text:
René Reyes

René José Reyes Velásquez (born February 21, 1978) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder and switch-hitter. He played for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Career
His only MLB experience came as a member of the Colorado Rockies in part of two seasons spanning –. In a two-season career, Reyes batted .220 with two home runs and eight RBI in 81 games.

After spending 2006 with the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz of the Mexican League, 2007 with the Petroleros de Minatitlan, and 2008–2011 with the Pericos de Puebla, Reyes signed with the Rieleros de Aguascalientes on March 16, 2012. On June 29, 2013, Reyes was traded to the Diablos Rojos del Mexico. On March 31, 2014, Reyes was assigned to the Leones de Yucatán. On February 6, 2015, Reyes signed with the Rieleros de Aguascalientes, but on May 8, he was released. On May 21, 2015, he was assigned to the Toros de Tijuana, but released on July 6. On May 10, 2016, Reyes signed with the Vaqueros de Unión Laguna. On September 21, 2016, he was released. On May 16, 2017, Reyes signed with the Tigres de Quintana Roo. On July 5, 2017, he was traded to the Olmecas de Tabasco. On July 18, 2017, Reyes was released.

title: René Reyes


text:
StarCraft: Brood War

StarCraft: Brood War is the expansion pack for the military science fiction real-time strategy video game StarCraft. Released in December 1998 for Microsoft Windows and June 1999 for Mac OS, it was co-developed by Saffire and Blizzard Entertainment. The expansion pack introduces new campaigns, map tilesets, music, extra units for each race, and upgrade advancements. The campaigns continue the story from where the original StarCraft ended, with the sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, continuing from the conclusion of Brood War. The expansion was released first in the United States on December 18, 1998.

Brood War was critically well received, with reviewers praising it for being developed with the care of a full game rather than as an uninspired extra. As of May 31, 2007, StarCraft and Brood War have sold almost ten million copies combined. The game is especially popular in South Korea, where professional players and teams have participated in matches, earned sponsorships, and competed in televised matches.

As of April 19, 2017, StarCraft and its Brood War expansion, aka the Anthology, are free to download and play from Blizzard's website. A remastered edition of StarCraft and its expansion was released on August 14, 2017.

Gameplay

StarCraft focuses around three distinct interstellar species: the psionic Protoss, the adaptable Terrans, and the insectoid Zerg. The game revolves around players collecting resources to construct a base, upgrade their militaries, and ultimately conquer opponents. Brood War's gameplay remains fundamentally unchanged from that of StarCraft, although it made small alterations to unit costs and some abilities, and added some new units. These changes make rushing tactics—a factor that gained some criticism in the original StarCraft—less practical. The single-player campaign has an increased difficulty; missions are no longer entirely linear, and a greater focus on strategy is needed to complete missions. In addition, the game's artificial intelligence (AI) has been augmented so that AI-controlled players are more intelligent and tend to use tactics more effectively.

Brood War introduces seven new units. Each race is given access to a unique ground unit: the Zerg can create a defensive unit that can attack from the concealment of its burrow, while the Terrans can train combat medics. The Protoss are able to produce dark templar units, a powerful cloaked melee unit only given to the player in special missions of StarCraft. Protoss players can merge two of these units to create a special spellcaster unit. Each race is also given access to a dedicated air-to-air attack unit.

Setting
Brood War takes place in the StarCraft universe, set around the early 26th century. Terran exiles from Earth have colonized a distant area of the Milky Way galaxy called the Koprulu Sector, having established several governments. Eventually, a civil war breaks out and ends with the formation of the Terran Dominion. However, humanity soon becomes caught in a war between the Protoss and the Zerg, which culminates at the end of StarCraft with the death of the Zerg leader, the Overmind, on the Protoss homeworld of Aiur. Without the Overmind to command, the Zerg rampage mindlessly across Aiur, while the cerebrates—the secondary commanders of the Swarm—attempt to regain control. After the discovery of alien life in the Koprulu Sector, the United Earth Directorate (UED)—the international body governing Earth—decides to send an expeditionary force to secure the sector and prevent the aliens from finding Earth. Brood War begins two days after the conclusion of StarCraft.

Characters
The player assumes the roles of three anonymous characters over the course of the game. In the first campaign, the player assumes the role of a Protoss fleet commander. The player's character is commanded by Zeratul and Aldaris, two adversaries from StarCraft who have since reconciled their differences to lead their people in the face of the rampaging Zerg. They are joined by Jim Raynor, a Terran rebel on the run from the Dominion, Artanis, the previous Executor of the third campaign of StarCraft who has recently been promoted, and Raszagal, the matriarch of the dissident dark templar faction in Protoss society. The second campaign sees the player as a captain in the UED expeditionary force, reporting to the fleet's admiral Gerard DuGalle and his vice-admiral Alexei Stukov. To secure the sector, the UED plans to overthrow the Terran Dominion and its emperor Arcturus Mengsk, and are assisted in this by Samir Duran, a mysterious psionic ghost espionage agent, and his group of anti-Dominion rebels. The final campaign has the player assume the position of a Zerg cerebrate, a commander within the Zerg Swarm. The player is put under the control of Sarah Kerrigan, a Terran who was infested by the Zerg in StarCraft.

Plot
The story of Brood War is presented through its instruction manual, the briefings to each mission, and conversations within the missions themselves, along with the use of cinematic cut scenes at the end of each campaign. The game itself is split into three new episodes, one centering on each race.

In the first episode, the player (as the Protoss Executor), Aldaris, Zeratul, and the newly promoted Praetor Artanis work to evacuate the surviving Protoss from their devastated homeworld through a warp gate to the dark templar homeworld, Shakuras, where they meet the matriarch of the dark templar, Raszagal. Although the Zerg are able to follow the Protoss to Shakuras, Raszagal informs the survivors of a Xel'Naga temple on the surface of the planet with the power to scour the Zerg from the surface if activated. With Zeratul and Artanis reluctantly partnering with Sarah Kerrigan, who informs them of a new Overmind growing on Char, the player joins them in an operation to recover two key crystals (Khalis and Uraj) necessary to operate the temple. Upon their return, it is revealed that Aldaris has begun an uprising against the dark templar over their alliance with Kerrigan. The uprising is crushed, and Aldaris is killed by Kerrigan, who reveals that her motives are to ensure the destruction of the Zerg cerebrates on Shakuras so she can gain control of the Zerg herself before departing the planet. Despite knowing that activating the temple will accomplish Kerrigan's objectives, Zeratul and Artanis proceed with little other choice, wiping the Zerg off Shakuras' surface.

In the second episode, the player (as a UED captain), leads the United Earth Directorate's initial incursions against the Terran Dominion. Upon meeting Samir Duran, the fleet's vice-admiral Alexei Stukov conscripts Duran as a special advisor. The UED soon discovers a "psi disrupter"—a device capable of disrupting Zerg communications—on the former Confederate capital Tarsonis. Although Duran persuades admiral Gerard DuGalle to have the anti-Zerg device destroyed, Stukov's forces relieve Duran at the last moment. The UED proceeds to the Dominion throne world Korhal IV where the player defeats Arcturus Mengsk's armies, although Mengsk is rescued when a Protoss fleet commanded by Jim Raynor arrives. The UED tracks Raynor and Mengsk to the Protoss homeworld of Aiur, but the two escape the massive UED assault when Duran inexplicably moves his forces out of position and allows the Zerg to interfere with the operation. Having understood that the UED invasion had caused Mengsk, Raynor, and the Protoss to band together against a common foe, Stukov realizes that Duran's actions and the Zerg attack were too much to be a coincidence—the Zerg were also allied with the Terran Dominion and the Protoss, and Duran had been working to undermine the UED. While Stukov takes a contingent of troops and reconstructs the psi disrupter on Braxis, DuGalle is unaware of his intentions and becomes convinced that he is a traitor. The player helps Duran hunt down Stukov inside the psi disrupter, but before he dies, Stukov reveals to DuGalle that Duran is the real enemy. Duran flees after the player foils his attempt to sabotage the psi disrupter. Using the psi disrupter's capabilities, DuGalle and the UED are able to assault the Zerg world Char and take control of the new Overmind growing there.

The final section of Brood War sees the player (as a lone Cerebrate) helping Sarah Kerrigan defeat the UED. With the Overmind falling under the United Earth Directorate's command, all operations amongst native factions in the sector are damaged, including Kerrigan's forces. To begin the campaign against the Directorate forces, Kerrigan and Samir Duran form a reluctant alliance with Jim Raynor, Protoss praetor Fenix, and Arcturus Mengsk to destroy the psi disrupter. After destroying the psi disrupter, the player leads Kerrigan's forces in a full-scale assault on Korhal, quickly breaking the UED's hold over the planet. In the aftermath, Kerrigan betrays her allies, destroying a large number of Dominion forces and killing both Fenix as well as Edmund Duke, Mengsk's right-hand man. Angry at Kerrigan's betrayal, Raynor promises that he will kill her one day and retreats. Kerrigan travels with Duran to Shakuras and abducts Raszagal, who she uses to blackmail Zeratul into killing the Overmind on Char, thus bringing all Zerg forces under Kerrigan's control. Zeratul attempts to rescue Raszagal, but the player prevents their escape, and Zeratul eventually kills Raszagal when it becomes clear she has been irreversibly brainwashed by Kerrigan. At that moment it becomes clear that Aldaris's uprising in the first episode was an attempt to stop the brainwashed Raszagal from betraying her people any further. Upon leaving Char in search of Artanis, Zeratul stumbles upon a genetics facility run by Duran without Kerrigan's knowledge where a Protoss/Zerg hybrid is being developed. At the same time, Kerrigan is attacked on Char by the Dominion, the UED, and a vengeful fleet commanded by Artanis. Despite being outnumbered, Kerrigan defeats all three fleets and eradicates the surviving UED fleet, leaving her the dominant power in the sector. Before the UED fleet is wiped out, Admiral DuGalle sends a final message back to his family before committing suicide with his pistol.

Development
Development on Brood War began shortly after the release of StarCraft in 1998 and was announced after the release of StarCraft's first two expansion packs, Insurrection and Retribution. Most of the team at Blizzard Entertainment responsible for StarCraft returned to work on Brood War. They were assisted by members of Saffire, who were contracted for a variety of tasks consisting of programming and design for levels, visuals, and audio effects. According to Shane Dabiri, the game's producer, Brood War aimed to drastically increase the significance of the story within gameplay, stating that the team was adding scripting that would allow "Final Fantasy type events" to be played out during the course of a level. Dabiri further explained that the objectives in the missions would also reflect the story in a far more interactive way, with players being presented with tactical decisions over which objectives to pursue and with fewer missions revolving around simple annihilation of the enemy. Although originally slated for release in the US in October 1998, Brood War ' s release was delayed by two months to come out in December.

As with StarCraft, an exemplar campaign showcasing the methods of creating a custom campaign for Brood War is available. Entitled Enslavers: Dark Vengeance, the campaign follows the actions of a rogue dark templar, Ulrezaj, and his attempts to remove the Khalai Protoss from his homeworld of Shakuras, with the player and Zeratul trying to stop him. However, it is not included in the release and must be downloaded separately from Battle.net.

Critical reception
StarCraft: Brood War was critically acclaimed. The magazine PC Zone gave Brood War a short but flattering review, describing it as having "definitely been worth the wait". PC Zone praised the inclusion of new units and the balancing tweaks as transforming the original StarCraft "from an okay game into something akin to the mutt's nuts". The review also drew note to the cinematic cut scenes, stating that they "actually feel like part of the story rather than an afterthought".

IGN praised Brood War as a "carefully designed" expansion, "with a surfeit of new features that will satisfy even the pickiest of gamers". Although stating that there was "enough to enrich the core gameplay without losing the flavor", IGN presented concern over the difficulty of the game: "Brood War ' s difficulty is an order of magnitude higher than StarCraft. [Players will] barely have enough time to acquaint [themselves] with the new units before the enemy starts coming at [them] full bore." However, IGN praised the plot as "compelling" and described the extended multiplayer as "one of the best features" of the game, ultimately rating the expansion as "impressive".

GameSpot was also positive in its review, stating that the design of Brood War "contains all the care, detail, and ingenuity of a true sequel" that "completely revitalizes" the original game. The reviewer praises the "seemingly minor but terribly significant modifications" to the balance of the game, putting the results as "outstanding", but draws concern to the interface's shortfalls in coping with these changes. GameSpot also notes the music and audio work on Brood War as a bold improvement, describing the voice acting as "completely convincing" in a heavily story-driven single-player campaign that although becoming less innovative in the latter stages, "remains captivating to the end". The review concludes that Brood War is a "more-than-worthy successor to StarCraft and one of the finest computer game expansion sets of all time", and gave a special achievement award of "Best Expansion Pack" to the game.

In its review, The Cincinnati Enquirer commended Brood War ' s new content, praising the efforts gone to in the development of the expansion. Noting the increased difficulty of the expansion and its multiplayer success, The Cincinnati Enquirer stated that "While it’s rare that an expansion pack reawakens the joy birthed from the original, Brood War proves it’s not impossible" and concluding that the expansion was a "worthwhile choice".

However, the positive critical response to Brood War was not universal. Game Revolution described the gameplay as "identical to StarCraft in almost every way" and displaying mixed feelings towards the new units. The reviewer continued by stating that "while the unit upgrades are good, the scenarios still don't cut it", describing the single-player mission design as an "afterthought" despite the expansion possessing an "interesting" storyline. Dismissing the multiplayer additions as unimportant, Game Revolution summarized that while "a fun expansion", Brood War was "a mixed bag".

Brood War was a finalist for Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1998 "Add-On of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. The editors noted that Brood War was "very popular, and added to the already considerable appeal of the original, award-winning, title."

Legacy
StarCraft, along with its expansion Brood War, rapidly grew in popularity in South Korea, establishing a successful professional gaming scene. Some pro-gamers have gained television contracts, sponsorships, and tournament prizes, allowing the most famous player, Lim Yo-Hwan, who is known in-game as SlayerS `BoxeR`, to gain a fanclub of over a half million people. Professional gamers dedicate many hours each day to playing StarCraft when preparing for the highly competitive leagues. Lee Yun-Yeol, a Terran player known as [Red]NaDa, reported earnings in 2005 of US$200,000. In April 2009, a Collegiate Star League was formed in the U.S. to facilitate inter-collegiate competition amongst university teams and clubs. In October 2009, the first live collegiate StarCraft match occurred between Rutgers University and Princeton University in a best-of-five series.

On May 2, 2012, KeSPA, Ongamenet, Blizzard Entertainment, and GomTV announced the introduction of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty to professional competitions in South Korea with StarCraft: Brood War being completely phased out in October.

However, even after being supplanted by its successor, Brood War competition remained popular for part of an audience and streaming channels of retired professional gamers kept popularity. Outside governance of Korean eSports Professional Association, amateur competitions started to gain popularity.

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

title: StarCraft: Brood War


text:
Talk:Julia (given name)

stop the listing crap!
who on earth came up with idea of listing people with the POPULAR first name?! such lists are ever-incomplete and will fatten the article beyond technical loadability. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.72.233.80 (talk) 09:38, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Julia (disambiguation) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 16:46, 18 March 2023 (UTC)

add another language page
please add the page about this name in Ukrainian. Thank you! https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AE%D0%BB%D1%96%D1%8F Yuliiapedia (talk) 23:10, 23 October 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Julia (given name)


text:
Viscount Howard of Bindon

Viscount Howard of Bindon was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1559 for Thomas Howard, second son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. His two sons, the second and third Viscount, both succeeded him in the title. As neither had any male children, the title became extinct on the death of the third Viscount in 1611. The title referred to Bindon Abbey in Dorset.

The title is in some sources referred to as Viscount Bindon. The Bindon title was revived in 1706 when another member of the Howard family, Henry Howard, Lord Walden, was made Earl of Bindon.

Viscounts Howard of Bindon (1559)

 * Thomas Howard, 1st Viscount Howard of Bindon (c. 1520–1582)
 * Henry Howard, 2nd Viscount Howard of Bindon (c. 1542–1590)
 * Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon (d. 1611)

title: Viscount Howard of Bindon


text:
Magnus Haraldsson

Magnus Haraldsson may refer to:
 * Maccus mac Arailt (fl. 971–974), King of the Isles, also known as Magnus Haraldsson
 * Magnus II of Norway (1048–1069), King of Norway, also known as Magnus Haraldsson
 * Magnus Haraldsson (son of Harald Gille) (c. 1135 – c. 1145), King of Norway
 * Magnus Haraldsson (bishop of Skara), 1522–1529, see Diocese of Skara

title: Magnus Haraldsson


text:
The Maid of the Mountains

The Maid of the Mountains, called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or "Edwardian" musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W. Tate, lyrics by Harry Graham and additional lyrics by Frank Clifford Harris and Valentine, and the book was written by Frederick Lonsdale, best known for his later society comedies such as On Approval. After an initial try-out at the Prince's Theatre in Manchester on 23 December 1916, the show was rewritten and opened at Daly's Theatre in London on 10 February 1917.

Produced by Robert Evett (after being turned down by Frank Curzon) and directed by Oscar Asche (who had directed the record-setting hit Chu Chin Chow), The Maid of the Mountains ran for 1,352 performances in its initial London run – closing mainly because of the nervous exhaustion of its female lead, José Collins. This highly profitable run saved the George Edwardes estate, then being managed by Evett, from bankruptcy.

The original New York production (1918) did not catch on, only running for 37 performances. However, Asche also directed the first Australian production for J. C. Williamson's in Australia in 1917, followed by another production in 1923. This became as successful as the London production, with soprano Gladys Moncrieff becoming famous as Teresa. The show had major London revivals in 1921, 1930, 1942 (starring Sylvia Cecil at the London Coliseum) and 1972 in an Emile Littler production at the Palace Theatre in the West End, and at the Finborough Theatre, London, in December 2006 with a cast including Anita Louise Combe, as well as numerous other professional productions elsewhere.

The musical was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, from the 1930s to about 1970.

Background
The Maid of the Mountains was one of the three most important musical hits of the London stage during World War I (the other two being a revue entitled The Bing Boys Are Here and the musical Chu Chin Chow); music or scenes from all of these have been included as background in many films set in this period, and they remain intensely evocative of the "Great War" years. Other hit shows of the period were Theodore & Co (1916), The Boy (1917), and Yes, Uncle! (1917). Audiences wanted light and uplifting entertainment during the war, and these shows delivered it.

Some of the most popular songs were: "Love Will find a Way", "A Bachelor Gay", "A Paradise for Two", "My life is Love", and "Live for Today".

The "romantic" ending, with Teresa finally united to Baldassaré, was personally insisted on by José Collins (in the play as originally written, she ended up with the faithful but less colourful character of Beppo). Beppo and Teresa's duets remain, however, and the role of Baldassaré remains a non-singing part.

Synopsis
The Maid of the Mountains is an escapist story set in a bandit camp, high up in the mountains (presumably in Italy). The bandit maid Teresa loves the bandit chief, Baldassaré, who is feared by the whole country. Baldassaré's men are unhappy because of the decision of Baldassaré to disband, and they ask Teresa to dissuade him. Baldassaré gives Teresa and the others their shares of the spoils of many raids. He tells her that she must leave at once, because their hiding place is surrounded. She pleads to be allowed to stay, but goes sadly. The local Governor, General Malona, captures Teresa and brings her to the Palace of Santo. He wishes to capture the rebel band before the impending end of his term of office. He promises Teresa her freedom if Baldassaré is captured. Teresa refuses, as "there is honour among thieves."

Meanwhile, Baldassaré and some of his band have seized the new Governor, Count Orsino. Donning the uniforms of the captives, the brigands proceed to Santo to rescue Teresa. Baldassaré meets and falls in love with Angela, the daughter of the retiring Governor, and becomes heedless of his danger in remaining in the town. He pretends to be the new governor. Beppo, one of the brigands who has always been in love with Teresa, asks her to persuade Baldassaré to leave the capital lest they all be discovered. Teresa, mad with jealousy because of Baldassaré's love for Angela, exposes the new "governor" as Baldassaré, and he and his companions are arrested and sent to Devil's Island.

Later, Teresa, who sadly regrets betraying Baldassaré, pleads with the General to release him. In the loneliness of his imprisonment, Baldassaré realises that his regard for Angela was only a passing infatuation, and that he loves Teresa. He forgives her betrayal of him and, with the assistance of Lieutenant Rugini, the Governor of the prison, they escape by boat. All ends happily for Teresa and her bandit chief.

Roles and principal cast

 * Teresa – José Collins (1)
 * Baldasarre – Arthur Wontner
 * Gen. Malona – Mark Lester
 * Tonio – Lauri de Frece
 * Beppo – Thorpe Bates
 * Carlo
 * Andrea
 * Pietro
 * Lieutenant Rugini

 * Crumpet
 * Mayor of Santo
 * Vittoria
 * Angela
 * Gianetta
 * Maria
 * Marietta
 * Beppiria
 * Pepita

(1) José Collins, who sang the part of Teresa, the bandit "Maid", throughout the original run, became a star as the result of her performance.

Musical numbers

 * 1. "Friends Have to Part" - Opening Chorus
 * 2. "Live for Today" - Beppo and chorus of men
 * 3. "My Life Is Love" - Teresa, Beppo and bandits
 * 4. "Nocturne - Orchestra Farewell" - Teresa
 * 5. "Dividing the Spoils" - Chorus
 * 6. "Finale Act I" - Company
 * 7. "Introduction & Opening Chorus Act II"
 * 8. "Love Will Find a Way" - Teresa
 * 9. "Laughing Chorus Dirty Work" - Governor and Tonio
 * 10. "A Paradise for Two" - Teresa and Beppo
 * 11. "Husbands and Wives" - Vittoria and Tonio
 * 12. "A Bachelor Gay" - Beppo
 * 13. "Finale Act II"
 * 14. "Opening Chorus Act III" - Chorus of Fisherfolk
 * 15. "Good People Gather Round" - Governor, Teresa and Chorus
 * 16. "When You're in Love" - Teresa and General Malona
 * 17. "Over There and Over Here" - Vittorio and Tonio
 * 18. "Finale Act III Friendship and Love" - Teresa and Beppo

Adaptations
The piece was adapted to a British film in 1932, directed by Lupino Lane. It starred Nancy Brown as Teresa and Harry Welchman as Baldasarre.

title: The Maid of the Mountains


text:
Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 U.S. 241 (2004), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving, which authorizes United States district courts to enforce discovery requests made in connection with litigation being conducted in foreign tribunals. Prior to Intel, there had been substantial disagreement as to the availability of Section 1782 discovery.

The Intel case originated from Advanced Micro Devices' antitrust claims against Intel in Europe. AMD filed a complaint against Intel in the European Union's antitrust enforcement agency (the Directorate-General for Competition), and then filed a lawsuit in the U.S. for discovery of certain Intel documents in order to further their complaint.

PDFs

 * Intel's petition on the merits
 * AMD's Response brief on the merits
 * Intel's reply brief
 * The Solicitor General's Amicus brief
 * The oral arguments before the Supreme Court

Other links

 * Obtaining Evidence in the United States


text: Talk:A Modest Proposal

title: Talk:A Modest Proposal


text:
Independent practice association

In the United States, an independent practice association (IPA) is an association of independent physicians, or other organizations that contracts with independent care delivery organizations, and provides services to managed care organizations on a negotiated per capita rate, flat retainer fee, or negotiated fee-for-service basis.

Operation
An HMO or other managed care plan can contract with an IPA, which in turn contracts with independent care providers or physicians to treat members at discounted fees or on a capitation basis. The typical IPA encompasses all specialties, but an IPA can be solely for primary care, could be single specialty, or could be a set of other care providers such as psychologists or even providers of social services such as food pantries, homeless shelters, or substance use disorder treatment facilities.

IPAs are typically formed as an LLC, S Corp, C Corp, or other stock entity. Their purpose is not to generate a profit for the shareholders although this can be done. The IPA assembles care providers in self-directed groups within a geographic region to invent and implement health improvement solutions, form collaborative efforts among care providers to implement these programs, and exert political influence upward within the community to effect positive change.

Despite a perception that IPAs have been formed to negotiate as a group with insurance companies in an attempt to improve rates of compensation, under the Federal Trade Commission Act, they cannot negotiate as a group with insurance companies for the providers' other insurance reimbursement. The IPA can only negotiate for the IPA members those services which are contracted on capitated members. "Messengers," specialists who are selected to represent individual practices, can be used by IPA members to review and discuss coding and compensation with health insurance companies. These professionals do not collectively bargain and can only do so if the providers have reorganized under a single tax ID number which is not an IPA model.

Benefits
Joining an IPA allows a care provider to focus on providing care. Many IPAs offer management services organization (MSO) amenities including payroll, bookkeeping, benefits management, group purchasing, compliance, marketing, and online reputation management. IPAs may also offer care providers an information technology platform offering automation and/ or a connection to an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. Additionally, IPAs structured as risk-bearing entities can give interested care providers the ability to participate in risk contracts even if they don't have the administrative staff to coordinate them. Most importantly, an IPA offers a care provider strength in numbers, having dozens to thousands of providers represented together gives a single care provider the ability to participate in programs that would otherwise not be available.

Drawbacks
There are significant potential drawbacks that may be associated with IPAs as well. Joining an IPA will not relieve a care provider from all of the administrative duties of running a medical practice or other care delivery organization. Also, some IPAs may not be run effectively; this can be due to rapid growth, lack of a sufficiently experience management team, or rapidly changing technology in the field. It is also possible for IPAs to face antitrust issues because they may represent competing healthcare providers.

title: Independent practice association


text:
Talk:Sapphire & Steel

Removed POV comments
Yes, it was a very pretentious show, but also one that wasn't scared of being intellectual as well as hugely entertaining - this was popular prime-time viewing across the UK yet it raised questions about time and the universe around us.

Lee M 02:11, 5 May 2004 (UTC)

Episodes article
As there were only six episodes, do they need to be on a separate page? It doesn't seem that long a section, and it's not an overly long article. —Wh o  uk (talk) 06:00, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Six episodes on television and eleven on the radio... and with any luck the episodes can be expanded quite a lot, too. I don't think separate pages is too big a problem. Not paper, remember :) Grutness...wha?  08:54, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
 * No, there were 34 episodes across 4 seasons. 2.31.162.51 (talk) 16:35, 17 September 2019 (UTC)
 * where is the episodes article?
 * where is the page who details each season?
 * is this page run by mad people? 182.191.54.40 (talk) 08:56, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

SF Or Fantasy
It can be argued as to whether S&S is science fiction or fantasy. Most of the material leans heavily towards fantasy, it is more the writing *style* and the motifs and nomenclature used that are from science fiction - for example Silver is referred to as a Technician. This is one thing that makes S&S a rather unique creation. I would suggest that the background universe is highly LoveCraftian in its axioms. Is there a strong feeling among fans that this is science fiction or fantasy? I love the whole thing for its incomparable wierdness, but I have to say I have come to the conclusion over time that this is fantasy cleverly dressed up in a science fiction motif. How do others feel? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.219.117.84 (talk) 06:23, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

 * According to Clarke's three laws, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." But, there may be other features that connect S&S tightly to fantasy. ——Nikolas Ojala (talk) 20:56, 8 November 2018 (UTC)

Title sequence narrator
The article is completely wrong in respect of the speculation over the identity of the narrator of the title sequence. The narrator is Steve Hudson, a voice-over artist who is still working. However, editor Stephenb insists on reverting any edits which correct the information given, because it is not possible to link to a verifiable source (Steve Hudson's own website does not make any reference to his work on Sapphire & Steel). While I can understand that to a point, the fact remains that by reverting the edits, the article continues to perpetuate blatantly incorrect information, which is not exactly a desirable situation for any encyclopaedia. Hence I have completely removed that section.213.132.48.105 (talk) 13:27, 29 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Fair enough by me. The paragraph you removed was, as you say, unreliable at best and also shouldn't have been there.  If you can find somewhere reliable that says Steve Hudson did the VO, then by all means add it.  But simply adding a link to his site was simply not on!  Stephenb (Talk) 09:54, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Is there not a credit for him at the end of the show? If there is then you can use that as a reference using Cite video. If there is no reliable secondary source available the this primary source will be acceptable under WP:NOR. AirRaidPatrol 84 (talk) 22:21, 26 December 2009 (UTC)
 * If there was a credit for him at the end of the show, everyone and their wives must have missed it..! :) There is *no* source for any narrator AFAIK - the "source" the anon was trying to add was just a link to a voice-over artist, so it could not be called primary OR secondary! Stephenb (Talk) 19:13, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Episode Titles
I remember the show does not have actual episode titles, which I found odd at the time. Does anyone know if the DVD release have named the episodes in any way at all? --RedKnight (talk) 14:17, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

 * They did not (and never had official titles anyway). IIRC the DVDs called the stories (not episodes) "Assignment One/Two/Three/etc." (instead of "Adventure") which at least is consistent with the opening narration, but hardly worth mentioning in the article. Stephenb (Talk) 19:10, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

 * I ended up buying the DVD collection and confirmed. The DVDs are indicaded as Assignment I, Assignment II, Assignment III, etc. but the DVD boxes actually have the Assignments named as well.  This information is probably worth adding the the article if there is agreement to do so. --RedKnight (talk) 22:51, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

 * Yes, it would be ridiculous to suggest that the titles given on the DVD cases are not notable enough to mention their existence. It is still clearly stated that they were not the official titles at the time of airing. -- Noneofyourbusiness (talk) 13:38, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Reception
Can we add information on how the show was critically received? Considering the stars, there should be some commentary somewhere.(mercurywoodrose)50.193.19.66 (talk) 15:40, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, there's plenty - pretty much all I've seen is positive. I'll look into it. I'm going to do a cleanup of the article. At the moment it looks a mess with too many sections and boxes.--Tuzapicabit (talk) 09:01, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

The end of the tv series left us with that crunching unfinished business fealing. Could it be that the tamborine was also a means of travel used by the last trancient being to arrive at the scene? Could they get to it? And where did Silver go? Would it not be great if they made a small episode showing the escape after being locked in there for so long? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.137.6.162 (talk) 15:34, 2 September 2019 (UTC)

Elements
From what I recall of school Chemistry... neither sapphire nor steel are elements. Steel is an alloy and sapphire is a sort of carbon gemstone or something ... so when the article says:

"They are two of several elements"

This is not really accurate. Not sure what it should be changed to though... the series obviously is using kind of basic/raw materials in principle? Am I just nitpicking? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.192.72.11 (talk) 17:33, 19 July 2015 (UTC)

 * Sapphire is a corundum gem, as is ruby. Corundum is a form of aluminum oxide, with the colors provided by impurities.  Jet, which is also mentioned, is a carbon jem, and a precursor to coal.  I've always taken the references to the gemstones as elements to be nothing more than a bit of artistic license.  JDZeff (talk) 21:30, 7 May 2017 (UTC)

Opening narration - Serial 6
Yesterday I saw the first episode of the final serial on the TV channel London Live, which is broadcasting the entire series. Much to my surprise, the opening narration said "Gold, Mercury, Copper ..." rather than "Gold, Lead, Copper ..." Can anyone shed any light on this? It should be mentioned in the article, if we can find a reliable source. LenF54 (talk) 13:02, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * http://www.davidmccallumfansonline.com/starburst/starburst.htm seems to be unreliable as it states David Suchet did the narration. LenF54 (talk) 13:26, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Sapphire & Steel


text:
5th century in architecture

Events

 * 447: November 6 – An earthquake levels large parts of the Theodosian Wall of Constantinople. Repairs, under the direction of urban prefect Cyrus of Floros, are effected within 60 days.

Buildings

 * 408 – 413 The Theodosian Wall, is built, as a fortification of Constantinople, running from the Sea of Marmara on the south, to the suburb of Blachernae, near the Golden Horn, on the north.
 * 420s – San Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna built.
 * 422–432 – Santa Sabina all'Aventino Basilica in Rome built.
 * 427 – Anak Palace of Goguryeo built.
 * 430s – Baptistry of San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome reconstructed.
 * 430s – Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome reconstructed.
 * By c. 450 – Baptistry of Neon completed.
 * c. 450–470 – Church of the Acheiropoietos in Thessaloniki (Macedonia) built.
 * 460s – Christian basilica at Qalb Loze in Syria (Byzantine Empire) built.
 * 462 – Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople established.
 * 475 – Church of Saint Simeon Stylites in Syria (Byzantine Empire) dedicated.
 * 478–493 – Bolnisi Sioni basilica in Georgia built.
 * c. 480 – Deir Turmanin monastery in Syria (Byzantine Empire) built.
 * 483–484 – Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia built.
 * 490 – Arian Baptistry, Ravenna begun.
 * 490s – Original basilica of the Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre in Burgundy built.

Births

 * 474 – Anthemius of Tralles, architect and mathematician (d. 534)

title: 5th century in architecture


text:
Herschel Walker

Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in Georgia.

Walker played college football at the University of Georgia, where he won the Heisman Trophy as a junior. He spent the first three seasons of his professional career with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League (USFL) and was the league's MVP during its final season in 1985. After the USFL folded, Walker joined the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, earning consecutive Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors from 1987 to 1988. In 1989, Walker was traded to the Minnesota Vikings, which is regarded as one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history and credited with establishing the Cowboys' dynasty of the 1990s. He was later a member of the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants before retiring with the Cowboys. Walker was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Outside of football, Walker was a member of the United States' bobsleigh team at the 1992 Winter Olympics and pursued business ventures in food processing. From 2019 to 2020, he served as a co-chair on the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition under President Donald Trump. Walker launched his first political campaign in Georgia's 2022 Senate election, which he lost to incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock.

Early life and education
Walker was born in Augusta, Georgia, to Willis and Christine Walker. He was raised in Wrightsville, Georgia. He was one of seven children. Walker said that as a child, he was overweight and had a stutter.

Walker attended Johnson County High School in Wrightsville, where he played football, basketball, and competed in track. He played for the Johnson County Trojans high school football team from 1976 to 1979. In his senior year, he rushed for 3,167 yards, helping the Trojans win their first state championship. He was awarded the inaugural Dial Award as 1979 national high school scholar-athlete of the year.

Walker also competed on the Trojans track and field team in events ranging from the 100-yard dash to the shot put. He won the shot put, 100-yard dash, and 220-yard dash events at the Georgia High School Association T&F State Championships. He also anchored the 4×400 team to victory.

In his 2008 autobiography, Walker wrote that he was the Beta Club president and class valedictorian at Johnson County High School. In December 2021, Walker's Senate campaign website claimed he graduated as the valedictorian of the entire high school, but CNN found no evidence for this claim. The claim on Walker's website was later removed and amended to state that Walker graduated high school "top of his class".

Starting in 2017, Walker has made the false claim that he had graduated from University of Georgia "in the top 1% of his class". In fact, he did not graduate, and left college to join the USFL. He did not return to complete his degree. In December 2021, Walker's Senate campaign website deleted the assertions about his education after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution inquired about it, with Walker acknowledging in a statement that he left the university prior to graduation to play professional football. Walker later falsely asserted he never said he graduated from the university.

Walker played running back and ran on the track and field team for the University of Georgia, where he was a three-time unanimous All-American (football and track), and winner of the 1982 Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award. He is the first NCAA player who played only three years to finish in the top 10 in rushing yards, a mark later tied by Jonathan Taylor. During his freshman season in 1980, Walker set the NCAA freshman rushing record which was later broken by Taylor. Walker finished third in Heisman voting. Walker was the first "true freshman" to become a first-team All-American. As a freshman, he played a major role in helping Georgia go undefeated and win the de facto national championship with a victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. In 1999, Walker was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

United States Football League
Walker signed with the New Jersey Generals in 1983, owned by Oklahoma oil tycoon J. Walter Duncan, who after the 1983 season sold the team to Donald Trump. Walker attracted only one major promotional offer, a joint project of McDonald's and Adidas.

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)
The Dallas Cowboys, aware of Walker's earlier interest in playing for them, acquired Walker's NFL rights by selecting him in the fifth round (114th overall) of the 1985 NFL Draft.

In 1986, he was signed by the Cowboys and moved to fullback, so he could share backfield duties with Tony Dorsett, becoming the second Heisman backfield tandem in NFL history, after George Rogers and Earl Campbell teamed with the 1984 New Orleans Saints. This move created tension, as it would limit Dorsett's playing time, and because Walker's $5 million five-year contract exceeded his $4.5 million five-year contract. Walker rushed for the game-winning touchdown with a minute to play in the 31–28 victory against the New York Giants in the season opener. In the week 15 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a franchise-record 292 yards of total offense, including the NFL's longest run of the year with an 84-yarder for a touchdown and an 84-yard touchdown reception.

In 1987, Walker complained to Cowboys management about being moved around between three different positions (running back, fullback, wide receiver) and that Dorsett had more carries. He would be the team's main running back, playing in 12 games (11 starts), while registering 891 rushing yards, 715 receiving yards, and 8 touchdowns. Dorsett played in 12 games (6 starts) and had two healthy DNP (Did Not Play), which would make him demand a trade that would send him to the Denver Broncos.

Walker established himself as an NFL running back in 1988, becoming a one-man offense, reaching his NFL career highs of 1,514 rushing yards and 505 receiving yards, while playing seven positions: halfback, fullback, tight end, H-back, wide receiver, both in the slot and as a flanker. He became the 10th player in NFL history to amass more than 2,000 combined rushing and receiving yards in a season. In the process he achieved two consecutive Pro Bowls (1987 and 1988).

In 1989, the Cowboys traded Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for a total of five players (linebacker Jesse Solomon, defensive back Issiac Holt, running back Darrin Nelson, linebacker David Howard, defensive end Alex Stewart) and six future draft picks. The five players were tied to potential draft picks Minnesota would give Dallas if a player was cut (which led to Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Kevin Smith, and Darren Woodson).

Minnesota Vikings
Walker's trade to Minnesota was initially considered by many as supplying the Vikings with the "missing piece" for a Super Bowl run; however, over time, as the Cowboys' fortunes soared and the Vikings' waned, it became viewed as, perhaps, the most lopsided trade in NFL history. From the moment he arrived in Minneapolis, "Herschel Mania" erupted. After a 2½ hour practice where he studied 12 offensive plays, Walker debuted against the Green Bay Packers.

He received three standing ovations from the record Metrodome crowd of 62,075, producing a Vikings win after four successive losses and 14 of the prior 18 games with the Packers. Scout.com says, "Walker was never used properly by the coaching brain trust." "Herschel the Turkey", a mock honor given out by the Star Tribune newspaper to inept Minnesota sports personalities, is named for him.

Philadelphia Eagles
After three seasons in Minnesota, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Walker in 1992 hoping he would help them reach the Super Bowl. That year, he rushed 267 times for 1,070 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns to go along with 38 receptions for 278 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns as the Eagles advanced to the Divisional Round before being eliminated.

In the 1993 season, Walker rushed 174 times for 746 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. He was a significant part of the receiving game for the 8–8 Eagles with 75 receptions for 610 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.

In 1994 he became the first NFL player to have one-play gains of 90 or more yards rushing, receiving and kick-returning in a single season. He spent three seasons in Philadelphia, leaving after the Eagles signed free agent Ricky Watters.

New York Giants
The New York Giants signed Walker in 1995 to a three-year contract worth $4.8 million as a third-down back. Walker led the Giants with 45 kick returns at 21.5 yards per return in 1995, his only season with the team.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)
In 1996, he rejoined the Dallas Cowboys as a kickoff return specialist and third-down back. He also played fullback, but primarily as a ball-handler instead of a blocker out of I-Form and pro-sets. Walker retired at the end of the 1997 season.

Other athletic and competitive activities
In 1992, Walker competed in the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France as a member of the United States' bobsleigh team. Originally selected for the four-man team, he eventually competed as the brakeman (or pusher) in the two-man competition. Walker and his teammate Brian Shimer placed seventh.

In November 2007, Walker appeared on the HDNet show Inside MMA as a guest. He indicated he would take part in a mixed martial arts reality show in the near future (along with José Canseco) and that he would have an official MMA fight at the conclusion of the show. In September 2009, it was announced that Walker had been signed by MMA promotion company Strikeforce to compete in their heavyweight division at the age of 47.

He began a 12-week training camp with trainer "Crazy" Bob Cook at the American Kickboxing Academy in October 2009 in San Jose, California. In his MMA debut on January 30, 2010, Walker defeated Greg Nagy via technical knock-out due to strikes at Strikeforce: Miami.

In 2009, Walker was a contestant in the second season of the reality television show The Celebrity Apprentice.

Strikeforce confirmed that Walker would face former WEC fighter Scott Carson when he made his second appearance in the Strikeforce cage. Walker was forced off the Strikeforce card on December 4 due to a cut suffered in training that required seven stitches. They fought instead on January 29, 2011, and Walker defeated Carson via TKO (strikes) at 3:13 of round 1.

In 2014, Walker won season 3 of Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.

Walker has a fifth-degree black belt in taekwondo.

Business activities
In 1984, Walker franchised a D'Lites fast food restaurant in Athens, Georgia.

In 2002, Walker created Renaissance Man Food Services, which distributes chicken products. Originally, his producer was Sysco Corp. following a casual conversation with a Sysco vice president who asked him to provide some chicken-breading recipes from his mother. He founded Savannah-based H. Walker Enterprises in 2002 as an umbrella company for most of his other business ventures, the largest of which was Renaissance Man Food Services.

Walker has a history of exaggerating the number of people employed by and the assets of his companies; the failure of several business enterprises led to creditors bringing lawsuits. Walker touted Renaissance Man Food Services as one of the largest minority-owned meat processors in the nation, with $70 million in annual sales. In subsequent deposition testimony in a lawsuit, however, Walker gave far lower figures, saying that his company averaged about $1.5 million in annual profits from 2008 and 2017.

Walker has touted Renaissance Man Food Services as a "mini-Tyson Foods", and also said that the company controlled multiple chicken processing plants. However, in a 2018 declaration submitted in a legal case against his company, Walker acknowledged that the company did not actually own any chicken processing plants and instead partnered with plant owners to sell branded chicken products. Walker's business associates later testified that Walker licensed his name to the chicken-related enterprise.

In 2009, Walker told the media that Renaissance Man Food Services had over 100 employees. In 2018, Walker told the media that Renaissance Man Food Services had "over 600 employees." In 2020, Renaissance Man Food Services informed the U.S. government that it had eight employees. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggested that Walker's overestimate of employees could "refer to chicken processing jobs, which are not actually part of Walker's business".

In April 2020, Renaissance Man Food Services applied for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the company ultimately received two PPP loans totaling $180,000 (of which $111,300 was forgiven). On Twitter in April 2020, Walker mocked "big companies" that received PPP money, suggesting that they were "giving back" the money due to being "ashamed". This was despite Walker being a board member of the Sotherly Hotel Group, owner of the Georgian Terrace Hotel and other hotels; the group received over $9 million of PPP loans in April 2020 while firing 90% of its hotel staff, according to company documents submitted to the U.S. government. According to government records, Walker was paid $247,227 in total from Sotherly from 2016 to 2021.

Walker said that "part of its corporate charter" was to donate 15% of profits to charities. However, none of the four charities that Walker named as beneficiaries confirmed they actually received any donations.

Political activities
In 2014, Walker appeared in a commercial paid for by the United States Chamber of Commerce supporting Jack Kingston's bid in the Republican primary election for the 2014 U.S. Senate election in Georgia. In 2018, Walker endorsed Republican Brian Kemp in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election.

Walker supported Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and spoke on Trump's behalf at the 2020 Republican National Convention. In 2018, Trump appointed Walker to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. Trump reappointed him to another two year-term on December 17, 2020. He was removed from the position in March 2022 by President Biden after he was asked to resign. In 2020, Walker endorsed U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler.

2022 U.S. Senate election in Georgia
In 2021, Donald Trump encouraged Walker to run for the U.S. Senate in Georgia. Walker, a Texas resident, needed to re-establish residency in Georgia to do so. Walker's contemplation of entering the race "froze" the Republican field because other prospective candidates for the nomination waited for his decision. In July 2021, Fox News reported that some Georgia Republicans were not sure how effective a candidate Walker would be, citing the fact that his positions on issues of importance to Republican voters were unknown.

In August 2021, Walker announced his run for the Senate seat held by Democrat Raphael Warnock. Walker began his campaign with high favorability ratings and support from self-identified moderate Republicans, and, in October 2021, was endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a sign that the Republican establishment was lining up behind him.

In June 2022, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found Walker's claims about working in law enforcement were either false or unverifiable. Walker has been named as an honorary deputy sheriff in Cobb County and Johnson County. In 2019, Walker said he "spent time at Quantico at the FBI training school" and was "an agent" when, in reality, Walker lacked the bachelor's degree required for FBI training. Previously, in 1989, Walker told the media that he "had fun" while attending an FBI school in Quantico for a week, speaking of an "obstacle course and you shoot at targets".

Many of Walker's statements on the campaign trail have been described as "gaffes" or "head-scratching at best". In an editorial for CNN, Chris Cillizza described Walker as a "walking gaffe machine", and disputed several statements Walker had made.

On October 5, 2022, Walker's campaign fired Taylor Crowe, his campaign political director, over suspicions that he leaked information to the media.

On October 14, 2022, Walker and his Democratic challenger, Raphael Warnock, faced off in their only debate for the Senate election. The New York Times described Walker's demeanor throughout the debate as "aggressive and persistent," with his frequent interruptions of Warnock and mocking of him for dodging questions. Walker repeatedly tried to link Warnock with President Joe Biden, who carried a low approval rating. During a portion of the debate focusing on crime, Walker revealed what appeared to be a law enforcement badge to illustrate his closeness to law enforcement; he was admonished by the moderators since props were not allowed during the debate. The Hill wrote Walker won a "moral victory by avoiding disaster" and "more than avoided embarrassment."

In a mid-November 2022 campaign speech, Walker discussed watching a film about a vampire, whom he compared to Warnock with a "black suit". The film showed a person failing to defeat the vampire, said Walker, because of a lack of "faith". Walker made a call to "have faith in our fellow brothers ... have faith in the elected officials ... that's the reason I'm here ... I'm that warrior that y'all have been looking for". Also during that speech, Walker said: "A werewolf can kill a vampire ... So, I don't want to be a vampire any more. I want to be a werewolf."

Since no candidate received a majority of the vote in the general election on November 8, 2022, he faced incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock in a runoff election on December 6, and lost. The final tally of votes was 51.40% for Warnock and 48.60% for Walker. Walker conceded the election that night, stating: "I'm not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. [...] I want you to continue to believe in this country, believe in our elected officials, and most of all, stay together".

2020 presidential election
After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Walker tweeted a video supporting Trump's efforts to overturn the election results. Walker has spread many conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. Walker claimed that Biden "didn't get 50 million" votes; Biden indeed received over 80 million votes. Walker alleged that there was "country-wide election fraud" without any evidence and urged Trump and "true patriots" to carry out "a total cleansing" to "prosecute all the bad actors". He urged re-votes in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Walker also spread a conspiracy theory about the 2021 United States Capitol attack, suggesting it was a "well-planned" distraction from election fraud.

In July 2022, when asked whether Joe Biden had fairly defeated Donald Trump in Georgia, Walker replied, "I have no clue." In the October debate with Warnock, when asked if Joe Biden was the winner of the 2020 election, Walker stated, "President Biden won and Raphael Warnock won."

Abortion
In May 2022, Walker stated he opposes abortion, and wants no exceptions to abortion bans. He also called for more money to promote adoption and to support single parents. "You never know what a child is going to become. And I've seen some people, they've had some tough times, but I always said, 'No matter what, tough times make tough people. When asked about the impact of the issue on the November 2022 election, Walker described abortion rights as among the "things that people are not concerned about". In September 2022, Walker endorsed legislation proposed by Senator Lindsey Graham that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy nationwide, except in cases of rape, incest, and threat to the life of the patient. During his October debate with Raphael Warnock, Walker softened his position on abortion, saying he supported the Georgia law allowing exceptions for rape and threats to the mother's life and health.

Economy
Walker favors reducing federal regulations to boost business. He supports widespread tax cuts, building the Keystone Pipeline and increasing production of fossil fuels. He proposes to "lower healthcare costs by increasing competitive market options". Walker supports putting closed oil fields back into production and rolling back oil-field regulations in order to reduce inflation.

Environment and climate change
When asked about the Green New Deal environmental program, Walker said that he opposed it because "Since we don't control the air our good air decided to float over to China's bad air so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then now we got we to clean that back up." In August 2022, in response to questions about the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes funding to counteract climate change, Walker said, "They continue to try to fool you that they are helping you out. But they're not". Possibly referring to a provision that allocated $1.5 billion to the U.S. Forest Service's Urban and Community Forestry Program, Walker added, "Because a lot of money, it's going to trees. Don't we have enough trees around here?" Walker told supporters at a November 2022 rally that America isn't "ready for the green agenda. ... What we need to do is keep having those gas-guzzling cars. We got the good emissions under those cars".

Gun control and school shootings
When asked in May 2022 on how to tackle gun violence, Walker said: "Cain killed Abel and that's a problem that we have. What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things." Walker then suggested "getting a department that can look at young men that's looking at women, that's looking at their social media", and also by "putting money into the mental health field ... rather than departments that want to take away your rights." When asked if he supported new gun laws in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting, Walker responded: "What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff."

LGBT rights
Walker opposes allowing transgender athletes to compete in women's sports events, stating in September 2022: "Let's get men out of women's sports". Walker also discussed transgender children in general, stating, "they're telling the young kids in school, you can be a boy tomorrow even if you're a girl... But I want the young kids to know you go to heaven. Jesus may not recognize you. Because he made you a boy. He made you a girl."

Asked about same-sex marriage, Walker said states should be free to decide the legality of same-sex marriage.

National security
Walker supports Donald Trump's wall at the border with Mexico. He wants the United States to "heavily invest" in the military.

Personal life
Walker has lived in Westlake, Texas, and in the Las Colinas area of Irving, Texas.

In August 2021, as he was preparing to run for U.S. Senate, Walker registered to vote in Georgia and listed his residence as Buckhead, Georgia; the property is owned by his wife Julie Blanchard. However, in a January 2022 political campaign event, Walker said: "I live in Texas … I was sitting in my home in Texas …" Tax records also show that Walker's primary residence for 2021 and 2022 is still registered as Tarrant County, Texas, where he continues to receive property tax breaks.

Relationships and children
Walker married Cindy DeAngelis Grossman, whom he met in college, in 1983. They have a son, Christian, a social media influencer who went viral for his conservative rants. After 19 years of marriage, Walker and Grossman divorced in 2002. Julie Blanchard in 2012 said that she was Walker's fiancée; Walker married Blanchard in 2021.

Walker has two additional sons and a daughter whom he did not publicly acknowledge before his 2022 US Senate campaign; he did so in June 2022, one day after The Daily Beast reported on one of his additional sons. Walker said that month, during a conference, that he "never denied" having four children. The Daily Beast later reported that Walker had lied to his 2022 Senate campaign about how many children he had, while The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported "allies to Walker" stating that Walker had not been honest about how many children he had. Walker said that he did not publicly acknowledge his children to prevent exposing them to unwanted attention, and criticized the claim that "I hide my children because I don't discuss them with reporters to win a campaign". Earlier during his Senate campaigning, Walker repeatedly discussed his relationship with eldest son Christian.

Prior to publicly acknowledging his other children, in a 2020 interview, Walker said that fatherless households were a "major, major problem" in African-American communities. In October 2022, Walker's adult son Christian criticized Walker, stating, "my favorite issue to talk about is father absence. Surprise! Because it affected me. ... He has four kids, four different women. Wasn't in the house raising one of them. He was out having sex with other women." Also in October 2022, the mother of another of Walker's sons (born in 2012), said that Walker had seen his son "maybe ... three times", with Walker's parenting contributions mostly being court-ordered child support and sporadic gifts, while suggesting that the gifts were actually from Walker's fiancée/wife Julie Blanchard, and not from him.

Domestic violence allegations
In September 2001, when Walker and Grossman were estranged, an Irving, Texas, police report stated that police were called to Grossman's home by Walker's therapist due to Walker's visit there; Walker was "volatile", had a weapon, and was scaring Grossman. The report stated that Walker "talked about having a shoot-out with police"; the therapist, Jerry Mungadze, defused the situation after speaking to Walker for at least half an hour. The report stated that police confiscated a SIG Sauer handgun from Walker's car, put his home on a "caution list" due to Walker's "violent tendencies", but did not arrest or charge Walker. In a separate incident, Mungadze told the media that when he conducted a therapy session with Walker and Grossman, he called 911 because Walker "threatened to kill" all three of them, prompting the police to arrive; the result of the incident was Walker hitting a door, breaking his fist.

In filing for divorce in December 2001, Grossman accused him of "physically abusive and extremely threatening behavior." After the divorce, she told the media that, during their marriage, Walker pointed a pistol at her head and said: "I'm going to blow your f'ing brains out." She also said he had used knives to threaten her. In 2005, a restraining order was imposed on Walker regarding Grossman, after Grossman's sister stated in an affidavit that Walker told her "unequivocally that he was going to shoot my sister Cindy and her [new] boyfriend in the head." As a result, a temporary gun-owning ban was also issued to Walker by a judge. Walker stated that he does not remember the assault or the threats and attributed his aberrant behavior with his wife and others to his dissociative identity disorder for which he was diagnosed in 2001.

In January 2012, a woman, Myka Dean, made a report to Irving, Texas, police that when she attempted to end a 20-year "on-off" relationship with Walker, he "lost it" and threatened to wait at her home to "blow her head off". The responding police officer described this as "extreme threats". Federal records show that Dean, as well as her mother and stepfather, were business partners of Walker's, for his company Renaissance Man Inc. Dean died in 2019; Walker's 2022 political campaign stated that the allegations in the 2012 police report were false, and that Walker still had a good relationship with Dean's parents.

In October 2022, Walker's adult son Christian publicly accused Walker of having threatened to kill him and his mother. He addressed Walker on Twitter, stating: "You're not a 'family man' when you left us to bang a bunch of women, threatened to kill us, and had us move over 6 times in 6 months running from your violence ... how DARE YOU LIE and act as though you're some 'moral, Christian, upright man' ... You've lived a life of DESTROYING other peoples lives." Soon after Christian made the allegations, Walker wrote on Twitter that he loved his son "no matter what".

In December 2022, The Daily Beast reported that Cheryl Parsa, an ex-girlfriend of Walker who lives in Dallas, had alleged that in 2005, during their relationship, she found Walker with another woman. According to Parsa, Walker got angry, put his hands on Parsa's neck and chest, and swung a fist at her.

Abortion allegations
On October 3, 2022, The Daily Beast published allegations from a woman who said that Walker impregnated her and paid for her abortion in 2009 when they were dating. The woman supported the allegation by producing images of a personal check from Walker, a get-well card with Walker's purported signature, and a $575 receipt for an abortion. The Daily Beast said that it corroborated the story with a friend of the woman, who "took care of her in the days after the procedure". Walker stated, "I never asked anyone to get an abortion. I never paid for an abortion." When asked about the check, Walker said, "I give money to people all the time, because I'm always helping people". Walker said he would sue The Daily Beast for defamation. After Walker said on October 5 that he did not know the identity of the woman accusing him, The Daily Beast reported that the woman is the mother of one of Walker's children; she told The Daily Beast that she had another child with Walker years after the abortion, despite Walker stating that it was not a convenient time for him to have a child, a sentiment he also raised prior to the abortion.

Within a week of the original allegations' publication, The New York Times interviewed the same woman, as well as her friend, corroborating the reporting by The Daily Beast. The woman additionally told The New York Times that she ended her relationship with Walker when he advised her to have a second abortion in 2011. Family court records in New York confirm that Walker and the woman had a son, who was born in 2012. On October 7, 2022, Walker acknowledged that his accuser was the mother of his son, and as to whether she had an abortion, Walker said: "I'm not saying she did or didn't have one [an abortion]. I'm saying I don't know anything about that." He acknowledged the possibility of having given his accuser a 'get well' card and a check for other reasons, but said he could not remember doing so.

In an October 26, 2022, press conference organized by attorney Gloria Allred, a second woman, who has not identified herself, alleged she had been pressured by Walker to get an abortion in 1993 after a years-long extramarital relationship with him. Walker denied the allegation, saying it was a "lie". On November 22, Allred held another press conference, where the second woman also spoke, and audio recordings of Walker were shared. The woman read out letters that she said Walker wrote, including one to her which stated: "I'm sorry I have put you through all this stuff." Allred read out a signed declaration of a friend of the second woman, which stated that the second woman originally said that she had a miscarriage, but the friend suspected that it was an abortion because the friend knew that Walker was married at the time and did not want to have a child with the second woman; years later, the second woman told the friend that Walker actually sent her to a clinic for an abortion.

Mental health
Walker has spoken publicly about being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and has served as spokesperson for a mental health treatment program for veterans. Walker says he wrote the 2008 book Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder to help dispel myths about mental illness and to help others.

In the book, Walker wrote that he had a dozen distinct identities, or alters. According to Walker, some of his alters did many good things, but other alters exhibited extreme and violent behavior, which Walker said he mostly could not remember. A competitive alter caused him to play Russian roulette in 1991, as he saw "mortality as the ultimate challenge", he wrote. He was formally diagnosed with the disorder in 2001, after he sought professional help for being tempted to murder a man who was late in delivering a car to him.

Walker attributed his divorce to his behavior caused by the disorder. According to Walker's ex-wife, for the first 16 years of their marriage, Walker's alters were somehow controlled, and she had no idea that he had any disorder. Grossman said that the situation greatly deteriorated once Walker was diagnosed, after which he began to exhibit either "very sweet" alters or "very violent" alters who looked "evil". She said that in one situation where Walker exhibited two alters, she was in bed when he held a straight razor to her throat and repeatedly stated that he would kill her. Walker did not deny Grossman's account, saying that he did not remember it, because blackouts were a symptom of the disorder.

While receiving treatment for dissociative identity disorder in May 2002, Walker was the subject of an Irving, Texas, police report made by a friend of Grossman, Walker's ex-wife. She said that he followed her home and that she was "very frightened" of Walker, but did not want police to make contact with him as it would "only make the problem worse." She reported previously having a "confrontation" with Walker sometime around 2001, which was followed by Walker calling her to threaten her and "having her house watched".

Awards and honors
On July 4, 2017, during Wrightsville's annual Fourth of July celebration and parade, Trojan Way, the street where Johnson County High School resides, was officially renamed Herschel Walker Drive.

In the 1980s, the American Academy of Achievement awarded Walker their Golden Plate Award for being an All-American Football Player.

NFL
 * Two-time Pro Bowl selection

USFL
 * 1985 USFL MVP

NCAA
 * 1980 National champion
 * 1982 Heisman Trophy winner
 * 1982 UPI College Football Player of the Year
 * Three-time Unanimous All-American
 * Georgia Bulldogs No. 34 retired
 * College Football Hall of Fame (class of 1999)

title: Herschel Walker


text:
Cruiser Mk I

The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I (A9) was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, as well as enemy tanks. The Cruiser Mk II was a more heavily armoured adaptation of the Mark I, developed at much the same time.

Design and development
In 1936, the British War Office designated two different kinds of tanks for future development: heavily armoured infantry tanks to be used in close co-operation with infantry during attacks, and fast mobile cruiser tanks designed to make forays deep into enemy territory.

Due to the cost, British replacement designs for Medium Mark II tanks then in service had been cancelled with only three Medium Mark III built. In 1934, Sir John Carden of Vickers-Armstrong was asked to provide a "reasonably cheap tank" as a replacement for some of the medium models then in use. This design was known by General Staff specification A9.

The pilot model of his medium tank design was finished in 1936 and given the designation A9E1. It incorporated the best features of the cancelled Medium Mk III design, but lighter so that it could be powered by a commercial petrol engine. However, this was still in the time of the Great Depression and the tank had a number of cost-cutting measures applied. It was the first British tank to have a centrally located turret and to have powered traverse. The system was by Nash & Thompson and similar to that being introduced on the Vickers Wellington medium bomber aircraft. The armour was light, with a maximum thickness of 14 mm. Many armour faces were vertical, and there were numerous shot traps, but it could achieve 25 mph and carried the new high velocity QF 2-pounder (40 mm) gun, which had replaced the QF 3-pounder by the time manufacture started in 1937.

The driver's compartment and the fighting compartments were not separated. As well as the turret armament, which consisted of an Ordnance QF 2 pounder gun and a coaxial Vickers machine gun, there were two small turrets either side of the driver's compartment, each with a Vickers machine-gun. Both of these smaller turrets were permanently manned, which gave the tank a total crew of six (commander, gunner, loader, driver and two machine-gunners).

The A9E1 was tested against other designs and, although lacking in some areas, it was accepted in 1937 as an interim design until a Christie suspension cruiser tank could be delivered. An order was placed for 125. Seventy-five were built by Harland and Wolff, and the other 50 were built by Vickers. Initially, a Rolls-Royce car engine (the 7.67 litre of the Phantom II) was used for the pilot model, but this proved to be underpowered and was replaced by a 9.64 litre AEC bus engine.

The later Valentine infantry tank essentially used the same lower hull and suspension, though with considerably more armour.

The A9 weighed 12 LT, was 5.8 m long, 2.65 m high, 2.5 m wide and had a top speed of 25 mph on road and 15 mph off. Its maximum road range was 150 mi. The ammunition load was 100 rounds for the main gun and 3,000 rounds for the three machine guns.

Service

The Mark I cruiser began to be delivered in January 1939. 36 tanks were delivered before the start of the war, 40 in September–December 1939 and 49 in 1940.

The Cruiser was an effective tank in the French, Greek and early North African campaigns. The 2-pounder gun was lethal against the early Italian tanks encountered during the North African campaign and could hold its own against Rommel's early Panzer IIs and IIIs. It could also breach the 20 – of protective steel on later opponents, such as the Panzer III Ausf D and the Panzer IV Ausf D. It was effective until the Germans introduced the more thickly armoured Panzer IV Ausf E to the desert in the spring of 1941. However, its minimal armour made the A9 very vulnerable to most Axis anti-tank weapons. Also problematic was the lack of high explosive shells for the 2-pounder gun, and even worse the lack of armour-piercing shells for the 94 mm gun on the close support version. Another issue was that the areas around the front machine gun turrets created a frontal surface that was more vulnerable to enemy fire than it would have been had it been a simple flat plate.

The mechanical unreliability of the Cruiser was also a disadvantage. In particular, tracks were easily slewed, causing difficulties.

Variants

 * Mark I (A9)
 * Used by the 1st Armoured Division in the Battle of France (1940). Used by the 2nd and 7th Armoured Divisions in North Africa until 1941.

 * Mark I CS
 * Had a 3.7 inch (94 mm) /L15 breech-loaded howitzer, derived from the World War I QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer, instead of the 2-pounder gun. 40 rounds, mostly smoke, were carried.

Surviving vehicles

 * On display at The Tank Museum at Bovington, England.
 * On display at Cavalry Tank Museum at Ahmednagar, India

title: Cruiser Mk I


text:
6th century in architecture

Events

 * 550s – Procopius writes The Buildings of Justinian (Περὶ Κτισμάτων Perì Ktismáton, De Aedificiis, "On Buildings").

Buildings

 * About 500 – Arian Baptistry and Archbishop's Chapel, Ravenna completed.
 * 504 – Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna dedicated to Christ the Redeemer (completed about 520).
 * 520 – St. Nicholas Church, Demre, Anatolia, built.
 * 520s – Mausoleum of Theodoric, Ravenna completed.
 * 523 – Songyue Pagoda of China completed.
 * 527 to 536 – Construction of the Church of Saints Sergios and Bacchos in Constantinople.
 * 527 to 548 – Construction of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, begun under the Ostrogoths and finished by the Byzantines.
 * 532 to 537 – Hagia Sophia in Constantinople built by Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.
 * After 540 – Construction of Taq-i Kisra (iwan) at Ctesiphon in the Sasanian Empire begins.
 * 549 – Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe near Ravenna consecrated.
 * 550 – Rebuilt Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, built by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, dedicated.
 * About 560 – First Nantes Cathedral constructed.
 * 569 – Hwangnyongsa temple completed in Gyeongju, Silla.
 * About 570 – Basilica of St. Sernin, Toulouse constructed.
 * 582 – Daxing (大兴城) founded in China by Emperor Wen of Sui.
 * 593 – Gangō-ji (元興寺) temple first built in Asuka, Japan (later moved to Nara).

title: 6th century in architecture