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Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde)

Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly as an adversary of the X-Men. The original Mastermind was a mutant with the psionic ability to generate complex telepathic illusions at will that cause his victims to see whatever he wishes them to see. He was a founding member of the first Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and later a probationary member of the Lords Cardinal of the Hellfire Club, where he played an important role in "The Dark Phoenix Saga".

After Wyngarde's death from the Legacy Virus, his three daughters appeared: two possessing his illusion-creating abilities, Mastermind (Martinique Jason) and Lady Mastermind (Regan Wyngarde), and the X-Man Pixie.

Publication history
Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in The X-Men #4 (March 1964). He was given his "real name" of Jason Wyngarde by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

The name and visual appearance of Jason Wyngarde as he appears in the Dark Phoenix Saga and later stories was originally based by artist John Byrne on that of British actor Peter Wyngarde, best known for playing Jason King, and who also played the leader of the Hellfire Club in an episode of The Avengers.

Fictional character biography
Nothing is known of Jason Wyngarde's life before joining the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, except that he was a carnival mentalist. With Mastermind's help, the Brotherhood takes over Santo Marco, a fictional South American country, with an illusion of thousands of soldiers. However, the X-Men free the country, as Professor X sees through Mastermind's illusions, helping the X-Men when they believe they are trapped by a wall of flame. As a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, he participates in repeated clashes with the X-Men. He attempts to court his teammate Scarlet Witch, but his advances seem driven more by an unsatisfied need for love than by any true feelings for her, and she repeatedly spurns him. The Brotherhood attempts to lure the Stranger to their cause, but the Stranger temporarily turns Mastermind into solid matter.

After the spell wears off, Mastermind joins Factor Three, an organization that attempts to conquer the Earth. Factor Three eventually disbands when their leader turns out to be an alien, instead of a mutant. They team with the X-Men to defeat the alien Mutant Master. Mastermind is then captured by Sentinels, but freed by the X-Men. Former members of Factor Three, Blob and Unus, join with Mastermind to reform the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Mastermind attempts to recruit Beast to his group, but fails and winds up battling him instead. Mastermind is briefly held captive by the second Secret Empire. Magneto returns to the Brotherhood to resume his leadership and creates Alpha the Ultimate Mutant. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants battle the Defenders, but Alpha turns the entire Brotherhood team into infants.

After being restored to adulthood, Mastermind becomes involved with the Hellfire Club, who conspire to capture the X-Men for their own uses. He initially poses as Nikos, and begins a romance with Phoenix. Then, he manipulates her through the use of his own powers and a mind-tap mechanism created by Emma Frost, which he uses to project his illusion directly into her mind, causing her to believe she is living out the life of a Victorian aristocrat who was married to Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind), and was the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. This turns her against the X-Men. Cyclops attempts to free Phoenix on the astral plane, but Mastermind confronts him there and soundly defeats him. Instead of binding Phoenix to him forever, as Mastermind had hoped, the shock of Scott's psychic "death" breaks her free from his control. Enraged at what he did to her, Phoenix reaches into his mind and makes him experience godhood for a moment. This experience leaves him catatonic.

When Mastermind recovers his sanity, he seeks revenge on everyone that caused him pain. He strikes down Emma Frost, leaving her comatose. He unbalances Rogue's shared psyche with Carol Danvers, prompting her to leave Mystique, while using an induced nightmare on Mystique to let her know he is responsible. Next, since Phoenix is dead, he decides to use those closest to her as proxies for his revenge. He disrupts Wolverine's wedding by psionically compelling his betrothed, Mariko Yashida, to reject him and open up dealings with the criminal underworld. He manipulates the X-Men into thinking Cyclops's fiancée, Madelyne Pryor, is the reincarnation of Dark Phoenix, hoping to goad them into killing her before he reveals the truth. However, Cyclops recognizes the patterns of Mastermind's power, and the X-Men defeat him in a short battle. Mastermind later seeks to tap into the power of the Phoenix Force, but is defeated by Rachel Summers and Excalibur. He is imprisoned with the delusion that he achieved cosmic awareness.

Mastermind later dies of the Legacy Virus. Before he succumbs, he asks Jean Grey's forgiveness for what he did to her in an attempt to gain control of the almighty Phoenix Force within her. She forgives him and he dies peacefully after using his final act to save Jean Grey from dying alongside him.

After his death, Mastermind appeared in a flashback sequence that revealed that he was paid by the supervillain known as "the General" to put one of his illusions into the mind of Sentry, making the Sentry "...so scared to use his powers, [That] he'll think the world will be attacked by the devil if he does." This would make Mastermind responsible for the creation of the Void itself, the evil counterpart of the Sentry who is actually the manifestation of the inhibitions that Mastermind implanted in the Sentry to prevent him from using his powers.

He would appear again in a flashback sequence when Lorna Dane discovered that she was the one responsible for the accident that killed her parents. Magneto, who had been drawn to the location of the accident by her magnetic pulse, had Mastermind use his illusionary powers to re-write Lorna's memories of that day, since he believed that she was not ready for her abilities or the life he could offer her, leaving her to believe that her parents died in a plane crash when she was an infant.

Joseph is resurrected under unknown circumstances and forms a new Brotherhood of Mutants with Astra and mutated deformed versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad, all actually clones created by Joseph.

During the "Empyre" storyline, Mastermind is among the mutants that were revived and residing on Krakoa. When Magik calls for the psychic mutants to come to Genosha and deal with a Cotati seed pod that is weak against psychic attacks, Mastermind is among the psychic mutants that answer the call. He is among those who witness Magik's fight with the Cotatinaught.

Powers and abilities
Mastermind has the mutant ability to cast exceptionally realistic psionic illusions. He can psionically cause other people to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste things that do not actually exist. For example, he can make himself look and sound like a different person, or look and feel like a wall, or even seem invisible. He can use his powers to duplicate himself. The range of Mastermind's powers is wide enough to affect an entire city. He is even capable of affecting telepaths as powerful as Professor X and Jean Grey, although to manipulate Dark Phoenix he required an amplifying device called a "mind-tap mechanism" provided by the White Queen that enabled him to project illusions directly into the entity's mind, so that the entity "saw" them, and to monitor the entity's thoughts, both over great distances.

Family
Mastermind's name and powers still live on through his daughters: Martinique Jason and Regan Wyngarde. Both appear to be stronger than the original Mastermind; Martinique can create citywide illusions that even hypnotize people to believe they are in a whole new era and Regan's lethal illusions can continue even after she has been rendered unconscious.

In the second issue of X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back, the mother of X-Man Pixie, Mrs. Gwynn, teleports herself to the Wyngarde Mansion, where Regan is fighting with Martinique and reveals Pixie is their half-sister. Teaming up with Mrs. Gwynn who offers the sisters power in exchange for their help, they attempt to track down Pixie after being kidnapped by Saturnine. During the final confrontation with the demon, Pixie teleports both Regan and Martinique away when X-23 attempts to attack them.

Accolades

 * In 2009, IGN ranked Mastermind 98th in their Top 100 Comic Book Villains" list.
 * In 2017, WhatCulture ranked Mastermind 7th in their "10 Most Evil X-Men Villains" list.
 * In 2018, CBR.com ranked Mastermind 16th in their "25 X-Men Villains, Ranked From Weakest To Strongest" list.
 * In 2019, CBR.com ranked Mastermind 2nd in their "10 X-Men Villains that Seem Totally Lame (But Are Actually Super Powerful)" list.
 * In 2020, CBR.com ranked Mastermind 2nd in their "10 Best Illusionists In Marvel" list.
 * In 2021, Screen Rant included Mastermind in their "X-Men: The 10 Most Powerful Members Of The Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants" list.

Age of Apocalypse
In the alternate timeline seen in the 1995–1996 Age of Apocalypse storyline, Jason Wyngarde is one of the many victims of Apocalypse's regime. He is a victim of the experiments of a time-traveling Sugar Man, which left him mute, though he is rescued by a time-traveling X-Man, as well as Forge and Magneto. Years later, he joines Forge's Outcasts, a resistance cell traveling under the cover of a theater troupe. He was ultimately killed by the bounty hunter Domino.

House of M
In the alternate timeline seen in the 2005 storyline House of M, Mastermind is mentioned to be a business rival of Tony Stark.

Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel reality, Mastermind a member of Magneto's Brotherhood, here called the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy. In contrast to his appearance in the mainstream Marvel universe, here is a lanky, white-haired, man with sunglasses and a ponytail. He replaces Mystique's role posing as Magneto in the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison, though with the company of his girlfriend Stacy. In the 2008 miniseries Ultimates 3, he partners with Pyro when Magneto and other Brotherhood members clash with the Ultimates at Magneto's base in the Savage Land. He attacks Valkyrie with an illusion of her greatest fear, but Valkyrie kills him with her sword.

X-Men: Noir
In the alternate universe seen in the 2009 miniseries X-Men: Noir, Wyngarde appears as a member of Eric Magnus's Brotherhood of Mutant detectives in NY.

Television

 * Mastermind makes a non-speaking appearance in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "The Prison Plot". This version is a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants who is also known as the "Maestro of Illusion".
 * Mastermind appears in the X-Men: The Animated Series multi-part episode "The Dark Phoenix", voiced by Nigel Bennett. This version is a member of the Inner Circle Club.
 * Mastermind appears in X-Men: Evolution, voiced by Campbell Lane. This version is a member of Magneto's Acolytes.
 * Mastermind appears in Marvel Anime: X-Men, voiced by Haruhiko Jō in the Japanese version and by Travis Willingham in the English version. This version is the Inner Circle's leader. He initially sought to manipulate Jean Grey as Dark Phoenix before the former's sacrifice to prevent them from using its power. In response, Mastermind framed Emma Frost for Grey's death and took on the alias of Japanese researcher "Jun Sanada" (voiced by Tomokazu Seki in the Japanese version ) to form a secret alliance with the U-Men and pretend to work under Japanese scientist Dr. Yui Sasaki to manipulate her son Takeo, a mutant capable of warping reality, into using his power to allow mutants to take over the world. After the X-Men discover his schemes, Mastermind attempts to use Takeo to weaken them, only to be killed by the boy after he loses control of his powers.

Video games
Mastermind appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced again by Travis Willingham. This version is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Additionally, he appears as a boss in the handheld version of the game.

Miscellaneous
Jason Wyngarde appears in Wolverine: The Lost Trail, voiced by Bill Irwin.

title: Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde)


text: Category:Dakota County, Minnesota

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title: Category:Dakota County, Minnesota


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Foul tip

In baseball, a foul tip is defined as "a batted ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to the catcher and is legally caught. It is not a foul tip unless caught, and any foul tip that is caught is a strike and the ball is 'in play'."

A foul tip is not the same as a foul ball, although many people mistakenly use the term to refer to any pitch at which the batter swings and makes slight contact, regardless of whether it is caught by the catcher. However, the rules are very narrow: it is not a foul tip if the ball touches anything else on the way to the catcher's hand or glove or if it is not legally caught and held. Anything else is technically a foul ball, including if the ball is caught after popping up into foul territory.

The rules treat a foul tip as equivalent in every respect to a pitch at which the batter swings and misses.
 * A foul tip is always a strike, meaning a player on two strikes is automatically out.
 * The ball remains alive and runners may advance or be thrown out on the bases.

In contrast, a foul ball counts as a strike only if the batter does not already have two strikes against him/her, or if the batter incurred the foul ball on a bunt. Runners may not advance and must return to their bases without danger of being tagged out.

title: Foul tip


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Franz Xaver Kroetz

Franz Xaver Kroetz (born 25 February 1946) is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. He achieved great success beginning in the early 1970s. Persistent, Farmyard, and Request Concert, all written in 1971, are some of the works conventionally associated with Kroetz.

Kroetz is part of a generation of playwrights who modified the critical folk-piece, emphasizing in his works of the early 1970s the underside of West Germany's affluence through realistic portrayals of the lives of the poor. He later began writing for television, which led to a wider audience. His more analytical, Brecht-influenced plays were generally not well-received, though Upper Austria (1972) and The Nest (1974) achieved critical and commercial success. Some later works of social realism like Through the Leaves (1976) and Tom Fool (1978) are also highly regarded.

Kroetz's plays have been translated and performed internationally. Simon Stephens argued in 2016, "Kroetz was identifying how poverty can give rise to brutality, to cynicism, despair and fear. His plays are as resonant now as they've ever been."

Life
Kroetz was born in Munich and did poorly in high school. He attended an acting school in Munich and the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna. He worked as a day-laborer. In the late 1960s, when he was unable to enter mainstream theater, he was active in the alternative theater scene in Munich, and also wrote and acted in works of the Bauerntheater (peasant farces with figures who act out stock situations). He became a member of the German Communist Party (DKP) in 1972, leaving in May 1980 when it had negligible political influence in West Germany.

He was affiliated with Suhrkamp Verlag until 1974, with his radical politics being problematic for the publisher. Kroetz admitted in a 1978 interview to being a somewhat combative person. Michael Toteborg wrote in 1978 that the best-known of the early plays are Wildwechsel (Game Crossing or Jailbait, 1968), Mannersache (Men's Business, 1970), and Farmyard. He said that in Munich Child "Kroetz [gives] a convincing political dimension to the private experiences of his characters." His plays in the 1970s portrayed people who had been rendered speechless by their own social misery. He has named Marieluise Fleißer as a major influence on his early writing, as well as Ödön von Horváth. He became famous when in 1971 the premiere of his plays Heimarbeit (translated as "House-work" or "Houseworker") and Hartnäckig (Persistent) were disrupted by neo-fascists. Houseworker caused controversy for containing explicit scenes.

His later plays contain less violence and sexuality, and are more influenced by Bertolt Brecht. Oberösterreich (Upper Austria, 1972) and Das Nest (The Nest, 1974) garnered popular and critical acclaim. The former marked a shift from portraying (in Kroetz's words) the "milieu of the extreme" to portraying average people who lack pent-up frutrations and communicate more effectively. Donna L. Hoffmeister wrote that the work "was presented, according to my count, by forty different theaters between 1974 and 1976 and the play Das Nest (1974) by about twenty theaters in the 1976/77 season". In The Nest, the protagonist is a truck driver. His boss orders him to dump toxic waste into a lake, thus soiling his "nest."

After the early plays, he tried writing works for television because he wanted to reach a wider audience, and his move to TV had this effect, with Maria Magdalena viewed by five to 15 million. The contemporary television fare cautioned through comedy against activism by workers, and Kroetz wished to refunction televisual Volkstheater for progressive aims. His works for television have been described as "metacritiques of the television industry" that thematize its detrimental impact on viewers. Das Nest was first produced for television in 1976, and aired in West Germany in 1979. Upper Austria was first broadcast in 1973. The broadcaster ZDF postponed Upper Austria for months due to its politics. Kroetz moved into social realism with Through the Leaves (1976) and Tom Fool (1978), the latter of which was a success. He considers Upper Austria, The Nest, and Tom Fool to form a trilogy.

He wrote a libretto based on his play Stallerhof (1971) for an opera of the same name which Gerd Kühr composed in 1987/88. It was premiered at the first Munich Biennale in 1988. The play was staged at the Burgtheater in 2010 by David Bösch.

In her book Franz Xaver Kroetz: The Construction of a Political Aesthetic, Michelle Mattson of the Columbia University summarizes: "Franz Xaver Kroetz – banana-cutter, hospital orderly, fledgling actor and, more significantly, Germany's most popular contemporary dramatist of the seventies and early eighties. This study, which situates Kroetz's aesthetics in a political context, focuses on four plays that mark crisis points in his development of a political aesthetic."

Kroetz wrote for the television series Tatort, Spiel mit Karten in 1980 and Wolf im Schafspelz in 2002. He is also known for his role as the gossip columnist 'Baby' Schimmerlos (roughly 'Baby Clueless') in the television series Kir Royal. His income from acting made writing without financial worries possible.

From 1992 to 2005, Kroetz was married to the actress Marie-Theres Relin. They have three children. As of 2011, Kroetz lived in the Chiemgau and on Tenerife.

Some of Kroetz's plays have also been translated into French and performed in France.

Style
According to Holmberg, critics "refer to Mr. Kroetz's plays as constituting a drama of the inarticulate. The hallmark of his style is to draw characters unable to find the half-word they need to express sorrow or rage." The early plays of Kroetz also end violently. Mel Gussow describes Kroetz as reliant on words rather than images, and quotes the playwright as having been disturbed by the "garrulity" of most theater of the same time. Kroetz has also argued, "A dramatist must be tough on his characters. Sentimentality is a trap, and it's tempting because audiences love sentimental plays." The extreme naturalism of Request Concert has led to retrospective comparisons of it with Chantal Akerman's film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), and also with Marsha Norman's 'night, Mother (1983). Gautam Dasgupta has compared him to David Storey and Rainer W. Fassbinder, and also stated that his plays are "structured around cliches in the manner of Ionesco". Tom Fool has been compared to Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming for its depiction of a decomposing family.

Susan L. Cocalis writes that early on Kroetz does not give readers a way to "locate the events on stage in a hypothetical framework and thus gain some distance to the action. He does not even bother to supply any discernible criteria for identifying the good and the evil, for in these plays a just order of the universe [...] simply does not exist." She also sees Kroetz as implying that the material interests of the family unit determine the code of normative sexuality.

These plays have been described as impacting audiences primarily through compassion, and after 1972 he moved to a more analytical form of political drama about broader economic issues. Kroetz has referred to the early works as "descriptive realism" and the later works as "analytic realism" or "engaged realism". Sterntaler and Heimat include film clips of workplaces, and socially critical songs by workers. According to Craig Decker, Kroetz in his television works dramatizes how TV can constrain viewer consciousness; the playwright hopes to create people who break away from commercial culture and act as citizens rather than consumers. Gérard Thiériot divided his mainstream work into three phases: up to 1972, 1972–1980, and 1980 onward. The Nest has been called a morality play, and different from most of the works in the second phase. Rolf-Peter Carl, in Franz Xaver Kroetz (1978), divides his works into those before 1972, an "experimental" phase (1972–73), and those since 1974.

In a 1996 article about Bauern sterben (1985), Moray McGowan wrote that Bavaria's Catholicism, obstinate conservatism and distrust of modernization were emphasized as elements of Kroetz's work in the early 1970s, but that the contribution of his Bavarian identity to certain tensions in his work later became ignored.

Awards

 * 1972 – Deutscher Kritikerpreis
 * 1974 – Hannoverscher Dramatikerpreis
 * 1976 – Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis for Das Nest
 * 1985 – Ernst-Hoferichter-Preis
 * 1995 – Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis
 * 1996 – Oberbayerischer Kulturpreis
 * 2005 – Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
 * 2007 – Marieluise-Fleißer-Preis
 * 2008 – Bayerischer Filmpreis for The Legend of Brandner Kaspar

Early works
Michael Toteborg wrote that while Kroetz writes controversial content for serious purposes and "never wanted to raise himself above the characters interacting on the stage [...] the question concerning the aesthetic and political worth of Kroetz's dramatic productions is debatable". Carl accused the playwright of theoretical banalities but also defends the earlier works against the playwright's later indictments. He praised Farmyard as capable of stirring audiences to social involvement, but criticized Men's Business for its ending and Munich Child for its "demagogy". Henry J. Schmidt, reviewing Carl's book on Kroetz, criticized Carl for discussing the political effectiveness of Men's Business without recourse to audience response, however, and described the ending of Men's Business as "one of Kroetz's most effective scenes".

In a review of Farmyard and Four Plays (which contains Farmyard, Request Concert, Michi's Blood, Men's Business, and the Men's Business revision A Man, A Dictionary ), Dasgupta billed the playwright's works as "lyrical, scathing, humane dramas". Jeanette R. Malkin referred to Farmyard and Ghost Train as the most important dramas of his early period. Frank Rich wrote in a review of Michi's Blood that it is not one of Kroetz's best work, and said the playwright engages in "uncharacteristic point-making, by force-feeding his heroine [...] Beckett-isms". The Washington Post 's David Richards argued, "Unpleasant as it may be, 'Michi's Blood' is on to something about people deprived of language, purpose and the awareness of their own feelings."

Request Concert (1971)
Mel Gussow reviewed Request Concert positively in 1981, saying that because of the "clearsighted dramatic vision of Mr. Kroetz [...] the mundane is transformed into something close to hypnotic. [...] Through an accumulation of details and objects, we arrive at a point of complete empathy with the woman". In a 1986 performance starring Salome Jens, Dan Sullivan of Los Angeles Times wrote that "one becomes absorbed in the woman's little tasks and the meticulous way she goes about them. [...] Kroetz may not have meant to leave a loophole [with the ending], but it only enriches his play." Katie Mitchell has called it a "difficult, beautiful play". A writer noted in The Herald that in 2011 the play continued to enjoy a level of attention uncommon for works by German writers of Kroetz's generation.

Reviewing a 2016 BAM Fisher performance, Elisabeth Vincentelli of The New York Times said Request Concert (partly because of Danuta Stenka's performance) remains a work of "heart-wrenching power [...] Partly this has to do with the resilience of loneliness and boredom in our lives, despite our access to so-called social media." Reviewing the same performance, Paul David Young wrote, "Though she does not vocalize, Frau Rasch speaks on behalf of those voiceless souls in contemporary society who feel lost, purposeless, alone and unconnected. It is a political and very human voice." In a chapter of The Schaubühne Berlin under Thomas Ostermeier, Marvin Carlson referred to it as "powerful".

Brecht-influenced works
Cocalis claimed that by 1972 Kroetz had drawn some criticism for being too repetitive or too apolitical. Works like Lienz – Gateway to the Dolomites (1972), Maria Magdalena (1972), Sterntaler (1974), Heimat (1975), and Agnes Bernauer (1976) were neither critically nor commercially successful. In Maria Magdalena Kroetz in her view struggles with his own formal idiom, and the Brechtian elements of Sterntaler and Heimat make them less powerful than previous works, akin to melodrama or soap opera. Critics of Agnes Bernauer found the heroine unconvincing and the socio-economics oversimplified.

The Nest (1974)
The Guardian 's Susannah Clapp expressed a lukewarm view of The Nest, describing some scenes as moving but arguing, "There is uplift at the end but the unremitting intensity takes its toll on the pace. Detail is a double-edged sword. Some of the most striking episodes stretch the patience most: there is a long sequence when a suicide attempt gradually turns to farce." In a 2001 review of Alexander Gelman's A Man with Connections, about a man who is viewed by his wife as responsible for an industrial accident that harmed their son, Lyn Gardner argued that Kroetz handles a similar scenario better in The Nest. In 2016, however, she said The Nest has didactic impulses and "now looks a little simplistic and old-fashioned" despite a topical environmental message.

Through the Leaves (1976)
Barry V. Daniels lauded Through the Leaves as thematically "far beyond the specific naturalism of Antoine. When the generally middle class, educated audience confronts the essential matter of the play – its profound humanness – the barrier between them and the lower class characters breaks down". Reviewing a 1987 performance of Through the Leaves at the Dallas Theater Center, Jeannie M. Woods praised the play's psychological insight, calling it "a profoundly disturbing play [...] Her Pollyanna attitude seems to flourish on Otto's abuse and on his inability to express his affection. [...] The harsh reality is tempered both by the warmth of Martha and by grotesque comedy." Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote in 1984 that the play "is not pleasant, but it sticks like a splinter in the mind." He said that even certain impediments of the production he had attended (like Downey's English translation being relocated in Queens) did not "mute the jarring strains of [Kroetz's] genuinely disturbing theatrical voice."

In 2003, The Guardian's Michael Billington gave a Southwark Playhouse performance four out of five stars and wrote, "What makes Kroetz an exceptional dramatist is that he links behaviour to economics." He also argued, "Without a hint of patronage or condescension, Kroetz shows how both characters are victims of circumstance." Gardner called it "a gripping but gruelling dissection of a relationship that flounders on mismatched desire, conditioned responses and the utter failure of language [...] one of his best plays".

Tom Fool (1978)
Mark Brown praised the playwright as understanding the 'double burden' of class and gender carried by working class women, and added that "arguably his best writing is reserved for Otto's solitary musings on his position [...] The great beauty of Tom Fool is that it manages to address the politics of capitalism without a hint of polemic. Kroetz relies upon the emotional dynamics and powerful poetry that are the hallmark of great theatre". The Guardian 's Mark Fisher gave a 2006 performance three out of five stars, praising the performances but arguing, "By showing not only the explosions but also the mundane business of clearing up, the play has a fragmented rhythm". Gardner gave a positive review to a 2007 performance, arguing that Kroetz is able to make mundane events "hypnotic"; she claimed that the majority of the play is "like watching an unstable building sway and fall in agonising slow motion." Tom Fool was described as "superb" in The Herald.

1980s and beyond
According to Dominic Dromgoole, Kroetz was for some "the guiding light of the 1980s. For others, he was the most mind-bogglingly boring playwright history had ever thrown up." Arthur Holmberg of The New York Times wrote in 1984 that "literary critics rank him as one of the most important of Europe's young playwrights."

The surrealistic Neither Fish Nor Flesh (1981) was controversial, with half the audience at its Munich premiere leaving by the end of the third act. A reviewer for Der Spiegel lauded Kroetz as accurately depicting the social conditions and languages of the people portrayed. Hellmuth Karasek praised Bauern sterben (1985) in the same magazine. Discussing the same play, McGowan criticized the city-country dichotomy in which the former is depicted as soulless and the latter is glorified, though he dubbed the play "powerfully and self-consciously theatrical", saying it contains "a series of elemental, powerful images." In 1998, Angelica Fenner noted that the negative characterizations of female protagonists who choose abortion had garnered him some praise from conservative factions.

Der Drang (The Urge, 1994), an extended version of Lieber Fritz (Dear Fritz, 1971), drew controversy for its sexual content. Ich bin das Volk (I Am the People, 1994) garnered mixed responses.

Selected plays

 * Wildwechsel (Game Crossing), premiered in 1971 Theater Dortmund
 * Heimarbeit (Homeworker or Home-work), premiered 1971 Münchner Kammerspiele
 * Michis Blut (Michi's Blood) A Requiem in Bavarian, premiered in 1971 pro T München
 * Hartnäckig (Persistent), premiered in 1971 Münchner Kammerspiele
 * Dolomitenstadt Lienz (Lienz – Gateway to the Dolomites) farce with song (music: Peter Zwetkoff), premiered in 1972 Schauspielhaus Bochum
 * Männersache (Men's Business), premiered in 1972 Landestheater Darmstadt
 * Stallerhof (Farmyard), premiered in 1972 Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg
 * Globales Interesse (Global Interest), premiered in 1972 Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel
 * Oberösterreich (Upper Austria), premiered in 1972 Städtische Bühnen Heidelberg
 * Lieber Fritz (Dear Fritz), premiered in 1975 Landestheater Darmstadt
 * Männersache, 1972
 * Wunschkonzert (Request Concert), premiered in 1973 Württembergisches Staatstheater Stuttgart
 * Maria Magdalena after Friedrich Hebbel, premiered in 1973 Städtische Bühnen Heidelberg
 * Geisterbahn (Funhouse Ride/Ghost Train), premiered in 1975 Ateliertheater am Naschmarkt Wien
 * Das Nest (The Nest), premiered in 1975 Modernes Theater München
 * Ein Mann ein Wörterbuch (new version of Männersache), premiered in 1976 Ateliertheater am Naschmarkt Wien 1976
 * Agnes Bernauer, premiered in 1977 Leipziger Theater
 * Mensch Meier (Tom Fool), premiered in 1978, text seen in Brasil, play first performed in Düsseldorf
 * Nicht Fisch nicht Fleisch (Neither Fish Nor Flesh), premiered in 1981 Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
 * Münchner Kindl (Munich Child), premiered in 1983 Theater k in Schwabinger Bräu München
 * Der stramme Max, premiered in 1980 Bühnen der Stadt Essen, Ruhrfestspiele
 * Weitere Aussichten Ein Stück für Therese Giehse – urspr. Fernsehspiel – UA Städtische Theater Karl-Marx-Stadt 1975
 * Reise ins Glück urspr. Hörspiel – UA Theater am Neumarkt Zürich 1976
 * Gassenkrampf Stück in 7 Zügen – UA Bayerisches Bühnenfest 1976
 * Herzliche Grüsse aus Grado urspr. Hörspiel Inklusive – UA Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus 1976
 * Sterntaler Stück in 4 Akten – Musik Peter Zwetkoff – UA Staatstheater Braunschweig 1977
 * Bilanz urspr. Hörspiel – UA Torturmtheater Sommerhausen 1980
 * Die Wahl fürs Leben urspr. Hörspiel – UA Theater rechts der Isar München 1980
 * Gute Besserung urspr. Hörspiel – UA Theater k München 1982
 * Münchner Kindl Eine Ballade aus Bayern – UA
 * Heimat Ein Stück in 2 Akten – UA Freiburger Theater 1987
 * Wer durchs Laub geht Ein Stück für zwei Personen (Zweite Neufassung von Männersache, urspr. Hörspiel) – UA Marburger Schauspiel 1981
 * Jumbo-Track Ein Libretto – UA Landestheater Tübingen 1983
 * Furcht und Hoffnung der BRD / in Deutschland Szenen aus dem deutschen Alltag des Jahres 1983/97 – UA Schauspielhaus Bochum & Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus 1984
 * Bauern sterben Dramatisches Fragment – UA Münchner Kammerspiele 1985
 * Der Weihnachtstod Ein bayerisches Requiem – UA Münchner Kammerspiele 1986
 * Der Nusser Stück in 2 Akten nach Ernst Tollers HINKEMANN – UA Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel München 1986
 * Der Soldat Schauspiel in 17 Szenen – UA Kreisjugendring München 1987
 * Zeitweh Monolog – UA Theater die Färbe Singen 1988
 * Oblomow oder der Freund der Leidenschaften Ein Stück nach Motiven aus dem Roman von Iwan A. Gontscharow – Neufassung – UA Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel im Prinzregententheater München 1989
 * Bauerntheater Komödie – UA Schauspiel Köln 1991
 * Kalte Bauern Volksstück in 25 Szenen – erste Bearbeitung von LIEBER FRITZ (nicht aufgeführt)
 * Der Drang (The Urge) Volksstück in 3 Akten – zweite Bearbeitung von LIEBER FRITZ – UA Münchner Kammerspiele 1994
 * Ich bin das Volk Volkstümliche Szenen aus dem neuen Deutschland – UA Wuppertaler Bühnen 1994
 * Woyzeck Die Kroetz´sche Fassung – Bearbeitung des Stücks von Georg Büchner – Hamburger Schauspielhaus 1996
 * Der Dichter als Schwein Eine Komödie – UA Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus 1996
 * Negerin Stück in einem Akt – bearbeitete und vervollständigte Fassung von "Oppermann" (nicht aufgeführt)
 * Der verkaufte Grossvater Volksstück – Bearbeitung des Stücks von Anton Hamik – Münchner Volkstheater 1998
 * Die Eingeborene Stück für großes Kasperltheater – UA Burgtheater Wien im Akademietheater 1999
 * Das Ende der Paarung Ein deutsches Trauerspiel – UA Berliner Ensemble 2000
 * Haus Deutschland Eine Farce (nicht aufgeführt)
 * Die Trauerwütigen Ein Stück (nicht aufgeführt)
 * Nachtigal Eine Schmierenkomödie (nicht vollendet)
 * Der Bauer als Millionär Ein Zaubermärchen – Bearbeitung des Stücks von Ferdinand Raimund – UA Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel 2002
 * Einer gegen alle Hörspiel nach dem Roman von Oskar Maria Graf
 * Du hast gewackelt Requiem für ein liebes Kind – (auch: Made in Deutschland, nicht aufgeführt)
 * Tänzerinnen und Drücker – UA Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel 2006

Translations
In 1976 Michael Roloff translated some of Kroetz's plays into English, namely Stallerhof (Farmyard), Michis Blut (Michi's Blood), Männersache (Men's Business), and Ein Mann ein Wörterbuch (A Man a Dictionary). Roger Downey translated Wunschkonzert (Request Concert), Durch die Blätter (Through the Leaves, the final version of Men's Business), and Das Nest (The Nest). Some of Kroetz's plays have been performed in the United Kingdom, for example, in 2002, Through the Leaves at the Southwark Playhouse, in the United States, for example, in 1982, Michi's Blood in New York, as well as in Australia.

Actor

 * Trokadero (1981)
 * Kir Royal (1986, TV series, 6 episodes)
 * Der Leibwächter (1989, TV film)
 * Andreas Hofer (2002 film) (2002, TV film)
 * The Legend of Brandner Kaspar (2008)
 * Marthe's Secret (2016, TV film)

title: Franz Xaver Kroetz


text: Category:Dodge County, Minnesota

title: Category:Dodge County, Minnesota


text:
User talk:Twilde

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British nationalism article
Hi, Twilde. I stumbled across an odd article British nationalism that you may wish to do some work on... Sceptic 12:23, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks but no thanks! Not really my cup of cocoa. :-) Twilde  01:06, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Request for involvement regarding Nigel Farage dispute
Talk:Nigel Farage

There's something of a dispute about whether to say that Nigel Farage is the former leader of UKIP in the infobox itself. All is explained at the relevant link. Any involvement would be greatly appreciated, considering that the edit history of the article shows you are a major editor. Cheers. HonouraryMix (talk) 00:43, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

March 2014
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ArbCom elections are now open!
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title: User talk:Twilde


text:
Regius Professor of Engineering (Cambridge)

The Regius Professorship of Engineering is a professorship at the University of Cambridge. England, established in 2011. The Regius professorship was created by the University, with the permission of the Queen, to commemorate the end of the Duke of Edinburgh's 34-year tenure as Chancellor. The professorship has been held by a single incumbent, David J. C. MacKay, from its creation until his death in 2016.

Regius Professors of Engineering

 * David J. C. MacKay (2013–2016)
 * Steven Barrett (2024-current)


text: Category:Douglas County, Minnesota

title: Category:Douglas County, Minnesota


text:
Oleg Penkovsky

Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky (Олег Владимирович Пеньковский; 23 April 1919 – 16 May 1963), codenamed Hero (by the CIA) and Yoga (by MI6) was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) colonel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Penkovsky informed the United States and the United Kingdom about Soviet military secrets, including the appearance and footprint of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile installations and the weakness of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile program. This information was decisive in allowing the US to recognize that the Soviets were placing missiles in Cuba before most of them were operational. It also gave US President John F. Kennedy, during the Cuban Missile Crisis that followed, valuable information about Soviet weakness that allowed him to face down Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and resolve the crisis without a nuclear war.

Penkovsky was the highest-ranking Soviet official to provide intelligence for the West up until that time, and is one of several individuals credited with altering the course of the Cold War. He was arrested by the Soviets in October 1962, and tried and executed the following year.

Early life and military career
Penkovsky never knew his father, who was killed fighting as an officer in the White Army in the Russian Civil War when he was a baby. Brought up in the North Caucasus, Penkovsky graduated from the Kiev Artillery Academy with the rank of lieutenant in 1939. After taking part in the Winter War against Finland and in World War II, he reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1944, he was assigned to the headquarters of Colonel-General Sergei Varentsov, commander of artillery on the 1st Ukrainian front, who became his patron. Penkovsky was wounded in action in 1944, at about the same time as Varentsov, who appointed him his Liaison Officer. In 1945, Penkovsky married the teenage daughter of Lieutenant-General Dmitri Gapanovich, thus acquiring another high-ranking patron. On Varentsov's recommendation, he studied at the Frunze Military Academy in 1945–1948, then worked as a staff officer.

Penkovsky joined the GRU as an officer, in 1953. In 1955, he was appointed military attaché in Ankara, Turkey, but was recalled after he had reported his superior officer, and later other GRU personnel for a breach of regulations, which made him unpopular in the department. Relying once again on Varentsov's patronage, he spent nine months studying rocket artillery at Dzerzhinsky Military Academy. He was selected for the post of military attaché in India, but the KGB had uncovered the history of his father's death, and he was suspended, investigated, and assigned in November 1960 to the State Committee for Science and Technology. He later worked at the Soviet Committee for Scientific Research.

Overtures to CIA and MI6
Penkovsky approached American students on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge in Moscow in July 1960 and gave them a package in which he offered to spy for the United States. He asked them to deliver it to an intelligence officer at the US Embassy. The CIA delayed in contacting him. When the US Embassy in Moscow refused to cooperate, fearing an international incident, the CIA contacted MI6 for assistance.

Greville Wynne, a British salesman of industrial equipment to countries behind the Iron Curtain, was recruited by MI6 to communicate with Penkovsky.

The first meeting between Penkovsky and two American and two British intelligence officers occurred during a visit by Penkovsky to London in April 1961. For the following 18 months, Penkovsky supplied a tremendous amount of information to the CIA–MI6 team of handlers, including documents demonstrating that the Soviet nuclear arsenal was much smaller than Nikita Khrushchev claimed or the CIA had thought and that the Soviets were not yet capable of producing a large number of ICBMs. This information was invaluable to President John F. Kennedy in negotiating with Nikita Khrushchev for the removal of the Soviet missiles from Cuba.

Peter Wright, a former British MI5 officer known for his scathing condemnation of the leadership of British intelligence during most of the Cold War, believed that Penkovsky was a fake defection. Wright noted that, unlike Igor Gouzenko and other earlier defectors, Penkovsky did not reveal the names of any Soviet agents in the West but only provided organisational detail, much of which was known already. Some of the documents provided were originals, which Wright thought could not have been easily taken from their sources. Wright was bitter towards British intelligence, reportedly believing that it should have adopted his proposed methods to identify British/Soviet double agents. In Wright's view, the failure of British intelligence leaders to listen to him caused them to become paralysed when such agents defected to the Soviet Union; in his book, Spycatcher, he suggests that his hypothesis had to be true, and that the Soviets were aware of this paralysis and planted Penkovsky.

In his memoir Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer (1987), written with journalist Paul Greengrass, Wright says:

"When I first wrote my Penkovsky analysis Maurice Oldfield (later Chief of MI6 in the 1970s), who played a key role in the Penkovsky case as Chief of Station in Washington, told me: 'You've got a long row to hoe with this one, Peter, there's a lot of K's [knighthoods] and Gongs [medals] riding high on the back of Penkovsky' he said, referring to the honours heaped on those involved in the Penkovsky operation."

Former KGB major-general Oleg Kalugin does not mention Penkovsky in his comprehensive memoir about his career in intelligence against the West. The KGB defector Vladimir N. Sakharov suggests Penkovsky was genuine, saying: "I knew about the ongoing KGB reorganisation precipitated by Oleg Penkovsky's case and Yuri Nosenko's defection. The party was not satisfied with KGB performance ... I knew many heads in the KGB had rolled again, as they had after Stalin". While the weight of opinion seems to be that Penkovsky was genuine, the debate underscores the difficulty faced by all intelligence agencies of determining information offered from the enemy. In a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, Mikhail Fradkov, named Penkovsky as Russia's biggest intelligence failure.

The "Zepp" Incident
Former high-level CIA counterintelligence officer Tennent H. Bagley wrote in his 2007 Yale University Press book, "Spy Wars: Moles Mysteries and Deadly Games," that Penkovsky's treason was detected by the KGB within two weeks of his April 1961 recruitment by the CIA and MI6. Bagley says that after this detection, Penkovsky was allowed by the KGB to continue spying for the U.S. and Britain for sixteen more months while a scenario was created in which he could be arrested and charged in such a way that would not reveal who, in Western Intelligence, had betrayed him. Bagley based his conclusion on the fact that, while imprisoned in Russia after his and Penkovsky's arrest, Greville Wynne was confronted with a tape recording of a conversation he had had with Penkovsky in a Moscow restaurant two weeks after his recruitment. In this recording, Wynne asked Penkovsky, "How's Zeph?" When Wynne was asked by his KGB interrogator who this "Zepp" (sic) was, he recalled that "Zeph" was the nickname of a London bargirl by the name of Stephanie, whom Penkovsky and Wynne had met while Penkovsky was being recruited. Bagley points out in his book that while he and George Kisevalter were interviewing KGB defector Yuri Nosenko in June 1962, Nosenko, while bragging about the KGB's secret recording devices, asked them who "Zepp" (sic) was, volunteering that it was the name of an Indonesian military attaché unknown to the KGB, whose conversation with U.S. military attaché Leo Dulacki was allegedly secretly recorded in a Moscow restaurant. The fact that Nosenko asked Bagley and Kisevalter this question was one of the reasons Bagley came to conclude that Nosenko was a false defector, and also made him realize that a "mole" in the CIA or British intelligence had betrayed Penkovsky immediately after his recruitment.

Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet leadership began the deployment of nuclear missiles, in the belief that Washington would not detect the Cuban missile sites until it was too late to do anything about them. Penkovsky provided plans and descriptions of the nuclear rocket launch sites in Cuba to the West. This information allowed the West to identify the missile sites from the low-resolution pictures provided by US U-2 spy planes. The documents provided by Penkovsky showed that the Soviet Union was not prepared for war in the area, which emboldened Kennedy to risk the operation in Cuba. Former GRU captain Viktor Suvorov, who defected to the UK in 1978, later wrote in his book on Soviet intelligence, "historians will remember with gratitude the name of the GRU Colonel Oleg Penkovsky. Thanks to his priceless information the Cuban crisis was not transformed into a last World War".

Penkovsky's communications with MI6 were also revealed to the KGB by Jack Dunlap, a National Security Agency (NSA) employee and Soviet spy working for the KGB. Top KGB officers had known for more than a year that Penkovsky was a British agent, but they protected their source, a highly placed mole in MI6. Dunlap was just another source they had to protect. They worked hard, shadowing British diplomats, to build up a "discovery case" against Penkovsky so that they could arrest him without throwing suspicion on their own moles. Their caution in this matter may have led to the missiles being discovered earlier than the Soviets would have preferred. After a West German agent overheard a remark at Stasi headquarters, paraphrased as "I wonder how things are going in Cuba", he passed it on to the CIA.

Penkovsky was arrested on 22 October 1962. This was prior to President Kennedy's address to the US revealing that U-2 spy plane photographs had confirmed intelligence reports that the Soviets were installing medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, in what was known as Operation Anadyr. Kennedy was consequently deprived of information from a potentially important intelligence agent, such as reporting that Khrushchev was already looking for ways to defuse the situation, which might have lessened the tension during the ensuing 13-day stand-off. That information might have reduced the pressure on Kennedy to launch an invasion of the island, which could have risked Soviet use of 9K52 Luna-M-class tactical nuclear weapons against U.S. troops.

Arrest and death
On 2 November, 1962, Penkovsky's Western handlers in Moscow received two voiceless telephone calls and a visual signal (a chalk mark on a telephone pole or street light pole), ostensibly from him, notifying them that his dead drop had been loaded. Upon servicing the dead drop (which had a letter ostensibly from him inside it) that same day, a CIA officer by the name of Richard Jacob, who was stationed at the U.S. Embassy under diplomatic cover, was arrested. (Soviet authorities later claimed that Penkovsky had been apprehended ten days earlier, on the 22nd of October.) Penkovsky was tried and executed, but there are conflicting reports about the manner of his death. Alexander Zagvozdin, chief KGB interrogator for the investigation, stated that Penkovsky had been "questioned perhaps a hundred times" and that he had been shot and cremated.

Soviet sculptor Ernst Neizvestny said that he had been told by the director of the Donskoye Cemetery crematorium "how Penkovsky [had been] executed by 'fire'", i.e., by being burnt. A similar description was later included in Ernest Volkman's popular history book about spies, Tom Clancy's novel Red Rabbit, and in Viktor Suvorov's book Aquarium. In a 2010 interview, Suvorov said that he had been shown a film in which a man said to be Penkovsky was bound to a metal stretcher with wire and pushed live into a crematorium. Suvorov denied that the man in the film was Penkovsky and said that he had been shot. Greville Wynne, in his book The Man from Odessa, claimed that Penkovsky killed himself. Wynne had worked as both Penkovsky's contact and courier; both men were arrested by the Soviets in October 1962.

Repercussions
The Soviet public was first told of Penkovsky's arrest more than seven weeks later, when Pravda named Wynne and (the American diplomat Richard) Jacob as his contacts, without naming anyone else. In May 1963, after his trial, Izvestya reported that Varentsov, who had since achieved the rank of Chief Marshal of Artillery and Commander in Chief of Rocket Forces and candidate member of the Central Committee had been demoted to the rank of Major General. In June he was expelled from the Central Committee for 'having relaxed his political vigilance.' Three other officers were also disciplined. The head of the GRU, Ivan Serov, was sacked during the same period. He was reputedly on friendly terms with Penkovsky, which is very likely to have been a cause of his fall.

Portrayal in popular culture
Penkovsky was portrayed by Christopher Rozycki in the 1985 BBC Television serial Wynne and Penkovsky. His spying career was the subject of episode 1 of the 2007 BBC Television docudrama Nuclear Secrets, titled "The Spy from Moscow" in which he was portrayed by Mark Bonnar. The programme featured original covert KGB footage showing Penkovsky photographing classified information and meeting up with Janet Chisholm, a British MI6 agent stationed in Moscow. It was broadcast on 15 January 2007.

Penkovsky was referred to in four of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan espionage novels: The Hunt for Red October (1984), The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988), The Bear and the Dragon (2000) and Red Rabbit (2002). In the Jack Ryan universe, he is described as the agent who recruited Colonel Mikhail Filitov as a CIA agent (code-name CARDINAL) and had urged Filitov to betray him to solidify his position as the West's top spy in the Soviet hierarchy. The "cremated alive" hypothesis appears in several Clancy novels, though Clancy never identified Penkovsky as the executed spy. Penkovsky's fate is also mentioned in the Nelson DeMille spy novel The Charm School (1988).

Penkovsky was portrayed by Eduard Bezrodniy in the 2014 Polish thriller Jack Strong, about Ryszard Kukliński, another Cold War spy. His character's execution was the opening scene for the movie. Penkovsky was portrayed by Merab Ninidze in the 2020 British film The Courier, in which Benedict Cumberbatch played Greville Wynne.

title: Oleg Penkovsky


text:
User talk:Tripper

Hello and welcome to Wikipedia! Hope you like it here, and stick around.

title: User talk:Tripper


text:
Vénuste Niyongabo

Vénuste Niyongabo (born December 9, 1973) is a Burundian former long and middle-distance runner. In 1996, he became the first Olympic medalist from Burundi by winning the 5000 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He had only competed twice before in that event prior to winning the gold medal.

Biography
Born in Vugizo, in southern Burundi, Niyongabo won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 1992 World Junior Championships and also came fourth over 800 metres. He competed in his first senior tournament the following year, but was eliminated in the 1500 m semi-finals of the World Championships in Stuttgart. Niyongabo soon became one of the top 1500 m runners in the world, winning several major races in 1994 and 1995. He also won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Gothenburg, finishing behind Noureddine Morceli and Hicham El Guerrouj.

For the 1996 Olympics, held in Atlanta, Niyongabo was assumed to be a potential winner of the 1500 m, but he decided to forfeit his place to a compatriot, Dieudonné Kwizera. Kwizera had been unable to compete in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics since Burundi did not have a National Olympic Committee at the time, and was only in Atlanta as a coach. Niyongabo moved up to compete in the 5000 m event instead. The move turned out to be a good one for both athletes; Kwizera finally became an Olympian, while Niyongabo sprinted away in the last lap of the 5000 m final to win an unexpected gold medal.

He also is the eighth fastest miler ever, putting him behind only Hicham El Guerrouj, Noah Ngeny, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Yared Nuguse, Noureddine Morceli, Steve Cram and Daniel Komen.

After the Olympics, Niyongabo struggled with several injuries, and never achieved the same level of competition again. His attempt to defend his title at the 2000 Summer Olympics failed, placing only 15th in his semi-final heat.

Niyongabo worked for the Ekin division of Nike, Inc. in Italy. He ran on the elite Nike Bowerman International team in the Hood to Coast Relay in 2005, which finished second in a field of 1062 teams.

Venuste is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

In October 2010, he sponsored the very first "Friendship Games" which took place in the Great Lakes region of Africa: a day of trans-border sports competitions to promote peace and unite young people from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) around the values of friendship and fraternity offered by sport.

title: Vénuste Niyongabo


text:
User talk:Thien190376

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title: User talk:Thien190376


text: Category:Faribault County, Minnesota

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Prestressed concrete

Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" (compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service.

This compression is produced by the tensioning of high-strength "tendons" located within or adjacent to the concrete and is done to improve the performance of the concrete in service. Tendons may consist of single wires, multi-wire strands or threaded bars that are most commonly made from high-tensile steels, carbon fiber or aramid fiber. The essence of prestressed concrete is that once the initial compression has been applied, the resulting material has the characteristics of high-strength concrete when subject to any subsequent compression forces and of ductile high-strength steel when subject to tension forces. This can result in improved structural capacity and/or serviceability compared with conventionally reinforced concrete in many situations. In a prestressed concrete member, the internal stresses are introduced in a planned manner so that the stresses resulting from the imposed loads are counteracted to the desired degree.

Prestressed concrete is used in a wide range of building and civil structures where its improved performance can allow for longer spans, reduced structural thicknesses, and material savings compared with simple reinforced concrete. Typical applications include high-rise buildings, residential concrete slabs, foundation systems, bridge and dam structures, silos and tanks, industrial pavements and nuclear containment structures.

First used in the late nineteenth century, prestressed concrete has developed beyond pre-tensioning to include post-tensioning, which occurs after the concrete is cast. Tensioning systems may be classed as either monostrand, where each tendon's strand or wire is stressed individually, or multi-strand, where all strands or wires in a tendon are stressed simultaneously. Tendons may be located either within the concrete volume (internal prestressing) or wholly outside of it (external prestressing). While pre-tensioned concrete uses tendons directly bonded to the concrete, post-tensioned concrete can use either bonded or unbonded tendons.

Pre-tensioned concrete
Pre-tensioned concrete is a variant of prestressed concrete where the tendons are tensioned prior to the concrete being cast. The concrete bonds to the tendons as it cures, following which the end-anchoring of the tendons is released, and the tendon tension forces are transferred to the concrete as compression by static friction.

Pre-tensioning is a common prefabrication technique, where the resulting concrete element is manufactured off-site from the final structure location and transported to site once cured. It requires strong, stable end-anchorage points between which the tendons are stretched. These anchorages form the ends of a "casting bed" which may be many times the length of the concrete element being fabricated. This allows multiple elements to be constructed end-to-end in the one pre-tensioning operation, allowing significant productivity benefits and economies of scale to be realized.

The amount of bond (or adhesion) achievable between the freshly set concrete and the surface of the tendons is critical to the pre-tensioning process, as it determines when the tendon anchorages can be safely released. Higher bond strength in early-age concrete will speed production and allow more economical fabrication. To promote this, pre-tensioned tendons are usually composed of isolated single wires or strands, which provides a greater surface area for bonding than bundled-strand tendons.

Unlike those of post-tensioned concrete (see below), the tendons of pre-tensioned concrete elements generally form straight lines between end-anchorages. Where "profiled" or "harped" tendons are required, one or more intermediate deviators are located between the ends of the tendon to hold the tendon to the desired non-linear alignment during tensioning. Such deviators usually act against substantial forces, and hence require a robust casting-bed foundation system. Straight tendons are typically used in "linear" precast concrete elements, such as shallow beams, hollow-core slabs; whereas profiled tendons are more commonly found in deeper precast bridge beams and girders.

Pre-tensioned concrete is most commonly used for the fabrication of structural beams, floor slabs, hollow-core slabs, balconies, lintels, driven piles, water tanks and concrete pipes.

Post-tensioned concrete
Post-tensioned concrete is a variant of prestressed concrete where the tendons are tensioned after the surrounding concrete structure has been cast.

The tendons are not placed in direct contact with the concrete, but are encapsulated within a protective sleeve or duct which is either cast into the concrete structure or placed adjacent to it. At each end of a tendon is an anchorage assembly firmly fixed to the surrounding concrete. Once the concrete has been cast and set, the tendons are tensioned ("stressed") by pulling the tendon ends through the anchorages while pressing against the concrete. The large forces required to tension the tendons result in a significant permanent compression being applied to the concrete once the tendon is "locked-off" at the anchorage. The method of locking the tendon-ends to the anchorage is dependent upon the tendon composition, with the most common systems being "button-head" anchoring (for wire tendons), split-wedge anchoring (for strand tendons), and threaded anchoring (for bar tendons).

Tendon encapsulation systems are constructed from plastic or galvanised steel materials, and are classified into two main types: those where the tendon element is subsequently bonded to the surrounding concrete by internal grouting of the duct after stressing (bonded post-tensioning); and those where the tendon element is permanently debonded from the surrounding concrete, usually by means of a greased sheath over the tendon strands (unbonded post-tensioning).

Casting the tendon ducts/sleeves into the concrete before any tensioning occurs allows them to be readily "profiled" to any desired shape including incorporating vertical and/or horizontal curvature. When the tendons are tensioned, this profiling results in reaction forces being imparted onto the hardened concrete, and these can be beneficially used to counter any loadings subsequently applied to the structure.

Bonded post-tensioning
In bonded post-tensioning, tendons are permanently bonded to the surrounding concrete by the in situ grouting of their encapsulating ducting (after tendon tensioning). This grouting is undertaken for three main purposes: to protect the tendons against corrosion; to permanently "lock-in" the tendon pre-tension, thereby removing the long-term reliance upon the end-anchorage systems; and to improve certain structural behaviors of the final concrete structure.

Bonded post-tensioning characteristically uses tendons each comprising bundles of elements (e.g., strands or wires) placed inside a single tendon duct, with the exception of bars which are mostly used unbundled. This bundling makes for more efficient tendon installation and grouting processes, since each complete tendon requires only one set of end-anchorages and one grouting operation. Ducting is fabricated from a durable and corrosion-resistant material such as plastic (e.g., polyethylene) or galvanised steel, and can be either round or rectangular/oval in cross-section. The tendon sizes used are highly dependent upon the application, ranging from building works typically using between 2 and 6 strands per tendon, to specialized dam works using up to 91 strands per tendon.

Fabrication of bonded tendons is generally undertaken on-site, commencing with the fitting of end-anchorages to formwork, placing the tendon ducting to the required curvature profiles, and reeving (or threading) the strands or wires through the ducting. Following concreting and tensioning, the ducts are pressure-grouted and the tendon stressing-ends sealed against corrosion.

Unbonded post-tensioning
Unbonded post-tensioning differs from bonded post-tensioning by allowing the tendons permanent freedom of longitudinal movement relative to the concrete. This is most commonly achieved by encasing each individual tendon element within a plastic sheathing filled with a corrosion-inhibiting grease, usually lithium based. Anchorages at each end of the tendon transfer the tensioning force to the concrete, and are required to reliably perform this role for the life of the structure.

Unbonded post-tensioning can take the form of:
 * Individual strand tendons placed directly into the concreted structure (e.g., buildings, ground slabs)
 * Bundled strands, individually greased-and-sheathed, forming a single tendon within an encapsulating duct that is placed either within or adjacent to the concrete (e.g., restressable anchors, external post-tensioning)

For individual strand tendons, no additional tendon ducting is used and no post-stressing grouting operation is required, unlike for bonded post-tensioning. Permanent corrosion protection of the strands is provided by the combined layers of grease, plastic sheathing, and surrounding concrete. Where strands are bundled to form a single unbonded tendon, an enveloping duct of plastic or galvanised steel is used and its interior free-spaces grouted after stressing. In this way, additional corrosion protection is provided via the grease, plastic sheathing, grout, external sheathing, and surrounding concrete layers.

Individually greased-and-sheathed tendons are usually fabricated off-site by an extrusion process. The bare steel strand is fed into a greasing chamber and then passed to an extrusion unit where molten plastic forms a continuous outer coating. Finished strands can be cut-to-length and fitted with "dead-end" anchor assemblies as required for the project.

Comparison between bonded and unbonded post-tensioning
Both bonded and unbonded post-tensioning technologies are widely used around the world, and the choice of system is often dictated by regional preferences, contractor experience, or the availability of alternative systems. Either one is capable of delivering code-compliant, durable structures meeting the structural strength and serviceability requirements of the designer.

The benefits that bonded post-tensioning can offer over unbonded systems are:
 * Reduced reliance on end-anchorage integrity. Following tensioning and grouting, bonded tendons are connected to the surrounding concrete along their full length by high-strength grout. Once cured, this grout can transfer the full tendon tension force to the concrete within a very short distance (approximately 1 metre). As a result, any inadvertent severing of the tendon or failure of an end anchorage has only a very localised impact on tendon performance, and almost never results in tendon ejection from the anchorage.
 * Increased ultimate strength in flexure. With bonded post-tensioning, any flexure of the structure is directly resisted by tendon strains at that same location (i.e. no strain re-distribution occurs). This results in significantly higher tensile strains in the tendons than if they were unbonded, allowing their full yield strength to be realised, and producing a higher ultimate load capacity.
 * Improved crack-control. In the presence of concrete cracking, bonded tendons respond similarly to conventional reinforcement (rebar). With the tendons fixed to the concrete at each side of the crack, greater resistance to crack expansion is offered than with unbonded tendons, allowing many design codes to specify reduced reinforcement requirements for bonded post-tensioning.
 * Improved fire performance. The absence of strain redistribution in bonded tendons may limit the impact that any localised overheating has on the overall structure. As a result, bonded structures may display a higher capacity to resist fire conditions than unbonded ones.

The benefits that unbonded post-tensioning can offer over bonded systems are:
 * Ability to be prefabricated. Unbonded tendons can be readily prefabricated off-site complete with end-anchorages, facilitating faster installation during construction. Additional lead time may need to be allowed for this fabrication process.
 * Improved site productivity. The elimination of the post-stressing grouting process required in bonded structures improves the site-labour productivity of unbonded post-tensioning.
 * Improved installation flexibility. Unbonded single-strand tendons have greater handling flexibility than bonded ducting during installation, allowing them a greater ability to be deviated around service penetrations or obstructions.
 * Reduced concrete cover. Unbonded tendons may allow some reduction in concrete element thickness, as their smaller size and increased corrosion protection may allow them to be placed closer to the concrete surface.
 * Simpler replacement and/or adjustment. Being permanently isolated from the concrete, unbonded tendons are able to be readily de-stressed, re-stressed and/or replaced should they become damaged or need their force levels to be modified in-service.
 * Superior overload performance. Although having a lower ultimate strength than bonded tendons, unbonded tendons' ability to redistribute strains over their full length can give them superior pre-collapse ductility. In extremes, unbonded tendons can resort to a catenary-type action instead of pure flexure, allowing significantly greater deformation before structural failure.

Tendon durability and corrosion protection
Long-term durability is an essential requirement for prestressed concrete given its widespread use. Research on the durability performance of in-service prestressed structures has been undertaken since the 1960s, and anti-corrosion technologies for tendon protection have been continually improved since the earliest systems were developed.

The durability of prestressed concrete is principally determined by the level of corrosion protection provided to any high-strength steel elements within the prestressing tendons. Also critical is the protection afforded to the end-anchorage assemblies of unbonded tendons or cable-stay systems, as the anchorages of both of these are required to retain the prestressing forces. Failure of any of these components can result in the release of prestressing forces, or the physical rupture of stressing tendons.

Modern prestressing systems deliver long-term durability by addressing the following areas:
 * Tendon grouting (bonded tendons) Bonded tendons consist of bundled strands placed inside ducts located within the surrounding concrete. To ensure full protection to the bundled strands, the ducts must be pressure-filled with a corrosion-inhibiting grout, without leaving any voids, following strand-tensioning.
 * Tendon coating (unbonded tendons) Unbonded tendons comprise individual strands coated in an anti-corrosion grease or wax, and fitted with a durable plastic-based full-length sleeve or sheath. The sleeving is required to be undamaged over the tendon length, and it must extend fully into the anchorage fittings at each end of the tendon.
 * Double-layer encapsulation Prestressing tendons requiring permanent monitoring and/or force adjustment, such as stay-cables and re-stressable dam anchors, will typically employ double-layer corrosion protection. Such tendons are composed of individual strands, grease-coated and sleeved, collected into a strand-bundle and placed inside encapsulating polyethylene outer ducting. The remaining void space within the duct is pressure-grouted, providing a multi-layer polythene-grout-plastic-grease protection barrier system for each strand.
 * Anchorage protection In all post-tensioned installations, protection of the end-anchorages against corrosion is essential, and critically so for unbonded systems.

Several durability-related events are listed below:
 * Ynys-y-Gwas bridge, West Glamorgan, Wales, 1985 A single-span, precast-segmental structure constructed in 1953 with longitudinal and transverse post-tensioning. Corrosion attacked the under-protected tendons where they crossed the in-situ joints between the segments, leading to sudden collapse.
 * Scheldt River bridge, Melle, Belgium, 1991 A three-span prestressed cantilever structure constructed in the 1950s. Inadequate concrete cover in the side abutments resulted in tie-down cable corrosion, leading to a progressive failure of the main bridge span and the death of one person.
 * UK Highways Agency, 1992 Following discovery of tendon corrosion in several bridges in England, the Highways Agency issued a moratorium on the construction of new internally grouted post-tensioned bridges and embarked on a 5-year programme of inspections on its existing post-tensioned bridge stock. The moratorium was lifted in 1996.
 * Pedestrian bridge, Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina, US, 2000 A multi-span steel and concrete structure constructed in 1995. An unauthorised chemical was added to the tendon grout to speed construction, leading to corrosion of the prestressing strands and the sudden collapse of one span, injuring many spectators.
 * Hammersmith Flyover London, England, 2011 Sixteen-span prestressed structure constructed in 1961. Corrosion from road de-icing salts was detected in some of the prestressing tendons, necessitating initial closure of the road while additional investigations were done. Subsequent repairs and strengthening using external post-tensioning was carried out and completed in 2015.
 * Petrulla Viaduct ("Viadotto Petrulla"), Sicily, Italy, 2014 One span of a 12-span viaduct collapsed on 7 July 2014, causing 4 injuries, due to corrosion of the post-tensioning tendons.
 * Genoa bridge collapse, 2018. The Ponte Morandi was a cable-stayed bridge characterised by a prestressed concrete structure for the piers, pylons and deck, very few stays, as few as two per span, and a hybrid system for the stays constructed from steel cables with prestressed concrete shells poured on. The concrete was only prestressed to 10 MPa, resulting in it being prone to cracks and water intrusion, which caused corrosion of the embedded steel.
 * Churchill Way flyovers, Liverpool, England The flyovers were closed in September 2018 after inspections revealed poor quality concrete, tendon corrosion and signs of structural distress. They were demolished in 2019.

Applications
Prestressed concrete is a highly versatile construction material as a result of it being an almost ideal combination of its two main constituents: high-strength steel, pre-stretched to allow its full strength to be easily realised; and modern concrete, pre-compressed to minimise cracking under tensile forces. Its wide range of application is reflected in its incorporation into the major design codes covering most areas of structural and civil engineering, including buildings, bridges, dams, foundations, pavements, piles, stadiums, silos, and tanks.

Building structures
Building structures are typically required to satisfy a broad range of structural, aesthetic and economic requirements. Significant among these include: a minimum number of (intrusive) supporting walls or columns; low structural thickness (depth), allowing space for services, or for additional floors in high-rise construction; fast construction cycles, especially for multi-storey buildings; and a low cost-per-unit-area, to maximise the building owner's return on investment.

The prestressing of concrete allows "load-balancing" forces to be introduced into the structure to counter in-service loadings. This provides many benefits to building structures: For a given span, lower in-service deflections allows thinner structural sections to be used, in turn resulting in lower floor-to-floor heights, or more room for building services. The combination of reduced structural thickness, reduced conventional reinforcement quantities, and fast construction often results in prestressed concrete showing significant cost benefits in building structures compared to alternative structural materials.
 * Longer spans for the same structural depth Load balancing results in lower in-service deflections, which allows spans to be increased (and the number of supports reduced) without adding to structural depth.
 * Reduced structural thickness
 * Faster stripping time Typically, prestressed concrete building elements are fully stressed and self-supporting within five days. At this point they can have their formwork stripped and re-deployed to the next section of the building, accelerating construction "cycle-times".
 * Reduced material costs

Some notable building structures constructed from prestressed concrete include: Sydney Opera House and World Tower, Sydney; St George Wharf Tower, London; CN Tower, Toronto; Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong; Ocean Heights 2, Dubai; Eureka Tower, Melbourne; Torre Espacio, Madrid; Guoco Tower (Tanjong Pagar Centre), Singapore; Zagreb International Airport, Croatia; and Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi UAE.

Bridges
Concrete is the most popular structural material for bridges, and prestressed concrete is frequently adopted. When investigated in the 1940s for use on heavy-duty bridges, the advantages of this type of bridge over more traditional designs was that it is quicker to install, more economical and longer-lasting with the bridge being less lively. One of the first bridges built in this way is the Adam Viaduct, a railway bridge constructed 1946 in the UK. By the 1960s, prestressed concrete largely superseded reinforced concrete bridges in the UK, with box girders being the dominant form.

In short-span bridges of around 10 to 40 m, prestressing is commonly employed in the form of precast pre-tensioned girders or planks. Medium-length structures of around 40 to 200 m, typically use precast-segmental, in-situ balanced-cantilever and incrementally-launched designs. For the longest bridges, prestressed concrete deck structures often form an integral part of cable-stayed designs.

Dams
Concrete dams have used prestressing to counter uplift and increase their overall stability since the mid-1930s. Prestressing is also frequently retro-fitted as part of dam remediation works, such as for structural strengthening, or when raising crest or spillway heights.

Most commonly, dam prestressing takes the form of post-tensioned anchors drilled into the dam's concrete structure and/or the underlying rock strata. Such anchors typically comprise tendons of high-tensile bundled steel strands or individual threaded bars. Tendons are grouted to the concrete or rock at their far (internal) end, and have a significant "de-bonded" free-length at their external end which allows the tendon to stretch during tensioning. Tendons may be full-length bonded to the surrounding concrete or rock once tensioned, or (more commonly) have strands permanently encapsulated in corrosion-inhibiting grease over the free-length to permit long-term load monitoring and re-stressability.

Silos and tanks
Circular storage structures such as silos and tanks can use prestressing forces to directly resist the outward pressures generated by stored liquids or bulk-solids. Horizontally curved tendons are installed within the concrete wall to form a series of hoops, spaced vertically up the structure. When tensioned, these tendons exert both axial (compressive) and radial (inward) forces onto the structure, which can directly oppose the subsequent storage loadings. If the magnitude of the prestress is designed to always exceed the tensile stresses produced by the loadings, a permanent residual compression will exist in the wall concrete, assisting in maintaining a watertight crack-free structure.

Nuclear and blast
Prestressed concrete has been established as a reliable construction material for high-pressure containment structures such as nuclear reactor vessels and containment buildings, and petrochemical tank blast-containment walls. Using pre-stressing to place such structures into an initial state of bi-axial or tri-axial compression increases their resistance to concrete cracking and leakage, while providing a proof-loaded, redundant and monitorable pressure-containment system.

Nuclear reactor and containment vessels will commonly employ separate sets of post-tensioned tendons curved horizontally or vertically to completely envelop the reactor core. Blast containment walls, such as for liquid natural gas (LNG) tanks, will normally utilize layers of horizontally-curved hoop tendons for containment in combination with vertically looped tendons for axial wall pre-stressing.

Hardstands and pavements
Heavily loaded concrete ground-slabs and pavements can be sensitive to cracking and subsequent traffic-driven deterioration. As a result, prestressed concrete is regularly used in such structures as its pre-compression provides the concrete with the ability to resist the crack-inducing tensile stresses generated by in-service loading. This crack-resistance also allows individual slab sections to be constructed in larger pours than for conventionally reinforced concrete, resulting in wider joint spacings, reduced jointing costs and less long-term joint maintenance issues. Initial works have also been successfully conducted on the use of precast prestressed concrete for road pavements, where the speed and quality of the construction has been noted as being beneficial for this technique.

Some notable civil structures constructed using prestressed concrete include: Gateway Bridge, Brisbane Australia; Incheon Bridge, South Korea; Roseires Dam, Sudan; Wanapum Dam, Washington, US; LNG tanks, South Hook, Wales; Cement silos, Brevik Norway; Autobahn A73 bridge, Itz Valley, Germany; Ostankino Tower, Moscow, Russia; CN Tower, Toronto, Canada; and Ringhals nuclear reactor, Videbergshamn Sweden.

Design agencies and regulations
Worldwide, many professional organizations exist to promote best practices in the design and construction of prestressed concrete structures. In the United States, such organizations include the Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI). Similar bodies include the Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPCI), the UK's Post-Tensioning Association, the Post Tensioning Institute of Australia and the South African Post Tensioning Association. Europe has similar country-based associations and institutions.

These organizations are not the authorities of building codes or standards, but rather exist to promote the understanding and development of prestressed concrete design, codes and best practices.

Rules and requirements for the detailing of reinforcement and prestressing tendons are specified by individual national codes and standards such as:
 * European Standard EN 1992-2:2005 – Eurocode 2: Design of Concrete Structures;
 * US Standard ACI318: Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete; and
 * Australian Standard AS 3600-2009: Concrete Structures.

title: Prestressed concrete


text: Category:Freeborn County, Minnesota

title: Category:Freeborn County, Minnesota


text:
King of New York

King of New York is a 1990 neo-noir crime film directed by Abel Ferrara and written by Nicholas St. John. It stars Christopher Walken, Laurence Fishburne, David Caruso, Victor Argo and Wesley Snipes, with supporting roles played by Giancarlo Esposito, Steve Buscemi, Paul Calderón, Janet Julian and Theresa Randle. Walken portrays Frank White, a New York City drug kingpin rebuilding his criminal empire after his release from prison, while also attempting to go legitimate.

The film was released by Carolco Pictures (through New Line Cinema) on September 28, 1990. It received mixed reviews from critics, with several criticizing the film's violence and dark tone. Retrospective reviews have been much more positive, and the film has been described as one of Ferrara's best.

Plot
Frank White, a drug lord, strives to control New York City's criminal underground. Shortly after his release from behind bars of the Sing Sing Penitentiary, White and his crew, led by his trigger-happy right-hand man Jimmy Jump, consolidate power by eliminating their rivals in the Colombian drug cartel and Triad. White personally executes a Mafia boss who refuses to cooperate with him.

White's exploits catch the attention of the NYPD's narcotics squad. Detectives Bishop, Gilley and Flanigan confront White but lack any tangible evidence to arrest him. They instead turn their attention to White's henchmen, whom they arrest after a surviving member of the Colombian drug cartel agrees to cooperate with the police.

White's lawyers intervene and free the men from jail. Gilley and Flanigan are frustrated and lead a clandestine operation to take down White and his crew. They storm a night club where White is partying and kill many of his men. White and Jump survive the raid but are chased by Gilley and Flanigan. Jump ambushes and mortally wounds Flanigan. Gilley is unable to resuscitate his partner, and shoots Jump in a fit of rage.

A grief-stricken Gilley attends Flanigan's funeral, where he is abruptly murdered by White in a drive-by shooting. White then confronts detective Bishop in his own apartment. He holds him at gunpoint while explaining he eliminated the Colombian drug cartel and Triad in New York City because he disapproved of their involvement in human trafficking and child prostitution. White restrains Bishop to a chair and leaves.

Bishop escapes his restraints and chases White into the subway. Both men draw guns on each other, but White uses an innocent bystander as a human shield. The two exchange gunfire and Bishop is killed. White exits the subway and makes his way to a taxi in Times Square. He clutches a gunshot wound to his torso and watches as police surround his taxi. White goes limp and presumably dies as the police close in on him.

Development
Abel Ferrara and Nicholas St. John had wanted to make King of New York since the early 1980's. Ferrara had shot test footage and begun casting calls as early as 1981, but shelved the project. Over the intervening nine years, the script was heavily rewritten.

Due to the film's controversial subject matter, Ferrara had difficulty finding an American studio willing to back the picture. The film was ultimately financed entirely by Italian companies Reteitalia and Scena International. Producer Augusto Caminito described the project as a bridge between Italian and American film industries, and likened the story to a modern-day Robin Hood.

Filming
Principal photography began on April 19 and June 14, 1989. King of New York was shot entirely in and around New York City. According to Ferrara, then-owner Donald Trump gave him permission to film at the Plaza Hotel at no charge, on the condition that Walken would pose for a photograph with Ivana Trump, who was a fan of the actor.

Filming locations included Sing Sing, the Plaza Hotel, Times Square, Times Square–42nd Street station, Williamsburg, Queensboro Bridge, Fifth Avenue, Ossining, and Saranac Lake. Silvercup Studios served as the main studio.

The film initially received an X rating from the MPAA, but was reduced to an R after an appeal.

Home media
King of New York was released on a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD on April 20, 2004. The film was released on Blu-ray on October 23, 2007.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 70% approval rating based on 30 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "King of New York covers familiar narrative ground with impressive style -- and leaves plenty of room for its talented cast to deliver gripping performances." On Metacritic the film has a score of 66% based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Total Film rated King of New York four stars out of five. Roger Ebert awarded two stars out of four, citing Walken's "usual polished and somehow sinister ease" and the director's strong command of mood and style, marred by a sketchy screenplay and a fragmented plot. Mark Caro, writing for the Chicago Tribune, gave the movie only 1/2 star, adding that star Christopher Walken and the movie remain "just out of grasp". The film was also featured in Steven Jay Schneider's 7th Edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Bojan Bazelli was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.

In popular culture
Rapper The Notorious B.I.G. sometimes referred to himself by the moniker 'Frank White', after the main character of this film.

title: King of New York


text:
Differential Galois theory

In mathematics, differential Galois theory studies the Galois groups of differential equations.

Overview
Whereas algebraic Galois theory studies extensions of algebraic fields, differential Galois theory studies extensions of differential fields, i.e. fields that are equipped with a derivation, D. Much of the theory of differential Galois theory is parallel to algebraic Galois theory. One difference between the two constructions is that the Galois groups in differential Galois theory tend to be matrix Lie groups, as compared with the finite groups often encountered in algebraic Galois theory.

title: Differential Galois theory


text: Category:Goodhue County, Minnesota

title: Category:Goodhue County, Minnesota