of US$35 million held by EBRD was reduced to US$9 million by Khanty-Mansijsk arbitration court on 30 July 1999. Thereby, TNK controlled 60% of the debt claims, and according to NoreX the Alfa Group took over Chernogorneft's oil sales below market prices. Resulting in a forced sell-out of the company, Sidanko (BP) was rejected from taking part in auctions, and remaining bidders were legally restrained from offering more than US$200 million for Chernegorneft - a mere fifth of its assumed value. On 26 November 1999, TNK took over all of Chernorogneft for US$172 million.

Letters of protest from prime minister Tony Blair to president Vladimir Putin helped little, the legally BP-owned company was forcibly sold to TNK below market price. TNK also got approval from the Khanty-Mansijsk arbitration court to take over Chernogorneft's stakes in two joint ventures, in spite of protests from venture partners Norex and Occidental Petroleum. BP fought on for years to retrieve its rightful ownership in Chernogorneft, and in August 2001 this got its first legal approval.

In 2000, according to NoreX, TNK started to undermine Yugraneft's oil transports through the national semi-monopolistic pipeline system Transneft. On 11 April and 26 June 2001, TNK again got two legal victories in the Khanty-Mansijsk arbitration court, first through a reversal of earlier regulation regarding Chernogorneft's stock capital in the joint-venture, and thereafter through a nullification of the voting powers in 497,142 out of the 600,000 shares held by NoreX. At an extraordinary annual assembly of Yugraneft on 28 June, NoreX' candidate for the CEO position was elected, but the day after TNK's security executive and 20 heavily armed guards appeared at the Yugraneft office with a false annual assembly protocol, installing Mr. A. Berman as CEO of Yugraneft. In June 2001, Yugraneft's owner Alex Rotzang contended that two British Virgin Islands shell companies Quenon investments limited and Shapburg limited which are closely associated with Mikhail Fridman and Alfa Group illegally gained control of Yugraneft through an armed seizure of Yugraneft's offices. In 1998, both Quenon and Shapburg formed the Luxembourg based Compagnie Financiere pour l'Atlantique du Nord which changed its name to Gaumur Holding in March 2000 and was entirely controlled by the Baugur Group of Iceland. Both Shapburg limited and the Gibraltar based AB Holdings limited, which is owned by Mikhail Fridman, co-founded the Alfa Bank subsidiary Alfa finance holdings SA based in Luxembourg. In March 2000, Alfa finance holdings SA succeeded AB Holdings limited as the parent holding of Alfa Bank Group. Norex' demands for investigation and nullification remained fruitless. Norex brought the case before a U.S. Federal court in New York in February 2002, demanding US$1.5 bn in redemption from TNK and Alfa Group.

The year after, BP and Alfa Group merged all their oil and gas interests into a 50/50 joint venture, in spite of BP's legal and financial losses in the Yugraneft disputes since 1999. The new venture controlled both Sidanko og TNK from 11 February 2003. The merger implied that NoreX' stake of 97% in Yugraneft come under control of Alfa Group and BP. NoreX, thereby, saw their possessions dwindle and transferred partly to BP, and appealed for copies of BP documents before a US court. Jones Day represented its client Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) of Len Blavatnik, Mikhail Fridman, and Viktor Vekselberg in United States court. In 2004 the U.S. Supreme Court sustained Norex' right to appeal, but at a lower level the legal dispute went on for years, with only gradual victories for NoreX.

For a summary of the battle of control over TNK, BP, see: TNK-BP.

Dispute with Telenor
Alfa started investing in VimpelCom in summer, 2001. The power-broking between Alfa group and Telenor in VimpelCom started 2004, when Alfa proposed that VimpelCom acquire a larger share in Ukrainian RadioSystems (URS), a small GSM operator in Ukraine operating under the brand «WellCom». Telenor found the price of US$132 million far too high, after the Russian telco Golden Telecom had declined acquiring URS at a far lower price. In October 2004, a minor shareholder of VimpelCom lodged three lawsuits against Telenor in the provincial city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, with claims that the VimpelCom shareholder agreement be cancelled, and the URS shares be acquired.

In May 2005, the Alfa Group filed a lawsuit against Telenor, via Alfa's daughter company Eco Telecom Ltd, contesting the declination of Telenor's three VimpelCom board members to approve the URS acquisition. Eco Telecom especially contested Telenor's vetoing power in the VimpelCom shareholder agreement. After the trial, Alfa Group declined during four years to take part in the board of managers meetings in Ukrainian Kyivstar, thereby blocking the normal procedures of annual assemblies, approval of accounts, and payments of dividends. In 2008 Telenor achieved several legal approvals in the U.S. Federal Court of Appeal in New York, and in 2009 the Alfa Group submitted to the rulings and took up normal shareholder activity in Kyivstar. In Russian VimpelCom, however, the Alfa Group geared up its legal battle with Telenor by nominating more directors than Alfa's capital share implied. In January 2007, a court of appeal in Geneva, Switzerland ruled that Alfa Group had violated the shareholder agreement of VimpelCom.

In November 2005, VimpelCom acquired 100% of URS, after having got approval from VimpelComs annual assembly. Thereby, the Alfa Group owns shares in both URS (Beeline Ukraina) via VimpelCom, and in Golden Telecom which operates in both Russia and Ukraine, and in Ukraine's major mobile operator Kyivstar GSM, and in Turkish Turkcell which owns a stake in the Ukrainian mobile operator Astelit. Telenor and Alfa disagree over the latter's ownership in three of Kyivstar's competitors in the Ukrainian market.

In 2004, Alfa Group's daughter company «Storm» filed a number of lawsuits against Telenor, to nullify a number of provisions in the Kyivstar charter and shareholder agreement. Alfa Group especially wanted to nullify an arbitration case that Telenor had lodged in New York, but was rejected. Alfa reacted to their legal loss by boycotting all normal shareholder activity in Kyivstar, for four years from 2004, effectively blocking the business of annual assemblies, and avoiding the consolidation and ratification of Kyivstar's annual accounts. No dividends were paid after 2003. In February 2006, Telenor took the issue to a U.S Federal court in New York. On 16 December 2008, Alfa Group resumed normal shareholder activities, joined in the election of a new board of directors, and agreed to pay accumulated dividends. On 11 March 2009, the Federal district court in New York ruled for the second time that Alfa companies Altimo, Storm, Alpren and Hardlake had revealed contempt for the court by not depositing their Kyivstar shares in the United States. Alfa Group was convicted to daily penalties of US$100,000 from 12 March, and a further 100,000 daily if not either Alfa's shares in Kyivstar be sold, or ownership in competing business be reduced to a maximum 5%. NeOn 28 April 2009, the New York court ruled that Alfa Group had submitted to the legal rulings. Judge Gerard E. Lynch established that Alfa Group had reduced their ownership in competing mobile operations in Ukraine.

Farimex vs. Telenor
In 2009 a small, Russian-owned company, Farimex Ltd, wholly owned by a Dimitrij Fridman, lodged a claim of US$5.7 bn from Telenor in compensation for Telenor's refusal to approve VimpelCom's acquisition of URS and market entry in Ukraine. Courts in Khanty-Mansiysk and Omsk have approved Farimex' claims and arrested Telenor's US$1,8 bn worth shares in VimpelCom in March 2009, but Telenor refuses to accept the legal premises and appeals the verdicts to the regional court of Tyumen, which is the last court of appeal before the federal level in Moscow.

Telenor Executive vice president Jan Edvard Thygesen has repeatedly said that a swap of shares in VimpelCom and Kyivstar between Telenor and Alfa Group is an option, but hard to achieve in practice.

When Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre visited his Russian counterpart Sergej Lavrov in Moscow on 24 March 2009, the strife between Alfa and Telenor was elevated to become the prime issue. Still, Telenor was presented by a claim from the Russian bailiff of US$1.7 bn, on 3 April, via a Norwegian district bailiff. Three days later, Telenor asked the federal arbitration court in Moscow to sustain this action until the Tyumen court had negotiated the substantial issue.

The case between Farimex and Telenor has aroused widespread, international concern. Roland Nash, Chief of research at Renaissance Capital viewed the case as a test to the credibility of Russia's legal system and openness to foreign investment. Russia analyst Christopher Granville views the Farimex vs. Telenor case as even more serious to Russia's credibility than earlier legal battles. And judge Gerard E. Lynch, presiding in the New York appeal cases lodged by Telenor over Kyivstar, has criticized Alfa Group's utilisation of remote courts in Western Siberia.

Agreement
In early October 2009, it became evident that Altimo (Alfa) and Telenor had for some time conducted negotiations for a solution to their conflicts. On 5 October, it was communicated that written agreement had been reached, to establish a joint holding company for VimpelCom and Kyivstar, named VimpelCom Ltd. The agreement says that the two main owners establish VimpelCom Ltd in Amsterdam and list it at the New York Stock Exchange. The holding company, and thereby VimpelCom and Kyivstar, will be owned 38,84% by Telenor and 38,46% by Altimo. The remaining stock capital, minimum 20%, is to remain free floating at any given time. The two main owners will have three board members each, and let the remaining owners appoint another three members of the Board of directors. That board of nine will appoint the holding company's CEO after an independent, international recruitment process. The agreement depends on all legal disputed concerning VimpelCom and Kyivstar to vanish, and it depends on the Russian Federation to allow Telenor to increase its ownership in VimpelCom.

Dispute with TeliaSonera
Alfa Group and Swedish-Finnish TeliaSonera jointly own the Turkish mobile operator Turkcell.

In Turkey, TeliaSonera has acquired 47% of the shares in Turkcell Holding, which controlled 51% of Turkcell. Telia's partner was the Turkish company Cukurova. TeliaSonera and Cukurova agreed on a binding shareholders' agreement in 2005, depriving Cukurova from the right to sell Turkcell shares without the prior consent of TeliaSonera, and with the latter company's right of first priority to buy eventual shares from Cukurova. However, Cukurova sold their shares to Alfa Group that same year. Through this US$3.5 bn purchase, Alfa Group exercised control of Turkcell's board of directors already from First quarter, 2006. In January 2007, a court of appeal in Geneva, Switzerland, ruled that Cukurova had violate the shareholder's agreement by selling their shares on to the Alfa Group. The court demanded Cukurova to see to it that the shares be transferred back and re-sold to TeliaSonera. A court of appeal in Vienna, Austria confirmed this ruling on 7 March 2008, and repeated the demand to enter into negotiations with Alfa Group over at transfer of the shares, but with no practical results. On 7 August 2009 the International Chamber of Commerce issued an award stating that Cukurova must deliver all the remaining shares in Turkcell Holding to TeliaSonera.

Links to the Icelandic financial crisis
Alfa-Bank has a Luxembourg-registered subsidiary Alfa Finance Holdings. The company's document trail shows that Shapburg Limited was a shareholder of Alfa Finance Holdings. Shapburg Limited is an anonymous Luxembourg-registered company which has been suspected of controlling important Icelandic companies. The finding was reported in 2005.

Sanctions
In December 2023 the EU sanctioned AlfaStrakhovanie Group.

title: Alfa Group


text:
Zoophobia

Zoophobia, or animal phobia, is the irrational fear or aversion towards animals (excluding humans). Zoophobia is the general negative reaction to animals, but it is usually divided into many subgroups, each being of a specific type of zoophobia. Although zoophobia as a whole is quite rare, types of the fear are common. As mentioned before by Sigmund Freud, an animal phobia is one of the most frequent psychoneurotic diseases among children. Zoophobia is almost never towards mammals, but instead towards non-mammalia creatures. A list of common zoophobias is shown below.

title: Zoophobia


text: User talk:212.23.3.153

title: User talk:212.23.3.153


text:
House of Dunkeld

The House of Dunkeld (in Dùn Chailleann or "of the Caledonians") is a historiographical and genealogical construct to illustrate the clear succession of Scottish kings from 1034 to 1040 and from 1058 to 1286. The line is also variously referred to by historians as "The Canmores" and "MacMalcolm".

It is dynastically sort of a continuation to Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata, "race of Fergus", as "house" was an originally Celtic concept to express one of the two rival leading clans of early medieval Scotland, whose founding father is king Fergus Mor of Dalriada. This Ferguside royal clan had disputed the crown (of Dalriada, then that of Alba) against the Cenél Loairn, the later House of Moray for the preceding four or more centuries. The Cenél nGabráin were represented by the House of Alpin before Dunkeld.

Sir Iain Moncreiffe made the case that Crínán of Dunkeld was actually a kinsman of Saint Columba and thus a member of the Irish Cenél Conaill, a royal branch of the Northern Uí Néill dynasty. Christopher Cairney makes the case for a different Uí Néill descent in the Cenél nEógain. This does not exclude Crínán's descendants from also being a (female line) continuation of the Cenél nGabráin through Bethóc.

The Dunkeld dynasty is genealogically based on Duncan I of Scotland being of a different agnatic clan to his predecessor and maternal grandfather Malcolm II of Scotland. However, sociohistorically, the reign of Duncan's son Malcolm III of Scotland, which happens to coincide with the start of the centuries-long period of strong influence from the southern neighbour, the Kingdom of England, has been seen as a more important place to start.

Time and features
During the time of House of Dunkeld, succession to the Scottish throne evolved towards primogeniture instead of the Irish-Celtic tradition of tanistry and the Pictish traditions (whether they were matrilineal or not). Although the contemporaries did not have a common name for these monarchs, they were a family who formed a hereditary kingship.

Distinctive characteristics of the developments of society during this dynasty:
 * Scotland was more influenced by outsiders than it had been earlier, or was to be under the kings of the House of Bruce and House of Stuart. The kingdom was contested by two established powers: the Kingdom of England and Norway. The common goal uniting the usual policies of kings of this dynasty was to balance between the two neighbours, sometimes making alliances to have some outside support (France in the Middle Ages). Wars were fought on both fronts.
 * Many Norman lords and institutions were brought to Scotland, especially after the Norman conquest of England; by the end of the period, both had been in Scotland for centuries. The tribal polity evolved to a medieval feudal society, adopting legal traditions from Rome, and the elite evolved to become broadly "Frankish" in custom, a change strengthened by the immigration of (Anglo-Saxon) English, Normans and French.

The Dunkeld dynasty rose to rule in a time when the kingdom was fragmented, under increasing outside threats, and some monarchs started to initiate more centralized government.

The Dunkelds came to power after the two centuries of civil unrest under the House of Alpin. The first king of this new dynasty was Malcolm III of Scotland who determined that succession would be to the eldest son, not according to the rules of tanistry. This political decision reduced the conflicts inside the royal family. The Dunkelds consolidated Scotland's union and independence as a kingdom, despite several skirmishes with the neighbouring England. The fall of the House of Dunkeld began in 1286, when Alexander III died in a horse riding accident. The king had no living sons, only one three-year-old granddaughter, Margaret, princess of Norway. Fearing the influence of king Eric II of Norway, her father, and another endless civil war, the Scottish nobles appealed to Edward I of England. Margaret was betrothed to the future Edward II of England, but died shortly afterwards on her arrival to Scotland.

The dynasty ended at a time when immigrant-originated feudal families had reached a level of prosperity almost as high as the kings and the beneficiaries of feudal system desired for a sufficient guarantee of their positions, rights and properties - even at the cost of national independence.

Kings of the House of Dunkeld

 * 1) Duncan I, r. 1034-1040
 * 2) Malcolm III, r. 1058-1093
 * 3) Donald III, r. 1093-1094 and 1094-1097
 * 4) Duncan II, r. 1094
 * 5) Edgar, r. 1097-1107
 * 6) Alexander I, r. 1107-1124
 * 7) David I, r. 1124-1153
 * 8) Malcolm IV, r. 1153-1165
 * 9) William I, r.1165-1214
 * 10) Alexander II, r.1214-1249
 * 11) Alexander III, r.1249-1286
 * 12) Margaret, r.1286

On Alexander III's death his granddaughter Margaret (Maid of Norway) was recognised as "right heir", as had been agreed in Alexander's lifetime, but she was never inaugurated as Queen of Scots.

title: House of Dunkeld


text:
Keenen Ivory Wayans

Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans (born June 8, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. Wayans first came to prominence as the host and creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. He has produced, directed or written several films, starting with Hollywood Shuffle, which he cowrote, in 1987. Most of his films have included him and one or more of his siblings in the cast.

One of these films, Scary Movie (2000), which Wayans directed, was the highest-grossing movie directed by an African American until it was surpassed by Tim Story's Fantastic Four in 2005. From 1997 to 1998, he hosted the talk show The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show. Most recently, he was a judge for the eighth season of Last Comic Standing.

Life and career
Wayans was born in Harlem, New York City, son of Howell Stouten Wayans, a supermarket manager, and his wife Elvira Alethia (Green), a homemaker and social worker. He was the second of ten children. Genealogical TV show Finding Your Roots revealed that his paternal line traced back to Madagascar. His father was a devout Jehovah's Witness. The family later moved to Manhattan's Fulton housing projects, where he primarily grew up. He attended Seward Park High School during his teenage years, and attended Tuskegee University on an engineering scholarship. He entertained his friends at college with made-up stories about life in New York. One semester before graduation, he dropped out of school to focus on comedy.

During his first set performing at The Improv in New York, Wayans met Robert Townsend, who helped him learn about the comedy business. Townsend and Wayans drove to Los Angeles together when Wayans moved to Los Angeles in 1980. Wayans worked there as an actor. He had a regular role as a soldier on the television series For Love and Honor and appeared on Hill Street Blues as an NFL linebacker.

Townsend wrote, directed, and starred in the movie Hollywood Shuffle; Wayans was costar and cowriter. The movie's success allowed him to raise the money to make I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Fox Broadcasting Company approached Wayans to offer him his own show. Wayans wanted to produce a variety show similar to Saturday Night Live, with a cast of people of color that took chances with its content.

Fox gave Wayans a lot of freedom with the show, although Fox executives were a bit concerned about the show's content before its debut. Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the show, In Living Color, a sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from 1990 to 1994.

Personal life
Wayans married Daphne Polk in 2001, but the couple filed for divorce in 2004.

Characters

 * Death Row Comic (Prison Cable Access)
 * Frenchie
 * Ice Man (Homeboy Shopping Network)
 * Tom Brothers (The Brothers Brothers)
 * Wes (Wes & Les)

Impressions

 * Arsenio Hall
 * Billy Dee Williams
 * Don Cornelius
 * Jesse Jackson
 * Little Richard
 * Mike Tyson
 * Marsha Warfield
 * Milli (Rob Pilatus) of Milli Vanilli
 * Morgan Freeman (Damon Wayans was Hoke Coburn from Driving Miss Daisy/Riding Miss Daisy, Principal Joe Louis Clark from Lean on Me)
 * Rick James
 * Steve Harvey
 * Carl Weathers (as Apollo Creed)

title: Keenen Ivory Wayans


text:
Seki Takakazu

Seki Takakazu (関 孝和), also known as Seki Kōwa (関 孝和), was a Japanese mathematician and author of the Edo period.

Seki laid foundations for the subsequent development of Japanese mathematics, known as wasan. He has been described as "Japan's Newton".

He created a new algebraic notation system and, motivated by astronomical computations, did work on infinitesimal calculus and Diophantine equations. Although he was a contemporary of German polymath mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz and British polymath physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton, Seki's work was independent. His successors later developed a school dominant in Japanese mathematics until the end of the Edo period.

While it is not clear how much of the achievements of wasan are Seki's, since many of them appear only in writings of his pupils, some of the results parallel or anticipate those discovered in Europe. For example, he is credited with the discovery of Bernoulli numbers. The resultant and determinant (the first in 1683, the complete version no later than 1710) are attributed to him.

Seki also calculated the value of pi correct to the 10th decimal place, having used what is now called the Aitken's delta-squared process, rediscovered later by Alexander Aitken.

Seki was influenced by Japanese mathematics books such as the Jinkōki.

Biography
Not much is known about Seki's personal life. His birthplace has been indicated as either Fujioka in Gunma Prefecture, or Edo. His birth date ranges from 1635 to 1643.

He was born to the Uchiyama clan, a subject of Ko-shu han, and adopted into the Seki family, a subject of the shōgun. While in Ko-shu han, he was involved in a surveying project to produce a reliable map of his employer's land. He spent many years in studying 13th-century Chinese calendars to replace the less accurate one used in Japan at that time.

Chinese mathematical roots

His mathematics (and wasan as a whole) was based on mathematical knowledge accumulated from the 13th to 15th centuries. The material in these works consisted of algebra with numerical methods, polynomial interpolation and its applications, and indeterminate integer equations. Seki's work is more or less based on and related to these known methods.

Chinese algebraists discovered numerical evaluation (Horner's method, re-established by William George Horner in the 19th century) of arbitrary-degree algebraic equation with real coefficients. By using the Pythagorean theorem, they reduced geometric problems to algebra systematically. The number of unknowns in an equation was, however, quite limited. They used notations of an array of numbers to represent a formula; for example, $$(a\ b\ c)$$ for $$ax^2 + bx + c$$.

Later, they developed a method that uses two-dimensional arrays, representing four variables at most, but the scope of this method was limited. Accordingly, a target of Seki and his contemporary Japanese mathematicians was the development of general multivariable algebraic equations and elimination theory.

In the Chinese approach to polynomial interpolation, the motivation was to predict the motion of celestial bodies from observed data. The method was also applied to find various mathematical formulas. Seki learned this technique, most likely, through his close examination of Chinese calendars.

Competing with contemporaries
In 1671, Sawaguchi Kazuyuki (沢口 一之), a pupil of Hashimoto Masakazu (橋本 正数) in Osaka, published Kokon Sanpō Ki (古今算法記), in which he gave the first comprehensive account of Chinese algebra in Japan. He successfully applied it to problems suggested by his contemporaries. Before him, these problems were solved using arithmetical methods. In the end of the book, he challenged other mathematicians with 15 new problems, which require multi-variable algebraic equations.

In 1674, Seki published Hatsubi Sanpō (発微算法), giving solutions to all the 15 problems. The method he used is called bōsho-hō. He introduced the use of kanji to represent unknowns and variables in equations. Although it was possible to represent equations of an arbitrary degree (he once treated the 1458th degree) with negative coefficients, there were no symbols corresponding to parentheses, equality, or division. For example, $$ax+b$$ could also mean $$ax+b=0$$. Later, the system was improved by other mathematicians, and in the end it became as expressive as the ones developed in Europe.

In his book of 1674, however, Seki gave only single-variable equations resulting from elimination, but no account of the process at all, nor his new system of algebraic symbols. There were a few errors in the first edition. A mathematician in Hashimoto's school criticized the work, saying "only three out of 15 are correct." In 1678, Tanaka Yoshizane (田中 由真), who was from Hashimoto's school and was active in Kyoto, authored Sanpō Meiki (算法明記), and gave new solutions to Sawaguchi's 15 problems, using his version of multivariable algebra, similar to Seki's. To answer criticism, in 1685, Takebe Katahiro (建部 賢弘), one of Seki's pupils, published Hatsubi Sanpō Genkai (発微算法諺解), notes on Hatsubi Sanpō, in which he showed in detail the process of elimination using algebraic symbols.

The effect of the introduction of the new symbolism was not restricted to algebra. With it, mathematicians at that time became able to express mathematical results in more general and abstract way. They concentrated on the study of elimination of variables.

Elimination theory
In 1683, Seki pushed ahead with elimination theory, based on resultants, in the Kaifukudai no Hō (解伏題之法). To express the resultant, he developed the notion of the determinant. While in his manuscript the formula for 5×5 matrices is obviously wrong, being always 0, in his later publication, Taisei Sankei (大成算経), written in 1683-1710 with Katahiro Takebe (建部 賢弘) and his brothers, a correct and general formula (Laplace's formula for the determinant) appears.

Tanaka came up with the same idea independently. An indication appeared in his book of 1678: some of equations after elimination are the same as resultant. In Sanpō Funkai (算法紛解) (1690?), he explicitly described the resultant and applied it to several problems. In 1690, Izeki Tomotoki (井関 知辰), a mathematician active in Osaka but not in Hashimoto's school, published Sanpō Hakki (算法発揮), in which he gave resultant and Laplace's formula of determinant for the n×n case. The relationships between these works are not clear. Seki developed his mathematics in competition with mathematicians in Osaka and Kyoto, at the cultural center of Japan.

In comparison with European mathematics, Seki's first manuscript was as early as Leibniz's first commentary on the subject, which treated matrices only up to the 3x3 case. The subject was forgotten in the West until Gabriel Cramer in 1750 was brought to it by the same motivations. Elimination theory equivalent to the wasan form was rediscovered by Étienne Bézout in 1764. Laplace's formula was established no earlier than 1750.

With elimination theory in hand, a large part of the problems treated in Seki's time became solvable in principle, given the Chinese tradition of geometry almost reduced to algebra. In practice, the method could founder under huge computational complexity. Yet this theory had a significant influence on the direction of development of wasan. After the elimination is complete, one is left to find numerically the real roots of a single-variable equation. Horner's method, though well known in China, was not transmitted to Japan in its final form. So Seki had to work it out by himself independently. He is sometimes credited with Horner's method, which is not historically correct. He also suggested an improvement to Horner's method: to omit higher order terms after some iterations. This practice happens to be the same as that of Newton–Raphson method, but with a completely different perspective. Neither he nor his pupils had, strictly speaking, the idea of derivative.

Seki also studied the properties of algebraic equations for assisting in numerical solution. The most notable of these are the conditions for the existence of multiple roots based on the discriminant, which is the resultant of a polynomial and its "derivative": His working definition of "derivative" was the O(h) -term in f(x + h), which was computed by the binomial theorem.

He obtained some evaluations of the number of real roots of a polynomial equation.

Calculation of pi
Another of Seki's contributions was the rectification of the circle, i.e., the calculation of pi; he obtained a value for π that was correct to the 10th decimal place, using what is now called the Aitken's delta-squared process, rediscovered in the 20th century by Alexander Aitken.

Legacy
The asteroid 7483 Sekitakakazu is named after Seki Takakazu.

Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Seki Takakazu, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 50+ works in 50+ publications in three languages and 100+ library holdings.

 * 1683 – Kenpu no Hō (驗符之法) OCLC 045626660
 * 1712 – Katsuyō Sanpō (括要算法) OCLC 049703813
 * Seki Takakazu Zenshū (關孝和全集) OCLC 006343391, collected works

title: Seki Takakazu


text:
Talk:J-4

The MiG-15 was never produced in China. Soviet built MiG-15s were designated J-2 or JJ-2 there. J-4 or JJ-4 were Soviet-built MiG-17s, before local production of this type began as J-6. --Rlandmann 13:15, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:J-4


text: User talk:212.23.3.155

title: User talk:212.23.3.155


text: User talk:212.23.3.151

title: User talk:212.23.3.151


text:
J2

J2, J.II or J-2 may refer to:

Codes and classifications

 * J2, the IATA airline designator for Azerbaijan Airlines
 * J-2 visa, a nonimmigrant visa issued by the United States for spouses and dependents of J-1 visa exchange visitors
 * ATC code J02, a subgroup of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System
 * Haplogroup J2 (Y-DNA), a Y-DNA haplogroup
 * Janko group J2 in mathematics
 * Jinja2, a Python template engine that uses file extension
 * $$J_2 \,$$, a celestial body's second dynamic form factor in the nodal precession
 * $$J_2 \,$$, the second invariant of the deviatoric stress tensor

People and organizations

 * j2 Global Communications, a tech company best known for electronic fax services
 * J2 (music channel), a former New Zealand music TV Channel
 * TVB J2, former names of TVB Plus, a digital TV channel of Television Broadcasts Limited
 * J. League Division 2, the second-tier of Japanese professional association football
 * Jefatura de Inteligencia del Estado Mayor Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas (J-2), an Argentine intelligence agency
 * J2, the Intelligence Directorate of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * Director of Military Intelligence, the head of Irish Defence Forces intelligence, sometimes referred to as J2

Vehicles

 * Rocketdyne J-2, a rocket engine used in the Saturn rockets and intended for use on the Space Launch System
 * AEG J.II, a World War I German ground attack aircraft
 * Albatros J.II, a World War I German single-engine, single-seat, biplane ground-attack aircraft
 * Allard J2, any of several postwar American market-designed English cars
 * Auster J-2 Arrow, a 1945 British single-engined two-seat high-wing touring monoplane
 * HMAS J2, an Australian submarine
 * JAC J2, a city car produced by JAC Motors
 * Junkers J 2, a 1916 all-metal German fighter prototype aircraft
 * LB&SCR J2 class, a British LB&SCR locomotive
 * McCulloch J-2, a 1962 small, two-seat autogyro
 * MG J-type, a 2-seat sports car produced by the MG Car company from 1932 to 1934
 * Morris Commercial J2 small forward-control van produced from 1956 to 1967
 * Taylor J-2, a 1935 American two-seat light aircraft
 * Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, an aircraft called J-2 in China

Other uses

 * J2, a comicbook character, son of Juggernaut
 * The Skyly J2, a fictional combat aircraft in the Sky Crawlers book series
 * J2, a killer whale also known as Granny
 * J2 League, Japanese football league
 * County Route J2 (California)
 * J2, a duo music project consisting of brothers Johnny and Justin Coppolino
 * S/2003 J 2, a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter
 * Hell Cat, a roller coaster formerly named J2 at Clementon Amusement Park
 * J2, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, stars of the TV series Supernatural
 * Johnson solid J2, the equilateral pentagonal pyramid
 * Rocketdyne J-2, a cryogenic rocket engine used on the second and third stages of the Saturn V Moon rocket
 * Samsung Galaxy J2, an Android smartphone
 * Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime, a successor smartphone, also known as the Samsung Galaxy J2 Ace
 * J2, an open-source clone of the Hitachi/Renesas SuperH-2 microcontroller
 * J2 coefficient, representing the oblateness of Earth

title: J2


text:
Robert Thompson

Robert or Bob Thompson may refer to:

Entertainment

 * Bob Thompson (musician) (1924–2013), American orchestra leader, arranger, composer
 * Bob Thompson (painter) (1937–1966), American figurative painter
 * Bob Thompson (pianist) (born 1942), American jazz pianist, composer and arranger
 * Bob Thompson (wine) (born 1934), American wine writer
 * Robert E. Thompson (screenwriter) (1924–2004), American screenwriter
 * Robert Livingstone Thompson, birth name of Dandy Livingstone (born 1943), British-Jamaican reggae musician and producer
 * Robert Scott Thompson (born 1959), composer of ambient, instrumental and electroacoustic music
 * Robert Thompson (bassoonist) (born 1936), American bassoonist

Military

 * Robert G. Thompson (1915–1965), American World War II hero and Communist Party USA activist
 * Robert Grainger Ker Thompson (1916–1992), British soldier and counter-insurgency expert
 * Robert Means Thompson (1849–1930), American naval officer
 * Robert Thompson (spy) (born 1935), U.S. Air Force clerk and spy for the Soviet Union

Politics

 * Robert A. Thompson (1805–1876), American politician, U.S. Representative from Virginia
 * Robert Adam Thompson (1860–1947), merchant, miller and politician in Ontario, Canada
 * Robert F. Thompson (born 1971), American politician, Arkansas state senator
 * Robert J. Thompson (1937–2006), Pennsylvania State Senator
 * Robert N. Thompson (1914–1997), Canadian politician, chiropractor, and educator
 * Robert Schuyler Thompson (1844–1930), businessman and politician in Manitoba, Canada
 * Robert Thompson (Irish politician) (1839–1918), Irish Member of Parliament in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
 * Robert Thompson (Mississippi politician) (1830–?), Mississippi state Representative
 * Robert Thompson (New Zealand politician) (1840–1922), New Zealand politician
 * Robert Thompson (Wisconsin politician) (1927–1999), American politician, Wisconsin state assemblyman
 * Robert Townshend Thompson (1792–1887), Virginia politician, lawyer and slavery opponent

Sports

 * Bob Thompson (footballer, born February 1890) (1890–1958), English football full back for Everton and others
 * Bob Thompson (footballer, born September 1890) (1890–1969), English football forward for numerous clubs
 * Bob Thompson (soccer) (born 1981), American Association football player, coach
 * Robbie Thompson (born 1967), Australian rules footballer for Adelaide
 * Robby Thompson (born 1962), American baseball player
 * Robert Thompson (American football) (born 1960), American football linebacker
 * Robert Thompson (Australian footballer, born 1891) (1891–1918), Australian rules footballer for University
 * Robert Thompson (Australian footballer, born 1947) (1947–2018), Australian rules footballer for Essendon
 * Robert Thompson (cyclist) (1884–1974), British Olympic road racing cyclist
 * Robert Thompson (footballer, born 1878) (1878–19??), English footballer
 * Robert Thompson (rugby, born 1869) (1869–1952), Irish rugby union player
 * Robert Thompson (rugby union, born 1947), New Zealander-Australian rugby union player who represented Australia
 * Robert Thompson (water polo) (born 1947), Canadian water polo player and coach

Others

 * Robert B. Thompson (1811–1841), British-American Latter Day Saint leader, historian, and newspaper editor
 * Robert Charles Thompson (1931–1995), Canadian-American mathematician
 * Robert E. Thompson (journalist) (1921–2003), American political writer and journalist
 * Robert Farris Thompson (1932–2021), American art historian, writer, professor
 * Robert H. Thompson (1944–2017), British numismatist
 * Robert Thompson (born 1982), American criminal, one of the perpetrators in the murder of James Bulger
 * Robert Thompson (chef) (born 1981), British Michelin-starred chef
 * Robert Thompson (designer) (1876–1955), British furniture maker
 * Robert Thompson (media scholar) (born 1959), American media historian
 * Robert Thompson (poker director), American poker official in Las Vegas
 * Robert Thompson (priest), Irish Dean of Ardfert from 1959 until 1966

title: Robert Thompson


text:
King's English

King's English may refer to:

 * Received Pronunciation, a form of English language pronunciation
 * The King's English, a book on English usage and grammar, first published in 1906
 * The Reversed Sicilian, a chess opening

title: King's English


text:
Talk:Platt Amendment

US dominance
Help......???

Dude.. Basically-

The Cubans had accepted the political dominance of the United States that was expressed in the Platt Amendment of 1901.

 * They did not capitulate or agree to anything other than what the text of the Treaty of Relations says. Cuba agreed finally because the US would not withdraw the army it had sent to assist the Cubans in fighting the Spanish. The 1903 Treaty was softened in 1934 because of the "good neighbor" policy. It restored the requirement that the US be asked for help before sending in the military again. ( Martin | talk • contribs 17:30, 11 January 2021 (UTC))

crushed or not?
This article says "US troops were not used to crush the revolt", the article on the Roosevelt Corollary says "U.S. troops landed in Cuba, suppressed the revolt". Which one is right? Joriki 08:07, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

Well, according to what you said, the revolt was NOT used to crush the revolt....they only suppressed the revolt....Did the article say that the U.S. forces crushed the revolt or no?

Reference for cuban denunciation?
Could someone provide a reference to the text wherein "The Cuban government strongly denounces the treaty on grounds that article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force."?

This supposed denunciation on the Basis of the Vienna Convention does not make sense to me because article 4 of the Vienna convention html, pdf states:

 * Article 4 Non-retroactivity of the present Convention

 * Without prejudice to the application of any rules set forth in the present Convention to which treaties would be subject under international law independently of the Convention, the Convention applies only to treaties which are concluded by States after the entry into force of the present Convention with regard to such States.

This seems to imply that the Vienna convention does not apply to any treaties made before 1969, which includes not only the Platt Amendment but also the 1934 FDR treaty which removed the Platt amendment but left the Guantamo Bay base in the hands of the US.

--Rafael Garcia
 * Yes I agree. Plus the Cuban objection is based on general principles of sovereignty, I believe. I am trying to find more, but the Cubans seem to have been very quiet, aside from the annual gesture of not cashing the checks. Maybe it is just that they don;t have the internet.... ( Martin | talk • contribs 07:50, 4 December 2013 (UTC))

Removal of Trivia section?
I changed the trivia subject to References in popular culture. In general, it is my understanding that such trivia should be removed. My only quandary is that perhaps the incorrect belief that it was a constitutional amendment extends further than the movie. Jickyincognito (talk) 17:12, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

That's not all that the movie gets wrong. Mr. Hand also gets Senator Platt's first name wrong and gets the year of the amendment wrong.47.139.40.19 (talk) 05:11, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

The lease can be revoked only by mutual consent or by abandonment
I object to the word "only". Of course the lease can be changed by mutual consent, as can any agreement, and as the lease was by later negotiation to drop Bahia Honda in favor of more land at Guantanamo. The factual point is that if the US abandons the property, it no longer needs to pay the rent, and the lease is terminated. The last clause, that the lease would be terminated, is not explicitly mentioned in Article 2 of the 1903 lease. The notion that the lease can only be terminated in these two ways seems incorrect or misleading, for the following reasons The abandonment clause mentioned (from the 1934 treaty) is not about the term of the lease, at least as it reads. It is about the extent of the property at Guantanamo that is the subject of the lease. Slightly different.
 * The lease is a contract, and a contract can be voided for a material breach.
 * Is this even actually a lease, in the sense that it can be enforced by some impartial court?
 * The US seems to be violating the terms at will (as the Supreme Court case "Gherebi" noted.)
 * The time period stated in the 1903 Feb document is for "the time required". So if the base isn't required for a coaling or naval station, then the lease is over.
 * etc..

Poor intro
"The Platt Amendment of 1903 was an amendment to the military appropriations bill, constrained by the earlier Teller Amendment that forbade annexation of Cuba"

It amended WHAT military appropriations bill? How did the Teller Amendment constrain it? What did the Teller Amendment amend? Why use passive voice in the first sentence of the article? --179.218.140.239 (talk) 23:50, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

 * That's why Wikipedia has editors like 179.218.140.239. Hint hint. Int21h (talk) 04:12, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

 * If I knew the answer, I wouldn't be looking it up on Wikipedia. Hint Hint. --179.218.140.239 (talk) 15:36, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Here is a reference: You can also add a "fact" interjection in the sentence to indicate that a footnote of some sort would be helpful. I will check the article to see if the reference is still relevant. ( Martin | talk • contribs 21:00, 29 January 2014 (UTC))

The Teller Amendment declared that the US had no desire to annex Cuba, or to assert jurisdiction over it. That restrained the text of the Platt Amendment, although the Platt Amendment still required Cuba to grant the US complete jurisdiction over Guantanamo Bay. There is an article on the Teller Amendment itself, and gives more detail. If the opening is clumsy, or seems so to you, you are able to fix it, as best you can. ( Martin | talk • contribs 21:12, 29 January 2014 (UTC))

The redirect is not exactly correct, and should be removed.
The Platt Amendment and the 1903 Treaty of Relations are not the same thing. The Platt Amendment is an amendment to the (1902?) Military appropriations act, and it was voted on and passed by Congress. The 1903 Treaty of Relations is (was) a treaty between Cuba and the United States, that was approved by the Senate.

These are different documents.

You might, by this logic, say that the Platt Amendment was an amendment to the Cuban Constituton, since the text was incorporated into the Cuban Constitution word for word I believe, although it must have been translated into Spanish first.

There is another wikipedia article on the 1903 Treaty of Relations that is about the Treaty, and not about the Platt Amendment. ( Martin | talk • contribs 22:22, 27 January 2014 (UTC))

I do not know how to remove the bad redirection. ( Martin | talk • contribs 22:35, 27 January 2014 (UTC))

Help me --- Got it!! ( Martin | talk • contribs 22:39, 27 January 2014 (UTC))

Two Comments
1. While the acceptance of the Platt Amendment by the Cuban government is explained, this article could be made stronger if there was information regarding the Cuban reception to the terms of the Platt Amendment.

2. It would also be beneficial to detail Cuban operations under the Platt Amendment, or the actions of General Enoch H. Crowder who, "Invested with the full sanction of the Platt Amendment, received sweeping authority over the Cuban administration..." in 1921. His intervention was was not welcomed by the Cuban government.

--LilyWhites1882 (talk) 22:25, 2 February 2017 (UTC)

 * If you're asking for a sentiment analysis of a country's inhabitants verbal or written expressions, of historical actions in impoverished countries, good luck. I would think you might find published materials galore from Cuban sources, and I would think they would cover the whole range from extremely pro-American, to anti-Cuban government, to ambivalent or mixed, to extremely anti-American, to extremely pro-Cuban government. Would you propose to do a count? And since they would be written and published to such an extent they would be available in the US today, it could be claimed that they would be non-representative, as mass publishing even in the age of Twitter and Facebook has low penetration with the populace even in the US. But alas, no, its not as if most Cubans tweeted their feelings as it was happening, we are left with the opinions of the elites, which could go either way. int21h (talk · contribs · email) 01:55, 4 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I think the actions of General Crowder could be insightful. But I think it most likely he mostly handled mundane administrative affairs of military headquarters, received the affluent and powerful in weekly, extravagant balls and galas, and enjoyed his days doing very little. int21h (talk · contribs · email) 01:55, 4 February 2017 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Platt Amendment