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Mickey Mouse, Saturday, 14 August, 2004 A medieval image resembling the cartoon character Mickey Mouse was discovered on November 14, 2002 during restoration of a church's outside wall in the town of Malta in Austria. It is part of a 14th-century fresco depicting Saint Christopher of the Roman Catholic Church, who is often shown accompanied by fabulous creatures. Photo credit: Unknown 14th century source

City Hall, London, Friday 13 August, 2004 City Hall in London is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority, and stands on the south bank of the River Thames near to Tower Bridge. The building was designed by Sir Norman Foster and opened in July 2002. It has an unusual bulbous shape, intended to reduce the building's surface area and thus improve energy efficiency. City Hall was constructed on a site formerly occupied by wharves serving the Pool of London (a stretch of the River Thames). Photo credit: ChrisO

Santa Cruz Mountains, Thursday 12 August, 2004 Skyline Boulevard runs through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here near Palo Alto, California. The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south, bordering Monterey Bay and ending at the Salinas Valley. Photo credit: Jawed Karim

Mackerel sky, Wednesday 11 August, 2004 A mackerel sky is an indicator of moisture and instability at high levels. If the lower atmosphere is stable and no moist air moves in, the weather will most likely remain dry. However, moisture at lower levels combined with temperature instability can lead to spectacular thunderstorms should the rising moist air reach this layer. In weather lore, a mackerel sky portends changeable weather. Photo credit: Denni Windrim

Machu Picchu, Tuesday 10 August, 2004 Machu Picchu is a well preserved Pre-Columbian town located on a high mountain ridge above the Urubamba valley in modern-day Peru. It is thought the city was built by the Inca emperor Pachacuti starting in about 1440 and was inhabited until 1532. The city was re-discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. This World Heritage Site is a popular tourist attraction. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah

Central Arizona Project Aqueduct, Monday 9 August, 2004 The Central Arizona Project Aqueduct is a diversion canal in Arizona in the United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River from Lake Havasu City into central and southern Arizona. The Central Arizona Project is a multipurpose water resource development and management project that was designed to provide water to nearly one million acres (4000 km2) of Indian and non-Indian irrigated agricultural land areas as well as municipal water for several Arizona communities. Photo credit: US Bureau of Reclamation

New Scotland Yard, Sunday 8 August, 2004 New Scotland Yard, located at Broadway in Westminster, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service who are responsible for policing Greater London. The name derives from its original location on a street off Whitehall called Great Scotland Yard. The exact origins of this name are unknown, though a popular explanation is that it was the former site of the residence of the Scottish kings or their ambassadors when staying in England. Photo credit: ChrisO

Thunderstorm, Saturday, 7 August, 2004 A thunderstorm is a form of severe weather involving lightning and thunder. Thunderstorms have had a lasting and powerful influence on mankind. Romans thought them to be battles waged by Jupiter. Thunderstorms were associated with the Thunderbird, held by Native Americans to be a servant of the Great Spirit. Photo credit: John Kerstholt

Fennec Fox, Friday 6 August, 2004 The Fennec Fox is a small fox found in the desert of Northern Africa. The fennec is the smallest canid, only weighing up to 1.5 kg. The fennec is nocturnal and hunts for rodents, insects, lizards, birds and eggs at night. The fennec is rare and is not often seen. It is often hunted by humans, even though the fox does not cause any harm to human interests. Photo credit: Ralf Schmode

London by night, 5 August, 2004 London is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England. The city of Londinium was founded by the Romans on the north bank of the River Thames in around 50 AD. By the 18th century London was the biggest city in the world. It was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York City. Photo credit: NASA

Schlern, 4 August, 2004 The Schlern is a 2,563 m high mountain of the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. The Dolomites are a section of the Alps in northern Italy. The name Dolomites is derived from the French mineralogist Deodat de Dolomieu who was the first to describe the mineral Dolomite which is responsible for the characteristic shapes of these great limestone mountains. Photo credit: Fantasy

Halong Bay, 3 August, 2004 Halong Bay (Vịnh Hạ) is a body of water in north Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin near the border with China. Its name means "Bay of the Descending Dragon" in Vietnamese. The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Photo credit: David Stewart

Darby and Joan, Monday August 2, 2004 Royal Doulton Darby and Joan figurines. "Darby and Joan" is a term used to describe a happily married couple. In England, clubs for senior citizens are appropriately called Darby and Joan Clubs. The first mention of John Darby and his wife Joan is believed to be in a poem by Henry Woodfall in 1735. At that time Woodfall was apprentice to Darby, a printer from the town of Bartholemew Close. Photo credit: Paul Darby

Yellowstone National Park, 1 August, 2004 Yellowstone National Park is a United States National Park located in the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world. The park is famous for its geothermal features and is home to grizzly bears, wolves, bison and elk. Photo credit: Daniel Mayer

National Gallery, Saturday 31 July, 2004 The National Gallery at night, illuminated for an event to promote the launch of a Pepsi commercial. The National Gallery in London is an art gallery designed by William Wilkins. It holds part of the National Collection, particularly Western European art from 1250 to 1900. The collection of 2300 paintings belongs to the British public. Photo credit: Michael Reeve

Weather lore, Friday 30 July, 2004 Weather lore, the informal folklore related to the prediction of the weather, suggests that the cumulus humilis clouds in this sky indicate a good day ahead. Such clouds show there is very little convection in the lower atmosphere, and the fact that it is well-formed indicates light winds at low levels. There is no cloud aloft, and thus no moisture or stable conditions or both. The cumulus congestus on the horizon suggests showers may be possible three or four hours from now, at the earliest, but chances are good it will remain a pleasant day through until the evening. Photo credit: Denni Windrim

Darlingtonia, Thursday 29 July, 2004 Darlingtonia (Darlingtonia californica), also called the California Pitcher plant or Cobra Lily, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae. Darlingtonia is native to California and Oregon and grows in bogs and seeps. The name Cobra Lily is from the resemblance of the tubular leaf to a rearing Cobra, complete with "fangs". The genus Darlingtonia is monotypic. Photo credit: Daniel Keshet

Icefish, Wednesday 28 July, 2004 Icefish are a type of Antarctic fish belonging to various families, including the Channichthyidae family. They have no haemoglobin and their blood is transparent. They feed on krill, copepods, and other fish. Icefish rely on well-oxygenated water and absorb oxygen directly through the skin as they lack red blood cells. Photo credit: Uwe Kils

Mount Cook, Tuesday 27 July, 2004 Mount Cook, a peak in the Southern Alps is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Mount Cook is also known as Aoraki, meaning "Cloud Piercer" in the Kai Tahu dialect of the Maori language. The mountain is located within the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and was formally declared one of the United Nations World Heritage Parks in 1953. Photo credit: User:Dynabee

Tawaret, Monday 26 July, 2004 Tawaret was a popular deity in ancient Egyptian mythology. She was a household deity who protected women during pregnancy and childbirth, in conjunction with another deity, Bes. Tawaret was depicted as an amalgam of human and animal with the head of a hippopotamus,the arms and legs of a lion, the back and tail of a crocodile, and the breasts and stomach of a pregnant woman. Photo credit: ChrisO

Pin tumbler lock, Sunday 25 July, 2004 The pin tumbler lock is a lock mechanism that utilizes a group of pins of varying lengths to prevent opening the lock without the correct key. Pin tumblers are most commonly employed in cylinder locks, but may also be found in tubular or radial locks. When the correct key is inserted, the gaps between the key pins (red) and driver pins (blue) align with the edge of the plug (yellow). Photo credit: Eric Pierce

Four-stroke cycle, Saturday 23 July, 2004 The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today, including cars, trucks, and generators. The cycle was invented by Nikolaus Otto in 1876, and is also called the Otto cycle. The cycle is characterized by four strokes, or straight movements in a single direction, of the piston. Photo credit: Eric Pierce

Zootomical terms of location, Friday 23 July, 2004 Zootomical terms of location differ from the terminology used in human anatomy. In animals, the head end is called the "cranial end" and the tail end is the "caudal end". The side of the body normally oriented upwards is the "dorsal" side; the opposite side, typically the one closest to the ground when walking on all legs, swimming or flying, is the "ventral" side. Photo credit: Jonathan Merritt

Geisha, Thursday 22 July, 2004 Women dressed as geisha in Kyoto, Japan. They are wearing traditional kimonos and geta. Geisha (芸者) are traditional Japanese artist-entertainers. Geisha were very common in the 18th and 19th centuries, and are still in existence today, although their numbers are dwindling. The geisha tradition evolved from the taikomochi or hōkan, similar to court jesters. Geisha were traditionally trained from young childhood although modern geisha begin their training, which remains extremely long and difficult, at much older age. Photo credit: Michael Reeve

Water Buffalo, Wednesday 21 July, 2004 The Water Buffalo is a very large ungulate. It probably survives in the wild in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand; is very widespread as a domestic animal in Asia, South America. North Africa and Europe; and is feral in northern Australia. Wild-living populations of Water Buffalo also exist in much of South-east Asia but their origin is uncertain: they may be the descendants of wild Water Buffalo, formerly domesticated ferals, or a mixture of both. The population of wild Water Buffalo has become very sparse. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah

Planet Mars, Tuesday 20 July, 2004 Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, is named after the Roman god of war because of its blood red color. Mars has two small, oddly-shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos, named after the sons of the Greek god Ares. At some point in the future Phobos will be broken up by gravitational forces. The atmosphere on Mars is 95% carbon dioxide. In 2003 methane was also discovered in the atmosphere. Since methane is an unstable gas, this indicates that there must be (or have been within the last few hundred years) a source of the gas on the planet. Photo credit: NASA

Bryce Canyon National Park, 19 July, 2004 Bryce Canyon National Park is distinctive due to its unique geological structures, called hoodoos. In winter, most birds in the park migrate, but jays, ravens, nuthatches, eagles, and owls stay. The Mule Deer, Mountain Lion, and coyotes will migrate to lower elevations. Ground squirrels and marmots pass the winter in hibernation. Photo credit: National Park Service

San Francisco Bay Area, Sunday 18 July, 2004 The Skyline Boulevard in the San Francisco Bay Area stretches through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here near Palo Alto, California. Three large cities dominate the San Francisco Bay Area; San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. As well as constituting one of the world's greatest metropolitan areas, the Bay Area includes some exceptional natural coastal and rural landscape. It includes significant national parks such as the Point Reyes National Seashore and a large number of state parks. Photo credit: Jawed Karim

Compound eye of a dragonfly, Saturday 17 July, 2004 A compound eye is a visual organ found in certain arthropods. The compound eye consists of between 12 and 1,000 ommatidia, little dark/bright sensors. The image perceived by the arthropod is "recalculated" from the numerous ommatidia which point in slightly different directions. In contrast to other eye types, there is no central lens or retina. Though the resulting image is poor in resolution, it can detect quick movements and, in some cases, the polarization of light. Dragonflies have about 30,000 facets to their compound eyes, giving them nearly a 360° field of vision. Photo credit: David L. Green

Sistine Chapel, Friday 16 July, 2004 The Sistine Chapel is a religious chapel and one of the most famous artistic treasures of the Vatican, built between 1475 and 1483, in the time of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere. The chapel is known worldwide both for being the hall in which conclaves and other official ceremonies are held, including some papal coronations, and for having been decorated by Michelangelo. The subjects of the pictures were historical religious themes. Michelangelo was employed to paint only 12 figures, the Apostles, but when the work was finished there were more than 3,000. Photo credit: Adrian Pingstone using a artchive.com source

Yellow rattle, Thursday 15 July Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is a flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae. This family comprises 220-300 genera and 4000-4500 species. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. Other members of the family include Digitalis, Linaria and Verbascum. Yellow rattle is a semi-parasitic plant that gains some of its nutrients from the roots of neighbouring plants. The name refers to the seedpods, which contain loose, rattling seeds when ripe. Photo credit: sannse

Painter's algorithm, Wednesday 14 July. The painter's algorithm is one of the simplest solutions to the visibility problem in 3D computer graphics. When projecting a 3D scene onto a 2D plane, it is at some point necessary to decide which polygons are visible and which are hidden. The distant mountains are painted first, followed by the closer meadows; finally, the closest objects in this scene - the trees - are painted. For detailed scenes, the painter's algorthm generally proves to be a slow solution. Photo credit: Fredrik

Notre-Dame, Tuesday 13 July. View of Paris from the Notre-Dame showing the River Seine and the Eiffel Tower. The Notre-Dame de Paris is a gothic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in Paris, France. The cathedral is probably best known from Victor Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which was first published in 1831. Photo credit: Michael Reeve

Moon, Monday 12 July. The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. During the ancient period, it was not uncommon for cultures to believe that the Moon died each night, thus descending into the underworld. As late as the 1920s (or so), it was believed that the Moon might have a breathable atmosphere. In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon. Photo credit: Michael K. Fairbanks

Mad scientist, Sunday 11 July. A mad scientist is a stock character, often villainous, who appears in fiction as a scientist who is insane or eccentric. He is usually working with some utterly fictional technology in order to forward his evil schemes. Recent mad scientist depictions are often satirical and humorous, and some are actually protagonists, such as Dexter in the cartoon series Dexter's Laboratory. Photo credit: J.J. McCullough

Brisbane, Saturday 10 July. Brisbane at night. Brisbane is the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is situated in the southeast corner of Queensland and straddles the Brisbane River. The city is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, a soldier and colonial administrator born in Ayrshire, Scotland. Photo credit: Gary Curtis

Lincoln Memorial, Friday 9 July. The focus of the Lincoln Memorial is this sculpture of Abraham Lincoln, seated. Daniel Chester French studied many of Mathew Brady's photographs of Lincoln, and depicted the president as worn and pensive, gazing eastwards down the Reflecting Pool at the capital's starkest emblem of the Union, the Washington Monument. One hand is clenched, the other open. Beneath his hands, the Roman fasces, symbols of the authority of the Republic, are sculpted in relief on the seat. Photo credit: Raul654

Passchendaele, Thursday 8 July. Soldiers of an Australian 4th Division field artillery brigade on a duckboard track passing through Chateau Wood, near Hooge in the Ypres salient, October 29, 1917. The photo was taken in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, which was one of the major battles of World War I. Photo credit: James Francis Hurley

Madrid metro, Wednesday 7 July. The Madrid metro is the large metro system serving Madrid, the capital of Spain. It is one of the largest metro systems in the world, despite Madrid having a population of only four million. The metro opened in 1919 under the direction of the Compañía de Metro Alfonso XIII. Metro stations served as air raid shelters during the Spanish Civil War. Photo credit: Montrealais

Bolzano (Bozen), Tuesday 6 July. Bolzano (Bozen) is a town in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy. It is the capital of the Italian/German/Ladin speaking Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen, officially trilingual. The province is almost completely mountainous, and is extended on the Adige valley north of the town of Salorno (Salurn). Photo credit: Roland Wolf

Queenstown, New Zealand, Saturday 3 July. The Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown. The Remarkables are a 540 acre (2.2 km2) mountain ski field located south of Queenstown, New Zealand. The other ski fields in Queenstown are Cardrona, Coronet Peak, and Treble Cone. Queenstown is a resort town in South Island and is surrounded by the Southern Alps. Photo credit: Tiles

Radcliffe Camera, Tuesday 29 June. The Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, England was built by James Gibbs between 1737 and 1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library. The building was funded by a £40,000 bequest from John Radcliffe. After the Radcliffe Science Library eventually moved into another building, the Radcliffe Camera became a reading room of the Bodleian Library. It now holds books from the English and History collection. Photo credit: Michael Reeve

USS Port Royal (CG-73), Saturday 26 June. The USS Port Royal (CG-73) is a United States Navy guided missile cruiser, the last to be constructed in the 20th century, and the first cruiser to integrate women into the crew. The ship was deployed in 1996 as part of the Nimitz (CVN-68) battle group. Photo credit: Christopher Mobley

Gold Coast, Australia, Friday 25 June. The Gold Coast is a coastal region approximately 70 kilometres south of Brisbane, Australia that, over the past 50 years, has coalesced from a collection of scattered villages into a city of approximately 400,000 people. The subtropical climate, attractive surf beaches, and savvy marketing have attracted millions of tourists. Photo credit: Gary Curtis

Weather lore, Thursday 24 June. ''Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.'' A red sky occurs primarily at sunrise or sunset, when the sun's rays are passing through the greatest thickness of atmosphere. In weather lore, morning red skies are a good indicator of coming rain, evening red skies usually indicate clearing conditions. Photo credit: Denni Windrim

Che Guevara, Wednesday 23 June. Che Guevara statue at the site of his death in Bolivia. Che Guevara was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and Cuban guerrilla leader. Guevara was a member of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, which seized power in Cuba in 1959. After the revolution Guevara became second only to Fidel Castro in the new government of Cuba. Photo credit: Augusto Starita

English Springer Spaniel, Tuesday 22 June. Spot Fetcher. U.S. President George W. Bush's dog. The English Springer Spaniel is a gun dog used for flushing and retrieving game. This spaniel is an older breed, appearing in paintings as early as the 1600s. It is possibly the ancestor of most modern spaniels; Springer spaniels and cocker spaniels were not recognized as separate breeds until the 1800s. Photo credit: Paul Morse

Cell growth, Monday 21 June. Three types of cell reproduction; Binary fission and reproduction involving mitosis or meiosis. In the context of reproduction of living cells, "cell growth" refers to the "growth in cell numbers by means of cell reproduction." During cell reproduction one cell (the "parental" cell) divides to produce daughter cells. In other contexts, "cell growth" refers to increases in cell size. Photo credit: John Schmidt

Roundabout, Sunday 20 June. A diagram of movement within a roundabout in a country where traffic drives on the left. A roundabout is a type of road junction, or traffic calming device, at which traffic streams circularly around a central island after first yielding to the circulating traffic. Unlike with traffic circles, vehicles on a roundabout have priority over the entering vehicle, parking is not allowed and pedestrians are usually prohibited from the central island. Photo credit: Fredrik and Mintguy

Parliament of Canada, Saturday 19 June. Centre Block and Library of the Parliament of Canada. The Parliament of Canada is housed in a complex on Parliament Hill, on the banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, in a Gothic revival suite of buildings. The best known is the Centre Block, with its prominent Peace Tower, a national symbol. The richly decorated interior of the centre block contains allegorical scenes. Photo credit: Montréalais

High Cross, Friday 18 June. High Cross at the Rock of Cashel in Ireland. A High Cross is a standing cross with a circle, made of stone and often richly ornamented. High Crosses exist in Celtic parts of Britain and Ireland; the Irish High Cross has become more famous because of its distinctive shape (the ringed Celtic Cross) and the amount and quality of decoration. The Rock of Cashel, also known as Cashel of the Kings, is situated in county Tipperary in Ireland. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah

433 Eros, Thursday 17 June. The asteroid 433 Eros was named after the Greek god of love Eros. This S-type asteroid is the second-largest near-Earth asteroid. This image shows the view looking from one end of the asteroid across the gouge on its underside and toward the opposite end. Photo credit: NASA

Chèche, Wednesday 16 June. Chèche. Headgear is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head. A "chèche" or "tagelmoust" turban is a form of headgear worn by men and women in Saharan Africa as protection against wind and sand. Photo credit: Anthere

Circlestrafing, Tuesday 15 June. Circlestrafing. In video games, particularly in first-person shooters, circlestrafing is the technique of moving around a target in a circle while facing it. It allows a player to fire continuously at a target while simultaneously dodging attacks. In this diagram, the blue player circlestrafes around his red adversary, firing continually as he does so. Red, unable to keep track of the moving blue, misses with most shots. Blue will prevail. Photo credit: Fredrik

Eastern Yellow Robin, Monday 14 June. The Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) is a common resident of coastal and sub-coastal eastern Australia, from the extreme south-east corner of South Australia through most of Victoria and the western half of New South Wales and north as far as Cooktown, though tropical northern Queensland birds are mainly restricted to the cool heights of the Great Dividing Range. Photo credit: Tony Wilson

Earth at night, Sunday 13 June. Earth at night. Earth is the third planet outward from the Sun. The northernmost settlement on Earth is Alert, Ellesmere Island, Canada. The southernmost is the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, in Antarctica. Photo credit: NASA and NOAA

Potato plant, Saturday 12 June. Potato plant. Potato plants are low-growing and have white flowers with yellow stamens. They grow best in cool, moist climates such as Maine, Idaho, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Germany, Russia, and Poland, though they are widely adaptable and are grown on a small scale in most temperate regions. Common varieties of potatoes do not produce seeds; the flowers are sterile. Instead, they are propagated by planting pieces of existing tubers, cut to include at least one eye. Confusingly, these pieces are called "seed potatoes". Photo credit: Agricultural Research Service

Champs-Élysées, Friday 11 June. Looking east along the Champs-Élysées from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. The Champs-Élysées is a broad avenue in the French capital Paris. With its cinemas, cafés, and luxury specialty shops, the Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world. The name refers to the Elysian Fields, the kingdom of the dead in Greek mythology. Photo credit: Michael Reeve

USS Iowa (BB-61), Thursday 10 June. The USS Iowa firing during target exercises near Vieques, Puerto Rico. USS Iowa (BB-61), the lead ship of her class of dreadnought battleship, was the fourth United States Navy ship with this name. Iowa was launched on 27 August 1942. As of 21 April 2001, Iowa is part of the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, San Francisco. Photo credit: Naval Historical Center

The London Eye, Wednesday 9 June. The London Eye observation wheel. The London Eye is the largest observation wheel (a type of Ferris wheel) in the world. It stands 135 metres (443 ft) high on the South Bank of the River Thames near the Houses of Parliament in Lambeth, London, England, close to Westminster Bridge. The Eye has become a major landmark and tourist attraction since its official opening on December 31, 1999 Photo credit: Fantasy

Yarra River, Tuesday 8 June. The Yarra River is a river in southern Victoria, Australia. Its lower reaches travel through central Melbourne. It is approximately 242 kilometres in length, and its mean annual flow is 718,000 megalitres. Like virtually all of Australia's rivers, annual flows vary greatly due to the effect of El Nino. The river's source is a series of swamps on Mount Baw Baw. Some of the Yarra's major tributaries include the Plenty River, and the Merri Creek. Photo credit: Russell Degnan

Geography of the Philippines, Sunday 6 June. Physical map of physical geography of the Philippines. The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands. The largest of these islands is Luzon. The islands are volcanic in origin, being part of the Ring of Fire, and are mostly mountainous. The highest point in the country is the peak of Mt. Apo in Mindanao, which is 2,954 m above sea level. Most of the islands used to be covered in tropical rainforests, however, due to illegal logging, the forest cover has been reduced to less than 10% of the total land area. Photo credit: Seav

Bumblebee, Saturday 5 June. The bumblebee is a flying insect of the genus Bombus in the family Apidae. Like the common honeybee, of which it is a distant relative, the bumblebee feeds on nectar and gathers pollen to feed its young. Bumblebees tend to be larger than other members of the bee family. Most, but not all, bumblebee species are gentle. Bumblebees are the pollinator of choice for modern greenhouse tomatoes and some other crops. Photo credit: Mark Burnett

Dust storm, Friday 4 June. Dust storm, Spearman, Texas, 1935. A dust storm is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. The dust picked up in such a storm can be carried thousands of kilometers: Sahara dust storms influence plankton growth in the western Atlantic Ocean. Photo credit: US NOAA

Epicyclic gearing, Thursday 3 June. Epicyclic gears. A gear is a toothed wheel designed to transmit torque to another gear or toothed component. Epicyclic gearing is a system consisting of outer gears, typically mounted on a movable arm, rotating about a central gear. Photo credit: Wapcaplet

Tamar Bridge, Wednesday 2 June. A panoramic photograph taken from the Tamar Bridge between Cornwall and Devon, England, showing the Tamar Valley and the Royal Albert Bridge. The Tamar Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the UK when it opened in 1961. In 2001 it became the world's first suspension bridge to be widened using cantilevers. The Royal Albert Bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Photo credit: Tony Tapp

Butterfly, Tuesday 1 June. Blue Morpho butterfly (Morpho menelaus). A butterfly is a flying insect of the order Lepidoptera. As Lepidoptera, butterflies have four wings, but unlike moths, the fore and hindwings are not hooked together, permitting a more graceful flight. Unlike most insects, butterflies do not experience a nymph period, but instead go through a pupal stage. Photo credit: Gregory Phillips.

Peppermint, Monday May 31. Peppermint and Corsican mint plant. Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) is a sterile hybrid mint with a high menthol content, often used in tea and confectionery. Peppermint is the oldest and most popular flavour. Photo credit: Michael Thompson

Villain, Sunday May 30. Snidely Whiplash, an example of a stereotypical villain. A villain is a bad person, especially in fiction. Villains are the fictional characters, or perhaps fictionalized characters, in drama and melodrama who work to thwart the plans of the hero. There are many villain stereotypes. In the era before sound in motion pictures villains had to appear very "visually" sinister, and thus many villain stereotypes were born. Photo credit: J.J. McCullough

Geyser, Saturday May 29. Strokkur geyser exploding. A geyser is a special type of hot spring that erupts periodically, ejecting a column of hot water and steam into the air. Strokkur geyser is found in Geysir in the Haukadalur valley, Iceland. Photo credit: Hannah Beker

Sainte Jeanne d'Arc Church, Friday May 28. Sainte Jeanne d'Arc Church at night. Sainte Jeanne d'Arc Church is a Catholic church in Nice, France which is noticeable for its original architecture. The church was built between 1926 and 1933 by the architect Jacques Dror in reinforced concrete. The style was influenced by Art nouveau. Photo credit: Ericd

Lift Engineering chairlift, Wednesday/Thursday May 26/27. Towers and chairs on a Yan triple lift. Lift Engineering, was formerly a major ski lift manufacturer. Founder Jan Kunczynski was credited with being the first manufacturer of ski lifts to incorporate aesthetics into the design of his equipment. Photo credit: Vancouverguy

Sand castle, Tuesday May 25. A sand castle is a type of sand sculpture which resembles a miniature building, often a castle. Sand castles are typically made on beaches with wet fine sand and, optionally, tools such as shovels and buckets and reinforcers such as wood, usually by children, but also by adults who engage in sand sculpture contests, in which the goal is to create large and complex structures which do not appear to be constructed purely from sand. Photo credit: Guy King

Io moon, Monday May 24. Io moon taken by NASA's Galileo probe. This image shows two volcanic eruptions. The one on the horizon is 140 km high, the other is 75 km high. Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. It is named after Io, one of Zeus's many love interests in Greek mythology. Photo credit: NASA

Black Puma in Belize, Friday May 21. The puma (Puma concolor, or Felis concolor) is a type of large hunting cat found in North and South America. It is also known by the regional names of cougar, mountain lion, panther, catamount and painted cat. Pumas have the largest distribution range of any New World land animal, spanning 110 degrees of latitude. Photo credit: Belizian

Zabriskie Point, Wednesday May 19. Zabriskie Point is an area in Death Valley National Park noted for its beautiful erosional landscape. It is called a badlands due to its difficult to traverse topography. Photo credit: Daniel Mayer

Gallium, Tuesday May 18. Crystals of 99.999% gallium. The chemical element gallium is a rare, soft silvery metallic poor metal. It occurs in trace amounts in bauxite and zinc ores. Gallium is notable for its stunning silvery color and its solid metal fractures conchoidally like glass. Photo credit: Foobar

Sydney Opera House, Monday May 17. The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Situated on Bennelong Point at Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th-century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. Photo credit: Chmouel

Abbey of Senanque, Sunday May 16. Abbey of Senanque, located in France, Provence, Vaucluse, Gordes village. An abbey is a Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serve as the spiritual father or mother of the community. Photo credit: Greudin

Cat in Greece, Saturday May 15. The cat is a small feline carnivorous mammal that has been domesticated for several millennia. A male cat is usually called a tom cat, a female cat is called a queen. A young cat is called a kitten (as are baby rats, rabbits, hedgehogs and squirrels). Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah

Virgin River Narrows, Friday May 14. The Virgin River Narrows in Zion National Park, located near Springdale, Utah, is a 16 mi long slot canyon along the Virgin River. Recently rated as number five out of National Geographic's Top 100 American Adventures, it is one of the most rewarding hikes in the world. Photo credit: Jon Sullivan, pdphoto.org

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James Hardie Industries

James Hardie Industries plc is a global building materials company and the largest global manufacturer of fibre cement products. Headquartered in Ireland, it is a dual-listed company, being listed on the Australian and New York Stock Exchanges. Its management team currently sits in Chicago, Illinois, United States. James Hardie was plagued by several asbestos-related scandals in the 20th century.

History
James Hardie (27 July 1851 – 20 November 1920) emigrated to Australia in 1888 from Linlithgow, Scotland, and established a business importing oils and animal hides. Andrew Reid, also from Linlithgow, came to join Hardie in Melbourne, and became a full partner in 1895. When Hardie retired in 1911, he sold his half of the business to Reid.

Listing on Sydney Stock Exchange and asbestos-containing products
The company was listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange in 1951. At the time, the company manufactured products out of asbestos cement sheet and other related building material. By the middle of the twentieth century, James Hardie had become the largest manufacturer and distributor of building products, insulation, pipes and brake linings containing asbestos. In Australia, it operated asbestos plants in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Working with the products containing asbestos – including asbestos cement – caused people to develop various pleural abnormalities such as asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma. In 1961, it merged its brake lining division with Turner & Newall's Ferodo, taking a 60% shareholding in Hardie-Ferodo. It purchased the remaining 40% in August 1980.

Asbestos-free products
By the mid 1980s, James Hardie invented the modern day asbestos-free fibre cement material and had transitioned production entirely to fibre cement, a product consisting largely of Portland cement, sand, and wood fibres.

Relocations to the Netherlands, Ireland and the U.S.
In December 2001, the company relocated its headquarters to the Netherlands. While the move to the Netherlands resulted in tax savings of $86 million over seven years, in 2009 the Australian Taxation Office issued an amended assessment for $172 million plus interest and penalties. James Hardie successfully appealed the assessment. Also in 2009, the US Internal Revenue Service alleged that James Hardie had not been in compliance with the US-Dutch treaty since it had been implemented in 2006 and claimed $US37 million in unpaid taxes plus $US10 million in interest and penalties.

In 2010 James Hardie moved its corporate domicile to Ireland.

James Hardie currently operates a corporate office in Chicago, Illinois, United States and operates more than a dozen manufacturing plants around the world.

Sponsorship and philanthropy
James Hardie was the naming rights sponsor of the Bathurst 500/1000 from 1968 until 1987. It was shirt sponsor for the Parramatta Eels from 1981 until 1995.

In 1988 James Hardie Industries made the largest donation ever made to an Australian public library when it gifted to the State Library of Queensland the meticulously developed and hugely significant Australian Library of Fine Art which was given as a bicentennial gift to the nation. This collection became the James Hardie Library of Australian Fine Arts, and was part of the Arts and Rare Books Unit at the State Library.

History
In 1978 the effects of pleural abnormalities and other asbestos-related diseases were beginning to show up in the former mine workers. While other companies were involved in similar asbestos-related activities, most notably CSR, more than 50% of claims made to the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales in 2002 were brought against companies in the James Hardie group.

There were protests against the companies' operations near the small Aboriginal Australian community of Baryulgil on the NSW North Coast, with Lyall Munro Snr and the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service taking an active part in actions against the company.

James Hardie and its subsidiaries had been providing compensation for victims of its operations since the 1980s. Though some earlier claims had arisen, the proliferation of cases from the 1980s onwards forced James Hardie to acknowledge that it had known asbestos to be dangerous. James Hardie nonetheless maintained that it had done everything possible to protect workers. In 1978 the company began putting warning labels on its products explaining that inhalation of the dust could result in cancer. In March 1987 James Hardie ceased all asbestos manufacturing activities.

As concern grew about the serious adverse health effects of asbestos, in the mid-1980s James Hardie developed an asbestos-free fibre cement technology, without the dangers associated with asbestos.

The MRCF and move to the Netherlands
James Hardie had been structured as a parent company operating through subsidiaries since the 1930s. All asbestos operations, including the provision of compensation, were undertaken by James Hardie's subsidiaries, principally James Hardie and Coy and Hardie-Ferodo (later known as Jsekarb). Between 1995 and 2000, James Hardie (the parent company) began to remove the assets of these subsidiaries (since renamed Amaca and Amaba respectively), while leaving them with most of the asbestos liabilities of the James Hardie group.

In 2001 these two companies were separated from James Hardie and acquired by the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (MRCF) which was essentially created in order to act as an administrator for Hardie's asbestos liabilities. Then CEO of James Hardie, Peter McDonald, made public announcements emphasising that the MRCF had sufficient funds to meet all future claims and that James Hardie would not give it any further substantial funds. Indeed, the net assets of the MRCF were $293 million, mostly in real estate and loans, and exceeded the 'best estimate' of $286 million in liabilities which had been estimated in an actuarial report commissioned by James Hardie. The Jackson Report found that this 'best estimate' was 'wildly optimistic' and the estimates of future liabilities was 'far too low'.

After this separation, James Hardie moved offshore to the Netherlands for what it claimed were significant tax advantages for the company and its shareholders. To make this move, the company had to assure Australian courts (as it was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange) that the MRCF would be able to meet future liabilities. The courts were assured of this and that more money would be made available to its Australian asbestos victims through the issue of partly paid shares to MRCF obliging the new Dutch parent company to meet a call for funds if it were needed. The value of the call at the time was $1.9 billion. The move to the Netherlands therefore proceeded. However, the tax benefits which James Hardie expected to receive as a result from its move did not eventuate following the revision of tax laws in the United States in 2001 and later with the United States signing a new trade agreement with the Netherlands in 2006.

Shortly after the move, an actuarial report found that James Hardie asbestos liabilities were likely to reach $574 million. The MRCF sought extra funding from James Hardie and was offered $18 million in assets, an offer the MRCF rejected. The estimate of asbestos liabilities was promptly revised to $752 million in 2002 and then $1.58 billion in 2003. The funding shortfall became of increasing concern in 2004 as it became clear that eligible victims would miss out on receiving compensation after it was revealed that in March 2003 James Hardie had cancelled the partly paid shares that were intended to be a safety net for the fund. In discussing the shortfall with the MRCF, James Hardie refused to accept further responsibility for the liabilities on the basis that the MRCF and James Hardie were separate legal entities.

Inquiry
On 12 February 2004, a judicial inquiry into the matter was commissioned by the Government of New South Wales. The findings were very critical of James Hardie and its management. Amongst other findings, it found that the actuarial reports commissioned by James Hardie which estimated liabilities at $286 million were inadequate because they used a financial model which made unfounded predictions on the value of investments held by Amaca and Amaba, the figures were subject to numerous unspecified conditions and they did not account for the effect of separating Amaca and Amaba from James Hardie. However, the inquiry found that James Hardie was under no legal obligation to provide compensation. Despite this finding, there was immense political and social pressure on James Hardie to negotiate a compensation deal; governments were boycotting James Hardie products and unions were threatening to instigate a global union movement against the company based on refusing to handle James Hardie products.

Following the results of the inquiry, James Hardie entered into negotiations with governments and trade unions in an effort to establish some sort of compensation system for eligible victims of James Hardie's products. In December 2004, James Hardie agreed to pay compensation to the victims of its products through a voluntary compensation fund. The details of the fund were to be legally determined by June 2005 but progress was stalled and the company refused to disclose the date the deal would be finalised. Further conflicts between the company and the Federal Government over tax deductibility of donations to the voluntary fund saw finalisation of the deal further delayed. It was not until November 2006, after the federal government had created 'black hole' tax legislation, which made the contributions of James Hardie into the voluntary fund tax deductible, and had granted the voluntary fund tax-exempt status, that James Hardie finalised the compensation deal. There was immense pressure on the Federal Government from state governments, union leaders and victims to remove the tax problem. The final step in giving the voluntary fund a legal structure was approval of the scheme by James Hardie shareholders. In February 2007, 99.6% of shareholders voted in favour of the scheme and it began operating days later.

Legal action
After the inquiry in 2004, prosecutors were considering bringing civil and criminal charges against the CEO and other senior executives for making fraudulent statements as to the liquidity of the MRCF. In February 2007 every member of the 2001 board and some members of senior management were charged by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) with a range of breaches of the Corporations Act 2001 including breach of director's duties by failing to act with care and diligence.

ASIC also undertook investigations into possible criminal charges against the company's executives but in September 2008 the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided there was insufficient evidence and charges were not pursued.

In 2009, the Supreme Court of New South Wales found that directors had misled the stock exchange in relation to James Hardie's ability to fund claims. They were also banned from serving as board members for five years. Former chief executive Peter Macdonald was banned for 15 years and fined $350,000 for his role in forming the MRCF and publicising it. The former directors, excepting Macdonald, appealed and the New South Wales Court of Appeal subsequently overturned the ruling against these directors in 2010. ASIC appealed against the ruling in the High Court of Australia in October 2011. In May 2012 the High Court upheld the 2009 New South Wales court decision and found that seven former James Hardie non-executive directors did mislead the stock exchange over the asbestos victims compensation fund.

In August 2019, Mathew Werfel, a DIY handyman from Adelaide, won $3 million in a compensation case against James Hardie. Werfel was exposed to asbestos while pulling down fences and renovating two homes between 1990 and 2000, and was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2017. James Hardie's products no longer contain asbestos, but Werfel's lawyer claimed the company should have done more to alert the public to the existence of asbestos in its old products, which were used in older homes.

In 2021, James Hardie a New Zealand court dismissed a lawsuit claiming Harditex cladding caused weathertightness problems in New Zealand homes. The judge found that bad building methods rather than James Hardie products caused the problems.

Timeline
Timeline of key events from the Devil's Dust TV program:
 * 2004: James Hardie CEO Peter MacDonald resigns, with a resignation payment of $9 million.
 * February 2007: ASIC files court proceedings against the James Hardie board as it "failed to act with requisite care and diligence" when they assured investors that the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (MRCF) was fully funded.
 * February 2007: James Hardie shareholders, overwhelmingly approve a "compensation deal for asbestos victims worth $4 billion over the next 40 years". Meredith Hellicar, Chairwoman, resigns.
 * August 2007: Oncologist Professor Stephen Clarke diagnoses Banton with peritoneal mesothelioma, which is usually fatal within six months. Bernie files a new suit of exemplary damages against a former James Hardie subsidiary now part of the new Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund. Judge John O'Meally (President of the Dust Diseases Tribunal) rules in favour of Banton, but the fund contests the judgement.
 * November 2007: Gravely ill, Banton gives court evidence from his bed at Concord Repatriation General Hospital. James Hardie make an offer of settlement. Compensation for Banton's "terminal mesothelioma is from the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund, the trust he fought to set up in 2004". Banton dies at home (on 27 November) aged 61 surrounded by his family and close friends.
 * September 2009: Journalist Matt Peacock releases his book Killer Company.
 * May 2012: The High Court of Australia finds that seven directors of the James Hardie breached their duties by approving the company's release of a misleading statement to the stock exchange that the MRCF was fully funded.

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

title: James Hardie Industries


text:
Serendib scops owl

The Serendib scops owl (Otus thilohoffmanni) is the most recently discovered bird of Sri Lanka. It was originally located by its unfamiliar poo-ooo call in the Kitulgala rainforest by prominent Sri Lankan ornithologist Deepal Warakagoda. Six years later, it was finally seen by him on 23 January 2001 in Sinharaja, and formally described as a species new to science in 2004. Apart from Sinharaja and Kitulgala, it has also been found at Runakanda Reserve in Morapitiya and Eratna Gilimale. It is known as පඩුවන් බස්සා in Sinhala.

It is the first new bird to be discovered in Sri Lanka since 1868, when the Sri Lanka whistling thrush—then Ceylon whistling thrush—(Myophonus blighi) was discovered. It is also the 24th (according to some authorities the 27th) endemic bird species for Sri Lanka.

The habitat of the Serendib scops owl is in the southern rainforests of Sri Lanka. There is an altitudinal range from 30 to 50 metres. This owl has no competition from other nocturnal birds, as the territories are completely different. This species has a very small population: at the end of January 2006 only 80 of them were known to exist. The places that it is expected to be found are in five protected areas, like the Forest Reserve or the Proposed Reserve of Sri Lanka. They seem to be declining because of the loss of habitat and the degradation. The first two hours of darkness are when the owl hunts for its food.

This rare species inhabits the rainforests in the southwestern part of Sri Lanka. Like most owls, it is strictly nocturnal and hunts insects (e.g. beetles and moths) close to the ground. It begins calling at dusk, then its frequency rises again some two hours before dawn.

Unlike the other two species of scops owl in Sri Lanka, Indian scops owl (Otus bakkamoena) and oriental scops owl (Otus sunia), it does not have ear-tufts and its facial disc is only weakly defined. The general colour of this 16.5 cm long, short-tailed owl is reddish-brown with paler underparts, spotted all over with fine black markings. The irides are tawny yellow (more orangish in male) and the feet are a pale fleshy colour. Tarsi are feathered for less than half their length. The claws and bill are a pale ivory colour.

Taxonomic status
In 2006 and 2007, two papers were published by Sri Lankan ornithologists in the publication Loris questioning whether the Serendib scops owl was a distinct species from other scops owl species found in India, and if so, whether it was actually a new discovery or a rediscovery.

The species has been subsequently recognized as a valid and distinct species by two of the authors who had earlier speculated on its “taxonomic uncertainty” in the papers mentioned above, in their following works.

 * Birds of Sri Lanka: A Tally List (2009) by C. D. Kaluthota and S. W. Kotagama.
 * An Illustrated Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka (2010) by S. W. Kotagama and G. Ratnavira.

The question of ‘ear-tufts’ in this species, which has been misunderstood and led to questioning of its “taxonomic uncertainty” in the papers above, had already been dealt with at length in two articles at:

 * http://ceylonbirdclub.org/articles-2006-11.php
 * http://orientalbirdclub.org/birdingasia-6/

In culture
This bird appears on the 20 Sri Lankan rupee bank note (2010 series).

title: Serendib scops owl


text:
Vladimir Burtsev

Vladimir Lvovich Burtsev (Влади́мир Льво́вич Бу́рцев; November 17, 1862 – August 21, 1942) was a revolutionary activist, scholar, publisher and editor of several Russian language periodicals. He became famous by exposing a great number of agents provocateurs, notably Yevno Azef in 1908. Because of his own revolutionary activities and his harsh criticism of the imperial regime, including personal criticism of emperor Nicholas II, he was imprisoned several times in various European countries. In the course of his life, Burtsev fought oppressive policies from Tsarism in Imperial Russia, followed by the Bolsheviks and later Adolf Hitler's National Socialism.

Early life (1862–1886)
Burtsev was born in Fort-Aleksandrovsky, in the Transcaspian Oblast of the Russian Empire (present-day Kazakhstan) to a military family. In 1882, he was expelled from Saint Petersburg State University and in 1885 from Kazan State University for taking part in student disturbances. As a member of Narodnaya Volya, he was imprisoned for two years (for about a year in the Peter and Paul Fortress) and in 1886 exiled to the Irkutsk region of Eastern Siberia.

Exile and publications (1888–1914)
In 1888 Burtsev managed to escape from exile and emigrate to Switzerland. In 1889 he co-founded magazine Svobodnaya Rossiya (Свободная Россия, A Free Russia) but it survived only three issues. "In 1890 . . . Burtsev, wanted by the czarist police, boarded a British boat bound from Constantinople to London. When the ship found itself surrounded by Turkish police vessels with Russians on board, the captain refused their demand to hand over the fugitive, announcing: “This is English territory. And I am a gentleman!”

In 1898, Burtsev was arrested by British police for advocating, in his magazine Narodovolets (Народоволец, A Member of Narodnaya Volya), the assassination of Nicholas II. Burtsev was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months at hard labour. On his release he went on to publish it in Switzerland, resulting in his permanent ban from that country.

In London, he published the two-volume book Za Sto Let (1800–1896) (За сто лет (1800–1896), For Hundred Years (1800–1896)). He founded and published six issues of Byloye (Былое, The Past), a historical magazine. After the Russian Revolution of 1905 Burtsev briefly returned illegally to Russia and founded the Russian version of the Byloye magazine. Upon his return to the West in 1907, Burtsev began publishing the magazine Obshcheye Delo (Общее дело, Common Cause) which was a continuation of the foreign edition of Byloye beginning with the 7th issue. By exposing numerous Tsarist agent provocateurs such as Yevno Azef, Burtsev gained fame as a counterintelligence expert and became known as "the Sherlock Holmes of the Revolution".

World War I and the Bolsheviks (1914–1921)
At the outset of World War I in 1914 he repatriated, was arrested at the border and again exiled to Siberia. Amnestied in 1915, he returned to Petrograd.

Burtsev strenuously opposed the Bolsheviks. In 1917 he accused Lenin and his comrades of being agents of Germany. In his article Either Us or the Germans and Those with Them (Russian Freedom, July 7, 1917), he listed the major enemies of Russia:
 * 1) Bolsheviks, whose demagoguery puts their own goals above the interests of Russia
 * 2) Reactionary forces
 * 3) German agents and spies. The Bolsheviks are, and always have been, the agents of Wilhelm II.

On the day of the October Revolution, he was arrested on orders of Leon Trotsky, which led some historians to count him as the first political prisoner in the USSR.

Despite their political differences and public disputes in the press, Maxim Gorky pleaded for Burtsev's release and in February 1918 he was indeed freed and left Soviet Russia. Burtsev spent the rest of his life as an emigre, first in Finland, then Sweden and later in France. During the Russian Civil War, he supported the White Movement of Admiral Kolchak and General Anton Denikin.

His numerous attempts to bring all anti-Bolshevik forces together under one ideological umbrella did not succeed.

Later life and death (1921–1942)
In 1921 Burtsev co-founded and became chairman of the Russian National Committee.

In 1930s, Burtsev fought against fascism and antisemitism. In 1934–1935 he was a witness in the Berne Trial, exposing the Okhrana's role in creating the infamous fraud The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In 1938 in Paris he published a book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Proven Forgery. Burtsev died in poverty in Paris in 1942 from a blood infection.

Publications

 * Белый террор при Александре III (White Terror under Alexander III, 1890?)
 * Долой царя! - London, 1901 (Down with the tsar!)
 * Историко-революционный альманах (Historical-Revolutionary Almanach)
 * О войне (About War, 1916)
 * Проклятие вам, большевики! Открытое письмо большевикам." (Condemnation on You, Bolsheviks! Open letter, Stockholm, 1918)
 * В борьбе с большевиками и немцами. (Fighting with the Bolsheviks and Germans, Paris, 1919. Issue 1 of newspaper "Общее дело" (1917)
 * Articles in the newspapers Будущее and Общее дело (1917).
 * Борьба за свободную Россию: Из воспоминаний (1882–1924). Vol. I. - Berlin: Гамаюн, 1924. (Struggle for Free Russia. Memoirs)
 * Юбилей предателей и убийц (1917–1927). (Jubilee of Traitors and Murderers)
 * В погоне за провокаторами. М.-Л., 1928. (Репринт - М., 1989) (In pursuit of provocateurs.)
 * В защиту правды. Перестанут ли клеветать? Дело генерала П.П. Дьяконова. Дело полковника А.Н. Попова и полковника И.А. де Роберти. Заговор молчания. - Paris: Общее дело, 1931. (In Defense of the Truth. Will They Stop the Slander? The Case of Gen. Diakonov)
 * Боритесь с ГПУ! - Paris: Общее дело, 1932. (Fight the GPU!)
 * Браудо Александр Исаевич (1846–1924): Очерки и воспоминания. - Paris. (Braudo Alexander Isayevich)
 * Кружок русско-еврейской интеллигенции в Париже, 1937. (one of authors). (Circle of Russian-Jewish Emigration in Paris)
 * «Протоколы Сионских мудрецов» - доказанный подлог. - Paris, 1938 (The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Proven Forgery) (Republished by Слово, 1991).
 * Преступления и наказания большевиков. По поводу 20-летнего юбилея предателей и убийц. – Paris: Дом книги, 1938. (Crimes and Punishments of the Bolsheviks. 20 Year Jubilee of Traitors and Murderers)

Editor and publisher

 * «Былое» (The Past)
 * «Общее дело» (1909–1910) (The Common Cause)
 * «Будущее» (1911–1914) (The Future)
 * «Общее дело», «Наше общее дело» (1918–1922, 1928–1933) (The Common Cause, Our Common Cause)
 * «Борьба за Россию» (1926–1931) (The Struggle for Russia)

title: Vladimir Burtsev


text:
List of colonial governors of Madagascar

In 1882, the French Third Republic established a protectorate over the Merina Kingdom on the island of Madagascar, with the consent of the United Kingdom. The French position on the island was solidified by the First Madagascar expedition (May 1883 to December 1885, the first phase of the Franco-Hova Wars). The protectorate lasted until 1897, when the French abolished the monarchy and turned the island into a colony, following the Second Madagascar expedition (December 1894 to September 1895, the second and last phase of the Franco-Hova Wars). Afterwards, Madagascar remained part of the French colonial empire until 1958, when the autonomous Malagasy Republic was established. The Republic gained full independence in 1960.

List
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)


text: Template:Pic of the day/Image archive

title: Template:Pic of the day/Image archive


text:
User:Caliban16

hi, there^^

title: User:Caliban16


text:
Weird NJ

Weird NJ (sometimes abbreviated WNJ) is a semi-annual magazine that chronicles local legends, purported hauntings, ghost stories, folklore, unusual places or events, and other peculiarities in New Jersey. The magazine originated in 1989 as a newsletter sent to friends by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman, but as it grew in popularity, it became a public magazine published twice a year. It spawned a series of books called Weird US, which chronicle oddities from individual states in the United States aside from New Jersey, which in turn led to a television series that aired on the History Channel.

History
Weird NJ began in 1989 as a personal newsletter sent to friends by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman. Gradually it evolved from a fanzine into a public magazine published twice a year in May and October. Abandoned places, eerie experiences, unique people, and strange landmarks were and still are common subjects for the magazine. Past issues have covered everything from the Jersey Devil and UFO sightings to abandoned Nike missile silos, the legend of the "Hookerman" Lights and the life of Zippy the Pinhead. Subjects covered include the Evil Clown of Middletown, Midgetville, "Gates of Hell", Shades of Death Road, Clinton Road, Demon Alley, and the Devil's Tower. The painting of a grinning face named Tillie from the Palace Amusements building in Asbury Park has appeared in several Weird NJ publications and on the magazine covers.

In 2003 a Weird NJ book, made up of content from earlier issues, was published. The next year saw the follow-up Weird US, covering sites and stories across the country. That led to a series of Weird US books for other states and areas, including Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas, California and New England, and a TV series, Weird U.S., on the History Channel. The popularity of the magazine has inspired a community of fans of Moran and Sceurman's work.

title: Weird NJ


text: User talk:202.108.139.145

title: User talk:202.108.139.145


text:
Jeju City

Jeju City (제주시; ) is the capital of the Jeju Province in South Korea and the largest city on Jeju Island. The city is served by Jeju International Airport (IATA code CJU).

Located on an island off the Korean Peninsula, Jeju has mild, warm weather during much of the year. The city is a well-known resort, with prestigious hotels and public casino facilities. In 2011, 9.9 million passengers flew between the two cities of Seoul and Jeju, making the Gimpo–Jeju route the world's busiest passenger air route. Jeju welcomes over ten million visitors every year, mainly from the South Korean mainland, Japan, and China. The population of Jeju City is 486,604 people and 225,139 households (244,468 men and 245,136 women, May 2024). The population density is 503.18 (per square km, 2020).

History
The area of the city has played a central role in Jeju since before recorded history. The Samseonghyeol, holes from which the three ancestors of the Jeju people are said to have come, are located in downtown Jeju City.

During the Japanese rule of Korea, Jeju was renamed to Saishū.

The city has grown quite rapidly since the 1970s. Shin Jeju, or "new Jeju", was created some decades ago, up the hill from the airport and houses many government buildings. The thatched roof buildings that were common throughout the city until the 1970s are gradually disappearing.

The city was separated from Bukjeju County in 1955. However, in 2005 Jeju Province voters approved a proposal to merge the city with Bukjeju County, also merging Seogwipo with Namjeju County to create two large cities directly administered by the province. That change was put into effect in July 2006.

In 2012 Sang-Oh Kim became mayor; he was formerly the Jeju regional president of National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.

Transportation
Jeju City is the principal transportation center for Jeju Province. It is home to the island's sole airport, Jeju International Airport; the Jeju-Seoul route is the world's busiest airline route.

In addition, its port is the largest on the island, serving the great majority of passenger and cargo vessels that visit the island. It also stands at the center of the island's road network. To travel throughout the city and island, various buses are available. A bus ride from Jeju City to Seogwipo (the second largest city on the island) is typically an hour.

Economy
Due to its central position in transportation, Jeju City sees the main share of tourist traffic to the island. Many tourists arrive at the city through the port terminal or airport, stay in the tourist hotels of the Sinjeju neighborhood, and stay within the city to visit various Jeju tourist attractions. These include Dragon's Head Rock (Yongduam) along the coast; the Samseonghyeol, three holes in the downtown area; Hallasan National Park in the interior; the country's tallest mountain, Hallasan; and world's largest botanical garden, Bunjae Artpia. The 8,500-seat Jeju Baseball Stadium is near the center of the city.

The city also sells many oranges for which Jeju is famous. Jeju City is surrounded by orange and mandarin farms.

Jeju Air has its headquarters in Jeju City.

Geography
In its former boundaries, Jeju City was 19.3 kilometers from east to west, and 10.2 kilometers from north to south. To the north, it looks across the Korea Strait at the southern coast of South Jeolla Province. To the south, it meets Seogwipo at the top of Hallasan, the island's sole mountain.

Tourism
The Jeju Olle Trail and Jeju Olle Walking Festival passes through the city.

The island Udo, one of Jeju's most popular tourist attractions, is located off the city's east coast. It received 2.23 million visitors in 2016. Seongsan Ilchulbong, an unusually bowl-shaped mountain, is popular for seeing the first sunrise of the year. Around that time, it hosts a sunrise festival with performances and food.

The city has Jeju Stone Park in Jocheon. The large park focuses on Jeju's cultural use of stones, its mythology, and its shamanism. The Jeju National Museum is located in the city proper, near the center. The Kimnyoung Maze Park is in the city.  The Buddhist temple Yakcheonsa has a natural mineral spring claimed to have healing powers, and is one of the largest temples in East Asia. It participates in the Templestay program, where guests can stay at Buddhist temples and experience Buddhist culture.

Climate
Jeju City has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with very warm summers and cool winters. In Holdridge classification, Jeju City has a warm temperate moist forest climate. Due to its location, Jeju City is one of the warmest cities in Korea. However, ocean effect snow brings winter precipitation such as snow showers with strong wind during the winter. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, but is much wetter in summer, with more than 180 mm of rain falling in each month from June to September. The highest temperature ever recorded is 37.5 C on 25 July 1942 while the lowest temperature ever recorded is -6.0 C on 16 February 1977.

Administrative divisions

Jeju is divided into 19 neighbourhoods (dong), 4 towns (eup), and 3 townships (myeon):

Twin towns – sister cities
Jeju City is twinned with:
 * 🇨🇳 Guilin, Guangxi, China
 * 🇨🇳 Laizhou, Shandong, China
 * 🇫🇷 Rouen, France
 * 🇯🇵 Sanda, Japan
 * 🇺🇸 Santa Rosa, United States
 * 🇯🇵 Wakayama, Japan

Friendship cities

 * 🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan
 * 🇯🇵 Beppu, Japan
 * 🇨🇳 Hunchun, Jilin, China
 * 🇨🇳 Kunshan, Jiangsu, China
 * 🇨🇳 Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
 * 🇨🇳 Shanghai, China
 * 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
 * Dubai, United Arab Emirates
 * Wellington, New Zealand
 * Taipei, Taiwan

Memorandum of Understanding

 * 🇩🇪 Ulm, Germany

title: Jeju City


text:
Talk:Carathéodory's theorem (convex hull)

Any opinion on whether $$\mathbb{R}$$ is a good idea instead of R? Does $$\mathbb{R}$$ help comprehension and look good; or does $$\mathbb{R}$$ look kind of awkward/ugly? WpZurp 07:40, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * As I mentioned in my edit comment, we do not usually use TeX inline. The agreed convention is to use R. Dysprosia 07:44, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Did Constantin Carathéodory actually discover/prove this theory? If so, then merely saying the theorem "is named after" him would seem to be slighting his work.
 * Probably, I'm sure he was involved somehow in it, so it's safe to say it was named after him, since his name is given with the theorem.

By the way Dysprosia, I like your good, clear example example of the theorem. Now I actually understand it! I even understand the point about the curve being a convex hull. (Mostly, I just wanted some practice on working in math on Wikipedia. Had no real clue what I was doing.)
 * Thanks Dysprosia 10:20, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

WpZurp 08:07, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Isn't this his theorem not in measure theory, though? The measure theory one being about outer measures?

Charles Matthews 15:57, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * There are links to (what I had believed were) other formulations of the theory. In particular, see the theory external links especally outer measure formulation (in pdf). I believe that saying d+1 is a less convoluted (or more rigourous?) way of saying things like countably additive set. Perhaps a Wikipedia mathematician should make a ruling.

Well, if there is a connection, I don't see it in the PDF file, and it is something unfamiliar. Your comment about 'countably additive set' doesn't mean much to me. Charles Matthews 21:12, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * As I now understand this theory, you can construct convex hulls and make statements about what they include. Convex hulls enclose volumes and being able to compare volumes is relevant to measure theory. I suspect this theory is useful in building up other theories than with more direct relevant to various measurements. (Caveat: I don't actually know what I'm talking about but this is my gut-feel. We need a real practitioneer to settle this issue.) WpZurp 22:24, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Well, frankly, you are just guessing here ... Charles Matthews 09:43, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

It doesn't sound like much of a measure theory thing to me, either, but here's an illustration anyway ;) Dysprosia 21:49, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I've created Carathéodory's theorem (disambiguation). The external links on this page are a mixture. Charles Matthews 10:04, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Low priority
Just wondering why this is considered to be a low priority article. I always thought Caratheodory's theorem was a "famous" result. 202.36.179.66 (talk) 22:17, 26 September 2009 (UTC)
 * It is a famous and important result, which is considered a prototype for geometric transversality theory, 52A35 in the mathematics subjects classification system. I upgraded it to "mid" priority. Kiefer.Wolfowitz (talk) 01:12, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

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Category:Nissan vehicles

Nissan (Pronounced Nïs-san)

title: Category:Nissan vehicles


text: Category:Nissan

title: Category:Nissan


text: Category:Jensen vehicles

title: Category:Jensen vehicles


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Talk:Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane

Untitled
This article has some bias IMHO:

"was judged by some to be an extreme right-wing Israeli settler"

his fathers party was marked a terrorist organisation by the Israeli government: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Kahane "The Israeli government declared Kach and several other Kahanist groups to be terrorist organizations."

The above statement concludes that this is open to debate, but after taking "the position of leadership of some groups led by his father after his assassination" he put himself into the same position as his father.

=
===================

"He was shot and killed in cold blood in an ambush." This drastic language tries to create emotions on readers and divert from the fact that "he advocated the transfer of all Arabs away from Israel."

A more factual approach would be nice, example taken from his fathers page (link above): "Kahane and his wive were murdered in 2000 when Palestinians opened fire on their car near the West Bank settlement of Ofra."

How about we just say "May he burn in hell" and leave it.

This article includes the following statement:

(Oddly, Arab and Jewish left-wing groups that advocate the forced transfer of Jews and only Jews en masse, referred to as "disengagement," are not regarded in a similar light.)

Is this appropriate commentary? Possible NPOV violation. Also, no reference is provided for the claim that IDF forces do not intervene in response to imminent terrorist threat.

This is pure propaganda."in the Israeli Yesha town of Kfar Tapuach in Samaria, (West Bank)" Besides this, he was not murdered, because he had no right to be there.

This cannot be meant seriously:"(Similar decisions have been made by the IDF as recently as the end of 2006, when the IDF was banned from opening fire on Kassam rocket launching teams in Gaza, even if the team is seen actively setting up and launching rockets.)"

convictions
The article should note his criminal convictions. One unassailable source:

Zerotalk 05:23, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

title: Talk:Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane


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Royal Mail Ship

Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. The designation dates back to 1840. Any vessel designated as "RMS" has the right both to fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing and to include the Royal Mail "crown" insignia with any identifying device and/or design for the ship.

It was used by many shipping lines, but is often associated in particular with the White Star Line, Cunard Line, Royal Mail Lines, Union-Castle Line, Canadian Pacific Line, Orient Line and the P&OSNC, which held a number of high-profile mail contracts, and traditionally prefixed the names of many of their ships with the initials "RMS".

While some lines in the past, particularly the Royal Mail Lines, called all their ships "RMS", technically a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard designation such as "SS".

History

Originally, the British Admiralty operated these ships.

The designation "RMS" has been used since 1840. In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time. The most valuable route, with the highest volume, was between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), in Ireland, and Holyhead in Wales. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) won the contract. They bought RMS St Columba and RMS Llewellyn from the Admiralty to supplement their Prince Arthur. In the CDSPCo contract, in 1860, there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay.

The Canadian Pacific Railway's trans-Pacific Royal Mail contract required the building of the first three of a fleet of steamships: the RMS Empress of China (1891), RMS Empress of India (1890) and RMS Empress of Japan (1891) which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891. The RMS designation was also used on the ships of the White Star, P&O and Cunard lines of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Modern times

In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only three ships with the right to the prefix or its variations: RMS Segwun, which serves as a passenger vessel in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada; RMV Scillonian III, which serves the Isles of Scilly; and RMS Queen Mary 2. QM2 was conferred "RMS" by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunard's history.

The Royal Mail continues a form of this tradition on modern day airliners. The UK's flag carrier airline, British Airways, is contracted to carry mail on some of its scheduled long-distance routes. Aircraft operating these routes with the facilities to carry mail are allowed to display the Royal Mail's logo and crest on their fuselage, usually alongside their registration markings.

Other designations
The less-common designations RMMV for Royal Mail Motor Vessel and RMMS for Royal Mail Motor Ship, were used for a period when RMS was restricted to steam-ships. Motor Vessel and Motor Ship indicated that propulsion was provided by diesel rather than steam.

The RMV Scillonian III carries the designation RMV for Royal Mail Vessel and is the only active RMV.

List of Royal Mail Ships
Service dates are the years with the status of Royal Mail Ship. Those highlighted are still in service with the status of Royal Mail Ship.

title: Royal Mail Ship


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John Melendez

John Edward Melendez (born October 4, 1965), also known as Stuttering John, is an American entertainer.

He is best known for being a staff member on The Howard Stern Show from 1988 to 2004. Initially working as an intern, Melendez became known for asking celebrities impertinent questions at events and press conferences with his stuttering. He left the show to become the announcer on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and also worked on Leno's later shows. In April 2018, he launched The Stuttering John Podcast.

Early life
Melendez grew up in Massapequa, New York, on Long Island and attended Plainedge High School. Melendez was born to a Puerto Rican father and a Danish mother. According to Melendez, he began to stutter when he was in the second grade as a result of psychological mistreatment from his father after he witnessed an argument between his parents. He attended Plainedge High School, where he was picked on by the neighborhood bullies because of his stuttering.

In 1988, Melendez attended New York University's film school and belonged to a band called "Rock Slide." His college roommate, comedian Mitch Fatel, was on the verge of quitting his internship with The Howard Stern Show, when Melendez asked him for a recommendation for an internship there. The show's producer, Gary Dell'Abate, mentioned Melendez's stuttering to Howard Stern who, without seeing him and even before he was interviewed, told the producer to hire him.

1988–2004: The Howard Stern Show
On Stern's show, Melendez's primary role was answering phones and screening listener calls before they were allowed on the air. At the time of his joining, in addition to being heard in the New York City and Philadelphia radio markets via Infinity Broadcasting Corporation-owned WXRK 92.3 K-Rock and WYSP Rock94, respectively, the nationally syndicated morning drive time show had just added Washington, D.C.'s WJFK (also owned by Infinity) as its third carrier.

Over time, Melendez became known for segments in which he asked celebrities confrontational questions at red carpet events, functions, promotional appearances, and press conferences. The puerile questions—written by Howard Stern, Fred Norris, and Jackie Martling—centered around a given celebrity's private life and were premised on the idea that they would not want to look bad by refusing an interview from someone who stuttered. Melendez sported long hair and metal T-shirts, asking questions by reading them from a sheet of paper. As he became better known, he occasionally wore a disguise consisting of an overcoat, fedora, and fake mustache. His interviews were characterized by punchline-free "joke" questions, such as asking actress Melanie Griffith how her father, Andy, was.

The absurdity of the questions Melendez asked was often amplified by the fact that he himself appeared to lack common pop culture knowledge and often did not even seem to know who the subjects of his interview were or why they were famous. Melendez would thus frequently be unaware of why his questions would provoke such angry reactions, such as when he asked Ally Sheedy if she had vomited lately, unaware that the actress suffered from bulimia. Some celebrities were a personal target of Stern's, such as Ted Williams, who was interviewed by Melendez because Stern disapproved of athletes charging money for autographs. Celebrities would often react angrily, but other times, they would take the questions in good humor.

Melendez notably interviewed Gennifer Flowers, Ringo Starr, and the Dalai Lama. At Gennifer Flowers' news conference playing the 'Clinton Tapes', he asked her if she planned to sleep with any other candidates before the election, to which she reacted by laughing. He asked the Dalai Lama if anyone ever greeted him with "Hello Dalai!", in a joking reference to the play and movie; the Dalai Lama's translator whispered the translation to the Dalai Lama, who chuckled. At a press conference, Melendez asked Ringo Starr, "What did you do with the money?" When Starr asked, "What money?" Melendez responded with "The money your mother gave you for singing lessons!" Starr good-naturedly replied, "I spent it on fish and chips." Singer Debbie Gibson also went along with the joke when Melendez asked her about losing an award to Wilson Phillips, jokingly agreeing with his idea that "the fat one would eat the statue." Melendez also provided comic interest with his misadventures, poor grammar, and sloppy pronunciation.

National exposure
Melendez started receiving U.S. national exposure in the early 1990s as Stern's syndicated morning radio show acquired more markets (including Los Angeles and Cleveland) and particularly from June 1994 when its condensed version began airing nightly on E!: Entertainment Television, a basic cable network with national coverage in the United States. In 1994, Melendez signed a record contract with Atlantic Records and released his self-titled album with a music video broadcast on MTV's Headbangers Ball. That year, he was being paid $20,000 annually by the Stern show, which had 15 million listeners.

During his 15-year run as Stern's employee, Melendez also starred in the Off-Broadway show Tony n' Tina's Wedding where he met his future wife, Suzanna. He appeared in such films as Airheads, Meet Wally Sparks, Dude, Where's My Car?, and Osmosis Jones, as well as Howard Stern's film Private Parts. He has also appeared on television in episodes of Wings, Baywatch Nights, and the 2003 United States version of the reality series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

Melendez was also the protagonist of some of the show's more outrageous moments. In 2001, during A.J. Benza's appearance, Melendez got slapped in the face by Benza who did not appreciate the incessant lampooning of his failed late-night show, seeing Melendez as the main culprit. The on-air slap prompted an extended fracas and resulted in Benza being permanently banned from Stern's show.

Throughout the early part of 2002, Melendez and WXRK afternoon deejay Lee Mroszak (aka "Crazy Cabbie") had numerous on-air spats, which were used by Stern as fodder for multiple segments on the show. Their feud eventually culminated in a boxing match scheduled for Friday morning May 31, 2002, at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and was promoted on the show as "The Flunky versus the Junkie" with 2,500 tickets going on sale for $100 each. The 7 a.m. fight, essentially an extended segment on the show which itself was broadcast from around the ring that morning, was set for five two-minute rounds with a two-minute break in between each round. It went the distance, with the 175 lb Melendez winning over the 262 lb Cabbie by unanimous decision.

Following a guest appearance on The Tonight Show to promote I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2003, Melendez received an offer from Jay Leno to become the late-night show's New York 'correspondent' who would ask celebrities questions on the red carpet, similar to one of his roles on the Stern show. Melendez claimed that he turned down the offer because he could not get a private conversation with Stern to ask him about it. Stern later claimed how "lame" an idea it was for Leno to reuse Melendez the way Leno wanted to (in a less edgy way).

In parallel with his duties on the Stern show in the morning, Melendez got a daily afternoon show on New York City's WXRK (The Howard Stern Show flagship station) from noon to 1 pm called Out to Lunch, consisting mostly of taking musical requests by e-mail and playing them. The show was canceled on August 21, 2003, with Stern turning the announced cancellation into a 45-minute segment at the end of his live broadcast that day by having WXRK program director Robert Cross (aka Chuck Roast) come in and break the bad news on the air to Melendez.

Leaving the show
In February 2004, the New York Post revealed that Melendez had been offered the announcer position on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno while Stern's show was on vacation. Many perceived the move as an attempt by Jay Leno to attract a younger demographic. Melendez's offer, which was made without Stern's knowledge, prompted a rift between Stern and Leno. Stern berated Leno on his show for weeks on end, with insults such as "To an 18- to 25-year-old male, Jay Leno is gay. He might as well put a dress on," as well as accusations that Leno was "ripping him off."

Following Melendez's departure, Stern organized an on-air contest to find his replacement. Billed as "Win John's Job" (much like "Win Jackie's Money" after writer Jackie Martling walked out), the contest resulted in the hiring of Sal Governale (aka "Sal the Stockbroker") and Richard Christy, although for several years, L.A. radio disc-jockey "Scary Gary" (from 97.1 KSLX, which played Stern's radio show in Southern California) did Stuttering John style interviews that Stern would play on his show. Also, in his latter years on the Stern show, John had become too recognizable for the type of celebrity interviews for which he became niche-famous.

2020–2022 publicity right lawsuit against Sirius XM
In August 2020, Melendez sued the Liberty Media-majority-owned satellite and online radio platform Sirius XM Holdings Inc. for "using his name, likeness, and voice without permission" on its two channels dedicated to The Howard Stern Show and related content. Filed in the Manhattan-based U.S. district court, the complaint sought unspecified damages for Sirius XM's airing of old recordings of Melendez from his time on The Howard Stern Show, with Melendez claiming such action violated California law and his right of publicity while further estimating that more than 13,000 hours of the then-syndicated morning radio show feature his voice, name and identity which Sirius XM benefits from by selling advertising without compensating him.

Melendez's lawsuit was dismissed in June 2021 by the U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty who ruled that U.S. federal copyright law preempted Melendez's claims that Sirius XM violated his publicity rights under California law. The judge's written ruling further stated that Melendez did not show he was injured or that Sirius XM illegally used him to promote its services, adding that "the commercial advantage Sirius XM gains from playing The Howard Stern Show archives and running the advertisements flows from the rebroadcasting of the copyrightable sound recordings themselves, not from Melendez's identity”. Melendez's lawyer commented that the judge “adopted a unique analytic framework which we believe is inconsistent with prevailing law" while announcing the intention to appeal the ruling. The appeal was dismissed by a three-judge panel in October 2022.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Melendez debuted on The Tonight Show on March 29, 2004, taking over for Edd Hall. On the show, he was identified simply as "John Melendez" as opposed to "Stuttering John."

In late September 2004, only six months after Melendez joined the show, NBC announced that Leno would be succeeded by Conan O'Brien in 2009. Throughout his 2004–2009 run on the Tonight Show, Melendez regularly appeared in the show's comedy sketches and did correspondent pieces. By July 2008, Leno's last Tonight Show was set for 29 May 2009.

In December 2008, with the end of Leno's run on the Tonight Show nearing, NBC (led by the NBCUniversal president and CEO, Jeff Zucker) announced the launch of The Jay Leno Show, a new prime time 10 p.m. Monday-to-Friday talk show set to premiere in September 2009. With Leno's final Tonight broadcast imminent, during spring 2009, Melendez was uncertain whether he'd have a place on Leno's upcoming prime time show, stating in a May 2009 interview: "After May 29 I get on my knees and pray and hope Jay brings me to the new show". Melendez's ambiguous job status with Leno even prompted a sarcastic job offer from his former boss Stern. In late July 2009, Melendez was confirmed as a writer on upcoming The Jay Leno Show. Confirmation of his status on Leno's new prime time show came later than that of Eubanks, weeks after the end of Leno's tenure on The Tonight Show, which led to speculation that Melendez would not appear at all.

The Jay Leno Show
In September 2009, Melendez reunited with Leno and former Tonight bandleader Kevin Eubanks as a member of the writing staff on The Jay Leno Show.

When asked about Melendez's new role, Leno stated that Melendez would appear in comedy segments during the show and that the new show would not have a studio announcer (though Wally Wingert would later serve as show announcer). On The Tonight Show, Leno described his interplay with Melendez as "awkward," saying "I'd throw to Kevin Eubanks, and I'd throw to John, and I realized that my guy is Eubanks."

Return of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Just like previously on The Jay Leno Show, with the return of Leno's The Tonight Show in March 2010, Melendez continued in the writing role. Melendez did not return as an announcer on the second incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (the job went to Wally Wingert), but instead was employed as a staff writer and occasional on-air segment host until Leno's departure from The Tonight Show on February 6, 2014.

The Stuttering John Podcast and Trump prank call
In April 2018, he launched his new podcast, The Stuttering John Podcast. During Melendez's podcast on June 28, 2018, he prank-called the White House by pretending to be an assistant to Senator from New Jersey, Bob Menendez. Melendez ultimately received a call back from President Donald Trump as he was traveling on Air Force One. Melendez then impersonated Senator Menendez and had a four-minute conversation focusing on immigration reform and the Supreme Court vacancy. Notably, President Trump was congratulatory regarding the outcome of Senator Menendez's ethics lawsuit. The White House has confirmed the security breach.

On July 2, 2018, Melendez announced that he had retained lawyer Michael Avenatti to represent him in relation to the prank call after being visited by Secret Service agents over the previous weekend.

Published work
Melendez's book Easy for You to Say was released in October 2018.

Personal life
After moving to California in 2004 to work on The Tonight Show, Melendez lived in Calabasas with his wife Suzanna Keller and their three children. The couple filed for separation in October 2011 and divorced in 2012.

Discography
Albums
 * Stuttering John (Atlantic Records, 1994)
 * Everybody's Normal But Me (Razor & Tie, 1998)

Singles
 * "Gypsy Morning" (Atlantic Records, 1994)
 * "I'll Talk My Way Out of It" (Atlantic Records, 1995)
 * "Strawberry Fields Forever" (Jellyfish, 1995)
 * "Pretty Girl" (Razor & Tie, 1998)

Filmography
Actor
 * Airheads (1994)
 * Wings
 * Olive or Twist (1996)
 * Baywatch Nights (1996)
 * Thin Blood (1996)
 * Private Parts (1997)
 * Meet Wally Sparks (1997)
 * Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
 * Osmosis Jones (2001)
 * True Crime: New York City (2005)
 * Tripping the Rift: The Movie (2008)
 * ''One, Two, Many (2008)
 * Not Another Not Another Movie (2012)

Writer
 * The Howard Stern Radio Show
 * One, Two, Many (2008)
 * The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2010–2014)

title: John Melendez


text:
RMMV

RMMV is an acronym for the following companies:

 * Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles
 * Royal Mail Motor Vessel
 * Remote Multi Mission Vehicle, an unmanned, autonomous, semi-submersible system used by the US Navy to detect underwater mines.
 * RPG Maker MV, the version of RPG Maker released in 2015.

title: RMMV


text:
Administrative divisions of South Korea

South Korea is made up of 22 first-tier administrative divisions: 6 metropolitan cities (gwangyeoksi 광역시/廣域市), 1 special city (teukbyeolsi 특별시/特別市), 1 special self-governing city (teukbyeol-jachisi 특별자치시/特別自治市), and 14 provinces (do 도/道), including three special self-governing provinces (teukbyeol jachido 특별자치도/特別自治道) and five claimed by the ROK government. These are further subdivided into a variety of smaller entities, including cities (si 시/市), counties (gun 군/郡), districts (gu 구/區), towns (eup 읍/邑), townships (myeon 면/面), neighborhoods (dong 동/洞) and villages (ri 리/里).

Local government
Official Revised Romanization of Korean spellings are used

Provincial-level divisions
The top tier of administrative divisions are the provincial-level divisions, of which there are several types: provinces (including special self-governing provinces), metropolitan cities, special cities, and special self-governing cities. The governors of the provincial-level divisions are elected every four years.

Si (city)
A si (시; 市, pronounced ) is one of the divisions of a province, along with gun. A city must have a neighborhood(dong) and can have towns(eup), townships(myeon) if the city is combined with urban and rural areas. Once a eup of a county (gun) attains a population of 50,000, the county can become a city. A city with a population of over 500,000 (such as Suwon, Cheongju, Cheonan and Jeonju) is considered as a specific city, which can set non-autonomous districts(gu). An administrative city does not have a city council and the mayor of the city is appointed by the provincial governor.

Gun (county)
A gun (군; 郡) is one of the divisions of a province (along with si), and of the metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan (along with gu). A gun has a population of less than 150,000 (more than that would make it a city or si), is less densely populated than a gu, and is more rural in character than either of the other 2 divisions. Gun are comparable to British non-metropolitan districts. Counties are divided into towns (eup) and townships (myeon). Specially, the size of a "gun" is less than a US "county".

Gu (district)
A gu (구; 區) is equivalent to district in the West. The metropolitan cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon and Ulsan contain gun as well. Gu are similar to boroughs in some Western countries, and a gu office handles many of the functions that would be handled by the city in other jurisdictions. Gu are divided into neighborhoods (dong).

Eup (town)
An eup (읍; 邑) is similar to the unit of town. Along with myeon, an eup is one of the divisions of a county (gun), and of some cities (si) with a population of less than 500,000. The main town or towns in a county—or the secondary town or towns within a city's territory—are designated as eup. Towns are subdivided into villages (ri). In order to form an eup, the minimum population required is 20,000.

Myeon (township)
A myeon (면; 面) is one of the divisions – along with eup – of a county (gun) and some cities (si) of fewer than 500,000 population. Myeons have smaller populations than eup and represent the rural areas of a county or city. Myeon are subdivided into villages (ri). The minimum population limit is 6,000.

Dong (neighborhood)
A dong (동; 洞) is the primary division of districts (gu), and of those cities (si) which are not divided into districts. The dong is the smallest level of urban government to have its own office and staff. In some cases, a single legal dong is divided into several administrative dong. Administrative dong are usually distinguished from one another by number (as in the case of Myeongjang 1-dong and Myeongjang 2-dong). In such cases, each administrative dong has its own office and staff.

The primary division of a dong is the tong (통; 統), but divisions at this level and below are seldom used in daily life. Some populous dong are subdivided into ga (가; 街), which are not a separate level of government, but only exist for use in addresses. Many major thoroughfares in Seoul, Suwon, and other cities are also subdivided into ga.

Ri (village)
A ri (리; 里) is the only division of towns (eup) and townships (myeon). The ri is the smallest level of rural government to contain any significant number of people.

History
Although the details of local administration have changed over time, the basic outline of the current three-tiered system was implemented under the reign of Gojong in 1895. A similar system also remains in use in North Korea.

title: Administrative divisions of South Korea