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Toronto City Council

Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022.

Structure
The current decision-making framework and committee structure at the City of Toronto was established by the City of Toronto Act, 2006 and came into force January 1, 2007. The decision-making process at the City of Toronto involves committees that report to City Council. Committees propose, review and debate policies and recommendations before their arrival at City Council for debate. Citizens and residents can only make deputations on policy at committees, citizens cannot make public presentations to City Council. The mayor is a member of all committees and is entitled to one vote.

There are three types of committees at the City of Toronto: the executive committee, four other standing committees, and special committees of council.

Executive committee
The executive committee is an advisory body chaired by the mayor. The executive committee is composed of the mayor, deputy mayor, and the chairs of the four standing committees who are appointed by the mayor and three "at-large" members appointed by City Council. The role of the executive committee is to set the City of Toronto's priorities, manage financial planning and budgeting, labour relations, human resources, and the operation of City Council. The committee existed in the old City of Toronto beginning in 1969. Before that Toronto had a Board of Control, as did former cities North York and Etobicoke.

The executive committee makes recommendations to city council on:
 * strategic policy and priorities
 * governance policy and structure
 * financial planning and budgeting
 * fiscal policy (revenue and tax policies)
 * intergovernmental and international relations
 * Council operation
 * Human resources and labour relations

Other committees
Following the sudden decision by the provincial government to reduce the size of City Council in summer 2018, the committee structure went under review. Before December 1, 2018, there were eleven other committees that reported to Toronto City Council. As of the 2022-2026 term, the four standing policy committees are:

There are five other committees that report to Council:

Source: City of Toronto

Community councils
All members of Toronto City Council serve on a community council. Community councils report to City Council but they also have final decision-making power on certain items, such as front yard parking and appointments to local boards and Business Improvement Areas. The city is divided into four community councils. Their meeting locations are as follows:

 * Etobicoke and York – Etobicoke Civic Centre
 * North York – North York Civic Centre
 * Scarborough – Scarborough Civic Centre
 * Toronto and East York – Toronto City Hall

2022–2026 City Council
The current council term began on November 15, 2022.

Vacancies
Vacancies in a councillor's seat may be filled in one of two ways, either by the holding of a by-election or through direct appointment of an interim councillor chosen by the council in an internal vote. Normally the council is allowed to decide which process to follow in each individual case; however, if the vacancy occurs after March 31 in the year of a regularly scheduled municipal election, then the vacancy must be filled by direct appointment as provincial law prohibits the holding of a by-election in the final six months of a council term.

Vacancies in the office of Mayor must be filled by by-election unless the vacancy occurs after March 31 in an election year, in which case Council appoints. There is no appointment option for Mayoral vacancies before that time.

The process often results in public debate, however. The by-election process is widely seen as more democratic, while the appointment process is seen as less expensive for the city to undertake.

When the appointment process is followed, people who are interested in the appointment are asked to submit their names to the local community council for the area where the vacant seat is located; the community council then evaluates and interviews the applicants, and submits a recommendation to the full city council for a final vote. The full council can, however, reject the community council's recommendation and choose a different candidate instead; in 2013, for example, the city council passed over former member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Chris Stockwell, the recommended candidate of the Etobicoke Community Council, in favour of Peter Leon.

Usually, although there is no legal barrier to doing so, candidates for appointment are asked if they intend to run as a candidate in the next regular election, so that the appointed councillor does not gain an unfair incumbency advantage. Council cannot impose this restriction on appointees but nonetheless it usually factors into the debate. There have been instances in which appointed councillors have done so; most notably, Paul Ainslie did so in 2006 by running for re-election in a different ward than the one where he had been appointed, and after the ward boundaries were adjusted in 2018, former ward 28 councillor Lucy Troisi ran in the new ward 13 against the former ward 27's elected incumbent Kristyn Wong-Tam. Peter Leon considered registering as a candidate in the 2014 election following his appointment as an interim councillor in 2013, but ultimately did not do so.

If a full byelection is pursued, however, then the winner of that by-election is not barred from running in the next regular municipal election.

In the event of a vacancy in the mayor's office, the deputy mayor is immediately elevated to acting mayor on an interim basis until the permanent new mayor is selected in a by-election. Unlike a city council seat, however, a by-election must always be held, unless the vacancy occurs less than 90 days before a regular municipal election. The situation does not trigger additional council vacancies, however; the deputy mayor is not deemed to have vacated their council seat during the acting period, and a sitting councillor who runs in the mayoral by-election does not have to resign their council seat unless they win the election.

Three vacancies occurred during the 2010-14 council term. Doug Holyday resigned from council in 2013 after winning election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a byelection, and was succeeded by Peter Leon. Adam Vaughan resigned from council in 2014 to contest a federal byelection for the House of Commons, and was succeeded by Ceta Ramkhalawansingh. Peter Milczyn resigned in 2014 after winning election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2014 election and was succeeded by James Maloney.

Since amalgamation there are five instances that a councillor died while in office:

 * Frank Faubert - ward 16 councillor and former mayor of Scarborough died in 1999 (after about a year and a half into his council term). The seat was filled with by-election: filled by former Ward 43 councillor David Soknacki.
 * Rob Ford - ward 2 councillor and former mayor of Toronto died in 2016, one year and three months into his council term. The seat was filled with by-election: won by Ford's nephew and former Ward 1 public school trustee Michael Ford.
 * Ron Moeser - ward 44 councillor and former Scarborough councillor died on April 18, 2017. The seat filled by an appointment with former city staffer Jim Hart.
 * Pam McConnell - ward 28 councillor died on July 7, 2017, after being hospitalized for a health complication. The vacancy was filled by voting by members of council, who selected Lucy Troisi over rival Michael Creek.
 * Jaye Robinson - ward 15 councillor died on May 16, 2024.

Compensation
The Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 223 sets the salary of the mayor and city councillors and is annually adjusted to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In 2022, the salary of a councillor is $120,502.20 and the salary of the mayor is $202,948.20.

City Clerk of Toronto
The city clerk is the senior administrative officer of the municipal government of Toronto. The city clerk is charged with building public trust and confidence in the city government.

There are five divisions in the Clerk's office:

 * Corporate Information Management Services
 * Member Services and Program Support
 * Elections Services
 * Strategic Protocol and External Relations
 * Secretariat

City clerk staff are seated in the diamond shaped table located in front of the speaker's podium in the council chambers.

Sergeant-at-Arms
City Council has a sergeant-at-arms, who is present at each council and committee meeting as per Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 27-50 to ensure order and safety of all members. In 2014 a second post was created to have two sergeants-at-arms present during council meetings. They are posted on the floor or near the entrances beside the speaker's desk.

Original ward system
Toronto was divided into a group of wards, each named after a Christian saint. In 1834, the city had five wards and the number of wards would expand to nine by 1891. While out of use for over a century, these ward names continue to appear in neighbourhood names and subway stations and, until the 1990s, provincial electoral districts. The old wards and their boundaries in their final form, used from 1871 to 1891, were:

 * St. Andrew's (named for Saint Andrew)- bounded by Dufferin, King, Queen, and Yonge Streets – St. Andrew's Church (Toronto) is located within the ward
 * St. David's (named for Saint David) – bounded by Ontario, Don Mills Road (now Broadview Ave), Bloor and Queen
 * St. George's (named for Saint George) – bounded by King, Yonge, Dufferin Streets and lakefront
 * St. Lawrence's (named for Lawrence of Rome) – bounded by Queen, Yonge, lakefront, McGee
 * St. Patrick's (named for Saint Patrick) – bounded by Bloor, Bathurst, Queen and College Streets (now part of Trinity-Spadina) – St. Patrick's Church is located within this ward
 * St. John's (either for John the Apostle or John the Baptist) – bounded by Yonge, university, Bloor and Queen. The area would continue to be known as The Ward up to the mid-20th century.
 * St. Stephen's (named for Saint Stephen) – bounded by Bathurst, Bloor, Queen and Dufferin Streets
 * St. Thomas's (named for Thomas the Apostle) – bounded by Jarvis, Ontario, Bloor, Queen Streets
 * St. James's (named for James, son of Zebedee) – bounded by Yonge, Jarvis, King and Bloor – Cathedral Church of St. James is located within the ward

By 1891, there were 13 wards, with three aldermen elected per ward: St. Alban's, St. Andrew's, St. David's, St. George's, St. James's, St. John's, St. Lawrence's, St. Mark's, St. Matthew's, St. Patrick's, St. Paul's, St. Stephen's, and St. Thomas's.

When Yorkville was annexed in 1883, it became St. Paul's Ward (named for Paul the Apostle or Saint Paul). When Riverdale was annexed in 1884, it became St. Matthew's Ward (named for Matthew the Apostle or Saint Matthew). Brockton was also annexed in 1884, and it became the ward of St. Mark's (named for Mark the Evangelist or Saint Mark). When Parkdale was annexed in 1889, it became St. Alban's Ward (named for Saint Alban).

Post-1891 ward structure
In June 1891, the city approved a re-organization to Council changing the number of wards to six; each ward was known by a number. Each ward elected four aldermen. Over the next three decades three new wards were added, one each in the north, east, and west, as new areas were annexed to the City of Toronto. In 1896, the Board of Control executive branch of Council was established to handle all daily council business and report to Council. Mayor Robert John Fleming presided over the first Board of Control.

Eventually, the numbers of aldermen was reduced to two aldermen per ward as the number of wards was increased. When a higher level of municipal government, Metro Toronto, was introduced in 1953, the alderman with the most votes of the two elected councillors from each ward was also a member of Metro Council.

Until 1955 municipal elections were held annually, either on New Year's Day or on the first Monday in December. In 1955 council moved to two-year terms, and in 1982 three-year terms were introduced. Along with the other municipalities of Ontario, Toronto moved to a four-year municipal term in 2006.

Starting in 1904 the Board of Control was elected directly. Until 1969 there was a four-person Board of Control in addition to city council. The board was elected at large across the city, and its members had considerably more power than the city councillors. In 1969, the Board of Control was abolished and the four controllers were replaced by four new councillors from two new wards. The ward map was rebalanced to give more equitable representation.

In 1985, the system of electing Metro councillors was changed so that two separate ballots were held in each ward, one for the city the other for Metro. In the next election, a separate set of wards was established for Metro councillors. Each Metro ward consisted of two city wards, each electing only one councillor.

With the amalgamation of the City of Toronto with the suburban municipalities of Metro in 1997, the councils of the six former cities were abolished. The new council for the "megacity" kept the ward map of Metro Toronto but doubled the number of councillors by adopting the system of electing two councillors from each ward. East York had only one ward and was thus greatly underrepresented. Former East York mayor Michael Prue lobbied successfully for a third councillor to be elected from that ward, and this was implemented mid-term.

This system was only used for the first megacity election. In 2000 a new ward map was devised based on the federal ridings (electoral districts) that covered Toronto. Each riding was split in half to create a 44-ward system.

List of ward changes 1909-1988

 * From 1892 until 1909 wards consisted of:
 * Ward 1 Riverdale
 * Ward 2 East Downtown and Rosedale
 * Ward 3 West Downtown and Summerhill
 * Ward 4 The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District
 * Ward 5 Trinity-Bellwoods
 * Ward 6 Davenport and Parkdale
 * 1910 Ward 7 West Toronto Junction added
 * 1919 Ward 8 East Toronto added
 * 1932 Ward 9 North Toronto added
 * 1969 wards: new ward names; Wards 10 and 11 added
 * Ward 1 Swansea and Bloor West Village - formerly Riverdale
 * Ward 2 Parkdale and Brockton - formerly East Downtown and Rosedale
 * Ward 3 Davenport and Corsa Italia - formerly West Downtown and Summerhill
 * Ward 4 Trinity-Bellwoods Little Italy - formerly The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District
 * Ward 5 The Annex and Yorkville - formerly Trinity-Bellwoods
 * Ward 6 Financial District, University of Toronto - formerly Davenport and Parkdale
 * Ward 7 Regent Park and Riverdale - formerly West Toronto Junction
 * Ward 8 Riverdale - formerly East Toronto
 * Ward 9 The Beaches - formerly North Toronto
 * Ward 10 Rosedale and North Toronto
 * Ward 11 Forest Hill and North Toronto
 * 1988 wards: wards renamed; Wards 12 to 16 added
 * Ward 1 Swansea and Bloor West Village
 * Ward 2 Parkdale
 * Ward 3 Brockton
 * Ward 4 Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy
 * Ward 5 Financial District and University of Toronto
 * Ward 6 Downtown East
 * Ward 7 Regent Park and Cabbagetown
 * Ward 8 Riverdale
 * Ward 9 East Danforth
 * Ward 10 The Beaches
 * Ward 11 The Junction
 * Ward 12 Davenport and Corsa Italia
 * Ward 13 The Annex and Yorkville
 * Ward 14 Forest Hill
 * Ward 15 Western North Toronto
 * Ward 16 Davisville and Lawrence Park
 * Changes for 2006–10 Council
 * Changes were made to the council in 2007:
 * Executive Committee consisting of two city councillors and the six heads of the city committees (Policy and Finance, Administration, Planning and Transportation, Economic Development and Parks, Works, Community Services) Following the 2018 elections and the reduction in the size of Council, all committees are in the process of being restructured.
 * Establishment of the speaker of Toronto City Council and deputy speaker of Toronto City Council

Current ward names since 2000
The current ward names are based on the federal and provincial electoral districts, but some no longer shared the same name as those district names have changed since 2000.

Political history
When the City of Toronto was incorporated in 1834, a city council was created. It provided direct representation in the government of Toronto to the population. The Town of York had been governed by the then-province of Upper Canada, with electoral representation in the Upper Canada assembly.

The first councils were elected yearly. Each of the five wards elected two aldermen and two common councillors by the votes of male householders. The first councils were dominated by two factions: the Family Compact and its loyalists; and the reformers under the leadership of William Lyon Mackenzie, Member of Parliament for York. Mackenzie won election to Council and was elected by Council as the city's first mayor, but was defeated in the next election, after proposing increased taxation. After the defeat of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837, the reformers were marginalized, as several were executed for treason, and others, such as Mackenzie, went into exile.

For the next century, the Tories dominated Toronto municipal politics, as they did the other levels in "Tory Toronto". The Tories were associated with staunch Protestantism, shown through membership in the Orange Order, and support for the Lord's Day Act.

In the 1930s, various forms of left-wing opposition arose to the Tory-dominated council. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was founded in 1932. The pro-labour social democratic party found support in various working-class areas of Toronto and several of its members were elected to city council. Unaffiliated anti-poverty activists like May Birchard also were elected to Council in this era. An important faction in Toronto politics in the 1930s and 1940s were the communists. There was considerable communist support in the downtown areas covered by Ward 4 and Ward 5, especially in the heavily Jewish areas of Kensington Market and the Garment District around Spadina Avenue and further west along College and up to Christie Pits including what is now Little Italy. The peak of communist influence was in the 1946 election when leader Stewart Smith was elected to the Board of Control and three other communists won seats on city council. With the beginning of the Cold War and staunch opposition from the other political groups, the communist presence quickly disappeared. The last communist alderman lost his seat in 1950.

The first part of the 20th century was the era of the newspaper slates. Each of the daily newspapers would endorse a full slate of candidates for office. The two most influential were the right-wing Toronto Telegram and the more left-leaning Toronto Daily Star. In the early parts of the century, the duelling papers ran the communications portion of the campaign of the candidates they supported, using yellow journalism to extol those they supported and denigrate those they opposed. The newspaper slates did not have a unified ideology: all the papers claimed to be seeking a balanced council, making sure that groups such as labour and Roman Catholics had representation on the council. Beyond these few exceptions, the slates of all the papers were largely made up of male, white, Conservative, Orangemen. Many candidates also appeared on the slates of several newspapers. With the exception of James Simpson, who became Toronto's first socialist mayor in 1935, the city's mayors were Tories in the first half of the 20th century.

The character of Toronto politics began to change in the 1950s and 1960s as the Anglo Tory lock on power faded in the increasingly diverse city. In 1952, Orangeman Allan Lamport became the first Liberal elected mayor in over 40 years. He resigned to become TTC chair and his administration was implicated in a municipal corruption scandal. In 1954, Leslie Saunders, another Orangeman became interim mayor. His staunch defence of Protestantism became an issue in the 1954 election. Nathan Phillips, a long-serving Jewish alderman, was elected mayor. He was a staunch Tory. His religion was an important issue in the election, in which his opponent proclaimed himself to be running as "Leslie Saunders, Protestant". The Orange Order influence dropped sharply. Only seven of 23 councillors elected that year were members of the Orange Order. Phillips was dubbed "Mayor of all the People" and governed in a non-partisan manner. During his term, Phillips enraged the Order by accepting funding from O'Keefe Brewing for the new O'Keefe Centre auditorium. In 1956, Phillips initiated the international architectural competition for a new City Hall.

In 1966, former CCF Member of Provincial Parliament William Dennison was elected mayor. He was an Orangeman and the last member of the Orange Order to be a Toronto mayor.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, a new division arose on city council between two groups that became known as the "Reformers" and the "Old Guard". Both groups crossed party lines and were divided by their approach to urban issues. The Reform faction arose in opposition to the urban renewal schemes that had been in favour in the previous decades. Two key battles were over the proposal for the Spadina Expressway and the replacement of the Trefann Court neighbourhood with a housing project. The Reformers opposed the destruction of existing neighbourhoods and followed the urban theories of recent Toronto arrival Jane Jacobs. The Old Guard supported new highways and housing projects, in part because of their close ties to the development industry. The debate between the two groups became the central issue of the 1969 municipal election with mayoral candidate Margaret Campbell running on an explicit reform platform. Campbell lost the mayoralty, but on City Council, six veteran members of the Old Guard were defeated.

One example of the close ties was revealed in 1971; a conflict of interest case of alderman Ben Grys, who chaired the Buildings and Development Committee. His wife Gladys, bought properties in the High Park area, then resold them to a developer. Grys then helped get rezoning for the area to allow developers to increase the number of units they could build, without disclosing his interest. Alderman John Sewell learned of the Grys purchases through a resident of the area. Grys launched a lawsuit against Sewell but it was dropped. Grys was defeated in 1972, the same election that Reformer David Crombie was elected mayor. Crombie was mayor until 1978 and during his term, the city enacted a holding by-law to curb the development industry. In 1978, Crombie was succeeded by Sewell as mayor.

In 1980, Liberal Art Eggleton was elected mayor. Eggleton was mayor until 1991. During his term, Council enacted a new official plan to control redevelopment within the city. Council approved the redevelopment of the railway lands south-west of downtown. Eggleton negotiated the agreement to administer Toronto Island Airport, allowing scheduled airlines, but disallowing jets. Social housing was built and environmental programs were introduced by the city during that period.

In 1998, the Metro Toronto Council was merged with Toronto City Council. The amalgamation added the councillors from the other cities of Metro. The first mayor of the merged council was Mel Lastman, former mayor of North York. The council spent the term working on merging the departments of the various municipalities and working on funding for the increased services downloaded by the province. In 2003, David Miller became Toronto mayor. A new City of Toronto Act was enacted by the Province of Ontario and Council used the opportunity to introduce new tax measures to increase revenues for city services. A planned bridge to the Island Airport was cancelled.

In 2010, Councillor Rob Ford won the mayoralty on promises to cut taxes. During his term, Council cancelled the vehicle registration tax, the Toronto transit plan, made various department 'essential services' and out-sourced some garbage pickup services. Council removed some of Ford's mayoral powers following the disclosures of Ford's drug abuse, giving powers to the deputy mayor. Although Ford ran for re-election, ill-health forced him to drop out. The mayoralty was won by John Tory, former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.

In 2017, after a petition to Council under the City of Toronto Act, Council initiated a process to revise its ward boundaries. The final result of the process was an increase to 47 seats. This was opposed in Court by several councillors, who ultimately failed in their challenge. In 2018, a newly elected Ontario government passed a bill, after the municipal election had started, to override the ward revisions and impose a 25-person council. This was overturned on September 10, 2018, after City Council and several private respondents challenged the law in Ontario Superior Court. The judge found that the Ontario government erred constitutionally in making the change during the election campaign, thus depriving voters and political candidates of their "freedom of expression" rights. After this decision, the provincial government decided to appeal the judge's decision, and prepared a new version of the bill that would invoke the Notwithstanding clause to overrule the judge's decision. On September 19, 2018, a 3 court panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario unanimously granted a stay on the lower court's ruling, thus setting the number of wards to 25, and removing the need to invoke the Notwithstanding clause. The decision was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in Toronto (City) v Ontario (Attorney General).

Political families

 * William R. Allen - Metro Toronto's second chairman from 1962 to 1969, son of Robert A. Allen, an east-end Alderman and MPP in the 1930s
 * Michelle Holland - Formerly Michelle Berardinetti, Former Councillor for Ward 35, Scarborough Southwest, formerly married to Lorenzo Berardinetti, former Councillor and former MPP.
 * Christin Carmichael Greb - former city councillor, daughter of Toronto Member of Parliament John Carmichael.
 * Josh Colle - former city councillor; son of former Metro Toronto Councillor and City of York Councillor, and current City councillor Michael Colle
 * Joe Cressy - former city councillor; son of former city councillors Gordon Cressy and Joanne Campbell
 * Mayor Ralph Day's son married to the daughter of Mayor Allan A. Lamport
 * Rob Ford – as former mayor and councillor; brother Doug Ford, Jr. Premier of Ontario and former councillor; nephew Michael Ford who was the Councillor for Ward 2; Rob and Doug's father Doug Ford, Sr. was an Ontario MPP
 * Stephen Holyday - current city councillor for Ward 3, son of former Etobicoke alderman (1982-1985; 1988–1998), Metropolitan Toronto Councillor (1994-1997), Mayor of Etobicoke (1994-1998) and Toronto City Councillor for Ward 3 (1988-2000) and Ward 4 (2000-2013), and former MPP Doug Holyday
 * Brothers William Holmes Howland and Oliver Aiken Howland both served as Mayor of Toronto and sons of former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and federal MP William Pearce Howland
 * William Peyton Hubbard - former city alderman and father of Frederick Langdon Hubbard, who was Chair of the Toronto Transportation Commission
 * Olivia Chow – current Mayor, former city councillor and federal MP; wife of former city councillor and federal MP Jack Layton (also federal NDP leader and Leader of the Official Opposition); stepson Mike Layton also formerly served as city councillor
 * David Shiner – former city councillor; son of former North York borough alderman Esther Shiner
 * William Summerville – former Toronto Ward 1 alderman; father of Ward 8 alderman, member of Board of Control and Mayor Donald Dean Summerville; daughter-in-law (wife of Donald Dean) Alice Summerville was former Ward 8 alderman
 * Adam Vaughan – former city councillor and now federal MP, son of former city councillor Colin Vaughan
 * George Taylor Denison III - St. Patrick's Ward alderman 1865–1867, son of George Taylor Denison II, who was alderman for the same ward in the 1843-1853 and brother of federal MP Frederick Charles Denison

Homes of City Council

 * 1834–1845: Assembly Hall at Market Square on second floor, at Jarvis and King
 * 1845–1899: Council Chambers at New Market Building on second floor, at Jarvis and Front – now used as gallery space (Market Gallery)
 * 1899–1965: Old City Hall – now used as courtroom
 * 1965–present: Toronto City Hall

All but Market Square continue to exist today.

title: Toronto City Council


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Visual communication

Visual communication is the use of visual elements to convey ideas and information which include (but are not limited to) signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, advertising, animation, and electronic resources. Visual communication has been proven to be unique when compared to other verbal or written languages because of its more abstract structure. It stands out for its uniqueness, as the interpretation of signs varies on the viewer's field of experience. The interpretation of imagery is often compared to the set alphabets and words used in oral or written languages. Another point of difference found by scholars is that, though written or verbal languages are taught, sight does not have to be learned and therefore people of sight may lack awareness of visual communication and its influence in their everyday life. Many of the visual elements listed above are forms of visual communication that humans have been using since prehistoric times. Within modern culture, there are several types of characteristics when it comes to visual elements, they consist of objects, models, graphs, diagrams, maps, and photographs. Outside the different types of characteristics and elements, there are seven components of visual communication: color, shape, tones, texture, figure-ground, balance, and hierarchy.

Each of these characteristics, elements, and components play an important role in daily lives. Visual communication holds a specific purpose in aspects such as social media, culture, politics, economics, and science. In considering these different aspects, visual elements present various uses and how they convey information. Whether it is advertisements, teaching and learning, or speeches and presentations, they all involve visual aids that communicate a message. In reference to the visual aids, the following are the most common: chalkboard or whiteboard, poster board, handouts, video excerpts, projection equipment, and computer-assisted presentations.

Overview
The debate about the nature of visual communication dates back thousands of years. Visual communication relies on a collection of activities, communicating ideas, attitudes, and values via visual resources, i.e. text, graphics, or video. The evaluation of a good visual communication design is mainly based on measuring comprehension by the audience, not on personal aesthetic and/or artistic preference as there are no universally agreed-upon principles of aesthetics. Visual communication by e-mail, a textual medium, is commonly expressed with ASCII art, emoticons, and embedded digital images. Visual communication has become one of the most important approaches using which people communicate and share information.

The term 'visual presentation' is used to refer to the actual presentation of information through a visible medium such as text or images. Recent research in the field has focused on web design and graphically-oriented usability.

Important figures
Aldous Huxley is regarded as one of the most prominent explorers of visual communication and sight-related theories. Becoming near-blind in his teen years as the result of an illness influenced his approach, and his work includes important novels on the dehumanizing aspects of scientific progress, most famously Brave New World and The Art of Seeing. He described "seeing" as being the sum of sensing, selecting, and perceiving. One of his most famous quotes is "The more you see, the more you know."

Max Wertheimer is said to be the father of Gestalt psychology. Gestalt means form or shape in German, and the study of Gestalt psychology show emphasis in simplicity, as its properties group visuals by similarity in shape or color, continuity, and proximity. Additional laws include closure and figure-ground principles in studied images is also intensively taught.

Image analysis
Visual communication contains image aspects. The interpretation of images is subjective and to understand the depth of meaning, or multiple meanings, communicated in an image requires image analysis. Images can be analyzed through many perspectives, for example these six major perspectives presented by Paul Martin Lester: Personal, Historical, Technical, Ethical, Cultural, and Critical.
 * Personal perspective: When a viewer has an opinion about an image based on their personal thoughts. Personal response depends on the viewer's thoughts and values, individually. However, this might sometimes conflict with cultural values. Also when a viewer has viewed an image with a personal perspective, it is hard to change the view of the image on the viewer, even though the image can be seen in other ways.
 * Historical perspective: An image's view can be arising from the history of the use of media. Through times sort images have been changed, because the use of different (new) media. For example: The result of using the computer to edit images (e.g. Photoshop) is quite different when comparing images that are made and edited by craft.
 * Technical perspective: When the view of an image is influenced by the use of lights, position and the presentation of the image. The right use of light, position and presentation of the image can improve the view of the image. It makes the image looks better than the reality.
 * Ethical perspective: From this perspective, the maker of the image, the viewer and the image itself must be responsible morally and ethically to the image. This perspective is also categorized in six categories: categorical imperative, utilitarianism, hedonism, golden mean, golden rule, and veil of ignorance.
 * Cultural perspective: Symbolization is an important definition for this perspective. Cultural perspective involves identity of symbols. The uses of words that are related with the image, the use of heroes in the image, etc. are the symbolization of the image. The cultural perspective can also be seen as the semiotic perspective.
 * Critical perspective: The view of images in the critical perspective is when the viewers criticize the images, but the critics have been made in interests of the society, although an individual makes the critics. This way this perspective differs from the personal perspective.

Visual aid media: Simple to advanced

 * Chalkboard or whiteboard: Chalkboards and whiteboards are very useful visual aids, particularly when more advanced types of media are available. They are cheap and also allow for much flexibility. The use of chalkboards or whiteboards is convenient, but they are not a perfect visual aid. Often, using this medium as an aid can create confusion or boredom. Particularly if a student who is not familiar with how to properly use visual aids attempts to draw on a board while they are speaking, they detract time and attention from their actual speech.
 * Poster board: A poster is a very simple and easy visual aid. Posters can display charts, graphs, pictures, or illustrations. The biggest drawback of using a poster as a visual aid is that often a poster can appear unprofessional. Since a poster board paper is relatively flimsy, often the paper will bend or fall over. The best way to present a poster is to hang it up or tape it to a wall.
 * Handouts: Handouts can also display charts, graphs, pictures, or illustrations. An important aspect of the use of a handout is that a person can keep a handout with them long after the presentation is over. This can help the person better remember what was discussed.  Passing out handouts, however, can be extremely distracting.  Once a handout is given out, it might potentially be difficult to bring back your audience's attention.  The person who receives the handout might be tempted to read what is on the paper, which will keep them from listening to what the speaker is saying. If using a handout, the speaker distributes the hand out right before you reference it. Distributing handouts is acceptable in a lecture that is an hour or two, but in a short lecture of five to ten minutes, a handout should not be used.
 * Video excerpts: A video can be a great visual aid and attention grabber, however, a video is not a replacement for an actual speech. There are several potential drawbacks to playing a video during a speech or lecture. First, if a video is playing that includes audio, the speaker will not be able to talk. Also, if the video is very exciting and interesting, it can make what the speaker is saying appear boring and uninteresting. The key to showing a video during a presentation is to make sure to transition smoothly into the video and to only show very short clips.
 * Projection equipment: There are several types of projectors. These include slide projectors, overhead projectors, and computer projectors. Slide projectors are the oldest form of projector, and are no longer used. Overhead projectors are still used but are somewhat inconvenient to use. In order to use an overhead projector, a transparency must be made of whatever is being projected onto the screen. This takes time and costs money. Computer projectors are the most technologically advanced projectors. When using a computer projector, pictures and slides are easily taken right from a computer either online or from a saved file and are blown up and shown on a large screen.  Though computer projectors are technologically advanced, they are not always completely reliable because technological breakdowns are not uncommon of the computers of today.
 * Computer-assisted presentations: Presentations through presentation software can be an extremely useful visual aid, especially for longer presentations. For five- to ten-minute presentations, it is probably not worth the time or effort to put together a deck of slides. For longer presentations, however, they can be a great way to keep the audience engaged and keep the speaker on track. A potential drawback of using them is that it usually takes a lot of time and energy to put together. There is also the possibility of a computer malfunction, which can mess up the flow of a presentation.

Components
Components of visualization make communicating information more intriguing and compelling. The following components are the foundation for communicating visually. Hierarchy is an important principle because it assists the audience in processing the information by allowing them to follow through the visuals piece by piece. When having a focal point on a visual aid (i.e. Website, Social Media, Poster, etc...), it can serve as a starting point for the audience to guide them. In order to achieve hierarchy, we must take into account the other components: Color, Shape, Tones, Texture, Figure-Ground, Balance.

Colors is the first and most important component when communicating through visuals. Colors displays an in-depth connection between emotions and experiences. Additive and subtractive color models help in visually communicating aesthetically please information. Additive color model, also known as RGB color (Red, Green, Blue) goes from dark to light colors, while subtractive color model is the opposite. The subtractive color model includes the primary CMYK colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) which go from light to dark. Shape is the next fundamental component that assists in creating a symbol that builds a connection with the audience. There are two categories that shapes can fall under: Organic or Biomorphic shapes, and Geometric or Rectilinear shapes. Organic or biomorphic shapes are shapes that depict natural materials (which include curvy lines), while Geometric or Rectilinear shapes are shapes that are created by man (including triangles, rectangles, ovals, and circles).

Tone refers to the difference of color intensity, meaning more light or dark. The purpose of achieving a certain tone is to put a spotlight on a graphical presentation and emphasize the information. Similarly, texture can enhance the viewers optics and creates a more personal feel compared to a corporate feel. Texture refers to the surface of an object, whether is it 2-D or 3-D, that can amplify a user's content.

Figure-ground is the relationship between a figure and the background. In other words, it is the relationship between shapes, objects, types, etc. and the space it is in. We can look at figure as the positive space, and ground as the negative space. In comparison, positive space is the objects that hold dominance visually, while negative space (as mentioned previously) is the background. In addition to creating a strong contrast in color, texture, and tone, figure-ground can highlight different figures. As for balance, it is important to have symmetrical or asymmetrical balance in visual communication. Symmetrical balance holds a stable composition and is proper in conveying informative visual communication. As for asymmetrical balance, the balance of visuals is weighted more to one side. For instance, color is more weighted to one color than the other, while in a symmetrical balance all colors are equally weighted.

Visual literacy
Studies often define visual literacy (or visual competence) as the ability to understand and process what is being seen in order to make sense of the world. Being visually literate has been shown to be an important aspect of life to those with sight. The function of sight itself has mechanisms that must work together in order to transform the lines, shapes, and colors around a person's environment into a cohesive picture that can then hold meaning. These mechanisms are what occur in the human body that allow a person's eye to make sense of what the viewer sees and then the signals that are sent to relay information to their brain to be processed. However, studies conducted state that visual intelligence is not something that is taught but rather observed. It is also noted within this study that this skill often goes unnoticed until it is impaired. This act of processing what is being seen has been shown to happen quickly and oftentimes without the viewer’s cognizant awareness.

The effect visual literacy has on a viewer has also been shown to influence aspects of their life such as, attitudes, values, beliefs, as well as cultural views. Scholars have noted how society and culture is often dominated by imagery, especially with the rise of mass technological media. The dominance of visuals in culture such as film, television and social media, have now been used by various companies for their advertisements. Presidential and political candidates have also turned to the media to visually promote their campaigns. With many of these advertisements present in everyday life, the viewers of this content may often be open to influence without being cognizant of it.

Semiotics
Semiotics is the study of signs and visuals within society that relay meaning. The symbols used in different cultures to convey a meaning also entails the hidden systems and functions that make up the symbols. Logos, gestures, and technological signs such as emoticons, are a few examples of symbols used in culture.

Semiology
The term semiology is the study of signs and symbols and their arrangements as a visual language. The characterization of what is considered a language is the existence of an alphabet that can be arranged to create meaning. An example of signs, or an alphabet, that can be arranged to create meaning are the 26 letters that make up the Modern English Alphabet which can then be used to compose written messages that can then be relayed orally. However, in semiology, the signs that create the alphabet of visual communication are more abstract than a written or verbal languages alphabet. In comparison to the English Alphabet, the visual alphabet is still being studied due to the various channels that may be used to relay visuals. Components of a still graphic compared to film, for instance. Another category of study within the field of semiotics is how the interpretation of visual signs depends on the experiences of the person interpreting the visual components of symbols, commonly referred to as the interpretant.

Theory of semiotics
Collectively, the study of visual imagery and gestures as a language has two major schools of thought. The contributors who are commonly referred to are; Charles Sanders Peirce and his descendants and Ferdinand de Saussure. Peirce’s school of thought is the meaning that the interpreter assigns to a particular sign instead of the study of the sign itself. His work focuses on the pragmatics, semantics, and structure of a symbol in visual communication. Saussure, however, focused primarily on the structure and value of a sign and its relation to other symbols within the language system. The school of thought that Saussure curated contributed to the rise of structuralism as well as later theories developed by various scholars in the field of communication.

Social media
Social media is one of the most effective ways to communicate. The incorporation of text and images deliver messages quicker and more simplistic through social media platforms. A potential drawback can be there is limited access due to the internet access requirement and certain limitations to the number of characters and image size. Despite the potential drawback, there has been a shift towards more visual images with the rise of YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. In the rise of these platforms, Facebook and Twitter, have followed suit and integrated more visual images into their platform outside the use of written posts. It can be stated that visual images are used in two ways: as additional clarification for spoken or written text, or to create individual meaning (usually incorporating ambiguous meanings). These meanings can assist in creating casual friendships through interactions and either show or fabricate reality. These major platforms are becoming focused on visual images by growing a multi-modal platform with users having the ability to edit or adjust their pictures or videos these platforms. When analyzing the relationship between visual communication and social media, four themes arise:
 * Emerging genres and practices: The sharing of various visual elements allow for the creation of genres, or new arrangements of socially accepted visual elements (i.e. photographs or GIFs) based on the platforms. These emerging genres are used as self-expression of identity, to feel a sense of belonging of different sub-group of the online community.
 * Identity construction: Similar to genres, users will use visuals through social media to express their identities. Visual elements can change in meaning over a period of time by the person who shared it, which means that visual elements can be dynamic. This makes visuals uncontrollable since the person may not identify as that specific identity, but rather someone who has evolved.
 * Everyday public/private vernacular practices: This theme presents the difficulty of deciphering what is considered public, or private. Users can post the privacy from their own home, however, their post is interacting with users from the online public.
 * Transmedia circulation, appropriation, and control: Transmedia circulation refers to visual elements being circulated through different types of media. Visual elements, such as images can be taken from one platform, edited, and posted to another platform without recognizing where it originally came from. The concept of appropriation and ownership can be brought into question, making aware the idea that if a user can appropriate another person work, then that user's work can appropriated, as well.

Culture
Members of different cultures can participate in the exchange of visual imagery based on the idea of universal understandings. The term visual culture allows for all cultures to feel equal, making it the inclusive aspect of every life. When considering visual culture in communication, it is shaped by the values amongst all cultures, especially regarding the concepts of high and low-context. Cultures that are generally more high-context will rely heavily on visual elements that have an implied and implicit meaning. However, cultures that are low-context will rely on visual elements that have a direct meaning and rely more on the textual explanations. Visual communication can be defined in different ways (Volli 1994). An effective one is through opposition with signification (Volli 2010). Whereas visual signification can be unintentional, there is no communication without intentionality. A sunset signifies something, whereas a painting signifies something but also communicates, because culture marks it as product of communicative intentionality. However, imputation of intentionality changes across cultures and epochs. Whereas religion may see a sunset as a divine message, secular observers will attach to it an unintentional meaning of nostalgia.

Politics
Visual communication in politics have become a primary sense of communication, while dialogue and text have become a secondary sense. This may be due to the increased use of televisions, as viewers become more dependent on visuals. Sound bite has become a popular and perfected art among all political figures. Despite it being a favored mode of showcasing a political figure's agenda, it has shown that 25.1% of news coverage displayed image bites - instead of voices, there are images and short videos. Visuals are deemed an essential function in political communication, and behind these visuals are 10 functions for why political figures use them. These functions include:
 * Argument function: Although images do not indicate any words being said, this function conveys the idea that images can have an association between objects or ideas. Visuals in politics can make arguments about the different aspects of a political figure's character or intentions. When introducing visual imagery with sound, the targeted audience can clarify ambiguous messages that a political figure has said in interviews or news stories.
 * Agenda setting function: Under this function, it is important that political figures produce newsworthy pictures that will allow for their message to gain coverage. The reason for this is due to the agenda-setting theory, where importance of public agenda is taken into consideration when the media determines the importance of a certain story or issue. With that said, if politicians do not provide an interesting and attention-grabbing picture, there will likely be no news coverage. A way for a politician to gain news coverage, is to provide exclusivity for what the media can capture from a certain event. Despite not having the ability to control whether they receive coverage, they can control if the media gets an interesting and eye-catching visual.
 * Dramatization function: Similar to agenda setting, the dramatization function targets a specific policy that a political figure wants to advocate for. This function can be seen when Michelle Obama promoted nutrition by hosting a media event of her planting a vegetable garden, or Martin Luther King Jr. producing visuals from his 1963 campaign for racial injustice. In some cases, these images are used as icons for social movements.
 * Emotional function: Visuals can be used as a way to provoke an emotional response. A study that was performed found that motion pictures and video has more of an emotional impact than still images. On the other hand, research has suggested that the logic and rationality of a viewer is not barred by emotion. In fact, logic and emotion are interrelated meaning that images not only can have emotional arousal, but also influence viewers to think logically.
 * Image-building function: Imagery gives a viewer a first impression of a candidate when they are running for office. These visuals give voters a sense of who they will be voting for during the elections, regarding their background, personality, or demeanor. They can create their image by appearing be family-oriented, religiously involved, or showing a commonality with the disadvantaged community.
 * Identification function: Through the identification function, visuals can create an identification between political figures and audiences. In other words, the audience may perceive a type of similarity with the political figure. When a voter finds a similarity with a candidate they are more likely to vote for them. This is the same when a voter notices a candidate who does not have any perceived similarities, then they are less likely to vote for them.
 * Documentation function: Similar to a stamp on a passport that indicated you have been to a certain country, photographs of a political figure can document that an event had happened and they were there. By documenting an event that occurred, there is evidence and proof for argumentative claims. If a political figure claims one thing, then there is evidence to either back it up or disprove it.
 * Societal symbol function: This function is used in visuals when political figures use iconic symbols to draw on emotional power. For instance, political figures will stand with American flags, be photographed with military personnel, or even attending a sport. These three areas of societal symbols hold a strong sense of patriotism. In comparison, congressional candidates may be pictured with former or current presidents to gain an implied endorsement. Many places like the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier can be seen and iconic, societal symbols that hold a sense of emotional power.
 * Transportation function: The transportation function of using visuals is to transporter the viewer to a different time or place. Visuals can figuratively bring viewers to the past or to an idealized future. Political figures will use this tactic as a way to appeal to the emotional side of their audience and get them to visually relate to the argument that is at hand.
 * Ambiguity function: Visuals can be used to interpret different meanings without having to add any words. By not adding any words, visuals are normally used for controversial arguments. On the basis that visual claims can be controversial, they are held to a less strict standard compared to other symbols.

Economic
Economics has been built on the foundation of visual elements, such as graphs and charts. Similar to the other aspects of why visual elements are used, graphs are used by economists to clarify complex ideas. Graphs simplify the process of visualizing trends that happen over time. Along the same lines, graphs are able to assist in determining a relationship between two or more variables. The relationship can determine if there is a positive correlation or negative correlation between the variables. A graph that economists rely heavily on is a time-series graph, which measures a particular variable over a period of time. The graph includes time being on the X-axis, while a changing variable is on the Y-axis.

Science and medicine
Science and medicine has shown a need for visual communication to assist in explaining to non-scientific readers. From Bohr's atomic model to NASA's photographs of Earth, these visual elements have served as tools in furthering the understand of science and medicine. More specifically, elements like graphs and slides portray both data and scientific concepts. Patterns that are revealed by those graphs are then used in association with the data to determine a meaningful correlation. As for photographs, they can be useful for physicians to rely on in figuring out visible signs of diseases and illnesses.

However, using visual elements can have a negative effect on the understanding of information. Two major obstacles for non-scientific readers is: 1.) the lack of integration of visual elements in every day scientific language, and 2.) incorrectly identifying the targeted audience and not adjusting to their level of understanding. To tackle these obstacles, one solution is for science communicators must place the user at the center of the design, which is called User-Centered Design. This design focuses on strictly the user and how they can interact with the visual element with minimum stress, but maximum level of efficiency. Another solution could be implemented at the source, which is university-based programs. In these programs, universities need to introduce visual literacy to those in science communication, helping in producing graduates who can accurately interpret, analyze, evaluate, and design visual elements that further the understanding of science and medicine.

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

title: Visual communication


text:
LRT (disambiguation)

LRT may stand for:

Television and radio broadcasting

 * Lithuanian National Radio and Television, public broadcasting company of Lithuania
 * LRT Klasika, a Lithuanian radio channel
 * LRT Lituanica, a Lithuanian public television channel
 * LRT Plius, a Lithuanian television station
 * LRT Radijas, a Lithuanian radio station
 * LRT televizija, a Lithuanian television station

Transportation

 * Light rail transit, a type of higher capacity, higher speed tram (shortened to LRT in Canada)
 * Light rapid transit, a type of rapid transit system; often called a "medium-capacity rail system" or "light metro"
 * Manila Light Rail Transit System, in Manila, Philippines
 * Jakarta LRT, in Jakarta, Indonesia
 * Lion Rock Tunnel, a transport tunnel part of Route 1 in Hong Kong
 * London Regional Transport, the public transport network in Greater London, UK, 1984–2000
 * Lorient South Brittany Airport, which has the IATA code LRT
 * Louis Riel Trail, a highway in Saskatchewan, Canada

Other

 * Likelihood-ratio test, a method for comparing statistical models
 * Little Round Top, a hill at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

title: LRT (disambiguation)


text:
Minister of Police (France)

The Minister of Police (Ministre de la Police) was the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of Police. It was a position in the Government of France from 1796 to 1818 and briefly from 1852 to 1853.

History
The office was created on 2 January 1796 by taking police powers away from the Minister of Interior and giving them to the new Minister of Police. The move was motivated by an apparent overload of the Interior department. The first minister, Philippe-Antoine Merlin, was appointed two days later, as Armand-Gaston Camus refused the office. The most famous minister was Joseph Fouché, whose service spanned over a decade.

It was a major French ministerial position under the Directory, Consulate, First Empire, and Restored Bourbon Dynasty. The position was merged into the Ministry of Interior in 1818, although it was briefly restored by Napoleon III in 1852.

title: Minister of Police (France)


text:
User talk:JohnDuran

Hello and welcome to Wikipedia!

Here are some tips to help you get started:

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title: User talk:JohnDuran


text:
Machine postmark

A machine postmark or machine cancellation is a postmark or cancellation on mail that is applied by a mechanical device rather than with the use of a handstamp. Nearly all machine-cancellation devices apply both postmark and cancellation simultaneously. While some mail is cancelled using handstamps, machine cancellation is ubiquitous, and in the industrialized nations the vast majority of mail is cancelled by machine.

United States
In the United States, the first successful postmarking machine was developed by Thomas Leavitt in the 1870s, with covers known from 1876. By 1880 Leavitt machines were in use in twenty cities. Cancellations were of a variety of forms, including horizontal and diagonal lines, as well as "football" shapes. The American Postal Machines Company soon got into the business, with postmarks appearing from 1884, and became successful with a machine known for its speed of processing.

APMC introduced the flag cancel in 1894, which used the wavy lines of the cancel to depict an approximate image of an American flag. During the 1890s dozens of other companies got into the business, although most were short-lived, and only about six, including Pitney-Bowes, lasted past the 1920s.

Slogan cancels also first appeared in the 1890s, initially to advertise the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, gradually expanding to include a wide variety of uses. Slogans are commonplace today, with the US Postal Service still using them to promote special events, as well as to encourage better mailing practices (use of ZIP Code, proper addressing, etc.).

title: Machine postmark


text:
Maddan

Maddan was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He came to power in 1100BC. He was the son of King Locrinus and Queen Gwendolen, who both ruled Britain separately.

He was born during the reign of Locrinus but soon after, his grandfather Corineus of Cornwall died and his mother defeated Locrinus in battle. His mother reigned for the fifteen years of Maddan's adolescence then she abdicated in his favor. Soon after taking the throne, he married and became the father of Mempricius and Malin. For forty years he reigned peacefully until his death when civil war broke out between his sons.

title: Maddan


text: User talk:63.238.252.167

title: User talk:63.238.252.167


text: User talk:67.181.55.2

title: User talk:67.181.55.2


text:
User:Docu/mentation/Messages

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title: User:Docu/mentation/Messages/Search


text:
Next Men

John Byrne's Next Men (also known as Next Men or JBNM) is an American comic book series written and drawn by John Byrne. The first volume of the series was published by Dark Horse Comics between 1991 and 1995. A nine-issue miniseries was published by IDW Publishing in 2010 and 2011, followed by another series titled Next Men: Aftermath in 2012.

Publication history
The Next Men characters made a prototypical appearance as "Freaks" in a lithography plate that was published within the History of the DC Universe Portfolio in 1986. Byrne had originally pitched the series to DC Comics, but the series never surfaced there. With some changes, Byrne changed the concept to fit in with his work on the graphic novel 2112, to become the John Byrne's Next Men series. Two characters from the "Freaks" artwork somewhat retained their physical looks and became the lead characters of the Next Men series: heroine Jasmine (aka "Jazz") and villain Aldus Hilltop.

The Next Men officially debuted in a four–part storyline in Dark Horse Presents #54–57 (Sept.–Dec. 1991), later reprinted, in color, as John Byrne's Next Men #0 (Feb. 1992). The series ran until issue #30 (Dec. 1994) and ended with a cliffhanger. According to Byrne, he intended the series to be science-fiction that had a "sort of smell" of being a super-hero book. In addition to exploring mature topics such as sex, abortion, and child abuse, Byrne also set aside some of the more-traditional conventions of the medium, such as "thought-bubbles" and sound-effects.

Byrne had intended to conclude the story in a second series after a six-month hiatus, but the financial weakness of the American comic-book industry in the mid-1990s made it financially unfeasible for him to do so, and he returned to working for hire at DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

On October 12, 2007, Byrne announced on his website that comic publisher IDW would release black and white "phonebook"-sized reprints of the Next Men series sometime in 2008, with the first collection released in May 2008. He stated on his message board:

In an interview with IDW appearing in the publisher's April 2008 comic books, when asked about the possibility of a new Next Men series, Byrne answered,

At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, Byrne revealed that he was creating new issues of JBNM to be published by IDW Publishing. Byrne said that the new series would be both a continuation of the previous series as well as a place for new readers to discover the characters. He expected the entire story, previous series plus new series, to run about 50 issues. IDW's John Byrne's Next Men #1 was released on December 15, 2010.

It was announced in February 2011 that Byrne would finish the Next Men series with issue #9 of the 2010–2011 series, but a sequel titled Next Men: Aftermath immediately followed.

First series (Dark Horse, 1991–1995)
In 1955, an explosion in Antarctica draws the attention of a group of scientists. There they discover dozens of charred bodies, some of which do not appear to be human. Among them is a creature in a mechanical exoskeleton, named Sathanas, who kills all but one of the scientists, whom Sathanas uses to meet Senator Aldus Hilltop. Together, with Sathanas' existence kept secret, the three construct "Project Next Men", whose goal is to create superhumans. The project used babies who were given up for adoption by single mothers. Due to Hilltop's racial concerns, all of the mothers were white. The children were experimented on and grew to maturity in a lab while in their minds they experienced an idyllic virtual-reality world.

Eventually five of these "Next Men" manage to escape from confinement, but once free, they find that their powers are very greatly enhanced from how they were in their virtual world. The Next Men are:

 * Nathan, whose mutated eyes allow him to see a wide spectrum of light. Team leader.
 * Jasmine, a young super-acrobat. Nathan nicknames her "Jazz".
 * Jack, who is super-strong but cannot control his strength.
 * Bethany, who is invulnerable to harm to the point of having razor-sharp hair, but who loses physical sensation and whose skin bleaches white.
 * Danny, who can run at superhuman speeds.

After escaping from the Project, the Next Men have a number of interactions with outsiders, including a previous escapee who is deformed. Eventually, they are taken in by a US government agent, Tony Murcheson, who works for an individual known as Control. Murcheson works as their handler from that point in the series, intervening when she can and offering a reality check to her naive charges. During their first official mission in Russia, the Next Men are captured. Jasmine, afraid they will be killed, seeks solace in the arms of teammate Nathan, and the two unknowingly conceive a child. Meanwhile, Danny, the youngest member of the team who was not allowed to go on the mission, goes on a quest to find his birth mother. Reunited with her, she reveals the identity of his father: Aldus Hilltop. Afterward, his new half-sister convinces Danny to take her away from their abusive mother. The two run off to New York City, where Danny hopes to meet his hero, the fictional comic-book character, Action Maxx. He finds instead the character's publisher, who decides to exploit Danny and the other Next Men for a new comic-book series, once Danny convinces him that his claim of having superpowers is real. This brings the Next Men to the attention of law-enforcement authorities investigating the damage left in the wake of the Next Men's escape from the Project. After a publicity stunt for their upcoming comic book, the Next Men are arrested, tried and convicted on multiple counts of murder. Before they can be sent to prison, Murcheson helps the Next Men escape, and the team lives for a time in a subterranean community of the homeless and disenfranchised.

During his time at the comic-book publisher, Danny is befriended by a young woman named Sandy who is in charge of babysitting him. The two eventually have sex, and the woman goes on to develop reality-altering powers. These powers cause her to go crazy and attempt to remake the island of Manhattan. Once she is stopped by the Next Men, it is discovered that the powers which they have are sexually contagious; anyone who has sex with one of the Next Men will develop their own superhuman abilities.

As the series progresses, Sathanas continues to influence Senator Hilltop, who becomes Vice President and then President, and attempts to manipulate the Next Men for his own ends. As part of this effort, he brainwashes Jasmine into believing that she is his wife and that her time with the Next Men was merely an involved dream. Towards the end of the series, Hilltop has sex with Jasmine and develops powers similar to Sathanas, leading him to realize that Sathanas is in fact a future version of himself in an example of a predestination paradox.

In issue #7, a backup story, "M4" (Mark IV) started. It dealt with an android, Mark IV, or "Mark Ivey" as one character called him. Initially appearing as a separate storyline, eventually the series started to tie into the Next Men storyline, and finally merged with it in issue #23.

Second series (IDW, 2010–2011)
The 2011 miniseries (which Byrne labels with a "3" in superscript beside each issue number, to continue the numbering of the original series) expands on the time-travel and alternate-reality plots from the initial series, picking up from the cliffhanger ending by stranding each teammate and Agent Murcheson in divergent time periods. Nathan ends up stranded in Nazi Germany and is experimented on by a Nazi scientist. Jasmine is stranded in Elizabethan era England, and succumbs to the Plague. Murcheson is stranded in the South during the American Civil War and is forced into slavery; she later escapes and uses her knowledge of the past to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Bethany is stranded in a futuristic setting by an unknown captor, who claims to be punishing her friends for having betrayed her.

It is later revealed that Bethany's captor is Bethany herself, who came from a future alternate timeline where an accident left her buried alive for over 200 years and drove her insane. Having been retrieved by scientists who mastered control over time, she ended up travelling to the past and kidnapped her former friends to scatter them throughout time. Soon, the scientists who retrieved Bethany arrive to stop her. They then retrieve Jasmine and Nathan, and one of the scientists, Gil, reveals to them his intention to send them back in time one last time to prevent Sathanas from arriving in 1955 (thereby undoing the events of the original Next Men series).

Jasmine, who has second thoughts about the mission, backs out, leaving Nathan and Bethany to go alone. Having successfully arrived in 1955, Bethany explodes a bomb which prevents the arrival of Sathanas and his mutates.

A sequel series, titled Next Men: Aftermath, by Byrne was published by IDW after the conclusion of the Next Men series proper. The sequel continued the numbering from the original series, starting with #40 and concluding with #44.

Collections
JBNM was initially collected as a set of graphic novels published by Dark Horse Comics. These collections are in color, but do not include the early "M4" stories that were separate from the main storyline.

 * 2112 (published in both prestige format and limited edition hardcover)
 * Book One (reprints issues #0–6, published in both hardcover and trade paperback)
 * Parallels (reprints issues #7–12)
 * Fame (reprints issues #13–18)
 * Faith (reprints issues #19–22)
 * Power (reprints issues #23–26)
 * Lies (reprints issues #27–30)

JBNM has also been collected three times by IDW Publishing. The "Compleat" volumes are black-and-white paperbacks, and include 2112 and the "M4" stories; the "Premiere" volumes are color hardbacks and include the "M4" stories but not 2112; the "Classic" volumes are color paperbacks, and include 2112 and the "M4" stories.

 * John Byrne's Compleat Next Men, Volume 1, ISBN 1600101739 (May 2008) reprints 2112 and issues #0–12, including the first five "M4" stories.
 * John Byrne's Compleat Next Men, Volume 2, ISBN 1600102727 (November 2008) reprints issues #13–30, including the "M4" backup stories.
 * John Byrne's Next Men: The Premiere Collection, Vol. 1, ISBN 1600103650 (March 2009) reprints issues #0–10.
 * John Byrne's Next Men: The Premiere Collection, Vol. 2, ISBN 1600105491 (December 2009) reprints issues #11–20.
 * John Byrne's Next Men: The Premiere Collection, Vol. 3, ISBN 160010696X (July 2010) reprints issues #21–30.
 * John Byrne's Classic Next Men, Vol. 1, ISBN 9781600109713 (July 2011) reprints 2112 and issues #0–6.
 * John Byrne's Classic Next Men, Vol. 2, ISBN 9781613770832 (November 2011) reprints issues #7–18 and all of the "M4" backup stories.
 * John Byrne's Classic Next Men, Vol. 3, ISBN 9781613771600 (March 2012) reprints issues #19–30 and all of the "M4" backup stories.

The IDW series has been collected in:

 * John Byrne's Next Men Vol. 1: Scattered (reprints issues #1–4).
 * John Byrne's Next Men Vol. 2: Scattered, Part 2 (reprints issues #5–9)
 * John Byrne's Next Men Vol. 3: Aftermath (reprints issues #40–44, numbered to include the Dark Horse issues as well as the issues of "Scattered")

title: Next Men


text:
Mempricius

Mempricius (Welsh: Membyr) was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He came to power in 1060BC. He was the son of King Maddan, brother of Malin, and father of king Ebraucus.

War
Upon his father's death, war broke out between Mempricius and his brother, Malin, over who would dominate Britain. Mempricius called a conference with his brother and other delegates to end the war between the two brothers. Once there, Mempricius killed Malin and took the throne of the Britons for himself.

Tyranny
He ruled as a tyrant for 20 years, killing most of the distinguished men on the island. More so, he defeated and killed all other claimants to the throne. He abandoned his wife and his son, Ebraucus, to live a life of sodomy.

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, he reigned at the same period of time as Saul, the King in Judea, and Eurysthenes, King in Sparta.

Death
While on a hunting expedition, he was separated from his companions and attacked by a pack of wolves. He died and was succeeded by his son Ebraucus as monarch.

title: Mempricius


text:
Legend of the Liquid Sword

Legend of the Liquid Sword is a 1993 Hong Kong wuxia comedy film loosely based on Gu Long's Chu Liuxiang novel series. The film was written and directed by Wong Jing and stars Aaron Kwok as the titular protagonist. The film inspired the title of American rapper GZA's albums Liquid Swords (1995) and Legend of the Liquid Sword (2002).

Plot
The young Chor Lau-heung learns martial arts from Tuk-ku Kau-pai and has attained a high level of skill. His teacher sends him to Shaolin Monastery to attend a contest that is held once every ten years. On the journey, Chor meets Wu Tit-fa and Chung-yuen Yat-dim-hung. When Chor arrives at Shaolin, he fights with a Shaolin student called Mo-fa but neither of them is able to defeat each other. They decide to have a match again on another day. One night, Chor meets Mo-fa and strike up a conversation with her. Both of them decide to enter the palace in search of adventure. They disturb the prince on his wedding night but are accidentally caught in a trap and only manage to escape with the help of Chor's friends.

Meanwhile, Bat Prince breaks into Shaolin and kills Mo-fa's teacher, Tuk-ku Kau-pai and the Demonic Cult's leader. Bat Prince is actually the son of a Japanese ninja called Tin-fung Sap-say-long, and he wants to avenge his father. 17 years ago, his father came to challenge the three best fighters in China, but was defeated and committed suicide in shame. Bat Prince is not satisfied even after his victory and wants to dominate the Chinese martial arts world. Chor is injured by Bat Prince in a fight and loses his powers. Mo-fa brings him to the Holy Water Palace for treatment. Sui-mo Yam-kei heals Chor's wounds and teaches him new skills. Chor faces the Bat Prince in an epic battle.

DVD
Mei Ah Entertainment released a dual-subtitle DVD that they have since taken out of print. Xenon Pictures handled the U.S. release which basically contains the Mei Ah version with the only difference that the entire opening sequence was replaced with a card reading simply "Liquid Sword." The original burned-in subtitles are used.

Video
The full uncut print runs 12 minutes longer than the Mei Ah (Hong Kong) and Xenon (U.S.) releases and was released in Taiwan on video by ERA Home Video.

title: Legend of the Liquid Sword


text:
African paradise flycatcher

The African paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis) is a medium-sized passerine bird. The two central tail feathers of the male are extended into streamers that commonly are more than twice as long as the body. The female tail feathers are of moderate length and without streamers. The upper parts of the male body, wings, and tail are boldly coloured in chestnut or rusty shades, but the underparts and the head are variably grey to blue-gray, with the head of the mature male being darker, commonly glossy black with greenish highlights. The beak and other bare areas, including a wattle ring round the eye, match the colour of the surrounding feathers. The female coloration is similar, though not so showy and glossy and with the head paler.

The African paradise flycatcher feeds mainly on insects. It builds a neat cup nest in which it lays a clutch, usually of two or three eggs. It generally inhabits open forest and savanna, and is a locally common resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed it as being of "least concern".

Taxonomy and systematics
The African paradise flycatcher was originally described in the genus Muscicapa. Alternate names include the grey-headed paradise flycatcher, red-winged paradise-flycatcher and Southern paradise-flycatcher.

Subspecies
Ten subspecies are recognized:
 * T. v. harterti - (Meinertzhagen, R, 1923) : Found on southern Arabian Peninsula
 * T. v. viridis - (Müller, 1776) : Found from Senegal and Gambia to Sierra Leone
 * T. v. speciosa - (Cassin, 1859) : Originally described as a separate species. Found from southern Cameroon to south-western Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and north-eastern Angola
 * Abyssinian paradise-flycatcher (T. v. ferreti) - (Guérin-Méneville, 1843) : Originally described as a separate species. Found from Mali and the Ivory Coast to Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania
 * T. v. restricta - (Salomonsen, 1933) : Found in southern Uganda
 * T. v. kivuensis - (Salomonsen, 1949) : Found from south-western Uganda to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and north-western Tanzania
 * Swaheli paradise-flycatcher (T. v. suahelica) - Reichenow, 1898 : Formerly classified as a separate species by some authorities. Found in western Kenya and northern Tanzania
 * T. v. ungujaensis - (Grant, CHB & Mackworth-Praed, 1947) : Found in eastern Tanzania and nearby islands
 * T. v. plumbeiceps - Reichenow, 1898 : Originally described as a separate species. Found from Angola to south-western Tanzania, Mozambique and northern South Africa
 * T. v. granti - (Roberts, 1948) : Originally described as a separate species. Found in eastern and southern South Africa

Description
The adult male African paradise flycatcher is about 17 cm long, but the very long tail streamers double this. It has a black head, neck and underparts, and chestnut wings and tail. There is a prominent white wingbar. The female has a browner tint to the underparts and lacks the wingbar and tail streamers. Young birds are similar to the female but duller.

The males show considerable variation in plumage in some areas. There is a morph of this species in which the male has the chestnut parts of the plumage replaced by white, and some races have black tail streamers.

This species readily hybridizes with the genetically similar Rufous-vented paradise flycatcher. The red-bellied paradise flycatcher is also closely related to this species, and hybrids occur with the underparts a mixture of black and red.

Distribution and habitat
The African paradise flycatcher is found in most parts of Africa south of the Sahara Desert and also the Arabian Peninsula. Its typical habitat is savannah woodland, open grassland with isolated trees, plantations, open woodland and scrubland.

Behaviour
The African paradise flycatcher is a noisy bird with a harsh scolding call. It has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched prominently, like a shrike. It is insectivorous, often hunting by catching flies on the wing, and eating eggs, larvae and adults. It also feeds on spiders and sometimes consumes berries. The cup-shaped nest is built in a tree and a clutch of two or three eggs are laid.

title: African paradise flycatcher


text:
British Columbia Highway 5A

Highway 5A is Highway 5's pre-1986 alignment south of Kamloops. Unlike the main route, a section of BC Highway 5 known as the Coquihalla, which is a twinned highway consisting of at least 4 lanes at any given point, the 182 km (113 mi) long Highway 5A is only two lanes, with one four lane section between Highway 5 and Highway 97C (known as the Okanagan Connector), lasting along BC Highway 5A for approximately 23 km (14 mi).

Route details
Starting at the junction of the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) in Princeton, Highway 5A goes through 63 km of undeveloped land north to its junction with the Okanagan Connector (Highway 97C) at Aspen Grove. Past Aspen Grove, Highway 5A and Highway 97C travel in a shared designation northwest for 23 km (14 mi) in a four lane alignment before intersecting the Coquihalla Highway 5 and Highway 8 at Merritt. After a 4 km gap, Highway 5A continues north northeast for 89 km (55 mi), passing through the community of Quilchena, before terminating within Kamloops at its junction with Highways 5, 1 and 97 (which are overlapped at the point where 5A terminates).

Highway 5A used to circle through Merritt for 7 km (4 mi), following Nicola Street (Highways 8 and 97C) and Voght Street, to its second crossover of Highway 5 in the north area of Merritt; however, it was dropped by the province in 2008. The two segments can be access by either traveling through Merritt or following Highway 5. The city of Merritt has left most 5A signage in place.

Highway 5A is often considered to be a back country highway due to its low traffic volumes and features unusual to highways (e.g. cattleguards). Highway 5A between Aspen Grove and Merritt saw major upgrades in the late 1980s to prepare for the opening of the Okanagan Connector, but still remained two lanes for several years after. When the Okanagan Connector opened on October 1, 1990, the Hamilton Hill section was moved to a new four lane alignment north of the former route. Controversial plans once called for the Okanagan Connector to continue past Aspen Grove and Highway 5A to meet with Highway 5 south of Merritt. When it became apparent that this extension was unlikely, the highway was four lanes in stages from Aspen Grove to the Hamilton Hill Brake Check. Although upgraded for Okanagan Connector traffic, Highway 5A from Aspen Grove to Merritt is not considered to be a freeway, due to its numerous at-grade intersections and undivided nature. The speed limit on this stretch is 110 km/h, which is 10 km/h lower than both the Okanagan Connector and the Coquihalla Highways.

Major intersections
From south to north:

title: British Columbia Highway 5A


text:
Cylindrical perspective

Cylindrical perspective is a form of distortion caused by fisheye and panoramic lenses which reproduce straight horizontal lines above and below the lens axis level as curved while reproducing straight horizontal lines on lens axis level as straight. This is also a common feature of wide-angle anamorphic lenses of less than 40mm focal length in cinematography, as well as the basis for creating the 146-degree peripheral vision of Cinerama when projected into a matching, cylindrically curved screen.

title: Cylindrical perspective


text:
List of naval ministers of France

One of France's Secretaries of State under the Ancien Régime was entrusted with control of the French Navy (Secretary of State of the Navy (France).) In 1791, this title was changed to Minister of the Navy. Before January 1893, this position also had responsibility for France's colonies, and was usually known as Minister of the Navy and Colonies, a role thereafter taken by the Minister of the Overseas. In 1947 the naval ministry was absorbed into the Ministry of Defence, with the exception of merchant marine affairs which had been split in 1929 to the separate Ministry of Merchant Marine.

History
The two French royal fleets (the Ponant fleet and Levant fleet) were put under the control of Colbert from 1662, whilst he was "intendant des finances" and "minister of state" – but not "secretary of state" : he only became secretary of state in 1669 after having bought his way into the post. From then on, right up to the French Revolution, a secretary of state had responsibility for the fleet.

The secretary of state was responsible for the administration of both the navy (the "marine royale") and civilian (merchant marine) fleets, and for all France's ports, arsenals, consulates, and colonies, as well as the guardianship for all her commercial companies.

To his two original offices (the bureau du Ponant and bureau du Levant) other services were added over time:

 * archives department, 1669;
 * office of the Ponant consulates, 1709;
 * office of the colonies, 1710;
 * bureau des classes, 1711;
 * department of maps and plans, 1720;
 * Office of the Levant Consulates, 1738, which was in 1743 merged with the Office of the Ponant Consulates under the name of Office of Commerce and Consulates

These different offices and departments were regrouped into four super-departments by marshal de Castries in 1786.

title: List of naval ministers of France


text:
User talk:Rheinhard

Hello and welcome to Wikipedia!

Here are some tips to help you get started:

 * If you haven't already, please add your name to the new user log to let others know a little about yourself.
 * Read the article describing how to edit a page and feel free to experiment in the Sandbox.
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 * Eventually, read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * If you need help, post a question at the Help Desk or ask me on my talk page.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and, most importantly, have fun!

Good luck! Jrdioko

P.S. One last helpful hint. To sign your posts like I did above (on talk pages, for example) use the '~' symbol. To insert just your name, type (3 tildes), or, to insert your name and timestamp, use ~ (4 tildes).

title: User talk:Rheinhard


text:
Ebraucus

Ebraucus (Efrawg/Efrog) was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He came to power in 1040BC. He was the son of King Mempricius (before he abandoned the family) and father of Brutus Greenshield.

Following the death of his father, Mempricius, he became king and reigned for 39 years. According to Geoffrey, he was admired, tall, and remarkably strong. He was the first to wage war on the Gauls since the time of Brutus. By pillaging the cities and shores and slaughtering many men, he became extremely wealthy and enriched the lands of Britain.

He founded two settlements: Kaerebrauc, the City of Ebraucus (Eboracum), north of the Humber (this later became York, whose Welsh name is Efrog); and Alclud in Albany (now part of Dunbarton, capital of Strathclyde). According to Polydore Vergil he "builded the town of Maidens, now called Edinburgh Castle, being planted in the uttermost part of Britain, now called Scotland". The Registrum Malmesburiense also says he built the "castle of Montrose".

He had twenty wives who produced twenty sons and thirty daughters. All his daughters he sent to his cousin Silvius Alba in Alba Longa (Italy) to be married to the other Trojan descendants. Except for Brutus Greenshield, all of Ebraucus's sons, led by Assaracus, went to Germany, creating a kingdom there. Brutus thus succeeded Ebraucus upon his death.

title: Ebraucus