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Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Islam is the most widespread religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was introduced to the local population in the 15th and 16th centuries as a result of the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Muslims make the largest religious community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (52%) (the other two large groups being Eastern Orthodox Christians (31%), almost all of whom identify as Serbs, and Roman Catholics (16%), almost all of whom identify as Croats). Another estimate done by PEW Research states that 50% of the population is Muslim, 35% Orthodox and only 9% Catholic.

Almost all of Bosnian Muslims identify as Bosniaks; until 1993, Bosnians of Muslim culture or origin (regardless of religious practice) were defined by Yugoslav authorities as Muslimani (Muslims) in an ethno-national sense (hence the capital M), though some people of Bosniak or Muslim backgrounds identified their nationality (in an ethnic sense rather than strictly in terms of citizenship) as "Yugoslav" prior to the early 1990s. A small minority of non-Bosniak Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina include Albanians, Roma and Turks.

Albeit traditionally adherent to Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, a 2012 survey found 54% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Muslims to consider themselves just Muslims, while 38% told that they are Sunni Muslims. There is also a small Sufi community, located primarily in Central Bosnia. A small Shia Muslim community is also present in Bosnia. Almost all Muslim congregations in Bosnia and Herzegovina refer to the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina as their religious organisation.

The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina guarantees freedom of religion, which is generally upheld throughout the country.

The Ottoman era
Islam was first introduced to the Balkans on a large scale by the Ottomans in the mid-to-late 15th century who gained control of most of Bosnia in 1463, and seized Herzegovina in the 1480s. Over the next century, the Bosnians – composed of native Christians and Slavic tribes living in the Bosnian kingdom under the name of Bošnjani – were converted to Islam in great numbers during the Islamization of Bosnia under Ottoman rule. During the Ottoman era the name Bošnjanin was definitely transformed into the current Bošnjak ('Bosniak'), with the suffix -ak replacing the traditional -anin. By the early 1600s, approximately two thirds of the population of Bosnia were Muslim. Bosnia and Herzegovina remained a province in the Ottoman Empire and gained autonomy after the Bosnian uprising in 1831. Large numbers of mosques were built all over the province. Most mosques erected during the Ottoman era were of relatively modest construction, often with a single minaret and central prayer hall with few adjoining foyers.

The Austro-Hungarian era
After the 1878 Congress of Berlin, Bosnia and Herzegovina came under the control of Austria-Hungary. In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally annexed the region. Unlike post-Reconquista Spain, the Austro-Hungarian authorities made no attempt to convert the citizens of this newly-acquired territory as the December Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, and so Bosnia and Herzegovina remained Muslim.

Bosnia, along with Albania and Kosovo were the only parts of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans where large numbers of people were converted to Islam, and remained there after independence. In other areas of the former Ottoman Empire where Muslims formed the majority or started to form the majority, those Muslims were either expelled, assimilated/Christianized, massacred, or fled elsewhere (Muhajirs).

The post-war period
Many Islamic religious buildings were damaged or destroyed in the Bosnian War during the 90s, with up to 80% of well-over 4000 different buildings, and several mosques were rebuilt with the aid of funds from Saudi Arabia and other countries from the Middle and far East.

Historically, Bosnian Muslims had always practiced a form of Islam that is strongly influenced by Sufism. Since the Bosnian War, however, some remnants of groups of foreign fighters from the Middle East fighting on the side of Bosnian Army, remained for some time and attempted to spread Wahhabism among locals. With very limited success these foreigners only created friction between local Muslim population, steeped in their own traditional practice of the faith, and without any previous contact with this strain in Islam, and themselves.

Although these communities were relatively small and peaceful, restricted to a certain number of villages around central and northern Bosnia, the issue was highly politicized by local nationalists and officials, as well as officials and diplomats from countries like Croatia, Czech Republic and Serbia, to the point of outright fiction. Security Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time, Dragan Mektić of SDS, reacted strongly on such falsehoods by pointing on seriousness of such conspiratorial claims, and warned on possibility of further dangerous politicization and even acts of violence with an aim of labeling Bosnian Muslims as radicals.

Demographics
In the 2013 census the declared religious affiliation of the population was: Islam (1,790,454 people) and Muslim (22,068 people). Islam has 1.8 million adherents, making up about 51% of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina. PEW survey says that there are 52% Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The municipalities of Bužim (99.7%) and Teočak (99.7%) have the highest share of Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Contemporary relations
For a majority of Bosniaks that identify themselves as Muslims, religion often serves as a community linkage, and religious practice is confined to occasional visits to the mosque (especially during Ramadan and the two Eids) and significant rites of passage such as aqiqah, marriage, and death. Headscarves for women, or the hijab, is worn only by a minority of Bosniak women, or otherwise mostly for religious purpose (such as the çarşaf for prayer and going to the mosque). Religious leaders from the three major faiths claim that observance is increasing among younger people as an expression of increased identification with their ethnic heritage, in large part due to the national religious revival that occurred as a result of the Bosnian war. Leaders from the three main religious communities observed that they enjoy greater support from their believers after the end of Bosnian war. On the other hand, however, the violence and misery caused by religious conflict has led a small number of Bosnians to reject religion altogether. This atheist community faces discrimination, and is frequently verbally attacked by religious leaders as "corrupt people without morals". According to the latest census, openly-declared atheists make up 0.79% of Bosnia's population.

In a 1998 public opinion poll, 78.3% of Bosniaks in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared themselves to be religious.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are eight muftis located in major municipalities across the country: Sarajevo, Bihać, Travnik, Tuzla, Goražde, Zenica, Mostar, and Banja Luka. The head of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina is Husein Kavazović.

title: Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina


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2004 United States presidential election in California

The 2004 United States presidential election in California took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 55 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

California was won by Democratic nominee John Kerry by a 9.95% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 12 news organizations considered this a state Kerry would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Republican presidential candidates have not taken California's electoral votes since Bush's father George H. W. Bush in his victory over Michael Dukakis in 1988. Bush would become the first and only Republican to win two terms in the White House without winning California at least once. With its 55 electoral votes, California was John Kerry's biggest electoral prize in 2004.

This is the only election since 1880 in which the Republican nominee won the nationwide popular vote without California, the only time since 1976 that it voted for the popular vote loser, and the only time ever that a Republican president has won re-election without winning California. This is also the only time since its statehood that a presidential candidate was elected to two terms to the presidency without winning the state either time.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time a Republican presidential candidate received more than 40% of the vote in California, where the margin of victory was in single digits, and where the Democratic Party failed to obtain at least 60% of the vote. Bush remains the last Republican candidate to win the following counties in a presidential election: Fresno, Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, and Ventura, and also the last candidate of any party to win Butte and Stanislaus counties by a majority. This was also the only time since 1960 that California voted for a different presidential candidate than nearby New Mexico. It also remains the last presidential election that a Republican won more than a third of the vote in Los Angeles County and also the last time that the gap between the Republican and Democratic candidates was less than two million votes.

Primaries

 * 2004 California Democratic presidential primary
 * 2004 California Republican presidential primary

Predictions
There were 12 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day.

Polling
Kerry led every single pre-election poll. The final 3 polls average Kerry leading at 52% to Bush at 43% to Nader at 2%.

Fundraising
Bush raised $20,296,645, the second most money raised state for him. It accounted for 10.7% of all the money he raised in 2004. Kerry raised $36,378,063, which is by far the most money raised for Kerry by any state. The money raised in California accounted for almost 20% of all money he raised in 2004.

Advertising and visits
Neither Kerry nor Bush advertised or campaigned in the state during the fall election.

Analysis
California was once a Republican leaning swing state, supporting Republican candidates in every election from 1952 through 1988, except in 1964. However, since the 1990s, California has become a reliably Democratic state with a highly diverse ethnic population (mostly Latino) and liberal bastions such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County. The last time the state was won by a Republican candidate was in 1988 by George H. W. Bush.

In 2004, the state did swing slightly Republican by a 1.9% margin from 2000 due to strong swings in heavily populated San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Kern, Fresno, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties, in all of which Bush increased his margin by substantially more than he did nationally, and all of which save San Diego, San Joaquin, and Ventura he won by double digits. Bush also won over a million votes in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States; and he held Kerry to a 0.2% margin in Sacramento County (which Gore had won by 4.0%). Bush also benefited from strong support by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's Republican governor. These factors likely contributed to California being closer than expected in 2004.

Nonetheless, this proved the first time the Democratic Party had won remote Alpine County since 1936 and only the third in that county's 140-year electoral history, and the first time the Democratic nominee carried neighboring Mono County since 1940, and only the seventh since that county was formed in 1861; Bush thus became the first ever Republican to win the White House without carrying the former county, and the first to do so without carrying the latter county since William McKinley in 1896. Kerry further countered Bush's improved performance in Southern California and the Central Valley with large swings towards the Democratic Party in Northern California and the Central Coast. He improved on Al Gore's vote share by over 5% in Alameda, Sonoma, Marin, Santa Barbara, and San Mateo Counties, and in the city of San Francisco; and by over 10% in Santa Cruz County; he also improved on Gore by nearly 5% in San Luis Obispo County, although he didn't succeed in flipping it. In San Francisco, he became the first presidential nominee of any party in at least over a century to crack 80%, as Bush's vote share dipped below not only what he had gotten in 2000, but below Dole's in 1996.

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Alpine (largest municipality: Markleeville)
 * Mono (largest municipality: Mammoth Lakes)

By congressional district
Kerry won 31 of 53 congressional districts. Bush won 22 congressional districts, including two districts held by Democrats.

Electors
Technically the voters of California cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. California is allocated 55 electors because it has 53 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 53 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 53 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.

The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 13, 2004, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.

The following were the members of the Electoral College from California. All were pledged to and voted for John Kerry and John Edwards.

 * 1) Robert H. Manley
 * 2) Barbara Schraeger
 * 3) Paul Johnson
 * 4) Gary Simmons
 * 5) Paul Batterson
 * 6) Diana Madoshi
 * 7) Kyriakos Tsakopoulos
 * 8) Donald Linker
 * 9) Paula Sandusky
 * 10) Adam Woo
 * 11) Chloe Drew
 * 12) Karl Sliferv
 * 13) Gary Prost
 * 14) Joseph Cotchett
 * 15) John Smith
 * 16) George Marcus
 * 17) Mark Hsu
 * 18) Adele Bihn
 * 19) Darrell Darling
 * 20) Amarjit Dhaliwal
 * 21) Rocco Davis
 * 22) Kenneth Costa
 * 23) Barbara Pyle
 * 24) David Johnson
 * 25) Andrew M. Siegel
 * 26) Michael Carpenter
 * 27) Lynda Von Husen
 * 28) Randy Monroe
 * 29) Lane M. Sherman
 * 30) Moreen Blum
 * 31) Yolanda Dyer
 * 32) Paul I. Goldenberg
 * 33) Lenore Wax
 * 34) Mitch O'Farrell
 * 35) Franklin A. Acevedo
 * 36) Gwen Moore
 * 37) Pedro Carillo
 * 38) Karen Walters
 * 39) Ted Lieu
 * 40) Valerie McDonald
 * 41) Marvin
 * 42) Douglas E. Hitchcock
 * 43) Barbara Kerr
 * 44) Salvador Sanchez
 * 45) Joe Baca Jr.
 * 46) Grant Gruber
 * 47) James T. Ewing
 * 48) Louise Giacoppe
 * 49) James G. Bohm
 * 50) Mark Lam
 * 51) Chuck Lower
 * 52) Susan Koehler
 * 53) Mary Salas
 * 54) Andrew Benjamin
 * 55) Margaret Lawrence

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


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Dave Bing

David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

After starring at Syracuse University, Bing played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a point guard for the Detroit Pistons (1966–1975), Washington Bullets (1975–1977), and Boston Celtics (1977–78). During his career, he averaged over 20 points and six assists per game and made seven NBA All-Star Game appearances, winning the game's Most Valuable Player award in 1976. The Pistons celebrated his career accomplishments with the retirement of his #21 jersey. In addition, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and the NBA 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Bing founded Bing Steel, a processing company that earned him the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year award in 1984. Soon the business grew into the multimillion-dollar Detroit-based conglomerate, the Bing Group, one of the largest steel companies in Michigan.

Bing entered Detroit politics as a Democrat in 2008, announcing his intentions to run for mayor in the city's non-partisan primary to finish the term of Kwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned amid a corruption scandal. After winning the primary, Bing then defeated Interim Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. and was sworn in as mayor in May 2009. Later that year, Bing was re-elected to a full term. However, he lost most of his power to Detroit's emergency manager Kevyn Orr, had numerous health problems, and suffered approval ratings as low as 14%. Bing thus did not seek re-election in 2013 and was succeeded by politician and businessman Mike Duggan.

Early life
Bing was born November 24, 1943, in Washington, D.C., to mother Juanita, a housekeeper, and father Hasker, a bricklayer and deacon for the local Baptist church. He was the second child of four living in a two-bedroom, one-story house in the northeast part of town. In his childhood, Bing received the nickname "Duke" from his father, because, according to Bing, he always "wanted to be top dog." He suffered a traumatic eye injury at age five, when, while playing with an improvised hobby horse he constructed with two sticks nailed together; Bing tripped and accidentally poked his left eye with a rusty nail. The family could not afford emergency surgery, leaving the eye to heal on its own and diminishing his vision thereafter. Bing's father also suffered a severe head injury during the boy's childhood. While working a construction site, a brick fell four stories onto his head, causing a brain clot. The episode led young Bing to promise himself that he would never work in such a profession.

In athletics, Bing played basketball, but older children often told him he was too small for the game. However, he played well, triumphing over such older and bigger children as future Motown musician Marvin Gaye, who, after not performing well on the court, chose to sing on the sidelines. Bing and Gaye forged a friendship, which continued later in life. Despite his basketball play, Bing, a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson, focused primarily on baseball, the neighborhood's preferred game.

Despite his fuzzy vision, he excelled in baseball at Spingarn High School, where he enrolled in 1958. Nevertheless, the school's head basketball coach William Roundtree encouraged him to revisit basketball. Roundtree became a fatherly figure to Bing, who decided to join the team. He developed into a double-digits per game scorer, noted for his jump shot and knack for driving to the basket. He continued also to compete in baseball into his senior year, but was forced to choose between it and basketball when a scheduling conflict between two tournaments arose. Though he felt he was better at baseball, Bing opted for basketball, believing it gave him a greater chance at a full-ride college scholarship, well aware of the path taken by Los Angeles Lakers forward Elgin Baylor, a Spingarn alum. At the tournament, Bing led his team to victory and earned MVP honors. All in all, in high school, Bing was a three-year letter winner, all–Inter High, all-Metro, and all-East member. In 1962, he was featured in Parade magazine and made the All-American Team.

College career
Bing attended Syracuse University, where he was once roommates with Jim Boeheim. He led the Orangemen in scoring as a sophomore (22.2) in 1964, as a junior (23.2) in 1965, and as a senior (28.4) in 1966. During his senior year, Bing was fifth in the nation in scoring and was Syracuse's first consensus All-American in 39 years. He was also named to The Sporting News All-America First Team and was named Syracuse Athlete of the Year.

In his three-year varsity career at Syracuse, Bing averaged 24.8 points and 10.3 rebounds, with 1883 total points and 786 total rebounds in 76 games.

Professional career
Bing's playing style was somewhat unusual for the time. As a lean, athletic and explosive point guard, he functioned as the playmaker distributing the ball, but also did more shooting and scoring than most others who had this position. At one time a joke about him and his backcourt partner, Jimmy Walker, was that it was a shame they could only play the game with one ball at a time.

Detroit Pistons (1966–1975)
In 1966, after being selected 2nd overall in the 1966 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons, Bing scored 1,601 points (20.0 points per game), and won the 1967 NBA Rookie of the Year Award while also being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. The next year, he led the NBA in scoring with 2,142 points (27.1 points per game) in 1968.

On November 23, 1968, Bing recorded a triple-double of 39 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a 127–128 loss to the Baltimore Bullets.

Bing sat out 2½ months of the 1971–72 season due to a detached retina incurred from a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, playing in only 45 games that season. While with the Pistons, he played in six NBA All-Star Games (1968, 1969, 1971, 1973–1975), and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1968 and 1971.

Washington Bullets (1975–1977)
After leaving the Detroit Pistons, Bing went on to spend his next two seasons with the Washington Bullets, for whom he was named an NBA All-Star once more in 1976, this time winning the game's MVP Award.

Boston Celtics (1977–1978)
He played his final season with the Boston Celtics, averaging 13.6 points. He then retired at the conclusion of the 1977–1978 season.

Overall, in his NBA career, Bing averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 901 games over 12 NBA seasons, scoring 18,327 points with 5,397 assists.

Honors
Bing was awarded the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1977.

Bing was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.

Bing was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996.

Bing was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Bing was named one of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.

Personal life
Bing is the godfather of Jalen Rose. In 2020, Bing published his autobiography titled 'Attacking the Rim'.

Business career
At age 22 with an NBA contract worth $15,000, Bing was rebuffed by the National Bank of Detroit on getting a mortgage to finance a home. This led Bing to work at the bank during the offseason, holding jobs in the teller, customer relations, and mortgage departments.

Immediately after retiring, he worked at a warehouse of the steel processing company Paragon Steel and was paid $35,000. He left after two years, after stints in the company's shipping and sales operations.

Bing Steel
In 1980, Bing opened Bing Steel with four employees in a rented warehouse from $250,000 in loans and $80,000 of his own money. Losing all his money in six months, the company shied away from manufacturing to focus on being a middleman. With General Motors as their first major client, the company turned a profit in its second year on revenues of $4.2 million. By 1984, Bing was awarded by President Ronald Reagan the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year. By 1985, Bing Steel had expanded to two plants with 63 employees posting revenues of $40 million. Company assets were sold off in 2009.

The Bing Group
Bing Steel transformed itself to the Bing Group, a conglomerate with headquarters located in Detroit's North End. The company, among other things, supplies metal stampings to the automobile industry.

At the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, Bing received the Schick Achievement Award for his work after his NBA career.

Early political involvement and activism
Bing was an early political supporter of Kwame Kilpatrick. However, Bing was among the first Michigan business community leaders to urge the resignation of Kilpatrick from his office as mayor of Detroit when scandals emerged surrounding Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008.

Bing led Detroit's effort to receive the rights to host the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In November 2002, Detroit lost to Boston. Detroit's weak spot was considered to be its smaller number of hotel rooms.

In January 2009, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Bing received the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award. The award honors King's legacy as a leader of the civil rights movement, by acknowledging athletes who have made significant contributions to civil and human rights and who helped establish a foundation for future leaders in athletic careers. The honor was to be presented during the half-time show of the game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Detroit Pistons in Memphis, Tennessee.

Bing volunteered in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program.

2009 elections
On October 16, 2008, Bing announced that he would be a candidate for mayor of Detroit in the 2009 Detroit mayoral special election to finish the term of Kwame Kilpatrick, who had resigned as part of a plea bargain agreement after being charged with the crime of perjury. Bing finished first in a 15 candidate non-partisan primary on February 24, 2009. On May 5, 2009, general election, Bing was elected, defeating interim mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. Bing had only moved to a residence within city limits shortly before his campaign for mayor. Bing had previously resided in suburban Franklin, Michigan.

Bing was reelected to a full term on November 3, 2009. Bing's inauguration for his full term was held at the Fox Theatre.

Leadership style
In comparison to his predecessor Kwame Kilaptrick, Bing opted for a more low-key presence as mayor and opted to forgo enjoying many of the benefits to which the mayor was entitled. Bing additionally forwent accepting salary as mayor during at least his first year as mayor. Bing did not shy away from making decisions that were unpopular.

Fiscal and economic matters

When Bing took office, the city was suffering significant economic trouble and its government was suffering major fiscal trouble. The city was suffering a $30 million budget deficit. The city also had overall accumulated $332 million in deficit, more than $15 million in long-term liabilities. The city government's fiscal troubles persisted under Bing, with Detroit suffering increased budget deficits during much of his tenure. However, by the time he left office, the city's deficit had decreased by $7 million from where it stood when he assumed office.

In 2011, Bing proposed that the city's next budget include a $4 million decrease in funding for City Council staff, and fund new hires for the city's fire department. In mid-2011, Bing vetoed the budget passed by the City Council, claiming its cuts were excessive and could be to the detriment of the services of the city's police and fire departments. The City Council's budget made $50 million more in cuts than Bing's initial proposed budget had made. Bing's budget proposal was for $3.1 billion in spending. The City Council overrode this veto in an 8–1 vote. The city's 2012 budget made a 20% decrease to the city's fire department. This has been seen as having a detrimental effect on the city's ability to handle fires, including arson. In mid-2012, the fire department announced 164 layoffs. In 2013, Bing proposed a $1 billion budget, a $300 million decrease from the previous year's budget.

By the time he was reelected to a full term, Bing had dismissed more than 400 city employees and had ended 16 out of 51 contracts that the city had with trade unions. Bing faced protests by unions during his mayoralty. By the end of his mayoralty, Bing had eliminated 1,000 positions in the city government, a 9% decrease to the municipal workforce. Additionally, many city employees faced decreased salaries, decreased benefits, and even furloughs. Bing also outsourced many roles of the city government. The city's public health department was replaced by the Institution for Population Health public-private partnership. The workforce-development department was replaced by Detroit Employment Solutions, a nonprofit organization. Management of payroll and benefits for city employees was also outsourced.

The city enjoyed new private development over the course of Bing's tenure. This included both the opening of new small businesses, an investment of $198 million by Chrysler in its Mack Avenue Engine Plant (which created 250 new jobs), and significant development in the city's downtown by businessman Dan Gilbert.

Blight management

Bing proposed the idea of demolishing neighborhoods and decreasing city services. Bing spoke of his intention to depopulate neighborhoods, including through forcible means such as eminent domain. This was controversial among city residents. Bing sought to incentivize residents to relocate from largely depopulated neighborhoods so that those neighborhoods could be demolished and the public services could be consolidated to more densely populated areas of the city. Past mayors had made pledges to demolish abandoned homes but taken little action to do so. Under Bing, the city took action to demolish abandoned homes, reporting in early 2013 to have demolished 6,700 since Bing took office. However, the city still had tens of thousands more abandoned homes. Bing's program of demolishing abandoned homes was controversial with some city residents. Aiming to repopulate certain neighborhoods, in early 2011 Bing began a program to give $150,000 in grants to assist in renovations of foreclosed homes in select neighborhoods. Hoping to encourage members of the city's police force to reside within city limits, Bing only required police officers to place a mere $1,000 in order to acquire abandoned residences and be eligible for renovation grants.

Bing launched the Detroit Works Project (later renamed Detroit Future City), an effort to create a 50-year outline for the city's future. The project was intended to create a community-planned vision for how the city would manage its problems. The city government underestimated how many citizens would attend community meetings. Controversy arose during the process, when Bing publicized his intention to depopulate certain neighborhoods by forcibly relocating residents to denser neighborhoods. The public anger at this threatened the project.

Bing sought to fix the city's broken street lights, which were considered a serious problem. In 2012, Bing persuaded the state legislature and governor to create the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit and dedicate utility and income tax revenue for the $185 million in bonds for this purpose. Bing appointed a lighting authority board, which then signed a contract with DTE Energy to repair the city's streetlights. However, the contract did not take place until early 2013, by which time Bing had left office. Bing's successor Mike Duggan built upon Bing's efforts to repair the city's streetlights to significant success. It has been noted that, due to Bing being out of office when the work was carried out, he has not received much public credit for it.

Policing and crime
During Bing's tenure, there was trouble within the Detroit Police Department. This included instability in leadership, with the city cycling through four different police chiefs during Bing's less-than-5-years in office. While he gave no explicit reason for the firing, it was speculated that Bing dismissed the first police chief of his mayoralty, Warren Evans, both due to the police raid that resulted in the killing of Aiyana Jones and due to Bing's dissatisfaction with Warren's pursuit of media exposure through participation in reality television shows such as The First 48. Even as crime in large cities was declining overall in the United States, Detroit saw its homicide rate rise to a 20-year high in 2012.

Other projects

Early into his mayoralty, Bing began pursuing a renovation of Cobo Center, the city's main convention center. Renovation occurred while Bing was mayor, taking place under the management of a new cooperative governing authority for the convention center.

Bing established the city's Active and Safe Campaign public-private partnership to raise funds for public safety initiatives, as well as raise funds for recreational programs and enhancements to the city's recreation facilities.

Bing made an unpopular proposal to decrease city bus service on Sundays. This never came into fruition.

Emergency management and municipal bankruptcy
On March 1, 2013, Governor Rick Snyder announced that he would appoint an emergency manager for the city of Detroit due to the city's fiscal troubles, making Detroit the United States largest city's to be placed under emergency management. Bing had, in the years prior, warned that this was a possibility, and expressed his desire for the city to avert such a situation. The placement of the city under emergency management deprived Bing of much of his mayoral authority. Bing declared that while he opposed emergency management, he was willing to work collaboratively with the emergency manager that would be appointed. Kevyn Orr was soon after appointed to the emergency manager role. Many in the city criticized Bing for not being more resistant to emergency management.

In July 2013, before Bing left office, Detroit became the largest city in United States history to declare municipal bankruptcy. This was the decision of emergency manager Kevin Orr. Many criticized Bing for not doing more to fight this move by Orr.

Decision to forgo seeking reelection in 2013
In addition to losing authority to the emergency manager, Bing suffered numerous health problems, and had seen approval ratings as low as 14%. Bing announced on May 14, 2013, he would not run for reelection to another term in the election to be held later that year.

title: Dave Bing


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Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (B of LF&E) was a North American railroad fraternal benefit society and trade union in the 19th and 20th centuries. The organization began in 1873 as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (B of LF), a mutual benefit society for workers employed as firemen for steam locomotives, before expanding its name in 1907 in acknowledgement that many of its members had been promoted to the job of railroad engineer. Gradually taking on the functions of a trade union over time, in 1969 the B of LF&E merged with three other railway labor organizations to form the United Transportation Union.

Background
Early railway transportation relied upon steam engines to power railway locomotives—large coal-fired boilers which generated motive power through the manipulation of concentrated steam. These boilers required a regular input of fuel to keep the train fired up and running. It was the task of so-called locomotive firemen to shovel coal into a train engine's firebox through a narrow opening, thereby feeding the fire.

The job of a locomotive fireman was physically demanding—strenuous, filthy and dangerous. Although by no means a highly skilled task, locomotive firemen nevertheless needed to develop not only physical prowess, moving heavy coal on a swaying platform, but also a certain job savvy, estimating the engine's burn rate and future fuel needs, making sure that water was continuously in the boiler to avoid an explosion and ensuring that coal was sufficiently and properly spread in the firebox to ensure the locomotive's efficient operation.

A locomotive's fireman worked in a tandem with the train's engineer, serving in a subordinate role as his assistant. Firemen were in practice often engineers-in-training, learning the skills of train operation and assisting the engineer with the observation of signals and other routine aspects of his job performance, waiting for a job opportunity for promotion.

Locomotive firemen were consequently lower paid and of lower status than the highly paid railroad engineers—although both of these were actually subordinate to the train's conductor. It was the conductor, not the locomotive engineer, who was most comparable to the captain of a ship. The conductor oversaw the crew and assigned them their mission, made sure the train ran on schedule, inspected car couplings, arranged for the train to maintain adequate supplies, collected passenger fares and supervised the train's freight documentation. Conductors acted as both supervisors and traveling clerks and were in practice the figures of the highest authority on a train. Locomotive fireman generally received but half the salary of a conductor or engineer and shared in none of their authority. Despite the hard nature of the work process, their low professional status and their mediocre pay, locomotive firemen performed very dangerous jobs. Boiler explosions and other railway accidents made railroad work among the most deadly in the United States at the end of the 19th century, with an annual fatality rate in the early 1890s of approximately 9 per 1,000 workers—higher even than the 7.8 per 1,000 fatality rate suffered by hard rock miners in the Western United States. Non-fatal workplace accidents were also endemic among railroad workers, with one study by the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics determining that railroad workers suffered more than half the broken arms and ribs and 71 percent of all arms and legs amputated as the result of mishaps on the job.

During the 19th century, occupational safety regulation was non-existent in the United States as were the social benefits of the welfare state for employees injured on the job or the families of workers who suffered fatal accidents. As a result, workers themselves endeavored to form fraternal organizations among their peers for the purposes of insurance and the payment of benefits for death or disability suffered on the job. Some of these organizations were based upon religion or ethnicity, while others were occupational in nature. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen—later known as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen—was one such organization.

Establishment
It was the engineers who pioneered occupational fraternal benefit organization in the railroad industry, with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers launching a charity called the Widows', Orphans', and Disabled Members' Fund in 1866. That organization went on to expand its benefits package through the establishment of a formal life insurance package via the Locomotive Engineers' Mutual Life Insurance Association in 1867. Conductors followed by establishing their own fraternal order in 1868.

Five years later came the locomotive firemen's turn to establish a fraternal benefits society of their own. This organization, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (B of LF) was founded on December 1, 1873 in Port Jervis, New York by Joshua A. Leach and 10 other Erie Railroad firemen. These men had recently been forced to pass on the news of the fatal accident in a wreck of fellow fireman George Page to his grieving widow the previous month and decided to establish a mutual benefit society for those employed in the locomotive firemen's trade. Other lodges soon followed and within a year there were a dozen functioning local groups scattered about the states of New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. These met in convention in 1874 and adopted a first constitution for the organization and established a subsidiary institution called the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen's Life Insurance Association of the United States.

Indeed, the main practical purpose of the organization was its utility as a mutual insurance association, with each member to receive death benefit coverage of 50 cents per member up to a maximum of $1,000 for loss of life on the job. A second optional fund provided for disability benefits. In 1881, the death benefit was pegged at a fixed level of $1,000 in 1883, with no more than 3 settlements per month to be paid, with premiums set at 50 cents per month per member. Total disability through loss of an arm, leg, or eyesight on the job was to be treated the same as loss of life under the revised system.

In 1884, benefits were expanded, with the death benefit raised to $1,500. By February 1889, a total of $1.35 million had been paid out in benefits by the B of LF. A total of 18,000 locomotive firemen were members of the organization at that date.

As a general rule in the B of LF and the other similar railroad brotherhoods, death and permanent disability benefits were administered by the national organization while local lodges handled sickness and accident insurance through a separate fund, raised and disbursed independently of the national organization. During the decade of the 1880s, such a local assessment might amount to 50 cents per member per month. Local units also saw to the emotional support of ill or injured members, with committees visiting the bedridden and attempting to provide personal solace to family members.

Organizational form
The B of LF in this early period organized itself into a network of "lodges", which provided a place for members to meet others in the profession to discuss matters of common concern. Social functions such as balls and picnics were periodically conducted under the B of LF's auspices. The organization also published a monthly magazine, The Firemen's Magazine (later Locomotive Firemen's Magazine), including railroad news of the day and articles appealing to the membership's professional interests. Little attention was paid to labor-management relations, with the B of LF mildly offering the suggestion that "the oldest firemen in service" should be promoted to positions as engineers "when they are competent and worthy, and opportunity offers". The early B of LF took the form of a secret society, complete with an elaborate initiation ritual, membership oaths, secret signs of recognition, and formulaic protocol for the conduct of lodge meetings. Much of the original inspiration in this regard derived from the quasi-mystic religious tradition of Freemasonry. Meetings formally opened with a prayer conducted by the lodge chaplain and were modest and subdued, emphasizing the sacred task of the organization and the need for members to maintain appropriate decorum and professionalism in daily life.

In the B of LF's initiation ceremony of the 1870s, the initiate was seated in the darkened lodge room in front of a large backdrop used as a screen, while wearing a "hoodwink"—blindfolding headgear with retractable opaque lenses. First the prospective member was instructed by the lodge chaplain as to the benevolent purposes of the organization and the sacred duties of the members thereof. Next, lodge members then joined in by collectively reciting the four principles ensconced in the organization's motto "Protection, Charity, Sobriety, Industry".

At this point a stereopticon began to project a series of images on the screen, after each of which the lenses of the hoodwink were briefly raised and the image was explained to the initiate. First, a locomotive fireman leaving his family to go to work; then, a train with its crew industriously fulfilling their assigned task. Next came an image of a train wreck, followed by another of a funeral attended by members of the brotherhood, paying their respects to the deceased. This was followed by an image of a lodge representative relieving the grieving widow with a payment of the organization's death indemnity. Having witnessed his own symbolic death, the new candidate was thus made acutely aware both of the importance of his own support of families of maimed or fallen brothers in their time of need as well as the confidence that his own family would be provided for should he himself fall to misfortune.

The initiation experience was memorable and effective in building lasting commitments to the organization. Three decades after his own initiation into the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Eugene V. Debs recalled the evening as a watershed in his life: "A new purpose entered my life, a fresh force impelled me as I repeated the obligation to serve the 'brotherhood,' and I left that meeting with a totally different and far loftier ambition than I had ever known before."

Formulaic rituals and organizational secrecy also helped to insure that lodge meetings were orderly, intimate and confidential and contributed to group cohesion among B of LF members. The value of the B of LF's mission was emphasized, allowing serious-minded members a sense of personal fulfillment through participation in an important collective entity.

Membership exclusion
The benefits of membership in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen were not universally available as the organization was based on the systematic exclusion of African American men and of women of all races. The organization's constitution in 1888 specified that membership requirements included that a candidate be a man "white born, of good moral character, sober and industrious, sound of body and limb". Additional de facto membership discrimination was practiced against recent unskilled immigrants from Europe, who were similarly held to be unsuitable for membership.

The white-only rule came up for debate in 1896-97, when the B of LF explored membership in the American Federation of Labor, only to learn that the AF of L would require the removal of the offending clause from the group's constitution. Rank and file membership erupted in protest over the change, flooding the organization with letters of protest, with members of lodges in the Southern United States most vociferous in their opposition. The racial exclusion was ruled unconstitutional in 1944 by the Supreme Court decision Tunstall v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.

The B of LF and other similar railroad brother hoods were, in short, based as much upon a process of exclusion as they were upon unification, as historian Mary Ann Clawson has noted in a 1989 book.

Leading officials
The pioneer head of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen during the decade of the 1870s was Frank W. Arnold (1851–1917). Arnold would be succeeded as Grand Master of the B of LF in 1885 by a man who would remain the iconic chief of the brotherhood for the rest of the 19th century, Frank P. Sargent. The New England-born Sargent remained the head official of the B of LF until 1902, when he was named Commissioner General of Immigration by Republican President Theodore Roosevelt.

The eventuality of a Grand Master's incapacity to serve was provided for by the periodic election of a Vice Grand Master, nominally the second ranking officer of the organization. In practice, however, the number two functionary in the "Grand Lodge" of officers of the B of LF was the Grand Secretary and Treasurer—running the organization's office on a day-to-day basis and providing for the publication of the B of LF's monthly magazine.

The first Grand Secretary and Treasurer was William Sayre of Galion, Ohio, who professed to be a staunch advocate of the theory that personal virtue and good character, economic efficiency and a stable and democratic republic were closely interrelated. While Sayre espoused these sacred values on a theoretical plain, in practice his behavior seems to have been rather more profane. In July 1880, a young locomotive fireman turned city clerk from Terre Haute, Indiana named Eugene V. Debs was elected as Grand Secretary and Treasurer of the B of LF. Upon gaining access to the books, Debs discovered that his predecessor had been embezzling funds from the organization. With the B of LF about $6,000 in debt, Debs stabilized the organization's shaky finances with a promissory note which he personally backed and began a new era of careful financial management. Two years later, the Brotherhood had recovered, with nearly $13,000 in the bank to the credit of the organization's 6,000 members.

Debs was named editor of the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine in 1881 and he remained in that capacity and in the position of Grand Secretary and Treasurer until September 1894. While remaining supportive of the B of LF and its limited mission, over time Debs began to feel the insufficiency of a mere fraternal benefits to solve the fundamental problems facing locomotive firemen and other railway workers, which were often financial in nature and seemed to call for collective action.

In 1893, Debs was instrumental in forming an industrial union bringing together railway workers of all occupational tasks, the American Railway Union (ARU). This organization conducted several strikes for higher wages and better working conditions before ultimately being broken by judicial injunction in the 1894 Pullman strike.

Change of name
The 23rd Convention of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, held in Milwaukee in September 1906, took the step of expanding the scope of the organization and changing its name—an idea that had been discussed for many years previously. Over time a steady stream of the organization's members had been promoted to the position of Engineer while remaining inside the organization. This presented a situation in which the organization's name did not reflect its actual membership composition. Despite great sympathy for the traditional organizational moniker, the convention voted to formally acknowledge the participation of engineers among its membership and changed its name to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (B of LF&E).

This change went into effect on January 1, 1907.

Disestablishment and legacy
In 1969, the union merged with the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and the Switchmen's Union of North America to form the United Transportation Union.

A massive collection of materials of the B of LF&E, including over 200 linear feet of minutes, bulletins, correspondence, internal documents and other ephemera is housed at the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives at the library of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Conventions and membership size

 * Sources: D.B. Robertson, "Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the B of LF&E", pp. 7–28; Published convention proceedings, various; American Labor Year Book, 1926, pp. 106–107; ALYB, 1929, p. 131; ALYB, 1932, pp. 63–65. The title of "Grand Master" was changed to "International President" at the convention of 1908.

Official magazine

 * Locomotive Firemen's Magazine (established December 1876)
 * Vol. 1 (1876) | Vol. 2 (1877) | Vol. 3 (1879) | Vol. 4 (1880) | Vol. 5 (1881) | Vol. 6 (1882) | Vol. 7 (1883) | Vol. 8 (1884) | Vol. 9 (1885) | Vol. 10 (1886) | Vol. 11 (1887) | Vol. 12 (1888) | Vol. 13 (1889) | Vol. 14 (1890) | Vol. 15 (1891) | Vol. 16 (1892) | Vol. 17 (1893) | Vol. 18 (1894) | Vol. 19 (1895) |


text:
User talk:Aviationwiz

Welcome to the Wikipedia
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title: User talk:Aviationwiz


text:
Sendai Station

Sendai Station is the name of two train stations in Japan:

 * Sendai Station (Miyagi) (仙台駅) in Miyagi Prefecture
 * Sendai Station (Kagoshima) (川内駅) in Kagoshima Prefecture

title: Sendai Station


text:
User talk:Felgerkarb

Welcome to the Wikipedia
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ClockworkSoul 03:33, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Another welcome from me, nice to see more and more doctors on wikipedia. I hope you don't mind me adding you to the physician wikipedians category. --WS 22:04, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

WP:MED
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the main page of WikiProject Medicine has just been redesigned, comments are welcome! Please consider listing yourself as a participant.

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Cardiology task force
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Your opinion is wanted
Please provide your input here on the legitimacy and desirability of accepting external links in relevant Wikipedia articles to MedMerits, a new and freely accessible online resource on neurologic disorders. Presto54 (talk) 08:09, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

A new medical resource
Please note that there is a new freely accessible medical resource, MedMerits (to which I'm a medical advisor) on neurologic disorders. A discussion on ELs to MedMerits and medical ELs in general is currently in progress ("Wikipedia and its relationship to the outside world"). Presto54 (talk) 16:47, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

Wiki Medicine
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The Wikipedia Library now offering accounts from Cochrane Collaboration (sign up!)
The Wikipedia Library gets Wikipedia editors free access to reliable sources that are behind paywalls. Because you are signed on as a medical editor, I thought you'd want to know about our most recent donation from Cochrane Collaboration. Cheers, Ocaasit | c 20:34, 16 June 2013 (UTC)
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Wikiversity Journal of Medicine, an open access peer reviewed journal with no charges, invites you to participate
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title: User talk:Felgerkarb


text:
Jumping Flash!

Jumping Flash! (ジャンピングフラッシュ!) is a platform video game developed by Exact and Ultra and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released on 28 April 1995 in Japan, 29 September 1995 in PAL territories and 2 November 1995 in North America. It was re-released through the PlayStation Network store on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable in 2007, in 2012 on PlayStation Vita and again in 2022 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

Presented in a first-person perspective, the game follows a robotic rabbit named "Robbit" as he searches for missing jet pods scattered by the game's astrophysicist antagonist character Baron Aloha. Robbit must explore each section of Crater Planet to retrieve all of the jet pods, stop Aloha and save the world from being destroyed. The game was designed as a technology demonstrator for the PlayStation console and was revealed in early 1994 under the provisional title of "Spring Man". Jumping Flash! utilizes much of the game engine used in Geograph Seal, an earlier game by Exact for the Sharp X68000 home computer.

Jumping Flash! has been described as an ancestor of, as well as an early showcase for, 3D graphics in console gaming. It was generally well received by critics, who praised its graphics and unique 3D platforming gameplay, but it was eventually overshadowed by later 3D platformers of the fifth console generation. Jumping Flash! spawned two sequels: Jumping Flash! 2 and Robbit Mon Dieu. It received positive reviews at the time of release, and made an appearance in Next Generation's "Top 100 Games of All Time" just one year after. The game was described as the third-most underrated video game of all time by Matt Casamassina of IGN in 2007. It holds the Guinness World Record as the "first platform video game in true 3D".

Gameplay

Jumping Flash! is presented in a first-person perspective. The player assumes the role of Robbit, a robotic rabbit, and can freely move Robbit in three-dimensional space and can rotate the camera in any direction. The top part of the screen shows the remaining time, the player's score, and a character named Kumagoro—Robbit's sidekick artificial intelligence who offers the player warnings and hints. The top left corner of the screen shows the collected power-ups; the top right corner contains the radar showing the locations of objects including enemies, power-ups, jet pods and enemy projectiles. The bottom shows a health meter on the sides and the number of remaining lives in the centre. The player starts the game with three lives; a new life is granted once one million points are earned.

The core of the gameplay is focused on the player's ability to make Robbit jump. Robbit can jump up to three times in mid-air, which allows him to reach extreme heights. Unlike other platform games that continue to face horizontally when the player jumps, in Jumping Flash! the camera tilts downwards when a double-jump or triple-jump is performed to allow the player to see Robbit's shadow and easily plan a landing spot. The player has the ability to shoot a low-powered laser beam at a target indicator in the middle of the screen. The player can find and use fireworks for Robbit to damage enemies. These include cherry bombs, rockets, Roman candles and spinners.

Each level has a time limit of ten minutes, which ends the game if it is exceeded. Losing all lives is presented with a choice to continue or return to the title screen. Power-ups scattered across each world, presented as picture frames, include carrots that extend Robbit's health, extra lives, time-outs that stop the clock and freeze the level's dynamics for a few seconds, hourglasses that extend the player's time, and power pills that make Robbit invincible for a short period of time. Enemies in the game vary from anthropomorphic versions of creatures to robots and plants.

The game is composed of six worlds with three levels each, totalling to 18 main levels. The objective of the main levels in each world is to collect four jet pods. Each final level of a world consists of a boss fight. The level designs vary from snow-capped mountains to carnivals. While most of the levels are large, outdoor excursions, two are enclosed within a narrow interior. The game features hidden bonus levels, which are triggered when secret entrances are found. Bonus levels consist of blocks with balloons in them; popping the balloons yields either coins or power-ups. A time attack mode is available for any level the player has completed.

Plot
The game begins on Crater Planet and revolves around the story of an insane astrophysicist, Baron Aloha. Planning to make a large profit from his evil ingenuity, Aloha removes giant pieces of land from the planet using machines to turn them into private resorts. Aloha removes and hides the twelve jet pods that propel each world. Witnessing the destruction, the residents of Crater Planet call for help, and in response the Universal City Hall dispatches one of their agents, a mechanical rabbit named Robbit. Robbit is ordered to explore each world to retrieve the jet pods, stop Aloha, and save Crater Planet from destruction. At the end of the game, Aloha flees to his home, Little Muu, and vows revenge on Robbit.

Throughout the game, Aloha surrounds himself with creatures called MuuMuus that appear as small, white, five-limbed creatures with miniature palm trees on their heads. Many of the game's full motion videos feature the MuuMuus in an izakaya tavern, recounting their defeat at the hands of Robbit.

Development and release
Jumping Flash! was developed by Japanese developers Exact (Excellent Application Create Team) and Ultra. Japan Studio assisted on development. The game was first revealed in early 1994 under the provisional title "Spring Man" as a technology demonstration for the upcoming PlayStation console. Sony Computer Entertainment hoped Jumping Flash! would be remembered as the first appearance of a new "platform star" with the same longevity as Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario. The game uses the same engine and shares similar gameplay traits with Geograph Seal, a 3D platform game released for the Sharp X68000 home computer the previous year by Exact. After seeing Geograph Seal and realising the potential in their game design, Sony's director of entertainment in Japan, Koji Tada, paired Exact with Ultra to develop a new game for the upcoming PlayStation console. Tada replaced Hiroyuki Saegusa as director of the game, although he had kept all key Exact staff to work on the project.

The initial development was split into two phases. Exact developed the game engine and its gameplay; Ultra designed the story and 3D cutscenes, and created characters such as the mechanical rabbit protagonist, Robbit. Ultra felt they needed to depart from the "stereotypical science fiction vibe" that included the usual "space ranger" or double agent protagonists. To create a sense of individuality among platform games, the developers implemented a dynamic camera that would automatically pan down towards the shadow of Robbit on the ground during large jumps, allowing players to carefully line up their landings. Jumping Flash! was considered the first game of the platform genre to be developed with full 3D computer graphics. The music for Jumping Flash! was composed by Japanese video games and anime music composer Takeo Miratsu. Many of the tracks, along with tracks from ''Jumping Flash! 2, were included on the Jumping Flash! 2 Original Soundtrack'' album, which Miratsu also composed.

Reception and legacy
The game received generally positive reviews upon release. Critics mainly praised its unique innovation, advanced graphics, gameplay and clean textures. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it their "Game of the Month" award, citing the outstanding graphics and particularly the innovative 3D gameplay. They described the style as "cutesy" but not off-putting. "Major Mike" of GamePro said that despite the game appearing "strange", it had action, strategy, and some humour. Next Generation said that "[many] of the boundaries have been redefined in a big way", contrasting it with side-scrolling platformers with a first-person perspective and explorable 3D environments. They called it "simply superb" and gave it a "Revolutionary" five-star rating. Computer and Video Games magazine called it "one of the most innovative and entertaining games seen" and "the first true 3D platformer."

Maximum stated that Jumping Flash! was one of the most "imaginative, playable, enjoyable" and original titles seen on the fifth generation of video game consoles. They criticised its length and lack of difficulty, expressing that it could have been one of the "greatest games ever" if it was longer and more difficult, and questioned whether it was "a really worthwhile" purchase. Game Revolution called the graphics "mind blowing" and the game itself "totally unique", but criticised the overall length and ease of play. IGN's 1996 review similarly disapproved the difficulty, stating that despite the small worlds and easy difficulty, it is "a great, genre-pushing game", also saying it is an essential for all PlayStation owners. In 1996, Next Generation listed it as number 86 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", saying it had created the genre of 3D platforming. They particularly praised "the vertigo inducing sense of height as Robbit leaps from platform to platform". In a 2007 review, Greg Miller of IGN condemned the graphics as "dated", having "jagged edges" and "muddled" colours, and said every aspect of the game is "weak" and that it had not stood "the test of time". In a retrospective review, Andrew Yoon of Engadget praised the gameplay and innovation, saying the "grainy" and "antiquated" graphics did no harm to the vibrant atmosphere of the game.

Speaking in 2007, Rob Fahey of Eurogamer stated that Jumping Flash! was arguably one of the most important ancestors of any 3D platform game, as well as asserting that the game would always have a part in videogaming history. Albert Kim of Entertainment Weekly stated that the game provided perhaps the most euphoric sensation of video gaming at the time and described the first-person perspective as "hypnotic". Maddy Thorson, the creator of the indie video game TowerFall, praised the game, saying "something about the sensation of leaping through 3D space captured my childhood imagination".

1UP.com cited its first-person platforming as a precursor to Mirror's Edge, despite suggesting that the jumping remained "woefully out of place" in the platform genre. In 2007, Matt Casamassina of IGN ranked Jumping Flash! as the third-most underrated video game of all time. After release, co-developer Ultra renamed themselves "Muu Muu", after the creatures featured in the game.

Sequels and spin-off
Due to its popularity, Sony produced two sequels to Jumping Flash!, including one spin-off. A direct sequel, Jumping Flash! 2—also developed by Exact—was released worldwide for the PlayStation the following year; it continued the story of Robbit and the subsequent rise and fall of Baron Aloha. The game received positive reviews upon release, with critics particularly praising its updated features. Robbit Mon Dieu was released in Japan for the PlayStation in 1999. It was met with mixed reviews. Exact merged with SCEI in 2000. Both Jumping Flash! and ''Jumping Flash! 2'' were re-released via the PlayStation Network in 2007 and 2009, respectively. A loose spin-off titled Pocket MuuMuu was released in Japan for the PocketStation in 1999 before Exact's closure.

title: Jumping Flash!


text:
User talk:Jerward

Welcome to the Wikipedia
Welcome, newcomer!

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 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and, most importantly, have fun!

Also, here are some odds and ends that I find useful from time to time:

 * Policy Library
 * Utilities
 * Cite your sources
 * Verifiability
 * Wikiquette
 * Civility
 * Conflict resolution
 * Brilliant prose
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ClockworkSoul 03:35, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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title: User talk:Jerward


text: File:MLRS missile launcher.jpg

title: File:MLRS missile launcher.jpg


text: User talk:69.135.246.205

title: User talk:69.135.246.205


text:
Talk:Support and resistance

Needs linking to stock trading
I've heard this term used. I think it's part of a system of trading stocks or predicting future stock prices. It needs to link into stock trading somehow and the model it is using (or it needs to be expanded enough to include it). Unfortunately, outside my area of competence. RJFJR 03:38, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Support
In futures, support is an area where we expect contracts, will be bought. That is it. By itself it does not suggest any action. Both buying and selling influence prices. Having only one side of that does not indicate price direction. Just because buying comes in does not mean there is enough pressure to influence price. There is only one thing that can make prices go up and that is buying. Often we have an area bounded by what are called support and resistance. Very often we get divergence sell signals near resistance from various occulaters that lead us to believe that selling pressure is substantial and that a downtrend is enviable.

If people believe what is written here, they may be buying into heavier selling. Support will only slow a price decline if the selling is about the same, or less than the buying that is likely to take place. However, when there is substantial selling this area will not offer any support to falling prices. In fact professionals are depending on the miss informed public to not only buy, but also subsequently “cover their longs,” leading to still lower prices.

It seems to me it should not be the function of this post to lead sheep to the slaughter. A support area may be a place where we expect purchases will take place; it does not mean this is where a trader should buy. It does not mean prices will stop here or turn around here, although they might. GT

Numerology vs. fundamentals?
Is the notion of support and resistance based on either company's fundamentals or on the nature of markets (e.g., the distribution of individual traders' valuations of a security?) or is it just patterns people see in data. In other words, can a computer identify support and resistance or does it take an ordained analyst? —Ben FrantzDale (talk) 17:58, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Yes, it is possible for a computer algorithm to identify the two levels.--Navin gupt (talk) 03:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

even by a small amount?
The article says:

 * However, once the price has passed this level, even by a small amount, it is likely to continue dropping until it finds another support level.

No, actually a small margin is permitted, as the example illustrates.--Navin gupt (talk) 03:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

No criticism?
E.g. in the German article to this topic they write that support and resistance are not scientifically backed concepts and subject of dispute. I think such a statement is warrented for the English article, too. --Felix Tritschler (talk) 13:00, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Research Process and Methodology - SU24 - Sect 200 - Thu
— Assignment last updated by Mt5332 (talk) 05:21, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Support and resistance


text: User talk:68.21.190.212

title: User talk:68.21.190.212


text:
Phi Beta

Phi Beta Fraternity: National Professional Association for the Creative and Performing Arts (ΦΒ) is an American national professional college fraternity for the creative and performing arts. It was founded in 1912 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Phi Beta is gender inclusive and incorporates all art forms into its membership.

Origins
Phi Beta Fraternity began as a local club at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL on May 5, 1912. Its three founders were:
 * Josephine Mack
 * Elsie Schultz
 * Gladys Burnside

Founders' vision
The Founders began with a local vision of uniting arts, evidenced by the selection of some its first members: from the School of Music came Mae Aurelius and Clara Ayers and from the School of Oratory came Rosebud Fortier, Gertrude Thomas and Evelyn Owens.

In the beginning, the fraternity limited its membership to women majoring in music and speech. Over time, the fraternity has grown to embrace all of the creative and performing arts and their related therapies and histories, marking this broader acceptance of arts students instead of only fine arts, or only dance.

Milestones
In the fall of 1914 the fraternity was incorporated in the State of Illinois.

Phi Beta organized its first residence, renting a house at 1928 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, Illinois.

Susan B. Davis, an admired member of the Northwestern faculty, was chosen as the first honorary member of Phi Beta.

Grace Mattern, who penned many of Phi Beta's rituals and ceremonies, was initiated in 1914 upon her return to Evanston to pursue her master's degree and join the faculty at Northwestern's School of Speech.

A juncture was reached in 1915 when the Alpha chapter of Phi Beta, still a young local group, petitioned the women's social fraternity Alpha Delta Pi for a charter. But because most of Phi Beta's members were enrolled in professional two- or three- year coursework, as opposed to traditional four-year programs, that petition was denied.

Yet the founders' vision of an organization that would promote the arts through service appealed to others. Also in 1915, a group of women at the Chicago Conservatory had petitioned to become a chapter of Phi Beta Fraternity. Beta chapter was installed on 1917-07-17.

Helen Rowan served as Phi Beta's first national president.

Phi Beta's first Convention was held in the spring of 1918 in Chicago, IL.

Now on its way to expand as a new national fraternity, Phi Beta would remain a professional organization, embracing the arts-centric vision of its founding members as it sought expansion.

In 1974 and 1975 its chapters voted to become co-ed, prompted by Title IX. Phi Beta today is gender inclusive.

National projects
Phi Beta has completed several national projects including: enlarging by hand sheet music for the visually impaired, service in USO shows, aiding music programs in Mexico, and most notably its continued work with The MacDowell (artists' residency and workshop) in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

Symbolism
The colors of Phi Beta are violet and gold.

The official flower of Phi Beta is the Yellow Rose, tied by a violet ribbon. Symbolically the rose and ribbon reflect the fraternity's official colors, but are also intended to represent "joy, friendship, and new beginnings."

Affiliations
Phi Beta is affiliated with the Fraternity Communication Association (FCA), the Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) and the National Interfraternity Music Council (NIMC)

title: Phi Beta


text:
Talk:Billie Joe Armstrong

His son Jakob plays for Ultra Q
His son's band is now known as Ultra Q, Mt. Eddy is no longer active. Hrprw (talk) 21:33, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

good article review
I think this article need to review belong music good article. 122.248.33.22 (talk) 16:12, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 July 2024
To add in the "political views" section under personal life:

Armstrong has spoken out in support of trans people. In a conversation with the Times, Armstrong spoke to the ways that he’s still weaving his queerness into his songwriting. Naturally, the newspaper asked him about Green Day’s opinions on the moral panic over trans youth, to which the frontman responded, “I just think they’re fucking close-minded.”

“It’s like people are afraid of their children,” he told the newspaper. “Why would you be afraid? Why don’t you let your kid just be the kid that they are?”

Heidi044 (talk) 15:41, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

 * ✅  01:41, 7 July 2024 (UTC)

Tour Dates were not cancelled
The tour dates while he was in treatment were not cancelled, they were, at least some, postponed. I am sure of this, as I was at the first show they were back on tour, which was a rescheduled date. Some may have, but probably best not to phrase it as an all or nothing statement. 173.29.24.67 (talk) 19:25, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Billie Joe Armstrong


text: User talk:70.22.17.6

title: User talk:70.22.17.6


text:
Central Alabama

Central Alabama is a region in the state of Alabama. It is sometimes considered part of North Alabama because both regions are mountainous, but in some definitions they are different regions.

The Valley and Ridge Province of the Appalachians consist mainly of long, low ridges such as Red Mountain, Sand Mountain, Beaver Creek Mountain, Shades Mountain, and Coldwater Mountain in this region, and make impressive backdrops in the Greater Birmingham, Gadsden, and Anniston metropolitan areas. The easternmost part of Central Alabama around Anniston has the steepest mountains and highest elevations of the region. Coldwater Mountain and Mount Cheaha make up the highest of the mountain ridges that are located in the eastern portion of the region. The Coosa River divides the easternmost portion of the region from the central portion with the Birmingham area. The westernmost portion of Central Alabama is relatively a flat region with fertile black soil called the Black Belt. The Black Warrior River and its tributaries contribute to the fertile land of the area, and also serve as a demarcation line between the western and the central portions of the region. The central portion of Central Alabama varies from rugged in the east to flat in the west. Numerous valleys are scattered throughout this region between the mountain ridges including the densely populated Jones Valley and Shades Valley. Because the central portion is more rugged compared to the westernmost portion of Central Alabama, it is also the most flood-prone. Urban sprawl has exacerbated the risk of flooding by increasing the proportion of land covered by hard surfaces, leading to greater runoff during storms.

The Black Warrior, Cahaba, and Coosa Rivers and their tributaries are among the many waterways that wind their way through the region. Other major waterways that run through the area include Choccolocco Creek, Shades Creek, and Little Cahaba River.

Large deposits of iron ore, limestone, and coal are chief among the plentiful mineral resources found in the region. The coincidence of these three in close proximity was a major incentive for the rapid development of industry in the Birmingham District after the American Civil War.

Economy
The economic engine of the region ranges from the diversified economy of Greater Birmingham, to the college town of Tuscaloosa, to the heavily industrialized economy of Anniston and Gadsden.

The primary economic center of the region is Greater Birmingham because of its size and diversified economy. It is home to the state's most diversified employer, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). UAB is not only the state's largest single employer with some 20,000 employees on its payroll, but also one of the largest medical districts in the Southeast. In addition, most of the state-based corporations such as Alabama Power, Energen Corporation, HealthSouth Corporation, Regions Financial Corporation, Saks Incorporated, and Southern Research Institute have their world headquarters located in the area. Though the Mercedes-Benz and Honda automotive production facilities are not technically located in any of the Greater Birmingham metropolitan counties, they are both considered as substantial contributors to its economy.

Tuscaloosa is the retail business center of a several-county area in Alabama and nearby Mississippi, and is chiefly a university town. The city hosts the University of Alabama's main campus as well as Stillman College and Shelton State Community College. Other major components of the economy include government, health, and industry. The city's largest industrial employer is the Mercedes-Benz production facility located ten miles from the main part of the city next to Vance.

Anniston and Gadsden are very similar in their heavily industrialized economies. Gadsden, however, is a river town so it has helped in building and creating a tourist industry to slight the blow of its declining primary industry. Gadsden is now home to many riverfront-based festivals that goes on throughout the year to boost its economy. Anniston, on the other hand, has also suffered a major blow on two fronts with the closings of Fort McClellan and many iron smelting facilities in the 1990s. However, it has turned more towards military production at the Anniston Army Depot with several government production contracts issued to this facility.

Important cities

 * Anniston
 * Alabaster
 * Auburn
 * Birmingham
 * Bessemer
 * Calera
 * Clanton
 * Cullman
 * Gadsden
 * Hoover
 * Jemison
 * Jasper
 * Montevallo
 * Montgomery
 * Pelham
 * Selma
 * Sylacauga
 * Tuscaloosa
 * Valley

title: Central Alabama