text:
Ministry (collective executive)

In constitutional usage in Commonwealth realms, a ministry (usually preceded by the definite article, i.e., the ministry) is a collective body of government ministers led by a head of government, such as a prime minister. It is described by Oxford Dictionaries as "a period of government under one prime minister". Although the term "cabinet" can in some circumstances be a synonym, a ministry can be a broader concept which might include office-holders who do not participate in cabinet meetings. Other titles can include "administration" (in the United States) or "government" (in common usage among most parliamentary systems) to describe similar collectives.

The term is primarily used to describe the successive governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which share a common political heritage. In Australia a new ministry begins after each election, regardless of whether the prime minister is re-elected, and whether there may have been a minor rearrangement of the ministry. In the United Kigdom, Canada and New Zealand, a new ministry is formed only when there is a change of prime minister.

title: Ministry (collective executive)


text: User talk:198.29.191.147

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

title: User talk:198.29.191.147


text:
Category:Dyes

See also Category:Pigments.

title: Category:Dyes


text:
User talk:Saintswithin

Discuter en français

Discuss in Simple English

Diskussion auf deutsch

... and here in English! archive 2004 archive 2005

Thanks!
Thanks for checking over my translations. It's really appreciated! -Maaya 01:08, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Writing implements
German and English versions - take any appropriate actions. (My German is not good enough to translate,) Jackiespeel 22:31, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

German Wikipedians' noticeboard
Hello Saintswithin! I would like to inform you that a noticeboard has been established to better aid discussion of articles concerning German-related topics. Feel free to participate with the project if you are interested! Olessi 03:07, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

West syndrome
Would you mind citing a reference for the addition you just made to this article? I'm sure there was one; no one carries numbers like these around in their head.

Ikkyu2 22:19, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Yes, I think that if you are translating a referenced text, you should probably translate, or at least bring along, the references too. Verifiability is very important. Ikkyu2 17:08, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't realized that might be a stylistic difference of British English. My rant about $600 an hour was not aimed at you or folks like you, by the way - we all donate our time to Wikipedia, as we feel it appropriate. I do intend to look more carefully at West Syndrome - should I wait for you to get done translating it? ikkyu2 (talk) 22:38, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Template talk:Infobox Swiss town
Hi, I was wondering if you could help me get larger fonts implemented in the Swiss town infoboxes by placing a post in favor on the above page. I'd really appreciate it. Would help us get a lot of the missing encyclopedic articles off the list. Thanks for your help. --Mmounties 18:45, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Seems like we'll get the same size font as in the Infobox Town DE. Thank you so much for your help.  --Mmounties 23:02, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Learning Czech
Czech software? I haven't looked; however, Pimsleur makes a Compact set of tapes for the Czech language (that is, 10 tapes, ~5 hours total) with reading practice. I also found a small parallel corpus online, which you can use with ParaConc or PlusTools if you can get the character encoding right. GoodSirJava 01:54, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks
... that was very sweet of you. I appreciate it. --Mmounties ( Talk )   00:50, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Baby hatch
Je viens de suivre votre link à Pio Ospedale della Pietà. Good grief! Une histoire entiere de cet sujet! On apprend des choses tous les jours... JackyR 16:21, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Jesus Seminar translation request
You left a template "translation request" on the Talk:Jesus Seminar page 24 June 2005. But the template was updated in September and now shows the. The article is not listed on the WP:TIE page, but I see it is on the somewhat less visible German-English translation requests page. Is there a template that links to this page? The existing template doesn't seem very useful as is, but I will leave it for awhile for your disposition. --Blainster 11:13, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

translation
I haven't translated any articles. I requested a translation. Jooler 07:00, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Georg Forster quotes
All of these quotes were my own translation from the original German quotes. (Some of them might have an "official" English version, but I haven't searched for these yet), so I was already wondering what to do with them. I wasn't sure how popular they would be with the WP:FAC crowd. Anyway, thanks a lot for the copyediting! Kusma (討論) 14:20, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Gimlet
I removed the sentence about annealing, because unless I'm missing something, you would never anneal the tip of a tool like that. (Harden, maybe.) —Steve Summit (talk) 23:04, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Names for Germany
Very interesting and well-constructed article- kudos! Olessi 23:31, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

DB class 628
Do you read German? Doco is currently translating DB 628 and wants other users to help, could you?Myrtone 16:37, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Stollen
"(Duden: Pfannkuchen 2. (bes. nordd. u. ostmd.) in schwimmendem Fett gebackenes, meist mit Marmelade gefülltes, kugelförmiges Gebäckstück aus Hefeteig; 3Berliner:)"

Sorry, but what the Duden writes here (wich Duden issue is this from?) is just not right. Most people in germany will think of a pancake when they hear "Pfannkuchen" and not of a doughnut. There are some dialects where a Berliner or Krapfen may be called a "Pfannkuchen", but in offical german (Hochdeutsch), a Pfannkuchen is a pancake or crepé and nothing else. Here´s what http://dict.leo.org says:

filter 	ENGLISCH 	    	DEUTSCH 	 filter 2 Treffer Unmittelbare Treffer i	doughnut  also: donut [cook.]	 	der Berliner	i i	doughnut  also: donut [cook.]	i	der Krapfen	i

FreddyE 08:09, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Elasund
Thanks for the help with the pronunciation assistance..digamma 23:22, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Talk:Voss-strasse
Illuminating, interesting contribution. Thank you. Blur4760 20:51, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

German English Translation
If you're talking about the Ekajati article, I didn't translate it, someone else did. I'd already written an article from scratch and then Tydaj added to it from the German article. --Ekajati 14:11, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

German letters
Nice job collecting data at German-speaking Wikipedians' notice board/Umlaut and ß. I'll keep an eye out, and if I see any other examples, I'll add them in. :) --Elonka 20:49, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

www.world-gazetteer.com
I am trying to understand why you keep removing the material quoted from and links to http://www.world-gazetteer.com. As far as I can see, it is a serious and largely successful attempt to create a gazetteer of global place names, including German-speaking countries. That it is an amateur ("hobby"), rather than professional site seems irrelevant. The author has obviously decided how best to present his data in different languages, just as an editor would make a decision for a larger publishing house. Can you be more explicit about your reasons for its dismissal? --Stemonitis 13:18, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Jayalalitha
Indian names have a different naming convention and in any case, we have to use the name with which the person is well known. Please note that she is known by the name J.Jayalalitha and not Jayalalithaa Jayaram  Doctor Bruno  Talk  14:43, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject Germany
Hi Saintswithin,

User:Badbilltucker has proposed creating a WikiProject for articles related to Germany. Since you contribute to WP:GSWN and seem to speak German pretty well, I was wondering if you would be interested in helping with this project. If you want to know more about the proposal you can check the temporary project page or the List of proposed projects.--CarabinieriTTaallkk 10:43, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Translation/*/Lang/de
Wir haben über diese Seite in Wikipedia_talk:Translation diskutiert, und manche Dingen verbessert : Mediawiki konnte nicht hunderte Vorlagen expandieren, wie sie damals waren. Sieht die Seite für dich immer falsch aus ? Wenn ja, welches Navigator benutzt du ?

Jmfayard 01:39, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I think some of the rules in the translation guide are unfair. What if another Wikipedian comes across an unrevised article, and decides to make it more fluent? (there was a current debate in the Korean Wikipedia about machine translations). Orthodoxy 04:24, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

 * Oh, sorry. My mistake. I disagree with the rule: "an unedited machine translation, left as a Wikipedia article, is worse than nothing. Please do not try to "fulfil" a request here by just doing a machine translation. Presumably, the person who made the request could access a machine translation just as easily as you can." Orthodoxy 02:42, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

western Germany / Western Germany
Hello, where I'm from it should be western/eastern Germany, not Western/Eastern Germany:

"Use West Germany (West Berlin) and East Germany (East Berlin) only in historical references. They are now western Germany (western Berlin) and eastern Germany (eastern Berlin). "

"If referring to the area that was East Germany, say eastern Germany or the former East Germany; similarly, western Germany or the former West Germany. "

Oxford Style Manual :

Capitalize compass directions only when they denote a recognized (i.e. titular= geographical or political region: Northern Ireland (but northern England). (As modern western Germany is just the western part of Germany, and no longer a region in its own, it isn't capitalised.)

Might annoy some people if you correct it to what they see as the wrong form - or is this some agreed-upon Wikipedia policy? Maybe you could add a link to the page where the decision was made. Saint|swithin 15:26, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Hi Saintswithin. No, there's no policy that I know of, I simply goofed up. 'western Germany' looks a little strange to my eyes, but clearly I need to re-educate my eyes (and update my bot!). Thanks for the pointer. Cheers, CmdrObot 16:22, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Góntia
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Heinrich Eduard Jacob
Dear Saintswithin, zu meiner Freude sehe ich Deine vorzüglichen Übersetzungsarbeiten aus dem Deutschen ins Englische. In diesem Zusammenhang fiel mir sofort der deutsch-amerikanische Schriftsteller Heinrich Eduard Jacob (1889-1967) ein, der übrigens ein Freund von Walter Hasenclever war. Wäre es nicht eine schöne Aufgabe, auch Jacob mit einer englischen Wikipedia-Seite zu bedenken?

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Eduard_Jacob

Zugegeben, es ist ein umfangreicher, sicherlich aber auch ein lohnenswerter Artikel. Schönste Grüße aus Berlin --Malefizschenk 23:19, 9 April 2008

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Thanks for uploading File:Decin-town.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.

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File source problem with File:Decin-town.jpg
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File source problem with File:Hay-on-wye-books.jpg
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File source problem with Wikipedia
Whoever decided to change the rules for photo tags should have thought about the consequences. I tagged all my images using the correct tags at the time and mentioned when uploading them that they belonged to me. If some bureaucratic nonsense now means that I have to go round tagging them all again, then stuff that. Just delete them. Saint|swithin 09:13, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

You are now a Reviewer
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ArbCom elections are now open!
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Photographs
did you take other photos of dyed wool like your brilliant carmine one from Essex? Is there some way of seeing a list? Thx. Ben (benjolliffe@googlemail.com) 2A01:4C8:485:12B9:5A84:721B:F570:F89 (talk) 09:17, 20 November 2021 (UTC)

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title: User talk:Saintswithin


text:
Vicki Lawrence

Vicki Lawrence (born March 26, 1949), sometimes credited as Vicki Lawrence Schultz, is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for her character Mama (Thelma Harper). Lawrence also originated many other characters on CBS's The Carol Burnett Show from 1967 to 1978, the variety show's entire series run.

The success of "The Family" skits eventually spun off into Lawrence's own television sitcom, Mama's Family, her character becoming the focal point and Mama's traits expanding and evolving dramatically. Continuing Mama's evolution, Lawrence has hosted an untelevised stand-up comedy routine since 2001, "Vicki and Mama: A Two Woman Show." Moreover, Lawrence has made numerous post-Mama's Family guest TV show appearances in her famed Mama role.

In 1973, Lawrence became a one-hit wonder singer, landing on the U.S. chart with "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia". It reached number one on both the United States and Canada charts. She also released an album on Bell Records. Lawrence has multiple Emmy Award nominations, winning one in 1976. She is also a multiple Golden Globe nominee, all for The Carol Burnett Show. She also made several guest appearances in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. Most recently, Lawrence starred in the Fox sitcom series The Cool Kids from 2018 to 2019.

Early life
Lawrence was born Vicki Ann Axelrad in Inglewood, California, the daughter of Anne Alene (née Loyd) and Howard Axelrad, a certified public accountant for Max Factor.

Her mother was Jewish as was her paternal grandfather, Simon Axelrad, an Austrian Jewish immigrant. Her paternal grandmother, Anna Irmas, was born in Illinois, to German Jewish parents but became an adherent of Christian Science, in which faith Vicki's father was raised. The family surname was legally changed to "Lawrence" when Vicki was young.

A graduate of Morningside High School in Inglewood (class of 1967), Lawrence had originally planned on being a dental hygienist. She attended UCLA while on The Carol Burnett Show, and changed her major to theater arts, but dropped out after two years.

In high school, she auditioned for and got into the musical group The Young Americans. She stayed with the group almost until the end of high school. By being with the group, she gained experience from touring, performing at the Oscars, coming in contact with noteworthy performers such as Johnny Mathis and Louis Armstrong, and performing on The Andy Williams Show.

In her senior year, she entered the Miss Fireball of Inglewood contest for the local firefighter's ball. A reporter for a local newspaper wrote a story about the contest and stated that Lawrence bore a striking resemblance to a young Carol Burnett. An avid fan letter-writer, Lawrence's mother urged her to write a letter, which Lawrence did, including the newspaper article. After receiving the letter, Burnett found Lawrence's father's name in the phone book, called him, and said she would go to see the Miss Fireball contest. Lawrence won the contest and Burnett was called to the stage to crown her. Coincidentally, Burnett was looking for an actress to play her younger sister on her upcoming show. After a few months and auditions, Lawrence, aged 18, got the part, specifically to play "Chrissy" in the "Carol and Sis" sketches.

After Lawrence was given the job on The Carol Burnett Show, both Burnett and Harvey Korman took her under their wings. Korman taught her various sketch comedy skills, such as listening not just for a cue line, and also coached her in other areas, such as speaking in different accents. Lawrence has credited Korman and Burnett with being her mentors, and has referred to her experience on the show as the "Harvard school of comedy". Lawrence has stated that she learned show business from Burnett and looked up to her very much, and that the two share a very close friendship.

Acting
As a comedian and actress, Lawrence is best known for her work on CBS's The Carol Burnett Show, of which she was a part from 1967 to 1978. She was the only cast member, except for Burnett herself, who stayed on the show for the entire 11 seasons. After The Carol Burnett Show ended in 1978, Lawrence and her husband Al Schultz moved with their children to Maui, Hawaii, but after a few years, returned to Los Angeles, where they have remained.

Mama Character and Mama's Family
In The Carol Burnett Show's 7th season, Lawrence debuted her famed Mama role on a comedy sketch called The Family. Only created as a one-off skit, The Family's unexpected success with audiences led to it having recurring installments for the final five seasons of the program. With Lawrence portraying the character of a cold, unaffectionate, widowed, elderly mother to the neurotic, misfortunate Eunice (played by Burnett despite Lawrence being 16 years younger), The Family bred some of The Carol Burnett Show's most famed blooper moments.

Her portrayal of the Mama character on The Carol Burnett Show's "The Family" sketches was so popular that CBS developed the TV movie Eunice in 1982, and NBC subsequently created the sitcom Mama's Family, elaborating on the Mama character (Burnett reprised the Eunice Higgins character for the sitcom from time to time). The series ran from 1983 to 1985 on NBC; after its cancellation from NBC, it was renewed from 1986 to 1990 in first-run syndication. The show was more successful in the renewed version. She also reprised the Mama character on stage for Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-Woman Show.

Other acting
Lawrence has made appearances on other programs, such as the sitcoms Laverne & Shirley, The Love Boat, Major Dad, Diagnosis: Murder, and Yes, Dear. She appeared in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote, playing different characters. Lawrence also played Dan's old high-school flame, Phyllis, in an episode of Roseanne.

Between the NBC and syndication runs of Mama's Family, Lawrence starred in the 1985 comedy pilot Anything for Love, which aired as a special on CBS that summer and co-starred Lauren Tewes and Rebeca Arthur. Lawrence has also appeared with Burnett, Korman, and Tim Conway in the Burnett show retrospectives that were broadcast in 1993, 2001, and 2004. Lawrence played Sister Mary Paul (Sister Amnesia) in the TV special based on Nunsense Jamboree that originally aired on TNN in 1998. She is also known for her voice-over work as Flo on the animated series Hermie and Friends.

Lawrence played Mamaw Stewart (the mother of Robby Ray Stewart and grandmother of Jackson and Miley Stewart) in the hit Disney series Hannah Montana alongside Billy Ray Cyrus and his daughter Miley Cyrus from 2006 to 2011. In 2011, she was Mrs. Santa Claus in the Hallmark movie Annie Claus Is Coming to Town. She starred in the Fox sitcom The Cool Kids, along with Martin Mull, Leslie Jordan, and David Alan Grier from 2018 to 2019.

Lawrence played as Mama in an Ohio commercial, promoting a constitutional amendment that would permit casino gambling in Ohio. She also appeared in a special celebrity-edition episode of the Anne Robinson version of The Weakest Link. Playing for a charity, she made it to the final two but ended up losing to Ed Begley Jr.

Music

As a singer, Lawrence got her start as one of the scores of hopefuls on the syndicated Johnny Mann's Stand Up And Cheer program. However, she is most known for her number-one hit, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", a song written by her first husband Bobby Russell, which was released on Bell Records in November 1972. It sold over two million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America during the last episode of the sixth season of The Carol Burnett Show (March 24, 1973), when Burnett herself surprised Lawrence with the award on the air. Her first LP, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, was issued soon after the single went gold. The song was re-recorded by Reba McEntire for her 1991 album For My Broken Heart. McEntire released the track as a single to country radio in 1992 and it peaked at No. 12 on the country chart, aided in part by a highly cinematic music video.

"He Did With Me", Lawrence's follow-up to "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", reached number 75 in the United States, although it reached the top 20 of the adult contemporary music charts and also became her biggest hit in Australia, peaking at number one there in November 1973. She followed it up there with "Ships in the Night" (1974). In the fall of 1975, Lawrence managed one last minor U.S. chart entry on the Private Stock label with "The Other Woman" (number 81).

In 1974, she recorded her second LP for Bell Records, Ships in the Night. The label was in the process of being phased out by Arista, and the LP was not released in the U.S. The LP was, however, released in Australia, where she continued to have chart success. Lawrence's first two LPs were released as a single CD with bonus tracks on April 1, 2014, by Real Gone Music.

She released a disco album entitled Newborn Woman in late 1979. The album produced the minor disco hit "Don't Stop the Music".

Hosting and other work
As an emcee, Lawrence hosted the daytime NBC version of the game show Win, Lose or Draw (1987-1990), as well as an unsold pilot for Mark Goodson Productions, 1990's Body Talk. She has also appeared often as a popular celebrity player on such game shows as Match Game, Password, Password Plus, Super Password, and various incarnations of the Pyramid game show, where she was known for verbally sparring with host Dick Clark on numerous occasions. In one episode, she also left after losing only to return during the closing credits. She also appeared on the 1986–89 version of Hollywood Squares, where she appeared both as herself and in character as Thelma "Mama" Harper. She was a regular panelist on the 1998 revival of Match Game, but the series only lasted one season.

As a talk show host, Lawrence was nominated a number of times for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for the eponymous Vicki! (1992–1994), but the show ended after two seasons amid creative battles with her syndicator. In 1997, she hosted Fox After Breakfast, which was renamed The Vicki Lawrence Show, but was cancelled five weeks later due to low ratings.

In 2018, Lawrence was seen promoting The Carol Burnett Show and other classic television series on the MeTV television network.

She currently tours the country with her "two-woman" show with the first half as herself and the second half done as Mama. She can also be seen on TV in an infomercial for the Big Boss Grill.

Personal life
Lawrence was married to singer and songwriter Bobby Russell from 1972 to 1974. Lawrence's second husband was Hollywood make-up artist Al Schultz, whom she married November 16, 1974, and with whom she had two children, Courtney Allison Schultz (born May 3, 1975) and Garrett Lawrence Schultz (born July 3, 1977). Al Schultz died June 19, 2024.

Lawrence was a registered Republican for most of her life, and a strong supporter of Elizabeth Dole. In 2000, she changed her affiliation to the Democratic Party and endorsed Al Gore. Since then, she has remained active in a variety of liberal leaning causes including LGBTQ rights, women's rights, animal welfare and the environment.

Lawrence and her family appeared on Celebrity Family Feud in July 2015.

Lawrence was diagnosed with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) around 2011. She teamed with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and has become the spokesperson for the campaign "CIU & You".

She appeared on The Doctors in 2015 to relay her story and talk about CIU and promote the CIU & You campaign.

Written works

 * Vicki!: The True-Life Adventures of Miss Fireball (1995) – ISBN 0-684-80286-4; published by Simon & Schuster with Marc Eliot, an American biographer listed several times on The New York Times bestsellers list.
 * Mama for President: Good Lord, Why Not? (2008) ISBN 1-4016-0409-9 ISBN 978-1-4016-0409-7, with Monty Aidem, an American comedy writer.

title: Vicki Lawrence


text:
Bernard Lagat

Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American former middle and long-distance runner.

Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his change of domicile to the US, Lagat had an extensive competitive career representing his native country.

He is the American record holder in the 1500 m and mile run indoors and is the Kenyan record holder at 1500 m outdoors. Lagat is the second fastest 1500 m runner of all time, behind Hicham El Guerrouj.

Lagat is a five-time Olympian, having competed in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 games, and is a thirteen-time medalist in World Championships and Olympics including five gold medals. At the age of 41, he finished 5th in the finals of the 5000 m at the Rio Olympics.

Lagat's long-term coach is James Li of the University of Arizona, with whom he has worked for over a decade.

Early life
Lagat was born in Kaptel village, near Kapsabet town in Nandi District of Kenya. He is a Nandi, a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin people.

He graduated from the Kaptel High School in 1994, where he had started his athletic career. He joined Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi 1996. Later in the same year he moved to Washington State University where other Kenyan athletic greats such as Henry Rono and Michael Kosgei prospered.

In 1998, while at WSU, Lagat won three NCAA individual championships; indoor mile and 3000 m, as well as the 5000 m outdoors.

In 2000, Lagat graduated from Washington State University with a degree in management information systems.

Lagat's siblings have also competed in athletics; his older sister Mary Chepkemboi won the 3000 m at the 1984 African Championships in Athletics, his younger sister Viola Cheptoo placed second in the 2021 New York City Marathon

Representing Kenya (2000–2004)
Lagat first represented his native Kenya at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. In the 1500 m final, Morocco used team tactics to try to ensure a gold medal for heavy favorite Hicham El Guerrouj. In a very close finish, Noah Ngeny took gold, El Guerrouj won silver, and Lagat captured bronze. Lagat finished the year being ranked #3 in the world at 1500 m.

The next summer, Lagat won the silver medal, behind El Guerrouj, at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, and later that summer, at a meet in Brussels, Lagat set the Kenyan National Record and became the second fastest individual ever at 1500 m when he ran 3:26.34, finishing second in this race behind Hicham El Guerrouj (3:26.13), in an attempt to break El Guerrouj's world record of 3:26.00. Lagat finished the year ranked #2 in the world at 1500 m.

Lagat spent most of 2002 and 2003 chasing El Guerrouj. At the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships, he earned the silver medal at 1500 m, this time behind Driss Maazouzi of France. Lagat withdrew from the 2003 world outdoor championships after a blood test showed traces of EPO in his system. His B sample test came back negative, clearing him of any charges. He was ranked 2nd and 4th in the world at 1500 m in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

In the 3000 m at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships Lagat won his first international gold medal. Lagat was clearly overjoyed at his comeback since 2003. Throughout the spring he competed fiercely and beat his rival El Guerrouj in Zürich with a world leading time at 1500 m of 3:27.40. At the 2004 Summer Olympics Lagat seemed poised to once again defeat El Guerrouj. The final saw Lagat and El Guerrouj battling down the final 100 m, swapping the lead multiple times. El Guerrouj prevailed, with Lagat close behind, earning the silver medal, running the final lap in under 52 seconds. He was, however, ranked #1 in the world at 1500 m for the year.

Beginning of American career
In March 2005, Lagat announced that he had become a naturalized citizen of the United States on May 7, 2004. Lagat did compete for his homeland Kenya in the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning silver in the 1500 m. Even though Kenya did not allow dual citizenship at the time, he was allowed to keep his medal. Lagat became a competitor for the United States but was temporarily banned from international championship events, missing the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki.

The U.S. does allow dual citizenship and consequently races run by Lagat after May 7, 2004, could have been ratified as American records, since USATF rules only state that an athlete has to be a U.S. citizen competing in a sanctioned competition to be eligible to set a national record. However, at the 2005 USATF annual meeting, his 3:27.40 win in the 1500 meters, on August 6, 2004, in Zürich, was not ratified as an American record.

Nevertheless, Lagat owns three American records from races he had run in 2005 that were ratified by USATF. His first American records came indoors, with a 3:49.89 mile at Fayetteville, Arkansas, on February 11, 2005, during which his 1500 meters split time of 3:33.34 also established another new U.S. record, en route to a win in the event. The performance replaced records by Steve Scott, who set the previous American indoor mile record of 3:51.8 in 1981, and the previous American 1500 meter indoor record held by Jeff Atkinson, who ran 3:38.12 in 1989. Lagat's winning time of 3:29.40 at Rieti, Italy, on August 28, 2005, in the outdoor 1500 meters was ratified as his third new American record, improving upon the old record of 3:29.77, set by Sydney Maree in 1985.

Double world champion
At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Lagat surpassed all his previous achievements by becoming the first athlete to become world champion in both the 1,500 m and 5,000 m at the same IAAF World Outdoor Championships. Similar feats were accomplished by Hicham El Guerrouj at the 2004 Olympics and Paavo Nurmi at the 1924 Olympics.

2008 Olympics and 2009 Worlds
In 2008, Lagat won both 1500 m and 5000 m runs at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, qualifying himself to compete with Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Hopes were high that his success in both these events would continue at the Olympics. However, Lagat failed to advance beyond the semi-finals in the 1500 m run. He was more successful in the 5000 m run, winning his semi-final heat to advance, but ultimately did not medal, running to ninth-place finish in the finals.

Lagat had concealed the fact that he was running with an injured Achilles tendon, a problem which hampered his training and contributed to his poor showing at the Olympics. He stated that his placings at the 2008 Beijing Games were "the biggest disappointment in my athletics career". The following season, he began with high altitude training in Flagstaff, Arizona. After tying Eamonn Coghlan's record of seven wins in the Wanamaker Mile at the 2009 Millrose Games in New York, Lagat broke Coghlan's record with an 8th win at Millrose in 2010. As the reigning world champion in the 1500 and 5000 meters, he automatically received qualification in the events at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and set his sights on retaining his titles. Despite being much older than some of his competitors, Lagat's desire to win had not faded and he said "I am more motivated than ever to go to the podium in Berlin". Lagat ultimately won the bronze medal in the 1500 m and the silver medal in the 5000 m.

2010 to present
Lagat set a new American record in his debut of the indoor 5000 meters at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on February 6, 2010, with a time of 13:11.50. This beat previous record holder Galen Rupp who had set the record at 13:18.12 in 2009. On June 4, 2010, Lagat broke the American Record for 5000 m with 12:54.12 on June 4, 2010, at the Bislett Games in Oslo. Lagat set another area record at the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix in August: chasing down Tariku Bekele in the 3000 m. Lagat took second place with an American record of 7:29.00 – his first sub-7:30 minute time.

Lagat broke his own 5000 m American record in July at the Monaco Diamond League meet by running 12:53.60 to finish a close second behind Mo Farah who set the British 5000 m record in this race in a time of 12:53.11. The 2011 World Championships in Athletics, the 5000 m final came down to a sprint finish and Lagat was beaten in the last straight by Mo Farah, leaving Lagat with his second consecutive silver medal at the world event.

The 2012 Millrose Games, was held for the first time at the Armory Track & Field Center and Lagat ran an American indoor record over 5000 m with a time of 13:07.15 minutes. At the 2012 Olympics in London, Lagat finished fourth in the 5000 m race, crossing the line 1.33 seconds behind the leader, Mo Farah, after being tripped up when he was going into his kick by Isiah Kiplangat Koech. Lagat was runner-up behind Matthew Centrowitz Jr. at the Fifth Avenue Mile that year. Lagat earned his 4th USATF Indoor 3000 meters title on February 22, 2014 On June 27, Lagat, at age 39, won his seventh USA men's 5,000 title.

He made his debut at the 10,000 m on 1 May 2016 and came in first. His winning time of 27:49 seconds made an improvement for the world record in the Masters A40 category by 51 seconds. On July 9, Lagat won the 5000 meters at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, qualifying him for his fifth Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He entered the last lap in sixth place more than two and a half seconds behind race leader Galen Rupp. At age 41, his final lap was 52.82, the fastest of the field and more than a second faster than any in the 1500 meter final. Joining Lagat on the team were Somali born Hassan Mead and Kenyan born Paul Chelimo, making for an entirely foreign born delegation. Lagat also became the oldest runner at the Summer Olympics to represent the United States. On August 20, 2016, Lagat initially claimed the 6th-place finish in the 5000 meters at the Olympics. He was moved to bronze after three runners were disqualified, but was moved back to 5th after 2 of the 3 were reinstated. He outsprinted Andrew Butchart of Great Britain, who is 17 years his junior, by more than a second.

Lagat ran his final race as a professional on September 3, 2016, at the ISTAF meet in Berlin where he came in second place in the 3,000 meters.

In May 2017 Lagat served as a pacer for Nike's Breaking2 attempt at achieving a sub-2-hour marathon time. Lagat also agreed to run as a pacer at a similar event, the Ineos 1:59 Challenge, in October 2019.

On September 10, 2017, Lagat finished eighth in the 2017 Great North Run half marathon in 1:03:02.

Lagat participated on his first marathon in New York City Marathon on 4 Nov, 2018 finishing 18th with a time of 2:17:20. He had a lead to the second-placed finisher in his age group of 11:15 minutes.

On 29 February 2020, Lagat placed 18th with a time of 2:14:23 in the Atlanta Olympic Trials Marathon. In preparation he had a 30 km training run with the world record holder Eliud Kipchoge in Kenya.

Personal Life
Lagat lives in Tucson, Arizona and Tübingen, Germany with his wife Gladys Tom (a Canadian of Chinese descent), whom he met while they both attended Washington State University, and their son Miika Kimutai (born in 2006) and daughter Gianna (born 2008). In 2023, Lagat was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Awards.

International competitions
1Representing Africa

2Representing the Americas

Records

 * All of Lagat's American records are also North American Area Records.
 * His time of 3:26.34 minutes for the 1500 metres, set in 2001, remains the Kenyan and Commonwealth record for the event as well as the third-fastest of all time.
 * The 3000 and 5000 marks, set since Lagat turned 35 years of age are also Masters World records and American Masters records. Lagat also holds the currently recognized Masters World record in the 1500 at 3:32.51 set at Herculis in 2010.
 * He set the Masters World record for Age 40 at 3000 m in 7:48.33 on February 7, 2015, in Boston, and rebroke his own record in 7:37.71 on February 25, 2015, in Metz, France.

title: Bernard Lagat


text: Talk:Demographics of the Netherlands

title: Talk:Demographics of the Netherlands


text:
Patrick Duffy (British politician)

Sir Albert Edward Patrick Duffy KCSG (born 17 June 1920) is a British economist and Labour Party politician. He was the member of parliament for Colne Valley from 1963 to 1966, and for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 to 1992. Duffy was also a Minister of the Navy in the 1970s, and president of the NATO Assembly in the 1980s. Following the death of Ronald Atkins on 30 December 2020, Duffy became Britain's oldest surviving former MP.

Early life and career
Duffy was born in Wigan, Lancashire on 17 June 1920, to Irish Catholic immigrant parents James and Margaret Duffy, who were both from the village of Raith, near Aghamore in County Mayo. James and his father, who was also named Patrick, moved to England as migrant agricultural workers in the late 19th and early 20th century. James worked as a miner in Wigan's Maypole pit, before moving with his family to the mining village of Rossington near Doncaster in South Yorkshire in 1925. , the younger Patrick still lives in Doncaster.

Duffy served in the Fleet Air Arm in World War II. After his plane crashed near Scapa Flow in Orkney, Duffy, still in his early 20s, was given the last rites by a priest; however, despite being registered as 100% disabled, he was successfully treated by the pioneering surgion Harold Gillies and left the forces in 1946 with the rank of Commanding Officer at the Naval School of Air Radar.

Duffy's interest in politics was stirred whilst he was a student at the London School of Economics; it was there and at Columbia University in New York where he obtained his degree and Doctorate of Law. Following this, he took up a professorship at Leeds University. He lectured there from 1950 to 1963, and from 1967 to 1970, with a break for his initial stint in Parliament. During this period, he was also a visiting professor at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Later in his career, he was a visiting professor at the American Graduate School of International Business, from 1982 to 1993, and at Wheaton's International Business Institute in Illinois, from 1992.

Political career
Duffy first contested the Parliamentary seat of Tiverton in 1950, when he was completing his studies at the LSE, before he took students – including his future Labour colleague Shirley Catlin, who went on to become Baroness Williams – to Columbia University in New York. Despite Tiverton being a safe seat for the Conservative Party, Duffy contested it twice more, in 1951 and 1955, before moving to the more promising seat of Colne Valley, which he won at a by-election in 1963. He held Colne Valley until the 1966 general election, when he was defeated by the Liberal Richard Wainwright, despite the national swing to Labour.

Duffy was selected to stand for Sheffield Attercliffe (which had been a safe seat for the Labour Party) at the 1970 general election following a close selection contest with George Caborn, father of future Sheffield MP Richard Caborn. He was consequently elected to represent the constituency in the House of Commons at that general election; Duffy held onto the seat with five-figure majorities at each of the subsequent contests he fought there.

Duffy was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence from 1974 to 1976, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Royal Navy) MoD in Jim Callaghan's Government from 1976 to 1979. Following Labour's defeat at the 1979 general election, Duffy was Opposition Spokesman on Defence from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1984.

Duffy was a "moderate" on the right of the Labour Party, being a staunch pro-European and opponent of unilateral nuclear disarmament. He voted for John Silkin in the 1980 leadership election, rather than Michael Foot, the successful candidate from the party's soft left. During this period, there was an attempt to deselect Duffy, which failed by just five votes. Politically, he has said that he was close to Callaghan, Roy Hattersley, John Smith, and the young Gordon Brown. Despite his earlier pro-European views, Duffy supported the 2016 vote in favour of Britain's departure from the European Union, commenting, "Lifelong Labour supporters, like me, wanted Brexit. Reluctantly and regretfully for me, and I was a Common Marketeer in the 1970s, the creation of the Eurozone made the European Union no longer a practical venture."

Following the death in May 1981 of IRA's Bobby Sands, one of the Irish hunger strikers who starved himself to death in prison, Duffy was the sole member of the British House of Commons to condemn Margaret Thatcher, according to The New York Times. In comments directed at Thatcher, amidst heckles from the Conservative benches (and frowns from his own side, whose official line was to support the Prime Minister's stance), he remarked: "By appearing hard and unfeeling, or firm and determined, you have spectacularly illuminated for growing bodies of opinion in neighbouring and allied countries, whose comments are flowing in hourly, your government's moral bankruptcy and the colossal and criminal incompetence of Conservative governments of all times in their dealings in Ireland." These comments caused "outrage", but led to Duffy receiving 600 letters in support from around the world. Despite this, however, Thatcher later invited Duffy for tea when he was appointed President of the NATO Assembly and the two became friends. "We got on so well that her officials were starting to get nervous that our meeting would never finish," he commented in 2020.

Duffy stood down from Parliament at the 1992 general election. In a 2020 interview with Catholic magazine The Tablet, Duffy was quoted ("half in jest", according to the interviewer) on his career as an MP: "I spent 19 and a half of my 25 years in opposition. If I'd known that was how it was going to be at the beginning, I'd never have gone in for it". , he remains president of the Labour Life Group, in keeping with his pro-life views on abortion. He had hoped to go to the House of Lords upon his retirement, but, according to The Tablet, the then-Leader of the Labour Party Neil Kinnock was "not a fan" of his.

Outside Parliament
Duffy was president of the North Atlantic Assembly (the parliamentary arm of NATO) during the first-time delegations from the Warsaw Pact nations. In 1991, he served as leader of the first Western parliamentary delegation to the Kremlin, and that year, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of his NATO role, becoming entitled to be known as Sir Patrick Duffy for his contribution to the Western Alliance. In 2014, he said "After the Catholic Church and the International Post Office and the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, I don't believe a more impressive international organisation has emerged other than Nato." He was president of the NATO Assembly at a time when the Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s and early 1990s; it was in this capacity that he also had a private audience with Pope John Paul II, on 9 October 1989. It was said that Duffy was a "major force" in bringing the Cold War to an end. In 1993, he was made an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the Dominican University, Illinois.

Duffy also functioned as Deputy Chair of the Atlantic Council of the UK. As of 2017, he served as a member of the Advisory Boards of the Centre of Defence and International Security Studies at Hull University, and the Universities of Lancaster and York Defence Research Institute. He also served as an associate of the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies at Lancaster University, the International Business Institute and Azusa Pacific University, where he served as a guest lecturer during the autumn semester of 2007, and was keynote speaker for Azusa Pacific University's Economic Summit.

Speaking in 2020, Duffy stated that "I've never left Labour and I never will". Aged 100, he was said to be "intrigued" by "the ongoing battle between [Prime Minister] Boris Johnson and [Labour Party leader] Keir Starmer", remarking of the latter that he was "infinitely better than Jeremy Corbyn", Starmer's predecessor as party leader. In 2024, when asked if he was still a Labour supporter, he replied: "Oh yes! More than ever!".

Personal life
In 2014, Duffy published his autobiography, Growing Up Irish in Britain, British in Ireland and in Washington, Moscow, Rome and Sydney. In 2024, he published a second volume, From Wigan to Westminster: Hot Wars, Cold Wars and the Carrier Strike Groups.

A practising Catholic, Duffy completed the El Camino Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage (known as the Way of St. James in English) for six years running whilst in his 80s, which involved him walking 25 km a day for 35 days. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (KCSG) at the age of 96 in 2017. He has never married, though according to Yorkshire Live, "he says he was not short of attractive female company during his many years in office."

Duffy turned 100 on 17 June 2020, and celebrated his birthday at home in Doncaster; he also has a home in County Roscommon in Ireland, where he has spent much of his time. When asked for the secret to his longevity, he said "I never smoked, I never used my ministerial car when I could walk – I never used any such transport when I could avoid doing so – and I read". In December 2020, following the death of his old Parliamentary Labour Party colleague Ronald Atkins, he became the oldest living former MP.

title: Patrick Duffy (British politician)


text:
Godfrey–Milliken Bill

The Godfrey–Milliken Bill, also called the American Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Loyalty) Act, was a private member's bill introduced in the Canadian parliament by Liberal MPs Peter Milliken and John Godfrey. The bill was intended as a parody of the American Helms–Burton Act.

The Helms–Burton Act set up stringent punishments on any business or person that profited from property of American businesses and people that had been seized in the Cuban Revolution. The bill included a policy of punishing foreign nations and companies who had profited from this seized property (which in practice means trading with Cuba at all, since everything in Cuba is in some way connected to such property). This included a number of Canadian companies.

The 1996 bill responded by calling for descendants of United Empire Loyalists who fled the American Revolution to be able to reclaim land and property that was confiscated by the American government. The bill would have also allowed the Canadian government to exclude corporate officers, or controlling shareholders of companies that possess property formerly owned by Loyalists, as well as the spouse and minor child of such persons from entering Canada. In total some three million Canadians are descendants of United Empire Loyalists, including Milliken and Godfrey. The current value of the land and property seized during the American Revolution is many billions of dollars.

The bill received widespread attention in Canada and also some publicity in the United States, including a feature on 60 Minutes.

The Godfrey–Milliken Bill did not become law. Milliken later supported Bill C-54 to amend the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act which effectively neutralized any attempt to enforce the Helms–Burton Act on Canadians or Canadian companies. The amendments blocked access to Canadian records for the prosecution of any case under the Helms–Burton Act, allowed the Attorney General to block Canadian courts from enforcing judgments emanating from US jurisdictions against Canadian defendants, permitted Canadian defendants to counter-sue in Canadian courts, and imposed a $1.5 million fine (equivalent to $ million in ) to any Canadian entity that aided any prosecution under Helms–Burton.

title: Godfrey–Milliken Bill


text:
Oranges & Lemons (album)

Oranges & Lemons is the 11th studio album and the second double album by the English band XTC, released 27 February 1989 on Virgin Records. It is the follow-up to 1986's Skylarking. The title (derived from the nursery rhyme of the same name) was chosen in reference to the band's poor financial standing at the time, while the music is characterised as a 1980s update of 1960s psychedelia. It received critical acclaim and became the band's highest-charting album since 1982's English Settlement, rising to number 28 in the UK and number 44 in the US.

The album is primarily pop and rock, although a variety of other styles are plundered throughout, such as jazz, reggae, hard rock, Middle Eastern music and Zairean soukous. 12 of the album's 15 tracks were written by guitarist Andy Partridge, with the rest by bassist Colin Moulding. The work projected brighter, more upbeat and aggressive moods than Skylarking, and the harsher effect returned the group closer to the sound of their earlier records. Lyrically, most of the songs focus on parent-child relationships and the state of world affairs. Partridge's ornate vision for the psychedelic opening track "Garden of Earthly Delights" exemplified the album's general aesthetic, which he described as songs that could be singles in a "bizarre perfect universe".

XTC recorded the album in Los Angeles with American producer Paul Fox (his first major production job) and Mr. Mister drummer Pat Mastelotto. Recording lasted from June to September 1988, during which Virgin threatened to drop the project numerous times due to its growing expenses. Total production costs were estimated to be £180,000 (about a quarter million in US dollars). The cover art was intended to resemble the work of Heinz Edelmann, the art director for the 1968 film Yellow Submarine.

Lead single "Mayor of Simpleton", a jangle pop song, reached number 46 on the UK Singles Chart and number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their only US single to chart. It was followed with "King for a Day" (number 11 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks) and "The Loving" (no chart showing). The group embarked on a brief acoustic-guitar American radio tour and made their first live performances in front of an audience since 1982. One performance for MTV inspired the network to invite more artists to perform stripped-down sets, calling the series "unplugged". However, attempts to coax Partridge back into regular touring were unsuccessful.

Background

Since 1982's English Settlement, XTC had withdrawn from concert touring. Studio experimentation and 1960s influences increasingly showed in their records, culminating in the 1985 mini-album 25 O'Clock, which saw the band adopting retro-psychedelic personas as "the Dukes of Stratosphear". The trend continued into XTC's Skylarking (1986), becoming one of the best-selling records of their career. However, the group still "languished in relative obscurity" amid a growing cult following. Recording sessions for Skylarking were fraught with tension between Partridge and producer Todd Rundgren. Rundgren took issue with Partridge's tendency to fill arrangements with as many ideas as possible, and in turn, Partridge resented that his suggestions were repeatedly undermined by Rundgren.

After Skylarking, Partridge suffered a brief writer's block. He recalled "getting really worried. I wrote a few things and I thought it was shit. Then suddenly loads of stuff started coming out, and it wasn't shit." To appease requests from his bandmates and Virgin Records, he agreed to record one more Dukes album, Psonic Psunspot (1987). It consisted partly of XTC songs rejected for earlier albums. Both 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot outsold the latest XTC albums of the time (1984's The Big Express in the former's case). They then contributed a newly recorded song, "Happy Families", to the John Hughes film She's Having a Baby (1988).

In early 1988, XTC began rehearsing material for their next LP. At the suggestion of A&R executive Jeremy Lascelles, young American producer Paul Fox was recruited based on the strength of a Boy George remix that the label commissioned of him. Partridge disliked the original track but enjoyed Fox's remix: "It was really shiny, powerful and impressive." Fox subsequently flew to England and met Partridge at his home: "He was obviously a huge fan of the band and was willing to translate what we wanted onto tape." He offered them a cheap studio rate in Los Angeles, which the band accepted. Another reason for recording in the US with an American producer, guitarist Dave Gregory said, was that the US had become "our biggest market". XTC, accompanied by the Moulding and Partridge families, arrived in Los Angeles on 12 May and stayed at the Oakwood Apartments in north Hollywood. The families returned home after two months; Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding then shared an apartment for the remainder of their stay.

Music and lyrics
Oranges & Lemons is primarily a pop and rock album, although a variety of other styles are plundered throughout, such as jazz, reggae, hard rock, Middle Eastern music and Zairean soukous. It projected brighter, more upbeat and aggressive moods than XTC's recent work, and the harsher effect positioned the group closer to the sound of their earlier records. The psychedelic ambiance of the Dukes records is retained, albeit with a lesser emphasis on "loopy" humour. In Stereogum writer Rob Ham's description, the intention was to filter the Dukes aesthetic using contemporary instruments and technology; as a result, most of the album's songs, and especially Partridge's, are arranged in a maximalist fashion exemplified by the first song, "Garden of Earthly Delights". Gary Ramon of Record Collector concurred that "while a 60s edge was detectable, the sound was firmly rooted in the Eighties."

Before sessions began, Partridge envisioned the album as "a very simple, banal-sounding record" with more basic arrangements than the final product: "it got lost in translation a little and came out rather multi-layered - in fact, very dense. We just got swept along with the enthusiasm." Journalist Nick Reed observed of the LP, "Nearly every instrument is mixed to the forefront; it's too well-arranged to be cacophonous, but there's a degree of sensory overload, especially given the band's newfound tendency to blast synthesizers in our faces." Many vocal counterpoints are heard throughout the record. Partridge likened it to "several songs happening at once. It's musical masturbation ... Not many people do that now - not since West Side Story or South Pacific".

23 songs were demoed for the LP, with the final 15 chosen by Paul Fox. All of the selections were written by Partridge, except three by Moulding ("King for a Day", "One of the Millions", and "Cynical Days"). Lyrically, several of the songs focus on parent-child relationships in addition to the state of world affairs. For Partridge, this was partly due to the fact that he had toddler-aged children. He attributed the influence of the Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds to Moulding's songs for the record. Moulding himself said that he had been in a depression writing the songs for the record. XTC biographer Chris Twomey identified "Garden of Earthly Delights", "Here Comes President Kill Again", and "The Loving" as examples where "the Dukes were still alive in spirit", whereas "King for a Day", "Poor Skeleton Steps Out", "Hold Me My Daddy", and "Across This Antheap" indicated "completely fresh directions". Of these, "King for a Day" and "The Loving" were the album's "most overtly commercial songs". In the analysis of music writer Richard Walls:

"... for most of the disc, self-righteous but not off-the-mark sermonettes ('Here Comes President Kill Again,' 'Scarecrow People') alternate with laissez-faire humanism urging us toward as much tolerance as we can bear ('Garden of Earthly Delights', 'The Loving'). There might seem to be a conflict here—mixing the proper note of disdain with the proper note of forbearance—but it's a contradiction that comes with the territory, falling squarely in the Lennonist tradition of the misanthrope who rises imperfectly above his natural predilection and espouses universal love. Partridge's confusion of feeling seems like another homage to the Sixties."

Commenting on the influence of the Beatles, Partridge said, "There is some Beatles in our music, but also some Captain Beefheart, some jazz bands, some others who were not necessarily musicians, like Miró, Walt Disney ... If people see only some Beatles, it is because they want to search only for some Fab Four." He acknowledged that it was their first work in which they were conscious that they had a record-buying audience, particularly in the US. External stresses affecting the group included their ongoing litigation against former manager Ian Reid. Colin Moulding remembered, "it was about to come to a head, and that was the worrying thing ... If we hadn't had a relatively successful record with Oranges and Lemons at that time, we would have been in deep shite".

Setting and atmosphere

Given an initial budget of £150,000 (equivalent to £0 in ), rehearsals began on 16 May with Pat Mastelotto of Mr. Mister joining the group as session drummer. The band later recalled the rehearsals as especially grueling, but ultimately worthwhile. Recording lasted from 6 June to mid September at Ocean Way Studio One and Summa Music Group Studios. The basic tracks were handled at Ocean Way, while overdubs and mixing was at Summa. Trumpeter Mark Isham was hired for a few overdubs. Virgin threatened to drop the project several times due to the broken budget, which grew upwards to $250,000 ($0 in ). A lot of the money went into studio personnel salaries, as well as the members' and their families' living expenses in Los Angeles.

Fox was determined to treat the group with more patience than Rundgren had for Skylarking. The sessions ran more smoothly as a result, although the group struggled with his inexperience as a producer. About a quarter of the songs were recorded without a click track. Partridge praised Mastelotto for his work ethic: "he actually made little samples of sounds and things in his garage for us to use. He was really very committed to being one of the band". One such sample was the sound of a snare drum with its waveform cut off before the attack. Mastelotto said "Andy loved it so much that it turned out to be almost on the entire record." He had been a longtime fan of XTC and prepared for the recording by asking them for their favourite records "so that I could maybe get a little further inside their head".

One of the recurring in-jokes during the sessions was a spin-the-wheel dial used for determining takes. The wheel's labels were "Great – best take ever", "better than the Beatles", "pretty good", "okay", "not so good", "possibly acceptable", "pretty bad", "weak", "horrible", "dreadful", and "the worst shit I'd ever heard". Another in-joke was the "Colonel Cunt Hat" and "Thumb of Decision" that anyone would wear if it was thought that they had a poor attitude. During one early session, Mastelotto recalled:

"[Andy] stepped out of the room -- we'd thought he'd come right back in ... But he was gone, like, an hour. We were sitting there, going, 'Shit, do we move ahead? We can't move ahead -- he hasn't signed off on it yet.' There was this weird store across the street with really nasty porn stuff, and he made this hat with a strategically placed part of the female anatomy ... along with a Hitler mustache. He'd also made braids and stuck them here [motions to shoulders], and a riding crop, and he came back into the studio, after all this time, and goes [cod Nazi voice], 'Ze Colonel is ready! Ze Colonel vill decide now vot is the take!' [laughs]"

Dave Gregory, in his words, took credit for "quite a lot [of] the arrangements and the overdubs". He was frustrated that his suggestions to Fox were almost always deferred to "the songwriter", which meant either Partridge or Moulding. Both Gregory and Moulding characterised Fox as subservient to Partridge's studio indulgences, which they termed "Andy-ness", and felt that it had a negative effect on the album's sound. Guests who visited the sessions included Elvis Costello, who was next door recording his album Spike (1989), KROQ disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, Chris Squire of Yes, David Byrne of Talking Heads and actor River Phoenix. Partridge has said that Phoenix was an "utter and anal" fan of the band, and urged him to phone a friend who was "also a big fan", Keanu Reeves.

Equipment and mixing
Moulding used primarily a Wal bass with a Fender P-Bass as backup. Partridge played a Squier Telecaster and a Martin D-35. Fox, who had a background as a session keyboardist, supplied the group with numerous digital and analogue synthesizers (mainly an Emulator III and a Roland Super Jupiter). A variety of drum machines were also used and mixed in tandem with Mastelotto's live drumming. Care was taken to ensure that the percussion was tuned to each song. The group also frequently used the "warp" feature of an Akai sampler to bend percussion notes.

Many details, such as different hi-hat patterns, were not chosen until the mixing stages—when it was decided to include all of them. Partridge reflected that "the finished songs" were perhaps "a little too busy all the time ... But it was a case of, you just left everything in the mix to perhaps weed out later, but didn't in fact weed out. ... But, that's okay -- it was fine for us at the time". Gregory thought "we probably did a little too much on one or two of the songs, but ... it's a great album, a really great collection of songs." Partridge did not attend all of the album's mixing sessions due to a bout of depression spurred by the Reid litigation. "Literally half a million pounds had gone flapping out the window to various parties and it depressed me incredibly," he remembered. "I started to drink heavily in those last few weeks and went off the rails a bit. I had to get back to England to calm myself down." He left them with "a long list of requirements ... in the mixing" and returned home on 7 October, likely with Moulding, while Gregory stayed for the end of mixing. Work on the album was completed when the group approved Fox's final mix on 22 October. By then, the project had gone at least £30,000 over budget.

Side one
"Garden of Earthly Delights", the album's psychedelic opening song, is written as a children's guide to the world. Partridge's reaction to listening to the song for the first time after many years was "Jesus there's a lot on this track!" He intended the piece to sound "like this crazy tapestry of camels and elephants and belly dancers and all the Arabian Nights, interwoven -- a big ornate Eastern rug come to life". One of the slide-down parts was played by turning down the tuning peg of Moulding's bass guitar. Partridge refused to answer whether the lyric "can't all think like Chekov" refers to the Star Trek character Pavel Chekov, or the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.

"Mayor of Simpleton" adopts a jangle pop style. It developed as a reggae tune and went through numerous different versions. He settled on its final arrangement after discovering a C major to D major picking pattern that he thought resembled Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (1976). Unlike many other XTC songs, he instructed a specific bass part to Moulding: "Colin had to work very hard to get that bass line. It's very precise. It took me a long time to work it out, because I wanted to get into the J.S. Bach mode of each note being the perfect counterpoint to where the chords are and where the melody is. The bass is the third part in the puzzle." The lyrics, partly autobiographical, are sometimes criticised for their similarity to Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" (1960), but Partridge denied copying the song intentionally. He stated, however, that the ending was a "slight tip of the hat" to the Beatles' "Good Day Sunshine" (1966).

"King for a Day" was composed from an alternate guitar tuning. Moulding credited Partridge with the "bell-like" counterpoint melody, and recalled that the backwards effect on the guitar may have been accidental. Virgin earmarked the song as potentially the album's lead single and commissioned a number of remixes for the song. Moulding said he had no input on these alternate versions and remembered that they "really stretched the budget to the limit".

"Here Comes President Kill Again" is a sociopolitical song arranged in a marching band style. Partridge: "I'm just saying, 'Go ahead, have your little bit of power and vote for who you want, but there's no difference' ... it's almost like, if they're a politician, that's the very reason you shouldn't vote for them". The "President Nil" mentioned in its lyric refers to the character from the Alan Sillitoe book Travels in Nihilon, which itself originated the title of the past XTC song from Black Sea (1980). Partridge described the middle section as a simulacrum of the Beatles' White Album.

Side two
"The Loving" is a singalong anthem that was, according to Partridge, a rewrite of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" (1967). The inspiration for the music came from the Supremes' "The Happening" and Honeybus' "I Can't Let Maggie Go". He added that he "wanted something anthemic like 'All the Young Dudes'". Mastelotto recalled the sampled crowd noises at the beginning was his suggestion to Fox, except he meant the crowd to be much smaller in size. The song initially began as a "Madonna feel -- kind of a rock beat, very tight-sounding" until they later did "a few more takes of [the song], completely live -- the opposite of what we'd done earlier".

"Poor Skeleton Steps Out" features a samba-style rhythm, glockenspiel and numerous slowed down voices. Partridge said of its percussion: "things that you might think are drums and percussion on that song may be things like guitars with paper threaded through the strings ... And something that sounds like a vacuum cleaner starting up is an electronic cymbal set to 'ascend,' and there's also a sample of a tabla playing along." He remembered that David Byrne, when he visited the session, was impressed with the track's guitar textures and use of tabla.

"One of the Millions" is a song Moulding addressed to himself and his tendency to take the paths of least resistance. Its bass riff evoked to him the feeling of a rocking boat and it is one of the few songs on the album that was cut live without a click track.

"Scarecrow People", built on a "horsey" rhythm, is cited by Partridge as his favourite on the record. It was written as an outlet for his longtime fascination with the word "straw". The lyrics are about mankind's value of "trash above worthwhile things. ... We're still shaped like human beings, but there's no thought process going on." He could not identify what key it is in and noted that the opening guitar chord (D♭-E-B-E♭ or C♯$m3(7)(9)$) contains none of the notes of the melody. According to music writer Geoffrey Himes, the song "recalls the music-hall feel and 'Babbitt' theme" of the Beatles' "Nowhere Man" (1965). Partridge felt there was a resemblance to Prince's "Sign o' the Times" (1987), "It's very kind of cartoon Blues ... then the chorus is kind of when it gets more conventional corny Country. It could be Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison or something." He credited the cascading 16th-notes – played on guitar by Dave Gregory and heard in the stereo right channel – as the song's centerpiece. Moulding's bass was outfitted with a faulty mute, resulting in a "sitar bass" effect. The rhythm in the bridge was inspired by Sly and Robbie's "Don't Stop the Music" (1981).

Side three
"Merely a Man", according to Partridge, was "the idea of a juxtaposition -- noisy, barking, aggressive bass, aggressive guitars, and very metallic-sounding drums, juxtaposed with this rather effeminate 18th-century powdered wig of a piece of music, right smack bang in the middle of a hard-rocking wah-wah quackout". It was his attempt to appease Virgin's requests for more rock-oriented material in the style of ZZ Top. He said that the guitar line has some similarities with the Beatles' "Hello Goodbye" (1967), however, the decision to place a baroque trumpet solo was not a reference to the group. Gregory and Fox envisioned the song as a single. The lyrics are about "if there was a Jesus, if there was a Buddha, if there was a whatever great holy leader you'd like to name, there's nothing supernatural about them. They are merely men." It contains a reference to Jimmy Swaggart in the lyric.

"Cynical Days" was described by a CMJ New Music Monthly reviewer as Moulding "finding his symmetrical vocal/bass compositional counterpart recalling Mummer's more disjointed approach". Like "One of the Millions", the band played live without a click. A reviewer for the magazine Sonics compared it to Miles Davis, because of its use of muted trumpet, and Ray Davies of the Kinks. Moulding said: "I wasn't feeling cynical when I wrote it. I think it had more to do with the melancholy nature of the chords. Sometimes you play something and these sentiments descend on you." Later, he expressed dissatisfaction with the track, calling it too "loungey".

"Across This Antheap" is a track built on "Latin percussion, my swampy, pulled Bluesy guitar, and Colin's burping little bass". The lyrics are "about the human inability to communicate. No more than these ants can communicate. ... and yes, there is a very cynical eye being cast on the human race." It was originally written for Skylarking but rejected by Todd Rundgren. Gregory wanted the song to be the album's closing track but his suggestion was vetoed. Fox considered it a potential single and urged Partridge to include "'a kind of tacky, brassy-sounding keyboard," which I really didn't like, but he said, 'Yeah, it's so awful, it's almost ironic!' I just found it awful-sounding. ... I thought, 'He's had some good decisions as we've gone along so far—maybe he's right!'" Partridge programmed the percussion samples on a LinnDrum and Mastelloto played along on a kit. The end of the song includes the voices of the band members, Fox, and guests who visited the session that day, who may have included River Phoenix, Chris Squire, or journalist Neville Farmer.

Side four
"Hold Me My Daddy" was written from the point of view of a son begging for his father's love. It also features South African-styled choral stylings and an Afro-pop coda. Partridge played the song for his father, who "insisted on hearing it. We got to that point on the album and I had to leave the room: 'Hm! Is that the baby crying? I'll just go and have a look'. l came back, and I don't know if he was embarrassed or whether he really didn't hear the lyrics".

"Pink Thing" is a comedic pivot point of the album, being a song that Partridge wrote about his penis. The title was also a nickname he had for his children as infants. Partridge intended the two meanings to be ambiguous: "The entire song centres on these two themes at the same time ... The first of the two you see, prevents seeing the other one." It has been compared to the style of Paul McCartney.

"Miniature Sun" is a jazz fusion song that invokes the sun as a metaphor for love and betrayal. It was written on the same budget sampler synthesizer as Skylarking's "Another Satellite". Richard Walls said that it resembled "the Beach Boys playing fusion, a kind of number that's becoming an XTC staple".

"Chalkhills and Children" is the album's closing track and is its mellowest song. Partridge wrote it as a rumination on his life and career. He summarized: "Show business is all fake. Being a father is not fake, and the hills around [my home] are not fake." It was composed on a Roland D-50 with a second oscillator tuned a fifth above. The lyric imagery came afterward, since he associated the sounds of organs with dreams. He acknowledged that the song bears a resemblance to the Beach Boys and decided to pay homage to their 1967 song "Wind Chimes" by including the use of wind chimes. Beach Boy Brian Wilson was played the track during an appearance on Rodney Bingenheimer's Rodney on the ROQ. When the song was over, Bingenheimer mentioned that Partridge was a big fan of Wilson's, to which Wilson tersely replied "Yeah."

Leftover
A couple of Partridge's rejected Skylarking songs were offered for Oranges & Lemons, but were again rejected. He said: "Maybe it was fate that they wouldn't rise up. They are probably too weak and best left to die." "The Good Things", a Pet Sounds-influenced Moulding song demoed for Oranges & Lemons, was passed for inclusion. Moulding: "If you can imagine a father reading from a book called The Good Things in Life to his children at bedtime, that just about sums it up." In 1995, the band recorded the song for the tribute album A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC. Similarly, his "In Another Life" was recorded and released for Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) (2000).

Other songs demoed were Partridge's "Living in a Haunted Heart", "Blue Beret", "Everything", "Was a Yes", "My Paint Heroes", "This Is the End" and Moulding's "Skeletons", and "Way of the World". "Living in the Haunted Heart" received a lukewarm reaction from bandmates. "My Paint Heroes" was a tribute to Joan Miró, Henri Rousseau, and Salvador Dalí. "Skeletons", according to Moulding, "doesn't connect. It was a half-hearted attempt to tell my kids to watch what they do but I'm not very good at demos." The band also worked on Moulding's "The World is Full of Angry Young Men", from the Mummer sessions, rerecording the piano, guitar, and vocals.

Title and artwork

A working title for the album was Songs of Sixpence. Oranges & Lemons derives from the traditional English nursery rhyme of the same name, previously referenced in the opening lyric of "Ballet for a Rainy Day" from Skylarking. Partridge interpreted the nursery rhyme to be about financial debt and said that the title "sort of, in a bizarre way, describes California as well". He said, "It was not an LA album musically so much, but an LA album in kind of sunshine and citrus fruits, and it plugged me straight into the pop art vibe." Asked for likes or dislikes about Los Angeles, he responded: "I hate the sunshine. All of that constant sunshine drives me up the wall. I like mysterious weather. I think it rained one day and it was so wonderful." Although he had been a fan of Pink Floyd since his youth, the title was not meant as a reference to their 1967 single "Apples and Oranges".

The idea for a pop art-style sleeve came from Dave Gregory, who expressed fondness for the sleeve to the Who's A Quick One (1966), while the lettering was inspired by Andy Williams' Love, Andy (1967). Its cover illustration was intended to resemble the work of Heinz Edelmann, the art director for the 1968 Beatles film Yellow Submarine, and is reflective of the substantial portion of the album that pays homage to the Beatles' psychedelic period.

Release
Released on 27 February 1989 in the UK and one day later in the US, Oranges & Lemons became their highest-charting album since English Settlement, rising to number 28 in the UK and number 44 in the US. Additionally, it combined with Skylarking for the group's best-selling albums to date. Lead single "Mayor of Simpleton" reached number 46 in the UK and number 72 in the US, making it their only American single to chart. It was followed with "King for a Day" (backed with "Happy Families" along with home demo versions of "My Paint Heroes" and "Skeletons") and "The Loving", the latter of which failed to chart. The music video for "King for a Day" was directed by Tony Kaye. Versions of "Scarecrow People" and "Poor Skeleton Steps Out" were recorded for BBC Radio and later released for Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89 (1994).

To support the album, Partridge agreed to an acoustic-guitar American radio tour that lasted for two weeks in May. The shows were carried out without financial compensation for the band. According to him, this stripped-down convention had fallen out of style since the 1930s, and he suggested the idea to avoid potential issues with more complex sound mixing. The setlists primarily consisted of Oranges & Lemons material. He recalled the first gig was "a total shambles" but that the rest of the tour went "absolutely fine ... and I started to enjoy it". Gregory commented that it was an "interesting" style of promotion, but "incredibly hard work", as the band performed at about four radio stations a day for three weeks: "We also did a live acoustic set for MTV in front of an audience which worried Andy a bit but he got through it." This inspired the network to invite more artists to perform stripped-down sets, calling the series "unplugged". XTC's performance of "King for a Day" on Late Night with David Letterman marked the first time the group played in front of a live audience in seven years. A similar acoustic tour was planned for Europe, but cancelled when Partridge discovered that their pro bono Paris date would be broadcast from a sold-out 5,000 seater venue.

The album's release coincided with the band resolving their legal disputes against Reid with an out-of-court settlement. They agreed to let Virgin pay off their remaining debts in exchange for a less favourable royalty adjustment and a promise to record four more albums for the label. Afterward, the band tried to coax Partridge back into regular touring but were unsuccessful. It was estimated that a three to four-week US tour leading to a gig in Madison Square Garden could have earned each member about $100,000. Moulding intimated: "It annoyed me that we weren't getting anywhere with Andy because we could all see he'd got over his stage fright problem. Now he was just making excuses."

Contemporary
Oranges & Lemons was met with critical acclaim. A reviewer for CMJ New Music Monthly declared it to be another album of the band's "ever-winning, ever-esoteric pop" and "as good as any in their catalogue," highlighting "Mayor of Simpleton", "The Loving", "Merely a Man", and "King for a Day" as its best tracks. Chris Heim of the Chicago Tribune praised the album as a "refreshingly tart and wondrously rich harvest of intelligent and challenging pop". "The Loving" was voted NME's "Single of the Week" by guest reviewers the Wonder Stuff, a British band.

Writing for Rolling Stone, Michael Azerrad dubbed the LP "ambitious" and "ultimately delightful". He acknowledged that first-time listeners may be "overwhelmed by the densely layered arrangements and center-stage percussion. But on repeated listenings, the curtains part and hooks are all you hear". Richard Walls of High Fidelity opined: "It's possible for [the album] to charm you into thinking it's a lightheartedly benign bauble. The components of the disc's well-crafted and pleasurable surface ... all conspire to elicit a smiling response." Brent Milano of Pulse! stated: "we can't imagine anyone not liking [this record], unless you've got a real problem with brilliant songwriting, personal-yet-universal lyrics, great singing and nifty guitar sounds. XTC can absorb '60s tricks as well as anyone ... but it doesn't stop there. There weren't many '60s bands who worked tributes to King Sunny Ade and Ladysmith Black Mambazo into a straightahead pop song" ("Hold Me My Daddy").

Robert Sandall of Q believed that the group were "obsessed" with the Beatles, specifically Paul McCartney circa 1967–1968. He concluded that the music was "Exuberantly catchy ... and mercifully free of that whiff of self-conscious art school cleverness which has blighted XTC in the past, these songs are thrilling before you catch their sophistication." The Washington Post's Geoffrey Himes praised the record as proof "that McCartney's psychedelic pop was not just a product of a particular time, but rather a set of possibilities that have hardly been exhausted". Michael Small of People compared it favourably to the Beatles' White Album: "Almost every song contains at least one catchy pop riff or chorus. Then those bright tunes abruptly shift into minor keys or unusual rhythms and harmonies."

Conversely, Melody Maker's Bob Stafford felt that although the record includes "a handful of great pop songs ... there is simply too much going on most of the time ... as a double [LP], it allows for too much mediocrity and silliness, meandering tunes, and unnecessary techno plonks." In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said the album lacked a "discernible" structure or concept to guide the band's "compulsive" formalism. Chris Murray of RPM wrote: "From start to finish, this LP is full of Andy Partridge's idiosyncratic songs, true to the form XTC has established over the past decade. Unfortunately, this sold record breaks no new ground which might elevate them from the presently secure cult status." Gary Ramon called it an "uneven" collection containing "the weakest" songs of Moulding.

Retrospective
In 2000, Oranges & Lemons was ranked at number 906 in the third edition Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums.

Among retrospective reviews, Oregano Rathbone of Record Collector wrote that Oranges & Lemons was "an appropriately sunny thing on the surface, at peace with itself and the world, yet seething with a bracingly chilly English subtext of proudly acknowledged failings ... thwarted ambition ... existential anomie ... and political disillusionment". J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader criticized the record for being "mostly rewrites of earlier songs" and its music for "recycling the same psychedelic guitar riffs and Beatles-esque countermelodies that the band parodied" as the Dukes.

The Quietus' Nick Reed said that while the album contains several of the band's best songs, "whether or not this album holds up for you depends on how much you like the band's boisterous side." He likened the songs to candy bars: "the first few are enjoyable, but fifteen in a row can make you sick to your stomach." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the LP "lacks the singular focus of Skylarking, but at its best, it's just as impressive as its predecessor. ... sonically rich and filled with immaculately crafted songs".

Original vinyl
The songs appear in the same order on the CD releases, except for a special edition with three 3" CDs containing five songs each, which switched around "Cynical Days" and "Across This Antheap" to accommodate the limited run time of 3" CDs.

2015 expanded edition
In 2015, an expanded CD and Blu-ray edition of Oranges & Lemons was issued on Partridge's Ape Records label. It included new 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes by Steven Wilson.
 * 2015 5.1 mix
 * 2015 stereo instrumental mix
 * 2015 stereo mix
 * Flat transfer of original 1989 mix
 * Album in demos and work tapes form – all running orders as above

Personnel
XTC
 * Colin Moulding – vocals, bass
 * Andy Partridge – vocals, guitar
 * Dave Gregory – guitars, backing vocals, keyboards

Additional musicians
 * Pat Mastelotto – drums
 * Mark Isham – horns on "Here Comes President Kill Again", "One of the Millions", "Merely a Man", "Cynical Days" and the intro to "Across This Antheap"
 * Paul Fox – keyboards
 * Franne Golde – backing vocals on "Poor Skeleton Steps Out"

Technical Adapted from original vinyl sleeve notes.
 * Paul Fox – producer
 * Ed Thacker – engineer
 * Clark Germain – assistant engineer
 * Joe Fiorello – assistant engineer
 * Tim Weidner – assistant engineer
 * Andy Partridge – sleeve
 * Dave Dragon – sleeve
 * Ken Ansell – sleeve
 * Sheila Rock – inner sleeve photography

title: Oranges & Lemons (album)


text:
USS Phelps

USS Phelps (DD-360) was a World War II-era Porter-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy. She was named for Thomas Stowell Phelps, who was a Rear Admiral in the US Navy in 1884.

Before World War II
Phelps was laid down 2 January 1934 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts; launched 18 July 1935; sponsored by Mrs. Richard A. Kearny; and commissioned 26 February 1936, Commander Albert H. Rooks in command. In November 1936 Phelps, along with the cruiser Chester, escorted the heavy cruiser Indianapolis carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the opening of the Inter-American Peace Conference of 1936. The cruise included good-will visits to Montevideo, Uruguay and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Entry in World War II
During the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Phelps shot down one enemy plane. In February and March 1942, she served as part of the destroyer screen for Task Force 11, including the carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), in an attack in the Huon Gulf off Lae and in an attack on Salamaua, New Guinea, over the Owen Stanley mountain range from the Gulf of Papua, 10 March 1942. During the Battle of the Coral Sea beginning on 8 May, when Lexington and USS Yorktown (CV-10) diverged to avoid enemy attacks, Phelps stayed with Yorktown. Phelps emerged from the battle with no casualties, but when the Lexington was seriously damaged, she helped to prevent enemy capture of the carrier by administering the coup de grâce and finished her off firing five torpedoes.

Aleutians and Central Pacific action
In June 1942 she protected the American carriers that dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese Navy in the Battle of Midway. In August 1942 she guarded forces invading Guadalcanal. After a visit to the west coast in October, she participated in landings upon Attu, Alaska, in May 1943. After bombarding Kiska, Alaska, she provided gunfire support for landings at Makin Atoll in November 1943. In the Marshall Islands campaign in February 1944, she bombarded Kwajalein and Eniwetok. In March she guarded tankers during a strike on the Palau Islands. In June she bombarded Saipan to protect American forces that had landed there on the 15th.

Atlantic duty
Following duty at Saipan, she steamed via the Panama Canal to Charleston, South Carolina, for armament alterations, arriving 2 August. Departing Norfolk, Virginia, in November, she escorted a convoy to Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria. After three more convoy escort voyages to the Mediterranean in 1945, she arrived at New York, New York 10 June.

Decommissioning
The Phelps was decommissioned on 6 November 1945, and she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 28 January 1947. She was scrapped shortly afterwards by Northern Metals Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Battle honors
Phelps received twelve battle stars for World War II service.

title: USS Phelps