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Danny Williams (boxer)

Daniel Peter Williams (born 13 July 1973) is a British professional boxer. He has challenged once for the WBC and the Ring magazine heavyweight titles in 2004. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Commonwealth title twice between 1999 and 2006; the British title twice between 2000 and 2010; and challenged once for the European title in 2003. As an amateur, he won bronze medals at the 1993 European Championships and 1994 Commonwealth Games. Williams is best known for scoring an upset knockout victory against Mike Tyson in 2004.

Early life
Williams's parents are both originally from Jamaica. Williams grew up in Brixton, South London with his 2 older brothers and 1 younger sister.

Amateur career
As an amateur boxer out of the famous Lynn AC boxing gym in SE London, Williams learned his trade quickly, often sparring with the likes of clubmates Henry Akinwande and Derek Angol. In 1991 Williams won the PLA tournament and won a gold medal in Sardinia multi-nation tournament and a gold medal in the Greek multi-nations tournament. In the Finland multi-nations in 1992 he won a bronze medal.

Williams also won a bronze medal at the European Championships 1993 at heavyweight in the 91 kg/201 lbs limit and bronze at super heavyweight at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Williams also won a gold medal at the 1994 Liverpool multi-nations tournament. His amateur record was 29–6.

Highlights
Tammer tournament, Tampere, Finland, October 1992:
 * 1/4: Defeated Girdrius Monstvilas (Lithuania) RSC 1
 * 1/2: Lost to Vasiliy Kirianov (Finland) 22:28

European championships, Bursa, Turkey, September 1993:
 * 1/8: Defeated Edin Bajrić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) AB 2
 * 1/4: Defeated Dmitriy Karpeyev (Ukraine) RSC 3
 * 1/2: Lost to Don Diego Poeder (Netherlands) KO 1

Multi-nations tournament, Liverpool, England, May 1994:
 * 1/2: Defeated Shane Hinton (Canada) RSC 2
 * Finals: Defeated Danny Watts (England) KO 1

Commonwealth games, Victoria, Canada, August 1994:
 * 1/4: Defeated Shane Hinton (Canada) 19:9
 * 1/2: Lost to Duncan Dokiwari (Nigeria) 13:24

Early career
Williams turned pro in 1995 knocking out Vance Ideans in two rounds. He fought routinely on Frank Warren undercards and compiled a 15–0 (12 knockouts) record. He is currently managed by London promoter Michael Helliet and is trained by Jim McDonagh. He took his first big step up in April 1999 to challenge Julius Francis for his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. A hot favourite, Williams lost in a points decision to the 34-year-old veteran.

Francis would later vacate the Commonwealth title for a big money fight with Mike Tyson. Williams won the title with a closely contested split decision over respected British contender (and former amateur clubmate) Harry Senior.

First reign as British and Commonwealth champion
In 2000 Williams put together four knockouts before fighting Mark Potter for the Commonwealth title and the vacant British title. In an extremely dramatic fight, Williams suffered a dislocated right arm, yet very bravely fought on with one arm over two rounds before knocking Potter out with a left uppercut.

After an eight-month layoff for surgery and recovery, Williams returned to knock out a respected opponent – Kali Meehan in 32 seconds, and then avenged his defeat to Francis, stopping the 36-year-old on an eye injury in the 4th round. Afterwards he was signed by Don King and ended 2001 knocking out US journeyman Shaun Robinson in two rounds on an undercard in America. His tenure under King would prove to be uneventful, and he did not renew his contract at the end of 2002, a year that saw Williams retain his British and Commonwealth titles with a knockout of late sub Michael Sprott and a points win over Keith Long. As this was Williams' third defence of the British title, he won the Lonsdale belt outright, before dropping out of a fight in America with hard hitting South African southpaw Corrie Sanders, because it coincided with Ramadan.

European title challenge
In February 2003 Williams travelled to Germany to fight the Turk Sinan Samil Sam for his European heavyweight title. A hot favourite, Williams was surprisingly dropped three times and stopped in six rounds. In the UK, his local rivals Audley Harrison and Herbie Hide derided him in the press.

Williams returned with a fourth round stoppage of Australian Bob Mirovic to retain his Commonwealth title, then knocked out Michael Sprott in five rounds to defend his British & Commonwealth titles.

To begin 2004, Williams re-signed with Frank Warren then lost his British and Commonwealth in a third meeting with Michael Sprott via a disputed close points decision.

Williams vs. Tyson
After two comeback knockout wins, Williams boxed former world champion Mike Tyson in Freedom Hall State Fairground, Louisville, Kentucky in July 2004. After staggering Williams numerous times in the first round, Tyson was unable to seriously hurt Williams in subsequent rounds and could not cope with Williams' sustained aggression and accurate combination punching. Williams knocked Tyson down with a series of punches in the fourth round and the bloodied former world champion was unable, or possibly unwilling, to beat the count, thus being knocked out.

Williams vs. Klitschko
In December he finally challenged for a world heavyweight title, but Vitali Klitschko proved too much, as Williams was stopped in the 8th round.

Second reign as Commonwealth champion
In December Williams regained his old Commonwealth belt by beating undefeated Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison by split decision. Williams retained the Commonwealth title with a controversial points win over undefeated Matt Skelton in March 2006. After beating 	Adnan Serin by a third round retirement, Williams lost His Commonwealth title by unanimous decision in a rematch with Skelton

In December 2006 when Skelton dropped out of a fight with Audley Harrison, Williams stepped in at a weeks notice. By his own admission he had been training for eight weeks for a fight with British champion Scott Gammer. Williams lost by T.K.O. in the 3rd round, suffering a broken nose.

Second reign as British champion
In March 2007 Williams regained the British title in Wales with a 9th-round knockout of Scott Gammer. Williams came in at the lightest he had been since his pro debut 16 stones 4 pounds {4 stones lighter than his previous fight} after training himself for the fight just with a piece of paper that contained a conditioning programme given to him by Joe Dunbar who had worked with Lennox Lewis.

After he had watched the tape of his fight with Gammer, Williams decided he would continue boxing and took a fight with 26–1 22 KOs Ukrainian prospect Oleg Platov. He came in again at 270 lbs. Both fighters were engaged in wild exchanges from the first bell on. The Ukrainian picked up a badly-bleeding cut above the left eye following an accidental headbutt in the second round and he continued to swing wild punches but not without taking some huge shots from Williams. After 2:15 in the fourth and with the cut getting worse, the referee waved the fight off. According to the rules of the IBF, it was declared a no contest. Sauerland managing director Chris Meyer defended the decision. "The rules are clear", he said. "We had an accidental headbutt and the referee, who consulted the doctor several times, ruled he could not continue to protect his health." Speaking exclusively to SecondsOut after the fight a disappointed Williams said: "He (Platov) was looking for a way out and he got it. He knew the rules and worked them. He was starting to tire and knew it was only a matter of time before I knocked him out. ...I found it slow in the early rounds but I when I got going I started to get on top. He knew I was gonna knock him out and he was looking for a way out. I’m not sure whether or not it was a punch or a head clash that cut him in the second round. It took be a little while to get going but I really enjoyed it, it was a great fight while it lasted. But he was looking for a way out. He kept falling to the floor and it was only a matter of time before I knocked him out."

On 30 May 2008 Williams defeated unbeaten German, Konstantin Airich in a highly controversial fight. Williams had a total of 3 points deducted in rounds 2 and 5 creating a feeling afterwards that the referee was blatantly on the side of the German. In addition he was given 2 standing 8 counts by the referee in round 3 despite not actually being knocked down or touching the canvas, and was also counted after slipping in round 4. After managing to fight back and score a knockdown himself in round 5, in the 6th round Williams unleashed a series of extremely punishing blows on his opponent sending him reeling across the ring. At this point Airich's promoter Ahmet Oner controversially ran over and rang the timekeeper's bell himself to end the round and save his fighter, even though there was still 1:28 left to go in the round. Despite this confusion the fight continued after the shortened 6th round and after seeing his man absorb more heavy punishment in the next round Oner eventually threw in the towel handing Williams a 7th-round TKO victory.

In the aftermath of the fight Williams was extremely critical of the performance of both the referee and fight promoters, and has called for the British Boxing Board of Control to conduct an immediate investigation into the fight.

Williams faced John McDermott at Goresbrook Leisure Centre, Dagenham on 18 July 2008. Despite being deducted three points in rounds eleven and twelve, he defeated McDermott in a majority points decision.

Williams vs. Sosnowski
He was due to face John McDermott in a rematch at York Hall on 8 November 2008, but McDermott withdrew due to a rib injury. Williams also faced a bout with Francois Botha on 30 November 2008 in Egypt. Polish fighter Albert Sosnowski was called in as a late replacement for McDermott.

Williams suffered a shock defeat by 8th-round TKO and as a result the Botha fight was called off. The McDermott rematch was finally arranged for 2 May 2009 in a defence of the British Heavyweight Championship belt that Williams held. Williams won the match in a points victory over McDermott.

Prizefighter
Williams took part in the Prizefighter tournament on 2 October 2009. In the run up to the tournament Williams said he would knock out Audley Harrison and show himself as the best British heavyweight. In his first bout on the night, Carl Baker from Sheffield beat Williams on points after knocking him down twice in the opening round.

Williams vs. Chisora
Williams defended his British title for a third and final time against Derek Chisora on 15 May 2010. Williams lost by KO in round two. Before the fight he promised this would be his last fight, win or lose, but he has yet to announce his retirement. The fight was originally due to take place against Sam Sexton in February but was put back to May after Sexton injured his hand. Sexton withdrew from the fight again after his mother suffered a brain aneurysm and Chisora stepped in as a replacement.

Comeback
Williams returned to boxing after nearly a year of inactivity with a 2nd-round TKO victory over German Frank Kary Roth in Bielefeld on 5 March 2011. Williams was now being licensed to fight by the Baltic League of Professional Boxing, with the British Boxing Board of Control stating they had concerns about Williams's decline in ability to box. On 9 April, he scored his second KO win since his comeback. He won a 1-round KO against Hungarian Laszlo Toth. On 25 June Williams suffered a TKO defeat against Manuel Charr. The fight was controversially stopped in round 7 after a barrage from Williams was returned by a short flurry from Charr. It appeared that the referee stopped the fight in Charr's favour as soon as it looked like he may be in trouble. He then won a SD against Alfred Cole on 3 September, in Sweden, Cole returning after two years away from the sport.

A fight with unbeaten Alexander Ustinov was set to take place in October 2011, but Williams withdrew due to a viral infection. Williams fought the Norwegian heavyweight boxer Leif Olve Dolonen Larsen in Pabellon Municipal, Silla, Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain on Friday 2 December 2011. Williams was dropped several times by the former NFL footballer and the fight was stopped in the second round. Williams announced his retirement once again shortly afterwards, but a return to boxing was scheduled against 0–3 middleweight Marvin Meyer, leading to various hoax articles claiming that Williams was moving down to middleweight. This fight never happened, and neither did a rematch with Zoltan Petranyi for the Universal Boxing Organisation (UBO) European title, which was called off on the day of the fight after Williams was cut when he fell over in the shower. The two fighters entered the ring on fight night to apologise to the crowd for the incident. A second rescheduling of the fight, which had already been postponed from 2011 due to "personal problems" for Williams, was promised but has yet to be scheduled.

Williams had two unsuccessful title challenges in September 2012, being outpointed in Finland by Janne Katajisto for the obscure Baltic Boxing Union belt and then being stopped in the 4th round against Christian Hammer in a WBO European heavyweight title fight. Williams refused to take a drugs test after the fight, claiming there was no point as he was going to retire, and that he was shot.

Just days after announcing yet another retirement, Williams called out Mark Potter for a rematch of their famous clash in 2000 when Williams knocked out Potter despite having a dislocated shoulder. Potter responded saying he was very keen on the fight. The fight is likely to be unlicensed as Potter's BBBofC license was taken away after suffering a detached retina, while the BBBofC have already announced their reservations against licensing Williams. Williams later claimed he had been told to call out Potter on camera, and that he was not being serious.

Once again, Williams's retirement proved to be short-lived as he fought Denis Bakhtov in Podolsk, Russia on 8 December 2012, losing by unanimous decision over 10 rounds. He fought again just 13 days later losing in a points decision against Werner Kreiskott over 8 rounds. In March 2013 he was stopped in round 2 by cruiserweight Mairis Briedis in Riga, Latvia. This fight was unsanctioned as it was an exhibition. Danny fought Kelvin Price on 18 May 2013 losing a controversial decision in Russia. He then went on to fight notorious English hard man Dominic Negus in an unlicensed fight in London, England as a farewell to his fans, stopping Negus in the 4th round.

Williams claimed the lightly-regarded Global Boxing Federation (GBF) World Heavyweight title on 28 April 2018 in Hungary when he defeated Czech journeyman Martin Stensky.

In July 2018 in Aberdeen, Williams lost a WBU heavyweight title fight on an event sanctioned by the British & Irish Boxing Authority against former lightweight Lee McAllister. This fight was not recognised by BoxRec. Williams once again announced his retirement after this fight.

Personal life
Williams is a devout Muslim and was first drawn to Islam while abroad, "I went to Turkey and heard the Adhan" he explained. "I was a Christian at the time and I got goosebumps and carried on looking into Islam and I just felt this was the way of life for me and this was the way of life for God."

Williams has 2 daughters, Nubiah (born 1999) and Maliha (born 2004).

title: Danny Williams (boxer)


text:
Bishop of Manchester

The Bishop of Manchester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.

The current bishop is David Walker who was enthroned on 30 November 2013. The bishop's official residence is Bishopscourt, Broughton, Salford.

History
The Diocese of Manchester was founded in 1847. With the growth of the population in and around Manchester, the bishop appointed the first suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Hulme, in 1924 to assist in overseeing the diocese. Three years later a second was appointed, the Bishop of Middleton. After nearly sixty years, the third and final suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Bolton, was appointed in 1984.

Assistant bishops
Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese are:
 * 1887 – 1901 (d.): Francis Cramer-Roberts, Vicar of Blackburn, Archdeacon of Blackburn (1900 onwards) and former Bishop of Nassau

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

title: Bishop of Manchester


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Fair Snape Fell

Fair Snape Fell is one of the larger hills in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England. It reaches 521.9 m with a prominence of 226.2 m and is classed as a Marilyn. It occupies a position in the very south of the main range of fells, alongside and just to the north of Parlick, to which it is joined by a ridge. The main paths approach the summit from Parlick in the south, Saddle Fell in the east and Bleasdale in the valley to the west. The Saddle Fell approach is as boggy as the hills to the north. The summit is covered in grass and peat groughs. A trig point and large cairn occupy the top of the western escarpment, with the highest point being about 700 m to the north-east.

The word snape means "pasture"; thus Fair Snape Fell means "fell of the fair (beautiful) pasture".

Considerable areas of the Bowland fells were used for military training during World War II and there are still unexploded bombs in some areas, including nearby Wolf Fell.

title: Fair Snape Fell


text:
Bishop of Newcastle (England)

The Bishop of Newcastle is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Newcastle in the Province of York.

The diocese presently covers the County of Northumberland and the Alston Moor area of Cumbria. The see is in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Nicholas, a parish church elevated to cathedral status in 1882. The bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Gosforth — not far north of Newcastle city centre.

The office has existed since the founding of the diocese in 1882 under Queen Victoria by division of the diocese of Durham. Helen-Ann Hartley became diocesan Bishop of Newcastle on 3 February 2023, the confirmation of her election.

Assistant bishops
Among those others who have served the diocese as assistant bishops have been:
 * 1924 – 1933 (res.): Cecil Wood, Vicar of Jesmond and former Bishop of Melanesia
 * Anthony Hunter resigned as assistant bishop effective 1 September 1980.

title: Bishop of Newcastle (England)


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Spitbank Fort

Spitbank Fort or Spitsand Fort or Spit Sand Fort or simply Spit Fort is a sea fort built as a result of the 1859 Royal Commission. The fort is one of four built as part of the Palmerston Forts constructions. Located in the Solent, near Portsmouth, England, and is now a luxury hotel.

Active naval installation, 1878-1956
The four armour-plated forts were designed by Captain E. H. Stewart overseen by Assistant Inspector General of Fortifications, Colonel W. F. D. Jervois. Construction started in 1867, and was completed in 1878, at a cost of £167,300 STG.

Spitbank is smaller than the two main Solent forts, Horse Sand Fort and No Man's Land Fort. Its main purpose was as a further line of defence for ships that made it past the two main forts. It is 49.4 m in diameter across at its base, with one floor and a basement and armour plating only on the seaward side. It was originally planned to have been armed with nine 10" 18-ton rifled muzzle loader (RML) guns on the seaward side, and six 7" seven-ton RML guns on the landward side. However, by the time of completion the plan had changed so that the seaward side received nine 12.5-inch muzzle-loading (RML) guns. From 1884 more modern 12-inch breechloading guns were installed and these were in service until after World War I.

In 1898 the role of the fort was changed to defend against light craft and the roof was fitted out with two 4.7" guns and searchlights. In the early 1900s all but three original large guns were removed. Minor upgrades to the smaller guns and searchlights continued through the years. A 2020 report stated that during the Second World War, "the forts were used to defend the Portsmouth dockyards. Life on site was grim; those serving were deliberately chosen for their inability to swim, to avoid any attempt to escape".

Disused, 1956-1982
The fort remained unused after the abolition of coastal artillery in 1956. The fort was declared surplus to requirements in 1962, and put up for sale the following year unsuccessfully. The fort was declared a Scheduled Monument in 1967. The Ministry of Defence sold the fort to a private buyer in 1982, amid other defence spending cuts in the early 1980s.

Museum, 1982-2009
Following the purchase of the fort, it underwent restoration and was opened to the public as a museum.

Beginning June 4, 2002 the fort was used as a location for Banged Up With Beadle. For six weeks British TV personality Jeremy Beadle was locked in its dungeons. Cameras followed him as he coped with survival, plus learning skills with a different member of the public each week. These skills were put to the test as a live insert each Saturday evening into Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. It was the venue for the Coalition Festival in the summer of 2009, and other psytrance and hard dance parties.

Hotel, 2012- present
In 2009 it was put on sale for GB£800000 but was sold before auction, reportedly for more than £1m. The fort was remodelled, with works reportedly costing around £2.6 million, and opened in 2012 as a luxury spa hotel and retreat with nine bedroom suites.

A 2018 report however, stated that Spitbank, "largely undamaged, has been protected from inappropriate development by its status ... as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the designers have been scrupulously careful to preserve ... all the fitments...". At the time, the "9-suite Spitbank ... [was] spectacularly open for business, whether overnight stays, corporate events or weddings". Events for up to 60 guests could be accommodated, "during the day, but most would have to leave on the last boat".

In 2020, use of the hotel was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The hotel was unable to reopen as other English hotels did in July, "due to their unique requirements in both transportation and sanitisation requirements". All three Clarenco Forts were listed for sale in July. Spitbank Fort was described as a "33,000 sq ft boutique retreat on three floors". On September 14, 2020, Pendulum recorded a concert at Spitbank Fort to promote their new single Driver/Nothing for Free that was streamed live on YouTube on October 2, 2020. In June 2024 the fort sold at auction to an unknown buyer for £1,120,000.

title: Spitbank Fort


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Bishop of Ripon

The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight of the archdeaconry of Richmond and Craven, which consists of the deaneries of Bowland, Ewecross, Harrogate, Richmond, Ripon, Skipton, and Wensley.

The current title Bishop of Ripon is renamed from Bishop of Knaresborough, which was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Dioceses of Ripon (later Ripon and Leeds) and then of Leeds, in the Province of York, England. The title took its name after the historic market and spa town of Knaresborough in North Yorkshire.

The Diocese of Ripon and Leeds was dissolved on 20 April 2014 and its former territory was added to the new Diocese of Leeds. The first Area Bishop of Ripon was James Bell, who had previously been the suffragan Bishop of Knaresborough and area bishop in Ripon, and was acting diocesan Bishop of Ripon and Leeds until the dissolution of that diocese.

Following the creation of the Diocese of Leeds on 20 April 2014, the see of Knaresborough was eventually renamed to become the suffragan see for the area Bishop of Ripon. To that end the General Synod approved a petition from the Bishop of Leeds in February 2015; that petition was approved by the Queen-in-Council on 19 March 2015 and so the see was translated to Ripon.

James Bell continued in the same See, becoming the area Bishop of Ripon. On 9 November 2017, it was announced that Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Waikato (in Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia) was to become the next Bishop of Ripon and she was installed on 4 February 2018. On 3 February 2023, Hartley was translated to Newcastle. On 27 April 2023, it was announced that Anna Eltringham was to become the next area Bishop of Ripon; she took up the post with her episcopal consecration on 22 June 2023.

title: Bishop of Ripon


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John Denniston Patton

John Denniston Patton (November 28, 1829 – February 22, 1904) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Pennsylvania.

Patton was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania and attended public school there. He worked in a tannery for several years and then engaged in mercantile pursuits in his hometown. He was elected as a Democrat to the forty-eighth Congress, serving from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1885. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1884, after which he retired from public life. Patton died in Indiana, Pennsylvania and was interred in Oakland Cemetery there.

title: John Denniston Patton


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ATS Automation Tooling Systems

ATS Corporation is a Canadian company based in Cambridge, Ontario, that designs and builds factory automation systems. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

History
ATS was founded by Klaus Woerner in 1978. Woerner, who immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1974, ran the company until his death in 2005, overseeing significant growth. In 2007, ATS pulled the planned IPO of its solar division, Photowatt. Partially as a result of this, two hedge funds, Goodwood and Mason Capital Management, led a proxy fight against the firm, leading to the a new board of directors and management team. Anthony Caputo became CEO at this time. Photowatt under-performed significantly in the years that followed; the company eventually sold Photowatt's French operations to EDF Group.

In 2011, ATS purchased Sortimat Group, a German life sciences automation firm, for $62 million. In 2013, they purchased German packaging firm IWK for $144 million, and in 2014, they purchased the automation business of German company M+W Group for $362 million.

In February 2017, Andrew Hider was appointed CEO of the company.

In September 2023, ATS acquired Avidity Science, a biomedical research and life sciences water purification equipment provider, for $195 million.

Operations
ATS builds automation systems for the medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, semiconductor, fiber optics, automotive, computers, solar energy and consumer products industries. As of 2018, they have designed and built 23,000 automation systems.

ATS employs approximately 6500 people worldwide, with 20 facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.

title: ATS Automation Tooling Systems


text: User talk:213.7.10.17

title: User talk:213.7.10.17


text:
Gresham Barrett

James Gresham Barrett (born February 14, 1961) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for SC's 3rd congressional district from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was a candidate for its nomination for Governor of South Carolina in the 2010 election. A resident of Westminster, South Carolina, the district he represented runs along the Savannah River in the northwestern part of the state.

Early life, education, and business career
Barrett was born in Westminster in Oconee County. Barrett attended The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina and graduated in 1983. He served in the United States Army from 1983 to 1987, attaining the rank of captain in the field artillery. Barrett managed the family's furniture store.

South Carolina legislature
He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and served from 1996 to 2002, and was assigned to the Education and Public Works Committee, Labor Commerce and Industry Committee, Rules Committee, and the School Choice Ad Hoc Committee. He was also the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Urban Growth. During the 2000 Presidential Election Barrett was a member of the George W. Bush for President South Carolina State Steering Committee.

Elections
Barrett won a congressional seat in 2002 to replace Lindsey Graham, who retired to run for the U.S. Senate, and took office in January 2003. He ran unopposed for reelection in 2004. In 2006, Barrett won reelection by defeating Democratic challenger Lee Ballenger with 63 percent of the vote. Barrett outspent his opponent $857,922 to $27,891. In 2008, he defeated Democrat Jane Ballard Dyer, carrying 65 percent of the vote.

Tenure
Barrett missed 571 votes as of March 31, 2010, more than any other member of the 111th House and totaling 43% of the votes since the beginning of this term.

According to the National Journal Barrett was among the most conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, National Right to Life Committee, and the National Federation of Independent Business.

In July 2006, Barrett was one of 33 members of the House of Representatives to vote against renewal of the Voting Rights Act. In 2007, he voted against the Democratic version of SCHIP. Barrett supports offshore drilling to make the United States energy independent. On April 15, 2008 Barrett became the 71st Co-Sponsor of the FairTax (H.R. 25 ). Following a 2009 Congressional pay raise that many felt unmerited, Congressman Barrett protested by giving his pay raise to Anderson Interfaith Ministries.

Barrett is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. In 2008, he opposed H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act (a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling").

In 2003, Barrett introduced the Stop Terrorist Entry Program Act (STEP). The STEP Act updates and amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar the admission of individuals from countries listed by the Department of State as State Sponsors of Terrorism. The STEP Act, as introduced in 2003, would not only bar citizens from the list from ever entering the United States, but would also deport non-immigrant visa holders legally residing in the United States that are citizens of countries on the list. Though Barrett said that the updated STEP Act was in response to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and the failed bombing attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Keith Olbermann said neither of the alleged perpetrators would have fallen under its restrictions. Alleged Flight 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is a citizen of Nigeria, which is not listed as a state sponsor of terrorism, and Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was born in Arlington, Virginia.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Financial Services
 * Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
 * Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
 * Committee on Foreign Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Europe
 * Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
 * Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
 * Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

2010 gubernatorial election
In March 2009, Barrett announced his candidacy for Governor of South Carolina in the 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election. Candidates for the Republican nomination included; State Attorney General Henry McMaster, State Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, Congressman Barrett, and State Representative Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley led the first nomination ballot with 49% of the vote falling just short of the 50% threshold needed to win the nomination outright on June 8, 2010. Haley won the run-off election on June 22, 2010 with 65% to Barrett's 35%.

Personal life
Barrett is married to Natalie Barrett (née Finley) and has three children. He has served as a member of several boards, including as President of the Westminster Rotary Club, Chairman of the Oconee District Boy Scouts, President of the Westminster Chamber of Commerce, board member of the Oconee County Red Cross, member of the Oconee Kids Do Count Board, and coach of the Barrett's Furniture PONY League Baseball team. Barrett is also a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

Barrett was named one of The Hill's Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill for 2008, placing ninth and becoming the only congressperson or elected official in the top 10.

title: Gresham Barrett


text:
Bishop of Wakefield

The Bishop of Wakefield is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a diocesan bishop in 1888, but it was dissolved in 2014. The Bishop of Wakefield is now an area bishop who has oversight of an episcopal area in the Diocese of Leeds.

The area Bishop of Wakefield is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The Bishop of Wakefield has oversight of the archdeaconry of Pontefract, which consists of the deaneries of Barnsley, Pontefract, and Wakefield. As well as being the area bishop for the Wakefield Episcopal Area, Robinson also provides alternative episcopal oversight for the Diocese of Leeds as a whole, administering to those parishes in the diocese which reject the ministry of priests who are women.

The area bishop's residence is Pontefract House, Wakefield. The current area Bishop of Wakefield is Tony Robinson, who has previously been the suffragan Bishop of Pontefract until that see was translated (renamed) to Wakefield in 2015.

The Bishop of Pontefract was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Dioceses of Wakefield and then of Leeds, in the Province of York, England. The title took its name after the town of Pontefract in West Yorkshire; the See was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council dated 27 October 1930. In the Wakefield diocese, the Bishop of Pontefract was the suffragan bishop for the diocese as a whole but primarily had alternative episcopal oversight for those parishes which rejected the ministry of priests who were women; Robinson now fulfils this role for the new diocese.

Following the creation of the Diocese of Leeds on 20 April 2014, the see was eventually renamed to become the suffragan see for the area Bishop of Wakefield. To that end the General Synod approved a petition from the Bishop of Leeds in February 2015; that petition was approved by the Queen-in-Council on 19 March 2015 and so the see was translated to Wakefield.

Tony Robinson continues in the same See, becoming the area Bishop of Wakefield. He will retire 31 August 2024.

title: Bishop of Wakefield


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Bishop of Monmouth

The Bishop of Monmouth (Welsh: Esgob Mynwy) is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth.

The episcopal see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at Newport Cathedral (commonly known as St Woolos' Cathedral) in the city of Newport. The former Church of St Woolos, which had existed in Newport since the sixth or seventh century AD, was originally the temporary seat of the Bishop when the Diocese of Monmouth was created in 1921. St Woolos was eventually raised to Cathedral status in 1949.

The bishop's residence is Bishopstow, which is in central Newport.

The diocese is one of two new ones founded in the 1920s when the Church in Wales was 'disestablished' and became independent of the established Church of England. The current Bishop is Cherry Vann, elected in 2019 as the first female Bishop of the Diocese. Her immediate predecessors were Richard Pain, previously Archdeacon of Monmouth, and Dominic Walker OGS, previously area Bishop of Reading in the Church of England.

The Diocese of Monmouth has also produced a number of Archbishops of Wales, most notably Rowan Williams, who was subsequently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002 - believed to be the first Welsh-born bishop to hold that post since the English Reformation in the 16th century. He was also the Archbishop of Wales at the time of his appointment to Canterbury and was styled as "Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth".

title: Bishop of Monmouth


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Bishop of Swansea and Brecon

The Bishop of Swansea and Brecon is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Swansea and Brecon.

The diocese covers the City and County of Swansea and the ancient counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Evangelist in the town of Brecon, which has been a parish church since the Reformation, becoming elevated to cathedral status in 1923. The diocese is administered from Brecon, with an additional office in Swansea.

The Bishop's residence is Ely Tower, Brecon. The office was created in 1923 at the founding of the diocese, an area stretching south to the coast of Gower and north into much of mid-Wales. Immediately prior to the diocese's erection, the first bishop, Edward Bevan, had served as Bishop of Swansea, a suffragan in the Diocese of St Davids.

It was announced on 4 November 2021 that John Lomas, Archdeacon of Wrexham had been appointed as the 10th Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. His election was confirmed at a Sacred Synod in Wrexham on 22 November 2021.

title: Bishop of Swansea and Brecon


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Public journalism

Public journalism may mean:

 * Citizen journalism, journalism as practiced by non-professionals
 * Civic journalism, a brand of politically engaged journalism practiced by certain news organizations

title: Public journalism


text:
Agricore United

Agricore United, Inc. was a farmer-directed agribusiness in Canada. It supplied crop nutrition and crop protection products, and offered grain handling and marketing services. It was created on November 1, 2001 by the merger of Agricore and United Grain Growers. It was headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its shares were publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "AU" ("AU.LV" – Limited voting common shares; "AU.DB" – Convertible 9% debentures; "AU.PR.A" – Series 'A' preferred shares) until June 15, 2007, when it was taken over by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Agri-business giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) had a 28% stake in the company at the time of the takeover.

Ancestry
Agricore United was the continuation of several companies with deep historical roots in western Canada. The Grain Growers' Grain Company Limited was originally incorporated in 1906 under the laws of Manitoba. In 1917, The Grain Growers' Grain Company Limited and The Alberta Farmers' Cooperative Elevator Company Limited amalgamated to form United Grain Growers Limited (UGG). In 1923, the Alberta Wheat Pool (AWP) was incorporated under the laws of Alberta. In 1924, Manitoba Pool Elevators (MPE) was incorporated under the laws of Manitoba. In 1992, UGG was continued under the Governing Act, a Special Act of the Parliament of Canada. In 1998, AWP and MPE merged to form Agricore Cooperative Limited. In 2001, UGG combined its business operations with Agricore Cooperative Ltd. and began doing business as Agricore United.

Takeover
In November 2006, the company became the target of takeover bids from two other rival grain handlers: the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool ("SaskPool", "SWP") of Regina, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg-based James Richardson International ("JRI"). The initial and subsequent offers from SaskPool involved a stock swap, with no or little cash being offered, prompting the AU Board of Directors to reject them. In February 2007, AU and JRI announced that they had negotiated a merger arrangement to form a publicly traded company to be known as "Richardson Agricore", subject to shareholder agreement.

A subsequent bidding war led to a stock+cash offer from SaskPool and an all-cash offer from JRI to form a private company; a higher, $20.50 all-cash offer from SaskPool in May eventually prevailed, with 81% of the limited voting shares being tendered to the Pool by shareholders by the end of May, including all the ADM shares. This exceeded the 75% required by the terms of AU's incorporation to change the corporate structure and, after a special shareholders' meeting in June, AU became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. AU's CEO, Brian Hayward, resigned, as did the Board of Directors, and SaskPool's CEO and Board were voted in. SaskPool had Agricore United's common and preferred shares delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) on June 20, 2007, and the members of the senior management team for the amalgamated company were announced the next day. As of June 29, no decision had been reached on the name or location of the new company, and it was expected to take about 12 months to complete the merging of the company's operations.

As a result of the acceptance of the SaskPool offer, JRI received a $35 million termination fee and was able to purchase a number of AU's grain and farm supply facilities; Cargill Canada was able to make a similar purchase, as part of a pre-merger deal width SaskPool to satisfy Canada's Competition Bureau. AU employees, along with the grain and farm supply inventories at the affected facilities, were transferred to the purchasing companies.

It is generally believed within the Canadian agricultural industry that the biggest winners in the transaction were AU's shareholders, with SaskPool paying too much for AU, and that SaskPool gave up too many facilities to their competitors. Substantial number of head office employees are expected to be laid off once the integration of the two companies is complete.

On August 30, 2007, the company formerly known as Agricore United ceased to exist and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was rebranded to be known as Viterra.

Grain handling and merchandising
Agricore bought, marketed and transported grain, oil seeds and other special crops from the farm to end-use markets using the company's network of grain elevators from Manitoba to British Columbia and ownership/interest in port terminals in Vancouver, Thunder Bay and Prince Rupert. The grain was moved from the farmer's field to the company's geographically dispersed and strategically located country elevator network. Grain was then shipped to a domestic, U.S. or Mexican customer, such as a flour mill, crushing plant, feed mill or maltster, or to a port terminal for export to end-use customers in Europe, South America, the Pacific Rim, Africa and the Middle East.

Crop production services
The company sold more crop inputs in western Canada than any other company. This included manufacture, distribution and crop production support, including crop nutrition and crop protection products, seed and agronomic services to farmers, through about 200 locations from Manitoba to British Columbia. Agronomic Crop Enhancement (ACE) specialists provide technical advice on crop production issues and help the Customer Service Representative (CSR) advise the grower about choices for the most profitable crop practices. Beyond offering crop nutrition such as fertilizers, more than 200 crop protection products were offered including herbicides and insecticides. Agricore owned or leases three distribution warehouses, and supported the sale of crop nutrition and protection products by providing custom application services directly or through third-party contractors.

Livestock
The company's livestock business formulated and manufactured feed for dairy and beef cattle, swine, poultry and other specialty feeds from seven HACCP certified feed mills, one HACCP certified pre-mix manufacturing centre and one HACCP compliant pre-mix manufacturing centre. The company had feed mills and pre-mix facilities service customers in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba, including two new feed mills constructed in Olds, AB (2000) and Edmonton, AB (2004).

title: Agricore United


text:
User talk:Verbijre

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

Here are some tips to help you get started:

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PPS. I'm sorry I deleted the page on Sven (unspellable) earlier, but it seemed like a test edit. You might want to look at Manual of style to make sure everything fits our formats. Or look at Featured articles, our best work. Best wishes, [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 17:09, 2004 Aug 3 (UTC)

title: User talk:Verbijre


text:
Charles Emory Patton

Charles Emory Patton (July 5, 1859 – December 15, 1937) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Pennsylvania. He was the son of John Patton and the brother of John Patton, Jr.

Biography
Patton was born in Curwensville, Pennsylvania and attended the common schools. He graduated from Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1878 and engaged in the lumber business.

He owned and operated the Curwensville Electric Co., and then engaged in the construction contracting business. He was director of the Curwensville National Bank, a member of the school board, serving as president, and a member of the city council, and served as burgess.

He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses, serving from March 4, 1911 to March 3, 1915. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1914. He was appointed secretary of agriculture for the State of Pennsylvania October 15, 1915, and served in this capacity until January 22, 1920.

He retired to a farm near West Grove, Pennsylvania and resumed his agricultural work.

Death and interment
Patton died on his estate, at the age of seventy-eight, and was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery in Curwensville.

title: Charles Emory Patton


text: Category:Lithuanian folklore characters

title: Category:Lithuanian folklore characters


text:
Merchant ship

A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are used for military purposes.

They come in myriad sizes and shapes, from 20 ft inflatable dive boats in Hawaii, to 5,000-passenger casino vessels on the Mississippi River, to tugboats plying New York Harbor, to 1,000 ft oil tankers and container ships at major ports, to passenger-carrying submarines in the Caribbean.

Many merchant ships operate under a "flag of convenience" from a country other than the home of the vessel's owners, such as Liberia and Panama, which have more favorable maritime laws than other countries.

The Greek merchant marine is the largest in the world. Today, the Greek fleet accounts for some 16 per cent of the world's tonnage; this makes it currently the largest single international merchant fleet in the world, albeit not the largest in history.

During wars, merchant ships may be used as auxiliaries to the navies of their respective countries, and are called upon to deliver military personnel and materiel.

Definitions
The term "commercial vessel" is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel (i.e. boat or ship) engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire.

In English, the term "Merchant Navy" without further clarification is used to refer to the British Merchant Navy; the United States merchant fleet is known as the United States Merchant Marine.

Name prefixes
Merchant ships' names have a prefix to indicate which kind of vessel they are:

 * CS = Cable Ship/Cable layer
 * LNG = Gas carrier transporting liquefied natural gas
 * LPG = Gas carrier transporting liquefied petroleum gas
 * MFV = Motor Fishing Vessel
 * MS = Motorship
 * MSV = Motor Stand-by Vessel
 * MT = Motor Tanker or Motor Tug Boat
 * MV = Motor/Merchant Vessel
 * MY = Motor Yacht
 * NS = Nuclear Ship
 * RMS = Royal Mail Ship
 * RRS = Royal Research Ship
 * RV = Research Vessel
 * SS = Steam Ship
 * SV = Sailing vessel/Sailing Vessel (although these can be sub coded as type of sailing vessel)

Merchant ship categories
The UNCTAD review of maritime transport categorizes ships as: oil tankers, bulk (and combination) carriers, general cargo ships, container ships, and "other ships", which includes "liquefied petroleum gas carriers, liquefied natural gas carriers, parcel (chemical) tankers, specialized tankers, reefers, offshore supply, tugs, dredgers, cruise, ferries, other non-cargo". General cargo ships include "multi-purpose and project vessels and Roll-on/roll-off cargo".

Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped with cranes and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes.

Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier is a ship used to transport bulk cargo items such as iron ore, bauxite, coal, cement, grain and similar cargo. Bulk carriers can be recognized by large box-like hatches on deck, designed to slide outboard or fold fore-and-aft to enable access for loading or discharging cargo. The dimensions of bulk carriers are often determined by the ports and sea routes that they need to serve, and by the maximum width of the Panama Canal. Most lakes are too small to accommodate bulk carriers, but a large fleet of lake freighters has been plying the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway of North America for over a century.

Container ship
A container ship is a cargo ship that carries its cargo in standardized containers, in a technique called containerization. These ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.

Tanker
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Tankers can range in size from several hundred tons, designed to serve small harbours and coastal settlements, to several hundred thousand tons, with these being designed for long-range haulage. A wide range of products are carried by tankers, including:
 * hydrocarbon products such as oil, LPG, and LNG
 * chemicals, such as ammonia, chlorine, and styrene monomer
 * fresh water
 * wine

Different products require different handling and transport, thus special types of tankers have been built, such as chemical tankers, oil tankers, and gas carriers.

Among oil tankers, supertankers were designed for carrying oil around the Horn of Africa from the Middle East; the FSO Knock Nevis being the largest vessel in the world, a ULCC supertanker formerly known as Jahre Viking (Seawise Giant). It has a deadweight of 565,000 metric tons and length of about 458 m. The use of such large ships is in fact very unprofitable, due to the inability to operate them at full cargo capacity; hence, the production of supertankers has currently ceased. Today's largest oil tankers in comparison by gross tonnage are TI Europe, TI Asia, TI Oceania, which are the largest sailing vessels today. But even with their deadweight of 441,585 metric tons, sailing as VLCC most of the time, they do not use more than 70% of their total capacity.

Apart from pipeline transport, tankers are the only method for transporting large quantities of oil, although such tankers have caused large environmental disasters when sinking close to coastal regions, causing oil spills. See MV Braer, Erika, Exxon Valdez, Prestige and SS Torrey Canyon for examples of tankers that have been involved in oil spills.

Coastal trading vessel
Coastal trading vessels are smaller ships that carry any category of cargo along coastal, rather than trans-oceanic, routes. Coasters are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls allow them to sail over reefs and other submerged navigation hazards, whereas ships designed for blue-water trade usually have much deeper hulls for better seakeeping.

Passenger ship
A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the formerly ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight. The type does however include many classes of ships which are designed to transport substantial numbers of passengers as well as freight. Indeed, until recently virtually all ocean liners were able to transport mail, package freight and express, and other cargo in addition to passenger luggage, and were equipped with cargo holds and derricks, kingposts, or other cargo-handling gear for that purpose. Modern cruiseferries have car decks for lorries as well as the passengers' cars. Only in more recent ocean liners and in virtually all cruise ships has this cargo capacity been removed. A ferry is a boat or ship carrying passengers and sometimes their vehicles. Ferries are also used to transport freight (in lorries and sometimes unpowered freight containers) and even railroad cars (in the case of a train ferry).

title: Merchant ship


text:
Talk:Bill James

Professionalism
This article reads more like a poorly written child's school report than an encyclopedia entry.

"Red Sox GM Theo Epstein also turned out to have a sabermetric bent."

The grammar in this is bad and it's more like a fluff piece. Removing this one sentence but I suggest a rewrite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.84.28.149 (talk) 00:42, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

Runs Created Formula
I think it should be mentioned that that version of the RC formula shown is the "basic version" as there are more detailed versions. Also, James usually refers to the RC formula as ((Hits+Walks)*(Total Bases))/(At Bats+Walks). Not that it is that important, but I don't think he ever refers to it in the way it is written in the article, with Total Bases before hits+walks and with plate appearances being divided by. Not that it really matters but just because that is how he refers to it.

I changed "possibly the most influential sportswriter in baseball history," since Alexander Joy Cartwright implemented most of the changes in what became modern baseball. -Sam

 * That could probably be changed, since James I don't believe would profess to being a "sports writer". A more accurate statement might be "possiblt the most influential person in modern baseball statistial analysis". 64.186.39.4 18:42, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Can I sound out The Community about the possibility of condensing the material devoted to navel-gazing about the 2004 Red Sox bullpen? To the best of my knowledge, nobody really knows what role James played in its various troubles and tergiversations, and yet about 20% of this article is devoted to carefully NPOV-tested, spit-polished speculation about the subject (which seems doubly pointless in view of the way the season ended). -cosh 19:13, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Maybe, but I think it's more a case of the article needing to be generally expanded. James is really a more important figure than he's being given credit for here. WilyD 13:45, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Minor Point
I think that SABR does much more than "scientifically evaluates statistical data in attempting to determine why teams win and lose." From their website: "Our mission is to foster the study of baseball past and present, and to provide an outlet for educational, historical and research information about the game."Chocaholic 06:27, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Article should note Bill’s opinion of the rule changes.

https://ballnine.com/2022/10/26/qa-with-bill-james — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.181.192.29 (talk) 20:10, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

Non-notable book
A reference to Covering the Bases: Making Sense of Bill James' Statistical Nonsense was deleted from this article after the book's article was deleted. I agree that the book itself is not notable enough for its own Wikipedia article, but I would argue that it's notable enough to be included in this article. It's the only book-length retort to his work that I know of, and I think it's important to note. What are some other views? Rmj12345 18:14, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

 * The book didn't make enough impact to warrant extended discussion, but a brief mention seems reasonable. DwaynefromME (talk) 17:52, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Deletions of Bill James projections
Those who are interested in Bill James may be interested in the ongoing discussion re deletion of urls that include his projections, which can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Baseball#Deletions_by_Tecmobowl_of_hundreds_of_baseball_urls_w.2Funique_information.3B_failure_to_discuss.3B_edit_warring. --Epeefleche 20:50, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Kansas City Royals Fan
I'd suggest adding a section about how James was a Kansas City fan. His essay in his 1986 Baseball Abstract about attending the 1985 World Series (won by the Royals, and which included a brief history of Kansas City major league baseball) was a wonderful piece. Hanksummers (talk)hanksummers —Preceding comment was added at 15:51, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Rob Neyer mention
It might be worth mentioning somewhere in the article that noted ESPN columnist Rob Neyer began his career working for James. Gilbertine goldmark (talk) 23:23, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Sandy Alderson
"Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane began applying sabermetric principles to running his low-budget team in the late 1990s, to notable effect, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball. In 2003, James was hired by a former reader, John Henry, the new owner of the Boston Red Sox."

Should read, "When he took over as GM of the Oakland Athletics in the late 1990s, Billy Beane continued the work of Sandy Alderson, (a huge fan of Bill James) who was the first to apply sabermetric principles to running a major league baseball team."

83.85.130.224 (talk) 17:34, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

"Attacks on Dick Allen" section
I think this section of the article is extremely problematic. First of all, the very title is arguably not NPOV. Furthermore... it is true that James has written that Allen was such a bad clubhouse influence as to be a worthless player (although it should also be noted that James has since largely backtracked on that). That might be worth mentioning, as might Tanner's response (although BTW, it'd be nice to have a cite for that response). However, the discussion gets into serious original research and non-NPOV when it attempts to prove that Allen wasn't a bad influence. Firstly, whether he was or not, a lot of his contemporaries thought he was. It was the defining story of his career, not unlike a Milton Bradley or Terrell Owens of today. Moreover, it just isn't the point of a Bill James article. DwaynefromME (talk) 17:52, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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title: Talk:Bill James


text:
Margo McLennan

Eileen Marguerite McNenemy (8 February 1938 – 28 July 2004) professionally known as Margo McLennan, she was also billed in her early acting career as Margo Mayne and briefly as Margot McLennan and Marco McLennan, was a British-born actress, singer and dancer who was active in England and Australia, where she became best known to international audiences for her role in the Australian TV cult soap opera Prisoner,  (known in United States and UK as Prisoner: Cell Block H and Caged Woman in Canada)

Biography
Born in Peckham, South London, to a father who was a licensed virtualler and professional violinist and a mother who dabbled in real estate speculation, she originally trained to be an ice skater at the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre, before deciding instead a career as an actress, having trained in the arts at the Italia Conti Academy. her career spanned some 50 years.

One of the most popular actresses of the 1960s she was a theatre, film and TV star, who appeared on magazine covers and in commercials, after being spotted as a dancer in cabaret, she appeared in such stage roles as The Merchant of Venice and Goodnight Mrs. Puffin, the latter which marked her debut in West End theatre

She was married to fellow actor Tony Doonan from 1962 until their divorce in 1969. They had one child, Nicola, from that union. She changed her name to Margo Mayne. In the 1960s and early 1970s she appeared in several British screen roles including Spaceflight IC-1 and Love Is a Splendid Illusion as well as numerous TV series including Night Train to Surbiton and Ransom For A Pretty Girl. She went on to play a succession of glamorous characters in shows such as The Gentle Killers, Motive for Murder and Man from Interpol.

Having moved to Australia, Margo joined the cult series Prisoner in 1979 as Catherine Roberts, in a controversial storyline where she is sent to prison for killing her daughter's rapist. During 1982 she returned to the show for a three episode guest role of Prison Officer Parsons. After Prisoner she took guest roles in numerous TV series The Flying Doctors, A Country Practice,  Blue Heelers and The Secret Life of Us.

In later life, under the name Margo Lady McLennen, she was an advocate for gay and lesbian marriage, and was a celebrant. Upon learning she had cancer, she returned to Britain with her second husband, Australian actor Rodney McLennan.

McLennan's final acting role was in Prisoner Queen (2003), playing Mrs. Gelding. She died in West Sussex, Britain from metastasised cancer, aged 66.

title: Margo McLennan


text:
User talk:DrakeCaiman

Welcome
Hello there DrakeCaiman, welcome to the 'pedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. If you need pointers on how we title pages visit Naming conventions or how to format them visit our manual of style. If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. Cheers! — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:28, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC)

WikiProject: Computer & video games
Hey, Drake, thanks for joining the Computer & video games project. Unfortunately, things have been stagnant for a while at the project. It looks like things fell apart when we tried to come up with a standard template for all video & computer games (looky here or discuss here). Everyone stopped responding as I experiemented with different designs. The tricky part was getting system requirements for all different systems. But, that is only an issue for classic games that were releaed for multiple home computers (such as the Apple II and C64), but for modern games that are only released on the PC or Mac, we can use something like Template 8 (take a look at the links to see it). If the game is released for multiple video game consoles, that's not a problem since all consoles have the same hardware and thus no special requirements. I'd like your input on the templates and, if you want any changes, we can work on one we are both happy with. Of course, there is no obligation on your part, I just wanted some input so we can move the template forward. Thanks! — Frecklefoot | Talk 19:28, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC)

Rock the vote
A vote has been initiated on the standard template for computer and video games. As a member of the WikiProject Computer and Video Games, you are being solicited for input into the proposed template. Please cast your vote any make any comments at Rock the vote! Thank you! — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:34, Aug 6, 2004 (UTC)

Non-free rationale for File:Shock Troopers Gameplay Screenshot.png
Thanks for uploading or contributing to File:Shock Troopers Gameplay Screenshot.png. I notice the file page specifies that the file is being used under non-free content criteria, but there is not a suitable explanation or rationale as to why each specific use in Wikipedia is acceptable. Please go to the file description page, and edit it to include a non-free rationale.

If you have uploaded other non-free media, consider checking that you have specified the non-free rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'file' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "File" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the file is already gone, you can still make a request for undeletion and ask for a chance to fix the problem. If you have any questions, please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 00:15, 24 June 2012 (UTC)

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MetLife

MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, with around 90 million customers in over 60 countries. The firm was founded on March 24, 1868. MetLife ranked No. 43 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

On January 6, 1915, MetLife completed the mutualization process, changing from a stock life insurance company owned by individuals to a mutual company operating without external shareholders and for the benefit of policyholders. After 85 years as a mutual company, MetLife demutualized into a publicly traded company with an initial public offering in 2000. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia's Pacific region, Europe, and the Middle East. MetLife serves 90 of the largest Fortune 500 companies.

MetLife's head offices and boardroom are located at the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and New York City which MetLife owned from 1981 to 2005; despite the sale, MetLife increased its leased footprint in the building beginning in 2015.

In January 2016, MetLife announced that it would spin off its U.S. retail business, including individual life insurance and annuities for the retail market, in a separate company called Brighthouse Financial, which launched in March 2017. The continuing MetLife company kept naming rights to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Early years
The predecessor company to MetLife began in 1863 when a group of New York City businessmen raised $100,000 to found the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company. The company insured Civil War sailors and soldiers against disabilities due to wartime wounds, accidents, and sickness. On March 24, 1868, it became known as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and shifted its focus to the life insurance business. A severe business depression that began with the Panic of 1873 forced the company to contract, until it reached its lowest point in the late 1870s. After observing the insurance industry in Great Britain in 1879, MetLife President Joseph F. Knapp brought “industrial” or “workingmen's” insurance programs to the United States – insurance issued in small amounts on which premiums were collected weekly or monthly at the policyholder's home. By 1880, sales had exceeded a quarter million of such policies, resulting in nearly $1 million in revenue from premiums. In 1909, MetLife had become the nation's largest life insurer in the United States, as measured by life insurance in force (the total value of life insurance policies issued).

In 1890, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building was commissioned to serve as MetLife's home office on 23rd Street in Manhattan. The building was completed in stages through 1905. A clock tower was commissioned adjacent to the home office in 1907, and when completed two years later, the building was the world's tallest until 1913. The home office complex, which came to include the later art deco Metropolitan Life North Building, remained the company's headquarters until 2005. For many years, an illustration of the Metropolitan Life Tower (with light emanating from the tip of its spire and the slogan, "The Light That Never Fails") featured prominently in MetLife's advertising.

In 1905, MetLife lost a legal case, Pavesich v. New England Life Insurance Company, where they attempted to use an image of another person for promotion but this was ruled a breach of privacy and libelous: this case became a standardly cited case on privacy in US law.

By 1930, MetLife insured one of five men, women, and children in the United States and Canada. During the 1930s, it also began to diversify its portfolio by reducing the percentage of individual mortgages in favor of public utility bonds, investments in government securities, and loans for commercial real estate. The company financed the Empire State Building's construction in 1929 as well as provided capital for Rockefeller Center's construction in 1931. During World War II, MetLife placed more than 51 percent of its total assets in war bonds and was the largest single private contributor to the Allied cause.

Postwar
During the post-war era, the company expanded its suburban presence, decentralized operations, and refocused its career agency system to serve all market segments. It also began to market group insurance products to employers and institutions. By 1979, operations were segmented into four primary businesses: group insurance, personal insurance, pensions, and investments. In 1981 MetLife purchased the Pan Am Building from a group that included Pan American World Airways for the price of $400 million. The building was subsequently renamed and the prominently displayed Pan Am logo was replaced with the MetLife logo.

De-mutualization and IPO
In 2000, MetLife converted from a mutual insurance company operated for the benefit of its policyholders to a for-profit public company. The de-mutualization process allowed MetLife to enter unrelated insurance businesses and increase executive compensation.

Policyholders received some stock in the new company in this process. MetLife was accused of breaching federal securities laws by misrepresenting and omitting information in materials given to policyholders during this process, resulting in years of litigation ending with a $50 million settlement in 2009.

Acquisitions, sales, and major deals

 * 1992 – merged with United Mutual Life Insurance Company, the only African-American life insurer in New York, in 1992.
 * 1992 – acquired Executive Life's single premium deferred annuity business, which was worth approximately $1.2 billion. MetLife also acquired the firm's life insurance business, valued at about $260 million.
 * 1995 – sold Century 21 to Cendant (known as Hospitality Franchise Systems at the time) while purchasing New England Mutual Life Insurance Company.
 * 1997 – acquired Security First Group in 1997 for $377 million.
 * 1999 – acquired Lincoln National Corporation's individual disability income unit.
 * 1999 – bought out reinsurance provider GenAmerica Corporation for $1.2 billion, as well as its subsidiaries, Reinsurance Group of America and Conning Corporation. That year, the company had grown to serve 7 million policyholders.
 * 2000 – de-mutualization and IPO. The initial public offering was valued at $6.5 billion, which was the largest IPO to that date in United States financial history.  MetLife policyholders were asked to choose a cash or stock stake. This IPO made MetLife the most widely owned stock in the United States, and it raised MetLife's value to over $4 billion.  By 2000, MetLife's reported number of policyholders had risen to 11 million, and that year it had become the United States' number one life insurer, surpassing Prudential, according to The New York Times.
 * 2000 – $470 million voice and data network management deal with AT&T Solutions.
 * 2001 – acquired Grand Bank of Kingston, New Jersey, which was renamed MetLife Bank.
 * 2001 – invested $1 billion in the United States stock market during 2001, immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
 * 2005 – acquired Citigroup’s Travelers Life & Annuity and all of Citigroup's international insurance businesses for $11.8 billion. At the time of the deal, which was completed on July 1, 2005, the Travelers acquisition made MetLife the largest individual life insurer in North America based on sales.
 * 2006 – opened joint-venture insurance company in Shanghai, in May 2006.
 * 2006 – sold Peter Cooper Village, or Stuyvesant Town, the largest apartment complexes in New York City at the time, for $5.4 billion. MetLife had developed the apartment complexes between 1945 and 1947, to house veterans returning home from serving in World War II.
 * 2010 – bought American Life Insurance Company from AIG for US$15.5 billion.
 * 2011 – sold MetLife bank to GE Capital, exiting banking business.
 * 2021 – Farmers Insurance Group acquired the MetLife Auto & Home business from MetLife, Inc.

Current era
From 2004 to 2011, MetLife continued to hold its position as the largest life insurer in the United States. The company had $2.5 trillion in policies written, $350 billion in assets under management, over 12 million customers in the United States, 8 million customers outside the United States, and a net income in 2003 of $2.2 billion. That year, Barron's reported that 13 million American households owned at least one product from MetLife.

MetLife named Robert H. Benmosche as chairman and CEO in July 1999. Benmosche occupied the position until 2006, when he was replaced by C. Robert Henrikson.

The company's sales grew 11.5% between 2008 and 2009, despite the national recession. In 2011, CEO Robert Henrikson was replaced by Steven A. Kandarian, who had overseen the company's "US$450 billion investment portfolio" as chief investment officer. Henrikson remained the company's chairman to the end of 2011, at which point he reached the company's mandatory retirement age.

In 2015, MetLife was ranked as number one on Fortune magazine's list of World's Most Admired Companies in the Insurance: Life and Health category.

In the summer of 2017, MetLife plans to add a third office building of 255,000 square feet at its Cary, North Carolina Global Technology Campus, giving the company a total of 655,000 square feet at a location which has over 1,000 employees in such areas as engineering, software and technology. This plan was the result of North Carolina awarding the company $94 million in incentives in 2013 for creating over 2,600 jobs, half in Cary and half in Charlotte.

"Too big to fail"
In 2012, MetLife failed the Federal Reserve's (the Fed's) Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review stress test, intended to predict the potential failure of the company in a recession. The Fed stated that the minimum total risk-based capital ratio should be 8% and it estimated MetLife's ratio at 6%. The company had requested approval for a US$2 billion share repurchase to prop up the stock price, along with an increased dividend. Because MetLife owned MetLife Bank, it was subject to stricter financial regulation. To escape that level of regulation, MetLife announced the sale of its banking unit to GE Capital. On November 2, 2012, MetLife said it was selling its US$70 billion mortgage servicing business to JPMorgan Chase for an undisclosed amount. Both sales were part of its strategy to focus on the insurance side of its business.

The attempt to escape "too big to fail" regulation was not successful. In September 2014, the United States government observed the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law by proposing the application of an official label to MetLife as "systemically important" to the American economy. If implemented, MetLife would be subject to different sets of rules and regulations, with increased oversight from the Federal Reserve. The company appealed this proposal in November 2014. In December 2014, federal regulators decided that MetLife required the special regulations reserved for financial companies and organizations deemed "systemically important," or "too big to fail". MetLife announced in January 2015 that it would file a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to overturn the federal regulators' decision, thus becoming the first nonbank to challenge such a decision. Three other nonbank companies have been designated as "systemically important": AIG, General Electric and Prudential. MetLife continued to litigate this issue, with the US Department of Justice asking that their challenge be dismissed.

Fines
On August 7, 2012, it was announced that MetLife will pay $3.2 million in fines after the Federal Reserve charged it used unsafe and unsound practices in handling its mortgage servicing and foreclosure operations.

In 2014, MetLife paid $23 million to settle multiple lawsuits over junk fax operations used to generate leads for life insurance sales.

In 2015, MetLife Home Loans LLC paid $123.5 million to the United States Department of Justice to resolve allegations it knowingly made mortgages insured by the United States government that didn't meet federal underwriting requirements.

Products and services
, MetLife had a "diverse product mix" which included insurance (home, car and life), variable life annuities and structured settlements, commercial mortgages and securities backed by commercial mortgages, and sovereign debt.

Life insurance
MetLife's individual life insurance products and services comprise term life insurance and several types of permanent life insurance, including whole life, universal life, and final expense whole life insurance. These services vary in regards to the duration and amount of coverage available and whether a medical exam is required for coverage. The company also offers group life insurance, provided through employers, which consists of term life, permanent life, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage. MetLife is the largest life insurer in the United States, based on life insurance in-force.

Dental
MetLife offers group dental benefit plans for individuals, employees, retirees and their families and provides dental plan administration for over 20 million people. Plans include MetLife's Preferred Dentist Program (PPO) and the SafeGuard DHMO (available for both individuals and employees in CA, FL, TX, NJ and NY.). MetLife also administers dental continuing education program for dentists and allied health care professionals, which are recognized by the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).

Disability
MetLife provides disability products for individuals as well as employee and association groups who receive them through their employer. For individuals, the company's individual disability income insurance can replace a portion of lost income if an individual is unable to work due to sickness or injury. MetLife offers several individual disability income policies, including MetLife Income Guard, OMNI Advantage, OMNI Essential, Business Overhead Expense, and Buy-Sell. The policy options provided by the company vary in terms of eligibility and the provided coverage. For groups, MetLife offers short term disability insurance and long term disability insurance. Short term disability insurance is structured to replace a portion of an individual's income during the initial weeks of a disabling illness or accident. Long term disability Insurance serves to replace a portion of an individual's income during an extended period of a disabling illness or accident. The company also maintains an absence management product which allows employers to track and manage both planned and unplanned employee absences. The product, which MetLife calls MetLife Total Absence Management, is structured for businesses with 1,000 or more employees.

Annuities
MetLife is among the largest providers of annuities in the world, recording $22.4 billion in sales during 2009. MetLife offers annuities which consist of fixed annuities, variable annuities, deferred annuities and immediate annuities. In 1921, MetLife was the first company to issue a group annuity contract. More recently in 2004, it was the first insurer to introduce a longevity insurance product.

Auto & Home
MetLife Auto & Home is the brand name for MetLife's nine affiliate personal lines insurance companies. Collectively these companies offer personal lines property and casualty insurance policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The flagship company in the MetLife Auto & Home group, Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company, was founded in 1972. MetLife Auto & Home companies presently have over 2.7 million active policies and service 58 of the Fortune 100 companies.

MetLife's home insurance includes homeowners insurance, condo insurance, renters insurance, insurance for landlords, and mobile home insurance. The available policies for MetLife's home insurance provide coverage for possessions, property damage from natural disaster or theft, and various legal expenses incurred resulting from injuries sustained on an individual's property. The companies also sell RV, ATV, boat, mobile home, collectible vehicle, and motorcycle policies and offers flood insurance policies as a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is managed by the federal government. MetLife's various types of coverage for auto insurance include liability protection, collision and comprehensive coverage, personal injury protection, rental car coverage, and uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage. Through an arrangement with Hyatt Legal Plans, a subsidiary of MetLife, MetLife Auto & Home underwrites group legal plans in many states.

It was the first national insurer in the United States to offer identity-theft resolution services at no extra premium and continues to do so today in most United States states. In 2010, MetLife Auto & Home began offering their GrandProtect plan in most states. This GrandProtect policy simplifies complex insurance needs by combining a client's home, valuable items, autos, RVs, and boats into one comprehensive policy package. The ultimate benefits to the consumer are having one bill, only one deductible, comprehensive coverage, and typically lower rates than trying to get each policy individually.

On December 11, 2020, Farmers Insurance Group, which is owned by Zurich Insurance agreed to purchase MetLife’s auto and home insurance business for $3.94 billion. At the time of announcement, MetLife auto and home was 18th largest auto insurer in the U.S, with a presence in all 50 states writing $2.4 billion in auto premiums in 2019. Farmers Insurance Group completed it's purchase of MetLife's auto and home books of business on April 8, 2021. As part of the transaction, Farmers secured a 10-year marketing agreement with MetLife to offer Farmers products on MetLife’s group benefits platform, currently serving over 3,800 employers and 37 million employees of the companies utilizing MetLife to provide employee benefits. Farmers acquired MetLife policies as is, with no immediate intentions on changing the policy terms of existing MetLife customers to match those of current Farmers policies.

Other products
MetLife's products also include critical illness insurance. Financial services include fee-based financial planning, retirement planning, wealth management, 529 Plans, banking, and commercial and residential mortgages. The company also provides retirement plan and other financial services to healthcare, education, and not-for-profit organizations. The MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning is a group of planners which serve families and individuals with special needs. In 2014, MetLife launched MetLife Defender, a digital identity theft protection product.

Corporate structure
The Insurance Products division was the largest unit, accounting for 53% of 2009 revenue. By 2015, a division referred to as "Americas" had emerged.

Corporate governance
MetLife has a compensation committee which establishes remuneration for the company's senior executives, and emphasizes variable performance-based compensation over fixed pay rates.

Subsidiary and affiliate companies
MetLife subsidiaries and affiliates have included MetLife Investors, MetLife Bank, MetLife Securities, Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, General American, MetLife Legal Plans, MetLife Resources, New England Financial, Walnut Street Securities, Inc., Safeguard Health Enterprises, Inc., and Tower Square Securities, Inc., Cigna.

The subsidiary MetLife Insurance Company USA,

MetLife Bank was sold to GE Capital in 2013, and MetLife exited the banking business.

Metlife in partnership with Tishman Realty & Construction co-owns the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The land on which the hotels are located on is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is leased to Metlife and Tishman (which owns the buildings) and operated by Marriott International as a Westin hotel.

International presence
Outside of the United States, MetLife operates in Latin America, Europe, Asia's Pacific region, and the Middle East, with leading market positions in Mexico, Japan, South Korea and Chile.

On March 8, 2010, MetLife announced its intent to purchase the international leader life-insurance business, American Life Insurance Company (Alico), from American International Group (AIG). MetLife, which completed the deal on November 1, 2010, paid approximately $7.2 billion in cash and $9.0 billion in MetLife equity and other securities. The securities portion of the deal consisted of 78.2 million shares of MetLife common stock, 6.9 million shares of contingent convertible preferred stock and 40 million equity units. The values of the common and preferred stock were based on the closing price of MetLife's common stock on October 29. Upon completion of the purchase, MetLife became a leading competitor in Japan, the world's second-largest life insurance market, and moved into a top 5 market position in many high growth emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Romania, the Middle East and Latin America. The deal added 20 million customers to MetLife's 70 million and according to Barron's more than doubled the percentage of operating profits that MetLife gets abroad to 40%.

In India MetLife has an affiliate company India Insurance Company Limited (MetLife) which has operated in India since 2001. This company has its headquarters in Bangalore and Gurgaon and was jointly owned by MetLife and a few local Indian financial companies. In 2012 an agreement was made with local Indian bank, the Punjab National Bank to establish a strategic alliance and for it to take a 30% share in MetLife India. The state owned bank would in return sell MetLife insurance products in its branches

MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation is MetLife's independent charitable and grant-awarding foundation. It was founded in 1976 and had provided over $650 million in grants by January 2015. The foundation has partnered with and donated to a variety of organizations, including Habitat for Humanity since 2010 and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation since 2008. In 2013, the MetLife Foundation announced a new focus on financial inclusion, including educational programs on basic financial planning for disadvantaged children and financial services aimed at low-income communities. According to the OECD, MetLife Foundation’s financing for 2019 development increased by 20% to US$14 million.

Relationship with Peanuts
MetLife's use of comic strip characters since the mid 1980s, according to chief marketing officer Esther Lee, was intended "to make our company more friendly and approachable during a time when insurance companies were seen as cold and distant."

MetLife licensed Snoopy and other Peanuts characters for promotional purposes from the Iconix Brand Group, which owns the promotional rights to the works of Charles M. Schulz. In 2010, Iconix formed a joint venture with Schulz's heirs (as Charles Schulz himself died in 2000), buying out E. W. Scripps Co. and United Features Syndicate for $175 million. MetLife was reported to pay $12 million per year to Iconix for licensing rights. Prior to the Iconix deal, MetLife had licensed the characters from other rights-holders.

The Peanuts-based campaign was developed by the advertising agency Young & Rubicam. MetLife also has used Foote Cone & Belding to develop Peanuts-related promotions.

MetLife announced the end of its 31-year relationship with Peanuts on October 20, 2016. This decision resulted from the company's sale of its life insurance business to concentrate on corporate clients. MetLife's new blue and green logo was criticized for being a knock-off of comparison website Diffen.

MetLife brought Snoopy back in 2023, as mascot for the new MetLife Pet Insurance division.

Blimp and sports sponsorship

The MetLife blimp program began in 1987 with the “Snoopy 1” airship and, in 1994, expanded to include the “Snoopy 2” airship. The program provided aerial coverage to over 80 major sporting events every year and became the official aerial coverage provider of the PGA Tour. “Snoopy 1” and “Snoopy 2” also provided overhead television coverage for the NFL, CBS College Football, the LPGA, the NBA Finals, Copa Chile, the Preakness Stakes, and the Kentucky Derby. When MetLife ended their ‘’Peanuts’’ branding, they also brought the blimp program to a close.

On August 23, 2011, MetLife agreed to a 25-year sponsorship deal to rename New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, home of the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets to MetLife Stadium. On January 16, 2017, MetLife agreed to a five-year sponsorship to rename Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture in Japan as the MetLife Dome.

From 2014 to 2017, MetLife was the title sponsor of the BWF Super Series badminton tournament.

Weight and longevity data
In 1959, The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (as it was known at the time) released tables of the best weight for each height for longevity, based on their collected insurance data. These tables showed what were characterized as “desirable weights”. In 1983, the company released tables showing the “ideal” weights for greatest longevity; this information was based on data collected in the Build Study of 1979 collected by the Society of Actuaries. This data followed patients for 18 years (1954–1972) and was collected from 25 life insurance companies in Canada and the United States, representing 4.2 million people. These “ideal” weights were higher than the prior “desirable” weights, this was attributed to an increase in muscle mass due to improved fitness levels among the population.

This study is still the largest available pool of data for this purpose. It was noticed that the average weights in the population are higher than the ideal weights for survival. The ‘’’Metropolitan Tables’’’ included ‘’small’’, ‘’medium’’ and ‘’large’’ frames, based on elbow-girth measured using calipers, as the elbows do not develop adipose tissue. They presented weight ranges for height, sex and body frame (again associated with the lowest mortality) The midpoint of the ideal weight for the medium frames for each height was selected as the “ideal” weight used for calculations of “excess weight” (initial weight minus ideal weight). This led to a formula to calculate the ideal weight used by bariatric surgeons, but it had lost considerable accuracy by 2007, again due to improvements in medical care and in public health.

Archives and records

 * New England Mutual Life Insurance Company records at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

title: MetLife