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Election Systems & Software

Election Systems & Software (ES&S or ESS) is an Omaha, Nebraska-based company that manufactures and sells voting machine equipment and services. The company's offerings include vote tabulators, DRE voting machines, voter registration and election management systems, ballot-marking devices, electronic poll books, ballot on demand printing services, and absentee voting-by-mail services.

In 2014, ES&S was the largest manufacturer of voting machines in the United States, claiming customers in 4,500 localities in 42 states and two U.S. territories. As of 2014, the company had more than 450 employees, over 200 of whom are located in its Omaha headquarters. ES&S is a subsidiary of the McCarthy Group.

In 2014, ES&S claimed that "in the past decade alone," it had installed more than 260,000 voting systems, more than 15,000 electronic poll books, and provided services to more than 75,000 elections. The company has installed statewide voting systems in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia. As of 2019 ES&S claimed a U.S. market share of more than 60 percent in customer voting system installations.

The company maintains ten facilities in the United States, two field offices in Canada located in Pickering, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia, and a warehouse in Jackson, Mississippi.

American Information Systems
In October 1974, Robert J. Urosevich of Klopp Printing Company in Omaha approached Westinghouse Learning Corporation, a subsidiary of Westinghouse Corporation, asking whether the scanners Westinghouse was building for educational tests could be used to scan voting ballots. This led Westinghouse to briefly enter the ballot scanning business, and Urosevich and his brother Tod, a former IBM salesman, formed Data Mark Systems to sell and service Westinghouse voter tabulation equipment. Data Mark and Westinghouse ballot tabulation equipment had limited success through the late 1970s. As Westinghouse withdrew from the voting business, the Urosevich brothers and several former Westinghouse employees founded a new company in August 1979, American Information Systems. AIS came out with a line of central-count ballot scanners that entered the marketplace in 1982.

Business Records Corporation
The first precinct-count ballot scanner was the Gyrex MTB-1, which came to market around 1974. The MTB-1 evolved into the MTB-2, and corporate ownership shifted from Gyrex Corporation to Valtec, in 1977, and then to Major Data Concepts, in 1979. Computer Election Systems Incorporated (CESI), the manufacturer of Votomatic punched-card voting equipment, marketed the MTB-2 as the Tally-II scanner in the early 1980s, pairing it with its own Precinct-Ballot-Conut punched-card ballot reader, the PBC.

CESI developed its own family of precinct-count and later central-count scanners, under the Optech brand name. The Optech I precinct-count scanner came to market in 1983, and saw successful use in several states. Cronus Industries, Inc., a Texas-based company, purchased CESI in 1985 and merged it with their ballot printing subsidiary, Business Records Corporation (BRC).

Election Products Inc.
Election Products Inc. was a small Virginia-based election service company. In the early 1990s, the company contracted with ILJ Corporation based in Richmond, Virginia, to develop a DRE voting machine that would be marketed as the Votronic, unrelated to an earlier ballot scanner that was marketed under the same name in 1960. This voting machine had a flat panel liquid crystal display and a touchscreen, and was no larger than a laptop computer at the time. Votronic was first used in the 1996 primary elections; one commentator said the machine resembled a large Magna Doodle.

Automark Technical Systems LLC
In 2003, Eugene Cummings filed a patent for a ballot marking device designed to provide an accessible voting interface for optical-scan voting systems. Cummings, along with Joseph Vaneck founded Automark Technical Systems LLC to develop and manufacture the machine. Prior to this machine, the Help America Vote Act, passed in 2002, required jurisdictions in the United States that used optical scan systems install at least one DRE voting machine in each polling place.

Mergers and antitrust actions
American Information Systems acquired the Election Services Division of Business Records Corporation and was reincorporated as Election Systems & Software, Inc. in December 1997. At the time, AIS had about 750 customers and BRC had around 1200; customers were typically county election offices. With the merger, ES&S became the largest voting system vendor in the United States. The merger was delayed by the U.S. Department of Justice on antitrust grounds until ES&S agreed to transfer the Optech product line to Sequoia Voting Systems, while retaining the right to sell and service Optech products to its existing customers.

Shortly after the BRC-AIS merger, ES&S acquired the rights to Votronic, which they renamed iVotronic, and made major cosmetic changes to it. In their sales presentations, ES&S emphasized that the iVotronic was essentially the same machine as the Votronic except for features added to bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

ES&S was one of the top four providers of voting equipment used in the November 2004 election. The other three were Diebold Election Systems, Sequoia Voting Systems, and Hart InterCivic.

In January 2008, ES&S acquired AutoMARK Technical Systems. Under ES&S's ownership, AutoMARK's use expanded considerably. Eight years after its acquisition by ES&S, in the 2016 elections, it was used statewide in ten states, and widely used in 19 additional states.

In September 2009, ES&S acquired Premier Election Solutions, formerly known as Diebold Election Systems. Following the acquisition, the Department of Justice and 14 individual states launched investigations into the transaction on antitrust grounds.

In March 2010, the Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against ES&S, seeking it to divest voting equipment systems assets it purchased in September 2009 from Premier Election Solutions in order to restore sufficient competition. The company later sold the assets to Dominion Voting Systems.

Ownership and management
As of June 2019, ES&S was wholly owned by Government Systems, Software & Services, Inc. McCarthy Group held a controlling ownership. Those with over 5% share investments in the company, as of June 2019, included Tom Burt and Tom O'Brien. Those with over 5% ownership stakes in McCarthy Group were Nancy McCarthy and Kenneth Stinson, both passive investors.

As of 2020, Burt is president and chief executive officers ES&S, and O'Brien is vice president/CFO.

Voting system certifications
In May 2013, the Election Assistance Commission certified ES&S' EVS 5.0 election management system as meeting the commission's 2005 Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG). Products included in EVS 5.0 are ES&S' DS200 and DS850 vote tabulators.

EVS 5.0 also saw enhancements to the company's AutoMARK software, which is designed to be compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for allowing voters with disabilities to cast ballots. In October 2012, the EAC certified ES&S' Unity 3.4.0.0 election management software.

In June 2014, the Virginia Board of Elections certified EVS 5201, the first state to certify an election management system that features the ExpressVote Universal Voting System. This election system combines paper-based voting with touch screen technology that's designed to serve every eligible voter, including those with disabilities.

The same month, following the certification of EVS 5201 was certified, Fairfax County, Virginia, purchased ExpressVote Universal Voting System. which it used for the first time in its November 2014 general election.

Electronic poll books
In January 2014, the City of Chicago reached an agreement with ES&S to provide more than 2,100 ExpressPoll voter check-in and verification devices to support Chicago's 1.6 million registered voters. The electronic poll books were first used in Chicago's 2014 primary elections.

Withdrawal and Reinstatement of InkaVote
On August 3, 2007, California Secretary of state Debra Bowen withdrew approval of the ES&S InkaVote Plus after announcing a "top-to-bottom review" of the voting machines certified for use in California in March 2007. However, the InkaVote Plus was never included in the review process conducted by Bowen's office. Bowen then approved InkaVote Plus for use by Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles on January 2, 2008.

Oakland County, Michigan
Early voters in the 2008 U.S. presidential election in Oakland County, Michigan reported instances of malfunctioning machines, complaining that they voted for one candidate and their vote was switched to another candidate. The Oakland County county clerk reported inconsistent results with some machines during testing in October.

Four years later, during the 2012 elections, ES&S added wireless modem technology so officials could make secure reports via cell phones. This upgrade was designed to improve the transparency and accuracy of Oakland County's election night reporting. The wireless technology used by Oakland County was tested by a federally accredited voting system test laboratory and subsequently tested and approved by the State of Michigan for pilot usage in the 2012 presidential election.

2010 election problems
On April 14, 2010, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that, "about 10 percent of Cuyahoga County’s voting machines...[had] failed a pre-election test." After 20 months of investigation, the Election Assistance Commission recommended decertification of the ES&S voting machines if they could not be fixed. The investigation found:
 * "The DS200 accepts a voted ballot but does not record the ballot on its internal counter. In addition the marks of the second ballot are not recorded."
 * "When a 17” ballot was inserted at an angle, the DS200 did not consistently count the mark properly. The mark registered either as a different selection than intended or did not register at all."
 * The system randomly freezes and does not record the freeze in its log files. There are other events not logged, such as touch screen calibration.

In May 2013, however, the Election Assistance Commission certified the DS200 as part of ES&S' EVS 5.0 election management system as meeting its 2005 Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG). Image of EAC certificate

Remote access controversy
In February 2018 article, The New York Times, reported that remote-access software had been found on an election management computer system used in Pennsylvania, and quoted unnamed sources, who said "ES&S has in the past sometimes sold its election-management system with remote-access software preinstalled." This was used by ES&S technicians to remotely access the systems via modem to troubleshoot and provide maintenance to systems they sold. The company denied this, saying "none of the employees...including long-tenured employees, has any knowledge that our voting systems have ever been sold with remote-access software."

In an April 2018 letter sent to U.S. Senator, Election Systems & Software acknowledged that some of the election management systems the company sold for voting actually did have remote access software installed. The letter to Wyden had been in response to a question from the senator requesting clarification of the information on remote-access software in the New York Times article.

While election management systems are not the voting machines voters use to cast their ballots, they are used to program the voting machines used in a county and to count and tabulate the results from the voting machines. By installing remote access software allowing the machines to be accessed via the internet, the machines are vulnerable to being "hacked" remotely, allowing the counting to be altered surreptitiously, or malware to be installed to affect an election result. Motherboard, the site that originally published the story, reported that the remote access software installation was "the worst decision for security short of leaving ballot boxes on a Moscow street corner."

According to its April 2018 letter, ES&S claims to have stopped installing remote access software as of December 2007, which is required under the standards of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Johnson County, Indiana
During the general election in November 2018, thousands of voters in Johnson County, Indiana were required to wait in line for hours as technical glitches and computer crashes caused issues throughout the county. A preliminary repor] prepared for the Indiana Secretary of State by Ball State University's Voting System Technical Oversight Program examined the reporting errors, and a preliminary report concluded that ES&S failed to report several anomalies that occurred prior to election day in violation of Indiana's state election law.

Operating software vulnerabilities
In July 2019, the Associated Press reported that, "the vast majority of 10,000 election jurisdictions nationwide use Windows 7 or an older operating system to create ballots, program voting machines, tally votes and report counts." Windows 7 reaches its "end of life" on January 14, 2020, meaning that Microsoft will cease providing technical support for the system, including patches to fix software vulnerabilities. For jurisdictions that already purchased systems running on Windows 7, ES&S said it would work with Microsoft to provide support until jurisdictions can update them. Windows 10 was released in 2015, and it was not immediately clear how long it would take to updates and associated federal and possible state certifications and to roll out updates. The company was not at the time sure that it could be done prior to the state's primaries, which began in February 2020. Kevin Skoglund, chief technologist at Citizens for Better Elections, said county election officials point to Election Assistance Commission and state certifications as "rock-solid proof" that their systems are secure, but do not realize that vendors are certifying systems under dated 2005 standards.

title: Election Systems & Software


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/PedanticallySpeaking 2

PedanticallySpeaking
final (33/5/4) ending 18:43 16 December 2004 (UTC)

In September I asked Deb to nominate me and she did. However, because of the opposition to my candidacy, I asked it be withdrawn, and it was. (The debate can be seen at Requests for adminship/PedanticallySpeaking.) I have been contributing for four months now on a variety of topics--see both my user page and User:PedanticallySpeaking/Articles for what I've been working on--particularly politics and pop culture. I have tried to contribute when I could to the Reference Desk and have set up an archive of my contributions to it here. I am also a candidate in the on-going Arbitration Committee elections and have been blissfully uninvolved in edit wars or conflicts. According to Kate's tools, I have 4728 edits and by the last ranking of contributors (November 29th), I was 305th. Please vote early, vote often (as they say in Chicago) and vote for PS. Ave atque vale! PedanticallySpeaking 18:45, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * I've been away for several days and I apologize for not sooner answering the criticism below. Thank you, Andrevan, for copying my previous response to criticisms about frequent edits. As I said in withdrawing my prior candidacy, I work at a terminal in the public library.  As Word or Notepad or various other programs are not available here for me to compose on and copy over to Wikipedia, I must compose on Wikipedia, saving as I go.  So, yes, some articles have a very long string of consecutive edits.  The real question should be not about how many edits it took, but whether the articles themself are any good.  And so far, I've yet to see any criticism about the substance of my writing but only the process.  (On this very page's history, there will be a string of my edits because several times I've got an error message and what I typed was lost.  So I save a lot for good reason, not ignorance or the other reasons cited.) Secondly, so what if I keep track of my edits?  If I knew the opposite of "Qui bono?" I'd ask it, but I'll put it in English:  What's the harm there? Third, one critic complains about my User:PedanticallySpeaking/Articles page.  One, it makes it simple for others to see where my interests lie.  Two, I like to keep track of what I've written  and the Special:Contributions page is not well suited for this.  Three, having a list of what I've worked on makes it easy to see if anyone else has been working on those articles by clicking on "related changes".  Finally, I did indeed send messages to a number of people about my candidacy.  Each and every one of the people I sent notes to had either voted in the previous candidacy or I had communicated with before.  On my User:PedanticallySpeaking/Wiki page I have an address book of people I've dealt with and so I solicited my friends, just as every candidate for any office does.  Isn't that how elections work?  Or am I supposed to sit back and just hope someone stumbles across my candicacy?  Ave atque vale!  PedanticallySpeaking 17:08, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

Support
 * 1) The opposition last time, including my own, was almost entirely of the "come back later" variety. It's later. --Michael Snow 19:32, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Support. But who's this Atque Vale person, and why do you keep on telling him to go away? - RedWordSmith 19:48, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) I voted oppose last time, but now I recognize the username and associate it with positive contributions to Wikipedia. As such, I support.  Acegikmo1 19:50, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Absolutely. I wanted to support last time, too, but felt that the nomination came too early.  It has been plenty of time, and I enthusiastically support the nomination.  Geogre 19:54, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) I'm proud to strongly support him for adminship. -- ClockworkSoul 20:26, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 6) Andre ( talk )A| 21:06, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * 7) Support. PRiis 21:45, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 8) Cribcage 21:56, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 9) * User:Cribcage seems to be a voting sock puppet. I normally would not say that directly, but their contribs are something special, and a bit obvious. -- Netoholic @ 22:54, 2004 Dec 9 (UTC)
 * 10) **I've addressed your nonsense above, in Guanaco's vote. It's notable that, of all my votes, you've pointedly challenged only these two instances where you were personally opposed. That aside: If you have concerns, you're free to request the intervention of a bureaucrat, or to open an RfC. In the meantime, stop your childish attacks and focus on the merits of the candidates. Cribcage 02:15, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 11) Support. Dralwik 22:38, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 12) Support. jengod 23:15, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * 13) Support. ffirehorse 01:19, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 14) Agree with Michael Snow. Great nomination, I support! --Lst27 ( t a l k )  01:24, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 15) Support. BTW, please try to update the tally when you vote -_-. ugen64 01:25, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 16) Support. Especially given the conduct of those opposing. [[User:Neutrality|Neutrality/talk]] 01:26, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * 17) Didn't this go through last time? *blink* -- Grunt 🇪🇺 01:38, 2004 Dec 10 (UTC)
 * 18) I see no reason PS can't be trusted with adminship (which last I checked is still supposedly no big deal). older ≠ wiser 02:41, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)
 * I, also, opposed last time (time on project), but now vote Support. Continued positive contributions, without conflict.  More caretaker activites would have been a plus but are not a requirement.  I see no reason not to trust PS with adminship.  SWAdair | Talk  04:01, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) It's later. —No-One Jones 06:16, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Support. — DV 10:05, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) You don't seem to need my support this time, but I give it freely in any case. Deb 14:58, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Support, and Ave. func (talk)  03:40, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) *gasp* You're NOT an admin? Johnleemk | Talk 12:17, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 6) Support. Dmn[[European Union| / Դմն ]] 23:00, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 7) Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. Oh, and support strongly. Rdsmith4— Dan | Talk 02:17, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Eh, why not. As I said last time (with my neutral [or was it oppose?] vote), anyone who uses Latin that much can't be bad. Alea iacta est. --Golbez 07:01, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) Support, even with multiple edits he's a good contributor. Lou I 07:20, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Absolutely. Skyler1534 13:26, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) I know it's cliched, but I thought he already was one.  Pakaran (ark a pan) 15:45, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Support. Sietse 17:09, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) Support.    – Ram-Man (comment) (talk)   17:38, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * 6) Insert shock and surprise clichè of choice. Extra credit if it's in Latin!  This rant means support, by the way. - Lucky 6.9 21:30, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 7) Seems like a good user.  Support. Páll 02:45, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 8) ℛ yan!  |  Talk  05:39, Dec 14, 2004 (UTC)

Oppose
 * 1) See below. -- Netoholic @ 20:29, 2004 Dec 9 (UTC)
 * 2) Agree with Netoholic. The way he tracks his own edit count on his user page leads me to believe that he deliberately fails to use the preview button in order to boost his "ranking", as if he could win a prize for that. Gzornenplatz 21:13, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) See comments below.  CryptoDerk 21:49, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Oppose. I do not feel that having the stated intention of using admin powers to guard pages you have worked on is anything I can support. I also feel that if you nominate yourself for a position, you should have the good sense to do so at a time when you will be able to monitor the process. Dr Zen 01:28, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 5) Oppose. - BSveen 08:58, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

Neutral Comments
 * 1) User:Netoholic's comment below gives me enough concern to not vote yes, but not enough to vote no.  I'd like to hear a response from PedanticallySpeaking first. Response heard.  Changing vote to Support.    – Ram-Man (comment) (talk)   20:41, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * 2) Agree with Ram-Man. BLANKFAZE  | (что??) 22:20, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 3) Answers to the usual questions seem to be missing from old RfA. Could PS please answer them? In particular, what does he want to do with his superpowers? Silence is its own answer.Dr Zen 04:45, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Pedant I do not in any way oppose this nomination. I accept his/her explanation of the frequent edits, I've had similar difficulties on my own computer. The save early/save often mantra is one I myself use when I edit on a system with less resources.  However, I would like to see this editor performing more 'chores' such as watching for vandalism, cross-referencing, etc. I think that this editor would not abuse sysop priveleges, but I'd like to see admin candidates do more of the grunt work as well.  A possible question I might ask is "Do you feel hampered by your lack of  admin powers, or do you just desire recognition of your value to the community?"  If it is the latter, let me say that your edits certainly seem appropriate and valuable.  I hope that you use your new powers to do more of what I consider admin chores. Pedant 19:06, 2004 Dec 10 (UTC)
 * User's edits (still) seem to come in runs of multiple minor edits, and over 15% (736/4773) of his contribs in his user space. In one example, user made 50 edits to Mary Beth Peil in the span of an hour on Sep 2, but there are plenty of others. Can't support someone with little knowledge of the "Show preview" button - it indicates someone who may take action without completely thinking through. I also worry that this user tracks their own edits and contributions so closely (231 edits of User:PedanticallySpeaking/Articles alone) and then goes fishing for votes on 20-30 user pages, as he did on Dec 9 right after posting RfA.  Seems too eager, and should wait a while until someone else nominates him. -- Netoholic @ 20:46, 2004 Dec 9 (UTC)

 * He responded to the former allegation in his first RfA:
 * Some have noted adversely the frequent edits I do to articles, e.g. Mary Beth Peil, John W. Griffin, Dana Gioia. Rather than being a deliberate effort to inflate my count or that I don't know about the preview button, it is because I work at a public terminal in the library. These computers do not like the Wikipedia site for some reason and frequently crash when I use it. Therefore, I save very frequently so I do not lose data. Further, the browser here is hostile to multiple windows being open. So when researching, I save, go to a source, go back to add a fact to an article, save, go back to the source, and so on. Finally, the frequent saves tell me precisely what I added and when.
 * As for the graf on my page about my edits, I saw another user had a count and dates of his landmark edits (50th, 100th, etc.). I thought this was a neat idea and posted it as much for my own reference as bragging. As it causes offense, I have removed it to the bottom of my page.
 * Andre ( talk )A| 21:06, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

 * Previously I voted to oppose and said he's a good contributor. After an RFA I wipe the slate clean.  He's still a good contributor though I seriously find myself asking WHY PedanticallySpeaking needs the tools of adminship.  Looking through a few thousand edits since September I can't find where he has actively participated in vandal fighting, VFD, etc. and other common reasons that people request adminship.  In both his prior RFA and this one he hasn't explained why he wants to be an admin.  Furthermore, if (after this comment) he says that he wants adminship powers to do the things I mentioned, then I say where's the experience?  Anyway, if PS can come up with a good explanation I might be swayed to vote otherwise.  CryptoDerk 21:49, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

A few generic questions to provide guidance for voters:
 * 1. What sysop chores, if any, would you anticipate helping with? (Please read the page about administrators and the administrators' reading list.)
 * A. I intend to keep an eye on the articles I've done work on (it's here), as I have been doing, for bad information and vandalism.  Fortunately I've had to do little of this as I patrol a quiet beat in dull boring areas that nobody else seems to waste their time vandalising.  (Not that I'm complaining . . . .)
 * 2. Of your articles or contributions to Wikipedia, are there any about which you are particularly pleased, and why?
 * A. I have a list of articles here, which are all articles I either wrote from scratch or almost so in the case of Webster's Dictionary.  Webster's Dictionary, MSEHPA, Dawson's Creek and Katie Holmes are four that I drew heavily from my own commonplace books to write.  Dana Gioia, Mary Beth Peil, and John W. Griffin are all products chiefly of research on-line.  I am pleased with them because of their substance and the research I did.
 * 3. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or do you feel other users have caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and will deal with it in the future?
 * A. Aside from a couple of edit conflicts from bumping into someone else, I have not been involved in any conflicts or edit wars.  My chief source of irritation hasn't been with other users, but rather with the computers, at both ends.  These don't like Wikipedia and lately, including today, Wikipedia seems really slow.  Not much one can do, alas.

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


text:
2004 in rail transport

January events

 * 🇺🇸 January 1 – METRORail light rail service in Houston, Texas, opens.

February events

 * 🇦🇺 February – Pacific National takes over Australian Transport Network.
 * 🇦🇺 February 3 – The first freight train travels the entire north-south transcontinental railroad in Australia between Adelaide, South Australia, and Darwin, Northern Territory.
 * 🇷🇺 February 6 – A suicide bomber kills 41 people near Avtozavodskaya subway station on Moscow Metro's Zamoskvoretskaya Line. See: February 2004 Moscow Metro bombing

March events

 * 🇪🇸 March 11 – 2004 Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous bombings on Cercanías commuter trains in Madrid (Spain) kill 191 people and injure more than 1,800.
 * 🇯🇵 March 13 – First services are operated by M250 series Super Rail Cargo high speed freight electric multiple units of the Japan Freight Railway Company.
 * 🇹🇭 March 20 – An agreement between the governments of Thailand and Laos is signed to extend the railway to Thanaleng Railway Station in Laos, about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, which would become the first railway link to Laos.
 * 🇨🇳 March 28 – First services operate on Binhai Mass Transit (or Jinbin light rail) in Tianjin, China, including No. 1 bridge ( 25.8 kilometres (16 mi) in length).
 * 🇰🇷 March 30 – High-speed train service is inaugurated in Korea between Seoul and Daegu.

April events

 * 🇺🇸 April – The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Pierre, South Dakota, rules that the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad may use eminent domain to purchase land in South Dakota in order to build the railroad's extension into Wyoming's Powder River Basin.
 * 🇬🇧 April – Great North Eastern Railways, operators of services on the East Coast Main Line in England and Scotland, introduce 802.11b wireless LAN access to the Internet on their Mallard InterCity 225 trains.
 * 🇰🇷 April 1 – High speed train service is inaugurated in Korea between Seoul and Busan; the trains make the trip in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
 * 🇯🇵 April 1 - Tokyo subway system, Tokyo Metro replaced and private company from Teito Rapid Transit Authority.
 * 🇵🇭 April 5 - The Manila Line 2 commenced almost full commercial operations by opening the segment from Araneta Center–Cubao Station up to Legarda Station.
 * 🇺🇸 April 6 – Amtrak passenger train City of New Orleans en route to Chicago from New Orleans derails near Flora, Mississippi, resulting in one fatality.
 * 🇦🇺 April 18 – Connex takes over the half of the Melbourne suburban rail network formerly operated by M>Train.
 * 🇪🇺April 29 – The European Railway Agency, headquartered in Lille, France, is formed.

May events

 * 🇺🇸 May 1 – The MAX Yellow Line, Interstate Avenue light rail line, opens in Portland, Oregon.
 * 🇹🇷 May 9 – Construction begins on a railway tunnel under the Bosphorus strait in Turkey; the tunnel opened for service in 2013.
 * 🇨🇦 May 10 – Canadian National Railway acquires Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad and Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway
 * 🇺🇸 May 15 – With repairs to tunnels 8 and 16 complete and destroyed bridges rebuilt, including the Goat Canyon Trestle, the Carrizo Gorge Railway officially reopens freight service to Plaster City and the Union Pacific Railroad interchange.

June events

 * 🇺🇸 June – the 150th anniversary of the Grand Excursion is commemorated with special runs by Milwaukee Road 261 and Canadian Pacific 2816 along the northern Mississippi River.
 * 🇺🇸 June – Caltrain finishes their two-year-long CTX project, which included strengthening the tracks between San Francisco and San Jose and introducing an all new CTC system. This project allowed for the start of Baby Bullet express service and the resumption of weekend service on the route.
 * 🇿🇦 June 7 – The high speed Gautrain between Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa is announced; it is expected to open in 2009.
 * 🇪🇸 June 23 – Madrid Metro orders 698 new subway cars valued at €1 billion; the order is shared by Bombardier and Siemens.
 * 🇺🇸 June 25 – The Causeway Street Elevated streetcar line in Boston is closed.
 * June 26
 * 🇺🇸 The Hiawatha Line light rail service in Minneapolis, Minnesota opens to the public.
 * 🇪🇸 An AVE Class 102 train reaches a new speed record of 365 km/h during type approval test runs.
 * 🇮🇪 June 30 – In Ireland the first stage of Dublin's LUAS light rail system opens, the "Green Line" from Sandyford to St. Stephen's Green in the city centre. The route follows the old Harcourt Street railway line for the most part.

July events

 * 🇨🇦 July 14 – Canadian National Railway completes its purchase of BC Rail.
 * 🇺🇸 July 15 – Dennis H. Miller is promoted to president of the Iowa Interstate Railroad.
 * 🇮🇳 July 25 – Thieves steal two brass handles and four copper pipes from the Fairy Queen steam locomotive in New Delhi, India.
 * 🇨🇳 July 28 – Phase 1 of Wuhan Metro's Line 1 connecting Huangpulu Station to Zongguan Station opens.
 * 🇮🇪 July 29 – The Dublin to Rosslare Europort route becomes the first in the Irish Republic to have locomotive hauled trains completely replaced by diesel railcars.

August events

 * 🇺🇸 August 1 – Iowa Interstate Railroad takes over operations of a daily freight train from Iowa City, Iowa, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway.
 * 🇫🇮 August 15 – Fourth rail was finished in 13 km section between Helsinki, the capital of Finland and Kerava, its suburb.
 * 🇺🇸 August 31 – The United States Surface Transportation Board renews the authority of TTX Corporation to continue pooling and leasing railroad rolling stock for ten more years, over the protests of other rolling stock leasing companies.

September events

 * 🇮🇪 September – In Ireland, following the replacement of the Cahir viaduct, the Limerick junction to Waterford section of railway reopens after nearly a year after the viaduct collapsed under a cement train.
 * 🇨🇦 September 3 – The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel, in Cranbrook, British Columbia, holds grand opening ceremonies for its new museum facilities.
 * 🇺🇸 September 8 – Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway opens the second railroad "flyover" bypass in Kansas City, Missouri.
 * 🇨🇦 September 13 – The Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway files its second application to abandon most of its trackage on Cape Breton Island.
 * September 28
 * 🇮🇪 The second LUAS line opens, the "Red Line" linking Tallaght in west Dublin to the city centre and Heuston and Connolly stations on the main Irish railway network.
 * 🇺🇸 Charles Wickliffe Moorman IV is promoted to president of Norfolk Southern.
 * 🇸🇪 Railpower Technologies signs a memorandum of understanding with Swedish Train Technology to perform hybrid locomotive conversions in Europe.

October events

 * 🇺🇸 October – General Motors Electro-Motive Division introduces the EMD SD70M-2.
 * 🇺🇸 October – Amtrak opens a new maintenance facility in Oakland, California.
 * 🇺🇸 October 3 – The Southwestern Railroad leases the Carlsbad Subdivision (183 miles of track between Clovis and Carlsbad, New Mexico) from the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
 * 🇦🇺 October 4 – Transperth's Joondalup line is extended from Currambine to Clarkson.
 * 🇯🇵 October 6 – Aonami Line, Nagoya to Kinjō-futō route start in Aichi Prefecture.
 * 🇨🇦 October 14 – The Canadian Transportation Safety Board issues its final report on the CN accident of May 2, 2002; the report blames the truck driver's fatigue as the cause of the accident and admonishes fire crews for less-than-optimal training in hazardous materials.
 * 🇨🇦 October 15 – Canadian National Railway announces that it is selling its locomotive remote control business unit (which produced the Beltpack control system) to Cattron Group, Inc., so the railroad can focus on operations.
 * 🇺🇸 October 18 – Rocky Mountain Railtours officially changes its name to Rocky Mountaineer Vacations.
 * 🇨🇦 October 21 – The first railroad conductors graduate from British Columbia Institute of Technology's 32-week course.
 * 🇨🇦 October 22 – Canadian National Railway (CN) announces that it will open shipping offices in Shanghai and Beijing; the office will advertise CN's shipping abilities to North American destinations, especially on the Pacific coast.
 * 🇺🇸 October 27 – The North American rail labor union Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees votes to merge with the Teamsters.
 * 🇵🇭 October 29 - The Manila Line 2 commenced full commercial operations by opening the remaining segment from Legarda Station up to Recto Station.

November events

 * 🇺🇸 November 1 – Amtrak discontinues the Palmetto south of Savannah, Georgia, replacing rail service to several towns in western Central Florida with Amtrak Thruway bus service. The Pennsylvanian west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is also discontinued, with the rest merged into the Keystone Service and Three Rivers lines.
 * 🇺🇸 November 3 – Progressive Rail leases former Wisconsin Central Railway track in northern Wisconsin and begins operations on the line under its subsidiary railroad, Wisconsin Northern Railroad.
 * 🇨🇦 November 8 – Canadian National, Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern announce an operating agreement to speed shipments between eastern Canada and the eastern United States.
 * 🇺🇸 November 20 - NoMa-Gallaudet University Station (formerly New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University), the first "in-fill" station to be built between two existing stations, is opened on the Washington D.C. Metro Red Line.
 * 🇺🇸 November 23 – The new Wisconsin Northern Railroad begins operations on leased Union Pacific Railroad (formerly Chicago and North Western Railway) and Canadian National Railway (formerly Wisconsin Central) tracks.

December events

 * 🇺🇸 December 4 – Second phase of the Hiawatha Line opens, connecting Minneapolis, Minnesota to MSP Airport and the Mall of America in Bloomington
 * December 12
 * 🇫🇷 SNCF disallows smoking on all French TGV trains.
 * 🇨🇭 Swiss Federal Railways begins the first phase of implementing its Rail2000 plan to improve service.
 * 🇨🇦 December 13 – Bombardier president Paul Tellier announces his retirement.
 * 🇦🇺 December 17 – The last X'Trapolis train enters service with Connex in Melbourne, Australia.
 * 🇺🇸 December 18 - The WMATA Blue Line is extended from Addison Road-Seat Pleasant to Largo Town Center in Lake Arbor, Maryland. The extension, totaling 3.2 miles (5.2 km) adding the Morgan Boulevard and Largo Town Center Stations, is the first WMATA project to go beyond the Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway) in Prince George's County.
 * December 21
 * 🇩🇪 Siemens receives an order to build 60 new ICE trainsets for service between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia; the new equipment is expected to enter service in 2007.
 * 🇭🇰 KCR Ma On Shan Rail opens in Hong Kong.
 * 🇨🇳 December 28 – Shenzhen Metro begins operation in Shenzhen, China.

Unknown date events

 * 🇺🇸 Chicago Transit Authority installs a new electric third rail along the Yellow Line to replace the aging overhead trolley wire dating from the pre-1963 Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad; this eliminates CTA's last stretch of trolley wire operation.
 * 🇺🇸 Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company retires the last of the electric multiple unit passenger cars built by Pullman-Standard for the New York Central in 1962–1965. The cars are replaced with new cars built by Bombardier

Accidents

 * February 6 – February 2004 Moscow metro bombing – A male suicide bomber killed 41 people near Avtozavodskaya subway station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line in Moscow.
 * February 15 – The Tebay rail accident occurred when four railway workers working on the West Coast Main Line were killed by a runaway wagon near Tebay, Cumbria, England.
 * February 18 – Nishapur train disaster: A train carrying a convoy of petrol, fertiliser, and sulfur derails and explodes in Iran, killing 320 people.
 * April 22 – In the Ryongchon disaster, a flammable cargo explodes at the railway station in the town of Ryongchŏn, North Korea, near the border with China; the explosion occurs only a few hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il passed through the station en route back to the capital from a secret meeting in China.
 * May 19 – Two BNSF Railway rock trains (#6351 north and #6789 south) collide near Gunter, Texas, killing one person and seriously injuring 3 others. The cause was the southbound train not stopping at it's assigned stopping point for reasons unknown.
 * May 31 – A fire erupts in one of the Seattle Center Monorail trains; of the 150 passengers aboard at the time, only 5 required treatment for minor injuries and no deaths occurred.
 * June 17 – The Karanjadi train crash was the accidental derailment of a passenger train at Karanjadi, a village in Maharashtra, India, on June 17, 2004. 20 people were killed and well over 100 injured in the crash, which was the result of heavy monsoon rains.
 * October 23 – The Chūetsu earthquake, 6.8 magnitude, in Japan causes the first derailment of a Shinkansen train; the train was traveling 200 km/h (125 mph) on the Tokyo-Niigata line, but no fatalities were reported.
 * November 6 – Seven people die in the Ufton Nervet rail crash in Berkshire, England.
 * November 16 – The northbound high speed tilt train Spirit of Townsville from Brisbane, bound for Cairns, failed to slow down for a sharp 60 km/h curve at Berajondo, Queensland, Australia, derailing the train; although seven of the train's passenger cars and the leading power car left the tracks, remarkably there were no fatalities. See Cairns Tilt Train derailment, High-speed train derailment in central Queensland.
 * December 26 – Approximately 1700 are killed in the Queen of the Sea train disaster, the world's worst rail disaster as the Sri Lankan train is overwhelmed by a tsunami created by the Indian Ocean earthquake.

August deaths

 * August 19 – John Francis Nash, Vice President of Operations for the New York Central and president of Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1908).

September deaths

 * September 1 – Alastair Morton, chief executive of Eurotunnel 1987-1996, chairman of Strategic Rail Authority 1999-2001, dies (b. 1938).
 * September 2 – Robert R. Dowty, construction foreman for the replica Jupiter and 119 steam locomotives at the Golden Spike National Historic Site at Promontory, Utah (b. 1923).
 * September 5 – Nelson W. Bowers, president of the National Railway Historical Society (1983–1987); (b. 1931).
 * September 6 – W. H. Krome George, director of Norfolk Southern 1979–1990 (b, 1918).

November deaths

 * November 22 – Edward Blossom, trolley and interurban streetcar restorationist, founder of Dushore Car Company (b. 1930).

December deaths

 * December 1 – Jack Anderson, Chief mechanical engineer for and co-owner of the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, and chief mechanical engineer for the Nevada Northern Railway Museum (b. 1953).

Japan

 * Awards presented by Japan Railfan Club
 * 2004 Blue Ribbon Award: JR Shikoku 5100 type bilevel cab car Marine Liner EMU
 * 2004 Laurel Prize: (not awarded)

North America

 * 2004 E. H. Harriman Awards:

 * Awards presented by Railway Age magazine:
 * 2004 Railroader of the Year: Robert J. Ritchie (CP)
 * 2004 Regional Railroad of the Year: Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad
 * 2004 Short Line Railroad of the Year: Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad

United Kingdom

 * Train Operator of the Year:
 * 2004: Eurostar

title: 2004 in rail transport


text:
Category talk:Members of the Texas House of Representatives

Untitled
The amount of maintenance and cross reference on the US Congress, State Houses, Judges, Counties, and Cities Councils warrants a more sophisticated algorithm for maintaining election primaries, run-offs, campaigns and office turnover. It could be used for elections at unions, PTAs, and other organizations as well. I would like to contribute and coordinate with the PHP/SQL coding in this effort.
 * weide 18:46, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC) Ken Weide; 1-888-932-4878

U.S. Representatives links
I'm not quite sure I saw the reasoning behind the links to the Texas delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives being on this page, so I removed them. If they really should have been there, please feel free to add them back, but please provide an explanation so that others may know why they were there. — Bellhalla 12:57, 3 March 2006 (UTC)


text:
Distinguished Flying Medal

The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy". The award was discontinued in 1993 when all ranks became eligible for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) as part of the reform of the British honours system.

History
The medal was established on 3 June 1918. It was the other ranks' equivalent to the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was awarded to commissioned officers and Warrant Officers, although the latter could also be awarded the DFM. The decoration ranked below the DFC in order of precedence, between the Military Medal and the Air Force Medal. Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "DFM".

Although announced in the London Gazette on 3 June 1918, the actual royal warrants were not published in the London Gazette until 5 December 1919.

In 1979 eligibility for a number of British awards, including the DFM, was extended to permit posthumous awards. Until that time, only the Victoria Cross and a mention in dispatches could be awarded posthumously.

In 1993, the DFM was discontinued, as part of the review of the British honours system, which recommended removing distinctions of rank in respect of awards for bravery. Since then, the Distinguished Flying Cross, previously only open to Commissioned and Warrant Officers, can be awarded to personnel of all ranks.

The DFM had also been awarded by Commonwealth countries but by the 1990s most, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, had established their own honours systems and no longer recommended British honours.

Awards
There were two categories of award, either "Immediate" or "Non-Immediate".

An "Immediate" award was one which was recommended by a senior officer, usually in respect of an act or acts of bravery or devotion to duty deemed to command immediate recognition. In such circumstances, the recommendation for the award was passed as quickly as possible through the laid down channels to obtain approval by the AOC-in-C of the appropriate Command to whom, from 1939, the power to grant immediate awards was designated by King George VI.
 * Immediate

An example of an "Immediate" award is that to Leslie Marsh, which was published in the London Gazette on 15 February 1944.
 * 1482444 Sergeant Leslie MARSH, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 103 Squadron. "This airman was the mid-upper gunner of an aircraft detailed to attack Mannheim one night in September, 1943. When nearing the target area the aircraft was hit by machine gun fire from a fighter. The rear gunner was killed and Sergeant Marsh was wounded in the legs. Although in great pain Sergeant Marsh remained at his post. Coolly withholding his fire until the attacker came into close range he then delivered an accurate burst which caused the enemy aircraft to break away; later it was seen to be on fire. On two occasions, more recently, his cool and determined work has played a good part in the success of the sortie. Sergeant Marsh is a model of efficiency and his example of courage and resolution has earned great praise."

"Non-Immediate" awards were made by the monarch on the recommendation of the Air Ministry and were to reward devotion to duty sustained over a period of time. This category of award could be made at any time during an operational tour but, in a large number of instances, the award was given to recognise the successful completion of a full tour of operational flying.
 * Non-immediate

Numbers of awards
Between 1918 and 1993 a total of 6,967 medals, 64 second award bars and one third award bar were awarded. Over 95% of these awards were for service during the Second World War. During the First World War, 104 Distinguished Flying Medals and two second award bars were awarded to British and Commonwealth servicemen, with a further four honorary awards to foreign combatants, three Belgians and one French airman.

The first awards of the medal appeared in the London Gazette of 3 June 1918, where two recipients are listed.
 * F/9689 Acting Air Mechanic W./T. Albert Edward Clark (of Woodford).
 * 113763 Serjeant John Charles Hagan (of Ulverston)

The first award of a bar to the Distinguished Flying Medal was announced in the London Gazette on 3 December 1918. It was awarded to Sergeant observer Arthur Newland, DFM who had been awarded the DFM on 21 September 1918. In the period between the World Wars, 41 awards of the DFM were made between 1920 and 1929 and a further 39 between 1930 and 1939, along with two second award bars.

During the Second World War, a total of 6,637 DFMs were awarded, with 60 second award bars. A unique second bar, representing a third award, was awarded to Flight Sergeant Donald Ernest Kingaby on 7 November 1941.

At least 170 Honorary DFM's and 2 Honorary bars (one of them to Josef Frantisek) were awarded to aircrew from non-Commonwealth countries. 39 were awarded to servicemen of the US, 66 Polish plus one bar, 33 French, 14 Czechoslovakian plus one bar, 7 Dutch, 6 Norwegian, 4 Russian and one Belgian.

142 DFMs were earned between 1946 and 1993 when the award was discontinued.

Description
The DFM is an oval silver medal, 35 mm wide and with a height of 41 mm, with the following design:
 * The obverse shows the effigy and titles of the reigning sovereign. There are five distinct versions:
 * King George V bare headed (1918-29)
 * King George V in crown and robes (1930–1937)
 * King George VI with 'IND: IMP:' (Indian Emperor) in the inscription (1938–1949)
 * King George VI without 'IND: IMP:' in the inscription (1949–1953)
 * Queen Elizabeth II (1953–1993)
 * The three most common obverse designs were:

 * The reverse shows Athena Nike seated on an aeroplane, a hawk rising from her right arm above the words 'FOR COURAGE', all within a narrow laurel wreath band. From 1938, when the George VI obverse was introduced, the date '1918' was added to the reverse design.
 * The suspension consists of two outstretched wings.
 * The ribbon is 32 mm wide, and consists of alternate violet and white stripes (1/16-inch wide) leaning 45 degrees to the left. A violet stripe is to appear in the bottom left and upper right corners when viewed on the wearer's chest. Until July 1919, the stripes were horizontal.
 * Further awards are signified by a straight slip-on silver bar with an eagle in the centre.
 * All awards have the name and service details of the recipient engraved or impressed on the rim.

title: Distinguished Flying Medal


text:
Ādityahṛdayam

Ādityahṛdayam (आदित्यहृदयम्, ) is a Hindu devotional hymn, dedicated to Āditya or Sūrya (the Sun God), found in the Yuddha Kānda (6.105) of Vālmīki's Rāmāyana. It was recited by the sage Agastya to Rāma in the battlefield before fighting with the Rakshasa king Rāvaṇa. In it, Agastya teaches Rāma the procedure of worshiping Āditya for strength to defeat the enemy.

Etymology
Āditya (आदित्य, lit. "son of Aditi") refers to the Sun. Hṛdayam (हृदयम्) is the Sanskrit word for "heart".

Structure
The Ādityahṛdayam is made up of thirty śhlokas which can be divided into six sections:

title: Ādityahṛdayam


text:
Talk:William Cohen

Vandalism
To: Whom it concerns I just visited this page to find that it had been vandalized by redirecting it to a site which is most unsuitable for minors... please correct this.

William Cohen, a well documented denier of the Armenian Genocide stood in front of TV cameras at the National Press Club in Washington on November 13th, 2007 to declare that he with Madeleine Albright are co-chairing a new "Genocide Prevention Task Force." As soon as the two former high-ranking officials finished delivering their opening remarks at the press conference, skeptical members of the press and activists questioned their sincerity and pointed out their hypocrisy. This exchange was covered extensively by CNN, AFP, AP, The Jerusalem Post, Huffington Post.

This doesn't seem very fair (pointing out hypocrisy, accusing him of being a Holocaust denier). Seems a bit harsh for an encyclopedia. I don't know how to do anything on this though, so I just thought maybe this would bring it to someone's attention —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.204.191.184 (talk) 03:09, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Why is this unfair? Mr. Cohen has repeated aided and abated Turkey's campaign of denial of the Armenian Genocide. As for the Holocaust, I not familiar with any denial of that on his part. This needs to be in the open and not something that is stashed away in the talk pages in order to whitewash Cohen's reputation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.12.203.98 (talk) 21:10, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

Quote from Fox News
Whoever linked Cohen's quote to the article on "total war" - very clever. I changed it to the more appropriate "Conscription in the United States," although I appreciate the effort you are putting into vandalism (as much as I personally agree with your sentiment).

I've just finished a book review of his latest, "Love in Black and White." He makes it clear that though he is ethnically Jewish, he is not a practicing Jew. (The info below about him being denied a bar mitzvah is correct. It was very hurtful to him at the time, as he was top of his class in Hebrew school.) He gives no hint of being a Unitarian. From what I gather about him, he'd probably reply to this question by asking, "Why is it important?"Editunited 16:40, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Cohen Jewish?
As far as I know, Secretary Cohen is not Jewish, either by ethicity or faith. Can anyone find solid evidence to confirm or disprove? —thames 18:49, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * "William S. Cohen was born on August 28, 1940 in Bangor, Maine. His father Reuben, a baker, was a Russian-Jewish immigrant and his mother, Clara, is of Irish-Protestant extraction." from . I'm not sure how much it helps.  Acegikmo1 21:00, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Well that certainly helps with the question of his Jewish ethnicity (half in this case it appears). Still not sure on whether we should include him under the category of Jewish Americans.  As far as I can tell he doesn't identify himself as Jewish, and he may not practice Judaism.  Until we can confirm one way or the other I think we should wait on the Cat.  —thames 01:17, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * We can probably say as much, that he has a Jewish father. Since his mother is apparently not, only Reform Judaism would recognize him as Jewish, and even then only if he chose to be. I question his being in Jewish-American groups. --BDD 00:49, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

 * While his father is Jewish, he has not self-identified as Jewish since he was denied a bar mitzvah by a rabbi at 13 (because, as BDD correctly stated, without a Jewish mother, he is not Jewish by birth, and would need to convert). As such, I think he probably should not be in the "Jewish-American" category. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jai Krishnan (talk • contribs) 23:05, October 3, 2006  (UTC)

 * Why is Secretary Cohen on the list of Unitarian Universalists? I've never read anything suggesting that's what his religious affiliation is. As for his being Jewish, I don't mean to be insensitive, but his last name is Cohen, I don't think he's Finnish. The web site Adherents.com lists his religion as Judaism. Even if he isn't a practicing Jew, I don't think his ancestry is debatable. I'd appreciate it if somebody gave me a link on the Unitarian thing. --Wgbc2032 03:55, October 29, 2006

 * You're not being insensitive, just ignorant. He is not Jewish by any standard (bigoted standards don't count), even the most lenient that allows for "paternal descent", because those Jews who recognize the paternal Jewishness as having any bearing also demand that said "Jew" live as a Jew, which he does not. And yes, Jews can be Finnish. The name "Cohen" does not denote nationality of any kind, and, as can be seen this case, does not even automatically denote religion..FlaviaR 13:57, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

it's a well known jewish name. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.3.8.253 (talk) 18:48, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Political Beliefs
What are they? One would think he's somewhat of a moderate. --BDD 00:49, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

My best guess is that William Cohen is indeed a Unitarian Universalist (UU) as am I. I recall he had an article in UU World magazine. The thing that makes UU's different from more orthodox religions is that they have evolved beyond a historical beleif in one God and Universal Salvation. Instead of demanding a theological belief UU's agree to adhere to a set of seven principles. A look at www.UUA.com and The Seven Principles may give an insight into the political beliefs of Mr. Cohen. Grandma's Kid

ROTC
Why was he in the ROTC for only a day? I believe this needs further explanation... It is both unusual and worthy of mention, especially because he was Secretary of the Defense. Stevenmitchell 14:29, 11 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I've Googled it and can't find anything. It should also be mentioned that while he may have served only one day in the ROTC, he served on both the Senate Intelligence and Senate Armed Services Committees.  I'm going to remove this statement unless a source can be provided. --tomf688 (talk - email) 15:17, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Photographs
What is the logic behind having a clearly aged photograph of William Cohen from his DOD days, instead of an updated one that also symbolizes what Cohen's life is doing now--and not his past? These pages are supposed to be kept current; not as paens to past glories. I understand the official photo being the gateway photo when there is none other availble; but there is. The official photo is very dated--I feel it should be replaced with whatever the most current that is available. For anyone. I'm not going to wrestle over it, but there's my two cents. --DavidShankBone 00:48, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

 * My mistake - I shot off my mouth by only lookiing at the history. I think the wife photo does work better under recent, and I noticed the move of the older photo.  The people who care about this page may want to tone down the px's on the photos so they don't overwhelme the text, just as a suggestion.  Sorry for not looking before writing.  --DavidShankBone 00:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I've taken out an image and spaced them out more. I also uploaded your images to the commons.  Thanks for the contributions. --tomf688 (talk - email) 01:26, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

 * My reasoning behind keeping the DoD photo first is the photo represented pertains directly to infobox below it. If there were no infobox then I think it would be appropriate to show a current photo of Cohen to lead the article.  For example, if one goes to Bill Clinton's page you would not see the lead photo of an aged president but his official portrait.  That is the standard throughout wikipedia and should remain for consistency.BCV 06:36, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

'''I disagree with the infobox argument. Infoboxes don't distort WP policy to have the most updated and accurate information and imagery in the articles.''' If the infobox is meant to be a shrine to his tenure at DOD, then it should not be in the lead, but more towards that section of the article. Also, in an e-mail from Janet Langhart, she thanked me for replacing that photo of him. These people have moved on in their lives and pursuing other interests for which they want recognition. I think it's unfair to enshrine him for his time in the pentagon, which is going to on a eight years or so. That's my argument. The lead photo should be the most current one we have available that demonstrates the subject of the article. I respect your point of view and understand why you would think otherwise in relation to an infobox, but that only makes the infobox's location a problem, which is easily rectified. Keep up the great work. Dave --DavidShankBone 01:12, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

 * The Bill Clinton thing misses the point, but I would rather see an aged person than the official presidential portrait. But I would also prefer to see a portrait, and not one of him walking down a tarmac, etc.  There is a second point here:  Two editors have voice a preference (one editor by keeping it the lead photograph but moving the husband/wife shot) for it to be at the lead, and one editor--you--keep reverting it back without discussing this issue further.  Why are you being so heavy-handed when for now I see no other support for your position.  We are supposed to be making these decisions by consensus, not revert wars, which is what you are engaging in.  If everyone else wants a photo at the lead that no longer resembles the article's subject, then can I hear them voiced?  Because to me it doesn't make sense.  The Bill Clinton photo issue may be because there is a lack of un-copyrighted portrait work that we can use, so the federal government issued ones are convenient.  But that doesn't make them preferred when more updated photographs become available.  But right now, there are two editors who have made edits with the new photo in the infobox and one editor who wants it kept.  So where do we go from here, since you are determined to have your way while the discussion takes place.  --DavidShankBone 16:01, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

 * That argument does not hold up in the context of figures in government. Go try to replace a photo of any living former President with an up to date photo and it will be reverted back as it should.  It must be about the photos and not the content because the last photos were switched without regard for the captioning.  Cohen may move on in his life but until he holds an office higher than DoD, it is his Pentagon career that will most likely define him.  Again your photo is included in the section about his post government career which is the appropriate section for it.  The infobox should contain his official DoD photo and be at the top of the page. BCV 16:05, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

 * The photo's of the book signing are good, and have a place in wikipedia, that place is in the recent years section not in the Secretary of Defense info box. Of course we could move the info box, delete it or put a photo of William Cohen in it that is not him when he was secretary of defense.  I choose to put a government issued photo of William Cohen when he was Secretary of Defense in the Secretary of Defense info box that should not be a controversial issue. BCV 16:14, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

'''Why do you think a person who serves as Secretary of Defense is on par with the President of United States? Should Paul O'Neill be forever remembered for his year in Washington?

I respect your viewpoint, BCV, but who are you to write their obituary before they die? Who are you to say William Cohen will be most known, forever, as Secretary of Defense? In fact, it was pretty unmemorable ( ...I miss the Clintong years).

For President, I understand because for a moment in time each president *was* the country. But should Henry Kissinger's page forever have his 1970's govt photo? Look, I'm going to let you decide this issue and back out, b/c I just don't care. But I want to point out two arguments: 1. You have decided before a person dies that they will most be remembered for what you have deemed for yourself; 2. Even if you are self-appointed "Ultimate Judge" of that persons accomplishments and achievements, forever comparing them against what you, yourself, feel was their crowning glory, how does that make Wikipedia accurate? How does your opinion alone build consensus? Why should you answer logicial and valid questions with inapt comparisons b/w the US President and the Defense Secretary as if they are equal. Do you feel Tony Blair and David Omand are of apt comparison? You can look at other pages, but remember most of those photographs are the only ones available. Frankly, I would prefer to have an updated Robert McNamara photo.

Seriously, I respect your point of view and understand it. But I personally like the idea of Wikipedia as a communal repository of knowledge. You are doing that BCV, but unlike Encyclopedia Britttanica, we want to be relevant. We don't want to tell William Cohen, "you will never be more than you were at this moment." Possibly he is more proud of his writing than he is of his DOD role. I don't know, but what if...? Another example to view is the KISS page. The lead photo is from 2004 because the opening is supposed to be current. After that, it's 70's KISS galore. I get where you're coming from, but I think we need to be more on WP than deciding a person has reached their pinnacle before they have even died. Don't you agree? By the way, I have no opinion of William Cohen - simply took his picture. I just think leads should be most recent. Look at Tommy Chong and you'll see the photo I put up, and the one under it was originally the main. Which would you prefer?--DavidShankBone 06:14, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

William Cohen's Photograph
BCV and I are having a months-long dispute as to whether a 10 year old photograph should be used, or a current photograph. I would like other editors to weigh in on whether they think an old photograph, or a new photograph, should be used as the introductory photograph.

1. William Cohen is currently writing fiction, and he no longer resembles the photograph from his Defense Secretary days in the 1990s. 2. An encyclopedia is only as useful as it is updated. The introductory photograph should be the most updated photograph available. Available - just because other Defense Secretaries don't have updated photographs doesn't mean they aren't merited - it means Caspar Weinberger hadn't done anything photo-worthy, and that a person who did take a photograph doesn't think to upload it to Wikipedia. 3. BCV is deciding his Secretary of Defense days are the most important, when perhaps his TWENTY years in the Senate (as opposed to FOUR in the Pentagon) or his new career as a fiction writer are more fruitful, important, or have more affect on people.

I'd be interested for other editors besides myself and BCV to weigh in with whether an encyclopedia should have an outdated photograph instead of one of a citizen who continues to thrive in new career directions. What would YOU want if you were William Cohen? Having heard from his wife Janet Langhart, I know the answer. And if I was William Cohen, like him, I would not want an outdated photograph. --DavidShankBone 15:29, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I support the more recent photo. I think it looks better. crz crztalk 22:32, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

 * I support the flag-less photo (more recent I assume). I think a photo with the flags behind it immediately creates the impression that he is still a part of the government.  Photos of that sort are pretty standard for folks with jobs like his, but they don't necessarily represent the person -- they are so staid, and official.  If he's now pursuing a different career, I think using that photo is probably about as fair as using my "goth chick" high school photo to represent me now (!!!!)  My 2 cents. Dina 22:39, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

 * The composition on the new photo is good considering the setting. It's under a free license, too.  Sure, use it. · j e r s y k o talk · 22:56, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Coming late to the argument, but the newer photograph is clearly better for our purposes. It's fine to have outdated photos connected to the article, either in a gallery or via a link to Commons, but the primary one we use to illustrate the subject should only be an outdated one if there is no better or at least equal alternative. (As an example of a less-desirable alternative, we might have a group photo or one with just his wife or a poorly-profiled one or a pratfall and so forth. But this portrait falls under none of those.) --Dhartung | Talk 16:48, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

 * This update is 11 years past the previous one, but having seen Cohen interviewed today on the BBC, my curiosity about him brought me to this page. At 78, he now looks older--but not bad for that age! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/William_Cohen_2017.jpg I leave it to others more engaged on this topic to decide if this photo is a better update.BillDeeUS (talk) 22:57, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

Disputed

 * Re: He was "assistant editor-in-chief of the American Trial Lawyers Association". Perhaps this statement should read "assistant editor-in-chief of the American Trial Lawyers Association's weekly journal, TRIAL Magazine".  (See the 'publications' section at .)  One can be editor of a publication, not an organization. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DCico (talk • contribs) 19:54, 15 March 2007 (UTC).

Museum shooting
It might be noted that Cohen was inside the U.S. Holocaust museum within earshot of the 2009 U.S. Holocaust Museum shooting. I don't have a citation for it, but he's giving an interview on CNN. RandomCritic (talk) 20:40, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Blue-eyed Jewish person?
How come? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.12.91.242 (talk) 12:22, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

non jewish mom — Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.3.8.253 (talk) 18:49, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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How many Republicans have served Democratic presidents as Secretary of Defence?
It does seem to be a meme on the internet that William Cohen was the first Republican to serve as Secretary of Defense under a Democratic president. But, the purveyors of that meme have forgotten Robert McNamara, and Robert Lovett. Its true that McNamara changed to the Democratic party late in the 1970s, but he was a solid Republican when he served John F. Kennedy. And, Lovett served Harry Truman.

Also, there were Republican Secretaries of War and the Navy under Democrats, for instance Franklin Delano Roosevelt, before the creation of the Department of Defense.

Therefore, I see the current statement in the article about whether Cohen was the first or second such Republican Secretary of Defense serving a Democratic president as being a trivial and unnecessary detail.

So, in hope of forestalling an edit war that can actually be supported on both sides by reliable sources (both of which are just wrong, in this case), I am deleting that detail. Shortsword (talk) 20:00, 5 June 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:William Cohen


text:
General Motors Motorama

The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy concept cars and other special or halo models. Motorama grew out of Alfred P. Sloan's yearly industrial luncheons at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, beginning in 1931. They were almost invariably held in conjunction with the New York Auto Show, that for many years was held traditionally in the first week of January.

1949
After World War II, the first show, "Transportation Unlimited Autorama", was staged again at the Waldorf Astoria, in January 1949. Between the New York City venue and the Boston extension, nearly 600,000 people saw the show. Seven "special" Cadillacs were exhibited including, inter alia, a Series 61 coupe and a Series 62 sedan that were standard except for a special paint finish; also shown were The Caribbean, the Embassy, and the Fleetwood Coupe de Ville, all built on the Series Sixty Special chassis.

1950
During the 1950 show, more than 320,000 visitors admired the Cadillac Debutante, a special convertible trimmed in leopard skins. There was no Autorama or Motorama in 1952. Cadillac celebrated its Golden Anniversary (50 years of production) in 1952, and two show cars were on display at various venues around the country: the Cadillac Townsman, a custom Series Sixty Special sedan, and the Cadillac Eldorado special convertible that went into limited production in 1953.

1953 and 1954
The show officially became known as Motorama when it began to travel around the country in 1953. That year more than 1.4 million visitors saw it; Motorama's opening day in New York drew 45,000 visitors. There was a revue, with orchestra, singers, and dancers. Exhibited at this venue were the Buick Wildcat, Pontiac La Parisienne, Oldsmobile Starfire, Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac Orleans and Le Mans. More than 1.9 million visitors attended the show in 1954; it started on January 26 in the Waldorf Astoria, New York. On display were the experimental Oldsmobile F-88 and Cutlass, Buick Wildcat II, Chevrolet Nomad station wagon, General Motors Firebird XP-21 and Pontiac Bonneville Special, Cadillac El Camino, Cadillac La Espada and Cadillac Park Avenue, all featuring fiberglass bodies.

1955 and 1956
The 1955 show dates were New York (January 20–25), Miami (February 5–13), Los Angeles (March 5–13), San Francisco (March 26 to April 3), Boston (April 23 to May 1). Exhibited at these venues were the Buick Wildcat III, Chevrolet Biscayne, Pontiac Strato Star, Oldsmobile 88 Delta, LaSalle II roadster and sedan, and Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. Oldsmobile and Buick pillarless four-door hardtops were first shown at this show.

In 1956 over 2.2 million visitors attended. The dates were New York City (January 19–24), Miami (February 4–12), Los Angeles (March 3–11), San Francisco (March 24 to April 1), Boston (April 19–29). Featured cars included Buick Centurion, General Motors Firebird II, the Oldsmobile Golden Rocket, Pontiac Club de Mer, Cadillac Eldorado Brougham and Eldorado Brougham Town Car. Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will recognize the 1956 show as the Motorama featured in the short film Design for Dreaming.

No shows were held for the next two years. In 1957, however, Cadillac did display a couple of show cars at various venues. These were the Cadillac Director and the Eldorado Brougham town car of the previous year. Also, in 1958, a special Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible toured various automobile shows; it was equipped with a rain sensor designed to automatically raise the top and all window glass, in case of a rain shower.

1959–1961
The "1959" Motorama was held from October 16–22, 1958, at the Waldorf Astoria, New York City, before moving on to Boston. Shown in these two east coast cities were General Motors Firebird III and the Cadillac Cyclone.

The final Motorama show was held in 1961 in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. During November 21–23, 1961, the exhibit was brought to Basel, Switzerland. More than one million visitors attended. A Touch of Magic was the official film for the 1961 Motorama.

More than 100 trucks were needed to transport Motorama shows around the country, each arriving at a precise time and in a given order. Cars and simultaneous revues were displayed on lifting, revolving platforms known as "grass-hoppers".

A total of 10.5 million visitors saw Motorama shows between 1949 and 1961.

title: General Motors Motorama


text: Category:Christian missions

title: Category:Christian missions


text:
1835 in rail transport

May events

 * May 5 – The first steam-worked passenger railway in continental Europe is opened, covering the 23 km between Brussels and Mechelen in Belgium.

June events

 * June 27 – Boston and Maine Railroad is chartered in New Hampshire.

July events

 * July 4 – Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Thomas Viaduct, the first multiple arch stone masonry railroad bridge in the United States, is officially completed. It is also the longest bridge of any kind in the nation, and second longest in the world, next to London Bridge.

August events

 * August 25 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opens its line between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC.
 * August 31 – The Great Western Railway of England is incorporated by Act of Parliament.

October events

 * October 1 – Promoters of the Bristol and Exeter Railway in the south west of England issue a prospectus for the railway's construction.
 * October - James G. King succeeds Eleazer Lord as president of the Erie Railroad.

December events

 * 7 December – Germany's first railroad, the Bayerische Ludwigsbahn, starts regular passenger train service over a distance of 6 km (3¾ miles) between the neighboring cities of Nuremberg and Fürth using a steam locomotive named Adler ("Eagle").
 * December – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in North Carolina receives an amending charter.

Unknown date events

 * The first steam locomotive assembled by Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works, the McNeil, manufactured by Robert Stephenson and Company, operates on the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad.

March births

 * March 28 – Matthias N. Forney, American steam locomotive manufacturer (d. 1908).

April births

 * April 2 – Jacob Nash Victor, oversaw construction for California Southern Railroad from San Diego through Cajon Pass to Barstow, California (d. 1907).
 * April 10 – Henry Villard, president of Northern Pacific Railroad (d. 1900).

May births

 * May 27 – Charles Francis Adams, Jr., president of Union Pacific Railroad 1884–1890 (d. 1915).

June births

 * June 27 – Fred Harvey (entrepreneur) who developed the Harvey House chain of restaurants and hotels serving passengers of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (d. 1901).

November births

 * November 25 – Andrew Carnegie, steel magnate and owner of Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works (d. 1919).

title: 1835 in rail transport