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Linda McMahon

Linda Marie McMahon (née Edwards; born October 4, 1948) is an American political executive, business executive, and retired professional wrestling performer. She served as the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019.

McMahon, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, founded sports entertainment company Titan Sports, Inc. (later World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) where she worked as the president and later CEO from 1980 to 2009. During this time, the company grew from a regional business in the northeast to a large multinational corporation. Among other things, she initiated the company's civic programs, Get R.E.A.L. and ''SmackDown! Your Vote''. She made occasional on-screen performances, most notably in a feud with her husband that culminated at WrestleMania X-Seven.

In 2009, McMahon left World Wrestling Entertainment to run for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut as a Republican, but lost to Democrat Richard Blumenthal in the 2010 general election. She was the Republican nominee for Connecticut's other Senate seat in the 2012 race, but lost to Democrat Chris Murphy.

On December 7, 2016, Donald Trump (president-elect at the time) announced that he would nominate McMahon to be Administrator of the Small Business Administration. The Senate confirmation hearing began on January 24, 2017, and on February 1, her nomination was approved by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship with an 18–1 vote and confirmed by the full Senate on February 14, by a vote of 81–19.

On March 29, 2019, the Trump administration announced McMahon would step down as the administrator of the Small Business Administration to assume new responsibilities within President Trump's reelection campaign, and the resignation took effect on April 12. On April 15, she was named chairwoman of America First Action, a pro-Trump Super PAC.

Early life
McMahon was born Linda Marie Edwards in New Bern, North Carolina, the daughter of Evelyn and Henry Edwards. She was an only child and grew up as a "tomboy" playing basketball and baseball. Her parents were both employees at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, a military base. She grew up in a conservative Baptist family, but converted to Roman Catholicism in her later years.

Linda M. Edwards, at the age of 13, met Vince McMahon, then age 16. Her mother worked in the same building as McMahon's mother, but they had not met.

Vince's mother became good friends with the Edwards family, and Vince, who had lived with several abusive stepfathers, enjoyed the feeling of stability that he felt at their home. Edwards and McMahon dated throughout their high school years; she attended Havelock High School and he attended Fishburne Military School in Virginia. During this time, Vince was a "permanent fixture" at her home, and spent hours with Linda and her family. He attended East Carolina University, studying business administration. Edwards was an honors student in high school and aspired to become a pediatrician.

Shortly after her high school graduation, Vince asked her to marry him. They married on August 26, 1966, when she was 17, and he was 21. She enrolled at East Carolina University in 1966, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in French, and certification to teach. From 1968 to 1971, Vince worked as a traveling cup salesman before joining his father's company, the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). Linda finished college in three years so she could graduate with Vince. Their son Shane was born in 1970, followed by daughter Stephanie in 1976.

Early career
In 1969, the McMahons moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland. McMahon worked as a receptionist at the corporate law firm of Covington & Burling; she translated French documents, trained as a paralegal in the probate department, and studied intellectual property rights.

Financially, the couple fared poorly for several years and, despite her husband working 90 hours a week at a quarry, briefly received food stamps. In 1976, after a series of failed business ventures including financing stunt performer Evel Knievel's Snake River Canyon Jump, and while pregnant with Stephanie, McMahon and her husband filed for bankruptcy.

By 1979, Vince decided to start promoting wrestling events at the Cape Cod Coliseum. He purchased the Coliseum in Massachusetts and founded Titan Sports, Inc. in 1980. The McMahons held small hockey and other sporting events in addition to wrestling at the Cape Cod Coliseum. At one point, Linda cooked meatball sandwiches to feed the fans at these sporting events. As the company grew, Linda assisted Vince with administration and used her knowledge of intellectual property law to assist in trademark protection for the company. During much of those early years, she had little interest in professional wrestling.

In 1982, Vince McMahon's Titan Sports, Inc. purchased Capitol Wrestling, better known as the parent company of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from his father. He later expanded his market by airing WWF shows on national television.

In 1983, the McMahons moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. They have six grandchildren.

Overview
Linda McMahon co-founded Titan Sports, Inc. in 1980. Many workers in the company referred to her as the "co-chief executive". McMahon became president in 1993 and CEO of the company in 1997. The company's explosive growth and the way it transformed the wrestling industry caused some observers to label her and Vince "business geniuses".

One of her major interests in WWF and WWE was product merchandising. She negotiated many of the company's business deals with outside vendors and established the company's first line of action figures, Wrestling Superstars, in 1984. It was a first in the wrestling industry and helped expand the company's popularity with children. She was also the primary negotiator for the World Wrestling Federation's 2000 TV deal with Viacom.

During an interview with The Detroit News, when asked what it was like being CEO in a "testosterone-charged industry," McMahon replied, "It's lots of fun. I'm an only child, so I grew up as my father's son and mother's daughter. I was quite a jock. I played baseball, basketball—I think that background made Vince and I very compatible. I really have a very good understanding of the male psyche—I'm very comfortable in a guy environment. I have to say that there are very strong women in this company as well. Our human resources division and our consumer goods division are headed by women—It's still a testosterone business, and I like it."

On September 16, 2009, Linda McMahon resigned from her position as CEO of WWE and left WWE to run as a Republican for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut. However, she still remains a minority owner of WWE.

McMahon's memorandum to Pat Patterson
In a 1989 memo to the company's vice president, Pat Patterson, McMahon directed Patterson to fire on-call physician George Zahorian and inform him of imminent legal charges charging him with steroid distribution.

"Although you and I discussed before about continuing to have Zahorian at our events as the doctor on call, I think that is now not a good idea. Vince agreed, and would like for you to call Zahorian and to tell him not to come to any more of our events and to also clue him in on any action that the Justice Department is thinking of taking."

This memo became known publicly as the "Tip-Off Memo" during her campaign for Senate in 2010. It became a political liability used against her in both the nomination and general election campaigns.

Federal steroids investigation
Following the murder-suicide of Chris Benoit in 2007, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigated steroid usage in the wrestling industry. The Committee investigated WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), asking for documentation of their companies' drug policies. The McMahons both testified. The documents stated that 75 wrestlers—roughly 40 percent—had tested positive for drug use since 2006, most commonly for steroids.

McMahon was asked why there had been no follow-up during a televised interview with CBS Face the State on January 20, 2010 and responded: "There's not been any follow-up from any of the inquiries that were made because I believe we had furnished thousands of documents and testimony for them, and I think if they looked at our policy and really delved into it, they would be very satisfied."

PG rating

In July 2008, WWE changed its TV parental guidelines rating from TV-14 to TV-PG. In December 2008, at a UBS Media Conference, McMahon described the new rating as a marketing strategy to attract a young generation of wrestling fans and create loyalty to the brand. Due to the TV-PG rating, chair shots to the head were banned, as well as sex scenes, blood, and vulgar language.

Company legacy
During the 1980s, the WWF successfully overcame considerable opposition and some media ridicule in lobbying for deregulation in Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey,  California,  Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. By 2000, fewer than half of the 50 states had athletic regulations on the wrestling industry.

Following common practice in professional sports, WWE classifies its wrestlers as independent contractors rather than employees. The classification allowed the company to avoid paying Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance for wrestlers. McMahon stated the WWE wrestlers had lucrative contracts, merchandising deals, royalty payments, and appearance fees. She noted that many of the wrestlers had agents and considered them to be on par with "singers, golfers, or tennis players". The company offered seminars to help wrestlers select health insurance plans.

Under McMahon's tenure, WWE became one of the largest recipients of special tax credits for film and TV production granted by the state of Connecticut.

During her 2010 campaign, Blumenthal's campaign criticized her and WWE for accepting the tax credits while laying off workers in 2009.

On-screen roles

McMahon often referred to the creative side of WWE as Vince's specialty, stating that she was primarily in the management team, although she appeared in several storylines. McMahon debuted on WWF TV during the Corporate Ministry storyline, on the May 3, 1999, episode of Raw during the Attitude Era. During an interview with Fox News, she said that she often did not know what the storylines were in advance and watched events unfold as the general public did.

Donations and achievements
Through WWE, the McMahons were major donors to The Donald J. Trump Foundation, giving $4 million in 2007 and $5 million in 2009. The McMahons donated over $8 million in 2008 to the Fishburne Military School, Sacred Heart University, and East Carolina University. Nonprofit Quarterly noted the majority of the McMahons' donations were towards capital expenditures. In 2006, they paid $2.5 million for construction of a tennis facility in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. As of 2010, she served on the board of the Close Up Foundation, a nonprofit which offers youth field trips to Washington, D.C.

McMahon became a member of the board of trustees of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut in November 2004. She supported many organizations, including the USO, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the Starlight Foundation, and Community Mayors. In 2005, she won appointment to The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America National Advisory Council and received the Arthur M. Sackler Award from the Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra for WWE's support of its arts education program.

On January 29, 2007, Multichannel News named McMahon to its class of "Wonder Women" for 2007. The award recognized her outstanding contributions to the cable and telecommunications industries. In May 2007, she appeared as the keynote speaker at the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut's Women of Achievement Leadership Breakfast. McMahon was a Girl Scout.

Under her leadership, WWE was the recipient of the USO of Metropolitan Washington's first ever "Legacy of Hope" award for its extensive support of U.S. troops and the USO's Operation Care Package program. In 2007, the company received the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award for its support of deployed service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the company received the GI Film Festival's Corporate Patriot Award.

On April 13, 2012, Sacred Heart University officially dedicated and opened the Linda E. McMahon Commons Building on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Get R.E.A.L.
McMahon launched the company's Get R.E.A.L. program to deliver positive messages about education to young adults. The program encouraged literacy through public service announcements, posters, and bookmarks featuring wrestling superstars. In 2000, the American Library Association reported the WWF's Know Your Role poster was its highest-selling poster for two straight months. Since 2006, thousands of posters featuring WWE superstars have been distributed to libraries and reading facilities.

SmackDown! Your Vote campaign
McMahon initiated WWE's non-partisan voter registration campaign, "SmackDown! Your Vote", in August 2000. The campaign targeted the 18-to-30 voter demographic, and made use of online marketing, public service announcements, and youth voting partnerships. The campaign, which registered 150,000 new voters during the 2000 election, was started in coalition with MTV's Choose or Lose, Project Vote Smart, and Youth Vote 2000. As of the 2008 election, it listed 14 voter registration partner organizations. During the 2008 presidential election, Smackdown your Vote! registered many voters online, often in affiliation with Rock the Vote.

Special Olympics
The McMahons began supporting the Special Olympics in 1986. McMahon first developed an interest in the Olympics from her friendship with NBC producer Dick Ebersol and Susan Saint James, who encouraged them to participate in the mid-1980s.

She met Lowell Weicker, whose son is developmentally-disabled, through the Special Olympics. In 1995, as Connecticut Governor, Weicker appointed Linda McMahon to the Governor's Council for the World Special Olympics.

Connecticut Board of Education
McMahon was appointed to the State Board of Education by Governor Jodi Rell in January 2009.

She went through a confirmation process in the Connecticut State Assembly where she was questioned on her record as CEO of WWE. The State Senate approved her nomination by a vote of 34–1 and the House by 96–45 with some opponents expressing concerns that the nature of her WWE activities would send the wrong message. State representative Bruce Morris claimed she lacked "depth of knowledge regarding education". However, state representative John Hetherington said it "would be good to have someone outside the establishment on the board".

On April 1, 2010, McMahon resigned from the State Board of Education, because state law does not allow board members to solicit campaign contributions.

2010 U.S. Senate campaign
On September 16, 2009, McMahon announced her candidacy for U.S. Senator to represent the state of Connecticut. She announced she would spend up to $50 million of her own money to finance her campaign and refused outside donations, the third most ever spent on a senatorial campaign. She ran for the Republican nomination, campaigning on promises of lower taxes, fiscal conservatism, and job creation. She campaigned as socially moderate, and identified herself as pro-choice while also opposing partial-birth abortion and federal funding for abortions.

McMahon's spending became a key argument of one of her rivals, former Congressman Rob Simmons, who accused her of "buying the election". McMahon and Simmons engaged in a frequently bitter contest. At the party convention, McMahon received the most support, but Simmons received enough votes to qualify for the ballot for the August 10 primary, although he was not actively campaigning. In late July—two weeks before the primary—Simmons relaunched his campaign by airing ads on TV reminding voters that his name would be on the ballot, participating in debates, and accepting interviews with editorial boards. A third candidate, Peter Schiff, qualified for the ballot by submitting petition signatures. McMahon defeated her opponents and faced Richard Blumenthal in the general election, losing by 11%.

2012 U.S. Senate campaign
Immediately after her loss to Blumenthal, McMahon hinted she would run again for Senate in 2012. McMahon maintained a high profile following the election, running television ads, campaigning for politicians, and making frequent media appearances. When Joe Lieberman announced he would retire from the U.S. Senate, she became the Republican Party favorite for the 2012 election.

On September 20, 2011, in Southington, Connecticut, McMahon officially announced her candidacy. On May 18, 2012, McMahon earned the endorsement of the state Republican Party at the Connecticut State Republican Convention by a delegate vote of 658 to 351 over the next-highest candidate, former congressman Chris Shays. The two were the only candidates to qualify for the primary, which took place on August 14, 2012. McMahon defeated Shays by a three-to-one margin, spending $15.7 million of her money on the campaign. She lost to Democratic U.S. Representative Chris Murphy in the general election, marking her second consecutive defeat.

Political contributions
Following her election defeats, McMahon committed herself to becoming a major Republican fundraiser and donor. She donated to groups such as American Crossroads and Ending Spending Fund, and associated with fellow mega donor Paul Singer.

As the 2016 Republican nomination process began to gear up in early 2015, McMahon, Singer, and Charles R. Schwab were among donors and prospective-candidate representatives who attended a daylong meeting near Jackson, Wyoming, that was hosted by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts and his son Todd, and featured "several Republican donors who favor[ed] same-sex marriage and immigration reform".

After Donald Trump made an appearance at WrestleMania 23 in 2007, the McMahons donated $5 million to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in addition to the payment for the appearance. In 2016, McMahon donated $6 million to Rebuilding America Now, a Super PAC with the purpose of electing Donald Trump as US president, and in 2015 and 2016 combined, $1.2 million to Future 45, a Super PAC which funded anti-Bernie Sanders advertisements.

Small Business Administration
On December 7, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate McMahon to be the administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA).

With her pending nomination to become administrator of the SBA, examination of McMahon's record in preparation for her facing United States Senate confirmation began. In December she received media attention including from The Wall Street Journal, which noted that "[a]s part of her 2012 campaign, [the nominee's] economic plan called for getting rid of 'outdated/ineffective and duplicative programs,' and expressed support for a 2012 proposal by President Barack Obama to merge the SBA, the Commerce Department's core functions and four other entities into one unit". The merger proposal, which did not proceed far toward approval at the time, would have eliminated the Cabinet-level post to which McMahon was nominated. The Connecticut Post of Bridgeport, Connecticut, examined issues of potential conflicts of interest from remaining WWE stock holdings and other financial assets, as well as of the relationship between WWE and smaller businesses in the wrestling world, with critics and supporters cited. The Hill provided a venue for two industry representatives to specify how they hoped McMahon would reform the agency she'd been tapped to lead.

The Senate confirmation hearing began on January 24, 2017; her nomination was approved by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on February 1, 2017, with an 18–1 vote, and confirmed by the full Senate on February 14, 2017, by a vote of 81–19. She was officially sworn in as administrator of the SBA on February 14, 2017.

On June 17, 2017, in an interview with CNBC, McMahon stated in her role as administrator of SBA that she is "[l]earning how to develop business plans, how to grow, how to pitch [one's] business when [one is] trying to get investors, or to move into a different market and those are aspects of SBA that are not as well known", as the main goals of the SBA are capital, counseling, contracts and disaster relief. She also stated that the goals were being challenged, as the agency faced a five percent budget cut and future restructuring. “What we have done is look inside SBA, and what I have found is there are some duplicative programs that we are going to be merging.”

Later in 2017, she visited 68 cities to hear from small business owners and to support the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 backed by President Trump. On McMahon's first anniversary as head of the SBA, on January 29, 2018, The Washington Post said the SBA's progress under McMahon had been "so far, so good" and credited her with improving the SBA's offices' emergency call centers in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, hiring an additional 3,000 people to work them, and revamping the administration's online presence.

On March 29, 2019, McMahon announced her resignation as administrator of the SBA to chair America First Action, a pro-Trump Super PAC. The resignation took effect on April 12, 2019.

Campaign finance
America First Action, a pro-Trump Super PAC chaired by McMahon, helped raise $83 million for Trump's reelection campaign in 2020. McMahon also serves as chair of the board for America First Policy Institute, along with Vice Chair Larry Kudlow, former director of the National Economic Council under Trump and Fox Business host.

Electoral history

 * Primary

Note: Blumenthal also appeared on the line of the Connecticut Working Families Party and received 30,836 votes on it. His Working Families and Democratic votes have been aggregated together on this table.

Note: Murphy also appeared on the line of the Connecticut Working Families Party and received 37,553 votes on it. His Working Families and Democratic votes have been aggregated together on this table.

title: Linda McMahon


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User:Seba~enwiki

I'm from Piran, Slovenia. Aged 21, male, and named Sebastian.

sl:Uporabnik:Seba

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

title: User:Seba~enwiki


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User:Mdahmus

Mike Dahmus worked at IBM on various OS/2 projects throughout the 1990s. I've been working on, in, and with Java most of the time since then.

title: User:Mdahmus


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Noël Mamère

Noël Mamère (born 25 December 1948) is a French journalist and former politician. He was the mayor of Bègles in Gironde from 1989 to 2017, as well as deputy to the French National Assembly for Gironde's 3rd constituency from 1997 to 2017. He also served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1997.

Biography
Noël Mamère rose to fame in the 1980s as a journalist and anchorman, in particular on Antenne 2.

In 1992, he became president of Brice Lalonde's Ecology Generation party, from which he was expelled in 1994. He then founded "Ecology-Solidarity Convergences", of which he was president, before joining Les Verts in 1998.

In 2002, he was a presidential candidate and garnered 5.25% of the votes.

On 5 June 2004, whilst mayor of Bègles, he stirred up controversy by conducting a marriage ceremony for a male homosexual couple, nine years before same-sex marriage became legal in France. The marriage was annulled by the courts on 27 July 2004. The couple appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, who ultimately upheld the annullment in 2016, but acknowledged that, by then, it was now legal for them to get married.

Political career
Member of European Parliament : 1994–1997 (Resignation, elected in the National Assembly of France). Elected in 1994.

Member of the National Assembly of France for Gironde : 1997–2017. Elected in 1997, reelected in 2002, 2007, 2012.

Regional councillor of Aquitaine : 1992–1994 (Resignation) / March 1998 (Resignation). Reelected in 1998.

Mayor of Bègles : 1989–2017. Reelected in 1995, 2001, 2008, 2014.

Municipal councillor of Bègles : 1989–2017. Reelected in 1995, 2001, 2008, 2014.

Vice-president of the Urban Community of Bordeaux : 1989–2001. Reelected in 1995.

Member of the Urban Community of Bordeaux : 1989–2001. Reelected in 1995.

title: Noël Mamère


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Asymptomatic carrier

An asymptomatic carrier is a person or other organism that has become infected with a pathogen, but shows no signs or symptoms.

Although unaffected by the pathogen, carriers can transmit it to others or develop symptoms in later stages of the disease. Asymptomatic carriers play a critical role in the transmission of common infectious diseases such as typhoid, HIV, C. difficile, influenzas, cholera, tuberculosis, and COVID-19, although the latter is often associated with "robust T-cell immunity" in more than a quarter of patients studied. While the mechanism of disease-carrying is still unknown, researchers have made progress towards understanding how certain pathogens can remain dormant in a human for a period of time. A better understanding of asymptomatic disease carriers is crucial to the fields of medicine and public health as they work towards mitigating the spread of common infectious diseases.

Types of asymptomatic carriers
Asymptomatic carriers can be categorized by their current disease state. When an individual transmits pathogens immediately following infection but prior to developing symptoms, they are known as an incubatory carrier. Humans are also capable of spreading disease following a period of illness. Typically thinking themselves cured of the disease, these individuals are known as convalescent carriers. Viral diseases such as hepatitis and poliomyelitis are frequently transmitted in this manner. "Healthy carriers" never exhibit signs or symptoms of the disease, yet are capable of infecting others, and are often considered to be the "classic" asymptomatic carriers. While the mechanism of disease carrying is still unknown, researchers have made progress towards understanding how certain pathogens can remain dormant in a human for a period of time.

Significance in disease transmission
The limited information on the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers creates a considerable difficulty when planning public health initiatives. Given that disease surveillance is dependent on estimates for both the asymptomatic rates and symptomatic rates of disease, the lack of information on the prevalence of carriers can lead to insufficient initiatives for the mitigation of common public health concerns such as C. difficile or influenza.

Researchers have expressed the desire to better predict transmission methods in order to determine the appropriate public health response. For example, a disease with a known low asymptomatic rate may lead to increased surveillance of symptomatic cases, whereas a higher asymptomatic rate could lead to more aggressive methods such as travel bans and compulsory quarantines, since the number of infectious, asymptomatic cases would be unknown.

Possible explanations
While an exact explanation for asymptomatic carriage is unknown, researchers have been dedicating their efforts towards understanding how specific bacteria thrive in human hosts in the hopes of determining a universal understanding of asymptomatic transmission.

A biological mechanism utilizing Salmonella
Numerous research publications have demonstrated how salmonella is able to remain in immune cells and alter their metabolic systems in order to further transmit the disease. Utilizing a closely related strand of bacterium (S. typhimurium), scientists have been able to create a mouse model that mimics the persistent salmonella cases seen in carriers of typhoid. Knowing that the bacterium can reside in mice for their entire lives, researchers have been able to determine that the bacterium tends to reside in macrophages. Further examination of the gut lymph nodes of the mice reveals that S. typhimurium changes the inflammatory response of the macrophages. Instead of eliciting an inflammatory response from the attack cells, the bacterium is able to convert them into an anti-inflammatory macrophage, allowing for optimal survival conditions. In the words of lead scientist Denise Monack, "It wasn't that inflammatory macrophages were invulnerable to infection, but rather that, having infected a macrophage, S. typhimurium was much more able to replicate in the anti-inflammatory type".

Investigators have also found that the presence of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) correlated to the presence of salmonella bacterium. PPARs, thought of as roaming genetic switches, are responsible for the fat metabolism needed to sustain anti-inflammatory macrophages in which S. typhimurium hides.

Asymptomatic bacteriuria
Asymptomatic bacteriuria is a condition that typically impacts 3–5% of women, with the most vulnerable populations being the elderly and those diagnosed with diabetes. Within the female population, the risk of bacteriuria increases with age. Escherichia coli is the most common organism found during urine analysis, though the variety of potentially infectious organisms is diverse and can include Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus species, and group B streptococcus. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has issued a set of screening recommendations as well as offered some insight into the mechanism of bacteriuria. Results of the meta-analysis produced no clear explanation for asymptomatic carriage, but did yield new evidence that strengthened the support for screening for asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women only.

Infectious diseases
Asymptomatic carriers have furthered the spread of many infectious diseases. A common principle in epidemiology, the 80–20 rule, speculates that 80% of the disease transmission is conducted by only 20% of people in a population.

Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever is an ailment caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica ser. Typhi. An individual can acquire this infection from consuming risky foods or drinks, or by consuming foods or drinks prepared by an infected individual. Those who recover from this infection can still carry the bacteria in their cells, and therefore be asymptomatic.

Typhoid Mary
Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary", was an asymptomatic carrier of Salmonella enterica serovar typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever. She was a cook for several families and soldiers in New York City during the late 1800s, and several cases of typhoid fever were traced to her by the Health Department. At the time, there was no way of eradicating the disease, and it was spread primarily through fecal-oral transmission. Most of Mary Mallon's transmission risk was thought to arise from her continued involvement in occupations involving food preparation and handling. New York City's public health officials initially sought to merely restrict her from such employment rather than permanently quarantining her. When she continued to be non-compliant, the Health Commission ordered that she be quarantined on one of the islands surrounding Manhattan. She remained there until her death.

Despite appearing perfectly healthy, it is estimated that Mallon infected about 50 people before she was quarantined on North Brother Island. Scientists calculate that between 1% and 6% of individuals infected with Salmonella typhi become chronic, asymptomatic carriers like Mary.

HIV
HIV infection has a long period during which the person is asymptomatic. Although the host may not be experiencing symptoms, the virus can still be passed on to others. It is also possible for the infection to become symptomatic after this incubation period. Whether the host is showing symptoms or not, opportunistic infections can take advantage of the weakened immune system and cause further complications.

Epstein–Barr virus
Many carriers are infected with persistent viruses such as Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes virus family. Studies show that about 95% of adults have antibodies against EBV, which means they were infected with the virus at some point in their life.

Clostridioides difficile
Clostridioides difficile has also been shown to be spread by asymptomatic carriers, and poses significant problems in home-care settings. Reports indicating that over 50% of long-term patients present with fecal contamination despite a lack of symptoms have led many hospitals to extend the period of contact precautions until discharge.

Cholera
For cholera the estimates of the ratio of asymptomatic to symptomatic infections have ranged from 3 to 100.

Chlamydia
Chlamydia, an STI that affects both men and women, can also be asymptomatic in most individuals. Although the infection may not yield any obvious symptoms, it can still damage the reproductive system. If the infection goes unnoticed for a long time, infected individuals are at risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Like chlamydia, PID can also be asymptomatic.

Poliomyelitis
A small number of asymptomatic carriers of polio (referred to as chronic excretors) continue to produce active virus for years (or even decades) after their initial exposure to the oral Sabin vaccine. Carriers of the attenuated virus unintentionally spread the attenuated virus, inoculating others, giving them contact immunity; however some adults with weak immune systems have contracted paralytic polio from contact with recently immunized children. Carriers of virulent strains spread polio, increasing the difficulty of poliomyelitis eradication.

Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. Active or symptomatic tuberculosis is spread from person to person through the air through bacterium spores that are released into the air following a cough or sneeze. Some individuals may be infected with the tuberculosis mycobacterium but never display symptoms. Called latent tuberculosis, these cases, while uncontagious, are particularly problematic from a public health perspective, since approximately 10% of those diagnosed with latent TB will go on to develop an active (and contagious) case.

COVID-19
A 2021 paper estimated that at least 50% of SARS-CoV-2 infections were a result of exposure to asymptomatic carriers.

title: Asymptomatic carrier


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Akimel O'odham

The Akimel O'odham (O'odham for "river people"), also called the Pima, are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona, as well as northwestern Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. The majority population of the two current bands of the Akimel O'odham in the United States are based in two reservations: the Keli Akimel Oʼodham on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) and the On'k Akimel O'odham on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC).

The Akimel O'odham are closely related to the Ak-Chin O'odham, now forming the Ak-Chin Indian Community. They are also related to the Sobaipuri, whose descendants reside on the San Xavier Indian Reservation or Wa꞉k (together with the Tohono O'odham), and in the Salt River Indian Community. Together with the related Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and the Hia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), the Akimel O'odham form the Upper Oʼodham or Upper Pima (also known as Pima Alto).

The short name, "Pima", is believed to have come from the phrase pi 'añi mac or pi mac, meaning "I don't know," which they used repeatedly in their initial meetings with Spanish colonists. The Spanish referred to them as the Pima. This term was adopted by later English speakers: traders, explorers and settlers.

History prior to 1688
The Pima Indians called themselves Othama until the first account of interaction with non-Native Americans was recorded. Spanish missionaries recorded Pima villages known as Kina, Equituni and Uturituc. European Americans later corrupted the miscommunication into Pimos, which was adapted to Pima river people. The Akimel Oʼodham people today call their villages District #1 – U's kehk (Blackwater), District #2 – Hashan Kehk (Saguaro Stand), District #3 – Gu꞉U Ki (Sacaton), District #4 – Santan, District #5 – Vah Ki (Casa Blanca), District #6 – Komatke (Sierra Estrella Mountains), and District #7 – Maricopa Colony.

The Akimel Oʼodham (known as the Pima to anthropologists) are a subgroup of the Upper O'odham or Upper Pima (also known as Pima Alto), whose lands were known in Spanish as Pimería Alta.

The Akimel O'odham lived along the Gila, Salt, Yaqui, and Sonora rivers in ranchería-style villages. The villages were set up as a loose group of houses with familial groups sharing a central ramada and kitchen area. Brush "Olas Ki:ki" (round houses) were built around this central area. The Oʼodham are matrilocal, with daughters and their husbands living with and near the daughter's mother. Familial groups tended to consist of extended families. The Akimel Oʼodham also lived seasonally in temporary field houses in order to tend their crops.

The O'odham language, variously called O'odham ñeʼokĭ, O'odham ñiʼokĭ or Oʼotham ñiok, is spoken by all O'odham groups. There are certain dialectal differences, but they are mutually intelligible and all O'odham groups can understand one another. Lexicographical differences have arisen among the different groups, especially in reference to newer technologies and innovations.

The ancient economy of the Akimel O'odham was primarily subsistence, based on farming, hunting and gathering. They also conducted extensive trading. The prehistoric peoples built an extensive irrigation system to compensate for arid conditions. It remains in use today. Over time the communities built and altered canal systems according to their changing needs.

The Akimel Oʼodham were experts in the area of textiles and produced intricate baskets as well as woven cloth. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, their primary military rivals were the Apache and Yavapai, who raided their villages at times due to competition for resources. The latter tribes were more nomadic, depending primarily on hunting and gathering, and would raid the more settled groups who cultivated foods. They established some friendly relations with the Apache.

History after 1694
Initially, the Akimel O'odham experienced little intensive colonial contact. Early encounters were limited to parties traveling through the territory or community members visiting settlements to the south. The Hispanic era (A.D.1694–1853) of the Historic period began with the first visit by Father Kino to their villages in 1694. The Pima Revolt, also known as the O'odham Uprising or the Pima Outbreak, was a revolt of Pima people in 1751 against colonial forces in Spanish Arizona and one of the major northern frontier conflicts in early New Spain.

Contact was infrequent with the Mexicans during their rule of southern Arizona between 1821 and 1853. The Akimel Oʼodham were affected by introduced European elements, such as infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, new crops (cultigens, e.g., wheat), livestock, and use of tools and goods made of metal.

Euroamerican contacts with the Akimel Oʼodham in the middle Gila Valley increased after 1846 as a result of the Mexican–American War. The Akimel Oʼodham traded and gave aid to the expeditions of Stephen Watts Kearny and Philip St. George Cooke on their way to California. After Mexico's defeat, it ceded the territory of what is now Arizona to the United States, with the exception of the land south of the Gila River. Soon thereafter the California Gold Rush began, drawing Americans to travel to California through the Mexican territory between Mesilla and the Colorado River crossings near Yuma, on what became known as the Southern Emigrant Trail. Travelers used the villages of the Akimel Oʼodham as oases to recover from the crossing of unfamiliar deserts. They also bought new supplies and livestock to support the journey across the remaining deserts to the west. The American era (A.D. 1853–1950), began in 1853 with the Gadsden Purchase, when the US acquired southern Arizona. New markets were developed, initially to supply immigrants heading for California. Grain was needed for horses of the Butterfield Overland Mail and for the military during the American Civil War. As a result, the Akimel Oʼodham experienced a period of prosperity. The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) was established in 1859. The 1860 census records the Pima Villages as Agua Raiz, Arenal, Casa Blanca, Cachanillo, Cerrito, Cerro Chiquito, El Llano, and Hormiguero.

After the American Civil War, numerous Euroamerican migrants came to settle upstream locations along the Gila, as well as along the lower Salt River. Due to their encroachment and competition for scarce resources, interaction between Native American groups and the Euro-American settlers became increasingly tense. The U.S. government adopted a policy of pacification and confinement of Native Americans to reservations. Uncertainty and variable crop yields led to major settlement reorganizations. The establishment of agency headquarters, churches and schools, and trading posts at Vahki (Casa Blanca) and Gu U ki (Sacaton) during the 1870s and 1880s led to the growth of these towns as administrative and commercial centers, at the expense of others.

By 1898 agriculture had nearly ceased within the GRIC. Although some Akimel Oʼodham drew rations, their principal means of livelihood was woodcutting. The first allotments of land within Gila River were established in 1914, in an attempt to break up communal land. Each individual was assigned a 10 acre parcel of irrigable land located within districts irrigated by the Santan, Agency, Blackwater, and Casa Blanca projects on the eastern half of the reservation. In 1917, the allotment size was doubled to include a primary lot of irrigable land and a secondary, usually non-contiguous 10 acre tract of grazing land.

The most ambitious effort to rectify the economic plight of the Akimel Oʼodham was the San Carlos Project Act of 1924, which authorized the construction of a water storage dam on the Gila River. It provided for the irrigation of 50000 acre of Indian and 50000 acre of non-Indian land. For a variety of reasons, the San Carlos Project failed to revitalize the Oʼodham farming economy. In effect the project halted the Gila river waters, and the Akimel O'odham no longer had a source of water for farming. This began the famine years. Many Oʼodham have believed these wrong and misguided government policies were an attempt of mass genocide.

Over the decades, the U.S. government promoted assimilation, forcing changes on to the Akimel Oʼodham in nearly every aspect of their lives. Since World War II, however, the Akimel Oʼodham have experienced a resurgence of interest in tribal sovereignty and economic development. The community has regained its self-government and are recognized as a tribe. In addition, they have developed several profitable enterprises in fields such as agriculture and telecommunications, and built several gaming casinos to generate revenues. They have begun to construct a water delivery system across the reservation in order to revive their farming economy.

Akimel O'odham and the Salt River

The Akimel O'odham ("River People") have lived on the banks of the Gila and Salt Rivers since long before European contact.

Their way of life (himdagĭ, sometimes rendered in English as Him-dag) was and is centered on the river, which is considered holy. The term Him-dag should be clarified, as it does not have a direct translation into the English language, and is not limited to reverence of the river. It encompasses a great deal because O'odham him-dag intertwines religion, morals, values, philosophy, and general world view which are all interconnected. Their world view/religious beliefs are centered on the natural world, and this is pervasive throughout their culture.

The Gila and Salt Rivers are currently dry, due to the (San Carlos Irrigation project) upstream dams that block the flow and the diversion of water by non-native farmers. This has been a cause of great upset among all of the Oʼodham. The upstream diversion in combination with periods of drought, led to lengthy periods of famine that were a devastating change from the documented prosperity the people had experienced until non-native settlers engaged in more aggressive farming in areas that were traditionally used by the Akimel Oʼodham and Apache in Eastern Arizona. This abuse of water rights was the impetus for a nearly century long legal battle between the Gila River Indian Community and the United States government, which was settled in favor of the Akimel Oʼodham and signed into law by George W. Bush in December 2005. As a side note, at times during the monsoon season the Salt River runs, albeit at low levels. In the weeks after December 29, 2004, when an unexpected winter rainstorm flooded areas much further upstream (in Northern Arizona), water was released through dams on the river at rates higher than at any time since the filling of Tempe Town Lake in 1998, and was a cause for minor celebration in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The diversion of the water and the introduction of non-native diet is said to have been the leading contributing factor in the high rate of diabetes among the Akimel Oʼodham tribe.

Modern life
As of 2014, the majority of the population lives in the federally recognized Gila River Indian Community (GRIC). In historic times a large number of Akimel O'odham migrated north to occupy the banks of the Salt River, where they formed the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC). Both tribes are confederations of two distinct ethnicities, which include the Maricopa.

Within the O'odham people, four federally recognized tribes in the Southwest speak the same language: they are called the Gila River Indian Community (Keli Akimel O'odham – "Gila River People"); the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (Onk Akimel O'odham – "Salt River People"); the Ak-Chin Indian Community (Ak-Chin O'odham); and the Tohono O'odham Nation (Tohono O'odham – "Desert People"). The remaining band, the Hia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), are not federally recognized, but reside throughout southwestern Arizona.

Today the GRIC is a sovereign tribe residing on more than 550000 acres of land in central Arizona. The community is divided into seven districts (similar to states) with a council representing individual subgovernments. It is self-governed by an elected Governor (currently Gregory Mendoza), Lieutenant Governor (currently Stephen Roe-Lewis) and 18-member Tribal Council. The council is elected by district with the number of electees determined by district population. There are more than 19,000 enrolled members overall.

The Gila River Indian Community is involved in various economic development enterprises that provide entertainment and recreation: three gaming casinos, associated golf courses, a luxury resort, and a western-themed amusement park. In addition, they manage various industrial parks, landfills, and construction supply. The GRIC is also involved in agriculture and runs its own farms and other agricultural projects. The Gila River Indian Reservation is home of Maricopa (Piipaa, Piipaash or Pee-Posh – "People") and Keli Akimel O'odham (also Keli Akimel Au-Authm – "Gila River People", a division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People").

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community is smaller in size. It also has a government of an elected President and tribal council. They operate tribal gaming, industrial projects, landfills and construction supply. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) is home of the Onk Akimel O'odham (also On'k Akimel Au-Authm – "Salt River People", a division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People"), the Maricopa of Lehi (call themselves Xalychidom Piipaa or Xalychidom Piipaash – "People who live toward the water", descendants of the refugee Halchidhoma), the Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and some Keli Akimel O'odham (also Keli Akimel Au-Authm – "Gila River People", another division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People").

The Ak-Chin Indian Community is located in the Santa Cruz Valley in Arizona. The community is composed mainly of Ak-Chin O'odham (Ak-Chin Au-Authm, also called Pima, another division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People") and Tohono O'odham, as well as some Yoeme. As of 2000, the population living in the community was 742. Ak-Chin is an O'odham word that means the "mouth of the arroyo" or "place where the wash loses itself in the sand or ground."

The Keli Akimel O'odham and the Onk Akimel O'odham have various environmentally based health issues related to the decline of their traditional economy and farming. They have the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the world, much more than is observed in other U.S. populations. While they do not have a greater risk than other tribes, the Pima people have been the subject of intensive study of diabetes, in part because they form a homogeneous group.

The general increased diabetes prevalence among Native Americans has been hypothesized as the result of the interaction of genetic predisposition (the thrifty phenotype or thrifty genotype), as suggested by anthropologist Robert Ferrell in 1984 and a sudden shift in diet during the last century from traditional agricultural crops to processed foods, together with a decline in physical activity. For comparison, genetically similar O'odham in Mexico have only a slighter higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes than non-O'odham Mexicans.

Customs
The Akimel O'odham associate great importance to the names of individuals. From age ten until the time of marriage, neither boys nor girls were allowed to speak their own names out loud. The Pima Indians believed such an act would bring bad luck to the children and their future. Similarly, people in the tribe do not say aloud the names of deceased people, in order to avoid bad luck by calling their spirits back among the living. But the word or words in the name are not dropped from the language.

The people gave their children careful oral instruction in moral, religious and other matters. Their ceremonies often included set speeches, in which the speaker would recite portions of their cosmic myth. Such a recounting was especially important in the preparation for war. These speeches were adapted for each occasion but the general context was the same.

Traditionally, the Pimas lived in a thatched wattle-and-daub hut, as seen by the early European-American settlers who ventured into their country:

"Their homes are jacales which are huts made of mats of reed-grass cut in half and built n the form of a vault on arched sticks. The top is covered with these mats, thick enough to resist the weather, Inside, they have only a petate on which to sleep, and gourds in which to carry and store water."

title: Akimel O'odham


text:
Peter S. Beagle

Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American novelist and screenwriter, especially of fantasy fiction. His best-known work is The Last Unicorn (1968) which Locus subscribers voted the number five "All-Time Best Fantasy Novel" in 1987. During the last twenty-five years he has won several literary awards, including a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2011. He was named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by SFWA in 2018.

Early life
Beagle was born in Manhattan on April 20, 1939, the son of Simon Beagle and Rebecca Soyer. Three of his uncles were noted painters: Moses, Raphael, and Isaac Soyer.

Beagle has said that The Wind in the Willows, a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, originally attracted him to the genre of fantasy.

Career
Beagle was raised in Bronx, New York, and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1955. He garnered early recognition from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, winning a scholarship to University of Pittsburgh for a poem he submitted as a high school senior. He went on to graduate from the university with a degree in creative writing. Following a year overseas, Beagle held the graduate Stegner Fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University, where he overlapped with Ken Kesey, Gurney Norman, and Larry McMurtry.

Beagle wrote his first novel, A Fine and Private Place, when he was 19 years old, following it with a memoir, I See by My Outfit, in 1965. He wrote an introduction for an American print edition of The Lord of the Rings. He and Chris Conkling co-wrote the screenplay for the 1978 Ralph Bakshi-animated version of The Lord of the Rings. Two decades later he wrote the teleplay for "Sarek", episode 71 of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

With David Carlson as composer Beagle adapted his story "Come, Lady Death" into the libretto for an opera, The Midnight Angel, which premiered at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 1993.

In 2005, Beagle published a coda to The Last Unicorn, a novelette entitled "Two Hearts", and began work on a full-novel sequel. Two Hearts won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2006 and the parallel Nebula Award in 2007. It was also nominated as a short fiction finalist for the World Fantasy Award. Beagle also received a special Inkpot Award in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and in 2007 the inaugural WSFA Small Press Award for "El Regalo", published in The Line Between (Tachyon Publications).

He is also a winner of the Jack Trevor Story Cup, also known as the Prix du Goncourt, awarded to an outstanding humorous writer. IDW Publishing released a six-issue comic book adaptation of The Last Unicorn beginning in April 2010. The collected hardcover edition was released in January 2011, premiering at #2 on the New York Times Hardcover Graphic Novel bestseller list.

Beagle's 2009 collection of short fiction, We Never Talk About My Brother, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award.

In 2013, he collaborated with the musician Phildel on a new track "Dark Water Down", mixing poetry and music. They then appeared together at a gig at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco.

Dispute with Granada media
Beagle's book The Last Unicorn was made into an animated film of the same name in 1982, based on a screenplay written by Beagle himself. In 1979, Beagle had a contract with ITC Entertainment, which entitled Beagle to 5% of the net profits in the animated property, and 5% of the gross revenues from any film-related merchandising. Since 1999 this film has been controlled by a British company, Granada Media International (a subsidiary of ITV plc).

From 2003 through 2011, Beagle was involved in a financial dispute with Granada over nonpayment of contractually due profit and merchandising shares. On July 29, 2011, Beagle announced at his Otakon appearance that he and ITV had reached an agreement that was beneficial to all parties, and should please fans of The Last Unicorn. On October 14, 2011, at his New York Comic Con appearance, he announced the first results of the deal.

Dispute with Connor Cochran
Beagle sued his former manager Connor Cochran in 2015 for $52 million. The Alameda County Superior Court judge Michael M. Markman found Cochran liable for financial elder abuse, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty, awarding Beagle $325,000, as well as an additional $7500 for defamation, and an undetermined amount in attorney's fees.

Cochran declared bankruptcy sixteen hours before the trial was due to begin. Beagle was unable to collect the money Cochran owed, and the rights to Beagle's work were left in legal limbo. In February 2021, Beagle regained the intellectual property rights.

Novels and chapbooks

 * A Fine and Private Place, 1960 (novel)
 * The Last Unicorn, 1968 (novel)
 * Lila the Werewolf, 1974 (chapbook edition of 1969 novelette )
 * The Fantasy Worlds of Peter S. Beagle, 1978 (omnibus collection including A Fine and Private Place, The Last Unicorn, Come Lady Death, and Lila the Werewolf)
 * The Folk of the Air, 1986 (novel, currently being rewritten and expanded for new release)
 * The Innkeeper's Song, 1993 (novel)
 * The Unicorn Sonata, 1996 (young adult novel, currently being rewritten and expanded into a 4-book series)
 * Tamsin, 1999 (novel)
 * A Dance for Emilia, 2000 (hardcover giftbook edition of novella) (Illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert)
 * Your Friendly Neighborhood Magician: Songs and Early Poems, 2006 (limited edition chapbook collection of song lyrics and poetry) (Tachyon Publications)
 * The Last Unicorn: The Lost Version, 2007 (original novella-length draft, from Subterranean Press)
 * Strange Roads, 2008 (3-story chapbook collaboration with Lisa Snellings-Clark for Dreamhaven Books)
 * Return, 2010 (limited edition novella chapbook, Subterranean Press)
 * Two Hearts, 2011 (unpublished limited edition chapbook of Hugo Award and Nebula Award-winning novelette sequel to The Last Unicorn)
 * Summerlong, 2016, Tachyon Publications
 * In Calabria, February 2017 (novella)
 * The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey, November 2018 (finished version of the original The Lost Unicorn)
 * I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons, May 2024

 * As editor
 * Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn, 1995 (co-editor, original story anthology, split into two volumes when reprinted in paperback: Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn in 1998, and Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn 2 in 1999)
 * The Secret History of Fantasy, 2010 (anthology from Tachyon Publications)
 * The Urban Fantasy Anthology, 2011 (with Joe R. Lansdale)
 * The New Voices of Fantasy, 2017 (with Jacob Weisman)

Short fiction

 * Collections
 * Giant Bones, 1997 (original stories set in the world of The Innkeeper's Song); reissued in 1999 as The Magician of Karakosk and Other Stories
 * The Line Between, 2006
 * We Never Talk About My Brother, 2009, Tachyon Publications
 * Mirror Kingdoms: The Best of Peter S. Beagle, 2010 (Subterranean Press, edited by Jonathan Strahan)
 * Sleight of Hand, 2011, Tachyon Publications
 * The Overneath, 2017, Tachyon Publications
 *  The Way Home, 2023, Penguin Random House

Non-fiction

 * I See By My Outfit: Cross-Country by Scooter, an Adventure, 1965 (nonfiction)
 * The California Feeling, 1969 (with photographer Michael Bry, nonfiction)
 * American Denim, 1975 (nonfiction art book)
 * The Lady and Her Tiger, 1976 (with Pat Derby, nonfiction)
 * The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1982 (nonfiction art book)
 * In the Presence of the Elephants, 1995 (nonfiction photo book)
 * The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances, 1997 (collection of fiction and nonfiction essays)

Audiobooks
These five audiobooks are unabridged readings by Beagle, except the first, which is abridged. Giant Bones is a collection of short fiction; the others are novels.

 * The Last Unicorn, abridged (1990 cassette)
 * A Fine and Private Place (2002 CD and cassette)
 * Giant Bones (2002 CD & cassette)
 * Tamsin (2002 CD and cassette)
 * The Last Unicorn (2005 download), with original music by Jeff Slingluff

Screenplays

 * The Dove, 1974
 * The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened, 1977
 * The Lord of the Rings, 1978
 * The Last Unicorn, 1982
 * "Sarek" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1990
 * A Whale of a Tale, pilot episode for a TV serial adaptation of The Little Mermaid, 1992
 * Camelot, 1998
 * A Tale of Egypt, 1998

Discography

 * Peter Beagle Live!, Firebird Arts & Music, 1991, FAM-11008/UPC 0-4720-11008-4-9

Awards
Source: The Locus Index to SF Awards

These are annual "best of the year" literary awards, with three exceptions (‡).
 * 1987  Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, The Folk of the Air
 * 1994  Locus Award, Fantasy Novel, The Innkeeper's Song
 * 2000  Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, Adult, Tamsin
 * 2004  Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, Nouvelle étrangère, Le rhinocéros qui citait Nietzsche
 * That is, best foreign-language short fiction published July 2002 to June 2003, for the French edition (Gallimard, 2002, ISBN 9782070421473) of The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances (1997)

 * 2006 ‡ Inkpot Award (comics), Special citation
 * 2006  Hugo Award, Novelette, "Two Hearts"
 * 2007  Nebula Award, Novelette, "Two Hearts"
 * 2007  WSFA Small Press Award (short fiction), "El Regalo"
 * 2010  Locus Award, Novelette, "By Moonlight"
 * 2011 ‡ World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
 * 2018 ‡ Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award

In 1987, Locus ranked The Last Unicorn number five among the 33 all-time best fantasy novels, based on a poll of subscribers. The 1998 rendition of the poll considered many book series as single entries and ranked The Last Unicorn number 18.

title: Peter S. Beagle


text:
Puppet Master

Puppet Master or Puppetmaster may refer to:

 * A puppeteer

Films

 * Puppet Master (film series), a series of horror films
 * Puppet Master (film), the 1989 film that started the franchise
 * The Puppetmaster (film), a 1993 Taiwanese film
 * The Puppet Masters (film), a 1994 film based on Robert A. Heinlein’s 1951 novel of the same title

Literature

 * Puppet Master (Action Lab Comics), a comic book series written by Shawn Gabborin and published monthly by Action Lab Comics
 * Puppet Master (Eternity Comics), a limited comic book series based on the films
 * Puppet Master (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics villain
 * The Puppet Masters, a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein
 * The Puppet-Masters, a 1969 novel by William Garner
 * The Master Puppeteer, 1975 novel
 * Puppeteer (comics), a DC Comics villain formerly called Puppet Master

Music

 * The Puppet Master (album) (2003), King Diamond's eleventh album
 * Master of Puppets, a 1986 heavy metal album by Metallica
 * "Master of Puppets" (song), title track of the album
 * "Puppet Master", a song by Soul Assassins featuring B-Real and Dr. Dre from the 1997 album Soul Assassins, Chapter 1
 * The Puppeteer, provisional title to the 2006 album Kelis Was Here
 * "Puppet Master", a song by Crooked I featuring RZA, King, and The Observer from the 2016 album Good vs. Evil
 * "Puppet Master", a song by Thy Art Is Murder from the 2017 album Dear Desolation

Television

 * "Puppet Master" (Glee)
 * "The Puppetmaster" (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
 * "Puppet Master" (Fantastic Four episode)
 * Puppet Master (Ghost in the Shell), a hacker in Ghost in the Shell whose code name is Project 2501
 * The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman, a 2022 Netflix documentary miniseries about convicted conman Robert Hendy-Freegard

Video games

 * Puppet Master, a job class in the game Final Fantasy XI
 * Puppet Master (gaming), a person running an online game or creating puzzles based on fictional characters in an alternative reality

title: Puppet Master


text:
Talk:Live at Leeds

Length
I don't like the length being 36:24. The 1995 CD-reissue in particular, which was more than double the original vinyl length, hit the charts, a pretty rare event for just a "CD with bonus tracks". I think it should be included as being significantly different. Unfortunately I can't find my relevant copy of "British Hit Albums" to add a cite at the mo. Ritchie333 (talk)  (cont)   17:36, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

 * Thanks for letting me know that that exists! :-) If only one length were possible, I would think that the album itself would determine that.  But specifying the lengths for both would be even better.   North8000 (talk) 18:20, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Live at Leeds. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20100906115901/http://store.universal-music.co.uk:80/restofworld/Special-Editions/The-Who-Live-At-Leeds-40th-Anniversary-Super-Deluxe-Collectors-Edition/invt/0602527500720 to http://store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/Special-Editions/The-Who-Live-At-Leeds-40th-Anniversary-Super-Deluxe-Collectors-Edition/invt/0602527500720

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 22:27, 16 October 2015 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 29 July 2016
For some reason in the certifications it still says 3x platinum instead of 2x platinum. I think there is an error

?tidy (talk) 18:16, 29 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Clear your browser's cache; it's fixed on my screen. ~ Rob 13 Talk 18:24, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

Contentious information should be clarified
In the opening paragraph, "according to Charlesworth, instructed sound engineer Bob Pridden to burn the tapes.[4] Townshend later confirmed the tapes were indeed burnt in his back garden[7]" is belied by the 2013 re-release of Tommy (the Wikipedia article states "the package includes additional demos, and a live performance mostly taken from the Who's show at the Capital Theatre, Ottawa, Canada on 15 October 1969. The live disc was significant, as it debunked a long-standing myth that the tapes for the tour were burned in preference for the Leeds University show in February 1970 that made up Live at Leeds.[71]").

Appending something like "; however, at least one of the tapes was preserved because the 1969-10-15 show was released on a 2013 re-release of Tommy_(album)." would resolve the inconsistency. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chief Old Wrens (talk • contribs) 02:30, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

 * I tried for about 5 minutes to see if this was referenced at the other article and couldn't. The link (to a page in their web site) provided was a dead link and I couldn't even find the described 2013 re-release on their website. Maybe I just needed to look more.  North8000  (talk) 02:47, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

 * so run the link through an archiver. Kellymoat (talk) 11:54, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Sounds like we have a volunteer! :-)  North8000  (talk) 20:56, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

I think i may have squared the circle -- at Discogs, the live material is referenced in at least two listings as The Live Bootleg Album (https://www.discogs.com/Who-Tommy/release/5353702 and https://www.discogs.com/The-Who-Tommy/release/6914632). So the edit that is actually neded is to remove the sentence regarding debunking from the Tommy text, since Bootleg seems to indicate the source is not the officially-recorded tapes that Townshend confirms burning, and replace it with explanatory text regarding the bootleg source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chief Old Wrens (talk • contribs) 20:02, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

 * Make sure you are sourcing the sources they use. Discogs is a Wiki and can't be used as a source.Kellymoat (talk) 21:38, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Live at Leeds


text:
Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan (باشووری کوردستان)  refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan). Much of the geographical and cultural region of Iraqi Kurdistan is part of the Kurdistan Region (KRI), an autonomous region recognized by the Constitution of Iraq. As with the rest of Kurdistan, and unlike most of the rest of Iraq, the region is inland and mountainous.

Etymology

The exact origins of the name Kurd are unclear. The suffix -stan is an Iranian term for region. The literal translation for Kurdistan is "Land of Kurds".

The name was also formerly spelled Curdistan. One of the ancient names of Kurdistan is Corduene.

Geography
Iraqi Kurdistan is largely mountainous, with the highest point being a 3,611 m (11,847 ft) point known locally as Cheekha Dar ("black tent"). Mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan include the Zagros, Sinjar Mountains, Hamrin Mountains, Mount Nisir and Qandil mountains. There are many rivers running through the region, which is distinguished by its fertile lands, plentiful water, and picturesque nature. The Great Zab and the Little Zab flow east–west in the region. The Tigris river enters Iraqi Kurdistan from Turkish Kurdistan.

The mountainous nature of Iraqi Kurdistan, the difference of temperatures in its various parts, and its numerous bodies of water make it a land of agriculture and tourism. The largest lake in the region is Lake Dukan. There are also several smaller lakes, such as Darbandikhan Lake and Duhok Lake. The western and southern parts of Iraqi Kurdistan are not as mountainous as the east. Instead, it is rolling hills and plains vegetated by sclerophyll scrubland.

Climate
Due to its latitude and altitude, Iraqi Kurdistan is cooler and much wetter than the rest of Iraq. Most areas in the region fall within the Mediterranean climate zone (Csa), with areas to the southwest being semi-arid (BSh).

Average summer temperatures range from 35 C in the cooler northernmost areas to blistering 40 C in the southwest, with lows around 21 C to 24 C. Winters, however, are dramatically cooler than the rest of Iraq, with highs averaging between 9 C and 11 C and with lows hovering around 3 C in some areas and freezing in others, dipping to -2 C and 0 C on average.

Among other cities in the climate table below, Soran, Shaqlawa and Halabja also experience lows which average below 0 C in winter. Duhok has the hottest summers in the region, with highs averaging around 42 C. Annual rainfall differs across Iraqi Kurdistan, with some places seeing rainfall as low as 500 mm in Erbil to as high as 900 mm in places like Amadiya. Most of the rain falls in winter and spring, and is usually heavy. Summer and early autumn are virtually dry, and spring is fairly tepid. Iraqi Kurdistan sees snowfall occasionally in the winter, and frost is common. There is a seasonal lag in some places in summer, with temperatures peaking around August and September.

Economy
The provinces of Duhok, Erbil and Sulaymanyah are rich in agricultural lands. Wheat and other cereals are grown there. Most of the areas are rainfed, but there are also some smaller irrigation systems in place. Tourism is another branch which draws the attention of the KRI, which achieved the declaration of Erbil as the Tourism Capital by the Arab Council of Tourism in 2014.

Pre-Islamic period
In prehistoric times, the region was home to a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The region was host to the Jarmo culture c. 7000 BCE. The earliest neolithic site in Kurdistan is at Tell Hassuna, the centre of the Hassuna culture, c. 6000 BCE.

In Early and Middle Bronze Age the region was geographically known as Subartu and was inhabited by the Hurrian speaking Subarians along with Gutians and Lullubi. In 2200 BCE Naram-Sin of Akkad conquered the region and it came under the rule of the Gutians in 2150 BCE. The main cities of the region attested in the inscriptions in this period are Mardaman, Azuhinum, Ninet (Nineveh), Arrapha, Urbilum, and Kurda.

In early 2nd millennium the region was ruled by the kingdom of Kurda except for two decades in 18th century BCE when it was conquered by the Amorite Shamshi Adad  and was incorporated into the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. In 1760s BCE the kingdom of Kurda faced an invasion by Elam and Eshnunna during the Babylonian-Elam war and the kingdom eventually sided with Mari and Babylon.

In 16th century BCE the Mitannians incorporated the region into their Hurrian empire. Following the destruction of the Mitannian Empire by the Hittites, between 14th-13th century BCE the region gradually came under the rule of the Assyrians. Tukulti-Ninurta I in the 13th century BCE finally conquered the whole region and appointed one of his commanders as the governor of the villages and towns of Kurda. Kurda was reduced to a province centering around modern Sinjar. Erbil's name was Akkadianized to Arba-ilu and during the Neo-Assyrian Empire the city was noted for its distinctive cult of Ishtar. The region was partially under the rule of Urartu and the kingdom of Musasir in early 1st millennium BCE. Modern Rawandiz district was a religious center of the Urartians.

The Medes conquered the region in 7th century BCE. Later it came under the rule of the Achaemenids and remained as part of the satrapy of Media. When Xenophon passed through the region in 4th century BCE, it was inhabited by the Medes. In 332 BC the region fell to Alexander The Great and was thereafter ruled by the Greek Seleucid Empire until the middle of the second century BCE when it fell to Mithridates I of Parthia. During the four centuries of the Parthian era (247 BCE to 226 AD) the region was ruled by semi-independent principalities of Barzan and Sharazur, and in 1st century it was partially under the rule of the Jewish kingdom of Adiabene. Between 3rd and 4th centuries the region was ruled by the House of Kayus until it was incorporated into the Sassanian Empire in 380 AD and it was renamed to Nodshēragān. The region was gradually converted to Christianity between 1st and 5th centuries and Erbil became the seat of the metropolitan of Hadhyab of the Church of the East and it was divided into several bishoprics namely Marga, Beth Garmai, Beth Qardu, Beth MahQard, Beth BihQard, Beth Nuhadra and Shahr-Qard. In Syriac the region was commonly called Beth Qardwaye.

Islamic period

The region was conquered by Arab Muslims in the mid 7th century AD as the invading forces conquered the Sassanian Empire, the region fell to Muslims after they fought the Kurds in Mosul and Tikrit 'Utba ibn Farqad captured all the forts of the Kurds when he conquered Erbil in 641. The area became part of the Muslim Arab Rashidun, Umayyad, and later the Abbasid Caliphates, before becoming part of various Iranian, Turkic, and Mongol emirates. Following the disintegration of the Ak Koyunlu, all of its territories including what is modern-day Iraqi Kurdistan passed to the Iranian Safavids in the earliest 16th century.

Between the 16th and 17th century the area nowadays known as Iraqi Kurdistan, (formerly ruled by three principalities of Baban, Badinan, and Soran) was continuously passed back and forth between archrivals the Safavids and the Ottomans, until the Ottomans managed to decisively seize power in the region starting from the mid 17th century through the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39) and the resulting Treaty of Zuhab. In the early 18th century, it briefly passed to the Iranian Afsharids led by Nader Shah. Following Nader's death in 1747, Ottoman suzerainty was reimposed, and in 1831, direct Ottoman rule was established which lasted until World War I, when the Ottomans were defeated by the British.

Kurdish revolts under British control

During World War I, the British and French divided West Asia in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The Treaty of Sèvres (which did not enter into force), and the Treaty of Lausanne which superseded it, led to the advent of modern West Asia and the modern Republic of Turkey. The League of Nations granted France mandates over Syria and Lebanon and granted the United Kingdom mandates over Palestine (which then consisted of two autonomous regions: Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan) and what was to become Iraq. Parts of the Ottoman Empire on the Arabian Peninsula were eventually taken over by Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

In 1922, Britain restored Shaikh Mahmud Barzanji to power, hoping that he would organize the Kurds to act as a buffer against the Turks, who had territorial claims over Mosul and Kirkuk. However, defiant to the British, in 1922 Shaikh Mahmud declared a Kurdish Kingdom with himself as king. It took two years for the British to bring Kurdish areas into submission, while Shaikh Mahmud found refuge in an unknown location.

In 1930, following the announcement of the admission of Iraq to the League of Nations, Shaikh Mahmud started a third uprising which was suppressed with British air and ground forces.

By 1927, the Barzani clan had become vocal supporters of Kurdish rights in Iraq. In 1929, the Barzani demanded the formation of a Kurdish province in northern Iraq. Emboldened by these demands, in 1931 Kurdish notables petitioned the League of Nations to set up an independent Kurdish government. In late 1931, Ahmed Barzani initiated a Kurdish rebellion against Iraq, and though defeated within several months, the movement gained a major importance in the Kurdish struggle later on, creating the ground for such a notable Kurdish rebel as Mustafa Barzani.

During World War II, the power vacuum in Iraq was exploited by the Kurdish tribes and under the leadership of Mustafa Barzani a rebellion broke out in the north, effectively gaining control of Kurdish areas until 1945, when Iraqis could once again subdue the Kurds with British support. Under pressure from the Iraqi government and the British, the most influential leader of the clan, Mustafa Barzani was forced into exile in Iran in 1945. Later he moved to the Soviet Union after the collapse of the Republic of Mahabad in 1946.

Barzani Revolt (1960–1970)
After the military coup by Arab nationalists on the 14 July 1958, Mustafa Barzani was invited by Abdul Karim Qasim to return from exile, where he was greeted with a hero's welcome. As part of the deal arranged between Qasim and Barzani, Qasim had promised to give the Kurds regional autonomy in return for Barzani's support for his policies. The Provisional Constitution described Iraq being included in the Arab world but saw the Kurds as partners within an Iraqi statehood and the coat of arms included a Kurdish dagger besides the Arab sword. Meanwhile, during 1959–1960, Barzani became the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which was granted legal status in 1960. By early 1960, it became apparent that Qasim would not follow through with his promise of regional autonomy. As a result, the KDP began to agitate for regional autonomy. In the face of growing Kurdish dissent, as well as Barzani's personal power, Qasim began to incite the Barzanis historical enemies, the Baradost and Zebari tribes, which led to intertribal warfare throughout 1960 and early 1961.

By February 1961, Barzani had successfully defeated the pro-government forces and consolidated his position as leader of the Kurds. At this point, Barzani ordered his forces to occupy and expel government officials from all Kurdish territory. This was not received well in Baghdad, and the Third Kurdish Teachers Congress was cancelled and Qasim even denied that "Kurds" constituted an own nation. Qasim began to prepare for a military offensive against the north to return government control of the region. Meanwhile, in June 1961, the KDP issued a detailed ultimatum to Qasim outlining Kurdish grievances, demanding that the Kurdish language would become an official language in Kurdish majority regions. Qasim ignored the Kurdish demands and continued his planning for war.

It was not until September 10, when an Iraqi army column was ambushed by a group of Kurds, that the Kurdish revolt truly began. In response to the attack, Qasim lashed out and ordered the Iraqi Air Force to indiscriminately bomb Kurdish villages, which ultimately served to rally the entire Kurdish population to Barzani's standard. Due to Qasim's profound distrust of the Iraqi Army, which he purposely failed to adequately arm (in fact, Qasim implemented a policy of ammunition rationing), Qasim's government was not able to subdue the insurrection. This stalemate irritated powerful factions within the military and is said to be one of the main reasons behind the Ba'athist coup against Qasim in February 1963. In November 1963, after considerable infighting amongst the civilian and military wings of the Ba'athists, they were ousted by Abdul Salam Arif in a coup. Then, after another failed offensive, Arif declared a ceasefire in February 1964 which provoked a split among Kurdish urban radicals on one hand and Peshmerga (Freedom fighters) forces led by Barzani on the other.

Barzani agreed to the ceasefire and fired the radicals from the party. Following the unexpected death of Arif, whereupon he was replaced by his brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, the Iraqi government launched a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kurds. This campaign failed in May 1966, when Barzani forces thoroughly defeated the Iraqi Army at the Battle of Mount Handrin, near Rawandiz. At this battle, it was said that the Kurds slaughtered an entire brigade. Recognizing the futility of continuing this campaign, Rahamn Arif announced a 12-point peace program in June 1966, which was not implemented due to the overthrow of Rahman Arif in a 1968 coup by the Ba'ath Party.

The Ba'ath government started a campaign to end the Kurdish insurrection, which stalled in 1969. This can be partly attributed to the internal power struggle in Baghdad and also tensions with Iran. Moreover, the Soviet Union pressured the Iraqis to come to terms with Barzani. A peace plan was announced in March 1970 and provided for broader Kurdish autonomy. The plan also gave Kurds representation in government bodies, to be implemented in four years. Despite this, the Iraqi government embarked on an Arabization program in the oil rich regions of Kirkuk and Khanaqin in the same period.

In the following years, Baghdad government overcame its internal divisions and concluded a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in April 1972 and ended its isolation within the Arab world. On the other hand, Kurds remained dependent on the Iranian military support and could do little to strengthen their forces.

Second Kurdish Iraqi War Algiers Agreement
In 1973, the US made a secret agreement with the Shah of Iran to begin covertly funding Kurdish rebels against Baghdad through the Central Intelligence Agency and in collaboration with the Mossad, both of which would be active in the country through the launch of the Iraqi invasion and into the present. By 1974, the Iraqi government retaliated with a new offensive against the Kurds and pushed them close to the border with Iran. Iraq informed Tehran that it was willing to satisfy other Iranian demands in return for an end to its aid to the Kurds. With mediation by Algerian President Houari Boumediene, Iran and Iraq reached a comprehensive settlement in March 1975 known as the Algiers Pact. The agreement left the Kurds helpless and Tehran cut supplies to the Kurdish movement. Barzani went to Iran with many of his supporters. Others surrendered en masse and the rebellion ended after a few days.

As a result, the Iraqi government extended its control over the northern region after 15 years and in order to secure its influence, started an Arabization program by moving Arabs to the vicinity of oil fields in northern Iraq, particularly those around Kirkuk, and other regions, which were populated by Turkmen, Kurds and Christians. The repressive measures carried out by the government against the Kurds after the Algiers agreement led to renewed clashes between the Iraqi Army and Kurdish guerrillas in 1977. In 1978 and 1979, 600 Kurdish villages were burned down and around 200,000 Kurds were deported to the other parts of the country.

Arabization campaign and PUK insurgency
The Ba'athist government of Iraq forcibly displaced and culturally Arabized minorities (Kurds, Yezidis, Assyrians, Shabaks, Armenians, Turkmen, Mandeans), in line with settler colonialist policies, from the 1960s to the early 2000s, in order to shift the demographics of North Iraq towards Arab domination. The Baath party under Saddam Hussein engaged in active expulsion of minorities from the mid-1970s onwards. In 1978 and 1979, 600 Kurdish villages were burned down and around 200,000 Kurds were deported to the other parts of the country.

The campaigns took place during the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, being largely motivated by the Kurdish–Arab ethnic and political conflict. Arab settlement programs reached their peak during the late 1970s, in line with depopulation efforts of the Ba'athist regime. The Baathist policies motivating those events are sometimes referred to as "internal colonialism", described by Dr. Francis Kofi Abiew as a "Colonial 'Arabization program, including large-scale Kurdish deportations and forced Arab settlement in the region.

Iran–Iraq War and Anfal Campaign

During the Iran–Iraq War, the Iraqi government again implemented anti-Kurdish policies and a de facto civil war broke out. Iraq was widely condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures, including the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds, which resulted in thousands of deaths. The Anfal campaign constituted a systematic genocide of the Kurdish people in Iraq.

The second and more extensive and widespread wave began from March 29, 1987, until April 23, 1989, when the Iraqi army under the command of Saddam Hussein & Ali Hassan al-Majid carried out a genocidal campaign against the Kurds, characterized by the following human rights violations: The widespread use of chemical weapons, the wholesale destruction of some 2,000 villages, and slaughter of around 50,000 rural Kurds, by the most conservative estimates. The large Kurdish town of Qala Dizeh (population 70,000) was completely destroyed by the Iraqi army. The campaign also included Arabization of Kirkuk, a program to drive Kurds and other ethnic groups out of the oil-rich city and replace them with Arab settlers from central and southern Iraq.

After the Persian Gulf War
Even though autonomy had been agreed in 1970, the local population did not enjoy any democratic freedom, facing similar conditions to the rest of Iraq. Things began to change after the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein at the end of the Persian Gulf War. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 gave birth to a safe haven following international concern for the safety of Kurdish refugees. The U.S. and the Coalition established a No Fly Zone over a large part of northern Iraq (see Operation Provide Comfort), however, it left out Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk and other important Kurdish populated regions. Bloody clashes between Iraqi forces and Kurdish troops continued and, after an uneasy and shaky balance of power was reached, the Iraqi government fully withdrew its military and other personnel from the region in October 1991 allowing Iraqi Kurdistan to function de facto independently. The region was to be ruled by the two principal Kurdish parties; the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The region also has its own flag and national anthem.

At the same time, Iraq imposed an economic blockade over the region, reducing its oil and food supplies. Elections held in June 1992 produced an inconclusive outcome, with the assembly divided almost equally between the two main parties and their allies. During this period, the Kurds were subjected to a double embargo: one imposed by the United Nations on Iraq and one imposed by Saddam Hussein on their region. The severe economic hardships caused by the embargoes fueled tensions between the two dominant political parties, the KDP and the PUK, over control of trade routes and resources. Relations between the PUK and the KDP started to become dangerously strained from September 1993 after rounds of amalgamations occurred between parties.

After 1996, 13% of the Iraqi oil sales were allocated for Iraqi Kurdistan and this led to relative prosperity in the region. In return, the Kurds under KDP enabled Saddam to establish an oil smuggling route through territory controlled by the KDP, with the active involvement of senior Barzani family members. The taxation of this trade at the crossing point between Saddam's territory and Kurdish controlled territory and then into Turkey, along with associated service revenue, meant that whoever controlled Dohuk and Zakho had the potential to earn several million dollars a week. Direct United States mediation led the two parties to a formal ceasefire in what was termed the Washington Agreement in September 1998. It is also argued that the Oil-for-Food Programme from 1997 onward had an important effect on cessation of hostilities.

During and after US-led invasion
Iraqi Kurds played an important role in the Iraq War. Kurdish parties joined forces against the Iraqi government during the war in Spring 2003. Kurdish military forces, known as Peshmerga, played an important role in the overthrow of the Iraqi government; however, Kurds have been reluctant to send troops into Baghdad since then, preferring not to be dragged into the sectarian struggle that dominates much of Iraq.

A new constitution of Iraq was established in 2005, defining Iraq as a federalist state consisting of Regions and Governorate's. The Kurdistan region includes the Governorate Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok. It recognized both the Kurdistan Region and all laws passed by the KRG since 1992. There is provision for Governorates to create, join or leave Regions. However, as of late 2015, no new Regions have been formed, and the KRG remains the only regional government within Iraq.

PUK leader Jalal Talabani was elected President of the new Iraqi administration, while KDP leader Masoud Barzani became President of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Following US withdrawal

Tensions between Iraqi Kurdistan and the central Iraqi government mounted through 2011–2012 on the issues of power sharing, oil production and territorial control. In April 2012, the president of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region demanded that officials agree to their demands or face the prospect of secession from Baghdad by September 2012.

In September 2012, the Iraqi government ordered the KRG to transfer its powers over the Peshmerga to the central government. Relations became further strained by the formation of a new command center (Tigris Operation Command) for Iraqi forces to operate in a disputed area over which both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government claim jurisdiction. On 16 November 2012 a military clash between the Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga resulted in one person killed. CNN reported that two people were killed (one of them an Iraqi soldier) and ten wounded in clashes at the Tuz Khurmato town.

As of 2014, Iraqi Kurdistan is in dispute with the Federal Iraqi government on the issues of territorial control, export of oil and budget distribution and is functioning largely outside Baghdad's control. With the escalation of the Iraqi crisis and fears of Iraq's collapse, Kurds have increasingly debated the issue of independence. During the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive, Iraqi Kurdistan seized the city of Kirkuk and the surrounding area, as well as most of the disputed territories in Northern Iraq. On 1 July 2014, Masoud Barzani announced that "Iraq's Kurds will hold an independence referendum within months." After previously opposing the independence for Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey later gave signs that it could recognize an independent Kurdish state. On 11 July 2014, KRG forces seized control of the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields, prompting a condemnation from Baghdad and a threat of "dire consequences" if the oilfields were not relinquished back to Iraq's control.

In September, Kurdish leaders decided to postpone the referendum so as to focus on the fight against ISIL. In November, Ed Royce, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives, introduced legislation to arm the Kurds directly, rather than continue working through the local governments.

In August 2014, the US began a campaign of airstrikes in Iraq, in part to protect Kurdish areas such as Erbil from the militants.

In February 2016, Kurdish president Barzani stated once again that "Now the time is ripe for the people of Kurdistan to decide their future through a referendum", supporting an independence referendum and citing similar referendums in Scotland, Catalonia and Quebec. On March 23, Barzani officially declared that Iraqi Kurdistan will hold the referendum some time "before October" of that year. On April 2, 2017, the two governing parties released a joint statement announcing they would form a joint committee to prepare for a referendum to be held on 25 September.

The 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum took place on September 25, with 92.73% voting in favor of independence. This triggered a military operation in which the Iraqi government retook control of Kirkuk and surrounding areas, and forced the KRG to annul the referendum. Scholars have argued that the retaking of Kirkuk, a PUK stronghold, and the loss of other territory to Iraq, has actually consolidated the power of the Barzani family and the KDP, who remain in power.

Culture
Kurdish culture is a group of distinctive cultural traits practiced by Kurdish people. The Kurdish culture is a legacy from the various ancient peoples who shaped modern Kurds and their society, but primarily Iranian. Among their neighbours, the Kurdish culture is closest to Persian culture. For example, they celebrate Newroz as the new year day, which is celebrated on March 21. It is the first day of the month of Xakelêwe in Kurdish calendar and the first day of spring.

title: Iraqi Kurdistan