text:
The Very Group

The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 2005 as a result of the merger of the former Littlewoods and Shop Direct companies. The retailer was known as Littlewoods Shop Direct Group until a corporate rebranding to Shop Direct Group in May 2008. In 2013, the company rebranded to Shop Direct, dropping the 'group' from its name. Shop Direct rebranded themselves to The Very Group in 2020.

A business group trading via several digital department stores, The Very Group traces its roots to a variety of mail order companies in northern England, the football pools and mail order business founded by John Moores, as well as the Manchester-based home shopping business of Great Universal Stores. These companies were purchased by Sir David and Frederick Barclay in 2003, and a major business restructuring took place leading to a merger of two companies that had "been arch rivals for the best part of 100 years".

Since the merger of what had been struggling businesses in 2005, ongoing restructuring and modernisation of the company has resulted in Shop Direct emerging as one of the largest online retailers in the UK. Its traditional paper-based and phone-in orders system has been superseded by electronic commerce technology.

The group is now amongst the largest online retailers in the UK, with annual sales of £1.86bn as of 2016 and 62% of online sales coming from mobile devices.

The group's brands are Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com, Very Exclusive and Very Ireland (rebranded from 'Littlewoods Ireland' in July 2022). The former Shop Direct brands are Additions Direct, Abound, Choice, Great Universal, Isme, K&Co, Kays, Marshall Ward and Woolworths. In 2009, The Very Group acquired the brand name of the failed Woolworths Group and re-established it as an online-only operation, this closed in 2015 and the Woolworths UK brand was sold in July 2021 to Woolworth Deutschland.

Origins
The Very Group traces its roots to a variety of independent mail order and retail companies in northern England, particularly Littlewoods, the pools and mail order business founded by John Moores, as well as the Manchester-based home shopping business of Great Universal Stores. Other businesses from this time that became part of Shop Direct included K&Co (formerly Kays Catalogues).

Founded by John Moores and his brother Cecil in 1923, Littlewoods was initially a football pools company, which used its network of pools agents and printing company (founded in 1928) to establish itself as a catalogue retailer from 1932 onwards.

In November 2002, the Moores family sold Littlewoods to the Barclay brothers for £750 million.

Littlewoods also owned the Index chain of stores.

The home shopping/catalogues business of Argos and Homebase owner, GUS plc, ARG Equation (which included Great Universal, Kays, Choice and Marshall Ward) was de-merged and bought by the Barclay brothers in 2003, where it became Shop Direct.

Merger: Littlewoods Shop Direct Group
It was announced in March 2005 that part of the Index chain of catalogue shops was to be sold to GUS plc (then owner of Argos) and the remainder was to be closed.

In July 2005, Associated British Foods purchased the 120-branch Littlewoods retail chain on behalf of its retail subsidiary Primark for £409 million. Some of the stores were converted into branches of Primark, and the remainder were sold on to other retailers. The Littlewoods name disappeared from the British high street in March 2006.

Following these disposals, and clearance from the Competition Commission, the Littlewoods home shopping business was formally merged with that of Shop Direct (the former GUS plc home shopping business) in October 2005, to form the United Kingdom's largest home shopping business. The merger was in reality effected in early 2004 when work started on a business optimisation programme, consolidating various business functions.

Following the merger, Littlewoods Shop Direct Group moved its headquarters from Manchester city centre to Skyways House in Speke, south Liverpool.

The then newly appointed Chief Executive Mark Newton-Jones said the merger had "been the biggest challenge of all – taking two companies that [had] been arch rivals for the best part of 100 years and bringing them together. Not just from an operational point of view, but also two different business cultures".

Post-merger
In May 2008, Littlewoods Shop Direct Group announced it would change its corporate brand name to Shop Direct Group, to reflect the multi-branded nature of the business. In July 2008, Shop Direct completed its purchase of the Empire Stores brand name and customer base from mail order competitor Redcats.

In May 2008, Home Delivery Network, previously Shop Direct Group's logistics division, was separated from the group and subsequently renamed Yodel.

With the demise of the Woolworths Group in January 2009, Shop Direct purchased rights to children's clothing brand Ladybird along with the Woolworths trade name from the administrators. The takeover of the Woolworths brand by Shop Direct was announced on 2 February 2009, and the new online retailer began trading on 25 June that year. In 2015, the Woolworths.co.uk brand was closed, and in July 2021, the Woolworths UK brand was sold to Woolworth Deutschland.

At the start of 2009, Shop Direct predicted growth in online sales, with a spokesperson saying: "We anticipate that 70 per cent of our sales will be online by 2010/11 and, therefore, the future of our business is online-led." It was confirmed in late 2009 that it was on track to achieve 70% of its sales via the internet by 2011. By the end of the 2012/13 financial year, this figure had reached 78%.

In 2013, the company rebranded to Shop Direct, dropping the 'group' from its name.

On 27 October 2017 Shop Direct successfully placed its debut bond.

In 2019, Shop Direct rebranded to The Very Group.

In February 2024, The Very Group took a loan of £125 million from The Carlyle Group and UAE-based International Media Investments in return for a degree of control of The Very Group. The group's finances had been hurt by increasing interest rates, and the directors stated the loan should provide working capital until at least June 2025. In March 2024, The Very Group auditors, Deloitte, announced they had resigned after stating they struggled to access "appropriate and relevant information in respect of certain financing arrangements between companies in the wider group". Very Group's ownership is spread across many different companies, some unaudited, with an ultimate offshore owner.

Retailers
Defunct
 * Littlewoods.com
 * Very.co.uk
 * Very Ireland (https://www.very.ie)

 * BargainCrazy
 * ShopDirect.com
 * Littlewoodsireland.ie

Brands

 * V by Very
 * Everyday

Defunct

 * Additions Direct
 * Abound
 * Choice
 * Great Universal
 * Isme
 * K&Co
 * Kays
 * Marshall Ward

Financial services

 * Very Financial Services

Defunct

 * Everyday Financial Solutions
 * Shop Direct Financial Services

Operations
Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and Littlewoods Ireland retail clothing and footwear, electricals, home and furniture, gifts and beauty, outdoor and seasonal, and toys. Very Exclusive sells luxury fashion.

As well as its celebrity brands, Shop Direct previously had a stable of own-brand fashion labels. Today, it operates a 'hero' own brand fashion label, V by Very, alongside Ladybird for children. Alongside the core retail business, Shop Direct owns and operates a financial services business, formerly known as Everyday Financial Solutions, and now known as Shop Direct Financial Services.

In July 2022, the company announced the appointment of Lionel Desclée as its new group chief executive, replacing Henry Birch who held the position for over four years.

Locations
The Very Group's headquarters is Skyways House, a £31 million renovated aircraft hangar, situated in Speke, south Liverpool.

Order processing for The Very Group is primarily undertaken at the 'Skygate' facility based in Kegworth, Derby with a smaller number of large items distributed from Bryn Lane, Wrexham. The old distribution centre at Shaw, Oldham comprised six former cotton mills Lily 1, Lily 2, Newby, Rutland, Ash and Dee. Subsequently, Rutland, Ash and Dee mills have been demolished and replaced with new purpose made buildings. It is one of Europe's largest retail distribution centres. The Very Group processes returns at Raven Mill in Chadderton.

On 9 May 2006, the company announced the closure of three warehouses in Eccles, Wigan and Worcester. These closures have taken place, with all operations being transferred to their Shaw and Crompton site. Around 1,200 jobs were lost from the closures, but further jobs were created at the Shaw National Distribution Centre.

In 2016, The Very Group launched a 12400 sqft training, conferencing and wellbeing facility for its Liverpool HQ staff, calling the building "The Cube".

Relocation of distribution business
In Spring 2018, The Very Group announced that 2,000 jobs were at risk from redundancy as the company intends to close three distribution centres and move their distribution business to the East Midlands by 2020.

title: The Very Group


text:
Talk:Gerald L. K. Smith

untitled
Every other source I find says he only got 1780 votes in 1944. Which ever it is I would like to see the votes from Texas and Michigan confirmed. Thanks Pimpalicious

Contemporary culture
The movie Gentleman's Agreement (1947) included a diatribe against antisemites which included Gerald L. K. Smith in the list. The movie went on to win an Academy Award for best picture and best director. While I generally dislike "in popular culture" sections articles, this one seems appropriate because the movie and its awards occurred during the hight of Smith's activities. Shall we find room for this in the article? Rklawton (talk) 03:33, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

 * No reason to. The couple of mentions Smith gains in that film are incidental. Philip Cross (talk) 11:24, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Page move
Why was the article moved from Gerald L. K. Smith to Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith? Aside from some biographical articles that give his complete name, most of the references to him seem to use one or two middle initials.  Will Beback   talk    05:48, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

You can move it back, I just wanted make sure the redirect was there. When you move it back the redirect will still be there. I was using the name from from the biographies and in Who is who, and as he used. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 05:52, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
 * The name that the subject used is important, but it isn't the sole consideration. Checking Google Books, I see that [Gerald L. K. Smith] gets 1,201 hits, while [Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith] brings just 239. The main biography of the subject is Gerald L. K. Smith: Minister of Hate . So if there's no objection, I'll move it back.    Will Beback    talk    06:07, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
 * On further review, I see it's a close call between the two versions. For example, the Gale collection has two biographies of him that are about the same length, one in a book of prominent clergy and the other part of a series of general history. One uses the initials while the other spells it out. I'll post it to the RfM page and see if there are any other opinions. In the meantime, I'll add the version with the initials as an alternate so that it'll still show up in a text search.   Will Beback    talk    08:50, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was confirmed short form of name —  æk Talk 16:38, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

Gerald L. K. Smith → Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith —

Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith → Gerald L. K. Smith — The long and short versions of this name are both used commonly. The article was recently moved to the long version. Should we move it back or keep it here?  Will Beback   talk    09:00, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
 * It was quickly moved back after this request was posted - so this is just to confirm the name.

 * Support move to 'Gerald L. K. Smith'. GoodDay (talk) 13:59, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Support present form with initials as more recognizable. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 21:04, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Support present form with redirect from long form. --BaronLarf 04:26, 21 December 2009 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

 * Further comment - Gerald L. K. Smith is definitely the most common look-up form. Carrite (talk) 05:21, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

does Gerald LK Smith group still exsist New Nationalist 3rd partys in US.Baseing their ideas on America First Party?
Does the America First Party still exsist? Gerald LK Smiths "church"? Also,heard that new 21st.cent. Nationalist(a code name for facists?) base there ideas on his America First Party etc? Didnt he have a Passion Play at his church AS WELL? tHAT LEFT IN ANTI SEMETIC REMARKS? T14HANKS! dR.eDSON aNDRE' jOHNSO d.d.uC FOUNDER n>p>f>a> NATIONALIST PARTY fOR aAMERICA88 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.203.36.139 (talk) 20:30, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

WASNT HIS CHURCH HAVING A PASSION PLAY TOO? New 21st cent 3rd Parties useing Gerald LK Smiths ideas?
Dont presdent day(21st,cent) Nationalist Parties in the US base there ideas on The America First Party of rev .Smith? Didnt his "church" present a Passion Play with anti sementice remarks left in? Thanks! Dr.Edson Andre' Johnson D.D.ULC Founder N.P.F.A.1488 National Party For America(founded 1998)64.203.36.139 (talk) 20:35, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

Should we really use the word populist in this context?
Smith seems to have basically been a Nazi/fascist. Populism is a distinct historical movement, in the 1880s and 1890s and conflation is not really correct. Populism especially in the mid-west and west was also quite secular while this guy is very Christian.

Huey Long
Huey Long, whom Wikipedia describes as the "the political boss of Louisianna", was all for black voting rights in Louisianna? Why did we need the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act then? Nobs01 (talk) 02:10, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Unlike Long, who had been relatively tolerant on racial issues...
 * According to this source, Long tried discrediting political opponent Benjamin Pavy with an appeal to Southern racism. The article says: "Judge Pavy had planned to retire, but for insurance, Long allegedly began spreading a rumor that Pavy had “Negro blood,” hoping to delegitimize him in the eyes of voters." Total random nerd (talk) 05:14, 25 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Okay, thank you. I'll make the correction. Nobs01 (talk) 04:36, 27 August 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion: You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 02:38, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Gerald L. K. Smith.webp

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 13:52, 18 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Gerald L. K. Smith.webp

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

title: Talk:Gerald L. K. Smith


text:
Herrlee G. Creel

Herrlee Glessner Creel (January 19, 1905 – June 1, 1994) was an American Sinologist and philosopher who specialized in Chinese philosophy and history, and was a professor of Chinese at the University of Chicago for nearly 40 years. On his retirement, Creel was praised by his colleagues as an innovative pioneer on early Chinese civilization and as one who could write both for specialists and for the interested general public with cogency, lucidity, and grace.

Early years
Herrlee G. Creel was born on January 19, 1905, in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Chicago as an undergraduate, graduating with a Ph.B. degree in 1926. He then continued on at Chicago as a graduate student studying Chinese philosophy, earning an AM in 1927, followed by a PhD in 1929 with a dissertation entitled "Sinism: A Study of the Evolution of the Chinese World-view". He began his postdoctoral career as an assistant professor of psychology at Lombard College from 1929 to 1930. He was awarded fellowships by the American Council of Learned Societies (1930–1933), the Harvard-Yenching Institute (1931–1935) and the Rockefeller Foundation (1936, 1945 –1946). In 1936 he accepted a post at the University of Chicago, where he was an instructor in Chinese history and language until he was appointed assistant professor of early Chinese literature and institutions in 1937.

Creel was one of the founders of the university's Far Eastern studies program in the 1930s and had a major role in building its Far Eastern Library. He ordered some 5,000 books a year from dealers in China, then, in 1939, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation he returned to China, then in the grips of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the city of Beiping (Beijing) was occupied by the Japanese Army. He bought more than 75,000 volumes for the library, especially those dealing with the pre-modern period.

Creel was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 1941 and full Professor in 1949. He served as a Lieutenant Colonel of military intelligence in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during the Second World War. He remained as a professor until 1964, when he became the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Chinese History until 1974.

Societies and publishing
Creel was a member of the Committee on Chinese Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies, a member of its Committee on Far Eastern Studies, and the President of the American Oriental Society. He was also a member of the Association for Asian Studies as well as a member of the American Philosophical Society. The most influential of Creel’s books include The Birth of China (1936), the first detailed account of the significance of the archaeological excavations at Anyang, which quickly attracted global interest; Studies in Early Chinese Culture (1937) which was an influential collection of monographic essays; ''Literary Chinese by the Inductive Method, vols. I–III (1938–52), a groundbreaking and controversial attempt to teach literary Chinese through carefully glossed excerpts of standard classical texts; Newspaper Chinese by the Inductive Method (1943), an effort to apply identical pedagogical techniques to the analysis of Chinese newspapers; Confucius, the Man and the Myth (1949), a critical analysis of the philosopher Confucius; Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung (1953), a survey of Chinese thought; The Origins of Statecraft in China, Vol. 1: The Western Chou Empire (University of Chicago Press, 1970), a judicial account of the polity of the Western Zhou dynasty; What is Taoism? and Other Studies in Chinese Cultural History (University of Chicago Press, 1970) and Shen Pu-hai: A Chinese Political Philosophy of the Fourth Century B.C.'' (1974), a monograph on Shen Buhai, an early Chinese specialist on administrative technique.

Style and legacy
Creel was especially known for Confucius: The Man and the Myth (1949), which argued that Confucius had been misunderstood because legend had obscured the facts of his life and his ideas. Creel held that Confucius was a reformer and an individualist, as well as a democratic and revolutionary teacher.

From the start of his career in the 1930s, Creel was an outspoken proponent of the theory that Chinese characters are inherently ideographic in nature. He was opposed by sinologists Peter A. Boodberg and Paul Pelliot, who believed that phonetic principles played a large role in the early history of Chinese characters. The debate has continued many decades later without either side being able to discredit the other.

Creel died at his home in Palos Park, Illinois, after a long illness, on June 1, 1994, at the age of 89.

Selected works

 * Creel, H. G. (1936). The Birth of China. London: Jonathan Cape.  Rpt. New York: John Day, 1937; New York: Frederick Ungar: 1954.
 * ——— (1938–52). Literary Chinese by the Inductive Method, 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 * ——— (1949). Confucius, the Man and the Myth. New York: John Day. Rpt. under title: Confucius and the Chinese Way, New York: Harper, 1960.
 * ——— (1953). Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 * ——— (1970). What is Taoism? and Other Studies in Cultural History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 * ——— (1970). The Origins of Statecraft in China, vol. 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 * ——— (1974). Shen Pu-hai. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
 * ——— (1970). The Origins of Statecraft in China, vol. 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 * ——— (1974). Shen Pu-hai. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.

title: Herrlee G. Creel


text:
User talk:Zamfi

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
It could just be me, but recent edits to this article seem to me to say way too much about how great MIT is, and seem to be moving it in the direction of being a bland PR puff job. I'd appreciate it if previous contributors would keep an eye on this article and make sure it reflects a reasonable consensus about what "neutrality" means. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith (talk)]] 19:40, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Typographical remarks
Hi Joe,

I noticed that you modified Căile_Ferate_Române to correct some "s=>ş and t=>ţ". It's worth noting, though, that the correct symbol in Romanian for the sound /ʃ/ (/sh/ in English -- see IPA, if you're not already familiar with the notation) is not ş but is rather ș. The same is true for ţ, which should be ț. Unfortunately, as far I can tell, these are not available in the Wikipedia "insert special characters" list that appears when you edit pages, so it can be rather a pain to input them.

More information is available at Romanian_alphabet. As that page states, using the cedille instead of a comma is "considered incorrect by the langauge academy," but that "[a]ctual Romanian writings, included books created to teach children to write, treat the comma and cedilla as a variation in font."

Just letting you know...

--Zamfi 16:31, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

 * Yes, I know, but since our article titles use "ş" and "ţ", the other would result in a bunch of broken links. Also, as you note, they are not in "insert special characters", so they are very unlikely to get used much in Wikipedia. Also, they are not in a lot of fonts: I'm currently working (on contract) for the Microsoft group involved in internationalization of software, and the font set I was issued at work (which works fine for Chinese, for example) does not include these characters! Dar mulţumesc. Sau, dacă vreţi, mulțumesc. -- Jmabel | Talk 17:28, July 22, 2005 (UTC)

Our forum
Welcome to the Romanian Wikipedia notice board! This page is a portal for all Romanian-related topics and a place for Romanian editors to gather and socialize and debate. Discussions are encouraged, in both English and Romanian. Post any inquiry under their relevant cathegory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Romanian_Wikipedian%27s_notice_board

--Anittas 19:59, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

MIT
The article on MIT has undergone some significant changes over the last month to prepare for a peer review and nomination for Featured Article. Because you have contributed previously, please review the changes and the discussion board. Madcoverboy 18:50, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject Romania
--Codrin.B (talk) 05:11, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:Zamfi


text:
MFI

MFI or M.F.I. may refer to:

Companies and organizations

 * MFI Foundation Inc., non-profit science foundation in the Philippines
 * MFI Group, British furniture retailer
 * Media Factory, Inc., anime company
 * Messiah Foundation International, a spiritual organization
 * Microfinance institution, alternate form of bank in developing countries which provides microcredit lending
 * MindFreedom International, group that fights involuntary therapy
 * Ministers Fellowship International, fellowship of non-denominational charismatic churches
 * Missionary Flights International, a religious charity providing aviation support with DC-3 aircraft

Other

 * MFi Program, "Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad", a licensing program for developers of hardware and software for Apple products
 * Magnetic field imaging, a noninvasive and contact-free cardiac diagnostic method
 * Melt flow index, a measure of the ease of flow of the melt of a thermoplastic polymer
 * Micromechanical Flying Insect, ornithopter robot that flies based on insect flight technique
 * Mikoyan Project 1.44, MiG-MFI, Russian fighter aircraft project (cancelled)
 * Minimum Fisher information, variational principle in information theory
 * Money flow index, indicator in technical analysis

title: MFI


text:
Joseph Cordiano

Joseph Cordiano (born October 30, 1957) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 2006 who represented the riding of Downsview. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty.

Background
Cordiano was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Italian immigrants. He was educated at the University of Toronto and the University of Toledo in Ohio, graduating from the latter with a Master's Degree in Business Administration. He was the owner and General Manager of Cash Rolls of Canada.

Politics
Cordiano was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1985, defeating incumbent New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo by 221 votes in the Toronto riding of Downsview. He was re-elected by a greater margin in the redistributed riding of Lawrence in the provincial election of 1987. He served as Parliamentary Assistant to several ministers.

The Liberals were upset by the NDP in the provincial election of 1990 and Cordiano faced a difficult challenge from NDP candidate Shalom Schachter, winning by 11,786 votes to 10,179. He subsequently emerged as a prominent voice for the provincial Liberal Party within Toronto. The provincial election of 1995 saw Cordiano win his riding by a comfortable margin — the provincial swing was to the Progressive Conservative Party, but the PCs did not have enough support in Lawrence to seriously compete for the riding.

When Lyn McLeod resigned as Liberal leader in 1996, Cordiano announced his candidacy to succeed her. At first, many saw him as the leading challenger to frontrunner Gerard Kennedy, who was regarded as representing the left-wing of the party. Cordiano, in turn, was seen by many as representing the party's establishment, while holding some right-wing leanings.

The leadership convention was held in November 1996. Cordiano finished second to Kennedy on the first ballot, but was unable to build upon his position in later counts. Dalton McGuinty tied him for second place on the third ballot, and overtook him on the fourth. Cordiano supported McGuinty on the fifth ballot, and was thereby largely responsible for McGuinty's victory over Kennedy for the party's leadership. Cordiano was subsequently named as Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and held this position until 1998. His replacement by Gerry Phillips as Deputy Leader angered some in the province's Italian community.

Cordiano and Kennedy were again rivals in the provincial election of 1999, this time for the Liberal nomination in the redistributed riding of York South—Weston. Kennedy was convinced by the party leadership to run elsewhere, and Cordiano won an easy victory in the election which followed. The Progressive Conservatives were re-elected in the general election, however, and Cordiano remained on the opposition benches. In 2000, he was appointed opposition critic for financial institutions.

The Liberals won the provincial election of 2003, and Cordiano won another easy victory in York South—Weston. On October 23, 2003, Cordiano was named Minister for Economic Development and Trade.

Cordiano was the architect behind the Ontario Automotive Investment Strategy that saw the province leverage over $7 billion in new automotive investment into the province. Under his term as Minister, Ontario replaced Michigan as the largest auto-producing jurisdiction in North America. He was also responsible for the securing a new Toyota assembly plant in Woodstock, Ontario. This was Ontario's first new assembly plant in over 20 years. Jurisdictions across the United States were in competition for this highly sought after investment that created 1,300 direct jobs and thousands more in related sectors.

Cordiano resigned from the cabinet and the legislature on September 18, 2006, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

Later life
After leaving politics, Cordiano became President of Dominus Construction Group and Principal of Cityzen Development Group. He has remained engaged in public life as a board member of West Park Healthcentre. He currently sits as an advisory board member of the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto. Cordiano is also a member of the Board of Advisors of MobileBits.

title: Joseph Cordiano


text:
Melville, Saskatchewan

Melville is a city in the east-central portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. The city is about 145 km northeast of the provincial capital of Regina and 45 km southwest of Yorkton. Melville is bordered by the rural municipalities of Cana No. 214 and Stanley No. 215. Its population at the 2016 census was 4,562, making it Saskatchewan's smallest city. It is also home of hockey's Melville Millionaires, who compete in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and baseball's Melville Millionaires, who competed in the Western Canadian Baseball League until 2019.

History
According to What's in a Name?: The Story Behind Saskatchewan Places and Names by E. T. Russell, and People Places: Contemporary Saskatchewan Place Names by Bill Barry, the city was named for Charles Melville Hays, who at the time of the settlement's initial construction was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Hays was on board the RMS Titanic when it sank; he did not make it off the ship.

Pearl Park was the area's first post office established in 1905 near Pearl Creek, a tributary of the Qu'Appelle River. Melville was declared a city by the province in 1960.

Government
The mayor of Melville is Dr. Walter Streelasky.

Provincially, Melville is within the constituency of Melville-Saltcoats. It is currently represented by Saskatchewan Party MLA Warren Kaeding.

Melville is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by the MP of the Yorkton—Melville riding, currently Cathay Wagantall of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Melville had a population of $4,493$ living in $2,078$ of its $2,296$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $4,562$. With a land area of 14.78 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Infrastructure
Melville's namesake was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Charles Melville Hays. Since Melville's founding in 1908, it has served as a nexus for railroad activity, currently including that of Canadian National Railway and Via Rail, the latter for which Melville effectively serves as the main rail-to-bus connection to Regina for its passengers. Today, the transcontinental Canadian train, operated by national passenger rail carrier Via Rail, serves the Melville railway station twice per week eastbound and twice westbound.

In 2002 the St. Peter's Hospital was constructed. St. Peter's was founded in 1940 as a municipal hospital by the Sisters of St. Martha, based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Next to St. Peter's is the St. Paul Lutheran Home.

The Melville Railway Museum (c. 1911) is a Municipal Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.

The Melville Heritage Museum is in the original Luther College (formerly Luther Academy) building, built in 1913. The Luther Academy moved to Regina in 1926. After a stint as St. Paul's Home for the Aged and Orphans, the building was declared a heritage site, opening as a museum in the early 1980s.

Melville's connections by road to other communities include Highways 10, 15, and 47. The closest major centre to Melville is the city of Yorkton, 43 km to the northeast.

Melville Municipal Airport is located 1.5 NM east of the city.

Education
Melville is served by public and Catholic schools: École St. Henry's Junior Elementary School, and St. Henry's Sr School are both part of the Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division  Davison School, as part of the Good Spirit School Division offers pre-kindergarten to grade 6 education. The Melville Comprehensive School, a part of the Good Spirit School Division provides secondary education. Parkland Regional College provides post secondary technical training and operates a campus out of the Melville Comprehensive High School building. Parkland College operates its NFPA fire training field near the Melville Municipal Airport.

Sports
Melville is home to the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, as well as the Melville Millionaires of the Western Canadian Baseball League, who last played in the 2019 season.

In 2011 the Melville Communiplex opened. The federal and provincial governments covered $20 million of the construction costs of the $24.5 million facility. The Communiplex has an NHL size ice surface and seating capacity for 1,500 people, a walking track, fitness and cardio care facilities, and a convention centre. It replaces the existing 60-year-old Melville Stadium, home to the Melville Millionaires. The city also has an 18-hole golf course.

Media

 * Newspaper
 * The Melville Advance, a weekly paper.

 * Radio

Melville currently has no current FM or AM radio stations, instead they are serviced by a digital radio station called: The Buzz (www.TheBuzzRocks.ca)

Television
 * CICC-TV Yorkton channel 10, CTV, SNN

Melville Regional Park
Originally founded in the 1960s on "reclaimed wasteland", Melville Regional Park (50.9369°N, -102.7961°W) has amenities such as a campground, golf course, outdoor swimming pool, ball diamonds, and the Melville Railway Museum.

The campground has 126 campsites, free firewood, electrical and water hookups, sewer disposal, and modern washrooms and showers. Other amenities at the regional park include cross-country ski trails, horseshoe pits, disk golf, an off-leash dog park, and hiking trails.

The golf course, Melville Golf and Country Club, is an 18-hole, par 70 course. It has a total of 6,055 yards, a licensed clubhouse, and a pro shop. The course is on the north side of Melville and is set on rolling hills with Crescent Creek running through it.

Popular culture
In the film Hannibal Rising (2007), title character Hannibal Lecter shows up in the "hamlet of Melville" in the final scene. However the town depicted is surrounded by forest and is referred to as "near Saskatoon".

Notable people

 * George Abel – Olympic gold medalist
 * Sid Abel – Hockey Hall of Famer
 * Phil Besler – Former NHL player for the Detroit Red Wings
 * Evan Carlson – Former Saskatchewan MLA
 * Tim Cheveldae – NHL goaltender for the Winnipeg Jets, and Detroit Red Wings
 * Jimmy Franks – Former NHL goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings
 * Shaun Heshka – NHL player for the Phoenix Coyotes
 * Sol Kanee – President of the Canadian Jewish Congress from 1971 to 1974
 * Todd McLellan – Head coach of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings
 * Mike Morin – Former professional ice hockey player
 * Alex Motter – Former NHL player for the Detroit Red Wings
 * Terry Puhl – Retired MLB player for the Houston Astros
 * Roger Reinson – Retired CFL player, 3-time Grey Cup Champion
 * Damon Severson – NHL player for the New Jersey Devils
 * Jarret Stoll – Former NHL player for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild
 * Arch Wilder – Former NHL player for the Detroit Red Wings
 * Mike Woloschuk – Former curler at men's world championships and two-time gold medalist at Pacific-Asia Curling Championships
 * Lyall Woznesensky – Former CFL defensive lineman

title: Melville, Saskatchewan


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Luta Livre

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was - kept

Luta Livre
Nothing more than a dictdef. If there's something of significance about Brazilian martial arts that makes this worth keeping, it needs to be added. RickK 19:45, Oct 2, 2004 (UTC)
 * keep, could be valuable start?--georingo 20:45, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Stub could be expanded.   — Gwalla | Talk 21:36, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep Could become an valuable article. jni 12:52, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep Luta livre is a significant martial art in Brazilian culture. See Talk:Luta_Livre for more info on the art. --Aesopian 02:19, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep significant - but article use expansion --Cje 09:10, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.


text:
Talk:List of townships in Ohio

Flushing County
There is no Flushing County, Ohio, but several townships are being listed as in it. PedanticallySpeaking 19:47, Oct 2, 2004 (UTC)
 * I think it was somehow an error for Belmont County. If you look at the page history, you'll see that the Belmont County townships were added months after the rest of the page was created, and for every Belmont County township, there's also a Flushing County township.  Nyttend 13:49, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Bot for Ohio Townships Project
I created WikiProject Ohio townships yesterday after having gone through and manually created articles on all the townships in Butler, Warren, and Clinton counties, e.g. Oxford Township, Butler County, Ohio. There is a wealth of data on each township in the Census data, which are also available more easily through Ohio State's site. Bots were used to create articles from this data on all of Ohio's villages and cities and I wonder if someone would be willing to create and operate a bot for me to add the Census data to the existing articles and to create new ones. I have some guidelines on the project page for how these articles should be set up. If someone's interested, please let me know on my talk page. And I'd welcome anyone to join the project as well. PedanticallySpeaking 15:20, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

Naming convention
I've proposed a standard form for naming articles on Ohio school districts: Naming conventions (Ohio school districts), which could easily be extended to apply to districts in other states. I'd welcome some feedback on this. PedanticallySpeaking 16:55, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

Townships not municipalities
A useful summary of the legal distinction between townships and municipalities appears near the top of the Supreme Court's opinion in Carroll v. Washington Township Zoning Commission, 56 Ohio St.2d 164, and specifically applied to a municipalities-vs-townships context by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals in Hamilton v. Fairfield Township, 112 Ohio App.3d 255. Good to include in the reworked intro. Nyttend (talk) 14:10, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

New resource
See for 2010 data. Nyttend (talk) 11:41, 4 May 2016 (UTC)
 * See page 224 of for Census Bureau documentation and a general encompassing term, "subcounty general purpose governments".  Nyttend (talk) 13:41, 4 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Also for 2010 data; each township is listed with clear distinctions between incorporated and unincorporated populations.  Nyttend (talk) 19:51, 9 June 2016 (UTC)

New columns

 * Jurisdiction
 * Classification
 * County
 * 2010 pop.
 * Photo

title: Talk:List of townships in Ohio


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Euclides da Cunha

Euclides da Cunha (, January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is Os Sertões (Rebellion in the Backlands), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions promoted by the Brazilian government against the rebellious village of Canudos, known as the War of Canudos.

This book was a favorite of Robert Lowell, who ranked it above Tolstoy. Jorge Luis Borges also commented on it in his short story "Three Versions of Judas". The book was translated into English by Samuel Putnam and published by the University of Chicago Press in 1944. It remains in print. He was heavily influenced by Naturalism and its Darwinian proponents. Os Sertões characterised the coast of Brazil as a chain of civilisations while the interior remained more primitive. He occupied the 7th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1903 until his death in 1909.

He served as inspiration for the character of The Journalist in Mario Vargas Llosa's The War of the End of the World.

Timeline

Euclides da Cunha was born January 20, 1866, in Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he lived until he was three years old. His grandparents were of Portuguese origin. He attended in 1885 Escola Politécnica, and after he attended Escola Militar da Praia Vermelha, a military school in Rio, beginning in 1886. He was expelled from the military school in 1888, due to his participation in an act of protest during a visit of the Brazilian War Minister, Tomás José Coelho de Almeida, who was a member of the last Conservative cabinet of the Brazilian Empire. He was readmitted to the Escola Militar in 1889. He was admitted to the Brazilian War School (Escola de Guerra) in 1891. He was discharged from the Army in 1896 in order to dedicate himself to studying civil engineering.

In 1897 he accompanied the Army in the Campanha de Canudos, against a rebellious group of peasants under the leadership of Antonio Conselheiro. Between 7 August and 1 October, he was in the Sertão ("backland"), as war correspondent for the O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper. In 1903 he was elected to the Academia Brasileira de Letras (Brazilian Academy of Letters) and the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico, the Historical and Geographic Institute In 1904, Da Cunha was employed on a joint Brazilian-Peruvian expedition to determine a border between the countries. This expedition travelled down the Purus River, which was heavily exploited by rubber tappers. During this time, Da Cunha produced his essay "Os Caucheros" which provides an architype for the "cauchero" or rubber tapper. According to historian Susanna B. Hecht, who wrote The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides Da Cunha, Carlos Scharff, a successful rubber baron on the Purus River, was "the model for the Caucho King in Da Cunha's essay Os Caucheiros". In 1909 Da Cunha was admitted as chairman and professor of Logic at the Colégio Pedro II, a public secondary school in Rio.

Euclides da Cunha married Ana Emília Ribeiro, daughter of major Sólon Ribeiro, in 1890. The couple had five children. Ana Emília had an affair with Dilermando de Assis, a young Army lieutenant. On August 15, 1909, finding about his wife's affair, da Cunha went to Assis' house to kill him. He shot Assis and his brother Dinorah, failing to kill either. Assis shot da Cunha when Euclides had already left his house, and the writer was killed. According to Hecht's account, there was doubt whether Dilermando murdered a fleeing man who had run out of bullets, or whether Euclides still was a threat to Dilermando (which would make the murder self-defense.) The jury decided for the latter scenario and acquitted Dilermando. Da Cunha was 43 years old.

Works

 * 1902 Os Sertões (Rebellion in the Backlands: University of Chicago Press ISBN 978-0-226-12444-5) -- also Penguin Classics in a new translation, ISBN 978-0-14-310607-4
 * 1907 Contrastes e confrontos, lit. Contrasts and Confrontations
 * 1907 Peru versus Bolívia
 * 1909 À margem da história - series of essays written by Da Cunha after the Peruvian-Brazilian joint expedition on the Upper Amazon.
 * 1939 Canudos, diário de uma expedição – news articles published in the periodical O Estado de S. Paulo
 * 1967 Canudos e inéditos – news articles published by the periodical O Estado de S. Paulo

title: Euclides da Cunha


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Melfort, Saskatchewan

Melfort (2016 population 5,992) is a city in Saskatchewan, Canada, located approximately 95 km southeast of Prince Albert, 172 km northeast of Saskatoon and 280 km north of Regina.

Melfort became Saskatchewan's 12th city in 1980. Melfort was formerly called the "City of Northern Lights" due to the frequency with which the aurora borealis appears. However, in 2016, Melfort became "Play Melfort" due to its vast recreation programs and facilities.

The city is bordered by the Rural Municipality of Star City No. 428 and the Rural Municipality of Flett's Springs No. 429. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Peter Chapman First Nation band government.

History
A few kilometres southeast of current location of Melfort settlers established themselves on the banks of Stoney Creek before relocation due to the surveying of the Canadian Northern Railway. Melfort was named to honour Mrs. Reginald Beatty (née Mary Campbell, 1856–1916), wife of one of the early settlers (1884). She was born on the Melfort estate, south of Oban, in Argyllshire, Scotland.

Melfort's first post office was established August 1, 1892, in the provisional district of the North West Territories with Benjamin Rothwell as the first postmaster.

The community became a village on November 4, 1903, and incorporated as a town July 1, 1907. It finally became the twelfth city of Saskatchewan on September 2, 1980.

Three one-room school houses used the name "Melfort". Melfort School District No. 54, later called Tiger Lily No. 54 17, near Pleasantdale. (Pleasantdale post office was previously named Windgap and was located at Township 41, Range 18 west of the 2nd Meridian). Melfort School District No. 318 was established in 1904 at Clemens, Rural Route 1, Melfort. Melfort School District No. 1037 was the last one-room school house to use this name.

Geography
Melfort is on the banks of Melfort Creek in the Carrot River Valley. The valley is noted for its black loamy soil and productive agricultural lands. The drainage region for Melfort is the Lower Saskatchewan - Nelson and the area is characterized by a prairie ecozone. The Tiger Hills Uplands ecozone provides rich soil to grow a diversity of crops. Melfort Research Farm is located south of Melfort in the Boreal Shield ecozone and the Churchill drainage basin. The farm's main purpose is to research crops and crop systems for northern prairie black and grey soil zones. The Melfort branch of the Canadian Legion has assembled a photographic display of the geographic memorials designated to honour the war dead.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Melfort had a population of $5,955$ living in $2,575$ of its $2,788$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $5,992$. With a land area of 14.73 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Climate
Melfort experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb). The highest temperature ever recorded in Melfort was 41.1 C on 19 July 1941. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -47.2 C on 28 January 1966.

Economy
The Agriculture Melfort Research Station is centred in Melfort along with many other agriculturally based industries.

The Melfort Research Farm near Melfort was established in 1935 by the Federal Minister of Agriculture. It is one of the three field sites of the Saskatoon Research Centre (SRC). SRC is one of nineteen research branches of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Melfort is near a large diamond exploration site. The ongoing diamond exploration by a joint venture between Shore Gold Inc. Newmont Mining Corporation of Canada in the Fort à la Corne district was expected to begin mine construction in 2012.

Attractions
Within the city of Melfort is the Melfort Golf & Country Club, which hosts an 18-hole grass greens golf course, and the Spruce Haven picnic area. A show ring, grandstand, museum, and exhibition building are all located within the Melfort Exhibition Grounds. The Melfort & District Museum next door showcases pioneering equipment, tools, farm machinery, archival documents as well as early settler's buildings  Neighbouring points of interest are Fort Carleton, Duck Lake, and Seager Wheeler's Maple Grove Farm.

Sports and recreation
Melfort was home to the 2006 Saskatchewan Winter Games, the 1988 Saskatchewan Summer Games, the 1996 Royal Bank Cup Canadian Junior 'A' Hockey Championships, the 1995 Saskatchewan Men's Curling Pool Tankard finals and the 2002 Saskatchewan women's Scott Tournament of Hearts finals. The Kerry Vickar Centre, a multi purpose sports and leisure facility, opened in the autumn of 2009 The previous multi-use facility at that location, the North East Leisure Centre, was taken down to make way for the new Kerry Vickar Centre. Melfort offers countless recreational opportunities for families and friends including swimming, camping, skiing, fishing, and golfing, among other things.

Ice hockey
Hockey is a key part of Saskatchewan's lifestyle and Melfort is no different. The Melfort Mustangs play in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Mustangs are well known in Canadian hockey circles in many ways—for instance Marc Habscheid, past coach of Canada's World Junior team, started his coaching career with the Mustangs in 1996. Other notable Mustang alumni include Willie Mitchell of the Los Angeles Kings and Ruslan Fedetenko formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Government
Municipal affairs are handled by the city's mayor, Glenn George and council. City council currently consists of George and six councillors. The Rural Municipality of Flett's Springs No. 429 office is located on McDonald Avenue West in Melfort and provides municipal rural affairs to the small unincorporated areas of Claggett, Ethelton, Ethelton Airport, Flett Springs, Lipsett, McMichael, Melfort Airport, Minto Park, Pathlow, and Taylorside.

Melfort is in the federal electoral district of Prince Albert with their Member of Parliament being Randy Hoback.

Provincially, the area is within the constituency of Melfort with its MLA being Todd Goudy. He was preceded by Rod Gantefoer.

Transportation
Melfort is located at the junction of two primary route highways, Highway 3 and Highway 6 where they meet with secondary Highway 41. Approximately 327 km of Highway 6 contributes to the CanAm Highway between Corinne and Melfort. Approximately 96 km of Highway 3 contribute to the CanAm Highway between Melfort and Prince Albert. Melfort is approximately 174 km northeast of the largest provincial city, Saskatoon along Highway 41 (turning onto Highway 5) and approximately 94 km southeast of Prince Albert via the CanAm Highway.

Melfort (Miller Field) Aerodrome, is located 2.6 NM west of Melfort.

In 1925, Melfort was listed as a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) station on the CPR Melfort Subdivision. Melfort is currently a CNR interchange point and railway station on the Tisdale, St. Brieux and Brooksby Subdivisions.

Education
The government's Canada-Saskatchewan Career and Employment Services office was to be combined with Melfort's Comprehensive High School and the Cumberland Regional College. The Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate provides education to grades 7 to 12 and is a part of the North East School Division No. 200.

Historically students in Melfort were educated at the Melfort School District Unit 54.

Media
The Melfort Journal, owned by Postmedia Network, is the city's weekly newspaper.

Jim Pattison Group owns two radio stations in Melfort, country station CJVR-FM, and adult hits station CKJH.

Notable people

 * Martine Gaillard is a sports television personality currently working for Rogers Sportsnet
 * Lorne Henning, born in Melfort, is a Canadian NHL hockey executive and was previously a player and coach in the NHL.
 * Arthur Hill was a Canadian actor best known for appearances in British and American theatre, movies and television.
 * Gordon Kirkby, born in Melfort, is a former mayor of Prince Albert (1988-1993) and Member of Parliament for Prince Albert--Churchill River (1993-1997).
 * Lane Lambert, born in Melfort, is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward, uncle of Finnish-Canadian player Brad Lambert and is currently the head coach of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League.
 * Pat MacLeod, born in Melfort, is a former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL for the Minnesota North Stars, San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars in the 1990s.
 * Jaden Schwartz, born in Melfort, is a current professional ice hockey forward who plays in the NHL for the Seattle Kraken.
 * Nicole Watt, born in Melfort is a Canadian Women's figure skating Canadian silver medalist.
 * Steven Woods, born in Melfort is a Canadian entrepreneur and co-founder of Quack.com, the first popular voice portal platform, in 1998.
 * Logan Ferland, born in Melfort is an offensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, formerly of the Regina Thunder football club and the Melfort Comets football program.
 * Tyson Strachan, born in Melfort, is a former National Hockey League (NHL) defenceman.

title: Melfort, Saskatchewan