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Hurricane shutter

Hurricane coverings, commonly known as shutters, are used in hurricane mitigation to protect houses and other structures from damage caused by storms. Hurricane shutters are used to prevent windows from being broken by flying objects during a storm. Although the negative pressure caused by high-speed wind flowing over a building roof can cause the roof to fail with the building envelope intact, broken windows allow the air pressure to rise inside a building, creating an even greater pressure difference and increasing the likelihood of roof failure.

Shutters are frequently constructed from steel or aluminium, but homeowners sometimes use the low-cost alternative of plywood. The shutters are affixed to the outside of the building with screws, hurricane clips, or a track system. Advanced shutters may be motorized, and they may fold away when not in use.

Types of hurricane coverings
Three major types of shutters are known alternatively as panel systems. They are usually made of plywood, metal (aluminium or steel), or polycarbonate plastic. Lexan panels are transparent, and may be flat or have been heat-formed into a corrugated shape to further increase impact resistance. Panels must be attached to the structure via screws in a direct mount or on tracks. When not in use, storm panels are stored in an easy to reach location. Newly constructed homes sometimes have an assigned area for storage of storm panels.

Another type of shutter is an accordion shutter which is made from interlocking vertical blades which slide into place horizontally.

Another type is the roll-up or rolling shutter, consisting of a series of slats that form a curtain with both sides of the curtain being inserted into guide rails. The curtain is then rolled onto an axle which is covered by a housing. Rolling shutters can be operated manually by gear, by pull strap or can be motorized independently or in conjunction with a manual override. Motorized shutters can be operated by either a switch or remote and can be controlled either individually or in groups.

On loss of power caused by hurricanes, motorized shutters must be operated manually, requiring either access to the motor (which can be difficult) or a pre-installed manual override. Most often, a manual override is operated using a gear. When deployed, all hurricane shutters require special techniques for firefighters to gain access to the interior of a structure.

Other types are the Bahamas, Colonials, and Tapco Hurricane Screens. Bahama shutters are mounted above the window creating shade when they are open, and when in use, they are brought down and secured over the window. Colonials are similar to the wooden shutters, but are made of aluminum. They hinge on the side of the windows and swing shut to protect the opening. Tapco Hurricane Screens are powder coated and made out of heavy-duty aluminum frames with stainless steel mesh used for the screening material.

Also used are awning shutters, with a horizontal hinge above the opening being protected.

Hurricane fabric coverings are a newer, relatively lower cost type of shutter. Tested and approved systems are made from polypropylene fibers, polyamide fibers or from laminated or cast PVC.

In 2011, a flat hurricane shutter system developed by UltraTek Worldwide was approved by Florida Building Code. The unique system uses a synthetic rubber bracket to absorb hurricane forces, allowing a panel that is completely clear while weighing 11.3 oz/square foot, nearly half the weight of a traditional metal panel.

Building codes for hurricane shutters
Both the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code use the criteria set forth in ASTM E1886 & E1996 with regards to hurricane building material product approval. These test method norms describe the standardized tests to measure the impact resistance of a shutter and its resistance to cyclic wind pressure. The IBC's requirements are adaptable to all levels of required wind speed.

The term impact resistant is defined as shutters, windows, and doors that have been proven to resist the impact from large windborne debris (defined by the test standards as a 9-pound 2x4 lumber missile striking end on at 34 mph).

The Florida Building Code (FBC) is in most aspects similar to the IBC in regard to the testing and approval of hurricane shutters. According to the code, shutters are required for home built since 2001 unless the windows use impact-resistant glass. The Miami-Dade County norms, often considered the most stringent requirements for hurricane shutters, rely on self-developed testing methods TAS201, 202 and 203. Passing the tests prescribed by the TAS norms is required only for shutters approved for use in the Florida HVHZ (High Velocity Hurricane Zone). The Florida Building Code will accept testing performed by TAS methods for inclusion in the FBC Database of approved building products.

Both Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida maintain web-searchable databases of products approved for use as hurricane protection. These typically include not only actual test results from certified independent testing laboratories, they also contain "Product Approval Drawings" or "Installation Instructions" which provide specifications for hurricane shutter assembly and installation. Both the product and installation method must be shown to be in compliance with these drawings in order for a shutter to be considered "code-rated".

Besides the Florida Building Code and Miami-Dade County, there is also the Code from the Texas Department of Insurance commonly known as TDI. The Code from the Texas Department of Insurance is in many aspects similar to the International Building Code.

title: Hurricane shutter


text: User talk:68.104.39.253

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

title: User talk:68.104.39.253


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Jan Hellriegel

Jan Hellriegel is a singer/songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand.

Her first recorded appearances were with Dunedin band Working With Walt in the mid-1980s when she studied at the University of Otago in Dunedin. She then formed all-woman band Cassandra's Ears, moving back to Auckland and going solo in the early 90s.

Hellriegel has released four solo studio albums, It's My Sin 1992, Tremble 1995, All Grown Up 2009, and Sportsman of the Year in 2019.

Early
Hellriegel was born and raised in West Auckland with her three brothers and attended Henderson High School. She famously worked in her father's panel beating shop, though only in the office. Nonetheless, the combination of her birthplace and early employment led to her being branded a "Westie" by the New Zealand media.

Hellriegel took vocal training in speech and singing at St Mary's College, Auckland under Sister Mary Leo. She then moved to Dunedin in the 1980s to attend the University of Otago, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

While in Dunedin, she joined her brother Rob Hellriegel's band, Working With Walt. She performed backing vocals, piano and guitar on their 1984 7" LP The Prophet and wrote and performed the song "Christina" on the band’s 1985 LP 4 Sides.

In 1988, Hellriegel performed backing vocals on the Leonard Cohen song "So Long Marianne", performed by Straitjacket Fits.

Cassandra’s Ears
In the late 1980s Hellriegel formed the band Cassandra's Ears with Dunedin bandmates Flick Rhind (bass), Zan Wright (backing vocals), Vanessa Anich (drums) and Leanne Ibell (guitar). She wrote music and lyrics and performed vocals, guitar and keyboards.

Their first release was the song "Replacements" for the National Student Radio 1986 compilation, Weird Culture Weird Custom. The band played local gigs, toured New Zealand, wrote more material, and eventually released two EPs, Private Wasteland in 1988 and Your Estimation in 1990.

Cassandra's Ears reformed in November 2010 for a one-off show in Auckland to support the release of The Cassandra's Ears Story.

Solo career
Hellriegel signed with Warner Records New Zealand in 1990. Her first album, It’s My Sin, was recorded between December 1991 and January 1992. Her second album, Tremble, was recorded at Sing Sing in Melbourne and Studios 301 in Sydney in 1995. In 1996 she was awarded Most Promising Female Vocalist at the New Zealand Music Awards, and Top Female Vocalist and Single of the Year (for Manic) at the Music and Entertainer Awards of New Zealand. She left Warner Brothers

Hellriegel subsequently parted ways with Warner Records, and her single "Melusine", recorded at Beaver Studios (Auckland), was released by Universal Records in 1998.

In 1999, she joined the Alan Duff Charitable Foundation Duffy Books in Homes programme as a celebrity spokesperson. She co-wrote the theme song "Read About It" with Dave Dobbyn and Toi Iti. During that year she played a non-musical acting role on Shortland Street, playing Jackie, an abused wife.

In 2000, she appeared in the New Zealand television show Street Legal and in 2001 she became involved in a collaboration with Tom Blaxland called Project Runway. In 2002, she wrote and recorded the song "Star Baby" for children’s clothing label Pumpkin Patch.

In early 2009 Hellriegel went into Roundhead Studios in Auckland to record a third album with a line-up of musicians including producer Wayne Bell, Nick Gaffaney on drums, Brett Adams and Ben Fulton on guitar, Eddie Rayner and Michael Larsen on piano/keyboards, and Mark Hughes on bass. All Grown Up was released on her own record label, Blind Date Records, in October 2009. The album "Lost Songs" was released in April 2013. The album is a collection of previously unreleased material – demos, live sessions and studio work from 1990–2000 which Hellriegel had remastered from DAT and cassette recordings.

Hellriegel announced and released a new multi-media project through April and May 2019. "Sportsman of the Year" was composed of a studio album and book of the same name, and was also serialised as podcasts, produced by Radio New Zealand and presented by Hellriegel.

Business career
Hellriegel was appointed NZ General Manager of Australia-based Native Tongue Music Publishing in 2010 and ran the company’s NZ operations until 2013 when she left to develop Aeroplane Music Services, a music licensing and supervision business.

In 2015 Hellriegel announced Songbroker, an "artist-friendly" music publishing company focused on providing music by NZ songwriters to film, TV and content producers Songbroker represents the musical rights and recorded works of several hundred NZ composers and songwriters.

With Cassandra's Ears

 * The Cassandra's Ears Story (2010)

title: Jan Hellriegel


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John Key

Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016.

Following his father's death when he was eight, Key was raised by his single mother in a state-house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr. He attended the University of Canterbury and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Commerce. He began a career in the foreign exchange market in New Zealand before moving overseas to work for Merrill Lynch, in which he became head of global foreign exchange in 1995, a position he would hold for six years. In 1999 he was appointed a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until leaving in 2001.

Key entered the New Zealand Parliament representing the Auckland electorate of Helensville as one of the few new National members of parliament in the election of 2002 following National's significant defeat of that year. In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006. After two years as leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory at the November 2008 general election. He was subsequently sworn in as prime minister on 19 November 2008. The National government went on to win two more general elections under his leadership: in November 2011 and September 2014. Key was expected to contest for a fourth term of office at the 2017 general election, but on 5 December 2016 he resigned as prime minister and leader of the National Party. He was succeeded by Bill English on 12 December 2016. After resigning from both posts in December 2016 and leaving politics, Key was appointed to the board of directors and role of chairman in several New Zealand corporations.

As prime minister, Key led the Fifth National Government of New Zealand which entered government at the beginning of the late-2000s recession in 2008. He was described as supporting both socially liberal and economically liberal policies. Key was worth an estimated USD$35 million in 2016, making him the wealthiest individual ever to assume the premiership. In his first term, Key's government implemented a GST rise and personal tax cuts, while enacting several austerity measures. His government refused to renew license agreements for multiple television channels, including TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7, Kidzone and Heartland, while reducing funding for Radio New Zealand in real terms. In February 2011, after a major earthquake in Christchurch the nation's second largest city significantly affected the national economy, the government formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. In its second term, Key's government implemented a policy of partial privatisation of five state-owned enterprises, while voters in a citizens-initiated referendum on the issue were 2 to 1 opposed to the policy. He also faced a severe housing crisis, especially in Auckland, and was widely criticised for a perceived lack of action. In foreign policy, Key withdrew New Zealand Defence Force personnel from their deployment in the war in Afghanistan, signed the Wellington Declaration with the United States and pushed for more nations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Early life and education
Key was born in Auckland to George Key (1914–1969) and Ruth Key (née Lazar; 1922–2000) on 9 August 1961. His father was an English immigrant and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II, who died of a heart attack when his son was eight years old. Key and his two sisters were raised in a state house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr by his mother, an Austrian-Jewish refugee who escaped the Holocaust. Key is the third prime minister or premier of New Zealand to have Jewish ancestry, after Julius Vogel and Francis Bell.

He attended Aorangi School, and then Burnside High School from 1975 to 1979, where he met his wife, Bronagh. He went on to attend the University of Canterbury and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting in 1981. He also attended management studies courses at Harvard University.

Career before politics
Key's first job was as an auditor at McCulloch Menzies in 1982. He then became a project manager at Christchurch-based clothing manufacturer Lane Walker Rudkin for two years. He began working as a foreign exchange dealer at Elders Finance in Wellington, and rose to the position of head foreign exchange trader two years later, then moved to Auckland-based Bankers Trust in 1988.

In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.

In 1998, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, National Party president John Slater began working to recruit him. Former party leader Jenny Shipley describes him as one of the people she "deliberately sought out and put my head on the line–either privately or publicly–to get them in there".

Early years in Parliament
Auckland's population growth led to the formation for the 2002 general election of a new electorate called Helensville, which covered the north-western corner of the Auckland urban area. Key beat long-serving National MP Brian Neeson (whose own Waitakere seat had moved on paper to being a Labour seat through the boundary changes) for the National Party Helensville selection. At the 2002 general election Key won the seat with a majority of 1,705, ahead of Labour's Gary Russell, with Neeson, now standing as an independent, coming third.

The National Party was heavily defeated in the 2002 election, receiving only 20.9% of the party vote – the party's worst-ever election result. Following the fallout, a leadership coup against the incumbent Bill English was launched by Don Brash, another of the 2002 recruits, in October 2003. English and his supporters offered Key the finance spokesman position for his vote and were confident they had the numbers with him on their side. Brash narrowly won 14 votes to 12 and at the time it was thought Key had changed his support to Brash. The votes were confidential, although later Key stated that he did vote for English.

Key won re-election at the 2005 general election, garnering 63% of votes cast. He increased his majority again in, gaining 73% of the electorate vote.

Finance spokesman
The low numbers in the National caucus meant Key was given more opportunities and responsibilities than most new Members of Parliament would. After serving as deputy finance spokesman under Brash, Key was promoted to the Opposition front benches in 2004 as party spokesman for finance. Key was up against Michael Cullen, the Minister of Finance and a veteran of 23 years in parliament. There was concern he would be out of his depth going up against Cullen in his first term and there was talk among the party of trying to "protect" Key. During the 2005 election campaign political commentators felt Key matched Cullen in the debates, although he may have benefited from Labour focusing their campaign on discrediting Brash.

Although Brash lost the election, Key remained as finance spokesman. He was promoted to number four on the list, partly due to his success at selling the party's tax package during the campaign. While Keys ambition to become leader had been telegraphed from early in his political career, he was now beginning to rate highly on preferred prime minister polls. Rumours that Key was looking to take over the leadership circulated and there was an unofficial agreement between Brash and Key that he would be the natural successor.

Things came to a head earlier than expected. In November 2006 Brash resigned as leader, citing damaging speculation over his future as the reason. Brash's resignation followed controversies over an extramarital affair, and over leaked internal National Party documents that were later published in the book The Hollow Men. After months of speculation, Key stood for leadership of the party and was elected unopposed.

Leader of the Opposition
On becoming leader Key convinced Gerry Brownlee, deputy leader under Brash, to step aside and promoted his main rival English to deputy leader and finance spokesman. He showed a ruthless streak by unceremoniously pushing Brash out and refusing to allow another one of the 2002 recruits, Brian Connell, back into the caucus. In his maiden speech as National Party leader, Key spoke of an "underclass" that had been "allowed to develop" in New Zealand, a theme which received a large amount of media coverage. Key followed up on this speech in February 2007 by committing his party to a programme which would provide food in the poorest schools in New Zealand.

In opposition he was instrumental in promoting National's change of policy regarding keeping superannuation and Kiwibank. He also supported interest-free student loans and early childhood education funding. He relented on his stance in opposition to Sue Bradford's Child Discipline Bill, which sought to remove "reasonable force" as a defence for parents charged with prima facie assault of their children. Key and Prime Minister Helen Clark agreed a compromise – giving police the discretion to overlook smacking they regarded as "inconsequential".

In August 2007 Key came in for criticism when he changed his position regarding the Therapeutic Products and Medicine Bill. At the same time Labour's Trevor Mallard hinted in Parliament that Labour would try to link Key to the 1987 "H-Fee" scandal, which involved Key's former employer Elders Merchant Finance and a payment to Equiticorp Chief Executive Allan Hawkins. Hawkins and Elders executive Ken Jarrett were later jailed for fraud. Key declaring that he had left Elders months before the event, that he had no knowledge of the deal, and that his interview with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) during the investigation into the affair could only have helped to convict the people involved. Then-SFO director Charles Sturt publicly supported Key's statement.

Labour MPs criticised Key for not releasing specific policy information at their annual conference. Key responded that National would set its own policy agenda and that there was adequate time before the next election for voters to digest National Party policy proposals.

First term: 2008–2011

Key became prime minister following the general election on 8 November 2008, which signalled an end to the Labour-led government of nine years under Clark. The National Party won 45% of the party vote and 58 of the 122 seats in Parliament, overtaking the incumbent majority Labour Party.

National negotiated with smaller parties to form a minority government with confidence and supply from the classical-liberal ACT Party, the centrist United Future and the indigenous-rights-based Māori Party.

Key was sworn in as prime minister and Minister of Tourism and also appointed as a member of the Executive Council on 19 November 2008, along with his nominated cabinet. He chose Bill English as his Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. During his first term in office National remained high in the polls and one commentator described support for Key as "stratospheric". In 2011 he was nicknamed "Teflon John" in the popular media, as nothing damaging to his reputation seemed to "stick" to him.

Key's government introduced several bold economic policies in response to the global economic downturn that began shortly after he took office. The government introduced a plan of personal tax cuts, reducing taxes on all income; the top personal tax rate was lowered from 39% to 38% and then 33%. In its first budget the government raised the rate of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 12.5% to 15%, despite Key previously stating that an increase would not happen under a National government. Key's government also enacted several austerity measures. His government declined to renew license agreements for multiple television channels, including TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7, Kidzone and Heartland, while reducing funding for Radio New Zealand in real terms.

In January 2009, after addressing Chinese New Year celebrations at the Greenlane ASB Showgrounds, Key tripped after coming down a small set of stairs in front of cameras, leaving him with a broken right arm and "embarrassed". Later that year, when arriving at the Ngāpuhi Te Tii Waitangi Marae the day before Waitangi Day, Key was briefly shoved and grabbed by two protesters before diplomatic protection officers pulled them off. He told reporters he was "quite shocked" but continued onto the marae and spoke, while police took the two men away and charged them with assault.

Key was tied with the National Cycleway Project since its conception at the national Job Summit in early 2009. He proposed it, and as Minister for Tourism, was instrumental in getting NZ$50 million approved for initial construction work.

Key launched New Zealand's campaign for a Security Council seat at the UN General Assembly meeting in September 2009. He met briefly with US President Barack Obama and former US President Bill Clinton. While in New York City, Key appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. He read out the Top Ten list, 'Top Ten Reasons You Should Visit New Zealand'.

In foreign policy, Key supported closer relations with the United States, an ANZUS defence partner. On 4 November 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully signed the Wellington Declaration. The agreement signalled an increase in the strategic partnership between the two nations and covered areas of co-operation including nuclear proliferation, climate change and terrorism. This was followed in June 2012 by a companion document, the Washington Declaration. Since 2008 Key has also engaged in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations with the United States and other Asia-Pacific economies.

On 22 February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, causing widespread damage to the city region and significantly affecting the national economy. It was New Zealand's third deadliest natural disaster, killing 185 people. Addressing the nation, Key said that the disaster "...may well be New Zealand's darkest day". On 29 March 2011, Key created the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) to manage the earthquake recovery, co-operating with the government, local councils and residents.

On 8 March 2011, John Key advised Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand to appoint Jerry Mateparae as the next Governor-General of New Zealand. The Queen made the appointment later that day.

In October 2011, Key was caught up in a controversy over the replacement of 34 three-year-old Government BMW limousines with new ones at a time of economic restraint. Initially, Key denied any knowledge of the plan, although reports later surfaced showing that his office was aware of the deal. Political opponents accused Key and his government of hypocrisy; he later apologised, calling it a "sloppy" deal, effectively placing most of the blame on his chief of staff.

Shortly before the general election in November 2011, a recording was made of a conversation between Key and ACT Party candidate John Banks that they considered private – though the conversation took place in a public cafe. Key made a complaint to the police and compared the incident to illegal phone hacking in the News of the World scandal in Britain. The recording allegedly concerned the leadership of ACT and disparaging remarks about elderly New Zealand First supporters. Journalists and opposition parties demanded the release of the tapes and the affair was nicknamed 'teapot tape'. A senior barrister criticised Key, stating that the comparison of the recording to the phone hacking scandal was a "cheap shot".

Statements made by Key regarding New Zealand's national credit rating proved controversial. In October 2011 he claimed that Standard & Poor's (S&P) had said that "if there was a change of Government, that downgrade would be much more likely". S&P contradicted the claim, bringing Key's credibility into question. National won the election, but New Zealand's credit rating was subsequently downgraded anyway – by two different agencies – Standard and Poor's and Fitch Group.

Second term: 2011–2014
The general election on 26 November 2011 saw National increase its share of the vote and gain a seat, while Labour suffered further losses. Key called the election a "very happy night" and a "strong and solid win" for his party. The Prime Minister re-negotiated confidence and supply agreements with United Future, the ACT Party and the Māori Party, to secure a second term of government.

In 2012, Key was implicated in the arrest of Kim Dotcom and the subsequent revelations that the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) had illegally spied on Dotcom. As prime minister, Key was directly responsible for the GCSB, which is not allowed to spy on New Zealand citizens – and Dotcom had been granted permanent residency. Three days later, Key apologised for the illegal spying. "I apologize to Mr Dotcom. I apologize to New Zealanders because every New Zealander…is entitled to be protected from the law when it comes to the GCSB, and we failed to provide that appropriate protection for him." It subsequently came to light that Deputy Prime Minister Bill English had been asked by the GCSB to sign a "ministerial certificate" suppressing details of the bureau's involvement in the case while Key was overseas – the only time this had been done in the last ten years.

The fallout from Dotcom's arrest continued in December when the High Court ordered the GCSB to "confirm all entities" to which it gave information, opening the door for Dotcom to sue for damages – against the spy agency and the police. Later that month, Key's rating as preferred PM dropped to 39% – the first time in his four years as prime minister that his rating had slipped below 40%. It emerged that Key had known Ian Fletcher, head of the GCSB, since they were at school, but Key denied he had 'shoulder-tapped' Fletcher for the role. Later Key's office released a statement saying he rang Fletcher and recommended he apply for the position at GCSB. Key said he hadn't originally mentioned the phone call because he "forgot". Political commentator Bryce Edwards called it the "most appalling political management since he became Prime Minister back in 2008".

Key continued New Zealand's push for a spot on the UN Security Council while in New York in 2013. There he accused rival candidates Spain and Turkey of using aid money to buy votes from small African countries, and said New Zealand would not be spending its way onto the Council. While in New York, Key suddenly fell ill, but recovered in time for meetings with representatives from other countries ahead of the General Assembly.

In April 2013, whilst visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing, Key made headlines by suggesting New Zealand would back any United States or Australian military action against North Korea. The following day he backtracked, saying the chance of New Zealand troops entering North Korea was "so far off the planet".

Third term: 2014–2016
The general election on 20 September 2014 saw the National Government returned again. National won a plurality with 47.0% of the party vote and 60 of the 121 seats. On election night counts the party appeared to hold the first majority since 1994 with 61 seats, but lost a list seat (for Maureen Pugh) to the Green Party on the official count (including special votes) of the party vote. National re-entered a confidence and supply arrangement with United Future, the ACT Party and the Māori Party.

In October, Key created a new ministerial portfolio called the Minister of National Security and Intelligence to serve the newly established Cabinet National Security Committee. The Prime Minister assumed the new portfolio while the Attorney General Christopher Finlayson became Minister Responsible for the GCSB and Minister in Charge of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS), portfolios which have traditionally been held by a prime minister. Key was elected Chairman of the International Democrat Union (IDU), an international alliance of centre-right political parties. The National Party was a founding member party in 1983.

In April 2015, Key acknowledged that he had pulled a waitress' ponytail multiple times over several months; when Key learnt she had taken offence, he apologised. International media reported the incident as "ponytail-gate".

Key had long supported changing the flag of New Zealand, and during the 2014 general election campaign promised a referendum on the issue. Following the election win, two New Zealand flag referendums were held in November/December 2015 and March 2016. The second resulted in the retention of the current flag. Critics (both national and international) charged that the referendums were unnecessary, expensive and a "wasteful vanity project".

The New Zealand housing crisis took hold substantially following Key's third term. From the time Key took office until the year he left, average housing prices had more than doubled. Key repeatedly refused to call the property bubble a crisis, claiming it instead was a "challenge". The prime minister was challenged over his criticism of Helen Clark's government's response to the housing crisis during the 2008 campaign, but reluctance to take a stand now it had worsened considerably. A Newshub poll released in May 2016 showed that 76% of New Zealanders felt the government was not doing enough to control the housing market, while only 20 per cent thought it had housing under control.

International trade and the negotiation of free-trade agreements were a priority in Key's third term. He was a leading advocate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), also supporting the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPSEP). Both agreements provide for a multilateral free-trade area in the Asia–Pacific region. In a September 2016 speech to the Council of Foreign Relations, Key said "[TPP] will boost our economy by at least $2.7 billion a year by 2030. It will help diversify our economy and create more jobs and higher incomes for New Zealanders". Key was particularly intent on securing the participation of the United States in the agreement; to this end, he discussed TPP with President Barack Obama in April 2016, and hosted Secretary of State John Kerry in Wellington, 9–13 November 2016. The finalised TPP proposal was signed on 4 February 2016 in Auckland, concluding seven years of negotiations. In January 2017, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to withdrawing the United States' signature from the agreement, making its ratification virtually impossible.

In February 2016, Key reached an agreement with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to grant New Zealanders living in Australia a pathway to citizenship if they were earning five times over the average wage. As a result of this agreement, the Australian Government introduced the "Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)" in July 2017 to fast-track the Australian citizenship naturalisation process for New Zealanders living in Australia. New Zealanders living in Australia for at least five years and earning an annual income over A$53,900 were eligible for the visa. By late February 2018, 1,512 Subclass 189 visas had been issued. However, this visa scheme was criticised by the "Ozkiwi lobby" since two-thirds of New Zealanders living in Australia did not meet the qualifying wage.

In March 2016, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, approved the appointment of Dame Patsy Reddy as the next Governor-General of New Zealand, for a five-year term starting in September 2016, on the advice of John Key.

Key resigned as prime minister and leader of the National Party effective from 12 December 2016, and instructed the party to put into motion the processes to elect a new leader. He expressed interest in spending more time with his family, stating that he had "never seen [himself] as a career politician" and that "this feels the right time to go". Media reports described the decision as unexpected, and noted the popularity of Key and his party. Bill English won the 2016 New Zealand National Party leadership election to succeed Key.

Post-prime ministerial career
Following his resignation, Key stated that he would leave Parliament before the 2017 general election. However, he stated that he would resign within six months of the election so as to not trigger a by-election in the electorate. He gave his valedictory speech in Parliament on 22 March 2017 and formally resigned the following month, on 14 April.

In May 2017, Key was appointed to the board of directors of Air New Zealand, and took up the position on 1 September 2017. He was also appointed chairman of ANZ Bank New Zealand, taking up the position on 18 October 2017. On 31 March 2020, Key stood down as a director of Air New Zealand.

Political and social views
Key's views were largely aligned with his own party's view. However, he noted that his differences from his predecessor are more of style and focus rather than view. Key noted others' concern at the pace of asset sales, but stated that the arguments against selling assets in the 1980s were largely irrational. In a 2002 interview, he said that "some form of orientation towards privatisation" in health, education and superannuation, such as giving firms tax breaks for employer super schemes, made sense. After his party won a plurality in the 2011 election, Key rejected claims that the National Government lacked a mandate to partially privatise state-owned assets.

Key had a mixed voting record on social issues. In 2004 he voted against the bill creating civil unions, stating that, while he personally supports such unions, he acted in accordance with his electorate's views. However, in 2005, Key was part of a large bloc of MPs voting to defeat a bill that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. Key stated in 2008 that he did not oppose same-sex couples adopting children. In 2013 he expressed support for same-sex marriage and voted for the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013.

In 2008 Key voted for an attempt to raise the legal drinking age from 18 back to 20, but ignored a Law Commission recommendation to increase levies on alcohol. He claimed there was "no appetite" for such a move. A report on public attitudes to alcohol law reform was later discovered, which indicated that in 2010, when he made this claim, 56% of New Zealanders supported a price increase.

Key says that global warming is a real phenomenon, and that the Government needed to implement measures to reduce human contribution to global warming. Key committed the National Party to working towards reducing greenhouse emissions in New Zealand by 50% within the next fifty years. Commentators note that as late as 2005, Key made statements indicating that he was sceptical of the effects and impact of climate change.

As a first-term MP in 2003, Key criticised the Labour-led government's stance on the Invasion of Iraq, claiming that New Zealand was "missing in action" by failing to support its ANZUS allies, the United States and Australia. In August 2007 Key claimed that he would have taken a similar position to Clark and not sent troops to Iraq. In response, the Government argued that his comments from 2003 suggest that Key would have deployed troops had he been prime minister at the time.

Like his predecessor Helen Clark, Key views a New Zealand republic as "inevitable", although probably not for another decade. "If Australia becomes a republic there is no question it will set off quite an intense debate on this side of the Tasman", he said. "We would have to have a referendum if we wanted to move towards it." Key later stated that he was a monarchist, and that a New Zealand republic would "Not [happen] under my watch". In 2009 Key's government restored titular honours, including knighthoods and damehoods — the abolishment of these titles in 2000 had been seen as an advancement towards republicanism.

During the 2020 New Zealand euthanasia referendum, Key publicly expressed support for the End of Life Choice Act 2019, saying that his mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease prior to her death convinced him to support the decriminalisation of euthanasia.

In September 2021, Key criticised the Labour Government's elimination-based lockdown policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, likening it to making New Zealand a hermit kingdom like North Korea. He also accused the Government of ruling by fear and lacking a post-lockdown strategy. To speed up COVID-19 vaccination, he recommended boosting funding for Māori and Pasifika health providers, introducing financial incentives for young people, and allowing only vaccinated people into licensed premises. TVNZ journalist Jack Tame described Key's views on the Government's handling of COVID-19 as provocative but praised his five-point plan as a "collection of sensible ideas worthy of consideration."

In August 2022, Key described Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan as "reckless" and provocative towards China during an interview with TVNZ journalist Jack Tame. Since Beijing regarded the visit as a violation of the One China Policy, China had downgraded bilateral relations with the United States. During his premiership, Key had cultivated a close relationship with President of China Xi Jinping, describing Xi as "extremely trustworthy, very open, consistent."

Personal wealth
On 25 July 2008, Key was added to the New Zealand National Business Review (NBR) Rich List for the first time. The list details the wealthiest New Zealand individuals and family groups. He had an estimated wealth of NZ$50 million, which made him the wealthiest New Zealand Member of Parliament, and the wealthiest prime minister ever. In the 2016 NBR Rich List, Key had an estimated wealth of NZ$60 million. Most of his financial investments are held in a blind trust.

Family
Key married Bronagh Irene Dougan in 1984; they met when they were both students at Burnside High School. She has a BCom degree, and worked as a personnel consultant before becoming a full-time mother. They have two children, Stephie and Max. Max is a night-time radio host for George FM, and is also a singer. Stephie is a performance artist.

Religious views
In 2008 Key stated that he attended church frequently with his children, but was an agnostic. He has said that he does not believe in an afterlife, and sees religion as "doing the right thing".

Honours
On 3 August 2010, Key gained the style "The Right Honourable". Previously, as he was not a privy councillor, he had not been entitled to use the style—his predecessor ended the appointment of New Zealanders to the Privy Council. However, in 2010 the Queen approved the use of the style by prime ministers, governors-general, speakers of the House, and chief justices.

Key was appointed a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, in recognition of "services to the State", in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours. Later Key was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, for "eminent service to Australia-New Zealand relations", by the Governor-General of Australia on the personal recommendation of the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

On 7 August 2017, Key was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the University of Canterbury, to become a doctor of commerce.

title: John Key


text:
Wave mechanics

Wave mechanics may refer to:

 * the mechanics of waves
 * the application of the quantum wave equation, especially in position and momentum spaces
 * the resonant interaction of three or more waves, which includes the "three-wave equation"

title: Wave mechanics


text:
Ira Murchison

Ira James Murchison (February 6, 1933 – March 28, 1994) was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he attended Phillips High School. Murchison was noted for his exceptional speed from the starting block, which earned him a nickname Human Sputnik.

Before the Melbourne Olympics, Murchison equalled twice the 100 m world record of 10.2 and ran in Berlin a new world record of 10.1, thus becoming one of the favourites to win the 100 m Olympic gold medal. But at Melbourne, Murchison managed to finish only in a disappointing fourth place. He also ran the leadoff leg of the 4 × 100 m relay team for the United States, and helped the American team to a gold medal in a world record time of 39.5.

He attended the University of Iowa, but later transferred to Western Michigan. In 1957, Murchison repeated the 100 yd world record of 9.3 and, as a Western Michigan University student, won the 1958 NCAA championships in 100 yd. At the 1963 Pan American Games, Murchison finished third in the 100 m and helped the American 4 × 100 m relay team to win a gold medal.

During the 1970s, Murchison was the coach of a women's track team in Chicago. One of the women he coached was 1976 Olympic sprinter, Rosalyn Bryant.

Ira Murchison died of cancer in Harvey, Illinois, aged 61.

title: Ira Murchison


text:
Wayne Mapp

Wayne Daniel Mapp (born 12 March 1952) is a former New Zealand National Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for North Shore from 1996 to 2011. In the first term of the Fifth National Government, he served as Minister of Defence. Prior to his political career Mapp was in the New Zealand Territorial Army and worked as a lawyer and university lecturer.

Early years
He gained his LLB (Hon) at University of Auckland. This was followed by his LLM from University of Toronto and his PhD in International Law from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1988.

He served as an infantry Major in 3rd Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) and Northland Regiment Royal New Zealand Territorial Army, later specialising in military intelligence.

Mapp was initially a member of the Labour Party and in 1981 he put himself forward for the Labour candidacy for the Roskill electorate. One of 14 contenders he lost out to Phil Goff.

Before entering politics, Mapp practised law and was an associate professor in commercial law at the University of Auckland.

Member of Parliament
Mapp was elected MP for the North Shore seat at the 1996 general election. He was re-elected in that electorate four more times until he retired from Parliament at the 2011 general election.

Early political career
In Mapp's first term, the National Party formed a coalition government with New Zealand First and Mapp was appointed to the Justice and Foreign Affairs select committees. After the 1999 election, National spent nine years in Opposition. Mapp held various party spokesperson roles including Defence, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Industrial Relations and "political correctness eradication."

In a September 2003 house sitting, Mapp criticised the incumbent government's lack of support for the US-led invasion of Iraq. His comment pertained to New Zealand being "missing in action" in Iraq, John Key echoed support for his statements and this was used in Labour's election advertising in the 2008 New Zealand general election.

Fifth National Government
Following National's victory in the 2008 general election, Mapp was appointed Minister of Defence, Minister of Research, Science and Technology (later titled Minister of Science and Innovation), Associate Minister for Economic Development and Associate Minister for Tertiary Education.

While Minister of Defence, Mapp oversaw Operation Burnham, a joint military operation undertaken in Afghanistan by the New Zealand Special Air Service with elements of the Afghan Crisis Response Unit and International Security Assistance Force in October 2010. The 2017 book by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson, Hit & Run, alleged that New Zealand forces had committed war crimes against civilians in the Naik and Khak Khudday Dad villages. Mapp announced that he had been a source for the book. In 2020, a Government Inquiry found that a child had been killed in Operation Burnham but that the military operation was justified under international law.

On 15 December 2010, Mapp announced he would retire from Parliament at the 2011 general election.

Post-Parliament
On 15 December 2011, in recognition of his term as a Member of the Executive Council of New Zealand, Mapp was granted the right to retain the title The Honourable for the rest of his life.

On 28 February 2012, Mapp was appointed to the New Zealand Law Commission.

In the 2013 New Year Honours, Mapp was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for services as a member of Parliament.

title: Wayne Mapp


text:
Western Bloc

The Western Bloc is an informal, collective term for countries that were officially allied with the United States during the Cold War of 1947–1991. While the NATO member states, in Western Europe and Northern America, were pivotal to the bloc, it included many other countries, in the broader Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa with histories of anti-Soviet, anti-communist and, in some cases anti-socialist, ideologies and policies. As such, the bloc was opposed to the political systems and foreign policies of communist countries, which were centered on the Soviet Union, other members of the Warsaw Pact, and usually the People's Republic of China. The name "Western Bloc" emerged in response to and as the antithesis of its Communist counterpart, the Eastern Bloc. Throughout the Cold War, the governments and the Western media were more inclined to refer to themselves as the "Free World" or the "First World", whereas the Eastern bloc was often referred to as the "Communist World" or less commonly the "Second World".

NATO

 * 🇧🇪 Belgium*
 * 🇨🇦 Canada*
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark*
 * 🇫🇷 France*
 * West Germany (1955–1990)
 * 🇬🇷 Greece (from 1952)
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland*
 * 🇮🇹 Italy*
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg*
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands*
 * 🇳🇴 Norway*
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal*
 * 🇪🇸 Spain (from 1982)
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey (from 1952)
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom*
 * 🇺🇸 United States*

 * Indicates founding member state

Five Eyes

 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * 🇨🇦 Canada
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
 * 🇺🇸 United States

ANZUS

 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand
 * 🇺🇸 United States

Anti-Soviet communist or socialist states (until 1989)

 * 🇨🇳 China (from 1961)
 * Democratic Kampuchea (from 1978)
 * Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (from 1982)
 * Socialist Republic of Romania (from 1964)
 * Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (from 1948)

Compact of Free Association

 * 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands
 * Federated States of Micronesia
 * 🇵🇼 Palau
 * 🇺🇸 United States

METO, Baghdad Pact, CENTO (until 1979)

 * Pahlavi Iran (until 1979)
 * Kingdom of Iraq (until 1958)
 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan (until 1979)
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey (until 1979)
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom (until 1979)

Rio Treaty

 * 🇦🇷 Argentina
 * 🇧🇸 Bahamas (from 1982)
 * 🇧🇴 Bolivia (until 2005)
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil
 * 🇨🇱 Chile
 * 🇨🇴 Colombia
 * 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
 * Republic of Cuba (1902–1959) (until 1959)
 * 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic (until 1990)
 * 🇪🇨 Ecuador (until 2012)
 * 🇸🇻 El Salvador
 * 🇬🇹 Guatemala
 * 🇭🇳 Honduras
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico
 * 🇳🇮 Nicaragua (until 1979)
 * 🇵🇦 Panama
 * 🇵🇾 Paraguay
 * 🇵🇪 Peru
 * 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago (from 1967)
 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * 🇺🇾 Uruguay
 * 🇻🇪 Venezuela (until 1999, rejoined 2019 by Juan Guaidó)

SEATO (until 1977)

 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970) (until 1956)
 * Khmer Republic (1970–1975)
 * 🇫🇷 France
 * Kingdom of Laos (until 1975)
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand
 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines
 * South Vietnam (until 1975)
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
 * 🇺🇸 United States

Middle East/North Africa Region

 * Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2001–2021)
 * 🇧🇭 Bahrain
 * 🇪🇬 Egypt (from 1979)
 * Pahlavi Iran (until 1979)
 * Ba'athist Iraq (until 1990)
 * 🇮🇱 Israel
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan
 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait
 * 🇱🇧 Lebanon
 * 🇱🇾 Libya (before 1969, from 2011)
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco
 * 🇴🇲 Oman
 * 🇶🇦 Qatar
 * 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
 * 🇸🇴 Somalia (from 1977)
 * 🇸🇩 Sudan (1971-1985, 2019–2021)
 * Syrian opposition
 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey (until 2009)
 * 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
 * 🇾🇪 Yemen (Hadi government)
 * Yemen Arab Republic (1962–1990)

Asia, Southeast Asian, and Oceania Partners

 * 🇯🇵 Japan
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea
 * 🇹🇼 Taiwan
 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand
 * 🇮🇳 India
 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan
 * 🇧🇹 Bhutan
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia
 * 🇸🇬 Singapore
 * Brunei (from 1984)
 * Vietnam (from 1995)

Others

 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus
 * Ethiopian Empire (before 1974)
 * Khmer Republic (1970–1975)
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa
 * West Berlin
 * Zaire

NATO

 * 🇦🇱 Albania (from 2009)
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium*
 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria (from 2004)
 * 🇨🇦 Canada*
 * 🇭🇷 Croatia (from 2009)
 * 🇨🇿 Czech Republic (from 1999)
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark*
 * 🇪🇪 Estonia (from 2004)
 * 🇫🇮 Finland (from 2023)
 * 🇫🇷 France*
 * 🇩🇪 Germany*
 * 🇬🇷 Greece*
 * 🇭🇺 Hungary (from 1999)
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland*
 * 🇮🇹 Italy*
 * 🇱🇻 Latvia (from 2004)
 * 🇱🇹 Lithuania (from 2004)
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg*
 * 🇲🇪 Montenegro (from 2017)
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands*
 * North Macedonia (from 2020)
 * 🇳🇴 Norway*
 * 🇵🇱 Poland (from 1999)
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal*
 * 🇷🇴 Romania (from 2004)
 * 🇸🇰 Slovakia (from 2004)
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia (from 2004)
 * 🇪🇸 Spain*
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden (from 2024)
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey*
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom*
 * 🇺🇸 United States*

 * Indicates pre-1991 member state

Major non-NATO ally (MNNA)

 * 🇦🇺 Australia (from 1987)
 * 🇪🇬 Egypt (from 1987)
 * 🇮🇱 Israel (from 1987)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan (from 1987)
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea (from 1987)
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan (from 1996)
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand (from 1997)
 * 🇦🇷 Argentina (from 1998)
 * 🇧🇭 Bahrain (from 2002)
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines (from 2003)
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand (from 2003)
 *  Republic of China (Taiwan) (de facto) (from 2003)
 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait (from 2004)
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco (from 2004)
 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan (from 2004)
 * Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2012–2021)
 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia (from 2015)
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil (from 2019)
 * 🇨🇴 Colombia (from 2022)
 * 🇶🇦 Qatar (from 2022)

Middle Eastern Partners

 * 🇧🇭 Bahrain
 * 🇪🇬 Egypt
 * 🇮🇶 Iraq (from 2004)
 * 🇮🇱 Israel
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan
 * 🇰🇼 Kuwait
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco
 * 🇶🇦 Qatar
 * 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
 * 🇸🇩 Sudan
 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia
 * 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

Asia, South East Asian, and Oceania Partners

 * 🇯🇵 Japan
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea
 * Republic of China (Taiwan)
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines
 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * 🇮🇳 India
 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia
 * 🇲🇳 Mongolia
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia
 * Brunei
 * 🇧🇹 Bhutan
 * 🇸🇬 Singapore
 * Vietnam

Inter-American Partners

 * 🇦🇷 Argentina
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil
 * 🇨🇱 Chile
 * 🇨🇴 Colombia
 * 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
 * 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
 * 🇪🇨 Ecuador
 * 🇸🇻 El Salvador
 * 🇬🇹 Guatemala
 * 🇭🇳 Honduras
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico
 * 🇵🇦 Panama
 * 🇵🇾 Paraguay
 * 🇵🇪 Peru
 * 🇺🇾 Uruguay

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * 🇮🇳 India
 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * 🇯🇵 Japan

title: Western Bloc


text:
User:WikiPenguin

 * D

title: User:WikiPenguin


text:
User talk:Tom enemy~enwiki

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. You might like to start by reading the tutorial and introducing yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask at the help desk or on my talk page. Two useful tips are that you can sign your name using four tildes ( ~ ) and you can preview your changes before you save using the show preview button. You can regularly find new tips on the Community Portal. I look forward to reading your great articles and I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. :) Ambi 09:09, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)

P.S. If you're interested, a bunch of us Melburnians have got together to try and improve Wikipedia's articles on Melbourne - WikiProject Melbourne

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Tom enemy. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Tom enemy~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 03:22, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 19:50, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Tom enemy~enwiki


text:
Murray McCully

Murray Stuart McCully  (born 19 February 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017.

Early life
Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Arapohue Primary School, Dargaville High School, the University of Auckland, and Victoria University of Wellington. He has a Bachelor of Laws degree and is a qualified barrister and solicitor, working as a lawyer before entering politics. He had a long-term relationship with political journalist and columnist Jane Clifton, with whom he had two sons, which ended in the 2010s.

Member of Parliament
McCully first stood for Parliament in 1975 in Auckland Central, reducing Richard Prebble's majority to 289. He next stood for East Coast Bays in 1984, coming second to Gary Knapp.

In 1987, McCully defeated Knapp and entered Parliament as MP for East Coast Bays on Auckland's North Shore. He held that seat at three general elections.

At the 1996 election he became MP for the new seat of Albany before returning, in the 2002 election, as MP for the reconstituted East Coast Bays seat. McCully retired from parliamentary politics in 2017.

Over his career, McCully held senior ministerial appointments in both the Fourth and Fifth National Governments. He had a reputation as a party strategist, "fix-it man" and "Machiavellian Dark Prince."

Fourth National Government, 1990–1999
McCully's first ministerial appointment was as Minister of Customs and Associate Minister of Tourism in 1991. He held later appointments under the premierships of Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley as Minister of Housing, Minister of Immigration and Minister for Sport, Fitness and Leisure.

As Sport and Tourism Minister, McCully reportedly "headhunted" future Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to head up the new Office of Sport and Tourism.

Murray McCully resigned from his Tourism portfolio in April 1999 after questions were raised regarding his handling of the resignation and subsequent payout of members of the Tourism board. These questions culminated in a report of the Controller and Auditor General that deemed these payouts "unlawful," although the report accepted that all involved had proceeded on the basis of advice and "their genuine perception of what was in the best interests of New Zealand’s tourism industry."

Opposition, 1999–2008
The National Party lost government at the 1999 general election and did not regain the treasury benches until 2008. During nine years of opposition, McCully held various opposition spokesperson roles including in the local government, housing, sport, state services, immigration, foreign affairs and defence portfolios.

McCully is understood to have been a key player in many of the leadership changes the National Party experienced while in opposition. McCully supported Bill English to replace Jenny Shipley as National Party leader in the 2001 New Zealand National Party leadership election, Don Brash to replace English in 2003, and Gerry Brownlee to replace Nick Smith as deputy leader in 2003. McCully was appointed "parliamentary assistant" to Brash and was reportedly the only MP Brash told about his decision to stand down in 2006.

Fifth National Government, 2008–2017
After the National Party won the 2008 election, McCully was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister on 19 November 2008. McCully was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Minister for the Rugby World Cup by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

In November 2015, McCully was off work after surgery for removal of a growth that was found to be benign.

On 15 December 2016, following the announcement that Key would retire from politics and the appointment of Bill English as Prime Minister, McCully announced that he would not stand for parliament in 2017 (in that year's general election). English and McCully had previously had a fractious relationship, relating to when McCully orchestrated the removal of English as party leader in 2003. Reflecting on his time as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, McCully said his most challenging and rewarding work was New Zealand's role in the Pacific: "I’ve put a lot of my personal effort into ensuring that we actually live up to the expectations our neighbours have of us and the responsibilities we should carry." He continued as Minister of Foreign Affairs under English until 2 May 2017, when he was succeeded by Gerry Brownlee.

In December 2016, McCully played a critical role in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.

Political views
In 2004, McCully voted against a bill to establish civil unions. In 2005, he voted for the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill 2005, which would have amended the Marriage Act to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.

In 2013, McCully voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in New Zealand.

Awards and honours
While still a Member of Parliament, McCully was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to foreign policy in the 2015 New Year Honours.

In 2019, McCully was appointed an Honorary Companion of the Order of Fiji, for services to relations between Fiji and New Zealand.

title: Murray McCully


text: User talk:81.249.253.101

title: User talk:81.249.253.101


text:
Talk:Magellan's Cross Pavilion

[Untitled]
removed

researched by: Roxanne E. Navarro

source: Cebu webpage on tripod

is copyright ok? - cohesion [[User_talk:Cohesion|☎]] 09:15, Oct 17, 2004 (UTC)

 * Doubtful. It's a hodgepodge from two different sources. -- Hadal 09:30, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 19:46, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Cebu Magellan's Cross.jpg

title: Talk:Magellan's Cross Pavilion


text:
Talk:List of political parties in New Zealand

Local Parties?
Should local only parties like Citizens and ratepayers be listed? or maybe mentioned briefly in a seperate section?

 * I think there are probably good points and bad points about listing local parties — some, like Citizens and Ratepayers, are fairly well established, but others seem to appear and disappear very quickly (more so in some cities than others, I think). They would therefore be difficult to track. But a section on prominent or noteworthy local parties seems like a good idea, yes. It would probably be best to keep them separate from national-level parties, though, just for the sake of clarity. -- Vardion 10:15, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Personally I wouldn't like to add local parties to an encyclopedia. E.g. in my municipality Lingewaard in the Netherlands three local parties are active. Shoild I add them?, no I don't think so. --Gangulf 18:41, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * The Citizens and Ratepayers is a sub-group of the National Party, so should probably get a mention there instead. Other than that I don't think there are any major ones that need to be mentioned anywhere --Gregstephens 04:06, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * The C&R aren't a sub-group of National, it is a politically independent org from National, though many identities in C&R are National members. Historically, there have been ACT, NZ First and non members of any party in C&R. The current  leader of C&R, David Hay, is not a member of any party. I think this could be expanded to include local body groups. Organisations like C&R, City Vision, Chch2021, and Vision Wanganui show a maturing of local govt towards organised groups in NZ. FriendlySam (talk) 08:27, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Reaction on changes by Vardion
I added the links to lists of parties at the see also section. Furthermore, A short definition in an article on parties in NZ HK is relevant. So I reverted that. I hope in this way we can agree/compromise. Gangulf 14:26, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

National Front
"The National Front has applied for registration..." It was my understanding (gathered from their discussion board) that they currently lack the required number of registered supporters to register as a party, and so have not applied yet... what is the accuracy of this statement? porges 08:25, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)

I keep a close eye on the Public Notices (which is required to become a political party). They have not yet registered. The reason is most likely because of lack of numbers, but it could be due to any number of reasons (drawing up party constitution, not having enough financial memebers, etc. --Gregstephens 03:10, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Keep an eye on this page and the PDFs in it. It will list them if/when they become official. - SimonLyall 03:58, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)\

They are not registering as a party for the election so they can't go for the party vote, but will contest electorate seats. --Gregstephens 00:41, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Further name changes.
According to stuff various parties have made name changes etc. It's not all updated here but the .doc at the bottom seems to be right. - SimonLyall 08:59, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

 * True, but I'm not sure that we necessarily have to mention these changes — omitting the "Jim Anderton" from "Jim Anderton's Progressive Party" is really just like omitting "New Zealand" from the previous "New Zealand Progressive Party", isn't it? -- Vardion 02:05, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

Links
I have added an external link to the elections nz webpage, as this is the deffinative controlling body in NZ. They also have a rather good set of info on MMP. I hope this is OK...?

Two Republican parties?
I'm a bit confused about The Republic of New Zealand Party and the Republic Aotearoa New Zealand Party. Are these separate parties? Kerry Bevin appears to be the leader of the latter, but a couple of articles refer to him as founding the former.-gadfium 23:04, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

 * Confusing. Well, they were definitely separate parties at some point, because they both applied for broadcasting funding. Kerry Bevin is definitely associated with the Republic of New Zealand Party, because he's their top-ranked candidate, but this website, which seems to be the RONZP homepage, doesn't mention him. (The website only mentions John Kairau and Gray Phillips, neither of whom are actually candidates). I can't find anything linking Bevin to the Republic Aotearoa New Zealand Party apart from clones of our article, so it could be that our article is mistaken in linking him to Republic Aotearoa New Zealand. It could also be that Bevin originally was associated with Republic Aotearoa New Zealand, but has changed parties, or the two parties have merged. -- Vardion 00:05, 17 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Kerry Bevin is currently the leader of The Republicans (Republic of New Zealand Party). I think the two parties merged. Republic Aotearoa New Zealand seemed to have been spawned by John Kairau, who intially called it the "People's Republic of Aotearoa Party" (there was a PR I blogged on but now can't find it). The two seem to have been working together. --Lholden 08:32, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Formatting
The right caption box does not render well with the main body in all browsers. Can someone with better formatting skills than me sort this out? # —The preceding unsigned comment was added by InSpace (talk • contribs). moved from top to bottom as per normal talk page formatting --Midnighttonight Procrastinating on uni work... 03:51, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Is that better? I have just expanded some of the lead-ins, which should move everything else down. --Midnighttonight Procrastinating on uni work... 03:51, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

The Electoral Commission has just published its list of parties applying for broadcastign funding. I've updated the list accordingly. Unfortunately, there's very little information available on some of these aprties - anyone know any more? IdiotSavant (talk) 11:35, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Inclusion criteria for unregistered parties
I've done a bit of a cleanup on the unregistered parties category, and proposed two for deletion: Independent National Party and Kotahitanga Te Manamotu Hake Tiriti o Waitangi. Neither ran candidates or registered as a party last election, and neither featured at all in public debate. Evidence for their existence was low - an application for funding or to register a logo. I think both fall below the notability criteria even for a completeist effort like this.

For the future, I suggest the following inclusion criteria for unregistered parties:

 * If the party ran candidates in the previous election;
 * If the party was registered at the previous election;
 * If the party has announced its intention to register or run candidates at the next elction.

Parties which announce that they will no longer be active should not be included, and if necessary, moved to the relevant historical category.

I am currently trying to find out what is up with the New Zealand Liberal Party (2008) to see if they should still be listed. --IdiotSavant (talk) 09:55, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Student Party and Student Party New Zealand
I notice this party is listed under both names, I'm unsure which is the correct title so I haven't edited but this should be looked into —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.224.115.149 (talk) 23:09, 7 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I removed the duplicate entry a little earlier. I don't have any strong feelings on whether to include "NZ" or "New Zealand" in its name, but this would be more appropriate to discuss at Talk:Student Party.- gadfium 01:42, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

OurNZ Party
This was changed as a certain left-wing blogger wanted to portray the Party as right-wing. Although the majority of the party is to the right of IdiotSavant, this is true of the New Zealand people too. OurNZ does not subscribe to traditional left/ right paradigm. Roalexx (talk) 10:26, 28 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Thats nice of you. However we need to write how others would describe you. Example: A party that supported Nationalisation of industry, more spending on welfare and higher taxes would in most cases be described as "left-wing" even if they said they were a "A solution-based party which looks outside the left-right political paradigm for solutions". In other words come up with NPOV wording not buzzwords - SimonLyall (talk) 19:54, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

It wasn't me that wrote it. I would have used my account as then it is less likely to be deleted. How do you explain a party that has a mixture of policy from the left, centre and right wings? It doesn't matter where it comes from, if it works and is a good idea, we tend to pick it up. Roalexx (talk) 04:30, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

 * Regardless of who wrote it, it is not a neutral point of view. Worse than that, the current description leaves someone who has never heard of the party (like me) with no idea of what the party actually stands for. This needs to be changed to something that meets NPOV. - Roue2 (talk) 08:27, 29 June 2011 (UTC)
 * I have updated this to read "A party advocating a new currency, binding referenda, and a written constitution." which seems (to me at least) to sum up the principles and objectives as outlined on their website. I have included a reference to their principles and objectives. Roue2 (talk) 22:28, 29 June 2011 (UTC)
 * That looks okay - SimonLyall (talk) 11:11, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

Don't tell me this is going to be one of the situations where NPOV is used to bully other users. The other one exactly described the party and was written from a neutral point of view. Roalexx (talk) 10:57, 30 June 2011 (UTC)
 * The previous description did not describe any of the principles or objectives of the party as outlined in the party's website. It contained fluff words which were essentially meaningless and didn't help any person unfamiliar with the party figure out what the party stood for. 'Solution based' doesn't mean anything. I have gone to the party website, summed up what is on there in a neutral way and provided a reference so that readers can check it. What disappoints me is that I have spent time researching and editing a description of a party that received just over 60 votes in the latest by-election because a supporter of the party wants to use wikipedia as a way to promote their party and for my troubles I get accused of bullying. Thanks.  - Roue2 (talk) 21:32, 30 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Note that Roalexx has requested editor assistance for this issue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Editor_assistance/Requests#List_of_Political_Parties_in_New_Zealand_-_Our_NZ_Party - Roue2 (talk) 21:50, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

The words solution based focus are on the front page. Did you miss them?

You have opened many issues there. I am looking for a description that actually describes the party. No other party discusses policy with it's members and the general public. We make a concerted effort to put across many points of view, so it appeals to the largest audience, and so it will work in the real world. A fair amount of legislation is based on a good idea, but is removed from the real world and doesn't work as it is meant to.

You may want to note the candidate for Te Tai Tokerau took TVNZ to the courts in order to participate in the televised debates, which is a right under Broadcasting and Electoral law. Unfortunately he struck a judge who does not like serving injunctions and it was denied. Do you not think that this lack of media outlet contributed to such a low voting number?

Perhaps calling you a bully for invoking NPOV was a little extreme, however you are showing bias here. People do use NPOV as a tool to control what is said on Wikipedia, and I am not going to just roll over.

Although the current description is not adequate, it is an improvement on what was originally put there. My problem is that the description is similar to describing the Skytower as tall. It is tall, but there is an awful lot more to it. Roalexx (talk) 04:57, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

 * It is a short description of a minor, unregistered party. As the description stands, it covers the main points outlined in the parties principles and objectives page. My edit is neutral - please don't accuse me of being anything but neutral. The party has its own wikipage, maybe your effort and time would be better spent expanding that, which is where elaboration of the parties policies should be, not in a brief description. Note to self - don't feed the trolls. - Roue2 (talk) 05:58, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Colours
Why the different colours for the entries of the Libertarianz, Country, Liberal, Pacific, Progressive, and Reform parties? Dab14763 (talk) 01:27, 5 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Libertarianz, Pacific and Progressive all competed in and had registered logos with these colours (in the case of the Progressives we used their secondary colour as their main colour was the same as the Labour red), while the Country , Liberal and Reform parties all contested the , with the Country Party and Reform contesting the two subsequent elections. Party colours are meant to differentiate parties, and best practice is to use the colours of the parties' logos and promotional material. Historic parties sometimes present a problem in that we don't know what colours they may have used, or if they even did use such colours. In the case of the Liberal Party we use an international convention of yellow. The colours for Reform and the Country Party were first defined here in 2006 - in both cases green shades were chosen, possibly to reflect the strong rural heritage of each party. In any event, since Reform merged with the ex-Liberal United Party (via the United/Reform Coalition) to form National they needed a colour distinct from National and other existing parties. For more on this subject see discussion on NZ party colours, index of NZ political colours and Political colour. Fan  |  talk  | 01:06, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Integrity Party and New Communist Party
There is a note on this article which says "Every entry in this list must have an article written in the English Wikipedia, with reliable sources to support inclusion, else it will be removed without warning."

The Integrity Party does not appear notable enough for an article, and the New Communist Party's article was deleted for lack of notability.

Perhaps these entries should be removed from this article. HenryCrun15 (talk) 03:57, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

 * I agree. If a party is not notable enough to warrant a Wikipedia page then it should not be listed here. Helper201 (talk) 13:35, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

2020 cull
While its not quite yet time (nomination day for the 2020 election is 18 September), I think we should start thinking about the triennial cull of non-notable parties. at present, I think we're looking at the following:
 * Delete: (not registered, not running candidates, so not notable) Better New Zealand, Kiwi Party (2019), Oytcho-Visha, Libertarian Party NZ (Real NZ Party has already been AfD'd)
 * Move to historic: (ran candidates or were registered in the past, but not active this election): GOdsownNZ, Internet Party (New Zealand)

One I'm unsure about is Direct Democracy New Zealand. They are not registered, and do not plan to run their own candidates (and there's an announcement on their Facebook page about that), but they're now a component party of Advance New Zealand. They could just be included in that article, or do people feel that a component of a notable party is thereby notable? (unfortunately we don't have easy past precedent - the components of the Alliance (New Zealand political party) were all independently notable).--IdiotSavant (talk) 10:44, 4 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Information on who is actually running will be available here from 2pm on the 19th.--IdiotSavant (talk) 00:16, 18 September 2020 (UTC)
 * I propose we merge the content from Direct Democracy Party of New Zealand into Advance New Zealand and/or New Zealand Public Party. Direct Democracy is not notable enough for its own article; the independent citations in the article only mention the subject in passing, and I was unable to find any other independent sources that would demonstrate notability. It is also a short article with a lot of overlap with the section on Direct Democracy in the Advance article. HenryCrun15 (talk) 01:55, 18 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Support.--IdiotSavant (talk) 02:28, 19 September 2020 (UTC)

 * Candidate lists are now up. I've removed The Republic of New Zealand Party from the "move to historic" list because they have a candidate this year, and added Libertarian Party NZ as they haven't run the candidates they indicated they would just last week. The rest are all confirmed. New parties running candidates:
 * Trump New Zealand Party (Kelston)
 * Climate First party(Māngere)
 * Human Rights Party (Mt Albert)
 * Voice of the People (Mt Roskill, New Lynn)
 * Future Youth Party (Tukituki)
 * NZ Economic Euthenics Party (Wigram)
 * I think Climate First and Human Rights have previously had articles which have been deleted. Do we want to undelete and expand them based on new coverage? Or do people feel one-candidate parties are less notable than ones with more than one candidate?--IdiotSavant (talk) 02:28, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
 * So the test for notability of an organisation (which is specified to include political parties) is that it "is notable if it has been the subject of significant coverage in multiple reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject." For the Trump New Zealand Party, as an example, I was only able to find three sources: the party's own website (not independent); a Reddit post (not reliable) and the Vote.nz page stating the party has a candidate (not significant coverage). As such, I would not create a page for the Trump New Zealand Party. I suspect others may be in the same boat but I haven't checked. HenryCrun15 (talk) 06:48, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
 * While I think you're right in the specific cases, the problem with applying the general test is that in NZ non-parliamentary parties tend to get significant coverage only around elections, and are completely invisible the rest of the time. Applying it strictly means Wikipedia not being a useful resource on new or emerging parties in the leadup to an election, which is precisely when people (including journalists) are looking for information on them.--IdiotSavant (talk) 11:17, 19 September 2020 (UTC)

It might be just me, but some of the descriptions in the table sound like advertisements
For example, the description of the green party says "Like many Green parties around the world it has four pillars: ecological wisdom, social responsibility, grassroots democracy, and nonviolence. The party has an environmentalist platform, and also promotes progressive social policies." Doesn't that sound like something you would see on some promotional material? I would recommend changing it to make it more neutral. Ayvind-Bjarnason (talk) 11:54, 13 April 2021 (UTC)

Is ACT Right-Libertarian?
After discussing on their talk page, and I agreed that it would be best to bring this discussion to this talk page. What follows is a transcription of that discussion:

What are your thoughts on this? Ayvind-Bjarnason (talk) Ayvind-Bjarnason (talk) 18:56, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

 * In my opinion: We shouldn't use any phrase like "right-libertarian" if it hasn't been used in a source (preferably by the party themselves), and especially as it's not a term common in NZ English. "Right-wing libertarian" (no comma) could reasonably link to right libertarian, but I'm not sure that that's even necessary here. The party describes themselves as classical liberal, and I don't think it would be unreasonable to add right-wing to that as a second descriptor, but replacing it with a single term that's frankly a little niche (in our NZ context) seems inappropriate. (Although in my view they've shifted quite far from where they once were on the L-R spectrum.) To put it simply, I don't think "right-wing libertarian" or "right libertarian" are helpful descriptors for this encyclopaedia article.
 * I also think the more appropriate place to discuss this is the ACT article's talk page, as this list should be influenced by party pages, and not vice versa. And I should note that this isn't the first, nor will it be the last discussion on the matter. Pinpointing labels isn't unimportant, and it is compelling to a lot of users, but it can be a timesuck, so I encourage caution around that whirlpool. — HTGS (talk) 22:20, 21 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Strongly disagree with the "preferably by the party themselves" proviso: Wikipedia's policy is for third-party sources.  Self-descriptors can be shamelessly self-serving.  For example UKIP has sporadically described itself as "libertarian", but in no way credibly or supported by a balance of reliable sources.  But otherwise I'd tend to agree.  I'm seeing phrases like it being "split between its libertarian and populist wings", but not descriptions of it as libertarian (or right-libertarian or ring-wing libertarian) generally.  109.255.211.6 (talk) 15:28, 4 August 2021 (UTC)
 * 109 has it correct. We don't give a damn what parties call themselves. We care what reliable secondary source call them. Nil Einne (talk) 00:01, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

National Party (and other party) ideologies
, regarding the labels of “Christian right” and “Social conservative” for the National Party: I have removed those labels from the party's infobox. I suspect you did not read the sources before copying them over to this page, as the labels aren't supported by the sources and were probably added recently without oversight. It would be strange at this point to label the party as Christian, as this is not a view supported by mainstream sources nor an agenda pushed by the party itself.

Although I don't see your other additions to party ideologies as quite as problematic, I urge you to do your homework on what the respective party pages say in the body before just propagating the latest additions to the infobox. — HTGS (talk) 23:02, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

 * Sorry, but I strongly disagree, and based on your other edits this is clear biased vandalism against the page due to personal opinions, as you seek to only remove information from New Zealand National Party.  The sources clearly state what positions the party holds, and how they clearly align with the same values listed on the articles for those ideologies.   I suggest seeking a third opinion to review the information, as will I. SjShane (talk) 01:08, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

 * Please refrain from personal attacks like calling other editors vandals. You can be blocked by an admin if you continue to rage against people. Kiltroans (talk) 13:41, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I’ll call the edits as I see them, which is misinformation, and vandalism. I am interested that you have decided to join Wikipedia for the sole reason of joining in on this discussion.    Welcome. SjShane (talk) 13:03, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:List of political parties in Abkhazia which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 16:24, 29 March 2024 (UTC)


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User talk:WikiPenguin

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title: User talk:WikiPenguin


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Category:Peninsulas of Ireland

This category relates to the peninsulas of the island of Ireland as a whole, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

title: Category:Peninsulas of Ireland


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Thane Baker

Walter Thane Baker (born October 4, 1931) is an American former sprinter and winner of the gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, with a new world record of 39.5 seconds. At those Olympics Baker also won a silver medal in the 100-meter and a bronze in the 200-meter. At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, he won a silver medal in the 200-meter.

Biography
Baker was born in Elkhart, Kansas. In 1953, as a Kansas State University student, Baker won the NCAA championship in the 220 yd, and in 1956 he won the AAU championships in 200 m. Baker also won numerous conference titles at Kansas State, and was a four-time All American.

Before the Melbourne Olympics, Baker equaled Jesse Owens's long-standing 100 m world record time of 10.2 seconds, and also twice equaled the 200 m world record of 20.6. He tied the world record in the 100 yd in 9.3 seconds, twice tied the world record in 60 yd indoor events at 6.1 seconds, and set the world record in the 300 yd at 29.4 seconds. He co-held several world records in relays.

After turning forty, Baker participated in the Masters Track and Field program and held numerous world records in the 100 yd, 100 m, 220 y, 200 m, and several relays in the age groups categories of 40–44, 45–49, and 50–54 years of age. Baker is enshrined in the USATF Masters Hall of Fame and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. He is also in the Kansas State University Sports Hall of Fame and the Kansas State High School Activities Hall of Fame. In 1978, he was named a "Silver Athletics Top Ten" for personal achievement.

He began as a track meet "starter" in 1959 and has started NCAA National Championships and National Federation Championships. The year 2010 was his forty-fourth year of serving at the Texas Relays. He was selected "Outstanding Official" by the Texas Relays Committee in 2010 and inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2011. He also has the track named after him in his home town of Elkhart, Kansas.

He retired in 1983 as a colonel from the United States Air Force after serving thirty years of active and reserve status. Additionally, in 1992, he retired from Mobil Research and Development after thirty-nine years of employment. His civic involvement included serving as president of a Rotary Club chapter, a member of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association board of directors, the United States Olympians board of directors, and volunteered on other boards and associations.

Thane Baker's daughter, Catherine Baker Nicholson JD, wrote a book about his first Olympics called Running in Borrowed Shoes: Thane Baker and the 1956 Summer Games, which Texas Christian University Press published in Summer 2024. Because he did not expect to make the 1952 Olympic team, Baker competed in the Men's 200 meters and won a silver medal wearing borrowed socks and borrowed shoes.

BYUtv produced a video about Thane Baker's experiences in 2024.

Baker is the oldest, living, United States Olympic medalist in track and ranks third in the world in the same category.

title: Thane Baker


text:
Nana Plaza

Nana Plaza (formerly Nana Entertainment Plaza) is an entertainment complex and red-light district in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally built as a shopping center, Nana Plaza occupies a three-story commercial building in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok about 300 m from the BTS Skytrain's Nana Station. It describes itself as the "worlds largest adult playground". Its name originates from the influential, property-holding Nana family, Lek Nana being the most prominent member.

Along with Soi Cowboy and Patpong, Nana Plaza is one of Bangkok's three most concentrated red-light districts. All attract primarily tourists.

History
The plaza's U-shaped building is roughly square-shaped, with a single opening on the west side, and consists of a ground floor and two additional floors arranged around a courtyard. It started as a restaurant and shopping center in the late-1970s. During the early-1980s, a few go-go bars appeared and gradually replaced the shops and restaurants. By the mid-1980s around twenty go-go bars had opened in the three-level court, taking advantage of the expansion of tourist hotels in the area.

In 2012 Nana Plaza was sold to a Thai JVC company Nana Partners Co Ltd., co-owned by Fico corporation and Panthera Group (formally known as Eclipse group) – one of Thailand's largest bar and nightclub operators – for a rumored US$25,000,000 after the land was inherited by seven sisters who wanted nothing to do with a red-light area. Panthera Group renovated the complex, becoming the landlord and providing the management and security services.

Facilities
Three short-time hotels, one of which has been renovated, operate on the top floor. Short-time hotels rent out rooms by the hour or more to patrons to take a bargirl for sex. Most bar girls in Nana Plaza will leave with customers upon payment of a bar fine. Smoking is banned indoors. There are two elevators, one on the north side of the building and one on the south. The building closes at 03:00 and lies dormant until the following evening. In 2016 two waitresses in the plaza's Bangkok Bunnies go-go bar said that they received monthly wages equivalent to £130 (US$165) and daily tips equivalent to £11–16 (US$14–20). This compares with a 2016 average monthly wage in Thailand of around 13,800 baht (US$388).

As of July 2019, Nana Plaza housed 30 bars and three "hotels".

As of July 2019, there were seven kathoey ("ladyboy") bars in Nana Plaza; Several other bars have a few ladyboys in their line-ups mixed with their regular go-go dancers.

title: Nana Plaza