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Price gouging

Price gouging is the practice of increasing the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. Usually, this event occurs after a demand or supply shock. This commonly applies to price increases of basic necessities after natural disasters. The term can also be used to refer to profits obtained by practices inconsistent with a competitive free market, or to windfall profits. In some jurisdictions of the United States during civil emergencies, price gouging is a specific crime. Price gouging is considered by some to be exploitative and unethical and by others to be a simple result of supply and demand.

Price gouging is similar to profiteering but can be distinguished by being short-term and localized and by being restricted to essentials such as food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and equipment needed to preserve life and property. In jurisdictions where there is no such crime, the term may still be used to pressure firms to refrain from such behavior. The term is used directly in laws and regulations in the United States and Canada, but legislation exists internationally with similar regulatory purpose under existing competition laws.

The term is not in widespread use in mainstream economic theory, but it is sometimes used to refer to practices of a coercive monopoly that raises prices above the market rate that would otherwise prevail in a competitive environment. Alternatively, it may refer to suppliers' benefiting to excess from a short-term change in the demand curve.

Price gouging became highly prevalent in news media in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when state price gouging regulations went into effect due to the national emergency. The rise in public discourse was associated with increased shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

United States
In the United States, state laws against price gouging have been held as constitutional at the state level as a valid exercise of the police power to preserve order during an emergency, and may be combined with anti-hoarding measures.

As of March 2021, 42 states have emergency regulations or price-gouging statutes Price-gouging is often defined in terms of the three criteria listed below:

 * 1) Period of emergency: The majority of laws apply only to price shifts during a declared state of emergency or disaster.
 * 2) Necessary items: Most laws apply exclusively to items essential to survival, such as food, water, and housing.
 * 3) Price ceilings: Laws limit the maximum price that can be charged for given goods.

Some states that do not have a specific statute addressing price gouging, can nevertheless apply the law as an "unfair" or "deceptive practice" under a consumer protection act.

When the law goes into effect
Statutory prohibitions on price gouging become effective once a state of emergency has been declared. States have legislated different requirements for who must declare a state of emergency for the law to go into effect. Some state statutes that prohibit price gouging—including those of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Ohio —prohibit price increases only once the President of the United States or the state's governor has declared a state of emergency in the impacted region. California permits emergency proclamations by officials, boards, and other governing bodies of cities and counties to trigger the state's price gouging law.

What the law prohibits
State laws vary on what price increases are permitted during a declared disaster. California has set a 10 percent ceiling on price increases. Florida prohibits a price increase “that grossly exceeds the average price” of that same item in the 30 days leading up to the emergency declaration. Some state laws do not define what constitutes a “gross disparity,” making it difficult for either affected residents or law enforcement to determine when price gouging has occurred, while others merely limit vendors and landlords to price increases of less than 25 percent. Laws often include exceptions for price increases that can be justified in terms of the increased cost of supply, transportation, demand, or storage.

Enforcement
Enforcement of anti-price gouging statutes can be difficult because of the exceptions often contained within the statutes and the lack of oversight mechanisms. Statutes generally give wide discretion not to prosecute. In 2004, Florida determined that one-third of complaints were unfounded, and a large fraction of the remainder was handled by consent decrees, rather than prosecution.

California
California Penal Code 396 prohibits price gouging, generally defined as anything greater than a 10 percent increase in price, once a state of emergency has been declared. Unlike other states that require the President of the United States or the state's governor to declare a state of emergency, California permits emergency proclamations by officials, boards, and other governing bodies of cities and counties to trigger C.P.C. § 396. The prohibition lasts for up to 30 days at a time and may be renewed as necessary. Since October 2017, then-California Governor Jerry Brown repeatedly extended the price-gouging ban for counties impacted by the October 2017 wildfires and subsequently for the counties impacted by the 2018 wildfires. One of his last acts as governor was to extend the prohibitions until May 31, 2019.

Even though California prohibits price hikes after an emergency is declared, the state, like many others, has virtually no price monitoring structure for oversight. Attorneys and law enforcement generally rely on news reports and word of mouth to learn about price increases that may violate the law. The District Attorney of Sonoma County has attempted to remedy this by creating its own task force focused on combatting and prosecuting price gouging.

In 2018, the California state legislature amended C.P.C. § 396 after the fallout from the 2017 wildfires. District attorneys reached out to legislators explaining how the current language of section 396 made it difficult to enforce.

The legislature completely rewrote sections 396(e)-(f). Prior to the revisions, those sections of the law had only specified that the prohibitions on price gouging could be extended for additional 30-day periods and that a violation of the law was punishable by imprisonment in a county jail no longer than one year, by a fine no greater than $10,000, or both.

The amended version went into effect on January 1, 2019 and aimed to reduce future price increases similar to those that had ensued after the October 2017 fires. Section 396(e) stipulated, in part, that: “it is unlawful for any person, business, or other entity, to increase the rental price. . . advertised, offered, or charged for housing, to an existing or prospective tenant, by more than 10 percent.” While the amendment reiterated that landlords may increase the rental price by up to 10 percent if they could demonstrate that the increase in costs were directly attributable to repairs, it also clarified what could not justify an increase in rent.

An increase in rent may not be “based on the length of the rental term, the inclusion of additional goods or services, except with respect to furniture, or that the rent was offered by, or paid by, an insurance company, or other third party, on behalf of a tenant."

Florida
Florida's "state of emergency" law criminalizes price gouging. A supplier of essential goods and services may be charged when it sharply raises prices in anticipation of or during a civil emergency or when it cancels or dishonors contracts in order to take advantage of an increase in prices related to such an emergency. The model case is a retailer who increases the price of existing stocks of milk and bread when a hurricane is imminent. Though the effect of such laws have been proven to actually increase the risk of extreme shortages since the absence of increased prices replaces higher prices with an incentive for the earliest person to market to obtain all of a product about to imminently experience a period of very high demand.

In Florida, it is a defense to show that the price increase mostly reflects increased costs, such as running an emergency generator or hazard pay for workers, while California places a ten percent cap on any increases.

United Kingdom
Laws and regulations in the United Kingdom do not use the phrase “price gouging” in consumer protection regulation but are similar to U.S. laws. Chapter II of the UK Competition Act 1998 prohibits businesses with market dominance from engaging in "abusive" conduct, including "unfair" pricing. Market dominance is considered when a business has greater than 40% of the market share within their respective industry. In the case of a violation of Chapter II, a business can be forced to pay up to 10% of global revenues.

European Union
Similar to UK regulations, the EU does not include “price gouging” explicitly in regulation. Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is "aimed at preventing undertakings who hold a dominant position in a market from abusing that position." As stated, “such abuse may, in particular, consist in: (a) directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions...” In 2016, the EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager stated that the EU Commission will "intervene directly to correct excessively high prices" specifically within the gas industry, pharmaceutical industry and in cases of abuse of standard-essential patents.

Price gouging and COVID-19
On March 13, 2020, a national emergency was declared in the United States by President Trump in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic; the declaration allowed for an initial $50 billion to be used to support states. As studied by the National Institutes of Health, the COVID-19 pandemic induced a panic as mandates were put in place for Americans to stay at home, quarantine, and wear masks. The declared COVID-19 emergency made state-level price gouging laws and regulations go into effect. Demand for certain products increased while supply decreased. Such products in short supply included surgical facial masks, N-95 facial masks, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper. More than 30 states' attorneys general urged Facebook, Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, and Walmart to restrict the selling of necessary products at "unconscionable" prices.

Online price gouging
E-commerce transactions accounted for 14.4% of US retail sales in 2020. The share of e-commerce transactions is expected to continue increasing yearly. E-commerce sellers and consumers in the US are often located in separate states. Concerns relating to the dormant commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution arise in litigation wherein the e-commerce seller is located in a different state than the plaintiff. The dormant commerce clause is the doctrine against extraterritoriality that prohibits states from passing legislation that "excessively burdens interstate commerce." Therefore, states should not regulate commerce taking place outside of state borders. Large e-commerce retail platforms, including Amazon and Walmart, do not require sellers and consumers to be located in the same state for transactions to occur. Questions regarding accountability and enforceability of price gouging regulations in relation to e-commerce transactions have been litigated.

Online Merchants Guild v. Cameron, 2020
This complaint relates to online merchants selling necessary products on Amazon during the US national state of emergency invoked in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon is a leading e-commerce platform that has seen an increase of market capitalization of more than $570 billion throughout the pandemic. The Online Merchants Guild, a trade association for online merchants, filed a case in Kentucky on the basis that state regulations against price gouging are unconstitutional in the online marketplace since online merchants are unable to control pricing by state. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky sided with the Online Merchants Guild on June 23, 2020, and agreed that the Kentucky Attorney General cannot enforce the price gouging regulations on Amazon sellers. The case is set to be reviewed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Price gouging-related lawsuits during the COVID-19 pandemic
In response to the issuance of emergency price gouging regulations, multiple state attorneys general and federal agencies have investigated potential cases of price gouging impacting consumers and agencies. Since regulatory measures vary by state, there is no uniform interpretation of price gouging violations, and it is left to state courts to decide.

People of the State of New York v. Hillandale Farms Corporation, 2020
On August 11, 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Hillandale Farms, one of the largest U.S. egg producers, for allegedly price gouging more than four million cartons of eggs by increasing prices by almost five times during the pandemic. The lawsuit alleges that the price increases were an effort to profit off of higher consumer demand during the pandemic. To settle the lawsuit, Hillandale Farms agreed to donate 1.2 million eggs to New York food banks. The case was dismissed with prejudice. This suit was one of several against egg producers during the pandemic, with the Texas Attorney General suing Cal-Maine Foods, the California Attorney General suing Dakota Layers, and the West Virginia Attorney General suing Dutt & Wagner.

Southern District of Mississippi, 2021
A Mississippi businessman purchased scarce personal protective equipment (PPE) including gowns, face shields, and masks through his pharmaceutical wholesale company. An indictment alleges that the business then solicited health care providers, including the U.S. Veteran's Association, to purchase the PPE at excessively inflated prices as part of a $1.8 million scheme. This case was investigated by the FBI, Veteran's Association, and Fraud Section of the United States Department of Justice. The charges brought were conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit hoarding of designated scarce materials, and hoarding of designated scarce materials.

Opposition to laws against price gouging
In a 2012 survey of leading American economists by the Initiative on Global Markets, only 8 percent agreed with a proposal to prohibit "unconscionably excessive" price gouging during natural disasters in Connecticut; 51 percent disagreed with the proposal, 15 percent were uncertain, and 8 percent had no opinion. The economists opposing the proposal argued that such legislation would lead to a misallocation of resources and to lower supply and greater scarcity of the resources, or that the proposal in question was vague.

According to the theory of neoclassical economics, anti-price gouging laws prevent allocative efficiency. Allocative efficiency holds that when prices function properly, markets tend to allocate resources to their most valued uses. In turn, those who value the good the most and are able to afford it will pay a higher price than those who do not value the good as much or who are unable to afford it. According to Friedrich Hayek in "The Use of Knowledge in Society", prices can act to coordinate the separate actions of different people as they seek to satisfy their desires. Economists such as Thomas Sowell (Chicago School of economics), Donald J. Boudreaux (Austrian School and public choice), and Raymond Niles (Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research) argue that laws prohibiting price gouging dramatically worsen emergencies for both buyers and sellers.

title: Price gouging


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User:Kzzl/Dillhole

I've heard this term. Cracks me up. Mostly in movies, I think. Please tell me if you know of any particular meaning for it, besides a pseudonym for asshole. I invented all my other "-hole" terms.

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

title: User:Kzzl/Dillhole


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Kal Penn

Kalpen Suresh Modi (કલ્પેન સુરેશ મોદી born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor he is known for his portrayals of Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, Kevin, a psychologist and boyfriend to Robin in How I Met Your Mother, and Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the film The Namesake. Penn once taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.

In April 2009, Penn joined the Obama administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement as liaison for outreach to Asian Pacific Americans and arts communities. This necessitated that his TV character, Lawrence Kutner, be written out of House. Penn briefly left his post in June 2010 to film the third installment of the Harold & Kumar series, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, returning to his White House job upon the movie's completion. In July 2011, he again left the White House to accept a role in the television series How I Met Your Mother.

From 2016 to 2019, he played Seth Wright in the political drama Designated Survivor, where he also served as a consultant on the show. Additionally, he served as host of the game show Superhuman. In 2019, Penn portrayed Garrett Modi in the NBC sitcom series Sunnyside. The following year he went on to host a political talk miniseries on Freeform called Kal Penn Approves This Message.

Early life and education
Penn was born as Kalpen Suresh Modi in Montclair, New Jersey on April 23, 1977, to Hindu Indian immigrant parents from Gujarat. His mother, Asmita Bhatt, is a fragrance evaluator for a perfume company, and his father, Suresh Modi, is an engineer. His father is from Kheda and his mother was born in Vadodara. Kal Penn regularly visited Gujarat as a child during vacations, and he can speak some Gujarati as well as some Hindi. He has stated that stories of his grandparents marching with Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement were a significant influence on his interest in politics.

Kal Penn attended Marlboro Middle School in Marlboro Township, New Jersey, where he played baritone saxophone in the jazz band. For high school he attended Freehold Township High School for all four years where he was enrolled in the International Studies Program the first two years. His Junior and Senior years he attended The Fine and Performing Arts Center (a magnet program) at Howell High School in the Acting program (FPAC is a part time program, so he was bused between schools). Both schools are part of the Freehold Regional High School District in New Jersey. He was active in the schools' theater productions and competed on the Freehold Township National Honor Society Speech and Debate team (formerly known as Forensics). He then attended UCLA, where he double majored in film and sociology, graduating with a B.A. in 2000.

Acting career
Penn's feature film debut came in 1998 in Express: Aisle to Glory. He has since appeared in American Desi, Van Wilder, the final episode of The Lonely Island, Malibu's Most Wanted, A Lot Like Love, Dude, Where's the Party?, Love Don't Cost a Thing, Superman Returns, Epic Movie, The Namesake, the Harold & Kumar series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel (TV Series),and an uncredited appearance in Deck the Halls.

Penn says that he derived his acting name, Kal Penn, as a lark: "Almost as a joke to prove friends wrong, and half as an attempt to see if what I was told would work (that anglicized names appeal more to a white-dominated industry), I put 'Kal Penn' on my resume and photos." His audition callbacks rose by 50 percent. He has stated that he prefers his birth name and uses "Kal Penn" only for professional purposes.

In January 2007, Penn appeared in the first four episodes of the sixth season of 24 as Ahmed Amar, a teenage terrorist. Penn says he nearly turned down the role due to personal ethics:

"I have a huge political problem with the role. It was essentially accepting a form of racial profiling. I think it's repulsive. But it was the first time I had a chance to blow stuff up and take a family hostage. As an actor, why shouldn't I have that opportunity? Because I'm brown and I should be scared about the connection between media images and people's thought processes?"

Also in January 2007, he appeared in the spoof comedy Epic Movie as well as the television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In May 2007, Penn received the Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Actor for his performance in The Namesake. In fall 2007, Penn joined the cast of the Fox medical drama House as a fellowship applicant. E! reported that Penn had signed on as a regular on the show along with Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson and this was confirmed in the plot of the episode "Games". Penn continued with the series through to the episode "Simple Explanation", which aired April 6, 2009. He made an additional appearance as Lawrence Kutner on the fifth-season finale, "Both Sides Now", that aired on May 11, 2009. However, due to his new job at the White House, Penn could not be present for the filming of this episode. The clip of him saying "Too bad it isn't true" was taken from a previous filming. Penn returned to the show for the series finale.

In addition to his role on the TV series House, he is best known for his role in Harold & Kumar, as Kumar Patel, a pothead who goes with Harold Lee (John Cho) to White Castle for a hamburger. Unlike his character, he does not smoke marijuana, saying it is not for him, nor does he eat meat.

Penn had a recurring role on How I Met Your Mother for the seventh season of the show, in which he played Kevin, a therapist and later boyfriend of Robin Scherbatsky. Starting May 1, 2013, Penn hosted Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius on the Discovery Channel. In 2013, Penn joined the cast of We Are Men.

In 2014, he was cast in Ravi Kumar's film Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, a film about the Bhopal gas tragedy, considered by many to be the world's worst industrial disaster. Penn played Detective Fontanelle White on the CBS comedy-drama Battle Creek, which was canceled during its first season.

In October 2016, Penn began a regular role in the ABC drama series Designated Survivor as Seth Wright, a White House speech writer who originally worked under the previous president's administration. Following the death of the White House Press Secretary in the pilot episode and the acting press secretary walking out on the job, his character gets promoted to Press Secretary. Penn also served as a political consultant for the series. The show was renewed by Netflix for a third season which was released on June 7, 2019.

Penn has expressed some interest in working in Indian cinema, particularly in Gujarati cinema.

On March 7, 2019, Penn was cast in the main role of Garrett Modi on the NBC comedy Sunnyside and the series was ordered on May 6, 2019. The show was cancelled after eight episodes were produced.

On May 9, 2020, Penn was cast as a lead on the 2021 CBS thriller drama series Clarice, a sequel to The Silence of the Lambs.

On December 2, 2021, Penn was set to produce and star in the biopic Superfan which depicts the story of Nav Bhatia.

In 2022, he was cast as Simon Choksi/Santa on The Santa Clauses, for which he received a nominations for the Outstanding Supporting Performance at the 2nd Children's and Family Emmy Awards.

In 2023, Penn guest starred in the Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

Political activities

Penn was an advocate for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2007 and 2008 and a member of Obama's National Arts Policy Committee. He appears in the Barack Obama-supporting video "Sí Se Puede Cambiar" by Andres Useche and appeared with comedian George Lopez on January 18, 2009, at "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial".

In early 2009, Penn was offered the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, which he accepted. This necessitated his character Lawrence Kutner being written out of the TV series House. In his new role with the Obama administration, Penn served as a liaison with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities. He went back to using his birth name, Kalpen Modi.

Having made a commitment before his employment at the White House, Penn left his post as Obama's associate director of public engagement on June 1, 2010, to return to his acting career. He returned to office on November 15, 2010, following completion of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.

Penn was a co-chair of Obama's reelection campaign. On September 3, 2012, he hosted coverage of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Penn's speech at the convention encouraged young people to register to vote and defended Obama's record.

On November 18, 2013, Obama appointed Penn to serve on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. On February 28, 2014, Penn served as the Master of Ceremonies for the White House Student Film Festival.

Penn publicly supported Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic nomination. He campaigned for Hillary Clinton after she became the nominee.

In August 2017, Penn and the other members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities resigned in protest of President Donald Trump's remarks about the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

During the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Penn expressed interest in the messages of Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. He later expressed support for Joe Biden after he became the nominee.

Other ventures
In 2008, Penn served as a visiting lecturer in Asian American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His course was titled "Images of Asian Americans in the Media".

In 2014, Penn was working on a graduate certificate in international security from Stanford University.

On January 2, 2017, Penn won the "MasterChef Celebrity Showdown" and donated the $25,000 cash prize to UNRWA, a United Nations relief and human development agency that supports Palestinian refugees. On January 28, 2017, following a racist comment from a user on Penn's Twitter feed, Penn crowd-funded a fundraiser for refugees of the Syrian Civil War and raised $813,533. This occurred during President Donald Trump's Executive Order 13769, which banned immigration to the United States from Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Somalia regardless of visa status.

Personal life
Penn is Hindu. In October 2021, while promoting his memoir, You Can't Be Serious, Penn announced that he and his boyfriend of 11 years, named Josh, were engaged. In regard to his sexual orientation, Penn said that he had "discovered [his] own sexuality relatively late in life compared to many other people." However, he feels that "there's no timeline on this stuff. People figure their shit out at different times in their lives, so I'm glad I did when I did."

title: Kal Penn


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Talk:Spanish language in the Philippines

How low can you go? Makeup a story if there is none.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t5db8507t;view=1up;seq=13 None of what you quote about Henry Ford was in his book Woodrow Wilson, the man and his work; a biographical study, by Henry James Ford Published 1916--BuhayPinoy (talk) 08:08, 28 December 2018 (UTC)
 * The citation is not specifically attributed to that book in the page. --Jotamar (talk) 17:28, 3 January 2019 (UTC)

You mean Henry Ford wrote two contradicting statements, same year? Henry Ford said:Page 217 - "Meanwhile the hold of native dialect is apparently not shaken at all but on the contrary its use is being strengthened by the activity of patriotic sentiment. Native dialect is the medium through which the abundant literature of Filipino politics reaches the masses and at present it looks as if the vernacular will be the permanent channel of popular thought and feeling" This is what Henry Ford wrote about the current languages in use during 1916: P. 213 - "The Filipino gentry speak Spanish and the masses speak native dialects which are not low languages but are refined and capable instruments of thought producing poetry drama and romantic literature although deficient in science --BuhayPinoy (talk) 00:58, 4 January 2019 (UTC)--BuhayPinoy (talk) 00:58, 4 January 2019 (UTC)

 * , I saw that Henry Ford didn't mention those statements, so I have decided to eliminate them and replace them with statements that are actually written in his report. Stricnina (talk) 22:14, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

The archived copy of report by Henry Ford cited in this article just happens to be missing?--BuhayPinoy (talk) 01:04, 4 January 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't think that the text you quote and the one in the page are necessarily in contradiction. One compares Spanish and the local languages, the other compares Spanish and English. In any case, if you suspect that the reference to a source is fake, you could do a little of research to prove it; meanwhile we have to rely on the source. --Jotamar (talk) 18:34, 4 January 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 07:37, 6 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Emilio Aguinaldo Speech in Spanish (1929).webm

Discussion on Spanish language in the Philippines vs. Philippine Spanish as a separate variety or dialect
Please see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Languages. — MarkH21talk 21:43, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 01:03, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Emilio Aguinaldo Speech in Spanish (1929).webm

Phonology
This article might be helpful for putting the section on solidly sourced ground. I have little time for it, but looking at the work you're doing here in WP, I trust you'll do a great job as usual :)

(cf. also these discussions: Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Languages/Archive_15, Talk:Philippine_Spanish. Austronesier (talk) 20:34, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the recommendation @Austronesier. I've read and cited the article you linked, and I've added some more info plus corrected some of the existing uncited info.
 * Note that there's a lot more info on Philippine Spanish in Lipski's article that hasn't been added yet. Anyone who wants to add more info on those topics can do so using this same citation. Makisig's Signature (talk) 00:34, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi, and . I mentioned this in the talk page for Philippine Spanish, but I split the articles into two again after redoing the article as part of a long-running discussion on Commons over including the Philippines on linguistic maps of Spanish that we use on Wikipedia (discussion here). It's not done just yet (I intend to do some additional research once I return to Spain, including getting my hands on a copy of La lengua española en Filipinas by Antonio Quilis and Celia Casado-Fresnillo, which talks about Philippine Spanish extensively), but it's significantly more sourced than the previous version of the article, and I took pains to make sure that the sources in question specifically mention Philippine Spanish (the dialect) as opposed to Chavacano, though features of the two languages overlap. I look forward to continuing work on that article as time allows and as we encounter more sources, and I look forward to you folks continuing your work here over there. --Sky Harbor (talk) 01:09, 10 April 2023 (UTC)


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Talk:Flesch–Kincaid readability tests

Wrong formula!
It seems that the formula stated on this page for calculating the Flesch-Kincaid readability score does not match the formula stated in the source document being quoted!

The quoted source has a plus sign after the first term of the equation, whilst the wiki page has a minus sign after the first term of the equation. Kind regards, SR. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Begbie1975 (talk • contribs) 09:20, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

Should it make sense?
"Cwm fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz." Is presented as a pangram (a sentence with all the letters) but it hardly seems relevant to a discussion of an American English or even generalised English reading score when "cwm" is Welsh and the sentence is just a bunch of convenient words, and that also seems to excluded it from being a heterogram" since both are forms of sentence and sentence communicates something. 188.31.40.73 (talk) 20:56, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

 * I've removed that, as it's unsourced. And yes, it does look like "just a bunch of convenient words". Martinevans123 (talk) 21:13, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Flesch–Kincaid readability tests


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Aksu City

Aksu is a city in and the seat of Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, lying at the northern edge of the Tarim Basin. The name Aksu literally means "white water" (in Turkic) and is used for both the oasis town and the Aksu River.

The economy of Aksu is mostly agricultural, with cotton, in particular long-staple cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), as the main product. Also produced are grain, fruits, oils and beets. The industry mostly consists of weaving, cement and chemical industries.

The land currently under the administration of the Aksu City is divided in two parts, separated by the Aral City. The northern part hosts the city center, while the southern part is occupied by the Taklamakan Desert.

Aksu airport is considered a military airport in China (although also available for civil usage). Only aircraft registered in China can land in Aksu. This means if you are flying to Aksu from international origins you have to land in a major airport in China like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and change to China registered aircraft which tail number starts with B.

Etymology
The name Aksu comes from the name of the Aksu River which is the Uyghur word for "white water". It is transliterated as Akesu in Chinese Pinyin.

Gumo
From the Former Han dynasty (125 BCE to 23 CE) at least until the early Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), Aksu was known as Gumo 姑墨 [Ku-mo]. The ancient capital town of Nan ("Southern Town") was likely well south of the present town.

During the Han dynasty, Gumo is described as a "kingdom" (guo) containing 3,500 households and 24,500 individuals, including 4,500 people able to bear arms. It is said to have produced copper, iron and orpiment. The territory of Gumo was roughly situated in the counties of Baicheng and Wensu and the city of Aksu of nowadays.

Baluka
During the Buddhist era, it was known as Bharuka, Bohuan and Baluka, Bolujia (in pinyin), Po-lu-chia (in Wade–Giles).

The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited this "kingdom" in 629 CE and referred to it as Baluka. He recorded that there were tens of Sarvastivadin vihāras in the kingdom and over 1000 Buddhist monks. He said the kingdom was 600 li from east to west, and 300 li from north to south. Its capital was said to be six li in circumference. Xuanzang reported that the "native products, climate, temperament of the people, customs, written language and law are the same as in the country of Kuci or modern Kucha", some 300 km to the east, "but the spoken language is somewhat different" from the Kuchean language, which is also known as Tocharian B and West Tocharian. He also stated that fine cotton and hemp cloth made in the area was traded in neighbouring countries.

Contested period
In the 7th, 8th, and early 9th centuries, control of the entire region was often contested by Tang China, the Tibetan Empire, and the Uyghur Khaganate; cities frequently changed hands. Tibet seized Aksu in 670, but Tang forces reconquered the region in 692.

The Tang general Tang Jiahui led the Chinese to defeat an Arab-Tibetan attack in the Battle of Aksu (717). The attack on Aksu was joined by Türgesh Khan Suluk. Both Uch Turfan and Aksu were attacked by the Turgesh, Arab, and Tibetan force on 15 August 717. Qarluqs serving under Chinese command, under Arsila Xian, a Western Turkic Qaghan serving under the Chinese Assistant Grand Protector General Tang Jiahui defeated the attack. Al-Yashkuri, the Arab commander and his army fled to Tashkent after they were defeated.

Tibet regained the Tarim Basin in the late 720s, and the Tang dynasty again annexed the region in the 740s. The Battle of Talas led to the gradual withdrawal of Chinese forces, and the region was then contested between the Uyghurs and Tibetans.

Aksu was positioned on a junction of trade routes: the northern Tarim route Silk Road, and the dangerous route north via the Tian Shan's Muzart Pass to the fertile Ili Valley.

Mongol era
In 1207–1208, Aksu submitted to Genghis Khan who founded the Mongol Empire. The area had been part of the whole Mongol Empire before it was occupied by the independent-minded Chagatai Khanate under the House of Ögedei in 1286 from the hands of Kublai's Yuan dynasty. After the decline of the Yuan dynasty and the split of the Chagatai Khanate in the mid-14th century, Aksu became a territory of the khanate of Moghulistan. Later Aksu fell under the power of Turkic and Mongol warlords. Like most of Xinjiang, Aksu fell under the control of the Khojas and the Dzungar Khanate. Along with Kashgar, Asku played an important role in east–west exchange.

Qing era
The Qing dynasty of China conquered the Dzungar Khanate during the final stage of the Dzungar–Qing Wars in the late 1750s. By 1760, the whole Xinjiang including Aksu became the territory of the Qing dynasty. The Aksu region was given immediate legitimacy by the Qing government, which also gave it the name Wensu Independent Department (溫宿直隸州) and appointed an imperial agent to supervise its activity.

Aksu was seized by Yaqub Beg during the Dungan Revolt of 1864–1877. Yakub Beg seized Aksu from Chinese Muslim forces. After the reconquest of Xinjiang, the Qing dynasty formed Aksu Prefecture as part of the new Xinjiang Province in 1884. After the fall of Yakub Beg, a learned cleric named Musa Sayrami (1836–1917), who had occupied positions of importance in Aksu under both rebel regimes, authored Tārīkh-i amniyya (History of Peace), which is considered by modern historians as one of the most important historical sources on the period.

British Army officer Francis Younghusband visited Aksu in 1887 on his overland journey from Beijing to British India. He described it as being the largest town he had seen on his way from the Chinese capital, with a population of about 20,000, besides other inhabitants of the district and a garrison of about 2,000 soldiers. "There were large bazaars and several inns—some for travellers, others for merchants wishing to make a prolonged stay to sell goods."

Modern era
After the fall of the Qing dynasty, Aksu County (阿克蘇縣) was established by the Republic of China In 1913.

The Battle of Aksu (1933) occurred here on 31 May 1933. Isma'il Beg, a Uighur, became the rebel Tao-yin of Aksu. After the outbreak of the Ili Rebellion, the Ili National Army forces led by Abdulkerim Abbas attempting to take Aksu were repelled by National Revolutionary Army defenders commanded by Zhao Hanqi after two bitter sieges in September 1945.

On 19 August 1983, Aksu County became Aksu City (阿克苏市). The city government began operation on 7 May 1984.

Aksu was the site of a bombing in 2010.

On 23 January 2013, 802.733 km2 of territory was transferred from Aksu city to Aral city.

Timeline

 * Before 600 the region was under control of Huns and Uyghur Turkic tribes.
 * 630: Xuanzang visited the kingdom.
 * 800: Uyghur Khaganate
 * 1000: Kara-Khanid Khanate
 * 1250: Chagatai Khanate
 * 1350: Moghulistan
 * 1500: Yarkent Khanate

Geography
Aksu City is divided into two non-contiguous areas. The northern area is inhabited and the southern area is in the Taklamakan Desert. The southern area ends at a strait line in the desert along the 39°28′57″N parallel that divides it from Lop County (Luopu) and Qira County (Cele) in Hotan Prefecture (Hetian).

Neighbours
The kingdom bordered Kashgar to the south-west, and Kucha, Karasahr then Turpan to the east. Across the desert to the south was Khotan.

Climate
Aksu has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk) with extreme seasonal variation in temperature. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from -7.2 °C in January to 24.1 °C, and the annual mean is 10.8 °C. Precipitation totals only 80.6 mm annually, and mostly falls in summer, as compared to an annual evaporation rate of about 1200 to 1500 mm; there are about 2,800–3,000 hours of bright sunshine annually. The frost-free period averages 200–220 days.

Administrative divisions
Aksu City included 7 subdistricts, 3 towns, 3 townships and five other areas:

Economy
Industries in the city include textiles, construction, chemicals and others. Agricultural products include rice, wheat, corn and cotton. The local speciality is thin-shelled walnuts.

Demographics
Although the Tarim Basin is largely dominated by the Uyghurs, there are many Han Chinese in Aksu due to the presence of bingtuan state farms here. The Chinese government had encouraged migration to Xinjiang from the late 1950s and early 1960s onwards, and by 1998, Han Chinese formed the majority in the urban area of Aksu. The population in 2015, 44.67% of the population was Han Chinese.

As of 2015, 278,210 (54.16%) of the 513,682 residents of the city were Uyghur, 226,781 (44.14%) were Han Chinese and 8,691 were from other ethnic groups.

In the 2010 census figure, the population in the city of Aksu dropped slightly to 535,657. The difference may be partly due to boundary changes.

In the 2000 census, a figure of 561,822 was recorded for the city's population.

As of 1999, 57.89% of the population of Aksu City was Han Chinese and 40.75% of the population was Uyghur.

Transportation
The county is served by the Southern Xinjiang Railway.
 * China National Highway 217
 * China National Highway 314
 * G3012 Turpan–Hotan Expressway
 * Akesu Hongqipo Airport

Notable people

 * Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress

Historical maps
Historical English-language maps including Aksu:

title: Aksu City


text:
Talk:SHODAN

article quality
Hey guys, just wanted to say that it is a great article so far! keep it on! descriptions are highly acurate. I may add some content pictures in the future... 78.55.112.166 (talk) 22:03, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

edit
I just made an edit that I feel is incomplete. I clarified a few bits, but the part about Terri Brosius is incomplete and I don't have enough information to finish it up with authority. I think the original author failed to mention Eric Brosius, who, as I heard it, is Terri's husband and the person responsible for manipulating her voice into its distorted form. -- call me Faint, unregistered

Yup.
Eric Brosius was the sound editor for SShock 2 and the original music composer/sound editor for SShock 1. His wife provided the voice for Shodey.

Besides that... in the original release version of the game, all of the text logs register Shodey as a "he" or an "it." In the voiceovers that were added later once the Sound Blaster card came out, the pronouns were turned to the feminine. This is because while working with her husband, fiddling with the sound boards in testing the new card, Mrs. Brosius read some of S.H.O.D.A.N.'s lines and then Eric Brosius ran them through the sequencer a few times and created the "pixellated voice" SShock fans have come to alternately love and despise. They thought it sounded cool, so they sent it to the game designers, who thought it sounded cool, and so Mrs. Brosius became the voice of S.H.O.D.A.N... and that's when Shodey officially became a "she." She was originally written as an "it" until the voice came along.

That's the story I heard, at least. She wasn't credited in SShock 1, but was in SShock 2.

As for motivation... can't forget that she was hacked, after all. There's the self-superiority, but there's also a hatred of humanity and a need for revenge (which is where the horribly-disfigured-and-in-pain mutants come in). Without that need for revenge, she may as well be like The Humanoids and just protect humans from themselves.

-- The Centipede

System Shock and Crusader
Hi. I removed this part from the article as I'm familiar with both game series and have seen no indication that they could take place in the same setting. I'll embarassedly withdraw this objection if given a suitable reference. --Kizor 23:00, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

The computer game Crusader: No Remorse, which is set a century after the first System Shock, contains several references to advanced AI research being conducted by the World Economic Consortium.

 * I remember some materials that apparently came with No Remorse that mentioned an AI called SHODAN that was in development by the WEC. However, the Crusader games are set a good 124 years after System Shock. There are no references to the WEC or anything from the Crusader universe in SS1, of course, so it wouldn't be canon. The reason for the reference is likley due to the mutual publisher of the two games, Origin.--DooM Drat 06:12, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

Shodan sound bit
The old description of Shodan's trademark line, "to which text definitely doesn't do justice:" has become controversial due to accusations of POV, even after the "definitely" was deservedly lost. The problem is that the line, as can be heard in the linked audio clip, is fundamentally different to a human voice and makes very heavy use of reverb, echo, machine noise and other effects unreproducable in normal speech. It's a vital part of her and well-remembered among gamers. The text transcription, as is necessary, utterly fails to reproduce any of this.

Now, in my arrogant opinion this seems like a case of something looking a bit like POV rather than actually being it. Like it or loathe it, it seems fairly indisputable that the text doesn't measure up to the voice. The old description may have a slight positive undertone, but it's neither a compliment nor praise, and it works. The replacement, "which cannot be represented with full accuracy as text:" is a significant understatement and excessively bland (sorry Drat, but it is). Maintaining NPOV shouldn't mean flavorless text. I'm supporting the old version. --Kizor 00:05, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

 * I changed it to the following version: "The AI's personality can be summed up by her most well known quote. Her method of speech, however, can not be adequately described by text" and then the quote. I think it's less journalistic than "does not do justice", but not as bland as the alternative. It doesn't lead into the quote as well as either of the previous versions, though, so further suggestions are welcome. --Sam Blanning (formerly Malthusian) (talk) 00:25, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Seems better now.--Drat (Talk) 01:04, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Thank you, Sam. *Goes to think* --Kizor 10:33, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

 * It's kinda ironic that SHODANs best known quote is never actually said in the games. --Arm 17:52, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

 * It is, cant remember where exactly but it wasnt far into the game that i heard her speaking that. 83.135.180.252 02:24, 18 November 2006 (UTC)
 * No, it's not. It only appears in the sound test. You might be thinking of her "Welcome back to Citadel Station" message you get early on.--Drat (Talk) 03:26, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
 * It plays during the opening cinematic of System Shock2. Sets the feel for the whole game.

 * Isn't it also played on the reactor deck in SS1?

"citation needed" tags
The Max Headroom comparison is original research without a citation. Did a reliable, verifiable source compare the two? Did the creators (particularly Eric and Terri Brosius, the team behind her voice) say Max was an influence? As for the later fact tag, saying stuff like "widely held" is a weasel wording. Don't get me wrong, I fear and respect SHODAN. I know there are numerous professional sources that describe her nature and the personal struggle against her, so there shouldn't be too much difficulty citing stuff in this article. It needs a complete rewrite though so it is not relying so much on an in-universe perspective.--Drat (Talk) 08:22, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh, for God's sake. This page has a sound clip.  The Max Headroom page has a sound clip.  Listen to them yourself, and the similarity is unmistakable.  Anyone who thinks the editing tricks used to create their respective voices don't bear some similarity needs an ear exam.  One does not need to cite 'the sky is blue', and for good reason. I've removed the call for a citation.-Toptomcat 02:45, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Note to self
Add reception section, expand on that #¤%"@ real-world content. One of the top 10 villains in Gamespot's reader and staff lists, significant accomplishment. --Kizor 20:10, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Resemblances to GLaDOS
Does anyone else see a resemblance to GLaDOS from portal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.185.121.72 (talk) 14:54, 22 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah and a bunch more... it's a cliche by now ;) --logixoul 10:51, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

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SS1 remake image interest check
Out of curiosity, how would we feel about changing the image in the infobox to the art used in the recently-released System Shock remake? Hàlian (talk) 10:10, 17 June 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:SHODAN


text:
David Whitmer

David Whitmer (January 7, 1805 – January 25, 1888) was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint Movement and one of the Three Witnesses to the gold plates of the Book of Mormon. Whitmer later distanced himself from Joseph Smith and was excommunicated from the church in 1838, but continued to affirm his testimony of the Book of Mormon. He was the most interviewed Book of Mormon witness.

Early life
Whitmer was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1805, the fourth of nine children of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Whitmer's ancestry on both sides of his family was German, and the family spoke with a German accent. His grandfather was George Witmer, who was born in Prussia, and his great-grandfather was born in Switzerland. Whitmer had five brothers and three sisters, one of which died in 1813 in her infancy. He grew up attending a Presbyterian church. By the 1820s, the Whitmer family had moved to a farm in Fayette, in New York's Finger Lakes area. On March 12, 1825, Whitmer was elected sergeant in a newly organized militia called the Seneca Grenadiers.

Role in the early Latter Day Saint movement
Whitmer and his family were among the earliest adherents to the Latter Day Saint movement. Whitmer first heard of Mormonism and the golden plates in 1828 when he made a business trip to Palmyra, New York, and talked with his friend Oliver Cowdery, who believed that there "must be some truth to the matter". Cowdery continued to write Whitmer letters concerning the matter, which Whitmer then shared with his parents and siblings. One of Cowdery's letters inquired as to whether the Whitmers would be willing to provide the Smiths with lodging and a place to complete the translation of the Book of Mormon. The family agreed, and Joseph Smith, his wife, Emma Smith, and Cowdery came to the Whitmer farm to live on June 1, 1829. The translation was completed about a month later.

Book of Mormon witness
Whitmer was baptized in June 1829, nearly a year prior to the formal organization of the Church of Christ. During that same month, Whitmer said that he, along with Smith and Cowdery, saw an angel present the golden plates in a vision. Martin Harris reported that he experienced a similar vision with Smith later in the day. Evidence places this event near Whitmer's father's home in Fayette, New York, on June 28, 1829. Later, in an 1878 testimony, Whitmer claimed to have seen a light, "not like the light of the sun, nor like that of a fire, but more glorious and beautiful". He then went on to describe a table appearing with the golden plates, the Urim and Thummim, and other objects referenced in the Book of Mormon narrative. Whitmer continued: "I heard the voice of the Lord, as distinctly as I ever heard anything in my life, declaring that the records of the plates of the Book of Mormon were translated by the gift and power of God." Whitmer, Cowdery, and Harris signed a joint statement declaring their testimony to the reality of the vision. The statement was published in the first edition of the Book of Mormon and has been included in nearly every subsequent edition.

Founding church member
When Smith organized the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830, Whitmer was one of six original members. In 1835, Whitmer assisted Cowdery and Harris in selecting and ordaining the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the church. He also participated in some of the earliest missionary trips, accompanying Joseph Smith and baptizing new converts.

Church offices
Whitmer had been ordained an elder of the church by June 9, 1830, and he was ordained to the office of high priest by Cowdery on October 5, 1831. Soon after the organization of the church, Smith set apart Jackson County, Missouri, as a "gathering place" for Latter Day Saints. According to Smith, the area would be the "center place" of the City of Zion, the New Jerusalem. On July 7, 1834, Smith ordained Whitmer to be the president of the church in Missouri and his own successor, should Smith "not live to God".

By virtue of his position as President of the High Council in Zion, David Whitmer was sustained as "the president of the church in Zion," not merely as a Stake President. Since the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Quorum of the Seventy had not yet been organized, this meant that there was a short period of time—from July 3, 1834, until February 14, 1835—when the High Council in Zion stood in an administrative position next to the First Presidency. It also meant that from July 3, 1834, until December 5, 1834, at which time Oliver Cowdery was made the Associate President of the Church, David Whitmer, as President of the High Council in Zion, was the Prophet's rightful successor."

Cowdery and Whitmer were also called to "search out" twelve "disciples", who would become the Quorum of the Twelve.

Separation from the church
Whitmer continued to live in Kirtland, Ohio, and his counselors, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer (Whitmer's brother) presided over the church in Missouri until the summer of 1837. After the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society bank, Smith and his counselor Sidney Rigdon, battered by creditors, moved to Far West, Missouri, to evade arrest. The ensuing leadership struggle led to the dissolution of the presidency of the church in Missouri. Whitmer resigned and separated from the church. He was formally excommunicated from the church on the grounds of breaking the Word of Wisdom, neglecting his leadership duties, meeting with the other "Kirtland apostates", and circulating unfavorable information about Joseph Smith.

Whitmer and the other excommunicated Latter Day Saints became known as the "dissenters". Some of the dissenters owned land in Caldwell County, Missouri, which they wanted to retain. The church presidency and other members looked unfavorably upon them. Rigdon preached his "Salt Sermon", which called for their expulsion from the county. A number of Latter Day Saints formed a secret society known as the Danites, whose stated goal was removal of the dissenters. Eighty prominent Mormons signed the so-called Danite Manifesto, which warned the dissenters to "depart or a more fatal calamity shall befall you." Shortly afterward, Whitmer and his family fled to nearby Richmond, Missouri.

Whitmer, other dissenters, and Mormons loyal to Smith complained to the non-Mormons in northwestern Missouri about their forcible expulsion and the loss of their properties and began to file lawsuits to recover them.

Tensions escalated, bringing about the 1838 Mormon War, after which Governor Boggs issued the Mormon Extermination Order in October 1838, authorizing deadly force in the removal of Mormons. Consequently, most of the Latter Day Saints were expelled from Missouri by early 1839.

In response to "persecutions" from a "secret organization" formed within the church that denounced "dissenters", Whitmer used his position as one of the Three Witnesses to condemn the church: "If you believe my testimony to the Book of Mormon", wrote Whitmer, "if you believe that God spake to us three witnesses by his own voice, then I tell you that in June, 1838, God spake to me again by his own voice from the heavens and told me to 'separate myself from among the Latter Day Saints, for as they sought to do unto me, so it should be done unto them.'" Whitmer interpreted God's command to include both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (RLDS Church, now known as the Community Of Christ): "God commanded me by his voice to stand apart from you."

Whitmer continued to live in Richmond, where he operated a livery stable and was elected mayor, a position he held from 1867 to 1868.

President of the Church of Christ (Whitmerite)
After the killing of Smith in 1844, several rival leaders claimed to be Smith's successor, including Brigham Young, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Many of Rigdon's followers became disillusioned by 1847 and some, including apostle William E. McLellin and Benjamin Winchester, remembered Whitmer's 1834 ordination to be Smith's successor. At McLellin's urging, Whitmer exercised his claim to be Smith's successor and the Church of Christ (Whitmerite) was formed in Kirtland, Ohio. However, Whitmer never joined the body of the new church and it dissolved relatively quickly.

Around this time, fellow Book of Mormon witness Oliver Cowdery began to correspond with Whitmer. After traveling from Ohio to Kanesville (Council Bluffs), Cowdery attended the Kanesville Tabernacle meeting, called to sustain Brigham Young as the new President of the Church. Cowdery bore, with conviction, his testimony of the truthfulness of everything that had happened spiritually regarding Smith and the Book of Mormon. Meeting with Young at Winter Quarters, Nebraska, he requested readmission into the church, and he was re-baptized into the church there. Cowdery then traveled to meet with Whitmer in Richmond to persuade him to move west and rejoin the Saints in Utah Territory. Cowdery, however, succumbed to tuberculosis and died March 3, 1850.

In January 1876, Whitmer resurrected the Church of Christ (Whitmerite) by ordaining his nephew, John C. Whitmer, an elder, and giving him the title "First Elder".

In 1887, Whitmer published a pamphlet entitled "An Address to All Believers in Christ", in which he affirmed his testimony of the Book of Mormon, but denounced the other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement. Whitmer died in Richmond. The Whitmerite church survived until the 1960s.

Religious views
Whitmer stated his religious views in three publications: "A Proclamation" published March 24, 1881, "An Address To Believers in the Book of Mormon" published April 1887, and "An Address to All Believers in Christ" also published April 1887.

I do not endorse polygamy or spiritual wifeism. It is a great evil, shocking to the moral sense, and the more so, because practiced in the name of religion. It is of man and not God, and is especially forbidden in the Book of Mormon itself.
 * Polygamy

As to the High Priesthood, Jesus Christ himself is the last Great High Priest, this too after the order of Melchisedec, as I understand the Holy Scriptures.
 * High Priests

I do not endorse the change of the name of the church, for as the wife takes the name of her husband so should the Church of the Lamb of God, take the name of its head, even Christ himself. It is the Church of Christ.
 * Name change

The most interviewed Book of Mormon witness
Because Cowdery died in 1850 at age 43 and Martin Harris died in 1875 at age 92, Whitmer was the only survivor of the Three Witnesses for 13 years. At Richmond, Missouri, he sometimes received several inquirers daily asking about his connection to the Book of Mormon, including missionaries of the LDS Church who were traveling from Utah Territory to the eastern United States and Europe. Despite his hostility toward the LDS Church, Whitmer always stood by his claim that he had actually seen the golden plates.

Some of the 71 recorded interviews he gave between 1838 and 1888 contained different details than others. Recounting the vision to Orson Pratt in 1878, Whitmer claimed to have seen not only the golden plates but the "Brass Plates, the plates containing the record of the wickedness of the people of the world ... the sword of Laban, the Directors (i.e. the ball which Lehi had) and the Interpreters. I saw them just as plain as I see this bed".

In 1880, John Murphy interviewed Whitmer and later published an account suggesting that perhaps Whitmer's experience was a "delusion or perhaps a cunning scheme". Murphy's account said that Whitmer had not been able to describe the appearance of an angel and had likened Whitmer's experience to the "impressions as the quaker [receives] when the spirit moves, or as a good Methodist in giving a happy experience." Whitmer responded by publishing "A Proclamation", reaffirming his testimony and saying,

"It having been represented by one John Murphy, of Polo, Caldwell County, Mo., that I, in a conversation with him last summer, denied my testimony as one of the three witnesses to the BOOK OF MORMON. To the end, therefore, that he may understand me now, if he did not then; and that the world may know the truth, I wish now, standing as it were, in the very sunset of life, and in the fear of God, once for all to make this public statement: That I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof, which has so long since been published with that Book, as one of the three witnesses. Those who know me best, well know that I have always adhered to that testimony. And that no man may be misled or doubt my present views in regard to the same, I do again affirm the truth of all of my statements, as then made and published. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear; it was no delusion!"

To the "Proclamation" Whitmer attached an affidavit attesting to his honesty and standing in the community. Whitmer ordered that his testimony to the Book of Mormon be placed on his tombstone.

In response to a question by Anthony Metcalf, Whitmer attempted to clarify the "spiritual" versus "natural" viewing of the plates:

In regards to my testimony to the visitation of the angel, who declared to us Three Witnesses that the Book of Mormon is true, I have this to say: Of course we were in the spirit when we had the view, for no man can behold the face of an angel, except in a spiritual view, but we were in the body also, and everything was as natural to us, as it is at any time. Martin Harris, you say, called it 'being in vision.' We read in the Scriptures, Cornelius saw, in a vision, an angel of God. Daniel saw an angel in a vision, also in other places it states they saw an angel in the spirit. A bright light enveloped us where we were, that filled at noon day, and there in a vision, or in the spirit, we saw and heard just as it is stated in my testimony in the Book of Mormon. I am now passed eighty-two years old, and I have a brother, J. J. Snyder, to do my writing for me, at my dictation. [Signed] David Whitmer.

The following table shows which interviews were cited in the following publications:

 * Kenneth W. Godfrey, "David Whitmer and the Shaping of Latter-day Saint History," in The Disciple As Witness: Essays on Latter-Day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, edited by Richard Lloyd Anderson, Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, Provo: FARMS, 2000, pp. 223–56.
 * Lyndon W. Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, Grandin Book, 1991.
 * Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, Vol. V, Signature Books, 2003.
 * John W. Welch and Erick B. Carlson eds., Opening the Heavens, Accounts of Divine Manifestations 1820–1844, Deseret Book, 2005. Twenty-one interviews were cited, the "x-#" refers to the document number in this volume only.
 * Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, Deseret Book, 1981.

title: David Whitmer


text:
User:Bgoldenberg

I have been a fairly regular user on Wikipedia for a few months. I tend to read lots of articles I am interested in and make lots of fairly minor changes like disambiguation and categorization as I am reading and adding small tidbits of information. Sometimes I won't make edits for a couple days and then spend an hour or two on things like categories and adding info to infoboxes, (especially the WikiProject Albums boxes).

I am generally interested in political and current affairs articles, articles relating to computer programming/computer science and computers, especially Macs. But I by no means stay within those bounds.

I also run User:BenjBot intermittently. So far it has only been used for disambiguation, but someday it may be used for more.

title: User:Bgoldenberg


text:
Luis Alberto Spinetta

Luis Alberto Spinetta (23 January 1950 – 8 February 2012), nicknamed "El Flaco" (Spanish for "skinny"), was an Argentine singer, guitarist, composer, writer and poet. One of the most influential rock musicians of Argentina, he is widely regarded as one of the founders of Argentine rock, which is considered as the first incarnation of Spanish-language rock. Born in Buenos Aires in the residential neighbourhood of Belgrano, he was the founder of iconic rock bands including Almendra, Pescado Rabioso, Invisible, Spinetta Jade, and Spinetta y Los Socios del Desierto. In Argentina January 23rd is celebrated as "Día Nacional del Músico" (National Musician's Day) in honor of Spinetta's birth.

Spinetta devoted himself fully to his own music. In his lyrics, there are influences of multiple writers, poets and artists like Arthur Rimbaud, Vincent van Gogh, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Carlos Castañeda and Antonin Artaud, who has his name in the album Artaud.

In December 2011 he announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He died on 8 February 2012 at the age of 62. His ashes were scattered in Buenos Aires in the waters of the Río de la Plata, according to his last wish.

The late 1960s and the 1970s
In the late 1960s, against the backdrop of the reactionary and authoritarian government of General Juan Carlos Onganía, Buenos Aires was undergoing a cultural blossoming of new artistic expressions; the new generation of the middle class was immersed in an effervescence that would not reappear in Argentina until the return to democracy in 1983.

In 1969, Spinetta's band, Almendra, recorded their self-titled first album. They started recording and playing intensively, becoming successful almost overnight. Almendra composed their own songs and their lyrics were written in Spanish, something which was still new for Argentine rock music. After two albums that were received with critical acclaim and continuous radio exposure, the band split.

After a lengthy stay in Europe, Spinetta returned to Argentina and afterwards formed a new band, named Pescado Rabioso. With a far more powerful sound and expressing through their songs the tension of the streets in an increasingly violent Argentina, Pescado made their album debut in 1972. It was both a continuation of the creative stream of Spinetta and a drastic change in the style of his own music and lyrics. Later, the band recorded a second album named Pescado 2. Although a third album, released in 1973 and called Artaud, carried the band's name, the band had actually already dissolved. Therefore, it was mostly a solo album by Spinetta himself. Partly inspired by the writings of Theatre of Cruelty creator Antonin Artaud, particularly his essays Van Gogh, le suicidé de la société ("Van Gogh, the suicide by society") and Héliogabale ou l'Anarchiste couronné ("Heliogabalus, or the anarchist crowned"), Spinetta exorcised many of the demons of his past in this album. He simultaneously released a manifesto entitled Rock: música dura, la suicidada por la sociedad ("Rock: tough music, suicided by society"), a reference to Artaud's essay, in which he denounced the nihilistic hedonism and commercialisation he saw as having corrupted rock music. This process would open the door to a new era in his music.

In 1974, Spinetta formed a new band, Invisible, whose music was based in progressive rock and psychedelia. With his new band he recorded three albums: Invisible, Durazno Sangrando and El jardín de los presentes. In the latter, Spinetta took a novel approach, incorporating elements of tango and jazz into his sound.

After recording and editing a failed album in the United States in 1979, with lyrics in English and destined to the U.S. market, Spinetta returned to Argentina to record two albums with a short-lived Almendra revival (one with original songs and the other live), and embarked on a new project, Spinetta Jade.

The 1980s and beyond
Spinetta Jade would prove to be a successful and innovative band; Spinetta was joined by some of the most acclaimed Argentine musicians to help him build the new sound he was building since Invisible. The product: a blend of jazz and rock that was unseen in Argentina drawing away from the symphonic rock that dominated the middle 70s, and escaping the boom of new wave, punk, reggae, glam pop etc that reached both the world and Argentina in the 1980s. These four albums, Alma de Diamante (1980), Los Niños que Escriben en el Cielo (1981), Bajo Belgrano (1983) and Madre en Años Luz (1984), represent a defined style as well as the footprints of Spinetta's evolution. Spinetta and Charly García (with their respective bands at the moment, Jade and Serú Giran) joined efforts and gave what was considered amongst the most important shows in the history of Argentine rock. After dissolving Spinetta Jade in 1984, Spinetta worked on an album with Charly, but eventually they abandoned their efforts. Only two songs remain of the ill-fated effort, "Rezo por Vos" and "Total Interferencia".

By 1982, Spinetta had restarted his solo projects. Kamikaze (1982) puts together a number of previously unreleased songs (one gem is an early song he composed in 1965 called "Barro Tal Vez"). In Mondo Di Cromo (1983) Spinetta's new production, from 1986 to 1993, would include four solo albums (Privé, 1986), Téster de Violencia (1988), Don Lucero (1989), Pelusón of Milk (1991), a joint album with Fito Páez, another Argentine great (La La La, 1986), and the soundtrack of the movie Fuego Gris (named after the film, 1993).

After a long hiatus, largely due to Spinetta's conflicts with recording companies, he finally opened a new period in his music with his new band: Spinetta y los Socios del Desierto. Over three years (1997–1999) the band released four albums. Two studio albums, the double Socios del Desierto (1997) and Los Ojos (1999) would bring a new sound. The band made an MTV Unplugged live album, Estrelicia (1998), which, because of its soft acoustics, contrasts with their live album, San Cristóforo (1998). As Spinetta said at the beginning of the first concert, "Fans de lo acústico, abstenerse" ("Fans of acoustic music, refrain"). In 1998, he selected the featured songs and artwork of a greatest hits album called Elija y Gane, which was edited the same year.

The band dissolved quietly towards the end of 1999. Spinetta started a solo career, including Silver Sorgo (2001), Obras en Vivo (2002), a live album, Para Los Árboles (2003), Camalotus (2004), a single of three unreleased songs and one remix, Pan (2006) and Un Mañana (2008). In 2005, he received the Platinum Konex Award for best rock soloist of the 1995–2005 decade. A number of books and TV documentaries have been devoted to him, like Argentine writer Eduardo Berti's, which includes a long conversation with Spinetta, among many others

Spinetta celebrated his 40 years in music with a five-and-a-half-hour concert called "Spinetta y las Bandas Eternas" (Spinetta and The Eternal Bands) in front of 40 thousand fans at Vélez Sarsfield Stadium in Buenos Aires. It was later considered by Argentine music critics as "the greatest gig of the decade".

Death
Spinetta died of lung cancer at 62 years of age on 8 February 2012.

Family
Spinetta had four children: Dante (born 1976), Catarina (b. 1979), Valentino (b. 1983) and Vera (b. 1991).

Tribute
On 23 January 2020, Google celebrated his 70th birthday with a Google Doodle.

Almendra
Studio albums Live albums
 * Almendra (1969)
 * Almendra II (1970)
 * El Valle Interior (1980)
 * Almendra en Obras I/II (1980)

Pescado Rabioso

 * Desatormentándonos (1972)
 * Pescado 2 (1973)
 * Artaud (1973)

Invisible
Studio albums Non-album singles
 * Invisible (1974)
 * Durazno Sangrando (1975)
 * El jardín de los presentes (1976)

 * "Estado de coma" (1974)

 * "La llave del Mandala" (1974)
 * "Viejos ratones del tiempo" (1974)

Live albums

 * En Vivo Teatro Coliseo 1975 (2022)

Spinetta Jade

 * Alma de Diamante (1980)
 * Los Niños Que Escriben En El Cielo (1981)
 * Bajo Belgrano (1983)
 * Madre en Años Luz (1984)

Spinetta y los Socios del Desierto
Studio albums Live albums
 * Socios del Desierto (1996)
 * Los Ojos (1999)

 * San Cristóforo (1998)

Solo
Studio albums Live albums
 * Spinettalandia y Sus Amigos - La Búsqueda de la Estrella (1971)
 * Artaud (1973, edited as an album of Pescado Rabioso)
 * A 18´ del Sol (1977)
 * Only Love Can Sustain (1980) (Solo el Amor Puede Sostener)
 * Kamikaze (1982)
 * Mondo Di Cromo (1983)
 * Privé (1986)
 * La La La (1986, con Fito Páez)
 * Téster de Violencia (1988)
 * Don Lucero (1989)
 * Pelusón of Milk (1991)
 * Fuego Gris (1993, soundtrack)
 * Silver Sorgo (2001)
 * Para los Árboles (2003)
 * Camalotus (2004)
 * Pan (2006)
 * Un Mañana (2008)
 * Los Amigo (2015, posthumous)

 * Exactas (1990, live)
 * Estrelicia (1997, MTV Unplugged)
 * San Cristóforo: Un Sauna de Lava Eléctrico (1998, live)
 * Argentina Sorgo Films Presenta: Spinetta Obras (2002, live)
 * Spinetta y las Bandas Eternas (2010, live)
 * Presentación ARTAUD - 1973 - Teatro Astral (2020, official bootleg)
 * Presentación ARTAUD - 1973 - Teatro Astral Vol. 2 (2021, official bootleg)

Compilations

 * Elija y Gane (1999, greatest hits)
 * Ya no mires atrás (2020, unreleased material) (recorded 2008–09)

Poetry

 * 1978: Guitarra negra (English: "Black Guitar"). Buenos Aires: Ediciones Tres Tiempos.

title: Luis Alberto Spinetta


text:
Asphaltite

Asphaltite (also known as uintahite, asphaltum, gilsonite or oil sands ) is a naturally occurring soluble solid hydrocarbon, a form of asphalt (or bitumen) with a relatively high melting temperature. Its large-scale production occurs in the Uintah Basin of Utah and Colorado, United States. Although the substance has been historically mined in the Uintah Basin, resources are being discovered and mined more recently in other countries such as Colombia and Iran. Gilsonite is mined in underground shafts and resembles shiny black obsidian. Discovered in the 1860s, it was first marketed as a lacquer, electrical insulator, and waterproofing compound approximately 25 years later by Samuel H. Gilson.

History
Gilsonite was discovered in the 1860s. By 1888 Samuel H. Gilson had started a company to mine the substance, but soon discovered the vein was on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. Under great political pressure Congress removed some 7000 acre from the reservation on May 24, 1888 to allow mining to proceed legally. Gilsonite mining became the first large commercial enterprise in the Uintah Basin, causing most of its early population growth.

Mining gilsonite during World War II was manual, using a six-pound pick, then shoveling the ore into 200 pound sacks, which were sewn by hand.

Gilsonite-brand uintahite's earliest applications included paints for buggies and emulsions for beer-vat lining. It was used by Ford Motor Company as a principal component of the japan black lacquer used on most of the Ford Model T cars.

Composition
Gilsonite is categorized as a soluble material in oil solutions such as carbon disulphide or TCE (trichloroethylene). A major component of gilsonite is carbon; it also contains several other elements including nitrogen and sulfur and some volatile compounds.

Reserves and uses
Gilsonite reserves are distributed globally, especially within basins. It has also been found on the dwarf planet Ceres and is predicted to exist on the Martian moon Phobos.

Gilsonite is used in more than 160 products, primarily in dark-colored printing inks and paints, oil well drilling muds and cements, asphalt modifiers, foundry sand additives, and a wide variety of chemical products. The trademark, registered in 1921, belongs to the American Gilsonite Company which filed for bankruptcy and after accepting re-organization seems to emerge from it at Jan 3rd 2017.

Gilsonite is a common modifier for bitumen in asphalt. Blending gilsonite with bitumen increases the strength and resistance of pavements. This application is practised in countries such as China, India and Iran. Known as asfaltit in Turkish, it is burnt in Silopi, a coal fired power station in Turkey.

title: Asphaltite


text:
ASO

ASO or Aso may refer to:

 * Aso clan, a historic Japanese clan

Geography

 * Aso (river), a river in Italy
 * Aso River, in Democratic Republic of the Congo
 * Aso, Kumamoto, Japan
 * Asō, Ibaraki, a former Japanese town located in Namegata District that is now part of the city of Namegata
 * Mount Aso, a mountain in Japan
 * Aso Rock, a large outcrop on the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria

Ships

 * Japanese cruiser Aso (1905–1932)
 * Aso-class patrol vessel, a class of large patrol vessels of the Japan Coast Guard, named after Mount Aso

Medicine

 * Allele-specific oligonucleotide
 * Antisense oligonucleotide
 * Anti-streptolysin O
 * Arterial switch operation
 * Arteriosclerosis obliterans
 * Annals of Surgical Oncology, a peer-reviewed medical journal

Orchestras

 * Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
 * Albany Symphony Orchestra
 * American Symphony Orchestra
 * Amman Symphony Orchestra (since 2015, the JOrchestra)
 * Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
 * Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
 * Appalachian Symphony Orchestra
 * Arkansas Symphony Orchestra
 * Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
 * Austin Symphony Orchestra

Technology

 * Analogue switch/sign-off, part of the digital television transition
 * App store optimization

Other uses

 * ASO, general secondary education (Algemeen Secundair Onderwijs in Dutch) in Belgium
 * Aso, a story art in the Philippine comic strip Pugad Baboy
 * ASO, another name for the arcade game Alpha Mission
 * Academy Sports + Outdoors, American retail chain
 * Address Supporting Organization, an Internet-protocol advisory group affiliated with ICANN
 * Administrative services organization, a company that provides human-resources and other administrative functions to client companies
 * Amaury Sport Organisation, organiser of the Tour de France and other sporting events
 * ASO or "anvil-shaped object", a cheap anvil made of inferior materials
 * Arbitrary slice ordering, an algorithm for loss prevention during image or video compression
 * App store optimization, a process of improving the visibility of a mobile app in an App Store
 * Areostationary orbit, a circular synchronous orbit around Mars in the equatorial plane
 * Australian Screen Online, online database of the Australian National Film and Sound Archive

People with the surname

 * Aso (surname)

title: ASO