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Curtiss B-2 Condor

The Curtiss B-2 Condor was a 1920s United States bomber aircraft. It was a descendant of the Martin NBS-1, which was built by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the Glenn L. Martin Company. There were a few differences, such as stronger materials and different engines, but they were relatively minor.

Development
The B-2 was a large fabric-covered biplane aircraft. Its two engines sat in nacelles between the wings, flanking the fuselage. It had a twin set of rudders on a twin tail, a configuration which was becoming obsolete by that time. At the rear of each nacelle was a gunner position. In previous planes, the back-facing gunners had been in the fuselage, but their view there was obstructed. A similar arrangement (using nacelle-mounted gun platforms) was adopted in the competing Keystone XB-1 aircraft.

The XB-2 competed for a United States Army Air Corps production contract with the similar Keystone XB-1, Sikorsky S-37, and Fokker XLB-2. The other three were immediately ruled out, but the Army board appointed to make the contracts was strongly supportive of the smaller Keystone XLB-6, which cost a third as much as the B-2. Furthermore, the B-2 was large for the time and difficult to fit into existing hangars. However, the superior performance of the XB-2 soon wrought a policy change, and in 1928 a production run of 12 was ordered.

One modified B-2, dubbed the B-2A, featured dual controls for both the pilot and the copilot. Previously, the control wheel and the pitch controls could only be handled by one person at a time. This "dual control" setup became standard on all bombers by the 1930s. There was no production line for the B-2A. The B-2 design was also used as a transport.

The B-2 was quickly made obsolete by technological advances of the 1930s, and served only briefly with the Army Air Corps, being removed from service by 1934. Following production of the B-2, Curtiss Aircraft left the bomber business, and concentrated on the Hawk series of pursuit aircraft in the 1930s.

Variants

 * Model 52: Company designation of the B-2.
 * XB-2: Prototype.
 * B-2: Twin-engined heavy bomber biplane. Initial production version; 12 built.
 * B-2A: Redesignation of one B-2 fitted with dual controls.
 * Model 53 Condor 18: Civil version of the B-2. Six built.

Military operators

 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * US Army Air Corps
 * 7th Bombardment Group, Rockwell Field, California
 * 11th Bomb Squadron - operated 1928-1931

title: Curtiss B-2 Condor


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I Should Coco

I Should Coco is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Supergrass, released on 15 May 1995 by Parlophone. The title of the album is Cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so".

Supergrass were formed in 1993 by Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey, and they released their debut single, "Caught by the Fuzz", in October 1994 on the small independent local label Backbeat Records. Success of the single brought a major label record deal. I Should Coco was recorded in Cornwall and produced by Sam Williams, who had been impressed by the band while scouting in Oxford. At the height of the Britpop era, the album became the band's most successful release when it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and subsequently gained platinum status, selling over a million copies worldwide and 500,000 in the UK. The most successful single released from I Should Coco is "Alright", which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, and gained platinum status.

Recording and production
Supergrass formed in 1993 after the break-up of The Jennifers and consists of Gaz Coombes (lead vocals), Danny Goffey (drums), Mick Quinn (bass), and Rob Coombes (keyboards). Gaz Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn had been playing gigs around Oxford when they were spotted by producer Sam Williams, who said he wanted to work with them. Between the months of May and August, the band recorded a six track demo at Sawmills Studio and, having signed a deal with Backbeat Records, a limited number of copies of "Caught by the Fuzz" and "Mansize Rooster" were released. The demo had also quickly reached EMI, however, and that led to the group being signed by the Parlophone label, which would re-release the two songs. Quinn said "it took about three and a half months total recording time and cost less to make than the video for Alright."

A recording made at Carfax Tower in Oxford provided the bell chimes heard at the end of "Strange Ones". These chimes were only heard on the I Should Coco version, not on Supergrass Is 10, because on the I Should Coco album the chimes are used as a transition to the next track, "Sitting Up Straight", which was not included in Supergrass Is 10. "Strange Ones" was written about Cowley Road, Oxford, a place where the band once lived. It was originally intended to be the "throwaway song" on the B-side to "Caught by the Fuzz". Another song on the album with the same theme, "I'd Like To Know", was inspired by listening to "Strange Ones" played backwards on tape cassette. Supergrass took this sound, wrote new lyrics for it, and had another song for their album. Gaz Coombes says, "One of the highlights of this album was recording 'Sofa (Of My Lethargy)'. ... I remember everybody got in the live room and had an instrument, including Sam [Williams] on bass, a friend of his on Hammond organ and we played the rest, all live, one take. ... We made I Should Coco so fast because we wanted to catch the energy and excitement of the songs on tape, and do it before the money ran out!" In a 2005 interview with BBC Radio London Quinn remembered "writing that song ['Time'] in my living room on a rainy day and Gaz sort of turned up with this chord sequence and we just went straight through it and just did it on 4 track".

Cover art and title
The album title is Cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so". The front cover of the album is a painting based on three separate photos of Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn. The portraits of Coombes and Goffey were taken by Quinn in the summer of 1994 when he was experimenting with a macro lens. The photo of Quinn was taken that same year by a friend, while they were on tour in Wolverhampton. The painting was then created by the Moody Painters who were based on Oxford's Cowley Road. The white band at the top was inspired by an old Donovan record that Quinn owned and is an homage to old 1950s and 1960s records, with the stereo-mono signs. The photo on the back of the album was taken at a club in London about five minutes after they came off stage. The photo consists of two separate shots grafted together because Quinn was "pulling a disgusting face in the original". All of these elements were then put together by Nick Bax of The Designers Republic to create the finished sleeve. The Bonus 7" featured a more kaleidoscope-style front cover, based on an original 1960's Parlophone paper 'company sleeve'.

Music
The group's primary musical influences came from bands such as Buzzcocks, The Jam, Madness and The Kinks. Supergrass took this contemporary music and mixed it with pop punk's characteristic fast, three-chord, guitar-based, catchy tunes to produce a sound uniquely their own; "we were just the three of us in my bedroom or someone's house, just making ... we played really hard and just made loads of noise. Most of our early songs were just three chord grooves and stuff that was fun to play. So that's why the first album sounded so 'punky', I think ... it's just 'cause we were all used to playing in this small room and it being really loud, so we just made the album sound like that." Songs for Beginners by Graham Nash was another possible influence on I Should Coco. Gaz Coombes told The Guardian in 2003, "We used to listen to it a lot when we lived in Cowley Road in Oxford in 1994, just when the band were getting big."

The musical styles and their particular inspirations for the songs on this album were extremely diverse. For example, there is the cheerful, fast, keyboard-augmented "I'd Like to Know", the guitar-driven punk narrative "Caught by the Fuzz", the mainly piano-based rhythm of the teen anthem "Alright", and the country music-influenced acoustic guitar in "Time to Go". Even in the varied genre of Britpop, I Should Coco was seen as eclectic. Overall, the album has been described as Britpop, influenced in equal parts by Buzzcocks and The Kinks, with strong hints of Supertramp in "She's So Loose", "Lose It" and the intro of "Strange Ones".

In a 1995 interview with Metro, Mick Quinn said, "We listen to a lot of different kinds of music. We're not a '60s-revival band! We like things from the '70s and beyond as well; everything from Sly and the Family Stone and Motown to Frank Black and Tricky."

"Strange Ones" and "I'd Like to Know" are both songs about the strange people on Cowley Road, Oxford. Mick Quinn tried to describe the concept: "There's a few people who are just really out there. There's a lot of people around Oxford who are real spliffheads and that, who go and lie down in Port Meadow, but I'm not really sure about them. I'm not really sure that they're individuals: they're part of a much larger thing." Danny Goffey added, "They're the sort of people who don't fit in anywhere, who don't link up with everyday life at all."

"Caught by the Fuzz" was based on a real-life event: Gaz Coombes's arrest and caution for possession of cannabis aged fifteen. In a 2004 interview, Coombes said "It wasn't trying to be a real statement, but at the time we knew that it was a big deal. Kids all around England were getting nicked for having a bit of hash on them. In Oxford that kind of thing happened quite a lot. It's all true so it was easy to write. It was a funny experience – not too funny at the time 'cause I was only 15 and shitting myself. The song has that disturbing energy. It's comparable to your heart racing. The adrenaline rush you get when your mum walks into the police station is similar to the energy of the song."

"Mansize Rooster" is said to be about a young boy with a large penis, although this is not obvious from the lyrics. Gaz Coombes once stated in an interview that "the most embarrassing moment in pop is on our album where it goes: 'Oi Mum! Got any mandies?'" This was one of the many exclamations made between tracks on I Should Coco in the sped-up voices of the band members. It was said before the song "We're Not Supposed To" began.

Release and reception
I Should Coco reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, stayed there for three weeks, and still remains the only number-one album Supergrass has ever achieved. It sold 500,000 copies domestically, earning Platinum status in the UK, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. NME writer Steve Sutherland gave the album a nine-out-of-ten rating. He wrote, "They play with the skill and assurance of a band who've been going for decades yet they still burn off the buzz of being new to the game." He added, "There's nothing contrived about I Should Coco, nothing added for effect."

Culturally, the album's glorification of teenage freedom made a very big impact on the overall Britpop music scene. The whole genre was seen as the voice of youth, but Supergrass, still teens themselves when the album was made, addressed the subject with more insight than most. The most well-known song from the album, "Alright", is still played regularly in Britain and Ireland, and held up as a musical example of teenage rebellion. Though it is one of their most popular songs, the band rarely play "Alright" in their live sets any more. In a 1999 interview, Gaz Coombes joked, "We don't play 'Alright' anymore. We should play it in a minor key, and in the past tense." Around the time of its release Coombes said that "it wasn't written as an anthem. It isn't supposed to be a rally cry for our generation. The stuff about We are young/We run green ... isn't about being 19 but really 13 or 14 and just discovering girls and drinking. It's meant to be light-hearted and a bit of a laugh, not at all a rebellious call to arms." Danny Goffey noted, "It certainly wasn't written in a very summery vibe. It was written in a cottage where the heating had packed up and we were trying to build fires to keep warm."

All five singles released in the UK from I Should Coco were well received by the British public. The first single from the album, "Caught by the Fuzz", peaked at number 43 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single from the album, "Mansize Rooster", was played as Supergrass's first live television performance on The Word in 1995, and reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. "Lose It", officially the third single taken from the album, was a vinyl-only US release from Sub Pop records. "Lenny" was the fourth single from I Should Coco; it reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and remained there for four weeks. The final release from the album, "Alright/Time", proved to be their breakthrough single, largely due to the popularity of the song "Alright". Supergrass's highest ranked single to date, along with "Richard III", "Alright" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, remained in the top three for a month, and still receives airplay in the UK. I Should Coco was nominated for Best Album at the 1995 Mercury Prize awards, and the single "Alright" from the album won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song.

In a 2005 interview with The Times, Coombes said, "It's insane that people think we would ever sound like that again ... We're proud of 'Alright' and how well it did, but we never wanted to find a formula and stick to it. Our aim was always to progress and keep the music interesting, for us and for the fans. So the people who see us in the street and still shout 'We are young' may not like the new album, but fans who have grown up with us and know to expect change probably will."

I Should Coco was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In a 2007 retrospective review of the album, Al Fox of BBC Music hailed it as "an iconic 90s masterpiece".

Personnel

 * Supergrass
 * Gaz Coombes – vocals, guitar
 * Danny Goffey – drums, backing vocals
 * Mick Quinn – bass guitar, backing vocals

Additional musicians
 * Rob Coombes – keyboards

 * Production
 * Sam Williams – record producer, bass on "Sofa (Of My Lethargy)"
 * John Cornfield – engineer
 * The Moody Painters – cover design (illustration)
 * The Designers Republic – cover design (sleeve)
 * Paul Stanley – photography

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

title: I Should Coco


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Taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics were held in the Sports Pavilion at the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece where 124 competitors competed in eight events, four each for men and women.

Medal summary
The host nation Greece failed to add to the gold won by Michalis Mouroutsos at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, though Alexandros Nikolaidis and Elisavet Mystakidou both won silver. Chinese Taipei (i.e. Taiwan) won its first two gold medals ever at these events. Steven López of the United States and Chen Zhong of China each repeated as Olympic champions. Hadi Saei, Huang Chih-hsiung and Pascal Gentil also won medal for the second time.

Participating nations
A total of 124 taekwondo jins from 60 nations competed at the Athens Games:

title: Taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics


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Ernest Shonekan

Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (9 May 1936 – 11 January 2022) was a Nigerian lawyer and statesman who served as the interim head of state of Nigeria from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993. He was crowned the Abese of Egbaland in 1981.

Prior to his political career, Shonekan was the chairman and chief executive of the United African Company of Nigeria (successor of The Niger Company), a vast Nigerian conglomerate which at the time was the largest African-controlled company in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Early life
Shonekan was born in Lagos on 9 May 1936. The son of an Abeokuta-born civil servant, he was one of six children born into the family.

Shonekan was educated at CMS Grammar School and Igbobi College. He received a law degree from the University of London, and was called to the bar. He later attended Harvard Business School.

Early business career
Shonekan joined the United Africa Company of Nigeria in 1964, at the time a subsidiary of the United Africa Company which played a prominent role in British colonisation. He rose through the ranks in the company and was promoted to assistant legal adviser. He later became a deputy adviser and joined the board of directors at the age of 40. He was made chairman and managing director in 1980, and went on to cultivate a wide array of international business and political connections.

Crisis of the Third Republic
On 2 January 1993, Shonekan assumed office simultaneously as head of transitional council and head of government under Ibrahim Babangida. At the time, the transitional council was designed to be the final phase leading to a scheduled hand over to an elected democratic leader of the Third Nigerian Republic.

Shonekan learned of the dire condition of government finances, which he was unable to correct. The government was hard pressed on international debt obligations and had to hold constant talks for debt rescheduling.

In August 1993, Babangida resigned from office, following the annulment of the 12 June elections. He signed a decree establishing the Interim National Government led by Shonekan who was subsequently sworn-in as head of state.

Interim government
Shonekan was unable to control the political crisis which ensued following the election annulment. During his few months in power, he tried to schedule another presidential election and a return to democratic rule, while his government was hampered by a national workers' strike. Opposition leader Moshood Abiola, viewed Shonekan's interim government as illegitimate. Shonekan released political prisoners detained by Babangida. Shonekan's administration introduced a bill to repeal three major draconian decrees of the military government. Babangida made the interim government weak by placing it under the control of the military.

Shonekan had lobbied for debt cancellation but, after the election annulment, most of the Western powers had imposed economic sanctions on Nigeria. Inflation was uncontrollable and most non-oil foreign investment disappeared. The government also initiated an audit of the accounts of NNPC, the oil giant, an organisation that had many operational inefficiencies. Shonekan served as an executive of Royal Dutch Shell while acting as the interim president of Nigeria.

Shonekan tried to set a timetable for troop withdrawal from ECOMOG's peacekeeping mission in Liberia. General Sani Abacha, was the minister of defence and chief of defence staff who had full control over the military.

Out of office
On November 18,1993, three months into his administration, Shonekan was overthrown in a palace coup by General Sani Abacha.

In 1993, he along with other prominent Nigerians and expatriates, founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, an advocacy and think-tank group for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy.

Personal life and death
Shonekan was married to Margaret Shonekan. He died on 11 January 2022, at the age of 85 at Evercare Hospital in Lagos. At the time of his death, he was the third oldest surviving Nigerian head of state by age after Elizabeth II and Yakubu Gowon.

General references

 * "Military swears in transitional government", Agence France Presse—English, 4 January 1993
 * "Nigeria prepares medium-term plan", Financial Times (London, England), 28 January 1993
 * "NIGERIA: HARD ROAD AHEAD FOR INTERIM GOVERNMENT", IPS-Inter Press Service, 26 August 1993

title: Ernest Shonekan


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Buru

Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to Maluku province and includes the Buru and South Buru regencies. Their administrative centers, Namlea and Namrole, respectively, have ports and are the largest towns of the island, served by Namlea Airport and Namrole Airport respectively.

About a third of the population is indigenous, mostly Buru, but also Lisela, Ambelau and Kayeli people. The rest of population are immigrants from Java and nearby Maluku Islands. Religious affiliation is evenly split between Christianity and Sunni Islam, with some remnants of traditional beliefs. While local languages and dialects are spoken within individual communities, the national Indonesian language is used among the communities and by the administration. Most of the island is covered with forests rich in tropical flora and fauna. From the present 179 bird and 25 mammal species, about 14 are found either on Buru only or also on a few nearby islands, the most notable being the wild pig Buru babirusa. There is little industry on the island, and most population is engaged in growing rice, maize, sweet potato, beans, coconuts, cocoa, coffee, clove and nutmeg. Other significant activities are animal farming and fishing.

The island was first mentioned around 1365. Between 1658 and 1942, it was colonised by the Dutch East India Company and then by the Crown of the Netherlands. The Dutch administration relocated many local villages to the newly built island capital at Kayeli Bay for working at clove plantations. It also promoted the hierarchy among the indigenous people with selected loyal rajas placed above the heads of the local clans. The island was occupied by the Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945 and in 1950 became part of independent Indonesia. During former president Suharto's New Order administration in the 1960s–1970s, Buru was the site of a prison used to hold thousands of political prisoners. While held at Buru, writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer wrote most of his novels, including Buru Quartet.

Geography and geology

Buru island lies between two seas of the Pacific Ocean – Seram Sea (Laut Seram) on the north and Banda Sea (Laut Banda) to the south and west. To the east, it is separated by the Manipa Strait (Selat Manipa) from Seram Island (Pulau Seram). With an area of 9505 km2, Buru is the third largest among the Maluku Islands (Kepulauan Maluku) after Halmahera and Seram.

Buru is shaped like an oval, elongated from west to east. The maximum length is about 130 km from east to west and 90 km from north to south. The coastline is smooth, with the only major indentation being Kayeli Bay located on the eastern coast. The bay also has a smooth, oval shape. It extends into the island to 8–12 km and has a maximum width of 17 km; the width decreases to 9 km at the mouth; the coastal length of the bay is about 50 km. At the northern part of the mouth stands Namlea, the largest town of the island.

The highest point on the island (2700 m ) is the peak of Mount Kapalatmada (also called Kepala Madan, Kepalat Mada or Ghegan ). Off the coast of Buru there are several smaller islands; those permanently inhabited are Ambalau (the largest, about 10 km in diameter, located about 20 km south-east of Buru) and Tengah (Pulau Tengah). The largest uninhabited islands are Fogi (Pulau Fogi), Oki (Pulau Oki) and Tomahu (Pulau Tomahu).

The island is mostly mountainous, especially in the central and western parts. Of the 9,505 km2 of the island area, 1,789 km2 lie 900 m above mean sea level, 872 km2 above 1,200 m and 382 km2 above 1,500 m. Flat areas are located in narrow strips near the coast and along the banks of river Apo. There they form a valley of the same name. Much of the island is covered with tropical rain forest.

The Apo River is the longest river of Buru. It flows nearly straight to the north-east and empties into Kayeli Bay; however, its bed is very winding for hundreds of meters, with loops all along its length. Two other permanent rivers are Geren and Nibe; the rest are intermittent rivers with discontinuous flow. The river discharge varies significantly through the year, reaching a maximum in the rainy season. Indonesian sources often include wae (meaning river) before the river names; thus Apo is often referred to as Waeapo or Wae Apo, or Apu in some local dialects. In the center of the island, at an altitude of 767 m, lies freshwater Lake Rana (Danau Rana). This is the only significant lake on Buru; it has a nearly rectangular shape with the length of about 4.3 km, width of about 2.7 km and an area of 11.5 km2

The crust consists of several types of deposits. It is dominated by Cenozoic sedimentary rocks, probably originating from the Australian continent; Also present are younger volcanic rocks and more recent alluvial deposits. Sedimentary deposits in the form of silt, peat, sand and mud are mostly found in the river valleys. Metamorphic rocks of slate, schist and arkose dominate the northern part of the island. Very few mineral deposits of Buru have industrial value, and only limestone is mined commercially. However, significant reserves of oil and gas were discovered in the shelf in 2009. There are numerous coral reefs around the island. The soil mostly consists of yellow-red Podsol, Organosol, Grumosol and various mixtures.

Climate
The climate is equatorial monsoonal, wet, and in general typical for the Maluku Islands. The rainy season extends from October to April with the highest rainfall in December–February. Despite the relatively small size of the island, its mountainous terrain results in several climatic zones. Apart from temperature reduction with altitude, the temperature variations across these zones are negligible, with the annual average of about 26 °C, However the annual precipitation differs and amounts to 1,400–1,800 mm in the north, 1,800–2,000 mm in the center, 2,000–2,500 mm in the south and 3,000–4,000 mm in the mountains, at elevation above 500 m.

Flora and fauna
As Buru is located at the boundary between the biogeographic zones of Australia and Asia, its flora and fauna are unique and are the subject of national and international scientific research. Of 25 species of mammals found on the island, at least four are endemic to Buru and closest to it islands. The local species of the wild pig named Buru babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) is distinguished from the other Babyrousa species by having relatively long and thick body-hair. It also has very low fat content in their meat (only 1.27% compared to 5–15% for domestic pigs) and is regarded as a delicacy among the local population, which favours it to other wild pigs or deer in terms of texture and flavour. Also endemic to Buru are three types of bats: Moluccan flying fox (Pteropus chrysoproctus), Ceram fruit bat Pteropus ocularis and lesser tube-nosed bat (Nyctimene minutus).

Of the 178 recorded species of birds, 10 are endemic to Buru and nearby islands: Buru racket-tail (Prioniturus mada), black-lored parrot (Tanygnathus gramineus), blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosyna toxopei), Buru honeyeater (Lichmera deningeri), Buru cuckooshrike (Coracina fortis), Buru jungle flycatcher (Rhinomyias additus), madanga (Madanga ruficollis), Buru white-eye (Zosterops buruensis), tawny-backed fantail (Rhipidura superflua) and Buru monarch (Monarcha loricatus). Among those, the rufous-throated white-eye is regarded as endangered and the black-lored parrot and vulnerable (threatened) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; both species were observed only in very limited areas of Buru island. There are another 19 birds that are near-endemic to Buru: rufous-necked sparrowhawk (Accipiter erythrauchen), dusky megapode (Megapodius forstenii), Moluccan megapode (Megapodius wallacei), white-eyed imperial pigeon (Ducula perspicillata), long-tailed mountain pigeon (Gymnophaps mada), red lory (Eos bornea), Moluccan hawk-owl (Ninox squamipila), Moluccan masked owl (Tyto sororcula), Wakolo myzomela (Myzomela wakoloensis), Buru friarbird (Philemon moluccensis), drab whistler (Pachycephala griseonota), white-naped monarch (Monarcha pileatus), dark-grey flycatcher (Myiagra galeata), black-eared oriole (Oriolus bouroensis), pale cicadabird (Coracina ceramensis), Buru thrush (Zoothera dumasi), cinnamon-chested flycatcher (Ficedula buruensis), Buru bush warbler (Locustella disturbans) and Buru flowerpecker (Dicaeum erythrothorax). Among butterflies, 25% of the Pieridae and 7% of the Papilionidae found on Buru are endemic to the island.

The vegetation is characteristic of tropical lowland evergreen and semi-evergreen rain forests, with the dominant family of Dipterocarpaceae, genera of Hopea, Shorea and Vatica, and the individual species of Anisoptera thurifera, Hopea gregaria, Hopea iriana, Hopea novoguineensis, Shorea assamica, Shorea montigena, Shorea selanica and Vatica rassak. Some of these trees may grow to more than 30 m and are usually bound by thick lianas and other epiphytes. Open forest, woodland, and savanna areas also exist on Buru. The fire-resistant paper bark tree (Melaleuca cajuputi) is common in dry areas. The northwestern part of the island has steep limestone cliffs covered by mixed forests that include Shorea trees, and stunted Dacrydium novo-guineense is present at the mountain tops.

Primary forests constitute 60% of the island, and are mostly found in the areas of Air Buaya and Waeapo. There is only 0.51% of secondary forests, in the district Batabual, and 0.9% of mangroves, at Waeapo, Air Buaya, Batabual and Namlea. A significant part of the island (23.10%) is taken by shrubs, and only 5.83% is open land, which is spread over most districts of Buru.

Administrative division
The island belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku (Propinsi Maluku). Until 1999, it was part of the Central Maluku Regency (Kabupaten Maluku Tengah) and then became a separate regency of the same name. In 2008, it was split into Buru Regency (Kabupaten Buru) and South Buru Regency (Kabupaten Buru Selatan).

Buru Regency has an area of 7,595.58 km2 and the administrative center at Namlea. It is divided into 10 districts: Namlea (center in Namlea), Waeapo (center – Waenetat), Waplau (center – Waplau), Batubual (center – Ilath), Teluk Kaiely (centre – Kaiely), Waelata (centre – Basakak), Lolong Guba (centre – Kubalahin), Lilialy (centre – Sawa), Air Buaya (center – Air Buaya) and Fena Leisela (center – Wamlana). The governor (Regent or bupati, as of October 2009) is Husni Hentihu and Vice Regent is Ramli Umasugi.

South Buru Regency (administrative center Namrole) has an area of 5,060 km2 and includes Ambalau island southeast of Buru (and other small islets). Its governing structure had not been completed as of February 2010, and the current acting Regent was then A. R. Uluputti. The regency is divided into 6 districts: Namrole (centre – Elfule), Kepala Madan (centre – Biloro), Leksula (centre – Leksula), Fena Fafan (centre – Waekatin), Waesama (centre – Wamsisi), and Ambalau (centre – Siwar); the last district is entirely located on the island of Ambalau.

Population
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the islands administered as Buru was 161,828 people; at the 2020 Census this had risen to 210,648 with about 64.2% in the northern regency and 35.8% in the southern; the official population estimate at-mid 2022 was 215,277. The southern regency included the smaller island of Ambalau to the southeast of Buru. In the early 2020s, most of the population was concentrated in the coastal areas, and comprised the following major groups: indigenous Buru (33,000 people), Lisela (13,000), Ambelau (6,000) and Kayeli people (800); migrants from Java, and migrants from other Maluku Islands. The migration to Buru was stimulated by the Dutch colonial administration in the 1900s, and by Indonesian authorities in the 1950s–1990s. The local communities speak Buru, Lisela and Ambelau languages in everyday life, however, the national Indonesian language is used as a means of international communication and is also used for writing. Also common is Ambon dialect of Malay language (Melayu Ambon). The latter is widely used in the Maluku Islands as a second language and is a simplified form of Indonesian language with additions of the local lexicon. Some local dialects, such as the Hukumina and Kayeli, became extinct in the second half of the 20th century.

Religious composition of the population is heterogeneous: the number of islanders practising Sunni Islam (90%) and Christianity (10%) and the rest – mainly residents of remote mountain areas – still follow traditional local cults or do not have a clear religious affiliation. . The economical crisis of the 1990s resulted in frequent conflicts among Buru people over religious grounds. So within a few days in December 1999, 43 people were killed and at least 150 houses burned in the Wainibe village.

Precolonial period
One of the first mentions of Buru occurred in the Nagarakretagama – an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, the ruler of the Majapahit Kingdom, dating back to 1365. The island appears in the third line of 15th song in the list of lands subordinate to Majapahit under the name Hutan Kadali.

In the 16th–17th centuries Buru was claimed by the rulers of Ternate island and by the Portuguese; both claims were, however, symbolic, as neither party controlled the island, but only visited it on trade matters. More active were Makassar people from Sulawesi island, who had built fortifications on Buru and forced the natives to grow valuable spices, such as clove.

Colonial period

The rivalry between the Makassar and Dutch East India Company for control over production and trade in spices in the east of the Malay archipelago resulted in military conflict. In 1648, a Dutch expedition to Buru expelled the Makassar from the island and destroyed their buildings and boats; instead of re-using the existing clove plantations, the Dutch burned more than three thousand trees, as they were not in position to settle on the island and were afraid that the Makassar might return after their departure. They returned after several years and raised a fortress armed with four cannon and staffed by 24 soldiers in 1658 at the southern coast of Kayeli Bay, in the eastern part of Buru. A permanent settlement was established at the fortress, which became the administrative center of the island. About 2,000 native inhabitants of the island were forcibly relocated to this area from other parts of the island, including much of the tribal nobility, and about thirteen large villages were built around the fort: Lumaite, Hukumina, Palamata, Tomahu, Masarete, Waisama, Marulat, Leliali, Tagalisa, Ilat, Kayeli, Bara and Lisela. The relocation was designed to facilitate control over the local population and provide a workforce for clove fields which were being planted by the Dutch in this part of the island. The Kayeli ethnicity with its own language was formed as a mixture of the newly arriving settlers and the native population of the fort area.

The presence among the ancestors of the tribal aristocracy and interaction with the Dutch colonial administration resulted in a special position for the Kayeli over the next centuries, who claimed the role of indigenous elite of the island. In particularly, they requested donations from each clan of Buru, which could be rice, millet, coconuts, sago, sweet potatoes and tobacco, as well as supplying men to work exclusively for the Kayeli rajas.

The Dutch East India Company was abolished in the early 19th century, and all its possessions in the Malay archipelago came under the direct control of the Dutch crown. In 1824, as part of the reform of the colonial administration, Buru was divided into 14 regencies (this number was gradually reduced to seven over the next 100 years). They were headed by the local rulers, rajas, who were subordinate to the Dutch advisors. All rajas were selected from the Kayeli tribal nobles, who had by this time proved their loyalty to the Dutch.

The demise of Kayeli dominance began in the 1880s, when the leaders of Leliali, Wae Sama and Fogi clans moved significant parts of their ethnic groups to their original settlements; they were joined in the early 1900s by Tagalisa. By then, many other of the original 13 Kayeli villages were either abandoned or had lost their rajas. By about 1910, the leading role of the Kayeli clan had almost disappeared.

Transition years 1942–1950
From the spring of 1942 to the summer of 1945, the entire Dutch East Indies, including Buru, were occupied by the Japanese army. During this period, the island was raided by the bombers of the Allies aiming to incapacitate the Japanese military infrastructure, in particular the airport at Namlea, the major town of Buru.

After the capitulation of Japan on 2 September 1945, control over the island fell back to the Netherlands. In December 1946, Buru, along with the other Maluku Islands, Sulawesi and Lesser Sunda Islands, was included in a quasi-independent State of East Indonesia (Negara Indonesia Timur) which was established by the Dutch government to gradually transform their former colonial possessions in the East Indies into a dependent state. In December 1949, eastern Indonesia joined the Republic of the United States of Indonesia (Republik Indonesia Serikat RIS) established at the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference of 23 August – 2 November 1949.

In April 1950, just before the abolition of RIS and inclusion of most of eastern Indonesia to the Republic of Indonesia, the local authorities of Buru, Ambon, Seram and several smaller nearby islands proclaimed the establishment of an independent Republic of South Moluccas (Republik Maluku Selatan, RMS) and committed to maintain close political ties with the Netherlands. After unsuccessful attempts to absorb the RMS through negotiations, the Republic of Indonesia initiated a six-month military conflict in July 1950. In December 1950, Buru was brought under the control of Indonesian troops and proclaimed part of the Republic of Indonesia.

As part of Indonesia
Between 1950 and 1965, the policy of the new government was aimed at rapid social, political and economic integration of Buru into Indonesia. In the 1960s and 1970s, during the military regime of General Suharto (Soeharto), Buru became one of the main places of exile and imprisonment of political dissidents – primarily communists and other left-wing representatives, as well as dissident intellectuals. Most camps were closed on Buru in 1980. More than 12,000 people had served a prison sentence in those camps by then,  and at least several hundred had died or been killed.

One of the prisoners was a prominent Indonesian writer, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who spent 14 years (1965–1979) in prison, mostly on Buru, and wrote there many of his novels. Those included a large part of Buru Quartet, in particular its first part This Earth of Mankind. Until 1975, Toer was deprived of writing tools. He committed his novels to memory and was reciting them to his cellmates, partly relying on their memory.

During the late 1970s, a number of transmigrants from Java arrived at Buru. These transmigrants, along with the political prisoners, established thousands of hectares of rice fields on the island and built irrigation systems in the Waeapo River alluvial plain, significantly increasing local rice production and making it the largest rice producer in the Maluku Islands.

Economy
Economic development of the island was depressed in the late 1990s as a result of the national and regional crisis. The growth resumed in the early 2000s, however, unemployment remains high (9.92% of the population in 2008), and more than 37% of islanders are living below the national poverty line.

The basis of the island's economy is agriculture which contributed 51.22% to the GDP in 2008. The major crop is rice with plantations taking an area of more than 5,700 hectares and yielding about 23,000 tonnes per the year (for 2008) in just Buru Regency. Most rice fields are located on the northern coasts of the island, in the districts of Namlea, Waeapo and Air Buaya. With the total area of 135 hectares, maize dominates the southern field of districts Waisama, Kepalamadan and Namrole, yielding 176 tonnes per year. Other crops of the southern part are sweet potato (211 hectares, 636 tonnes), beans (926 hectares, 946 tonnes ) and soybeans (965 hectares, 965 tonnes). Coco (5,724 ha, 2,742 tonnes), cocoa (4,453 ha, 2,368 tonnes), clove (947 ha, 881 tonnes) and coffee (114 acres, 1223 tonnes) are grown in the Namlea, Air Buaya, Waeapo, Batubual and Waplau areas, whereas nutmeg (143 ha, 75 tonnes) is restricted to Batubual. Teak plantations are found almost everywhere on Buru and complement the natural sources of timber.

Animal farming is of secondary importance, but its role is gradually increasing. The major animals are cows (41,349 animals ), buffalo (3,699), chickens (more than 1,346,000), ducks (195,000), sheep (26,950), domestic pigs (1,276) and horses (497). In 2008, there were 410 fishing enterprises with the annual catch of 3,891 tonnes of fish and seafood. The major commercial species are tuna (900 tonnes), sardines (420 tonnes) and mackerel (385 tonnes).

The industry employs only about 2,700 islanders and contributes about 7% to the GDP. Among the 537 enterprises registered in 2008, 482 were engaged in processing of agricultural products and 44 in engineering, chemicals and repair. In January 2010, the Ministry of Industry of Indonesia has approved a plan to build major cement plants on the island. The expansion of tourism is hindered by the lack of infrastructure on the island.

Apart from agriculture and engineering, other significant economic areas are trade, hotel industry and catering (19.19% of GDP in 2008), custom services (12.74%), transport and communication (3.10%), construction (3.13%), financial sector (2.64%) and energy and water (0.49%).

Transportation
Buru is linked with other parts of Indonesia via sea routes and has two main ports in Namlea and Namrole. With 866 registered cargo and passenger vessels, the average transport rate in 2008 was 400 tonnes per day. Speedboats "Bahari Express" run daily between Namlea and the capital of Maluku Province, Ambon (distance 160 km, travel time three hours).

By agreement between the administration of Buru district and local military authorities, the military airfield at Namlea (runway 750 meters) is used for air transportation. Aircraft CASA C-212 Aviocar make 96 passenger flights a year between Namlea and several towns of Maluku. In 2007, construction began of a civil airport near the villages of Suva and Namrole, about 30 km south-west of Namlea.

In absence of railways, most local transportation occurs via the roads. In 2008, their total length was 1,310 km, of which 278 km was covered with asphalt, 282 km with gravel and the rest were laid in soil. The construction project of a modern, 287 km highway across the island, connecting its two major towns of Namlea and Namrole and several other towns is delayed due to underfunding. There is a regular long-distance bus service supported by a park of 18 units.

Health
, the medical system of the island was in a poor state due to underfunding and lack of qualified medical personnel. There were 2 hospitals and 16 clinics, 5 of which were first-aid clinics and 11 were serving non-emergency patients who could arrive there on their own. The medical staff consisted of 22 doctors (two with the medical degree), 65 obstetricians and 303 nurses. The authorities plan to increase the number of medical facilities and staff by 2–4 times by 2012.

Traditional occupations and culture
Whereas local people traditionally occupied villages, variation of their seasonal activities – predominantly hunting and farming – tended to either disperse or gather them. Men hunted the wild pig Buru babirusa, deer and possum, in the forests, mostly during the peak of east monsoon (June and July); meanwhile women were gathering wild vegetables. However, during the west monsoon (November to April) both men and women were working together in the fields. The position of the villages was also changing with time, mostly because of the low soil fertility on the island – recovery of the soil took significant time urging long-distance travel to the new fields. It was rather common for a family to leave the village for most of the week to their field and return only for the religious service on Sunday. It was also rather common to move the entire village after some 20 years of exploiting a plot of land. Partly because of this, most settlements were rather small, with the smallest type accommodating one-two families (hum-hawa or hum-tapa), middle-type (hum-lolin) consisting of 3–10 houses and accommodating 20–50 people, and larger ones of 30–50 houses and 150–300 people (fen-lale). On the coast, there were several multi-ethnic settlements with more than 200 houses (ibu kota kecamatan). This local variety of terms for a "settlement" puzzled the Dutch colonizers trying to systematise the local registries.

Traditional Buru houses were made from bamboo, often on stilts. The roofs were covered with palm leaves or reeds. Cement, metal and tiles were introduced in the 20th century and urged to build more permanent dwelling, but with limited results, as the locals continued to relocate. This was partly due to the habits of relocation and partly due to local disputes or superstitions, such as cursing a place where a certain number of people died within a short period. Presence of a church in a village might hinder relocation for a century, but not always. Traditional Buru costumes are similar those of most other Indonesia peoples. Men wear sarong (a kind of kilt) and a long-skirted tunic, and women are dressed in sarong and a shorter jacket. However, the dress color systematically varies between the different tribes of the island.

Research
The unique flora, fauna and tropical forest ecosystem of the island are systematically researched by both Indonesian and foreign scientific bodies. The original vegetation on the coastal plain has been cleared, and much of the mountain forest on the northern side of the island has been cut and burned out for timber and creating new farming fields, but two large areas of stable rain forest still exist in the mountains. These are currently protected areas, Gunung Kapalat Mada (1,380 km2) and Waeapo (50 km2).

Most of the published studies on the history, culture and languages of the island were conducted in the 1980s out by spouses Charles E. Grimes and Barbara Dix Grimes – Australian missionaries and ethnographers and active members of SIL International (they should not be confused with Joseph E. Grimes and Barbara F. Grimes, Charles' parents, also known Australian ethnographers). They have also completed translation of the Bible to Buru language, which was started by the early Dutch missionaries.

title: Buru


text:
1976 Republican National Convention

The 1976 Republican National Convention was a United States political convention of the Republican Party that met from August 16 to August 19, 1976, to select the party's nominees for president and vice president. Held in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, the convention nominated President Gerald Ford for a full term, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California Governor Ronald Reagan. The convention also nominated Senator Bob Dole from Kansas for vice president, instead of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who did not seek nomination for a full term. The keynote address was delivered by Tennessee Senator Howard Baker. Other notable speakers included Minnesota Representative Al Quie, retired Lieutenant Colonel and former Vietnam prisoner of war Raymond Schrump, former Democratic Texas Governor John Connally, Providence, Rhode Island mayor Vincent Cianci and Michigan Senator Robert P. Griffin. It is the last national convention by either of the two major parties to feature a seriously contested nomination between candidates.

History
Kansas City had not hosted a major party convention since the 1928 Republican National Convention that nominated Herbert Hoover. Its premier venue, Kemper Arena, was diminutive by national standards but it was new, and the city aggressively courted the convention planners of both parties. The Democrats demurred early on, citing a lack of hotel accommodations, but Republicans were more receptive because the city had a reliably enthusiastic base of the party, and "fit the Midwestern image of Jerry Ford".

Situation at the opening of the convention
Going into the convention, Ford had won more primary delegates than Reagan, as well as a plurality in popular vote. However, Ford did not have enough delegates to secure the nomination (1,130 delegates were needed to win the presidential nomination), and as the convention opened both candidates were seen as still having a chance to win. Because of this, both Ford and Reagan arrived in Kansas City before the convention opened to woo the remaining uncommitted delegates in an effort to secure the nomination.

Reagan benefited from his highly committed delegates, notably "Reagan's Raiders" of the Texas delegation. They and other conservative Western and Southern delegates particularly faulted the Ford Administration's foreign policy of détente towards the Soviet Union, criticizing his signing of the Helsinki Accords and indirectly blaming him for the April 1975 Fall of Saigon.

The pro-Reagan Texas delegates worked hard to persuade delegates from other states to support Reagan.

Ford, meanwhile, used all of the perks and patronage of the presidency to win over wavering delegates, including trips aboard Air Force One and personal meetings with Ford himself. White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney proved to be an important figure in working to build support among those state delegations on the fence between Ford and Reagan, including the Mississippi delegation. White House political advisor Harry Dent also played a central role in helping President Ford work with the state delegations, who met with Ford and his aides in a presidential office set up on-site at the convention in Kansas City.

Headlines during the Republican convention in Kansas City hinted at the still-simmering debates within the rank-and-file of the Republicans as to whether or not a new party might be formed out of the weaknesses of the Republicans. "Conservatives Seek a New Party if Reagan Loses," The Chicago Tribune's Wednesday, August 18, 1976, headlines told readers during the Kansas City convention, which quoted both White House aides as well as critics in the Republican Party who debated the possibility of a new party emerging out of that year's division in the Republican ranks.

Newspaper headlines also told the story of the uncommitted delegates whose "wavering" at the convention made them the focus of both the Ford and the Reagan camps. "New 'Stars' Stealing GOP Show," The Chicago Tribune's Wednesday, August 18, 1976, headlines told readers. Estimates ranged from 93 to as many as 115 delegates uncommitted at the time of the convention. The largest block of uncommitted delegates were from Mississippi and another block were from Illinois's delegation.

Wednesday, August 18, 1976, saw the uncommitted delegates break on the 1st ballot for President Gerald Ford, who won the nomination on the 1st roll call of delegates by a vote of 1,187-1,070.

Richard Schweiker gambit and the search for an alternative
Reagan had promised, if nominated, to name Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate, in a bid to attract liberals and centrists in the party. This move backfired, however, as many conservatives (such as North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms) were infuriated by Reagan's choice of the "liberal" Schweiker, while few moderate delegates switched to Reagan. Helms promptly began a movement to draft Conservative Senator James L. Buckley of New York as the presidential nominee.

Platform and rules votes
The key vote of the convention occurred when Reagan's managers proposed a rules change that would have required Ford to publicly announce his running mate before the presidential balloting. Reagan's managers hoped that when Ford announced his choice for vice president, it would anger one of the two factions of the party and thus help Reagan. Ford's supporters derisively described the proposed rules change as the "misery loves company" amendment. The proposed rules change was defeated by a vote of 1180 to 1069, and Ford gained the momentum he needed to win the presidential nomination. The balloting was still close, however, as Ford won with 1187 votes to 1070 votes for Reagan (and one for Elliot Richardson of Massachusetts).

Conservatives succeeded in inserting several key planks into the party platform, some of which were implicitly critical of the President's own policies. Reagan and Senator Jesse Helms successfully had a "moral foreign policy" plank inserted. In light of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the 1976 Republican platform became the first to advocate a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, despite the fact that Roe v. Wade had been a 7–2 decision, and 5 of the 7 (Burger, Stewart, Brennan, Blackmun, and Powell) had been appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican presidents.

Vice presidential
Ford selected Kansas Senator Robert J. Dole as his running mate, as unelected incumbent Vice President Rockefeller had announced the previous fall that he would not be a candidate for a full term in 1976.

After Ronald Reagan lost the presidential ballot to incumbent Gerald Ford, 103 of his delegates walked out of the convention, and the remainder decided to scatter their votes among 30 people. Bob Dole prevailed by an overwhelming margin.
 * Bob Dole – 1,921 (85.04%)
 * Jesse Helms – 103 (4.56%)
 * Ronald Reagan – 27 (1.20%)
 * Phil Crane – 23 (1.02%)
 * John Grady – 19 (0.84%)
 * Louis Frey Jr. – 9 (0.40%)
 * Anne Armstrong – 6 (0.27%)
 * Howard Baker – 6 (0.27%)
 * William F. Buckley Jr. – 4 (0.18%)
 * John Connally – 4 (0.18%)
 * David C. Treen – 4 (0.18%)
 * Alan Steelman – 3 (0.13%)
 * Bob Bauman – 2 (0.09%)
 * Bill Brock – 2 (0.09%)
 * Paul Laxalt – 2 (0.09%)
 * Elliot Richardson – 2 (0.09%)
 * Richard Schweiker – 2 (0.09%)
 * William E. Simon – 2 (0.09%)
 * Jack Wellborn – 2 (0.09%)
 * James Allen – 1 (0.04%)
 * Ray Barnhardt – 1 (0.04%)
 * George H. W. Bush – 1 (0.04%)
 * Pete Domenici – 1 (0.04%)
 * James B. Edwards – 1 (0.04%)
 * Frank S. Glenn – 1 (0.04%)
 * David Keene – 1 (0.04%)
 * James McClure – 1 (0.04%)
 * Nancy Palm – 1 (0.04%)
 * Donald Rumsfeld – 1 (0.04%)
 * John W. Sears – 1 (0.04%)
 * Roger Staubach – 1 (0.04%)
 * Steve Symms – 1 (0.04%)
 * Abstaining – 103 (4.56%)

Reagan's concession speech
There was no scheduled time slot for the runner-up to deliver a formal concession speech; however, when Ford and Reagan met on the days after Ford's acceptance speech, the president insisted that the former governor accompany him to the podium to deliver a few remarks.

Reagan gave an eloquent and stirring speech that overshadowed Ford's own acceptance address, despite being little more than five minutes long. Some delegates later stated that they left the convention wondering if they had voted for the wrong candidate. A contemporary media account stated that if a motion to reconsider the nomination had been in order, it might have passed.

Aftermath
Ford and Dole went on to lose to Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale in the 1976 election. Reagan defeated Carter in the 1980 election to become president, and won again in 1984, beating Democratic challenger Mondale. Dole ran for president in 1980, 1988, and 1996, gaining the nomination the last time, but losing to Bill Clinton by a large margin.

title: 1976 Republican National Convention


text:
Executive Council of Ontario

The Executive Council of Ontario (Conseil des ministres de l'Ontario), often informally referred to as the Cabinet of Ontario (Cabinet de l'Ontario), is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Ontario. It comprises ministers of the provincial Crown, who are selected by the premier of Ontario (the first minister of the Crown) and appointed by the lieutenant governor. The activities of the Government of Ontario are directed by the Executive Council.

The Executive Council is almost always made up of members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Though the lieutenant governor does not generally attend Cabinet meetings, directives issued by the Crown on the advice of the ministers are said to be ordered by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council. Ministers hold the honorific prefix "The Honourable" while members of the council.

The Cabinet is similar in structure and role to the federal Privy Council for Canada, though smaller in size, and, whereas the federal Cabinet is actually a committee of the Privy Council, the Executive Council of Ontario and Cabinet of Ontario are one and the same. Also, unlike the Privy Council, members of the Ontario Executive Council are not appointed for life, and are not entitled to post-nominal letters.

Current Cabinet
Doug Ford and his Cabinet were sworn in by Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell on June 29, 2018, following the 2018 general election. This is the current cabinet of Ontario:

Lieutenant Governor

Premier Other ministers

Former portfolios

 * Ministry of Children's Services (2003–2004)
 * Ministry of Citizenship and Culture (1983–1987)
 * Ministry of Citizenship (1987–1995; 2001–2003)
 * Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation (1995–2001)
 * Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (2016–2018)
 * Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade (2003–2016)
 * Ministry of Colleges and Universities (1972–1993)
 * Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services (2002–2003)
 * Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (2003–2019)
 * Ministry of Consumer and Business Services (2003–2005)
 * Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations (1972–2001)
 * Ministry of Correctional Services (1972–1993; 1999–2002)
 * Ministry of Culture and Communications (1987–1993)
 * Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation (1993–1995)
 * Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism (1995–1999; 2008–2011)
 * Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (1999−2008)
 * Ministry of Education and Training (1993–1999)
 * Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (2007–2010)
 * Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology (1997–2002)
 * Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation (2002–2003)
 * Ministry of Environment and Energy (1993–1997; 2002)
 * Ministry of Financial Institutions (1986–1993)
 * Ministry of Health (1972–1999)
 * Ministry of Housing (1973–1981; 1985–1995)
 * Ministry of Industry, Trade and Technology (1985–1993)
 * International Trade
 * Ministry of Municipal Affairs (1985–1995; 2003–2004)
 * Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal (2005−2008)
 * Ministry of Public Safety and Security (2002–2003)
 * Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science (2013–2018)
 * Ministry of Revenue (1968–2012)
 * Ministry of Skills Development (1985–1993)
 * Ministry of the Solicitor General (1972–1993; 1999–2002)
 * Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services (1993–1999)
 * Ministry of Tourism (1999–2001)
 * Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation (2001–2002)
 * Ministry of Transportation and Communications (1971–1987)
 * Ministry of Treasury and Economics (1978–1993)
 * Provincial Secretary and Registrar of Ontario (from 1961 Provincial Secretary and Minister of Citizenship) (list) (1867–1975)

Ontario Shadow Cabinet

 * Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 43rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario

title: Executive Council of Ontario


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Emchoi

Foreign language slang dicdef. Orphan article. --Ianb 18:27, 31 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Yawn, delete. -- Cyrius|✎ 21:54, 31 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Yuk. Emchoi this. - Lucky 6.9 04:51, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Emchoi


text:
David Manicom

David Alton Manicom (born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian diplomat, civil servant, poet and novelist.

Biography
Manicom was born in Ingersoll, Ontario, and lived there until he attended the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal. He has also lived in Aylmer, Quebec, Moscow, Islamabad, Beijing, Geneva and New Delhi.

He has contributed to numerous publications, including Rubicon, AWOL, Words Apart and Quarry. Manicom's The Burning Eaves (2003) was a finalist for the 2004 Governor General's Awards for English Language Poetry, while Progeny of Ghosts (1998) won the Quebec Writer's Federation prize for non-fiction and was short-listed for the National Writer's Trust Viacom award for non-fiction.

He is currently the associate assistant deputy minister of the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

title: David Manicom


text:
Bernardo de Gálvez

Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, 1st Count of Gálvez (23 July 1746 – 30 November 1786) was a Spanish military leader and government official who served as colonial governor of Spanish Louisiana and Cuba, and later as Viceroy of New Spain.

A career soldier since the age of 16, Gálvez was a veteran of several wars across Europe, the Americas, and North Africa. While governor of Louisiana, he supported the colonists and their French allies in the American Revolutionary War, helping facilitate vital supply lines and frustrate British operations in the Gulf Coast. Gálvez achieved several victories on the battlefield, most notably conquering West Florida and eliminating the British naval presence in the Gulf. This campaign led to the formal return of all of Florida to Spain in the Treaty of Paris, which he played a role in drafting.

Gálvez's actions aided the American war effort and made him a hero to both Spain and the newly independent United States. The U.S. Congress endeavored to hang his portrait in the Capitol, finally doing so in 2014. He was granted many titles and honors by the Spanish government, which in 1783 appointed him viceroy of one of its most valuable territories, New Spain, succeeding his father Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo. He served until his death from typhus.

While somewhat forgotten in the United States, Gálvez remains in high esteem among many Americans, particularly in the southern and western states that once formed part of Spain's North American territory. Gálvez Day is celebrated as a local holiday in Pensacola, and several places bear his name, including Galveston, Texas and Galvez, Louisiana. In 2014, Gálvez became one of only eight people to have been awarded honorary U.S. citizenship.

Origins and military career
Bernardo de Gálvez was born in Macharaviaya, a mountain village in the province of Málaga, Spain, on 23 July 1746. He was the son of Matías de Gálvez and his wife María Josefa de Madrid, who died when Bernardo was only 2 years old. He studied military sciences at the Academia de Ávila and at the age of 16 participated in the Spanish invasion of Portugal, which stalled after the Spanish had captured Almeida. Following the conflict he was promoted to infantry lieutenant. He arrived in Mexico, which was then part of New Spain, in 1769. As a captain, he fought the Apaches, with his Opata Indian allies. He received many wounds, several of them serious. In 1770, he was promoted to commandant of arms of Nueva Vizcaya and Sonora, northern provinces of Mexico.

In 1772, Gálvez returned to Spain with his uncle, José de Gálvez. Later, he was sent to Pau, France, where he served with the Royal Cantabria regiment, an elite Franco-Spanish unit, for three years. There, he learned to speak French, which would serve him well when he became governor of Louisiana. Gálvez was transferred to Seville in 1775, and then participated in Alejandro O'Reilly's disastrous expedition to Algiers, where he was seriously wounded during the Spanish assault on the fortress that guarded the city. Afterward he was appointed a professor at the military academy of Ávila and promoted to lieutenant colonel; he was made colonel in 1776.

Spanish governor of Louisiana
On 1 January 1777, Bernardo de Gálvez became the new governor of the formerly French province of Louisiana, the vast territory that would later become the object of the Louisiana Purchase. The colony had been ceded by France to Spain in 1762, ostensibly as compensation for the loss of Florida to Britain, after Spain was urged to enter the Seven Years' War on the French side.

In November 1777, Gálvez married Marie Félicité de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan, the Creole daughter of the French-born Gilbert Antoine de Saint-Maxent and the Creole Elizabeth La Roche, and young widow of Jean Baptiste Honoré d'Estrehan, the son of a high ranking French colonial official. This marriage to the daughter of a Frenchman won Gálvez the favor of the local Creole population. They had three children, Miguel, Matilde, and Guadalupe.

As governor, Gálvez enacted an anti-British policy, taking measures against British smuggling and promoting trade with France. He damaged British interests in the region and kept it open for supplies to reach George Washington's army during the American Revolutionary War. He founded Galvez Town in 1779, promoted the colonization of Nueva Iberia, and established free trade with Cuba and Yucatán. Galvez Street in New Orleans is named for him. In 1779, Gálvez was promoted to brigadier.

American Revolutionary War

In December 1776, King Charles III of Spain decided that covert assistance to the United States would be strategically useful, but Spain did not enter into a formal alliance with the U.S. In 1777, José de Gálvez, newly appointed as minister of the Council of the Indies, sent his nephew, Bernardo de Gálvez, to New Orleans as governor of Luisiana with instructions to secure the friendship of the United States. On 20 February 1777, the Spanish king's ministers in Madrid secretly instructed Gálvez to sell the Americans desperately needed supplies. The British had blockaded the colonial ports of the Thirteen Colonies, and consequently the route from New Orleans up the Mississippi River was an effective alternative. Gálvez worked with Oliver Pollock, an American patriot, to ship gunpowder, muskets, uniforms, medicine, and other supplies to the American colonial rebels.

Although Spain had not yet joined the American cause, when an American raiding expedition led by James Willing showed up in New Orleans with booty and several captured British ships taken as prizes, Gálvez refused to turn the Americans over to the British. In 1779, Spanish forces commanded by Gálvez seized the province of West Florida, later known as the Florida Parishes, from the British. Spain's motive was the chance both to recover territories lost to the British, particularly Florida, and to remove the ongoing British threat.

On 21 June 1779, Spain formally declared war on Great Britain. On 25 June, a letter from London, marked secret and confidential, went to General John Campbell at Pensacola from King George III and Lord George Germain. Campbell was instructed that it was the object of greatest importance to organize an attack upon New Orleans. If Campbell thought it was possible to reduce the Spanish fort at New Orleans, he was ordered to make preparations immediately. These included securing from Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker as many fighting ships as the fleet at Jamaica could spare, gathering all forces in the province that could be assembled, recruiting as many loyal Indians as the Superintendent could provide, and drawing on His Majesty's Treasury through the Lords Commissioners to pay expenses. As an unfortunate twist of fate for Campbell, upon which his whole career was decided, the secret communication fell into the hands of Gálvez. After reading the communication from King George III and Germain, Gálvez, as Governor of Louisiana, swiftly and secretly mobilized the territory for war.

Gálvez carried out a masterful military campaign and defeated the British colonial forces at Fort Bute, Baton Rouge, and Natchez in 1779. The Battle of Baton Rouge, on 21 September 1779, freed the lower Mississippi Valley of British forces and relieved the threat to the capital of Louisiana, New Orleans. In March 1780, he recaptured Mobile from the British at the Battle of Fort Charlotte.

Gálvez's most important military victory over the British forces occurred 8 May 1781, when he attacked and took by land and by sea Pensacola, the British (and formerly, Spanish) capital of West Florida from General John Campbell of Strachur. The loss of Mobile and Pensacola left the British with no bases along the Gulf coast.

In 1782, forces under Gálvez's overall command captured the British naval base at Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. He was angry that the operation had proceeded against his orders and ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Francisco de Miranda, aide-de-camp of Juan Manuel Cajigal, the commander of the expedition. Miranda later explained Gálvez's actions as stemming from jealousy of Cajigal's success.

Gálvez received many honors from Spain for his military victories against the British, including promotion to lieutenant general and field marshal, governor and captain general of Louisiana and Florida (now separated from Cuba), the command of the Spanish expeditionary army in America, and the titles of Viscount of Gálvez-Town and Count of Gálvez.

The American Revolutionary War ended while Gálvez was preparing a new campaign to take Jamaica. From the American perspective, Gálvez's campaign denied the British the opportunity of encircling the American rebels from the south and kept open a vital conduit for supplies. He also assisted the American revolutionaries with supplies and soldiers, much of it through Oliver Pollock, from whom he received military intelligence concerning the British in West Florida. For France and Spain, Gálvez's military success in the American war effort led to the inclusion of provisions in the Peace of Paris (1783) that officially returned Florida, now divided into two provinces, East and West Florida, to Spain. The treaty recognized the political independence of the former British colonies to the north, and its signing ended their war with the British.

Viceroy of New Spain

In 1783, Bernardo de Gálvez was ennobled to the rank of count, promoted to lieutenant-general of the army, and appointed governor and captain-general of Cuba. He was given the titles Count of Gálvez ("conde de Gálvez") and Viscount of Gálvez-Town ("vizconde de Gálvez-Town") by Carlos III on May 20, 1783. He returned to the Indies in October of the following year to assume his new office. Shortly after he arrived in Havana, his father, Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo (then the viceroy of New Spain), died in November, and Bernardo de Gálvez was appointed to fill the position. He arrived in Vera Cruz, on 21 May 1785, and made his formal entry into Mexico City in June.

During his administration two great calamities occurred: the freeze of September 1785, which led to famine in 1786, and a typhus epidemic that killed 300,000 people the same year. During the famine, Gálvez donated 12,000 pesos of his inheritance and 100,000 pesos he raised from other sources to buy maize and beans for the populace. He also implemented policies to increase future agricultural production.

In 1785, Gálvez initiated construction of Chapultepec Castle. He also ordered the construction of the towers of the cathedral and paving of the streets, as well as the installation of streetlights in Mexico City. He continued work on the highway to Acapulco, and took measures to reduce the abuse of Indian labor on the project. He dedicated 16% of the income from the lottery and other games of chance to charity.

Gálvez helped advance science in the colony by sponsoring the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain, led by Martín Sessé y Lacasta. This expedition of botanists and naturalists resulted in a comprehensive catalog, a collaborative work published in Spain as the Flora Mexicana, which catalogued the diverse species of plants, birds, and fish found in New Spain.

On one occasion, when the viceroy was riding on horseback to meet with the Audiencia (according to his own report), he encountered a party of soldiers escorting three criminals to the gallows. He suspended the hanging, and later had the criminals freed.

After the typhus epidemic of 1786 had abated in early autumn, Bernardo de Gálvez apparently became one of its last victims, and was confined to his bed. On 8 November 1786, he turned over all his governmental duties except the captain generalship to the Audiencia. On 30 November 1786, Galvez died at the age of 40 in Tacubaya (now part of Mexico City). Gálvez was buried next to his father at San Fernando Church in Mexico City.

Bernardo de Gálvez left some writings, including Ordenanzas para el Teatro de Comedias de México and Instrución para el Buen Gobierno de las Provincias Internas de la Nueva España (Instructions for Governing the Interior Provinces of New Spain, 1786), the latter of which remained in effect until the colonial period ended. In his "Instructions", Gálvez advocated a policy of selling the Indians rifles and trade goods to make them dependent on the Spanish government, and sanctioned war against the Apache if these inducements failed to pacify them.

Legacy

Galveston, Texas, Galveston Bay, Galveston County, Galvez, Louisiana, and St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana were, among other places, named after him. The Louisiana parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana (originally a single parish) were said to have been named for his wife Marie Felicite de Saint-Maxent d'Estrehan.

The Cabildo, a branch of the Louisiana State Museum located on Jackson Square in New Orleans, has a portrait of General Gálvez accompanied by a display of biographical information. Spanish Plaza, in the Central Business District of the city, has an equestrian statue of Gálvez adjacent to the New Orleans World Trade Center. There is also a Galvez Street in New Orleans. Mobile, Alabama, also has a Spanish Plaza with a statue of Gálvez.

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana (present-day state capital), Galvez Plaza is laid out next to City Hall and used frequently as a site for municipal events. Also, the 13-story Galvez Building is part of the state government's administrative office-building complex in the Capitol Park section of downtown Baton Rouge.

In 1911, the Hotel Galvez was built in Galveston Avenue P, where the hotel is located, is known as Bernardo de Galvez Avenue. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 4 April 1979.

On December 16, 2014, the United States Congress conferred honorary citizenship on Gálvez, citing him as a "hero of the Revolutionary War who risked his life for the freedom of the United States people and provided supplies, intelligence, and strong military support to the war effort." In 2019, the Spanish Government placed a 32 in statue of Galvez in front of the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C.

In June 2024, the USS Galvez (FFG-67), a Constellation-class frigate, was named after him.

title: Bernardo de Gálvez


text:
B.C. II: Grog's Revenge

B.C. II: Grog's Revenge is a 1984 video game by Sydney Development for the Commodore 64, ColecoVision, Coleco ADAM, and MSX. It is the sequel to B.C.'s Quest For Tires and is based on B.C., the newspaper comic strip by Johnny Hart. The game was advertised for the Atari 8-bit computers, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Amstrad CPC, but those ports were never released.

Plot
Thor, a caveman, who rides a stone unicycle, is searching for the "meaning of life" within several mountains.

Gameplay
The player must navigate Thor through the mountains, collecting clams. As in the comic strip, clams are used as money. The object of the game is to collect enough clams to pay a toll to another caveman, Peter, which will allow Thor to access the next mountain.

The player moves Thor along the mountainside and through caves. When on the mountainside, Thor can move in all four directions, but must avoid falling off the cliff, slamming into a wall, or hitting a rock or hole. When in a cave, the screen is dark except for a beam of light emanating from the player's position. Here, Thor may move from side to side, avoiding stalagmites.

There are two enemies that Thor must avoid: One is the 'Tiredactyl' which will chase after Thor, in hopes of consuming Thor's tire (and causing him to lose a life). The other is Grog; if he and Thor are on the same level, an alarm melody will play. If Grog catches up to or meets Thor, he will shout "GROG", launching Thor skyward and ending the game.

If the player collects enough clams before arriving at the end of the mountain trail, he proceeds to the next mountain; otherwise, he must go back and collect more clams.

Ports
The Commodore 64 and Coleco ADAM versions has 15 stages (5 per set). The MSX and ColecoVision versions only has 5 stages.

Due to a programming error, none of the MSX releases can be completed. The same goes for the ColecoVision version, although the bug was fixed for the Coleco Canada release. This bug was fixed by Félix Espina, a programmer from Spain in 2019.

Reception
Zzap!64 gave the game a 91% rating, describing it as a "stunningly impressive programme". Computer and Video Games rated the ColecoVision version 87% in 1989.

In a retrospective feature from 1994 on old video games, Commodore Format said Grog's Revenge was "definitely a game of the old school" but remained "a fun little diversion." They rated it 70%.

Reviews

 * Jeux & Stratégie #38
 * Jeux & Stratégie HS #3

title: B.C. II: Grog's Revenge


text:
B.C.'s Quest for Tires

B.C.'s Quest for Tires is a horizontally scrolling video game designed by Rick Banks and Michael Bate and published by Sierra On-Line in 1983. Versions were released for the Commodore 64, IBM PC, Atari 8-bit computers, ColecoVision, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and Apple II. Based on the comic strip B.C. by Johnny Hart, BC's Quest for Tires is similar to Irem's Moon Patrol from the previous year. A wheel-riding caveman is always moving forward through horizontally scrolling levels, and the player jumps or ducks as obstacles approach. The game's title is a play on the contemporaneous film Quest for Fire.

Both B.C.'s Quest for Tires and Moon Patrol have key elements of the not-yet-invented endless runner genre, despite both games being divided into discrete levels.

A sequel, Grog's Revenge, was released in 1984.

Plot
The player takes the role of the caveman Thor, who has to rescue his girlfriend, "Cute Chick", who has been kidnapped by a dinosaur. To do this, he must travel on his stone unicycle (actually an impossible wheel) through several levels. Each level has Thor moving from the left to the right, avoiding various dangers.

Gameplay

B.C.'s Quest for Tires is an action game taking place on several consecutive levels. Each level consists of Thor having to jump over obstacles such as rocks or stalagmites and ducking under others, like tree branches or stalactites. In between each level is a brief challenge (a precursor to boss battles in later games). The first challenge has Thor jumping on turtles to cross a lake while trying to avoid being hit by the Fat Broad, another has Thor lining up with the Dookie Bird to catch a ride over a lava pit, another challenge has Thor trying to gain enough speed to jump another pit, and the final challenge has Thor jumping on turtles to cross another lake while trying to sneak past the dinosaur.

Reception
Softline stated that, given the conventional gameplay ("it's that get-from-point-A-to-point-B kind of game"), the use of the familiar comic characters made "the player feel like finishing the game is worthwhile ... [Otherwise] it's just not the same". The magazine concluded that "B.C.'s Quest for Tires isn't so much a computer game as it is an interactive cartoon. This cartoon has its limits, but it does provide some challenge". Antic approved of the game not being another "'shoot the aliens and save the world' scenario", and the "first rate" animation, but predicted that most players would "enjoy the game for a day or two, then relegate it to the shelf". Compute! praised the game's "excellent graphics" and animation, which "approach cartoon standards".

David Stone reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "QFT requires far more timing than strategy and, rather than levels of play, it offers new obstacles to overcome on the way to the rescue. Still, it is fun to play."

The game sold a million copies.

Awards

 * Critic's Choice Awards: Best Game For Youngsters (awarded by Family Computing).
 * Arkie Award: Most Humorous Video/Computer Game (awarded by Electronic Games).
 * Colecovision Game of the Year (awarded by Video Game Update).
 * Best use of Graphics and Sound in a Video Game (awarded by Billboard (magazine)).
 * 1984 Golden Floppy Award for Excellence: Funniest Game of the Year, Video Games Category (Computer Games magazine).

title: B.C.'s Quest for Tires


text:
In It for the Money

In It for the Money is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Supergrass, released in 1997. NME called it "more fun than watching a wombat in a washing machine" and named it the 10th best album of the year. In 1998, Q readers voted it the 68th greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 57 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

Recording and conception
Only two songs were written before entering Sawmills Studio, so most of the tracks were penned during recording itself.

Recording was often disrupted by the drummer Danny Goffey impromptly going back to London, to record with his and Pearl Lowe's band Lodger. He was told by management that this was unacceptable behaviour. This, along with Gaz Coombes and Goffey's bickering in the music press about the underlying meaning of lyrics to "Going Out", put strain on the recording process.

It is speculated that Parlophone, the record label Supergrass were on, offered the band a sum of money to decide on a final name for the album, because they were taking too long to deliberate. However, the band themselves claim that they never received any of this money in return. Other suggestions considered for the title of the album included Hold on to the Handrail and Children of the Monkey Basket (which is now the name of the band's self-run website).

"Richard III" and "Sun Hits the Sky" appear to end with snippets of other, unreleased songs, that play until fade out.

The guitar solo in "Sometimes I Make You Sad" was written during the recording of In It for the Money; it was recorded at half speed then sped up to achieve the mandolin-like sound. The only use of percussion in the song is a cymbal, the drum noises were instead simulated by members of the band making 'grunting' noises. These were then put on a loop.

Album artwork
The album cover is a photograph of the band busking during the filming of the video for their single "Cheapskate". The Japanese edition has, instead, an oil painting by Maff Burley, an old school friend of Danny Goffey. In it, the band is curled up in a circular window at the Old Sawmills at Fowey.

Reception
The album was critically acclaimed, and peaked at No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart, and sold 300,000 copies in the UK and over one million worldwide. "The fact that it has sold more worldwide than I Should Coco," said Gaz Coombes, "means we can sleep at night."

"In It for the Money is my favourite album of the year…" declared The Prodigy's Liam Howlett at the close of 1997. "It's quality music. 'Richard III' is a top punk tune – that's why I bought the album."

The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing
All tracks written by Supergrass/Rob Coombes.

CD & limited edition CD (with bonus CD) CDPCS7388 / TC TCPCS7388 / 12" PCS7388
 * 1) "In It for the Money" – 3:05
 * 2) "Richard III" – 3:13
 * 3) "Tonight" – 3:09
 * 4) "Late in the Day" – 4:43
 * 5) "G-Song" – 3:27
 * 6) "Sun Hits the Sky" – 4:55
 * 7) "Going Out" – 4:16
 * 8) "It's Not Me" – 2:56
 * 9) "Cheapskate" – 2:43
 * 10) "You Can See Me" – 3:40
 * 11) "Hollow Little Reign" – 4:08
 * 12) "Sometimes I Make You Sad" – 2:48

Limited edition bonus CD
 * 1) "Caught by the Fuzz" (acoustic) – 3:06
 * 2) "Sitting Up Straight" (alternative mix) – 2:22
 * 3) "Melanie Davis" – 2:46
 * 4) "Odd?" – 4:14 Members of the band can be heard blowing bubbles into a bucket during the outro of this song.
 * 5) "Wait for the Sun" – 4:11
 * 6) "Nothing More's Gonna Get in My Way" – 4:05
 * 7) "Sex!" – 2:38
 * 8) "20ft Halo" – 3:21
 * 9) "Je Suis Votre Papa Sucre" – 1:45

title: In It for the Money


text:
Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park

Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park is a 1984 action/platform game based on the Cabbage Patch Kids franchise. It is the first and only game in the Cabbage Patch Kids Adventures series.

Gameplay
MobyGames described the gameplay thus: "Your player is a Cabbage Patch kid with pigtails who is having a day at the park. A day that includes jumping onto vines and leaping over holes and bouncing onto correct platforms. A misplaced jump will lose a life and additionally there are a few creatures such as bees who end the player's turn when touched. There are several screens of challenge with different combinations of obstacles."

AtariProtos wrote "According to the Colecovision version's manual, Anna Lee has decided to go out for some exercise in the local park and is soon caught up in a wild adventure (hence the subtitle Adventures in the Park). The game is separated into several different screens (referred to in the game as scenes), each with a different obstacle for your kid to overcome.  Obstacles include bouncing balls, water filled pits, floating platforms, bees, and even fires.  Each level consists of ten scenes which must all be overcome before the time limit runs out.  Along the way Anna may also collect various objects hidden in the trees (using well placed trampolines) for points, but these objects are not necessary to win".

History
In the wake of the video game crash of 1983, this game served as "Coleco's attempt to use one of their properties on the way up (Cabbage Patch Kids) to give a boost-through-association to one of their properties on the way down (the ColecoVision)". An unreleased Atari 2600 version was developed by Individeo. It "has now seen the light of day, thanks to a discovery by Alex Handy at a flea market in California" in 2008. The game was known to exist for some time thanks to an interview conducted with a former Coleco programmer, Ed English, many years prior.

Ports
A re-skinned version of the game named Kiddy Park that did not use the Cabbage Patch Kids license was released in the mid-1980's for the short-lived NABU personal computer, which was a Z80-based network personal computer. Due to the NABU personal computer's proprietary network requirements, during its lifetime it was available only in the Ottawa, Canada market.

Reception
AtariAge wrote of the Atari 2600 version: "As luck would have it, Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park is an impressive game, comparable in quality to many modern homebrew games". AtariProtos said "While it may not be able to compare graphically to the Colecovision version, the Atari 2600 version of CPK is an amazing feat of programming. Not only was all the gameplay retained in this conversion, but it even included a cute little background tune which was a rarity in 2600 games.  It appears that CPK was simply a victim of the collapsing game market, and by the time the final version was ready in September 1984, Coleco had stopped its 2600 operations."


text:
Fonthill

Fonthill or Font Hill may refer to:
 * Fonthill Bishop, village in Wiltshire, England
 * Fonthill Gifford, village in Wiltshire, England
 * Fonthill Abbey, Fonthill Lake and Fonthill Grottoes are located between Fonthill Bishop and Fonthill Gifford
 * Fonthill, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States
 * Fonthill, Ontario, community in the town of Pelham, Ontario, Canada
 * Fonthill (house), house in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, United States
 * Fonthill Castle and the Administration Building of the College of Mount St. Vincent, in The Bronx, New York, New York
 * Fonthill, the name of an estate belonging to United States stage actor Edwin Forrest
 * Font Hill Beach, beach in Jamaica
 * Font Hill Manor, historic slave plantation in Maryland, United States

title: Fonthill


text:
Chuck Norris Superkicks

Chuck Norris Superkicks is a video game produced by Xonox in 1984. It was later sold as Kung Fu Superkicks and Super Kung Fu when the license for the use of the name Chuck Norris expired. The game was produced for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Atari 2600, and ColecoVision as part of Xonox's double-ender cartridge line (cartridges with two games and two connectors that were flipped over depending on which one the user wanted to play).

Gameplay
In Chuck Norris Superkicks, Norris must reach a monastery within six minutes. The player controls Chuck Norris on a vertically-scrolling overworld. Norris must walk along a path, and if he steps in the grass, time is lost at a faster rate. Warriors ambush Norris as he walks, causing him to enter battle.

While in battle, Norris faces three enemies, one at a time, who run back and forth and throw shurikens. If an enemy hits Norris, he is knocked down and vulnerable to attacks. If a shuriken hits him, the player loses time and Norris is sent back to the start of the path. Norris has three moves: punch, kick, and block which can be used by pressing the attack button while moving the stick in a certain direction. Pressing the button without moving the stick will make Norris do nothing. The block protects Norris from shurikens, while the punches and kicks must be chosen depending on which part of the enemy's body is exposed.

After defeating some enemies, Norris reaches a checkpoint and a split in the path, along with getting a new belt and an extra minute on the timer. At the next checkpoint, accessible after fighting more enemies and going further down the path, Norris unlocks a new attack that replaces the block and works against every enemy.

At the monastery, Norris fights multiple ninjas, who can turn invisible. The game ends when time runs out.

Plot
Chuck Norris must reach an ancient monastery to rescue a famous leader being held hostage. Dangerous warriors lie in waiting to stop him.

Reception
Computer Games reviewed the Atari 2600 double cartridge with Artillery Duel: "The game isn’t quite as boring as Artillery Duel, but it’s still far from exciting. Two games aren't better than one if they’re both mediocre." Tilt reviewed the Atari 2600 version and gave the game a score of six out of six. TeleMatch gave the Atari 2600 version a score of four out six. AllGame reviewed the ColecoVision version and said that "[o]verall, Chuck Norris Superkicks is an uneven and sometimes laughable gaming experience." Strana Igr ranked the game as the second best fighting game of 1983 behind The Attack of the Phantom Karate Devils. Retro Gamer, in a reader submitted column said: "I'm sure there are folk out there – folk willing to put the time in – who really enjoy this game, but for me, it's just not any fun."

title: Chuck Norris Superkicks


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2149

evidently created as the year Taiwan celebrates 200-year anniversary of independence. Unverifiable anniversary (prediction), and IMHO factually wrong to boot, because it implies Taiwan became independent in 1949. (Disclaimer: I have no vested interests in relations between Taiwan / RoC and the PRC and do not wish to become embroiled in a discussion on such). --Ianb 18:38, 31 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: The whole Taiwan thing is irrelevant: It's a year listing for a year that hasn't happened yet.  We've set long precedent for deleting such 'let me write this event in now, because I may not remember to do it in the year 2219' articles. Geogre 21:27, 31 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Who in their right mind would look up the historical "facts" of a year more than a century off? - Lucky 6.9 21:31, 31 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep as a re-direct to 22nd century. Any objections?? 66.245.81.19 13:22, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. No redirect. Gamaliel 18:16, 4 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Unencyc means of trying to insert PoV. --Jerzy(t) 20:54, 2004 Aug 5 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2149


text: User talk:152.163.252.164

title: User talk:152.163.252.164


text:
Dr. Seuss' Fix-Up the Mix-Up Puzzler

Designed for children ages 4–10, Dr. Seuss' Fix-Up the Mix-Up Puzzler is an electronic sliding puzzle featuring six Dr. Seuss characters: the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, a Star-Bellied Sneetch, the Doorman, and the Woset and Clark. The objective of the game is to reassemble scrambled pictures, each of which is composed of three characters.

Gameplay
There are five difficulty levels from which to choose. In the easiest level, kids can mix and match the characters' heads, torsos and feet any way they like. In higher levels of play, there are more puzzle pieces, some of which are upside down, and characters must be assembled in their original left-to-right order. Puzzles range in size from 9 to 25 pieces. The fifth level has a time limit which, when beaten, will give the player bonus points.

The manual for Dr. Seuss' Fix-Up the Mix-Up Puzzler claims that the game promotes "problem-solving strategies, logic, pattern recognition, memory and a variety of other early learning skills."

title: Dr. Seuss' Fix-Up the Mix-Up Puzzler


text:
Keystone B-3

The Keystone B-3A was a bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Corps by Keystone Aircraft in the late 1920s.

Design and development
The B-3 was originally ordered as the LB-10A (a single-tail modification of the Keystone LB-6), but the Army dropped the LB- 'light bomber' designation in 1930.

Although the performance of the B-3A was hardly better than that of the bombers flown at the end of World War I, it had come a long way in terms of flight safety.

Operational history
The B-3A was a member of the last family of biplanes operated by the US Army; it remained in service until 1940. A few years after it was first produced, the introduction of all-metal monoplanes rendered it almost completely obsolete.

Variants

 * LB-10
 * The last of the 17 LB-6s ordered (S/N 29-27) was converted with a re-designed single fin and rudder and two 525 hp Wright R-1750E engines. Delivered to Wright Field on 7 July 1929, it was wrecked on 12 November 1929.

 * LB-10A
 * This version used Pratt and Whitney R-1690-3 Hornet engines and was slightly smaller, in both wingspan and length. A total of 63 were ordered (S/N 30-281/343). All were re-designated as the B-3A before any deliveries were made, with the final 27 built as B-5A with Wright engines.

 * B-3A
 * Ordered as LB-10A, 36 delivered as B-3A (S/N 30-281/316). The first aircraft was delivered in October 1930.

 * B-5A
 * Ordered as B-3A, re-engined with Wright R-1750-3 Cyclone engines, 27 built (S/N 30-317/343).

Operators

 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * United States Army Air Corps
 * 2d Bombardment Group, Langley Field, Virginia
 * 20th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A and B-5A 1931–1932
 * 49th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A and B-5A 1931–1932
 * 96th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A and B-5A 1931–1932
 * 4th Composite Group, Nichols Field, Luzon, Philippines
 * 28th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A 1932–1937
 * 2nd Observation Squadron- operated B-3A 1938–1940
 * 5th Composite Group, Luke Field, Territory of Hawaii
 * 23d Bomb Squadron – operated B-5A 1932–1937
 * 72d Bomb Squadron – operated B-5A 1932–1936
 * 6th Composite Group, France Field, Panama Canal Zone
 * 25th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A 1932–1936
 * 7th Bombardment Group, March Field, California
 * 9th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A 1931–1934
 * 11th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A 1931–1934
 * 31st Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A 1931–1934
 * 19th Bombardment Group, Rockwell Field, California
 * 30th Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A 1932–1936
 * 32d Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A 1932–1935
 * Air Corps Advanced Flying School, Kelly Field, Texas
 * 42d Bomb Squadron – operated B-3A and B-5A 1935–1936
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines
 * Philippine Army Air Corps
 * 10th Bombardment Squadron

title: Keystone B-3


text:
Keystone B-4

The Keystone B-4 was a biplane bomber, built by the Keystone Aircraft company for the United States Army Air Corps.

Design and development
Originally ordered by the United States Army Air Corps as the LB-13 light bomber. When the LB- designation was dropped in 1930, the first five planes were redesignated Y1B-4. (The Y1B- designation indicates that funds for the design did not come from the normal annual funds.)

The first B-3A (S/N 30-281) was converted to Y1B-4 configuration with the addition of R-1860-7 radial engines and low pressure tires. Because of more powerful engines, the performance of the Y1B-4 was a slight improvement on the B-3, but the only difference between the two planes was their engines. On April 28, 1931, the army ordered 25 improved Y1B-4s as the Keystone B-4A. This production version was part of the last biplane bomber order made by the Army Air Corps (along with 39 B-6As, identical in all respects except their make of engine), and the B-4As, delivered between January and April 1932, were the last biplane bombers delivered to the Air Corps.

Operational history
The B-4 was the last of the Keystone biplane bombers ordered by the U.S. Army in late 1931. These aircraft were used primarily as observation and reconnaissance aircraft as early as 1934 when the Martin B-10B went into operational service. Some remained in service into the early 1940s.

Variants

 * LB-13
 * Seven aircraft ordered but delivered as the Y1B-4 and Y1B-6 with different engine installations.

 * Y1B-4
 * Five pre-production aircraft, as the LB-10 but with two 575 hp (429 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1860-7 engines.

 * B-4A
 * Production version of the Y1B-4, 25 built.

Operators

 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * United States Army Air Corps

title: Keystone B-4