text:
.pt

.pt is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Portugal and is managed by Associação DNS.PT. It has the following second-level domains:

 * .com.pt: no restrictions; online registration
 * .edu.pt: education
 * .gov.pt: Government of Portugal
 * .int.pt: international organizations or diplomatic missions in Portugal
 * .net.pt: telecommunications providers
 * .nome.pt: individuals (nome is Portuguese for name)
 * .org.pt: Non-profit organizations
 * .publ.pt: publications (e.g. newspapers)

As from the 1 May 2012 Registration directly at second-level is available, without restrictions. On the first week there was a 28984 new domains register under the .pt

Since July 1, 2005, some characters with diacritics have been supported in domain names (IDN). Currently permitted characters: à, á, â, ã, ç, é, ê, í, ó, ô, õ, ú, ü. These are the only accentuated characters used in Portuguese words.

Apart from .gov.pt, Portuguese subdomains were slow to catch on, because many people had already registered under .pt when the new ones became available. Many companies, colleges and people still prefer to use a .pt because these are harder to get and simpler to remember. However, the .com.pt subdomain is being heavily promoted by the registry, and now has numerous registrations and active Web sites. Others such as .nome.pt for individuals are still uncommon.

In the early years, FCCN (Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional) tried to keep control of the .pt domain using stringent rules, which were adjusted a number of times. The precedent set by domains which were already registered but which would not be able to be registered under updated rules led to lawyers requesting the registry of any domain based on the principle of equal treatment. When the situation was out of control, FCCN tried to promote subdomains like com.pt. Nevertheless, since the registration directly under .pt was still available, users tended to prefer these.

It is estimated that the .pt suffix comprises a little less than 10% of all the Portuguese-language Internet. It is the third most popular Portuguese-language suffix, after .br and .com, and ahead of .net, .org and .info, all above 10 million pages.

title: .pt


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Guanaco 2

Guanaco
Final (23,22,8) Ended 14:00 December 10, 2004

'''Voting has ended. Please do not alter this archived page. Any additional comments may be placed on the Talk page.'''

Guanaco has been an admin for quite some time, but has been asked to reapply for adminship by the arbitration committee.

Throughout his tenure as an admin, Guanaco has followed page protection matters and bans and blocks closely. He has taken action in a number of situations where others have refused to become involved, and while I do not agree with all of his decisions, I applaud both his willingness to make politically difficult choices and his genuine attempts to follow policy and do what is best for the project. I also note that he has been willing to discuss his actions and has refrained from engaging in "block wars" or "page protection wars." In reading through the protection log and block log, he is probably more active overall than any other administrator in these areas. Therefore, it has been almost inevitable that some of his actions would prove controversial.

The exact rationale for the AC's decision to ask Guanaco to reapply for adminship is unclear. Their statement that "Guanaco's actions as an administrator have been consistently controversial" is not particularly illuminative. However, there appear to be two points of contention in the Cantus matter:

 * 1) Guanaco blocked Cantus in error, believing that he had violated 3RR "probation" when in fact his reverts were spaced out enough to be, technically, in compliance with the 3RR.  Guanaco corrected this once he realized his mistake.
 * 2) Cantus evaded the blocks and complained on other administrators' talk pages.  Guanaco reverted these comments, quite possibly without reading them, because they evaded the block.  The proper procedure for disputing a block is to utilize email, either to the admin who placed the block, or other admins, or wikien-l.  True, Guanaco compounded his earlier mistake by reverting these comments, but since he believed his block was appropriate and justified, I can sympathize with his actions.

I believe that Guanaco is a significant asset to the project. While these minor matters are regrettable, they are hardly grounds for asking him to step down as an administrator. I nominate Guanaco for renewal of his adminship and give him my heartfelt support.

The Uninvited Co., Inc. 14:29, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I am not taking a position on this matter, but for the record, The ArbCom is requiring Guanaco to reapply. UC's wording "asked" implied optional, in which case this shouldn't be here. ArbCom: "Guanaco is required to reapply for adminship at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship. Guanaco will retain his admin powers unless/until his re-application is rejected." -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 22:25, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

''I accept this nomination. I was inactive through November, but I am now editing more frequently. Guanaco 23:15, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)''

Support

 * 1) The Uninvited Co., Inc. 14:29, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Continued support. -- Netoholic @ 14:40, 2004 Dec 3 (UTC)
 * 3) Certainly. Everyking 14:42, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Also continued support. -- Grunt 🇪🇺 15:05, 2004 Dec 3 (UTC)
 * 5) Strong support. Andre ( talk )A| 15:36, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)
 * 6) Support.—Ëzhiki (erinaceus europeaus) 15:58, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)
 * 7) Support. —AlanBarrett 17:02, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 8) Support. 172 18:49, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 9) Support. -Fennec (はさばくのきつね) 21:59, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 10) Support. ugen64 23:57, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 11) Support. Tuf-Kat 06:29, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)
 * 12) Dittaeva 20:46, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 13) Acegikmo1 03:08, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC). Guanaco has made some mistakes, but he's open to discussion and acts in good faith.
 * 14) YES--[[User:Plato|Comrade Nick @  )---^-- ]] 12:35, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 15) Ejrrjs 16:30, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 16) Support giving wide leeway to administrator discretion, which I believe Guanaco has still fallen within the realm of. Snowspinner 19:55, Dec 5, 2004 (UTC)
 * 17) But try to use a bit more care in making decisions.  →Iñgólemo←   (talk)  06:33, 2004 Dec 6 (UTC)
 * I have been asked to explain further under the comments section (kudos to Ambi for doing it so diplomatically I didn't know which side she represented) . I think it might be better to explain it here.  Basically, I have seen a lot of good work from Guanaco.  The main controversial action I remember him doing was unbanning Michael.  Though this was undoubtedly overstepping the lines of suitable behaviour, I don't think it warrants desysopping — even if the experiment had been an abysmal failure. Thus is my position until something else comes up.  However, if you have another action of his you think would cause me to reconsider, please bring it to my attention. Guanaco, I admonish you to, if only as a thank you to those who voted to retain you as an admin, to exercise a great deal of restraint in using your admin powers.  Your unilateral and other such dubious actions are a problem that needs to be dealt with.  →Iñgólemo←   (talk)  04:32, 2004 Dec 7 (UTC)
 * 1) Of course. I am refraining from commenting on what I think of this vote. Danny 13:00, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Support.  I tend to disagree with most of Guanaco's positions, but I am also dismayed that this vote is even taking place.  +sj  +  03:10, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) Support. Rhobite 21:31, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) He's not a bad guy. We're all human, humans make mistakes, even if he really is bit of a rouge admin, I won't name names, but there are far worse out there. GeneralPatton 06:19, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) Support. Rmhermen 03:36, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * 6) Support. Try to lay low and use some restraint for a while.   – Ram-Man (comment) (talk)   15:04, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)

Oppose
 * 1) Has repeatedly done dubious things in regard to admin powers, and has often been recalcitrant when asked about them. He may have once been a fine admin, but in the last few months, he's become a rogue admin. Ambi 14:47, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * For those of us trying to make a decision, that's not very helpful. Specific instances would be nice.   →Iñgólemo←   (talk)  06:33, 2004 Dec 6 (UTC)
 * This comment was posted simultaneously with your Support vote above. If you're challenging someone's vote, say so. It's disingenuous to claim you're "trying to make a decision." Cribcage 06:41, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) Not enough activity lately (18 edits in all of November). Gzornenplatz 15:33, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)
 * What does that have to do with being an admin? Dori | Talk 03:05, Dec 5, 2004 (UTC)
 * Gzornenplatz, that's like asking for someone to be desysopped because they had only 20 edits in November. Now, 20 edits in one year is something different... ugen64 23:49, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * In the case of any other nominee, that absence would spell disaster. I don't treat Guanaco as "any other nominee" myself, but it doesn't seem unreasonable. It's hardly basis for contesting a vote. Cribcage 06:41, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) I regret having to agree with everything Ambi says. Furthermore, I believe that admins who are willing to take unilateral actions—actions which may or may not be in accord with the will of the community—should be ready to explain themselves and discuss their reasonings when the inevitable questions arise. If their actions are repeatedly challenged, they should stop. Guanaco did not, to my knowledge, show himself to be open to discussion of his controversial actions, nor did he stop after several challenges from other users. This kind of rash unilateralism in the use of sysop abilities is unsuitable, to say the least. —No-One Jones (m) 18:58, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Plenty of sysops perform such activities - it's called "speedy deletion." People have challenged us, does that mean we should stop deleting articles with content like "Jello Fruit Snacks roxor." ? ugen64 23:52, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Speedy deletion of those sorts of nonsense articles is well-supported by current policies and is almost entirely uncontroversial. The same cannot truthfully be said of Guanaco's many blocks, unblocks, protections, unprotections, edits of protected articles, and rollbacks. —No-One Jones (m) 10:07, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) Criticism of Guanaco has hardly been limited to "the Cantus matter." He frequently abused his privileges, and acted with disdain toward community consensus. He makes no effort to "play well with others," and the ArbCom decision should be considered carefully. The mistake of his original election should not be repeated. Cribcage 16:58, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * For the rest of who do not know much of this, could you provide some examples? J OHN C OLLISON [ Ludraman] 18:08, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * He's right - this is most certainly not just about this matter. He's unblocked users who there was consensus to block (such as impersonators), misused blocking powers in other ways, he's unprotected pages without the slightest regard for what was going on on talk, causing edit wars to unnecessarily restart - and that's just what I can remember off the top of my head. Whenver he's approached about any of this, it's almost always met with either a curt and rude response, or none at all. See this RfC. To my knowledge, there's also been another three RfCs (a record?) - but I'm having trouble following the trail of deleted pages. This dispute was really just the icing on the cake - it's fairly typical of Guanaco's behaviour to race around rollbacking comments on other users talk pages before he'd even checked if they were indeed correct, giving the impression of covering his tracks, and then being curt, rude or nonresponsive when later approached about the legitimacy of his edits. Ambi 01:20, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Citing "a record number of RFCs" is not sufficient. Gzornenplatz has had only 1 RFC, therefore is he less controversial than Guanaco? Proteus has had an RFC, does that mean he did anything wrong? ugen64 23:51, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) * User:Cribcage seems to be a voting sock puppet. I normally would not say that directly, but their contribs are something special. -- Netoholic @ 06:10, 2004 Dec 9 (UTC)
 * 2) **You're not the first to make that rude allegation, and you won't be the first not to apologize. I'm not anonymous. Five minutes on Google will locate my name, address, and telephone number. Can you say the same? Cribcage 06:27, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) Ambi's assessment of the situation is quite true, I find. I can't support a history of conflict like that. Mike H 01:26, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) No. Admins should act with consensus and be held to a higher standard. We value all editors, but I don't believe this one should have sysop powers. Cool Hand Luke  01:32, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) I now oppose after Guanaco's inexplicable unblocking of HistoryBuffEr. [[User:Neutrality|Neutrality/talk]] 14:37, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)
 * I unblocked HistoryBuffEr's IP addresses simply because they should not have been blocked in the first place. HistoryBuffEr was blocked for exceeding three reverts to an article. The person(s) responsible for User:HistoryBuffEr are not banned. The IP addresses did not continue the revert war, nor did they engage in behavior that is cause for a block (see blocking policy). Blocks are not equivalent to bans.
 * If you had any sense of decorum or respect for community consensus, you'd refrain from using admin privileges pending the result of this vote. Cribcage 04:34, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * "Guanaco will retain his admin powers unless/until his re-application is rejected." And a group of seven arbitrators is not exactly "communuity consensus". Guanaco
 * (1) It's customary for users to sign comments. (2) The fact that the ArbCom chose not to directly strip you of adminship doesn't negate the obvious implications of their ordering this vote. (3) There's no need to argue about community consensus. You're watching it happen on this page. Let's wait and see. Cribcage 05:15, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * (1) I forgot to sign. (2) What implications? If they wanted me not to use sysop powers, they would have desysopped me. (3) I see no consensus. (4) You can find wrong in anything and everything, so this will be my last comment in response to you on this nomination. Guanaco 18:54, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) I have to oppose to this nomination.Arminius 05:05, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Oppose. Wile E. Heresiarch 08:24, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) M7it 17:38, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Weak oppose. I don't get his need to unprotect user pages, which leads me to not trust him. There are better things to be doing as an admin. I think it might be a good idea to have all admins re-apply after a certain period, but I don't like that Guanaco is the only one having to do so. I don't feel like reading all the ArbCom matter, but if they felt he needs to reapply, they might as well just deadmin and let it be that. Dori | Talk 02:59, Dec 5, 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) Sorry, Guanaco. I think you're generally a good guy.  But your unprotecting of user pages gets on my nerves.  And your unblocking of Historybuffer's IPs was out-of-line, in my opinion.  I agree with Cribcage that you shouldn't be using your admin powers during this vote.  Also, your banter with Neutrality and Cribcage above is, I don't know, unsavory.   BLANKFAZE  | (что??) 06:53, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC
 * 6) Oppose, agree with Ambi.--[[User:Bishonen|Bishonen (talk)]] 08:49, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 7) I cannot in good faith support for continued adminship someone who believes that blocked users should feel free to evade their blocks by anonymous editing, and who even goes so far as to hinder other administrators attempting to enforce the block. Proteus (Talk) 19:35, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 8) Cannot support unilateral actions and do not believe admins should have "leeway": that's a licence for roguery.Dr Zen 01:11, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 9) Not the worst admin we have, but that said, we need to de-admin people who don't show wisdom in the use of their powers. It may not happen in order of merit, but it has to start somewhere. Here's to precident. Shane King 02:37, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)
 * 10) Oppose: Guanaco seems to be a blazing loose cannon. Giano 15:50, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 11) Oppose, reluctantly, since I am not an admin and don't feel it's necessarily appropriate for me to vote against an admin, but I really feel strongly that admin powers, any and all of them, should be reserved for folks who are to a great extent beyond reproach, and who take pains to accurately assess and follow consensus. I wouldn't oppose renomination if it seems suitable at a later date. Pedant 00:56, 2004 Dec 7 (UTC)
 * 12) Oppose CheeseDreams 19:39, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 13) Oppose. Deb 18:02, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 14) Oppose - community confidence not there. Charles Matthews 20:49, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 15) * So, just because many other people are opposing, you're going to throw in your vote because that's how you interpret the communities wishes? The "Abilene paradox" comes to mind.  I encourage everyone to vote based on their own determination of Guanaco's value as an admin, not what they think others are thinking. -- Netoholic @ 22:33, 2004 Dec 8 (UTC)
 * 16) **Imagine! Groupthink driving decisions at Wikipedia! That'll never do.Dr Zen 03:01, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 17) **It's a perfectly valid and sensible reason for opposing. Charles feels that admins should have the confidence of a great majority of the community in order to be effective. Obviously that confidence is not there. [[User:Neutrality|Neutrality/talk]] 02:29, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * 18) **If we're questioning motives, let's examine the eagerness of Guanaco's supporters (yourself included) to challenge Oppose votes, often rudely. I see no such trend in the Support section. I disagree with his supporters, but I respect their votes. It's too bad you can't do the same. Cribcage 07:40, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 19) ***I respect your votes. Perhaps it's because we feel very strongly in our support of Guanaco...? ugen64 01:28, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 20) ****That's reasonable. Maybe it's time for all involved to call a truce. There's barely a day left, anyway. Whatever the bureaucrats decide, this vote will end and we'll all cooperate as members of one community. And so far, we've built a heck of an encyclopedia. Cribcage 01:43, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 21) Christmas comes early this year.  A. D. Hair 02:24, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

Neutral
 * [[User:Neutrality|Neutrality/talk]] 14:37, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)

 * 1) Um... I know very little about Guanaco, but I have seen him unblock users, who should have remained block, for no appearent reason, and I found his placing RickK on Vandalism in Progress to have been extremely strange, since RickK was clearly following policy with regard to (then) hard-banned user Michael. func (talk) 21:22, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Er, but I've also noticed him doing a lot for wikipedia, especially on RC patrol, which is why I can't vote either way. func (talk) 21:31, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) Agree with Func. Lst27 ( t a l k )  02:05, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) I feel that the point has been made and that stripping adminship in addition is senseless, but I am only aware of a few of the cases of disputed behavior, so I'm not confident enough to support. Sorry. Very Verily  07:53, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) David Cannon 09:07, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC). I wish there was a fourth option. I am opposed to desysoping Guanaco, just yet.  At the same time, I think the misgivings that many have about some of his actions are justified.  Rather than revoke his admin privileges outright, I would prefer to put him on probation for 3 months and see how he goes.  In the absence of that option, however, I'm voting neutral.
 * 4) I don't have an opinion about Guanaco yet. There are certainly several users whose opinions I trust voting "oppose", but no one has yet provided any difs or other solid evidence to convince me.   – Quadell (talk) (help)   12:55, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) Cyrius|✎ 13:30, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC) -- What David Cannon said. There's a lot of weirdness going on with Guanaco.
 * 6) Weak oppose. Not a problem user but not quite sysop material either --Chris 73 Talk 02:48, Dec 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * 7) What Chris 73 and VeryVerily said. Johnleemk | Talk 17:35, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Comments
 * Neutral: [[User:Neutrality|Neutrality/talk]] 14:37, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)
 * Totally offtopic and irrelevant, but... do you enjoy recursive silliness like that, Neutrality? :) -Fennec (はさばくのきつね) 16:37, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * My humble opinion is that this User could avoid using the special sysop features unless for urgent matters. As anybody can see in Protection_log, this is not the case. --M7it 21:29, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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


text:
Wikipedia:New sources/Print/Europe/UK

 * The Independent (UK)
 * The Guardian (UK) (free, registration required for media section)
 * Daily Telegraph (UK) (free registration required)
 * The Sun (UK)
 * The Financial Times (UK)
 * The Economist (UK)

title: Wikipedia:New sources/Print/Europe/UK


text:
.pw

.pw is the country code top-level domain for the Republic of Palau.

History
The country code top-level domain .pw was delegated to the Pacific island nation of Palau in 1997. It has since been redelegated a number of times. Directi, a group of technology businesses, obtained exclusive rights over .pw from EnCirca in 2004. From 25 March 2013, domains under the .pw TLD are available to the general public. Since then, it is sometimes marketed as a domain for professionals (professional web).

In July 2013 the registry announced that they had passed the 250,000 registration milestone within the first three months, after having 50,000 registered domains in the first three weeks.

Issues
A few months after opening the registry to the general public, .pw became the target of spammers. Symantec released two reports in April and May 2013 claiming that domains under .pw TLD were a significant source of spam e-mail. Directi responded that it had zero tolerance for spam and would be deleting domains accused of violating its anti-abuse policy.

.cc, .com, .pw, and .tk domain names account for 75% of all malicious domain registrations.

title: .pw


text:
.py

.py is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Paraguay.

Second-level domains

 * com.py
 * coop.py
 * edu.py
 * mil.py
 * gov.py
 * org.py
 * net.py
 * una.py

title: .py


text:
Mike Marsh (footballer)

Michael Andrew Marsh (born 21 July 1969) is an English football coach and former professional player.

Marsh came through the ranks at Liverpool and was part of their 1992 FA Cup-winning side. He notably played in the Premier League for The Reds as well as West Ham United and Coventry City before a spell in Turkey with Galatasaray. He went on to play in the Football League with Southend United and then in Non-League with Southport, Barrow, Kidderminster Harriers, Boston United and Accrington Stanley.

Marsh moved into management and had spells in charge of Burscough, Bradford Park Avenue and Northwich Victoria.He was a first-team coach at Liverpool between 2011 and 2015, working under Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers, before joining Huddersfield Town as a coach in November 2015. He left in May 2016 to take up a coaching role with the England under-17s, and was an assistant coach at Swansea City between 2019 and 2021.

Liverpool
A midfielder or full-back, he was spotted playing for his local side Kirkby Town by Liverpool reserve team coach Phil Thompson, who advised manager Kenny Dalglish to sign the talented youngster, which he did on 21 August 1987. Marsh made his Liverpool debut on 1 March 1989 in the 2–0 win over Charlton Athletic at Anfield, when he came on as a 58th-minute substitute for Jan Mølby.

Marsh graduated from the reserves and established himself as a first-team regular in the 1991–92 season. His first goal also came during this season, in one of the most memorable matches ever played at Anfield, on 6 November 1991 in a UEFA Cup second round second leg tie against Auxerre. The game saw Liverpool turn a 2–0 deficit from the first leg in France into a 3–2 aggregate win. Marsh's 29th-minute equaliser swung the game in Liverpool's favour.

Marsh was an unused substitute in the 1992 FA Cup Final and picked up a winners medal as Liverpool beat Sunderland 2–0. He continued to be a regular squad member in 1992–93 and began the 1993–94 season in style with a great curled goal in a 5–0 win at Swindon Town, but Graeme Souness allowed him to leave within days of that goal when he joined West Ham United as a makeweight (along with David Burrows) in the deal that took Julian Dicks to Anfield. Marsh had appeared 101 times for Liverpool and scored six goals.

West Ham United
Marsh signed for West Ham United on 17 September 1993 and made his debut the following day in the 2–0 win over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Marsh's time at Upton Park was short-lived. He spent fifteen months at the club, during which he made 61 appearances, scoring twice.

Coventry City
Coventry City signed Marsh for £450,000 on 30 December 1994 but he was soon on the move again after nineteen games and two goals in six months at Highfield Road.

Galatasaray
It was the manager who had allowed him to leave Liverpool, Graeme Souness, who wanted Marsh's signature. He got it for £500,000 on 26 June 1995, taking Marsh to Turkish side Galatasaray. Marsh played three times in two and a half months for the team from Istanbul before he was on the move yet again to Southend United, whose newly installed manager was Marsh's ex-Liverpool teammate Ronnie Whelan.

Southend United
Marsh signed for the Shrimpers on 3 September 1995 for £500,000. Marsh made his debut on 9 September 1995 in the 1–0 defeat to Sunderland at Roker Park. Marsh had two good seasons at the Essex club, appearing in seventy-five league games and scoring ten times. The second of these seasons saw Southend relegated to the Second Division, the third tier of English football. Things got worse for Marsh as he picked up a knee injury which ultimately and prematurely ended his professional career. He had played ninety seven times for Southend, scoring thirteen goals.

Barrow and Kidderminster Harriers
As part of the insurance payout Marsh received when he retired, he was required to never play league football again, so he spent the remainder of his playing career in non-league. The first non-league side he signed for was Barrow, where he stayed for six months before moving to the ambitious Midlands club Kidderminster Harriers on 19 November 1999. Kidderminster were managed by former Liverpool teammate, and the man Marsh had replaced when making his debut, Jan Mølby.

The Harriers were in the Conference looking to gain league status for the first time in the club's history. They achieved their dream by the end of Marsh's first season for the club, but due to the terms of the insurance claim, Marsh could not follow Mølby and his teammates into league football and had to leave after 24 league appearances, in which he hit the net four times.

Southport
Marsh joined Conference side Southport on a free transfer on 18 May 2000 and spent just over a year there, playing 37 times and scoring seven times.

Boston United
On 9 June 2001, Marsh joined another ambitious Conference outfit, this time Boston United, who paid Southport £15,000. Marsh's experience helped guide Boston to the Conference title, but once again he had to leave as he was not allowed to join his Boston teammates in league football. He played seven times for Boston, scoring once against Chester, but was a major influence within the Boston camp.

Accrington Stanley
Marsh's last move was to another ambitious club, Accrington Stanley. Accrington won the Northern Premier League that season, thus gaining promotion to the Conference. Marsh ended his career after one season at the Crown Ground on 2 June 2003.

Coaching career
After retiring from playing, Marsh was on the coaching staff of Southport. In 2008, Northwich Victoria appointed him as their first-team coach. He quit Northwich to become assistant manager at Bradford Park Avenue in November 2008. Later that month, he was appointed caretaker manager of Park Avenue after Dave Cameron resigned following a defeat against bottom-placed Witton Albion, he shared the role with goalkeeping coach Gary Stokes because he had commitments in Spain.

Marsh is currently the head academy coach of Accrington & Rossendale College in East Lancashire. Marsh combines this role with his academy coaching job at Liverpool's under-16's and with his Master's football commitments. In May 2011 Liverpool announced he was to move up to coaching the under-18 side. Marsh moved up to first-team coach at Liverpool before his departure from the club was announced in June 2015.

On 9 November 2015, Marsh joined Huddersfield Town as a coach under new manager David Wagner.

In March 2016, it was announced that Marsh would leave Huddersfield to take up a similar position with the England national under-17 football team.

On 13 June 2019, Marsh was named assistant first-team coach to Steve Cooper at Swansea City.

In December 2021, he returned to his North West roots to become the new first team coach to Ryan Lowe at Preston North End.

Honours

 * 1991–92 FA Cup with Liverpool
 * 1999-00 Football Conference with Kidderminster Harriers
 * 2001–02 Football Conference with Boston United
 * 2002–03 Northern Premier League with Accrington Stanley

title: Mike Marsh (footballer)


text:
Talk:Extension agent

This article is about extension agents in the US. Can anyone add an international perspective? Is there a different name for this job in other countries? ike9898 14:34, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Extension agent


text:
Charles Wordsworth

Charles Wordsworth (22 August 1806 – 5 December 1892) was Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane in Scotland. He was a classical scholar, and taught at public schools in England and Scotland. He was a rower, cricketer, and athlete and he instigated both the University cricket match in 1826 and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in 1829.

Early life and education
Wordsworth was born in Lambeth, the son of the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth and a nephew of the poet William Wordsworth. His father was a divine and scholar. He was educated at Harrow where his friends included Charles Merivale and Richard Chenevix Trench. He was in the Harrow cricket eleven for the first regular matches with Eton (1822) and Winchester (1825), He then went to Christ Church, Oxford where he won the Chancellor's Latin verse at Oxford in 1827, and the Latin essay in 1831, and took a first-class in classics. Through his continued contact with Merivale at Cambridge University, he is credited with bringing about the first Oxford and Cambridge match in 1827, in which he captained Oxford and took seven wickets. Again with Merivale and his Cambridge contacts he instigated the first university boat race in 1829. He played cricket in the Varsity match in 1829 and rowed in the winning Oxford crew in the Boat Race. In 1869 Wordsworth responded to John Morgan, who was investigating the health effects of rowing.

"The subject upon which you have written to me is one in which I naturally take a more than common interest. Not only was I one of the Oxford Crew in the first Inter-University Boat-Race in 1829, but the Race was entirely set up by me, owing to the fact that though I was myself at Christ Church, Oxford, my home was at Cambridge (my father being Master of Trinity), and I had a large acquaintance there, and some-times (especially in Easter vacations) was invited to pull in one of their boats, e. g. that of St John's, in which were the now Bishops, Selwyn and Tyrrell, and Charles Merivale the historian, all now vigorous and flourishing. I may also mention, as bearing upon your enquiry, that as soon as my father heard that I had been chosen one of the Oxford Eight, and was practising for the Race, he wrote me an earnest letter, in which he desired me not to row any more, simply from anxiety lest my health should suffer. Though I was always much given to athletic exercises, even before I went to Harrow (where I was one of the Eleven in the first Matches against Eton, for four years, 1822–1825), my constitution was in some respects rather a delicate one. When I received his letter I went at once to my physician, told him the difficulty in which I was placed, begged him to examine my state of health, and got his authority to assure my father that so far as he could judge, rowing had not done me any harm. By this my father was satisfied, and I was allowed to go on. The Race itself, which was at Henley (two miles up stream), certainly did me no harm, though at the time I was incommoded by the change to an unusual diet, — under-done beefsteaks, porter, dry bread, no butter, no tea, no vegetables. After the Race, which was on Wednesday or Tuesday (I think), I was able to play cricket, as one of the Eleven also, against Cambridge on the following Friday. The match was at Oxford. We were victorious on both occasions."

 * (The University cricket match took place on 5 and 6 June and the Boat Race on 10 June.)

Teaching career
From 1830 to 1833 Wordsworth was teaching and had as pupils a number of men, including William Gladstone and Cardinal Manning. He then travelled abroad during 1833–1834, and after a year as tutor at Christ Church (1834–1835) was appointed second master at Winchester College. He had previously taken holy orders, though he only became priest in 1840, and he had a strong religious influence with the boys.

In 1839 he brought out his Greek Grammar, which had a great success. In 1846, however, he resigned; and then accepted the wardenship of Trinity College, Glenalmond, the new Scottish Episcopal public school and divinity college, where he remained from 1847 to 1854, having great educational success in all respects; though his views on Scottish Church questions brought him into opposition at some important points to Gladstone.

Ecclesiastical career
In 1852 Wordsworth was elected Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, and was consecrated in Aberdeen early next year. He was a strong supporter of the establishment, but conciliatory towards the Free churches, and this brought him into a good deal of controversy. He was a voluminous writer, and was one of the company of revisers of the New Testament (1870–1881), among whom he displayed a conservative tendency.

In 1864 his book On Shakspeare's Knowledge and Use of the Bible was published in London.

In continuing his letter to Morgan, Wordsworth described his activities in 1869.

"For myself, I am now in my 63rd year, yet my constitution is not seriously impaired, as you may conclude when I mention that I still am able to skate, to play at cricket occasionally with my sons, and that last year I rowed with them upon the Tay, a distance of eight miles, as stroke of a Four-oar? Nor when I think of others whom I knew as a young man at both Universities, can I remember any instance of injury being done to the health which could fairly be set down to the exercise of rowing as then practised. It is true we used to be told, even in those days, that no man in a Racing-Boat could expect to live to the age of thirty."

Later life
Wordsworth died in St Andrews and is buried in the Eastern Cemetery against the north wall (which backs onto the cathedral grounds).

Family
Wordsworth was twice married, first in 1835 to Charlotte Day (d. 1839), and secondly in 1846 to Katherine Mary Barter (d. 1897). He had thirteen children altogether. He was the older brother of Christopher Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln.

See his Annals of my Early Life (1891), and Annals of My Life, edited by W Earl Hodgson (1893); also The Episcopate of Charles Wordsworth, by his nephew John Wordsworth, Bishop of Salisbury (1899).

title: Charles Wordsworth


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.sb

.sb is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Solomon Islands. It is administered through the Council of Country Code Administrators (CoCCA).

The country code derives from the name of the country prior to independence according to the ISO 3166 standard (Solomon Islands, British).

Second-level domains
As of 12 February 2016 registering domains directly at the second level is allowed. Second-level domains are manually reviewed and must be approved by the NIC before they're added to the zone.

Unrestricted global registration:
 * com.sb
 * net.sb

Restricted registration:
 * edu.sb (educational institutions)
 * org.sb (nonprofit organisations)
 * gov.sb (government agencies or departments)

title: .sb


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Wikipedia:News sources/Print/North America

Please consider adding links to news pages that do not already have many links on them. A good start would be the red links on News sources. This will help us to maintain NPOV in our news sources.
 * US print
 * Canadian print


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Steve Oedekerk

Steven Brent Oedekerk is an American filmmaker, actor, and stand-up comedian. He is best known for his collaborations with actor and comedian Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac (particularly the Ace Ventura franchise), his series of "Thumbmation" shorts and his film Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002), along with his films Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Santa vs. the Snowman 3D, Barnyard, and The Nutty Professor remake.

Early life
Oedekerk was born in Seattle, Washington; he was raised by his mother Rena Borlandeli and father Martin Oedekerk in Huntington Beach, California. He attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California and Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He is of Dutch Frisian, Irish, Hungarian and Italian (Lombard) descent. His mother is an emigrant from Magnago, Italy. His paternal grandfather was an Afrikaner born in South Africa to Dutch parents.

Career
Throughout his career, Oedekerk has appeared in and created several television specials for NBC, ABC, and UPN. He also contributed his writing talents to FOX during the late 1980s and through the early 1990s. It was during this time that Oedekerk befriended fellow comic/actor Jim Carrey while working on the television series In Living Color during its 1990–1994 run; this was the first of numerous collaborations between the two.

Prior to his successful contributions to several unknown episodes in the Color TV series, he wrote and starred in his first independent/directorial film, Smart Alex (1987). It wasn't until 1991 that Oedekerk was attached not only as a writer, but also as the protagonist, as Thane Furrows in the film High Strung. Jim Carrey also starred opposite him in the role of Death, although he went uncredited. They eventually developed a strong friendship, which still exists today. Shortly afterward, Oedekerk again worked alongside Carrey as the project consultant for Tom Shadyac's first film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). The film became a break-out success and he was given the opportunity to both direct and write its sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). This time Oedekerk directed and wrote the movie after Shadyac left before filming. The sequel proved to be more successful, surpassing the box office gross of the original. Despite this, both Oedekerk and Carrey wanted to pursue other projects, but still remained friends.

Following the Ace Ventura franchise, Oedekerk co-wrote The Nutty Professor (1996), which was also directed by Shadyac for Universal Pictures; it became one of the highest-grossing films of that year. He soon wrote, directed and also had a cameo appearance in Nothing to Lose (1997), starring Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence. Oedekerk took a hiatus from directing major film productions for the rest of the 1990s, but continued to write screenplays, including Patch Adams (1998), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002) (which he directed, wrote and starred in ), Bruce Almighty (2003) and Barnyard (2006) (which he directed, wrote, produced, and voiced various characters). In 2003, he signed a first look deal with Universal.

In 2007, Oedekerk produced the screenplay and story for the Bruce Almighty sequel, Evan Almighty; again, Shadyac directed both films. He has also been commissioned to write the screenplay for the Ripley's Believe It or Not! film adaptation; Jim Carrey has since been cast in the title role. No news involving the project has been reported since.

In February 2009, Universal Pictures announced that Steve Oedekerk would be penning a film adaptation of the Stretch Armstrong superhero doll. As of 2016, the film is left in development hell with an animated series currently in the works.

In 2015, it was announced that a sequel to Kung Pow is currently in the works with him returning to write and direct.

O Entertainment
O Entertainment was a production company founded by Steve Oedekerk in 1990. O Entertainment's productions include the Thumbmation series (Thumb Wars, Bat Thumb, Thumbtanic, etc.), Santa vs. the Snowman 3D, Jimmy Neutron: The Boy Genius, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Back at the Barnyard, Planet Sheen, and the movie The Super Mouse. The animation division, Omation Animation Studio, was founded by Oedekerk himself and hired animators who previously worked in DNA Productions after the studio closed down in 2006.

In 1990, Oedekerk founded an entertainment company, O Entertainment. In 1997, he created and starred in a variety special, featuring computer animation, entitled The O Show (also known as steve.oedekerk.com). He is also executive producer of the animated series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius on Nickelodeon.

Omation Animation Studio
Oedekerk founded Omation Animation Studio (commonly known as Omation) in 2002 as a division of O Entertainment. Their first animation project was the feature film Barnyard (which Oedekerk wrote, directed, produced, and performed as a voice actor). Around 2006–2007, the studio began production on a Nicktoon based on the film titled Back at the Barnyard. The series premiered on Nickelodeon on September 29, 2007. A second season followed, and six additional episodes airing on Nickelodeon's sister channel Nicktoons from September 12, 2011, until November 12, 2011. Following the closure of DNA Productions in 2006, many of the employees there moved to Omation.

Oedekerk also gained popularity with his series of "Thumbmation" shorts: Thumb Wars, Bat Thumb, The Godthumb, Frankenthumb, The Blair Thumb and Thumbtanic.

Following the failure of Planet Sheen and its subsequent cancellation in 2013, the studio was shut down along with O Entertainment.

Film
Other credits

Acting roles

Television
Acting roles

title: Steve Oedekerk


text:
Wikipedia:News sources/Print/North America/Canada

Toronto

 * The Toronto Star (CA)
 * The Globe and Mail (CA)
 * The National Post (CA)
 * Toronto Sun(CA)

Montreal

 * La Presse (CA)

Vancouver

 * Vancouver Sun(CA)
 * Vancouver Province(CA)

Ottawa

 * ''Ottawa Citizen""(CA)


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.sc

.sc is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Seychelles. The TLD was marketed to businesses in Scotland and the U.S. state of South Carolina, however, the domains are subject to Seychelles registry rules. While SCregistrars, a company which marketed .sc domains to a target audience of Scottish sites, has since closed down the .sc extension remains available through the Afilias Global platform via various well-known registrars internationally for direct registration at second-level.

Domain hacks
The domain has also been used for domain hacks, such as by the website SoundCloud (due to its initials "SC"). For example, "exit.sc" was a domain set up by SoundCloud for tracking traffic leaving its website.

Third-level domains

 * com.sc: commercial, for-profit organizations
 * net.sc: network infrastructure machines and organizations
 * edu.sc: educational institutions
 * gov.sc: governmental institutions
 * org.sc: miscellaneous, usually non-profit, organizations

title: .sc


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Bad Lieutenant

Bad Lieutenant is a 1992 American neo-noir crime film directed by Abel Ferrara. The film stars Harvey Keitel as the title character "bad lieutenant" as well as Victor Argo and Paul Calderón. The screenplay was co-written by Ferrara with actress-model Zoë Lund, both of whom appear in the film in minor roles. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.

Since its release, Bad Lieutenant has become one of Ferrara's best known and most critically appreciated works, as well as a cult film.

Plot
After dropping off his two young sons at Catholic school, an unnamed NYPD police lieutenant uses cocaine and drives to the scene of a double homicide in Union Square. The lieutenant finds a drug dealer and gives him a bag of drugs from a crime scene, smoking crack during the exchange; the dealer promises to give him the money he makes from selling the drugs in a few days. At an apartment, the lieutenant gets drunk and engages in a threesome with two women. He then visits a red-haired woman and smokes heroin with her. In parallel events, a nun is raped inside a church by two young hoodlums.

The next morning, the lieutenant learns that he has lost a bet on a National League Championship Series game between the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He tries to win back his money by doubling his wager on the Dodgers in the next game. At another crime scene, the lieutenant rifles through a car and finds some drugs which he stashes in his suit jacket. However, they fall out onto the street in front of his colleagues. The lieutenant tries to play it off by instructing them to enter the drugs into evidence.

At a hospital, the lieutenant spies on the nun's examination and learns that she was penetrated with a crucifix. Later that evening, he pulls over two teenage girls who are using their father's car without his knowledge to go to a club. As they have no driving license, the lieutenant tells one of the girls to bend over and pull up her skirt and the other to simulate oral sex while he masturbates. The following day, he eavesdrops on the nun's confession to her priest, where she says she knows who assaulted her but will not identify them.

While drinking vodka and snorting cocaine as he drives through Times Square, the lieutenant listens to the final moments of the Dodgers game and shoots out his car stereo when they lose. Despite being unable to pay the $30,000 wager, he doubles his bet for the next game. The lieutenant drinks in a bar when the Dodgers lose again. After scoring cocaine in a nightclub, he tries to double his bet yet again. His friend refuses to make the wager, insisting that the bookie would kill him.

The lieutenant picks up his $30,000 share from the drug dealer and calls the bookie personally to place his bet. They arrange to meet in front of Madison Square Garden. He then visits the red-haired woman again and shoots heroin with her. At the church, he tells the nun that he will exact vengeance upon her attackers, but she repeats that she has forgiven them and leaves. In the resulting emotional breakdown, the lieutenant sees an apparition of Jesus and tearfully curses him before begging forgiveness for his crimes and sins. The figure is revealed to be a woman holding a golden chalice, which turns out to have been pawned at her husband's shop.

With the help of the woman, the lieutenant tracks the two rapists to a nearby crack den in Spanish Harlem and cuffs them together. He holds them at gunpoint and smokes crack with them as the Mets win the pennant. Instead of taking them to the station, he drives them to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and puts them on a bus with a cigar box containing the $30,000. He demands that they never come back to New York. After he leaves the terminal, he parks on the street in front of Penn Station. Another car drives up beside him, and the driver, presumably the bookie with whom the lieutenant had arranged to meet, shoots and kills the lieutenant. A crowd begins to form and a police officer arrives on the scene.

Production
According to Zoë Lund: "There was a lot of rewriting done on the set. Two other characters were cut, and my character modulated and took on more and more. A lot of things had to be changed and improvised. The vampire speech – which is crucial to the Lieutenant – was written two minutes before it was shot. I memorized it and did it in one take. The speech is important because she is acute in knowing the journey the Lieutenant makes. She shoots him up, sends him off, knowing of his passion, she lets him go."

Lund avowed in an interview that she "co-directed" several scenes in the film. Lund also claimed that she wrote the screenplay of Bad Lieutenant alone and believed that Ferrara did not put much effort in his contributions in the film.

According to Jonas Mekas, Lund's ex-boyfriend Edouard de Laurot was reported to have written most of the film's script. David Scott Milton later vouched for this claim. Mekas even claimed he had "scribbles and notes to prove it".

Ferrara said in 2012 that he was using drugs during the making of the film: "The director of that film needed to be using, the director and the writer—not the actors."

The Special Edition DVD from Lion's Gate has a special feature about the pre-, during, and post-production of the film, in which Ferrara explains the screenplay's genesis, its authorship, and its original brevity.

Christopher Walken was originally going to portray the titular character.

Alternate versions
Originally rated NC-17 and one of the few films to be rated thus on the basis of depictions of drug use and violence (the only other film being Comfortably Numb), the unedited cut's rating was described as being for "sexual violence, strong sexual situations and dialogue, graphic drug use".

Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, the largest video rental companies in the United States, had a policy prohibiting the purchase and rental of NC-17 films. An R-rated cut was created specifically so that Blockbuster and the other retailers would rent and purchase out the film. The R-rated cut was described with "drug use, language, violence, and nudity". The scene in which the Lieutenant pulls over two young girls and masturbates in front of them is almost completely absent from the Blockbuster version.

The original theatrical version featured the song "Signifying Rapper" by Schoolly D. The song was removed from some editions of the film's home video release due to the unauthorized use of a re-recorded guitar riff from Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", which the rapper did not license.

Ban in Ireland
On January 29, 1993, the film was banned in Ireland. Sheamus Smith, who headed the Irish Film Censor Board at the time, felt the film had a "demeaning treatment of women". The DVD release was banned for the same reason 10 years later.

Reception
Bad Lieutenant has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Bad Lieutenant will challenge less desensitized viewers with its depiction of police corruption, but Harvey Keitel's committed performance makes it hard to turn away." Writing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin praised Ferrara's talent for making "gleefully down-and-dirty films", continuing, "He has come up with his own brand of supersleaze, in a film that would seem outrageously, unforgivably lurid if it were not also somehow perfectly sincere." Desson Howe for The Washington Post called the Lieutenant "a notch nicer than Satan", and he cites Keitel's work as the film's saving grace, "It is only the strength of Keitel's performance that gives his personality human dimension."

Mark Kermode has mentioned that the film was praised as "a powerful tale of redemptive Catholicism". Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and stated that "in the Bad Lieutenant, Keitel has given us one of the great screen performances in recent years". Martin Scorsese named this movie as the fifth best movie of the 1990s.

Followup
A narratively unrelated follow-up, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, was released in 2009, seventeen years after the first film's release. The film was directed by Werner Herzog and stars Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. It was described as being "neither a sequel nor a remake". Both films were produced by Edward R. Pressman.

title: Bad Lieutenant


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Talk:Tamarin

Untitled
For most species of animals, the number of individuals in the species is inversely proportional to the average body size for numbers of the species.Why does the small tamarin have a huge territory unlike other species? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.60.249.109 (talk • contribs).

Subspecies

 * White-lipped tamarin, Saguinus labiatus
 * Geoffroy's red-bellied tamarin, Saguinus labiatus labiatus
 * Thomas's red-bellied tamarin, Saguinus labiatus labiatus
 * Gray's red-bellied tamarin, Saguinus labiatus labiatus

All right - they can't all be S. l. labiatus! I'm changing Thomas's to thomasi, IAW White-lipped tamarin, but which of the other two should be changed to rubiventer? 104.153.40.58 (talk) 15:47, 21 April 2023 (UTC)

 * Gray's. IUCN helped me figure it. Good catch! - UtherSRG (talk) 18:00, 21 April 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Tamarin


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.sd

.sd is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Sudan.

2nd level domains

 * com.sd - Companies
 * net.sd - Network providers and ISPs
 * org.sd - Sudanese NGOs
 * edu.sd - Sudanese universities and colleges
 * med.sd - Medical
 * tv.sd - TV channels and Electronic media
 * gov.sd - Sudanese government and ministries
 * info.sd - Newspapers, information, and media

Second top domain
A new internationalized country code top-level domain string using Arabic letters, سودان, was reserved for Sudan in November 2012.

title: .sd


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Jiu Valley

The Jiu Valley (Valea Jiului, Zsil-völgy) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and the main activity was coal mining, but due to low efficiency, most of the mines were closed down in the years following the collapse of Communism in Romania. For a long time the place was called Romania's biggest coalfield.

Before the 19th century
The region was populated since ancient times, being part of Dacia. During the Middle Ages, the inhabitants of the Jiu Valley lived in huts spread along the mountains, and often near the river, and the main activity was shepherding. Until the early 19th century the region remained sparsely populated due to its geographical isolation (being surrounded by mountains).

19th century and early 20th century
The development of coal mining started in the Jiu Valley about 160 years ago, around the middle of the 19th century, when Hungarian, German, Czech and Polish workers were brought from all parts of the Habsburg Empire to work in the coal mines. Romanian miners from other regions, such as Baia Mare or the Apuseni Mountains, were also brought to work in the Jiu Valley. During the late 19th century, the region started to strongly develop itself, economically and culturally, through a flourishing industry based on mining. The Jiu Valley, being situated in Transylvania, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the 1918 Union of Transylvania with Romania. During World War I, the area was the site of heavy fighting between Romanian forces on one side and German and Austro-Hungarian forces on the other side. The first battle ended in an important, albeit temporary defensive victory for the Romanians, nevertheless the Central Powers succeeded to break through the Romanian defences here in November 1916. Mining continued to dominate the economy in the 20th century, but the region also experienced social unrest, notably the Lupeni Strike of 1929. The mines were privately owned until 1948, when all private companies were nationalized by the Communist government.

The Jiu Valley during the Communist regime
As part of Romania's reparations to the Soviet Union for its wartime alliance with Germany, the Romanian coal mines were nationalized and converted into joint Soviet-Romanian companies (SovRoms). These Sovroms continued for about ten years. The Jiu Valley expanded rapidly in the second half of the 20th century as the country's communist rulers (Petru Groza 1945–1952, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej 1952–1965, and Nicolae Ceaușescu 1965–1989) embarked on an intensive industrial growth program fueled by coal combustion. Steel production rose from 280,000 tons in 1938 to 13,790,000 tons in 1985. Steel production was fueled by coke, distilled carbon made from metallurgical coal. As coke was generated, it gave off coal tar as a by-product that was then used in manufacturing many other products. To meet the labor requirement for this demand, the communist government imported tens of thousands of miners from around the country, mainly from Moldavia. By 1979 the number of miners reached 179,000.

During the 1970s and 1980s Ceaușescu determined that Romania should be completely debt-free and sought to repay its foreign debt ahead of the repayment schedule agreed to by the country's creditors. To accomplish this, he exported for sale any products or materials of value, while the little inferior food and products remained was sold on the domestic market. Opposition was ruthlessly crushed and expressions of discontent were stifled by the ubiquitous Securitate, the secret police. As a result, in order to survive, more and more people began to transact business through barter trade and other informal economic means. achieved his goal, but at a huge cost to nearly all sectors of the country. Since the anti-Ceaușescu revolution in 1989, restructuring of the coal sector, the country's economic contraction, and a shift toward natural gas all contributed to a significant decrease in both production and consumption of coal in Romania. Production declined by 57%, from 66.4 million short tons (Mmst) in 1989 to 28.6 Mmst in 1998. Consumption also fell more than 60%, from 77.7 Mmst in 1989 to 30.8 Mmst in 1998.

During this same period the Jiu Valley has been profoundly influenced by lack of re-investment, deteriorating infrastructure, mine closures and massive layoffs, environmental degradation, and political and cultural isolation from the rest of Romania.

Organized labor in Romania
Organized labor has played an important role in post-revolution Romania, affecting the actions of every government since 1989. Chronic work stoppages and economic disruptions by various labor organizations helped bring down successive governments and contributed to general economic and political instability. While trade unions have existed in Romania since the late nineteenth century, during the communist period from World War II until 1989 independent trade unions were not allowed to exist. Instead, there was a national pyramid of industry federations consisting of enterprise trade unions and headed by the General Union of Romanian Trade Unions. The few attempts during this period to found independent trade unions or organize worker protests were ruthlessly suppressed, with their leaders severely punished or executed. Following the chaos of December 1989, trade organizations sprang up virtually overnight. Unlike in Western Europe where trade-union pluralism typically reflects ideological groupings, in Romania labor movement fragmentation reflected distrust of higher authority, personal ambition and unwillingness of leaders to reduce or share power. As of 1997, labor analysts estimated that there were over 14,000 enterprise trade union organizations, 150 federations, and 18 confederations, representing approximately two-thirds of the workforce. Some consolidation occurred in the 1990s.

Jiu Valley Coal Miners Union
Few, if any, Romanian trade unions, though, have had as much influence or won as much national notoriety (or international attention) as the Liga Sindicatelor Miniere din Valea Jiului (League of Miners Unions of the Jiu Valley, or Jiu Valley Coal Miners Union). While there are two other coal mining regions (primarily surface mining) in Romania, and other miners unions, the Jiu Valley Coal Miners Union has long been the most independent and militant.

Political and social unrest in this region is nothing new. To this day miners commemorate the Lupeni Strike of 1929 (when the army killed 23 workers and wounded at least 53 ), the big strikes of February 1933, and the miners’ protest in 1977 during the Ceaușescu years. On the latter occasion, on 1 August 1977, 35,000 Jiu miners gathered in the main yard of the Lupeni mine to protest against a new decree that raised the age of retirement from 50 to 55 and reduced the miners’ pensions. Spokesmen for the miners claimed that the protest was the culmination of many years of deteriorating conditions and the intolerable political situation in the country. Ceaușescu dealt with the miners by agreeing to their demands and then, as soon as the movement subsided, ordered reprisals against the leaders. He also transferred four thousand of them out of the area and replaced them, many of the replacements working as informants for the Securitate, the dreaded secret police. The subsequent climate of fear kept the miners silent until the 1989 revolution.

The 1990s: the rise and decline of miners' unions
During the 1990s the Jiu Valley miners have played a visible role in Romanian politics. In fact, Romanians have a name – mineriada (mineriad) – for the periodic eruptions of violence when Jiu Valley miners went on strike and descended upon Bucharest. The first post-revolution action came in 1990. In May 1990, former communist official Ion Iliescu won the presidential election with a majority of over 80% (President from 1990–1996, re-elected December 2000). Some groups, dissatisfied with results, continued street demonstrations in Bucharest, after most of the participants in the electoral meetings before the election had renounced the sit in. Several weeks after the elections, when the authorities attempted to evict the remaining protesters occupying one of Bucharest's central square, violence erupted and, as the police and gendarmerie retreated under pressure, protesters attacked several state institutions, including the police headquarters, the national television station, and the Foreign Ministry.

When the police failed to contain the crowds in University Square, President Iliescu issued a call to arms to Romania's population to prevent further attacks on the newly elected authorities. Among those who responded to the call from organizers were coal miners from the Jiu Valley, who accepted the government offered transport to go to Bucharest to confront the demonstrators. An estimated 10,000 miners were transported to the capital in special trains.

State television broadcast videos of workers attacking and fighting with protesters, including students, as well as the opposition party headquarters. The miners claim that the agitation and most of the brutality was the work of Iliescu's government agents who had infiltrated and disguised themselves as miners (see the June 1990 Mineriad), and there were widespread rumors and suspicion that the Serviciul Român de Informații (the successor to the Securitate) was involved or behind the events with the miners.

Later parliamentary inquiries showed that members of the government intelligence services were involved in the instigation and manipulation of both the protesters and the miners, and that the miners had been "joined by vigilantes who were later credibly identified as former officers of the Securitate." For two days, the miners (aided and abetted by the former Securitate members) violently confronted the protesters and other targets. Despite denials by the secret service, in February 1994 a Bucharest court "found two security officers, Colonel Ion. Nicolae and warrant officer Corneliu Dumitrescu, guilty of ransacking the house of Ion Rațiu, a leading figure in the National Peasant Christian Democratic Party, during the miners’ incursion, and stealing $100,000." Petre Roman's government fell in late September 1991, when the miners returned to Bucharest to demand higher salaries. A technocrat, Theodor Stolojan, was appointed to head an interim government until new elections could be held.

The 1990 mineriad was followed by several other actions during Iliescu's presidency. In September 1991, the miners, irritated that the government had not lived up to its economic promises, descended on Bucharest again. An estimated 10,000 miners came to the capital. Rioting ensued and lasted over four days. The actions during this time led to the resignation and replacement of the prime minister and his cabinet. August 1993 saw another miner strike and a resumption of general strikes by other trade unions. In November 1996, many miners, fed up with what they saw as a betrayal on the part of Iliescu, voted for his opponent, Emil Constantinescu, during the parliamentary and presidential elections.

The economic situation for state-favored working classes, such as the miners, who had been relatively insulated against the harsh privation suffered by the general populace, changed after 1989. During Ceausescu's regime the mines and other ineffective state-owned industries were artificially propped up and protected against market fluctuations. Miners were considered relatively well paid, although there was little of value to purchase with the money they earned. After the revolution in December 1989 the replacement government maintained Ceausescu's policy of subsidizing these money-losing industries with few changes to the industrial or management practices that had led to the problems in the first place. The government borrowed heavily without adhering to the conditions of economic reforms required by the World Bank, the IMF and other international lenders. With Ceausescu's forced privations lifted, and falling prices for Romanian exports, the country's international debt soared. This in turn led to fewer funds allocated to industry reinvestment and maintenance.

Relations between labor and the new Constantinescu government, while appearing initially quite promising, proved as difficult and problematic as before. Under pressure from international lenders (most notably the International Monetary Fund), who refused to provide any more financial assistance unless inefficient and money-losing state owned operations were reduced and other reforms carried out, in February 1997 the new center right coalition embarked on a comprehensive macroeconomic stabilization and radical structural reform program. This program was also seen as a key requirement for attaining the government's goal of membership in NATO and the European Union (EU).

The Constantinescu and Vasile (who succeeded Victor Ciorbea as Prime Minister) government's urgent priority was to reduce budget and trade deficits by making major budget cuts (particularly in social spending), and eliminating non-profitable sectors, including the mines. Decreased mine yields (in no small part due to lack of operating capital and access to technology) and a low international price of and demand for Romanian coal all contributed toward the huge losses in the mining industry being incurred by the government. By some estimates, national demand for coal fell from 44 million tons in 1996 to 33.5 million in 1997, out of a potential annual capacity of 52 million tons.

Velvet restructuring and subsequent unrest
Under the initial Constantinescu first prime minister and cabinet, the government executed what was referred to in the government and media as a “velvet restructuring” of the mining sector under Ordinance 22. In the process of the “velvet restructuring” 18,000 miners lost their jobs, with the rest left with uncertain futures. The government had promised the miners 15 to 20 months of salary as severance (totaling nearly 20-30 million lei, or $1,230-1,846, according to the August 1999 exchange rate) to help them start their own businesses. Many of the miners, noting the growing number of terminations, did not hesitate to put their names on the lay-off list. However, a year after the beginning of the mining sector restructuring, only approximately 5,000 of the 18,000 had employment, either through starting their own jobs or finding other jobs (and most of these with the companies overseeing the mine closures).

Each mine closure is widely felt in the Jiu Valley community. In Campul lui Neag, the westernmost mine in Jiu Valley, after Ordinance 22 only 152 people remained of the 790 who used to work there before 1966. At Dâlja, a mine in the east of the Jiu Valley there were only 1,023 miners left of the former 3,000. In Lupeni, reputed the second largest mine in Europe and, unlike some of the other Jiu Valley mines, a relatively profitable one, by 1999 only 4,000 workers remained of the pre-1996 8,000 workers. Of these 4,000 only an estimated one-third were actual miners, with the remaining two-thirds aboveground jobs such as administrative, engineering, and technical staff.

The government's actions, while winning concessions with the international lenders, led to growing antagonism with labor. By August 1997 the growing criticism of labor throughout the country translated into strikes and eventually led to the resignation and replacement of the prime minister and cabinet. In the Jiu Valley government's announcement in 1997 of the closures of the Dâlja and Barbateni mines and the generally deteriorating conditions of the miners sparked riots and then led to a general strike.

Despite the probable and most likely reaction of the miners, in order to be eligible for an IMF loan to repay its debts the government was required to close more mines (142 which had been closed since 1997) and was pending decision on closing additional 112 mines. To limit losses in the unprofitable mining sector, then running at $370 million, the government made an announcement just before Christmas 1998 of its plan to close non-profitable mines. After closing about 100 mines and getting rid of 90,000 mining jobs in the course of 1997, including 20,000 in the Jiu Valley, implementing this new plan would result in firing additional 6,500 miners.

The result was an outpouring of miner resentment and anger at what the miners saw as another betrayal. Organized by union leader Miron Cozma, on 20 January 1999 an estimated 10-15,000 set out on another mineriad from the Jiu Valley to Bucharest to force the government to change its policy, demand wage increases and re-opening of recently closed mines.

Along the way the caravan of miners fought pitched and bloody, tear-gas choked battles with the Gendarmerie and wreaked havoc along the way. The army was mobilized and waited on the outskirts of Bucharest. The anticipated and dreaded showdown between the miners and army, however, never materialized. The miners had not reached Bucharest when a secret compromise was reached between union leader Cozma and Prime Minister Radu Vasile on 22 January. In return for the miners’ agreement to turn around and go back to the Jiu Valley, the government agreed to a 30 percent pay rise, re-opening of two previously closed mines, and the spending of hundreds of millions of European Union development funds on projects in the Jiu Valley. Some analysts conclude that the agreement may well have averted an eruption by disaffected workers in other industries.

To many the compromise agreement was seen as a Pyrrhic victory for both sides. While the government avoided a showdown with the miners, the compromise represented “a potentially devastating setback to the government’s flagging efforts to push through market-oriented reforms – including the closure of 140 loss-making coalmines, 49 loss-making state enterprises and a five-year plan to restructure the steel industry with the loss of 70,000 jobs.” As for the miners the future was no more certain than it was before the strike.

The agreement made Cozma a hero in the Jiu Valley, but within a month of his return he was arrested and put in prison as a result of a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice, an action seen by most miners as political revenge by the government. For his role in the 1991 mineriad Cozma had been convicted and sentenced to prison for three years, of which he had served eighteen months before being released in 1998. After the January mineriad, despite his apparent agreement with the government Cozma continued to press for new concessions and announced another strike. In its decision the Supreme Court increased Cozma's sentence to 18 years for “undermining state power” in the 1991 mineriad, along with the charge of illegal possession of a firearm. Cozma defied the government to arrest him and led another march towards Bucharest, but soon thereafter, although protected by a convoy of several thousand miners, Cozma and over 500 miners were arrested in a bloody clash with the police special forces at the Olt River crossing near Stoenești. Several weeks later, already imprisoned, Cozma was convicted on two other unrelated charges.

In December 2000, the electorate, which had seen the country's economic and social situation continue to degenerate under the Constantinescu government, overwhelmingly rejected the “centrists”. After the first election round saw a fragmented right lose on all fronts, the electorate came to choose between Iliescu and the extremist Corneliu Vadim Tudor in the runoff, securing Iliescu's victory.

Effects of mine closings
To mitigate the effects of the mine closures, in 1999 the government announced several measures to assist the economically depressed Jiu Valley. These measures included: 1) designating the Jiu Valley as a disadvantaged area, a status under which companies investing in the area would benefit from certain tax breaks; 2) construction on the Campul lui Neag-Baile Herculane road (begun August 15, 1999); and 3) the National Tourism Authority designating the Jiu Valley as a tourist area in order to provide jobs for some of the laid-off workers. In addition, the World Bank designated $12 million to fund a social mitigation plan. Most miners, however, continue to see no tangible assistance or implementation of job creation or new skills training. As such, government pronouncements are skeptically seen as mere lip service of politicians attempting to placate the electorate and prevent more miner unrest. The money was inadequate, they say, the development and implementation of laws and programs set up too late, and no infrastructure was ever established to support the development of new industries like tourism.

Within the Jiu Valley opinions and rumors abound as to what the future potentially holds. Many miners feel that coal mining in Romania is a moribund industry that will never regain its position of significance. Some still hope that the industry will experience resurgence and point to the example of the Hungarian government, which, after closing their mines under international pressure, was compelled by the powerful reaction of the miners to reopen them.

Miners salaries, estimated at $400–500/month as of January 2006, are considerably higher than the average in Jiu Valley which lag far behind the national average income. Miners who have been laid off by the mines are to receive a severance pay, but often saw this eaten away by the hyperinflation in the late 1990s, only brought under control in the past several years (2006). During the first redundancies, what little income in lei was not spent immediately for basic necessities was typically not deposited in banks (which were seen as unreliable) but was exchanged for U.S. dollars or Deutschmarks and hidden in their homes. By 2000 this had begun to change as the Romanian banks became more efficient and competitive, and as public confidence began to grow, so did deposits.

With the redundancy pay-offs, some of the miners expressed interests in starting their own businesses and see the Jiu Valley develop a tourist industry, but the impediments to both are painfully obvious and everywhere. The original redundancy payments, estimated at a total maximum of 100% of 12 month salaries (paid upfront), plus an additional 50-60% of monthly salary paid over the next 18 months, was hardly enough to buy inventory or start a business, particularly when adding in the cost of dealing with bureaucracy and corruption. Before 2000, if the money was not invested with a high enough return, the high Romanian inflation soon ate the savings away. Furthermore, while many residents looked to the development of tourism as a substitute industry, this possibility seemed limited by the lack of a service economy infrastructure, with such basics as adequate accommodation, roads, transport, equipment rentals, tourist information, programs, medical facilities, banks, and other basic business services.

Description
Geographically, the area is located in the south of the region of Transylvania, along the Jiu river basin, and it is surrounded by mountains. The Jiu Valley is Romania's principal coal mining region. Two other areas in Romania have some surface mining, while the Jiu Valley contains deep shaft underground mines. While providing only 12% of the Romania's supply of coal, the Jiu Valley is the only region in Romania both completely urbanized and with a history of being largely reliant on a single industry. Coal mining has long been the heart and economic lifeline for the Jiu Valley, but this activity has decreased since the 1990s, when many mines were closed. Currently, the Jiu Valley is one of the poorest areas in Romania.

Cities and towns
There are several settlements in the area, the largest of which is the city of Petroșani, which was founded in the 17th century, and which is an important cultural centre of the region. Lupeni is a mining town which has played a major role historically in the area, as it was the site of the Lupeni Strike of 1929 and of the Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977.

Current situation
By 2011, the population of the Jiu Valley was 119,484 inhabitants, largely concentrated in the region's six small towns – Petroşani, Lupeni, Vulcan, Uricani, Petrila, and Aninoasa, but also including small villages such as Câmpu lui Neag, Lonea and Bănița. In the late 1990s most of the workforce still depended upon the mines for work and income, and by 2010 this number was still high, although the economic demographics of the region had undergone significant changes in recent years, particularly with the admittance of Romania into the European Union in 2007.

The region has experienced severe economic decline due to mines being closed and high unemployment, and the town of Aninoasa was called "the Detroit of Europe". Nevertheless, the Jiu Valley region was unevenly affected; for instance Petroşani, being the largest town of the region has long had a more diverse economy; while Straja has developed itself based on tourism as a mountain resort.

Active and closed mines
In 1990 there were 15 active mines in the Jiu Valley. In 2013, there were seven active mines; in 2015 the mine of Petrila was closed, and at the end of 2017, the mines of Uricani and Paroșeni were closed. Two other mines (Lonea and Lupeni) were set to be closed in 2018, but for the time being the activity will continue because their closing is not yet safe. As such, there are currently four active mines: Vulcan, Livezeni, Lonea and Lupeni. The government has announced plans to end mining in Jiu Valley by 2031. The mines from Lonea and Lupeni are to be closed by the end of 2024, and the mines from Vulcan and Livezeni are to be closed by the end of 2030.

The Jiu Valley mines were managed by the National Hard Coal Company (Romanian: Compania Naționala a Huilei) a commercial society set up by the Government of Romania in 1998. The company's main headquarters was located in Petroșani. The mines are scattered throughout the Jiu Valley. The locations of the active mines still active in 2006 were as follows: the Petrila Mine in the town of Petrila, the Lonea Mine at the village of Lonea, the Livezeni Mine at the city of Petroșani, the Paroşeni and Vulcan Mines at the town of Vulcan, the Aninoasa Mine located in the town of Aninoasa, and the Lupeni Mine and Bărbăţeni Mine in the city of Lupeni. Among the mines closed since 1989, the locations were as follows: Dâlja Mine (Petroșani), Iscroni Mine (Aninoasa), Lonea-Pilier Mine (Lonea), Petrila-Sud Mine (Petrila), Câmpul lui Neag Mine (Câmpul lui Neag), and the Uricani and Valea de Brazi Mines located near the town of Uricani.

Mining workforce and unemployment
Through mine closures, forced layoffs and voluntary severance, the number of actual miners in the Jiu Valley has decreased considerably. The mine closures were accompanied by large numbers of lay-offs of miners. It is estimated that in 1989 there were some 40,000-50,000 mine workers (including both actual underground miners and auxiliary workers). The number of mine workers in the Jiu Valley in 2000 was estimated to be between 18,000-20,000, this number decreasing by some sixty percent during the previous ten-year period. Approximately 25% of these total mine workers worked above ground. By 2012, only about 8,000 mine workers worked in the Jiu Valley, and by 2022 the number fell to less than 3,000.

Although there were also few jobs elsewhere in Romania, by 2000 unemployment was rampant in the Jiu Valley. Although many felt that this number was much higher, in 1999 the National Agency for the Development and Application of Reconstruction Programs in the Mining Regions (ANDIPRZM) estimated that over 16,000, or 25% of the working population, are unemployed, compared with the official statistics of the national average of 10%. While official estimates were lower, the former mayor of Lupeni (a city of then approximately 35,000 and the location of the largest mine in Romania) estimated that real unemployment in the city was nearly sixty percent in the year 2000.

Environmental pollution
The Jiu Valley suffers from significant pollution due to industrialization and geographical factors (being situated in a depression). The region has been for more than a century a strongly mono-industrial one, with the economy revolving around mining, and this has had a very negative impact upon the environment. After the collapse of the mining industry in the 1990s, the region was officially considered a disadvantaged area, but there were not sufficient resources to care for the environment. The main effects of pollution are the pollution of the underground waters which also affects the surface, and the air pollution. This negatively affects the health of the population. The climate of Jiu Valley is also unfavourable: the mountain protection hamper the refreshing of the air. Another effect is the pollution of Jiu river.

Social problems
Many of the social problems of Jiu Valley are common to other parts of Romania (such as poverty and unemployment), but these problems are affecting the region in an exacerbated way, due to factors such as the extreme mono-industrialization during the 20th century, the geographical isolation of the region, and the low level of education of the population. Increasingly this region is relying on the informal economy/black market in order to survive. Almost all activities in the area used to rely directly or indirectly on the mines, so when the mines were closed an economic and social shock occurred. There are very few opportunities outside mining due to the fact that the region is not an agricultural one (which would have offered a safety net in the form of subsistence agriculture). Much of the population is also uprooted and isolated, due to the fact that many of the workers were forcefully brought from other parts of the country during the communist regime. During the 1970s and 1980s, workers from pauper, rural counties from all over the country were brought in the Jiu Valley, which led to a heterogeneous population that made social networking difficult.

title: Jiu Valley


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Talk:Joint Intelligence Committee (United Kingdom)

Allied Joint Intelligence Committee
During World War II was the Allied Joint Intelligence Committee a true Joint Allied stucture like SHAEF or SEAC or was the JIC as described here and the equivelent of British 11th Army Group before it was redesignated Allied Land Forces South East Asia? Philip Baird Shearer 14:43, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Joint Industrial Council
Should there not be a disambiguation page for JIC? The acronym is also commonly known for referring to the 'Joint Industrial Council' standard in regards to various industrial parts such as pipe-fittings, as well as specifications for design of facilities such as enclosures for industrial equipment, and even the commonly known wiring standards regarding colour of particular wires. It has since been disbanded, but many of the codes and specifications are still in use and many of the basic ideas have been adopted by new formed agencies which have essentially replaced the JIC. The JIC (Joint Industrial Council) also functioned as a sort of labour union, however this may or may not be the same JIC as was involved with setting up industry standards as I am not familiar with that part of the history, however I have some inquiries to some folks more knowledgable than I in this matter. Some references to this JIC: Feel free to comment here or on my talk page. -- Kyrin\talk 19:35, 2005 Jan 5 (UTC)
 * "Years ago there used to be what was called the Joint Industry Council (JIC) here in the US, a consortium of mainly Automotive manufacturers who put out a set of standards. These were to a great extent the basis for NEMA and IEE standards in use now. But as the others pointed out, times change too fast to keep up with all the subtle differences in components and functions and JIC standards went by the wayside." - Source
 * "The Joint Industry Council (JIC) was an organization of interested companies and associations primarily concerned with safety, efficiency and maintenance of electrical apparatus as related to machine tools and similar industrial equipment." - Source
 * "The Joint Industrial Council (J.I.C.) for the industry dates from 1919 and was originally representative of the C.M.A. and the industry's trade unions. The present membershipof the J.I.C. is the C.M.A, and the I.C.M.A., the Electrical Trades Union, the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, and the Transport and General Workers Union. Negotiations were concluded during 1950 between the C.C.A. and J.I.C. for the setting up of a special committee to deal with labour matters affecting the production of covered conductors." - Source

text from Joint Intelligence Commitee
This page was created, but I redirected here. The contents were as follows. I think everything is already covered in the article. Zeimusu | Talk page 14:31, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

 * This is part of the British Cabinet Office and is the central body of the National Intelligence Machinery. It advises on the priorities for intelligence collection and assesses Agency performance against them. It is responsible for providing Ministers and senior officials with co-ordinated inter-departmental intelligence assessments on a range of issues of long-term importance to national interests primarily in the fields of security, defence and foreign affairs.

 * The JIC draws its membership from senior officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Home Office, Department of Trade and Industry, Treasury, the Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development and Cabinet Office. The heads of SIS, the Security Service and GCHQ and the Chief of the Assessments staff are also members, whilst representatives of other departments of State attend when necessary.

So what is STRAP2 ?
The recent disclosure of the cover page of a Top Secret document says "UK TOP SECRET STRAP2 CAN/AUS/UK/US EYES ONLY" Any ideas what STRAP2 is? I'm guessing it's some sort of Strategic Action Plan... (20040302 (talk))

Overview of British intelligence - new article
I have created a United Kingdom intelligence community page where we can address the broad issues, such as the relative scope of MI5 and MI6 (as mentioned here). Starting with the list of key agencies shown at the global List of intelligence agencies. It should provide an appropriate place to deal with some of the ambiguities that the present atomised articles fail to cover well.

To discuss, please use this Talk page. Earthlyreason (talk) 06:56, 3 November 2008 (UTC)


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Unusual notrump

In the card game of bridge, the unusual notrump is a conventional showing a two-suited hand. It was originally devised by Al Roth in 1948 with Tobias Stone, to show the minor suits after the opponents opened in a major.

The convention concept is now generally extended to show the "two lowest unbid" suits. Thus, over 1, 2NT shows diamonds and hearts; and over 1, it shows clubs and hearts. In addition to succinctly describing the hand to the partner, it deprives the opponents of bidding space, i.e. it has a preemptive effect. A drawback is that it provides the opponents with information about the strength and distribution of the overcaller's hand, potentially enabling improved declarer play should they secure the contract.

History
In his seminal 1953 book, The Roth-Stone System, Alvin Roth suggested that poor matchpoint scores usually result when the opponents are permitted to play low-level contracts and recommended protective bidding tactics for the player in the pass-out (balancing) seat in such auctions.

He advocated use of weak jump overcalls and responses at a time when the standard practice was for jump overcalls and responses to show strong hands. In one such application - when the opponents reach the two-level having bid only a major – he recommended an overcall of 2NT, as an artificial protective bid indicating,
 * a probable 9 (or more) points.
 * strong minor suit holding – 5–4, 5-5 or better – and a request for partner to choose between the minor suits. If necessary, responder must bid a three-card minor suit.
 * a warning against bidding the unbid major (however, the unbid major may be bid if self-sufficient).

Current usage
When an opponent opens the bidding with 1 or 1, the immediate overcall of 2NT shows at least 5–5 in the minor suits (that is, at least five clubs and at least five diamonds). If the right hand opponent (RHO) of the partner of the 2NT bid passes, that partner is expected to bid the minor suit that he prefers at the three-level. The unusual notrump applies the principle that when the natural meaning of a bid is not generally very useful, it is profitable to agree that it means something somewhat opposite. That is, while natural notrump bids show a strong hand with balanced distribution, the unusual notrump shows a weak hand with very unbalanced distribution.

If the 2NT bidder bids again freely, then it shows a strong two suiter. To distinguish the weak and strong holdings, many partnerships agree not to use the unusual notrump for intermediate hands (about 12 to 14 points); they would simply overcall with one of their suits and show the other later if the bidding offers a chance. However, for two-suiters, many players apply losing trick count (LTC) instead of point count, as it more accurately depicts the offensive trick-taking potential of the hand. With LTC in effect, the required strength is about 4.5–7 losers, the latter only in favorable vulnerability.

Similarly, a 4NT overcall shows an extreme two suiter (usually at least 6–5, often 6-6 or 7–6) and enough trick-taking potential so that a 5-level contract can be made, or a sacrifice will likely be profitable. It shows the same two suits as 2NT would show. Note that 4NT is "unusual" only when the opponents open the bidding; otherwise, 4NT is normally played as the Blackwood convention or a quantitative invitation to 6NT.

The Michaels cuebid is a similar convention which is used to show a two suiter with one or both major suits.

To counteract the unusual notrump, the opening side may employ unusual vs. unusual.

Modifications
Recently, the Unusual 2NT has been used in opening seat showing a 5-5 minor suited hand and 7-11 HCP. The preemptive value of the two suited hand puts pressure on the opponents to find their fits, games and slams at the three level.

Defense
When the opponents open or overcall with an Unusual 2NT, defense uses a bidding scheme which incorporates two features: After an Unusual 2NT overcall of a major: After an Unusual 2NT opening:
 * the 'double' becomes available as an additional call
 * the concept of a major-minor pairing is adopted whereby diamonds are associated with spades and clubs with hearts. A cuebid of the paired minor shows a good holding in the corresponding major while a bid of a major shows a weaker holding.

Drawbacks
Use of the convention with insufficient strength or lengths (such as 5–4 in the minors) may lead to:

 * 1) Opponents doubling and collecting more penalty points than the contract points they would otherwise have scored.
 * 2) Opponents outbidding to obtain a major suit contract.
 * 3) Opponents making a contract owing to the additional information gained about the strength and distribution of the hand of the unusual notrump bidder.

title: Unusual notrump


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Christopher Wordsworth (divine)

Christopher Wordsworth (9 June 1774 – 2 February 1846) was an English divine and scholar.

Life
Born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, he was the youngest brother of the poet William Wordsworth, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow in 1798.

Twelve years later he received the degree of DD. He took holy orders, and obtained successive preferments through the patronage of Charles Manners-Sutton, Bishop of Norwich, afterwards (1805) Archbishop of Canterbury, to whose son Charles (afterwards Speaker of the House of Commons, and Viscount Canterbury) he had been tutor. He had in 1802 attracted attention by his defence of Granville Sharp's then novel canon "on the uses of the definitive article" in New Testament textual criticism.

In 1810 he published an Ecclesiastical Biography in 6 volumes. On the death of Bishop Mansel, in 1820, he was elected Master of Trinity, and retained that position till 1841, when he resigned. He is regarded as the father of the modern "classical tripos," since he had, as vice-chancellor, originated in 1821 a proposal for a public examination in classics and divinity, which, though then rejected, bore fruit in 1822. Otherwise his mastership was undistinguished, and he was not a popular head with the college. He died on 2 February 1846, at Buxted, East Sussex.

In his Who wrote Eikon Basilike? (1824), and in other writings, he advocated the claims of Charles I to its authorship; and in 1836 he published, in 4 volumes, a work of Christian Institutes, selected from English divines. In 1804 he married Priscilla Lloyd (d. 1815), a sister of both Anna Braithwaite and Charles Lamb's friend Charles Lloyd; they had three sons: John, Charles, and Christopher.

title: Christopher Wordsworth (divine)


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.sh

.sh is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, although it is primarily used in Saint Helena (Ascension Island has its own ccTLD, .ac). Registrations of internationalized domain names are also accepted.

On 22 February 2010 the ISO 3166-1 code for Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha changed to reflect the SH used for the ccTLD.

Second level domains
There are seven second level domains:

 * co.sh – commercial entities
 * com.sh – commercial entities
 * org.sh – non-profit organizations
 * gov.sh – government departments and agencies
 * edu.sh – educational institutions
 * net.sh – network service providers
 * nom.sh – non-island Internet sites

Top-level domains
A majority of sites under the .sh domain have nothing to do with Saint Helena, Ascension or Tristan da Cunha.

Members of DeviantArt are able to go to their "stash," a service where digital media can be uploaded, stored and published. The DeviantArt "stash" uses the .sh top level domain sta.sh.

Sketch comedy YouTube channel Smosh uses the smo.sh domain name to link to addresses on their website, smosh.com.

Skillshare uses the domain hack skl.sh to redirect to their website.

Since the .sh filename extension is also used by Unix shell scripts, this domain has been used for websites about command-line interface programs such as Homebrew.

SH is the official abbreviation for the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and the .sh domain is used for sites like nah.sh, a public transportation site as well as the Verbraucherzentrale (verbraucherzentrale.sh), the SPD party (spd.sh) and for some subpages by the official Schleswig-Holstein government (e.g. wahlen.sh).

The rhythm game osu! and the personal landing page of its primary developer uses the ppy.sh domain, such as osu.ppy.sh, old.ppy.sh, and status.ppy.sh.

The main fork of the popular movie torrent freeware program Popcorn Time is hosted at a .sh domain.

title: .sh


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The Legend of Mir 3

The Legend of Mir 3 was a sprite based isometric 3-D massively multiplayer online role-playing game, developed by WeMade Entertainment. It is a sequel to The Legend of Mir 2.

The basic game mechanics remains largely unchanged from the previous version, with the exception of the graphics being upgraded from 8-bit color to 16-bit High color. There is also improved player customization, far larger maps, and a revamped quest system.

Like its predecessor The Legend of Mir 2, The Legend of Mir 3 is hugely popular in China and South Korea. It was certified by the Guinness Book of Records for having 750,000 subscribers online. By the time the game had closed in February 2012, it had 120million registered users. The game also had a peak of 750,000 concurrent users online.

Murder
In 2005, a dispute between two Chinese players of the game erupted into murder. Qiu Chengwei, who had won the Red Dragon Sabre, an in-game virtual sword, had lent the sword to his friend, Zhu Caoyuan, who then sold the sword on eBay for 7200 yuan ($870). This enraged Qiu who then stabbed Zhu to death.

title: The Legend of Mir 3