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Chicago Tunnel Company

The Chicago Tunnel Company was the builder and operator of a narrow-gauge railway freight tunnel network under downtown Chicago, Illinois. This was regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission as an interurban even though it operated entirely under central Chicago, did not carry passengers, and was entirely underground. It inspired the construction of the London Post Office Railway.

Initial tunnels

The city of Chicago granted the newly formed Illinois Telephone and Telegraph company the rights to construct utility tunnels under the streets of Chicago in 1899 to carry its planned network of telephone cables. Initial plans for the tunnels called for filling them with phone cables, leaving a 6 ft by 14 in passage for maintenance. When the city refused to permit manholes through which cable could be unreeled into the tunnels, the plans were changed to include rails for hauling cable spools through the tunnels. The city was largely unaware of the nature of the tunneling, and the first 16 mi of tunnel were excavated somewhat covertly, working from the basement of a saloon and carting away the spoil after midnight.

Initially, the intended purpose of the narrow gauge railroad below the telephone cables was limited to hauling out excavation debris and hauling cable spools during the installation of telephone lines, but in 1903, the company renegotiated its franchise to allow the use of this railroad for freight and mail service. In early 1905, the system was taken over by the Illinois Tunnel Company. By this time, 26 mi of a projected 60 mi of tunnel had been completed. The actual construction work was subcontracted to the Illinois Telephone Construction Company, under the management of George W. Jackson (1861–1922).

Refinancing
By 1904, the first round of financing for tunnel system construction had largely been spent. A second round of financing was arranged by James Stillman of the National City Bank of New York City, with public support from E. H. Harriman, Jacob H. Schiff, and Patrick A. Valentine, all directors of that bank. With this financing, the Chicago Subway Company, incorporated in New Jersey, became a new holding company for the tunnel system.

The Chicago Warehouse and Terminal Company was an affiliate, formed in 1904 to construct and operate terminal facilities for interchanging freight with railroads and other carriers.

The Illinois Tunnel Company continued to expand the tunnel system and serve a growing customer base until 1908, when the employees moved to join the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees. The tunnel company refused to recognize the union and began firing union members. Despite the intervention of Congressman William Lorimer, all 260 employees went on strike on May 9. The company hired strikebreakers and refused to rehire any of the strikers.

The Tunnel Company ran into a problem with a part of its planned expansion. In November 1906, the Chicago Board of Local Improvements announced it was considering widening Halsted Street between Chicago Avenue and 22nd Street. 300 property owners on Halsted Street, represented by the Law Firm of Adler & Lederer (now known as Arnstein & Lehr, LLP), opposed the widening of the street because it would interfere with their business and the cost would result in burdensome assessments. Attorney Charles Lederer charged that there was graft connected with the proposition to widen the street and that if this was done the scheme was then to utilize the street to connect the tunnel with the Chicago Stockyards so that it would have access to the railroads.

Bankruptcy and reorganization
By 1909, the cost of construction had bankrupted the Illinois Tunnel Company. By this time, it was estimated that $30,000,000 had been spent on building and operating the tunnel. The receiver's sale was completed in 1912, with the Chicago Tunnel Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chicago Utilities Company, acquiring all assets of the former company and its affiliates, the Chicago Warehouse and Terminal Company and the Illinois Telephone and Telegraph Company. In 1913, the Chicago Tunnel Company agreed to sell its telephone operations to American Telephone and Telegraph Company, although regulatory approval delayed the actual sale until 1916. By 1920, all telephone cables had been removed from the tunnels.

By 1914, about 60 mi of tunnel had been constructed, typically 7 ft high and 6 ft wide, with gauge track. 19 elevators connected the tunnel with customers, and five elevators served universal public stations where freight could be dropped off or picked up by the public. The railroad operated 132 electric locomotives, typically 30 to 50 hp each, and had 2,042 merchandise cars, 350 excavating cars and 235 coal and ash cars. In 1914, the tunnel company handled 609320 ST of freight, 275218 ST of which were merchandise. The remainder was presumably coal, ash and excavation debris.

From 1912 into the 1930s, the tunnel company was managed by Sherman Weld Tracy. It was never very profitable, but it avoided receivership, with most of the stock held by J. Ogden Armour, E. H. Harriman and their heirs.

Conflict with the subway
Plans for passenger subway service in Chicago date back to the turn of the 20th century, and the original permits to dig the freight tunnels allowed for future cut-and-cover subway development above the tunnels. In the 1930s, when the Chicago Rapid Transit Company and the city finalized the design of the State Street and Dearborn Street subways, plans called for the tunnels to be dug through the blue clay along the line originally followed by the freight tunnels. Excavation debris from the new subway tunnels was hauled away by the Chicago Tunnel Company as the subway replaced the freight tunnels along their route.

Company failure
The Chicago Tunnel Company went bankrupt and applied for voluntary reorganization in 1956. The tunnel company attempted to sever itself from the bankrupt holding company, claiming it could operate at a profit, but by 1959, the tunnel asked for abandonment permission. The Interstate Commerce Commission consented to abandonment that July, and the tunnel assets were sold at auction for $64,000 in October.

Tunnel flooding
In late 1991 near the Kinzie Street Bridge, a new set of pilings (collectively known as a "dolphin") were driven into the riverbed to prevent barges from bumping into the bridge. As the pillars were installed, a miscalculation was made that caused severe damage to the tunnel directly below the river.

The risk of flooding was well understood by George W. Jackson, the chief engineer who built the tunnel system. In 1909, Jackson received a patent on a portable bulkhead that could be used to seal off flooded tunnel sections. The tunnel developers were also concerned by the flooding risk posed by firefighting efforts in buildings connected to the tunnels. Should a building catch fire, immense quantities of water could pour into the tunnels through elevator shafts and basement connections. To deal with this risk, watertight fire doors were fitted into all building connections. Small leaks in the tunnels under the Chicago River had become commonplace by 1913; to deal with them, the tunnel company drilled holes in the tunnel wall and pumped grout at high pressure into the soil outside the tunnel in the vicinity of the leak.

The 1992 flood was not the first time that a contractor's action threatened to flood Chicago by puncturing the tunnel. In 1959, an excavation punctured the tunnel, leading to a dramatic and successful fight to prevent disaster.

In 1992, a cable television employee in the tunnel underneath the Chicago River videotaped mud and water oozing in where the bottom of the wooden pilings had cracked the tunnel wall. The pilings making up the dolphin had been driven only a few feet from the side of the tunnel, and the wooden pilings were visible through the collapsed tunnel wall where wet clay had slumped away from the wood into the tunnel.

Official response to the reported leak was slow; no emergency measures were deemed necessary, and a formal bidding process began for the contract to repair the damage. On April 13, some six months later, the slow oozing of wet clay opened a clear passage from the riverbed, allowing the river to pour directly into the tunnel. In what became known as the Chicago Flood, the entire system was quickly flooded. The Merchandise Mart was the first victim, declaring a water emergency at 5:57 am. City Hall began to flood by 6:02 am, the Federal Reserve Bank at 8:29 am, finally, the Chicago Hilton and Towers at 12:08 pm. The long delay before some buildings were flooded was the result of closure of some sections of the tunnel system in 1942 when the passenger subways were built. Many businesses had not realized that they were still connected to the tunnel complex, as the openings were boarded up, bricked up, or otherwise closed off—but not made watertight.

At that point, government agencies belatedly responded. The leak was stopped and the tunnels were emptied within days at great cost. The tunnels are still used for power and communication cables. They have been popular with urban exploration groups who would sometimes sneak in to have a look around, but after a terrorism scare in the early 2000s, all access to the tunnels has been secured.

The accident shut down the entire downtown area for days, causing considerable economic losses. Insurance battles lasted for years, the central point being the definition of the accident, i.e., whether it was a "flood" or a "leak." Leaks were covered by insurance, while floods were not. Eventually it was classified a leak, which is why some have called it the "Great Chicago Leak."

Recent incidents
On October 14, 2009, workers pumping concrete into the tunnel under the Kennedy Expressway caused the roadway to buckle, shutting down all but one lane of the westbound expressway.

Design and construction
The standard tunnel was egg-shaped, 7 ft high and 6 ft wide, with tunnel walls 10 in thick and a floor 14 in thick. Some trunk-line tunnel segments were built larger, 14 ft high by 12 ft wide. The tunnels were built through a layer of soft blue clay, and tunneling was done by cutting the clay with modified draw knives. Parts of the tunnel were pressurized to 10 psi during tunneling, while other parts were tunneled at atmospheric pressure. The tunnel was lined with coarse concrete and then waterproofed with a Portland-cement limestone-dust plaster. George W. Jackson was granted a patent on the system of forms used in making the concrete tunnel lining.

The city asked that the tunnel be built no shallower than 22+1/2 ft below the pavement in order to allow room for a future streetcar subway.

During construction, temporary gauge tracks were laid. The 6 ft tunnel was wide enough for double tracks with this small size. The tunnel company had 900 small cars built specifically to run on this track. The cars had a box with a capacity of only 0.47 cuyd, and were pulled by mules from the tunnel headings to hoists that removed the spoil to the surface or later to points where the spoil could be transferred to gauge cars for haulage to the Grant Park disposal station. Tunneling work continued around the clock, 24 hours a day, completing an average of 2 mi of tunnel per year per heading during the first few years of development

The gauge track was laid in the tunnels, using rails 4+1/4 in high (56 lb/yd). Crossties were not used. Instead, rails were mounted on chairs embedded in the concrete tunnel floor. Frogs and crossings were built on steel plates that were then embedded in the concrete floor.

Curves in the tunnels were very tight. Mainline curves were as little as 16 ft radius, and the grand unions under street intersections were built to a 20 ft radius. Grades in the tunnel system were limited to 1.75 percent, except for the lines up to the Grant Park disposal station, which climbed at a 12 percent grade.

The tunnel, 40 ft below street level, was drained by 71 electric pumps. There was very little seepage into the tunnels, a natural consequence of excavation in clay, but any water that did find its way in was quickly pumped up to the sewers above. Ventilation was natural, relying primarily on the piston effect of trains pushing through the tunnels to circulate the air.

While buildings with deep subbasements could connect directly to the tunnel, connections to surface level and shallow basements were by elevator shafts. George W. Jackson, the contractor who built the tunnel system, received several patents related to building such shafts.

Motive power
The first test trains were run a few years after the start of construction. Most of the tunnel system was operated using overhead lines and trolley poles for power. Between 1903 and 1904, the Illinois Telephone Construction Company purchased 22 class L. M. locomotives from General Electric. These weighed 5 ST and had two 20 hp traction motors. Most of the engines used in the tunnels were standard mine haulage locomotives made by the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company. These weighed 6 ST and had two 18 hp traction motors each. Commonwealth Edison provided the electric power at 250 volts.

On the grades leading up from the tunnel to the Grant Park disposal station, the Morgan system sold by the Goodman Equipment Mfg. Co. was used. Morgan locomotives used a central third rail for power and also as a rack for traction. This system was also widely sold to the mining industry and was particularly valuable where mines had steep grades. Temporary Morgan third-rail was installed in the tunnels during installation of the telephone cables on the tunnel ceiling, but after construction was completed, the Morgan system was only used in the context of the grade to the Grant Park disposal station and its use ceased with the closure of that disposal station.

Between 1906 and 1908, the tunnel company purchased a number of Baldwin engines. One of these, number 508, was recovered from the tunnel leading to the Field Museum in 1996, when the rebuilding of the Outer Drive past the museum uncovered the old Grant Park Disposal Station elevator shaft. While not functional, this engine and cars is now on display in the collection of the Illinois Railway Museum.

By 1914, the tunnel company was operating two gasoline powered locomotives built by Baldwin Locomotive Works on the surface trackage in Grant Park. These engines weighed 7 ST and were 12 ft long, 4 ft wide and 7 ft high. The 4-cylinder engines were coupled to the driving wheels through a jackshaft and side rods. These machines had a two-speed transmission with a top speed of 10 mph.

Freight cars
The standard freight cars on the tunnel were 12 ft long and 3 ft wide, running on two 4-wheel trucks and designed to operate on curves with a 15 ft radius. Cars were equipped with National Steel Castings Co. "Sharon" 1/2 size MCB Couplers, and were of all steel and iron construction.

The tunnel bought hundreds of Bettendorf flat cars that could be converted to gondolas and had a capacity of 30000 lb or 15 ST. Bettendorf's patents include several pertaining to cars that match this description.

Ash and excavation debris removal cars were equipped with the Newman patent dump box with a 3.5 cuyd capacity. Newman, who was in charge of excavation spoil removal during the early phase of construction, developed this dump box because the clay removed during tunnel excavation was so sticky that it was difficult to dump from conventional side-dump cars.

Additional cars were built by Kilbourne & Jacobs. These were simple metal flat cars 4 ft wide by 10 ft long with closely spaced stake pockets to restrain the cargo.

Operation
Revenue service in the tunnels officially began on August 15, 1906, with a 2 mi 16-minute run. By that time, 45 mi of track were in place, with connections to four railroads and 40 on-line customers. A total of 67 locomotives and 400 freight cars were on hand. In fact, coal delivery by subway began on October 13, 1905, when several carloads of coal were delivered from the Chicago and Alton Railroad coal chutes.

In 1915, most tunnel operation occurred between 7 am and 5 pm, with limited night operation primarily serving excavation spoil removal and coal and ash service. In a typical 10-hour work day, there were 500 to 600 train movements, all conducted under the authority of a telephone-based dispatching system. Dial telephones were installed at every street intersection so that engineers could easily remain in contact with the dispatcher. In 1914, the tunnel employed 568 people, including 116 motormen, 57 elevator men, 59 truckers, 74 clerks and three dispatchers. A 1916 survey showed that the tunnel carried 18 percent of the freight traffic in the Chicago loop.

In 1929, it was estimated that the tunnels handled between 200 and 300 train movements a day, with 10 to 15 cars per train. At the time, the tunnel had 150 locomotives, 2,693 merchandise cars, 151 coal cars and 400 excavation and ash cars.

In 1954, the tunnel was carrying 500 carloads of freight and 400 carloads of cinders and debris daily. There were 83 locomotives, 1,609 freight cars, 55 trucks and 272 semi trailers on hand. Surface trucking was an important part of the business, required to reach customers located outside the loop. The workforce had declined considerably from the tunnel's heyday, with just 30 motormen operating the trains. The tunnel workforce was so dominated by attrition that someone with 25 years of experience in the tunnel was viewed as a newcomer.

Merchandise
In 1914, the tunnel had direct connections for freight interchange (by elevator) with 26 railroads and two boat lines. In addition, there were four public tunnel stations where shippers could drop or pick up merchandise, and 36 industries had direct tunnel connections, including Chicago's big department stores, Marshall Field's, Carson Pirie Scott and Rothchild's.  In 1913, the tunnel carried 544,071 carloads or 617891 ST of merchandise. Of this, 231,585 carloads were sent from public stations, 177,743 carloads from industrial customers served by the tunnel, and 134,743 carloads from railroad freight terminals.

Mail
The Illinois Tunnel Company built connections to post offices and passenger stations specifically for mail service. Tunnel mail service began in September 1906 at a contracted rate of $172,600 per year. Within six months, it became apparent that the Tunnel Company was having difficulty with timely delivery, and the post office threatened to abrogate its contract. Mail service through the tunnels was terminated at the end of the two-year contract.

In 1953, the tunnel company again explored getting into the mail business. Aside from brief experiments, this went nowhere.

Coal
In 1914, 22 buildings had tunnel connections for coal delivery, including the First National Bank of Chicago, several hotels, Marshall Field's, City Hall and the County Building. A total of 16,414 carloads or 57906 ST of coal were handled in 1913.

The tunnel had two coal receiving stations in 1915 for loading coal onto tunnel trains. One was served by the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, the other by the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Surface railroad cars dumped coal into bins under the track, from which chutes led down to the tunnel. A tunnel car could be loaded with a full load of 3+1/2 ST of coal in two seconds.

Coal was carried in side-dump cars, from which it was dumped into a hopper below each customer's boiler room. A conveyor then carried the coal up from the trackside hopper to the customer's boiler room. The details of the latter connection depended on the depth of the building's basement. Chicago's new City building on the corner of Washington and LaSalle had a subbasement 38 ft below sidewalk level, so the tunnel connection was made by a 10 ft trench. The Commercial National Bank's coal bins were under the sidewalk on Clark Street. There, coal was lifted from the tunnel by a vertical bucket conveyor running in a small shaft.

Before the 1940s the tunnels were used to deliver coal to downtown buildings, and to remove ash or clinkers. Trucks began to siphon off significant amounts of business, however, and by the late 1940s, customers began to switch from coal to natural gas to heat their buildings. The ones that kept burning coal switched to delivery by truck because unloading from the surface was easier, and a complex conveyor system was not required.

Excavation debris and ashes
Early operation in the tunnels was dominated by removal of excavation debris from the tunnel itself, and once tunnel service reached various areas, several construction contractors found that it was less expensive to dump excavation debris down into tunnel trains than it was to haul it out through the congested streets of the Chicago Loop. As a result, excavation debris continued to make up a significant part of tunnel traffic after the tunnel system was completed. Ash from coal-fired furnaces was freely mixed with this stream of debris.

In the early days of tunneling, excavation debris was hauled to the surface through small construction shafts and then to the lakefront by horse and wagon. By 1903, some excavation debris was being dumped onto scows for disposal in the lake. In 1904, tunnels sloping up at a 9 percent grade to the Grant Park disposal station were opened, and the vast majority of excavation debris and ash was hauled out to fill Grant Park. A derrick with a 65 ft boom picked the dump boxes off the cars and swung them out over the lake to dump the fill.

The new Cook County Courthouse was among the construction sites that disposed of excavation debris through the tunnel system. Before the digging of the freight tunnels, shallow spread foundations were common using iron grillage to spread the heavy weight where tall buildings were involved. Deep foundations became almost universal with the construction of the tunnel system because the tunnel threatened to undermine shallow foundations, access to the tunnel made it practical to remove large volumes of excavation spoil, and deep basements permitted easy access to the tunnel for coal delivery and ash removal.

In 1908, further dumping of refuse on the lake front was prohibited, and the Tunnel Company responded by building a new disposal station on the Chicago River. Here, elevators lifted tunnel cars to the surface where they were dumped into self-propelled catamaran "dump scows" with a capacity of 1000 cuyd. The scows then took the debris out into the lake for dumping in deep water. George W. Jackson, the Tunnel's chief engineer, filed a patent on a scow fitting this description.

Filling on the lakefront began again in 1913, with the construction of a tunnel extension to a new disposal station on the lake shore beyond what was then the south end of Grant Park. Here, twin elevators lifted the cars to the surface. Fill from this disposal station created the land under the Field Museum of Natural History and the Century of Progress Exposition (Now the site of Soldier Field and McCormick Place).

In 1913, the tunnel system handled 51,685 carloads of excavation debris and 14,605 carloads of cinders and other refuse. Excavation debris and ash were billed per carload, so the tonnage is not available. A 1929 estimate put the average combined excavation and ash traffic at 75,000 carloads per year. Immense amounts of fill were hauled by tunnel to the lake during construction of Chicago's new main post office adjacent to Union Station in the early 1920s.

Even though coal deliveries were made with trucks, it was still more efficient to remove ashes by tunnel. This basically left the company in the ash removal business for the last ten years of operation.

Secondary businesses
The tunnel company had a curious secondary business, namely air conditioning, which was accomplished by selling naturally cool tunnel air to theaters above the tunnels. The McVickers, Rialto and four other theaters owned by the same company used tunnel air. Tunnel air was also utilized in the winter, as heating this air required less energy than heating the often much colder outside air. They estimated that they used less than one-third the coal they would have used without the tunnel connection. The tunnel air was a constant 55 F year round.

In 1933, the tunnel company sought financing from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to diversify into district heating, using the tunnels to carry steam pipes from a central steam plant to various customers. At the time, an estimated ten percent of Chicago's loop businesses already used district heating services provided by the Illinois Maintenance Company, formerly part of Insull Utilities Investment Inc.

title: Chicago Tunnel Company


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Texas leafcutter ant

The Texas leafcutter ant (Atta texana) is a species of fungus-farming ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is found in Texas, Louisiana, and north-eastern Mexico. Other common names include town ant, parasol ant, fungus ant, cut ant, and night ant. It harvests leaves from over 200 plant species, and is considered a major pest of agricultural and ornamental plants, as it can defoliate a citrus tree in less than 24 hours. Every colony has several queens and up to 2 million workers. Nests are built in well-drained, sandy or loamy soil, and may reach a depth of 6 m, have 1000 entrance holes, and occupy 420 m2.

Description
Workers measure 4 to 14 mm in length, and are highly polymorphic. The back of the thorax has three pairs of spines. The ant has a narrow waist and is rusty brown in color. It should also be mentioned: Its closely related cousin, Atta mexicana has colonies up to 8 Million, and the queen for A. mexicana is larger than the texana queen; however, it should also be mentioned that A. mexicana is only able to have a single queen, while A. texana may have multiple queens (Often 2). This makes the species polygyne and because of this trait, A. texana can form massive super colonies with upwards of 10,000,000 total ants in the colony. Because of the massive super colonies that they can form, they have been known to cause issues in the local environment and have been a troubling pest for humans living nearby these super colonies.

Behavior
The nuptial flights of A. texana synchronize in regions; the virgin queens and males fly at night. Their foraging type is Mass Recruitment (MR). The Mass Recruitment foraging type consists of many ants all going out into one big group and searching for food.

title: Texas leafcutter ant


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Talk:Beaumanor Hall

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Nahj al-balagha

 (نَهْج ٱلْبَلَاغَة) is the best-known collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun caliph ((r. 656 – 661)), the first Shia imam, and the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The compilation of the book is often credited to Sharif al-Radi, a prominent Shia scholar. Known for its moral aphorisms and eloquent content, is widely studied in the Islamic world and has considerably influenced the Arabic literature and rhetoric. In view of its sometimes sensitive content, the authenticity of the book has long been a subject of polemic debates, though recent academic research suggests that most of its contents can indeed be attributed to Ali by tracking the texts in sources that predate al-Radi.

Overview
is an eleventh-century collection of more than two-hundred sermons, nearly eighty letters, and almost five-hundred sayings, all attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the fourth Rashidun caliph ((r. 656 – 661)) and the first Shia imam. The sermons and letters in offer a commentary on the political career of Ali, and have served as an ideological basis for Islamic governance. In particular, the letter of instructions therein addressed at Malik al-Ashtar, a commander of Ali, has received much attention as a model for just and righteous Islamic governance. The book also includes detailed discussions about social responsibilities, emphasizing that greater responsibilities result in greater rights.

also contains more sensitive material, such as sharp criticism of the predecessors of Ali, and disapproval of the triumvirate who revolted against Ali in the Battle of the Camel in 656, namely, Talha and Zubayr, who were both senior companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and his widow Aisha. The book also remains relevant to the ongoing clerical debates about the role and status of women in Islamic societies. also contains passages about morality and doctrine, notably about the sovereignty of God and the essence of the Quran and the prophethood. Among them, the letter of life advices addressed to Hasan, the eldest son of Ali, has received considerable attention.

Recognized as an example of the most eloquent Arabic, is said to have significantly influenced the Arabic literature and rhetoric. The book has also been the focus of numerous commentaries, translations, and studies by both Sunni and Shia authors. In particular, the comprehensive commentary of the Mu'tazilite scholar Ibn Abil-Hadid may have amplified the influence of  on theological speculation, philosophical thought, and literary scope. In it, he describes as, "below the speech of the Creator but above the speech of creatures."

Authenticity
The compilation of is often credited to Sharif al-Radi, a renowned Shia scholar who lived over three hundred years after Ali. A poet of some merit, al-Radi came from a distinguished Shia family in Baghdad and had connections to the Buyids, the Shia dynasty that ruled the area at the time. His intentions in compiling the book are described as "literary, ethical, and spiritual," and he does not provide s, that is, chains of transmission for his texts. In view of its sometimes sensitive content, the attribution of this book to Ali or al-Radi has long been a subject of polemic debates, as with the majority of the works about Shia theology.

The authenticity of was first challenged over two centuries after al-Radi, perhaps indicating that his sources were well known during his lifetime but were lost gradually. Indeed, it was the Sunni historian Ibn Khallikan who first suggested that the book was authored, rather than compiled, by al-Radi or by his brother Sharif al-Murtada, another prominent Shia theologian. Yet elsewhere Ibn Khallikan cited the book without hesitation. The Sunni theologians Ibn Taymiyyah and al-Dhahabi  have similarly rejected most of, and this has been the prevalent Sunni view to date. Among Western scholars, this view was shared by Carl Brockelmann and Baron de Slane, who apparently mistook the word 'Murtada' on the manuscript as the name of its author and thus attributed the book to Sharif al-Murtada, probably unaware that Murtada is a well-known epithet of Ali. The Mu'tazilite Ibn Abil-Hadid was nevertheless confident that is the work of Ali, but suspected that its controversial Shaqshaqiya sermon was authored by al-Radi. Alternatively, the Sunni historian Khatib al-Baghdadi rejected only the eschatological sermons found in the book. By contrast, the Shia regard as authentic.

Academic views
Much of the content of already exists in earlier historical works, including  by the Shia historian Nasr ibn Muzahim,  by the Shia-leaning historian al-Ya'qubi ,  by the Sunni historian al-Tabari ,  by the Sunni author al-Jahiz ,  by the Sunni historian al-Mubarrad , and  by the Sunni historian al-Baladhuri. These authors considerably predate al-Radi, which led the Islamicist Husain M. Jafri to confirm the attribution of  to Ali. Similarly, the orientalist Laura Veccia Vaglieri verified the attribution of 'a large portion' of  to Ali. Muktar Djebli, another expert, traced back 'a considerable number of passages' to Ali with their s. Some recent Shia works have similarly tracked the passages of the book in earlier sources, including by Ostadi,  by Abd al-Zahra al-Husayni al-Khatib, and  by Abd-Allah Nima. There are also other collections attributed to Ali that predate, including by the Sunni historian Ibn al-Kalbi ,  by the historian Ibn al-Nadim , and  by al-Mada'ini , a Sunni historian.

There is also strong circumstantial evidence that al-Radi was the compiler of the book: It appears that he included fragments of passages as he found them instead of combining them, thus presenting variants of the same sermon. In particular, the passages are not in the correct chronological order. All extant manuscripts of also introduce al-Radi as the compiler of the material from Ali. Another evidence that supports the compilation of the book by ar-Radi is that he refers to his other works in the margins of and vice versa, and discloses some of his sources, namely,, , and  by the Sunni historian al-Waqidi. Finally, the linguistic style does not seem to change throughout the book, a style that has been highly praised for its eloquence and rhetoric by some authorities, including al-Jahiz and the poet Ibn Nubata. Indeed, one argument for the fabrication of is that its rhyming prose is too precise and polished, while the Shia counterargument is that Ali was a gifted orator, known for his, that is, improvised speech with rhyming prose. Nevertheless, some parts of were likely copy-edited, and gauging the authenticity of its sensitive passages has proved challenging.

Shaqshaqiya sermon
As for the Shaqshaqiya sermon, in which the predecessors of Ali are sharply criticized, Sunni authorities reject it as the work of al-Radi, in line with their tendency to neutralize the conflicts among the companions after Muhammad. By contrast, among others, the Shia traditionist Abdul Hosein Amini provided several chains of transmission for this sermon, some of which predate al-Radi. Other Shia scholars accept the authenticity of this sermon but do not claim, which is the highest level of credibility in hadith terminology. Among this last group is the Shia philosopher al-Bahrani, who also authored a commentary of. This lack of leaves the possibility that some sensitive words in the sermon were not uttered by Ali, according to the Islamic author Reza Shah-Kazemi. Alternatively, Jafri suggests that the sermon is authentic for it was also quoted in earlier works, including by the Shia traditionist Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ash'ari,  by the Shia historian Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Thaqafi , and  by the Mu'tazilite theologian Abu al-Qasim al-Balkhi.

Computational verification
Sarwar and Mohamed recently used computational methods, mainly stylometric analysis and machine learning, to examine the authenticity of by analyzing the 'morphological segmentation' of its text. They compared the book against the works of al-Radi and his brother, and concluded that the book is internally consistent, which suggests that it can be attributed to a single author, that the book was not authored by al-Radi or by his brother, Sharif al-Murtada. The authors thus conclude that the content of can indeed be attributed to Ali.

Relevance
The debates about the authenticity of may nevertheless be irrelevant to its value as a source of spiritual and ethical teachings, particularly among the Shias. In this vein, when asked to prove the attribution of to Ali, the Shia philosopher Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai  responded, "For us the person who wrote  is Ali, even if he lived a century ago." The need for academic research about the book, independent of its authenticity, is a view championed by the philosopher Henry Corbin and by Shah-Kazemi.

Political views

The sermons and letters in offer a commentary on the political career of Ali as the fourth Rashidun caliph, succeeding Uthman ((r. 644 – 656)), Umar ((r. 634 – 644)), and Abu Bakr ((r. 632 – 634)), who established the caliphate after the death of Muhammad in 632. Some sermons outlines the obligations of a leader, perhaps in response to the criticism from the Kharijites, a faction of Ali's army that abandoned him after the inconclusive Battle of Siffin in 657 against his archenemy Mu'awiya. ""

""

While Veccia Vaglieri wrote that Ali shows no inclination to legitimism in Sunni reports, multiple sermons in suggest instead that he viewed himself as the rightful successor of Muhammad by virtue of his merits and his kinship with the prophet. Other speeches in further indicate that he also saw the leadership as a prerogative of the Ahl al-Bayt, that is, the family of Muhammad. The legitimist view attributed to Ali in, that he unequivocally considered the caliphate to be his right after Muhammad, is corroborated by some experts, including Mahmoud M. Ayoub , Wilferd Madelung , Hamid Mavani, Moojan Momen, and Shah-Kazemi. Some of these authors add that Ali also considered himself as the designated successor of Muhammad, probably referring to Muhammad's announcement at the Ghadir Khumm. Soon after his death, however, it became clear that Ali did not enjoy popular support, which is perhaps why he resigned himself to the caliphate of Abu Bakr, likely for the sake of the unity of a nascent Islam. Mavani and Maria M. Dakake, another Islamicist, nevertheless suggest that Ali viewed the succession of Abu Bakr as a digression which turned into a full-blown deviation with the rebellion of Mu'awiya during his own caliphate. This matches the Shia view, as represented by the Shia jurist Ruhollah Khomeini. By contrast, Ali mounts only a passing resistance to the caliphate of Abu Bakr (if any at all) in Sunni reports, which Ayoub describes as apologetic.

""

""

"" ""

"" ""

Yet there is also evidence in that Ali regarded public endorsement as necessary for a legitimate rule. On this basis, Mavani speculates that Ali would have not sought the title of caliph had Muslims withheld their support from him after the assassination of Uthman in 656. When the Muslim community favored him, however, Ali probably no longer considered the caliphate as his right, but also as his duty. "" """Let the most beloved of affairs to you be those most centered upon the right, the most comprehensive in justice, and the most inclusive of popular approval, for the disapproval of the common folk undermines the approval of the elite..."

Letter to al-Ashtar
The letter of instructions addressed to Malik al-Ashtar, the newly appointed governor of Ali in Egypt, outlines his conception of just and righteous governance. The theme of the letter can be summarized as justice and compassion for all, regardless of class, creed, and color. The letter also advises Malik to view his rule as a means of encouraging religious awakening and spiritual well-being within the community, to be a role model for his staff and others, to strive for justice and monitor his staff for its enforcement, and to consult often with his staff. Malik was killed in 657 at the instigation of Mu'awiya en route to Egypt to assume his post.

"Infuse your heart with mercy for the subjects, love for them, and kindness towards them. Be not like a ravenous beast of prey above them, seeking to devour them. For they are of two types: either your brother in religion or one like you in creation."

""

""

""

""

""

Letter to Ibn Hunayf
A letter of admonishment in is addressed to Uthman ibn Hunayf, the governor of Ali in Basra, who is said to have attended a lavish banquet, one which "rudely rebuffed the needy, and warmly embraced the wealthy," the letter adds.

""

""

""

Life advices to Hasan
A letter of life advices in is addressed to Hasan, the eldest son of Ali.

""

""

""

Sermons
The English translation of by Ali Reza includes more than two-hundred sermons attributed to Ali, listed below after minor edits.

Letters
The English translation of by Ali Reza includes nearly eighty letters attributed to Ali, listed below after minor edits.

Sayings
The English translation of  by Ali Reza includes almost five hundred sayings attributed to Ali, a few of which are given below. The rest of the aphorisms below are quoted from  by different authors.

 * I love the opinion of an old man more than the determination of a young man.
 * You will not find an ignorant person but at one extreme or the other.
 * If it were so [and we were bound to an unavoidable destiny], there would have been no question of reward or chastisement and there would have been no sense in God's promises or warnings.
 * Whoso establishes well-being between himself and God, God establishes well-being between him and mankind.
 * Behave yourself with others in such a way that if you die, people will cry for you, and if you stay alive they seek your presence.
 * Opportunity is just like a passing cloud. Therefore, take advantage of the right opportunities while they are within sight.
 * Victory depends upon thinking ahead, and thinking ahead upon mental resourcefulness and decision on keeping secrecy.
 * The one who is a dictator will be killed soon and the one who consults with the people will share their wisdom.
 * The one who observes his own deficiencies will overlook another's inadequacy.
 * Contentment is a wealth that does not diminish.
 * When you overpower your enemy, make your forgiveness of him an expression of gratitude for having prevailed over him.
 * There is no goodness in a good thing if it is followed by [hell] fire, and there is no evil in an evil thing if it is followed by the Garden [of heaven]. Every benefit apart from the Garden is negligible, and every tribulation apart from fire is well-being.
 * Do not give up bidding for good and forbidding from evil, lest the mischievous gain positions over you, and then if you pray, the prayer will not be granted.
 * He who rules, appropriates.
 * The sin that grieves you is better, in the sight of God, than the virtue that makes you proud.
 * No act is negligible if it is accompanied by piety.
 * He who prays without making an effort is like one who shoots arrows without a bow.
 * Justice puts everything in its right place.
 * People renounce no part of their religion for the sake of rectifying their world without God opening them up to something worse than it.
 * A sleep with certainty is better than a prayer with doubt.

Translations
has been translated from Arabic into many languages. A few of these translations are listed below:

title: Nahj al-balagha


text:
Real-time gross settlement

Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) systems are specialist funds transfer systems where the transfer of money or securities takes place from one bank to any other bank on a "real-time" and on a "gross" basis to avoid settlement risk. Settlement in "real time" means a payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period, with transactions being settled as soon as they are processed. "Gross settlement" means the transaction is settled on a one-to-one basis, without bundling or netting with any other transaction. "Settlement" means that once processed, payments are final and irrevocable.

History
As of 1985, three central banks implemented RTGS systems, while by the end of 2005, RTGS systems had been implemented by 90 central banks.

The first system that had the attributes of an RTGS system was the US Fedwire system which was launched in 1970. This was based on a previous method of transferring funds electronically between US federal reserve banks via telegraph. The United Kingdom and France both independently developed RTGS type systems in 1984. The UK system was developed by the Bankers' Clearing House in February 1984 and was called CHAPS. The French system was called SAGITTAIRE. A number of other developed countries launched systems over the next few years. These systems were diverse in operation and technology, being country-specific as they were usually based upon previous processes and procedures used in each country.

In the 1990s international finance organizations emphasized the importance of large-value funds transfer systems which banks use to settle interbank transfers for their own account as well as for their customers as a key part of a country's financial market infrastructure. By 1997 a number of countries, inside as well as outside the Group of Ten, had introduced real-time gross settlement systems for large-value funds transfers. Nearly all G-10 countries had plans to have RTGS systems in operation in the course of 1997 and many other countries were also considering introducing such systems.

Operation
RTGS systems are usually operated by a country's central bank as it is seen as critical infrastructure for a country's economy. Economists believe that an efficient national payment system reduces the cost of exchanging goods and services, and is indispensable to the functioning of the interbank, money, and capital markets. A weak payment system may severely drag on the stability and developmental capacity of a national economy; its failures can result in inefficient use of financial resources, inequitable risk-sharing among agents, actual losses for participants, and loss of confidence in the financial system and in the very use of money.

RTGS system does not require any physical exchange of money; the central bank makes adjustments in the electronic accounts of Bank A and Bank B, reducing the balance in Bank A’s account by the amount in question and increasing the balance of Bank B’s account by the same amount. The RTGS system is suited for low-volume, high-value transactions. It lowers settlement risk, besides giving an accurate picture of an institution’s account at any point in time. The objective of RTGS systems by central banks throughout the world is to minimize risk in high-value electronic payment settlement systems. In an RTGS system, transactions are settled across accounts held at a central bank on a continuous gross basis. The settlement is immediate, final, and irrevocable. Credit risks due to settlement lags are eliminated. The best RTGS national payment systems cover up to 95% of high-value transactions within the national monetary market.

RTGS systems are an alternative to systems of settling transactions at the end of the day, also known as the net settlement system, such as the BACS system in the United Kingdom. In a net settlement system, all the inter-institution transactions during the day are accumulated, and at the end of the day, the central bank adjusts the accounts of the institutions by the net amounts of these transactions.

The World Bank has been paying increasing attention to payment system development as a key component of the financial infrastructure of a country and has provided various forms of assistance to over 100 countries. Most of the RTGS systems in place are secure and have been designed around international standards and best practices.

There are several reasons for central banks to adopt RTGS. First, a decision to adopt is influenced by competitive pressure from the global financial markets. Second, it is more beneficial to adopt an RTGS system for the central bank when this allows access to a broad system of other countries' RTGS systems. Third, it is very likely that the knowledge acquired through experiences with RTGS systems spills over to other central banks and helps them make their adoption decision. Fourth, central banks do not necessarily have to install and develop RTGS themselves. The possibility of sharing development with providers that have built RTGS systems in more than one country (CGI of UK holding the IP, CMA Small System of Sweden, JV Perago of South Africa, SIA S.p.A. of Italy and Montran of USA) has presumably lowered the cost and hence made it feasible for many countries to adopt.

Existing systems
Below is a listing of countries and their RTGS systems:

In 2010, the World Bank published a report on payment systems worldwide, which investigated these countries' usage of real-time gross settlement systems for large-value payments.

title: Real-time gross settlement


text:
Talk:Crazy Horse (person)

Is there a source for the photo? I'd always heard there was no existing photograph of Crazy Horse.

Crazy Horse photo
7-23-04

My question is the same. According to Evan S. Connell in Son of the Morning Star there may be one authentic photograph of Crazy Horse, showing him on horseback. Originally it was thought to be part of the W. H. Over Collection at the University of South Dakota.

Most other purported photos of Crazy Horse have been more accurately identified as other individuals.

Crazy Horse photo
Additional information regarding this photo. According to the W.H. Over State Museum at the University of South Dakota, this individual is another Lakota (possibly Brule) called Crazy in the Lodge. This can be confirmed by contacting the registrar at USD, and by additional web searches.

Go to the External Link "A sympathetic but detailed account of his life and death" for a discussion of the validity of the photo. KWG

title: Talk:Crazy Horse (person)


text:
Category:Lists of popular names

These are lists of popular names, generally lists of most popular given names for a country.

title: Category:Lists of popular names


text:
Category:Lists of names

This category is for lists of names.

 * For lists of people, things etc that share a name see Category:Set index articles

title: Category:Lists of names


text:
Honda HSC

The Honda HSC (Honda Sports Concept) is a concept sports car that was initially unveiled at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show. Most of the automotive media immediately speculated that it was designed to be a replacement for the Honda NSX, although this was never confirmed by Honda. It was also branded as an Acura.

The HSC featured a lightweight, mid-mounted aluminum 3.5 L i-VTEC V6 engine with a 6-speed transmission controlled by either an F1-style paddle shifter on the steering wheel or a unique dial shifter on the center console. When shifted into reverse, the navigation system's adjustable flat-panel screen in the center console becomes a display for a rear-mounted camera. Abundant leather and aluminum trim pieces round out the interior, an all-aluminum frame with carbon fibre body panels keep it light, and swan doors affirm its sports car status.

The development of this car into a production sports car appeared to stall for two years. However, the July 2005 announcement by Honda CEO Takeo Fukui indicated the HSC was only a test concept for a pure sports car.

In 2009, a road car version of the Honda HSV-010 GT was seen, with some visual similarities with the HSC. It was also assumed to be a replacement to the NSX, although there is no official confirmation of this. In 2013, Honda unveiled the next generation NSX concept car, that replaced the HSV-010 in the Super GT GT500 class.

title: Honda HSC


text:
Vitamin B4

Vitamin B4 is a former designation given to several distinct chemical compounds, none of which is currently considered a true vitamin:

 * Adenine
 * Carnitine
 * Choline

title: Vitamin B4


text:
Talk:Muskellunge

Photo
Somebody should put up a better photo, the only one on this page is of a small musky. Nwbh 00:50, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Name
"The name muskellunge is thought to be a corruption of the Ojibwa words maskinonge meaning "ugly fish" and lunge meaning "lake trout." Another possible etymology stems from maggue allongee, the name given to the fish by early French settlers meaning "long face." "

The name is made up of two german words "Muskel" (muscle) and "Lunge" (lung). Is this only a coincedence? Even, if it is, shouldn't it be mentioned in the article?

Two musky species
Some fisheries biologists / scientists believe that there are two species of muskellunge. One - the riverine or great lakes strain. And two - the lacustrine strain.

The true giants are derived from the great lakes strain. These are the fish that can grow to 60+ pounds. This strain of musky is primarily located in larger bodies of water. Some examples are; Georgian Bay, Lake Erie, St. Lawrence River, Ottawa River, Niagara River, Lake St. Claire, Leetch Lake. This strain of musky usually spawns over gravel / stony bottoms. Because they normally do not spawn in weed beds and often spawn into late June, they interact well with northern pike. The great lakes musky can attain a length of 58 inches, but rarely any longer than that.

The lacustrine strain of muskellunge are a strain found in the Kawartha Lakes region of Canada and most of the lakes found in the state of Wisconsin. This strain doesn’t grow as large and its population is often supported by stocking. The lacustrine strain rarely surpasses a length of 55 inches. When they do, they’re typically slender fish.

World record
The IGFA All Tackle World Record for muskellunge is 67 pounds 8 ounces. The NFFHOF World Record is 69 pounds 11 ounces.

Both records were caught in Wisconsin in 1949.

The NFFHOF record is presently being disputed by the World Record Muskie Alliance.

Once this dispute is settled, and it’s this author’s opinion that it will be disqualified, the WRMA will then investigate the 67 pound 8 ounce IGFA record. This record will also most likely be disqualified.

Most musky fanatics outside the state of Wisconsin believe that Ken O’Brien’s 65 pound musky from Georgian Bay should be the All Tackle World Record. This fish was captured in 1987 and if you compare the pictures of this fish to the other supposed records, you’ll understand the discrepancy.
 * Nah, here's a photo of the world's biggest Muskie in Hayward, WI. --Bobak 18:33, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Musky subspecies
I can't find any technical info on this. For example, the Silver Musky is apparently a subspecies but I can't find its subspecies name (or really much info at all).--Our Bold Hero 18:55, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

GWAR
I think someone should mention the mention of this fish on the GWAR song "Nitro Burning Funny Bong".

More Trivia
In the 1980's Madison, Wisconsin had a AA [AAA?] baseball team called the Madison Muskies.Bplipschitz 15:10, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Just Wondering
Is there any written account of muskellunges eating humans?

 * No I have been fishing 37 years (competitively for 5) and no such incident has occured. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.230.254.207 (talk) 03:59, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

 * Muskellunge is not large enough to eat a human being. However, there have been humans bitten by muskellunge on occasion. SurgeArrest (talk) 18:39, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

Removal of external link
I was recently challenged on an added external link to a website hosting no ads, no ecommerce, and only information on the muskellunge regarding fishing, handling, management, and biology. While I can understand the removal of my link from the page - due to the guidelines at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:External_links I feel that this should be followed throughout the page. The site "muskiesinc.com" located in external links has paid advertising and an ecommerce section to it and I would request that it comes down. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.70.2.21 (talk) 16:46, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

Apex Predator
The claim that this is an apex predator is immediately questioned by saying adults are preyed on by large birds of prey. So is it an apex predator or not? 86.167.121.7 (talk) 01:13, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

 * Adult muskies would be too large for a bird to prey upon them. An adult muskie could eat a duck or other waterfowl! SurgeArrest (talk) 18:36, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Muskellunge


text:
Eilífr Goðrúnarson

Eilífr Goðrúnarson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: Eilífur Goðrúnarson ) was a late 10th-century skald, considered to be the author of the poem Þórsdrápa. He is also credited with Hákonar drápa jarls and a fragment remains of a poem with Christian allusions which is also believed to be his work. He was a court poet of Hákon the Powerful.

title: Eilífr Goðrúnarson


text:
Near-ring

In mathematics, a near-ring (also near ring or nearring) is an algebraic structure similar to a ring but satisfying fewer axioms. Near-rings arise naturally from functions on groups.

Definition
A set N together with two binary operations + (called addition) and ⋅ (called multiplication) is called a (right) near-ring if:
 * N is a group (not necessarily abelian) under addition;
 * multiplication is associative (so N is a semigroup under multiplication); and
 * multiplication on the right distributes over addition: for any x, y, z in N, it holds that (x + y)⋅z = (x⋅z) + (y⋅z).

Similarly, it is possible to define a left near-ring by replacing the right distributive law by the corresponding left distributive law. Both right and left near-rings occur in the literature; for instance, the book of Pilz uses right near-rings, while the book of Clay uses left near-rings.

An immediate consequence of this one-sided distributive law is that it is true that 0⋅x = 0 but it is not necessarily true that x⋅0 = 0 for any x in N. Another immediate consequence is that (−x)⋅y = −(x⋅y) for any x, y in N, but it is not necessary that x⋅(−y) = −(x⋅y). A near-ring is a rng if and only if addition is commutative and multiplication is also distributive over addition on the left. If the near-ring has a multiplicative identity, then distributivity on both sides is sufficient, and commutativity of addition follows automatically.

Mappings from a group to itself
Let G be a group, written additively but not necessarily abelian, and let M(G) be the set $\{f | f : G → G\}$ of all functions from G to G. An addition operation can be defined on M(G): given f, g in M(G), then the mapping f + g from G to G is given by (f + g)(x) = f(x) + g(x) for all x in G. Then (M(G), +) is also a group, which is abelian if and only if G is abelian. Taking the composition of mappings as the product ⋅, M(G) becomes a near-ring.

The 0 element of the near-ring M(G) is the zero map, i.e., the mapping which takes every element of G to the identity element of G. The additive inverse −f of f in M(G) coincides with the natural pointwise definition, that is, (−f)(x) = −(f(x)) for all x in G.

If G has at least two elements, then M(G) is not a ring, even if G is abelian. (Consider a constant mapping g from G to a fixed element g ≠ 0 of G; then g⋅0 = g ≠ 0.) However, there is a subset E(G) of M(G) consisting of all group endomorphisms of G, that is, all maps f : G → G such that f(x + y) = f(x) + f(y) for all x, y in G. If (G, +) is abelian, both near-ring operations on M(G) are closed on E(G), and (E(G), +, ⋅) is a ring. If (G, +) is nonabelian, E(G) is generally not closed under the near-ring operations; but the closure of E(G) under the near-ring operations is a near-ring.

Many subsets of M(G) form interesting and useful near-rings. For example:
 * The mappings for which f(0) = 0.
 * The constant mappings, i.e., those that map every element of the group to one fixed element.
 * The set of maps generated by addition and negation from the endomorphisms of the group (the "additive closure" of the set of endomorphisms). If G is abelian then the set of endomorphisms is already additively closed, so that the additive closure is just the set of endomorphisms of G, and it forms not just a near-ring, but a ring.

Further examples occur if the group has further structure, for example:
 * The continuous mappings in a topological group.
 * The polynomial functions on a ring with identity under addition and polynomial composition.
 * The affine maps in a vector space.

Every near-ring is isomorphic to a subnear-ring of M(G) for some G.

Applications
Many applications involve the subclass of near-rings known as near-fields; for these see the article on near-fields.

There are various applications of proper near-rings, i.e., those that are neither rings nor near-fields.

The best known is to balanced incomplete block designs using planar near-rings. These are a way to obtain difference families using the orbits of a fixed-point-free automorphism group of a group. James R. Clay and others have extended these ideas to more general geometrical constructions.

title: Near-ring


text: Category:Software Projects games

title: Category:Software Projects games


text:
Encyclopedia of Mormonism

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The encyclopedia's five volumes have been digitized and are available for free online via the Harold B. Lee Library's official website.

Background
Published in 1992, the Encyclopedia contains nearly 1,500 articles, including several short unattributed entries in four volumes. The text is approximately one million words, and over 1,850 pages including pictures, maps, charts, index, and appendices. The title for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism was chosen by Macmillan, the publisher that initiated the project. The set was originally expected to be priced at $240 ($ in ), but has since been digitized and made available for free.

There were over 730 contributors from a wide variety of fields, most of whom had LDS and academic backgrounds. A large number were professors at Brigham Young University (BYU), the LDS Church-owned university. Most individuals contributed only one article, and few submitted more than three or four. Notable contributors include Mormon historians Leonard J. Arrington and Thomas G. Alexander, former Salt Lake City mayor Ted Wilson, noted non-Mormon LDS historian Jan Shipps, authors Steven R. Covey, Gerald N. Lund, and Richard Eyre, respected scholar and apologist Hugh Nibley, and a few general authorities, such as Jeffery R. Holland and H. David Burton.

The editor of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Daniel H. Ludlow, states that he strove to make the volume as professional as possible. Most articles are written by PhDs in their respective fields. LDS Church general authorities wrote little of the Encyclopedia; indeed, most contributors from church hierarchy were only tapped to write articles on the publications or institutions they directly administered or led. For impartiality and perspective, several non-Mormons were asked to write important articles. For example, Shipps wrote on the outsider's interpretation of Mormonism, and Richard P. Howard, a historian of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), wrote on his branch of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Subjects addressed
The Encyclopedia of Mormonism includes lengthy articles on core LDS subjects like LDS Church history and doctrine, but the work also includes many topics that are less closely related to Mormonism. For example, articles on constitutional law, sports, science, and freedom discuss LDS perspectives and contributions to various fields.

Ludlow also sought to make the encyclopedia accessible to non-Mormons: an optional fifth volume was printed, containing the "standard works," LDS scriptures that are heavily cited in the encyclopedia.

Role of encyclopedia relative to the LDS Church
Although the LDS Church cooperated in the production of the book, particularly by setting aside BYU resources, the Encyclopedia was meant to be independent and unofficial in the church. Ludlow highlights that in his concluding preface remarks:

 * Lest the role of the Encyclopedia be given more weight than it deserves, the editors make it clear that those who have written and edited have only tried to explain their understanding of Church history, doctrines, and procedures; their statement and opinions remain their own. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is a joint product of Brigham Young University and Macmillan Publishing Company, and its contents do not necessarily represent the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The LDS Church also noted the position in official publications.

Views of contents
In addition to established scholars like Nibley, many other LDS scholars who were then less known also contributed, including John Gee, William Hamblin, Louis C. Midgley, Daniel C. Peterson, Noel B. Reynolds, Stephen D. Ricks, John L. Sorenson, Melvin J. Thorne, and John W. Welch.

Critics had mixed reviews. Sterling M. McMurrin said that "the articles on social issues and church structure and the biographies are the most useful" but also felt that "the work is a carefully sanitized partisan affair that, while having many strengths, is quite uneven in quality and, though it appears to face many difficult issues head on, clearly omits, distorts, and compromises wherever necessary to advance and protect a positive image of Mormons, Mormonism, and the church." George D. Smith praised the Encyclopedia "As a 'religious encyclopedia' that addresses a goal of preserving a body of belief," stating it "impressively fulfills its mission." However, he criticized the Encyclopedia 's treatment of Book of Mormon scholarship for not being comprehensive and instead being "a statement of LDS orthodoxy" which "presents only a portion of important background and issues concerning the Book of Mormon" and "lacks the scope and diversity necessary to qualify it as truly encyclopedic." The introduction to Sunstone' s review of the Encyclopedia mentioned that Lavina Fielding Anderson "pointed out 'pitfalls in the treatment of women's issues, but revealed a few surprisingly positive moments that otherwise might have been overlooked-and probably were by some editors.' "

title: Encyclopedia of Mormonism


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Powermani

Powermani was proposed for deletion. This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE

A clan for a computer game, 27 google results where you'd expect many more for a major computer game clan. Thus it's non-notable. —siroχo 09:34, Jul 18, 2004 (UTC) This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like other '/delete' pages is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.
 * Delete. Vanity, irrelevant. -- Solitude 10:58, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Ditto.   — Chameleon My page/My talk 13:21, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete this silly little vanity page. Personally, I don't think any gaming clan deserves an article on the Wikipedia; they're generally just short-lived groups of teenagers and college students.  --Ardonik 17:55, Jul 18, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, it's disgusting. Jeeves 23:19, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, gaming clans are not encyclopedic. —Stormie 00:34, Jul 19, 2004 (UTC)


text:
Category:Epyx games

Video games developed/published by Epyx.

title: Category:Epyx games


text: Category:Atari 400 games

title: Category:Atari 400 games


text: Category:ColecoVision games

title: Category:ColecoVision games


text:
Talk:Philippine tarsier

Rewrite
Ok guys, to play the game according to your rules, I have rewritten the article and it is now in the Temp page. Kindly notify me first before you do any summary executions again. Look, I am not hiding in any way.

I still have rewritten this soon-to-be-deleted page because the copyright violation notice looks bad and, again, suggest an air of paranoia.

A large part of the information and the digital images are courtesy of Serafin Ramos Jr.

 * Most excellent! You're also welcome to take part in policy formation in the future. If you think the current way of dealing with copyright infringements, feel free to bring it up on the village pump, on meta, or in some other suitable forum. David Remahl 17:42, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * image rights
 * This issue has been cleared now. I got the permissions to publish the images. The permissions were given to me personally by the original copyright holders Serafin "Jun" Ramos  and Gene Boyd Lumawag. Latorilla 09:19, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC)

My humble contributions
Hello all! This is my first attempt here, and I am sorry to be so excited to get to work, I did not realize there are protocols, etc. I might have taken for granted. At any rate, I did what I could and will hopefully be doing more contributions...Guest818 09:06, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I've cleaned it up some more. Lots of good work you're doing, though. Some notes:
 * There are several passages where "tarsier" is used. Are these facts true for all tarsiers, or only the Philippine Tarsier? If these are unique, please clarify. If these are truely about all tarsiers, then be more explicit in that and also think about putting some of that information in the tarsier article.
 * When refering to the species, please use the singular. Also, use the capitalization of the article title. "Philippine Tarsier" refers to this particular species. "Philippine tarsier" refers to any tarsier found in the Philippines.
 * I commented out a few small sections on communication. Don't use "this refers to" language. These sections need to be rewritten.
 * Section headings should have only the first word capitalized, except for proper nouns. All other words should not be capitalized.
 * "Other significant information" is not a valid section heading. Either split up the section with better headings, or merge that text into other sections.
 * Keep up the good work! - UtherSRG (talk) 12:19, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I will be doing some more work on this, too. Guest818 04:03, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Hello! Just checking with you on a couple of things: the rationale for removing the local names, and category: primates. For your questions:
 * 1) Statements refer to the Philippine tarsier.
 * 2) Philippine Tarsier and Philippine tarsier - what is the distinction?
 * 3) will fix the communication soon
 * 4) will also work on thisGuest818 20:23, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Different works use different naming conventions. In Wikipedia, at least in the primate realm, we use full capitalization to denote the common name of a species, and sentance case to denote a larger, possibly less formal, grouping. As I said above, this means that "Philippine Tarsier" refers to this particular species, while "Philippine tarsier" refers to any tarsiers in the Philippines. - UtherSRG (talk) 20:50, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the speedy reply, and the clarification. As far as I know, there are no other tarsier species in the Philippines except Tarsius syrichta, although there might be subspecies not yet documented, the Philippines being an archipelago, hence species may vary from island to island. Guest818 21:22, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Sarangani tarsier
Guest818 22:41, 10 November 2006 (UTC)Please help find citation for tarsier Sarangani sighting.

Smallest primate?
if the philippine tarsier is not the smallest, what's the smallest primate? please educate me on this matter. thanks. --RebSkii 16:42, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
 * The smallest primate is the Pygmy Mouse Lemur while the smallest monkey is the Pygmy Marmoset. Nevetheless, the Philippine Tarsier is still one of the smallest primates...--Guest818 16:46, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

GA comment
I'm not here to review, but just provide a few comments. I think the article looks really good and could pass for GA but it has a few things that should be fixed:
 * The prey that it eats is listed twice (once in the habits section and again in the predation section) and should probably be chosen to be included in just one of those sections (some in-line citations would be good to).
 * "Scientists are interested in these animals because of their unique taxonomic position, and study of tarsiers may aid human economies." It would be good to describe how it would aid the human economies and again add sources for this, as it may risk being labeled as original research.
 * There is a statement that the tarsier will commit suicide in captivity. It would be best to add a citation to it since it could be questioned and adding a source would help back it up.

Besides these small things, I'm sure the next person who comes through here and pass it. Keep up the good work! --Nehrams2020 08:37, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

GA Passed
I agree with everything said by the previous commentator. In particular I think that the subsection on predation should only discuss predation on the tarsiers and leave the discussion of the tarsiers diet in the habits subsection. Beyond those comments I also suggest that all the information on geographical distribution should be removed from the introduction and placed in a separate distribution section. I also think the prose in a couple of the subsections (particularly Taxonomy and Economic importance) could use some improvement. For instance the sentence The Philippine Tarsier has been called "the world's smallest monkey" or "smallest primate" by locals before. obviously needs a little copy editing as does the phrase The IUCN taxonomic notes lists two subspecies but that the non-nominate one is poorly defined as present which I assume should  read at present.

Despite a few such minor issues this article easily meets the criteria for a good article. With only minor exceptions it is well structured, and the writing is mostly good. There is an impressive amount of good quality sources and inline citations, and it’s clear that a lot of effort went into the research. This article is one of the most comprehensive single species articles I have ever come across with very good coverage of both the biology and the conservation issues. It is also effectively and attractively illustrated by some very good photos.

It has been a pleasure to review such and informative article. I hope you continue to improve it. With just a little cleanup and polishing, I think that this would make a good feature article candidate. I may even pitch in and help. Rusty Cashman 19:16, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Rearrangement
Mind if I try rearranging the article with a more scientific approach (as I've been doing with other organismal WP articles)? Shrumster 06:46, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
 * If you are asking me, no I don't. Definitely not.  You are welcome to it! And thanks a lot! --Ate Pinay  (talk•email) 07:00, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Done! I'll be going over the article over the next few days, fixing anything that needs to be fixed. I patterned it after some of the biological articles I've been fixing as well. Shrumster 07:15, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you sooooo much! --Ate Pinay  (talk•email) 07:20, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Predation
removed "citation needed" tag since predators really affect their prey and whoever preys on them. I put the necessary links in exchange-- Lenticel ( talk ) 06:28, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

Angry Tarsier
I linked to the Angrytarsier.jpg image by Serafin "Jun" Ramos, Jr. that's been on Wikimedia Commons since April 2005. It is surprising that the image wasn't used in the article, as it provides a good view of the animal's dentition, and is more useful to the casual reader than a cryptic dental formula. —QuicksilverT @ 20:03, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

 * I wonder if the caption ought to be revised so as not to ascribe a human subjective emotion to a nonhuman animal? 67.51.57.35 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:32, 17 May 2010 (UTC).

 * Since the photographer lives in the Philippines and is familiar with his subject, I'd defer to his description of the image, not your opinion of what's happening in the scene. —QuicksilverT @ 23:32, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Biggest eyes?
The statement under "Etymology and taxonomic history" that the Philippine Tarsier "... is considered to be the mammal with the biggest eyes" doesn't pass the smell test. The whole animal is only about the size of a human fist, so a horse or a cow almost certainly has eyes much, much larger than that of a Tarsier! Perhaps the sentence should say that the Tarsier has the largest eyes in proportion to its skull. —QuicksilverT @ 20:19, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Section neutrality
No matter how cruel their captivity might be, I still think this can be said in more neutral words. Raykyogrou0 ( Talk ) 19:43, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
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External links modified
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Suicidal Tarsiers: reference update / fact-check
Apologies in advance - complete newbie here!

The assertion made by this article that tarsiers batter their own heads in due to stress is quite startling. While i am no expert, this is quite a profound assertion and implies a linguistic capacity for abstract thought, forward planning, and logical analysis. As far as i can tell the only source for this assertion appears to be an article published in 1999 by a Filipino news outlet, which is based on a report by one individual. This has been referenced as fact by many other media outlets and societies, undoubtedly with the good intention of dissuading interest in seeking tarsiers as pets, however the veracity of the claim seems highly questionable.

This is the only published journal, which is concerned with the observation of captive tarsiers, that i can find that mentions suicidal tarsiers, however its only reference is a huffington post article that presumably is routed in the 1999 article referenced in this wiki page!

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_De_La_Cruz/publication/305390545_Captive_observation_and_comparative_morphology_of_Philippine_tarsier_Carlito_syrichta_in_Brgy_Hugpa_Biliran_Biliran_A_preliminary_study/links/578c76ac08ae59aa667c532e.pdf

This journal ( http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.97.2.547-558 ) states that "Modern naturalistic studies have found little evidence of self-harming conduct among nonhuman species" and it describes most accounts of suicidal behaviour to be folklore.

Credible literature on animal psychology concludes that behaviour such as lemmings walking of a cliff, or animals losing the will to live through grief, do not constitute a willful cognitive capacity to decide to intentionally end their life.

May i suggest that the reference given here is inadequate and that the section on captivity be amended to say "It is reported that..." rather than stating this behaviour as fact until a decent reference can be provided to verify the claim? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Coops-c (talk • contribs) 12:22, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

title: Talk:Philippine tarsier


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Elowel

Elowel was proposed for deletion. This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE

Blog service with only 40 users, non-notable, ad. —siroχo 09:42, Jul 18, 2004 (UTC) This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like other '/delete' pages is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.
 * Delete this advert.   — Chameleon My page/My talk 13:19, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. I'm sick of all the ads that people try to put here.  --Ardonik 17:56, Jul 18, 2004 (UTC)
 * Let's form a blog service called D-l337. Delete this pure ad. Geogre 02:05, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: Ad -SocratesJedi 20:25, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Elowel


text:
Emil Voigt (athlete)

Emil Robert Voigt (31 January 1883 – 16 October 1973) was a British athlete, winner of the Olympic 5 miles race in 1908 representing Great Britain.

Biography
Born in Manchester to German parents, Voigt won the 1908 Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) championship in the 4 miles, making him one of the favourites for the 5 miles at the 1908 Summer Olympics, which were held in London. Voigt, a vegetarian, indeed won the race easily, and became the second and last Olympic champion in the event, which was replaced by the 5000 m and 10000 m events in 1912.

After winning three more AAA titles in 1909 and 1910, as well as winning numerous other races in the UK and in Europe, he emigrated to Australia in 1911. He won a number of Australian titles over the next three years then retired from athletics in 1914 when the outbreak of war in Europe put an end to his career.

In Australia he became one of the foremost pioneers of early radio, helping to set up 2KY on behalf of the Labor movement.

He moved back to England in 1936, finally retiring to Auckland, New Zealand, in 1948, where he died at age 90.

Vegetarianism
Voigt became a vegetarian for humanitarian motives. He also avoided tea, coffee, and lentils. He became a vegetarian at the age of 22 and joined the Vegetarian Cycling Club. His diet consisted of brown bread, eggs, fruit, milk and vegetables.

During the 1908 London Olympic Games, he was the only gold medal distance runner England had ever had and the only vegetarian out of 2023 competitors. Voigt was a non-smoker and teetotaller.

title: Emil Voigt (athlete)


text:
Awesome God

"Awesome God" is a contemporary worship song written by Rich Mullins and first recorded on his 1988 album, Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth. It was the first single from the album and rose to the number one spot on Christian radio and subsequently became a popular congregational song. Its title is inspired by a biblical expression (Nehemiah 1:5, Nehemiah 9:32, Psalm 47, Daniel 9:4, etc.), variously translated as "Awesome God", (JPS, in the old-fashioned meaning "awe-inspiring"), "great" (KJV), among other alternatives. Due to the popularity of the song, it became Mullins' signature song. It was also used in the 2021 Netflix movie A Week Away.

Commentary
Mullins did not consider the song to be one of his best. In an interview with The Lighthouse Electronic Magazine in April 1996, he said: You know, the thing I like about Awesome God is that it's one of the worst-written songs that I ever wrote; it's just poorly crafted. But the thing is that sometimes, I think, that when you become too conscientious about being a songwriter, the message becomes a vehicle for the medium. This is a temptation that I think all songwriters have. I think a great songwriter is someone who is able to take a very meaningful piece of wisdom — or of folly or whatever — and say it in a way that is most likely to make people respond. But, what you want them to respond to is not how cleverly you did that; what you want them to respond to is your message.

Cover versions
Over a year after Mullins' death (in September 1997) the song was covered on a tribute album for Mullins entitled Awesome God: A Tribute to Rich Mullins by Contemporary Christian musician, Michael W. Smith. Numerous other Christian artists have performed versions in numerous styles, from ska to swing to rock and traditional worship style, even hardcore punk and heavy metal by the bands Unashamed and Pantokrator.

title: Awesome God


text:
File talk:HurstbridgeLineHeidelbergToGreensborough.jpg

This would be better in PNG format. However, it is not good to convert from JPEG to PNG. If you still have the original, it would be good if you could save it to PNG instead. David Remahl 09:55, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)