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NAC Breda

NAC Breda, often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisie, after winning play-offs for promotion in 2024. In their history, NAC won one national title in 1921 and won one Cup in 1973.

NAC was founded on 19 September 1912, when the two clubs ADVENDO and NOAD merged to one club, both being abbreviations of their respective full names.

In 2012 Stefaan Eskes succeeded Ed Busselaar and in August 2012 NAC Breda reinstated their first logo as the new club logo for the 2012–13 season.

Name and etymology
NAC is a fusion of the two abbreviations of the two clubs that merged to create it in 1912, NOAD and ADVENDO.

NOAD is a Dutch abbreviation for Nooit Opgeven, Altijd Doorzetten (English translation: Never give up, always persevere), while ADVENDO is a Dutch abbreviation for Aangenaam Door Vermaak En Nuttig Door Ontspanning (English: Pleasant for its entertainment and useful for its relaxation). The C stands for Combinatie (combination).

The full name of NAC Breda expands to Nooit opgeven altijd doorzetten, Aangenaam door vermaak en nuttig door ontspanning, Combinatie Breda.

Early in 2003 NAC added Breda to their club name as a symbol of gratitude after the City of Breda bought NAC's Rat Verleghstadium to help the club cope with financial problems.

Foundation
NAC Breda was founded on 19 September 1912 when the clubs ADVENDO and NOAD merged. During the new club's foundation meeting the atmosphere became tense, since NOAD wanted to name the new club NOAD (NOad and ADvendo). This name was not acceptable to ADVENDO and eventually Frans Konert proposed to call the club NAC (NOAD ADVENDO Combinatie), which was accepted by the meeting's attendants. At first, the NVB refused to let NAC play association football, but on 28 October 1912 allowed NAC to play in the 2nd Southern Division.

NAC's golden ages
The first years were not very successful for NAC, but after moving to a new stadium 't Ploegske, results improved. NAC became one of the top teams in the top Southern Division, becoming champions of the 1919 season, earning NAC the right to play the Dutch Champions' Competition (a small competition in which the champions from the regional divisions would play for the Dutch title). In this competition, NAC finished in last place. In 1920, NAC were one of the first clubs to play international matches. NAC played a couple of friendly matches, including a match against Real Madrid CF, winning 4-0 and the Spanish newspapers called NAC 'Los muchacos del Breda, maestros del futbol' (English: The boys from Breda, masters in football). In 1921, NAC celebrated one of its greatest achievements, becoming Dutch football champions. In the Dutch Championship competition, NAC defeated Ajax, Be Quick 1887 and Go Ahead. NAC continued to excel, being considered to be one of the best clubs in Dutch football during the 20's and 30's. During this period they won 6 Southern Division titles and their play style was deemed technically perfect by press and the public.

Because of this view, the NAC board decided to hire a professional trainer. Englishman Ben Affleck was hired as a coach and was a couple of months later was succeeded by James Moore. After Moore resigned, the NAC board issued a committee, who would select the best 11 NAC players to play in a match. In 1931 Antoon Verlegh retired from football. Verlegh, nowadays a club icon for NAC, played for them since their foundation. In this year, NAC also had a dispute with the city of Breda. The stadium's terrain 't Ploegske was classed as a residential area, meaning NAC had to leave the ground. As no other option was available in Breda, NAC were forced to move to the town Princenhage. Within two months, a complete new stadium, with a capacity of 5,500 people, was built and NAC left Breda. In 1935, NAC became the first club in the Netherlands to travel via airplane to an away match against GVAV.

In 1939, NAC and Breda reopened discussions on whether they could return to the city. Breda's council zoned a large piece of land at the Beatrixstraat as stadium area and NAC returned to Breda in 1940. Because of the breakout of the Second World War, NAC decided to play an important social function in Breda's community. In order to divert the people's attention from war, NAC organized sport events, theatre, fairs and horsing games. Although NAC continued to play football, several players were employed by the Germans in Germany. During the Second World War, youngster Kees Rijvers made his debut for NAC.

Challenging times
After the Second World War, NAC played in the highest level. In 1949 Chairman of Honour C.J. Asselbergs died. Asselbergs was one of the people who were present at NAC since NAC got founded. In 1954 professional football was introduced in the Netherlands. The running competitions were postponed and new competitions were created. NAC entered the 1A League and became champions of this league in 1955. In the championship competition NAC finished second place, behind their rivals Willem II Tilburg.

On 14 March 1960 Breda was shocked to hear the death of Antoon 'De Rat' Verlegh. Verlegh, considered to be one of the important persons in Dutch football, died in a car accident on 12 March. From NAC's foundation in 1912, Verlegh was involved in the club at numerous positions and played an important role with the Royal Dutch Football Association. In November 1961 NAC lost another important person; Chairman Jacques Piederiet died. A year later, in August 1962, chairman Le Fevre died. The beginning of the sixties were not bright for NAC. In 1964–1965 NAC even relegated for the first time in its existence.

The relegation meant a total reconstruction of the club's management. The board resigned and NAC's intention was to return to the highest level within one year. NAC was successful in this and a season later NAC played in the highest level and a year later qualified for the KNVB Cup's final, where it lost to AFC Ajax. Although NAC lost, the club was allowed to play UEFA Cup. In the UEFA Cup NAC reached the second round, after defeating Floriana FC. In the second round NAC was knocked out by Cardiff City. Although NAC remained in the highest football level in the Netherlands, NAC were in a heavy struggle not to relegate. 31 May 1973 is another highlight in NAC's history. In the KNVB Cup final, NAC played NEC Nijmegen. NAC won the Final 2-0. Because of their success, NAC was allowed to play in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In the first round, NAC was knocked out by eventual winners 1. FC Magdeburg.

The birth of the Avondje NAC
In 1975 the NAC board decided to play the home matches on a Saturday evening. In this period a group of fanatic NAC fans merged and located themselves on a stand. Their fierce support lead to an attraction of youngsters, who also fanatically support NAC. This fierce support lasts till now and is known in the Netherlands as an Avondje NAC (English; An Evening NAC). An Avondje NAC is a flamboyant mix of Burgundian fun, beer, fanaticism and love for the club and ensures that during home matches the atmosphere in the stadium is intimidating. On 6 October 1979, a strange situation occurred. During the home match against NAC's rivals Feyenoord the linesman was hit by an ashtray. The referee postponed the match, riots broke out and the incident in the Netherlands is known as the 'Ashtray Incident'.

In the eighties NAC relegated two times. After the second relegation, it appeared the financial situation of NAC was terrible. NAC was almost bankrupt and had to sell its belongings to survive. For years NAC struggled to survive, but at the end of the eighties NAC's situation improved and the club began to play in the top of the Eerste Divisie. On 7 June 1989, NAC player Andro Knel died in a plane accident. It was a shock to the club, especially since Knel was one of the popular players. Hundreds of fans of both NAC Breda and Sparta Rotterdam, Knel's former club, came together in memorial of Knel. A temporary Knel monument was revealed and the numbers of supporters visiting the monument proved his popularity. Due to the sad moments of Knel's death a special relationship between fans of NAC and Sparta was created.

After Knel's death, NAC had to continue to play in de Eerste Divisie and three times NAC was close to promote back to the Eredivisie. In 1992, NAC finally promoted to the Eredivisie. With a team managed by Ronald Spelbos and players like John Lammers, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Ton Lokhoff, Fabian Wilnis and John Karelse, NAC played their promotion match in Den Bosch against FC Den Bosch in front of 9,000 NAC fans. The promotion meant a revival of NAC's popularity, the stadium was sold out and NAC was supported by thousands of people in away matches. In the away match against their rivals Feyenoord in Rotterdam, NAC was supported by 8,000 people. Due to the popularity, the NAC board announced it would leave the stadium at the Beatrixstraat and it would build a new stadium. Until the movement, NAC continued to play in the highest level, missed qualification for the UEFA Cup several times and reached the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup.

A new stadium and continuing financial problems
In 1996 NAC moved to their new stadium, the FUJIFILM Stadium. With the move NAC indicated it wanted to play in Europe on a regular basis. In 1998, club youngster Dominique Diroux died from a heart attack during a match between the reserve teams of NAC and AZ. NAC's new players couldn't meet the club's raised expectations for a couple of seasons; NAC were even relegated in 1999. After this, it appeared that NAC's financial situation was again in peril. In 4 seasons, NAC bought 60 players and the costs of the new stadium exceeded their budget. In order to save the club, the stadium was bought from NAC by investors and Roelant Oltmans was appointed as the team's first professional manager. Also, a fans' council, the first in Holland, was established, where fans have an advisory role that protects NAC's culture and defend fan interests. NAC also has a position available to a fan in the board of chairmen.

NAC professionalized and were promoted in 2000 to the Eredivisie. In 2003, NAC qualified for the UEFA Cup, playing two matches against Newcastle United. An estimated 4,300 NAC fans travelled to Newcastle to support their team. In 2003 it appeared NAC again neared bankruptcy, but the City of Breda purchased the stadium again from NAC on 30 January 2003. As gratitude, NAC modified their name to become NAC Breda, honouring the city's consistent contributions towards helping the club during difficult times After another financial rescue, the management and the Board of chairmen resigned, being succeeded by Theo Mommers as managing director and a new Board of chairmen, led by Willem van der Hoeven. In 2006 NAC decided to rename the stadium to Rat Verlegh Stadion.

For a long time, NAC's financial position appeared stable as the club finished third in the 2007–2008 Eredivisie. In 2009, NAC qualified for the UEFA Europa League. In the 4th round, NAC was defeated by Villarreal CF with scores of 1–3 (home) and 6–1 (away). Despite earlier denials towards fans and stakeholders by management and the Board of chairmen, it appeared at the end of season 2009–2010 that NAC's financial position was once again unstable. The club lost €3.2 million that season, due to rebuilding the stadium and buying expensive players. Board members Willem van der Hoeven, Jacques Visschers and Bas Koomans resigned and Bas van Bavel became new chairman. Managing director Theo Mommers reported ill in April 2010. Bernard Ouwerkerk was appointed in June 2010 as the club's interim managing director, while Technical Manager Earnest Stewart signed a contract at AZ and was replaced by Jeffrey van As. During this period, NAC manager Maaskant raised his concerns several times to the press. Because of the financial problems, NAC had to cut its budget, meaning Maaskant was not able to buy new players. On 21 August 2010, NAC and Maaskant made public that the trainer would leave the club for Polish football club Wisła Kraków, where he signed a two-year deal. His assistant managers John Karelse, Gert Aandewiel and Arno van Zwam became the interim managers for NAC Breda. In January 2011, Bernard Ouwerkerk resigned and was succeeded by Ed Busselaar. In March 2011 it appeared that NAC had a debt of €7.1 million.

Relegation and Eerste Divisie (2015–2017)
After a few seasons of struggle to stay clear of relegation, NAC couldn't avoid relegation after the 2014/15 season, when they were beaten by Roda JC in a promotion/relegation playoff final. They had enjoyed 15 successive seasons in the top tier.

Return to Eredivisie (2017–2019)
On 28 May 2017, NAC returned to the Eredivisie after winning the promotion/relegation play-off final against NEC Nijmegen (1–0 and 1–4). Cyriel Dessers scored four goals in those two matches. The other goal was made by Giovanni Korte. After the match there were festivities in Breda. First there was a party next to the stadium. A day later the party continued at the "Grote Markt". On 12 May 2019, in a defeat to SC Heerenveen they relegated to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie but in 2 June 2024 they returned to the Eredivisie after a 5 seasons absence by winning the promotion play-off finals against Excelsior Rotterdam, with a 6-2 win at home and a 4-1 loss away.

National

 * National Championship
 * Winners (1): 1920–21
 * KNVB Cup
 * Winners (1): 1972–73
 * Eerste Divisie
 * Winners (1): 1999–2000
 * Promotion (2): 2016–17, 2023-24
 * Eerste Klasse
 * Winners (9): 1919, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1936, 1946, 1955

Invitational

 * Tournoi de Pâques
 * Winners (1): 1925
 * Parbo Bier Cup
 * Winners (1): 2003

Domestic results
Below is a table with NAC Breda's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.

Colours
NAC's official colours are yellow, white and black. During their existence these colours have always been in NAC's home and/or away kit.

Initially, NAC's home kit was a black shirt -with a diagonal yellow line-, a white short and yellow black socks. In 1916 NAC changed this kit towards a white shirt. This white shirt would remain till the sixties when NAC decided to replace the white shirt with a yellow shirt and black shorts Conversely, NAC's away colours have been very inconsistent. There is no setting in the colour standards. In NAC cultural manifest it has been stated that the home and away kits should have the official NAC colours. Afterwards, NAC announced to play their home matches in a yellow shirt, with a black diagonal line running over it, black shorts and white socks, with some yellow accents in it. The away kit is a white shirt, with a yellow diagonal line marked by a black border running over it. White short and white socks complete the away kit.

Crest
During their existence, NAC had 4 different crests. After their foundation in 1912, their crest was a black shield, with a yellow diagonal line running over it and in it the letters N.A.C.. This crest was replaced in 1968 by another crest. The reason for this crest change is unknown. In 1974 the crest was replaced by a crest which contained the letters NAC in a black and yellow combination. The crest was most probably changed due to the dismissal of the NAC board in 1974. In order to state a new beginning, a new board member's daughter designed NAC's third crest.

The fourth crest was developed in 1996, when NAC moved to the Rat Verlegh Stadion. It consisted of two lions, three crosses, the letters NAC and it contains NAC's official club colours. The two lions and the three crosses are derived from Breda's crest. In 2012, the first crest was re-adopted since, as NAC celebrated its 100th anniversary. Eventually upon initiative (and paid for) by the fans it was decided to reinstate the first crest permanently.

BLO Terrein
Period: 19 September 1912 – 31 July 1913. Directly after the merger of NOAD and ADVENDO, and thus the foundation of NAC, the board rented the fields of the Bond voor Lichaamlijke Opvoeding to play their homematches. The terrain, located east of the Wilhelmina Park in Breda, was NAC's homeground for one season. Because of the terrain's poor conditions, NAC moved to another terrain.

Achter de Watertoren
Period: 1 August 1913 – 31 July 1916. For three seasons NAC played at the grounds known as Achter de Watertoren (English: Behind the watertower), located north of the Wilhelmina Park in Breda. During the seasons NAC played at Achter de Watertoren, NAC's popularity increased and the club decided to move for the third time in her existence.

't Ploegske
Period: 1 August 1916 – 29 August 1931. Without no doubt, NAC's biggest successes were at the stadium 't Ploegske. In 1921 NAC celebrated the Dutch championship at the stadium. 't Ploegske was the first NAC stadium with stands, and a capacity over 3,000, was located at the Molengracht in Breda. Due to the fact Breda's City Council zoned the area as a residential area, NAC were forced to move.

Heuvelstraat
Period: 30 August 1931 – 1 August 1940. Due to the City Council's decision to zone the grounds of 't Ploegske as a residential area and the city of Breda had no new grounds available, NAC were forced to move out Breda. The town of Princenhage offered NAC a terrain, where NAC built a state-of-the-art stadium with a capacity of 5,500. The main disadvantage was that the stadium was located far from Breda's city centre. Nevertheless, NAC's golden decennium in the thirties, when NAC was considered to be one of the top clubs in the Netherlands, took place in the stadium at the Heuvelstraat. In 1939 the city of Breda offered NAC a new terrain at the Beatrixstraat.

Beatrixstraat
Period: 1 August 1940 – 13 May 1996. Moving to the Beatrixstraat meant a return to NAC's roots. NAC was back in the city where it belonged. NAC's popularity increased and in the fifties and sixties NAC was considered to be one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands. In the seventies NAC became notorious for their evening matches at this stadium. An intimidating and fierce atmosphere lead to the birth of the 'Avondje NAC' (English: Evening NAC), in which NAC's fans fanatically supported their team. The stadium's top capacity was 18,500. Due to strict regulations, it was limited to 12,560 in the nineties. Due to the stadium's age and overdue maintenance, NAC left the stadium in 1996.

Rat Verlegh stadium

Period: 11 August 1996 – Present. NAC's current ground is the Rat Verlegh stadium, located 2 kilometres north west of Breda's city centre. Founded as the FUJIFILM Stadium, the name was changed in 2003 to the MyCom stadium. From the stadium's opening the NAC fans used the name Rat Verlegh stadium, which was officially assigned by NAC to the stadium in 2006. At present, the stadium's capacity is 17,750. Due to the increasing popularity of NAC Breda, the stadium was expanded in summer 2010 to a capacity of 19,000.

Fans
NAC fans often refer to themselves as The Rats or The Yellow Army. NAC Breda have a loyal fanbase, with virtually all their home matches selling out. National and international NAC is known by the fierce and fanatic support of their fans, combined in the term Avondje NAC (English: 'An evening NAC'). A flamboyant mix of Burgundian fun, beer, fanaticism and love for the club ensures that during home matches the atmosphere in the stadium is intimidating. The term has its roots in the seventies, when the board decided to play their home matches at a Saturday evening. Nowadays, NAC is supported by two fanatic sides: The B-Side and Vak G. The club's fans also publish NAC Fanzine De Rat, named after Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. NAC was the first club in Dutch professional soccer to found a fans' council. This council is an advisory organisation, that protects NAC's culture and defend the fans' interests. NAC also has one position available for a fan in the board of chairmans.

Rivalries
NAC Breda's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest neighbour, Willem II from Tilburg. This rivalry originated in the 1920s. Matches between the two are referred to as the derby of Brabant. The two cities of Breda and Tilburg are just 20 kilometres apart, leading to an intense feeling of a cross-town rivalry, heightened by a feeling that it is city against city with local pride at stake. The cities differ culturally where Tilburg only came into prominence during the industrial revolution as a working class city but Breda having been an important cultural and military hub since at least the late medieval period, being colloquially called the pearl of the south (de parel van het zuiden).

NAC Breda's other deep running rivalry is with Rotterdam based club Feyenoord. The rivalry has its roots after several incidents between fans of both clubs in the seventies of the 20th century. Although Feyenoord fans don't have the same rival feelings like NAC fans have, matches against Feyenoord are considered to be of the most important and most violent matches of a season.

Supervisory board
NAC Breda's supervisory board consists of 7 people.

Management
NAC Breda's management consists of the following people.

Retired numbers
13 – 🇳🇱 Ferry van Vliet, midfielder (2001–02) – Posthumous honour.

National team players
''The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with NAC Breda:

 * Australia
 * 🇦🇺 Graham Arnold (1995–1997)
 * 🇦🇺 Tony Vidmar (1995–1997)
 * Belgium
 * 🇧🇪 Davy Schollen (2004–2006)
 * Benin
 * 🇧🇯 Moïse Adiléhou (2020–2022)
 * Curaçao
 * 🇨🇼 Jarchinio Antonia (2021–2023)
 * 🇨🇼 Jurich Carolina (2018–2020)
 * 🇨🇼 Elson Hooi (2012–2016)
 * 🇨🇼 Gervane Kastaneer (2018–2019)
 * 🇨🇼 Tyrone Loran (2007–2011)
 * 🇨🇼 Michaël Maria (2021–2022)
 * 🇨🇼 Cuco Martina (2023–present)
 * 🇨🇼 Dustley Mulder (2015–2016)
 * 🇨🇼 Felitciano Zschusschen (2015)
 * Estonia
 * 🇪🇪 Karol Mets (2017–2019)
 * Finland
 * 🇫🇮 Joonas Kolkka (2007–2011)
 * Georgia
 * Archil Arveladze (1997–2000)
 * Ghana
 * 🇬🇭 Thomas Agyepong (2016–2018)
 * 🇬🇭 Matthew Amoah (2007–2011)
 * Haiti
 * 🇭🇹 Richelor Sprangers (2016–2019)

 * Hungary
 * 🇭🇺 Gábor Babos (2000–2004; 2013–2015; 2022)
 * 🇭🇺 Csaba Fehér (2000–2004; 2007–2011)
 * 🇭🇺 Tamás Pető (2001–2007)
 * Liberia
 * 🇱🇷 Ayouba Kosiah (2021–2023)
 * Morocco
 * 🇲🇦 Nourdin Boukhari (2003–2004)
 * 🇲🇦 Ali Boussaboun (2002–2005)
 * 🇲🇦 Anouar Diba (2000–2007)
 * Netherlands
 * 🇳🇱 Joop ter Beek (1923–1924)
 * 🇳🇱 Frans Bouwmeester (1956–1960; 1966–1969)
 * 🇳🇱 Piet van Boxtel (1927–1928)
 * 🇳🇱 Jan van den Broek (1924–1927)
 * 🇳🇱 Addy Brouwers (1968–1978)
 * 🇳🇱 Leo Canjels (1956–1963)
 * 🇳🇱 Jan van Gorp (1963–1973)
 * 🇳🇱 Ben Hoogstede (1917–1922)
 * 🇳🇱 Pierre van Hooijdonk (1991–1995; 2005–2006)
 * 🇳🇱 Cor Kools (1925–1941)
 * 🇳🇱 Kees Kuijs (1955–1963)
 * 🇳🇱 Peter van de Merwe (1959–1970)
 * 🇳🇱 Frans Petit (1922–1923)
 * 🇳🇱 Kees Rijvers (1944–1950; 1962–1963)

 * Netherlands (continued)
 * 🇳🇱 Eduard van Roessel (1913–1927)
 * 🇳🇱 Jo Schot (1920–1923)
 * 🇳🇱 Daan Schrijvers (1960–1963; 1970–1975)
 * 🇳🇱 Rat Verlegh (1912–1931)
 * 🇳🇱 Martien Vreijsen (1972–1975; 1977–1981)
 * 🇳🇱 Chris Walder (1918–1921)
 * New Zealand
 * 🇳🇿 Matthew Garbett (2023–present)
 * North Macedonia
 * Aleksandar Damchevski (2014–2015)
 * Philippines
 * 🇵🇭 Jason de Jong (2008–2009)
 * South Korea
 * 🇰🇷 Noh Jung-Yoon (1998)
 * Suriname
 * 🇸🇷 Jeredy Hilterman (2022)
 * 🇸🇷 Dion Malone (2020–2022)
 * Sweden
 * 🇸🇪 Johan Elmander (2003–2004)
 * Switzerland
 * 🇨🇭 Johan Vonlanthen (2005–2006)
 * United States
 * 🇺🇸 Earnie Stewart (1996–2002)

 * Players in bold actively play for NAC Breda and for their respective national teams. Years in brackets indicate careerspan with NAC.

National team players by Confederation
Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former NAC players represented Internationally

Players in international tournaments
The following is a list of NAC players who have competed in international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup, UEFA European Championship, CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations. To this date no NAC players have participated in the AFC Asian Cup, Copa América or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for NAC Breda.

Former coaches

 * 🏴 Ben Affleck (June 1926 – 26 Oct)
 * 🏴 James Moore (Feb 1927 – 28 April)
 * 🇳🇱 Lou van der Linden (July 1934 – June 41)
 * 🇳🇱 Cor Kools (July 1934 – June 44)
 * 🇳🇱 Antoon Verlegh (July 1934 – June 45)
 * 🇳🇱 Jan Blom (July 1942 – June 47)
 * 🇳🇱 Cor Kools (July 1945 – June 47)
 * 🇭🇺 Joseph Veréb (July 1947 – June 49)
 * 🇳🇱 Jan Blom (July 1949 – June 61)
 * 🇳🇱 Simon Plooijer (July 1961 – July 66)
 * 🇳🇱 Bob Janse (July 1966 – June 68)
 * 🇳🇱 Leo Canjels (July 1968 – June 71)
 * 🇳🇱 Ben Peeters (July 1971 – March 73)
 * 🇳🇱 Henk Wullems (March 1973 – June 75)
 * 🇳🇱 Bob Maaskant (July 1975 – June 77)
 * 🇳🇱 Hans Dorjee (July 1977 – Jan 79)
 * 🇳🇱 Jo Jansen (Jan 1979 – June 83)
 * 🇳🇱 Henk de Jonge (July 1983 – March 84)
 * 🇳🇱 Bob Maaskant (March 1984 – June 86)
 * 🇳🇱 Leen Looyen (July 1986 – June 87)
 * 🇳🇱 Hans Verel (1 July 1987 – 31 March 1990)
 * 🇳🇱 Ton Carton (March 1990 – April 90)
 * 🇳🇱 Cor Pot (April 1990 – Oct 91)
 * 🇳🇱 Jo Jansen (Oct 1991 – June 92)
 * 🇳🇱 Piet de Visser (1 July 1992 – 31 October 1992)
 * 🇳🇱 Ronald Spelbos (11 January 1993 – 30 June 1995)
 * 🇳🇱 Wim Rijsbergen (1 July 1995 – 30 June 1997)
 * 🇩🇪 Herbert Neumann (1 July 1997 – 8 October 1998)
 * 🇳🇱 Ronald Spelbos (13 October 1998 – 22 March 1999)
 * 🇳🇱 Kees Zwamborn (23 March 1999 – 30 June 1999)
 * 🇳🇱 Henk ten Cate (1 July 2000 – 30 June 2003)
 * 🇳🇱 Ton Lokhoff (1 July 2003 – 30 December 2005)
 * 🇳🇱 Cees Lok (2 January 2006 – 23 April 2006)
 * 🇳🇱 John Karelse (int.) (24 April 2006 – 30 June 2006)
 * 🇳🇱 Ernie Brandts (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2008)
 * 🇳🇱 Robert Maaskant (1 July 2008 – 20 August 2010)
 * 🇳🇱 Gert Aandewiel (21 August 2010 – 30 June 2011)
 * 🇳🇱 John Karelse (21 August 2010 – 23 October 2012)
 * 🇳🇱 Adrie Bogers (int.) (23 October 2012 – 21 November 2012)
 * 🇧🇦 Nebojša Gudelj (21 November 2012 – 13 October 2014)
 * 🇳🇱 Eric Hellemons (int.) (13 October 2014 – 2 January 2015)
 * 🇳🇱 Robert Maaskant (2 January 2015 – 6 October 2015)
 * 🇳🇱 Marinus Dijkhuizen (25 October 2015 – 22 December 2016)
 * 🇧🇪 Stijn Vreven (1 January 2017, 2015 – 30 June 2018)
 * 🇳🇱 Mitchell van der Gaag (1 July 2018 – 18 March 2019)
 * 🇳🇱 Ruud Brood (22 March 2019 – 31 December 2019)
 * 🇳🇱 Willem Weijs (int.) (1 January 2020 – 24 January 2020)
 * 🇩🇪 Peter Hyballa (24 January 2020 - 1 May 2020)
 * 🇳🇱 Maurice Steijn (1 June 2020 – 19 June 2021)
 * 🇳🇱 Edwin de Graaf (1 Juli 2021 – 31 June 2022)
 * 🇳🇱 Robert Molenaar (1 Juli 2022 – 27 December 2022)
 * 🇳🇱 Ton Lokhoff (int.) (27 December 2022 - 18 januari 2023)
 * 🇩🇪 Peter Hyballa (18 januari 2023 - 13 September 2023)
 * 🇳🇱 Ton Lokhoff (int.) (13 September 2023 - 25 September 2023)
 * 🇳🇱 Jean-Paul van Gastel (25 September 2023 – 5 June 2024)

title: NAC Breda


text:
Songhay languages

The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages  (,  or ) are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, they are spoken in the cities of Timbuktu, Djenné, Niamey, Gao, Tillaberi, Dosso, Parakou, Kandi, Natitingou, Djougou, Malanville, Gorom-Gorom, In-Gall and Tabelbala. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the era of the Songhai Empire. In Mali, the government has officially adopted the dialect of Gao (east of Timbuktu) as the dialect to be used as a medium of primary education.

Some Songhay languages have little to no mutual intelligibility between each other. For example, Koyraboro Senni, spoken in Gao, is unintelligible to speakers of Zarma in Niger, according to Ethnologue. However, Songhoyboro Ciine, Zarma, and Dendi have high mutual intelligibility within Niger.

For linguists, a major point of interest in the Songhay languages has been the difficulty of determining their genetic affiliation; they are commonly taken to be Nilo-Saharan, as defined by Joseph Greenberg in 1963, but this classification remains controversial. Linguist Gerrit Dimmendaal (2008) believes that for now it is best considered an independent language family. Roger Blench argues that the Songhay and Saharan languages form a Songhay-Saharan branch with each other within the wider Nilo-Saharan linguistic phylum.

Historically, the name Songhay was neither an ethnic nor a linguistic designation for all, but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhai Empire which are the Songhai proper. The term used by the natives to address the languages and people collectively is Ayneha. Aside from the Songhai proper, some speakers in Mali have also adopted the name Songhay as an ethnic designation, while other Songhay-speaking groups identify themselves with other ethnic terms, such as Zarma (Djerma) or Isawaghen (Sawaq).

A few precolonial poems and letters composed in Songhay and written in the Arabic script exist in Timbuktu. However, Songhay is currently written in the Latin script.

Varieties
Researchers classify the Songhay languages into two main branches; Southern and Northern. Southern Songhay is centered on the Niger River. Zarma (Djerma), the most widely spoken Songhay language with two or three million speakers, is a major language of southwestern Niger (downriver from and south of Mali) including in the capital city, Niamey. Koyraboro Senni, with 400,000 speakers, is the language of the town of Gao, the seat of the old Songhai Empire. Koyra Chiini is spoken to its west. The much smaller Northern Songhay is a group of heavily Berber-influenced dialects spoken in the Sahara. Since the Berber influence extends beyond the lexicon into the inflectional morphology, the Northern Songhay languages are sometimes viewed as mixed languages.

Genetic affiliation
Diedrich Hermann Westermann, a missionary and linguist, hesitated between assigning it to Gur or considering it an isolate, and Maurice Delafosse grouped it with Mande. At present, Songhay is normally considered to be Nilo-Saharan, following Joseph Greenberg's 1963 reclassification of African languages; Greenberg's argument is based on about 70 claimed cognates, including pronouns. This proposal has been developed further by, in particular, Lionel Bender, who saw it as an independent subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. Roger Blench notes that Songhay shares the defining singulative–plurative morphology typical of Nilo-Saharan languages. As of 2011, he believes that Songhay is closest to the neighboring Saharan languages and is not divergent.

However, a Nilo-Saharan classification is controversial. Greenberg's argument was subjected to serious criticism by Lacroix, who deemed only about 30 of Greenberg's claimed cognates acceptable, and moreover argued that these held mainly between Zarma and the Saharan languages, thus leading one to suspect them of being loanwords. Certain Songhay–Mande similarities have long been observed (at least since Westermann), and Mukarovsky (1966), Denis Creissels (1981) and Nicolaï (1977, 1984) investigated the possibility of a Mande relationship; Creissels made some 50 comparisons, including many body parts and morphological suffixes (such as the causative in -endi), while Nicolaï claimed some 450 similar words as well as some conspicuous typological traits. However, Nicolaï eventually concluded that this approach was not adequate, and in 1990 proposed a distinctly novel hypothesis: that Songhay is a Berber-based creole language, restructured under Mande influence. In support of this he proposed 412 similarities, ranging all the way from basic vocabulary (tasa "liver") to obvious borrowings (anzad "violin", alkaadi "qadi".) Others, such as Gerrit Dimmendaal, were not convinced, and Nicolaï (2003) appears to consider the question of Songhay's origins still open, while arguing against Bender's proposed etymologies.

Greenberg's morphological similarities with Nilo-Saharan include the personal pronouns ai (cf. Zaghawa ai), 'I', ni (cf. Kanuri nyi), 'you (sg.)', yer (e.g. Kanuri -ye), 'we', wor (cf. Kanuri -wi), 'you (pl.)'; relative and adjective formants -ma (e.g. Kanuri -ma) and -ko (cf. Maba -ko), a plural suffix -an (?), a hypothetical plural suffix -r (cf. Teso -r) which he takes to appear in the pronouns yer and wor, intransitive/passive -a (cf. Teso -o).

The most striking of the Mande similarities listed by Creissels are the third person pronouns a sg. (pan-Mande a), i pl. (pan-Mande i or e), the demonstratives wo "this" (cf. Manding o, wo) and no "there" (cf. Soninke no, other Mande na), the negative na (found in a couple of Manding dialects) and negative perfect mana (cf. Manding má, máŋ), the subjunctive ma (cf. Manding máa), the copula ti (cf. Bisa ti, Manding de/le), the verbal connective ka (cf. Manding kà), the suffixes -ri (resultative – cf. Mandinka -ri, Bambara -li process nouns), -ncè (ethnonymic, cf. Soninke -nke, Mandinka -nka), -anta (ordinal, cf. Soninke -ndi, Mandinka -njaŋ...), -anta (resultative participle, cf. Soninke -nte), -endi (causative, cf. Soninke, Mandinka -ndi), and the postposition ra "in" (cf. Manding lá, Soso ra...)

The Songhay languages are considered to be an independent family by Dimmendaal (2011), although he classifies Saharan as part of Nilo-Saharan.

Grammar
Songhay is mostly a tonal, SOV group of languages, an exception being the divergent Koyra Chiini of Timbuktu, which is non-tonal and uses SVO order.

Songhay has a morpheme -ndi which marks either the causative or the agentless passive. Verbs can even take two instances of the morpheme, one for each meaning. Thus ŋa-ndi-ndi figuratively translates to "[the rice] was made to be eaten [by someone: causee] [by someone: causer]".

Reconstruction of Proto-Songhay
Below are some Proto-Songhay reconstructions:

Some Proto-Eastern Songhay reconstructions are:

Numerals
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

On genetic affiliation

 * Bender, M. Lionel. 1996. The Nilo-Saharan Languages: A Comparative Essay. München: LINCOM-Europa. 253 pp
 * Roger Blench and Colleen Ahland, "The Classification of Gumuz and Koman Languages", presented at the Language Isolates in Africa workshop, Lyons, December 4, 2010
 * D. Creissels. 1981. "De la possibilité de rapprochements entre le songhay et les langues Niger–Congo (en particulier Mandé)." In Th. Schadeberg, M. L. Bender, eds., Nilo-Saharan : Proceedings of the First Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, Leiden, September 8–10, pp. 185–199. Foris Publications.
 * Greenberg, Joseph, 1963. The Languages of Africa (International Journal of American Linguistics 29.1). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
 * Lacroix, Pierre-Francis. 1971. "L'ensemble songhay-jerma: problèmes et thèmes de travail". In Acte du 8ème Congrès de la SLAO (Société Linguistique de l’Afrique Occidentale), Série H, Fasicule hors série, 87–100. Abidjan: Annales de l’Université d’Abidjan.
 * Mukarovsky, H. G. 1966. "Zur Stellung der Mandesprachen". Anthropos, 61:679-88.
 * Nicolaï, Robert. 1977. "Sur l'appartenance du songhay".  Annales de la faculté des lettres de Nice, 28:129–145.
 * Nicolaï, Robert. 1984. Préliminaires à une étude sur l'origine du songhay: matériaux, problématique et hypothèses, Berlin: D. Reimer. Series: Marburger Studien zur Afrika- und Asienkunde. Serie A, Afrika; 37. 163 pp
 * Nicolaï, Robert. 1990. Parentés linguistiques (à propos du songhay). Paris: CNRS. 209 pp
 * Nicolaï, Robert. 2003. La force des choses ou l'épreuve 'nilo-saharienne': questions sur les reconstructions archéologiques et l'évolution des langues. SUGIA – Supplement 13. Köln: Köppe. 577 pp

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

title: Songhay languages


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Correspondence theory of truth

In metaphysics and philosophy of language, the correspondence theory of truth states that the truth or falsity of a statement is determined only by how it relates to the world and whether it accurately describes (i.e., corresponds with) that world.

Correspondence theories claim that true beliefs and true statements correspond to the actual state of affairs. This type of theory attempts to posit a relationship between thoughts or statements on one hand, and things or facts on the other.

History
Correspondence theory is a traditional model which goes back at least to some of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. This class of theories holds that the truth or the falsity of a representation is determined solely by how it relates to a reality; that is, by whether it accurately describes that reality. As Aristotle claims in his Metaphysics: "To say that that which is, is not, and that which is not, is, is a falsehood; therefore, to say that which is, is, and that which is not, is not, is true".

A classic example of correspondence theory is the statement by the medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas: "Veritas est adaequatio rei et intellectus" ("Truth is the adequation of things and intellect"), which Aquinas attributed to the ninth-century Neoplatonist Isaac Israeli.

Correspondence theory was either explicitly or implicitly embraced by most of the early modern thinkers, including René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. (However, Spinoza and Kant have also been [mis]interpreted as defenders of the coherence theory of truth.) Correspondence theory has also been attributed to Thomas Reid.

In late modern philosophy, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling espoused the correspondence theory. According to Bhikhu Parekh, Karl Marx also subscribed to a version of the correspondence theory.

In contemporary Continental philosophy, Edmund Husserl defended the correspondence theory. In contemporary analytic philosophy, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein (at least in his early period), J. L. Austin, and Karl Popper defended the correspondence theory.

Correspondence as congruence
Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein  have in different ways suggested that a statement, to be true, must have some kind of structural isomorphism with the state of affairs in the world that makes it true. For example, "A cat is on a mat" is true if, and only if, there is in the world a cat and a mat and the cat is related to the mat by virtue of being on it. If any of the three pieces (the cat, the mat, and the relation between them which correspond respectively to the subject, object, and verb of the statement) is missing, the statement is false. Some sentences pose difficulties for this model, however. As just one example, adjectives such as "counterfeit", "alleged", or "false" do not have the usual simple meaning of restricting the meaning of the noun they modify: a "tall lawyer" is a kind of lawyer, but an "alleged lawyer" may not be.

Correspondence as correlation
J. L. Austin theorized that there need not be any structural parallelism between a true statement and the state of affairs that makes it true. It is only necessary that the semantics of the language in which the statement is expressed are such as to correlate whole-for-whole the statement with the state of affairs. A false statement, for Austin, is one that is correlated by the language to a state of affairs that does not exist.

Relation to ontology
Historically, most advocates of correspondence theories have been metaphysical realists; that is, they believe that there is a world external to the minds of all humans. This is in contrast to metaphysical idealists who hold that everything that exists, exists as a substantial metaphysical entity independently of the individual thing of which it is predicated, and also to conceptualists who hold that everything that exists is, in the end, just an idea in some mind. However, it is not strictly necessary that a correspondence theory be married to metaphysical realism. It is possible to hold, for example, that the facts of the world determine which statements are true and to also hold that the world (and its facts) is but a collection of ideas in the mind of some supreme being.

Objections
One attack on the theory claims that the correspondence theory succeeds in its appeal to the real world only in so far as the real world is reachable by us.

The direct realist believes that we directly know objects as they are. Such a person can wholeheartedly adopt a correspondence theory of truth.

The rigorous idealist believes that there are no real, mind-independent objects. The correspondence theory appeals to imaginary undefined entities, so it is incoherent.

Other positions hold that we have some type of awareness, perception, etc. of real-world objects which in some way falls short of direct knowledge of them. But such an indirect awareness or perception is itself an idea in one's mind, so that the correspondence theory of truth reduces to a correspondence between ideas about truth and ideas of the world, whereupon it becomes a coherence theory of truth.

Vagueness or circularity
Either the defender of the correspondence theory of truth offers some accompanying theory of the world, or they do not.

If no theory of the world is offered, the argument is so vague as to be useless or even unintelligible: truth would then be supposed to be correspondence to some undefined, unknown or ineffable world. It would in this case be difficult to see how a candid truth could be more certain than the world we are to judge its degree of correspondence against.

On the other hand, as soon as the defender of the correspondence theory of truth offers a theory of the world, they are operating in some specific ontological or scientific theory, which stands in need of justification. But, the only way to support the truth of this world-theory that is allowed by the correspondence theory of truth, is correspondence to the real world. Hence the argument is inescapably circular.

title: Correspondence theory of truth


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Guile (Street Fighter)

Major Guile (ガイル 少佐) is a fictional character from Capcom's Street Fighter series of fighting games. He debuted as one of the original eight World Warriors in 1991's Street Fighter II and appeared in the game's subsequent updates. In the games he is portrayed as a major in the United States Air Force who is seeking to avenge the death of his Air Force buddy Charlie at the hands of the villainous dictator M. Bison.

One of the most popular characters in the series, Guile has appeared in other Street Fighter games, including the home port versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 (where he is a playable character alongside Charlie), and Street Fighter IV. He is also a playable character in various spin-off titles, such as the Street Fighter EX, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and SNK vs. Capcom series.

Guile has also appeared in other Street Fighter media: one of the main characters in the 1994 live action Street Fighter film and its animated spin-off, as well as Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. The character has also been featured in various official comics and merchandise. His music theme, known simply as "Guile's Theme", has been used multiple times, usually to give a sense of victory.

Guile has been perceived as unique among Street Fighter II characters in both appearance and gameplay. He is noted as having only two signature moves in the game, both of which are performed by first holding a direction on the joystick and then pushing in the opposite direction with a punch or kick - the Sonic Boom and the Flash Kick, respectively. Guile has been well received, with the character often placing highly in various lists of the best Street Fighter characters of all time.

Conception and design
Early Street Fighter II sketches and notes suggest that Guile was developed specifically to appeal to American fans. In an interview with Game On!, Capcom Research and Design head Noritaka Funamizu stated that of the more popular characters in the series with western audiences, Guile was most likely considered the game's main character. Guile's design and hairstyle is based on Rudol von Stroheim and Jean-Pierre Polnareff, characters from the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Guile's name is a reference to The J. Geils Band, whose name was also referenced in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

In video games
Guile was first introduced in Street Fighter II (1991) as one of the eight selectable characters featured in the first release of the game. The former elite SOF teammate from the United States, Guile along with his best friend and co-pilot Charlie Nash were missing in action during a mission in Shadaloo, Thailand six years prior in 1987 during the events where Ryu fights Sagat in the Street Fighter I tournament. After many months of being Shadaloo POWs in Cambodia, he and Nash have succeeded their prison break from their cell to escape the jungle camps. During their perilous trek to civilization, Guile witnessed the ambush and murder of Nash at the nefarious hands of a caped dictator in a red uniform, this has stricken Guile with grief and vengeance ever since. In the present year of 1993, Guile is now affiliated with the USAF under the rank of Major, and has deserted both his wife, his daughter, and his nation for the opportunity to compete in the World Warrior tournament as an opportunity to avenge Nash against the sponsor of the competition. In his ending, he defeats Bison and lifts him on his knees by his throat to finish him off just after reminding him of who he murdered, but is dissuaded from killing him by his wife Julia (Jane in Japan) and their daughter Amy (Chris in Japan and Street Fighter 6), he then spares the bruised and bloody Bison and returns to his country to spend Christmas with his family.

Guile's war buddy Charlie would appear in the later prequel series Street Fighter Alpha, although Guile himself did not appear in this sub-series until the console versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998). They originally made Guile a hidden character in the initial PlayStation version of the game, though subsequent versions made him part of the initial roster. In his storyline in the game, Guile is an Air Force JTAC/TACP ordered to track down Charlie, who has gone missing. Guile eventually fights Charlie, as well as Bison as his final opponent. In his ending, Guile infiltrates Bison's base with Charlie and sets explosives on the Psycho Drive, only for the two to be caught in the act by Bison. Charlie holds off Bison while Guile escapes and the base explodes with Charlie still in it, resulting in his death. This ending, however, is retconned by Street Fighter V, which portrays Charlie's death in Street Fighter Alpha 2 at the hands of his own men secretly working for M. Bison as official canon.

Guile also appears as a playable character in Street Fighter EX (1997) and its two sequels, Street Fighter EX2 (1998) and Street Fighter EX3 (2000). The storyline of the EX series takes place at the same time as Street Fighter II. In addition to tracking down Shadaloo to avenge Charlie, Guile is also hunted by a mercenary named Doctrine Dark (another playable character in this sub-series), who is actually a former subordinate named Holger. His relationship with Ken as brothers-in-law (with their respective wives being sisters) is mentioned for the first time in the games in Ken's ending in the Japanese version of the original EX2.

Guile returns as a playable character in Street Fighter IV (2008), where he seeks authorization to conduct a search for his friend and comrade Charlie, whom he believes to be missing, but his request is rejected by his superior as he gives Guile a dog tag that belonged to Charlie and telling Guile to investigate S.I.N. and their connection to Shadaloo. In his Street Fighter IV ending, Guile is searching for Chun-Li after he defeats Seth. However, Seth finds Guile and he was rescued by Abel (who mentioned that he had seen a man (Charlie) that uses Guile's Sonic Boom move), and they were able to rescue Chun-Li. After that, Guile is sent home and reunited with his family. In Super Street Fighter IV's ending, Guile visits Charlie's grave and tells him that Shadaloo's plans are not over yet. Guile has an alternative costume that resembles Charlie's outfit in Street Fighter IV omega mode.

Guile also appears as a supporting character in the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken (2012), with Abel as his official tag partner.

Guile returns as the first of the delayed characters in Street Fighter V (2016–2022), as one of 6 DLC characters that were released after the game's launch in 2016. During Shadaloo's final scheme under a Black Moon-based Operation C.H.A.I.N.S., Guile suddenly encounters Charlie, who was resurrected by an unknown assailant (Illuminati), and joined the said third party side, despite their motives for Shadaloo's downfall are same. After Charlie cures Abel of M. Bison's Psycho Power, Guile reconciles with his undead friend. Guile joins the heroes who Karin recruited who join a final assault against the Shadaloo, with the help of a group of heroes who are recruited by an unknown assailant such as Charlie himself and Cammy, as well as a Middle East fighter Rashid, including Juri. While Rashid managed to shutdown Shadaloo's Operation C.H.A.I.N.S, Guile, Ryu, and Chun-Li watch Charlie a final time where the latter sacrifices his life to weaken M. Bison, with Ryu finishes his job to destroy M. Bison. Now finally at peace and becomes a national hero, Guile decides to retire from fighting to be with his family and become a mentor of the son of late-Robert Sullivan, Luke. Because the military which Luke joined in does not grant him the satisfaction to honor his late father, Guile convinces the military to release Luke from the army and advises the young man to pursue competitive fighting circuits across the globe and fight stronger opponents there, allowing Luke to become an independent man like his father before him.

As Guile was absent from Street Fighter III, which took place several years after Street Fighter V, Guile returns in Street Fighter 6 (2023), which itself takes place after Street Fighter III. Guile returns to his duty to investigate the ongoing conspiracy at Nayshall caused by the Amnesia terrorist organization led by JP, ever since they framed Ken for the crime he did not commit.

Guile appears in both the arcade and home versions of Street Fighter: The Movie, which were two separately-produced 1995 fighting games that used digitized footage from the live-action Street Fighter film, in which Guile was the lead character. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme posed for Guile's animation frames in the game.

The Alpha 3 incarnation of Guile appears as a selectable character in several fighting game crossovers which including Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (2000), Capcom vs. SNK (2000), Capcom vs. SNK 2 (2001) and Capcom Fighting Jam (2003). He also appears in the SNK-produced installments of SNK/Capcom crossovers in SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium (1999), SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (2003) and the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash series. A super-deformed version of the character is playable in the mobile puzzle game Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits (2014).

Guile appears in Charlie's ending in X-Men vs. Street Fighter (he is not identified by name, only as "Charlie's friend"), swearing revenge on Bison for apparently killing Charlie. A Guile-inspired costume for players to use in Sony's LittleBigPlanet was released as downloadable content. Guile appears as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, using Flash Kick and Sonic Boom. Guile was also added to Fortnite Battle Royale, along with Cammy on August 3, 2021. A playable Guile skin will also be added to Exoprimal.

The English version of Saturday Night Slam Masters implies that the character Gunloc is related to Guile. The video game adaptations of Street Fighter: The Movie expand on this, stating that Gunloc is Guile's brother.

In other media
In the 1994 live-action Street Fighter film, Guile (given the full name of William F. Guile) is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme and is the main protagonist instead of Ryu and Ken Masters, to appeal to American viewers and for high-grossing purposes. Van Damme's line in the film, "Are you man enough to fight with me?", is taken from Street Fighter II and its follow-ups. His character is given the rank of Colonel. In this live adaption, Guile is commanding the A.N. (this film's version of the United Nations) forces as he searches for General M. Bison. His motivation for searching for Bison is not to avenge Charlie's death (who is alive, but kept prisoner by Bison), but to end Bison's corrupt organization and to rescue Charlie, although he receives a great deal of help from Ryu and Ken to find Bison's base, and is aided in his mission by Cammy White, T. Hawk, Chun-Li, Balrog and E. Honda. Jean-Claude Van Damme's hair lacked the three-inch blonde flattop from the games as it is instead a bleached and gelled strawberry-blonde blowout hairdo, and even though the character was portrayed as American, Van Damme's Belgian accent was very noticeable, which implies that he is French-American. Van Damme, also put no effort into using the same fighting styles as Guile who uses a southpaw stance and is skilled in both Kickboxing and Wrestling moves as seen in the games, instead the actor uses a front stance and fights with Taekwando throughout his entire fight scenes just like in most of his films.

Van Damme was approached to reprise the role in the reboot, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, but ultimately did not appear.

Guile was planned to appear in the second season of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, titled Street Fighter: World Warrior; series creator Joey Ansah was interested in casting Scott Adkins as Guile. World Warrior was eventually scrapped in favor of Street Fighter: Resurrection; Guile was mentioned by Ken in the Resurrection episode "Fight & Flight" but did not appear in the series.

Guile is one of the main characters in the 1994 anime film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, where he is voiced by Masane Tsukayama in the Japanese original and by Kirk Thornton (credited as Donald Lee) in the English dub. Guile, serving as a jet fighter pilot and ranked as a Captain (O-4) in the U.S. Air Force, is assigned to work together with Chun-Li in order to take down Bison, whose organization Shadaloo (Shadowlaw in the English dub) has been kidnapping several martial artists and brainwashing them to do his evil bidding. Guile is at first far from happy to work with another person on the case, claiming loudly that "Bison's ass is mine", but a "special" friendship builds up between him and the Interpol agent. The film follows Guile's plot from the video game in Guile tracking down Bison to avenge Charlie's death, and his vendetta is amplified when Chun-Li is hospitalized by Vega on Bison's orders (though Chun-Li manages to defeat Vega first). Near the end of the film, Guile manages to track Ryu down but is followed by Bison and a brainwashed Ken. Guile engages Bison in combat but is outmatched by the crime lord's overwhelming speed and only manages to damage his cape with a Sonic Boom. Bison then finishes the fight by blasting Guile down a chasm. Guile survives this, although exhausted and bloodied, and when Bison finds Guile, he decides to spare him as an insult, and leaves. Guile is rescued along with Balrog by E. Honda. In his final scene, Guile, fully recovered, is moved to tears when informed that Chun-Li survived Vega's attack.

Based loosely on the storyline of the 1994 film while combining elements from Street Fighter II, Guile serves as the main protagonist of the Street Fighter animated series, and is depicted as the leader of an organization of Street Fighters consisting of himself, Chun-Li, Blanka, T. Hawk, Cammy, Dee Jay and E. Honda, with Ryu, Ken, Fei Long and Dhalsim as loose associates. Bison has survived his battle with Guile following the events of the film, and Guile's sole goal is to destroy Bison once and for all. The cartoon ran for two seasons (October 21, 1995 – May 14, 1997) with a total of 26 episodes.

Guile appears in the 1995 anime series Street Fighter II V, where he is voiced by Tesshō Genda in the Japanese original and once again by Kirk Thornton in the English Amimaze dub and by Rob Mungle in the ADV Films dub. In this TV series, Guile is a Master Sergeant (E-7) in the U.S. Air Force, who spends most of his time training physically and who has great pride in the Air Force. He faces Ryu in a bar fight after Ryu and Ken beat up some of his men (although it was Guile's men who started the fight in the first place when Ken stole one of their dates). Guile easily defeats Ryu, only to face Ken, who challenges him in an air force base to avenge Ryu. Despite a severe hangover, Guile is able to defeat Ken, which motivates the duo to start a training journey and improve their martial art skills by challenging opponents around the world. While in India, Ryu fights an imaginary Guile during a training session, but stops the fight and acknowledges his respect for the Sergeant for showing them how arrogant they were and inspiring them to travel the world. Later in the series, Guile is recruited by Ken's father along with his friend Charlie (who retains his Japanese name, Nash, in the dub) when Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li are taken captive by Shadaloo. He faces Zangief while infiltrating Bison's base, while Nash confronts Bison himself. Guile knocks Zangief out, but is unable to save Nash from Bison, who pits a brainwashed Chun-Li against the enraged Sergeant. Outside, Guile fights Chun-Li until Bison's demise snaps her out of her brainwashing, and he is last seen showing admiration for Ryu and Ken when they emerge unharmed from the battlefield.

In UDON's Street Fighter comic adaptation, Guile is given a central role alongside Chun-Li, particularly in the first arc but he also is a frequent cast member in later arcs. Similar to the official story, Guile is chasing after Shadaloo to discover the whereabouts of his Air Force buddy, Charlie Nash. Guile is first introduced to Charlie after his aircraft is shot down and Charlie commands a black-ops mission to rescue him. Like the official story, Charlie teaches Guile to fight. For the first arc of the comics, Guile spends his time looking for Ryu, believing to there to be a connection between him and Shadaloo. He traces him to the US and then back to Japan. While in Japan, he and Chun-Li engage a Shadaloo-controlled Charlie (codenamed "Agent Shadow") and fight him off. At the end of the first story arc, Charlie regains his senses and rejoins Chun-Li and Guile before they're attacked by M. Bison. Charlie unleashes his latent Psycho Power abilities and sacrifices himself to take out Bison (Charlie giving his own life to stop Bison echoes Guile's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 3), leaving Guile distraught and swearing vengeance against Shadaloo. Afterwards, Guile continues to assist Chun-Li in looking for Bison (whom they believe survived his encounter with Charlie) but all the while juggling his struggling relationship with his wife, Julia, and their daughter, Amy. Eventually the family reconciles at the end of the comic's second arc. Guile isn't heavily active during the second series of comics (Street Fighter II) but he is given an invitation to Bison's tournament, which he accepts as his final bid for vengeance. The final series (Street Fighter II Turbo) documents Guile's entry into M. Bison's fighting tournament. While on Shadaloo island, he is contacted by Cammy, who needs his help but cannot openly assist him as she is attempting to fool Bison into thinking she is under his control. Through a carefully woven set of scripted matches, Guile and Chun-Li get themselves eliminated from the tournament and successfully free the Delta Red squadron. Together they manage to locate and destroy Bison's Psycho Drive before evacuating the island as it sinks. The aftermath of the tournament show that Guile is satisfied with the results, believing he has successfully avenged Charlie, and is now comfortably living with his family.

Guile also appears alongside other Street Fighter characters in the Archie Comics crossover event Worlds Unite, which featured various Capcom and Sega franchises guest-starring in the Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe, Mega Man, and Sonic Boom comics.

Reception
Since his introduction, Guile has been positively received, ranking 4th in Gamest magazine's list of Best Characters introduced in 1991. IGN's D. F. Smith stated that while "there's nothing too fancy about him. He's just your basic, no-nonsense, all-American tough guy", his unique hairstyle and aesthetics helped give him enough personality to stand out. In another article for the website, he argued that the image of an "American soldier" is often the first that comes to mind for the Japanese, and felt of the whole cast the most like a "regular guy" in many ways. He voiced some disdain for how different the character was in the live action film, noting that despite Van Damme being a good fit physically, the rest of the aspects deviated too far. Den of Geek's Gavin Jasper praised Guile's backstory of revenge, and how the cost of his "soul" in the metaphorical sense helped make the conclusion of his story in Street Fighter II one of the best in video games overall. He further argued that compared to Chun-Li's own story of revenge, his was more compelling, stating "he has actual issues to work through".

Nicholas Ware in a dissertation titled You Must Defeat Sheng Long to Stand a Chance suggested Guile acted as a connection for the series to American blockbuster films, comparing him to characters such as Rambo or those played by Charles Bronson who were often involved in quests for vengeance. He further argued that Guile's military background was not only intended to reflect the "one man army" hero archetype common in American films, but also reflect Japanese views of foreign military forces, establishing him to Japanese audiences as different from themselves compared to Ken for example, and thus not portrayed as crucial for inclusion in subsequent Street Fighter entries. Ware elaborated further to state he represents "both a trust in and a fear of white Western power, particularly military/martial power." University of Delaware professor Rachel Hutchinson also discussed the use of imagery and military aspects to illustrate Guile as "not Japanese", stating that combat was "militarized and sexualized" through the presentation of his character and aesthetics in Street Fighter II. She also noted the increased use of American iconography in this regard, namely in comparison to the first Street Fighter game, and how significant it was to Guile as a character through aspects such as his tattoos.

Guile has also appeared in the manga Hi Score Girl by Rensuke Oshikiri. The series' main character, Haruo Yaguchi, is a fan of Street Fighter II and always plays as Guile. This tends to be exaggerated to the point Haruo suffers from hallucinations where he talks to Guile while playing the game or interacting with other gamers. In Japan, the character has been used by cosmetic company Yanagiya as a real-world spokesman for their "J-Gel" hair products.

title: Guile (Street Fighter)


text:
Sons of Liberty

The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765 and throughout the entire period of the American Revolution. Historian David C. Rapoport called the activities of the Sons of Liberty "mob terror."

In popular thought, the Sons of Liberty was a formal underground organization with recognized members and leaders. More likely, the name was an underground term for any men resisting new Crown taxes and laws. The well-known label allowed organizers to make or create anonymous summons to a Liberty Tree, "Liberty Pole", or other public meeting-place. Furthermore, a unifying name helped to promote inter-Colonial efforts against Parliament and the Crown's actions. Their motto became "No taxation without representation."

History

In 1765, the British government needed money to afford the 10,000 officers and soldiers living in the colonies, and intended that the colonists living there should contribute. The British passed a series of taxes aimed at the colonists, and many of the colonists refused to pay certain taxes; they argued that they should not be held accountable for taxes which were decided upon without any form of their consent through a representative. This became commonly known as "No Taxation without Representation." Parliament insisted on its right to rule the colonies despite the fact that the colonists had no representative in Parliament. The most incendiary tax was the Stamp Act of 1765, which caused a firestorm of opposition through legislative resolutions (starting in the colony of Virginia), public demonstrations, threats, and occasional hurtful losses.

The name is presumed to have been inspired by the phrase's use in a pro-American, anti-taxation speech in the House of Commons on February 6, 1765, by Irish MP Isaac Barré. A precursor of the Sons of Liberty in Boston was the Loyal Nine, which burned effigies of Stamp Act commissioner Andrew Oliver in Boston on August 14, 1765. When he did not resign, the group escalated to burning down his office building. Even after he resigned, they almost destroyed the whole house of his close associate Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson. It is believed that the Sons of Liberty did this to excite the lower classes and get them actively involved in rebelling against the authorities. Their actions made many of the stamp distributors resign in fear.

The organization spread after independent starts in several different colonies under various names. The name Sons of Liberty was used beginning in November in New York and Connecticut. By November 6, a committee was set up in New York City to correspond with other colonies, and by November 11 a meeting in Windham, Connecticut laid out orgational plans. In December an alliance was formed between groups in New York and Connecticut, and the name of Sons of Libery was first used in Boston. January bore witness to a correspondence link between Boston and New York City, and by March, Providence, Rhode Island had initiated connections with New York, New Hampshire, and Newport, Rhode Island. March also marked the emergence of Sons of Liberty organizations in New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.

To celebrate the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, the Sons of Liberty in Dedham, Massachusetts, erected the Pillar of Liberty.

The Sons of Liberty popularized the use of tar and feathering to punish and humiliate offending government officials starting in 1767. This method was also used against British Loyalists during the American Revolution. This punishment had long been used by sailors to punish their mates.

On August 14, 1769, the Boston Sons of Liberty held a public rally in celebration of the 4th Anniversary of their founding. At 11 in the morning they gathered at the Liberty Tree in Boston where they gave speeches and made toasts; they then paraded to the Liberty Tree Tavern in nearby Dorchester, where they held a celebratory dinner of 300 members of the organization in a tent set up next to the tavern, where "Music played, and at proper Intervals Cannon were fired. [...] About Five o'Clock the Company left [the tavern] in a Procession that extended near a Mile and a half, and before Dark entered the City, went round the State House and retired each to his own House."

At this time in the history of their organization they still considered themselves to be loyal subjects of the monarchy of Great Britain; when it came time at both events to give a round of toasts, the first toasts were to "The King, the Queen and the Royal Family"; only much later during the course of the Revolution did they begin to stridently oppose giving any support to the monarchy.

The Bostonian branch of the Sons of Liberty were responsible for organizing and executing the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773 in response to the Tea Act.

Early in the American Revolution, the former Sons of Liberty generally joined more formal groups, such as the Committee of Safety.

New York
"The association of the Sons of Liberty was organized in 1765, soon after the passage of the Stamp Act, and extended throughout the colonies, from Massachusetts to South Carolina. It appears that New York was the central post from which communications were dispatched, to and from the east and to the south as far as Maryland..."

While the exact name "Sons of Liberty" may not have been taken up as their official moniker by the leaders of the New York opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765 - they were popularly known there around that time as "The Liberty Boys" - it appears that they were known to other "Sons of Liberty" organizations in other states by that name not long after that time. There is a letter written by the "Sons of Liberty" in Baltimore, Maryland, "to the Sons of Liberty in New York", dated 6 March 1766 in which the Baltimore "Sons" thanked their New York brethren for having forced Zacharias Hood, who had been appointed stamp-master for Maryland, into resigning his commission. Hood had arrived in New York on a ship from London, and as soon as his mission became known to The Liberty Boys of New York, they arranged for a meeting with him at which they reasoned with him in their own inimitable way and thus secured his "resignation."

A list of New York members of the Sons of Liberty compiled by the Sons in Maryland, written on 1 March 1766, lists the following correspondents in the colony of New York: "New York [city] — John Lamb, Isaac Sears, William Wiley, Edward Laight, Thomas Robinson, Flores Bancker, Charles Nicoll, Joseph Allicoke, and Gershom Mott. Jer. Van Rensselaer, Maynard Roseboom, Rob. Henry, and Thos. Young, Albany. John S. Hobart, Gilbert Potter, Thomas Brush, Cornelius Conklin, and Nathaniel Williams, Huntington, Long Island.  George Townsend, Barack Sneething, Benjamin Townsend, George Weeks, Michael Weeks, and Rowland Chambers, Oyster Bay, Long Island."

In December 1773, a new group calling itself the Sons of Liberty issued and distributed a declaration in New York City called the Association of the Sons of Liberty in New York, which formally stated that they were opposed to the Tea Act and that anyone who assisted in the execution of the act was "an enemy to the liberties of America" and that ''"whoever shall transgress any of these resolutions, we will not deal with, or employ, or have any connection with him." ''

After the end of the American Revolutionary War, Isaac Sears, Marinus Willet, and John Lamb revived in New York City the Sons of Liberty. In March 1784, they rallied an enormous crowd that called for the expulsion of any remaining Loyalists from the state starting May 1. The Sons of Liberty were able to gain enough seats in the New York assembly elections of December 1784 to have passed a set of punitive laws against Loyalists. In violation of the Treaty of Paris (1783), they called for the confiscation of the property of Loyalists. Alexander Hamilton defended the Loyalists, citing the supremacy of the treaty.

Flags
An original flag flown from the Liberty Tree is in the collection of Revolutionary Spaces in Boston at the Old State House. The flag is wool with nine vertical stripes, four white and five red. The owner of the flag post-Revolution, Samuel "Rat-Trap" Adams, claimed that the flag was used by the Sons of Liberty, although there is no contemporary documentation of a non-British striped flag used by the Sons of Liberty. A flag having 13 horizontal red and white stripes was used by the Continental Navy and by American merchant ships during the war, although the two styles of flag do not appear to be related.

Boston

 * Samuel Adams – political writer, tax collector, cousin of John Adams, fire warden. Founded the Sons Of Liberty
 * Benjamin Church – first Surgeon-General of the United States Army and known traitor. Banished from Massachusetts in 1778.
 * Benjamin Edes – journalist/publisher Boston Gazette
 * Benjamin Kent – Attorney General
 * John Hancock – merchant, smuggler, fire warden
 * James Otis – lawyer, Massachusetts
 * Paul Revere – silversmith, fire warden
 * James Swan – financier
 * Isaiah Thomas – printer, Boston then Worcester, first to read Declaration of Independence in Massachusetts
 * Joseph Warren – doctor, soldier
 * Thomas Young – doctor

New York

 * Joseph Allicocke – One of the leaders of the Sons, and possibly of African ancestry.
 * John Lamb – trader
 * Alexander McDougall – captain of privateers
 * Hercules Mulligan – haberdasher, spy under George Washington for the Continental Army, friend of Alexander Hamilton
 * Isaac Sears – captain of privateers
 * Haym Salomon – financial broker, New York and Philadelphia
 * Marinus Willett – militia officer, cabinet maker, student

Other

 * Benedict Arnold – businessman, later General in the Continental Army and then the British Army
 * Timothy Bigelow – blacksmith, Worcester, Massachusetts
 * John Brown – business leader of Providence, Rhode Island
 * Samuel Chase – signer of the Declaration of Independence
 * John Crane – carpenter, colonel in command of the 3rd Continental Artillery Regiment, Braintree, Massachusetts
 * William Ellery – signer of the Declaration of Independence
 * Christopher Gadsden – merchant, Charleston, South Carolina
 * William Goddard (1740-1817) – publisher, co-founder of the US Post Office with Benjamin Franklin
 * Patrick Henry – lawyer, Virginia
 * Jedediah Huntington – General in the Continental Army
 * Samuel Huntington – signer of the Declaration of Independence
 * William Paca – signer of the Declaration of Independence
 * Charles Willson Peale – portrait painter and saddle maker, Annapolis, Maryland
 * Matthew Phripp – merchant, chairman of the Norfolk committee of safety, prominent Freemason, and colonel of the militia. Norfolk, Virginia
 * Benjamin Rush – physician, Philadelphia
 * Charles Thomson – tutor, secretary, Philadelphia
 * William Williams – signer of the Declaration of Independence

Later societies
At various times, small secret organizations took the name "Sons of Liberty". They generally left very few records. In the early 19th century, there was an organization in Bennington, Vermont, named the Sons of Liberty, that included local notables such as military officer Martin Scott and Hiram Harwood.

The Improved Order of Red Men, established in 1834, claimed to be descended from the original Sons of Liberty, noting that the Sons participated in the Boston Tea Party dressed as their idea of "Indians". The name was also used during the American Civil War. The Copperhead group, the Knights of the Golden Circle, reorganized in 1863 as the "Order of American Knights". In 1864, it became the Order of the Sons of Liberty, with the Ohio politician Clement L. Vallandigham, most prominent of the Copperheads, as its supreme commander. In most areas, only a minority of its membership was radical enough to discourage enlistments, resist the draft, and shield deserters. The group held numerous peace meetings. A few agitators, some of them encouraged by Southern money, talked of a revolt in the Old Northwest, with the goal of ending the war. In 1864, both the KGC and the Order of the Sons of Liberty were prosecuted for treason by federal authorities, especially in Indiana.

In 1948, a radical wing of the Zionist movement, calling itself the "Sons of Liberty", launched a boycott of British films in the U.S., in response to British policies in Palestine.

title: Sons of Liberty


text:
Royal Victoria Dock

The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.

History
Although, the structure was in place in the year 1850, it was opened in 1855, on a previously uninhabited area of the Plaistow Marshes. It was the first of the Royal Docks and the first London dock to be designed specifically to accommodate large steam ships. It was also the first to use hydraulic power to operate its machinery and the first to be connected to the national railway network, via the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway section of what is now the North London line. It was initially known as "Victoria Dock"; the prefix "Royal" was granted in 1880.

The dock was connected to the national rail network via a line which ran between Canning Town and North Woolwich. When the Royal Dock was first built, the railway cut along the docks; to correct this, a swing bridge over the entrance to the dock was built. This however, slowed journey time, and so a new line was built in 1855, to take the route around the north side of the dock to Silvertown, and a station at Custom House opened where it re-connected with the original line. The older southern line was kept to serve local factories, where it was known as the Silvertown Tramway.

The Royal Victoria Dock consisted of a main dock and a basin to the west, providing an entrance to the Thames on the western side of the complex. The dock was deeply indented with four solid piers, each 152 m long by 43 m wide, on which were constructed two-storey warehouses. Other warehouses, granaries, shed and storage buildings surrounded the dock, which had a total of 3.6 km of quays.

The dock was an immediate commercial success, as it could easily accommodate all but the very largest steamships. By 1860, it was already taking over 850,000 tons of shipping a year – double that of the London Docks, four times that of St Katharine Docks and 70% more than the West India Docks and East India Docks combined. It was badly damaged by German bombing in the Second World War, but experienced a resurgence in trade following the war. From the 1960s onwards, the Royal Victoria experienced a steady decline – as did all of London's other docks – as the shipping industry adopted containerisation, which effectively moved traffic downstream to Tilbury. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1981.

In 1988, the then-dilapidated site was chosen by French electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre as the site for one of his signature large-scale concerts, eventually titled Destination Docklands. The area also inspired him to write the album Revolutions specifically for the event.

The Royal Victoria Dock experienced major redevelopment initiated by the London Docklands Development Corporation in the 1990s. Developments included Britannia Village, which was carried out by Wimpey Homes, the Peabody Trust and the East Thames Housing Group in the mid-1990s.

Most of the original buildings were demolished but a few historic warehouses survived. More recent development has included the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge completed in 1998, and the ExCeL Exhibition Centre, constructed on the north quayside, which opened in November 2000.

Events
On 15 August 2009, the dock hosted the inaugural Great London Swim, a mass participation open water swim over a one-mile distance. The event has been held annually since then but on the first weekend in July. On 16 to 17 June 2018, the dock hosted the F1H2O Grand Prix of London won by Erik Stark. Britannia Village has its own Community Foundation.

Royal Victoria Dock is the starting location for the annual Docklands Head, a rowing head race hosted by Poplar Blackwall and District Rowing Club. The race starts under the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge and proceeds eastwards underneath Connaught Footbridge and Connaught Road Bridge, finishing at the eastern end of the Royal Albert Dock.

title: Royal Victoria Dock


text:
Ministry of Culture and Sports (Greece)

The Ministry of Culture (Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού) is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage, promoting the arts, and overseeing sport through the subordinate General Secretariat for Sports. The incumbent minister is Lina Mendoni. The Deputy Minister is Christos Dimas.

History
This ministry was established in 1971 as the Ministry of Culture and Sciences (Ὑπουργεῖον Πολιτισμοῦ καὶ Ἐπιστημῶν) and it was renamed the Ministry of Culture (Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού) on 26 July 1985. On 7 October 2009, it was merged with the Ministry of Touristic Development to form the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού). It ceased to exist on 21 June 2012, when the Ministry of Tourism was re-established and the culture portfolio was absorbed by the Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs to form the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports. The Ministry of Culture and Sports was re-established on 25 June 2013. On 27 January 2015, it was again merged with the education ministry to form the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs. On 23 September 2015, the culture and education portfolios were restored as separate ministries.

title: Ministry of Culture and Sports (Greece)


text:
Skatole

Skatole or 3-methylindole is an organic compound belonging to the indole family. It occurs naturally in the feces of mammals and birds and is the primary contributor to fecal odor. In low concentrations, it has a flowery smell and is found in several flowers and essential oils, including those of orange blossoms, jasmine, and Ziziphus mauritiana. It has also been identified in certain cannabis varieties.

It is used as a fragrance and fixative in many perfumes and as an aroma compound. Its name derives from the Greek root skato-, meaning feces. Skatole was discovered in 1877 by the German physician Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919).

Original: "Ich habe mich zuerst mit der Untersuchung der flüchtigen Bestandtheile der Excremente aus sauerer Lösung beschäftigt.  Es wurden dabei die flüchtigen Fettsäuren:  Essigsäure, normale und Isobuttersäure, sowie die aromatischen Substanzen:  Phenol, Indol und eine neue dem Indol verwandte Substanz, die ich Skatol nennen werde, erhalten."

Translation: "I was occupied initially with the investigation of the volatile components of excrement in acidic solution.  One obtained thereby volatile fatty acids; acetic acid; normal and isobutyric acid; as well as the aromatic substances: phenol, indole and a new substance which is related to indole and which I will name 'skatole'." - Brieger (1878), page 130

Biosynthesis, chemical synthesis, and reactions
Skatole is derived from the amino acid tryptophan in the digestive tract of mammals. Tryptophan is converted to indoleacetic acid, which decarboxylates to give the methylindole.

Skatole can be synthesized via the Fischer indole synthesis.

It gives a violet color upon treatment with potassium ferrocyanide.

Skatole, along with the fecal odorant indole, can be neutralized by combining it with other scents, by producing perfumes or air fresheners that lack skatole and indole. In a manner similar to noise-cancelling headphones, the scent produced by the resultant concentrations of skatole and indole relative to other substances in the freshener is thus "in-phase" and perceived as pleasant.

Insect attractant
Skatole is one of many compounds that are attractive to males of various species of orchid bees, which apparently gather the chemical to synthesize pheromones; it is commonly used as bait for these bees for study. It is also known for being an attractant for the Tasmanian grass grub beetle (Aphodius tasmaniae).

Skatole has been shown to be an attractant to gravid mosquitoes in both field and laboratory conditions. Because this compound is present in feces, it is found in combined sewage overflows (CSO), as streams and lakes containing CSO water have untreated human and industrial waste. CSO sites are thus of particular interest when studying mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.

Animal studies
Skatole occurs naturally in the feces of all species of mammals and birds, and in the bovine rumen.

Skatole has been shown to cause pulmonary edema in goats, sheep, rats, and some strains of mice. It appears to selectively target club cells, which are the major site of cytochrome P450 enzymes in the lungs. These enzymes convert skatole to a reactive intermediate, 3-methyleneindolenine, which damages cells by forming protein adducts (see fog fever).

With the testicular steroid androstenone, skatole is regarded as a principal determinant of boar taint.

Skatole contributes to bad breath.

Application
Skatole is the starting material in the synthesis of atiprosin.

title: Skatole


text:
User talk:Slord~enwiki

Welcome
I'm surprised no one has welcomed you to Wikipedia. Well, let me extend a welcome. Welcome to Wikipedia.

I'm also supposed to list some possible things to work on with a standardized message:

PrimeFan 22:15, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Multiplication Dots
Your hard work adding multiplication dots to the articles on 200 and 300 is much appreciated. The reason they didn't have multiplication dots is that I meant for the stubs to be very short that would merely act as receptacles for information on integers before meriting a full article. Once one such stub has enough information to merit a full article, then every effort should be made to adhere to the template. But before that, I wouldn't worry about it. Nevertheless, I realize that it must've taken a lot of work to accomplish putting in all those dots, and that's very much appreciated. PrimeFan 22:15, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Ok, I understand the way it's supposed to work; thanks for your comment, and for your welcome :) .slord 00:48, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Numbers at the French Wikipedia
If I were you I'd just start translating number pages to French, see if any people join the effort, before formally declaring a number project there. But I have only briefly looked at the French Wikipedia, so I really can't advise you there.

I've looked at the Italian, Spanish and Swedish Wikipedias, because I've noticed recent activity of people working on those Wikipedias making interwiki links to there from the English Wikipedia. At the Spanish Wikipedia, only User:Sabbut is formally signed up for the number project there, but User:Numerao has done a lot of work in creating number articles that conform to Sabbut's template, and linking them to English; and Sabbut and a couple of others have added facts to those number articles. At the Italian Wikipedia, Usuario:L'abbaco spagnolo is translating number articles from the Spanish Wikipedia, and a couple of others have edited those articles, but only to fix his spelling mistakes; an anonymous user has linked those back to English. At the Swedish Wikipedia, User:Anton Mravcek has been making number articles and linking them back to English. PrimeFan 20:29, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * Thank you for your reply and advice, I think I'll act this way. slord 10:48, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)

New Mathematics Wikiportal
I noticed you've done some work on Mathematics articles. I wanted to point out to you the new Mathematics Wikiportal- more specifically, to the Mathematics Collaboration of the Week page. I'm looking for any math-related stubs or non-existant articles that you would like to see on Wikipedia. Additionally, I wondered if you'd be willing to help out on some of the Collaboration of the Week pages.

I encourage you to vote on the current Collaboration of the Week, because I'm very interested in which articles you think need to be written or added to, and because I understand that I cannot do the enormous amount of work required on some of the Math stubs alone. I'm asking for your help, and also your critiques on the way the portal is set up.

Please direct all comments to my user-talk page, the Math Wikiportal talk page, or the Math Collaboration of the Week talk page. Thanks a lot for your support! ral315 02:54, Feb 11, 2005 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of Angers European First Film Festival

A tag has been placed on Angers European First Film Festival requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section A7 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the article appears to be about an organized event (tour, function, meeting, party, etc.), but it does not indicate how or why the subject is important or significant: that is, why an article about that subject should be included in an encyclopedia. Under the criteria for speedy deletion, such articles may be deleted at any time. Please read more about what is generally accepted as notable.

If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Click here to contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be removed without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, you can place a request here. Epeefleche (talk) 20:55, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 03:03, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 18:59, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Slord~enwiki