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Most Extreme Elimination Challenge

Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC) is an American comedy television program that aired on TNN/Spike TV from April 19, 2003 to February 9, 2007. It is a re-purpose of footage from the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle, which originally aired in Japan from 1986 to 1990. The re-purposed MXC created a completely new premise, storyline, and characters, with two teams competing against each other à la a typical team sports broadcast and players trying to win points for their teams by surviving through different challenges. In the original program the Count and his underlings would follow the progress of the players as they moved through the course. In the re-purpose Count Takeshi became veteran network announcer Vic Romano and the Count's flunky became young upstart Kenny Blankenship.

Most Extreme Elimination Challenge was created and produced by RC Entertainment, Inc. (Paul Abeyta and Peter Kaikko) in Los Angeles, California, and Larry Strawther (a writer and producer on a number of network sitcoms). The three were friends who had worked together at Merv Griffin Productions in the late 1970s. Strawther was a staffer on Dance Fever, which Abeyta took over as executive producer the following season, while Strawther stayed with Jeopardy!. Between jobs they would occasionally try to create their own projects. One of these was the 1990s talk show spoof Night Stand with Dick Dietrick. MXC is the property of both Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and RC Entertainment. The 2004 special episode MXC Almost Live is the property of Viacom International and was filmed in Orlando, Florida, by the producers of MXC.

Episodes
The premise of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (as distinct from Takeshi's Castle) is a game show that is hosted by the eccentric characters Vic Romano (Vic Wilson) and Kenny Blankenship (Chris Darga), along with the field marshal Captain Tenneal (John Cervenka) and the field reporter Guy LeDouche (John Cervenka). The announcer (John Cervenka) would begin each episode with this standard introduction:

"'What are these people running from? They're not! They're running to the world's toughest competition in town!'"

When the show was transitioning away from its full name, it briefly added "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge!" to the end of the opening.

Eventually the opening introduction was changed to:

"'Get fired up for MXC! The world's most toughest competition in town!'"

Usually, two or three teams of contestants compete in several turn-based and head-to-head challenges. The only episode done without a competitive team base was the first episode ever made, which was simply centered around the stereotypical antics of college girls. Even though this was the first episode made, it was the seventh episode of season one to air. Most other competitive teams do not truly have a real-life rivalry (e.g., Season 1, Episode 2 "Donors vs Addicts"), while others such as Democrats vs Republicans vs Third Party do.

The contestants compete in a variety of challenges, usually four per episode, but occasionally as many as six. The challenges are extremely hard, and a majority of the contestants fail to complete the challenges. Throughout the show, painful failures to complete challenges are reviewed by Vic and Kenny in the "MXC Impact Replay" (briefly given sponsor names like the "Snickers Satisfies Replay" and the "Slim Jim Snap of the Day"), which is essentially a sports-themed playback feature. Occasionally, the Impact Replay is used for Kenny's pleasure, in looking at the female contestants, items, or random events in the series which he finds funny or disappointing. Contestants who do complete a challenge earn points for their team. The team with the most points at the end of the episode wins the competition. At the end of each episode, Kenny counts down the ten "Most Painful Eliminations of the Day", which usually focus on the events shown in the Impact Replay, but sometimes includes random events that involved the main or recurring characters.

Kenny and Vic, along with any other people around them at the end of the show, all end the episode by saying: "Don't get eliminated!" initiated by one of the two asking "What do we always say?"

MXC Almost Live and other special episodes
On April 22, 2004, Spike TV aired a special edition of the show to start the third season, featuring skateboarder Tony Hawk and snowboarder Tara Dakides. The special was taped at the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, using students from nearby colleges and dubbed MXC Almost Live. The special edition is not based on the original Takeshi's Castle footage, but only has some added in for Vic, Ken, the Captain, and Guy LeDouche. Actors were hired to play those who would replace the roles of the latter two, named "Major Babe" (Michelle Sorrell) and "Gip LeDouche" (Eric Esteban).

Three other special episodes aired, all from Season 2, including a special nighttime episode, a "Monsters vs. Mascots" episode, and a special winter episode.

Spike initially held a contest in 2005 or 2006 in which the winner was to have his name and the name of five of his friends used in an episode of MXC and would also receive a viewing party of that episode for up to 50 people at a place of his choice. However, this contest never fully materialized and was canceled for unknown reasons.

Main characters

 * Vic Romano (voiced by Victor Wilson) is the co-host and play-by-play commentator. In Takeshi's Castle, Vic's character is Count Takeshi himself, the main character of the show. In MXC, Vic is level-headed, has a dark past of alcohol abuse, failed marriages, and various addictions, and generally treats MXC as a serious competition. Vic was once also a professional baseball player who became addicted to "everything", including every type of drug, alcohol, and easy women. He was a former news anchor who lost his job because "the scotch made the teleprompter blurry" and once was an airline pilot during his stint of alcohol abuse, but states: "Luckily, nobody noticed." Notable catchphrases include "Right you are, Ken!", "Good to know!", "I think you might be right, Ken!", "Indeed!", and "Kenny!", which is usually followed by him smacking Kenny's head with a paper fan, in response to Kenny's commentary of the action. He's especially fond of his 1974 AMC Matador coupe. The character is played by Japanese actor and movie director Takeshi Kitano, who also created the original series from which MXC takes its footage, Takeshi's Castle.
 * Kenny Blankenship (voiced by Chris Darga) is Vic's co-host and color commentator. Blankenship is a high-school dropout whose uncle owns the network. Kenny's character is very unprofessional about hosting, far less serious about the job than Vic's character is. Despite his non-professional, simplistic stand-point, he claims to make ten times the amount that Vic does because of his uncle being one of the network bosses. Kenny has also been stated to own a condo complex from all the money that he earns from hosting and drives a Volkswagen Jetta. During hosting, Kenny usually spends his time commenting on the sexual appeal of the female competitors and how much he likes beer, pizza, and seeing the majority of competitors wipe out. Kenny's character was originally played by Japanese politician and comedian Hideo Higashikokubaru.
 * Captain Tenneal (voiced by John Cervenka), whose name comes from the 1970s musical act Captain & Tennille, is the field marshal who conducts the contestants through each challenge with a sharp "Get it on!" (in the manner of former TV judge and boxing referee Mills Lane, whose courtroom show appeared on The Nashville Network, the predecessor of Spike TV). Near the beginning of each MXC episode, he is seen addressing the contestants as a group, asking whether some broad assertion relating to one of the topics in the episode is true. After the contestants raise their hands to show agreement, the Captain usually declares "Well, you're wrong!", but in a few episodes, he actually agrees with the contestants. He'll sometimes defend his opinion by saying, "Of course I'm right, I'm the Captain!" After further explanation and give-and-take with individual contestants, he bellows "Let's go!" and leads the contestants forward to begin playing the games. Captain Tenneal usually displays traditional attitudes towards social issues and speaks formally (calling Vic and Kenny "Victor" and "Kenneth," respectively) and takes pride in both his military service and modest pension.  He is the author of a best-selling book (Well, you're wrong!) and is not above trading suggestive innuendo with the female competitors, almost all of whom are interested in him romantically. Captain Tenneal is played by Hayato Tani.
 * Guy LeDouche (pronounced "gee" as in "geezer", and also voiced by Cervenka) is the MXC field reporter. He is portrayed wearing a pith helmet and his personality is that of a deranged and maniacal pervert of suggested French descent who has a questionable sexual orientation, as he makes passes to many of the contestants he interviews, regardless of gender. Almost any interaction with the contestants arouses Guy, even those where they do violence to him, and he will respond with, "Guy like!" In addition to this, he is seen to have a romantic interest in Captain Tenneal, always calling him "Skipper". He has other family member interviewers who show the same behavior, such as "Lyndon" (which plays off political figure Lyndon LaRouche), "Geek", "Giddy", "Gip", "Goon", "Gawp", and "Gawk", along with females named "Gay", "Grandmama", "Gab", "Gin", "Gidget", and "Gal", with an unrelated reporter named Al Frankincense. Guy is played by Junji Inagawa. The family (and Al) is voiced by John Cervenka (male) and Mary Scheer (female). Guy, and his family members, along with interviewing contestants, will also announce the games that will be played in each episode, and will sometimes explain one or more of the games' objectives.

Recurring characters
The following are characters who have established a semi-consistent name. However, their names may change to fit in with a show's theme or style of game.

 * Danny Glands (Cervenka), whose name is a play on the name of long-time Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans, is an MXC staffer who works in many of the games. His primary responsibilities include asking questions in Finger It (later renamed Hand Job), knocking down contestants in Brass Balls, and launching the soccer balls in Dirty Balls. He was also known as Jimmy Junk, Sugar Ramos Phiss, Golden Shower Boy, Barry Sosa, and Spin. The original actor is early 1980s J-Pop star Michiru Jo; he is notably skinny, and his voice actor adopts a nasal, nerdy tone.
 * Skanky is a 16 ft samurai who punishes contestants who fail to complete the Wall Bangers game.
 * Chief Otto Parts (a parody of the Chief Auto Parts auto supply store chain) is an American Indian who taunts the contestants in Rotating Surfboard of Death.
 * Em on Em (a spoof of rapper Eminem) is a set of twin rappers dressed in rainbow ponchos and bowler hats. The main games in which these characters participate include Tumbling Dominos of Doom and Irritable Bowl Syndrome. The characters are also known as "Babe and Ruth", "Bud and Pud", and "Jessie and Jackson" among others. They are played by identical twins Shoji and Shoichi Kinoshita. In one of the episodes, a contestant was said to have the name Marshall Mathers.
 * The Baba Ganoosh Family is a family of contestants from the Middle East who appear in nearly every episode. The last name "Baba Ganoosh" became a popular running gag throughout the series. It comes from Chris Darga's Lebanese heritage, in which baba ganoush is a popular entree.
 * The Brown Spider taunts contestants in various games, including Wall Buggers and Dash to Death. Usually played by Brad Lesley (also known as Brad Leslie).
 * Herbie the Steamy Pile is a strange, brown creature who taunts and sprays fallen contestants with a fire-extinguisher in Buck Off!
 * The Zygote Brothers are identical characters that appear in the game Dash to Death. They attempt to distract the contestants and knock them into the water as they run through the obstacle course.
 * Levi Palmer is the only American to compete on and win a game of MXC, he is heavily featured in the episode starring Howard Stern's wack pack.
 * Sporky played by Shozo "Strong" Kobayashi is a character featured in the game Dash to Death. Hiding inside a jail cell near the "spinner" obstacle, Sporky taunts contestants as they pass by. If contestants fail in the area of the course around him, Sporky is usually credited with distracting the contestant into falling off the course.
 * The Diddler is a character exclusive to the game Little Man in the Boat. If contestants don't go far enough on the course, The Diddler appears out of nowhere and pushes the contestant off and into the water.
 * Series Announcer John Cervenka became the announcer for the entire series after replacing Jamie Alcroft who only announced the first four episodes.

Production
In the show, the contestants' names are usually slightly altered names of celebrities, network bosses, or family members and friends of the producers or voice actors. Several recurring names appear in the show; the most common family name is Babaganoosh, since the producers of MXC were given short deadlines for producing episodes, therefore giving them limited time to write the scripts.

During the production of the show, the network bosses stated that they did not want the producers to repeat games from episode to episode, but the producers ignored this, knowing 1) they didn't have the rights to enough episodes at the time to not repeat, and 2) some of the games (especially Log Drop and Sinkers or Floaters) proved to be interesting and funny every time. Some fan-favorite and recurring games included Log Drop, Wall Bangers, Dope on a Rope, Rotating Surfboard of Death, and Sinkers and Floaters, among many others.

While the basic premise of MXC is that of a legitimate game show, its true premise is that of a comedy not intended to be taken literally. All original audio was stripped from each show for legal reasons, and all audio was added by producer-writers and an audio technician, leaving none of the original audio from Takeshi's Castle. The script is completely unrelated to the original Japanese dialogue; both Abeyta and Strawther's original notes deliberately avoided any references to Japanese or Asian culture. Some thought the only Japanese-related, albeit loosely, term used for the show was the name Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, which has a Japanese-like naming style. But Strawther noted that the title – pitched by Abeyta – was a spoof on network buying tendencies of the time – "Extreme sports were big and the term was being thrown around everywhere. We thought it was funny to use "Most Extreme."  All the producers and writers admit that they had no knowledge of what the contestants or actors were originally saying during the filming of Takeshi's Castle. Nonetheless, the producer-writer's ability to match the original Japanese dialog and action to something completely unrelated in English was uncanny. MXC's early scripts spoofed pop culture, or mocked various celebrities, athletes, sports announcers, politicians, with the occasional sexual pun. In later seasons, with network encouragement, sexual puns and references took on a much larger role, to the dismay of some of the show's producers who felt the cheap jokes led to its demise earlier than necessary. Contestants are given seemingly incongruous but humorous names and occupations based on their team and physical appearance (e.g. Sal Bloomberg from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a meat handler team member in the Season 1 episode "Meat Handlers vs. Cartoon Voice Actors", aka "Network Boss"). In addition, the various challenges are all given humorous names, such as Sinkers & Floaters or Wall Bangers. Any water or mud used in a challenge is given humorous names from Kenny and Vic, notably "safety fluid", with Kenny usually following it with a more specific name (e.g. "runoff from Hot Carl's chili cook off"). The footage for a single episode of MXC can come from multiple episodes of Takeshi's Castle, and occasionally the same footage, including challenges, will be used in multiple episodes with different character names and dialogue. Unlike international editions of Takeshi's Castle, the original text that appeared on screen is left as is.

All four of the producer-performer-writers on the series are alumni of the famous Groundlings comedy troupe in Hollywood: John Cervenka, Christopher Darga, Mary Scheer, and Victor Wilson. The creators/Exec Producers Paul Abeyta and Larry Strawther had worked together at Merv Griffin Productions in the late 1970s. Strawther had worked on the company's pilots for the re-boot of Jeopardy! and Dance Fever in 1978. When both shows sold Strawther went with Jeopardy! as its head writer and Abeyta came over to Griffin's talk show and became executive producer of Dance Fever. Kaikko worked for Dance Fever's distributor, 20th Century Fox, and while overseeing that show he struck up a longtime friendship and business partnership with Abeyta. Kaikko and Abeyta teamed to co-create and Executive Produce the original series Burt Luddin's Love Buffet on Game Show Network which starred John Cervenka. Strawther went on to write and produce network sitcoms, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Night Court, and My Sister Sam and some movies like Without a Clue, but between jobs he would work with Abeyta and Kaikko on specific projects that seemed fun to him. Cervenka was also the announcer for Love Connection from 1990 (replacing Johnny Gilbert) until 1994 (the cancellation of the original version hosted by Chuck Woolery and again from 1998 to 1999 with Pat Bullard.

Lawsuits
The American gameshow Wipeout on ABC was accused of being "a blatant copycat" of shows such as Takeshi's Castle and Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, and a copyright infringement lawsuit was filed by Tokyo Broadcasting System against ABC in late 2008, claiming the obstacle-course game show closely resembled several Japanese shows. It alleged Wipeout violated its copyrights to shows such as Takeshi's Castle and Ninja Warrior.

The Japanese network later sued Dutch entertainment giant Endemol, which produces Wipeout.

The companies settled the case on November 30, 2011, after meeting with a federal magistrate judge in Los Angeles. No settlement terms were filed with the court.

title: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge


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The Truth Machine

The Truth Machine (1996) is a science fiction novel by James L. Halperin about a genius who invents an infallible lie detector. Soon, every citizen must pass a thorough test under a Truth Machine to get a job or receive any sort of license. Eventually, people begin wearing them all the time, thus eliminating dishonesty in all parts of human interaction, and eliminating crime, terrorism and a great deal of general social problems.

Plot
The novel primarily focuses on the life story of Randall Peterson "Pete" Armstrong, a child prodigy with total recall memory, whose entire life's outlook has been defined by the tragic murder of his younger brother, Leonard, by an ex-convict who was believed to be capable of committing violent crimes again, but could not be imprisoned any longer under the current law structure. Pete is committed to making a difference for humanity that will atone for his brother's death and help millions of others, too. In his first year at Harvard at the age 13, Pete is recruited to enroll in a small, but exclusive, class of the brightest and most agile students on campus. In that class, he meets people and establishes friendships that will further his identity. It is there that the idea of a 'truth machine' is conceived and Pete realizes that its existence is possible and that he could do it. The 'truth machine' would be a mechanism that would be 100% accurate in determining if a person was lying or telling the truth. It could help eliminate crime and dishonesty in general. As long as it is employed universally (and not just by government officials), the 'truth machine' could revolutionize humanity and take it to that next evolutionary step which would help it avert its coming self-destruction.

The protagonist places a back door in the book's otherwise infallible lie detector, allowing him to avoid detection when he repeats fragments of Walt Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain!" in his mind.

Reception
The novel was originally self-published but eventually was picked up by Random House.

The novel was extremely popular for several years, rising to #2 on Amazon.com at one point and selling several hundred thousand copies worldwide. It is still in print. In 2005 it was announced that the book was in development as a major motion picture at Lions Gate.

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

title: The Truth Machine


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File talk:Grey Squirrel.jpg

I am doubtful that this is, as it claims, an Eastern Gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) - unless it's a trick of the light, or a local coat colour variation, it is much too reddish. It looks much more like a Fox Squirrel (S. niger).

In any case, its appearance is atypical, so I don't think it should be our headline image on the Eastern Gray Squirrel page; I'll put up a more typical one.

seglea 03:57, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

title: File talk:Grey Squirrel.jpg


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Amphitretidae

Amphitretidae is a family of mesopelagic octopods which contains three subfamilies, formerly classified as families in their own right. It is classified in the superfamily Octopodoidea. Species in the family Amphipetridae are characterised by having a single row of suckers on each arm (uniserial suckers), a gelatinous body and non hemispherical eyes.

Taxonomy
There are three subfamilies within Amphipetridae:

 * Subfamily Amphitretinae Hoyle, 1886
 * Genus Amphitretus Hoyle, 1885
 * Subfamily Bolitaeninae Chun, 1911
 * Genus Bolitaena Steenstrup, 1859
 * Genus Japetella Hoyle, 1885
 * Genus Dorsopsis Thore, 1949 (taxon inquirendum)
 * Subfamily Vitreledonellinae Robson, 1932
 * Genus Vitreledonella Joubin, 1918

title: Amphitretidae


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Ishmael (Book of Mormon)

In the Book of Mormon, Ishmael1 is the righteous friend of the prophet Lehi in Jerusalem. When Lehi takes his family into the wilderness, Lehi brings Ishmael and his family too. The daughters of Ishmael marry the sons of Lehi, but the sons of Ishmael join Laman and Lemuel in their rebellion against Nephi. Ishmael dies in the wilderness, and is buried at Nahom. (See Archaeology and the Book of Mormon)  After their arrival in the Americas, the children of Ishmael side with the Lamanites, except for those daughters who married Sam, Nephi, and Zoram1.

A second Ishmael2 is the grandfather of Amulek.

Name
According to Hugh Nibley, the proverbial ancestor of the Arabs is Ishmael. His name is one of the few Old Testament names which is also at home in ancient Arabia: "[Thus] in Lehi's friend "Ishmael" (1 Nephi 7:2) we surely have a man of the desert. The interesting thing is that Nephi takes Ishmael (unlike Zoram) completely for granted, never explaining who he is or how he fits into the picture--the act of sending for him seems to be the most natural thing in the world, as does the marriage of his daughters with Lehi's sons. Since it has ever been the custom among the desert people for a man to marry the daughter of his paternal uncle (bint 'ammi), it is hard to avoid the impression that Lehi and Ishmael were related. There is a remarkable association between the names of Lehi and Ishmael which ties them both to the southern desert, where the legendary birthplace and central shrine of Ishmael was at a place called Be'er Lehai-ro'i."

Family
According to John L. Sorenson, both Ishmael's sons had "families" (1 Nephi 7:6) who accompanied them. The term "families" implies a wife and at least one child each, but there likely were more children.

Book of Mormon Movie
In The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey, adapted from First and Second Nephi, Ishmael was portrayed by Ron Frederickson. The portrayals were highly influenced by Arnold Friberg paintings of the characters.

title: Ishmael (Book of Mormon)


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User:Maclyn611/Sandbox

Page for testing stuff...

Box for weaponry pages

Do a list of submachineguns, machineguns, rifles, assault rifles, etc...?

A&B mostly done...

Alphabetical by name

 * 31001 Abbeville
 * 30101 Acworth
 * 30102 Acworth
 * 30103 Adairsville
 * 31620 Adel
 * 31002 Adrian
 * 30410 Ailey
 * 30411 Alamo
 * 31622 Alapaha
 * 31701 Albany
 * 31702 Albany
 * 31703 Albany
 * 31704 Albany
 * 31705 Albany
 * 31706 Albany
 * 31707 Albany
 * 31708 Albany
 * 31301 Allenhurst
 * 31003 Allentown
 * 31510 Alma
 * 30004 Alpharetta
 * 30005 Alpharetta
 * 30009 Alpharetta
 * 30022 Alpharetta
 * 30023 Alpharetta
 * 30412 Alston
 * 30510 Alto
 * 30596 Alto
 * 31512 Ambrose
 * 31709 Americus
 * 31710 Americus
 * 31711 Andersonville
 * 30802 Appling
 * 31712 Arabi
 * 30104 Aragon
 * 31623 Argyle
 * 31713 Arlington
 * 30105 Armuchee
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 * 30301 Atlanta
 * 30302 Atlanta
 * 30303 Atlanta
 * 30304 Atlanta
 * 30305 Atlanta
 * 30306 Atlanta
 * 30307 Atlanta
 * 30308 Atlanta
 * 30309 Atlanta
 * 30310 Atlanta
 * 30311 Atlanta
 * 30312 Atlanta
 * 30313 Atlanta
 * 30314 Atlanta
 * 30315 Atlanta
 * 30316 Atlanta
 * 30317 Atlanta
 * 30318 Atlanta
 * 30319 Atlanta
 * 30320 Atlanta
 * 30321 Atlanta
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 * 30325 Atlanta
 * 30326 Atlanta
 * 30327 Atlanta
 * 30328 Atlanta
 * 30329 Atlanta
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 * 30331 Atlanta
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 * 30334 Atlanta
 * 30336 Atlanta
 * 30337 Atlanta
 * 30338 Atlanta
 * 30339 Atlanta
 * 30340 Atlanta
 * 30341 Atlanta
 * 30342 Atlanta
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 * 30344 Atlanta
 * 30345 Atlanta
 * 30346 Atlanta
 * 30347 Atlanta
 * 30348 Atlanta
 * 30349 Atlanta
 * 30350 Atlanta
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 * 30354 Atlanta
 * 30355 Atlanta
 * 30356 Atlanta
 * 30357 Atlanta
 * 30358 Atlanta
 * 30359 Atlanta
 * 30360 Atlanta
 * 30361 Atlanta
 * 30362 Atlanta
 * 30364 Atlanta
 * 30366 Atlanta
 * 30368 Atlanta
 * 30369 Atlanta
 * 30370 Atlanta
 * 30371 Atlanta
 * 30374 Atlanta
 * 30375 Atlanta
 * 30376 Atlanta
 * 30377 Atlanta
 * 30378 Atlanta
 * 30379 Atlanta
 * 30380 Atlanta
 * 30384 Atlanta
 * 30385 Atlanta
 * 30386 Atlanta
 * 30387 Atlanta
 * 30388 Atlanta
 * 30389 Atlanta
 * 30390 Atlanta
 * 30392 Atlanta
 * 30394 Atlanta
 * 30396 Atlanta
 * 30398 Atlanta
 * 30399 Atlanta
 * 31106 Atlanta
 * 31107 Atlanta
 * 31119 Atlanta
 * 31126 Atlanta
 * 31131 Atlanta
 * 31139 Atlanta
 * 31141 Atlanta
 * 31145 Atlanta
 * 31146 Atlanta
 * 31150 Atlanta
 * 31156 Atlanta
 * 31191 Atlanta
 * 31192 Atlanta
 * 31193 Atlanta
 * 31195 Atlanta
 * 31196 Atlanta
 * 31197 Atlanta
 * 31198 Atlanta
 * 31199 Atlanta
 * 39901 Atlanta
 * 31715 Attapulgus
 * 30011 Auburn
 * 30901 Augusta
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 * 30910 Augusta
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 * 30916 Augusta
 * 30917 Augusta
 * 30919 Augusta
 * 30999 Augusta
 * 30106 Austell, Georgia|Austell]]
 * 30168 Austell
 * 30803 Avera
 * 30002 Avondale
 * 31624 Axson
 * 31716 Baconton
 * 31717 Bainbridge
 * 31718 Bainbridge
 * 30511 Baldwin
 * 30107 Ball Ground
 * 30204 Barnesville
 * 31625 Barney
 * 30413 Bartow
 * 31720 Barwick
 * 31513 Baxley
 * 31515 Baxley
 * 30414 Bellville
 * 31722 Berlin
 * 30620 Bethlehem
 * 30621 Bishop
 * 31516 Blackshear
 * 30512 Blairsville
 * 30514 Blairsville
 * 31723 Blakely
 * 31302 Bloomingdale
 * 30513 Blue Ridge
 * 31724 Bluffton
 * 30805 Blythe
 * 30622 Bogart
 * 31004 Bolingbroke
 * 31005 Bonaire
 * 30806 Boneville
 * 31626 Boston
 * 30623 Bostwick
 * 30108 Bowdon
 * 30109 Bowdon Junction
 * 30516 Bowersville
 * 30624 Bowman
 * 31801 Box Springs
 * 30517 Braselton
 * 30110 Bremen
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 * 31727 Brookfield
 * 30415 Brooklet
 * 30205 Brooks
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 * 31520 Brunswick
 * 31521 Brunswick
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 * 31524 Brunswick
 * 31525 Brunswick
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 * 30625 Buckhead
 * 31803 Buena Vista
 * 30515 Buford
 * 30518 Buford
 * 30519 Buford
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 * 31007 Byromville
 * 31008 Byron

Maio, Tin soldier, Greyengine5

A Mortar is a portable muzzleloading cannon that fires indirect shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high arcing ballistic trajectories. All of these attributes are in comparison the mortar's larger sibling, artillery, which fires at high velocities, long ranges, and low arcs. Typically a modern mortar consists of a tube into which is dropped a mortar shell onto a firing pin resulting in the detonation of the propellant and the firing of the shell.

Mortars are normally included in infantry units and often personally see combat action. The chief advantage a mortar section has over artillery pieces is it's small size and it's mobility. It also has the advantage of being able to be fired from a trench or a defilade, thereby protecting the crew from enemy fire. In these aspects the mortar is an excellent infantry support weapon as it can travel over any terrain and is not burdened by the logistical support and geographical structure needed for artillery.

Design
Modern mortars normally range in size from 60 millimeters (2.36 inches) to 120 millimeters (4.72 inches) however, aberrations both larger and smaller than these specifications have been produced. An example of the smaller scale is the British 51 mm light mortar which is carried by an individual and consists of only a tube and a base plate. Conversely, a large abnormality is the Soviet 2S4 M1975 "Tyulpan" (Tulip Tree) 240mm self-propelled mortar. Aside from these though, most modern mortar systems consist of three main components: a tube, a base plate, and a bipod. These weapons are commonly used and transported by infantry based mortar sections as a substitute for artillery. Ammunition for mortar systems generally come in two main varieties: fin-stabilized and spin-stabilized. The former have short fins on their posterior portion that controls their path in flight. The latter use rotational spin (simliar to a thrown American Football) to balance and control the cartridge. These rounds can either be illumination, smoke, or high explosive.

History
Mortars have existed for hundreds of years, first finding usage in seige warfare. However, these weapons were huge heavy iron monstrosities that could not be easily transported. Simply made, these weapons were no more than an iron bowl truly reminiscent of the mortar wherefrom they drew their name. Portable mortars were first seen during the American Civil War and its resulting railroad mortars. However, it was not until World War I that the modern, man-portable mortar was born. Extremely useful in the muddy trenches of Europe, mortars were praised because of their high angle of attack. A mortar round could be aimed to fall directly into trenches whereas artillery shells, due to their low angle of flight, could not possibly go. Modern mortars have improved upon these designs even more offering a weapon that light, adaptable, easy to operate, and yet possesses enough firepower to provide the infantry with quality close close support.

The largest mortars ever developed were "Mallet's mortar" (developed by Woolwich Arsenal, London in 1857) and the "Little David" (developed in the USA for use in World War II). Each weapon had a caliber of 36 inches (915 mm).

title: User:Maclyn611/Sandbox


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The Palisades (Hudson River)

The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs stretch north from Jersey City about 20 miles (32 km) to near Nyack, New York, and are visible at Haverstraw, New York. They rise nearly vertically from near the edge of the river, and are about 300 ft high at Weehawken, increasing gradually to 540 ft high near their northern terminus. North of Fort Lee, the Palisades are part of Palisades Interstate Park and are a National Natural Landmark.

The Palisades are among the most dramatic geologic features in the vicinity of New York City, forming a canyon of the Hudson north of the George Washington Bridge, as well as providing a vista of the Manhattan skyline. They sit in the Newark Basin, a rift basin located mostly in New Jersey.

Palisade is derived from the same root as the word pole, ultimately from the Latin word palus, meaning stake. A "palisade" is, in general, a defensive fence or wall made up of wooden stakes or tree trunks. The Lenape called the cliffs "rocks that look like rows of trees", a phrase that became "Weehawken", the name of a town in New Jersey that sits at the top of the cliffs across from Midtown Manhattan.

Geology
The basalt cliffs are the margin of a diabase sill, formed about 200 million years ago, at the close of the Triassic period by the intrusion of molten magma upward into sandstone. The molten material cooled and solidified before reaching the surface. Water erosion of the softer sandstone left behind the columnar structure of harder rock that exists today. The cliffs are about 300 ft (100 m) thick in sections and originally may have reached 1,000 ft (300 m).

The end-Triassic extinction event that coincided with the formation of the Hudson Palisades, Central Atlantic magmatic province, 200 million years ago ranks second in severity of the five major extinction episodes that span geologic time. The most severe extinction in the past 500 million years was the Permian–Triassic extinction event, informally known as the Great Dying,  coincided with flood basalt eruptions that produced the Siberian Traps, which constituted one of the largest known volcanic events on Earth and covered over 770,000 sq mi (2,000,000 km2) with lava

Franklyn Van Houten completed groundbreaking research on a rock formation known as the Newark Basin. His discovery of a consistent geological pattern in which lake levels rose and fell is now known as the "Van Houten cycle".

History

The Palisades appear on the first European map of the New World, made by Gerardus Mercator in 1541 based on the description given him by Giovanni da Verrazzano, who suggested they look like a "fence of stakes".

During the early stages of the American Revolution, British military Commander Lord Cornwallis landed a force of between 2,500 and 5,000 at Huyler's Landing on November 20, 1776. In an effort to ambush American General George Washington and crush the rebellion in the wake of the rebel's defeat in the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Fort Washington, Cornwallis marched his men up the steep Palisades and southward through the Northern Valley. Washington, stationed near Fort Lee, was alerted to the ambush effort by an unknown horseback patriot, remembered only as the Closter Rider, and successfully fled west through Englewood and over the Hackensack River, avoiding capture in what is remembered as Washington's Retreat.

The Palisades were the site of 18 documented duels and probably many unrecorded ones in the years 1798–1845. The most famous is the Burr–Hamilton duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, which took place in a spot known as the Heights of Weehawken on July 11, 1804.

An English visitor, Fanny Trollope, in her 1832 book Domestic Manners of the Americans, wrote of a park established at the Palisades by a Hoboken ferryboat entrepreneur at that time:

It is hardly possible to imagine one of greater attraction; a broad belt of light underwood and flowering shrubs, studded at intervals with lofty forest trees, runs for two miles along a cliff which overhangs the matchless Hudson; sometimes it feathers the rocks down to its very margin, and at others leaves a pebbly shore, just rude enough to break the gentle waves, and make a music which mimics softly the loud chorus of the ocean. Through this beautiful little wood, a broad well gravelled terrace is led by every point which can exhibit the scenery to advantage; narrower and wilder paths diverge at intervals, some into the deeper shadow of the wood, and some shelving gradually to the pretty coves below.

The price of entrance to this little Eden, is the six cents you pay at the ferry.

After the Civil War, signs advertising patent medicines and other products covered the rock face in letters 20 ft high.

In the 19th century, the cliffs were heavily quarried for railroad ballast, leading to local efforts to preserve them. Beginning in the 1890s, several unsuccessful efforts were made to turn much of the Highlands into a forest preserve. Fearing that they would soon be put out of business, quarry operators responded by working faster: in March 1898 alone, more than three tons of dynamite was used to bring down Washington Head and Indian Head in Fort Lee, New Jersey, producing several million cubic yards of traprock. The following year, work by the New Jersey Federation of Women's Clubs led to the creation of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, headed by George W. Perkins, which was authorized to acquire land between Fort Lee and Piermont, New York. Its jurisdiction was extended to Stony Point, New York in 1906.

In 1908, the State of New York announced plans to move Sing Sing Prison to Bear Mountain. Work was begun in the area near Highland Lake (renamed Hessian Lake) and in January 1909, the state purchased the 740-acre (3.0 km2) Bear Mountain tract. Conservationists, inspired by the work of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, lobbied successfully for the creation of the Highlands of the Hudson Forest Preserve. However, the prison project was continued. Mary Williamson Averell, whose husband, Union Pacific Railroad president E. H. Harriman died in September of that year, offered the state another 10,000 acres (40 km2) and one million dollars toward the creation of a state park.

George Walbridge Perkins, who served as president of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission from its creation in 1900 until his death in 1920, with whom she had been working, raised another $1.5 million from a dozen wealthy contributors including John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan. New York State appropriated a matching $2.5 million and the state of New Jersey appropriated $500,000 to build the Henry Hudson Drive (which would be succeeded by the Palisades Parkway in 1947). Ultimately, the Sing Sing relocation was discontinued.

In the 1910s, when Fort Lee was a center of film production, the cliffs were frequently used as film locations. The most notable of these films was The Perils of Pauline, a serial which helped popularize the term cliffhanger.

In October 1931, after four years of construction, the George Washington Bridge opened between Upper Manhattan and Fort Lee.

On April 28, 1940, the Boy Scout Foundation of Greater New York announced the donation of 723 acres by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to establish a weekend camp for New York City Boy Scouts.

In June 1983, the Palisades were designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.

On May 12, 2012, a 10,000 ton rockfall just south of the state line left a 520 ft scar on the cliffs.

The Palisades is now a part of Palisades Interstate Park, a popular destination for hiking and other outdoor recreational activities, that also includes Harriman-Bear Mountain State Park, Minnewaska State Park Preserve and several other parks and historic sites in the region.

On June 23, 2015, officials of the South Korean conglomerate LG Group announced that their planned new North American headquarters building in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, which was originally designed to be 143 ft tall, and would have broken the tree line on top of the Palisades, would be reduced to 69 ft in height, thus preserving the contour of the ridge. The new building had been opposed by numerous conservation groups and politicians, including four former governors of New Jersey.*Dwyer, Jim. "LG to Reduce Height of Headquarters, Preserving Palisades Horizon" The New York Times (June 23, 2015)
 * "LG Building Project to Proceed in New Jersey; Conservation Groups and LG Reach 'Win-Win' Settlement" (press release) Protect the Palisades website (June 23, 2015)
 * Sullivan, S. P. "Former N.J. governors ask LG to rethink plan for high-rise HQ along the Palisades" NJ.com (June 7, 2013)
 * Sullivan, S. P. "LG supporters looking for Gov. Christie's help in fight over high-rise HQ on the Palisades" NJ.com (July 3, 2013)
 * Ma, Myles. "Opponents protest as LG celebrates start of work on Englewood Cliffs headquarters" NJ.com (November 14, 2013)
 * Byrne, Brendam T.; Kean, Thomas H.; Florio, James J.; and Whitman, Christine Todd "The Threat to the Palisades" (op-ed) New York Times (March 24, 2014)
 * Associated Press "NJ conservation groups file briefs opposing LG's planned construction on Palisades" NJ.com (April 7, 2014)
 * Ma, Myles. "Senate advances bill banning tall buildings along Palisades" NJ.com (June 7, 2014)

title: The Palisades (Hudson River)


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Amphitretus

Amphitretus is a genus of pelagic gelatinous octopuses. It is the sole genus of subfamily Amphitretinae, one of three subfamilies in the family Amphitretidae and consists of two species. Some authorities consider Amphitretus thielei as a subspecies of Amphitretus pelagicus, which would make the genus monotypic.

title: Amphitretus


text:
Talk:SS Stephen Hopkins

Note to anyone else who wants to work on this article: A lot of the internet sources I found on this ship had conflicting information. Even sources that ought to be reputable (Houghton Mifflin, some government sites, and a guy who claimed to have done a lot of research on the subject) couldn't agree on how many were in the crew, how many survived, how many days the crew drifted on the lifeboat, and other details. I solved this merely by being vague or avoiding any details that didn't seem certain. At some point, I may get really ambitious and go do some serious research, and see if I can't set the record straight. If not, the article as it stands gives all the information that's really important. Isomorphic 04:00, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:SS Stephen Hopkins


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Talk:Collective behavior

collective behavior in artificial agents / robotics
The current article is concentrated on human collective behaviour. Apart from not being the only animals which show collective behaviour, there is also a big area of research in artificial intelligence. This is not present in the current version of the article. It would be interesting to have a mention of these other areas.

 * This comment ignores the definition of collective behavior presented in the article, which is also the meaning of the term among sociologists generally. Blumer did write that crowd behavior involves "milling," a physical process which occurs among stampeding cattle and other animal species.  Apart from this, collective behavior, like conformity and deviance, presupposes language; since other species do not possess language, they do not engage in collective behavior.

Artificial intelligence, so far as I am aware, has no relation to collective behavior as it is defined in the article.

 * Collective behaviour is also known in Animal Behaviour, e.g. in apparently co-ordinated shoals of fish and flocks of starlings. I propose a section on Collective behaviours in other areas of research be added, such as the afore mentioned robotics, not just 'sociology'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wheezybabs (talk • contribs) 18:32, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

"Collective behavior" and "collective action"
What's the difference between Collective behavior and Collective action? This should be clearly explained, or the articlesjkowqejfowfqlmlmfwjqeofjwejjfojewofjowejfoewjfoweofjowejfooewfjojoepwf8437878tyfdihfkkdhfkdhfklhfkdhsfhkdhdhfdhdfhklfdhkdflkhdfhdfhdfshdfhdfshdhkldfhfawhjioefhdnhi34y8fy8ieiodhvrkbhrbvhshlijh may need to be merged.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 22:36, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Collective behavior, in the sense of what's written in the wiki, appears to have to do with emergent norms in a collective, such as that of a crowd. On the other hand, collective action (again in terms of its wiki) seems to have to do with economic actors who are cooperating in order to achieve market goals. I won't try to justify the use of vague language to label both wikis, except to say that a description of a "behavior" leaves more open to emphasize the causes of said behaviors, and does not seem to presume agency and volition; while a description of an "action" lends more emphasis to the possibility of the effects of some behavior, and presupposes some notion of (rational) agency; and if so, then both lend themselves to the way they're being used in each respective wiki. But maybe that's just me. Lucidish 00:49, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the explanation, Lucidish. Do you know if the usage of those terms on wiki corresponds to their usage in the academic literature?--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 02:39, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm afraid my competence is limited to sociology and social psychology, not economics. I would not at all be surprised that these near-synonymous terms are being in somewhat divergent ways; sociologists don't seem to like to talk to economists, and vice-versa. But my sociology text (Introduction to Sociology: A Canadian Focus) does have a listing for both terms.

 * Collective behavior: "activity in which a large number of people reject and/or do not conform to conventional ways of acting. Behavior of this kind is often described as less "institutionalized" than ordinary behavior." More or less what the wiki says.
 * Collective action: "the pursuit of goals by more than one person. As an explanation of social movements, this perspective looks at integration and cleavage factors and seeks to explain what is dissimilar about collective action at different times and in different places". This seems compatible, though different, from the present wiki. But I don't think that's a difference in underlying meaning, but a difference in usage relative to disciplines. Nevertheless, the sociological use doesn't seem to make an appearance in the present wiki. That may be a problem. Lucidish 03:15, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * In that case I think it would be beneficial to add the sociological definitions to the articles. I wonder if we would need to split them into 'usage in economics'/'usage in sociology' sections - they don't seem to be so diverse.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 17:47, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Done Lucidish 23:31, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

"punctuated by the gestures of the all-American athlete he had been--"?

 * Blumer has expressed this view in a very small number of essays. His teaching, in which he expressed very few ideas in a very slow way, were punctuated by the gestures of the all-American athlete which he had been. He continued acting this way over a number of decades.

What on Earth does that mean? Please clarify or take it out! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.203.221.36 (talk) 01:18, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

The comments refer to Blumer's distinctive lecture style, as his students at Chicago and Berkeley could attest. But you are right: It would be obscure to many readers, and I have changed it.

The section on Theories to Explain Crowd Behavior is partly out of date, and the rest of it should be incorporated into the section above on The Crowd. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.245.247.201 (talk) 04:50, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Collective behavior


text: Talk:Amphitretus

title: Talk:Amphitretus


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Anti-Racist Action

Anti-Racist Action (ARA), also known as the Anti-Racist Action Network, is a decentralized network of militant far-left political cells in the United States and Canada. The ARA network originated in the late 1980s to engage in direct action (including political violence) and doxxing against rival political organizations on the hard right (mainly violent groups of neo-Nazi skinheads) to dissuade them from further involvement in political activities. Anti-Racist Action described such groups as racist or fascist, or both. Most ARA members have been anarchists, but some have been Trotskyists and Maoists.

The network originated among the hardcore punk skinhead scene in Minnesota among a group known as the Minneapolis Baldies which had been founded in 1987. The network grew and spread throughout North America. The Midwestern United States, particularly Minneapolis, Chicago and Columbus, were the main hotspot for activity, but notable chapters existed in Portland, Los Angeles, Toronto and elsewhere. In the early 1990s, the Anti-Racist Action Network began to organize an annual conference, attended by representatives of the various official chapters, along with prospective members. These events often feature guest speakers and hardcore punk bands. In the late 1990s, the network was affiliated with a short-lived international grouping which called itself the Militant Anti-Fascist Network and consisted of mostly Europe-based groups such as the UK-based Anti-Fascist Action and various German Antifa factions among others.

Politically, the network has always stated that anti-racism and anti-fascism are its main goals, adopting a non-sectarian approach to party affiliation for chapter members, and there is no pre-requisite to adhere to any particular party line outside of the five "Points of Unity."

Origins in Minneapolis hardcore punk scene
Anti-Racist Action originated from the hardcore punk subculture in the United States at Minneapolis, Minnesota, among suburban mostly White American teenagers during the late 1980s. The wider punk subculture itself had flirted with extreme political symbolism, as a form of "shock value" from its early days, including anarchist, communist and nazi symbols, though many did not take this seriously. Eventually some bands such as Crass in the United Kingdom began to more seriously integrate an anarcho-communist political ideology into their music and associated anarcho-punk subculture. This spread to the United States and had a strong influence on the Minneapolis hardcore scene. Some of the people involved in this scene created a skinhead street gang, inspired by Nick Knight's book Skinhead, known as the Minneapolis Baldies The Baldies, who formed in 1986 and regarded themselves as leftist, anti-racist skinheads, were frequently engaged in political violence with rival far-right skinheads in Uptown. The Baldies were associated with bands such as Blind Approach, while their rivals from the East Side, the White Knights, were associated with Mass Corruption. According to Kieran Knutson, they organized a demonstration with the University of Minnesota Black Law Student Association, including Keith Ellison who later became the Democratic Party's Attorney General of Minnesota.

Chicago skinheads formed their own Anti-Racist Action (ARA) by May 1989. Chicago ARA activists fought with the neo-Nazi skinheads of Chicago Area SkinHeads (CASH). A group called Skinheads of Chicago (SHOC) consisted mostly of black skinheads and adhered to left-wing and black power politics; some of them featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1989, opposing CASH who were guests.

People in the hardcore punk scene became more widely aware of ARA across America due to a nationwide magazine called Maximum Rock and Roll (MRR), edited by the counter-culture influencer Tim Yohannan who worked at University of California, Berkeley, which started to promote them from 1987 onwards. At a meeting in Minneapolis on January 14, 1989, with 80 or more anti-racist skinheads from Milwaukee, Kansas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Ohio, they founded a network called "the Syndicate". Other chapters in attendance included the Brew City Skins from Milwaukee, the North Side Crew also in Chicago, as well as groups in Cincinnati (people associated with SHARP), Indianapolis, Lawrence and elsewhere.

1990s spread beyond the Midwest
From the late 1980s into the 1990s, the network began to grow. One of their main rallying points was in relation to the trials of Tom Metzger, a neo-Nazi activist associated then with a group calling itself the White Aryan Resistance (WAR). Metzger, though originally a "suit-and-tie" far-right talkshow show host, had begun to play a significant role in the creation of a neo-Nazi skinhead subculture in the United States, inspired in part by Ian Stuart Donaldson of Skrewdriver (many British skinheads like him also joined groups such as the British Movement). This growing network of neo-Nazi skinheads in the United States were in conflict with the far-left leaning skinheads associated with Anti-Racist Action for control of the scene. Some of Metzger's skinhead followers in Portland belonging to East Side White Pride killed an Ethiopian student, Mulugeta Seraw, in 1988, and were subsequently charged, while Metzger himself was sued and ordered to pay extensive financial damages to Seraw's family. Mic Crenshaw and some other Minneapolis ARA members relocated to Portland and founded the Portland ARA chapter there in response. Public attention given to this case caused a growth in networks affiliated with ARA, other new sections sprung up around the issue, including in Los Angeles, where it was also known as People Against Racist Terror. Some members of Anti-Racist Action in Minneapolis had been affiliated with an anarchist group called the Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League.

Marty Williams of Chicago ARA stated that, by 1992, the network had expanded beyond its original subcultural base in the skinhead scene to include also students, workers, anarchist punks and older left-wing activists. Anti-Racist Action built up connections to black power groups in places like Chicago, and integrated aspects of third-wave feminism and, as part of this, defended abortion clinics against fundamentalist attacks. According to Bray, ARA was "predominantly anarchist and antiauthoritarian, as reflected in the influential role of the Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation, an unorthodox anarchist group with Trotskyist and New Left influences (some of whose members had previously been in the Revolutionary Anarchist Bowling League  ), with whom they worked closely.

Anti-Racist Action chapters in the Midwest began to organize an annual conference under the banner of the Midwest Anti-Fascist Network, starting on October 15, 1994; the first took place in Columbus, Ohio. These annual conferences had guest speakers at each event. The first featured Signe Waller, the widow of Michael Waller, a Communist Workers' Party member killed during the Greensboro massacre in 1979. The following year Chip Berlet was the guest speaker, along with Rita "Bo" Brown of the George Jackson Brigade as well as Waller.

The network expanded into Canada, particularly Toronto. In 1992, the Heritage Front, at the time the largest neo-Nazi group in Canada, marched on Toronto's courthouse; organising against this catalysed the formation of a local ARA chapter. The Heritage Front supported the German-born Holocaust denier and apologist for the Third Reich, Ernst Zündel, who was the subject of a significant political controversy with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the organized Canadian Jewish community. According to a 1997 article in The Ottawa Times, Anti-Racist Action's Toronto branch built up a close working relationship with B'nai B'rith Canada, a major Jewish advocacy group. In 1996, B'nai B'rith Canada attempted to secure state funding for Anti-Racist Action through Sam Title, who stated at the time that B'nai B'rith had "worked with them before." Karen Mock, the National Director of B'nai B'rith was pictured at an ARA conference in 1997. After Mock attended the meeting the relationship was subject to the feature in The Ottawa News in 1997, which courted controversy for B'nai B'rith due to ARA's links to violence and "extremism". One of the more notable events involving ARA in Toronto was the trashing of the home of a Heritage Front member on 11 June 1993. According to The Ottawa Times, "as reported by the Canadian Intelligence Service, the ARA has also been linked by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) with the 1995 arson attack on Ernst Zündel's home" (Zündel, of German-birth, was in any case deported from Toronto, Canada that year).

ARA Minneapolis and ARA Toronto attended a conference in London in October 1997 which brought together twenty-two delegates from the emerging international (mostly European) militant anti-fascist movements. There was a significant disagreement between two of the major groups: the Autonome Antifa (M), a German Antifa delegation based in Göttingen, and Anti-Fascist Action from Britain (who had partly inspired the creation of ARA in the first place). The British-delegation were mostly working-class and argued for a class basis for anti-fascist struggle as well as for physical force against those it defined as fascists, while AA (M), who were more based in the middle-class intelligentsia, argued that the movement should be based primarily on a "feminist and anti-imperialist" analysis and downgrade "squadism". At the end of the conference, nine groups followed Anti-Fascist Action into the Militant Anti-Fascist Network, including the North American Anti-Racist Action branches, as well as the German groups Antifaschistische Aktion Hannover and Aktivisten-Gruppe ROTKÄPPCHEN, as well as a group from Zaragoza. The international itself collapsed in 1999 as Anti-Fascist Action in Britain became essentially defunct.

As part of their wider anti-police sentiment activity, including involvement with Cop Watch, members of ARA were involved in supporting Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook), who was convicted for the 1981 murder of PPD officer Daniel Faulkner. In September 1999 in Baltimore, ARA activists organized a seven-car caravan with a loudspeaker in each, voicing slogans in favour of Mumia Abu-Jamal and handing out leaflets to the general public.

Early 2000s: dawning of the internet era
Two members of ARA from Las Vegas, Daniel Shersty and Lin Newborn, were killed by fascists in 1998. During the 1990s, Anti-Racist Action was engaged in conflict with white supremacist revival groups, as captured in the 2000 documentary film Invisible Revolution: A Youth Subculture of Hate.

With the rise of the internet, the new millennium saw a switch to a more information-based "warfare" between ARA and their enemies active within the far-right groups. The white nationalist far-right most circulated around Stormfront, while one of the more prominent website projects associated with ARA at the time was the One People's Project, which maintained contacts with the Southern Poverty Law Center, working together on projects such as Erasing Hate. Founded in 2000 by Daryle Lamont Jenkins and Joshua David Belser (under the pseudonym "Josh Hoyt"), the One People's Project was a pioneer in the "doxxing" of alleged far-right group activists; as part of their campaign against these individuals, they posted personal information of them on the website, including their full names, dates and place of birth, home address, their place of work, the names of their close family members/partners and any other contact information such as phone numbers. This was subsequently spread among other websites, forums and blogs associated with whichever ARA branch was local to the alleged far-rightist profiled.

Anti-Racist Action's Columbus, Ohio branch, including Jerry or Gerry Bello (also a prominent figure within ARA's Cop Watch), were among several groups (including the Black Bloc, a coalition of anarchist organizations, including the Boston-based Barricada Collective) who were involved in a street fight with far-right activists which led to the arrest of 25 people in York County, Pennsylvania on January 12, 2002. The groups were protesting a speech by Matthew F. Hale's World Church of the Creator at a local library; several other white nationalist groups were also in the area, such as the National Alliance and the Aryan Nations.

According to The Washington Post, on May 11, 2002, around 250 members of the National Alliance, a leading neo-Nazi group, arranged a protest at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. under Billy Roper, distributing anti-Israel flyers with pictures of the 9/11 attacks and Osama bin Laden with the words "Let's Stop Being Human Shields for Israel" and demanding to cut off US aid to Israel. Their protest was attacked by around 150 opponents including ARA members, as well as some members of the Northeastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists and Labor/Community Committee in Solidarity with the People of Palestine. Later in the year, on August 24, 2002, the National Alliance returned to Washington D.C. for their "Rock Against Israel" protest; this time however, their opponents, under the banner of the East Coast Anti-Fascist Network (including ARA branches from Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Toronto, Columbus and Auora) were better organized in attacking their opponents. However, 28 ARA members were arrested and then when they returned to Baltimore, were subsequently called up on charges of rioting, aggravated assault, possession of a deadly weapon and others. They became known as the "Baltimore Anti-Racist 28" and were eventually released without charge. With the decline of the Creativity movement (due to the arrest of Hale) and the National Alliance (since the death of William Luther Pierce), other groups on the white nationalist scene attempted to fill the vacuum that this had left, this included the National Socialist Movement (NSM), who organized a rally to "protest black crime" on October 15, 2005, in Toledo, Ohio. Here they were met by members of Anti-Racist Action and the International Socialist Organization, upon which the 2005 Toledo riot ensued.

Late 2000s and branding as Antifa
The first group in the United States to use the term "Antifa" in its title was the Anti-Racist Action Portland branch, known as Rose City Antifa, which was refounded in 2007, according to Alexander Reid Ross, author of Against the Fascist Creep, from Portland State University. This was inspired by the German anarcho-communist autonomists, who engaged in black bloc tactics that year in a mass protest at the 33rd G8 summit (many of the autonomists are associated with Germany's Antifa). Portland Anti-Racist Action blamed neo-Nazis for the 2010 shooting of Luke Querner.

While Barack Obama was President of the United States, groups on the hard right began to grow and consequently, groups emerged to engage in violence with them. Some of these were officially outside the Anti-Racist Action network, such as NYC Antifa (founded in 2010), but others, such as Indiana's Hoosier Anti-Racist Movement (HARM), were officially chapters of ARA. HARM were involved in a significant incident in Tinley Park, Cook County, Illinois on May 19, 2012, when a group of 18 HARM members and other anti-racists physically attacked members of the Illinois European Heritage Association (which was associated with white supremacists) in a restaurant. Five of the anti-racists involved were arrested and subsequently charged for their part in the attack with felony mob action, aggravated battery and criminal property damage charges and were sentenced to between 3 ½ and 6 years, although all were released by the end of 2014.

2013 onwards: Torch Network-era
The Torch Network continued the legacy of the ARA Network. In a post on the ARA website in 2013, the Torch Network announced its formation. They stated that this was not a disbanding or a schism, but an attempt to deal with the new realities of the digital age and changing tactics. The Torch Network held the 1st Annual Torch Network Conference in 2014 at Chitown Futbol, Chicago. This was attended by South Side Chicago Anti-Racist Action (the hosts), Philly Antifa, Central Texas Anti-Racist Action, Milwaukee Antifa, Hoosier Anti-Racist Movement (HARM) and Los Angeles People Against Racist Terror. The event was sponsored by the Chicago May First Anarchist Alliance and Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation. There were two speakers at the event: Matthew Nemiroff Lyons and Michael Staudenmaier.

title: Anti-Racist Action


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Argonautidae

The Argonautidae are a family of pelagic cephalopods that inhabit tropical and temperate oceans of the world. The family encompasses the modern paper nautiluses of the genus Argonauta along with several extinct genera of shelled octopods. Though argonauts are derived from benthic octopuses, they have evolved to depart the sea floor and live their life-cycle in the open seas.

The family is characterised by brittle white shells constructed by the females, but which the dwarf male argonauts lack. These shells are primarily egg-cases, and are not attached to the body of the female. Paper nautiluses are often found washed up on beaches and are valued for their delicate beauty. The shell also plays the role of a buoyancy device, which the female controls by varying the amount of gulped air. All eggcases possessing nodes, ribs, and a double keel, with the exception of those of fossil Kapal batavus, have been assigned to Argonauta. Eggcases lacking these morphological features have been placed in the other Argonautidae genera.

Fossil Argonautidae eggcases have been described from Japan, New Zealand, Sumatra, Europe, and California.

title: Argonautidae


text: Talk:Just-in-time compilation

title: Talk:Just-in-time compilation


text:
Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is a method for determining the kinetics of diffusion through tissue or cells. It is capable of quantifying the two-dimensional lateral diffusion of a molecularly thin film containing fluorescently labeled probes, or to examine single cells. This technique is very useful in biological studies of cell membrane diffusion and protein binding. In addition, surface deposition of a fluorescing phospholipid bilayer (or monolayer) allows the characterization of hydrophilic (or hydrophobic) surfaces in terms of surface structure and free energy.

Similar, though less well known, techniques have been developed to investigate the 3-dimensional diffusion and binding of molecules inside the cell; they are also referred to as FRAP.

Experimental setup
The basic apparatus comprises an optical microscope, a light source and some fluorescent probe. Fluorescent emission is contingent upon absorption of a specific optical wavelength or color which restricts the choice of lamps. Most commonly, a broad spectrum mercury or xenon source is used in conjunction with a color filter. The technique begins by saving a background image of the sample before photobleaching. Next, the light source is focused onto a small patch of the viewable area either by switching to a higher magnification microscope objective or with laser light of the appropriate wavelength. The fluorophores in this region receive high intensity illumination which causes their fluorescence lifetime to quickly elapse (limited to roughly 105 photons before extinction). Now the image in the microscope is that of a uniformly fluorescent field with a noticeable dark spot. As Brownian motion proceeds, the still-fluorescing probes will diffuse throughout the sample and replace the non-fluorescent probes in the bleached region. This diffusion proceeds in an ordered fashion, analytically determinable from the diffusion equation. Assuming a Gaussian profile for the bleaching beam, the diffusion constant D can be simply calculated from:

 * $$D = \frac{w^{2}}{4t_{D}}$$

where w is the radius of the beam and tD is the "Characteristic" diffusion time.

Supported lipid bilayers
Originally, the FRAP technique was intended for use as a means to characterize the mobility of individual lipid molecules within a cell membrane. While providing great utility in this role, current research leans more toward investigation of artificial lipid membranes. Supported by hydrophilic or hydrophobic substrates (to produce lipid bilayers or monolayers respectively) and incorporating membrane proteins, these biomimetic structures are potentially useful as analytical devices for determining the identity of unknown substances, understanding cellular transduction, and identifying ligand binding sites.

Protein binding
This technique is commonly used in conjunction with green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion proteins, where the studied protein is fused to a GFP. When excited by a specific wavelength of light, the protein will fluoresce. When the protein that is being studied is produced with the GFP, then the fluorescence can be tracked. Photodestroying the GFP, and then watching the repopulation into the bleached area can reveal information about protein interaction partners, organelle continuity and protein trafficking.

If after some time the fluorescence doesn't reach the initial level anymore, then some part of the fluorescence is caused by an immobile fraction (that cannot be replenished by diffusion). Similarly, if the fluorescent proteins bind to static cell receptors, the rate of recovery will be retarded by a factor related to the association and disassociation coefficients of binding. This observation has most recently been exploited to investigate protein binding. Similarly, if the GFP labeled protein is constitutively incorporated into a larger complex, the dynamics of fluorescence recovery will be characterized by the diffusion of the larger complex.

Applications outside the membrane
FRAP can also be used to monitor proteins outside the membrane. After the protein of interest is made fluorescent, generally by expression as a GFP fusion protein, a confocal microscope is used to photobleach and monitor a region of the cytoplasm, mitotic spindle, nucleus, or another cellular structure. The mean fluorescence in the region can then be plotted versus time since the photobleaching, and the resulting curve can yield kinetic coefficients, such as those for the protein's binding reactions and/or the protein's diffusion coefficient in the medium where it is being monitored. Often the only dynamics considered are diffusion and binding/unbinding interactions, however, in principle proteins can also move via flow, i.e., undergo directed motion, and this was recognized very early by Axelrod et al. This could be due to flow of the cytoplasm or nucleoplasm, or transport along filaments in the cell such as microtubules by molecular motors.

The analysis is most simple when the fluorescence recovery is limited by either the rate of diffusion into the bleached area or by rate at which bleached proteins unbind from their binding sites within the bleached area, and are replaced by fluorescent protein. Let us look at these two limits, for the common case of bleaching a GFP fusion protein in a living cell.

Diffusion-limited fluorescence recovery
For a circular bleach spot of radius $$w$$ and diffusion-dominated recovery, the fluorescence is described by an equation derived by Soumpasis (which involves modified Bessel functions $$I_0$$ and $$I_1$$)

 * $$f(t)=e^{-2\tau_D/t}\left(I_{0}(2\tau_D/t)+I_{1}(2\tau_D/t)\right)$$

with $$\tau_D$$ the characteristic timescale for diffusion, and $$t$$ is the time. $$f(t)$$ is the normalized fluorescence (goes to 1 as $$t$$ goes to infinity). The diffusion timescale for a bleached spot of radius $$w$$ is $$\tau_D=w^2/(4D)$$, with D the diffusion coefficient.

Note that this is for an instantaneous bleach with a step function profile, i.e., the fraction $$f_b$$ of protein assumed to be bleached instantaneously at time $$t=0$$ is $$f_b(r)=b, rw$$, for $$r$$ is the distance from the centre of the bleached area. It is also assumed that the recovery can be modelled by diffusion in two dimensions, that is also both uniform and isotropic. In other words, that diffusion is occurring in a uniform medium so the effective diffusion constant D is the same everywhere, and that the diffusion is isotropic, i.e., occurs at the same rate along all axes in the plane.

In practice, in a cell none of these assumptions will be strictly true.

 * 1) Bleaching will not be instantaneous. Particularly if strong bleaching of a large area is required, bleaching may take a significant fraction of the diffusion timescale $$\tau_D$$. Then a significant fraction of the bleached protein will diffuse out of the bleached region actually during bleaching. Failing to take account of this will introduce a significant error into D.
 * 2) The bleached profile will not be a radial step function. If the bleached spot is effectively a single pixel then the bleaching as a function of position will typically be diffraction limited and determined by the optics of the confocal laser scanning microscope used. This is not a radial step function and also varies along the axis perpendicular to the plane.
 * 3) Cells are of course three-dimensional not two-dimensional, as is the bleached volume. Neglecting diffusion out of the plane (we take this to be the xy plane) will be a reasonable approximation only if the fluorescence recovers predominantly via diffusion in this plane. This will be true, for example, if a cylindrical volume is bleached with the axis of the cylinder along the z axis and with this cylindrical volume going through the entire height of the cell. Then diffusion along the z axis does not cause fluorescence recovery as all protein is bleached uniformly along the z axis, and so neglecting it, as Soumpasis' equation does, is harmless. However, if diffusion along the z axis does contribute to fluorescence recovery then it must be accounted for.
 * 4) There is no reason to expect the cell cytoplasm or nucleoplasm to be completely spatially uniform or isotropic.

Thus, the equation of Soumpasis is just a useful approximation, that can be used when the assumptions listed above are good approximations to the true situation, and when the recovery of fluorescence is indeed limited by the timescale of diffusion $$\tau_D$$. Note that just because the Soumpasis can be fitted adequately to data does not necessarily imply that the assumptions are true and that diffusion dominates recovery.

Reaction-limited recovery
The equation describing the fluorescence as a function of time is particularly simple in another limit. If a large number of proteins bind to sites in a small volume such that there the fluorescence signal is dominated by the signal from bound proteins, and if this binding is all in a single state with an off rate koff, then the fluorescence as a function of time is given by

 * $$f(t)=1-e^{-k_{\text{off}}t}$$

Note that the recovery depends on the rate constant for unbinding, koff, only. It does not depend on the on rate for binding. Although it does depend on a number of assumptions If all these assumptions are satisfied, then fitting an exponential to the recovery curve will give the off rate constant, koff. However, other dynamics can give recovery curves similar to exponentials, so fitting an exponential does not necessarily imply that recovery is dominated by a simple bimolecular reaction. One way to distinguish between recovery with a rate determined by unbinding and recovery that is limited by diffusion, is to note that the recovery rate for unbinding-limited recovery is independent of the size of the bleached area r, while it scales as $$r^{-2}$$, for diffusion-limited recovery. Thus if a small and a large area are bleached, if recovery is limited by unbinding then the recovery rates will be the same for the two sizes of bleached area, whereas if recovery is limited by diffusion then it will be much slower for the larger bleached area.
 * 1) The on rate must be sufficiently large in order for the local concentration of bound protein to greatly exceed the local concentration of free protein, and so allow us to neglect the contribution to f of the free protein.
 * 2) The reaction is a simple bimolecular reaction, where the protein binds to localised sites that do not move significantly during recovery
 * 3) Exchange is much slower than diffusion (or whatever transport mechanism is responsible for mobility), as only then does the diffusing fraction recovery rapidly and then acts as the source of fluorescent protein that binds and replaces the bound bleached protein and so increases the fluorescence. With  r  the radius of the bleached spot, this means that the equation is only valid if the bound lifetime $$1/k_{\text{off}} >> r^2/D$$.

Diffusion and reaction
In general, the recovery of fluorescence will not be dominated by either simple isotropic diffusion, or by a single simple unbinding rate. There will be both diffusion and binding, and indeed the diffusion constant may not be uniform in space, and there may be more than one type of binding sites, and these sites may also have a non-uniform distribution in space. Flow processes may also be important. This more complex behavior implies that a model with several parameters is required to describe the data; models with only either a single diffusion constant D or a single off rate constant, koff, are inadequate.

There are models with both diffusion and reaction. Unfortunately, a single FRAP curve may provide insufficient evidence to reliably and uniquely fit (possibly noisy) experimental data. Sadegh Zadeh  et al. have shown that FRAP curves can be fitted by different pairs of values of the diffusion constant and the on-rate constant, or, in other words, that fits to the FRAP are not unique. This is in three-parameter (on-rate constant, off-rate constant and diffusion constant) fits. Fits that are not unique, are not generally useful.

Thus for models with a number of parameters, a single FRAP experiment may be insufficient to estimate all the model parameters. Then more data is required, e.g., by bleaching areas of different sizes, determining some model parameters independently, etc.


text:
Talk:Mary Celeste

Cargo was not petroleum
One writer of this article suggests that the Mary Celeste's log entries referring to explosions in the hold could be explained by her cargo of petroleum. But she was not carrying petroleum. That was the cargo of the ship that discovered her. Chenopodiaceous (talk) 21:15, 1 January 2022 (UTC)

 * Alcohol is volatile and with the right fuel/air mixture, explosive. Dave 3142 (talk) 15:12, 6 July 2022 (UTC)
 * It seems to be a mistake that in the 'Lifeboat' section the cargo is called petroleum. 24.192.39.151 (talk) 03:36, 26 November 2022 (UTC)

Doctor Who Again.
We've already addressed this matter twice:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mary_Celeste/Archive_1#Doctor_Who_and_Mary_Celeste,_October_14,_2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mary_Celeste/Archive_1#Some_observations.

Source provided. Relevance: an entertaining and amusing story involving one of the best-known and best-regarded works of science fiction on the planet, coupled with one of the best-known mysteries. An interesting factoid that does nobody any harm. At least as relevant as the radio plays mentioned earlier.

Talking of which, I think that a distinction should be made between what purport to be attempts, plausible or otherwise, to explain the mystery and accounts that are clearly deliberate fiction. I'm not sure that the way they're distributed amongst the sections is currently quite right. Not sure that the reference to the Joyita belongs here, either. But I hope the above satisfies Nikkimaria. Hengistmate (talk) 16:08, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Nope. The source provided does not satisfy MOS:POPCULT: it demonstrates that the reference exists, but does not demonstrate that it is significant to this subject. If other references also do not meet that standard, the way to address that is by removing or improving them, not adding more examples lacking evidence of significance. Nikkimaria (talk) 02:50, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Marie Celeste suspected of attempted insurance fraud.
Shortly before the Marie Celeste disappeared a ship called 'The City of Boston' disappeared going around the north coast od Ireland whcich was discovered to be an enormous insurance fraud. Many, at the time, thought the Marie Celeste was a failed attempt! 207.225.17.155 (talk) 23:35, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

"Fanthorpe and Fanthorpe"?
The quote about Frederick Solly-Flood's IQ cites its source as "Fanthorpe and Fanthorpe, p. 80", implying that it's from a book written by authors with such names. But there is no other mention of a book from which this came from, making me puzzled as to what book this is referring to. 2A02:A31A:C23A:DD00:7956:8DA9:7CA:CD3 (talk) 06:51, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

 * Fanthorpe and Fanthorpe is listed in Mary Celeste. Lionel Fanthorpe and his wife Patricia Fanthorpe have published a flood of popular books on various "mysteries", or forteana as his wikipedia article calls them. I am not convinced any of those books can be taken as reliable sources. User:Nø 15:00, 23 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The use of sfn (see Help:Shortened footnotes) would have made the article more useful, as it would link the shortened footnote for Fanthorpe and Fanthorpe to the full citation. I continue to be surprised that reviewing editors do not insist on this for featured articles. Peaceray (talk) 16:26, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Not “an” historian
Hard to believe this is still an issue, as the U.S. of an before a hard h is antiquated. See here and here    121.98.207.250 (talk) 12:46, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

 * This article doesn't use U.S. English. In British English a non-hard h pronunciation remains valid, and so the use of an remains valid. Nikkimaria (talk) 14:19, 2 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Please indicate where it is confirmed that this article does not use U.S. English. And please indicate where in British English that non-hard h is preferred. 222.155.184.19 (talk) 10:41, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
 * There is the  at the beginning of the wikitext (4th line). Peaceray (talk) 14:32, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

 * Hm, okay, thanks, hadn't seen that. I don't think that's correct but I suppose that's a broader conversation. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:30, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Mary Celeste


text:
FRAP

FRAP or frap may stand for:

Acronym

 * Facilitated Risk Analysis Process
 * Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
 * Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma, also Ferric ion reducing antioxidant power, a simple assay of antioxidant content in foods
 * Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, an experimental technique in cell biology.
 * Fluoride-resistant acid phosphatase
 * Frenetic Random Activity Periods / Frenetic Random Acts of Play / Frantic Running and Playing (dog behavior and cat behavior)
 * Frente de Acción Popular, a Chilean coalition gathering left-wing parties from 1956 to 1969
 * Frente Revolucionario Antifascista y Patriótico (Revolutionary Anti-Fascist Patriotic Front), a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary organization (1971–1978) using violence against Francoist Spain
 * Front d'action politique, a municipal political party in Montreal
 * Front d'action politique (known as just FRAP), the 2nd largest municipal party in Montreal in 1969–1971.
 * Front Révolutionnaire d’Action Prolétarienne, a far-left terrorist organisation active in Belgium.

Word

 * A method of tightening a lashing (ropework) by wrapping the rope around the lashing's core to help enforce it.
 * An abbreviation for Frappuccino, a trademarked coffee beverage.
 * Frapping, an alternate term for clawhammer banjo technique.

title: FRAP


text:
Republic Day

Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics.

List

 * Legend: {{legend|#FFCD00|Ceased to be republic}}{{legend|#B8FFB8|Transition during or following World War I (1914–1923)}}{{legend|#ffbbbb|Transition during or following World War II (1939–1950)}} {{legend|#F9F9F9|Transition in pre or post world war era}}

1 January in Slovak Republic
The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially called The day of establishment of Slovak republic.

9 January in Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
After Yugoslavia fell apart, Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted to stay with Serbia and Montenegro. Croats and Bosniaks, on the other hand, wanted to create an independent state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 9 January 1992, Bosnian Serb authorities declared the creation of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, now called Republika Srpska ("Serb Republic", not to be confused with the Republic of Serbia) as a state within the country of Bosnia of Herzegovina. Republika Srpska now celebrates Republic Day on the anniversary of the state's creation.

26 January in India
The Constitution of India came into force, and India declared itself a Republic on 26 January 1950, a day thereafter celebrated annually as Republic Day in India. The Constitution had been drafted by the Constituent Assembly headed by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar which was set up when India gained its independence from the British in 1947. This, in fact, was a deliberate act: The 26 January was initially India's "Independence Day", one of Mahatma Gandhi's many symbolic acts during India's struggle for freedom against British colonial rule, and the adoption of the Constitution on this date was felt able to strengthen its initial meaning, one calling for Indians of all ages to declare their freedom from the British Raj by Mahatama Gandhi. It is one of three national holidays in India, the other two being the nation's Independence Day on 15 August (since 1947) and the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 2 October.

To mark this occasion, a grand parade is held near Kartavya Path, formerly Rajpath in New Delhi, the capital of India, beginning from Raisina Hill near the Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace), along the Kartavya path, formerly Rajpath, past India Gate and on to the historic Red Fort in the old quarter of the city. Different infantry, cavalry and mechanized regiments of the Indian Army, the Indian Marines and the Indian Air Force march in formation, decked in all their finery and official decorations. The President of India, who is also the Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, takes the salute. The Chief Guest of the parade is the Head of State or Head of Government of another nation. The parade also includes many traditional dance troupes, to symbolize the cultural heritage of India. It traditionally ends with a colourful flypast by Indian Air Force jets in a tiranga formation. Similar parades are held in the capitals of all the states of India, where the Governors of the respective states take the salute. The official conclusion of republic day festivities is much later on 30 January, four days after the Republic day.

1 February in Hungary
On 1 February 1946 Hungary commemorates the proclamation of the Republic of Hungary. Since 2004, this day is a national commemoration day, without being a public or national Holiday.

23 March in Pakistan
In Pakistan this day marks the passing of the Lahore Resolution. Republic Day of Pakistan was first observed in 1956 when Pakistan officially became a Republic and shunned the former status of Dominion. The main events of this day include a full military parade and the awarding of honours at the Presidency (Presidential Palace) by the President. Every year, on 23 March, the Pakistani people commemorate their National Day in remembrance of "The Pakistan Resolution" passed on 23 March 1940, in the historic city of Lahore which is also the day the country was declared a republic.

28 May in Armenia and Nepal
On 28 May 1918 Armenia and Nepal Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, thus forming the Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Nepal Democratic Republic. These were the first sovereign republics in the history of both countries and Nepal was the first democratic parliamentary republic only achieved consistency after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

A decade-long People's Revolution by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) along with several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties of Nepal in 2006, culminated in a peace accord and the ensuing elections for the constituent assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the abdication of the last Nepali monarch Gyanendra Shah and the establishment of a federal democratic republic on 28 May 2008.

31 May in South Africa (1961–1994)
Between 1961 and 1994, 31 May was celebrated in South Africa as Republic Day. This practice was discontinued in 1995 following the attainment of majority rule and the reorganisation of public holidays as a consequence. On the last Republic Day, in 1994, South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations.

2 June in Italy
The Festa della Repubblica is celebrated on the second day of June, and it commemorates the institutional referendum of 1946 when (by universal suffrage) the Italian population was called to decide what form of government (monarchy or republic) to give to the country after World War II and the fall of Fascism.

After 85 years of monarchy, with 12,717,923 votes for and 10,719,284 votes against, Italy became a Republic, and the monarchs of the House of Savoy were deposed and exiled. This is one of the most important Italian public holidays which, like 14 July in France and 4 July in the USA, celebrates the birth of the nation. A grand military parade is held in central Rome.

1 July in Ghana
Ghana's republican day.

4 July in the Philippines
4 July 1946 is the Philippines' Republic Day.

14 July in Iraq
14 July 1958 is the day the Hashemite monarchy was overthrown in Iraq by popular forces led by Abdul Karim Kassem, who became the nation's new leader. The event was commemorated in Baghdad with a statue in 14 July Square.

25 July in Tunisia
It's the day monarchy was abolished by the National Assembly and Republic was proclaimed. Habib Bourguiba was chosen to be the first President.

5 October in Portugal
5 October in Portugal is known as Implantação da República. It celebrates the proclamation of the Portuguese First Republic in 1910.

10 October in Republic of China
10 October in Taiwan is a national holiday commemorating the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911, the symbolic start of the Chinese revolution with the Wuchang uprising. It is also known as the Double Ten Day.

24 October in Rhodesia (1970–1979)
Although the government of Ian Smith declared Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) a republic on 2 March 1970, it was officially commemorated on 24 October. Following independence in 1980, the holiday was abolished.

25 October in Kazakhstan
In the waning days of Soviet rule, individual republics of the Soviet Union sought greater autonomy. The Soviet Union agreed in early 1990 to give up its monopoly of political power. Following the lead of Lithuanian SSR, Russian SFSR and others, Kazakh SSR declared its sovereignty on 25 October 1990, and Kazakhstan subsequently became independent on 16 December 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed. 25 October, the anniversary of the adoption of the "Declaration on State Sovereignty of Kazakh SSR" by the Kazakh legislature in 1990, is now commemorated as Republic Day (Республика күні), a public holiday in Kazakhstan.

29 October in Turkey
On 29 October 1923, the Turkish constitution was amended and Turkey became a republic. This formally declared the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Republic Day (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Bayramı) is celebrated throughout Turkey and Northern Cyprus every year. Commemorative events usually begin in the afternoon on the previous day. In observance of the holiday, government offices and schools close for a day. Also, there are fireworks shows in all cities of Turkey.That day everyone commemorates Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

11 November in the Maldives
On 11 November 1968, Maldives the then existing monarchy was abolished and replaced by a republic.

15 November in Brazil and Northern Cyprus
On 15 November 1889, in the city of Rio de Janeiro (the Brazilian capital at that time), a military coup led by Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca overthrew Emperor Pedro II and declared Brazil a republic.

29 November in former Yugoslavia (1945–1990)
On 29 November 1943 the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) established the foundations of post-war Yugoslavia as a socialist republic, which was officially proclaimed on the same date in 1945. Republic Day (local name: Dan Republike or Дан Републике) marked the occasion two consecutive days, 29 and 30 November, and was likely the most important holiday (the other two-day holidays were New Year and May Day).

In elementary schools first graders were inducted into the Union of Pioneers on or around Republic Day. Employees merged the holiday with weekends and extra days off to form 3-, 4- or even 5-day weekends. Urban dwellers took the occasion to visit their relatives in the country, who marked the event with pig slaughter and the ensuing feast.

In the 1980s, as central and Communist Party authority eroded, dissenters targeted Republic Day celebrations for criticism. In 1987, Bosnian garage rock band Zabranjeno pušenje published a song entitled Dan Republike, in which they criticized the state of the economy and protested the general indifference to the ideals behind the holiday. The band had to change some of the lyrics before being allowed to air the song.

In 1989, Slovenia and Croatia were the first federal republics to cease observing the holiday. Other seceded republics followed suit as Yugoslavia dissolved. Federal Republic of Yugoslavia kept the holiday until 2002.

The date "29.XI.1943" featured prominently on the Yugoslav coat of arms.

30 November in Barbados
This day is celebrated as both Independence Day and Republic Day, as on 30 November 2021, Barbados was declared as a Republic within the Commonwealth. Dame Sandra Mason, the last Governor-General of Barbados was installed as the first President of Barbados.

13 December in Malta
On 13 December 1974, the constitution of Malta was substantially revised, transforming the former British colony from a Commonwealth Realm into a republic within the Commonwealth. The British Monarch ceased to be recognised as Reġina ta' Malta (Queen of Malta) and the new Head of State was President Sir Anthony Mamo. This occasion is marked every year as Republic Day (Maltese: Jum ir-Repubblika) in Malta. The monument of Republic Day is at Marsa.

18 December in Niger
18 December 1958 is commemorated in the Republic of Niger as Republic Day, the national holiday. Although not the date of formal, complete independence from France, 18 December marks the founding of the Republic and creation of the Presidency of the Republic of Niger, following the constitutional changes of the French Fifth Republic, and the elections of 4 December 1958 held across The French Colonial possessions. Nigeriens consider this date to be the founding of their nation. Between 18 December 1958 and 5 August 1964, Niger remained a semi-autonomous Republic within the French Community.

The 16th is celebrated in Niger with official festivals and appearances of political leaders, as well as public parties and festivities. The 50th anniversary celebrations were held in 2006, centered not in the capitol, but in the regional center of Tillabéry, and surrounded by sports, musical and arts competitions, the opening of new buildings, a National Youth Festival, and other public festivities.

Republic Day in other countries

 * Albania: 11 January (1946)
 * Armenia: 28 May (1918, see Democratic Republic of Armenia)
 * Barbados: 30 November (2021)
 * Burkina Faso: 11 December (1958, Upper Volta became an autonomous republic within the French Community)
 * Central African Republic: 1 December (1958, became an autonomous republic within the French Community)
 * East Germany: 7 October (1949, see Republic Day (East Germany))
 * Gambia: 24 April (1970)
 * Greece: 24 July (1974)
 * Ghana: 1 July (1960)
 * Guyana: 23 February (1970, also known as Mashramani)
 * Iceland: 17 June (1944)
 * India: 26 January (1950)
 * Iran: 1 April (Islamic Republic Day)
 * Iraq: 14 July
 * Kenya: 12 December (1963, see Jamhuri Day)
 * Lithuania: 15 May (1920, known as the Constituent Assembly Day)
 * Maldives: 11 November (1968)
 * Nepal: 28 May (2008)
 * Niger: 18 December (1958)
 * North Korea: 9 September (1948)
 * Pakistan: 23 March (1956)
 * Republic of the Congo: 28 November (1958)
 * Sierra Leone: 27 April (1961)
 * Sri Lanka: 22 May (1972)
 * Tunisia: 25 July (1957)
 * Turkey: 29 October (1923)
 * Trinidad and Tobago: 24 September (1976)

title: Republic Day


text:
United States federal academies

There are nineteen federal academies run by the United States federal government.

Five are United States service academies:
 * United States Military Academy, also known as "West Point" and "Army", founded 1802
 * United States Naval Academy, also known as "Annapolis" and "Navy", founded 1845
 * United States Air Force Academy, founded 1954
 * United States Coast Guard Academy, founded 1876
 * United States Merchant Marine Academy, also known as "Kings Point", founded 1942

Nine other academies can be loosely classified as a military academy, most of which are graduate schools:
 * Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded 1972
 * The National Defense University, also known as "NDU", founded 1976
 * The National Intelligence University, also known as "NIU", established 1962
 * Air Force Institute of Technology
 * Air War College
 * Marine Corps University
 * Naval Postgraduate School
 * Naval War College
 * United States Army Command and General Staff College
 * United States Army War College

There are five federal non-military academies:
 * The Foreign Service Institute, founded 1947
 * The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, founded 1970
 * United States National Mine Health and Safety Academy, founded 1971
 * The FBI Academy, founded 1972
 * The National Fire Academy, also known as "NFA", founded in 1976

title: United States federal academies