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Woody Johnson

Robert Wood Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman who was the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, and an heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune.

In 2000 he purchased the New York Jets football team for $635 million, the highest price for a New York professional sports team at that time, and is currently the Jets co-owner alongside his brother, Christopher Johnson. The Jets moved to the new Meadowlands Stadium in 2010, sharing it with the New York Giants. During his tenure as owner, Johnson was also part of the NFL search committee for a new commissioner.

A longtime Republican Party donor, Johnson was a supporter of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and was appointed by Trump to the post of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Events during his tenure included Britain's exit from the EU and the relocation of the United States embassy in London. His brother Christopher took over Jets operations during his post.

Upon his return in 2021, Johnson resumed his role as chairman. In 2023, he pursued Aaron Rodgers, with the Jets finalizing a trade deal with the Green Bay Packers in April. In 2022, Johnson made a £2 billion bid for Chelsea F.C. but withdrew from the bidding process later that month.

Early life and education
Johnson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Betty Johnson (née Wold; 1921-2020) and Robert Wood Johnson III, and the great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, who founded the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company, along with his brothers James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson. Robert Wood Johnson IV grew up with four siblings: Keith Johnson, Billy Johnson, Elizabeth "Libet" Johnson, and Christopher Wold Johnson, in northern New Jersey, and attended the Millbrook School. He graduated from the University of Arizona. He worked for J&J for a single summer.

The Johnson Company, Inc
Johnson was the chairman and chief executive of The Johnson Company, Inc., a private investment firm.

In 2006, a Democratic-led Senate subcommittee produced a 370-page report that said that some prominent figures, including Johnson, purchased capital gain losses as a way to reduce their own income tax bills. Johnson settled with the IRS in 2003, agreeing to pay the owed taxes plus interest.

Johnson was the committee president of the Pre-Commissioning Unit for the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD-21).

Sports
In January 2000, Woody Johnson purchased the New York Jets for $635 million, making it the third-highest price ever paid for a professional sports team at the time, and the highest for a New York professional sports team. As of September 2019, Forbes valued the team at $3.2 billion.

Following his acquisition of the Jets, Johnson moved the team to the newly constructed Meadowlands Stadium, sharing it as an equal partner with the New York Giants. The stadium, later named MetLife Stadium, officially opened on April 10, 2010.

In 2017, upon being appointed the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Johnson's brother, Christopher Johnson, assumed the roles of CEO and acting owner of the Jets. Woody Johnson resumed his position as chairman in 2021 after returning to the United States, with Christopher Johnson becoming vice-chairman.

In January 2023, Johnson expressed the need for a strong quarterback to complement the Jets' robust defense, describing it as the "missing piece" in the team's lineup. Subsequently, Johnson pursued four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, stating to ESPN the importance of securing the best possible quarterback to lead the team. The Jets also hired Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator, given his strong rapport with Rodgers. On April 24, 2023, it was reported that the Jets were finalizing a trade deal with the Green Bay Packers for Rodgers.

In March 2022, Johnson made a £2 billion bid to purchase London football club Chelsea F.C. from sanctioned billionaire Roman Abramovich. Johnson, who became a fan of the team during his ambassadorship in London, was considered to have an advantage over other bidders like Saudi Media Group due to his familiarity with London and experience in sports management. However, by March 25, it was reported that Johnson was no longer in contention to buy Chelsea F.C.

Johnson also helped the league select a successor to NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Net worth
Johnson is a billionaire. As a fourth-generation descendant of one of the founders of the Johnson & Johnson company, he is one of the heirs of the Johnson family fortune. In a 2017 financial disclosure form, Johnson listed his net worth at $4.2 billion, with most of his wealth tied to his ownership of the Jets and its stadium; he also reported owning at least 1.56 million J&J shares (a stake then valued at more than $50 million). As of April 2024, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index placed his net worth at an estimated $9.92 billion.

Political activities before 2016
By the year 2000, Johnson had given more than $1 million to various Republican candidates and committees. Between 1997 and 1998, he donated $130,000 to the Republican Party, along with donating $22,583 to George W. Bush's 1998 gubernatorial re-election campaign of Texas. He was later a major New York fundraiser for Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.

In May 2008, he orchestrated a fundraiser in New York City that brought in $7 million in a single evening for John McCain's presidential campaign, by far the largest amount collected up to that point by a campaign that had been struggling to raise money. Johnson also provided significant funding to 2008 Republican National Convention host committee; from a $10 million shortfall, Johnson contributed personally and solicited friends to assist in covering the convention deficit. In 2011, Johnson endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. In September 2013, Johnson hosted a fundraiser for the Republican National Committee (RNC) at his home in New York City.

By 2016, Johnson had known Donald Trump for about 30 years, with the two men having social connections. Nevertheless, in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Johnson initially endorsed Jeb Bush over Trump. In June 2015, Johnson was named the national finance chairman for Bush's campaign. On several occasions, Trump singled out Johnson in a speech attacking Bush for accepting "special interest" money from donors. In May 2016, after Trump became the presumptive nominee, Johnson endorsed Trump for president. He met with Trump at Trump Tower and was named one of the RNC's six finance vice chairmen, responsible for an effort to raise $1 billion on behalf of Trump's campaign.

Johnson had by August 2019 donated $1.5 million to Trump's campaign and inaugural committee. In February 2020, Johnson gave $575,000 to a fundraising committee for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, and $355,000 to the RNC. In May 2020, he gave $1 million to America First Action, Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC.

On January 8, 2021, Johnson released a statement condemning the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

Trump administration's ambassador to Britain
On January 19, 2017, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he planned to nominate Johnson to become United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. On June 22, 2017, Trump nominated Johnson for the position. Prior to becoming ambassador, he had no diplomatic experience.

Following a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Johnson was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 3, 2017, by voice vote. He was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on August 21, 2017, in the Oval Office. Johnson presented his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II on November 8, 2017.

In 2018, Johnson oversaw the relocation of the United States Embassy in London from Grosvenor Square, where it had been since 1938, to a new location in Nine Elms.

Brexit
During Johnson's tenure, Britain withdrew from the EU. Johnson advocated for a bilateral US-UK trade deal post-Brexit, in line with President Trump's hopes during that time. Johnson had a private dinner with Queen Elizabeth II at Winfield House on March 14, 2019, just two days after British Parliament rejected Theresa May's Brexit plan.

In June 2019, he further stated that a post-Brexit deal between the US and the UK would cover "all things that are traded", including the National Health Service and agricultural sector. In January 2020, Johnson stated that the US was never interested in the NHS, but reiterated American interest in a free-trade deal with the UK.

Agriculture
Johnson advocated for closer agricultural trade between the US and UK, and the deregulation of US food exports to Britain. In March 2019, Johnson wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph saying that chlorinated chicken was a "public safety no-brainer" and that health fears over hormone-fed beef were "myths". This came after he urged the UK to open up to the US agriculture market after the British exit from the European Union and ignore the "smear campaign" of those with "their own protectionist agenda". Johnson was criticized by several British agriculture standard boards, such as the Red Tractor Assurance whose CEO, Jim Moseley stated the UK's food standards were "now under threat from ... the United States food lobby". Minette Batters, president of the UK National Farmers Union, agreed with Johnson's claims that chlorine-rinsed chicken was safe for consumption, but stated that factors such as animal welfare and environmental protection also had to be considered. Batters commented that accepting US agricultural products produced in ways that would be illegal in the UK would "put British producers out of business". The US National Farmers Union maintained that US methods of meat production were "safe", describing criticism as "fear-mongering".

Huawei
Johnson advised the UK government to ban Huawei from being used in the nation's 5G networks after departing Prime Minister Theresa May approved the company in early 2019. Johnson said that Huawei could represent an economic and security risk, comparing it to "letting a kleptomaniac move into your house." In 2020, after Britain decided to ban Huawei from its 5G mobile networks, Johnson welcomed the decision as a victory for human rights and fair trading practices.

Allegations of "inappropriate or insensitive comments" to embassy staff
In July 2020, the State Department investigated allegations made by some current and former staff members that accused Johnson of making inappropriate comments about issues concerning race, personal appearance, and Black History Month.

Johnson denied the allegations, asserting that the claims were inconsistent with his values and record. The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in London stood by Johnson, highlighting his professional conduct and dedication to U.S.-UK relations. While an Inspector General report on the matter was pending, Johnson maintained that he had always followed ethical guidelines and that the accusations did not reflect his long-standing principles.

After the investigation, the inspector general issued a report in August 2020 that said that Johnson "sometimes made inappropriate or insensitive comments on topics generally considered Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-sensitive, such as religion, sex, or color" that could "create an offensive working environment" and violate EEO (antidiscrimination) laws.

The inspector general's office recommended that the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and Office of Civil Rights (S/OCR) coordinate an investigation into Johnson's conduct. S/OCR did so, and found that allegations against Johnson were unsubstantiated.

British Open at Trump Turnberry
In February 2018, Johnson as ambassador sought to have the lucrative British Open golf tournament moved to Trump's Turnberry Golf Resort in Scotland, raising the idea with Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell. The New York Times reported, and the former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in London Lewis Lukens later confirmed, that Trump had asked Johnson to seek British government influence in obtaining the Open for Turnberry. At the time Lukens warned Johnson not to raise the question with the UK government, saying that an attempt to further the president's personal financial interests in this way would be unethical and probably illegal. Johnson did so anyway, unsuccessfully.

In a statement, the British government said that Johnson "made no request of Mr. Mundell regarding the British Open or any other sporting event"; the statement did not say whether Johnson had raised the subject of Turnberry. Johnson did not deny the episode, saying only that he complied with "the ethical rules and requirements of my office"; Trump denied that he had ever spoken to Johnson "about Turnberry." Lukens documented his concerns to State Department officials. Johnson forced out Lukens several months later, before the scheduled end of his tenure in London. The report that Johnson used his position as ambassador to promote the president's personal business interests sparked an inquiry by the State Department inspector general's office. In an interview in August 2020, Lukens said that the inspector general's report had halted without a public report being issued, which he considered unusual.

Political activities after 2021
In 2023, Johnson gave at least $1 million to a super PAC backing Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. He stood behind Trump at an election-night rally during the 2024 South Carolina primary.

Personal life
In 1977, Johnson married former fashion model Nancy Sale Johnson. They had three children before divorcing in 2001. In early 2010, daughter Casey Johnson died of diabetic ketoacidosis. He started a research foundation, the Alliance for Lupus Research, after his daughter Jaime was found to have lupus.

In 2009, Johnson married Suzanne Ircha, a former actress and equities managing director at Sandler O'Neill & Partners. They have two children. Suzanne's father emigrated from Ternopil, Ukraine after World War II, and her mother was a first-generation Ukrainian American. She grew up in a Ukrainian neighborhood in Greenwich Village.

Johnson has homes in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, and Palm Beach island in Florida, residing in the latter since 2020. He formerly had an apartment in Manhattan, but sold the unit (a two-floor duplex at 834 Fifth Avenue) in 2014 to billionaire Leonard Blavatnik for $80 million, setting a record for the costliest co-op ever sold in New York.

Philanthropy
Johnson is known for philanthropy, especially donations to medical research. He raised money and lobbied to increase federal funding for lupus and diabetes. Johnson is also a trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust. He is the only member of the Johnson family to be invited to join the board of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Diabetes research
Johnson was the chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International. He and his wife became involved with diabetes charities after his daughter Casey was diagnosed with diabetes in 1988. In 1994, he co-wrote the book Managing Your Child's Diabetes with his wife Nancy, and Casey. As of 2000, he had donated $12 million to the foundation. Johnson was a chairman on the Council on Foreign Relations, and successfully lobbied Congress to approve a five-year, $750 million package for funding diabetes research in 2002.

Casey died of diabetic ketoacidosis on January 4, 2010. On October 24, 2012 Johnson wrote an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal titled "The Folly of Defunding Diabetes Research", which urged Congress to approve long-term funding for the Special Diabetes Program. He visited the University of Birmingham in 2018 to discuss the university's diabetes research and research library.

Lupus research
Johnson is the founding chairman of the Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR). He founded the legacy organization, Alliance for Lupus Research, in 1999 after his daughter Jaime was diagnosed with lupus, and he realized that there was a lack of research in that area.

Ukraine
During the ongoing 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Johnson and his wife Suzanne, who comes from a Ukrainian background, have organized aid efforts for Ukraine. Their family visited Poland, which is the primary destination for Ukrainian refugees displaced by the crisis. While in Poland, they made visits to community centers, shelters, and orphanages housing Ukrainian refugees. In an article for The Telegraph, Johnson urged the United States and the United Kingdom to aid Ukraine.

In April 2022, the Jets pledged a $1 million donation to Ukraine, to be distributed to various organizations, including Plast Scouting USA and United24.

title: Woody Johnson


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Turnera diffusa

Turnera diffusa, known as damiana, is a shrub native to southern Texas in the United States, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It belongs to the family Passifloraceae.

Damiana is a relatively small, woody shrub that produces small, aromatic flowers. It blossoms in early to late summer, followed by fruits that taste similar to figs. The shrub is said to have a strong spice-like odor somewhat like chamomile, due to the aromatic compounds present in the plant.

Uses
Damiana is an ingredient in a traditional Mexican liqueur, which is sometimes used in lieu of triple sec in margaritas. Mexican folklore claims that it was used in the "original" margarita. The damiana margarita is popular in the Los Cabos region of Mexico.

Damiana was included in several 19th-century patent medicines, such as Pemberton's French Wine Coca. The leaves were omitted from that product's non-alcoholic counterpart, Coca-Cola. In folklore, the plant was believed to be an aphrodisiac, hence its sometimes used binomial synonym, Turnera aphrodisiaca.

Phytochemistry
Damiana contains damianin; tetraphyllin B; gonzalitosin I; arbutin; tricosan-2-one; acacetin; p-cymene; β-sitosterol; 1,8-cineole; apigenin; α-pinene; β-carotene; β-pinene; tannins; thymol; and hexacosanol. In total, 22 flavonoids, maltol glucoside, phenolics, seven cyanogenic glycosides, monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, triterpenoids, the polyterpene ficaprenol-11, fatty acids, and caffeine have been found in the genus Turnera. As of 2006, damiana's constituents have not been identified for their effects attributed to the whole herb. Damiana's anxiolytic properties might be due to apigenin. The extract from damiana has been found to suppress aromatase activity, including the isolated compounds pinocembrin and acacetin.

Ecology
T. diffusa is a host plant for the Mexican fritillary (Euptoieta hegesia), a butterfly.

Misidentification in commerce
Viable plant and seed material sold as T. diffusa from both private and commercial sources largely turns out to be misidentified Turnera ulmifolia (a.k.a. "False Damiana"), a closely related species. This widespread issue has been noted by the scientific community, and has created much confusion among both amateur and professional horticulturists alike. While T. ulmifolia are similar in appearance, it's chemical constituents and ethnobotanical uses are distinctly different. Mature stems of T. diffusa are woody, with small, grayed green leaves 13 to 16 mm long, 4.5 to 5.5 mm wide, obtuse at the apex, and strongly aromatic when crushed. T. ulmifolia is differentiated by herbaceous stems, larger blue-green leaves that are strongly dentate with a pointed apex, and only weakly aromatic. One scientific study however, demonstrated this confusion being mostly associated with horticultural commerce, and does not extend appreciably to commercial herbal products, most of which exhibit constituents that can be definitively traced to T. diffusa.

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

title: Turnera diffusa


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User:Green slash

I am someone.

I know someone named Joe.

Countries I have visited 36/196 (18.37%)
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Provincial/State/Equivalent High Points Visited
Baldy Mountain (Manitoba)

title: User:Green slash


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Francisco Urcuyo

Francisco Urcuyo Maliaños (30 July 1915 – 14 September 2001) was a Nicaraguan politician, who served as Vice President of Anastasio Somoza Debayle from 1967 to 1972, and President of Nicaragua very briefly after Somoza fled the country in 1979.

Urcuyo was the president of the lower chamber of National Congress of Nicaragua 1972–1973 and 1978–1979.

In July 1979, when Somoza resigned, Urcuyo was the president of the lower chamber of National Congress of Nicaragua. In 1979 he was handpicked by Somoza as successor to the presidency. Urcuyo became acting president of Nicaragua for a single day from 17 to 18 July 1979, following the resignation of Somoza on 17 July. Upon taking office, he announced his intention to serve out the remainder of Somoza's term. This announcement provoked a strong reaction from the Sandinistas, other Latin American states, and the Carter Administration in the U.S.

Recognizing the untenability of his situation, Urcuyo fled to Guatemala on 18 July, effectively handing the country over to the Junta of National Reconstruction.

Life and political career
Urcuyo was born in Rivas on 30 July 1915. He studied abroad in Mexico and graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico as a surgeon in 1944. Urcuyo's political career began in 1954 and subsequently he served twice as vice minister of Health and president of the lower chamber of National Congress of Nicaragua. Later President René Schick appointed him as ambassador to Guatemala.

On 1 May 1967 Urcuyo was sworn in as Vice President of Nicaragua, serving with Vice President Alfonso Callejas Deshón in the second term of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle until May 1972, when the vice-presidency was abolished. Urcuyo was the president of the lower chamber of National Congress of Nicaragua 1972–1973 and 1978–1979.

In July 1979, when Somoza resigned, Urcuyo was the president of the lower chamber of National Congress of Nicaragua. After Somoza's resignation, Urcuyo was handpicked as Somoza's successor to the presidency and served for 43 hours before fleeing from Managua to Guatemala, essentially leaving the capital to the Junta of National Reconstruction.

Constitutional President (July 1979)
When the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle fled the country on Tuesday, 17 July 1979, Urcuyo Maliaños was invested as a new constitutional president, with a mandate until 1 May 1981, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of 1974. During his brief presidency, declared the legality of his mandate, and quickly began to engage in dialogue with the various political forces in the country. But he refused to hand over power to the Junta of National Reconstruction on the grounds that he was not prepared. Also, he began to replace the most important army positions with young related officers. That same day, the Andean Pact foreign ministers meeting in San José de Costa Rica publicly rejected the Urcuyo maneuver: "We urge Urcuyo to abide by the obligation to transfer power, the only reason he occupies it. For his permanence in it will only contribute to the current contest acquiring new and more violent military dimensions. "

On the morning of 18 July, the three members of the Junta, Sergio Ramírez, Alfonso Robelo, and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, left San José, Costa Rica, towards León, where they met with Daniel Ortega and Moisés Hassan Morales. León was proclaimed as the new provisional capital, and the international community recognized them as the legitimate government of the Republic. Shortly after, Urcuyo fled on board a plane to Guatemala.

Urcuyo was married to María Luisa Muñoz and had four children.

Published books
During his exile, he published four books, in which he detailed his experiences of the fall of the Somocist regime and his experiences in exile during the 1980s: Alone – in which he related the last hours of the mandate of the Nationalist Liberal Party (PLN) of Somoza. -Betrayed allies. -Carter and the Communists. -Poetry and Memories – which he dedicated to his family. Among his works is the song to the mother that begins "Being stuck to my being as a conscience, love attached to my love as a sacrament"

Death
Urcuyo died on 14 September 2001, aged 86, in Managua.

title: Francisco Urcuyo


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Roger Altman

Roger Charles Altman (born April 2, 1946) is an American investment banker, the founder and senior chairman of Evercore, and a former Democratic politician. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury  in the Carter administration from January 1977 until January 1981 and as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration from January 1993 until he resigned in August 1994, amid the Whitewater controversy.

Early life and education
Altman was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and was raised in Boston as a Catholic. His father, a food broker, died when he was 10 years old, and his mother, a librarian, raised Altman and his brother as a single mother. He attended the Roxbury Latin School.

He attended Georgetown University, where he met future President Bill Clinton, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967. In 1969 he earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, but took time off in 1968 to work in Indiana organizing volunteers for Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign.

Early career
After graduating from business school in 1969, Altman began working at Lehman Brothers, where he grew close to chairman Peter G. Peterson. In 1974, he was made general partner at the age of 28—the youngest in Lehman's history. He left Lehman in 1977 to serve as Assistant Secretary for Domestic Finance in the U.S. Treasury from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter, for whom he had fundraised when Carter was Governor of Georgia, and campaigned for in 1976, as well as working on his transition team. As Assistant Secretary, Altman played a "role in negotiating the Federal Government's $1.5 billion bailout of the Chrysler Corporation."

In 1981, he returned to Lehman Brothers, where he became the co-head of investment banking and served on the board of the company and the management committee. During the 1980s, he was a lecturer and adjunct professor at the Yale University School of Management. In 1987, Altman joined the Blackstone Group as vice-chairman and head of its mergers and acquisitions advisory business. During the Reagan-Bush years, he fundraised for Democratic politicians such as Vice President Walter F. Mondale, Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis, and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. He also advised two New York City Mayors, Ed Koch and David N. Dinkins.

Clinton administration
When Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, he urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen to take Altman on as his Deputy Secretary. He was confirmed in January 1993. Once on the job, Altman was viewed as "the favorite to succeed the 73-year-old Treasury Secretary," and he played a large role in some of the Clinton administration's biggest legislative victories, such as the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and the "approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement." He was associated with the moderate economic policies of the Clinton administration" and had a reputation as a "deficit hawk."

However, he resigned in 1994, after it was revealed that Altman had notified the Clinton White House of the criminal referrals made by the Resolution Trust Corporation. After nearly 15 hours of testimony in February 1993 before the House and Senate Banking Committees, he submitted his resignation in August 1994, saying that he hoped his resignation would "help to diminish the controversy." He was succeeded by Frank N. Newman, who was the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the time.

Return to private sector
In 1995, instead of returning to Blackstone, he co-founded Evercore, an "independent investment banking advisory firm" in New York City, and currently serves as its chairman. By 2014, Evercore was "a major player," and its investment management arm had more than $14 billion in assets under management, with its investment banking advisory arm boasting $1.5 trillion in "announced transactions." Evercore advised General Motors through its bankruptcy, and was paid $46 million by GM pre-bankruptcy. However, when it asked for a $17.9 million "success fee," a U.S. bankruptcy trustee called the fees "staggering," "inordinately large," and "clearly [exceeding] the bounds of reasonableness" given that "Evercore had no success at finding a purchaser or funder for the Debtors."

Politically, Altman continued to stay in the loop. He advised two presidential candidates—John Kerry in 2004, and Hillary Clinton in 2008. In 2010, President Barack Obama interviewed him as a potential candidate to replace Larry Summers as his National Economic Council director, a job that ultimately went to Gene Sperling.

Other activities
Altman has sat on the Board of Trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 2006, Vice Chairman of the Board of the American Museum of Natural History, and Chairman of New Visions for Public Schools. Additionally, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Director of Conservation International, and an Advisory Council member for The Hamilton Project, a Brookings Institution economic policy initiative.

Altman is listed as a member of the Steering Committee of The Bilderberg Group, a controversial group of influential business and government leaders who meet annually behind closed doors to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. He participated in all their conferences between 2008 and 2016.

Personal life
His first marriage to Barbara ended in divorce, and he remarried at age 35 to journalist Jurate Kazickas in 1981. The Rev. James N. English of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. performed the marriage ceremony at the San Luis Rey Chapel at Cat Cay in the Bahamas. They have three children. In 1992, he collapsed while jogging in Central Park due to an irregular heartbeat. His hobbies include jogging, skiing, fly-fishing, and tennis.

Selected writings

 * (with Richard Haass)
 * (with Richard Haass)
 * (with Richard Haass)

title: Roger Altman


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Island scrub jay

The island scrub jay (Aphelocoma insularis), also known as the island jay or Santa Cruz jay, is a bird in the genus, Aphelocoma, which is endemic to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California. Of the over 500 breeding bird species in the continental U.S. and Canada, it is the only insular endemic landbird species.

Description
The island scrub jay is closely related to the California scrub jay (the coastal population found on the adjacent mainland), but differs in being larger, more brightly colored, and having a markedly stouter bill. They will bury, or cache, the acorns in the fall and may eat them months later. They also eat insects, spiders, snakes, lizards, mice and other birds' eggs and nestlings.

Taxonomy
The island scrub jay was first described by American ornithologist Henry Wetherbee Henshaw in 1886 and an archaeological specimen at site SCRI-192 dating from the 1780s-1812 on Santa Cruz Island is the earliest evidence of the bird in the historic period. This bird is a member of the crow family, and is one of a group of closely related North American species named as scrub jays. These were formerly treated as a single species, the scrub jay (as Aphelocoma coerulesens), with five subspecies, but are now considered four species: the Florida scrub jay (A. coerulescens), the island scrub jay, the California scrub jay (A. californica), and Woodhouse's scrub jay (A. woodhouseii). DNA studies indicate that the island and coastal forms have long been isolated from their relatives inland. The relationships within the genus have been studied in several papers (e.g. )

Island scrub jays seem to be incapable of crossing to the mainland. However they were once present on three of California's northern Channel Islands, San Miguel Island, Santa Rosa Island, and Santa Cruz Island where they persist today. Reliable historical observer records for island scrub jays in addition to Santa Cruz Island include only a single 1892 account on neighboring Santa Rosa Island, only about 10 km (6 mi) away. The historic observation on Santa Rosa Island is supported by a Pleistocene archaeological record of a single island scrub jay femur from a Late Pleistocene-Holocene site (SRI-V-3) found by Paul Collins of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. There are also two Late Holocene archaeological remains found in San Miguel Island cave sites. There are no definite occurrences of a scrub-jay on any other of the Channel Islands, or on the Coronado Islands, only 13 km (8 mi) from the mainland.

Early studies suggested that the ancestor of the present population was storm-borne or carried on driftwood to Santa Cruz, or that the colonization occurred during a period of glaciation 70,000 to 10,000 years ago, when sea levels were much lower and the channel between the coast and the islands was correspondingly narrower. More recent DNA studies show that, although other island endemics such as the island fox and the Santa Cruz mouse may have diverged from their mainland relatives around 10,000 years ago, the scrub jays separated in a period of glaciation around 151,000 years ago. The most recent analysis indicates that the island scrub jay has been evolving in isolation for approximately one million years, i.e. over multiple glacial cycles. Up to about 11,000 years ago, the four northern Channel Islands were one large island, so island scrub jays must have been present on all four islands initially, but became extinct on Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Anacapa after they were separated by rising sea levels.

Distribution and habitat
The island scrub jay is found today only on Santa Cruz Island, the largest of California's Channel Islands with an area of 250 km2 (96 mi2). The island is a nature reserve, the eastern 24% being administered by National Park Service as the part of the Channel Islands National Park and the rest of the island by the Nature Conservancy. Fossil remains for island scrub jays have been found on Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands.

Island scrub jays occur in oak chaparral and bishop pine (Pinus muricata) woodland on Santa Cruz Island. Island scrub jays in pine habitat have longer, shallower bills than individuals in oak habitat; variation in bill shape is heritable, and individuals mate nonrandomly with respect to bill morphology.

Breeding
Females lay 3 to 5 eggs. Incubation lasts approximately 20 days. These jays are generally monogamous and, unlike some other jays, are not cooperative breeders. Both sexes build a nest 1 m to 8 m above the ground. Further details in.

Etymology
The genus name, Aphelocoma, comes from the Latinized Ancient Greek apheles- (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin coma (from Greek kome κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded feathers in this genus, compared to other jays. The species name, insularis, comes from the Latin for "from an island".

Conservation status
The island scrub jay is classed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because its small range makes it potentially vulnerable to a catastrophic incident such as disease or a large fire that destroys their habitat. Population size in 2008 and 2009 was estimated to be 1700 - 2300, making this one of the rarest songbird species in the United States. The entire range of island scrub jays is currently protected in Channel Islands National Park and the species is not at imminent risk of extinction. However, the establishment of West Nile virus (WNV) in southern California in 2003 may pose a threat if it crosses to Santa Cruz Island from the mainland. Corvids are especially vulnerable to WNV. In addition, the increased occurrence of wildfires in southern California may portend a catastrophic fire there. Shrub cover has increased since the removal of sheep (1980–91) and feral pigs (2005–07) from Santa Cruz Island, which may increase the fire risk. Overgrazing by non-native ungulates may have caused extirpation of island scrub jays on Santa Rosa Island. Re-establishing a second population of island scrub jays on Santa Rosa Island and San Miguel Island may accelerate the restoration of native plant and tree species because of the scatter-hoarding seed caching behavior of Aphelocoma species.

Human interaction and uses
The Chumash people who were the original inhabitants of the northern Channel Islands may have eaten the local scrub jay, or used its feathers for decoration, since they are known to have made feather bands including jay feathers on the Californian mainland. Human activities may have contributed to the presumed extinction of the island scrub-jay from the smaller islands.

title: Island scrub jay


text:
Elias Khoury (lawyer)

Elias Daoud Khoury (الياس داؤد خوري, אליאס ח'ורי) is an Arab-Israeli Jerusalem-based lawyer. He specializes in real property law. Elias made appeals several times to the Supreme Court of Israel, and has had Palestinian politicians among his clients in Israeli courts. Elias gained fame in the 1970s when he led a legal battle against the Israeli settlers of Sebastia and Elon Moreh.

Early life and career
Elias Khoury was born in the Galilee. His father lost the family land to Israel in the 1948 war, took citizenship in Israel, and believed he could work patiently through Israeli law to get his land back. Elias studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lived in the Beit Hanina and Shuafat neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

Khoury has a practice in Jerusalem, formerly in its Eastern part and now in the West, specializing in real property law. He has represented clients at all Israeli court levels, including the Supreme Court of Israel, as well as in planning commissions.

Terror victims in the family and activism
Both Khoury's father and son were killed in Palestinian terror attacks. Khoury's father, Daoud Khoury, was killed when a booby-trapped refrigerator exploded in Zion Square. Elias' son, George Khoury, was killed by gunfire on 19 March 2004, while jogging in the neighborhood of French Hill in Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military branch of the Fatah movement, claimed responsibility. After it became clear that the victim was an Arab it apologized, and offered to declare him a martyr for the Palestinian cause. "This is a barbaric act that will not change my world view, which includes deep faith in Palestinian rights," said Khoury.

In the framework of his public activities, he has expressed concerns about the impacts of the lack of Arab participation in the urban politics of Jerusalem, while expressing an understanding of the rationale. In 2008, he expressed concerns with a planned real estate deal between his own Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the State of Israel.

On 6 March 2010, The New York Times reported that Khoury had paid to have Amos Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness translated into Arabic and distributed in Beirut and other Arab capitals. Of his decision to pay for the translation and publication of the book, Khoury said: "This book tells the history of the rebirth of the Jewish people. We can learn from it how a people like the Jewish people emerged from the tragedy of the Holocaust and were able to reorganize themselves and build their country and become an independent people. If we can't learn from that, we will not be able to do anything for our independence."

title: Elias Khoury (lawyer)


text:
Alan Blinder

Alan Stuart Blinder (, born October 14, 1945) is an American economics professor at Princeton University and is listed among the most influential economists in the world. He is a leading macro-economist, politically liberal, and a champion of Keynesian economics and policies.

Blinder served on President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers from January 1993 to June 1994 and as the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve from June 1994 to January 1996.

His academic work has focused particularly on monetary policy and central banking, and on the "offshoring" of jobs. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, as well as a monthly column in The Wall Street Journal.

Regarding the 2008 near-meltdown of major financial institutions, Blinder drew ten lessons for fellow economists, including “Excessive complexity is not just anti-competitive, it's dangerous” and “Illiquidity closely resembles insolvency.”

Early life
Blinder was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Syosset High School in Syosset, New York. Blinder attended Princeton University as an undergraduate student and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in economics in 1967. He completed a 130-page long senior thesis, titled "The Theory of Corporate Choice". He received an MSc in economics from the London School of Economics in 1968 and received a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1971. He was advised by Robert Solow.

Academic career
Blinder is the Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton where he has been since 1971; from 1988 to 1990, he chaired the economics department. Also in 1990, he founded Princeton's Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies. And he has served as vice-chair of The Observatory Group.

Since 1978, Blinder has been a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a past president of the Eastern Economic Association and Vice President of the American Economic Association and was named a Distinguished Fellow of the latter in 2011. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 1991), a member of the American Philosophical Society since 1996, and a member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations (since 2008). Blinder's textbook Economics: Principles and Policy, co-written with William Baumol, was first published in 1979 and, in 2012 was printed in its twelfth edition.

In 2009 Blinder was inducted into the American Academy of Political and Social Science, "for his distinguished scholarship on fiscal policy, monetary policy and the distribution of income, and for consistently bringing that knowledge to bear on the public arena." He is a strong proponent of free trade. Blinder has been critical of the public discussion of the US national debt, describing it as generally ranging from "ludicrous to horrific".

Political career
Blinder is listed among the most influential economists in the world according to IDEAS/RePEc.

In 1975, Blinder served as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

In the 1990s, he served on President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers from January 1993 to June 1994, and as the 15th Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from June 27, 1994, to January 31, 1996 (more specifically as the Vice Chairman of Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System).

As Vice Chairman, Blinder cautioned against raising interest rates too quickly to slow inflation because of the lags in earlier rises feeding through into the economy. He also warned against ignoring the short term costs in terms of unemployment that inflation-fighting could cause.

Many have argued that Blinder's stint at the Fed was cut short because of his tendency to challenge chairman Alan Greenspan. By challenging assumptions, Blinder supposedly disrupted "the whole pipeline of Greenspan-arriving-at-decisions."

He was an adviser to Al Gore and John Kerry during their respective presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004.

"Cash for Clunkers"
Blinder was an early advocate of a "Cash for Clunkers" program, in which the government buys some of the oldest, most-polluting vehicles and scraps them. In July 2008, he wrote an article in The New York Times advocating such a program, which was implemented by the Obama administration during the summer of 2009. Blinder asserted it could stimulate the economy, benefit the environment, and reduce income inequality. The program was praised by President Obama for "exceeding expectations", but criticized for economic and environmental reasons.

Private sector
Blinder was a co-founder and a vice-chair of the Promontory Interfinancial Network, LLC.

After his service as the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, Blinder, along with several former regulators, founded a company that offers a number of services that provide a means for depositors (including governmental entities, nonprofits, businesses, as well as individuals such as retirees) to access millions in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) coverage at a single institution instead of multiple ones. This provides banks that are members the ability to offer coverage above the FDIC per account/per bank limit by letting those banks place funds into CDs or deposit accounts issued by other network banks. This occurs in increments below the standard FDIC insurance maximum ($250,000) so that both principal and interest are eligible for FDIC insurance. The company acts as a sort of clearinghouse, matching deposits from one institution with another. Through its services it allows access to higher levels of FDIC insurance although limits apply.

Views regarding 2008 near-collapse of major financial institutions
In a 2014 article entitled "What Did We Learn from the Financial Crisis, the Great Recession, and the Pathetic Recovery?", Blinder draws 10 lessons for fellow economists, including: 4)“Self-regulation is oxymoronic.” 5) “Fraud and near-fraud can rise to attain macroeconomic significance.” 6) “Excessive complexity is not just anti-competitive, it's dangerous.”
 * “ . . no one knows what these securities are really worth. .”

7) “Go-for-broke incentives will induce traders to go for broke.”
 * “We had to learn this? Apparently so. .”

8) “Illiquidity closely resembles insolvency.” Blinder states that it wasn’t until May 2014 that payroll employment in the United States climbed back to its Jan. 2008 peak.

Is economics “barking up the wrong tree” by focusing on consuming instead of jobs?
In a 2019 article entitled “The Free-Trade Paradox: The Bad Politics of a Good Idea,” Blinder states that the main focus of the economics profession has been using price signals to produce goods and services as cheaply as possible. Jobs are viewed as secondary, and often as a negative that people put up with only to get the money to afford their own consumption.

Blinder writes, “What if people care as much (or more) about their role as producers — about their jobs — as they do about the goods and services they consume? That would mean economists have been barking up the wrong tree for more than two centuries.”

Blinder still thinks there's an excellent case to be made for free trade, just not the case which economists typically make.

Selected works

 * (2022), A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961–2021, Princeton University Press.
 * (2014), "What Did We Learn from the Financial Crisis, the Great Recession, and the Pathetic Recovery?" Princeton University Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies Working Paper No. 243, 22-page paper, November 2014.
 * (2013), After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead, New York: Penguin Press, 24 Jan. 2013. ISBN is 978-1594205309.
 * (2009), "How Many U.S. Jobs Might Be Offshorable," World Economics, April–June 2009, 10(2): 41–78.
 * (2009), "Making Monetary Policy by Committee," International Finance, Summer 2009, 12(2): 171–194.
 * (2008), "Do Monetary Policy Committees Need Leaders? A Report on an Experiment," American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings), May 2008, pp. 224–229.
 * (2006), "Offshoring: The Next Industrial Revolution?" Foreign Affairs", March/April 2006, pp. 113–128. (A longer version with footnotes and references is "Fear of Offshoring," CEPS Working Paper No. 119, December 2005).
 * (2006), "The Case Against the Case Against Discretionary Fiscal Policy," in R. Kopcke, G. Tootell, and R. Triest (eds.), The Macroeconomics of Fiscal Policy, MIT Press, 2006, forthcoming, pp. 25–61.
 * (2004), The Quiet Revolution, Yale University Press
 * (2001, with William Baumol and Edward N. Wolff), Downsizing in America: Reality, Causes, And Consequences, Russell Sage Foundation
 * (2001, with Janet Yellen), The Fabulous Decade: Macroeconomic Lessons from the 1990s, New York: The Century Foundation Press
 * (1998, with E. Canetti, D. Lebow, and J. Rudd), Asking About Prices: A New Approach to Understanding Price Stickiness, Russell Sage Foundation
 * (1998), Central Banking in Theory and Practice, MIT Press
 * (1991), Growing Together: An Alternative Economic Strategy for the 1990s, Whittle
 * (1990, ed.), Paying for Productivity, Brookings
 * (1989), Macroeconomics Under Debate, Harvester-Wheatsheaf
 * (1989), Inventory Theory and Consumer Behavior, Harvester-Wheatsheaf
 * (1987), Hard Heads, Soft Hearts: Tough‑Minded Economics for a Just Society, Addison-Wesley
 * (1983), Economic Opinion, Private Pensions and Public Pensions: Theory and Fact. The University of Michigan
 * (1979, with William Baumol), Economics: Principles and Policy – textbook
 * (1979), Economic Policy and the Great Stagflation. New York: Academic Press
 * (co-edited with Philip Friedman, 1977), Natural Resources, Uncertainty and General Equilibrium Systems: Essays in Memory of Rafael Lusky, New York: Academic Press
 * (1974), Toward an Economic Theory of Income Distribution, MIT Press

title: Alan Blinder


text:
Lisa Caputo

Lisa Caputo is the executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for The Travelers Companies, Inc. She joined Travelers on June 1, 2011. At Travelers, she is a member of the Management and Operating Committees and the Travelers Foundation Board. She leads the company's marketing, research, branding, corporate communications, customer experience and creative services functions and works closely with investor relations and government relations. Previously she was executive vice president of global marketing and corporate affairs for Citigroup. She was the founder, chairman and CEO of Citi's Women & Co. business from January 2000 until 2010. She was a member of Citi's senior leadership committee and is the co-head of Citi's Women's Initiative.

Caputo is also a television commentator and public speaker on current events and politics. She spent over ten years in the public sector, serving as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton and Press Secretary to First Lady Hillary Clinton through President Clinton's first term in office.

Education
Caputo graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with degrees in Political Science and French, and received a master's degree in Journalism with highest distinction from Northwestern University.

The Travelers Companies, Inc.
Since joining The Travelers Companies, Inc. in 2011 as its executive vice president and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Caputo has overseen the company's marketing, research, branding, creative services, corporate communications and customer experience, strategies and operations. She is a member of the Travelers Foundation Board and is a senior member of their executive management team, serving on their Management and Operating Committees. She has launched the company's social media presence, has spearheaded the creation of the Travelers Risk Index and has developed digital partnerships and campaigns in order to position the company more prominently in the marketplace.

Citigroup
As Citi's executive vice president of Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Caputo managed an integrated marketing, corporate communications and community relations strategy for Citi. She oversaw the marketing, advertising, branding, consumer insights, media, sponsorships, external and internal communications, media relations, issues management, executive communications and community relations operations at Citi. She had management responsibility for approximately 600 people and oversaw over $2 billion in media spent globally. Additionally, she managed the company-wide initiative on the corporate brand which resulted in the re-branding of the company from Citigroup to Citi, and the sale of the red umbrella logo to Travelers. She also directs the development of Citigroup's corporate brand advertising campaign. Citi is one of the top financial services brands and one of the top consumer brands globally.

Women & Co.
Caputo started Women & Co. when she first joined Citi. Women & Co. is a membership business which provides a host of solutions to address the distinct financial needs of women. Women & Co. offers a range of custom-tailored services to address women's financial issues in their various life stages, which include one-on-one consultation with financial professionals, discounts and special savings on financial offerings, and news and educational opportunities. Caputo grew the business from concept to start up to revenue generator. Today, Women & Co. members accounted for over $30 billion in assets under management at Citi. under Caputo's leadership.

Citigroup Global Consumer Group
Previously, Caputo was Senior Managing Director, Business Operations and Planning, Citi's Global Consumer Group. In this role, Caputo oversaw community relations, public affairs, internal communications, executive communications and the Office of Financial Education for the Global Consumer Group. Additionally, she served as Chief of Staff to the Global Consumer Group CEO, where she worked with senior managers to develop and implement strategies to expand the business and coordinate business activities across the Global Consumer Group as well as across other Citi businesses. At the request of the Citi CEO, Caputo also developed a strategic plan and organizational structure for the Citi Foundation to focus the company's philanthropic giving.

Disney Publishing Worldwide
Before joining Citi, Caputo was Vice President of Global Communications and Synergy for Disney Publishing Worldwide from 1998 to 1999. She oversaw communications, publicity and cross promotions and spearheaded the coordination of the group's marketing and advertising efforts to ensure its brands were promoted with consistency. Disney Publishing Worldwide is the publishing subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company which reaches more than 50 million readers worldwide monthly and holds a leading position in children's publishing in all major markets. Around the world, Disney's books and magazines are printed in 37 languages and distributed in more than 100 countries.

CBS Corporation
Caputo joined Disney after serving as Vice President of Corporate Communications for the CBS Corporation from 1996 to 1998. At CBS, she helped oversee a department which handled issues relating to CBS management, business operations and program publicity. She was also responsible for media relations, special projects and public affairs objectives in all aspects of CBS, and managed the CBS/TIME millennium symposium project, which resulted in the production of a series of nationally broadcast television shows.

Television
In addition to her posts at Citi, Caputo is a television commentator and public speaker on current events and politics. She is a contributor to O Magazine. She has been an NBC and MSNBC political analyst for the past presidential election cycles and was a contributing editor to George magazine. She also served as a co-host of CNN's Crossfire and CNBC and MSNBC's Equal Time.

Political career
After graduate school, influenced by one of her college professors, Caputo decided to look for a job in government. Caputo was the national issues press secretary during the Dukakis-Bentsen presidential campaign in 1988. She was then press secretary to US Senator Tim Wirth of Colorado, and US Representative Bob Traxler of Michigan. In 1992, at the Democratic National Convention, she ran Al Gore's media operations. After working on the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign, she was asked to become Hillary Clinton's press secretary, at the age of 27. She oversaw the communications and media relations operations for the First Lady and the First Family and served as chief spokesperson. She also became deputy assistant to President Bill Clinton, and held those positions from 1993 through 1996. She was a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008. She was frequently seen on CNN, MSNBC, and other television networks providing analysis on the 2008 and on the 2016 presidential races.

Organizations
Caputo serves on the boards of Best Buy Co., Inc. (Nominating and Governance Committee and Compensation Committee), and is a board member of the following organizations: The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Program, WNET Channel 13, New Visions for Public Schools, the Creative Coalition. She is a member of the Reuters Editorial Advisory Board, the advisory council on Media Relations for Brown University, the board of advisors of Northwestern University's Medill School, the New York Restoration Project Chairman's Council, the New York Presbyterian Sloane Hospital Advisory Committee. Caputo is a member of the Brookings Institution's Public Sector Leadership Initiative Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York and the Financial Women's Association.

Awards and honors
Caputo has been selected as the AWNY Advertising Woman of the Year and one of Ad Age's Advertising Women to Watch. She is a NYWICI Matrix Winner for outstanding achievements in the communications industry and has also been recognized as the Direct Marketing International Woman of the Year. Caputo was selected as a Young Global Leader of The World Economic Forum. She was named one of "New York's Rising Stars: 40 under 40" by Crain's New York Business. She was named by Crain's New York Business as one of the six New York women who are emerging as influential. She was also named by Crain's New York Business as one of New York's most connected New Yorkers.

In December 2010, she was named a 2011 winner of the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, given annually to six former NCAA student-athletes for distinguished career accomplishment on the 25th anniversary of their college graduation. Among her fellow honorees from that class were former NFL and Major League Baseball player Bo Jackson and current New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

In December 2016, Caputo was inducted into PRWeek's Hall of Fame in recognition of her "outstanding contribution to the development of the communications industry".

Personal life
Caputo lives in New York with her husband and two children.

title: Lisa Caputo


text:
Boleslaus of Masovia

Boleslaus of Masovia may refer to:
 * Boleslaus IV of Poland (1122–1173), Duke of Masovia and Kujavia
 * Boleslaus I of Masovia (1208–1248), of Masovian Piast descent
 * Boleslaus II of Masovia (1251–1313), of Masovian Piast descent
 * Boleslaus George II of Halych (1308–1340), of Masovian Piast descent
 * Boleslaus III of Plock (1322–1351)
 * Boleslaus III of Masovia (1385–1428)
 * Boleslaus IV of Masovia (1421–1454)
 * Boleslaus V of Masovia (died 1488)

title: Boleslaus of Masovia


text:
Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyūshū

Wakamatsu-ku (若松区) is a ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan. It has an area of 67.86 km2 and a population of about 88,594 (national census, 2000).

Facilities
Important facilities include Green Park, Ecotown recycling area, Gakuen Toshi academic area, and Hibiki container terminal (opened on April 1, 2005). An underwater tunnel was being constructed in 2005–2006 between Tobata and Wakamatsu wards to link the Hibiki container terminal with Kokura.

Green Park
Green Park is a large green area which includes a tropical house with rare plants, fish and birds; a herb garden; a rose garden (rare in Japan); a children's play area; a Japanese garden; a wallaby enclosure and boating facilities. It is not well known outside Kitakyushu. Sometimes indoor and open-air concerts are staged. There is also an observation tower.

Wind farm
There is a wind farm on the coast, harnessing wind power for electricity. There is no particular controversy about the sightliness or otherwise of this wind farm, as in some other countries. It is on windy reclaimed land.

Beaches
The beaches are small and pleasant. A larger one is at Ashiya-machi to the west, beyond the city limits. Swimming is limited to the summer months.

Culture
The writer Hino Ashihei was born in Wakamatsu and his birthhouse can be visited.

title: Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyūshū


text:
Miguel Algarín

Miguel Algarín Jr. (11 September 1941 – 30 November 2020) was a Puerto Rican poet, writer, co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café, and a Rutgers University professor of English.

Early years
Algarín was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and was educated and raised in a culturally-minded household. The love for all things involving culture always prevailed in his family. His family and he migrated to the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City in 1950. While there he received both his primary and secondary education. Algarín went on to study English at the University of Wisconsin (B.A., 1963) and Pennsylvania State University (M.A., 1965). He then received his PhD in comparative literature at Rutgers University. Teaching English at Brooklyn College and New York University, he developed a love and understanding of the works of Shakespeare. Shakespeare's antique tales were the force which motivated Algarín to strive to one day have a place of his own where he could tell the story of where he lives. Eventually, Algarín became a professor of Shakespeare, creative writing, and United States ethnic literature at Rutgers University.

In 1973, Algarín was using the living room of his apartment in Manhattan as a gathering place for poets and artists. By 1975, there were so many poets and artists gathering and reciting their works in the apartment, that Algarín decided to look for a more comfortable location.

Nuyorican Poets Café
After some time of hosting poets in his apartment, Algarín, Miguel Piñero, Pedro Pietri, and other poets rented a location on East 6th street and named it the Nuyorican Poets Café. In 1980, Algarín purchased a building on East 3rd street to expand the café. The Café is now a non-profit organization that offers programs which include poetry and prose readings, theatrical and musical performances, and visual arts exhibits. It is one of the key cultural institutions of the Nuyorican Movement. The Nuyorican Poets Cafe popularized slam poetry.

The theater has won over 30 "AUDELCO Awards" and was honored with an Obie grant for excellence in theater. Of the screenplays read in the theater, 40 have been turned into films. The Latin jam session which is celebrated at the Café has been a weekly "Critics Choice" at the New York Press for six consecutive years. The Café also has a radio broadcast on WBAI, where Algarín started the broadcast with his signature "We're live from the Nuyorican Poets Café".

Algarín played an important role in the spread of Nuyorican literature by compiling, with Miguel Piñero, its first anthology Nuyorican Poetry: An Anthology of Puerto Rican Words and Feelings. He also founded a publishing house called the Nuyorican Press, which only published one book, his own Mongo Affair. He also helped launch Arte Public Press, which became a leading publishing house for Nuyorican works.

Principally known as a poet, Algarín's books include Mongo Affair, On Call (1980), Body Bee Calling from the 21st Century (1982), Time's Now/Ya es tiempo (1985), and Love Is Hard Work: Memorias de Loisaida/Poems (1997, Lower East Side Memories/Poems). He also published anthologies of works that were performed at the Nuyorican Poets Café, including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café (1994) which he co-edited with Bob Holman. He was the editor of Action: The Nuyorican Café Theatre Festival and co-editor of Aloud. Among his award-winning poetry books are Time's Now/Ya Es Tiempo and Love is Hard Work.

Honors
Algarín held the status of Professor Emeritus for his more than 30 years of service to Rutgers University. He has received three American Book Awards and the Larry Leon Hamlin Producer's Award at the 2001 National Black Festival. In the movie Piñero, about the life of Miguel Piñero, directed by Leon Ichaso and starring Benjamin Bratt, Algarín is portrayed by the actor Giancarlo Esposito. Algarín received three American Book Awards and became the first Latino to win the Before Columbus Lifetime Achievement American Book Award in 2009.

Later years
Algarín retired as professor from Rutgers University, but continued as the executive producer of the Nuyorican Poets Café's theater and was working on a piece of literature titled "Dirty Beauty". In 2001, he was portrayed by actor Giancarlo Esposito in the Miguel Piñero biopic Piñero.

Death
Algarín died from sepsis at a hospital in Manhattan on 30 November 2020, at age 79.

Works

 * ISBN 978-0-934770-04-0
 * Action. Touchstone. 1997. ISBN 978-0-684-82611-0
 * Survival Supervivencia. Arte Publico Press. 2009. ISBN 978-1-611-92299-8
 * Action. Touchstone. 1997. ISBN 978-0-684-82611-0
 * Survival Supervivencia. Arte Publico Press. 2009. ISBN 978-1-611-92299-8
 * Action. Touchstone. 1997. ISBN 978-0-684-82611-0
 * Survival Supervivencia. Arte Publico Press. 2009. ISBN 978-1-611-92299-8

title: Miguel Algarín


text:
10.2 surround sound

10.2 is the surround sound format developed by THX creator Tomlinson Holman of TMH Labs and the University of Southern California (schools of Cinematic Arts and Engineering). Developed along with Chris Kyriakakis of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, 10.2 refers to the format's slogan: "Twice as good as 5.1". However, there actually may be 14 discrete channels if the left and right point surround channels are included. He states that 5.1, a name which he himself came up with in 1987 was chosen as it was "the minimum number of channels necessary to give a sense of spaciousness". Holman and others state that higher sampling rates, which is a recent trend in digital recording, does not have a significant perceivable effect and that the next frontier in sound engineering is to increase the number of discrete channels to meet human spatial sound perception. , several decoding, UHD, or virtual expansion processors have approached numbers as great or greater than 10.2.

Channel configurations
.0.5 surround sound would add four more channels to the front listening area and only one surround channel. This is because human spatial perception of sound is much more precise in the front than in the back. In addition it adds depth to the sound field with two of the front channels being height channels, located above the listening area at 45 degrees relative to the listener. Lack of vertical information has long been considered one of the largest obstacles to realistic sound reproduction. Existing systems such as Dolby Pro Logic IIz simulate this with matrixed height channels, which are derived from ambient sounds from the left and right channels.

The ".2" in 10.2 refers to the fact that an additional Low Frequency Effects channel is added, not just a second subwoofer, to enhance the sense of envelopment. All bass from the left channels are directed to a left LFE channel while right channel bass is directed to the right LFE channel.

10.2
The 12 channels of 10.2:
 * Seven front channels: Left Wide, Left Height, Left, Center, Right, Right Height, Right Wide
 * Three surround channels: Left Surround, Back Surround, Right Surround
 * Two LFE channels: LFE Left and LFE Right

10.2 may also augment the LS (left surround) and RS (right surround) channels by two point surround channels that can better manipulate sound—allowing the mixer to shift sounds in a distinct 360° circle around the movie watcher. This would actually make it 12.2

12.2
The only addition with 12.2 from 10.2 are the "point surround" or "diffuse surround" channels. These would be placed at the same angles as the standard surround speakers at +/-120 degrees, but would be diffuse radiators using dipole speakers. They would emit sound to reflect off the walls before arriving at the listening area. The 14 discrete channels are:
 * Five front speakers: Left Wide, Left, Center, Right and Right Wide
 * Five surround channels: Left Surround Diffuse, Left Surround Direct, Back Surround, Right Surround Diffuse and Right Surround Direct
 * Two LFE channels: LFE Left, LFE Right
 * Two Height channels: Left Height, Right Height

The .2 of the 10.2 refers to the addition of a second subwoofer. The system is bass managed such that all the speakers on the left side use the left sub and all the speakers on the right use the right sub. The Center and Back Surround speakers are split among the two subs. The two subs also serve as two discrete LFE (Low Frequency Effects) channels.

Installations
A 10.2 surround sound system was demonstrated at Audyssey in Los Angeles and at Bjorn's Audio Video in San Antonio, Texas.

New York University claims to have two 10.2 surround sound systems set up in their new $6.5 million music technology complex at Steinhardt School. One in a recording studio and one in a screening room. Products are already being sold to accommodate 10.2 surround systems such as in-wall speaker jacks.

Currently, there is only a standard for 5.1 surround setups. 6.1 and 7.1 have no real standard, and add channels to the rear instead of the front, which can only be conceived as a marketing tool as sonically the front needs more channels. Audyssey has stated that one fear of marketing 10.2 systems will be that ironically quality might be decreased instead of increased. This is because marketers will push to keep prices relatively the same and to do that with four additional speakers and two subwoofers will almost certainly cost quality.

Media
There is currently only one film available which uses this format, a 30-minute short called Seven Swans. The other 10.2 mixes were created by Holman and others at the demonstrations.

There are some receivers that claim to be "10.2 channels" such as the Pioneer Elite SC-09TX but just have multiple 6, 7, or 8 channel decoders.

title: 10.2 surround sound


text:
Talk:Umbra (World of Darkness)

The Overhaul of 11-30-04
When I added some stuff to make the entry less Werewolf: The Apocalypse exclusive, I was frustrated with how cluttered the result was. I later came to the conclusion that using the nested hierarchies would work much better, but would require considerably more detail. Follow this line of thinking to its (il)logical end, and you reach the following conclusion: because the Umbra is described in bits and pieces throughout the World of Darkness, but is nowhere described in a single unifying document, this seems an excellent medium to provide the entire picture, which in turn gives anyone wishing to use the Umbra in their game a sense of the basics on any particular topic. The next step: sections on Inhabittants and References, so readers can actually track down the rules for these overviews to the appropriate sourcebook.
 * Good work Belarius, I like structured articles. But I'd like to ask how you'd like to expand the article's hierarchy? If there is 1. Cosmology will there be some other 2.? If not, it would be better to raise this first 1. Cosmology paragraph to header and demote the hierarchy by one step.
 * Also I wonder if it would be desirable to clearly denote fictional character of WoD topics by developing some kind of template like Template:Fiction or Template:Fictional universe material? I'm not sure how exactly it should be named and what to put there (apart from that template content should be enclosed in tags). What do you think?
 * I'll walk through the article and wikify it further -- Forseti 08:45, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I've added a references section (The Umbra is one of those nightmare topics to a sourcebook guru, being spread piecemeal across dozens of books, settings, even perceptual models) to help people track down the bits and pieces described. It's almost certainly got glaring errors, but I can only work with the information I have. An interesting question: are realms in the Exceptions that have been described in detail (such as the Digital Web) best served by additional notes or by their own articles?

 * Whoa, after adding the content, I begin to consider the possibility of dividing this article into several smaller and more focused. There would be one Umbra (World of Darkness) with just basic coverage and detailed info in Near Umbra, Horizon (World of Darkness), Deep Umbra, Astral Umbra, Living Umbra, Deadlands (World of Darkness), Umbrood or something like this. I opt for set based on closeness not videre however as there is not a great difference between Astral Gauntlet and Living Gauntlet and Astral Deep and Living Deep.

 * Then we can provide each Zone, Realm etc. its own section If there is necessity, we could do a redirect from Doissetep to Horizon (World of Darkness). If the sections on realms would get big enough (improbable for now as there is more important work elsewhere) we could just reverse redirect.

 * But for now I'll just fill in the blanks and we'll see how to divide it later. Also I'll wikify it in second pass.

I agree, its getting out of hand. Especially when you consider how small-scale some of the sections are. I propose the following hierarchy (cross-referenced, of course):

 * Umbra: Gives thumbnail sketch of what it's all about, how it's subjective, etc.
 * Videre: Gives an overview of the 'aspects' the Umbra has
 * Gauntlet: Describe the relation of the Gauntlet to the Periphery, the Avatar storm, and the various forms the Gauntlet takes
 * Penumbra: Describe the Penumbrae (such as the Shadowlands, the werewolf Penumbra, the technocratic Horizon (though we should see if there's a less confusing way to discuss that specifc topic), and so forth).
 * The Near Umbra: Describes in a thumbnail way the four largely non-overlapping aspects of this 'depth' of the Umbra.
 * The Astral Umbra: Describes in greater detail this details and realms of this particular Umbra, as well as its relations to other locales. Major realms might need a specific article, but only a handful are universal enough to merit this.
 * The Spiritual Umbra: As above
 * The Tempest: As above (and thus could be greatly expanded, as it is the most under-informed of the sections right now)
 * The Near Universe: As above
 * The Horizon: Describe this barrier, its properties, and give thumnails of the Horizon Realms it contains. Realms of appropriate detail can grow their own articles, of curse.
 * The Deep Umbra: Describe the far reaches and its contents. Videre doesn't matter much here, and seperate categories to cover it aren't really necessary.  There's an organizational challenge to be met in dealing with the confusion arising from the celestial bodies.  In addition the Shard Realms at each planet, they all project a Shade Realm onto the Horizon, but many also have their own Penumbrae as possible their own Near Umbrae.  There is a lack of solid detail on this topic, but some speculative gap-filling might work if it doesn't overreach its source material.
 * The Zones: Give thumbnails of the zones and their peculiar attributes. Specific zones (such as the Digital Web) could certainly stand alone as articles, and others clearly cannot, so further hierarchy is a case-by-case thing.  On an organizational note, not all of the things listed here are 'Zones' strictly speaking.  The Pattern Web, for example, is a more of a pervasive phenomenon than even the Null Zone.  Which brings me to...
 * The Shenti: I'm increasingly convinced these need their own section. They work by their own rules and are very difficult to fit into an existing hierarchy.  This way the details that are known about them (Malfeas being especially well documented, for example) can be addressed.  We can stick the Pattern web in here, where it probably belongs.  Whether this entails a Shenti cover article and three detailed follow-ups or simply a single overview page remains unclear.  Given the imbalance of detail (there's next to nothing to say about Flux apart from Charybdis), a mix is probably best.

As for the rest, References should stay on the main page as a whole and possibly each major sub-page should have those books best related to the topic, or possibly not. the Umbra article itself can't reasonably also discuss Umbrood (who being absurdly diverse deserve their own hierarical article at the very least), but the topic can be touched on though another bullet point on the above list. Finally, I think rather than listing the inhabittants and travellers, it would be helpful to indicate what each subspecies in the WoD thinks of the Umbra. Kindred are clueless (vaguely aware of the Shadowlands at best), but Kindred of the East are quite well informed. And no one apart from mages make it past the Horizon (I think). Players used to a cosmopolitan approach should be able to see how its perceived to keep them from assuming that everyone knows everything. Belarius 22:40, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I generally agree but I'm afraid it's a bit too detailed. For example: is there much to add to Videre section? The Zones and Shenti could be described in Umbra proper with links to respective articles as There is but one sentence of introduction in Zones for example. Is there ANY official info on Near Universe? It's a new concept to me but certainly I haven't read everything. However we could not introduce non-official material as there is No original research policy. Overall schema is OK, but I think that transition to it should be gradual, on basis of need. -- Forseti 00:26, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I agree that overhauling it again is unnecessary - I meant to provide the hierarchy above as an idea on how gradual growth would occur. For the moment, the most glaringly truncated section is the Tempest. In any case, the Umbra's been growing in the background for something like 15 years now (when was Werewolf first released, anyway?). It seems every time I crack a sourcebook I find more bits that I missed before. I'll get right on some of the structural issues, as well as another area of interest that isn't properly detailed: the antiquated Umbra.

The information on the Near Universe is presented in a handful of products relating to the Technocracy (Mage: the Ascension) and the Sons of Ether (who call it Etherspace among other things). Autocthonia is its the most famous location, and the very idea of Qui La Machina (Technocratic deep-space juggernaut city-ships) makes no sense without it. To my knowledge, everything currently up is official (or at least, is an official variant) in that it's published somewhere (with the possible exception of the Technocratic Videre, which is implied in the description of the "Universe" in the Guide to the Technocracy and the Void Engineer Handbook. Belarius 01:49, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * OK, as WP system complained about page lenght over 32 kB, I've done some fragmentation. Zones, Penumbra and Near Umbra are now in respective articles. Exception: Near Universe - I don't know whether it should be Near Universe (World of Darkness) or Universe (World of Darkness). The latter would better fit into High - Middle - Low Umbra schema but the name is awkward.

 * There is one issue that upsets me. There is new World of Darkness in place and it unveils to be pretty different. How to accomodate the change if old WoD-specific articles have (World of Darkness) simply in title? We could add old but it would be both awkward and confusing.
 * At least new WoD doesn't seems that good to replace the old one completely, so our work wouldn't be in vain :)

-- Forseti 16:29, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I'm inclined to think Near Universe (World of Darkness) is the best bet, because "Universe" is the Technocratic term for the Tellurian or (in other contexts), the Umbra as a while. On the other hand, it really is the weakest of the four unless we can dig up more info on it from Son of Ether sources (as Etherspace seems pretty similar, enough so to warrent inclusion). Short of doing that, does it really require its own article? After all, we're well below the 32Kb mark now.

Also, we should probably set up some redirects or parallel pages for topics like the Tempest (arguably a topic almost entirely covered by the "Low Umbra" article).

We won't know for sure what the "New Umbra" will look like until the new Werewolf comes out. If the inclinations of the Time of Judgment and its lead-up are any indication, I'm guessing we'll see a WoD with less Umbra than ever before. Stupid earth-centric writers... :-). --Belarius 18:33, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Fictional Setting Templates
On the topic of templates, perhaps something more along the lines of  ''This article's content is specific to the fictional setting known as. However, links point to non-fictional reference unless noted.'' would work best. This article (and other like it, be they for role-playing as the Umbra is, or for fiction as Known Space is) provides the backdrop for narrative, but seems ill-suited to discussing characters in anything but broad sociological ways. Structurally, though, a potential problem is the different kinds of information available. Some settings (such as the Umbra) are strong on topography, other strong on sociopolitical associations. How do you propose such a template be structured? Belarius 12:33, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I don't see the need for structuring the template. I see its role as the sign of fictionality of the contents and a warning so as not to use the knowledge outside of its setting. Whole WoD is fictional so all the articles pertaining to in-game topics (as opposed to articles on WoD fandom for example) should have this template just below the title. This is similar to the role of other templates being for example a warning about deficiences of content. -- Forseti 15:22, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * And it's done. Syntax is:  .  How do you like the wording? Corrections welcomed. -- Forseti 00:26, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I'm going to rephrase the template to make it grammatically universal, but in principle I think it looks great. Belarius 01:49, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Thanks :) -- Forseti 16:29, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Note: The fictional setting template was deleted as per community consensus at TFD. Please see the log page for more details.  The template was subst'd here for historical purposes. -Frazzydee|✍ 01:00, 16 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The Umbra and the Shadowlands.
From this page: http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/WraithFAQ.html It would seem that the Umbra and the Shadowlands are not the same place:

 "How do the Shadowlands and the Tempest relate to the Umbra and the other planes?

The Shadowlands is part of the Dark Umbra, a part of the Umbra more-or-less sealed off from Garou, mages and anyone who isn't dead. The Tempest is also part of the Dark Umbra. The Deep Umbra and the Horizon Realms have essentially nothing to do with the cosmology of Wraith."

I suggest this article be amended to include this information.

Jhumphery 12:18, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

also needs to be added that hell in Demon: The Fallen is the mouth of the abyss, when you get down into it you find all the demons that are still trapped encased in stone —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.122.57.173 (talk) 10:26, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

title: Talk:Umbra (World of Darkness)


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User:Cedric Dwarf

a post-homeschool student resides here. i am currently studying for a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Charter Oak State College, and wasting time philosophizing on my xanga.

Truth
I awoke, and was in a dream. And in my dream i was standing in a white, featureless, barren field. And in the center of this limitless space hung two horizontal lines, suspended in nothing and by nothing. The wind howled in my ears, and pushed me and the dust along the ground, but the lines never moved or varied. Nothing varied here, the wind and the dust and the lines and the field were constant and unchanging. And i was alone in this wilderness.

"Go," said my companion, "and stand beside the lines." So i went and stood near the lines. "Look, " said my companion, "and tell me what you see." I looked and said, "I see a desolate unchanging field, and a desolate unchanging sky, and unchanging dust, and two unchanging black lines in this desolate place."

"Look now, along the lines, and tell me what you see." And so i looked and said, "In the horizon, the lines meet."

"Run," said my companion.

And so i ran along the lines in the desolate unchanging field, and the wind howled in my ears and pushed the dust along the ground. And lo, the lines were parallel, and never met.

an explanation.

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title: User:Cedric Dwarf