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Madona

Madona (Modohn) is a town with town rights in the Vidzeme region of Latvia and is the center of the Madona municipality.

History
The surrounding area of Madona had been populated in earlier times, which is confirmed by discoveries of old burial grounds in the city's vicinity. Madona is first mentioned in writing in 1461, when Archbishop Sylvester began renting the lands of Birži Manor. However, the Swedish government placed the land under state control. After the Great Northern War, Madona became property of the Russian Empire. Empress Elizabeth presented Birži Manor along with other of Vidzeme's manors to Count Alexander Buturlin.

Empress Catherine II bought the lands back as a present to the Serbian-born General Maxim Zorić. From the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, the location of Madona was the fields of Birži Manor.

According to one version, the name of Madona stems from the adjacent Madona Lake. According to another version, Madona got its name from Birži Manor, which German exonym is Madohn or Modohn. For this reason, the railway station situated at the Pļaviņas - Valka narrow gauge railway line was named Madona as well. The populated place that slowly emerged around the station also got this name after the erection of the Madona railway station in 1903.

Village privileges was given to Madona 1 July 1921, and town privileges 7 June 1926. Since 1 April 1925 Madona was the center of the newly founded County of Madona (Madonas apriņķis). Madona had 1,357 inhabitants at the time.

During World War II, Madona was under German occupation from 2 July 1941 until 13 August 1944. It was administered as a part of the Generalbezirk Lettland of Reichskommissariat Ostland.

Population
The Latvian Central Statistics Department reported 9,242 citizens as of 1 January 2007, with 888 /km2s).

When it comes to age distribution of the Madona inhabitants, the majority group consisting of 5,925 people are registered as "labour-capable" (darbaspējīgie); 1,339 are under the age of "labour-capability" and 1867 are over. As of 21 December 2003, there were 211 (3.5%) unemployed citizens of the labour force.

Geography
The town of Madona lies in Vidzeme Upland. The hilly surroundings descend in a northwestern-southeastern direction. Several minor rivers and streams flows through the town, such as: Lisa River, Leivārīte, Ridzīte, Mucenieki River, Rieba River and Madona River — which flows can be seen in beautiful glens, like: The Love Glen, The Wedding Glen and The Divorce Glen. In The Love Glen is a park, in which the manmade water reservoir has one of the highest fountains in Latvia.

Climate
Madona has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb).

Notable locations and objects

 * Madona City Museum — founded in 1944, the museum owns more than 107,000 historical items, it is located in historical Birži Manor.
 * The Love Glen (Mīlestības grava). Through The Love Glen flows the Madona River, along which shores slings park footpaths. At the entrance a pond with a fountain can be found.
 * Madona Second High School — first three-storey building in Madona, built 1924–26.
 * Former hotel building — among the oldest buildings in town, built 1901 of boulders and bricks.
 * Lazdona Lutheran Church — built 1802–05, inaugurated 1806.
 * Lazdona Holy Trinity Orthodox Church — built 1863–66.
 * Madona Catholic Church — built 1931–34.

Tourism
Madona is 170 km east from Latvian capital Riga. Most popular tourism objects in Madona and surrounding are:
 * Gaizinkalns hill. Gaizinkalns is the highest point of Latvia. It is 311.94 m above sea level. Visitors can take a walk for the 2 km long walking trail with beautiful views. Hill surrounding has evolved winter sports offer - comfortable skiing centers and accommodation.
 * Teiči and Krustkalni nature reserves. The aim of these reserves is to provide ecosystems protection and natural development. There is an opportunity for tourists with a guide to see these protected nature territories and use birds watchtower. The total area of the Teiči reserve is 19,779 ha.
 * Kalsnava Arboretum - largest collection of decorative trees and bushes in eastern part of Latvia, with total area of 130,37 ha.
 * Lake Lubāns - the part of largest lake in Latvia is in Madona district. Allowed activities next to the lake are fishing, swimming, using bird-watching tower, renting a telescope and a bike.
 * Interesting farms for tourists - 13 farms are open: rabbits and goats farm "Sveki", goat farm "Līvi", "Kucuru mill", farm "Ataugas".
 * Winter sports and recreation centers: sport center "Smeceres sils", located next to Madona. There were organized some international biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions (Scandinavian Cup 2013 and World-cup Ski-Orienteering Competition 2013). Also, there are: recreation center "Gaizins", skiing center "Viešūra kalns", and recreation complex "Rēķu kalns" - alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, the tube-slope.
 * Madona local history and art museum, with more than 20 artistic and thematic exhibitions every year.
 * Different workshops (arts and crafts) and cultural events.
 * Much accommodation.

Notable people

 * Dainis Turlais (born 1950), politician
 * Dainis Īvāns (born 1955), journalist, politician
 * Aleksandrs Starkovs (born 1955), football coach
 * Indulis Bērziņš (born 1957), politician
 * Gundars Upenieks (born 1971), biathlete
 * Agris Galvanovskis (born 1972), basketball coach
 * Baiba Broka (born 1975), lawyer, politician
 * Ingus Jakovičs (born 1993), basketball player
 * Raimo Vīgants (born 1999), cross-country skier

Twin towns — sister cities
Madona is twinned with:

 * 🇱🇹 Anykščiai, Lithuania
 * Borjomi, Georgia
 * 🇫🇷 Coulaines, France
 * 🇧🇾 Lahoysk, Belarus
 * 🇩🇪 Mettmann, Germany
 * 🇪🇪 Rapla, Estonia
 * 🇷🇺 Strugi Krasnye, Russia
 * 🇸🇪 Tranås, Sweden
 * 🇩🇪 Weyhe, Germany

title: Madona


text:
Domed

Domed can have several meanings:

 * Dome - in architecture
 * Domed consonant - a consonant type classified by domed tongue shape

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

title: Domed


text:
Talk:Nightfall (Asimov novelette and novel)

Planet's and stars' name
"Lagash" is a well-known Middle East archaeological site (according to the En. Brit., "one of the most important capital cities in ancient Sumer, " Is there is evidence that IA intentionally chose this name rather than that he simply made up a name out of  English phonemes?Kdammers (talk) 01:22, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

 * Asimov was well read in ancient history, so he probably didn't make the name up. PatGallacher (talk) 19:08, 17 April 2022 (UTC)

 * Yes, there is evidence. Asimov addressed this in his autobiography "I. Asimov," in the context of Robert Silverberg's novelization of the story:

"Bob changed the name of the planet and of one character in “Nightfall” because I had made deliberate use of Sumerian and Egyptian names to lend strangeness without too much strangeness. Bob thought that a mistake and wanted nothing to be too reminiscent of Earth, and he may have been right."
 * Darkday (talk) 12:57, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

The stars Trey and Patru are probably the numbers 3 and 4 in Romanian (3 written to match the pronunciation), see Romanian_numbers. Moreover, they are on places 3 and 4 in the list following the stars named by Greek letters. There are parallels to numbers in the others as well, so maybe from another language? 129.247.247.238 (talk) 10:33, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

The name Saro City is likely derived from "Saros" which is one type of eclipse cycle. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:600:8600:6242:B89C:B297:6782:AAAA (talk) 20:24, 13 March 2016 (UTC)

Confusing sentence
We have this sentence: "As stated in the introduction, the weather in the book is analogous to the meteorologic experiences of the characters in the book". So (1) what introduction does this reference? The article's lede does not mention weather at all. And (2) what does this sentence even mean?

FWIW, the sentence itself seems to have very little relevance either to the plot or to the story's significance. Delete? Jmacwiki (talk) 21:14, 29 September 2021 (UTC)
 * True the sentence is nonsensical. The book's weather is not analogous to the meteorological experiences of the characters. The weather is the meteorological experience – that is, I believe, the definition of weather. The introduction is the book's introduction. In parts, the book's weather reflects the characters' moods. In other places the characters' moods are greatly affected by the weather. (That is rather like real life.)
 * I'm editing the offending sentence so that it makes sense. Please feel free to improve or delete my efforts. OrewaTel (talk) 01:15, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

about how much Asimov got paid for his Nightfall short story
November 18, 2022:-I am reading Nightfall and Other Stories published 2021 by Del Rey Trade Paperback Edition, copyright 1969 by Isaac Asimov. He wrote a preface to Nightfall, and on page 4, he said the check was $150.00 from the editor John Campbell, who paid Asimov a bonus of 1/4 cent a word. Not $166. The first appearance of the story was September 1941, in Astounding Science Fiction, by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. I only want to correct the "facts" out there in the internet. If someone can verify this, great. Thank you. ~ecila ecila (talk) 20:08, 18 November 2022 (UTC)
 * $166 is the correct number. Asimov cleared that up in 1972 in The Early Asimov:

 * Darkday (talk) 00:00, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

Article Categories
There seems to be a tendency to add categories without checking their relevance. In particular, this article is called Post-apocalyptic. Yes there are historical apocalyptic events but story is about a recurring disaster. The short story deals with the run up and the actual apocalypse. Maybe the short story should be in the Pre-apocalyptic category. The novel talks about the post disaster society and so that part of the article is indeed post-apocalyptic. The other category is American Philosophy. It's a story and like all good works of fiction it examines emotions, feelings and the consequent actions of the protagonists but 'Philosophy'? No. I don't think so. And why American Philosophy? For sure the authors are American but the protagonists are just folks.Their reactions seem to be international rather than parochial. OrewaTel (talk) 05:41, 29 December 2022 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Shooting sports

Metallic Silhouette
The US privately owned company IHMSA as the 'international' body for Silhouette? What about IMSSU?

 * You make a good point. IHMSA is limited to the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Canada, iirc.  IMSSU is active in France, Scandinavia (don't remember exactly where) and (again, relying on my faulty memory) some years ago had their championships in South Africa.  The IMSSU was formed in reaction to the attitude problems displayed by the folks running IHMSA a long, long time ago.  There was also the ASA (American Silhouette Association) in years gone by; I think those guys managed to put on one match before they went belly-up.  All this is really old news and not pertinent to the state of affairs today.  Obviously there are at least two competing sanctioning bodies.  I think it's fair to say that IHMSA is definitely bigger and more active.  Unfortunately, with an incredibly small-niche sport like pistol silhouette shooting, such a statement is roughly analagous to two fleas arguing over who owns the dog.  For the sake of completeness, someone should look up IMSSU's web site (it's been problematical for me in the past) and post the link.152.216.3.5 20:42, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

 * There is no mention made of at least 3 complete forms of metallic silhouette shooting. High power rifle, smallbore and air rifle. Airgun sports are mixed in with firearm sports as well. At minimum it would be appropriate to have a section for air rifle shooting sports added to the page. As well, a small introduction to the rifle and airgun forms of metallic silhouette and an appropriate link similar to the paragraph on metallic silhouette that exists in the handgun section.
 * ref:: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_silhouette_shooting  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.42.151.137 (talk) 07:09, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

What about Archery?
I dont now, but it seems to me that archery is a shooting sport. You have a device, (the bow) and a object (the arrow) how hits a target.
 * By "Shooting Sports" I think it refers to firearm sports. But there is a link in the intro to Archery. Although you do shoot arrows, to me the term "shooting" refers to propelling something without your own force. An arrow is propelled primarliy through your own doing, while bullets are primarily propelled through the use of gunpowder and having miniaml force on your part.

Benchrest error
The short definition of benchrest shooting provided by the article is erroneous. To a non-participant, benchrest may appear to be concerned solely with equipment. However, while a certain level of equipment sophistication is required to be competitive, the tools of the sport are well-understood. Firearms of winning quality are obtained merely by writing sufficiently large checks to the gunsmith of your choice. The precision manufacturing of ammunition is a craft that must be mastered by the shooter, true enough, but this isn't particularly difficult. In fact, benchrest shooting is about shooting small groups, i.e. firing a series of bullets to the exact same spot on the target within a time limit. In practice, the greatest barrier to doing this and the thing that distinguishes winners from losers is the ability to "read" the wind, i.e. to predict and compensate for the effects of environmental conditions on the flight of the bullet. I'll shortly change the provided definition to something more accurate.

 * From reading the short definition, I got the impression that the chair is the bench. I thought "benchrest" referred to the rifle resting on the bench, not the shooter sitting on it.  I'm an ISSF pistol shooter though so correct me if I'm wrong; I don't know much about rifle shooting... and I won't get into my thoughts on benchrest shooting. Jack Stoner (talk) 20:52, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Full Bore shooting
I am quite surprised to see no mention of full-bore target shooting in this list, or indeed anywhere on the Wikipedia except the UK NRA page, given its status in the UK, USA, Germany and Commonwealth countries. If anyone can show me otherwise I would appreciate it! Otherwise, at some point I will add this to the list and start a page on this discipline. Rmbyoung 02:02, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

 * Well, 300 m Rifle and 300 m Standard Rifle are two of the ISSF shooting events and so they are included. However, I see your point in that national versions of the disciplines might often be more popular (this is certainly the case in Sweden, probably partly because the number of shots is lower, so it doesn't get quite as expensive as the 120-shot match). -- Jao 10:43, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Service Rifle vs High Power
I corrected the previous entry that stated Service Rifle is the same as High Power Rifle (they are distinct events) and added Palma competition. I also made a separate entry for Action Shooting events, cross-referencing practical pistol and cowboy.

Billyt 23:38, 26 April 2006 (UTC) Billy

Rewrite sentence
I'm not sure what this line from the history section is trying to say: "The Olympic Games continue to provide the shooting sports with its greatest public relations opportunity." Louis Waweru  Talk  11:24, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Crossbows
This recently added info should be relocted to the Archery article. Kilmer-san (talk) 22:37, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Shooting Sports are traditionally limited to firearms and air rifles, however the case can be made for inclusion of paint balls (air rifles as well) and perhaps even airsoft. I think the case gets really weak when you add crossbows, but archery and accuracy are traditional sports much moreso than Crossbows (more traditionally weapons and curiosities than sporting tools). --Nukes4Tots (talk) 01:34, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

 * I think there is a good case for crossbows in this article; they have triggers, sights and so forth, much like a rifle. Rajmond Debevec excels at rifle shooting and crossbow shooting alike, while it would probably be unlikely to find a high-level rifle–archery, or even crossbow–archery, combination shooter. -- Jao (talk) 12:11, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Arrows flying though the air is archery. Kilmer-san (talk) 07:52, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Crossbows are a part of the shooting sports (all forms of archery, too)...anything to the contrary is synthesis...and not all arrows are archery, see Flechettes. ⋙–Berean–Hunter—►  ((⊕)) 11:47, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Refs..National 4-H Shooting Sports Program, Shooting Sports Retailer Websites, and the Boy Scouts Shooting Sports Programs.... ⋙–Berean–Hunter—►  ((⊕)) 12:06, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Shooting sport. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120423040445/http://www.researchpress.co.uk:80/wimbledon/wimbledon.htm to http://www.researchpress.co.uk/wimbledon/wimbledon.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 02:14, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Sources for statement that archery is a shooting sport?
In this discussion it is discussed if archery is a shooting sport. The two sources cited in the English Wikipedia article are not really proving that it is one. Does anyone have better sources for or against the claim that archery is a shooting sport? I find it pretty hard to find sources for either side. Most of the time it is not explicitly stated what is a shooting sport and what is not, because it is assumed everyone already knows that. And additionally there's probably not one definition that is the same worldwide and in all languages (e.g. English uses a different word for Archery than for other shooting sports, the German translation contains the German word for shooting: "Bogenschießen"). --Floscher (talk) 12:52, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

Lasers not used in lasertag statement
It is said lasers are not used for safety reasons in lasertag, this is simply not true. There are systems using lasers to tag and send ID, while most systems played in the dark use lasers for light effect (while IR is used for sending the tagging signal). In such cases, the real reason IR is used to tag and not lasers is not safety, it is that IR beam can be large and will more easily tag sensors on the equipement, wherehas if laser is used to tag, it will likely misses the sensors on the equipment. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.246.103.143 (talk) 08:04, 16 December 2018 (UTC)

title: Talk:Shooting sports


text:
User talk:Ray Foster

I'm a new subscriber to Wikipedia so I'm low on the learning curve in terms of navigating the site and using its function. If you have a question for me you may contact me here or via my e-mail link and I'll try to answer you.

AMA Request for Assistance
Evening. I'm Wally, an advocate for the AMA, and not long ago I read of your request for assistance on our page. After reading thoroughly the relevant sections on the deafness article (might I ask, just as a stylistic point, if the article ought be "Deafness" rather than "Deaf"?) I feel that my aid might be helpful in resolving the dispute over the page. Where deafness and issues regarding the deaf are concerned I have little practical experience beyond the experiences of family members with hearing impairment; however, in this case I feel that a detached viewpoint might be useful to all parties.

If you're amenable, I would like to begin by going directly to mediation over the relevant sections of the article - I believe the issue is both heated and specific enough to warrant proceeding through requests for comment. With your leave I'd like to contact a mediator and request the following:

 * Until a mediator is found and appointed, please refrain from editing or commenting on the page and encourage others to do so.
 * Please make a detailed list of both your specific objections to the article (basically what, where and why) as well as your objections to the conduct of other users regarding the article.
 * Please be ready both to cooperate in any way possible with the mediator and other Wikipedians who might take differing points-of-view in the debate.
 * Most importantly, please be ready to accept the recommendations of the mediator and to make compromises on relevant sections of the article. If you find by the end of this stage that this is not possible, arbitration can be requested and the page can be protected; however, in general arbitration is requested regarding people, not articles.  In this case (very fortunately), there appears to be no "bogeyman", simply a dispute as to both process and outcome.

Where personal advice is concerned, while I feel your initial comments on the page were rather strong, and in places perhaps even inflammatory, I believe that following that point you made sincere and forthright efforts to reconcile the differences of all parties to mutual satisfaction, assistance in that endeavor being my reason for offering my help. As for the article itself, I can certainly see where your complaints originate, and that changes to uphold the article's neutrality are necessary.

The only specific note I have is that, while your offer to remove the dispute to a private, protected website in order to hash out the disputes in an amicable way were both good-natured and serious on your part, Wikipedia is committed to transparency at all levels of the article-writing process, and therefore part of the reason that response was lacking to that proposal was that other authors wanted to keep it on the page where it would be archived - this should have been stated to you, however, and the non-response of other disputants was, in my opinion, not called for.

Cordially yours, and looking forward to assisting you,

Wally 08:32, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Understood. I welcome the offer of a mediator and I'll begin preparation of material that you've suggested to get the article back on a good footing. I should mention, however, that I immediately followed the advice of your fellow AMA representative and made a Request for Comment that has already drawn attention and comment to the article. I did this before you offered your assistance. Should I withdraw the Request for Comment?  My offer to hold the discussion elsewhere had only to do with unfamiliarity with the Wiki concept. I agree that the discussion should take place within the confines of Wikipedia so that it benefits all with an understanding of the evolution of the article.

Ray Foster 02:35, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * See my e-mail; in short, however, the RFC note is fine, and you may add it or not at your leisure. However, given the circumstances I thought having a mediator (more as a "trained eye" than anything else) would be most effective. Wally 07:45, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * That's good. I've posted the request for a mediator, as of yesterday - no word on an appointment yet.  Also, FYI, next time please post comments on my talk page, not my main page.  Took me until my second month to get the fine tuning of the message system, so don't worry - you're definitely above the curve. :) Wally 05:10, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Update
No word yet on the mediation page. If I don't hear anything by the New Year I'll go to the head of the mediation committee personally to request at least the courtesy of a reply. I'm rather surprised it's taken so long, but I suppose it is the holiday season.

By the way, a question. Another user has posted a request for assistance on the AMA page, and no one has replied to him yet. I wanted to put my name in as a last resort in case they can't find anyone else who is unoccupied to assist him. Is this all right with you, or would you prefer I not? Wally 02:59, 31 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Also, Dcreemer has agreed to participate in mediation, if that goes through. He's asked to be assigned an advocate of his own, and I've promised to find him one.  Doubt it'll be necessary - truth of the matter is that this whole thing is amicable enough that I doubt either of you will need one once the ball gets rolling.  Means are as important as ends, however. Wally 05:18, 31 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Acknowledgement and Final Clarifications
Before I address your last message, there are issues I feel ought to be clarified. I will do so also to Dcreemer, Keith Tyler and on the requests for mediation page.

First of all, I proceeded directly to mediation with the thought that given the nature of the debate and given that the actors and the issues had become melded together it would be best to proceed directly to mediation, which I was not aware would be such a slow and in the end unfruitful process. I felt that the existing guidelines were to be negotiated based upon what all parties thought best, and this is what I advised. I did not feel requests for comment would be warranted, first given the hotly-personal nature of your debate with Dcreemer and secondly due to the lack of positive response to the initial RfC. I see now that you have apologized for and negative behavior to Dcreemer and asked to work with him, a development of which I was not aware. When this dispute first started I examined the procedures in place along the hierarchy of dispute resolution and decided that, a discussion having already been attempted and insufficient users in place to effect a quickpoll, as well as the lack of reply to the RfC, necessitated mediation. I did not "skip" steps and I apprised you at the time of all of these deliberations, to which you agreed. If you had questions, I wish you had come to me and not to Keith, who was mediating for another party. Given that, and given the fact that the dispute is now strictly professional rather than both professional and personal, I agree that mediation is unnecessary. I stand by the recommendation I made initially under the circumstances which then existed, as well as the appropriateness of that request.

Also, I did not at any time ask you to block off the page, and I did not do such. I asked you to not edit the page and encourage others to do likewise, which at no point should have been construed as a request that you, acting on your own authority, should close off the page. I am sorry that I did not recognize this problem and fix it, and it was a miscommunication. I will note this on the request for mediation page as well as the fact that you believed you were acting under right auspices due to my lack of clarity on the matter, and that it was not out of malice. However, it should be clear that such action was neither what I requested nor what I advised, nor would I have beyond requesting protection of the page by an appropriate source, should the dispute have come there.

I am both relieved and pleased that this dispute appears to be heading along the road towards an amicable solution, and am grateful of whatever efforts I made, or assisted you or others in making, towards that end. If you feel the need to avail yourself of further suggestions or advice in the future, I am at your disposal.

Wally 21:20, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Deafness
I removed the Category:Medicine link from deafness. A small look at that category reveals that this category does not simply contain everything medical. Even cancer is not categorised directly in this category. Rather, as deafness is the concern of otolaryngologists, I placed it in Category:Ear, nose and throat surgery, which you then replaced with Medicine again. Deafness is presently well categorised... JFW | T@lk  13:44, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Hello Ray, I must discuss some misgivings with you that I'm having with the whole Deaf Culture thing. As I explained to User:Pengo on Talk:Deaf, I strongly resist the use of partisan terminology on Wikipedia, and I will not accept that the article title deaf redirects to anything other than hearing impairment. This is because MOST readers, when looking for information on deafness, are NOT primarily interested in the cultural phenomenon that you and others have been pushing forcefully.
 * I have always learnt not to push people in categories, and I find it odd that deaf individuals should feel they belong to a seperate cultural entity. I do understand some may feel the need to identify culturally, but ON WIKIPEDIA, this should be covered in one major article, termed deaf culture. This avoids endless edit wars, redirect idiocy and vociferous fights.
 * As a bonus, I wrote a new article on Pendred syndrome. JFW | T@lk  00:59, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

List of transgendered people
Lecter actually told Clarice, in his cell, that Jame Gumb was not transgendered or transsexual. Dysprosia 23:45, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

SEE article
Hello Ray. Let me start by saying thank you for your additions to the articles on issues surrounding the Deaf. I think you were the one to add the paragraph that confused me to the SEE article though. I do not understand what you mean by this sentence. "Tremendous confusion is cited by the deaf also since, while in the process of acquiring SEE, the teacher often reverts to explaining the system in Signed English which permits the teacher to simultaneously speak while using manual communication." How do you revert to SEE when you are using SEE in the first place? Qaz
 * Do you mind if I answer that? (Not sure what the etiquette is here.)  SEE and Signed English are not the same thing.  SEE1 and SEE2 are specific forms of manually coded English, with a set of strict rules for both signs and construction.  Signed English, on the other hand, is a more freeform type of communication; it follows the general structure of spoken English but also incorporates ASL features such as directional verbs and listing. -Etoile 16:25, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Added - I've created the Manually Coded English article, which may help clarify for you. -Etoile 20:28, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

User language boxes for sign language
Hello :)

I just created user language boxes for sign language, similar to the ones that exist for spoken languages. You may like to have a look. Any feedback is of course welcome!

Cheers, ntennis 09:09, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

Hello
I just stumbled on your user page after finding the article on sign language in Martha's Vinyard. It sounds like you have been working hard to educate Wikipedia users and editors about deaf culture, and that's awesome. :)

I was wondering if you'd have an opinion on something. I am not deaf; in fact I am somewhat ignorant of the subject and hope you will take all of what I am about to say in good faith, because I am trying to learn.

From what I understand, culturally deaf people don't think of themselves as people with disabilities. There's a growing list of disability rights activists, which I have been working on, and I don't know where people who promote deaf culture should go. Though I read about deaf culture and deaf activists in disability rights books, maybe some or all of them would not consider themselves disability rights activists. All the same, I wonder if a list of promoters of deaf culture would be a nice thing to have around. I know that I would certainly learn a lot. I realize that there's a list of deaf people around, but to me this doesn't seem to be quite the same thing.

What do you think? --Jacquelyn Marie 17:49, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

WikiProject on Sign language, Deaf culture and deafness
Hi, I am writing you in regards to a proposed WikiProject I am a part of: User:Ntennis/Deaf WikiProject proposal. You have previously contributed to/ expressed interest in Deaf related articles and thus we thought you might be interested in participating in our WikiProject. If you are, please add your name to the list at either User:Ntennis/Deaf WikiProject proposal or Wikiproject/List of proposed projects and give your input! Thank you! Gaep13(talk) 04:24, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

AfD nomination of Grand argument story
An editor has nominated one or more articles which you have created or worked on, for deletion. The nominated article is Grand argument story. We appreciate your contributions, but the nominator doesn't believe that the article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion and has explained why in his/her nomination (see also Notability and "What Wikipedia is not").

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title: User talk:Ray Foster


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Talk:Crate training

American only
Does any other nation apart from America crate dogs?

Yes I know of many people in Australia who crate train their dogs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.49.139.246 (talk) 08:45, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Hmmmm. I'm intrigued by that response. There are no references there. I feel I have to attempt to balance it. I'm a 61 year old Australian. Had dogs all my life. Lived in the city and in the country. Never seen or heard of dog crates being used in this country. The only thing that looks like them might be the cages used to transport dogs to shows. HiLo48 (talk) 06:18, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree with the above comment ... 6 years on. I have never seen or heard of dog crates being used in Australia. I would guess, if anyone did, they'd be reported for cruelty. Anyway, no Vet or TV show here recommends such a practice. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sapphiregreen (talk • contribs) 00:20, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

We live in Germany and are crating our boxer/lab cross and it is relatively common here.

 * I've seen many crates in Norway too. I find it hard to believe that this is a mostly American thing. --90.231.34.215 (talk) 23:49, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

When did crate training really become popular, anyway? I recall dozens of dogs being around when I was a kid (1950s). Not one was ever crate trained. I never even heard the term. (All the dogs seemed to turn out just great without it, BTW.) I know this idea hasn't been around forever, so when did it start? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.87.128.7 (talk) 14:57, 15 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I presume it's because more dogs are left home alone these days as women have joined the workforce, but I can't find a source.Notarealhamster (talk) 09:09, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

I am a licensed dog trainer, and this article should be completely re-written: it confuses Crates with Kennels. Crates are used for crate training and in-home dens, Kennels are used for travel. Crate training is inhumane and connected to the Stockholm syndrome in dogs. It should be recommended against. Kenneling should be a different topic. To answer the question above, most European countries do not advocate crating dogs. 98.197.249.14 (talk) 05:17, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

IMO it wasn't common in the UK in the past, but has become so within the last 5-10 years and crates are prominently on sale in all the major pet supplies stores. The Dog's Trust in the UK (the main canine welfare charity) recommend crate training and have featured it in training videos on their youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZED4Vo3Gxg&list=UUHCNZ87ZeToVuwU5y-MjVTA&index=5&feature=plcp). The RSPCA (the main animal animal welfare charity in England & Wales) recommend it and provide an advice sheet (http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/dogs/environment/crates). I think both these authorative sources should be worked into the article.Ithinkitsnice (talk) 10:27, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Sweden
Well, I live in Sweden and here it is expressly forbidden under the laws on cruelty to animals. I wrote a short paragraph on it, do you think it can be included under criticisms?: "In some countries, such as Sweden, it is illegal to keeps dogs in crates as it is considered cruelty to animals to keep dogs in confined spaces. Kennels are only allowed during travels, at the vet or on other special occasions and only if the dog is taken on a walk every three hours. If the dog is kept in an enclosed area at any other time even the smallest breeds must be allowed an area at least 65 square feet, larger breeds may need up to 215 feet."  Carlib (talk) 19:26, 9 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Hi, I added your info, with some changes. (I don't read Swedish, so I'm just going by Google Translate) I removed the bit about "cruelty" as it's not in the source. Your numbers are for dog runs, I replaced them with the correct ones for dog "boxes".--Dodo bird (talk) 03:43, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

Rewrite Needed
This needs to be completely rewritten. It is wholly in that it's entirely pro-crate training - "a crate-trained dog benefits the dog and the dog's owner in a number of ways" is, for instance, a completely subjective comment, and the rest of the article is just as bad. The "automobile" section is particularly poorly-written, and reads as nothing more than pro-crating propaganda. Furthermore, the whole article reads like a how-to guide to crate training, rather than providing information about it. Most of this article can be removed and, instead, the history of crate training should be mentioned, along with opposing views for and against the practice. Also, the fact that crate training is almost entirely an exclusively American practice deserves a mention. All in all, this is a really dreadful article that desperately needs improvement. (note: please stop deleting valid criticisms, Planetary Chaos)

 * 2600:8806:6000:47:CCC9:D69C:3948:57B8 (talk) 05:09, 11 September 2022 (UTC) Humbly agree. What does this even mean, for instance "However, crate training can help dogs gain full bowel and bladder control while enjoying treats and comfort."? Seems to be painting a weirdly rosy view of the practice, with no citation. What does being in a crate have to do with "enjoying treats"?

=I agree with criticisms=

I agree with a lot of the above. While I don't believe it's necessary to pander to the people who think this is animal cruelty, it's equally wrong to make claims that are scientifically unverifiable. For instance, purporting that dogs become comfortable in crates as a substitute for their "den instinct" without a single reference to respectable scientific findings is a slap in the face of people looking for an honestly written article. Really, where in science are "instincts" proven. There are commonly seen behaviors for animals in the wild, but last time I checked, no one has ever interviewed a dog, and asked it WHY it's comfortable in a crate, only that it "SEEMS" to be.

I mean, if you want to talk science, there's evidence that dogs are susceptible to a condition called learned helplessness, and one could also conjecture that the reason why dogs are seemingly more docile in a crate is because of this. Scientifically, this conjecture is far more valid than what a "Sensible Trainer" may do, or what a dog "feels" in a kennel. Of course, I think most people would agree that dogs don't SEEM uncomfortable in kennels/cages, but how do you TRULY know? You simply can't.

And that's just a single problem with point of view. Sensible trainers? Who are these trainers? "Toys and soft material for bedding in the crate make it more comforting for a dog or puppy." What journal was this in? There are a ton and a half of not just wholly unverifiable statements, but biased statements on what is "good" and "bad" in crate training. Almost every single bullet point is an opinion stated as fact, or uses training-related jargon/ideology as weasel words.

The entire entry is completely not NPOV. While it certainly does seem as a good starter resource for people who want to crate-train their dogs, it certainly is not a good article on the subject as a whole.

I highly recommend creating a new article, naming it "Crate Training Methods" and have some sort of disclaimer, or using language, that tells the readers what's theory (animal behavior), and what is practice(crating methods). That would solve the entire problem of NPOV as well as allow the original intent of the article (which seems to be talking about, and promoting crate training) to be left mostly in its entirety.

In summary, I'm suggesting creating a new/moving this article and at least acknowledging that SOME people have a problem with crate training. If that wasn't the case, it wouldn't be necessary to delete valid criticisms.

You guys can take this how you will, but I'll simply edit this later and make an article for crate training methods if no one else does. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.48.40.133 (talk) 08:11, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Locking up the dog
One challenge in getting people to crate train successfully is in getting over the idea that one is "locking up" one's dog. The article itself should give some ideas as to why it's a good idea to have a dog who is comfortable and relaxed in a crate. The thing to keep in mind is that almost all dogs are most relaxed in an enclosed place. My dogs prefer sleeping under a desk or a table--and if there's a long tablecloth over the table, all the better. The small dog in the house loves to crawl under the bookcase headboard of the bed rather than sleeping on the open floor. One dog liked sleeping in the closet. The psychological key for the human is to realize that one is simply training the dog to use a controlled crate rather than one of their own choosing, just as one trains them to sit, lie down, or stay under control rather than wandering around uncontrolled at all times with behavior of their own choosing. The crate should never be used as a harsh punishment. It should be a safe place for comfortable relaxing, and in that context can occasionally be used for a "time out" in training.

Let one converted dog owner tell her story. (That's me.) When I planned to go to my first dog agility event (not just training at the training facility), I discovered that it was not practical to have my dog on a leash on my wrist at all times. It was a long day, there were other dogs everywhere (and not all of them perfectly behaved), I had things that I needed to do without my dog and there were places where my dog was not allowed (e.g., walking the course ahead of time; cafeteria; restrooms...). Tying the dog up somewhere wasn't practical--other than there being nowhere to tie the dog, even a portable stick-in-the-ground post left the dog exposed to other dogs, other people, object flying in their direction (thrown toys, things blown by the wind, etc.). It just wasn't even an option, especially in crowded conditions with only a few feet of space for each person to set up in.

Plus, in trying to keep the dog with me, he never lay down, never relaxed, was always alert and on guard.

So with great reluctance, not wanting to "lock my dog up" in a crate, I purchased the largest metal exercise pen that I could find--I think about 4 feet by 4 feet. Here's what he did:

Stood up and leaned against the side closest to the door. All day. Sometimes he sat. Mostly he stood up, watching everything that was going on. Eventually I figured out that, if I draped a sheet over the top & sides of the pen, leaving only the front open, he would lie down--against one side of the pen--and sleep off and on.

Huh, so I was lugging around this heavy exercise pen and occupying 16 square feet for a dog who was occupying no more space than all of the other dogs comfortably resting in their crates. So after a year and a half I broke down and bought a crate and taught him what a fun place it was. So, when put into his crate (after his first run of the day, before which he NEVER relaxed), he'd immediately relax, lie down, get comfy, snooze, stretch his legs out.

I was converted.

Since then, I've found that crates are useful almost anywhere I go with my dogs; we've been invited to participate in a wide variety of events. Sometimes we're backstage, where there are 20 or 30 dogs in a space about 50 feet long. You have to have the dogs in crates in that situation. My assorted dogs have had to stay at the vet's for a variety of ailments over the years, and the vets always like them because they don't fight about going into the crates, they don't paw or bite endlessly at the doors, they wait for a release before barging out of the crate, and they relax once they're in there.

In the car, a strapped-in crate is probably the safest way to transport dogs. (Some of my dogs use harnesses instead, but I believe they'd be safer in an accident in a crate.)

At home, I acquired a dog who really does not like small children. After a few thousand good games of fetch, he goes right into his crate, where I can close him in and he can relax because he doesn't have to be on guard against the small children--and I can relax because he's not on guard against the small children.

I have an extremely energetic younger dog. When she can't manage enough self-control to be around guests, she can go into her crate. When she was much younger and I didn't know what she might pick up and chew up, I could put her into her crate while I worked at my desk and neither of us were stressed about life, the universe, and everything.

Most dogs sleep most of the day anyway--if you're home a lot and not active, just watch: I believe that 18 hours or more of a dog's day is spent snoozing. That's even for energetic, athletic dogs. They could just as easily be snoozing in a crate as under your feet at your desk.

The end.

Elf | Talk 21:46, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Reworked article
I did a lot of review and rewrite in this article. Three references were either broken or inappropriate:

Removed link to: http://www.freewebs.com/bringing-pet - no content on that page [http://www.gundogsonline.com Gun Dogs Online – commercial link, no info http://www.doggydvd.com Dog Training Videos – broken link

I removed how-to content and toned down POV content about how wonderful crates are, about how dogs felt in crates and other info that cannot be substantiated.

I added a section of Objections since crates are not universally accepted as beneficial.

Please review these changes and discuss prior to reverting them. I tried to maintain NPOV but so much of the content was either POV, how-to, or pointless, so the article is shorter. Additional referenced content would be welcome. If there is concnesus, we could probably also remove the NPOV and How-to boxes. Thanks Bob98133 (talk) 14:22, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Replaced link to Peta with Lindsay direct source
The Stockholm criticism referenced the Lindsay book, but linked to a Peta advocacy page that elaborated on his book, rather than a direct reference to the book itself. The author of the advocacy page states in her biography "As for my qualifications to write about dog training and holistic medicine, I have absolutely none, so please take everything that you read here with a grain of salt. My opinions stem mostly from my own experiences with dogs, but I've also done a fair amount of reading on these subjects." I have corrected. Wikifier (talk) 15:18, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Removal
I have removed most of the article; the material I removed seemed to be advocacy and/or howto, to me. I'm not sure what to do with the objection section - the long block quote seems to be overdoing it, especially since the article is now much shorter. Perhaps the quote should be edited down? I couldn't really see how to do that. I think it would be appropriate to add a section of "uses" or "claimed benefits", to balance the objections, but I think it should be kept as short and concise as possible. Brianyoumans (talk) 03:02, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Rewritten Again
I agree with a lot of the crtiticisms above - the NPOV was severely lacking. The article contained a lot of poor grammar, misinformation and generally lacked direction (except to some website flunking dog dvds or some other products!)

I've rewritten in a more appropriate, less chatty tone and included some links to credible websites endorsed by the SPCA (to refute an earlier editors remarks about animal cruelty)

The article remains incomplete and still requires more work. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Petllover1 (talk • contribs) 20:34, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Contradictory content
There are several instances of this article that use a pro-crate training tone of voice, and yet there is no evidence to back this up. In fact, several times previously it is mentioned that there is no evidence for it. Any claims need to be backed up, or at least tagged with a "citation needed". The sheer fact that someone says something is not enough to support it.

This article reads like a confused person debating with themselves. Kinghfb (talk) 16:00, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

 * It's the den theory logic that lacks evidence. That does not mean that crate training doesn't work. I've removed the pro-den theory bit sourced to the Humane Society.--Dodo bird (talk) 22:31, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

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Futurist

Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty             or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities about the future and how they can emerge from the present, whether that of human society in particular or of life on Earth in general.

Past futurists and the emergence of the term
The term "futurist" most commonly refers to people who attempt to understand the future (sometimes called trend analysis) such as authors, consultants, thinkers, organizational leaders and others who engage in interdisciplinary and systems thinking to advise private and public organizations on such matters as diverse global trends, possible scenarios, emerging market opportunities and risk management. Futurist is not in the sense of the art movement futurism.

The Oxford English Dictionary identifies the earliest use of the term futurism in English as 1842, to refer, in a theological context, to the Christian eschatological tendency of that time. The next recorded use is the label adopted by the Italian and Russian Futurists, the artistic, literary and political movements of the 1920s and 1930s which sought to reject the past and fervently embrace speed, technology, and often violent change.

There are a number of organizations that specialize in this field including the World Future Society, the Association of Professional Futurists (APF) and the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF).

Visionary writers such as H. G. Wells, Jules Verne and Aldous Huxley were not in their day characterized as futurists. The term futurology in its contemporary sense was first coined in the mid‑1940s by the German Professor Ossip K. Flechtheim, who proposed a new science of probability. Flechtheim argued that even if systematic forecasting did no more than unveil the subset of statistically highly probable processes of change and charted their advance, it would still be of crucial social value.

In the mid‑1940s the first professional "futurist" consulting institutions like RAND and SRI began to engage in long-range planning, systematic trend watching, scenario development, and visioning, at first under World War II military and government contract and, beginning in the 1950s, for private institutions and corporations. The period from the late 1940s to the mid‑1960s laid the conceptual and methodological foundations of the modern futurology field. Bertrand de Jouvenel's The Art of Conjecture in 1963 and Dennis Gabor's Inventing the Future in 1964 are considered key early works, and the first U.S. university course devoted entirely to the future was taught by the late Alvin Toffler at the New School in 1966.

Modern futurists
More generally, the label includes such disparate lay, professional, and academic groups as visionaries, foresight consultants, corporate strategists, policy analysts, cultural critics, planners, marketers, forecasters, prediction market developers, roadmappers, operations researchers, investment managers, actuaries, and other risk analyzers, and future-oriented individuals educated in every academic discipline, including anthropology, complexity studies, computer science, economics, engineering, urban design, evolutionary biology, history, management, mathematics, philosophy, physical sciences, political science, psychology, sociology, systems theory, technology studies, trend analysis, and other disciplines.

Futurology
"Futurology"—or "futures studies", futures research, and foresight—can be summarized as being concerned with "three P's and a W", i.e. "possible, probable, and preferable" futures, plus "wildcards", which are low-probability, high-impact events, should they occur. Even with high-profile, probable events, such as the fall of telecommunications costs, the growth of the internet, or the aging demographics of particular countries, there is often significant uncertainty in the rate or continuation of a trend. Thus, a key part of futures analysis is the managing of uncertainty and risk.

Futurists and futurology
Not all futurists engage in the practice of futurology as generally defined. Pre-conventional futurists (see below) would generally not. And while religious futurists, astrologers, occultists, New Age diviners, etc. use methodologies that include study, none of their personal revelation or belief-based work would fall within a consensus definition of futurology as used in academics or by futures studies professionals.

Several authors have become recognized as futurists. They research trends, particularly in technology, and write their observations, conclusions, and predictions. In earlier eras, many futurists were at academic institutions. John McHale, author of The Future of the Future, published a "Futures Directory", and directed a think tank called The Centre For Integrative Studies at State University of New York in 1968. Futurists have started consulting groups or earn money as speakers, with examples including Alvin Toffler, John Naisbitt and Patrick Dixon. Frank Feather is a business speaker that presents himself as a pragmatic futurist. Some futurists have commonalities with science fiction, and some science-fiction writers, such as Arthur C. Clarke, are known as futurists. In the introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin distinguished futurists from novelists, writing of the study as the business of prophets, clairvoyants, and futurists. In her words, "a novelist's business is lying".

A 2001 survey of 108 futurists found the following shared assumptions:

 * 1) We are in the midst of a historical transformation. Current times are not just part of normal history.
 * 2) Multiple perspectives are at the heart of futures studies, including unconventional thinking, internal critique, and cross-cultural comparison.
 * 3) Consideration of alternatives. Futurists do not see themselves as value-free forecasters, but instead aware of multiple possibilities.
 * 4) Participatory futures. Futurists generally see their role as liberating the future in each person, and creating enhanced public ownership of the future. This is true worldwide.
 * 5) Long-term policy transformation. While some are more policy-oriented than others, almost all believe that the work of futures studies is to shape public policy, so it consciously and explicitly takes into account the long term.
 * 6) Part of the process of creating alternative futures and of influencing public (corporate, or international) policy is internal transformation. At international meetings, structural and individual factors are considered equally important.
 * 7) Complexity. Futurists believe that a simple one-dimensional or single-discipline orientation is not satisfactory. Trans-disciplinary approaches that take complexity seriously are necessary. Systems thinking, particularly in its evolutionary dimension, is also crucial.
 * 8) Futurists are motivated by change. They are not content merely to describe or forecast. They desire an active role in world transformation.
 * 9) They are hopeful for a better future as a "strange attractor".
 * 10) Most believe they are pragmatists in this world, even as they imagine and work for another. Futurists have a long term perspective.
 * 11) Sustainable futures, understood as making decisions that do not reduce future options, that include policies on nature, gender, and other accepted paradigms. This applies to corporate futurists and other non-governmental organizations. Environmental sustainability is reconciled with the technological, spiritual, and post-structural ideals. Sustainability is not a "back to nature" ideal, but rather inclusive of technology and culture.

Other uses
The term has also been used to refer to popular electronic music acts who emerged in the late 1970s, such as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Human League.

title: Futurist


text:
1989 Spanish general election

The 1989 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 29 October 1989, to elect the 4th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 254 seats in the Senate. An election had not been due until 28 July 1990 at latest, but Prime Minister Felipe González called for a snap election nine months ahead of schedule, allegedly on the need of implementing tough economic measures. González hoped to capitalize on a still strong economy and his party's electoral success in a European Parliament election held in June, after a troubled legislature which had seen an increase of social protest on his government's economic policy and the calling of a massive general strike in 1988.

The election was regarded as one of the most controversial in the democratic history of Spain. Close results in many constituencies, coupled with severe flaws in electoral register data, an inefficient structure of the electoral administration and the ongoing political struggle between the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the opposition parties over the Socialist absolute majority in the Congress of Deputies, led to a major scandal when election results in a number of constituencies were contested under accusations of irregularities and fraud. Judicial courts were forced to intervene, determining by-elections for Murcia, Pontevedra and Melilla. The issue was appealed to the Constitutional Court of Spain, which overruled previous rulings and validated the vote in Melilla only, with a new election being held on 25 March 1990. In the end, the disputed seat was won by the People's Party (PP), depriving the PSOE of its 176th seat in Congress–and with it, the outright majority it had held since 1982.

The election saw an erosion in popular support for the incumbent Socialists, who nonetheless emerged again as the largest party by a decisive margin, with 68 more seats than the PP. As a result, Felipe González was able to be re-elected for a third consecutive term in office with confidence and supply support from the Canarian Independent Groups (AIC). The newly amalgamated PP, led into the election by José María Aznar, exceeded initial expectations and slightly improved on the People's Coalition 1986 result while performing better than in the June European Parliament election. Julio Anguita's left-wing coalition, United Left (IU), scored a remarkable success by doubling its 1986 totals, whereas Adolfo Suárez's Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) fell short of its goal of becoming a government alternative and lost votes and seats.

Electoral system
The Spanish Cortes Generales were envisaged as an imperfect bicameral system. The Congress of Deputies had greater legislative power than the Senate, having the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority of votes. Nonetheless, the Senate possessed a few exclusive (yet limited in number) functions—such as its role in constitutional amendment—which were not subject to the Congress' override. Voting for the Cortes Generales was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

For the Congress of Deputies, 348 seats were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Spain, with each being allocated an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 248 being distributed in proportion to their populations. Ceuta and Melilla were allocated the two remaining seats, which were elected using plurality voting. The use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:

For the Senate, 208 seats were elected using an open list partial block voting system, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors could vote for up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, for up to two candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces was allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, districts were the islands themselves, with the larger—Majorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife—being allocated three seats each, and the smaller—Menorca, Ibiza–Formentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma—one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional senator per each million inhabitants.

Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes Generales—the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 22 June 1986, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 22 June 1990. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 29 May 1990, with the election taking place on the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes Generales on Saturday, 28 July 1990.

The prime minister had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no state of emergency was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. Additionally, both chambers were to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot. Barred this exception, there was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of 2024 there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution.

While the opposition to the PSOE government had pressed for a snap election since the general strike in December 1988, it was not until the PSOE's success in the 1989 European Parliament election, the end of the Spanish rotational Presidency of the Council of the European Union in June and the need for tough economic measures before the end of the year that Prime Minister Felipe González chose to trigger an early dissolution of the Cortes. On 25 August 1989, governmental sources confirmed that González would be calling an autumn election in the following days.

The Cortes Generales were officially dissolved on 2 September 1989 after the publication of the dissolution decree in the BOE, setting the election date for 29 October and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 21 November.

Background
Felipe González's second term as prime minister was characterized by economic growth, with public investments favoured by the Structural Funds coming from the European Economic Community to which Spain had recently accessed. The GDP grew by around or above 5% between 1987 and 1989 and unemployment decreased from 20.6% to 16.9%. This period saw a consolidation of welfare system reforms initiated during González's first term, allowed through a better financing derived from a relatively progressive tax system. But the economic expansion fostered by the government's liberal policies brought about an increase in wealth differences and of inequality, leading to social unrest and a loss of popularity for the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), made apparent in the local, regional and European Parliament elections. In December 1988, the two major trade unions in Spain, CCOO and UGT, called a general strike which succeeded in paralyzing the country and in forcing González's government to negotiate a partial withdrawal of its economic policies.

Concurrently, the opposition People's Alliance (AP) suffered from a profound internal crisis since the 1986 election, which had seen the break up of the People's Coalition and the resignation of party leader Manuel Fraga. His successor, Antonio Hernández Mancha, proved unable to improve AP's electoral fortunes and saw his political credibility decimated after an unsuccessful attempt to bring down Felipe González through a motion of no confidence in March 1987. Hernández Mancha ended up quitting in early 1989, with Fraga returning as a caretaker leader who oversaw the merging of AP with its former allies, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Party (PL), into the new People's Party (PP). Intending his national leadership as temporary, Fraga appointed a then-unknown President of Castile and León José María Aznar as his successor.

The 1986–1989 period saw an increase in the terror activity of the ETA Basque separatist group. This reached its peak with the Hipercor bombing on 19 June 1987, which—with 21 dead and 45 injured—would eventually become the deadliest attack in ETA's history. Other deadly attacks included the Plaza República Dominicana bombing on 14 July 1986, three weeks after the previous general election and one day before the newly elected Cortes re-assembled, which left 12 dead and 32 injured; and the 1987 Zaragoza Barracks bombing, with 11 dead—including 5 children—and 88 injured. Concurrently, the PSOE government introduced a policy of dispersion of imprisoned terrorists throughout the entire Spanish territory in order to restrict contacts between them and prevent terrorist organizations from organizing themselves from prison. Political parties signed several anti-terrorist agreements, such as the Ajuria Enea Pact or the Madrid Agreement on Terrorism, aimed at increasing inter-party cooperation on the issue. In January 1989, ETA declared a ceasefire in order to start negotiation talks in Algiers with the Socialist government, but no successful conclusion was reached and ETA resumed its violence campaign.

Parliamentary composition
The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution.

Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

The People's Party (PP) and Navarrese People's Union (UPN) signed a coalition agreement on 8 September 1989 to run together in Navarre, renewing the alliance in existence between the PP's predecessors, the People's Alliance (AP) and the People's Coalition (CP), and UPN, in both the 1982 and 1986 elections.

Campaign period
Despite Aznar's designation as PP candidate, the opposition remained divided and weak on the road to the 1989 election. This, coupled with a buoyant economy, made a new PSOE victory inevitable. The electoral campaign, thus, focused on whether the Socialists would be able to maintain their absolute majority on the Congress of Deputies for a third term in office. United Left had also appointed a new leader, Julio Anguita, and had high expectations to increase their parliamentary representation from the 7 seats they had won in 1986. During the campaign, Felipe González pledged that this would be the last time he would stand for the office of Prime Minister. He would eventually stand for two more elections, until 1996.

Initial reactions
The 1989 election night was one of the most dramatic since González's first victory in 1982, as PSOE's overall majority in the Congress of Deputies—set at 176—lingered during the entire vote tally. Exit polls and initial counts showed the PSOE below the majority threshold—with as few as 170 seats in some projections—. As the vote tally progressed, the party was allocated more seats, and with 98% of the votes counted at 4 am it was awarded the decisive 176th seat. Earlier in the night, the party's Secretary for Organization Txiki Benegas, Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso Guerra and González himself had commented that, notwithstanding the final outcome, the PSOE still remained the largest party by far and would lead the new government on its own, rejecting any coalition deal. The tight result could not hide the loss of nearly 800,000 voters and a clear erosion in support since 1986, which led opposition parties and some international media—such as the Financial Times, The Independent or The Times—to ask González for a change of direction in government, accusing him of acting "arrogantly" during his previous seven years in office.

PP candidate José María Aznar found his party's results as "satisfactory", slightly improving on Fraga's result in 1986. Additionally, the PP had won the election in Madrid for the first time ever, considered as a symbolical feat as both Aznar and González were personally leading their parties's lists in the constituency. IU experienced a remarkable growth by doubling its 1986 results, with its leaders highlighting "the electorate's displacement to the left". On the other hand, the CDS lost votes and seats compared to 1986 and its result was commented as "not the one I expected for" by party leader Adolfo Suárez, who also acknowledged his public image had "deteriorated" in recent times. The breakdown of results would show a noticeable transfer of votes from the PSOE to IU in industrial and urban areas, with the Socialists holding their own in rural constituencies.

Irregularities and judicial intervention
During the days after the election, the 176th seat determining the PSOE's absolute majority remained in dispute. PP leaders voiced their concerns over a delay in the Ministry of the Interior's presentation of detailed results during the election night, during which the PSOE was awarded several seats by very few votes in the later stages of the vote tally; seats which ultimately proved decisive for the PSOE retaining its majority. In Barcelona, the PP claimed that its own tallies awarded the PSC–PSOE up to 5,000 votes less than those officially acknowledged by the Ministry, which would have resulted in them winning a 4th seat in the province from the PSC. Additionally, they alleged that this seat had changed hands from the PP to the PSC only when 99.98% of the votes were counted. IU's Julio Anguita criticized the vote tally, openly questioning that "How can [PSOE] go from 172 to 176 seats so fast?". IU announced that they would ask the Electoral Commission to review the voting records of 1,087 polling station wards in the constituency of Murcia, where the last seat had been allocated to PSOE from IU by a narrow margin of 96 votes.

PP claims in Barcelona were cast off after the tally of Spaniards voting abroad gave an even larger margin for the PSC and secured their 14th seat in the constituency. On 5 November, the Electoral Commission found irregularities in Murcia after determining that the number of voters and of ballot papers did not match up in fifteen wards. The new provisional results published on 6 November, which did not include the wards where irregularities had been found, awarded the last seat to PSOE by just two votes. Some IU members openly accused the PSOE of fraud, claiming that Socialist intervenors had voted twice in some wards not just in Murcia, but also in Málaga, Madrid and La Rioja—where, however, election results had not been contested—. A new tally on 11 November in Murcia resulted in the Commission awarding the seat to IU, which prompted a PSOE appeal to the Superior Court of Justice of Murcia. Concurrently, both the PP and the CDS alleged to have found irregularities in several polling stations in Melilla and Pontevedra, where seats had been awarded to PSOE by just a handful of votes, and asked for the vote to be declared void in those constituencies. The chaotic situation was further aggravated when, on 22 November, the PP denounced that it had found cases of name duplicity in the electoral register of Ceuta, with the party also demanding for the election to be repeated in Murcia after denouncing irregular procedures by the Electoral Commission during the vote tally. The Spanish Attorney General, Javier Moscoso, entered the fray and stated on 24 November that the disputed Murcia's seat belonged to PSOE. On 1 December, the Superior Court of Murcia voided the election results in the constituency and required the government to call a by-election within three months.

The judicial decision in Murcia raised speculation in other constituencies where results had been appealed that the local Superior Courts would issue similar rulings. This happened in Pontevedra, where the number of counted votes exceeded the number of voters. Finally, the Superior Court of Andalusia ruled that the election in Melilla was void, but dismissed the appeal on Ceuta where it declared the election validity. González's government announced that it would appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court which, on 25 January 1990, provisionally suspended the scheduled by-elections in Murcia, Pontevedra and Melilla. From 15 to 19 February, the Court overruled the Superior Courts of Justice of Murcia and Galicia and annulled the by-elections for Murcia and Pontevedra, declaring the 29 October results in these as valid and final. For Melilla, it determined that the magnitude of the irregularities found was such that a new, full election was required in the constituency. The election in Melilla on 25 March 1990 gave the constituency's single deputy and its two senators to the PP, thus reducing the PSOE's deputy count to 175. A by-election was also held on 7 October 1990 in a polling station in Mamblas, Ávila, as the consequence of a judicial conflict between the PP and the CDS over one senator in the constituency, which resulted in the PP winning the disputed senator from the CDS.

Irregularities were found to be a consequence of flawed electoral registers, lack of knowledge on election rules by those appointed to integrate the polling bureaus, a lack of means for the active monitoring of the election process and an inefficient structure of the electoral administration, all of which was coupled with the detection of some illicit votes in several wards. While these flaws had been present in past elections, the closeness of results in the 1989 election and the fact that the PSOE overall majority relied on a single seat meant that these were abruptly exposed. As a result, the electoral law was subsequently amended in 1991 in order to improve the efficiency of the electoral administration.

Investiture
On 5 December 1989, Felipe González was re-elected as prime minister in the first round of voting with an absolute majority of votes. As a consequence of seat disputes, only 332 deputies had been sworn in for the investiture, as results for the remaining 18 seats had been temporarily suspended by the Superior Courts. After all 350 seats had been allocated, Prime Minister Felipe González voluntarily submitted himself to a vote of confidence to rectify the atypical investiture vote. The result was essentially a repeat of the December 1989 voting, with some parties previously voting 'No' choosing to abstain. González's parliamentary support remained the same as it was.

title: 1989 Spanish general election


text: User talk:Emtae

title: User talk:Emtae


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Jimmy Montgomery

Jimmy Montgomery BEM (born 9 October 1943) is an English retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made a record 627 appearances for his hometown club Sunderland with 537 of these appearances being in the league, after joining the club as a youngster in 1960.

In June 2015, Montgomery was awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to football in the Queen's birthday honours list.

Career
Montgomery made his debut aged only 18 against Walsall, going on to serve 17 years at the club.

Montgomery featured for Sunderland in the 1973 FA Cup Final, where they beat Leeds United 1–0 to win the FA Cup for only the second time in their history. His most memorable contribution in that match was a double save from Trevor Cherry and Peter Lorimer which prevented Leeds from equalising. This was described in an internet article in 2012 as the greatest double save ever.

Montgomery also played for Southampton, Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest. After he retired as a player Montgomery returned to Birmingham City and Sunderland as a goalkeeping coach.

At international level, Montgomery played for the England U23 national team.

Personal life
He is related to James Montgomery, also a footballer.

In October 2020, a mural of Montgomery celebrating the 1973 Sunderland FA Cup win was unveiled on The Times Inn public house overlooking the River Wear at Wear Street, Sunderland.

Honours
Sunderland
 * FA Cup: 1972–73
 * Football League Second Division: 1975–76

Nottingham Forest
 * European Cup: 1979–80

Individual
 * PFA Team of the Year: 1975–76 Second Division
 * British Empire Medal: 2015

title: Jimmy Montgomery


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Copa CONMEBOL

The Copa CONMEBOL (CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contest, similar to the UEFA Cup. Clubs qualified for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. Teams that were not able to qualify for the Copa Libertadores would play in this tournament. The tournament was played as a knockout cup. The tournament ended in 1999, following the expansion of the Copa Libertadores to 32 teams.

The Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte -which both started in 1998- replaced the Copa CONMEBOL, and the merger of those 3 cups would later transformed in the current Copa Sudamericana.

The last champion of the competition was Talleres, while Atlético Mineiro is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament two times. The cup was won by seven different clubs but it was never won consecutively.

Qualification
Each national association was assigned a number of entries determined by CONMEBOL which changed slightly from one edition to another. The best teams from the previous season that did not qualify for the Copa Libertadores through their league qualified for the Copa CONMEBOL. The tournament itself was played in two-legged knockout stages. The champion of the Copa CONMEBOL disputed the Recopa Sudamericana, the Copa de Oro and the Copa Master de CONMEBOL, albeit irregularly.

Tournament
The tournament started in the first stage in which 16 clubs were paired in a series of two-legged knockout ties in the round of 16, the first of four stages that worked on a single elimination phase knockout system that culminated in the finals. During each stage of the tournament, ties were decided on points, followed by goal difference, away goals, then a penalty shootout after full-time of the second leg, if necessary.

title: Copa CONMEBOL


text: Category:Indianapolis Racers

title: Category:Indianapolis Racers


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User talk:152.163.101.9

Proposed deletion of Raymond Burton (rugby league)

The article Raymond Burton (rugby league) has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern: "Non-notable rugby league player who fails WP:SPORTBASIC."

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title: User talk:152.163.101.9


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Birger

Birger is a Scandinavian name from Old Norse, bjarga, meaning "to help, to save, to protect". It is widely used in Norway as Birger but also as Børge. The Swedish variant of Birger would soon evolve into Börje, however, the prior form would remain common, and was not confused with its successor. The Icelandic form is Birgir. Birger is primarily a masculine given name, but can also be found as a surname.

Middle Ages

 * Birger, King of Sweden (1280–1321)
 * Birger Brosa (died 1202), Swedish jarl
 * Birger Gregersson (c. 1327 – 1383), Archbishop of Uppsala
 * Birger Jarl (1210–1266), Swedish statesman
 * Birger Persson (died 1327), Swedish magnate, knight, privy councillor and Uppland's first lawspeaker

Modern world

 * Birger Asplund (1929–2023), Swedish hammer thrower
 * Birger Carlstedt (1907–1975), Finnish artist
 * Birger Cederin (1895–1942), Swedish fencer
 * Birger Dahlerus (1891–1957), Swedish businessman and amateur diplomat
 * Birger Ekeberg (1880–1968), Swedish jurist
 * Birger Eriksen (1875–1958), Norwegian colonel who repelled the initial German World War II invasion force
 * Birger Hedqvist (1894–1964), Swedish lieutenant general
 * Birger Ljungberg (1884–1967), Norwegian military officer, politician and Minister of Defence from 1939 to 1942
 * Birger Ljungström (1872–1948), Swedish engineer, technical designer, industrialist and inventor
 * Birger Malmsten (1920–1991), Swedish actor
 * Birger Sandzén (1871–1954), Swedish-American painter
 * Birger Sjöberg (1885–1929), Swedish poet and songwriter

Surname

 * Charles Birger (1881–1928), American bootlegger
 * Hugo Birger (1854–1887), Swedish painter
 * Malene Birger (born 1962), Danish fashion designer
 * Pablo Birger (1924–1966), Argentine racing driver
 * Trudi Birger (1927–2002), German Holocaust survivor and writer

Birgir
Birgir is used in Iceland and the Faroes. In 2016, 1045 people had Birgir as a first given name in Iceland, and 285 had it as a second name.

 * Birgir Þórarinsson (born 1965), Icelandic politician
 * Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson (1936–2019), Icelandic politician

title: Birger


text: User talk:80.61.78.76

title: User talk:80.61.78.76


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Slimane

Slimane or Sliman is an alternative of Suleiman (in Arabic name سليمان) being the Arabic version of the name Solomon. The name means "man of peace". It is also a common given name and surname. It may refer to

Given name

 * Sliman
 * Sliman Mansour (born 1947), Palestinian painter
 * Sliman Murshid or Salman al-Murshid (1907–1946), Syrian Alawi religious figure and political leader
 * Sliman Ourak, Tunisian politician

 * Slimane
 * Slimane of Morocco (1766–1822), Sultan of Morocco from 1792 to 1822
 * Slimane Azem (1918–1983), Algerian singer and poet
 * Slimane Dazi, French actor
 * Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane (1973–2013), Danish citizen held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps
 * Slimane Khalfaoui (born 1975), French-Algerian terrorist convicted of the Strasbourg Cathedral bombing plot in 2004
 * Slimane Nebchi (born 1989), French-Algerian singer, 2016 winner of The Voice: la plus belle voix known by the mononym Slimane
 * Slimane Raho (born 1975), Algerian football player
 * Slimane Saoudi (born 1975), Algerian tennis player

Surname

 * Sliman
 * Agamemnon Sliman or Agamemnon Schliemann (1878–1954), Greek diplomat and ambassador to the United States (1914)
 * Allan Sliman (1906–1945), Scottish footballer
 * Ramzi Ben Sliman (born 1982), French film director and screenwriter

 * Slimane
 * Hedi Slimane (born 1968), French-Tunisian photographer and fashion designer
 * Radhouane Slimane (born 1980), Tunisian basketball player
 * Yacine Ait-Slimane (born 1995), Canadian soccer player

title: Slimane


text:
Amadeus III

Amadeus III may refer to:

 * Amadeus III of Savoy (1095–1148), Count of Savoy and Crusader
 * Amadeus III of Geneva (1311–1367), Count of Geneva

title: Amadeus III


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Yank (disambiguation)

Yank (disambiguation)
I copied the Yank (disambiguation) article to Yank, after I moved the original Yank to Yank (newspaper). Yank (disambiguation) is now defunct and should be removed. —Herbee 22:00, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I have cleared the page and marked it for speedy deletion. We don't really need to debate this one. [[User:GeorgeStepanek|GeorgeStepanek\talk ]] 22:13, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)


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Cloistered Emperor

A cloistered emperor (太上法皇) is the term for a Japanese emperor who had abdicated and entered the Buddhist monastic community by receiving the Pravrajya rite. The term can also be shortened to Hōō (法皇).

Cloistered emperors sometimes acted as Daijō Tennō (retired emperors), therefore maintaining effective power. This title was first assumed by Emperor Shōmu and was later used by many other emperors who "took the tonsure", signifying a decision to become a Buddhist monk. The last cloistered emperor was Emperor Reigen (r. 1663-1687) in the Edo period.

title: Cloistered Emperor