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Svatopluk I of Moravia

Svatopluk I or Svätopluk I, also known as Svatopluk the Great (Medieval Latin: Zuentepulc(us), Zuentibald, Sventopulch(us), Zvataplug; Old Church Slavic: Свѧтопълкъ and transliterated Svętopъłkъ; Polish: Świętopełk; Greek: Σφενδοπλόκος, Sfendoplókos), was a ruler of Great Moravia, which attained its maximum territorial expansion during his reign (870–871, 871–894).

Svatopluk's career started in the 860s, when he governed a principality within Moravia, the location of which is still a matter of debate among historians, under the suzerainty of his uncle, Rastislav. In 870 Svatopluk dethroned Rastislav, who was a vassal of Louis the German, and betrayed him to the Franks. Within a year, however, the Franks also imprisoned Svatopluk. After the Moravians rebelled against the Franks, Svatopluk was released and led the rebels to victory over the invaders. Although he was obliged to pay tribute to East Francia under the peace treaty concluded at Forchheim (Germany) in 874, he was able to expand his territories outside the Franks' sphere of interest in the following years. His forces even invaded the March of Pannonia within East Francia in 882.

Svatopluk established a good relationship with the popes, and he and his people were formally taken under the protection of the Holy See in 880. Pope Stephen V even addressed him as "King" in a letter written in 885. Svatopluk seems to have wanted to appease the German clergy who opposed the conducting of the liturgy in Old Church Slavonic, and he expelled the disciples of Methodius from Moravia in 886, after their teacher's death.

Svatopluk's state was a loose assemblage of principalities and also included conquered territories.

Not long after his death Svatopluk's realm of Great Moravia collapsed in the midst of a power struggle between his sons and the intensifying Hungarian raids.

Svatopluk, whose empire encompassed parts of the territory of modern Czech Republic (Moravia and Bohemia), Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, has occasionally been presented as a "Slovak King" in Slovak literary works since the 18th century, the period of the Slovak national awakening.

Early years
The Annals of Fulda refer to Svatopluk as a nephew of Rastislav, the second known ruler of Great Moravia. Svatopluk was most probably born around 840. His father's name was Svetimir, according to the late 12th-century Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, a medieval historical work long dismissed as a collection of fact and fiction. According to the unproven later Moravian tradition of Tomáš Pešina z Čechorodu (17th century), who fulfilled the family tree of the House of Mojmír, Svatopluk was the son of a certain Bogislav. According to Simon of Kéza his father was Morot, a Prince of Poland who had subdued Bractari and occupied Crișana before retiring to Veszprém.

Svatopluk seems to have risen to power in Great Moravia in the early 860s. The Life of Methodius relates that Svatopluk and his uncle jointly asked the Byzantine Emperor Michael III to send missionaries who were familiar with the Slavic tongue to Moravia. Michael III chose two brothers, Cyril and Methodius, who were fluent in the dialect of Slavic spoken in the environs of Thessaloniki (Greece). They arrived in Moravia in 863, and immediately set to work teaching and preaching. Their translation of liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic was approved by Pope Hadrian II in 867.

"And it came to pass in those days that the Slavic prince Rostislav together with Svatopluk sent emissaries from Moravia to Emperor Michael, saying thus: 'We have prospered through God's grace, and many Christian teachers have come to us from among the Italians, Greeks and Germans, teaching us in various ways. But we Slavs are a simple people, and have no one to instruct us in the truth, and explain wisely. Therefore, O kind lord, send the type of man who will direct us to the whole truth.'"

Beginning of his reign
By the time Svatopluk first appeared in a Frankish sources (the Annals of Fulda) in 869, he was ruler of his own "realm" (regnum, implying autonomous or semi-autonomous land) within Great Moravia. This is generally accepted to be the Duchy of Nitra. His court was at "Rastislav's old city" (urbs antique Rastizi), which may have been either at Staré Město whose name literally means "old city" in Czech, or at Nitra (today in Slovakia), but it has also been identified with Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia).

Svatopluk's "realm" was invaded and plundered in 869 by Bavarian troops led by Carloman, the eldest son of Louis the German, King of East Francia. At the same time Franconian and Alamannian troops attacked Rastislav's territories under the leadership of the same King's youngest son, Charles the Fat. Although the two armies soon returned, Svatopluk entered into clandestine negotiations with Carloman, and agreed to commend himself and his principality to Carloman.

Having learned of this agreement, Rastislav is said to have become furious and set a trap for his nephew, inviting him to a banquet where he intended to have him murdered. Svatopluk, however, was warned of his uncle's plans, took Rastislav prisoner and handed him over to Carloman. Rastislav was sent to Bavaria under guard, while Carloman annexed his realm outright.

"Zwentibald, Rastiz's nephew, took thought to his own interests, and commended himself and the kingdom he held to Carloman. Rastiz was furious at this and laid ambushes in secret for his nephew; he plotted to strangle him at a banquet when he was not suspecting any attack. But by the grace of God he was freed of the peril of death. For before those who were to kill him had entered the house, he was warned by one who knew of the plot, and set out as if to go hawking, and so evaded the ambush laid for him. Rastiz saw that his plot was revealed and followed after his nephew with soldiers to capture him. But by the just judgment of God he was caught in the snare he had set, for he was captured by his nephew, bound and brought to Carloman, who sent him under guard of soldiers to Bavaria least he should escape and had him kept in prison until he could be brought to the king's presence."

As a reward for capturing Rastislav, Carloman allowed Svatopluk to retain his principality, but the rest of Great Moravia was placed under the control of two Frankish lords, William and Engilschalk. Carloman's forces also captured Methodius, whom Pope Hadrian II had earlier appointed Archbishop of Sirmium with jurisdiction over the realms ruled by Rastislav and Svatopluk. Early in 871 Carloman also imprisoned Svatopluk on unspecified charges of disloyalty, which may have been connected to the rebellion of Carloman's younger brothers, Louis the Younger and Charles the Bald. Believing that Svatopluk was dead, the Moravians selected another member of their ruling family named Slavomír and made him their ruler.

Towards the Peace of Forchheim
Carloman soon came to the conclusion that the accusations against Svatopluk were unfounded and released him from prison. In order to bind Svatopluk to his family, Carloman had Svatopluk stand as godfather to his illegitimate grandson. Thus this son of Carloman's son Arnulf received the Moravian name Zwentibold.

Svatopluk also agreed to lead Carloman's armies against Slavomír and the rebellious Moravians. However, on his arrival at "Rastislav's old city", Svatopluk betrayed the Bavarians and conspired secretly with the rebels. Although he captured the fortress in accordance with Carloman's plan, once he was inside its walls he renounced his loyalty to Carloman, rallied a large Moravian force and launched a devastating surprise attack on the unsuspecting Bavarian army encamped outside. The Moravians took a great number of soldiers hostage, killed the rest and rid Moravia of the Frankish occupation. Carloman's governors, William and Engelschalk, were also both slain, and Svatopluk became the undisputed ruler of Great Moravia.

"Meanwhile Zwentibald, after no one had been able to prove the crimes of which he had been accused, was released by Carloman and returned to his own realm laden with kingly gifts, leading with him an army of Carloman's, with which he was to drive out Sclagamar, for so much he had falsely promised to Carloman, should Carloman allow him to return to his country. But just as humiliation falls on those who are careless and trust too much in themselves, so it befell that army, for Zwentibald left the others to pitch camp and entered the old city of Rastiz. Immediately he denied his fidelity and forgot his oath, in Slavic fashion, and turned his thought and his powers not to driving out Sclagamar but to revenging the injury which Carloman had done him. Then he attacked in great force the Bavarians' camp – they suspected no evil and were not keeping a sharp watch. He took many alive as prisoners, and killed the rest, except for a few who had prudently left the camp beforehand. All the Bavarians' joy at their many previous victories was turned into grief and weeping. On the news of the slaughter of his army, Carloman was aghast, and forced by necessity he ordered all the hostages in his kingdom to be collected together and returned to Zwentibald; he received scarcely one man from there except for a man called Radbod who returned half-dead."

In October 871 Louis the German sent Bavarian and Franconian troops against the Bohemians (Czechs). During the campaign the Franconians surprised a party of Moravians somewhere near the traps that guarded the narrow approaches to a Bohemian fort. The Moravians were returning to their homeland with the daughter of a Bohemian dux ("duke"), presumably to marry an unidentified Moravian magnate. Although the Moravians managed to reach the safety of the fort, they had to abandon 644 fully equipped horses in the narrows. The marriage of a Bohemian leader's daughter to a Moravian magnate implies that Svatopluk was planning to form an alliance with the Bohemians.

Louis the German realized the grave threat posed by Svatopluk and assembled forces for a multipronged expedition with pincer movements advancing on Moravian territory from several directions in 872. One army was sent out "against the Moravian Slavs" from Regensburg (Germany) in May, but the Thuringian and Saxon soldiers fled in their first encounter with the enemy. The second army, composed of Franconians under Bishop Arn of Würzburg and Abbot Sigihard of Fulda, experienced mixed results: although their forces fought well, the majority of the men were killed, and only a handful of survivors returned to East Francia. Finally a third force, consisting of Bavarians and Carantanians under Carloman's command, laid Moravian territories to waste, put Svatopluk's army to flight and forced it to take refuge in an "extremely well fortified stronghold". Svatopluk, however, soon assembled a large army and attacked the Bavarians who had been left behind under the command of Bishop Emriacho of Regensburg to guard ships on the bank of the river Danube.

In May 873, Pope John VIII moved energetically to discover the whereabouts of Methodius, who was still being held prisoner in Bavaria. He sent harshly worded letters to Carloman and the Bavarian bishops, and commanded Methodius's immediate reinstatement. The Pope seems also to have brokered a lasting peace between Louis the German and Svatopluk. After his meeting with the Pope at Verona (Italy), Louis the German went to Forchheim where, according to the Annals of Fulda, "he received the legates of Svatopluk asking for a peace treaty". The exact terms of their agreement are not known, but it seems to have been a compromise: Svatopluk was forced to make an annual payment of tribute to Louis the German, who agreed to avoid any hostile acts against Great Moravia. Thus Methodius, who had in the meantime been allowed to return to Moravia, could continue his work in relatively peaceful conditions for some years.

Years of expansion

Great Moravia underwent considerable expansion in the 870s. For instance, the Life of Methodius refers to the capture of "a very powerful pagan prince settled on the Vistula" in territory of later Poland, and a letter written around 900 by Archbishop Theotmar of Salzburg states that Svatopluk conquered the region of Nitra, which had been thereto inhabited by pagans. Modern historiography, however, has tended to question the claims that huge neighboring territories were permanently annexed by Great Moravia. For instance, there is little clear archaeological or written evidence of a permanent extension of Moravian power in Lesser Poland or to the west in Silesia, or in Pannonia, as is suggested in earlier historical works.

Svatopluk's expansionist policy was perhaps so successful because most of Western Europe was in the grip of unusually savage and large-scale Viking raids between 879 and 886. On the other hand, the Life of Methodius directly links Svatopluk's military achievements and Methodius' work. For instance, according to his Life, Methodius promised Svatopluk that if the Prince would celebrate Saint Peter's Day in the Archbishop's church, "God will soon deliver" his enemies to him, and "so it came to pass".

Nevertheless, at the court of Svatopluk, who himself professed the Latin Rite, intrigues against Methodius and the liturgy in Old Church Slavonic gathered strength. Svatopluk sent John of Venice, a known opponent of the Slavic liturgy, to Rome in 879 to achieve a settlement of ecclesiastical differences. In a letter addressed to Methodius in the same year, the Pope sharply rebuked him for using Slavonic in church services. Methodius, however, travelled to Rome in 880, together with a Moravian delegation. Under his influence Pope John VIII changed his mind and in a letter, known for its incipit, Industriae tuae, the Pope repeated that Mass was to be sung in Latin whenever requested, but he also allowed the use of Slavonic liturgy. The letter also confirmed the decision taken by the Holy See during Rastislav's reign to create an archdiocese for Great Moravia. Upon Svatopluk's request the Pope promoted a German priest, Wiching, to be Bishop of Nitra, but he added that the new Bishop and all the clerics in Great Moravia were expected to be obedient to Methodius, who remained the head of the church in Svatopluk's realms.

"Your predecessor /Pope John VIII/ ordained Wiching bishop at the request of Duke Zwentibald; however, he never sent him into the ancient bishopric of Passau but to a newly baptized people whom that duke had defeated in war and converted from paganism to Christianity"

The "Wilhelminer War"
At the time when Charles the Fat became the sole ruler of East Francia in 881, the sons of Wilhelm and Engelschalk, the one-time commanders of the Bavarian forces occupying Moravia in 870–871, began to conspire with various Bavarian magnates in order to eject Arbo, the margrave Louis the German had appointed to command a key part of East Francia's frontier on the Danube. Arbo, however, appealed for and received help from both Charles the Fat and Svatopluk, and even handed his son over to the latter as a hostage.

Upon Arbo's request, Svatopluk, who remembered "how much evil he along with his people had suffered" at the hands of Wilhelm and Engelschalk, attacked their sons. His forces soon captured Engelschalk's second son who was mutilated at Svatopluk's order. Thereafter the remaining sons withdrew from the authority of Charles the Fat and become the men of Carloman's son, Arnulf, who was ruling in Pannonia at that time. Learning of this, Svatopluk sent ambassadors to Arnulf, demanding that the sons of Wilhelm and Engelschalk be immediately sent away. Arnulf, however, refused to hand them over, to which Svatopluk responded with further invasions. In addition to the Franks and Moravians, the Bulgarians also entered the conflict by invading Svatopluk's realm. According to a record in the Annals of Salzburg, the region of Vienna (Austria) was also invaded in 881 by Hungarians. They seem to have been hired either by Svatopluk or by Arnulf in order to intervene in their conflict.

Thus the "Willhelminer War", that was to last until 884, led to the devastation of Pannonia east of the river Rába. Finally, Charles the Fat himself turned up and received Svatopluk as his man at Kaumberg (Germany), receiving promises of peace and fidelity. Svatopluk also promised never to invade Charles the Fat's realm with a hostile force as long as he lived, while Charles the Fat recognized him as a prince of his realm. Peace between Arnulf and Svatopluk, however, was only sealed in the latter part of the following year.

"They /the sons of Wilhelm and Engelschalk/ despised the peace, which in being preserved Pannonia, but which being broken led to Pannonia's being laid waste from the Raab eastward within the space of two and a half years. Male and female slaves with their children were killed, many of the leading men were killed, captured, or – what is more disgraceful – had their hand or tongue or genitals cut off and were sent back."

Last years
Methodius, who seems to have been in Svatopluk's train at Kaumberg, died in 885. In his last days he had indicated Gorazd, one of his Moravian disciples, as most worthy to succeed him. Gorazd, however, did not or could not immediately submit his candidature for ratification of the Holy See, because Bishop Wiching of Nitra soon hurried to Rome. He persuaded Pope Stephen V that Methodius had ignored Pope John VIII's orders in the matter of Slavonic liturgy, and thus, upon his initiative, the pope prohibited the Slavonic liturgy in Moravia. The pope also sent a letter (Quia te zelo) to Svatopluk, urging him to accept the addition of filioque to the Creed and to give up such peculiar Byzantine practices as fasting on Saturday.

Wiching having arrived back from Rome, Svatopluk summoned Gorazd, Clement and Methodius's other disciples to submit to the papal directions. When they refused to do so, Svatopluk gave Wiching a free hand to take action against them. Some of them were first thrown into prison, and soon expelled from Moravia, while others, among them Naum, were sold as slaves. The expulsion of Methodius's disciples from Moravia signaled the end of the Slavonic liturgy in Central Europe. The exiles, however, subsequently found refuge in the First Bulgarian Empire where they were able to carry on their work. Saint Clement of Ochrid said:

In his letter Quia te zelo, the pope addressed Svatopluk as rex Sclavorum ("king of the Slavs"). Although Svatopluk's royal title was not recognized by the contemporary Annals of Fulda, the chronicler Regino of Prüm also referred to Svatopluk as rex Marahensium Sclavorum ("king of the Moravian Slavs") in the early 10th century, which is independent evidence confirming that Svatopluk held the title of king. According to the late 12th-century Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, Svatopluk had been crowned "king in the Roman fashion on the field of Dalma" in the presence of a papal legate, cardinals, and bishops.

In 887 Arnulf, Svatopluk's opponent in the "Wilhelminer War", became the king of East Francia. They met at Omuntesperch, a locality that has yet not been identified, during the winter of 890. At the meeting Svatopluk transmitted to Arnulf a message from Pope Stephen V, urging the king to invade Italy to protect the Holy See. According to Regino of Prüm, the two monarchs also concluded an agreement, in which Arnulf ceded the ducatus of the Bohemians to Svatopluk.

"In the year of the Lord's incarnation 890, King Arnulf gave the command of the Bohemians to King Zwentibald of the Moravian Slavs. Hitherto, the Bohemians had rulers from among their own kind and people, and had kept the fidelity they promised to the kings of the Franks by inviolable agreement. Arnulf did this because, before he had been raised to the throne of the kingdom, he had been joined to Zwentibald in close friendship."

Sometime during 891, according to the Annals of Fulda, Arnulf sent an embassy led by margrave Arbo to Moravia in order to renew the peace. A letter written by the margrave soon announced that the legates were returning from Svatopluk and the Moravians who had agreed "to give themselves in friendship". Svatopluk, however, broke his pledges, so Arnulf decided to invade Moravia in 891. First the king met with Braslav, the Slavic dux on the river Sava, then raised an army of Franconians, Bavarians and Alamanni, and also recruited Hungarians to join his campaign. In the late 10th century, Arnulf was accused by Ottonian authors of unleashing the Hungarians on Europe because of his desire to bring down Moravia.

"Meanwhile, Arnulf, the strongest king of the nations living below the star Arcturus, could not overcome Sviatopolk, duke of the Moravians, who we mentioned above, with the latter fighting back in a manly way; and – alas! – having dismantled those very well fortified barriers which we said earlier are called 'closures' by the populace, Arnulf summoned to his aid the nation of the Hungarians, greedy, rash, ignorant of almighty God but well versed in every crime, avid only for murder and plunder; if indeed it can be called 'aid', since a little later, with him dying, it proved to be grave peril, and even the occasion of ruin, for his people alongside the other nations living in the south and west."

Arnulf's invasion started in July 892, but he failed to defeat Svatopluk. The war against Moravia seems to have continued until 894. This was the year of Svatopluk's "most unlucky death", according to the Annals of Fulda, which implies that he met his end in some kind of mishap, the sort that occurs in war. The exact circumstances of Svatopluk's death, however, are unknown.

"Zwentibald, the dux of the Moravians and the source of all treachery, who had disturbed all the lands around him with tricks and cunning and circled around thirsting for human blood, made an unhappy end, exhorting his men at the last that they should not be lovers of peace but rather continue in enmity with their neighbors."

Simon of Kéza recorded that he died in battle near Környe

Legacy
Following Svatopluk's death, Great Moravia, which had achieved its maximum territorial extension, and exercised its greatest influence in his reign, ceased to be a political factor in Central Europe. Among the conquered peoples, the Czechs were the first to withdraw in 895. Although—at least, according to the testimony of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus—Svatopluk had made a deathbed request to his sons, Mojmir II of Moravia and Svatopluk II, that they remain united, after his death internal disagreements between them were fostered by Arnulf. Finally Moravia collapsed in the first decade of the 10th century due to the invasion of the Hungarians. "The prince of Moravia, Sphendoplokos, was valiant and terrible to the nations that were his neighbors. This same Sphendoplokos had three sons, and when he was dying he divided his country into three parts and left a share apiece to his three sons, leaving the eldest to be great prince and the other two to be under the command of the eldest son. He exhorted them not to fall out with one another, giving them this example by way of illustration: he brought three wands and bound them together and gave them to the first son to break them, and when he was not strong enough, handed them on to the second, and in like manner to the third, and then separated the three wands and gave one each to the three of them; when they had taken them and were bidden to break them, they broke them through at once. By means of this illustration he exhorted them and said: 'If you remain undivided in concord and love, you shall be unconquered by your adversaries and invincible; but if strife and rivalry come among you and you divide yourselves into three governments, not subject to the eldest brother, you shall be both destroyed by one another and brought to utter ruin by the enemies who are your neighbors.'"

According to Hungarian legends, the Hungarians purchased the country from Svatopluk in a symbolic act of exchange: they sent a white horse with saddler to Svatopluk in return for some earth, water and grass, supposed to represent his country itself. Svatopluk allegedly disavowed this "contract" and then drowned in the Danube in flight from the Hungarians. The legend, in fact, seems to merely describe a common pagan rite of concluding alliances which might refer to Svatopluk's alliance with the Hungarians in 894.

Historian Ryszard Grzesik says that the ruler Menumorut, mentioned in the 13th-century chronicle Gesta Hungarorum was the "personification" of Svatopluk I of Moravia.

Nevertheless, in 1722 Michael Bencsik, a professor of Hungarian law at the University of Trnava, suggested that the nobility and the whole population of Trencsén county within the Kingdom of Hungary were "the remnants of Svatopluk who sold his country to the Hungarians, and thus the Slovak people, into eternal serfdom". In response, Ján Baltazár Magin, the Roman Catholic pastor of Dubnica, wrote the oldest known defense of the Slovak nation in 1728. Next another Catholic priest, Juraj Fándly, completed a history in Latin entitled Compendiata historia gentis Slavae ("A Brief History of the Slovak Nation") in which he depicted Moravia as a state of Slovaks and Svatopluk as their king. In 1833 the poet Ján Hollý published a poem entitled Svätopluk, the first of a series of epic poems dealing with the past of the Slovak people.

title: Svatopluk I of Moravia


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Yahud

Yahud may refer to:

 * Yehud, Yehudi , and Yehudim , the Hebrew word for Jews
 * Yahud or Yahudy (يهود), the Arabic word for Jews
 * Yehud, a city in Israel located near the Ben Gurion Airport
 * Yehud Medinata, the Levantine province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

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title: Yahud


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Liberal government, 1859–1866

The Liberal government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that began in 1859 and ended in 1866 consisted of two ministries: the second Palmerston ministry and the second Russell ministry.

History
After the fall of the second of Lord Derby's short-lived attempts at governments in 1859, Palmerston returned to power, this time in alliance with his former rival, the Earl Russell, in what is regarded as the first Liberal government. Palmerston remained as Prime Minister until his death in 1865, when Russell succeeded him. However, disunity within the party caused the fall of the government in the following year, and Lord Derby formed another Conservative ministry.

The Viscount Palmerston's Cabinet, June 1859 – October 1865

 * Lord Palmerston – First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons
 * Lord Campbell – Lord Chancellor
 * Lord Granville – Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords
 * The Duke of Argyll – Lord Privy Seal
 * Sir George Cornewall Lewis – Secretary of State for the Home Department
 * Lord John Russell – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
 * The Duke of Newcastle – Secretary of State for the Colonies
 * Sidney Herbert – Secretary of State for War
 * Sir Charles Wood – Secretary of State for India
 * The Duke of Somerset – First Lord of the Admiralty
 * William Ewart Gladstone – Chancellor of the Exchequer
 * Edward Cardwell – Chief Secretary for Ireland
 * Thomas Milner Gibson – President of the Board of Trade and of the Poor Law Board
 * Sir George Grey – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
 * Lord Elgin – Postmaster-General

Changes

 * July 1859 – Charles Pelham Villiers succeeds Milner-Gibson as President of the Poor Law Board (Milner-Gibson remains at the Board of Trade)
 * May 1860 – Lord Stanley of Alderley succeeds Lord Elgin as Postmaster-General
 * June 1861 – Lord Westbury succeeds Lord Campbell as Lord Chancellor
 * July 1861 – Sir George Cornewall Lewis succeeds Herbert as Secretary for War. Sir George Grey succeeds Lewis as Home Secretary.  Edward Cardwell succeeds Grey as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.  Cardwell's successor as Chief Secretary for Ireland is not in the Cabinet.
 * April 1863 – Lord de Grey becomes Secretary for War following Sir George Lewis's death.
 * April 1864 – Edward Cardwell succeeds the Duke of Newcastle as Colonial Secretary. Lord Clarendon succeeds Cardwell as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
 * July 1865 – Lord Cranworth succeeds Lord Westbury as Lord Chancellor

Changes

 * February 1866: The Lord de Grey succeeds Sir Charles Wood as Secretary for India. Lord Hartington succeeds Grey as Secretary for War.

List of ministers
Cabinet members are listed in bold face.

 * Notes

title: Liberal government, 1859–1866


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J. H. Hexter

Jack H. Hexter (May 25, 1910 – December 8, 1996) was an American historian, a specialist in Tudor and seventeenth century British history, and well known for his comments on historiography. Hexter was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

Early career
Hexter was born in Memphis, Tennessee and was awarded a BA by the University of Cincinnati in 1931. He received his MA (1933) and PhD (1937) from Harvard University. His research interests encompassed both political and intellectual history, as witnessed by his first two books, one a history of the parliamentary conflict leading up to the Civil War, and the other a nuanced textual interpretation of Thomas More's Utopia.

Scholarship and historiography
Hexter's scholarly reputation probably owes as much to his historiographical critiques as to his body of research. He is noted for his distinction between "splitters" and "lumpers" of historical material, and his 1975 attack on Christopher Hill (as a "lumper" of selectively read sources). More to Hexter's fancy was the "splitter" who saw his responsibility to the full range of particulars and the ambiguity of historical sources. "Lumping" was the tendency that, according to Hexter, threatened to bind historians to overreaching generalizations, of which he suggested Marxism was the most typical and intellectually pernicious. Nonetheless, his essay appeared to argue that both tendencies (analysis and synthesis) were intellectually necessary.

Storm over the gentry
This attack continued from a position he had earlier assumed, in his response in the late 1950s to a debate between Lawrence Stone and Hugh Trevor-Roper. Stone, along with R.H. Tawney, explained the origins of the English Civil War by positing that an increasingly well-off and ambitious gentry had, over the course of many years, destabilized the English state in which power had traditionally been divided between the aristocracy and the king. Trevor-Roper inverted this theory, arguing that in fact the Civil War was caused in part by court gentry who had fallen on bad times.

Hexter's contribution, puckishly titled "The Storm over the Gentry" and originally published in a popular magazine, contends that both theses are undermined by their authors' social determinism which causes them to overlook the ordinary business of the House of Commons. Hexter maintained that the overlooked group, the rural magnates, the wealthier of the country gentry, wielded the most influence in the House of Commons and had brought no real interest in revolution. To the contrary, their experience was in practical management and governance, and for the most part they did not act out of simple self-interest. The Civil War needs, therefore, to be seen as the story of how such solid, service-minded and economically comfortable men were persuaded to resist the King, and not as any particular group's economically motivated power grab.

His ultimate self-definition was overtly, unabashedly, and often polemically whiggish. For Hexter, the English Civil War was to be seen as the defence of traditional English liberties against an aggressive Crown. This position contrasted in the 1970s with the revisionist views of Conrad Russell and others who disputed both the uniqueness of the English Civil War and its connection with ideas of liberty. However, inasmuch as the revisionists were also explicitly anti-Marxist, their stance owed a great deal to Hexter's critiques. Russell in particular echoed Hexter's emphasis on continuity in English political values, Hexter's distinction between the Civil War and the subsequent Revolution, and Hexter's belief that contingencies better explained the coming of the War, while rejecting Hexter's view that Parliament was acting out of a clear-cut sense of constitutional obligation and embracing instead the view that religious conflicts and practical problems in the composite monarchy were more decisive.

Hexter in 1978 wrote a bitter historiographical review in which he attacked younger scholars for reducing the analysis of the Civil War to an essentially amoral struggle for power (socio-economic for the Marxists; religious, political and fiscal for the revisionists), which he argued was too dismissive of the intrinsic moral strength of Parliament's position. He thus declared his preference for the 19th-century narrative by Samuel Rawson Gardiner over the new interpretation, and, true to form, even adopted an exaggerated Whig-style argument: that one should recognize and accept the principles of the Parliamentary rebels because these ideas about freedom were the very foundation for our modern sense of political liberty.

Hexter on Braudel
Another famous Hexterian intervention in historiography is his article "Fernand Braudel and the Monde Braudellien," which can be seen as a more appreciative, temperate, and intellectually sophisticated antecedent to Hexter's attack on Hill. Here, Hexter dissected Braudel's vast "geohistory," La Mediteranée, marvelling at the organization of the Annales School but pointing out the ironic tensions between the Annales' rigorous, collaborative, scientific institutional ethos and its leader's passionate, highly personal, often factually inaccurate or poorly sourced book (for which much of the intellectual labor was carried out from memory while Braudel was in a prisoner-of-war camp). The article also reveals Hexter's satirical touch, as, in its first section, Hexter mimics the quantitative bent of the Annales scholars, representing their output in a series of graphs and tables.

Academic positions
His most prominent academic positions were at Queens College of the City University of New York from 1938 until 1957, Washington University in St. Louis from 1957 until 1964, and at Yale University from 1964 to 1978, becoming Charles Stillé Professor. The Yale Center for Parliamentary History was founded in 1966 under his directorship. He then returned to Washington University, where he founded the Center for the History of Freedom, and was named John M. Olin Professor Emeritus of the History of Freedom at Washington University, retiring in 1990. In this stead, he served as the founder and editor of the Stanford University Press Making of Modern Freedom series of books.

Family
Hexter married Ruth Mullin in 1942; they had four children. He died of congestive heart failure in St. Louis, Missouri after suffering heart ailments for much of his adult life.

Works

 * The Reign of King Pym (1941)
 * More's Utopia: The Biography of an Idea (1952)
 * Storm Over the Gentry: The Tawney-Trevor-Roper Controversy (1958)
 * Reappraisals in History: New Views on History and Society in Early Modern Europe (1961)
 * Utopia, Thomas More (1965) edited with Edward Surtz, vol. 4 of the Yale Complete Edition of Thomas More
 * The Judaeo-Christian Tradition (1966)
 * The Traditions of the Western World (1967)
 * Europe Since 1500 (1971) with R. Pipes and A. Molho ISBN 0060428147
 * The History Primer (1971)
 * Doing History (1971) ISBN 0253318203
 * The Vision of Politics on the Eve of the Reformation: More, Machiavelli, and Seyssel (1973)
 * On Historians: Reappraisals of the Masters of Modern History (1979) ISBN 0674634268
 * The Monarchy of France, Claude De Seyssel (1981) translator with Michael Sherman, editor Donald R. Kelley
 * The Traditions of the Western World: Antiquity through the Early Modern period (vol. 1) (1982)
 * Parliament and Liberty from the Reign of Elizabeth to the English Civil War (1992) editor
 * Parliament and Liberty from the Reign of Elizabeth to the English Civil War (1992) editor

title: J. H. Hexter


text:
Visby lenses

The Visby lenses are a collection of lens-shaped manufactured objects made of rock crystal (quartz) found in several Viking graves on the island of Gotland, Sweden, and dating from the 11th or 12th century.

Some were in silver mounts with filigree, the mounting covering the back of the lens, and were probably used as jewellery; it has been suggested that the lenses themselves are much older than their mounts.

Some of the lenses can be seen at the Fornsal historical museum in Visby, while some are in the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm, and others have been lost.

Discovery
Excavations at Fröjel on Gotland in 1999 discovered evidence of local manufacture of beads and lenses from rock crystal, with unworked pieces of crystal coexisting with partially finished beads and lenses.

Characteristics

The lenses are bi-aspheric and two of them have very good imaging properties. Their surface appears to be an oblate ellipse, while the surface nearest the eye approaches a parabola.

The best example of the lenses measures 50 mm in diameter and has a thickness of 30 mm at its centre, with an angular resolution of 25–30 μm.

It was reported by Otto Ahlström in 1950 that most have aspheric surfaces. The best of the lenses have low spherical aberration, indicating that their surface profile was optimized to improve image quality. Most of the lenses, however, do not show any sign of optimization and produce worse images than a simple spherical lens.

Prior to the Fröjel finds it had been suggested that the lenses were not produced by the Vikings, as there are hints that they were in fact produced in Byzantium or Eastern Europe. The Vikings of Gotland were known to have participated in trade networks that reached as far as Constantinople.

Proposed uses
The Visby lenses provide evidence that sophisticated lens-making techniques were being used by artisans over 1,000 years ago, at a time when researchers had only just begun to explore the laws of refraction. According to Schmidt and his co-workers, it is clear that the artisans worked by trial and error, since the mathematics to calculate the best form for a lens were not discovered until several hundred years later. It has been suggested that the knowledge required to make such lenses was restricted to only a few people, and perhaps only one.

Various uses have been proposed for the lenses. They may have been used by artisans for magnification in fine work, as reading stones, or to start fires. Olaf Schmidt has speculated that they may have been used as part of a telescope.

title: Visby lenses


text:
United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce

The Deputy Secretary of Commerce is a high-ranking position within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It was created on December 13, 1979, when President Jimmy Carter sent a letter to the U.S. Senate and nominated Luther H. Hodges Jr., who then currently held the title of under secretary of commerce. The deputy secretary serves as the department’s chief operating officer, with responsibility for the day-to-day management of its approximately $11.4 billion budget, 13 operating units, and 46,000 employees. In that capacity, the deputy secretary is also a member of the President’s Management Council. The current deputy secretary is Don Graves, who was sworn in on May 14, 2021.

History
The deputy secretary serves as the principal deputy of the secretary of commerce in all matters affecting the department and performs continuing and special duties as the secretary may assign including, as may be specified by the secretary, the exercise of policy direction and general supervision over operating units not placed under other Secretarial Officers or other Department officials. In addition, the deputy secretary acts as secretary if the secretary has died, resigned, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of secretary.

Rebecca M. Blank was the deputy secretary of commerce until she stepped down on May 31, 2013. She was confirmed by unanimous consent by the U.S. Senate in March 2012. She had been serving as acting deputy secretary since November 18, 2010. She replaced Dennis F. Hightower, who was deputy secretary of commerce from August 2009 to August 2010.

Patrick D. Gallagher was appointed acting deputy secretary on June 1, 2013. Bruce H. Andrews was confirmed as the next deputy secretary on July 24, 2014.


text:
Finasteride

Finasteride, sold under the brand names Proscar and Propecia among others, is a medication used to treat pattern hair loss and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men. It can also be used to treat excessive hair growth in women. It is usually taken orally but there are topical formulations for patients with hair loss, designed to minimize systemic exposure by acting specifically on hair follicles.

Finasteride is a 5α-reductase inhibitor and therefore an antiandrogen. It works by decreasing the production of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by about 70%.

In addition to DHT, finasteride also inhibits the production of several anticonvulsant neurosteroids including allopregnanolone, androstanediol, and THDOC.

Adverse effects from finasteride are rare in men with already enlarged prostates; however, some men experience sexual dysfunction, depression, and breast enlargement. In some men, sexual dysfunction may persist after stopping the medication. It may also hide the early symptoms of certain forms of prostate cancer.

Finasteride was patented in 1984 and approved for medical use in 1992. It is available as a generic medication. In 2021, it was the 88th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 8million prescriptions.

Medical uses
Finasteride has been used for the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with an enlarged prostate and for the treatment of male pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) in men.

Enlarged prostate
Physicians sometimes prescribe finasteride for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), informally known as an enlarged prostate. Finasteride may improve the symptoms associated with BPH such as difficulty urinating, getting up during the night to urinate, hesitation at the start and end of urination, and decreased urinary flow.

The use of the drug showed significant sexual adverse effects such as erectile dysfunction and less sexual desire, in particular when obstructive symptoms due to an enlarged prostate were present.

Scalp hair loss
Finasteride is also used to treat male pattern baldness (androgenic alopecia) in men, a condition that develops in up to 80% of Caucasian men aged 70 and over. In the United States, finasteride and minoxidil are the only two FDA approved drugs for the treatment of male pattern hair loss as of 2017. Treatment with finasteride slows further hair loss and provides about 30% improvement in hair loss after six months of treatment, with effectiveness persisting as long as the drug is taken. Taking finasteride leads to a reduction in scalp and serum DHT levels; by lowering scalp levels of DHT, finasteride can maintain or increase the amount of terminal hairs in the anagen phase by inhibiting and sometimes reversing miniaturization of the hair follicle. Finasteride is most effective on the crown but can reduce hair loss in all areas of the scalp. Finasteride has also been tested for pattern hair loss in women; however, the results were no better than placebo. Finasteride is less effective in the treatment of scalp hair loss than dutasteride.

Prostate cancer
In males aged 55 years old and over finasteride decreases the risk of low-grade prostate cancer but may increase the risk of high-grade prostate cancer and has no effect on overall survival.

A 2010 review found a 25% reduction in the risk of prostate cancer with 5α-reductase inhibitor. A follow-up study of the Medicare claims of participants in a 10-year Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial suggests the reduction in prostate cancer is maintained even after discontinuation of treatment. However, 5α-reductase inhibitors have been found to increase the risk of developing certain rare but aggressive forms of prostate cancer (27% risk increase), although not all studies have observed this. No impact of 5-α-reductase inhibitor on survival has been found in people with prostate cancer.

Excessive hair growth
Finasteride has been found to be effective in the treatment of hirsutism (excessive facial and/or body hair growth) in women. In a study of 89 women with hyperandrogenism due to persistent adrenarche syndrome, finasteride produced a 93% reduction in facial hirsutism and a 73% reduction bodily hirsutism after 2 years of treatment. Other studies using finasteride for hirsutism have also found it to be clearly effective.

Transgender hormone therapy
Finasteride is sometimes used in hormone replacement therapy for transgender women due to its antiandrogenic effects, in combination with a form of estrogen. However, little clinical research of finasteride use for this purpose has been conducted and evidence of safety or efficacy is limited. Moreover, caution has been recommended when prescribing finasteride to transgender women, as finasteride may be associated with side effects such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, symptoms that are particularly prevalent in the transgender population and in others at high risk already.

Adverse effects
A 2010 Cochrane review of finasteride for BPH found that, in men with a weighted mean age of 62.4, adverse effects are rare in men with already enlarged prostates; “nevertheless, men taking finasteride are at increased risk for impotence, erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, and ejaculation disorder, versus placebo." fresh evidence suggested such effects, along with disturbed neurosteroid production, may persist after finasteride use is stopped.

Finasteride is contraindicated in pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration advises that donation of blood or plasma be deferred for at least one month after taking the last dose of finasteride.

The FDA has added a warning to 5α-reductase inhibitors concerning an increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer, as the treatment of BPH lowers PSA (prostate-specific antigen), which could mask the development of prostate cancer. Although overall incidence of male breast cancer in clinical trials for finasteride 5 mg was not increased, there are post-marketing reports of breast cancer in association with its use, though available evidence does not provide clarity as to whether there is a causative relationship between finasteride and these cancers. A 2018 meta-analysis found no higher risk of breast cancer with 5α-reductase inhibitors. Some men develop gynecomastia (breast development or enlargement) following finasteride usage. The risk of gynecomastia with 5α-reductase inhibitors is low at about 1.5%. Depressive symptoms and suicidality have been reported.

Sexual adverse effects
Use of finasteride is associated with an increased risk of sexual dysfunction including erectile dysfunction, decreased libido and ejaculatory dysfunction. Sexual adverse effects of finasteride and dutasteride have been linked to lower quality of life and ability to maintain an intimate relationship, and can cause stress in relationships.

The adverse effect profiles of finasteride are somewhat different for its indications of hair loss and BPH.

Finasteride for androgenetic alopecia (hair loss in men)
The most common adverse effects of finasteride taken for hair loss are: decrease in sex drive, erectile dysfunction and decrease in amount of semen.

In addition, finasteride has been reported in case reports to cause sexual problems which persist after stopping the medication. A 2012 update to the FDA label noted reports of decreased sex drive, problems with ejaculation and difficulty achieving an erection which continued after stopping the medication. The update also referenced reports of testicular pain and "male infertility and/or poor quality of semen."

Finasteride for BPH
The most common adverse sexual effects of finasteride for BPH are: trouble getting or keeping an erection, decrease in sex drive, decreased volume of ejaculate and ejaculation disorders.

A 2010 Cochrane review found that men taking finasteride for BPH (with a mean age of 62.4) are at increased risk for impotence, erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, and ejaculation disorder for the first year of treatment. The rates became indistinguishable from placebo after 2–4 years and these side effects usually got better over time.

Long-term
Finasteride may cause persistent adverse sexual, neurological and physical effects in a subset of men. A 2019 metastudy surveyed the literature on the reversibility of finasteride's side effects. It identified three studies which demonstrated full reversibility of side effects and eleven that describe patients with irreversible adverse events. The findings were most convincing in a retrospective review of about 12,000 patients that 1.4% of the cohort developed persistent ED (ED lasting longer than 90 days post-withdrawal).

Post-finasteride syndrome
Reports of long-term, post-discontinuation adverse effects in some fraction of former finasteride users have led to a proposed post-finasteride syndrome, although some within the medical community question whether there is enough evidence to support a causal relationship between finasteride usage and PFS.

Individuals claiming to experience PFS report sexual, neurological, hormonal and psychological side effects that persist for an extended period after stopping the drug. Reported symptoms include penile atrophy and tissue changes, decreased ejaculate volume and quality, reduced libido, erectile dysfunction, loss of penile sensitivity, decreased orgasm sensation, dry skin, metabolic changes, muscle and strength loss, gynecomastia, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, anhedonia, concentration problems, memory impairment and suicidal ideation. A meta-analysis found significant association between finasteride use and post-discontinuation depression, suicidal ideation, and sexual dysfunction, but the quality of evidence was limited.

The status of PFS as a legitimate and distinct medical pathology remains a subject of debate. A 2019 editorial in The BMJ called post-finasteride syndrome "ill defined and controversial". Some have argued that it has common features with other self-diagnosed "mystery syndromes" such as Morgellons or multiple chemical sensitivity, while others, including some in the biomedical research community, have concluded based on the available evidence that it represents a real and serious condition. There is no known underlying biological mechanism for the proposed syndrome, and its incidence is unclear. A lack of clear diagnostic criteria and the variable reporting fraction in different health-care settings make the problem challenging to evaluate.

As of 2016, Merck was a defendant in approximately 1,370 product liability lawsuits which had been filed by customers alleging they have experienced persistent sexual side effects following cessation of treatment with finasteride. Most cases were settled by 2018 when Merck paid a lump sum of $4.3 million USD to be distributed. , 25 cases remained outstanding in the United States. In 2019, Reuters reported that faulty redactions in court documents revealed allegations from plaintiffs that Merck had known of persistent side effects in their original clinical trials but chose not to disclose them in warning labels.

Overdose
Finasteride has been studied in humans at single doses of up to 400 mg and at continuous dosages of up to 80 mg/day for three months, without adverse effects observed. There is no specific recommended antidote for finasteride overdose.

Interactions
No significant drug interactions have been observed between finasteride and a limited selection of medications.

Pharmacodynamics
Finasteride is a 5α-reductase inhibitor. It is specifically a selective inhibitor of the type II and III isoforms of the enzyme. By inhibiting these two isozymes of 5α-reductase, finasteride reduces the formation of the potent androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from its precursor testosterone in certain tissues in the body such as the prostate gland, skin, and hair follicles. As such, finasteride is a type of antiandrogen, or more specifically, an androgen synthesis inhibitor. However, some authors do not define finasteride as an "antiandrogen," a term which can refer more specifically to antagonists of the androgen receptor.

Finasteride results in a decrease of circulating DHT levels by about 65–70% with an oral dosage of 5 mg/day and of DHT levels in the prostate gland by up to 80–90% with an oral dosage of 1 or 5 mg/day. In parallel, circulating levels of testosterone increase by approximately 10%, while local concentrations of testosterone in the prostate gland increase by about 7-fold and local testosterone levels in hair follicles increase by around 27–53%. An oral dosage of finasteride of only 0.2 mg/day has been found to achieve near-maximal suppression of DHT levels (68.6% for 0.2 mg/day relative to 72.2% for 5 mg/day). Finasteride does not completely suppress DHT production because it lacks significant inhibitory effects on the 5α-reductase type I isoenzyme, with more than 100-fold less inhibitory potency for type I as compared to type II (IC50 = 313 nM and 11 nM, respectively). This is in contrast to inhibitors of all three isoenzymes of 5α-reductase like dutasteride, which can reduce DHT levels in the entire body by more than 99%. In addition to inhibiting 5α-reductase, finasteride has also been found to competitively inhibit 5β-reductase (AKR1D1). However, its affinity for the enzyme is substantially less than for 5α-reductase (an order of magnitude less than for 5α-reductase type I) and hence is unlikely to be of clinical significance.

As of 2012, the tissues in which the different isozymes of 5α-reductase are expressed are not fully clear. This is because different investigators have obtained varying results with different reagents, methods, and tissues examined. However, the different isozymes of 5α-reductase appear to be widely expressed, with notable tissues including the prostate gland, seminal vesicles, testes, epididymides, skin, hair follicles, liver, kidneys, and brain, among others.

By inhibiting 5α-reductase and thus preventing DHT production, finasteride reduces androgen signaling in tissues like the prostate gland and the scalp. In the prostate, this reduces prostate volume, which improves BPH and reduces risk of prostate cancer. Finasteride reduces prostate volume by 20 to 30% in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Inhibition of 5α-reductase also reduces epididymal weight, and decreases motility and normal morphology of spermatozoa in the epididymis.

Neurosteroids like 3α-androstanediol (derived from DHT) and allopregnanolone (derived from progesterone) activate the GABAA receptor in the brain; because finasteride prevents the formation of neurosteroids, it functions as a neurosteroidogenesis inhibitor and may contribute to a reduction of GABAA activity. Reduction of GABAA receptor activation by these neurosteroids has been implicated in depression, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction.

In accordance with finasteride being a potent 5α-reductase inhibitor but a weak inhibitor of 5β-reductase, the medication decreases circulating levels of 5α-reduced steroids like allopregnanolone but does not reduce concentrations of 5β-reduced steroids like pregnanolone. Pregnanolone acts as a potent GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulator similarly to allopregnanolone.

Pharmacokinetics
The mean oral bioavailability of finasteride is approximately 65%. The absorption of finasteride is not affected by food. At steady-state with 1 mg/day finasteride, mean peak concentrations of finasteride were 9.2 ng/mL (25 nmol/L). Conversely, following a single 5 mg dose of finasteride, mean peak levels of finasteride were 37 ng/mL (99 nmol/L), and plasma concentrations increased by 47–54% following 2.5 weeks of continued daily administration. The volume of distribution of finasteride is 76 L. Its plasma protein binding is 90%. The drug has been found to cross the blood–brain barrier, whereas levels in semen were found to be undetectable.

Finasteride is extensively metabolized in the liver, first by hydroxylation via CYP3A4 and then by aldehyde dehydrogenase. It has two major metabolites, which are the tert-butyl side chain monohydroxylated and monocarboxylic acid metabolites. These metabolites show approximately 20% of the inhibitory activity of finasteride on 5α-reductase. Hence, the metabolites of finasteride are not particularly active. The drug has a terminal half-life of 5 to 6 hours in adult men (18–60 years of age) and a terminal half-life of 8 hours or more in elderly men (more than 70 years of age). It is eliminated as its metabolites 57% in the feces and 40% in the urine.

Chemistry
Finasteride, also known as 17β-(N-tert-butylcarbamoyl)-4-aza-5α-androst-1-en-3-one, is a synthetic androstane steroid and 4-azasteroid. It is an analogue of androgen steroid hormones like testosterone and DHT. As an unconjugated steroid, finasteride is a highly lipophilic compound.

History
In 1942, James Hamilton observed that prepubertal castration prevents the later development of male pattern baldness in mature men. In 1974, Julianne Imperato-McGinley of Cornell Medical College in New York attended a conference on birth defects. She reported on a group of intersex children in the Caribbean who appeared sexually ambiguous at birth, and were initially raised as girls, but then grew external male genitalia and other masculine characteristic after onset of puberty. These children, despite being raised as girls until puberty, were generally heterosexual, and were termed "Guevedoces" by their local community, which means "penis at twelve" in Spanish. Her research group found these children shared a genetic mutation, causing deficiency of the 5α-reductase enzyme and male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which was found to have been the etiology behind abnormalities in male sexual development. Upon maturation, these individuals were observed to have smaller prostates which were underdeveloped, and were also observed to lack incidence of male pattern baldness.

In 1975, copies of Imperato-McGinley's presentation were seen by P. Roy Vagelos, who was then serving as Merck's basic-research chief. He was intrigued by the notion that decreased levels of DHT led to the development of smaller prostates. Dr. Vagelos then sought to create a drug which could mimic the condition found in these children to treat older men who had benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Finasteride was developed by Merck under the code name MK-906. A team led by chemist Gary Rasmusson and biologist Jerry Brooks developed potential 5α-reductase inhibitors based on transition state inhibitors, using an iterative process of molecular design, testing, and redesign. In 1992, finasteride (5 mg) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of BPH, which Merck marketed under the brand name Proscar. Rasmusson and Brooks were awarded IPO's "Inventor of the Year" award in 1993 for their work on finasteride. In 1997, Merck was successful in obtaining FDA approval for a second indication of finasteride (1 mg) for treatment of male pattern hair loss, which was marketed under the brand name Propecia. It was the first 5α-reductase inhibitor to be introduced and was followed by dutasteride in 2001. The first study of finasteride in the treatment of hirsutism in women was published in 1994.

Generic names
Finasteride is the generic name of the drug and its INN, USAN, BAN, and JAN, while finastéride is its DCF. It is also known by its former developmental code names MK-906, YM-152, and L-652,931.

Brand names
Finasteride is marketed primarily under the brand names Propecia, for pattern hair loss, and Proscar, for BPH, both of which are products of Merck & Co. There is 1 mg of finasteride in Propecia and 5 mg in Proscar. Merck's patent on finasteride for the treatment of BPH expired in June 2006. Merck was awarded a separate patent for the use of finasteride to treat pattern hair loss and it expired in November 2013. Finasteride is also marketed under a variety of other brand names throughout the world.

Athletics
From 2005 to 2009, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned finasteride because it was discovered that the drug could be used to mask steroid abuse. It was removed from the list effective 1 January 2009, after improvements in testing methods made the ban unnecessary. Athletes who used finasteride and were banned from international competition include skeleton racer Zach Lund, bobsledder Sebastien Gattuso, footballer Romário, and ice hockey goaltender José Théodore.

Miscellaneous
The US Food and Drug Administration advises that donation of blood or plasma be deferred for at least one month after taking the last dose of finasteride. The UK also has a one-month deferral period.

Research
Preliminary research suggests that topical finasteride may be effective in the treatment of pattern hair loss. Topical finasteride, like the oral preparation, reduces serum DHT.

DHT may be involved in the cause of acne, and 5α-reductase inhibitors might be effective in the treatment of the condition. A small retrospective study reported that finasteride was effective in the treatment of acne in women with normal testosterone levels. A randomized controlled trial found that finasteride was less effective than flutamide or an ethinylestradiol/cyproterone acetate birth control pill in the treatment of acne in women with high androgen levels.

Androgens and estrogens may be involved in the cause of hidradenitis suppurativa (acne inversa). Two case series have reported that finasteride is effective in the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa in girls and women.

Finasteride and other antiandrogens might be useful in the treatment of obsessive–compulsive disorder, but more research is needed.

title: Finasteride


text:
Belem (ship)

Belem is a three-masted barque from France.

She made her maiden voyage as a cargo ship in 1896, transporting sugar from the West Indies, cocoa, and coffee from Brazil and French Guiana to Nantes, France.

History
Belem escaped the eruption of Mount Pelée in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, on 8 May 1902. On arriving at Saint Pierre ahead of the eruption, Captain Julien Chauvelon found that roadsteads were full of vessels. With no place to anchor the ship Chauvelon angrily decided to anchor some miles further away off a beach, which provided shelter when the volcano erupted.

She was sold in 1914 to Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, who converted her to his private luxurious pleasure yacht, complete with two auxiliary Bolinder Diesel engines of 300 HP each.

In 1922 she became the property of Sir Ernest Guinness, of the Guinness family, who renamed her the Fantôme II and revised the rig from a square rigger. Guinness was Rear Commodore of the Royal St. George Yacht Club, in Kingstown, Ireland, from 1921 to 1939. He was Vice Commodore from 1940 to 1948. Hon. A.E. Guinness took the Fântome II on a great cruise in 1923 with his daughters Aileen, Maureen, and Oonagh. They sailed the seven seas in making a travel round the world via the Panama and Suez Canals including a visit to Spitsbergen. During her approach to Yokohama harbour while sailing the Pacific Ocean the barque managed to escape another catastrophe - an earthquake which destroyed the harbour and parts of Yokohama city. Guinness died in 1949. The Fântome II was moored in the roads of Cowes, Isle of Wight. In 1951 she was sold to the Venezian count Vittorio Cini, who named her the Giorgio Cini after his son, who had died in a plane crash near Cannes on 31 August 1949. She was rigged to a barkentine and used as a sail training ship until 1965, when she was considered too old for further use and was moored at the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice.

In 1972 the Italian carabinieri attempted to restore her to the original barque rig. When this proved too expensive, she became the property of the shipyard. In 1976 the ship was re-rigged to a barque.

Finally, in January 1979, she came back to her home port as the Belem under tow by a French seagoing tug, flying the French flag after 65 years. Fully restored to her original condition, she began a new career as a sail training ship.

On 8 and 9 May 2024, she carried the Olympic flame for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics torch relay by sailing from Athens, Greece to Marseille.

Current specifications of the Belem

406 tons and 51 m of length
 * Riveted steel keel (for older parts)
 * Iron sheet: 11 mm
 * Ballast in hull: 4,500 pig irons of 50 kg each
 * Hull length without bowsprit: 51 m
 * Bowsprit length: 7 m
 * Extreme length: 58 m
 * Waterline length: 48 m
 * Midship width: 8.80 m
 * Moulded depth: 4.60 m
 * Draught: 3.60 m
 * B.R.T.: 534 tons
 * Displacement: 750 tons

Masting - rigging
 * Steel masts in 2 parts (lower mast, topmast)
 * Main mast height above waterline level: 34 m
 * Lower yards in steel, top gallant and royal yards in wood
 * About 220 points of running-rigging
 * About 250 simple-blocks, double-blocks and triple-blocks
 * 4500 m of running-rigging in polyamide rope

Sails
 * Number of sails: 22
 * Sail area: 1000,5 m2 (all above, without storm sail)

Propulsion and equipment
 * Driven by 2 diesel motors: John Deere 6135AFM, 575 HP each (installed February 2013)
 * 2 propeller shafts, 2 four-blade propellers
 * 3 generators
 * Diesel storage: 40 tons
 * Cruising range: 24 days at 7 knots, about 4 000 nautical miles (7400 km)
 * Fresh water storage: 20 tons
 * Production of about 3 tons of water per day via dialyzer
 * Electric windlass
 * 3 hydraulic capstans (two small on the bridge, one of each side, used to hoist upper yards, but never used during traineeships, one large on the poop, in front of the mizzen mast, used to heave tight hawsers during mooring operations)

Performance
 * Maximum speed with engine on flat calm sea: 8 to 9 knots
 * Maximum speed with sails: 11 to 12 knots
 * 75° abeam wind capability
 * Duration to set all sails by good weather conditions: 30 to 40 mn
 * Duration to heave tight all sails by good weather conditions: 50 to 60 mn
 * Duration of a complete tacking: 15 to 20 mn depending on wind conditions

Crewmen
 * Schiffsmodell Belem2.jpg men: 1 captain, 1 chief officer, 2 lieutenants, 1 chief engineer, 2 cooks, 1 boatswain, 1 carpenter, 7 yardmen (two from the French National Service until 2000)
 * Personal management by la Société Nantaise de Navigation
 * Maximum number of trainees: 48 (two watches of 24, divided in third of 16)

title: Belem (ship)


text:
Patrick F. McManus

Patrick Francis McManus (August 25, 1933 – April 11, 2018 ) was an American educator and humor writer, who primarily wrote about the outdoors. A humor columnist and editor for Outdoor Life from 1983 to 2009, and Field & Stream from 1977 to 1982, as well as other magazines, his columns and stories have been collected in several books, beginning with A Fine and Pleasant Misery (1978) up through The Good Samaritan Strikes Again (1992) and The Horse in My Garage and Other Stories (2012).

Biography
McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho. His father, who served in the 42nd ("Rainbow") Division under Douglas MacArthur during World War I, died when Patrick was six. Although his mother later remarried a man named Hank, for the most part he was raised by his mother, grandmother, and older sister Patricia McManus Gass (referred to in his childhood stories as "the Troll"). His family didn't have much money and lived on a small farm on the banks of Sand Creek where they grew most of their own food. They had chickens, a milk cow and pigs and went hunting and fishing.

After graduating from Sandpoint High School in 1952, McManus worked construction and other such jobs until he had saved enough money to attend Washington State College, now Washington State University, where he majored in journalism. He briefly worked as a news reporter before returning to graduate school at Washington State University where he earned a master's degree in 1959. From 1960 to 1983 he taught English, journalism and creative writing at Eastern Washington State College, now Eastern Washington University.

He was married to Darlene "Bun" McManus and had four daughters.

Works
McManus wrote mostly about his outdoor adventures from his childhood with semi-fictional characters such as his old woodsman mentor Rancid Crabtree, his childhood friends Crazy Eddie Muldoon and Retch Sweeney, and his dog Strange. The stories' humor is mostly based on elaborate exaggerations of his surreal adventures in the outdoors. McManus's writing is characterized by a dry wit that has been compared to the writing styles of Mark Twain and Robert Benchley.

His last published work was Circles in the Snow (2014), the sixth in a series of mystery novels starring the character Sheriff Bo Tully. Other departures from his column-collections include ''Kid Camping from Aaaaiii! To Zip (1979), an alphabetized, and partially serious, listing of useful tips and concepts for beginning campers; Whatchagot Stew (1989), both a cookbook and a less-fictionalized memoir of his childhood; and The Deer on a Bicycle'' (2000), a discussion of the art of humor writing.

McManus also wrote five separate, distinct one-man comedies for his indentured actor, Tim Behrens. Tim has toured these shows to 21 states and two provinces in more than 1600 performances since 1992. They are: A Fine and Pleasant Misery; McManus In Love; Pot Luck; Poor Again...Dagnabbit!; and Scrambled McManus.

In October 2011, an index of his stories and novels titled "Where's the One About the Bobcat?" was compiled and published by Lauren Ball, making it easy for readers to find their favorite stories.

Recurring elements
McManus' shorter works include a recurring cast of fictitious characters and running jokes, both from the stories set in his childhood and as an adult. The foremost among the childhood stories is his "mentor" Rancid Crabtree, a colorful woodsman who lives near Pat's childhood home, who doesn't bathe because he believes that soap and water would wash off his 'crust', which would let germs in. Other recurring characters are his childhood best friend, 'Crazy Eddie' Muldoon, his rough-and-tumble mutt appropriately named Strange, and his adulthood friends, the goofy and dim-witted Retch Sweeney, his straitlaced neighbor, Alphonse 'Al' Finley, and his rich friend Fenton Quagmire. Throughout the majority of the stories is a recurring theme of McManus's lifelong love of hunting and fishing—which is mostly an excuse to just enjoy the outdoors, often in good company. Most of his friends likewise enjoy hunting and fishing, even if they aren't particularly good at it. McManus, in his stories, has a certain amount of disgruntlement for people who take great pleasure in the minutiae of various sports (such as encyclopediac knowledge of firearms calibers and ballistics). He refers to firearms enthusiasts as 'gun nuts' and treats their excited sharing of the fine points of ballistic arcs and grain sizes as something to be endured to get on a good hunting trip.

Some of the elements show up in his longer works, and are even worked into the plots. Bo Tully, the protagonist of the Bo Tully Mysteries, shares McManus' views about firearms. In the course of his job as Sheriff and his hobbies, Tully uses guns, knows about guns, but isn't particularly excited by them or even sentimental towards them. He is, however, aware that many people are. This even serves as plot point in one of the Bo Tully mysteries.

title: Patrick F. McManus


text:
User talk:TVBZ28

File source problem with File:Mesh-01.jpg
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File source problem with File:DummyUnitForce-01.jpg
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ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:54, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:TVBZ28


text:
User talk:Goldbird

Welcome to the Wikipedia
Welcome, newcomer!

Here are some useful tips to ease you into the Wikipedia experience:

 * First, take a look at the Wikipedia Tutorial, and perhaps dabble a bit in the test area.
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title: User talk:Goldbird


text:
Talk:Alger Hiss

communist?
Why is he listed as being a communist when he denied it til his death and proof of him being one is inconclusive? 195.252.213.39 (talk) 18:54, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Jeffisme (talk) 15:26, 8 June 2023 (UTC)jeffkisseloff== factual mistakes ==

While reading this, I am seeing some serious factual errors, but since I'm not exactly an uninvolved participant I'm hesitant to make corrections, or should I? For example, the article says Chambers said he left the Party in 1938 for the first time in November, 1948 but he actually cited 1938 as a possibility in his August 25th testimony.

When handing over the documents in November, he did say that some were typed by Alger Hiss but only changed that when he was told that Alger Hiss couldn't type. There are others, but as I say I'm hesitant to jump in here if it's going to cause a problem. Jeffkisseloff (talk) 00:13, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Weinstein did a 2010 update of his 1997 2nd edition. It has additional evidence of Hiss being a Soviet agent. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:3003:48EB:E100:8CD6:8D29:452:8BB5 (talk) 17:44, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

errors in the bio
In the box at the beginning it says that Hiss was released on parole. He was not paroled but was released early by statute for good behavior.

I'm new at this and am going to cut and paste the earlier comments into this box. sorry for the repetition, I'll get it down soon.

While reading this, I am seeing some serious factual errors, but since I'm not exactly an uninvolved participant I'm hesitant to make corrections, or should I? For example, the article says Chambers said he left the Party in 1938 for the first time in November, 1948 but he actually cited 1938 as a possibility in his August 25th testimony. When handing over the documents in November, he did say that some were typed by Alger Hiss but only changed that when he was told that Alger Hiss couldn't type. There are others, but as I say I'm hesitant to jump in here if it's going to cause a problem. Jeffkisseloff (talk) 00:13, 8 June 2023 (UTC) Jeffkisseloff (talk) 20:54, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

 * Per Conflict of interest, you probably have a conflict of interest because you personally knew Alger Hiss. You also have a conflict if you use any of your writings as a source.
 * If you want changes to be made, you should provide the proposed change along with sources. I will remove "on parole" because no source is provided for it.
 * IIRC, Chambers changed his testimony about when he left the CPUSA, so the exact date is unknown and the text should provide more information. Even in true crime stories, there are always areas where we are unclear exactly what happened. However, anything put into the article has to be sources. TFD (talk) 01:39, 21 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I wouldn't source my own writing, only the record. For example, is there a reason why his other brother and hid sister were omitted from the box?
 * As for the date he left the Party, he was consistent until 8/25/48, p. 1176 of the record. Jeffkisseloff (talk) 16:47, 23 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I just read through it again, and there are all sorts of problems with it; some are errors of omission and some strictly factual. Regarding the latter, the typewriter was a defense exhibit not a prosecution exhibit. the article says experts in plural testified regarding the similarities between the Hiss standards and the Baltimore documents. Only one did so, Ramos Feehan.
 * Just examples of what to me are errors of omission: Elizabeth Bentley was specificially asked if she had information regarding Hiss and she said no.
 * Also, regarding the first handwritten note: the author says Hiss would not say it was in his handwriting. Feehan also had trouble identifying it as Hiss's.
 * When Chambers was interviewed by the FBI in 1942 they thought his information was useless and called it "history, hypothesis and deduction." Berle also wrote in his diary and also said subsequently that Chambers couldn't back up anything. It also wasn't clear whether he was saying the Hisses were members of the group or were targets for recruiting.
 * Regarding the pumpkin papers, aside from the documents signed by Hiss and those that were illegible, there was considerable testimony that those documents would not have gone to Hiss's office and didn't, and before HUAC in December 1948 both Chambers and Julian Wadleigh said several of those documents could have come from Wadleigh. this was stated more than once.
 * Anyway, just a few examples. jeff Jeffkisseloff (talk) 19:21, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Alger Hiss


text:
User talk:ChiBiKi

Welcome to the Wikipedia
Welcome, newcomer!

Here are some useful tips to ease you into the Wikipedia experience:

 * First, take a look at the Wikipedia Tutorial, and perhaps dabble a bit in the test area.
 * When you have some free time, take a look at the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines. They can come in very handy!
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ClockworkSoul 15:22, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The Humungous Image Tagging Project
Hi. You've helped with the WikiProject Wiki Syntax, so I thought it worth alerting you to the latest and greatest of Wikipedia fixing project, User:Yann/Untagged Images, which is seeking to put copyright tags on all of the untagged images. There are probably, oh, thirty thousand or so to do (he said, reaching into the air for a large figure). But hey: they're images ... you'll get to see lots of random pretty pictures. That must be better than looking for at at and the the, non? You know you'll love it. best wishes --Tagishsimon (talk)

title: User talk:ChiBiKi


text:
User talk:RCMF0203

Welcome to the Wikipedia
Welcome, newcomer!

Here are some useful tips to ease you into the Wikipedia experience:

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

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Feel free to ask me anything the links and talk pages don't answer. You can most easily reach me by posting on my talk page.

You can sign your name on any page by typing 4 tildes, likes this: ~~~~.

Best of luck, and have fun!

ClockworkSoul 15:23, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Disputed fair use rationale for Image:Commitedcast.jpg
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Orphaned non-free media (Image:Image large aiextra3.gif)
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Image copyright problem with Image:TheWinterAlbum.jpg
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Disputed non-free use rationale for File:NSYNCAlbum.jpg
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title: User talk:RCMF0203


text:
User talk:MacGonagall

Welcome to the Wikipedia
Welcome, newcomer!

Here are some useful tips to ease you into the Wikipedia experience:

 * First, take a look at the Wikipedia Tutorial, and perhaps dabble a bit in the test area.
 * When you have some free time, take a look at the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines. They can come in very handy!
 * Remember to use a neutral point of view!
 * If you need any help, feel free to post a question at the Help Desk
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and, most importantly, have fun!

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

 * Policy Library
 * Utilities
 * Cite your sources
 * Verifiability
 * Wikiquette
 * Civility
 * Conflict resolution
 * Brilliant prose
 * Pages needing attention
 * Peer review
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Feel free to ask me anything the links and talk pages don't answer. You can most easily reach me by posting on my talk page.

You can sign your name on any page by typing 4 tildes, likes this: ~~~~.

Best of luck, and have fun!

ClockworkSoul 15:23, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Untagged image
An image you uploaded, Image:COA City of Sunderland.jpg, was tagged with the coatofarms copyright tag. This tag was deleted because it does not actually specify the copyright status of the image. The image may need a more accurate copyright tag, or it may need to be deleted. If the image portrays a seal or emblem, it should be tagged as seal. If you have any questions, ask them at Media copyright questions. -- 01:47, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:MacGonagall


text:
User talk:Wolfman/5

Archive 4 Archive 3 Archive 2 Archive 1

Category name
Instead of answering your question, I respond with another uncertainty: Do you intend this category to cover such groups only in the U.S.? If so, then "U.S." should be in the category name. If not, maybe "watchdog" is strictly U.S. slang. "Good-government groups" might be how they'd describe themselves but raised POV issues. "Governmental oversight organizations"? JamesMLane 19:48, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

To me, "U.S. government watchdog groups" implies official sanction -- outfits like the GAO -- and also seems to limit it to the federal government. Maybe "Government watchdog groups (U.S.)"? JamesMLane 20:30, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

3RR in 24 hours
Yes, thank you for clarifying the 3RR, however I was wondering if 24.05 could be rounded down to 24. It might help if you could expand the policy section for people who are intent on making four reverts in 24 hours and 5 minutes. --Viriditas | Talk 22:13, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Re /Evidence/talk
Requests for arbitration

You should take account of the above before believing Slrubenstein CheeseDreams 01:51, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

FYI
I noticed the dispute on PNAC. For your information, VV's under a temporary injunction by arbcom limiting his allowable reverts per page per day to two. Kevin Baas | talk 21:08, 2004 Dec 17 (UTC)

Block
Julie's been blocked for 72 hours. AndyL 00:22, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I've found it but having trouble moving it back (the edits won't go through right now) - I'm still working on it - can you see any other remaining problems? -- sannse (talk) 00:40, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Gone fishing
I'll be off now. Have been spending way too much time here. And much as I've try to avoid it, I have to go deal with life now. I may be back at some point. Until then, regards to all. Wolfman 03:56, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Wolfman, I understand the issue of Wikipedia versus real life. (Believe me, I understand.)  Still, I hope that we have better prospects of seeing you again than that vague phrase "may be back at some point" would suggest.  Your contributions are greatly valued. JamesMLane 04:19, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Ditto, of course. I've been trying to limit my time on Wikipedia as well. We all love the wiki, but they are just sometimes when we want or have to go out into the real world. So take a wikibreak - and don't be a stranger! With warmest regards --[[User:Neutrality|Neutrality/talk]] 05:08, Dec 21, 2004 (UTC)

 * Ah, much better now. Month and a half did the trick.  This bad cop is back on the beat. Wolfman 23:18, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Welcome back! Of course, you won't have Rex to kick around any more.  On the other hand, you've already discovered that he has some successors here. JamesMLane 23:32, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Thank you for the kind words...
It's just the usual Wikipedia crap... you work like hell to set aside your own POV on a subject where you hold strong feelings, and produce something NPOV -- and then someone else comes along and announces "What you produced doesn't advocate my POV as the one clearly in the right!  You're a filthy POV-pusher!" Some self-appointed leader of all recruits his cronies en masse to come and interfere with the VfD of the article he created about himself, and you repeat yourself over and over until you start to get groggy from the numbing repetition, repeating politely over and over why people who never gave a shit about Wikipedia except when they showed up for a vote actually don't get a vote, why this is not, in point of fact, a gross abrogation of their human rights, why all their arguments about how great-and-wonderful the subject is does not actually address the question of how notable it is -- and then as these people are calling you "dunce" and "Fascist" and "hidebound" you let something slip which indicates your frustration and next thing you know your fellow Wikipedians are slamming the "civility" cattleprod into the small of your back, telling you that no matter how openly and viciously they're attacking you, you can't even express your general frustration. And then they wonder why it turns inside... -- Antaeus Feldspar 17:55, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Wishing you the best
Just dropping a note to wish you a Happy Holiday and I hope that you and your loved ones have a very Happy New Year full of happiness and joy. Tony the Marine

Arminus
He deleted his talk page again. If you come back and want to do something about it, let me know. Since you were the only person objecting to it, I'm not going to make it an issue on my own. —Ben Brockert (42) UE News  03:52, Jan 25, 2005 (UTC)

Lovell article
I dropped your reference on James Lovell (delegate), and commented on the article's talk page. I just wanted to let you know it is not intended as a personal criticism. The short entry you posted was certainly better than no entry for Lovell, and we could still use a better biography than the few notes I put there. But, my approach is that References (when used) should only include things we actually used to write the article. Anyway, thanks for your work, it encourages me. Lou I 13:30, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Listing things for copyvio
When you list something for copyvio, you should remove all the text in the article. CryptoDerk 00:12, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)

Your comment on my talk page
Hello Wolfman, and thank you for your response to your vote. I do not have any hard feelings about that. By the way, there is no Wikipedia:Votes for barnstars to vote for giving me a barnstar on. Bart133 (t) 03:29, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

ya
"Dub C", also known as Walnut Creek ;)--kizzle 04:12, Feb 19, 2005 (UTC)

east bay pride :) Are you a teacher around here? --kizzle 09:24, Feb 19, 2005 (UTC)

 * are you freaking serious? I went to UCSB for 4 years, I'm taking a year off to make enough money to go back, and I'm going to be back in either this spring quarter or fall quarter, maybe I can take a class from you :)--kizzle 20:47, Feb 19, 2005 (UTC)

a vote you might be interested in
Talk:Links_between_Iraq_and_Al-Qaeda Kevin Baastalk 22:13, 2005 Apr 25 (UTC)

My RfA
Thanks for supporting my successful RfA. I will do my best to live up to the responsibility and your trust. --khaosworks 07:07, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

another vote
Talk:9/11_domestic_conspiracy_theory Kevin Baastalk: new 19:56, 2005 May 2 (UTC)

Wikipedia_talk:Conspiracy_theory Kevin Baastalk: new 21:50, 2005 May 6 (UTC)

Military history of Puerto Rico
Hi, how are you? I submitted the above mentioned article to be considered for featured article status. I would be honored if you could take a look and express your opinon here: Featured article candidates/Military history of Puerto Rico, Thank you very much Tony the Marine

Friendly Chat
Hi, I just thought that I would let you know that Linuxbeak has nominated me for adminship. I would like to invite you to participate at WP:RFA if you wish to do so. Thank you and take care Tony the Marine

teaching
are you teaching in the fall? just wanted to know if i could eventually get an add code from you, as I will be attending in the fall (I'm currently in the process of re-applying, as I took the last year off) :) Send me an e-mail if you are. --kizzle 18:52, May 25, 2005 (UTC)

Something you might be very interested in
2004_Bush_campaign_chairman_pleads_guilty_to_election_fraud%2C_conspiracy

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/08/10/national/w231835D50.DTL

Kevin Baastalk: new 00:30, August 18, 2005 (UTC)

Article for Deletion
Greetings. You may be interested in voting on Articles for deletion/Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse (image free). Thanks. --Descendall 01:23, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Admin Arminius
Greetings having reviewed the history of User:Arminius, I noticed your name came up and thought that this might be pertinent to you. Thanks! Netscott 08:26, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

kos.gif image
I think this gif was likely generated from the version on dailykos.com which is now uploaded to commons:Image:Moulitsas-army.jpg. Was there some reason you removed the delete tag? I don't see any reason to keep both files around, and the jpg is presumably higher quality if the gif was generated from it. Phr (talk) 22:58, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:Wolfman/5