text:
Howard Ashman

Howard Elliott Ashman (May 17, 1950 – March 14, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist and stage director. He is most widely known for his work on feature films for Walt Disney Animation Studios, for which Ashman wrote the lyrics and Alan Menken composed the music. Ashman has been credited as being a main driving force behind the Disney Renaissance. His work included songs for Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. Tim Rice took over to write the rest of the songs for the latter film after Ashman's death in 1991.

Early life and education
Ashman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Shirley Thelma (née Glass) and Raymond Albert Ashman, an ice cream cone manufacturer. His family was Jewish. He started his theater experiences with the Children's Theater Association (CTA), playing roles such as Peter Pan. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College (with a stop at Tufts University's Summer Theater) and then went on to earn a master's degree in Fine Arts at Indiana University in 1974.

Career
After graduating from Indiana University in 1974, Ashman moved to New York and worked as an editor at Grosset & Dunlap. His first two plays, Cause Maggie's Afraid of the Dark and Dreamstuff, were met with mixed reviews. Ashman's play The Confirmation was produced in 1977 at Princeton's McCarter Theater and starred Herschel Bernardi. In 1977, he became the artistic director of the WPA Theater in New York. Ashman met future collaborator Alan Menken at the BMI Workshop, where he was classmates with Maury Yeston and Ed Kleban, among others. He first worked with Menken on the 1979 musical Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, adapted from Vonnegut's novel of the same name. They also collaborated on Little Shop of Horrors with Ashman as director, lyricist, and librettist, winning the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics and receiving a Grammy Award nomination. Ashman also directed the workshop of Nine by Yeston at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and after asking why Guido's wife stays with him after she knows he has not been faithful, inspired Yeston to write "My Husband Makes Movies".

Ashman was director, lyricist, and book writer for the 1986 Broadway musical Smile (music by Marvin Hamlisch). This musical was generally not well received and closed with only 48 performances. However, Ashman received a nomination at the Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical. Also in 1986, Ashman wrote the screenplay for the Frank Oz–directed film adaptation of his musical Little Shop of Horrors, as well as contributing the lyrics for two new songs, "Some Fun Now" and "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", the latter of which received an Academy Award nomination.

In 1986, Ashman was brought in to write lyrics for a song in Walt Disney Animation Studios' Oliver & Company. He then also worked with Tina Turner on a script which never came to fruition. While there, Ashman was offered several works which had been on the back burner and was told about another project that Disney had been working on for a couple years. The film was The Little Mermaid, Disney's first fairy tale in 30 years. Ashman, along with Menken, wrote all of the songs for the film. Ashman became a driving force during the early years of the "Disney Renaissance". He would hold story meetings and said the animation and musical styles were made for each other, which is why Disney needed to continue making musical movies. Ashman also made strong choices in casting actors with strong musical theater and acting backgrounds. The Little Mermaid was released in November 1989 and was an enormous success. Ashman and Menken received two nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and three nominations at the Academy Awards, including two Best Original Song nominations for "Kiss the Girl" and "Under The Sea" with Ashman and Menken winning for the latter.

In 1988, while working on The Little Mermaid, Ashman pitched the idea of an animated musical adaptation of Aladdin to Disney. After he wrote a group of songs with partner Alan Menken and a film treatment, a screenplay was written by Linda Woolverton, who had worked on Beauty and the Beast. Directors John Musker and Ron Clements then joined the production, and the story underwent many changes, with some elements of the original treatment being dropped. Out of the 16 songs written for Aladdin, three of Ashman's songs ended up in the finished film, which was released after his death.

During the early production of Aladdin, Ashman and Menken were approached to help reinvigorate and save the production of Beauty and the Beast, which was going nowhere as a non-musical. Ashman, wishing to focus on Aladdin and his health, reluctantly agreed. It was at this time that his health began to decline due to his illness. Regardless, he completed lyrical work on Beauty and the Beast before his death in March 1991. The film was released mere months after his death and is dedicated to him. In May 2020, Beauty and the Beast co-director Kirk Wise said, "If you had to point to one person responsible for the 'Disney Renaissance', I would say it was Howard."

Along with Menken, Ashman was the co-recipient of two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards.

Personal life
Ashman met Stuart White, one of his first partners, at a summer university program in 1969. Originally close friends, the two formed a bond which led to a relationship. They both completed master's degrees at Indiana University and then moved to New York. Ashman and White re-opened the Workshop of Players Art Foundation (WPA) together as artistic directors. The two fell out in 1980, but reunited briefly in 1983.

Ashman then met Bill Lauch in 1984, who worked as an architect. Lauch accepted Ashman's posthumous Oscar for Beauty and the Beast in 1992, after Ashman's death.

Death
Ashman was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in January 1988 during production of The Little Mermaid, as he continued to write songs. Peter Kunze noted that Ashman was supported by Jeffrey Katzenberg; Disney created a production unit near his home in Beacon, New York, allowing him to continue working on Beauty and the Beast, while undergoing treatment at the Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Centers in New York City. Ashman died at Saint Vincent's on March 14, 1991, at the age of 40, prior to the film's completion. Beauty and the Beast was dedicated to his memory, featuring the message after the end credits: ''To our friend, Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950-1991''. He was buried in the Ohev Shalom Cemetery in Reisterstown, Maryland.

Awards and nominations
Over the course of his career, Ashman won two Academy Awards (one posthumous) out of seven nominations. Of these nominations, four are posthumous nominations, the most in Academy Awards history. He also won a posthumous Laurence Olivier Award and five Grammy Awards (three of them posthumous), among other accolades.

Special recognitions

 * 1990 – Special Award for outstanding contribution to the success of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' anti-drug special for children, for the song "Wonderful Ways to Say No" from the TV special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
 * 2001 – Disney Legend Award (POSTHUMOUS)

Tributes
On the 2002 Special Edition DVD of Beauty and the Beast, the Disney animators teamed up again and added a new song called "Human Again", which Ashman and Menken had written for the film but had been cut from the finished product. On Disc 2, there is a short documentary entitled Howard Ashman: In Memoriam that features many people who worked on Beauty and the Beast who talk about Ashman's involvement on the film and how his death was truly a loss for them.

Jeffrey Katzenberg claims there are two angels watching down on them that put their magic touch on every film they made. Those two angels are Ashman and Walt Disney himself.

An album of Ashman singing his own work entitled Howard Sings Ashman was released on November 11, 2008, by PS Classics as part of the Library of Congress "Songwriter Series".

The 2009 documentary, Waking Sleeping Beauty, which centers around Disney's animation renaissance, is dedicated to him, as well as Frank Wells, Joe Ranft, and Roy E. Disney.

In March 2017, Don Hahn confirmed he was working on a documentary biographical film about Howard Ashman. The documentary film titled Howard premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2018, before having a limited theatrical run on December 18, 2018. It was released on Disney+ on August 7, 2020, and was initially slated for removal on May 26, 2023. However, Disney reversed course in response to fan outcry.

Like with the original Beauty and the Beast, the 2023 live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid was also dedicated to his memory.

Credits

 * The Confirmation (1977) (writer)
 * God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979) (lyricist, librettist and director)
 * Little Shop of Horrors (1982) (lyricist, librettist and director)
 * Smile (1986) (lyricist, librettist and director)
 * Little Shop of Horrors (1986) (lyricist and screenwriter)
 * Oliver & Company (1988) (lyricist for "Once Upon a Time in New York City")
 * The Little Mermaid (1989) (lyricist, producer, additional dialogue)
 * Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990) (lyricist for "Wonderful Way to Say No")
 * Beauty and the Beast (1991) (lyricist, executive producer) (dedicated)
 * Aladdin (1992) (lyricist for "Arabian Nights", "Friend Like Me", and "Prince Ali").
 * What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) (uncredited story draft)

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

title: Howard Ashman


text:
Alan Menken

Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Skydance Animation. Menken's music for The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995) has each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores and songs for Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Newsies (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Home on the Range (2004), Enchanted (2007), Tangled (2010), and Disenchanted (2022), among others. His accolades include winning eight Academy Awards — becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman (who has 9 Oscars), a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of nineteen people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony ("an EGOT").

He is also known for his work in musical theater for Broadway and elsewhere. Some of these works are based on his Disney films, but other stage hits include Little Shop of Horrors (1982), A Christmas Carol (1994), and Sister Act (2009).

Menken has collaborated with lyricists such as Muriel Robinson, David Zippel, Howard Ashman, Stephen Schwartz, David Crane, Seth Friedman, Marta Kauffman, Steve Brown, Tom Eyen, David Rogers, Dennis Green, David Spencer, Jack Feldman, Tim Rice, Lynn Ahrens, Glenn Slater, Chad Beguelin, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Ariel Shaffir, Kyle Hunter, Phil Johnston, Tom MacDougall, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Early life
Alan Irwin Menken was born on July 22, 1949, at French Hospital in Manhattan, to Judith and Norman Menken. His father was a boogie-woogie piano-playing dentist, and his mother was an actress, dancer and playwright. His family was Jewish. Menken developed an interest in music at an early age, taking piano and violin lessons. He began to compose at an early age. At age nine, at the New York Federation of Music Clubs Junior Composers Contest, his original composition "Bouree" was rated Superior and Excellent by the judges.

Menken noted that "Before college, I was writing songs to further my dream of being the next Bob Dylan. A lot of guitar songs – I was composing on piano before that."

He attended New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York, and graduated in 1967. Menken remembers: "I'd make up my own Bach fugues and Beethoven sonatas because I was bored with the piano and I didn't want to practice; so I'd go off on tangents". He then enrolled at New York University. Menken graduated in 1972 from University College of Arts and Science at the Heights campus, which is now the College of Arts and Science. After college, he attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

Menken recalled: "First, I was pre-med. I thought I'd be a dentist like my dad. Finally, I got a degree in music, but I didn't care about musicology. It wasn't until I joined BMI Workshop ... under Lehman Engel, and walked into a room with other composers that I knew this was it."

Early career
After graduating, Menken's plan was to become either a rock star or a recording artist. His interest in writing musicals increased when he joined the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Musical Theatre Workshop and was mentored by Lehman Engel. From 1974 to 1978, he showcased various BMI workshop works, such as Midnight, Apartment House (lyric by Muriel Robinson), Conversations with Pierre,  Harry the Rat and Messiah on Mott Street (lyrics by David Zippel).

According to Menken, during this period, he "worked as a ballet and modern dance accompanist, a musical director for club acts, a jingle writer, arranger, a songwriter for Sesame Street and a vocal coach". He performed his material at clubs like The Ballroom, Reno Sweeny and Tramps.

In 1976, John Wilson reported for The New York Times that members of Engel's BMI Workshop began performing as part of the "Broadway at the Ballroom" series: "The opening workshop program ... featured Maury Yeston and Alan Menken, both playing their piano accompaniment and singing songs they have written for potential musicals." Wilson reviewed a performance at the Ballroom in 1977 where Menken accompanied a singer: "In the current cabaret world, a piano accompanist is no longer expected to merely play piano for a singer. More and more, pianists can be heard joining in vocally, harmonizing with the singer, creating a background of shouts and exclamations or even doing brief passages of solo singing."

Menken contributed material to revues like New York's Back in Town, Big Apple Country, The Present Tense (1977), Real Life Funnies (Off-Broadway, 1981), Diamonds (Off-Broadway, 1984), and Personals (Off-Off-Broadway, 1985). His revue Patch, Patch, Patch ran at the West Bank Cafe in New York City in 1979 and featured Chip Zien. The New York Times reviewer Mel Gussow wrote: "The title song ... refers to a life's passage. According to Alan Menken ... after age 30 it is a downhill plunge."

Menken wrote several shows that were not produced, including Atina, Evil Queen of the Galaxy (1980), with lyrics by Steve Brown. He also wrote The Thorn with lyrics by Brown, which was commissioned by Divine in 1980. This was a parody of the film The Rose, but they could not raise the money to have it produced. He collaborated with Howard Ashman in an uncompleted musical called Babe (c. 1981), with Tom Eyen in Kicks: The Showgirl Musical (1984), and with David Rogers in The Dream in Royal Street (c. 1981), which was an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Menken contributed music for the film The Line (1980), directed by Robert J. Siegel.

Breakthrough years
Menken finally achieved success as a composer when playwright Howard Ashman chose him and Engel to write the music for his musical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The musical opened in 1979 at the WPA Theater to excellent reviews and modest box office. It transferred after several months to the Off-Broadway Entermedia Theater, where it ran for an additional six weeks.

Menken and Ashman wrote their next musical, Little Shop of Horrors, for a cast of only 9 performers, including a puppeteer. This musical is based on the 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors. It opened at WPA Theater in 1982 to warm reviews. It moved to the Off Broadway Orpheum Theatre in the East Village, Manhattan, where it ran for five years. The musical set the box-office record for highest grossing Off-Broadway show of all time. It toured around the world, won theater awards and was adapted as a 1986 musical film starring Rick Moranis that earned Menken and Ashman their first Oscar nomination for the song "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space". For his body of work in musical theatre, he was awarded the BMI Career Achievement Award in 1983.

In 1987, Menken and lyricist David Spencer's adaptation The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, based on the 1959 novel of the same name, was produced in Philadelphia. After substantial re-writes, it was produced in 2015 in Montreal. In 1992, the WPA Theatre produced Menken's Weird Romance, also with lyrics by Spencer. Menken's musical based on the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Mike Ockrent, debuted at Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theater in 1994. The show proved successful and was an annual New York holiday event.

Disney Renaissance and later films
On the strength of the success of Little Shop of Horrors, Menken and Ashman were hired by Walt Disney Studios to write the music for The Little Mermaid (1989). The challenge was to create an animated musical film of this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that could sit alongside the Disney films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella. The Little Mermaid opened to critical and commercial success and signaled a new Disney era called the Disney Renaissance. The film gave them their first Oscar win: Best Song for the song "Under the Sea". Menken also won the 1989 Oscar for Best Score.

Menken and Ashman's Beauty and the Beast garnered them three 1991 Oscar nominations for Best Song, winning for its title song. Menken won another Oscar for Best Score. The two were working on Aladdin at the time of Ashman's death in 1991. Ashman wrote only three songs in the film and Menken collaborated with Tim Rice, who was then working on The Lion King, to write the rest of the songs for the film. The film won an Oscar in 1992 for Best Song, "A Whole New World". Menken also won the Oscar for Best Score. Menken's live action musical film Newsies, with lyrics by Jack Feldman, was released in 1992.

Three more animated musical films followed. Menken collaborated with Stephen Schwartz for Pocahontas, for which the two won two Oscars: Best Song and Best Musical or Comedy Score. In 1996, the same musical team created the songs, and Menken, the score, for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 1997, Menken reunited with his early collaborator, David Zippel, for his last film in the era, Hercules.

Menken also wrote the music for the Michael J. Fox vehicle Life with Mikey (1993), the holiday film Noel (2004) and Mirror Mirror (2012). His other film scores for Disney have included Home on the Range (2004), the Tim Allen remake of The Shaggy Dog (2006), Enchanted (2007), and Tangled (2010).

In March 2017, Disney released a live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon and starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, with the songs from the 1991 film and new material by Menken and Rice. Menken collaborated with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul on writing new songs for the 2019 live-action version of Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Menken again worked with Stephen Schwartz to write new songs for Disenchanted, the sequel to Enchanted, Menken also worked on new music for a live-action film adaptation of The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall, with longtime The Little Mermaid fan Lin-Manuel Miranda, whom Menken knew since the former's childhood, as Miranda went to the same school as Menken's niece. Menken is also working alongside former Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter on a project at Skydance Animation. On May 20, 2020, the project was revealed to be Vicky Jenson's Spellbound. Menken will co-write songs for Spellbound alongside collaborated with lyricist Glenn Slater, with whom he worked on Home on the Range and Tangled. Menken is also reportedly attached to a sequel to Aladdin. Menken was set to work with Schwartz to write new songs for a remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which Menken would score. However, in May 2023, Menken suggested that the development had been stalled due to the original movie's content and themes.

With eight Academy Awards, only composer Alfred Newman (nine wins), art director Cedric Gibbons (11 wins) and Walt Disney (22 wins) have received more Oscars than Menken. He is tied for fourth place with late costume designer Edith Head, and currently holds the record for the most wins for a living person.

Return to musical theatre
Menken debuted on Broadway with a musical theatre adaptation of Beauty and the Beast that opened in 1994 and ran for 13 years before closing in 2007. In 1997, he collaborated with lyricist Tim Rice on a musical, King David, based on the biblical character, which was performed in a concert version on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Little Shop of Horrors played on Broadway from 2003 to 2004.

He next created the stage version of The Little Mermaid, which played on Broadway from 2008 to 2009 and for which he received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Score. Menken's stage adaptation of Sister Act premiered in London in 2009, and opened on Broadway in 2011. He was nominated for another Tony Award for Best Score. Menken received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010. In December 2010, he was a guest on the NPR quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.

In 2012, Menken won a Tony Award for Best Score for his musical adaptation of Newsies, which ran until 2014. He also wrote the music for Leap of Faith, which had a brief run on Broadway in 2012. His stage adaptation of Aladdin opened on Broadway in 2014, earning him another Tony nomination for Best Score. In 2013, he was a guest at the annual Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, and was honored with the Junior Theater Festival Award. He gave a concert there, including music that was cut from various productions, while talking about his creative process.

Menken's stage adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame played at La Jolla Playhouse, California, in 2014. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz was revived in Montreal in 2015, and A Bronx Tale: The Musical played at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2016. Menken is currently working on stage musical adaptations of Night at the Museum and Animal Farm.

As of 2019, Menken is reuniting with his Newsies creators Jack Feldman and Harvey Fierstein to develop a new musical called Greetings from Niagara Falls. A reading was held in January 2019; however, there is no word on future plans for the project at this time.

Television work
From 1989 to 1990, Menken and Howard Ashman wrote songs for the popular puppet TV show Sesame Street. In 2008, Menken said that his work on Sesame Street was "pathetic money, but it still had some prestige to it. It was on the air and [he] was getting some royalties". The duo also wrote a song titled "Wonderful Ways to Say No" for the 1990 animated anti-drug special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

In 2015, Menken co-composed the score for the musical television series Galavant alongside Christopher Lennertz, reuniting him with Tangled screenwriter Dan Fogelman. Menken also co-wrote songs for the series alongside Glenn Slater. The series lasted two seasons, first airing on January 4, 2015, and last airing on January 31, 2016. In 2017, Menken and Slater returned to write songs for the animated series Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, which is set after the events of Tangled. The series ended in 2020, after three seasons. On July 26, 2020, Menken and Slater won the Daytime Emmy Award for Original Song in a Children's, Young Adult or Animated Program for the song titled "Waiting in the Wings".

Menken wrote songs for a prospective prequel/spin-off series to 2017's Beauty and the Beast titled Little Town, which would be centered on Gaston and LeFou. The series would be released on Disney's streaming service, Disney+, and Menken would also be an executive-producer on the series. In February 2022, it was reported that the series would not go forward for now.

Personal life
Menken was introduced to ballet dancer Janis Roswick while working with the Downtown Ballet Company. They have been married since November 1972 and live in North Salem, New York with their two daughters, Anna and Nora.

Artistry and reception
Menken has said he prefers for his compositions to be "hummable", writing, "Songs should have an infectious melody and rhythm ... They should elicit an emotion, of happiness, or of celebration, or of sadness, or of sorrow, or of love, or of laughter — whatever". When writing songs for a Disney film, he is usually trying to progress the story, while being appropriate for each character and dramatic situation. He gathers as much information as possible a about a film project before composing at a piano, namely "What's the story? Who's the protagonist? Where would a song fit? What's the reason for singing?". Menken has worked with numerous lyricists throughout his career. His most famous collaboration remains his songwriting partnership with Ashman, despite having worked together for a relatively short period of time.

Steve Hochman of Grammy.com said Menken "ranks among the top composers in film and theater", writing, "his music is part of the DNA of several generations of children and parents alike". According to Jeff Bond of The Hollywood Reporter, Menken is largely responsible for redefining the musical genre for a contemporary audience both in film and on stage, calling him "one of film music’s most versatile craftspeople". His work has influenced a generation of songwriters across film and stage. Menken has noted his influence on songwriters and musicians such as Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Bobby Lopez, Kristen-Anderson Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Elton John, and Sara Bareilles, although he maintains he does not have a specific protege.

Menken is an EGOT winner, having won at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony for his work.

Advocacy
In an open letter published April 5th, 2024, Menken along with 491 other Jewish creatives voiced support for The Zone of Interest director Jonathan Glazer's Oscar speech that expressed sympathy for the Palestinian victims in the 2023-2024 war in Gaza, as well as Israeli victims of October 7th, 2023, while condemning Israel's Occupation of Palestine as a part of the conflict.

The letter concluded with "We reject the false choice between Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom. We stand with all those calling for a permanent ceasefire, including the safe return of all hostages and the immediate delivery of aid into Gaza, and an end to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of and siege on Gaza.

We honor the memory of the Holocaust by saying: Never again for anyone."

Musicals

 * Dear Worthy Editor (Off-Broadway, c. 1974)
 * Book by Judy Menken
 * Based on the letters-to-the-editor of Jewish-American newspaper Daily Jewish Forward
 * Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (Off-Broadway, 1979)
 * Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Dennis Green
 * Based on a 1965 novel by Kurt Vonnegut
 * The Dream on Royal Street (Regional, 1981)
 * Lyrics by David Rogers
 * Based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
 * Little Shop of Horrors (Off-Broadway, 1982; West End, 1983; Broadway, 2003)
 * Lyrics by Ashman
 * Based on the 1960 black comedy film
 * Weird Romance (Off-Broadway, 1992)
 * Lyrics by David Spencer
 * Two one-act musical: Based on "Her Pilgrim Soul" and "The Girl Who Was Plugged In"
 * Beauty and the Beast (Broadway, 1994; West End, 1997)
 * Lyrics by Ashman and Tim Rice
 * Based on the 1991 Disney film
 * A Christmas Carol (Madison Square Garden, 1994–2003)
 * Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
 * Based on 1843 novella by Charles Dickens
 * King David (Broadway, 1997)
 * Lyrics by Rice
 * Based on the Biblical books of Samuel, 1 Chronicles and Psalms
 * Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (Berlin, 1999)
 * Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
 * Based on the Disney film and the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo
 * The Little Mermaid (Broadway, 2008)
 * Lyrics by Ashman and Glenn Slater
 * Based on the Disney film
 * Sister Act (West End, 2009; Broadway, 2011)
 * Lyrics by Slater
 * Based on the 1992 comedy film
 * Leap of Faith (Broadway, 2012)
 * Lyrics by Slater
 * Based on the 1992 film
 * Newsies (Paper Mill Playhouse, 2011; Broadway, 2012)
 * Lyrics by Jack Feldman
 * Based on the 1992 film
 * Aladdin (Seattle, 2011; Broadway, 2014)
 * Lyric by Ashman, Rice and Chad Beguelin
 * Based on the 1992 film
 * The Hunchback of Notre Dame (La Jolla Playhouse, 2014)
 * Lyrics by Schwartz
 * Based on the 1996 film and the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo
 * The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Montreal, 2015)
 * Lyrics by Spencer
 * Based on the 1959 novel by Mordecai Richler
 * A Bronx Tale: The Musical (Broadway, 2016)
 * Lyrics by Slater
 * Based on the 1990 autobiographical one-man play by Chazz Palminteri
 * Hercules (Central Park, 2019)
 * Lyrics by David Zippel
 * Based on the 1997 Disney film

Other

 * Aladdin, Jr. – 1-act, 7-scene musical adapted from the animated film Aladdin 1992
 * Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage – Theatrical show at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World
 * Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular – Theatrical show at Disney California Adventure
 * The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Theatrical show at Disney's MGM Studios, Walt Disney World
 * The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure – Attraction at Disney California Adventure
 * Sindbad's Storybook Voyage featuring "Compass of Your Heart" – Attraction at Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo Disney Resort
 * Dramatists Guild of America YouTube Channel music video featuring "Someone Wrote That Song"
 * Tangled: The Musical – Theatrical show on the Disney Cruise Line (starting November 2015)
 * Dubai Parks and Resorts's official theme song "All the Wonders of the Universe" (opening October 2016)
 * Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular 2017 celebration featuring the world premiere of "The Sum of Us" (lyrics by Jack Feldman) for soloist, chorus, and orchestra (Brian Stokes Mitchell, U.S. Army Soldier's Chorus and the Boston Pops Orchestra)

Awards
Alan Menken has received eight Academy Awards (and nineteen nominations), eleven Grammy Awards (and twenty-four nominations), one Tony Award (and four nominations), and one Daytime Emmy Award. He has also received seven Golden Globe Awards (and sixteen nominations), one Drama Desk Award (and five nominations), and three Outer Critics Awards.

He was made a Disney Legend in 2002 and was the recipient of a Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award in 1998, a Freddie G. Award for Musical Excellence in 2013, and The Oscar Hammerstein Award in 2013, among others.

The American Film Institute included the title song from the film Beauty and the Beast, in the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs. Five other songs from his Disney films were nominated:

 * "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid (1989)
 * "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast (1991)
 * "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast (1991)
 * "A Whole New World" from Aladdin (1992)
 * "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin (1992)

In 2006, AFI listed its 25 greatest movie musicals, with Beauty and the Beast (1991) ranked 22nd. It is the only animated musical film on the list. Four of his other film musicals were also nominated:
 * Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
 * The Little Mermaid (1989)
 * Aladdin (1992)
 * The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

In 2019, Menken finally accepted the Razzie Award for "Worst Original Song" he won at the 13th Golden Raspberry Awards (1993) for "High Times, Hard Times" from Newsies (1992), becoming the first person to win a Razzie and Oscar in the same year. Menken wrote the music for the song, and shared the award with lyricist Jack Feldman.

In 2020, Menken reached EGOT status when he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song in a Children's, Young Adult or Animated Program for co-writing the song "Waiting in the Wings" for Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure.

title: Alan Menken


text:
User:Ivan~enwiki

I'm Ivan. You're not. Don't recover the password for Ivan. You're not Ivan. Yes, I'm keeping my account. Ivan (talk) 14:37, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

title: User:Ivan~enwiki


text:
Azusa Pacific University

Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California. The university was founded in 1899, with classes opening on March 3, 1900, in Whittier, California, and began offering degrees in 1939. The university's seminary, the Graduate School of Theology, holds to a Wesleyan-Arminian doctrinal theology. APU offers more than 100 associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs on campus, online, and at seven regional locations across Southern California.

Azusa Pacific University is organized into three colleges and seven schools. The academics programs are available from the Honors College, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Music and the Arts, Leung School of Accounting, University College, School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Management, School of Education, School of Nursing, and School of Theology. APU is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.

History
Early years saw the school relocate and change leadership several times. In 1939, Cornelius P. Haggard became the school's 13th president. In response to low enrollment and a lack of donations, Haggard launched a variety of fundraising efforts. Haggard served for the next 36 years.

Following mergers with three Southern California colleges, the university relocated in 1946 to the city of Azusa, where it resides today. In 1939 the Training School became Pacific Bible College, and four-year degrees were offered. In 1956, the name was changed to Azusa College. By 1965, Azusa College had become Azusa-Pacific College (APC), and three years later, APC merged with Arlington College. Upon its achievement of university status in 1981, the college changed its name to Azusa Pacific University.

After Haggard's death, Paul E. Sago became president, serving until 1989. Sago encouraged the development and growth of off-site educational regional campuses throughout Southern California, and presided over the addition of master's degree programs and the development of schools within the university.

Richard E. Felix, became president in 1990, and initiated the university's first doctoral programs. He also introduced the university's "Four Cornerstones," Christ, Scholarship, Community, and Service, and oversaw the construction of seven new buildings, a doubling of student enrollment, and a quadrupling of graduate programs.

When nearby institution, Ambassador College closed in 1997, the Worldwide Church of God and Azusa Pacific University jointly established the Ambassador Center at Azusa Pacific University for the continuation of classes for former Ambassador College students.

In November 2000, then-Executive Vice President Jon R. Wallace, DBA, became president. In April 2018, Wallace announced his plan to retire and accepted his new role as president emeritus.

In 2017, a new independent economic study found that APU generates $1.25 billion in economic impact within California each year. Of that, APU contributes $37 million in state taxes each year and supports 7,260 jobs statewide. The report also found approximately 47,500 APU alumni reside within California, increasing the state's productivity and earning power. Of those, 10,600 APU alumni and 600 APU employees live in the San Gabriel Valley.

In 2018, two university board members resigned from the university, citing concerns over financial mismanagement and "theological drift." As of 2018, the credit rating agency Moody's had downgraded its credit rating of APU's bonds to BA1, just above junk status.

On April 10, 2019, APU named Paul W. Ferguson as its 17th president. He began his new role on June 3, 2019.

Religious affiliations
A small group of Quakers (also known as Friends) and a Methodist evangelist laid the foundation for the Training School for Christian Workers in 1899.

As faculty members began to embrace Evangelicalism and reject a growing liberal trend in the California Yearly Meeting of Friends, a campus church was established in 1933. This shift moved the "school church" from the local Huntington Park Friends Church to the on-campus worship gathering. The new campus church planted eight "tabernacles" throughout California which collectively became known as the Evangel Church denomination.

The series of college mergers and campus re-locations which followed helped to solidify the school's identity as an Evangelical institution.

Presidents
The university has had a total of 18 presidents since its founding.

Academics
Azusa Pacific University academic resources include the Writing Center, Accessibility Services, Testing Services, Tutoring Services, university libraries, Math Center, Academic Success Center, and the Graduate and Professional Registrar. Special programs include the Friends Center, Honors College, Sigma Theta Tau (Iota Sigma), and the Western Conservancy of Nursing History.

University libraries and special collections
The APU libraries include the William V. Marshburn Library (East Campus), the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library (West Campus), the Stamps Theological Library (West Campus), and off-campus libraries supporting academic programs at the APU High Desert, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Murrieta locations.

A unified catalog identifies the more than 240,000 books, media items, and 1,900 periodical titles in the libraries' print collections. More than 703,000 microforms include the Library of American Civilization, Library of American Literature, The New York Times, and Educational Resources Information Center collections. The university network also provides access to more than 140 online databases, which include more than 46,000 electronic journals.

In the fall of 2009, Azusa Pacific University acquired a collection of antiquities, including five fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls and five first-edition prints of the King James Bible. These new acquisitions were displayed in an exhibit, Treasures of the Bible: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Beyond, in summer 2010.

Special collections of Azusa Pacific University are housed in the Thomas F. Andrews Room of the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library, located on APU's West Campus. The special collections consist of over 6,500 holdings ranging from presidential signatures to historical citrus crate labels.

Research
Azusa Pacific University is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". APU conducts its research through eight university research centers:
 * Center for Academic Service-Learning and Research
 * Center for Research on Ethics and Values (CREV)
 * Center for Research in Science (CRIS)
 * El Centro Teológico Hispano
 * Friends Center
 * Center for Vocational Ministry (Undergraduate)
 * Office of Faith Integration
 * Noel Academy for Strengths-Based Leadership and Education

APU's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment provides resources, training, and consultations designed to help academic and student life departments successfully assess their educational effectiveness. The office also coordinates and facilitates the academic program review process.

Honors College
APU's Honors College was launched in 2013, with David L. Weeks as dean. An Oxford-style, writing-intensive program, the Honors College grants graduates a second major or minor in Honors Humanities and an honors scholar diploma designation. The program content replaces all general education courses. The Honors College describes its purpose as "liberally educat[ing] the next generation of intellectually-gifted Christian leaders." Students study classic literature including works by Aristotle, Shakespeare, and C.S. Lewis, and are given publication and regional/national presentation opportunities.

Campus
Azusa Pacific University's Azusa campus is situated in the San Gabriel Valley, located 26 mi northeast of Los Angeles.

The university also maintains a Los Angeles Regional Site, a Monrovia Regional Site, and five additional off-site regional centers in Southern California:
 * Inland Empire Regional Center (San Bernardino)
 * Murrieta Regional Center
 * San Diego Regional Center
 * High Desert Regional Center (Victorville)
 * Orange County Regional Center (Orange)

Athletics
The Azusa Pacific athletic teams are called the Cougars. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Pacific West Conference (PacWest) for most of its sports since the 2012–13 academic year; while its women's swimming & diving team competes in the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC) and its women's water polo team competes in the Golden Coast Conference (GCC). The Cougars previously competed in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1986–87 to 2011–12. On July 11, 2011 Azusa Pacific began the three-year transition process to becoming a member of the NCAA. Azusa Pacific University decided to end its football program in December 2020 due to financial restructuring.

Azusa Pacific competes in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo.

Azusa Pacific Athletics achieved eight consecutive wins of the Directors’ Cup from 2005 to 2012, with a total of 108 GSAC Championships and 36 NAIA National Championships. Since joining NCAA Division II, the program has added 31 PacWest Conference Championships and four GNAC championships in football.

Achievements and alumni
A past eight-time winner of the NAIA's Directors' Cup, APU finished 17th for the second consecutive year in the 2015–16 NCAA Division II Directors' Cup standings. A total of 14 APU athletes have competed in the Olympics, including 2008 decathlon gold medalist Bryan Clay '03, and 50 other alumni have been drafted into other professional sports, including Christian Okoye '87, former Kansas City Chiefs fullback; Stephen Vogt '07, former MLB player and current Cleveland Guardians manager; Kirk Nieuwenhuis '08, Long Island Ducks outfielder; and Terrell Watson '15, San Diego Fleet running back. Several graduates have gone onto serve as leaders in higher education including J. David Carlson, Jeff Siemers, and Jacob Amundson.

Student body
Azusa Pacific University's 2018-19 enrollment consisted of 10,095 students, of whom 5,021 are at the undergraduate and 5,074 at the graduate and professional levels. As of 2018, 58 countries, 57 states (and US territories), and 56 Christian denominations are represented by the student population. Approximately 68% of students are female and 32% are male.

In the 2018–2019 academic year, the freshman retention rate was 84%.

The university's most popular programs are in following categories:

 * 1) Health Professions and Related Programs (31%)
 * 2) Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services (14%)
 * 3) Psychology (12%)
 * 4) Visual and Performing Arts (8%)
 * 5) Education (6%)

Student life
APU features 20 music ensembles, 11 intramural sports, and about 40 clubs and organizations, including ethnic organizations, performing arts clubs, social clubs, service clubs, academic clubs, athletic clubs, and honors societies, as well as a Student Government Association. The university also hosts military and veteran services, including active duty military and veteran benefits, scholarships, and programs.

Music ensembles
Music ensemble offerings include choral ensembles, vocal groups, large ensembles, chamber ensembles, commercial ensembles, and orchestral groups. Music groups require an audition, and perform at local churches as well as state and national orchestral and symphonic events. In addition to these ensembles, the Artist Certificate program offers a conservatory style experience to the School of Music's highest performing musicians.

Student Government Association
APU's Student Government Association (SGA) is composed of 28 students. The SGA has served APU since 1945 by meeting with offices on campus and conducting surveys that analyze the needs of the APU student body. The SGA's governing structure, listed from highest position to lowest, is composed of a president, five executives, two commissioners, nine senators, and nine representatives.

Military and veteran services
APU is a Yellow Ribbon University recognized by Military Friendly as a military-friendly college, and is an approved degree-granting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. APU was also named as one of 130 "Best for Vets Colleges 2017" in the 4-year schools category by Military Times.

The university provides an ROTC program which includes scholarships and tuition assistance.

APU also offers a Veterans Club intended to create a network for veterans transitioning into academic life. The club hosts regular meetings and community service opportunities.

Diversity
In 2016, APU was recognized by Diverse Issues in Higher Education as one of the nation's top schools in awarding degrees to minority students. The university ranked among the top 100 in 11 baccalaureate categories, and ranked 5th for awarding Hispanic master's degrees in the "business/commerce, general" category, and 55th for total minority master's degrees awarded across all disciplines. APU is recognized by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities as one of 104 Hispanic-Serving Institutions in California.

Human Sexuality
The university has cited its Christian faith in its beliefs about human sexuality." The policy has been lifted and reinstated a number of times and has been the target of student protests.

As of 2022, University policy states that "God-given sexuality" is to take place in the context of a marriage covenant between a man and a woman.

The Student Center for Reconciliation and Diversity
The Student Center for Reconciliation and Diversity administers scholarship programs and provides information on internship and scholarship opportunities offered by local community organizations. SCRD also advises campus ethnic organizations, including the Armenian Student Association, Asian Pacific American Student Organization, Black Student Association, Latin American Student Association, Indigenous Peoples Circle, and the Pacific Islander Organization. In addition, SCRD coordinates a Multi-Ethnic Leadership Scholarship Program.

Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence
The Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence hosts initiatives including staff and faculty diversity network luncheons, diversity ambassador training, and diversity workshops. The center also facilitates a diversity plan based on a 2016 UCLA Climate Study conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute assessing APU's social climate. The center collaborates with the Council of Christian Colleges & Universities on national diversity-related projects.

Service and outreach
For eight consecutive years, Azusa Pacific has been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary leadership in civic engagement, service-learning, and building community partnerships. Azusa Pacific University, as one of 115 U.S. institutions named to the Carnegie Foundation's 2010 Community Engagement Classification, is recognized for its commitment to community service and service-learning. Through APU's Center for Student Action, undergraduates perform more than 165,000 hours of service each year locally and globally.

Local service
Local service is conducted by the City Links program, where students aid the city of Azusa and greater Los Angeles area. Services include assisting food banks and providing after school tutoring and mentoring. In addition to these weekly service opportunities, students can spend a semester living and learning in Los Angeles through L.A. Term.

Mexico Outreach
APU students serve in Mexico through the Mexico Outreach Program, which continues a more-than-40-year relationship with churches, refugee shelters, prisons, and rehabilitation centers. Several opportunities exist throughout the year for students to serve the Mexicali community. APU also maintains a site in Ensenada–Rancho El Refugio–that is available throughout the year for students to stay at while conducting outreach in the area.

Global relief
The Center for Student Action sends more than 250 students, faculty, staff, and alumni around the world to partner with long-term and national workers. Programs include but are not limited to: educational development, orphan work, conversational English teaching, prayer ministry, mobile medical care clinics, and anti-human and anti-sex trafficking. The following are relief efforts that the Center for Student Action has worked toward mobilizing aid and volunteers:
 * Hurricane Katrina, August 2005, USA
 * Cyclone Sidr, November 2006, Bangladesh
 * Earthquake, 2010, Haiti
 * Earthquake and Tsunami, 2011, Japan
 * Typhoon Haiyan, 2013, Philippines
 * Hurricane Harvey, 2017, USA
 * Southern California fires, various years, USA

title: Azusa Pacific University


text:
Commodity Futures Trading Commission

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options.

The Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), et seq., prohibits fraudulent conduct in the trading of futures, swaps, and other derivatives. The stated mission of the CFTC is to promote the integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of the U.S. derivatives markets through sound regulation. After the financial crisis of 2007–08 and since 2010 with the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the CFTC has been transitioning to bring more transparency and sound regulation to the multitrillion-dollar swaps market.

History
Futures contracts for agricultural commodities have been traded in the U.S. for more than 150 years and have been under federal regulation since the 1920s. The Grain Futures Act of 1922 set the basic authority and was changed by the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.).

Since the 1970s, trading in futures contracts has rapidly expanded beyond traditional physical and agricultural commodities into a vast array of financial instruments, including foreign currencies, U.S. and foreign government securities, and U.S. and foreign stock indices.

Congress created the CFTC in 1974 as an independent federal regulatory agency. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-463) created the CFTC to replace the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Exchange Authority. The Act made extensive changes to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) of 1936, which itself amended the original Grain Futures Act of 1922. (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.). In 1975, the first members were selected, and also its first chairman.

The CFTC's mandate was renewed and expanded in December 2000 when Congress passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which instructed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC to develop a joint regulatory regime for single-stock futures, the products of which began trading in November 2002.

In 2010, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act expanded the CFTC's regulatory authority into the swaps markets. The swaps markets currently have a notional value of more than $400 trillion.

Regulated markets
The CFTC oversees the derivatives markets by encouraging their competitiveness and efficiency, ensuring their integrity, protecting market participants against manipulation, abusive trading practices, fraud, and ensuring the financial integrity of the clearing process. The CFTC generally does not directly regulate the safety and soundness of individual firms, with the exception of newly regulated swap dealers and major swap participants, for whom it sets capital standards pursuant to Dodd–Frank. Through oversight, the CFTC enables the derivatives markets to serve the function of price discovery and offsetting price risk.

As of 2014 the CFTC oversees 'designated contract markets' (DCMs) or exchanges, swap execution facilities (SEFs), derivatives clearing organizations, swap data repositories (SDRs), swap dealers, futures commission merchants, commodity pool operators and other intermediaries. The CFTC coordinates its work with foreign regulators, such as its UK counterpart, the Financial Conduct Authority, which supervises the London Metal Exchange.

Over-the-counter derivatives
In 1998 CFTC chairperson Brooksley E. Born lobbied Congress and the President to give the CFTC oversight of 'off-exchange markets' for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives in addition to its existing oversight of exchange-traded derivatives, but her warnings were opposed by other regulators.

Two actions by the CFTC in 1998 led some market participants to express concerns that the CFTC might modify the "Swap Exemption" and attempt to impose new regulations on the swaps market. First, in a February 1998 comment letter addressing the SEC's "broker-dealer lite" proposal, the CFTC stated that the SEC's proposal would create the potential for conflict with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to the extent that certain OTC derivative instruments fall within the ambit of the CEA and are subject to the exclusive statutory authority of the CFTC.

In May 1998 the CFTC issued a 'concept release' requesting comment on whether regulation of OTC derivatives markets was appropriate and, if so, what form such regulation should take. Legislation enacted in 1999 at the request of the US Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, and the SEC limited the CFTC's rulemaking authority with respect to swaps and hybrid instruments until March 30, 1999, and froze the pre-existing legal status of swap agreements and hybrid instruments entered into in reliance on the 'Swap Exemption', the 'Hybrid Instrument Rule', the 'Swap Policy Statement, or the 'Hybrid Interpretation'. The text of that act read: "...the Commission may not propose or issue any rule or regulation, or issue any interpretation or policy statement, that restricts or regulates activity in a qualifying hybrid instrument or swap agreement". Shortly after Congress had passed this legislation prohibiting CFTC from regulating derivatives, Born resigned. She later commented the failure of Long-Term Capital Management and the subsequent bailout as being indicative what she had been trying to prevent.

Regulating digital currencies
In March 2014 the CFTC acknowledged it was considering the regulation of Bitcoin. The CFTC has since taken the position that Bitcoin is a commodity under the CEA. In October 2019, former CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert, now Chief Legal Officer of Citadel Securities, declared that ether was also a commodity under the CEA.

In 2015, the CFTC ruled that for purposes of trading, cryptocurrencies were legally classified as commodities. However, in view of market volatility and other factors, the CFTC noted several risks associated with trading virtual currencies. In 2017, the CFTC cited the US SEC's warning against digital token sales and initial coin offerings (ICOs) that can "improperly entice investors with promises of high returns". In recent years, the CFTC has expanded its efforts to civilly prosecute fraud and misappropriation in the digital asset markets.

Organization
Based in Washington, D.C., the CFTC maintains regional offices in Chicago, New York and Kansas City, Missouri. The Commission consists of five Commissioners appointed by the President of the United States to serve staggered five-year terms. The President, with the consent of the United States Senate, designates one of the commissioners to serve as chairman. No more than three commissioners at any one time may be from the same political party.

Division of Enforcement
The Division of Enforcement (DOE) investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Violations may involve commodity futures or option trading on domestic commodity exchanges, or the improper marketing of commodity investments. The Division may, at the direction of the commission, file complaints before the agency's administrative law judges or in the U.S. District Courts. Alleged criminal violations of the Commodity Exchange Act or violations of other Federal laws which involve commodity futures trading may be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution. The Division also provides expert help and technical assistance with case development and trials to U.S. Attorneys' Offices, other Federal and state regulators, and international authorities.

Division of Market Oversight
The Division of Market Oversight (DMO) has regulatory responsibility for initial recognition and continuing oversight of trade execution facilities, including new registered futures exchanges, swap execution facilities, and swap data repositories. The regulatory functions of the Division include, among other things, rule enforcement reviews, reviews of new products and product- and market-related rule amendments, and associated product and market-related studies. The Division was previously responsible for market and trade practice surveillance.

Market Participants Division
Formerly known as the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, the Market Participants Division (MPD) primarily oversees derivatives market intermediaries, including commodity pool operators, commodity trading advisors, futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, major swap participants, retail foreign exchange dealers, and swap dealers, as well as designated self-regulatory organizations. MPD conducts the registration, compliance, and business conduct standards of intermediaries, swap dealers and major swap participants. The division also oversees the agency's customer education initiatives.

Division of Clearing and Risk
The Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) oversees derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs) and other market participants in the clearing process. These include futures commission merchants, swap dealers, major swap participants, and large traders. DCR monitors the clearing of futures, options on futures, and swaps by DCOs, assesses DCO compliance with Commission regulations, and conducts risk assessment and surveillance. DCR also makes recommendations on DCO applications and eligibility, rule submissions, and which types of swaps should be cleared. As of 2019, Clark Hutchison serves as Director of the Division of Clearing and Risk.

List of past commissioners

 * Dan M. Berkovitz (term of service 09/07/18 – 10/15/21)
 * Brian D. Quintenz (term of service 08/15/17 – 08/31/21)
 * Heath Tarbert (Chairman 07/15/2019 – 01/21/2021) (term of Service 07/15/2019 – 03/05/2021)
 * J. Christopher Giancarlo (Acting Chairman 01/20/17 – 08/03/17) (Chairman 08/03/17 – 04/13/19) (term of Service 06/06/14 – 06/05/19)
 * Sharon Y. Bowen (term of Service 06/09/14 – 09/29/17)
 * Timothy Massad (term of Service 6/5/14 – 02/17/17)
 * Mark P. Wetjen (term of Service 10/25/11 – 08/28/15)
 * Scott D. O'Malia (term of Service 10/19/09 – 08/08/14)
 * Bart Chilton (term of Service 08/08/07 – 03/21/14)
 * Gary Gensler (Chairman 05/26/09 – 01/3/14) (term of Service 05/26/09 – 01/3/14)
 * Jill E. Sommers (term of Service 08/08/07 – 07/08/13)
 * Michael V. Dunn (Acting Chairman 1/20/09 – 5/25/09) (term of Service 11/21/04 – 10/24/11)
 * Walter L. Lukken (Acting Chairman 6/27/07- 01/20/09) (term of Service 08/07/02 – 07/10/09)
 * Reuben Jeffery, III (chairman 07/11/05 – 6/27/07) (term of Service 07/11/05 – 06/27/07)
 * Frederick W. Hatfield (term of Service 12/06/04 – 12/31/06)
 * Sharon Brown-Hruska (Acting Chairman 08/24/04 – 07/10/05) (term of Service 08/07/02 – 07/28/06)
 * James E. Newsome (Acting Chairman 01/20/01 – 12/27/01) (chairman 12/27/01 – 07/23/04) (term of Service 08/10/98 – 07/23/04)
 * Thomas J. Erickson (term of Service 06/21/99 – 12/01/02)
 * Barbara P. Holum (Acting Chairwoman 12/22/93 – 10/07/94) (term of Service 11/28/93 – 12/09/03)
 * David D. Spears (Acting Chairman 06/02/99 – 08/10/99) (term of Service 09/03/96 – 12/20/01)
 * Brooksley E. Born (Chairwoman 08/26/96 – 06/01/99)
 * John E. Tull, Jr. (Acting Chairman 01/27/96 – 08/25/96) (term of Service 11/24/93 – 02/27/99)
 * Joseph B. Dial (term of Service 06/20/91 – 11/13/97)
 * Mary L. Schapiro (Chairwoman 10/13/94 – 01/26/96) (term of Service 10/13/94 – 01/26/96)
 * Sheila C. Bair (Acting Chairwoman 08/22/93 – 12/21/93) (term of Service 05/02/91 – 06/16/95)
 * William P. Albrecht (Acting Chairman 01/22/93 – 08/20/93) (term of Service 11/22/88 – 08/20/93)
 * Wendy L. Gramm (term of Service 02/22/88 – 01/22/93)
 * Fowler C. West (term of Service 10/06/82 – 01/20/93)
 * Kalo A. Hineman (Acting Chairman 07/27/87 – 02/22/83) (term of Service 01/12/82 – 06/19/91)
 * Robert R. Davis (terms of Service 10/03/84 – 04/30/90)
 * William Rainer (term of Service 08/11/99 – 01/19/01)
 * William E. Seale (term of Service 11/16/83 – 09/01/88)
 * Susan M. Philips (Chairwoman 11/17/83 – 07/24/87) (Acting Chairwoman 05/28/83 – 11/16/83) (term of Service 11/16/81 – 07/24/87)
 * Philip McBride Johnson (Chairman 6/8/81 – 5/01/83) (term of Service 06/06/81 – 05/01/83)
 * James M. Stone (Chairman 05/04/79 – 06/08/81) (term of Service 05/04/79 – 01/31/83)
 * Read P. Dunn (term of Service 04/15/75 – 11/13/81)
 * David G. Gartner (term of Service 05/19/78 – 10/05/82)
 * Robert L. Martin (term of Service 06/20/75 – 08/31/81)
 * Gary L. Seevers (Acting Chairman 12/06/78 – 05/03/79) (term of Service 04/15/75 – 06/01/79)
 * Bill Bagley (term of Service 04/15/75 – 11/15/78)
 * John V. Rainbolt (term of Service 04/15/75 – 05/18/78)

Notable events of past commissioners
Roy Lavik served as the CFTC (Commodity Futures and Trading Commission) Inspector General from 1990 until 2023. On May 3, 2023, the Wall Street Journal Reports that Mr. Lavik was suspended by the CFTC as the Inspector General after an oversight body alleging "Substantial Misconduct". Complaints of misconduct go back as far as late 2018. Allegations include:

 * Divulging the identity of whistleblowers on multiple occasions
 * Misappropriating around $165,000 in funds for a hire that did little or no work
 * Violating agency security policies by allowing others to use his username and password to access sensitive systems

Funding/budget
Unlike the other four main financial regulators, the CFTC does not have self-funding. A transaction fee has been "requested" for several years but Congress has not taken any legislative action. During the government shut down in October 2013, SEC and Federal Reserve stayed open, but "futures and most swaps markets were left with essentially no cop on the beat".

In 2007, the CFTC's budget was US$98 million and it had 437 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). After 2008, funding increased by 80% to US$205 million and 687 FTEs for fiscal year (FY) 2012, but was cut to US$180.4 million and 682 FTEs for FY 2013. In 2013 CFTC's performance was severely affected by limited resources and had to delay cases. The current, FY 2014 funding of US$215 M did not keep up with CFTC's increasing swaps market oversight and regulation, equivalent to tens of trillions of dollars in formerly dark market trading, according to outgoing Commissioner Bart Chilton in his last speech. The Obama administration's latest budget proposal for FY 2015 requested US$280 M, which is US$35 M less than the request for the previous year, and would fund "100 less employees than we need" per Chilton, who called the budget "woefully insufficient" for CFTC's more than 40-fold increased purview. In February 2014, Commissioner Scott D. O'Malia dissented from the FY 2014 spending plan saying that it did not allocate enough funding to new technology investments, but allocated too much to swap dealer oversight, duplicating the work of the self-regulatory National Futures Association. In March he dissented from the FY 2015 budget request stating CFTC "makes an unrealistic request for new staff and funding in this budget request without a firm understanding of its mission priorities, specific goals, and corresponding personnel and technology needs."

In December 2019, the CFTC secured funding of US$284 million for FY2020, an increase of nearly 6 percent from the US$268 million appropriated for FY2019. Chairman Tarbert commented that this "fully matched" the CFTC's request, the first time that had happened in "nearly a decade. "

Primary exchanges monitored

 * Chicago Board Options Exchange
 * Chicago Board of Trade
 * Chicago Mercantile Exchange
 * COMEX
 * Kansas City Board of Trade
 * Minneapolis Grain Exchange
 * North American Derivatives Exchange
 * New York Mercantile Exchange
 * New York Board of Trade
 * OneChicago

title: Commodity Futures Trading Commission


text:
User:Cyrius

Cyrius is just some guy.

title: User:Cyrius


text:
Orșova

Orșova (Orsova; Orschowa; Оршава/Oršava) is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is one of four localities in the Banat historical region situated just above the Iron Gates where the Cerna River meets the Danube.

History

 * The locality was the site of a Roman port in Dacia Malvensis, and the site of the Roman city and fort of Dierna
 * In 1925, a confusion by the scholar Nándor Fettich misplaced the important Magyar burial site discovered at Cheglevici into the Orșova region. Later, the location of that discovery, testifying to the presence of the Magyars since the early 10th century, was clarified for the archeological community.
 * King Ladislaus I of Hungary decisively defeated the Cumans near Orșova in 1091.
 * It was a major border fortification in the Middle Ages.
 * The city was captured by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522.
 * Orșova became part of the Habsburg monarchy in 1687 at the start of an Ottoman-Habsburg War, but Ottoman forces recaptured it in 1690. The Treaty of Passarowitz gave the city back to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1718. The Treaty of Belgrade gave the city back to the Ottoman Empire in 1739. Finally, The Treaty of Sistova gave the city back to the Kingdom of Hungary in 1791. The city remained in Hungary until the end of World War I, when it became part of Romania. It was included in the Mehedinți county during the administrative reform of 1968.
 * The Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen was buried near Orșova from 1848 till 1853.
 * During the works at the Iron Gates, the old center of the town was flooded and Orșova was developed (1966–1971) on higher ground, including the southern side of the Almăj Mountain and the villages of Jupalnic, Tufari, and Coramnic. Also flooded then was the neighboring Ada Kaleh, with the scattering of the mostly Turkish community of the Danube island. Ada Kaleh and its inhabitants, as well as the ancient city, are still present in the memory of its surviving locals.

Economy
The town is a center for the extraction of bentonite, chromium, and granite. The industry is centered on energy production (the hydroelectric plant), shipbuilding and engine manufacturing, assembly parts for electricity production, textiles, and the processing of feldspar, asbestos, quartz, talc, wood, etc.

The Orșova shipyard was constructed in 1890 and like a small reparation shop for the vessels which participated to the navigable channel from Iron Gate Romania- Sip Yugoslavia and had a continuously development a long time. After the year 1991 the name was changed and also the organizational profile.

A wind farm is being developed in the city territory, on a hill nearby (at 4.5 km from the agglomeration); the first turbines became active there in 2009.

Natives

 * Ignat Bednarik (1882–1963), painter
 * Alexandru Fölker (born 1956), handball player
 * Stefan Fröhlich (1889–1978), Luftwaffe general
 * Gabriel Fulga (born 2004), football player
 * Teodora Gîdoiu (born 1986), rowing cox
 * Adrian Moescu (born 2001), football player
 * Adrian Munteanu (born 1997), rower
 * Eduard Radaslavescu (born 2004), football player

title: Orșova


text:
User:Pengo/photo

Photo contributions to Wikipedia

 * See also my diagrams.

At risk
Threatened species

title: User:Pengo/photo


text:
National Freedom to Marry Day

National Freedom to Marry Day is a non-official United States holiday held annually on February 12 to promote same-sex marriage. The holiday was founded in 1998 by Lambda Legal, a gay rights advocacy law firm based out of Washington, DC.

The most notable National Freedom to Marry Day was February 12, 2004, when, following a directive from San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom to his county clerk, the City and County of San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. On February 10, Newsom asked the clerk's office to make the changes on the "forms and documents used to apply for and issue marriage licenses… in order to provide [them] on a non–discriminatory basis."

February 12, the same day of Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, is a day for people to think about love and equality. Many LGBTQ+ people want to get married this day in order to commemorate their love, just two days before Valentine's Day. "Tying the Knot" can be shown by tying a knot around trees, lamp posts, signs, or anywhere else that can be easily seen.

title: National Freedom to Marry Day


text:
Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles

Lincoln Heights is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was originally called "East Los Angeles" from 1873 to 1917. It is a densely populated, mostly Latino and Asian neighborhood that includes many historic landmarks and was known as "the Bedroom of the Pueblo".

History
Yaangna Village was located on what is now the current day site of Downey Park on Albion and Avenue 17. Lincoln Heights is considered to be one of the oldest neighborhoods outside of La Placita / Sonoratown dating to the 1870s and is found wholly within the original Spanish four leagues pueblo of the Los Angeles land grant. Located on bluffs overlooking the Los Angeles River and immersed in the floodplain, Lincoln Heights river adjacent land became the city's first Industrial Corridor. Aided by slave labor of the Kizh, it later became the home to some of the city's most notable downtown industrialists, who built numerous Victorian homes, some of which have been preserved under the city's historic preservation ordinance.

In 1863, John Strother Griffin purchased 2,000 acres of ranch land for $1,000 and in 1870, Griffin and his nephew, Hancock Johnson, built homes there. In late 1874, they offered an additional 35 acres for sale, subdivided into 65 by lots for $150 each. The neighborhood was known as "East Los Angeles" between 1873 and 1917 when residents voted to change the name to Lincoln Heights.

The area was the first suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles, having been subdivided in 1873. Lincoln Heights was well located to serve as a home for people who worked in the industrial areas lining the Los Angeles River and wanted to live upstream. By the late 1880s a neighborhood commercial district had been built around the intersection of North Broadway and Truman Streets, with business buildings such as the Hayden Block. This is identified as the first suburban neighborhood shopping district in Los Angeles; it was demolished in the mid-20th century to make way for I-5, the Golden State Freeway.

Thereafter, what would be known as North Broadway became a crowded commercial thoroughfare, and by the turn of the 20th century, unfettered industrial construction and numerous rock crushing operations within the once scenic floodplain made it less appealing for Angelenos of means, who moved out first to the Arroyo Seco area and Hollywood, then (from the 1920s onward) to rapidly developing Mid-Wilshire. As wealthy residents departed, Lincoln Heights became home to a large Italian American population, as well as some Irish American and French American (the 1850s era immigration) residents by the 1930s, also a wave of poor white American residents known as "Okies" from the Great Plains moved into the area. With an increasingly large Mexican American population, Lincoln Heights became a barrio by the 1960s. It and its cross-river neighbor "Little Italy" (what is now Chinatown) formed the heart of southern California's Italian-American community.

In the 21st century, Lincoln Heights has slowly been gentrifying due to Los Angeles' land use policies.

Demographics
Based on the 2019 Census estimates, Lincoln Heights has a population of 39,916 residents.

The neighborhood has a relatively high percentage of both Latino and Asian residents. The breakdown was Latinos, 66.2%; Asians, 23.4%;  whites, 7.8%; blacks, 0.4%; and others, 1.0%. Mexico (57.0%) and Vietnam (16.9%) were the most common places of birth for the 55.8% of the residents who were born abroad—which was a high percentage for Los Angeles.

The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $30,579, considered low for the city. Renters occupied 75.9% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment-owners held 24.1%. The average household size of 3.6 people was considered high for Los Angeles.

The percentages of never-married men (53.0%) and women (40.6%) were among the county's highest. The 19.5% of families headed by single parents was considered about average for city neighborhoods. There were 500 veterans, or 2.8% of the population, a low proportion compared to the rest of the city.

Lincoln Heights ranks in the 94th-100th percentile of environmentally burdened communities according to CalEnviroScreen 4.0

Homelessness
In 2022, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count counted 531 homeless individuals in Lincoln Heights.

Public libraries
The Lincoln Heights Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is on Workman Street.

Landmarks

 * Lincoln Park
 * San Antonio Winery, (founded 1917), oldest operating business in Lincoln Heights
 * Los Angeles Alligator Farm
 * Selig Polyscope Company
 * The Brewery Art Colony
 * Church of the Epiphany, oldest operating Episcopal church in Los Angeles; Cesar Chavez gave speeches in the church hall and La Raza was printed in the church basement
 * Lincoln Heights Jail
 * Heritage Square Museum
 * HM157

Education
Just 5.5% of Lincoln Heights residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, a low percentage for the city.

Public

 * Abraham Lincoln High School, 3501 North Broadway
 * Academy of Environmental & Social Policy (ESP) at Lincoln High, 3501 North Broadway
 * Hillside Elementary School, 120 East Avenue 35
 * Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy No. 5, charter, 2635 Pasadena Avenue
 * Pueblo de Los Angeles Continuation School, 2506 Alta Street
 * Gates Street Elementary School, 3333 Manitou Avenue
 * Albion Street Elementary School, 322 South Avenue 18
 * Griffin Avenue Elementary School, 2025 Griffin Avenue
 * Milagro Charter Elementary School, 1855 North Main Street
 * Los Angeles Leadership Academy High School (LALA HS), 234 W Avenue 33
 * Alliance College Ready Middle Academy #5 (ACRMA #5)
 * Alliance Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High School
 * East Los Angeles Skill Center (Adult Education), 3921 Selig Place

PUC Schools operates the Milagro Charter School (K-5) and the Excel Charter Academy (6-8) in Lincoln Heights.

Private

 * Little Flower Missionary House, elementary, 2434 Gates Street (closed August 31, 2017).
 * Sacred Heart High School, 2111 Griffin Avenue
 * Sacred Heart Elementary School, 2109 Sichel Street

Transportation
Major thoroughfares include Valley Boulevard; Mission Road; Pasadena Avenue; North Main, Marengo, Daly, and Figueroa Streets; and North Broadway. The Golden State Freeway (I-5) runs through the district, and the Metro A Line has a station in the far northwestern portion of the neighborhood.

Fire services

Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Station No. 1 is located in the Lincoln Heights area. The station is in the Battalion 2 district.

Healthcare
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health operates the Central Health Center in Downtown Los Angeles, serving Lincoln Heights.

Notable people

 * Frank Capra, film director
 * John Strother Griffin, the founder of East Los Angeles
 * Kenny Washington, football player
 * Cesar Chavez, during the "No on 22" campaign in November 1972, he temporarily resided in Lincoln Heights at a private residence on corner of Workman and Baldwin streets
 * Daniel Lewis James, author
 * Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther Party's Minister of Information
 * Gregory Ain, architect

In popular culture

 * Police (1916)
 * Take a Chance (1918)
 * Detained (1924)
 * Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
 * A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
 * Blood In Blood Out (1993)
 * Changeling (2008)

title: Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles


text:
Confrontation (Rackham)

Confrontation is a skirmish level tactical fantasy miniature wargaming in which the combatants are represented by metal or plastic figures in 28 mm scale. For comparison purposes, the system's figures are slightly larger than those of Games Workshop or The Foundry.

The game is set in Aarklash, a world of medieval fantasy where knights, wizards, priests and barbarians fight each other as well as fantastic creatures such as wolfen, elves, orcs, goblins and the undead. The entire world is at war and all are fighting for the supremacy of the continent.

The rules are intended to be versatile, and are able to represent a small fight between a handful of warriors just as well as a large skirmish between several dozen soldiers and their leaders. The last rules were in its fourth edition, a single hardback edition. The first edition was only available in French, German and Italian, while the second was available in French, German, Italian, English and Spanish. Rackham collapsed in 2010.

Playing the game
Each player in the game needs to acquire several miniatures to represent his forces. Miniatures are bought in blister packs, each containing one or more metal figures, a booklet of basic game rules, and a special reference card that describes the characteristics and special abilities of the game pieces. A photo or artist's drawing of the figures is on the reverse of the reference card, as a painting guide for the hobbyist.

Several six-sided dice and a table with scale scenery to play on are also needed.

The Miniatures
Rackham originally produced metal miniatures for Confrontation in blisters of one to four models, or boxed sets of one to eight models.

Confrontation: Age of Ragnarok
With the release of "Confrontation: Age of Ragnarok", Rackham changed the supporting miniature line from unpainted metal figures to pre-painted plastic figures. This follows the production model used in "AT-43", their science fiction miniatures game.

The models were packaged in multiple figure sets that correspond with units and auxiliaries as described in the various army lists.

As of 2011, Legacy Miniatures Miniatures owns the rights to produce Confrontation miniatures & sells them via Cool Mini or Not.

The armies
The Griffons are a fanatical army of humans that worship Merin, the God of Fire, spreading their truth through fire and sword. They have recently launched crusades throughout the land to find the body of their first ruler. Despite their extreme methods they are devoted to driving back the forces of Darkness. The Griffon army is characterized by heavily armored troops, high Discipline, strong ranged weapons, and powerful Faithful. Their Magicians focus on Fire spells. The Scorpions of Dirz were founded by a high priest of Merin who was so consumed with attaining perfection that he began dark experiments combining man and science. Fleeing the Inquisition, he and his followers fled to the desert, where they built hidden labs where they continue to create monstrous abominations and clone vat-born soldiers. Dirz soldiers tend to have better attack stats with the possibility of boosting their abilities with their Mutagen. Their Magicians focus on Darkness spells. Wolfen who have separated from the rest of their race after Vile-Tis showed them the moon goddess Yllia had only contempt for her children. Focusing on their natural ferocity, The Beast twisted the Devourers from noble hunters into depraved killers. Devourers have high Movement, Resilience, and Defense with above average Strength making very dangerous and hard to kill. Their Magicians focus on Darkness spells. A tribe of human barbarians dwell within the heart of a dark forest. They have rebelled against the gods and revel in killing and carnage. Their dark rites and cannibalism have led them to make pacts with the fearsome Formor demons and their Faithful can control dead warriors. Their Magicians focus on Elemental and Darkness spells.
 * Akkylannie Griffons (Army of Light)
 * Crusade of the Imperial Army
 * Crusade of the Inquisition
 * Crusade of the Lodge of Hod
 * Crusade of the Eastern Temple
 * Crusade of the Western Temple
 * Crusade of the Northern Temple
 * Crusade of the Southern Temple
 * Alchemists of Dirz (Army of Darkness)
 * Laboratory of Danakil
 * Laboratory of Inuka
 * Laboratory of Noctis Project
 * Laboratory of S.O.78
 * Laboratory of Shamir
 * Laboratory of Tenseth
 * Laboratory of Theben
 * Cadwallon
 * Guild of Architects
 * Guild of Blades
 * Guild of Ferrymen
 * Guild of Goldsmiths
 * Guild of Usurers
 * Guild of Thieves
 * Guild of Fortune-tellers
 * Cynwäll (Army of Light)
 * Inheritance of the Ancients
 * The Army of the Republic
 * The Blade of Truth
 * The Dragon of Light
 * The Equanimes Monastery
 * The Way of Trihedron
 * Daïkinee of Quithayran (Army of Destiny)
 * Devourers of Vile-Tis (Army of Destiny)
 * Revelation of Armageddon
 * Revelation of Blasphemy
 * Revelation of Carnage
 * Revelation of The Eclipse
 * Revelation of Ecstasy
 * Revelation of The Impure
 * Revelation of The Rebellion
 * Dwarves of Mid-Nor (Army of Darkness)
 * Colony of Vangghor
 * Colony of Azahir
 * Colony of Sabahal
 * Colony of Kthan
 * Colony of Sankunrun
 * Colony of Ibenseth
 * Colony of Ephorath
 * Dwarves of Tir-Na-Bor (Army of Light)
 * Fom-Nur
 * Kâ-In-Ar
 * Kal-Nam
 * Kar-An-Tyr
 * Lor-An-Kor
 * Naël-Tarn
 * Ogh-Hen-Kir
 * The brotherhood of bronze
 * Goblins of No-Dan-Kar (Army of Destiny)
 * Uraken Goblins
 * Black Rats Clan
 * The Burrowers Clan
 * The Chimes of Bronze Clan
 * The Damned Swamp Clan
 * Helldivers Clan
 * The Mound of Dirt Clan
 * The Thundering Bells Clan
 * The X Clan
 * Pirates a.k.a. Black Tooth
 * Kelt Drunes (Army of Darkness)
 * Scourge of Gwyrd-An-Caern
 * Scourge of The Shadowy-One
 * Scourge of The Red Scourge
 * Scourge of The Horned Evil
 * Scourge of Mount Silence
 * Scourge of The Rag’narok
 * Scourge of The Witches
 * Kelt Sessairs (Army of Light)
 * Tribe of the Other world
 * Tribe of Kel-An-Tiraidh
 * Tribe of the Clan of the Crow
 * Tribe of the Guardians of Scâth
 * Tribe of the Horde of Murgan
 * Tribe of the Wolves of Avagddu
 * Lions of Alahan (Army of Light)
 * Barony of Algerande
 * Barony of Allmoon
 * Barony of Daneran
 * Barony of Doriman
 * Barony of Icquor
 * Barony of Kalienne
 * Barony of Laverne
 * Barony of Luishana
 * Barony of Manilla
 * Living Dead of Acheron (Army of Darkness)
 * House Brisis
 * House Hestia
 * House Lazarian
 * House Mantis
 * House Sarlath
 * House Tanit
 * House Vanth
 * Ophidian Alliance (Army of Darkness)
 * Orcs of Bran-O-Kor (Army of Destiny)
 * The Thunder Riders
 * The Torches of Gerikân
 * The Long Sun
 * The Sarkaï Nomads
 * The Vulture’s Claws
 * Jackal’s Lair
 * The Army of the Two Suns
 * Wolfen of Yillia (Army of Destiny)
 * The Red Oaks
 * The Twilight Hills
 * The Wheel of Dreams
 * The Path of Opal
 * The Throne of Stars
 * Elementals, Familiars and Immortals

First edition
Confrontation can be played with the basic rules alone, but there are several supplements available. These describe optional rules and multiply the tactical options allowed. All are packed free in the appropriate blisters, just like the basic rules.

Incantation introduces powerful Wizards to the game. In this supplement a new characteristic appears: Mental Strength. Mental Strength is the essential element used to call upon the power of Magic. Wizards can use that power to change the course of battle: project fire balls, raise the dead and even invoke powerful spirits. Every blister that contains a Wizard includes a free Incantation Rules Booklet as well as cards that describe magic items and special spells particular to each. A small plate of counters representing 'Mana', the very essence of Magic, is also included. 'Grimoires,' packs of 15 additional spell cards, are available separately.

Incarnation allows players to individualize their game characters. Special 'Adventurer' figures are furnished with the Incarnation Rules Booklet which details how they progress in experience. The character acquires power, fame, new abilities and magic objects as he accomplishes quests. Two new types of cards are packed in the Adventurer blisters: Scenarios and Experience Cards. Each Adventurer is furnished with a scenario specially written for him. Scenarios card packs are also available separately. Many scenarios based on the official characters of the range are available free on the Confrontation web site (in French). 'Travel Journals,' packs of cards for treasures, rare objects or magic artifacts, are available to further customize scenarios.

Second edition
Divination addresses the gods themselves and their servants, the faithful Priests that represent them on the battlefields. The magic of the Priests is powerful but variable, for it depends on the vagaries of the fickle gods. It also tends to be more defensive in nature than Wizards' magic. The blisters of the Priests figures are packaged with the Divination Rules Booklet and several 'Miracle' cards to call upon the aid of the divine powers. The 'Litanies' card packs group together additional miracle cards.

Fortification adds in war machines such as cannon, ballista, and chariots. Some of the existing figures, such as the Dwarf Steam Cannon are reclassified to war machines.

Third edition
The third edition of Confrontation was issued as both basic rules, included in miniature blisters, and as a hardback bound advanced rules. The basic rules described combat and movement, but did not explain abilities or magic. The advanced rules included all rules from the second edition with some refinements in play.

One notable aspect of the third edition was its obsolescence of the adventure, spell, and miracle card packs. The reworked magic rules in the third edition significantly reduced the number of available spells by eliminating the previously released spell books. The book also includes an extensive section covering the changes to the existing model line and associated cards.

The unbalancing army cards were removed in this edition. Also removed was the declarable target number while making attack die rolls. Separate shooting and magic phases were also done away with. Now the round is based on only 4 phases with shooting taking place in the activation and magic being used throughout the round dictated by card text.

An on-line only revision was published within a year of the publication of the third edition. Called "Confrontation 3.5", this revision changed some abilities, reworked the line of sight rules, and changed the way spells and miracles were added to a force by removing points costs from them. This update also significantly changed the balance of ranged units by giving them the abilities "Bull's eye" and "Assault fire" and giving units that already had those abilities "cookies" to improve them.

Dogs of War was the only supplement for Confrontation, third edition.

Fourth edition
The fourth edition of Confrontation was named "Confrontation: Age of Ragnarok". This edition made major changes to the rules, including changing the game scope from single-model skirmish to small unit battle. As with second edition, Confrontation: Age of Ragnarok has re-issued the game cards to reflect the new rules and statistics.

Dogs of War
"Dogs of War" was the supplement to Confrontation, third edition. It provides campaign rules that allow players to create small warbands that gain experience and improve as they are fielded in the games. These personalized warbands can be played in games of Confrontation or Rag'Narok, though they are not sanctioned for official tournaments.

In addition, Dogs of War includes expanded terrain rules, rules for Nexi, scenario rules, and rules for very large models, called Titans. Dogs of War is not suitable for earlier editions of the game.

Cry Havoc!
"Cry Havoc!", originally offered as a quarterly magazine, is available six times a year and is published by Rackham that includes information about its different games. The publication includes two magazines and new reference cards. The larger magazine has general articles on painting and modeling, as well as features on the games, tactics articles, battle reports, and background information on the world of Aarklash. The second magazine consists of play aids, variant rules, and scenarios. The reference cards supplement and augment the articles in the two magazines. These cards are not available separately.

Rag'Narok
"Rag'Narok" is at once an evolution of the basic game and an entirely new one. Where the basic game represents small confrontations and skirmishes, in Rag'Narok entire armies are involved in battles.

Rag'Narok uses exactly the same basic resources as Confrontation (figures, cards and game characteristics), but the rules differ somewhat to accommodate the change in scope and keep the game manageable.

"Confrontation: Age of Ragnarok" is a melding of the earlier versions of Confrontation with Rag'narok.

Hybrid
"Hybrid" and its expansion "Nemesis" is a board game set in the world of Aarklash. The game is played on illustrated tiles arranged to form the floor plan of the underground laboratories of the Alchemists of Dirz. Players take the role of either the denizens of these laboratories or the outside forces invading them to either steal their secrets or shut them down. The rules of this subgame resemble Space Hulk somewhat.

The game uses a subset of the figures but with different reference cards.

Cadwallon
"Cadwallon" is a role-playing game dubbed a "Tactical role-playing game" set in Aarklash. It uses the same miniatures as other games in the Rackham line and illustrated tiles could be purchased on which to play. The game was given its tactical prefix because of the in depth model centric combat.

Arcana
A card game set in the city of Cadwallon.

Cadwallon:City of Thieves
A fast paper board game developed by Rackham and released by Fantasy Flight Games. Each player plays a gang of thieves and try to score highest thievery at the end of 'night'. An expansion named 'Cadwallon: City of Thieves - The King of Ashes' released for the game as well as some DLC by Fantasy Flight Games. A video game adaptation of the board game released by the same name for iPad and iPhone.

Guilds of Cadwallon
A tactical card and miniature game set in the city of Cadwallon, published by CoolMiniOrNot in 2013. The playing area consists of a 3x3 (or larger, depending on the number of players) grid of randomized cards, each representing a city district. Players compete for control of these districts with careful placement of their figures, and scoring is based on both the number of assets a player controls as well as how specialized those assets are in any given guild.

The Confederations
The Confederations are a non-profit corporations set up in various countries to help expand the player base for Rackham's games. They work together as sister organizations, coordinating global tournaments and leagues. They also run tournaments, leagues, and demonstrations of the games in their own countries.

Membership in the confederations is open to anyone in their region. For an annual fee, a member has access to purchase exclusive Confederation miniatures as well as the ability to be ranked both nationally and internationally.

Reviews

 * Backstab #9

title: Confrontation (Rackham)