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Spurious relationship

In statistics, a spurious relationship or spurious correlation is a mathematical relationship in which two or more events or variables are associated but not causally related, due to either coincidence or the presence of a certain third, unseen factor (referred to as a "common response variable", "confounding factor", or "lurking variable").

Examples
An example of a spurious relationship can be found in the time-series literature, where a spurious regression is one that provides misleading statistical evidence of a linear relationship between independent non-stationary variables. In fact, the non-stationarity may be due to the presence of a unit root in both variables. In particular, any two nominal economic variables are likely to be correlated with each other, even when neither has a causal effect on the other, because each equals a real variable times the price level, and the common presence of the price level in the two data series imparts correlation to them. (See also spurious correlation of ratios.)

Another example of a spurious relationship can be seen by examining a city's ice cream sales. The sales might be highest when the rate of drownings in city swimming pools is highest. To allege that ice cream sales cause drowning, or vice versa, would be to imply a spurious relationship between the two. In reality, a heat wave may have caused both. The heat wave is an example of a hidden or unseen variable, also known as a confounding variable.

Another commonly noted example is a series of Dutch statistics showing a positive correlation between the number of storks nesting in a series of springs and the number of human babies born at that time. Of course there was no causal connection; they were correlated with each other only because they were correlated with the weather nine months before the observations.

In rare cases, a spurious relationship can occur between two completely unrelated variables without any confounding variable, as was the case between the success of the Washington Commanders professional football team in a specific game before each presidential election and the success of the incumbent President's political party in said election. For 16 consecutive elections between 1940 and 2000, the Redskins Rule correctly matched whether the incumbent President's political party would retain or lose the Presidency. The rule eventually failed shortly after Elias Sports Bureau discovered the correlation in 2000; in 2004, 2012 and 2016, the results of the Commanders' game and the election did not match. In a similar spurious relationship involving the National Football League, in the 1970s, Leonard Koppett noted a correlation between the direction of the stock market and the winning conference of that year's Super Bowl, the Super Bowl indicator; the relationship maintained itself for most of the 20th century before reverting to more random behavior in the 21st.

Hypothesis testing
Often one tests a null hypothesis of no correlation between two variables, and chooses in advance to reject the hypothesis if the correlation computed from a data sample would have occurred in less than (say) 5% of data samples if the null hypothesis were true. While a true null hypothesis will be accepted 95% of the time, the other 5% of the times having a true null of no correlation a zero correlation will be wrongly rejected, causing acceptance of a correlation which is spurious (an event known as Type I error). Here the spurious correlation in the sample resulted from random selection of a sample that did not reflect the true properties of the underlying population.

Detecting spurious relationships
The term "spurious relationship" is commonly used in statistics and in particular in experimental research techniques, both of which attempt to understand and predict direct causal relationships (X → Y). A non-causal correlation can be spuriously created by an antecedent which causes both (W → X and W → Y). Mediating variables, (X → W → Y), if undetected, estimate a total effect rather than direct effect without adjustment for the mediating variable M. Because of this, experimentally identified correlations do not represent causal relationships unless spurious relationships can be ruled out.

Experiments
In experiments, spurious relationships can often be identified by controlling for other factors, including those that have been theoretically identified as possible confounding factors. For example, consider a researcher trying to determine whether a new drug kills bacteria; when the researcher applies the drug to a bacterial culture, the bacteria die. But to help in ruling out the presence of a confounding variable, another culture is subjected to conditions that are as nearly identical as possible to those facing the first-mentioned culture, but the second culture is not subjected to the drug. If there is an unseen confounding factor in those conditions, this control culture will die as well, so that no conclusion of efficacy of the drug can be drawn from the results of the first culture. On the other hand, if the control culture does not die, then the researcher cannot reject the hypothesis that the drug is efficacious.

Non-experimental statistical analyses
Disciplines whose data are mostly non-experimental, such as economics, usually employ observational data to establish causal relationships. The body of statistical techniques used in economics is called econometrics. The main statistical method in econometrics is multivariable regression analysis. Typically a linear relationship such as

 * $$y = a_0 + a_1x_1 + a_2x_2 + \cdots + a_kx_k + e$$

is hypothesized, in which $$y$$ is the dependent variable (hypothesized to be the caused variable), $$x_j$$ for j = 1, ..., k is the jth independent variable (hypothesized to be a causative variable), and $$e$$ is the error term (containing the combined effects of all other causative variables, which must be uncorrelated with the included independent variables). If there is reason to believe that none of the $$x_j$$s is caused by y, then estimates of the coefficients $$a_j$$ are obtained. If the null hypothesis that $$a_j=0$$ is rejected, then the alternative hypothesis that $$a_{j} \ne 0 $$ and equivalently that $$x_j$$ causes y cannot be rejected. On the other hand, if the null hypothesis that $$a_j=0$$ cannot be rejected, then equivalently the hypothesis of no causal effect of $$x_j$$ on y cannot be rejected. Here the notion of causality is one of contributory causality:  If the true value $$a_j \ne 0$$, then a change in $$x_j$$ will result in a change in y unless some other causative variable(s), either included in the regression or implicit in the error term, change in such a way as to exactly offset its effect; thus a change in $$x_j$$ is not sufficient to change y. Likewise, a change in $$x_j$$ is not necessary to change y, because a change in y could be caused by something implicit in the error term (or by some other causative explanatory variable included in the model).

Regression analysis controls for other relevant variables by including them as regressors (explanatory variables). This helps to avoid mistaken inference of causality due to the presence of a third, underlying, variable that influences both the potentially causative variable and the potentially caused variable: its effect on the potentially caused variable is captured by directly including it in the regression, so that effect will not be picked up as a spurious effect of the potentially causative variable of interest. In addition, the use of multivariate regression helps to avoid wrongly inferring that an indirect effect of, say x1 (e.g., x1 → x2 → y) is a direct effect (x1 → y).

Just as an experimenter must be careful to employ an experimental design that controls for every confounding factor, so also must the user of multiple regression be careful to control for all confounding factors by including them among the regressors. If a confounding factor is omitted from the regression, its effect is captured in the error term by default, and if the resulting error term is correlated with one (or more) of the included regressors, then the estimated regression may be biased or inconsistent (see omitted variable bias).

In addition to regression analysis, the data can be examined to determine if Granger causality exists. The presence of Granger causality indicates both that x precedes y, and that x contains unique information about y.

Other relationships
There are several other relationships defined in statistical analysis as follows.
 * Direct relationship
 * Mediating relationship
 * Moderating relationship

Literature

 * David A. Freedman (1983) A Note on Screening Regression Equations, The American Statistician, 37:2, 152-155, DOI: 10.1080/00031305.1983.10482729

title: Spurious relationship


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Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film

The Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film is one of the Saturn Awards that has been presented annually since 1972 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films to the best film in the science fiction genre of the previous year.

Winners and nominees
In the list below, winners are listed first in bold, followed by the other nominees. The number of the ceremony (1st, 2nd, etc.) appears in parentheses after the awards year, linked to the article (if any) on that ceremony.

Multiple wins

 * 7 wins
 * Star Wars

 * 2 wins
 * Alien
 * Avatar
 * MCU
 * Superman
 * Terminator
 * X-Men

Multiple nominations

 * 12 nominations
 * Star Trek
 * 11 nominations
 * Star Wars
 * 6 nominations
 * Alien
 * 5 nominations
 * MCU
 * Planet of the Apes
 * Terminator
 * X-Men
 * 3 nominations
 * Back to the Future
 * The Hunger Games
 * Robocop
 * Transformers

 * 2 nominations
 * Avatar
 * Blade Runner
 * Escape from New York
 * Fantastic Four
 * Godzilla
 * Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
 * Independence Day
 * Iron Man
 * Mad Max
 * The Matrix
 * Predator
 * Short Circuit
 * Tomb Raider
 * Tron

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


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Burray

Burray is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. It lies to the east of Scapa Flow and is one of a chain of islands linked by the Churchill Barriers.

Geography and geology

Burray lies between Mainland, Orkney and South Ronaldsay, and is linked to both by the Churchill Barriers. Barriers 1, 2, and 3 connect Burray with Mainland, Orkney via the islets of Glimps Holm and Lamb Holm in Holm Sound to the north east. Barrier 4 links to South Ronaldsay, across Water Sound. To the west is the tidal island of Hunda, also joined by a causeway. Further west, across Scapa Flow, are the islands of Flotta and Calf of Flotta, approximately 6 km away.

In 2001, the population of Burray was 357, a total that had grown to 409 by 2011. The main settlement, Burray Village, is a former fishing port on the south west coast. There are also settlements of Northtown, Southtown and Hillside on the island.

Burray is made up of Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian period. The island is indented in the north west by Echnaloch Bay, which takes its name from Echna Loch. Burray Ness and Burray Haas are two headlands in the east.

Visitor attractions
Attractions in Burray include the Fossil and Heritage Centre at Viewforth.

The island has a reasonable amount of birdlife, with Eurasian curlew, herring and lesser black-backed gulls breeding here.

Viking history
One of the largest Viking hoards in Scotland was discovered on 22 April 1889 by Mr G. Petrie, Little Wart, Burray when he was peat-cutting in the North Town Moss. It consisted of over 140 items of silver bullion, including many fragments of arm ring or 'ring-money', and about a dozen coins The date proposed for deposition is c. 998.

Sir James Stewart
During the early 18th century, the laird of Burray was one Sir James Stewart. Stewart is said to have been involved with a murder in Kirkwall in 1725, and went on the run for twenty years. A Jacobite sympathiser, he ended up fighting in the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and was one of the few survivors. However, when he returned to Burray after the battle, he happened to chance upon the son of the murder victim, who reported him to the authorities. Stewart was arrested, and ended up dying in a prison cell in London.

The novelist Mary Brunton was born Mary Balfour on Burray on 1 November 1778.

WWII and construction of Churchill Barriers

On 14 October 1939, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak (08) was sunk at her moorings within the natural harbour of Scapa Flow, by the GS U-47 (1938) under the command of Günther Prien. U-47 had entered Scapa Flow through Holm Sound, just to the north of Burray, one of several eastern entrances to Scapa Flow. The eastern passages were protected by measures including sunken block ships, booms and anti-submarine nets, but U-47 entered at night at high tide by navigating between the block ships. To prevent further attacks, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill ordered the construction of permanent barriers. Work began in May 1940 and the barriers were completed in September 1944, but were not officially opened until 12 May 1945, four days after the end of World War II.

The Churchill Barriers project required a substantial labour force, which peaked in 1943 at over two thousand. Much of the labour was provided by around 1200 Italian prisoners of war, who had been captured in the desert war in North Africa, who were transported to Orkney from early 1942 onwards. As the use of POW labour for War Effort works is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, the works were justified as 'improvements to communications' to the southern Orkney Islands.

The prisoners were accommodated in two camps, some at Camp 34 at Warebanks on Burray and the rest at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm where the famous Italian Chapel was built. Camp 34 had its own chapel but this was destroyed at the end of the war with the rest of the camp. Photos exist of Camp 34's football team and band.

title: Burray


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User talk:Ghaff

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them:

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Dori | Talk 17:42, Feb 23, 2004 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:OceanRanger.jpg
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If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Do you want to opt out of receiving this notice? Rettetast (talk) 13:13, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Image:OceanOdyssey.jpg
I have tagged Image:OceanOdyssey.jpg as no rationale, because it does not provide a fair use rationale. If you believe the image to be acceptable for fair use according to Wikipedia policy, please provide a rationale explaining as much, in accordance with the fair use rationale guideline, on the image description page. Some examples can be found at Use rationale examples. Please also consider using or one of the other tags listed at Image copyright tags/Non-free. Thank you. Rettetast (talk) 13:13, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for File:OceanOdyssey.jpg
Thanks for uploading or contributing to File:OceanOdyssey.jpg. I notice the file page specifies that the file is being used under fair use but there is not a suitable explanation or rationale as to why each specific use in Wikipedia constitutes fair use. Please go to the file description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale.

If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'file' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "File" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 14:46, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

Discussion at Talk:InfiniBand#Cray XD1/Mellanox misinformation
You are invited to join the discussion at Talk:InfiniBand. -- intgr [talk] 09:59, 1 February 2012 (UTC) -- intgr [talk] 09:59, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ghaff


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Fatemeh Haghighatjoo

Fatemeh Haghighatjoo (also spelled Haghighatjou and Haqiqatju; ) is an Iranian scholar and reformist politician who represented Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr in the Iranian Parliament from 2000 to 2004. She left Iran in 2005 and currently resides in the United States, where she serves as the CEO and co-founder of the 501(c)(3) organization Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy (NID).

Early life and education
Haghighatjoo was born in 1968 in southern Tehran, the second of four daughters, and comes from a traditionalist middle-class family. She lost her father in an accident when she was 6, and was brought up by her mother as a practising Muslim. She attended University of Tehran and Tarbiat Modarres University, gaining a degree in psychology and holding a Ph.D. in family counseling. She was a student activist with the Office for Strengthening Unity.

Political career
Haghighatjoo worked for Mohammad Khatami's presidential campaign, and joined Mosharekat party as a student leader. In 2000, she successfully ran for a seat in the Iranian Parliament and became the youngest female deputy.

An advocate of women's rights, reforms and democracy, she contributed proposing a bill to join Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. She was charged with Tahrif of the words of Ayatollah Khomeini and insulting Ali Khamenei in 2001 for what she said in a speech in Qazvin, eventually convicted of the latter charge and sentenced to ten months suspended imprisonment.

On 23 February 2004, she resigned from the parliament on the grounds that she is no longer able to keep her oath of office and as a sign of protest to "the incorrect, illegal and non-religious conduct of the appointed bodies [e.g. the Guardian Council and Judiciary] in recent years".

Professional career
Haghighatjoo was a math teacher and then a counselor in a girls' high school, before being employed as a lecturer at University of Tehran and Shahid Beheshti University. She is also a former faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and the University of Connecticut and has had fellowship positions at Kennedy School of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies.

Views
She self-identifies as feminist. She told The Boston Globe in 2009 that she entered Parliament believing Islam and democracy could coexist; she left office believing in “separation of mosque and state.’’

Personal life
Haghighatjoo married a parliamentary correspondent, when she was 31 and serving her second year as a lawmaker. In November 2003, she gave birth to a girl, Sara Tahavori.

title: Fatemeh Haghighatjoo


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Alto Lucero

Alto Lucero (formally: Alto Lucero de Gutiérrez Barrios) is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located at 19.61667°N, -96.73333°W, some 35 km from state capital Xalapa. The Laguna Verde nuclear power plant, Mexico's only such facility, was built near the town of Punta Limón in Alto Lucero municipality during the 1970s.

It is the birthplace and childhood hometown of famed singer Paquita la del Barrio (b. 1947).

Demographics
As 2020 the municipality had a population of 28,184 inhabitants in 137 localities. Alto Lucero, the municipal seat, had a population of 5,243 inhabitants, other localities includes Mesa de Guadalupe (3,439 hab.), Palma Sola (3,227 hab.), Blanca Espuma (1,580 hab.) and La Reforma (1,335 hab.).

title: Alto Lucero


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Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film

The Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film is an award presented to the best film in the fantasy genre by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.

title: Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film


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USS President (1800)

USS President was a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, nominally rated at 44 guns; she was launched in April 1800 from a shipyard in New York City. President was one of the original six frigates whose construction the Naval Act of 1794 had authorized, and she was the last to be completed. The name "President" was among ten names submitted to President George Washington by Secretary of War Timothy Pickering in March of 1795 for the frigates that were to be constructed. Joshua Humphreys designed these frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so President and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. Forman Cheeseman, and later Christian Bergh were in charge of her construction. Her first duties with the newly formed United States Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi War with France and to engage in a punitive expedition against the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.

On 16 May 1811, President was at the center of the Little Belt affair; her crew mistakenly identified HMS Little Belt (1807) as HMS Guerriere (1806), which had impressed an American seaman. The ships exchanged cannon fire for several minutes. Subsequent U.S. and Royal Navy investigations placed responsibility for the attack on each other without a resolution. The incident contributed to tensions between the U.S. and Great Britain that led to the War of 1812.

During the war, President made several extended cruises, patrolling as far away as the English Channel and Norway; she captured the armed schooner HMS Highflyer (1813) and numerous merchant ships. In January 1815, after having been blockaded in New York for a year by the Royal Navy, President attempted to run the blockade, and was chased by a blockading squadron. During the chase, she was engaged and crippled by the frigate HMS Endymion (1797) off the coast of the city. The British squadron captured President soon after, and the Royal Navy took her into service as HMS President until she was broken up in 1818. President's design was copied and used to build the next HMS President (1829) in 1829.

Design and construction
During the 1790s, American merchant vessels began to fall prey to Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean, most notably from Algiers. Congress's response was the Naval Act of 1794. The Act provided funds for the construction of six frigates; however, it included a clause stating that construction of the ships would cease if the United States agreed to peace terms with Algiers.

Joshua Humphreys' design was long on keel and narrow of beam (width) to allow for mounting very heavy guns. The design incorporated a diagonal scantling (rib) scheme to limit hogging (warping); the ships were given extremely heavy planking. This gave the hull greater strength than those of more lightly built frigates. Humphreys developed his design after realizing that the fledgling United States Navy could not match the navies of the European states for size. He therefore designed his frigates to be able to overpower other frigates, but with the speed to escape from a ship of the line.

George Washington named President in order to reflect a principle of the United States Constitution. In March 1796, before President's keel could be laid down, a peace accord was announced between the United States and Algiers. Construction was suspended in accordance with the Naval Act of 1794. At the onset of the Quasi-War with France in 1798, funds were approved to complete her construction, and her keel was laid at a shipyard in New York City. Her original naval constructor was Forman Cheeseman and the superintendent was Captain Silas Talbot.

Based on experience Humphreys gained during construction of President's sister ships, USS Constitution and USS United States (1797), he instructed Cheeseman to make alterations to the frigate's design. These included raising the gun deck by 2 in and moving the main mast 2 ft further rearward. President was built to a length of 175 ft between perpendiculars and a beam of 44.4 ft.

Although construction was begun at New York in the shipyard of Foreman Cheesman, work on her was discontinued in 1796. Construction resumed in 1798, under Christian Bergh and naval constructor William Doughty.

Armament
President's nominal rating was that of a 44-gun ship. However, she usually carried over 50 guns. and was pierced for 64. During her service in the War of 1812, President was armed with a battery of 55 guns: thirty-two 24-pounder (10.9 kg) cannon, twenty-two 42-pounder (19 kg) carronades, and one 18-pounder (8 kg) long gun.

During her Royal Navy service as HMS President, she was initially rated at 50 guns, although she was at this stage armed with 60 cannons—thirty 24-pounder guns (10.9 kg) on the upper deck, twenty-eight 42-pounder (19 kg) carronades on the spar deck, plus two more 24-pounder guns on the forecastle. In February 1817, she was again re-rated, this time to 60 guns.

Unlike modern Navy vessels, ships of this era had no permanent battery of guns. Guns were portable and were often exchanged between ships as situations warranted. Each commanding officer modified his vessel's armaments to his liking, taking into consideration factors such as the overall tonnage of cargo, complement of personnel aboard, and planned routes to be sailed. Consequently, a vessel's armament would change often during its career; records of the changes were not generally kept.

Quasi and First Barbary Wars

President launched on 10 April 1800—the last of the original six frigates to do so. After her fitting out, she departed for Guadeloupe on 5 August with Captain Thomas Truxtun in command. She conducted routine patrols during the latter part of the Quasi-War and made several recaptures of American merchant ships. Nevertheless, her service in this period was uneventful. She returned to the United States in March, after a peace treaty with France was ratified on 3 February 1801. During the Quasi-War, the United States paid tribute to the Barbary States to ensure that they would not seize or harass American merchant ships. In 1801 Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, dissatisfied with the amount of tribute in comparison to that paid to Algiers, demanded an immediate payment of $250,000. Thomas Jefferson responded by sending a squadron of warships to protect American merchant ships in the Mediterranean and to pursue peace with the Barbary States.

In May, Commodore Richard Dale selected President as his flagship for the assignment in the Mediterranean. Dale's orders were to present a show of force off Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis and maintain peace with promises of tribute. Dale was authorized to commence hostilities at his discretion if any Barbary State had declared war by the time of his arrival. Dale's squadron consisted of President, USS Philadelphia (1799), USS Essex (1799), and USS Enterprise (1799). The squadron arrived at Gibraltar on 1 July; President and Enterprise quickly continued to Algiers, where their presence convinced the regent to withdraw threats he had made against American merchant ships. President and Enterprise subsequently made appearances at Tunis and Tripoli before President arrived at Malta on 16 August to replenish drinking water supplies.

Blockading the harbor of Tripoli on 24 August, President captured a Greek vessel with Tripolitan soldiers aboard. Dale negotiated an exchange of prisoners that resulted in the release of several Americans held captive in Tripoli. President arrived at Gibraltar on 3 September. Near Mahón in early December, President struck a large rock while traveling at 6 kn. The impact brought Dale on deck and he successfully navigated President out of danger. An inspection revealed that the impact had twisted off a short section of her keel. President remained in the Mediterranean until March 1802; she departed for the United States and arrived on 14 April.

Although President remained in the United States, operations against the Barbary States continued. A second squadron assembled under the command of Richard Valentine Morris in USS Chesapeake (1799). Morris' poor performance resulted in his recall and subsequent dismissal from the Navy in 1803. A third squadron assembled under the command of Edward Preble in USS Constitution; by July 1804, they had fought the Battle of Tripoli Harbor.

Second Barbary patrol
In April 1804, President Jefferson decided to reinforce Preble's squadron. President, Congress, Constellation, and Essex prepared to sail as soon as possible under the direction of Commodore Samuel Barron. Barron selected President as his flagship, but she required a new bowsprit and repairs to her masts and rigging. Some two months passed before the squadron was ready to sail. They departed in late June and arrived at Gibraltar on 12 August.

President left Gibraltar on 16 August with Constellation; the frigates paused at Malta before arriving off Tripoli on 10 September, joining Constitution, USS Argus (1803), and USS Vixen (1803). Sighting three ships running the blockade of Tripoli, the squadron moved in to capture them; during the pursuit, a sudden change in wind direction caused President to collide with Constitution. The collision caused serious damage to Constitution's stern, bow, and figurehead. Two of the captured ships were sent to Malta with Constitution; President sailed to Syracuse, Sicily, arriving on 27 August.

When Barron arrived in the Mediterranean, his seniority of rank over Preble entitled him to assume the duties of commodore. However, soon after replacing Preble, Barron went ashore at Syracuse in poor health and became bedridden. Under command of Captain George Cox, President began routine blockade duties of Tripoli during the winter months of 1804–05. In late April 1805, Constitution captured three ships off Tripoli. President escorted them to port at Malta before rejoining Constitution.

Barron's fragile health necessitated his resignation; he passed command to John Rodgers in late May 1805. Barron ordered Cox to command Essex, and turned President over to his brother, James Barron, on 29 May. On 3 June, after the Battle of Derne, the U.S signed a peace treaty with Tripoli. President sailed for the United States on 13 July, carrying the ailing Barron and many sailors released from captivity in Tripoli.

Little Belt Affair

In 1807, the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair heightened tensions between the United States and Britain. In preparation for further hostilities, Congress began authorizing naval appropriations, and President recommissioned in 1809 under the command of Commodore John Rodgers. She made routine and uneventful patrols, mainly along the United States' eastern seaboard, until 1 May 1811, when the British frigate HMS Guerriere (1806) stopped the American brig Spitfire 18 mi from New York and impressed a crewman.

Rodgers received orders to pursue Guerriere, and President sailed immediately from Fort Severn on 10 May. On 16 May, approximately 40 mi northeast of Cape Henry, a lookout spotted a sail on the horizon. Closing to investigate, Rodgers determined the sail belonged to a warship, and raised signal flags to identify his ship. The unidentified ship, later learned to be HMS Little Belt (1807)—a 20-gun sixth rate—hoisted signal flags in return, but the hoist was not understood by President's crew. Little Belt sailed southward and Rodgers, believing the ship to be Guerriere, pursued.

Darkness set in before the ships were within hailing distance, and Rodgers hailed twice, only to have the same question returned to him: "What ship is that?" According to Rodgers, immediately after the exchange of hails, Little Belt fired a shot that tore through President's rigging. Rodgers returned fire. Little Belt promptly answered with three guns, and then a whole broadside. Rodgers ordered his gun crews to fire at will; several accurate broadsides heavily damaged Little Belt in return. After five minutes of firing, President's crew realized their adversary was much smaller than a frigate and Rodgers ordered a cease fire. However, Little Belt fired again and President answered with more broadsides. After Little Belt became silent, President stood off and waited overnight. At dawn it was obvious that Little Belt was greatly damaged from the fight; Rodgers sent a boat over from President to offer assistance in repairing the damage. Her Captain, Arthur Bingham, acknowledged the damage; declining any help, he sailed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. President had one sailor slightly wounded in the exchange, while Little Belt suffered 31 killed or wounded.

Upon President's return to port, the U.S. Navy launched an investigation into the incident. Gathering testimony from President's officers and crewmen, they determined that Little Belt had fired the first shot in the encounter. In the Royal Navy investigation, Captain Bingham insisted that President had fired the first shot and continued firing for 45 minutes, rather than the five minutes Rodgers claimed. In all subsequent reports, both captains continually insisted that the other ship had fired the first shot. Reaching a stalemate, the American and British governments quietly dropped the matter.

War of 1812

The United States declared war against Britain on 18 June 1812. Three days later, within an hour of receiving official word of the declaration, Commodore Rodgers sailed from New York City. The commodore sailed aboard President, leading a squadron consisting of United States, Congress, USS Hornet (1805 brig), and USS Argus (1803) on a 70-day North Atlantic cruise. A passing American merchant ship informed Rodgers about a fleet of British merchantmen en route to Britain from Jamaica. Rodgers and his squadron sailed in pursuit, and on 23 June they encountered what was later learned to be HMS Belvidera (1809). President pursued the ship, and in what is recorded as the first shot of the War of 1812, Rodgers himself aimed and fired a bowchaser at Belvidera, striking her rudder and penetrating the gun room. Upon President's fourth shot at Belvidera, a cannon one deck below Rodgers burst, killing or wounding 16 sailors and throwing Rodgers to the deck with enough force to break his leg.

The ensuing confusion allowed Belvidera to fire her stern chasers, killing six more men aboard President. Rodgers kept up the pursuit, using his bow chasers to severely damage Belvidera's rigging, but his two broadsides had little effect. The crew of Belvidera quickly made repairs to the rigging. They cut loose her anchors and boats and pumped drinking water overboard to lighten her load, thereby increasing her speed. Belvidera soon gained enough speed to distance herself from President, and Rodgers abandoned the pursuit. Belvidera sailed to Halifax to deliver the news that war had been declared.

President and her squadron returned to the pursuit of the Jamaican fleet, and on 1 July began to follow the trail of coconut shells and orange peels the Jamaicans had left behind them. President sailed to within one day's journey of the English Channel, but never sighted the convoy. Rodgers called off the pursuit on 13 July. During their return trip to Boston, Rodgers' squadron captured seven merchant ships and recaptured one American vessel.

After some refitting, President, still under Rodgers' command, sailed on 8 October with Congress, United States, and Argus. On 12 October, United States and Argus parted from the squadron for their own patrols. On 10 October, President chased HMS Nymphe (1812), but failed to overtake her. On 17 October President captured the British packet ship Swallow, which carried a large amount of currency on board. On 31 October, President and Congress began pursuit of HMS Galatea (1810), which was escorting two merchant ships. The chase lasted about three hours, and in that time Congress captured the merchant ship Argo. Meanwhile, President kept after Galatea and drew very close, but lost sight of her in the night. Congress and President remained together, but did not find any ships to capture during November. Returning to the United States, they passed north of Bermuda and proceeded toward the Virginia capes; they arrived in Boston on 31 December, having taken nine prizes. President and Congress found themselves blockaded there by the Royal Navy until April 1813.

On 30 April, President and Congress sailed through the blockade on their third cruise of the war. On 2 May, they pursued HMS Curlew (1812), but she outran them and escaped. President parted company with Congress on 8 May, and Rodgers set a course along the Gulf Stream to search for merchant ships to capture. By June, not having come across a single ship, President turned north; she put into North Bergen, Norway, on 27 June to replenish her drinking water. Sailing soon after, President captured two British merchant ships, which helped to replenish her stores. On 10 June President captured the outward-bound Falmouth packet Duke of Montrose, Captain Aaron Groub Blewett, which managed to throw her mails overboard before President could send a prize crew aboard. President made a cartel of Duke of Montrose, putting all of President's prisoners on board and then sending her into Falmouth under the command of an American officer. When Duke of Montrose arrived at Falmouth the British Government abrogated the cartel on the grounds that they had advised the American Government that the British would not recognize agreements entered into on the high seas.

Around the same time, two Royal Navy ships came into view. President set all sails to escape, and outran them in a chase lasting 80 hours. Rodgers reported that his decision to flee the ships was based on identifying them as a ship of the line and a frigate. Royal Navy records later revealed that the vessels were actually the 32-gun frigate HMS Alexandria (1806) and the 16-gun fireship HMS Spitfire (1782).

Spending a few days near the Irish Channel, President captured several more merchant ships. She then set a course for the United States. In late September, she encountered HMS Highflyer (1813) along the east coast of the United States. Rodgers used his signal flags to trick Highflyer into believing that President was HMS Tenedos (1812). Lieut. George Hutchinson, Highflyer's captain, came aboard President only to discover he had walked into a trap; President captured Highflyer without a shot being fired. President's long cruise netted her 11 merchant ships, in addition to Highflyer. On 4 December 1813, President sailed from Providence, Rhode Island. On the 25th, she encountered two frigates in the dark, one of which fired at her. Rodgers believed the ships to be British, but they were two French frigates, FRENCH FRIGATE Méduse and FRENCH FRIGATE Nymphe. Afterward, Rodgers headed toward Barbados for an eight-week cruise in the West Indies, reportedly making three small captures, among them the British merchant ships Wanderer, which she captured on 4 January 1814 in the Atlantic Ocean at approximately 13°N, -51°W and sank, and Edward, which she captured and sank on 9 January. Returning to New York City on 18 February 1814, President encountered HMS Loire, which turned to escape once the latter's crew realized President was a 44-gun frigate. President remained in New York for the duration of 1814 due to the harbor's blockade by a British squadron consisting of HMS Endymion (1797), HMS Majestic (1785), Pomone, and Tenedos.

Capture

Stephen Decatur assumed command of President in December 1814, planning a cruise to the West Indies to prey on British shipping. In mid-January 1815, a snowy gale with strong winds forced the British blockading squadron away from New York Harbor, giving Decatur the opportunity to put to sea. On the evening of 14 January, President headed out of the harbor but ran aground, the result of harbor pilots incorrectly marking a safe passage. Stranded on the sand bar, President lifted and dropped with the incoming tide. Within two hours her hull had been damaged, her timbers twisted, and masts sprung. Damage to her keel caused the ship to hog and sag. Decatur was finally able to float President off the bar and, assessing the damage, he decided to return to New York for repairs; however, the wind direction was not favorable and President was forced to head out to sea.

Unaware of the exact location of the blockading squadron, Decatur set a course to avoid them and seek a safe port, but approximately two hours later the squadron's sails were spotted on the horizon. President changed course to outrun them, but the damage she suffered the night before had significantly reduced her speed. Attempting to gain speed, Decatur ordered expendable cargo thrown overboard; by late afternoon of 15 January, HMS Endymion under Captain Henry Hope came alongside and proceeded to fire broadsides. Decatur planned to bring President in close to Endymion, whereby President's crew could board and capture the opposing ship and sail her to New York. (President would be scuttled to prevent her capture).

Making several attempts to close on Endymion, Decatur discovered that President's damage limited her maneuverability, allowing Endymion to anticipate, and draw away from, positions favorable for boarding. Faced with this new dilemma, Decatur ordered bar and chain shot fired to disable Endymion's sails and rigging, the idea being to shake his pursuer and allow President to proceed to a safe port without being followed. At noon, Endymion, being the much better sailer, was close-hauled, outpacing her squadron and leaving them behind. At 2 pm, she gained on President and took position on the American ship's quarter, shooting into President as she tried to escape. Endymion was able to rake President three times and did considerable damage to her; by contrast, President primarily directed her fire at Endymion's rigging in order to slow her down during the two-hour engagement.

Finally at 7:58 pm, President ceased fire and hoisted a light in her rigging, indicating that she had surrendered. Endymion ceased firing on the defeated American ship but did not board to take possession of her prize, due to a lack of undamaged boats. Endymion's foresails had been damaged in the engagement and while she hove to for repairs, Decatur took advantage of the situation and, despite having struck, made off to escape at 8:30 pm; Endymion, hastily completed repairs and resumed the chase at 8:52 pm.

President drew away while her crew made hurried repairs of their own. Within two hours, one of her lookouts spotted the remainder of the enemy squadron drawing near. President continued her escape attempt, but by nightfall HMS Pomone and Tenedos had caught up and began firing broadsides. Realizing his situation, Decatur surrendered President again, just before midnight.

As HMS President
Now in possession of the Royal Navy, President and her crew were ordered to proceed to Bermuda with Endymion. During the journey, they encountered a dangerous gale. The storm destroyed President's masts and strained her timbers so badly that all the upper-deck guns were thrown overboard to prevent her from sinking. The cartel Clarendon, Garness, master, brought 400 prisoners from President from Bermuda back to New York. On 7 April 1815 Clarendon grounded at Sandy Hook but crew, passengers, and prisoners were all saved.

Upon the prisoners' return to the United States, a U.S. Navy court martial board acquitted Decatur, his officers, and his men of any wrongdoing in the surrender of President.

President and Endymion continued to England, arriving at Spithead on 28 March. President was commissioned into the Royal Navy under the name HMS President. Her initial rating was set at 50 guns, although she was at this stage armed with 60 cannons—thirty 24-pounders (10.9 kg) on the upper deck, twenty-eight 42-pounder (19 kg) carronades on the spar deck, plus two more 24-pounder guns on the forecastle. In February 1817 she was again re-rated, this time to 60 guns. In March 1818 she was considered for refitting. A drydock inspection revealed that the majority of her timber was defective or rotten and she was broken up at Portsmouth in June. President's design was copied and used to build HMS President (1829) in 1829, although this was reportedly more of a political maneuver than a testament to the design: the Royal Navy wished to retain the name and likeness of the American ship on their register as a reminder to the United States and other nations of the capture.

title: USS President (1800)


text:
Laguna Verde

Laguna Verde, the Spanish-language form of green lagoon or green lake, may refer to:

Bolivia

 * Laguna Verde (Bolivia), a salt lake in Potosi Department
 * Laguna Verde (Beni), a lake in Beni Department
 * Laguna Verde (Comarapa), a lake in Comarapa

Chile

 * Laguna Verde, Chile, a town
 * Laguna Verde (lake of Chile), in the Andes
 * Laguna Verde (volcano), in the Salar de Atacama

Other places

 * Laguna Verde (Hong Kong), a residential complex in Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
 * Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Station, in Alto Lucero, Veracruz, Mexico

title: Laguna Verde


text:
1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries

From February 10 to June 9, 1992, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1992 United States presidential election. Despite scandals and questions about his character, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton won the nomination through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1992 Democratic National Convention held from July 13 to July 16, 1992, in New York City. Clinton and Tennessee Senator Al Gore were nominated by the convention for president and vice president, respectively.

Clinton and Gore went on to take advantage of the chaos and disarray of the Reagan coalition and win the presidential election, defeating incumbent President George H. W. Bush and becoming the first Democratic nominee since Jimmy Carter to win a presidential election.

Reforms
Although the McGovern–Fraser Commission had recommended proportionality as early as 1972, this primary was the first to adopt the proportional 15% rule, still in place today, as the standard throughout the country. Any candidate receiving greater than 15% of the vote in a given congressional district (or in the case of New Jersey, state legislative district) would receive a proportional share of the apportioned delegates for that district or state.

Candidates
During the aftermath of the Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush's approval ratings were high. At one point after the successful performance by U.S. forces in Kuwait, President Bush had an 89% approval rating.

As a result of Bush's high popularity, major high-profile Democratic candidates feared a high likelihood of defeat in the 1992 general election. This fear was "captured perfectly by Saturday Night Live in a skit called 'Campaign '92: The Race to Avoid Being the Guy Who Loses to Bush,'" in which each prospective major candidate "tried to top the other in explaining why they were unfit to run" for the presidency.

Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson declined to seek the Democratic nomination for president, as did U.S. Senator and eventual Vice President Al Gore, whose son had been struck by a car and was undergoing extensive surgery and physical therapy. However, Governors Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown and U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas opted to run for president.

Withdrew during primaries or convention
Other notable individuals campaigning for the nomination but receiving less than 1% of the national vote included:
 * Activist and conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche
 * Actor Tom Laughlin
 * Former Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota
 * Former Mayor of Irvine, California Larry Agran

Declined

 * Senator and 1988 vice-presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen of Texas
 * Senator Joe Biden  of Delaware
 * Former vice president and 1984 presidential nominee Walter Mondale  of Minnesota
 * Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey
 * Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas
 * Governor Mario Cuomo of New York
 * Former governor and 1988 presidential nominee Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts
 * House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri
 * Senator Al Gore of Tennessee
 * Reverend Jesse Jackson of the District of Columbia
 * Former senator and 1972 presidential nominee George McGovern of South Dakota
 * Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia
 * Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia
 * Governor Ann Richards of Texas
 * Former senator Pierre Salinger of California

Primary race
Clinton, a Southerner with experience governing a more conservative state, positioned himself as a centrist New Democrat. He prepared for a run in 1992 amidst a crowded field seeking to beat the incumbent President George H. W. Bush. In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, Bush seemed unbeatable, but an economic recession—which ultimately proved to be small by historical standards—spurred the Democrats on. Tom Harkin won his native Iowa without much surprise. Clinton, meanwhile, was still a relatively unknown national candidate before the primary season when a woman named Gennifer Flowers appeared in the press to reveal allegations of an affair. Clinton sought damage control by appearing on 60 Minutes with his wife, Hillary Clinton, for an interview with Steve Kroft. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts won the primary in neighboring New Hampshire but Clinton's second-place finish – strengthened by Clinton's speech labeling himself "The Comeback Kid" – re-energized his campaign. Clinton swept nearly all of the Southern Super Tuesday primaries, making him the solid front runner. Jerry Brown, however, began to run a surprising insurgent campaign, particularly through use of a 1-800 number to receive grassroots funding. Brown "seemed to be the most left-wing and right-wing man in the field. [He] called for term limits, a flat tax, and the abolition of the Department of Education." Brown scored surprising wins in Connecticut and Colorado.

On March 17, Tsongas left the race when he decisively lost both the Illinois and Michigan primaries to Clinton, with Brown as a distant third. Exactly one week later, Brown eked out a narrow win in the bitterly fought Connecticut primary. As the press focused on the primaries in New York and Wisconsin, which were both to be held on the same day, Brown, who had taken the lead in polls in both states, made a serious gaffe: he announced to an audience of various leaders of New York City's Jewish community that, if nominated, he would consider the Reverend Jesse Jackson as a vice presidential candidate. Jackson was still a controversial figure in that community and Brown's polling numbers suffered. On April 7, he lost narrowly to Clinton in Wisconsin (37–34), and dramatically in New York (41–26). In addition, his "willingness to break with liberal orthodoxy on taxes led to denunciations from the party regulars, but by the end of the race he had been embraced by much of the Left."

Although Brown continued to campaign in a number of states, he won no further primaries. Despite this, he still had a sizable number of delegates, and a big win in his home state of California would have deprived Clinton of sufficient support to win the nomination. After nearly a month of intense campaigning and multiple debates between the two candidates, Clinton managed to defeat Brown in the California primary by a margin of 47% to 40%. Clinton became the second candidate after George McGovern in 1972 to win the nomination without winning Iowa or New Hampshire. The same feat would be repeated nearly 30 years later by Joe Biden in 2020.

The convention
The convention met in New York City, and the official tally was:

 * Bill Clinton 3,372
 * Jerry Brown 596
 * Paul Tsongas 209
 * Penn. Gov. Robert P. Casey 10
 * Rep. Pat Schroeder 8
 * Larry Agran 3
 * Ron Daniels 1
 * Al Gore 1
 * Joe Simonetta 1

Clinton chose U.S. Senator Albert A. Gore Jr. (D-Tennessee) to be his running mate on July 9, 1992. Choosing Gore, who is from Clinton's neighboring state of Tennessee, went against the popular strategy of balancing a Southern candidate with a Northern partner. Gore did serve to balance the ticket in other ways, as he was perceived as strong on foreign policy and environmental issues, while Clinton was not. Also, Gore's similarities to Clinton allowed him to push some of his key campaign themes, such as centrism and generational change.

Before Gore's selection, other politicians were mentioned as a possible running-mate, e.g. Bob Kerrey, Dick Gephardt, Mario Cuomo, Indiana Representative Lee H. Hamilton, Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford, Florida Senator Bob Graham, and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

The Democratic Convention in New York City was essentially a solidification of the party around Clinton and Gore, though there was controversy over whether Jerry Brown, who did not endorse Clinton, would be allowed to speak. Brown did speak at the convention by seconding his own nomination.

Another additional controversy concerned Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey, who sought a speaking slot at the convention but was not granted one. Casey complained that it was because of his outspoken anti-abortion views: he had warned the platform committee that Democrats were committing political suicide because of their support for abortion rights. Clinton supporters have said that Casey was not allowed to speak because he had not endorsed the ticket.

Popular vote results
Total popular vote number in primaries:
 * Bill Clinton - 10,482,411 (52.01%)
 * Jerry Brown - 4,071,232 (20.20%)
 * Paul Tsongas - 3,656,010 (18.14%)
 * Unpledged - 750,873 (3.73%)
 * Bob Kerrey - 318,457 (1.58%)
 * Tom Harkin - 280,304 (1.39%)
 * Lyndon LaRouche - 154,599 (0.77%)
 * Eugene McCarthy - 108,678 (0.54%)
 * Charles Woods - 88,948 (0.44%)
 * Larry Agran - 58,611 (0.29%)
 * Ross Perot - 54,755 (0.27%)
 * Ralph Nader - 35,935 (0.18%)
 * Louis Stokes - 29,983 (0.15%)
 * Angus Wheeler McDonald - 9,900 (0.05%)
 * J. Louis McAlpine - 7,911 (0.04%)
 * George W. Benns - 7,887 (0.04%)
 * Rufus T. Higginbotham - 7,705 (0.04%)
 * Tod Howard Hawks - 7,434 (0.04%)
 * Stephen Bruke - 5,261 (0.03%)
 * Tom Laughlin - 5,202 (0.03%)
 * Tom Shiekman - 4,965 (0.03%)
 * Jeffrey F. Marsh - 2,445 (0.01%)
 * George Ballard - 2,067 (0.01%)
 * Ray Rollinson - 1,206 (0.01%)
 * Lenora Fulani - 402 (0.00%)
 * Douglas Wilder - 240 (0.00%)

Convention tallies
For President:
 * Bill Clinton - 3,372 (80.27%)
 * Jerry Brown - 596 (14.19%)
 * Paul Tsongas - 209 (4.98%)
 * Robert P. Casey - 10 (0.24%)
 * Patricia Schroeder - 8 (0.19%)
 * Larry Agran - 3 (0.07%)
 * Ron Daniels - 1 (0.02%)
 * Al Gore - 1 (0.02%)
 * Joe Simonetta 1 (0.02%)

Vice presidential nomination
Clinton selected Tennessee Senator and 1988 candidate Al Gore to be his running-mate. Among others confirmed possible V.P. nominees, who were finalists of Clinton's selection were:
 * Jay Rockefeller, U.S. senator from West Virginia
 * Bob Graham, U.S. senator from Florida
 * Lee H. Hamilton, U.S. representative from Indiana.
 * Tom Harkin, U.S. senator from Iowa
 * Bob Kerrey, U.S. senator from Nebraska
 * George Mitchell, U.S. Senate Majority Leader from Maine
 * Paul Tsongas, former U.S. senator from Massachusetts
 * Doug Wilder, Governor of Virginia
 * Harris Wofford, U.S. senator from Pennsylvania

Clinton's list of finalists did not include Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, who publicly disavowed interest in the vice presidency.

Convention tally for vice president

 * Al Gore - was nominated by acclamation on a voice vote.

In popular media
The story of the race was covered in the 1993 documentary film The War Room and fictionalized into the 1996 novel and 1998 film Primary Colors.


text:
Talk:USS President (1800)

Break up date
DANFS says broken up 1817, Colledge says June 1818, Colledge may be more authoritative, but a third voice would be better. Stan 17:52, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

It was definitely June 1818; Admiralty records show that in March 1818 the Navy Board were still intending to repair her, and it was only in May, after fresh survey showed that she was too decayed, that an order was issued to built a replacement (see Admiralty Order of 25 May 1818). Rif Winfield (talk) 08:59, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Too many "She"s
In reality the ship doesn't have a gender. Shouldn't we just say "it"? --Bentendo24 16:01, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Fact and figure discrepancies
A constant problem with introducing strength of armament and numbers of crewman killed or wounded inevitably brings different totals from different sources. Currently in the article and cited from James is this passage:

''President had lost 35 men killed and 70 wounded, including Decatur. Endymion had 11 killed and 14 wounded. President had had a crew of 447 and a broadside of 828 pounds against Endymion's crew of 346 and broadside of 664 pounds.[101]''

As expected other sources give different figures. Maclay Smith says:

''The President carried thirty long 24 pounders and twenty-two short 42-pounders—in all, fifty-two guns, with seven hundred and sixty-five actual pounds of metal to the broadside. The Endymion mounted thirty long 24-pounders and twenty short 32 pounders—in all, fifty guns, aggregating six hundred and eighty pounds of metal to the broadside. In this chase the President sustained a loss of twenty-four killed and fifty-six wounded. The loss in the Endymion was eleven killed and fourteen wounded.''

Roosevelt says:

The President lost 24 killed and 55 wounded'; the Endymion, 11 killed and 14 wounded.

Cooper says:

''In this long and close cannonade, agreeably to the official reports, the President lost 24 men killed, and 56 wounded. The Endymion had 11 killed, and 14 wounded, according to the published reports''.

Toll says: President 25 killed and 60 wounded.

The point of all this being that to begin introducing strengths and kill ratios into the article will require explaining all of the discrepancies between the sources. Picking one source and calling their counts as definite is misleading to the reader and additionally makes for a poorly researched article. The comparisons should go to the main article on the battle Capture of USS President as that is where arguments over strengths belong and prevents this article from going into unnecessary detail.

One last point. The passage about Endymion:

In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issue to any still surviving crew from Endymion of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "ENDYMION WH. PRESIDENT".

This belongs in the article for HMS Endymion (1797) as it has nothing to do with President. --Brad (talk) 18:15, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Thoughts

 * "consequently, all construction came to a halt" is referenced to a treaty, which I don't think would cover it.
 * Are refs 55, 78 and 79 reliable?
 * Copyedit: "The Royal Navy investigation revealed Captain Bingham insisting that President had fired the first shot and continued firing for forty-five minutes, rather than the five minutes Rodgers claimed."
 * The article asserts that Little Belt fired the first shot, yet it appears there is some controversy regarding the matter?
 * A lot of the sources are rather old... I don't have a problem with it, but someone might at FAC. — Ed   (talk  •  majestic titan)  02:09, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Is referenced to the Naval Act of 1794; see section 9.
 * Good question. Has Age of Nelson ever been decided upon as reliable? May need to do so.
 * Copyedit... what exactly?
 * Yes there is controversy but since this was an article on the ship that Rodgers commanded I felt it right to use his version of events while explaining the "He said He said" later on.
 * Old in what way? The older public domain material said nothing different about President than the more recently published material except where referenced. Is that what you meant? --Brad (talk) 04:15, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Yes, but if construction stopped in 1796, two years after the treaty...a second ref can't be found?
 * I don't like how "revealed" is used in this context. Maybe "Captain Bingham insisted in the Royal Navy investigation that President ..."
 * Okay, I see that logic, but perhaps a note can be added directing people to that paragraph for more on the controversy? (try anchor)
 * Well never mind then. :) — Ed   (talk  •  majestic titan)  04:28, 28 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I made some more changes. Is a note really necessary in a section that only has four paragraphs? There is a separate article Little Belt Affair on the engagement but it's so completely biased and without any references I decided that steering the reader there wouldn't do any good. --Brad (talk) 19:17, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Copyedit request
I'm placing the tag here rather than on the article page. This article was promoted to Featured in April. It went through what I refer to as "panic editing" in order to get it past FAC. What I believe the article needs is a basic run through for prose and flow and maybe some grammar. Everything in the article is cited and being careful not to change the meaning of what has been cited can be difficult. Brad (talk) 17:20, 27 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I take that back. If you can't spell then don't copyedit articles. Brad (talk) 18:55, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Reference and bibliography layout.
Since there was no conversation about changing the 2c criteria of the citations, I've reverted today's edits. Brad (talk) 06:33, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

This article is a travesty
I'm considering reverting to the version that passed FAC several years ago. The front page appearances have led to a ton of edit creep. I've looked at the current version, and while there have been constructive edits, the bad outweighs the good. The best thing to do is revert and improve all over. AcadRonin, I know you mean well, but the majority of your edits are not helpful. Brad (talk) 22:26, 16 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Obviously, I disagree. Many of my edits are simply corrections of fact, or of formatting. A couple that you reverted were fully sourced (in particular one set that you reverted as not NPOV, when the comment was not mine but that of a major author re frigates). The article still has numerous small errors, and the style is still frequently clumsy with its dependence on the passive voice. My most recent changes converted the general "two merchant ships" to named vessels, detailing what actually transpired, again, fully sourced. I fail to see how this represents a "travesty". Regards, Acad Ronin (talk) 01:51, 17 March 2016 (UTC)

The war was not yet over
While it is true that the capture of the President occurred before news of the treaty reached America, the fact that the war was still on until after full ratification is the more relevant fact. For example. USS Constitution fought and captured HMS Cyane and HMS Levant in full knowledge of the treaty, but without knowing it had been ratified, so they would have fought even if they had known of the treaty. And, if the war really was over, then why did the British not return the ship after learning of their "mistake"? Before disagreeing with me, why not read the treaty?

Tupelo the typo fixer (talk) 22:20, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:USS President (1800)


text:
Shapinsay

Shapinsay (, Shapinsee) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of 29.5 km2, it is the eighth largest island in the Orkney archipelago. It is low-lying and, with a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone overlain by boulder clay, fertile, causing most of the area to be used for farming. Shapinsay has two nature reserves and is notable for its bird life. Balfour Castle, built in the Scottish Baronial style, is one of the island's most prominent features, a reminder of the Balfour family's domination of Shapinsay during the 18th and 19th centuries; the Balfours transformed life on the island by introducing new agricultural techniques. Other landmarks include a standing stone, an Iron Age broch, a souterrain and a salt-water shower.

There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. At the 2011 census, Shapinsay had a population of 307. The economy of the island is primarily based on agriculture with the exception of a few small businesses that are largely tourism-related. A community-owned wind turbine was constructed in 2011. The island has a primary school but, in part due to improving transport links with mainland Orkney, no longer has a secondary school. Shapinsay's long history has given rise to various folk tales.

Etymology
Unlike most of the larger Orkney islands, the derivation of the name 'Shapinsay' is not obvious. The final 'ay' is from the Old Norse for island, but the first two syllables are more difficult to interpret. Haswell-Smith suggests the root may be hjalpandis-øy (helpful island) owing to the presence of a good harbour, although anchorages are plentiful in the archipelago. The first written record dates from 1375 in a reference to Scalpandisay, which may suggest a derivation from Judge's island. Another suggestion is Hyalpandi's island, although no one of that name is known to be associated with Shapinsay. Blaeu's 1654 Atlas Novus includes a map of the island and names it Siapansa Oy, but the descriptive text lists it as Shapinsa.

Early history
Standing stones show evidence of the island's human occupation since Neolithic times. According to Tacitus, the Roman general Agricola subdued the inhabitants of the Orkney Islands, and a local legend holds that he landed on Shapinsay. During the 18th century, a croft named Grukalty was renamed Agricola (which is also Latin for "farmer"). Roman coins have been found on Shapinsay, but they may have been brought to the island by traders.

Shapinsay is mentioned in the Norse sagas: The Saga of Haakon Haakonsson states that Haakon IV of Norway anchored in Elwick Bay before sailing south to eventual defeat at the Battle of Largs.

Atlas Novus included a map and various descriptions of the island. The harbour at Elwick is described as “quite commodious”, and the dwelling of “Sound” is praised. The estate of Sound, which covered the western part of the island, had passed from the Tulloch family to the Buchanan family in 1627. John Buchanan was a royal servant and his wife Margaret Hartsyde was from a Kirkwall family. In 1674, Arthur Buchanan built the new house of Sound, which was situated 250 metres west of where Balfour Castle now stands. The atlas’s description of Orkney by Walter Stewart then goes on to note that Shapinsay had one minister at the time.

18th century
The 18th century saw the beginnings of change to agriculture on Shapinsay, courtesy of the Balfour family. Arthur Buchanan’s granddaughter married James Fea, who supported the Jacobite rising of 1715; his house was burned by Hanoverian troops in revenge. The estate was acquired by Andrew Ross, Stewart Depute in Orkney of the Earl of Morton and Ross's heirs, the Lindsay brothers, sold the estate to Thomas Balfour in 1782. Balfour had previously rented the Bu of Burray, a large manor farm on another Orkney island, but had insufficient wealth to acquire the estate even though his wife received a large inheritance from her brother. To raise the necessary funds of £1,250, Balfour sold his military commission and borrowed from his brother. Once installed on the island, Balfour built a new house, Cliffdale, and founded the village of Shoreside, now known as Balfour. He also reformed the local agriculture, enclosing fields and constructing farm buildings.

The last person to be executed in Orkney was Marjory Meason, a native of Shapinsay, in 1728. She was a young servant who was hanged in Kirkwall for the murder of a child. The execution is recorded as requiring 24 armed men, not including officers, and costing £15 8s.

During this period, burning kelp was a mainstay of the island economy. More than 3048 t of burned seaweed were produced per annum to make soda ash, bringing in £20,000 for the inhabitants. Thomas Balfour's income from the kelp industry brought him four times the income that farming did.

19th century

The 19th century saw radical change in Shapinsay. Thomas Balfour's grandson, David Balfour, transformed the island after inheriting the family estate, which by 1846 encompassed the whole of Shapinsay. Most of the land was divided into fields of 4 ha, a feature still apparent today. Tenants were required to enclose and drain the land or pay for the estate to do it in the form of a surcharge added to their rents. In 1846, 303 ha on Shapinsay consisted of arable land. By 1860, that had trebled to more than 890.3 ha. New crops and breeds of cattle and sheep were also introduced. Balfour's reforms were described as "the fountain and origin" of Orkney improvement.

Thomas Balfour had enemies amongst the Orkney establishment, and one of them described his attempts in disparaging language. Thomson notes that the wholesale clearance of cottars from their land and re-settlement in the planned village turned them into estate employees, which may not have been seen by them as a “change for the better”. The process by which his son David came to own the whole island was also part of a controversial process of enclosure. At the beginning of the 19th century, 45% of all Orkney and fully 2,956 acres of Shapinsay was common land. Today, only 624 acres of commons remains throughout Orkney. This process of clearance and enclosure, common throughout Scotland at this time, was accompanied by an estrangement between landowner and tenants. For example, Thomas Balfour went to the grammar school in Kirkwall as had his father before him, but two of his sons were educated at the prestigious Harrow School in southern England. The power of the landowners is suggested by an incident during his grandson David's period of ownership. Various church elders complained about what they considered to be immoral behaviour at a social event (men were allowed to dance with women) so Balfour had them evicted from the island.

David Balfour also gave the island its most noticeable landmark when he recruited an Edinburgh architect, David Bryce, to transform Cliffdale House into the Scottish Baronial Balfour Castle. Other buildings he added to the island include the porter's lodge (now a public house called The Gatehouse), a water mill, a school, and a gasworks that remained operational until the 1920s. The gasworks is in the form of a round tower with a corbelled parapet of red brick and carved stones—including one possibly removed from Noltland Castle on Westray, which is inscribed with the year 1725. The structure appears to be fortified, in accordance with Balfour's intention to give the village a medieval appearance. David Balfour was also responsible for the construction of Mill Dam, a wetland which was once the water supply for the mill and is now an RSPB nature reserve.

Fishing for herring and cod grew in importance during the 19th century. Herring fishing was expanding generally in Scotland at that time, with fishing stations being set up in remote areas. Herring fishing began in 1814 on Stronsay and soon spread throughout the Orkney Islands. By the middle of the century, Shapinsay had 50 herring boats. Cod became important largely because the Napoleonic Wars forced English fishing boats to fish further north. Local fishermen, who had been catching fish using lines from small boats for centuries, began trawling for cod, though fishing was largely a part-time venture. Helliar Holm's beaches were used to dry both herring and cod after they had been salted. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars, which led to cheaper sources of soda ash becoming available from continental Europe, the kelp industry collapsed by 1830. This collapse fueled agricultural reform, as crofters accustomed to earning a second income had to now earn more from farming.

20th century

Orkney was a strategic site during both World Wars. In 1917, during the First World War, the 836 t Swiftsure was hit by a mine 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Haco's Ness and sank in 19 metres (62 ft) of water with the loss of a single life. The site of the wreck was not discovered until 1997.

The Balfour estate sold its farms on Shapinsay between 1924 and 1928. This was a common occurrence in Orkney at the time as wealthy landowners moved to more lucrative forms of investment. Farms were generally sold to the sitting tenant or to their neighbours who wished to expand.

During the Second World War, gun batteries were built on the island. A twin six pounder emplacement at Galtness Battery on the coast at Salt Ness protected the Wide Firth from German torpedo boats. A Castle Battery was operational from 1941 to 1943, as was an anti-aircraft battery.

Mechanised implements came to the island, particularly after the Second World War, and the amount of land given over to growing grass increased. The growing of grain (with the exception of barley) and turnips steadily declined as these were replaced as winter fodder for livestock by silage, usually harvested by mechanical forage harvesters. The trend towards more intensive farming began to be partially reversed by the end of the century as more environmentally friendly practices were encouraged by government and European Union grants. Some of the land is managed under a Habitat Creation Scheme, which aims to encourage natural vegetation, wild flowers and nesting birds by limiting grazing and reducing the use of chemical fertilisers.

Mains electricity arrived on Shapinsay in the 1970s, when an underwater cable was laid from Kirkwall. Tourism became important in the latter half of the century; the first restaurant to incorporate bed and breakfast facilities opened in 1980. Before 1995, the island had a secondary school but lost this because of falling enrolment and improved transport links with Kirkwall, to where Shapinsay secondary pupils now travel. The shorter ferry crossing times enabled Shapinsay residents to work in Kirkwall, making it a "commuter isle".

Geography
With an area of 2948 ha, Shapinsay is the 8th largest Orkney island and the 29th largest Scottish island. The highest point of Ward Hill is 64 m above sea level. The east coast is composed of low cliffs and has several sea caves, including the geo at the extreme northern tip known as Geo of Ork. Elwick Bay is a sheltered anchorage on the south coast, facing the Orkney mainland; the island's largest settlement, Balfour, is at the western end of the bay. When seen from the air Shapinsay’s square ten-acre fields and straight roads are an obvious feature of the landscape. These are the result of David Balfour’s 19th century “improvments”.

The island has several ayres, or storm beaches, which form narrow spits of shingle or sand cutting across the landward and seaward ends of shallow bays. They can sometimes cut off a body of water from the sea, forming shallow freshwater lochs known as oyces. Examples include Vasa Loch and Lairo Water.

There are several small islands in the vicinity including Broad Shoal, Grass Holm and Skerry of Vasa. Helliar Holm is a tidal islet at the eastern entrance to the main harbour at Balfour; it has a small lighthouse and a ruined broch. The String, a stretch of water that lies between Helliar Holm and the mainland, has strong tidal currents.

Shapinsay has a bedrock formed from Old Red Sandstone, which is approximately 400 million years old and was laid down in the Devonian period. These thick deposits accumulated as earlier Silurian rocks, uplifted by the formation of Pangaea, eroded and then deposited into river deltas. The freshwater Lake Orcadie existed on the edges of these eroding mountains, stretching from Shetland to the southern Moray Firth. The composition of Shapinsay is mostly of the Rousay flagstone group from the Lower Middle Devonian, with some Eday flagstone in the southeast formed in wetter conditions during the later Upper Devonian. The latter is regarded as a better quality building material than the former. At Haco's Ness in the south east corner of the island is a small outcrop of amygdaloidal diabase. The island is overlain with a fertile layer of boulder clay formed during the Pleistocene glaciations.

Flora and fauna
The island's bird life is rich in waders such as curlew and redshank, found at The Ouse and Veantro Bay, and gull and tern colonies on the rockier shores and cliffs. Pintail, shovelers and whooper swans are regular summer visitors, and there are breeding populations of shelducks, hen harriers and Arctic skuas. There is an introduced population of red-legged partridges. Otters can be seen at the Ouse, Lairo Water and Vasa Loch, and at various places around the coast along with common seals and Atlantic grey seals. The island has a RSPB reserve at Mill Dam and a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve at Holm of Burghlee in the southeast. Mill Dam is home to the great yellow bumblebee, one of the rarest bumblebees in the UK.

Shapinsay has very few stands of trees. The two largest are on the grounds of Balfour Castle and the southwest shore of Loch of Westhill 1.5 km to the north. The coastlines of Orkney’s islands, including Shapinsay, are well-known for their abundant and colourful spring and summer flowers including sea aster, sea squill, sea thrift, common sea-lavender, bell and common heather. The lichen Melaspilea interjecta, which is endemic to Scotland, is found in only three locations, including Shapinsay.

Demography
The highest recorded population for Shapinsay is 974, in 1881. Since then, the population of the island has steadily declined; less than a third of that number was recorded in the 2001 census. The rate of absolute population loss was lower in the last decades of the 20th century than it had been in the first half of that century. In 2001, Shapinsay had a population of 300, a decline of 6.8% from 322 in 1991. This was greater than the population decline for Orkney overall in the same period, which was 1.9%. However, the loss in population on Shapinsay was less than that experienced by most Orkney islands, most of which experienced declines of more than 10%. The number of persons per hectare on Shapinsay was 0.1, similar to the 0.2 persons per hectare across Orkney. At the time of the 2011 census the usually resident population had increased to 307. During the same period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702.

Of the island's 300 inhabitants recorded in 2001, 283 were born in the United Kingdom (227 in Scotland and 56 in England). Seventeen were born outside the United Kingdom (four elsewhere in Europe, four in Asia, four in North America, one in South America and four in Oceania). By age group, 85 of the inhabitants were under 30 years of age, 134 were aged between 30 and 59, and 71 were age 60 and over.

Notable buildings
Balfour Castle dominates views of the southwest of the island and can be seen from the tower of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. The castle library features a secret passage hidden behind a false set of bookshelves. The Balfours escaped unwelcome visitors through this passageway, which leads to the conservatory door. Another feature of the castle is the stags' heads with gaslights at the tips of their antlers, although these are no longer used as working lights. The castle grounds feature deciduous woodland (now rare in Orkney) and 2 acre of walled gardens. Though built around an older structure that dates at least from the 18th century, the present castle was built in 1847, commissioned by Colonel David Balfour, and designed by Edinburgh architect David Bryce.

Other buildings constructed by David Balfour include the Dishan Tower, known locally as The Douche. This is a saltwater shower building with a dovecote on top. A local landmark due to its high visibility when approaching the island by sea, the building is now in a serious state of disrepair, the roof having collapsed.

A more ancient dwelling on Shapinsay is the Iron Age Broch of Burroughston. David Balfour arranged for the site to be excavated by the archaeologists George Petrie and Sir William Dryden in 1861. The site was neglected after the excavation, slowly filling up with vegetation and rubble before being cleared in 1994. Only the interior of this partially buried building has been excavated, allowing visitors to look down into the broch from the surrounding mound. The surviving drystone walls rise to about three metres (10 ft) and are more than four metres (13 ft) thick in some places.

Shapinsay Heritage Centre is located in Balfour's former smithy, along with a craft shop and a cafe. The castle's former gatehouse is now the village public house.

Economy
In common with the other Orkney islands, Shapinsay is fertile agricultural land, with farms specialising in beef and lamb which export thousands of cattle and sheep annually. Shapinsay has an active agricultural association which hosts an annual agricultural show, as well as other regular events.

The Shapinsay development trust has created a community plan for the island and owns a wind turbine, which was erected in August 2011 after the community voted for its construction. According to the development trust, the turbine could earn more than £5 million during its 25-year lifetime. In 2022-23 Shapinsay Renewables Ltd., which operates the wind turbine, made a gift aid payment of just under £134,000 to the development trust. In both 2022 and 2023 the Development Trust received funding to develop affordable rental housing on the island and in 2023 they also opened a newly refurbished heritage centre and cafe.

Small businesses on Shapinsay include a jam and chutney manufacturer, which uses traditional methods. Balfour Castle was run as a hotel by the family of Captain Tadeusz Zawadzki, a Polish cavalry officer, but is now in use as a private house. There is a salmon fish farm off Shapinsay.

Transport
Orkney Ferries provides transport for pedestrians and vehicles, proximity to Kirkwall permitting closer contacts with the Orkney Mainland than is possible for most of the other North Isles. There are six crossings per day, the journey lasting about 25 minutes. Between 1893 and 1964, the island was served by the steamer Iona which was originally owned by John Reid and purchased by William Dennison in 1914. After 1964, the converted trawler Klydon and then the Clytus, an ex Clyde pilot vessel operated by the government-owned Orkney Islands Shipping Company ran on this service. The current ferry is the MV Shapinsay which docks at the slipway at Balfour on arrival. Orkney is to trial two electric ferries after Artemis Technologies, based in Belfast, were awarded more than £15m of funding by the UK government's Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure Fund in 2023. One of the vessels will ferry passengers from Kirkwall, to Shapinsay and the nearby islands of Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre. The Orkney Islands Council has also considered building a tunnel to the Orkney Mainland.

The development trust offers electric bicycles for hire and operates 3 electric vehicles which are available to residents, community groups on the island and visitors.

Education and culture
Shapinsay has a primary school, which in the 2022-23 academic year had 23 pupils. The school doubles as a community centre and is host to a learning centre supported by the UHI Millennium Institute. This centre uses the internet, email and video-conferencing to allow students in Shapinsay to study without leaving the island.

In December 2006, the pupils staged a joint Christmas show with a school in Grinder, Norway, 875 km from Shapinsay. The schools used the internet to collaborate, supported by BT Group (BT), which upgraded the school's broadband connection. The finale of the show involved the Norwegian pupils singing Away in a Manger in English while the Shapinsay pupils responded with En Stjerne Skinner I Natt in Norwegian. This multilingual collaboration was somewhat easier for the Grinder pupils, who are taught English from the age of six. This collaboration was part of an ongoing relationship between the schools, whose children exchange letters and cards. Shapinsay school's headteacher has visited the Norwegian school, and there are plans for a reciprocal visit in 2008.

Shapinsay Community School has gained a Silver Award under the international Eco-Schools programme. School pupils have carried out an energy audit, helped to plant more than 600 trees close to the school and carried out energy saving campaigns. Shapinsay pupils have also won an award from the Scottish Crofters Commission for producing a booklet on crofting on the island.

Folklore
Cubbie Roo, the best known Orcadian giant, has a presence on Shapinsay. He was originally based on the historical figure Kolbein Hrúga, who built Cubbie Roo's Castle in 1150 on the isle of Wyre, which is possibly the oldest castle in Scotland, and was mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga. The figure Cubbie Roo has departed far from his historical origins and has become a giant in the fashion that Finn MacCool (legendary builder of the Giant's Causeway) has in parts of Scotland and Ireland. He is said to have lived on the island of Wyre and used Orkney's islands as stepping stones. Many large stones on Orkney islands, including Shapinsay, are said to have been thrown or left there by the giant. Cubbie Roo's Burn is a waterway on Shapinsay that flows through a channel called Trolldgeo. Cubbie Roo's Lade is a pile of stones on the shore near Rothiesholm Head, the westmost point of Stronsay. This is supposedly the beginning of a bridge between the two islands that the giant had failed to complete. The name derives from the Old Norse trolla-hlad, meaning "giant's causeway".

In 1905, The Orcadian newspaper reported that a strange creature had been seen off the coast of Shapinsay. It was reportedly the size of a horse, with a spotted body covered in scales. Opinion on the creature's origin was divided, with some islanders believing it to be a sea serpent, while others opined that it was merely a large seal.

title: Shapinsay