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.338 Lapua Magnum

The .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm or 8.58×70mm) is a Finnish rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It was developed during the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. Due to its use in the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, the cartridge has become widely available.

The bullet is named after Finnish town Lapua.

The loaded .338 cartridge is 8.6 mm in diameter (rim) and 93.5 mm long. It can penetrate better-than-standard military body armor at ranges of up to 1000 m, and has a maximum effective range of about 1750 m with C.I.P. conforming ammunition at sea level conditions. Muzzle velocity is dependent on barrel length, seating depth, and powder charge, and varies from 880 to 915 m/s for commercial loads with 16.2 g bullets, which corresponds to about 6525 J of muzzle energy.

British military issue overpressure .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges with 70 mm overall length, loaded with 16.2 g LockBase B408 very-low-drag bullets fired at 936 m/s (3,071 ft/s) muzzle velocity from a L115A3 Long Range Rifle were used in November 2009 by British sniper Corporal of Horse (CoH) Craig Harrison to establish a new record for the longest confirmed sniper kill in combat, at a range of 2475 m (since broken). In reports, CoH Harrison mentions the environmental conditions at Musa Qala were perfect for long-range shooting: no wind, mild weather, and clear visibility.

In addition to its military role, it is used by hunters and civilian long-range shooting enthusiasts. The .338 Lapua Magnum is capable of taking down any big game animals, though its suitability for some dangerous game (Cape buffalo, hippopotamus, white rhinoceros, and elephant) is arguable unless accompanied by a larger "backup" caliber: "There is a huge difference between calibers that will kill an elephant and those that can be relied upon to stop one." In Namibia, the .338 Lapua Magnum in the past was legal for hunting Africa's big five game if the loads had at least 5400 J muzzle energy. Since 2015, Namibia and other sub-Saharan countries generally require larger minimal bore diameters by law for big-five hunting.

Initial development
In 1983, Research Armament Industries (RAI) in the United States began development of a new, long-range sniper cartridge capable of firing a 16.2 g, 0.338 in bullet at 914 m/s, that could lethally penetrate five layers of military body armor at 1000 m. After preliminary experiments, a .416 Rigby case necked down to take a 0.338 in bullet was selected, since this diameter presents an optimum of sectional density and penetrating capability for practical spin-stabilized rifle bullets (bullets up to about 5 to 5.5 calibers in length).

The .416 Rigby is an English big-game cartridge designed in 1911 to accommodate 325 MPa (47,137 psi) pressures. One of the disadvantages of these old cartridge cases, which were intended for firing cordite charges instead of modern smokeless powder, is the thickness of the sidewall just forward of the web (the solid portion of a cartridge between the head and the bottom of the primer pocket). During ignition, the cartridge's base, just forward of the bolt face, is not supported.

During the process, RAI employed Jim Bell and Brass Extrusion Labs Ltd. (B.E.L.L.) of Bensenville, Illinois, to make the .338/416 or 8.58×71 mm cartridge cases, Hornady produced bullets, and RAI built a sniper rifle under contract for the U.S. Navy. RAI found that the BELL cases did not fulfill the requirements, since they were modified low pressure .416 Rigby cases. Pressed by military deadlines, RAI looked for another case producer and contacted Lapua of Finland in 1984. RAI was forced to drop out of the program due to financial difficulties. Subsequently, Lapua of Finland put this cartridge into limited production. The .338/416 rifle program was later canceled when the contractors were unable to meet the project's velocity target of 914 m/s for a 16.2 g bullet, due to excessive pressures rupturing cartridge cases.

Final development

The .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge was developed as a joint venture between the Finnish rifle manufacturer SAKO and the British rifle manufacturer Accuracy International, along with the Finnish ammunition manufacturer Lapua, or more officially Nammo Lapua Oy, which since 1998 is part of the Nordic Ammunition Group (Nammo).

Lapua opted to redesign the .338/416 cartridge. In the new case design, particular attention was directed toward thickening and metallurgically strengthening the case's web and sidewall immediately forward of the web. In modern solid head cases, the hardness of the brass is the major factor determining a case's pressure limit before undergoing plastic deformation. Lapua tackled this problem by creating a hardness distribution ranging from the head and web (hard) to the mouth (soft) as well as a strengthened (thicker) case web and sidewall immediately forward of the web. This resulted in a very pressure-resistant case, allowing it to operate at high pressure and come within 15 m/s (50 ft/s) of the original velocity goal. Lapua also designed a 16.2 g .338 caliber lock base B408 full metal jacket bullet, modeled after its .30 caliber lock base bullet configuration. The result was the .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge which was registered with C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) in 1989. With the procurement by the Dutch Army, the cartridge became NATO codified.

The .338 Lapua Magnum fills the gap between weapons chambered for standard military rounds such as the 7.62×51mm NATO and large, heavy rifles firing the .50 BMG cartridge. It also offers an acceptable amount of barrel wear, which is important to military snipers who tend to fire thousands of rounds a year in practice. This was achieved by coupling a sensible case volume (7.40 ml) to bore area (56.86 mm2/0.5686 cm2) ratio (13.01 Oratio) with ample space for loading relatively long slender projectiles that can provide good aerodynamic efficiency and external ballistic performance for the projectile diameter. Like every other comparable large magnum rifle cartridge, the .338 Lapua Magnum presents a stout recoil. An appropriate fitting stock and an effective muzzle brake helps to reduce recoil-induced problems, enabling the operator to fire more rounds before getting too uncomfortable to shoot accurately. Good factory loads, multiple projectile weights and factory special application ammunition are all available.

Due to its growing civilian popularity, several high-quality tactical and match (semi) custom bolt actions designed for the .338 Lapua Magnum are becoming available. These (semi) custom bolt-actions are used with other high-grade rifle and sighting components to build custom sporting and target rifles.

Users

The .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge is in law enforcement or military service use with:

 * 🇦🇱: RENEA – Sako TRG-42
 * 🇦🇺: Blaser Tactical 2
 * 🇦🇹: Austrian Armed Forces Jagdkommando – Steyr 08A2
 * Bangladesh Armed Forces – Accuracy International AWM
 * 🇨🇦: Canadian Forces – C14 Timberwolf Medium Range Sniper Weapon System (MRSWS)
 * Chilean Army – APR338 and PGM 338 Barrett Model 98B
 * 🇨🇳: People's Liberation Army Ground Force – QBU-202 (military designation for the 8.6×70mm CS/LR35 rifle)
 * 🇨🇴: TAP.
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus: National Guard-Accuracy International Arctic Warfare
 * 🇨🇿 — Sako TRG-42
 * : Military of Denmark – Sako TRG-42
 * 🇪🇪: Military of Estonia reconnaissance units and special forces — Sako TRG-42.
 * 🇫🇮: Finnish Defence Forces – Sako TRG-42
 * 🇫🇷: French Army, GIGN and Commandement des Opérations Spéciales – PGM 338, Sako TRG-42, AWM .338
 * : Police and military - Accuracy International AWM and Sako TRG series, as well as Satevari MSWP. Domestic analogue .338 GBM produced by STC Delta
 * 🇩🇪: Bundeswehr – Haenel RS9 designated as G29 in service with the special forces; replacing the G22,  Erma SR-100, AMP Technical Services DSR-1, GOL Sniper Magnum
 * : Anti-Terrorist Unit EKAM – Sako TRG-41
 * 🇭🇺: Hungarian Police Security Service (Rendészeti Biztonsági Szolgálat) - Unique-Alpine TPG-1 (Taktische Prazisions Gewehr-1)
 * 🇮🇩: Kopassus – Accuracy International AWM .338
 * 🇮🇪: Irish Army – Accuracy International AWM .338
 * 🇮🇱: Infantry - H-S Precision Pro Series 2000 HTR Special forces — McMillan Tac-338 and PGM 338, YAMAM – Barrett MRAD
 * 🇮🇹: Sako TRG-42
 * 🇱🇹: Lithuanian Armed Forces – Accuracy International AXMC
 * : Pasukan Gerakan Khas – Accuracy International AWM —Accuracy International AX338
 * 🇳🇱: Dutch military – Accuracy International AWM and AXMC, Sako TRG-41
 * 🇳🇿: New Zealand Defence Force – Barrett MRAD
 * 🇵🇱: GROM – Accuracy International AWM, 1 Pułk Specjalny Komandosów
 * 🇵🇹 — Accuracy International AWM – Accuracy International AXMC
 * 🇷🇺: Alpha Group and SOBR – Accuracy International AWM
 * 🇷🇸: Special Brigade – Sako TRG-42.
 * : PGM 338
 * : Military of Slovenia – PGM 338
 * 🇪🇸: GOE – Sako TRG-41
 * : Sako TRG-42
 * Syria: Accuracy International AWM
 * 🇹🇷: Sako TRG-42
 * 🇺🇦: Used by the army snipers: the Netherlands donated Accuracy International AWM rifles to Ukraine in 2022.
 * 🇬🇧: British military – Accuracy International AWM .338
 * 🇺🇸: US Navy Special Warfare – McMillan Tac-338

The .338 Lapua Magnum has been designated a "cartridge of interest" by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). It is being groomed to replace the .300 Winchester Magnum and the .50 BMG for anti-personnel long-range service in the U.S. military. On June 17, 2008, the U.S. government issued a market survey to support a requirement for a precision sniper rifle (PRS) to possibly replace the then-fielded bolt-action SOF Sniper Syst's0126. On 7 March 2013, the Remington MSR was declared the winner of the precision sniper rifle competition. Remington announced that the MSR had won on 8 March, and it was publicly confirmed on 9 March. This was followed by a $79.7 million contract for 5,150 rifles with suppressors, along with 4,696,800 rounds of ammunition to be supplied over the next ten years. The contract was awarded on 12 September 2013. Remington Defense would produce the Mk 21 sniper rifles and utilized two other companies for other system components, with Barnes Bullets for ammunition and Advanced Armament Corporation for muzzle brakes and suppressors; all three companies are subsidiaries of Remington Outdoor Company. However, it was then decided that the Mk 21 did not conform to SOCOM requirements, and the program was re-competed with the Barrett MRAD selected in 2019 as the Mk 22 Advanced Sniper Rifle solution. The US military opted to use 7.62×51mm NATO, .300 Norma Magnum and instead of the .338 Lapua Magnum the .338 Norma Magnum chambering in their Mk 22 rifles, which have a field-convertible barrel/chambering switch capability.

Cartridge dimensions
Extremely thick-walled brass results in a 7.40 ml (114 grains H2O) cartridge case capacity for the .338 Lapua Magnum. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable feeding and extraction in bolt action, semi-automatic, and automatic firearms alike, under extreme conditions.

.338 Lapua Magnum maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).

Americans define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 20 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 254 mm (1 in 10 in), 6 grooves, Ø lands = 8.38 mm, Ø grooves = 8.58 mm, land width = 2.79 mm and the primer type is large rifle magnum.

According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) decisions and tables edition 2007 the .338 Lapua Magnum case can handle up to 420.00 MPa Pmax piezo pressure. This prevails over the C.I.P. decisions and tables edition 2003, that rated the .338 Lapua Magnum at 470.00 MPa Pmax maximum piezo pressure. The 470.00 MPa Pmax maximum piezo pressure C.I.P. ruling for the .300 Lapua Magnum cartridge, which is based on the same case, was at the time not accordingly changed. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of the prevailing maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. This means that .338 Lapua Magnum chambered arms in C.I.P. regulated countries are  proof tested at 525.00 MPa PE piezo pressure.

Lapua has been ambivalent on the maximum piezo pressure of this cartridge. In the article "From an American dream to a Finnish success story" by Janne Pohjoispää, Lapua propagates the C.I.P. 2007 ruling of 420.00 MPa maximum piezo pressure. To further complicate matters the mentioned 56,000 CUP C.I.P. copper crusher pressure translates to around 447.50 MPa C.I.P. piezo pressure according to a study on the conversion from CUP to PSI for rifle cartridges by Denton Bramwell. The C.I.P. 2003 ruling of 470.00 MPa piezo pressure is corroborated by Lapua Australia in the "History and development of the .338 Lapua Magnum" article by Alan C. Paulson. A reverse engineering simulation with QuickLOAD internal ballistic software predicted that Lapua load their factory .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition at about 420.00 MPa piezo pressure, as Paulson asserts in his article.

The large bolt face combined with the maximum pressure means that the .338 Lapua Magnum is normally only chambered in rifles that are capable of handling such large high-pressure cartridges, and thus high bolt thrust, safely. Chambering such powerful super magnum cartridges in rifles intended for normal magnum rifle cartridges and using high-pressure loads can cause serious or fatal injury to the shooter and bystanders.

The American .338-378 Weatherby Magnum cartridge introduced in 1998 and the American .338 Remington Ultra Magnum (.338 RUM) cartridge introduced in 2000 are probably the closest ballistics-wise to the .338 Lapua Magnum commercially available. The .338-378 Weatherby Magnum is, however, a belted cartridge and the .338 Remington Ultra Magnum is a rebated rim cartridge.

The American SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute) has no normal voluntary guidelines for the .338 Lapua Magnum. On 14 January 2013 it opted to use the metric C.I.P. rulings and add some dimensions that have no C.I.P. analog.

Performance with C.I.P. conforming cartridges
For a typical .338 Lapua Magnum high-end factory military sniper rifle like the Sako TRG-42 with a 690 mm long 305 mm (1 in 12 inch) rifling twist rate barrel at sea level, 1500 m is considered to be the maximum shooting distance for man-sized targets. When using standard Lapua military 16.2 g (250 gr) loads it has a supersonic range of 1500 m under warm summer conditions at a muzzle velocity of 915 m/s. However, to be able to maintain 80 to 90% hit probability on non-moving 45 x reactive army targets, this maximum shooting distance has to be reduced to 1300 m at freezing point conditions or 1100 m in Arctic winter conditions, when the muzzle velocity may drop to 880 m/s—i.e. only during optimal warm summer conditions the 1500 m maximum shooting distance is realistically achievable.

Loaded with more aerodynamic very-low-drag bullets such as the traditionally lead-cored 19.44 g (300 gr) Lapua Scenar GB528 VLD bullet (G1 BC = 0.736) or the Lost River Ballistics J40 .338 17.5 gram (270 gr) CNC manufactured mono-metal bullet (G1 BC = 0.871) the long-range performance and supersonic range of .338 Lapua Magnum rifles can be improved. These longer very-low-drag bullets require a 254 mm (1 in 10 inch) twist rate to stabilize them. Due to the lower practically possible muzzle velocities for a relative heavy bullet like the 19.44 g (300 gr) Lapua Scenar GB528 VLD bullet it gains about 104 m extra supersonic range under International Standard Atmosphere sea level conditions (air density ρ = 1.225 kg/m3) at a muzzle velocity of 837 m/s (2750 ft/s) when compared to the standard 16.2 g (250 gr) Lapua Scenar GB488 VLD at a muzzle velocity of 915 m/s (3002 ft/s). For significant supersonic range improvement, the aerodynamic efficiency of the employed bullets has to be significantly improved without sacrificing a lot of practically achievable muzzle velocity - meaning that besides the coefficient of drag of the projectile weight is also an important parameter for its actual downrange flight behavior. The .338 17.5 gram (270 gr) Lost River Ballistic Technologies J40 match bullet made out of a copper-nickel alloy is one of the most aerodynamic .338 calibre bullets available. It has an 1800 m supersonic range under optimal warm summer conditions at a muzzle velocity of 869 m/s. This makes engaging static targets up to 1800 m feasible.

Performance improvement experiments with non-C.I.P.-conforming cartridges
Improvement beyond this standard while still using standard .338 Lapua Magnum brass is possible, but the bullets have to be very long (over 5.5 calibers in length) and the normal cartridge overall length of 93.5 mm has to be exceeded, making such cartridges wildcats. The common 254 mm (1:10 inch) rifling twist rate also has to be tightened to stabilize very long projectiles. Such commercially non-existent cartridges are termed "wildcats". The use of a wildcat .338 Lapua Magnum-based cartridge demands the use of a custom or customized rifle with an appropriately cut chamber and fast-twist bore. The firearm action and if a repeating arm is required the magazines must also be able to cope with dimensional increases.

An example of such a special .338 caliber extreme range bullet is the German CNC manufactured mono-metal 18.92 gram (292 gr) LM-105 (Cd = 0.2487 at Mach 2.216 – this drag coefficient and the corresponding G1, G7 and G8 ballistic coefficients are established by Doppler radar measurements). The LM-105 has a supersonic range of ≈ 1860 m at a muzzle velocity of 915 m/s under International Standard Atmosphere sea level conditions (air density ρ = 1.225 kg/m3). The 2010 version of the LM-105 bullet has an overall length of 54.3 mm or 6.33 calibers and derives its exceptionally low drag from a radical LD Haack or Sears-Haack profile in the bullet's nose area. Rifles chambered for this wildcat cartridge, with a cartridge overall length of 105 mm, and equipped with custom made 178 mm (1:7 inch) progressive twist rate 900 mm long barrels with a 2° cone-angle (the standard C.I.P. cone-angle for the .338 Lapua Magnum is 6°) cone area finished first and second at several long-range competitions. Its most recent win (2007) was in an international special forces and police sniper competition in Switzerland against rifles chambered for 7.62×51mm NATO up to .50 BMG at ranges from 100 m – 1,500 m (109 yd – 1,640 yds). The LM-105 bullet exhibited its very low wind drift susceptibility notably at ranges beyond 800 m. A real-world average G1 BC of around 0.83 or a G7 BC of about 0.42 is commonly adopted by the users of this bullet, for making long-range trajectory predictions using ballistics calculators. In contrast the LM-105 designer Lutz Möller originally calculated an optimistic G1 BC of ≈ 0.93 and a supersonic range of ≈ 2000 m at a muzzle velocity of 915 m/s under International Standard Atmosphere sea level conditions (air density ρ = 1.225 kg/m3).

The .343 Lapua Magnum LM-107 was a wildcat cartridge under development based on the standard .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge case. The LM-107 was hoped to boost the ballistic performance of the LM-105 by achieving an increase in supersonic range. The 19.3 g (298 gr) LM-107 projectile design is 59 mm long and has a Haack profiled nose and an Adams profiled tail. The rifling twist rate for the .343 Lapua Magnum LM-107 wildcat cartridge was chosen at 180 mm (1:7 inch), Ø lands = 8.72 mm, Ø grooves = 8.45 mm and loaded with the LM-107 projectile has a cartridge overall length of 107 mm. The length of the neck is increased from 8,31 to 8,50 mm to support the bigger LM-107 bullet. Several other dimensions of the .338 Lapua Magnum parental cartridge are also changed. The shoulder angle gets steepened from 40° to 60° and the body taper is set at 1°. The throat area is set at a 2° cone-angle. All these modifications make the .343 Lapua Magnum a fairly comprehensively revised wildcat cartridge. Out of a 900 mm long progressive twist barrel Möller expected to achieve 909 m/s muzzle velocity. If Möller's design assumptions are correct the LM-107 projectile with a calculated G1 BC of 1.02 will offer a supersonic range of ≈ 2170 m at a muzzle velocity of 909 m/s under International Standard Atmosphere sea level conditions (air density ρ = 1.225 kg/m3).

.300 Lapua Magnum
The commercially successful .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge has functioned as the parent case for the .300 Lapua Magnum, which is essentially a necked-down version of the .338 Lapua Magnum. The .338 cartridge case was used for this since it has the capability to operate with high chamber pressures which, combined with smaller and hence lighter bullets, result in very high muzzle velocities.

The Finnish ammunition manufacturer Lapua got the .300 Lapua Magnum C.I.P. certified, so it became an officially registered and sanctioned member of the Finnish "family" of super magnum rifle cartridges. The .300 Lapua Magnum is not commercially available and exists only as a C.I.P. datasheet. It is however still used by a few shooters who produce the cases from .338 Lapua Magnum brass by reshaping the shoulder and neck, and handloading it with .30 calibre bullets.

The .300 Lapua Magnum has a 7.33 ml (113 grains H2O) cartridge case capacity.

.300 Lapua Magnum maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).

Americans define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 25 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 240 mm (1 in 9.45 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 7.62 mm, Ø grooves = 7.82 mm, land width = 4.47 mm and the primer type is large rifle magnum.

According to the official C.I.P. rulings the .300 Lapua Magnum can handle up to 440.00 MPa Pmax piezo pressure. This prevails over the C.I.P. decisions and tables edition 2007, that rated the .300 Lapua Magnum at 470.00 MPa Pmax piezo pressure.

The large diameter bolt face, combined with the high maximum pressure, means that the .300 Lapua Magnum is normally only chambered in rifles that are capable of handling the resulting high bolt thrust, safely. Chambering such powerful super magnum cartridges in rifles intended for normal magnum rifle cartridges and using 440.00 MPa loads can cause serious or fatal injury to the shooter and bystanders.

7.62 UKM
The .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge is also used as the parent case for the German-designed 7.62 UKM, which is essentially a necked-down shortened version of the .338 Lapua Magnum. The use of the .338 cartridge case with its capability to operate at high chamber pressures resulted in a magnum case capable of producing high muzzle velocities.

The 7.62 UKM was developed by Michael Uekötter and was C.I.P.-certified in 2002, making it an officially registered and sanctioned member of the Finnish "family" of super magnum rifle cartridges. The 7.62 UKM is not commercially available and exists only as a C.I.P. datasheet. It is however still used by a few shooters who produce the cases from .338 Lapua Magnum brass by reshaping the shoulder and neck, and handloading it with .30 caliber bullets.

The 7.62 UKM has a 5.84 ml (90 grains H2O) cartridge case capacity.

7.62 UKM maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).

Americans define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 20 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 254 mm (1 in 10 in), 6 grooves, Ø lands = 7.62 mm, Ø grooves = 7.82 mm, land width = 2.79 mm and the primer type is large rifle magnum.

According to the official C.I.P. rulings the 7.62 UKM Magnum can handle up to 440.00 MPa Pmax piezo pressure. This prevails over the C.I.P. decisions and tables edition 2007, that rated the 7.62 UKM at 470.00 MPa Pmax piezo pressure.

.375 Swiss P
The .375 Swiss P (9.5×7 0mm) is a C.I.P. registered chambering introduced in 2021 and advertised by RUAG Ammotec as a cartridge that "fills the gap in ballistic performance between the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70 mm) and the .50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO)". As such, .375 Swiss P was designed to be relatively easily rechambered by a rebarreling as a performance upgrade in sturdily built rifles originally designed around the .338 Lapua Magnum chambering. The .375 Swiss P is a rebated rim bottlenecked cartridge that shares its bolt face, rim diameter, overall length, and maximum operating pressure with the .338 Lapua Magnum chambering. It features a larger 15.73 mm base diameter as found in the .500 Jeffery. This results in a (P1 - R1 = 0.80 mm) rebated rim.

Wildcats

The .338 Lapua Magnum case is also used as the parent case for a host of modified variants that are not officially registered with or sanctioned by C.I.P. or its American equivalent, SAAMI. By changing the shape of standard factory cases (decreasing case taper or changing the shoulder geometry) the wildcatter generally increases the case capacity of the factory parent cartridge case, allowing more propellant to be used to generate higher velocities. Besides changing the shape and internal volume of the parent cartridge case, wildcatters also can change the original caliber. Because the .338 Lapua offers a large and exceptionally sturdy, pressure-resistant cartridge case that can be relatively easily reloaded and hence be reused several times, it has become quite popular amongst wildcatters. With the .338 Lapua Magnum as the parent case wildcatters have created 7 mm (7 mm Allen Magnum, 7 mm Katzmeier, 7 mm Fatso ), .30 (.30-338 Lapua (Triebel), .30 Wolf, 300 Allen Express), 8 mm (8 mm-338 Lapua (Triebel), LM-101), .338 (.338 Yogi, LM-105), .343 (.343 Lapua Magnum LM-107 ), 9.3 mm (9,3-338 Lapua Magnum (Triebel)), .375 (9.5×70 ELR) and .50 calibre (.510 Whisper) variants. Tom Sarver used a .300 Hulk wildcat cartridge, which is basically a necked-down, blown out, shortened .338 Lapua Magnum variant, to achieve a 1.403 in diameter benchrest five-shot group on 7 July 2007, establishing a world record.

title: .338 Lapua Magnum


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Saint-Hymer

Saint-Hymer is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

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

title: Saint-Hymer


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Adie Allen

Adie Allen (born 1966) is a British actress who graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, RADA in 1987. She has appeared in new plays at the Royal Court, the Almeida, the Bush and the Tricycle Theatre(s). She frequently appears on British television. Notable television appearances include Casualty (she played student nurse Kelly Liddle in a number of episodes in 1991, the television series 99-1 playing Liz Hulley in 1994, Alan Ayckbourn's West End premiere of Communicating Doors at the Gielgud Theatre in 1996, playing the time-travelling prostitute Poopay, as well as the 1997 television drama The Woman in White playing Margaret Porcher, and the Peter Kosminsky film Innocents, playing Helen Rickard in 2000. She was brought up in Bristol and was educated at Monks Park Comprehensive School, leaving when she was sixteen.

She is married to the architect Duncan Dalgleish, and has three children.

title: Adie Allen


text:
The Jesus Incident

The Jesus Incident (1979) is the second science fiction novel set in the Destination: Void universe by the American author Frank Herbert and poet Bill Ransom. It is a sequel to Destination: Void (1965), and has two sequels: The Lazarus Effect (1983) and The Ascension Factor (1988).

Plot introduction
The book takes place at an indeterminate time following the events in Destination: Void. At the end of Destination: Void the crew of the ship had succeeded in creating an artificial consciousness. The new conscious being, now known as 'Ship', gains a level of awareness that allows it to manipulate space and time. Ship instantly transports itself to a planet which it has decided the crew will colonize, christening it "Pandora". The first book ends with a demand from Ship for the crew to learn how to WorShip or how to establish a relationship with Ship, a godlike being.

The action of the book is divided between two settings, the internal spaces of Ship which is orbiting Pandora and the settlements on the planet. While the original crew of Ship, as described in Destination: Void, were cloned human beings from the planet Earth, by the time of The Jesus Incident, the crew has become a mixed bag of peoples from various cultures that have been accepted as crew members by Ship when it visited their planet as well as people who have been conceived and born on the ship. Evidently Ship has shown up at a number of planets as the suns of those planets were going nova, the implication being that these planets were other, failed experiments by Ship to establish a relationship with human beings. Ship refers to these as replays of human history, suggesting Ship itself has manipulated human history time and time again.

Ship's charge for humans to decide how to WorShip still remains unsatisfied. In the opening chapters, Ship reveals that Pandora will be a final test for the human race. Ship awakens the Chaplain/Psychiatrist Raja Flattery (part of the original Destination: Void crew) from hibernation, and reveals to him the true nature of this test. He tasks Flattery with intervening in the society which has developed on Pandora to solve this riddle of WorShip. Flattery is to help the humans to pass Ship's test or else risk the destruction of the race. Flattery assumes the name of Raja Thomas to mask his identity from the other shipmen.

The surface of the planet Pandora is 80% seas, and the sea is dominated by a type of kelp which appears to be sentient. The land is overrun by a number of deadly predators that are efficient killers, requiring people on the planet surface to adapt to a highly stressful lifestyle living within a fortress. The main fortress is known as Colony, a small city that is predominantly underground. When The Jesus Incident begins there have been three failed attempts at colonization of the surface. The current colony is starting a second colonization site, known as The Redoubt.

In addition to Raja Flattery, several main characters drive the narrative. Morgan Oakes is the head administrator of both the crew and the colonists and the central provocateur whose actions drive the conflict. Jesus Lewis is his main assistant as well as a biological engineer. Kerro Panille is a poet who has a special relationship with Ship. Legata Hamill is an administrative assistant and data analyst for Morgan Oakes. The planet Pandora itself with its non-human inhabitants is another main character of the book. As the book progresses, the reader discovers that the kelp, the hylighters, and other creatures of the planet appear to be linked into a large entity with a shared consciousness, Avata.

Jesus Lewis is the manager and chief scientist of Lab One which is a genetic engineering facility that is working on genetically modified clones of human beings in order to develop a class of engineered human beings who can survive the predators of Pandora. The clones are viewed as organic tools much like they were presented in Destination: Void where clones are sent out in specially prepared space ships to create an artificial consciousness. There is a clear social distinction between clones and naturally born human beings, a distinction that in the end leads to the outbreak of a series of battles and confrontations (slave rebellions) between natural humans and clones as conflict over food supplies and assignment of risk escalates.

The other major project of Lab One is to create a tool that will eliminate the kelp living in the seas of Pandora. The kelp is viewed by the leadership of the Oakes administration as the major impediment to the exploitation of the seas as a source of food.

Major themes
The book deals with concepts such as artificial intelligence, worship, resource allocation, and religious violence. Clones and genetic engineering take up themes of racism. One of the major themes is leadership and how the values of leaders influence a society through the actions and narratives of a society's leaders. Another is the nature and definition of God. There are echoes of Herbert's exploration of the effect of greed on the leaders within a society and how greedy leaders will warp a society in order to consolidate their own power, a theme in the Dune books as well as The Dosadi Experiment (1977).

The book makes several references to Frankenstein, as an analogy to the relationship between Ship and humans. The book takes it a step further demanding that humans take responsibility for their creation by realizing Ship is a human artifact and its omnipotence ultimately sprang from human hands. This is what Ship meant when it demanded worShip.

History
The novelette "Songs of a Sentient Flute" (1979) from the Medea series was the precursor version of The Jesus Incident, but the two were set on different planets due to copyright issues, being published by different publishers.

title: The Jesus Incident


text:
Talk:International mobile subscriber identity

Stored as a 64-bit field?
I don't think this is relevant. It used to say "stored as a 64-bit field on the SIM" (which is possible I suppose, although without a citation I'd say it's dubious, most GSM numbers are BCD, but is still irrelevant) but now just says "it is stored as a 64-bit field" which simply isn't true - I can store an IMSI scribbled on a piece of paper. There are also many systems that store IMSIs in (eg) BCD or ASCII. gwinkless (talk) 16:45, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

Note that 16 digits can fit into 55 binary bits. I suppose the original note might have meant stored in 64-bits as BCD (4 bits per digit) which is probably more likely. I still think it's irrelevant to the article though. gwinkless (talk) 16:49, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

Untitled
From discussion added to my talk page is the following N.B. this is only part of Kieth's original comment:Mozzerati 22:01, 29 May 2004 (UTC)

E.214 dictates that you convert the MCC->CC part first, then the MNC+MIDN->NC+etc part second. (Which has problems which are documented elsewhere.) Your example does MCC+MNC->CC+NC as one step (which is probably how it should be done, but not how E.214 dictates). TIA, KeithTyler 18:37, May 25, 2004 (UTC)

 * I have been looking quite carefully at this (please note a number of articles added whilst I did it including NPI page with E.214 numbering plan listed). I've added some sources at the end of the section on GT problems.  Reading E.214, I can see how it could be interpreted to mean that the analysis should be done separately, but it's clear that there is no fixed relation from MNC to NC so that part of the analysis can only be done in the context

A further discussion is, which of the problems listed in the GT problems section are actually still valid. I've seen the exchange (actually found it on the internet, which makes a great change!!). The GSM Numbering Authority clearly addressed that

 * analysis is done all at once (not MCC separately from MNC), the conversion between countries works
 * there is no need or intention to switch away from E.214 numbers in Europe
 * billing systems do have problems with threee digit MNCs
 * most modern mobie phones cope with three digit MNCs
 * older "legacy" phones don't all cope.

I think that probably the section should be rewritten with attribution as far as we can (who wants to replace E.214???) also some history so it's clear which concerns are really valid and which have already been addressed. Mozzerati 22:01, 29 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Given that the North American problems with the E.214 global title scheme have partially been "solved" by serious underutilization of the U.S. and North American IMSI space, can it really be considered no longer a problem?

 * Also, how did you determine that NC for Cingular? 4054? I've been trying to find a source on how GT downconversion is done from MNC to NC inside NANP.

 * TIA, KeithTyler 23:52, May 30, 2004 (UTC)

 * The best source for all of the network codes is the IR.21 form from the GSM MOU exchanged from operator to operator to allow setting up roaming agreements. You may need to join the MOU to get access to it for some operators (though others have published theirs at certain times). I know a bunch of this stuff in memory from having designed or typed in the source data for roaming agreements.  This isn't secret as such (it has to be known by all the operators in the world outside America), but it's certainly not easy to find a source on the internet (I've been looking, since I wanted to reference it).

I've been reading around, and it seems that the issues with the three digit MNC are more related to what is broadcast by the base station to the mobile phone than to the IMSI in the core network. There were a bunch of concerns expressed (as I said above) but for most of the core network, there is no difference between a two digit and a three digit MCC since we just treat the whole thing as one big number and analyse as deep as we want (most switches I know) or to at least seven digits (switches the GSM NA Checked).

Now I have to speculate about some details. Why would Non American GSM systems have to handle a three digit MNC?

 * 1) : if the network wants be able to have three digits in their own country
 * 2) : for the billing center be able to send billing data to the correct roaming partner in inter operator clearing
 * 3) : for the core network to be able to route correctly IMSI messages to the correct roaming partner
 * 4) : for the mobile phone to be able to tell between two different networks when roaming in a 3digit MNC country based on cell broadcast information.

1) is seems to be a question which the NA says will not be solved soon if ever.

2) is a problem, apparently

3) is solved automatically I believe by the current analysis in international switches

4) is a problem which is going away. All modern mobiles can handle both 2 and 3 digit codes

Reading the documents, the IOC has decided to use only MNCs like XX0 until 2008. Based on figures of approximately 400millon phones produced each year against a user base of 1billion, of which we can assume a large percentage already support three digit MNCs, we can see that 4 should be more or less solved by that time (not forgetting that phones often get 'recycled', so there can be some quite old ones in certain networks). In those phones that have sufficient frequency support to roam from America to Europe, I doubt severely that there's a high percentage of phones without dual length support, if any. That, then won't be a big problem by then.

Looking at the billing systems, I remember why I've been avoiding working on billing for about four years. Billing updates are a total nightmare, not to mention that some companies still try to sell COBOL based billing systems which problably have the 2 digit MNC totally hard coded. However, this matters mainly for their home customers. The international clearing can be separated (e.g. at a mediation device) and then they will be able to update by 2008 if they have to. This means that it will be a problem for individual networks which fail to update in time, but it won't be a problem for the overall network, since

There's another other problem that I can see related to IMSI space limitations

 * a mobile phone which doesn't know about the full American country codes won't know that two different networks with different MCCs actually both belong to the same country - this seems to cause problems with some national roaming situations

Now, I'm trying to analyse this, it seems to me that it's an inevitable problem however, since e.g. eventually a new MCC may be added to the American range and at that point old mobile phones would have no way of knowing if it was American or not.

there's yet another hypothetical problem

 * a network with multiple MNCs may have a single NC

According to the IOC documents, there is a situation where each licence a network gets comes with its own MNC. Now, if a network did declare all of these as mapped to the network's own NC then there would be a true loss of information in the E.212->E.214 conversion process. This would cause a problem if, on loss of a license, the networks subscribers were transferred to a different operator. The solution would be to have one NC for each MCC, either by having multiple allocations, or by adding an extra digit at the end of the NC (which the operator could probably just do themselves).

Now, what else have I missed??!!!??

 * The argument for non-US systems to recognize 3 digit MNC seems to be that if they did that, then IMSI (E.212) could be used for global title, which GSMNA seems to think would be the best solution. But there's also compatibility problems with some international legacy switches that prevent that from happening.

 * Hmmm yes. I (as a "GSM person") agree with the GSMNA.  At present GSM networks have to maintain a table of E.212 to E.214 and and a table of E.214 to "next hop".  If we could do analysis in E.212 then the first table wouldn't exist (well, actually it would, but it would have no "maintainance").  On the other hand, the fixed networks have to maintain a table of E.164 routing and an identical table (they can probably actually use the same one) of E.214 routing.  If we switch to E.212 routing, they have to maintain two tables, one for E.164 and one for E.212.  So we are asking for

 * monopoly PSTNs
 * and government regulators
 * in hundreds of countries
 * to understand a new numbering system
 * to do more work
 * for free!!!

 * A whelk's chance in a supernova.. always worth trying though :-)

 * The main concern seems to be that we can't ensure international roaming between NANP and elsewhere if we can't establish a one to one correspondence between the country and network portions of the global title and the respective portions of the IMSI (or what those portions represent, that is). The solutions taken by GSMNA is that they are only distributing MCC 310, and on top of it, they are trying to keep MNCs distinct within all of NANP (meaning no overlap of MNCs between U.S. and Canada, for example) so that MNC alone can determine MCC on global title downconversion. This is particularly problematic when you consider that they are also limiting MNC to XX0 format codes.

 * That was the main concern in the original letter from the IOC; agreed. The GSMNA letter clearly (well, actually not so clearly, but it's there if you read carefully) answers that since the analysis is done all at once, there should be a one to one relation.  It is the responsibility of American nubmering people to have a separate NC for each of their HNIs.  Now there are 10^6 available network codes (based on 7 digit analysis as stated for international switches) or more if you don't need full analysis at the international level (as is normal), so there's space.  The only thing I can think of that would lead to an exahustion of NCs is some other limitation of American E.164 allocations of NCs.

 * Most of the time, networks declare only one NC. However I have configured roaming agreements with networks which declare multiple NCs (I think that was one from the UK.. I definitely don't remember which operator), so multiple NCs would be perfectly okay in practice.

 * The full source data is available at https://infocentre.gsm.org/ but that's restricted access (and I don't have it right now, and probably wouldn't use it without explicit permission even if I did..) see http://www.gsmworld.com/about/index.shtml for more info. I'm not clear if it qualifies as "Use of GSMA Roaming Agreements" or "Infocentre - members' secure website" which will decide whether it's only for operators or also for associate members.  I've managed to find [and IR.21 on the internet] also [the same IR.21 in HTML on Google] getting the same form for each American network would answer many of your questions, so if some official representative is reading this and would like to help Wikipedia, please send by mail.. Discression will be guaranteed if (and only if :-) you ask for it.

 * Everthing is confirmed. I had a discussion with a roaming agreement coordinator from an operator.  American networks with multiple MNCs declare a separate MGTs for each MNC.  The two or three digit MNC is a per country choice.  There is no problem in the GSM core.  Mozzerati 07:06, 2004 Jun 1 (UTC)

 * I don't think that multiple MCC is a problem for the mobile, as long as the mobile is properly maintained. Aren't those MCC/MNC lists supposed to be updated regularly (with modern models, via OTA) anyway? Otherwise, mobiles wouldn't know about MCCs for brand new countries, either.

 * I'm not sure why, (I suspect the answer is that phase one mobiles only listen for a two digit MNC), but the GSMNA does state that there is a problem.. Needs further investigation.

 * Generally the lists aren't updated (and OTA often requires a user accept, depending how the mobile is configured). It normally doesn't matter anyway, since as long as we know our own MCC then all others are roaming MCCs.  Having multiple MCCs visible is also normal (try the various European border regions, e.g. around Basel) and we won't care if they happen to be different American ones.  It would, however, be a perfectly valid requirement for future mobiles.

 * As far as MNCs having a multiple NC, that may already be happening -- I know of one NA carrier that has about 12 MNCs, though they are trying to consolidate to one.

 * Does this mean they are actually replacing SIMs? Mozzerati 06:27, 2004 Jun 1 (UTC)

 * KeithTyler 16:20, May 31, 2004 (UTC)

Keith, if you have any further references for all of this, even if they are in industry insider documents, please give me them and I can attempt to find them and read more. Mozzerati 06:27, 2004 Jun 1 (UTC)

Global Title Problems
The U.S. is no longer only using 310 as a MCC. At least 311 is used also. I recognize that some of this info is a little dated (we all know how fast things change in this industry) but carriers no longer translate based on the first two digits of the MCC. If so, 310 and 311 would translate the same. However, I presume the reason that the U.S. branched off into MCC 311 may be because MNC's are most commonly looked at by the first 2 digits still. This of course restricts MCC 310 down to 99 MNC's instead of 999. Kenny D 22:29, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Incomprehensible, ungrammatical sentence

 * "In idle mode behavior, IMSI attach/detach location updating means the updating process was initiated by the mobile station to notify the BSC if the handset is powered on or off."

Please correct. -Pgan002 04:33, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Merge with IMSI detach
The IMSI detach article does not present sufficient information to stand on its own; it should be merged here. Neelix (talk) 19:42, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

Disagree. IMSI detach doesn't have a lot to do with the idea of IMSIs; it doesn't belong here (much like prostitution doesn't belong in the article about money). It belongs with articles on other "procedures" in cellphone systems, if anyone cares enough to write them properly. JöG (talk) 19:40, 28 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Agree with your suggestion. I'll setup a stub incorporating IMSI attach and IMSI detach. → AA (talk) — 14:21, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

The artical says "The problem lies in de-translation of the global title back into a mobile network E.212 IMSI. Since E.214 recommends that the country part of the translation be done first, it presumes that a given E.164 country code only relates to a single E.212 mobile country code. Unfortunately this is untrue in NANPA member nations, and doubly untrue in the US. So, a global title with CC of 1 can indicate any of 7 US MCCs, or Canada, or any Caribbean nation."

This is wrong as there is no need to do any de-translation for E.214 back to E.212. In fact this is impossible for much more cases than only NANPA, in all cases where CC-NC is more digits than MCC-MNC the last digits of the IMSI are lost. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.159.77.166 (talk) 14:33, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

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text:
Municipalities of East Timor

East Timor is divided into 14 municipalities (municípios, munisípiu), which are former districts. One municipality is also a Special Administrative Region (SAR). The municipalities are divided into administrative posts (former subdistricts), and further subdivided into sucos (villages). Atauro Island was initially a part of Dili Municipality, but became a separate municipality on 1 January 2022.

Source: National Institute of Statistics Timor-Leste.

The borders between Cova Lima and Ainaro and between Baucau and Viqueque were changed in 2003.

title: Municipalities of East Timor


text:
The Augusta Chronicle

The Augusta Chronicle is the daily newspaper of Augusta, Georgia, and is one of the oldest newspapers in the United States still in publication. The paper is known for its coverage of the Masters Tournament, which is played in Augusta.

History
The paper was founded as the weekly Augusta Gazette in 1785. In 1786, the paper was renamed The Georgia State Gazette. From 1789 to 1804, the paper was known as The Augusta Chronicle and Gazette of the State. Patrick Walsh, later a U.S. Senator, joined the editorial staff in 1866 and became owner in 1873.

In 1945, former bookkeeper William Morris, Jr. bought a controlling interest in the paper. This was the beginning of Morris Communications, headquartered in Augusta with the Chronicle as its flagship.

In addition to a daily online edition, the entire archives back to its founding have been made searchable on the Internet.

On 9 August 2017, it was announced that The Augusta Chronicle, along with Morris Communications' entire newspaper division and various periodicals, would be sold to GateHouse Media for $120 million in a deal expected to close on October 2. Stephen Wade and Billy Morris will retain their roles as president and publisher respectively. The Morris family will keep ownership of The Augusta Chronicle building and property in downtown Augusta. The sale ended 232 years of local ownership, the last 72 of which had been under the Morris family.

Subsidiaries
Newspapers published by the Chronicle include The Columbia County News-Times, The Hampton County Guardian, The Jefferson News-Farmer, and the Sylvania Telephone.

title: The Augusta Chronicle


text:
User:RedWolf/monobook.css

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title: User:RedWolf/monobook.css


text:
Andy Byatt

Andy Byatt is an English wildlife documentary film producer for the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU) in Bristol. His expertise is in the creation of underwater wildlife films. He co-directed Deep Blue, a natural history feature film about the oceans narrated by Michael Gambon. This film was largely put together with highlights from the NHU's internationally acclaimed series, The Blue Planet, of which Byatt was one of the producers, along with Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes. His most recent project is Planet Earth an 11-part High-definition TV wildlife series first aired in March 2006.

title: Andy Byatt


text:
Stacey Dash

Stacey Lauretta Dash (born January 20, 1967) is an American actress. Dash played Dionne Marie Davenport in the 1995 feature film Clueless and its television series of the same name. She has also appeared in the films Moving, Mo' Money, Renaissance Man, and View from the Top. Other television work by Dash includes appearances in the series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Single Ladies and the reality TV show Celebrity Circus. She has also appeared in music videos for Carl Thomas' "Emotional" and Kanye West's "All Falls Down".

Early life
Born in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dash is of African-American and Mexican descent. She is the daughter of Dennis Dash and Linda Dash (née Lopez; d. 2017). Dash has a stepfather, Cecil Holmes, and a younger brother, Darien Dash, who is the founder of DME Interactive, the first publicly traded African American-led website company. Her first cousin is Damon Dash, the former CEO and co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. She attended Paramus High School, graduating in 1985.

Career
Dash made her first television appearance in the NBC crime drama pilot Farrell: For the People starring Valerie Harper and Ed O'Neill in 1982, which did not make it past its pilot episode. Her first notable appearance was as Michelle in the 1985 The Cosby Show episode "Denise's Friend". Dash's first substantial television role was in the 1988 series TV 101. The series was canceled after 13 episodes. Dash's first major film role was in the Richard Pryor comedy Moving in 1988. She also had sizable roles in Mo' Money and Renaissance Man during this time. In 1995, Dash starred as a femme fatale in the low-budget film Illegal in Blue. Dash received her big break with the 1995 teen comedy film Clueless. Dash played Cher's high school best friend Dionne Davenport, although Dash was twenty-eight at the time. In 1996, the film spawned a television spin-off of the same name, in which Dash reprised her role as Dionne. The series ran from 1996 to 1999.

After the television series ended, she appeared in View from the Top (2003) and smaller budget films, including Gang of Roses (2003), and Getting Played (2005). She also has appeared in small guest roles on television shows such as Eve and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Dash played Vanessa Weir in the television series The Strip, which was canceled after several episodes. In 2001, Dash was featured in a music video by Carl Thomas for the single "Emotional". In 2004, Dash was featured in a music video by Kanye West, label signee of her cousin Damon Dash, for the single "All Falls Down". Dash posed nude in the August 2006 issue of Playboy. Also in 2006, she was featured in singer Marques Houston's video for "Favorite Girl," and launched her own lingerie line called Letters of Marque. Between 2005 and 2007, she completed filming roles in I Could Never Be Your Woman, Nora's Hair Salon II, Fashion Victim, Ghost Image and American Primitive. For 2008 release, she filmed Phantom Punch, Secrets of a Hollywood Nurse, and Close Quarters. Dash also performed in the 2008 reality television series Celebrity Circus. Prior to the series premiere, Dash suffered a broken rib while training. Despite the injury, Dash performed on the trapeze bungee during the premiere and continued on to be a finalist. Dash finished second behind Antonio Sabàto, Jr.

Dash appeared as a recurring character on the television series The Game in early 2009. In 2011, Dash starred in the first season of VH1's first scripted series, Single Ladies, playing Valerie "Val" Stokes, described as a "'good girl' looking for a good man". On August 31, it was reported that she would leave the series in order to focus on her family. In 2012, Dash starred as Lisa, the female lead in the film Dysfunctional Friends. Also in 2012, Dash was featured in Funny or Die and YouTube broadcast trailers and shorts for her web series Stacey Dash Is Normal. The scripted series launched in 2013.

On May 28, 2014, Fox News announced that Dash had been hired as a contributor for "cultural analysis and commentary." On the December 7, 2015, edition of Outnumbered, Dash made a remark about President Barack Obama's address regarding Islamic terrorism that took place the day before, suggesting the president didn't "give a shit" about terrorism. Due to this remark, the network suspended her without pay for two weeks. In 2016, Dash received criticism when she argued that the BET Awards lied to black people about news regarding the boycotting of the Oscars due to lack of ethnic diversity, and called for an end to Black History Month. She made a cameo at the 88th Academy Awards repeating this sentiment. In addition, she criticized Jesse Williams's speech at the BET Awards. On January 21, 2017, Fox News announced that Dash's contract would not be renewed.

Politics
Dash voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In 2012, she switched her party affiliation from Democratic to Republican and endorsed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. In response to critical online comments she received for supporting Romney, Dash stated it was her opinion and that she did not understand the vitriol. Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan thanked Dash for supporting his ticket.

Since the 2012 election, Dash has publicly expressed her political views. In April 2013, she criticized music artists Jay-Z and Beyoncé's trip to Cuba. In 2016, with regard to the debate over use of gender-specific bathrooms, she said that transgender rights "infringe upon [her own]". Dash writes a blog for Patheos.com. Dash supported Republican candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

On February 26, 2018, Dash filed to run in California's 44th congressional district in the 2018 Congressional Election as a Republican. On joining the race, Dash said she wanted to "free people from the shackles of a plantation mentality." Dash withdrew from the congressional race on March 30, 2018.

On March 11, 2021, Dash stated in an interview with Daily Mail, "Being a supporter of Trump has put me in some kind of box that I don't belong in. But he's not the president. I'm going to give the president that we have right now a chance."

Relationships and children
Dash has two children. She has a son named Austin, born from her relationship with singer Christopher Williams, and a daughter named Lola. In 1999, she married producer Brian Lovell and they divorced in the mid-2000s. Different sources say the father of Dash's daughter is either Lovell or Maby. Dash married actor Emmanuel Xuereb in either 2007 or 2009. She filed for divorce in January 2010. It was finalized in September 2011. Dash married lawyer Jeffrey Marty in Florida on April 6, 2018. She has said that she met Marty ten days before the wedding. In addition to her two children, Dash became a step-mother to three of Marty's children. In April 2020, Dash announced that she and Marty had separated. In June 2020, Dash filed for divorce.

Trauma, drugs, weapons, and legal issues
Dash has spoken openly about past traumas in her personal life. She has at various times revealed that she was molested as a child by a family friend, was addicted to cocaine in her teens and 20s, and has a history of being with physically and emotionally abusive partners. Dash has attributed her openness with such topics to her desire to be honest with her children, feeling that being honest is the best way to protect them, and to let them and others know that she is not a victim but a survivor. She is supportive of the right to keep and bear arms, crediting the use of a gun with saving her life after being sexually assaulted at gunpoint by an ex-boyfriend, because she was able to retrieve her own weapon, a .22 revolver, and shot at him, scaring him away.

Dash was arrested on September 29, 2019, at her apartment in Pasco County, Florida, on a domestic battery charge after an argument with her husband, Jeffrey Marty. She pleaded not guilty, and the case was dropped on October 3 at the request of Marty, who said Dash had been arrested over his objection. The couple's divorce was announced the following year.

In October 2021, Dash opened up about her Vicodin addiction on The Dr. Oz Show, stating that she was five years sober.

Religion
Dash was raised Catholic, and claimed the religion in 2012 and 2013.

title: Stacey Dash


text:
Backwell

Backwell is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset and in 2011 had a population of 4,589. The village lies about 7 mi southwest of Bristol, south of the A370 to Weston-super-Mare. The parish includes the hamlets of Backwell Common, Backwell Green, and Backwell Farleigh, and the districts of Backwell West Town and Downside.

Nearby are Nailsea, Flax Bourton, Yatton, Brockley and Barrow Gurney.

History
Backwell Hillfort between Flax Bourton and Backwell is an Iron Age hill fort.

The village has a long history, appearing in the Domesday Book in 1086 with the name 'Bacoile' meaning 'The well back on the hill'.

The parish was part of the hundred of Hartcliffe.

The lords of the manor from the 12th to 17th centuries were the Rodneys. Walter de Rodney was given the manor for his support of the Empress Matilda against King Stephen.

Backwell House is an historic house in the village which was operated as a boutique hotel between 2016 and 2022.

Governance
Backwell has its own parish council, made up of fifteen councillors which have responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the village hall or community centre, playing fields and playgrounds, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.

The parish falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset which was created in 1996, as established by the Local Government Act 1992. North Somerset Council provides a single tier of local government with responsibility for almost all local government functions within its area, including Backwell. Fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the South Western Ambulance Service.

North Somerset's area covers the northernmost part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare. Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was in the Woodspring district of the county of Avon. Before 1974 that the parish was part of the Long Ashton Rural District.

An electoral ward in the same name exists. The ward stretches from Brockley, through Backwell to Barrow Gurney in the east and is represented by Bridget Petty of the Green Party of England and Wales since the 2019 council elections. The total population of this ward taken from the 2011 census was 5,930.

Backwell is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the North Somerset constituency, which was created in 2010 and first used in the 2010 general election. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, currently Liam Fox, a member of the Conservative Party.

Backwell Lake
Backwell Lake, also known as Buckland's Pool, is, despite its name, much closer to nearby Nailsea. The lake was built as a balancing pond in the mid-1970s and has become a wildlife haven for birds, bats and dragonflies, which are attracted by the open water and surrounding vegetation. Bird species include gadwall, shoveler, pochard, tufted duck, grey heron and mute swans.

On 7 January 2018, local people circled the lake, linking hands, to protest against the proposed building of 700 homes and a four-lane link road in the village by Taylor Wimpey, which they believed would affect the lake and its wildlife.

Quarries
Stancombe Quarry opened in 1952. Today, the quarry which is operated by Tarmac, produces Carboniferous Limestone, which is mainly for use on the roads, after crushing on site. The site has an expected output of 28 million tonnes over a 25-year period. The now defunct Coles Quarry, in the south of the village, also produced limestone until it was closed by North Somerset Council.

Climate
The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C. Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C. In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 or are common. In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm. About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.

Playing Fields
Backwell Playing Fields is a 17 acre public park and a collection of sports fields in the western side of Backwell.

On 6 June 1929 Theodore Robinson opened the park to the public and gave it to the "Children and adults of the parish of Backwell". The fields were opened on 6 June 1929 by the then Marquis of Bath, Thomas Thynne.

As the fields were given to the collective people of Backwell, they had, and continue to have, no sole owner. The fields are, however, managed and maintained by a team of directors of the Backwell Playing Fields Charity.

The fields are often used for playing football, mainly for Ashton and Backwell United FC's home games, as the club's home and stadium is at the Playing Fields. Other sports grounds at the Fields are Backwell Tennis Club, West Backwell Bowling Club, and Backwell Judo Club. The fields are also home to a youth club. 1st Backwell Scouts hut is just outside the park boundaries, but the fields are used a lot by them for their outdoor activities.

Sports
Ashton & Backwell United F.C. was originally called Backwell United but then merged with one of Bristol's largest youth club's Ashton Boys FC. They are currently members of the Western League First Division. They moved to their current home in 1947, the Backwell Recreation Ground.

Backwell Karate, also known as Backwell Shotokan Karate Club, was established in the village in 1978 and is a member club of Bristol Karate Academy and the Japan Karate Shoto Federation governing body.

Backwell Golf Club (now defunct) first appeared during the 1890s, and closed prior to World War 1. Tall Pines Golf Club was founded in 1989, and is located in Downside, adjacent to Bristol Airport.

Facilities
As well as the facilities in the Playing Fields, Backwell also has:

 * Post office
 * Doctor's surgery
 * Dentist
 * Pharmacy
 * Corner Shop
 * Newsagent's shop

 * 2 pubs
 * A theatre
 * 4 Barbershops/Hair Salons
 * Swimming pool
 * Estate agent
 * Funeral Directors
 * Bakery

 * Railway Station
 * Fish and chips shop
 * Grill House Cafe
 * Indian takeaway
 * Many red telephone boxes
 * Petrol Station
 * A mobile telephone shop

In the past there had been a bank, a library and other pubs in the village, which are now closed.

Education
The largest junior school in Backwell is Backwell Church of England Junior School, which provides education to 240 children aged between 7 and 11. The school is highly praised by Ofsted and performs consistently well in the league tables. In addition there is West Leigh Infant School which covers reception and Key Stage 1 and which has received an outstanding Ofsted report. In 2013, West Leigh and Backwell Junior schools became a federation.

A private primary school, Fairfield PNEU, is located in the village, having been founded in 1935 and moved to its current site in 1947.

The secondary school, Backwell School, consistently features high in the league tables for GCSE results, and is recognised as one of the best state schools in North Somerset. Pupils travel to the school from surrounding areas, such as Bristol and Yatton, by public transport or school coach. The school has about 1,700 pupils and used to be a Secondary Modern until the abolition of the Tripartite System. Alumni include Richard Ottaway, politician and the author Joel McIver. The Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord was also educated in Backwell.

Transport
Many residents of Backwell commute daily to Bristol by car via the A370, and public transport — First West of England operates the local buses; service X1 (Bristol bus station - Weston-super-Mare) stop at Backwell in both directions. Service X7 (Bristol Bus station - Nailsea) also serves the village; between the bus station and Nailsea. The closest motorway is the M5, accessible from junctions 21 and 18.

Nailsea and Backwell railway station is at the north end of the village. It was opened in 1841 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway and subsequently run by the Great Western Railway. It is nowadays managed by Great Western Railway. The station has regular services between Taunton, Weston-super-Mare and Cardiff, as well as some peak services directly to and from London Paddington. The station is mostly unstaffed, except during the morning peak. The direct service to London makes the village popular with commuters willing to spend four hours a day travelling by train.

Bristol Airport is at Lulsgate Bottom, which borders the district of Downside, 3 mi from the centre of Backwell. The airport serves both domestic and international routes.

Religious sites
The Anglican parish church of St. Andrew dates from the 12th century. It was altered and enlarged in the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

The tower at the west end of the church is over 100 ft tall and dates from the 15th century. It contains a ring of eight bells, two of which are medieval.

The font dates from the 12th century. It consists of a circular bowl with cable moulding, and a circular stem with foliate moulding on the base. It was restored in 1907. West Town Methodist is a Wesleyan Zion chapel on the A370 road in Backwell West Town. It was renovated from a house in 1853 when ten Methodist Backwell residents clubbed together to purchase it and renovate it into the chapel. The church underwent an interior renovation in 1992 which saw a doubling in membership.

There is also a modern Baptist church on Chapel Hill.

title: Backwell


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Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all part of Honolulu County in the U.S. state of Hawaii, except Midway Atoll, which is a territory distinct from the State of Hawaii, and grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The United States Census Bureau defines this area, except Midway, as Census Tract 114.98 of Honolulu County. Its total land area is 3.1075 sqmi. All the islands except Nihoa are north of the Tropic of Cancer, making them the only islands in Hawaii that lie outside the tropics.

The Northwestern or Leeward Hawaiian Islands include:
 * Nihoa (Moku Manu) at 23.06056°N, -161.92194°W
 * Necker (Mokumanamana) at 23.575°N, -164.7°W
 * French Frigate Shoals (Kānemilohai) at 23.87°N, -166.285°W
 * Gardner Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu) at 24.99917°N, -167.99889°W
 * Maro Reef (Nalukākala) at 25.4375°N, -170.59°W
 * Laysan (Kauō) at 25.77°N, -171.735°W
 * Lisianski (Papaāpoho) at 26.0625°N, -173.965°W
 * Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Holoikauaua) at 27.79°N, -175.82°W
 * Midway Atoll (Pihemanu) at 28.2075°N, -177.35°W - not part of the State of Hawaii
 * Kure Atoll (Mokupāpapa) at 28.39°N, -178.295°W

The Islands

 * 156 acre Nihoa is the youngest of the NWHI, and the tallest, with 900 ft vertical cliffs. It represents the southwestern part of the island's former volcanic cone. Ancient Hawaiians might have stayed here long-term.
 * 40 acre Necker Island is hook-shaped and 270 ft tall at its summit. Barren of vegetation, it was used by Ancient Hawaiians for religious purposes, but not for long-term habitation.
 * French Frigate Shoals is an atoll, the largest region of coral reefs in Hawaii, at 200 sqmi. The atoll is composed of a dozen or so small islands, one of which (Tern Island) contains an airport and human habitations.
 * Gardner Pinnacles is made up of two small basalt peaks, the last rocky island in Hawaii. While the island itself is tiny, the surrounding reef is expansive and diverse.
 * 166 sqmi Maro Reef is an extremely fertile reef system that has been described as a "coral garden".
 * Laysan is a 913 acre, low, sandy island with a natural lake in its interior, one of only five such lakes in Hawaii. It has arguably the most diverse ecosystem in the NWHI, and hosts about two million seabirds of seventeen species.
 * Lisianski Island, only 400 acre, is geologically akin to Laysan, without the lake. Though the island is slightly less biodiverse, the surrounding reef is very fertile.
 * Pearl and Hermes Atoll is an atoll very similar to French Frigate Shoals, but with much less dry land. For this reason, it was mostly ignored by guano miners and feather hunters.
 * Midway Atoll is the most commonly known of the NWHI, and is also the largest. The Battle of Midway was fought here and in its surrounding waters, and the island remains permanently inhabited, albeit by persons who are there in consequence of their service with the United States Government, not an indigenous population.
 * Circular Kure Atoll contains the 236 acre Green Island, which used to host a LORAN station and a runway, but these have since been decommissioned. Kure is one of the less biodiverse islands of the NWHI.

Other islands or reefs were previously mapped as part of this chain but are now considered to be either phantom islands or misidentifications of existing islands. The following reefs continued to appear on maps as late as 1934: As late as 1960, a German globe showed islands west of Kure Atoll that had long been proven nonexistent:
 * Two Brothers Reef, site of the 1823 Two Brothers shipwreck, originally placed west of French Frigate Shoals but later proven to be identical with the latter.
 * "Krusenstern Reef," "Krusenstern Rock," or "Krusenstern Island" was a phantom reef at 22.25°N, -175.61667°W, south of Lisianski Island; an investigation in 1923 declared it nonexistent.
 * Byers's Island
 * Morrell's Island

Geology
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were formed approximately 7 to 30 million years ago, as shield volcanoes over the same volcanic hotspot that formed the Emperor Seamounts to the north and the Main Hawaiian Islands to the south. As the Pacific Plate moved north and later northwest over the hot spot, volcanic eruptions built up islands in a linear chain. The isolated land masses gradually eroded and subsided, evolving from high islands in the south, much like the Main Islands of Hawaii, to atolls (or seamounts) north of the Darwin Point. Each of the NWHI are in various stages of erosion. Nihoa, Necker, and Gardner Pinnacles are rocky, basalt islands that have not eroded enough to form an atoll, or that lack a substantial coral reef. Laysan and Lisianski are low, sandy islands that have been eroded longer. French Frigate Shoals, Pearl and Hermes, Midway, and Kure are atolls.

North of the Darwin Point, the coral reef grows more slowly than the island's subsidence, and as the Pacific Plate moves northwest, the island becomes a seamount when it crosses this line. Kure Atoll straddles the Darwin Point, and will sink beneath the ocean when its coral reef cannot keep up with the rate of subsidence, a destiny that awaits every Hawaiian island.

Biodiversity and endemism

The Hawaiian Islands are about 2500 mi from North America and 3800 mi from Asia, and it is because of this isolation that the Hawaiian Islands have extraordinary numbers of unique species. Only a species that could fly or swim immense distances could reach the archipelago. But whereas Polynesians, and later, Europeans, have largely altered the ecosystem of the Main Hawaiian islands by introducing alien species, the ecosystems of the NWHI remain, for the most part, intact. The extensive coral reefs found in Papahānaumokuākea are home to over 7,000 marine species. Of the many species that live here, over 1,700 species of organisms are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (i.e., they are found nowhere else). For this reason, the region has been dubbed "America's Galápagos".

Though not subject to nearly as much extinction as the main islands, the Leeward Islands have had their share of abuse. From the late 19th to the early 20th centuries, fishermen, guano miners, and feather hunters killed most of the birds and sea life living in the NWHI. Rabbits were introduced to Laysan and Lisianski, where they multiplied and devoured most of the vegetation, permanently extinguishing several species. However, most of the damage was reversed, and the islands were restored largely to their pre-exploitation state.

Important Bird Area
The NWHI has been recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because of its seabirds and endemic landbirds. The seabird colonies in the IBA form one of the largest assemblages of tropical seabirds in the world, with over 14 million birds of 21 species.

Some of the endemic species of the NWHI include the Nihoa and Laysan finch, the Laysan duck (the "rarest native waterfowl in the United States"), and the Nihoa fan palm. Other notable species are the Laysan albatross, the highly endangered Hawaiian monk seal, and the green sea turtle. The only native trapdoor spiders in the Hawaiian archipelago (Nihoa spp.), recently discovered, are found here. Most endemic species are highly vulnerable to extinction as one major catastrophic event could wipe out all of the vegetation on each small island. Additionally, seventy percent of all coral reefs in the United States are found here.

Exploration

Archeological evidence suggests ancient Hawaiians visited but did not live on Mokumanamana (Necker) and French Frigate Shoals, and the islands were deserted when Europeans arrived in the 18th century. Agricultural terraces indicate Hawaiians lived on Nihoa for extended periods of time. Mokumanamana lacks vegetation and is unsuitable for agriculture, and archeological studies indicate early Hawaiians only visited and used the island for religious purposes.

The first of the Leeward Isles to be discovered by Europeans was Nihoa. James Colnett discovered it in 1786, although historically the credit has gone to William Douglas. Later that year, La Pérouse discovered Necker, and named it for Jacques Necker, the French Minister of Finance. La Pérouse then went on to discover French Frigate Shoals. The last of the NWHI to be discovered was Midway Atoll, which was found by N.C. Middlebrooks in 1859. In 1925, the Tanager Expedition travelled to many of the NWHI. The islands were mapped, new species were discovered and described, and the archeological sites on Nihoa and Necker were found.

Naming system
Most of the islands have several names: one in English and one or more in Hawaiian (indicated in parentheses above). The majority of the Hawaiian names used as alternatives to the English ones were created in modern times; the original names that ancient Hawaiians gave to all of these islands that they encountered prior to Western contact are found in various oli (chants) and moʻolelo (stories).

National Monument
On June 15, 2006, American President George W. Bush issued a public proclamation creating Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Monument encompasses the islands and surrounding waters, forming the largest marine wildlife reserve in the world. President Theodore Roosevelt had declared the Northwestern Hawaiian chain a bird sanctuary in 1909, and the islands had been protected since 2000 with a designation as an 'ecosystem reserve' by President Bill Clinton, but increasing it to national monument status provides unprecedented control. 139000 sqmi of ocean was at that time set aside for protection, about the size of the U.S. state of California.

In August 2016, President Barack Obama expanded the area of the monument by roughly four times. The expanded monument was at that time the world's largest marine protected area.

Entry to the Monument is limited through a permit system, jointly administered by NOAA, FWS, and the state of Hawaii. Anyone who comes to the islands must follow stringent procedures designed to prevent any stray species from entering and disrupting the ecosystem. All clothes must be bought new, and kept wrapped until before arrival. In fact, all "soft" items (camera strap, blanket) must be bought new, and all "hard" items (camera, binoculars) must be cleaned thoroughly. Then, every item must be frozen for 48 hours. A new set of equipment must be prepared for each island one is going to, to prevent inter-island species introduction. However, French Frigate Shoals and Midway Atoll are exempted from these rules, as they are deemed too altered by humans already to worry about introducing new species.

title: Northwestern Hawaiian Islands


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Seam bowling

Seam bowling is a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation when the ball bounces. Practitioners are known as seam bowlers or seamers.

Seam bowling is a form of fast bowling, although the bowling speeds at which seam can be a factor include medium-pace bowling. Although there are specialist seamers that make deliberate use of off cutter and leg cutter at the expense of bowling slower than regular fast bowlers, most bowlers employ the seam to some effect and so the terms "seamer" and "fast bowler" are largely synonymous. This was far less the case in the past, even the recent past. Bowlers such as Tom Cartwright and Derek Shackleton bowled seamers at a pace in the low 70mphs and were very successful due to their mastery of control and variation.

Physics
A cricket ball is not a perfect sphere. The seam of the ball is the circular stitching which joins the two halves of the cricket ball. Hence, the seam joining the pieces of leather is circumferential and the stitching is noticeably raised. If the ball is bowled in such a way that the seam hits the pitch when it bounces, this irregularity can cause the ball to deviate sideways in its path. It may move in any direction, or just go straight. The batsman has to see how the ball moves after pitching to select his shot.

In order to achieve this effect, a seam bowler usually delivers the ball with the seam held upright, with rotation about a horizontal axis. This keeps the seam aligned vertically as it travels towards the batter, making it likely that the ball will bounce with the seam on the pitch. Consistently hitting the seam is not as easy as it sounds. The seam has to be held upright between the index finger and the middle finger at the time of the delivery of the ball and, most importantly, the wrist has to be dead straight when the ball is delivered. The seam and wrist position of Australia's Glenn McGrath are arguably a perfect example.

The direction and degree of the ball's deviation from a straight path are dependent on the small-scale alignment of the seam and any irregularities in the pitch surface. This means that deviation caused by seam is chaotic and unpredictable.

However, it is also possible, by holding the seam at an angle and rolling the fingers over the surface of the ball, to produce a deliberate off cutter in which the ball veers away from the off side when it bounces on the pitch, or leg cutter in which it veers away from a right-handed batter. Former Australian bowler Dennis Lillee employed a leg cutter of this sort to considerable effect; however, deliveries of this kind will be slower than if the bowler simply bowls with the seam upright, hoping for movement one way or the other. Some bowlers deliberately use cutters more for their surprise slowness than the deviation off the pitch.

Often the deviation caused by seam is not large enough to cause a batter significant problems with playing the ball. Occasionally, however, the ball can deviate far enough to hit the edge of the cricket bat instead of the middle, producing a catch for nearby fielders. Swing bowling is a way of getting greater deviation, but is harder to control.

Australian fast-medium bowler Glenn McGrath has used his seaming ability to great effect in his career. The ball 'seams' at its best at the start of a team's innings, when the ball is new. A pitch which has cracks in it may assist a seam bowler as well. The genuine 'Yorker' may be used by seam bowlers, but bounces ('pitches') so close to the batter's feet that it has no opportunity to deviate from its original line.

Another good example of seam bowling technique are the fast bowlers Courtney Walsh and Wasim Akram. Close-up camera work of the following descriptions can be viewed for example at:. Both used a forward wrist flick that imparted back-spin to the ball as it left the hand. However, significantly, their choice of finger position causes the ball to exhibit precession (similar to a gyroscope), with the seam remaining broadly upright but oscillating repeatedly between a 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock position (if viewed from the bottom of the seam). This effectively destroys seam induced swing (as the ball is constantly changing between outswing and inswing seam positions through the air). Thus, the ball travels straight onto the pitch (in theory allowing the bowler to be more accurate). However, when the seam of the ball contacts the pitch at the 5 o'clock position, the result is movement to the left (away to the right-handed batter), when the seam of the ball contacts the pitch at the 7 o'clock position, the result is movement to the right (in to the right-handed batter). It can be seen that only rarely would the ball be at the purely 6 o'clock position to continue completely straight after pitching. This aligns with the unpredictable nature of seam bowling, but appears primarily driven by the technique of the bowler, rather than irregularities in the pitch surface.

title: Seam bowling