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Christopher Priest (comics)

Christopher James Priest (born James Christopher Owsley, June 30, 1961 ) is an American comic book writer who is at times credited simply as Priest. He changed his name legally circa 1993. He was the first black writer-editor in mainstream comics.

Comics writing
Priest (as Jim Owsley) entered the comics industry as a Marvel Comics intern in 1978. He joined Marvel's editorial staff in 1979, working for Paul Laikin as a managing editor on Crazy Magazine and becoming the first African American editor in mainstream comics. He next became assistant editor for Larry Hama on the Conan titles.

Owsley made his professional debut as a writer in 1983 with issue No. 1 of The Falcon miniseries and was made full editor of the Spider-Man comic books from 1985 to 1986. Professional and personal disagreements eventually led to his leaving Marvel. Owsley's writing tenure on Power Man and Iron Fist concluded with Iron Fist's controversial death.

Moving to DC Comics, Owsley had a run as writer of Green Lantern when the character was exclusive to the anthology series Action Comics Weekly from 1988 to 1989. Owsley wrote the Green Lantern serial issues #601–607, left part way through a story arc and then returned for issues #621–635. He worked with artists Gil Kane and Tod Smith during his first run, and then upon his return, with artist M. D. Bright. Owsley would write two Green Lantern Specials, the second issue concluding the plots left off from the end of Action Comics Weekly, with Bright drawing. They would work again on the first issue of Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn before Owsley departed. He edited several titles in DC Comics' Impact Comics imprint from 1991 to 1993.

As a writer, Owsley/Priest worked on the series Conan the Barbarian, King Conan, The Ray, Steel, Deadpool, and Black Panther vol. 3. He co-created the series Quantum and Woody, Xero, and The Crew, among others.

In 1993, he became part of the group of writers and artists that launched Milestone Media, a comic book publisher affiliated with DC Comics. He has said he was intended to become the company's editor-in-chief, but personal problems forced him to scale down his involvement to liaison between DC and Milestone. During this period, he co-created the character Static, among others.

Shortly afterward, he changed his name from "Jim Owsley" to "Christopher Priest" for reasons he has not discussed publicly other than in one remark in an interview about becoming a priest if his marriage, which later ended in divorce, did not last. During Owsley's Green Lantern run, prior to his name change, he introduced a character named Priest. He has stated he was unaware of the British science fiction novelist Christopher Priest. He refers to himself professionally as either the mononym "Priest" or "Christopher J. Priest".

After a decade-long absence from comics, he returned in 2014–2015 to write a Quantum and Woody miniseries for Valiant Comics. He was chosen to write the DC Rebirth version of Deathstroke in 2016. He became the writer for Justice League in December 2017, but was replaced by Scott Snyder in 2018. Priest contributed a story to the Black Panther Annual No. 1, released in February 2018. In 2019 he was announced as the writer on Vampirella for Dynamite Comics and U.S.Agent for Marvel Comics.

Music
Priest is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist music producer who has written and produced dozens of tracks for himself and others. Streetwise, Priest's first solo album, recorded under the stage name "Hollis Stone," was released on vinyl on March 3, 1981. It featured a cover photo by Eliot R. Brown of the then-Jim Owsley standing in front of the Marvel Comics office building at 575 Madison Avenue.

In 1993, Priest co-produced ''Live! Minister Darryl Cherry and the Covenant Mass Choir'' (RWM-4445), a full concert multitrack recording featuring an 85-voice choir and 10-piece band including Priest playing bass guitar on two selections. The album was recorded before a live concert audience in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Personal life
Priest is an ordained Baptist minister, and maintains an extensive archive of progressive Christian ecumenical essays on his website PraiseNet.Org. Priest resides in Denver, Colorado.

Regular writer

 * The Marvel No-Prize Book No. 1 (Marvel Comics, January 1983) – (one-shot)
 * Falcon #1–4 (Marvel Comics, November 1983 – February 1984)
 * The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #20–22 (Marvel Comics, August 1984 – October 1984)
 * Power Man and Iron Fist #111–125 (Marvel Comics, November 1984 – September 1986)

 * Conan the Barbarian #172–185, 187–213 (Marvel Comics, July 1985 – December 1988) – (co-writer #202–213)
 * Conan the Barbarian King-Size Annual #8, 10–12 (Marvel Comics, 1983, 1985–1987)
 * Conan the King #50–55 (Marvel Comics, January 1989 – November 1989)

 * The Amazing Spider-Man #284–288 (Marvel Comics, January 1987 – May 1987)
 * Spider-Man vs. Wolverine No. 1 (Marvel Comics, February 1987) – (one-shot)
 * Action Comics Weekly #601–607 (DC Comics, May 24, 1988 – July 5, 1988) – (Green Lantern story)
 * Green Lantern Special #1–2 (DC Comics, 1988–1989)
 * "I, Whom the Gods Would Destroy." Marvel Graphic Novel No. 33 (Marvel Comics, 1988) – (Thor story)
 * Action Comics Weekly #621–635 (DC Comics, October 11, 1988 – January 17, 1989) – (Green Lantern story; co-writer)
 * The Unknown Soldier #1–12 (DC Comics, Winter 1988 – December 1989) – (limited series)
 * Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn No. 1 (DC Comics, January 1989) – (mini-series)
 * The Ray #1–28 (DC Comics, May 1994 – August 1996)
 * Justice League Task Force #18–37 (DC Comics, December 1994 – August 1996)
 * The Ray Annual No. 1 (DC Comics, 1995)
 * Triumph #1–4 (DC Comics, June 1995 – September 1995) – (mini-series)
 * Doom Link (DC Comics, 1995) – (Superman and Batman Elseworlds one-shot)
 * Hawkman #31–33 (DC Comics, April 1996 – June 1996)
 * Total Justice #1–3 (DC Comics, October 1996 – November 1996) – (mini-series)
 * Steel #34–52 (DC Comics, January 1997 – July 1998)
 * Wonder Woman Plus No. 1 (DC Comics, January 1997) – (with Jesse Quick; one-shot)
 * Xero #1–12 (DC Comics, May 1997 – April 1998)
 * Quantum and Woody #1–21 (Acclaim Comics, June 1997 – February 2000)
 * JLX Unleashed No. 1 (Marvel Comics, June 1997) – (one-shot)
 * Solar, Man of the Atom: Hell on Earth #1–4 (Acclaim Comics [Valiant], January 1998 – April 1998) – (limited series)
 * Concrete Jungle: The Legend of the Black Lion #1 (Acclaim Comics, April 1998) – (one-shot)
 * Ka-Zar #14–17 (Marvel Comics, June 1998 – September 1998)
 * GOAT: H.A.E.D.U.S. #1 (Acclaim Comics, August 1998) – (one-shot)
 * Wonder Woman #137–138, 1,000,000 (DC Comics, September 1998 – November 1998)
 * Black Panther vol. 3 #1–56, 59–62 (Marvel Comics, November 1998 – May 2003, July 2003 – September 2003)
 * Turok/Shadowman No. 1 (Acclaim Comics, February 1999) – (one-shot)
 * Impulse: Bart Saves the Universe No. 1 (DC Comics, March 1999) – (one-shot)
 * Deadpool #34–41, 43–45 (Marvel Comics, November 1999 – June 2000, August 2000 – October 2000)
 * Batman: The Hill No. 1 (DC Comics, May 2000) – (one-shot)
 * Legends of the DC Universe #30–32 (DC Comics, July 2000 – September 2000) – (Wonder Woman story)
 * The Crew #1–7 (Marvel Comics, July 2003 – January 2004)
 * Captain America and the Falcon #1–14 (Marvel Comics, May 2004 – June 2005)
 * Q2: The Return of Quantum and Woody #1–5 (Valiant Entertainment, October 2014 – February 2015)
 * Deathstroke vol. 4 #1–50 (DC Comics, August 2016 – December 2019)
 * Inhumans: Once and Future Kings #1–5 (Marvel Comics, August 2017 – October 2017)
 * Justice League vol. 3 #34–43 (DC Comics, December 2017 – April 2018)
 * Spider-Force #1–3 (Marvel Comics, October 2018 – December 2018)
 * Vampirella #1–25 (Dynamite Entertainment, July 2019 – November 2021)
 * U.S.Agent #1–5 (Marvel Comics, November 2020 – April 2021)
 * Black Adam #1– (DC Comics, June 2022 – )
 * Vampirella: Year One #1– (Dynamite Entertainment, July 2022 – )

Fill-in writer

 * Marvel Team-Up No. 141 (Marvel Comics, May 1984)
 * Power Man and Iron Fist No. 108 (Marvel Comics, August 1984) – (co-writer)
 * Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #105–106 (Marvel Comics, August 1985 – September 1985) – (co-writer)
 * Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man No. 111 (Marvel Comics, February 1986) – (Secret Wars II crossover)
 * Amazing High Adventure  The Conquest of Kiurkan.  No. 2 (Marvel Comics, September 1985)
 * Daredevil No. 224, No. 246 (Marvel Comics, November 1985)
 * Moon Knight vol. 2 No. 6 (Marvel Comics, December 1985)
 * The Savage Sword of Conan vol. 1
 * "The Beast." The Savage Sword of Conan No. 91 (Marvel Comics, August 1983)
 * "The Chain!" The Savage Sword of Conan No. 91 (Marvel Comics, August 1983)
 * "One Night at the Maul." The Savage Sword of Conan No. 99 (Marvel Comics, April 1984)
 * "The Vezek Inn." The Savage Sword of Conan No. 109 (Marvel Comics, February 1985)
 * "At the Altar of the Goat God." The Savage Sword of Conan No. 125 (Marvel Comics, June 1986) – (co-writer)
 * "Curse of the Ageless Ones!" The Savage Sword of Conan vol. 1 No. 128 (Marvel Comics, September 1986)
 * Thor No. 370 (Marvel Comics, August 1986)
 * Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual No. 7 (Marvel Comics, 1987)
 * Web of Spider-Man #29–30 (Marvel Comics, August 1987 – September 1987)
 * Daredevil No. 246 (Marvel Comics, September 1987)
 * Web of Spider-Man No. 37 (Marvel Comics, April 1988)
 * "Phantasm." The Savage Sword of Conan No. 153 (Marvel Comics, October 1988)
 * "The Secret Origin of Green Lantern." Secret Origins No. 36 (DC Comics, January 1989)
 * Batman #431–432 (DC Comics, March 1989 – April 1989)
 * "Brothers." The Savage Sword of Conan No. 160 (Marvel Comics, May 1989)
 * Batman Annual No. 13 (DC Comics, 1989)
 * "The Sting." Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 3) No. 13 (Marvel Comics, April 1993) – (Iron Man story)
 * "Checkmate." Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 3 No. 13 (Marvel Comics, April 1993) – (Iron Man story)
 * Black Canary No. 8 (DC Comics, August 1993)
 * Wonder Woman #88–89 (DC Comics, July 1994 – August 1994)
 * Justice League America No. 92 (DC Comics, September 1994) – (Zero Hour crossover)
 * Justice League International No. 68 (DC Comics, September 1994) – (Zero Hour crossover)
 * Justice League Task Force No. 16 (DC Comics, September 1994) – (Zero Hour crossover)
 * Catwoman Annual No. 1 (DC Comics, 1994) – (Elseworlds story)
 * Superman: The Man of Steel Annual No. 3 (DC Comics, 1994) – (Elseworlds story)
 * Solar, Man of the Atom #44–45 (Acclaim Comics [Valiant], May 1995 – June 1995)
 * Showcase '96 No. 2 (DC Comics, February 1996) – (Circe story)
 * "Huntress: Exposure." The Batman Chronicles No. 4 (DC Comics, Spring 1996) – (Huntress story)
 * Justice League America Annual No. 10 (DC Comics, 1996)
 * "Hammered." Team Superman Secret Files No. 1 (DC Comics, May 1998) – (one-shot)
 * "Revelations." JLA 80-Page Giant No. 1 (DC Comics, July 1998) – (Aquaman and Wonder Woman story)
 * "The Professional." The Flash 80 Page Giant No. 1 (DC Comics, August 1998) – (Jesse Quick story)
 * "Heroes." JLA Secret Files No. 2 (DC Comics, August 1998)
 * Legends of the DC Universe #12–13 (DC Comics, January 1999 – February 1999) – (Justice League of America story)
 * "Phases." Green Lantern 80 Page Giant No. 2 (DC Comics, June 1999)
 * "The Game." JLA 80-Page Giant No. 2 (DC Comics, November 1999)
 * Hourman No. 20 (DC Comics, November 2000)
 * The Incredible Hulk vol. 3 No. 33 (Marvel Comics, December 2001)
 * "Masks." Marvel Double-Shot No. 2 (Marvel Comics, February 2003) – (Doctor Doom story)
 * Thor vol. 2 No. 59 (Marvel Comics, April 2003)

Fiction

 * Green Lantern: Sleepers Vol. 1 and 2 (Plot outline only. (Ibooks, Inc./Simon & Schuster 2005)
 * Green Lantern: Sleepers Vol. 3 (Ibooks, Inc. First Edition: September 1, 2005, ISBN 1596871032)
 * Zion: A Love Story (Lamercie Park LLC, 2015 ASIN: B00O08L9C6)
 * Dual: A Love Story (Lamercie Park LLC, 2015 ASIN: B00S7EKGKA)
 * 1999 (Lamercie Park LLC, 2015 Serialized as four novellas)

Nonfiction

 * Klang! A Writer's Commentary (Lamercie Park LLC, 2015 ASIN: B014RP35KU)
 * Black Faith 101 (Lamercie Park LLC, 2014 ASIN: B00QJ09DGC)
 * Fear of A Black Church: Why The Black Church Looks Nothing Like Christ (Lamercie Park LLC, 2014 ASIN: B00O03PALM)
 * The Levite's Concubine: Women And The African American Church (Lamercie Park LLC, 2014 ASIN: B00O0ATRXM)
 * The Glass House: 10 Reasons Your Church Is Not Growing (Lamercie Park LLC, 2014 ASIN: B00O80HVPK)
 * Sex & The Single Christian (Lamercie Park LLC, 2014 ASIN: B00O8ZSBOA)
 * LGBT: In The Name of God: The Church's Response to The LGBT Community (with Benjamin L. Reynolds, M.Div. Lamercie Park LLC, 2015 ASIN: B00QQHILDO)
 * The Essential Black Church: Seventy-Five Theses Challenging Our Tradition (Lamercie Park LLC, 2015 ASIN: B00TE9PB7A)

Discography

 * Streetwise, Hollis Stone (1981, Sonfire/New Witness NW001)
 * White Soul, Hollis Stone (1982 Phonogram Ltd/Lamercie Park)
 * A Mighty Fortress Is Our God / The Wedding Song, Hollis Stone (Single, 1985 Phonogram Ltd/Lamercie Park)
 * Girls, Hollis Stone (1986 Phonogram Ltd/Lamercie Park)
 * Stop!, Nita Marshal (Producer: Hollis Stone, 1986 Phonogram Ltd/Lamercie Park)
 * Pandora's Box, Hollis Stone (1987 Phonogram Ltd/Lamercie Park)
 * Night & Day, Twynn (Producer: Hollis Stone, 1993 Grace Phonogram Entertainment/Lamercie Park)
 * Minister Darryl Cherry & The Covenant Mass Choir: Live!, Minister Darryl Cherry & The Covenant Mass Choir (Producer: Christopher Priest, 1993/Released 2004 Relevant Praise RWM-4445)
 * Nadine's Diary, Nadia (Producer: Priest, 2000 Grace Phonogram Entertainment/Relevant Praise/Lamercie Park, RWM-4447)

title: Christopher Priest (comics)


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Orin Kerr

Orin Samuel Kerr (born June 2, 1971) is an American legal scholar and professor of law at the UC Berkeley School of Law. He is known for his studies of American criminal procedure and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as computer crime law and internet surveillance. Kerr is one of the contributors to the law-oriented blog titled The Volokh Conspiracy.

Early life and education
Kerr was born in 1971 in New York. His father, Arnold D. Kerr (born Aronek Kierszkowski; 1928–2012), was a Polish Jew who was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust; he immigrated to the United States in 1954 and was a professor of civil engineering at New York University and the University of Delaware.

After graduating from Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1989, Kerr studied mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, graduating in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, magna cum laude. He then did graduate study in mechanical engineering at Stanford University, where he received a Master of Science degree in 1994. Kerr then attended Harvard Law School, where he was an executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and an editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. He graduated in 1997 with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude.

Career
Kerr was a law clerk for Judge Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1997 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001, he was a trial attorney in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division. In 2001, he joined the faculty of George Washington University Law School.

In 2003, Kerr took a leave of absence from the law school to clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court during October Term 2003. In 2009, he served U.S. Senator John Cornyn of the Senate Judiciary Committee as Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations during Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation as Supreme Court Justice; a year later, he again served as an advisor to Cornyn, this time on the Supreme Court confirmation of Elena Kagan.

Kerr was one of the lawyers for alleged MySpace "cyberbully" Lori Drew. His blog contributions at The Volokh Conspiracy often focus on developments in internet privacy law. He has been regarded as a leading scholar on Fourth Amendment jurisprudence in electronic communications and surveillance. Kerr was repeatedly cited in the Ninth Circuit's 2008 opinion Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co., Inc., which held that users have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the content of text messages and e-mails. The Supreme Court later took up the case, as Ontario v. Quon, and unanimously reversed. Kerr argued before the Supreme Court in the 2011 case Davis v. United States.

In response to a 2011 comment by Chief Justice John Roberts criticizing the irrelevancy of legal scholarship for focusing on issues such as Immanuel Kant's influence on 18th century evidentiary approaches in Bulgaria, Kerr wrote a short, humorous paper on the topic in 2015, finding that such influence was highly improbable.

Kerr filed an amicus curiae in support of the United States in Carpenter v. United States, a case concerning the government's seizure of an individual's historical cell phone locations records without a warrant.

Academia
In 2012, he was appointed to a position as a scholar-in-residence at the Library of Congress; the two-year part-time position focused on information technology, privacy, and criminal justice. In 2018, Kerr joined the faculty of the USC Gould School of Law. In 2019, Kerr joined the faculty of the UC Berkeley School of Law.

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

title: Orin Kerr


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Downtown Orlando

Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by Marks Street in the north, Mills Avenue (SR 15) in the east, Orange Blossom Trail (US 441) in the west, and Kaley Avenue in the south. There are several distinct neighborhoods in downtown; "North Quarter" to the north, "Lake Eola Heights Historic District" just north of Lake Eola, "South Eola" contains Lake Eola Park and continues to the east and south of Lake Eola, "Thornton Park" in the east, "Parramore" in the west, "Lake Cherokee Historic District" to the south, and the "Central Business District" (or the "Financial District") between Colonial Drive and Lake Lucerne in the center. In 2010, the estimated population of downtown was 18,731. The daytime population was estimated to be 65,000 (in 2010). The 5-mile radius population of downtown is 273,335.

Overview
Downtown Orlando is the largest of urban centers in Central Florida. It is home to residential and commercial towers; local, state, and federal government offices; sports facilities; performing arts theaters; art galleries; retail; restaurants; nightclubs; and parks. Downtown is removed from the tourist areas located in the southwestern half of the city, but it draws visitors seeking to experience the "Real Orlando". It is also the location of numerous festivals, parades, concerts, political demonstrations, and other high-profile events.

Geography
There are seven official neighborhoods with significant portions inside the Downtown Orlando Community Redevelopment Area (CRA): The CRA also includes small pieces of College Park (portions east of Peachtree Road, and along Orange Avenue between Magnolia and Highland Avenues), Lake Cherokee (portions west of Delaney Avenue and north of Ponce de Leon Place / Palmer Street), Lorna Doone (Camping World Stadium only), Park Lake/Highland (portion north of Lake Highland), South Division (portion north of Gore Street, mostly highway right-of-way), South Orange (portion north of Gore Street), and Thornton Park (portion north of Central Boulevard and west of James Avenue).
 * Callahan (portion east of Westmoreland Drive)
 * Central Business District
 * Holden/Parramore (portion east of Westmoreland Drive)
 * Lake Dot (portion east of Westmoreland Drive)
 * Lake Eola Heights (portion west of Summerlin Avenue)
 * South Eola
 * North Quarter
 * City District

North Quarter
Located north of Colonial Drive, the border of this area is Interstate 4 to the west, and Highland Avenue to the east, the north border is N Orange Ave & the I-4 on-ramps at Lake Ivanhoe. This is a vibrant area that has seen many apartments and condominiums built, bringing a diverse collection of businesses including dining and shopping to the area. As one of the cheaper neighborhoods in the downtown area, with many artists including members of the Orlando Ballet and Orlando Opera making their home here. Diverse Word, the oldest open mic night in Orlando, is held at Downtown Credo North Quarter on Tuesday nights. With such close proximity to the Central Business District for working professionals, this has become a valuable area for those who seek the convenience of work/play/live in downtown Orlando.

Parramore
Established in the 1880s, Parramore is the historical hub of Orlando's African-American community. The area is located just west of the Central Business district along Division Ave and West Church Street. Now considered an economically depressed area, Orlando leaders are working with business owners in the community to improve the area's reputation. While some parts of the neighborhood have been gentrified, Parramore still maintains its historical African-American identity.

It is a residential area with a large number of high-intensity entertainment and office institutions; such as the Amway Center, Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, US Courthouse for the Mid-District of Florida, Florida A&M University School of Law, county & state buildings, and Orlando Police Department headquarters. Smaller businesses include grocery stores, barber shops, and soul food restaurants.

Orlando officially considers Parramore to be three separate neighborhoods: Lake Dot (between Colonial Drive and Amelia Street), Callahan (between Amelia Street and Central Boulevard), and Holden/Parramore (between Central Boulevard and Gore Street). All three are bounded on the east by Interstate 4 and on the west by Orange Blossom Trail.

Central Business District
The central business district is Orlando's Financial District and is the most recognized feature of downtown. The majority of Orlando's night clubs are also in this area. Located here are corporate offices for banks Wells Fargo, Seacoast, FifthThird Bank, and Suntrust banks, tech companies, restaurants, Orlando City Hall, foreign consulates, and many hotels. SunTrust Center and City Commons are two large office complexes within the CBD. Church Street Station is also located in this area. Many of Orlando's historic buildings are located within the CBD standing next to modern skyscrapers. The Rogers Building (built in 1886), originally an English Gentlemen's Club built in the Queen Anne style, is the oldest building in downtown Orlando and now is home the Downtown Art's District.

The Downtown Arts District provides funding support, manages and operates CityArts—a multi-use arts and cultural destination where visual and performing arts co-exist inside the Roger's Building. Visited by more than 100,000 people annually, CityArts showcases an infusion of local and international works of art, and is home to six independently operated art galleries as well as art collective, Red Tape.

In addition to the plethora of bars and corporate offices, the district hosts several prominent theaters including the Mad Cow Theater and Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, home to Steimetz Hall, one of the world's most acoustically perfect halls, designed to achieve an N1 sound rating.

Many major events take place in the Central Business District throughout the year. Creative City Project hosts the annual Immerse Arts Festival, an annual performing and interactive arts event. The festival takes place across 10 city blocks in Downtown Orlando every October. In November, the area outside of City Hall hosts FusionFest. The festival is sponsored by the Downtown Arts District and support from Orange County Government, the Orlando Downtown Development Board, the Dr. Phillips Center, and a growing grassroots movement.

Lake Eola

Lake Eola Park is located in South Eola, east of the CBD. The park is bordered by the Lake Eola Heights neighborhood north of the lake, South Eola Heights to the South and Thornton Park on the East side of the lake. The park is historically significant and is a frequent venue for events and festivals. The park's most iconic landmark is the Linton E. Allen Memorial Fountain (locally known as the Lake Eola Fountain), permanently embedded to the bottom with concrete beams in the center of the lake. The fountain is illuminated nightly in various colors with two nightly water shows. In addition to the fountain, the park features swan boat rentals and the Walt Disney Amphitheater. Every Independence Day, the park is host to a large fireworks display which draws thousands of people to downtown. A 0.85 mi recreational pathway circles the park and leads to a playground.

Lake Eola Heights is unique in Orlando as it contains some of the oldest homes in the city and is one of Orlando's historic districts. There are many historical "Florida style" bungalows and century-old oak lined brick streets.

Thornton Park

Thornton Park is located one city block east of Lake Eola Park. The streets creating its border are: Summerlin Ave, E Robinson St, N Brown Ave, E Central Blvd to S Hyer Ave, and S Hyer Ave south to Florida State Road 408. The area is similar to the Lake Eola Heights neighborhood in that it contains historic homes and the streets are paved with bricks, although it is roughly half the size. Thornton Park also enjoys a handful of small restaurants, bars and boutiques along E Washington St. The neighborhood also has a small fountain located in the center of the intersection of E Washington St & N Hyer Ave which has become a focal point, and is described here: The Fountain is a replica of a fountain found in a Paris city center that is 25 times its size. In 1999 the "Taste of Thornton Park Event" was organized specifically to raise enough money to purchase the Thornton Park Fountain for around $17,000 + $23,000 for fountain foundation. Howard Middle School, which was the original Orlando High School, is located here.

Early years
Prior to the arrival of European settlers in 1837, the Orlando area was occupied by the Native American Creek and Seminole tribes. In 1838, Fort Gatlin was built a few miles south of downtown Orlando on the shores of modern-day Lake Gatlin; (a historic marker is now located on the fort site). In 1850, a man named Aaron Jernigan built a post office north of the fort and the area became known as "Jernigan". In 1856, Jernigan was relieved of his command of the post office due to "notorious acts" and the area was renamed "Orlando". The village remained little more than a backwater during and after the Civil War until 1875 when The "Town of Orlando" was incorporated. It was centered around the original Orange County Courthouse in between today's Court Avenue and Magnolia Avenue (originally named "Main Street").

A fire in 1884 almost destroyed the entire town. Before the fire, most of the structures in Orlando were built with wood and the town was without fire protection. The town began to rebuild and a fire brigade was formed. Orlando became a city in 1885 and the arrival of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1890 brought tremendous growth. Commercial activity shifted away from the courthouse and moved to the new railroad depot located on Church Street. Settlers from England arrived in Orlando and established homes and businesses. One of the newly arrived Englishmen was named Joseph Bumby. He and his family settled in the town and built a hardware store known as "Bumby Hardware Store". The store remained an Orlando fixture until the 1960s, but the name "Bumby" is still famous in the city. The location of the hardware store is now a Hamburger Mary's.

Downtown's heyday
By the 1920s, Orlando had grown from a cattle town to a major citrus growing center. The Florida land boom of the 1920s brought many newcomers to the city. The population increase led to the construction of the Orlando Public Library in 1923, the Orlando Municipal Auditorium (now Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre) in 1926, and several grand hotels; namely the Angebilt Hotel and San Juan Hotel. By this time, the city's population had grown to 9,000 people.

Great Depression to post-war years
The federal government's Works Progress Administration programs during the Great Depression helped Orlando remain economically stable. New parks were developed, the Municipal Airport (now Orlando Executive Airport) was built, and the city also built a new football stadium at Tinker Field (now the site of Florida Citrus Bowl). By 1944, enough jobs were created to increase the city's population to 45,000 people. Orlando became a major military center when World War II brought the development of McCoy Air Force Base and Pinecastle AFB, located southeast of downtown. This status intensified with the 1968 opening of the Orlando Naval Training Center east of downtown.

Decline and redevelopment
Walt Disney World's 1971 opening in southwest Orange County brought major development to Orlando, but relatively little to the downtown area. During this time, development in downtown was mainly focused upon the construction of office towers, such as the Citrus Center and the original Sunbank building. However, downtown began to fall into a state of decline. The Angebilt Hotel and San Juan Hotel were abandoned and left to crumble. The San Juan was eventually demolished in 1980, but the Angebilt Hotel at 37 N Orange Ave which was built in 1923 would be transformed in modern times into an office building with retail on the ground floor. Lake Eola Park became a haven for prostitutes and drug addicts. In addition, downtown department stores and family owned businesses closed or moved to the newly constructed Orlando Fashion Square mall. After the opening of Interstate 4, the downtown population base moved out of downtown to the suburbs.

Efforts to revitalize downtown began in the mid-1970s and continued into the 1980s. Bob Snow opened Rosie O'Grady's in 1974 at Church Street Station, which quickly became a popular attraction. In the mid-1980s, several skyscrapers were constructed; including SunTrust Center and Barnett Plaza (now Bank of America Center). Lake Eola Park was redesigned and the Walt Disney Amphitheater opened in the park around the same time the annual "Orlando Shakespeare Festival" was established. On the other hand, downtown's population base still had yet to rebound to previous levels and major corporations were still opening locations outside of the city center.

The Orlando City Hall building, the city's third, opened in 1991 directly behind the previous City Hall, constructed in 1958. To clear the area for future development, the Orlando City Council chose to implode the 1950s building. The event was met with much local fanfare and was filmed for use in the opening scenes of the 1992 film Lethal Weapon 3. The area cleared is now occupied by CNL City Center Commons.

Recent years
Until the late 1990s, downtown was relatively small compared to other cities of Orlando's size. A building boom began in 1998 and continued through the 2000s decade. New commercial towers sprouted along Orange Avenue and residential towers were constructed around Lake Eola and along Magnolia Ave. CNL Financial Group established a major footprint in downtown with the construction of CNL City Center Commons, a complex of office towers surrounding Orlando City Hall. CNL continues to expand their presence downtown. As a result of the construction boom, downtown density doubled and Orlando's skyline dramatically changed. In 2005, the term "Manhattanization" was locally applied to Orange Avenue when a large number of construction cranes loomed over downtown. The late 2000s recession slowed large intensity skyscraper construction; but infill development continued downtown including construction of the Amway Center in 2009.

In 2011, construction began on phase one of the long-awaited Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts across from City Hall along Orange Ave.

High-rise buildings
The majority of the tallest towers in Central Florida are located downtown. Of the 79 existing high-rises in the Greater Orlando region, 46 are located downtown.

The tallest high-rises in Orlando are:
 * Suntrust Center, 1988, 441 ft is the tallest building in Central Florida.
 * The Vue at Lake Eola, 2008, 426 ft
 * The Orange County Courthouse, 1997, 416 ft
 * The Bank of America Center, 1988, 404 ft
 * 55 West on the Esplanade, 2009, 377 ft
 * Solaire at the Plaza, 2006, 359 ft
 * One Eleven Building, 2009, 357 ft
 * SunTrust Center at Church Street Station, Under Construction, 326 ft (100 m)
 * Citi Tower, 2017, 292 ft
 * Modera Central, 2018, 260 ft (80m)
 * Citrus Center, 1971, 258 ft
 * Premier Trade Plaza Orlando, 2006, 256 ft
 * CNL Center City Commons, 1999, 250 ft

Towers built in downtown Orlando have not exceeded 441 ft since the completion of the Suntrust Center in 1988. There has never been an "official" reason why, but local architects speculate it is due to the Orlando Executive Airport location just east of downtown. The airport's flight path is over the city center, thus the Federal Aviation Administration has imposed height restrictions.

Transportation
Downtown Orlando is served by three main arteries, two limited access highways, several secondaries, and many byways.

Limited Access
 * Spessard L. Holland East-West Expressway (SR 408)
 * Interstate 4 (SR 400)

Arterials
 * Orange Avenue (SR 527 - One Way SB)
 * Rosalind Avenue (SR 527 - One Way NB)
 * Colonial Drive (US 17/92-SR 50 - E/W)
 * Orange Blossom Trail (US 441 - N/S)

Secondaries
 * South Street (SR 15 - WB Along SR 408)
 * Anderson Street (SR 15 - EB Along SR 408)
 * Hughey Avenue (SB Along I-4)
 * Garland Avenue (NB Along I-4)
 * Robinson Avenue (E/W Along North Side of Lake Eola)
 * Central Avenue (E/W) Along South Side of Lake Eola)

Public transportation

Bus

The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (CFRTA), better known as Lynx, operates the regional bus service with its central station and offices located at 455 N Garland Avenue.

Lynx Operates a zero-fare bus route called Lymmo (Link 31) along a completely separate and dedicated right-of-way. Because this bus system runs on its own right-of-way and controls the traffic signaling, in most cases it is superior to automobile travel within the downtown area. Lymmo service also runs along the Orange Avenue corridor, north to Florida Hospital and south to Michigan Avenue. There is also an east/west connection from the Citrus Bowl to South Eola.

Rail

Downtown is served by an Amtrak station about a mile south of the central business district. The Silver Meteor and Silver Star lines provide train service to New York City, Miami and Tampa.

Construction began in 2012 on SunRail, a north–south commuter rail that will run mostly along existing CSX/Amtrak rails. Launched in 2014, it provides service between the northern suburb of DeLand to the southern suburb of Poinciana. A large transfer station, the LYNX Central Station, currently handles Lynx bus transfers and was constructed to accommodate the large capacity expected from SunRail. Further development is underway to extend the service to multiple additional points south. Connections to the Orlando International Airport (MCO) and to other lines connecting to South Florida (All Aboard Florida) are being evaluated.

Air

The Orlando Executive Airport is located 4 mi east of the CBD. While technically not in downtown proper, the airport serves the downtown district.

Government
Orlando City Hall is located on Orange Avenue and South Street.

The Orange County Courthouse is located on north Orange Avenue.

The US District Court Middle District of Florida's courthouse is located at 401 West Central Boulevard.

The United States Postal Service downtown office is located at 51 East Jefferson Street.

Public and private schools

 * Lake Highland Preparatory School
 * Howard Middle School
 * Hillcrest Elementary School
 * Trinity Lutheran School
 * Fern Creek Elementary
 * Jones High School
 * William R. Boone High School
 * The Christ School
 * Blankner K-8

Colleges

 * Valencia Community College - satellite campus
 * University of Central Florida - Downtown Campus
 * UCF - Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
 * Florida A&M University - School of Law
 * Florida State University College of Medicine - Orlando Regional Campus
 * AdventHealth University

Places of worship

 * First Presbyterian Church of Orlando
 * First United Methodist Church of Orlando
 * St. James Cathedral in Orlando
 * First United Methodist Church
 * Hospital Church
 * Masjid Al Haq Mosque
 * Trinity Lutheran Church
 * Downtown Baptist Church
 * Park Lake Presbyterian Church
 * City Beautiful Church
 * Summit Church
 * Celebration Church
 * Cathedral Church of St. Luke
 * Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Institutional Church

Hospitals

 * AdventHealth Orlando
 * AdventHealth for Children
 * AdventHealth for Women
 * Orlando Regional Medical Center
 * Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children
 * Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies
 * M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando
 * ORMC - Lucerne Pavilion

Places of interest
Loch Haven Park, north of downtown on Mills and Princeton Avenues, serves as the cultural center of Orlando and consists of the following:
 * The Orlando Science Center
 * The Orlando Shakespeare Theater
 * The Orlando Museum of Art
 * The Orlando Repertory Theatre
 * The Mennello Museum of American Art
 * Loch Haven Community Center
 * The Dr. Phillips Center

The "Cultural Park Master Plan" published in 2009, details plans to expand Loch Haven Park to former USDA property located adjacent the park, and calling for additional cultural institutions to be housed onsite.

Arts and culture

 * Calle Orange, an annual heritage festival celebrating Puerto Rican culture.
 * The Orange County Regional History Center - Located on Central Blvd. The building was once the Orange County Courthouse.
 * Mad Cow Theatre produces a season of classical and contemporary plays and musicals in its intimate two-theatre complex.
 * CityArts Factory - Located in the CBD. Features works by local artists and holds workshops.
 * SAK Comedy Lab - A 200-seat professional improvisation comedy theater and school, with graduates including Wayne Brady, Jonathan Mangum, Karey Kirkpatrick.
 * Plaza Cinema Cafe - The first movie theater in downtown in nearly half a century.
 * The Daily City Mobile Art Show - An art gallery in the back of a moving truck which displays works by local artists in various locations around Central Florida.
 * Public Art - Orange County Government has several public art installations around Downtown.
 * The Orlando Cabaret Festival - an annual festival produced east spring by Mad Cow Theatre attracts local and international Cabaret artists for over 40 performances at the theatre. Features lunchtime and evening performances and special events.
 * The Orlando Film Festival
 * Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival

Hotels
Major hotels in downtown Orlando include:
 * Crowne Plaza Orlando Downtown Hotel
 * Embassy Suites Orlando - Downtown
 * Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando (Marriott)
 * Sheraton Orlando Downtown Hotel
 * DoubleTree by Hilton - Orlando Downtown

Sports
Downtown is home to the Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) which hosts the Orlando Magic NBA team, the Orlando Solar Bears ECHL team, and the Orlando Predators Arena Football League team. Camping World Stadium in addition to being home of the Orlando Guardians XFL team and Orlando City Soccer Club for 2015 & 2016 also hosts The Capital One Bowl in addition to other events year round. Tinker Field was a historic ballpark adjacent to Camping World Stadium. Inter&Co Stadium is the home of Orlando Pride.

Diplomatic missions

 * Mexican Consulate Orlando
 * Consulate of Haiti Orlando
 * French Consulate Orlando
 * Argentine Consulate Orlando
 * Consulate of the Ivory Coast - Orlando
 * Dutch Consulate in Orlando
 * Austrian Consulate in Orlando
 * Jamaican Consulate Orlando

Resulting from Orlando's reputation as a major international destination and many countries establishing consulates in the city, Orlando now has the second highest number of foreign consulates in Florida next to Miami.

Popular culture
Downtown Orlando's skyline can be seen in the films Paper Towns, Passenger 57, Ernest Saves Christmas, D.A.R.Y.L., Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, Lethal Weapon 3 (doubled for Los Angeles), and Miami Connection.

Seven Mary Three's fourth studio album is entitled Orange Avenue.

Redevelopment
The Triple Crown for Downtown, a construction initiative involving three high intensity public works projects, began in 2010 and is almost complete.

 * Kia Center (formerly Amway Center) - The first initiative of the Triple Crown. Construction began in 2008 and was completed in October, 2010. It is the new home of the Orlando Magic. In addition to other events, the venue has brought major concerts back to Orlando (the former "Amway Arena" was deemed too small for major concerts by promoters).
 * Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts - Located across from City Hall on Orange Ave, it replaced the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and is being built in phases. Phase I is already complete with a 2,800 seat amplified hall and a 300-seat theater for smaller productions. Phase II, currently under construction, will include a 1,700 seat acoustic hall for ballet, orchestra, and opera performances.
 * Camping World Stadium - Located to the west of downtown and formerly named "The Florida Citrus Bowl", is an outdoor venue for sports and large events. The stadium was 80% rebuilt with construction completing in 2017.

A more ambitious project currently under construction is completely transforming the Orlando Centroplex, the home of the former Amway Arena, into a "Creative Village". The project is privately funded with satellite schools for the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida, 1 e6sqft of office space, residential apartment buildings, and a large central park with sporting facilities and an amphitheater.

title: Downtown Orlando


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Burkholderiales

The Burkholderiales are an order of Betaproteobacteria in the phylum Pseudomonadota. Like all Pseudomonadota, they are Gram-negative. They include several pathogenic bacteria, including species of Burkholderia, Bordetella, and Ralstonia. They also include Oxalobacter and related genera, which are unusual in using oxalic acid as their source of carbon. Other well-studied genera include Alcaligenes, Cupriavidus, Achromobacter, Comamonas, Delftia, Massilia, Duganella, Janthinobacterium, Polynucleobacter (important freshwater bacterioplankton), non-pathogenic Paraburkholderia, Caballeronia, Polaromonas, Thiomonas, Collimonas, Hydrogenophaga, Sphaerotilus, Variovorax, Acidovorax, Rubrivivax and Rhodoferax (both members of the photosynthetic purple nonsulfur bacteria), and Herbaspirillum (capable of nitrogen-fixation).

title: Burkholderiales


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Lac du Bonnet (electoral district)

Lac du Bonnet (Lac-du-Bonnet) is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1957, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1958. It is a relatively large constituency, located to the northeast of Winnipeg.

Lac du Bonnet is bordered to the west by Red River North and Dawson Trail, to the south by La Verendrye, to the north by Keewatinook and to the east by the Ontario border. Communities in the riding include Lac Du Bonnet, Pinawa, Beausejour (known as the birthplace of Edward Schreyer), Whitemouth, Tyndall, Hadashville, Ste. Rita, and Powerview-Pine Falls.

The riding is currently regarded as a Progressive Conservative/New Democratic Party marginal. The Tories have held the seat since 1988, though they retained it by only a narrow majority in 2003.

Demographics
The riding's population in 1996 was 20,035. In 1999, the average family income was $45,693, and the unemployment rate was 9.00%. There are a number of diverse economic communities in the riding, including farming, forestry and nuclear research. The service sector accounted for 12% of the riding's industry in 1999, followed by 10% in health and social services.

Lac Du Bonnet is an ethnically diverse riding. Eighteen per cent of the riding's residents are aboriginal, along with 9% German and 6% Ukrainian. Six per cent of the riding's residents are francophone.

List of provincial representatives
This riding has elected the following MLAs:

title: Lac du Bonnet (electoral district)


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Spritzgebäck

Spritzgebäck, also called a spritz cookie in the United States, is a type biscuit or cookie of German and Alsatian-Mosellan origin made of a rich shortcrust pastry. When made correctly, the cookies are crisp, fragile, somewhat dry, and buttery.

The German root verb spritzen is cognate with the English to spurt. As the name implies, these cookies are made by squeezing, or "spritzing", the dough through a cookie press fitted with patterned holes (or extruded through a cake decorator or pastry bag to which a variety of nozzles may be fitted).

title: Spritzgebäck


text:
The Chase (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

"The Chase" is the 146th episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 20th episode of the sixth season. It is directed by series cast member Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker).

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the USS Enterprise-D. In this episode, four competing expeditions—Federation, Klingon, Cardassian, and Romulan—attempt to solve an ancient genetic puzzle.

The plot of the episode would later be revisited in season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery where several factions race to find the technology used by the aliens, known in Discovery as the Progenitors, to create life.

Plot
Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), who has always been a student of archaeology, is visited by his former mentor, Professor Richard Galen (Norman Lloyd). Galen, who Picard said is "like the father who understood me," states that he has come across something in his travels which could be the most profound discovery of their time. However, Galen will not tell Picard about what he has found unless Picard agrees to go with him, which means leaving the Enterprise and his career in Starfleet behind. Picard ultimately declines, although he is torn about disappointing his former mentor, who angrily remarks that Picard's job was like that of "A Roman centurion .... maintaining a dull and bloated empire."

Shortly after leaving the Enterprise, Galen's transport vessel is attacked and boarded. When the Enterprise arrives, a critically injured Galen is beamed to Sickbay and, before he dies, he apologises to Picard for his earlier rude remarks. Picard decides to investigate Professor Galen's research; an investigation of Galen's ship yields no results other than a series of seemingly random number blocks.

After studying the ambiguous number blocks for hours, the discovery is made that these fragments are compatible DNA strands which have been recovered from different worlds all over the galaxy. The crew eventually believe that they have discovered an embedded genetic pattern that is constant throughout many different species, and it is speculated that this was left by an early race that pre-dates all other known civilizations. This would ultimately explain why so many races are humanoid.

Picard concludes that the answer to the 'puzzle' will be revealed when the remaining DNA samples are obtained, and so the Enterprise travels to a remote, uninhabited planet that Galen had mentioned was his next destination. They encounter Klingon and Cardassian ships that appear to be on the same trail, each group believing the puzzle will yield the design of a formidable weapon or the secret of an unlimited power source, respectively.

The Enterprise hosts representatives from the Cardassians and the Klingons, and they all agree to combine the DNA samples that they have found so far, since all three parties have pieces of the puzzle that the others cannot find. Using the shared information, they determine a pattern in how several planets were aligned millions of years ago and extrapolate the position of a final planet.

The Cardassian ship departs ahead of the others, firing at both ships and apparently disabling them. However, Picard had already learned of the Cardassians' attempt to sabotage the Enterprise's defenses; the ship is fully functional, and he takes the Klingon captain to the last planet. Upon arrival, they discover that almost all life is extinct, but scans by the Enterprise detect residual lichens located on a fossilised seabed, and they beam down to investigate with their tricorders containing all previously known information. The Cardassians arrive, as well as an undetected Romulan force, creating a standoff. Reasoning that the seabed may not be completely fossilised and may still contain some DNA, Picard and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) scan the sea-bed using the tricorder while the other parties argue.

They locate the final DNA fragment, which completes and runs the program. The program reconfigures the tricorder's emitter to project a holographic message. The recorded image of an alien humanoid (Salome Jens) is projected to the assembled company, and it explains that when the alien race first explored the galaxy there had been no humanoid-based life other than themselves, and so they seeded various planets with their DNA to create a legacy of their existence after they had gone. The alien ends its message by saying that it hopes that the knowledge of a common origin will help produce peace.

The Cardassians and the Klingons are outraged by this; only the Federation representatives seem optimistic. As all parties depart, diverging to their respective homes, the Commander of the Romulan ship hails Picard and expresses his own optimism, intimating that "Perhaps, one day..." [there may be peace].

Reception
In 2017, Popular Mechanics said that "The Chase" was one of the top ten most fun episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, noting that it offers an explanation of why most aliens on Star Trek are similar to humans. They note the episode includes Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans and Federation members on a quest to solve a biological enigma.

In 2019, Screen Rant ranked "The Chase" as the second of the ten most important episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation to watch in preparation for the series Star Trek: Picard.

In 2020, SyFy also recommended watching "The Chase" as background on the Romulans for Star Trek: Picard.


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Ping An Insurance

Ping An Insurance known also as Ping An of China, full name Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. is a Chinese financial services holding company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, banking, asset management, financial services. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. "Ping An" literally means "safe and well". It is ranked as China’s 5th largest company.

In 2023, Ping An ranked 16th on the Forbes Global 2000 list and 33rd on the Fortune Global 500 list. Ping An ranked 31st among the World's top 500 Most Valuable Brands and sixth among global financial enterprises in the Global 500 Report by Brand Finance.

Ping An Insurance is one of the top 50 companies in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is also a constituent stock of Hang Seng Index, an index of the top companies in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Ping An Insurance was also included in the pan-China stock indices CSI 300 Index, FTSE China A50 Index and Hang Seng China 50 Index.

Business
Ping An Insurance Group started off in 1988 as a property and casualty insurance company, later diversifying into insurance, banking, asset management, financial services and healthcare services.

Ping An has licenses to offer financial services, including insurance, banking, trusts, securities, futures and financial leasing.

Ping An has also adopted an integrated financial model on a mix of business lines, including life insurance, P&C insurance, banking and securities. The company invests 1% of its revenues into R&D each year to branch out its businesses, adopt technology and support the building of its healthcare and elderlycare ecosystem.

Since the mid-1990s, Ping An has been subsequently taken investments from overseas firms such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in 1994. In 2002 HSBC took a large equity interest in Ping An. In early 2008, Ping An agreed to take a 50% share in Fortis Investments, a subsidiary of Fortis, which had taken over ABN AMRO Asset Management as a result of the split up of ABN AMRO in late 2007; the deal was canceled in October 2008.

In June 2009, Ping An became a strategic investor in Shenzhen Development Bank, (now part of Ping An Bank).

In 2012, the company created Ping An Ventures, a $150M VC fund which invested in over 100 companies, such as Didi Chuxing, Hycor Biomedical, Meituan, Oscar Health, Payoneer, Taulia, and others. In 2014, together with SBT Venture Capital Ping An led a $27M funding round for eToro.

In 2016, Ping An Healthcare and Technology (Ping An Good Doctor) completed a Series A funding round of a total of US$500 million, making its valuation hit US$3 billion. Ping An also bought a 48% stake in Chinese car website Autohome Inc. from Telstra Corp. for $1.6 billion.

In February 2018, three technology subsidiaries of Ping An completed private placement financing, which received positive responses particularly from international institutional investors. They were Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited, Ping An Medical and Healthcare Management Co., Ltd and OneConnect Financial Technology Co., LTD.

In June 2019, Ping An One Connect Bank officially commenced operation after receiving a virtual banking license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in May 2019. In December 2019, OneConnect Financial Technology was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 2019, Ping An became the first insurance company from mainland China to be selected for the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index (DJSI).

In October 2020, Lufax, one of China's leading online wealth management platform, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In May 2021, Ping An released the Ping An Zhen Yi Nian healthcare brand. The product line was mainly targeted at supporting urban elderly care communities, and integrates corporate finance, medical care and health technology.

In July 2021, Ping An and Shionogi signed agreements to launch joint ventures in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Ping An-Shionogi is a Healthcare as a Service (HaaS) enterprise, an integrated medical and healthcare platform for public health and patients. The joint venture is a collaboration between the Ping An and Shionogi on drug research, development, production and sales.

In October 2021, Ping An Bank rolled out services under the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect pilot scheme.

In January 2022, Ping An Life (a subsidiary of Ping An) received approval from the CBIRC for its investment in New Founder Group.

In July 2022, OneConnect (Ping An's fintech subsidiary) listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by way of introduction and dual-primary listing.

In February 2023, Ping An Bank Hong Kong Branch was granted an insurance agency license by the Hong Kong Insurance Authority.

In November 2023 it was entered into the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index.

As of December 31, 2023, Ping An has grown its health ecosystem in China by partnering with the country’s top 100 hospitals and 3A hospitals, 50,000 in-house and contracted external doctors and 230,000 pharmacies. Customers entitled to service benefits in the healthcare and elderlycare ecosystem accounted for over 73% of Ping An Life's new business value in 2023.

Ownership
Ping An is a publicly listed company.

As of 31 December 2023, Charoen Pokphand Group is the single shareholder in Ping An, holding a 5.84% stake. The Shenzhen government, via Shenzhen Investment Holdings, owns a 5.29% stake as the second largest shareholder.

Ping An has the classification of a civilian-run enterprise. Richard McGregor, author of The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers, said that "the true ownership of large chunks of its shares remains unclear" and that the ownership of Ping An is a "murky structure". In October 2012, The New York Times reported that relatives and associates of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao controlled stakes in Ping An worth at least US$2.2 billion in 2007.

HSBC acquired 48.22% of H shares by means of different HSBC subsidiaries (H shares accounted for 34.83% of the share capital as at 31 December 2009, which was later increased to 41.88% in 2015 ). HSBC holds 16.80% of total shares of Ping An, making it the biggest shareholder as of 31 December 2009.

Markets
Since 24 June 2004 Ping An has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing) as SEHK: 2318. Since 1 March 2007, it has a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as SSE: 601318. Since 19 June 2023, its yuan-denominated shares has a listing on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong as SEHK: 82318.

Ping An replaced Anhui Expressway in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) in 2004.

The Hang Seng Index Services Company announced on 11 May 2007, that Ping An would join as Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock effective on 4 June 2007.

Operations
Ping An has operations across all of the People's Republic of China, and in Hong Kong and Macau through Ping An Insurance Overseas. Lufax, OneConnect and Ping An Good Doctor have now expanded overseas. OneConnect serves 100+ customers in 20 countries and regions mainly in Southeast Asia.

ESG
Ping An has invested more than RMB128 billion in clean energy and affordable healthcare, through initiatives such as "Ping An Carbon Neutral Green Finance Development Charitable Trust" which supports and promotes green and low-carbon projects. It has extended credit lines towards companies with green initiatives, with a balance of loans as of December 2023 exceeding RMB3.146 billion. It was the first Chinese company to join UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance.

Ping An also established the Ping An Biodiversity and Environment Conservation Charitable Foundation, China's first charitable foundation dedicated to the conservation of mangrove ecology. The foundation funds the protection and restoration of mangrove ecosystems, construction of ecological corridors for waterfowl, and scientific education. The initial donation amounted to RMB10 million from Shenzhen Ping An Public Welfare Foundation.

In February 2023, Ping An was rated A− in the climate change category by CDP for its transparency and execution in addressing climate change. CDP, an internationally renowned non-profit organization, scored the report with data submitted by nearly 15,000 companies in 2022.[60] In the same month, Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance (Ping An P&C) launched its first ocean carbon sink index insurance policy in the city of Dalian, which provides carbon sink risk protection of RMB400,000 for a 8,867 square meters area of kelp, shellfish and algae.

title: Ping An Insurance


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WSPA-TV

WSPA-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States, serving Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Asheville, North Carolina–licensed CW owned-and-operated station WYCW (channel 62). WSPA-TV and WYCW share studios on International Drive (next to the I-26 and I-85 Business/Veterans Parkway interchange) in Spartanburg; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WSPA-TV's spectrum from an antenna on Hogback Mountain in northeastern Greenville County (southwest of Tryon, North Carolina).

WSPA-TV is the only station in the market that is headquartered in Spartanburg, and in turn tends to focus its local news stories on that city, with a secondary emphasis on Greenville and Asheville.

History
The station first signed on the air on April 29, 1956. It was founded by broadcasting pioneer Walter J. Brown and his company, Spartan Radiocasting, alongside WSPA (950 AM) and WSPA-FM (98.9). The station has been a CBS affiliate since its sign-on. Spartan Radiocasting bought several other radio and television stations over the years, and was renamed Spartan Communications in 1995. WSPA began broadcasting a 24-hour schedule in July of that same year, after previously having signed off during the overnight hours on Fridays and Saturdays.

The WSPA radio stations were sold off in 1998, but WSPA-TV remained the flagship of the company until it merged with Media General in 2000. Prior to this, channel 7 was the last remaining locally owned television station in the market.

The station shared some resources with WNEG-TV (now WGTA) in Toccoa, Georgia, while that station was co-owned with WSPA beginning in 1995; this included that station receiving the CBS affiliation for northeast Georgia. This arrangement was terminated after WNEG was sold to the University of Georgia in 2008.

Due to its transmitter location—at 2,188 ft above average terrain—WSPA has one of the largest signal coverage areas on the East Coast. WSPA's over-the-air signal can be received as far north as Blowing Rock, North Carolina (in the Charlotte market), which has line-of-sight to Hogback Mountain despite being approximately 75 mi away. However, WSPA is not carried on cable providers in that area.

On March 1, 2009, WSPA's original tower on Hogback Mountain collapsed due to a combination of heavy icing and high winds, hitting the main auxiliary tower as it fell. WSPA's digital signal was restored using a digital subchannel of sister station WYCW (channel 62); while the station received a replacement antenna on March 4, it was without its analog signal for one week after the accident. A new tower was activated in September 2009.

Prior to the March 2009 tower collapse, WSPA provided grade B coverage as far east as Charlotte. It appeared in the television listings inserts in the Charlotte Observer well into the 1990s, and frequently aired a number of programs pre-empted by Charlotte's WBTV–mostly game shows and cartoons. Before the arrival of the Carolina Panthers, WSPA was known to air a different NFL game than what aired on WBTV, giving Charlotte-area viewers a second option for NFL games. This was especially true when the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins played at the same time; like most CBS affiliates in South Carolina, WSPA tended to favor the Falcons.

On September 8, 2015, Media General announced that it would acquire the Meredith Corporation, owner of WHNS, for $2.4 billion to form Meredith Media General. Since WSPA and WHNS were among the four highest-rated stations in the market in total day viewership, the merged company would have been required to sell either WSPA or WHNS to comply with FCC ownership rules as well as recent changes to those rules regarding same-market television stations that restrict sharing agreements. WYCW was the only one of the three stations affected by the merger that could have been legally acquired by Meredith Media General either by maintaining the existing duopoly with WSPA or by forming a new duopoly with WHNS, as its total day viewership ranks below the top-four ratings threshold. That sale was canceled on January 27, 2016, in favor of a sale of Media General to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, and WSPA and WYCW became part of "Nexstar Media Group." The deal was approved by the FCC on January 11, 2017, and it was completed on January 17.

Programming
WSPA-TV carries the entire CBS network schedule; however, it carries only the first half-hour of Face the Nation on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. due to its carriage of televised church services from First Baptist Church of Spartanburg at 11 a.m., the second half-hour is seen instead on WYCW; it also splits the CBS Dream Team lineup into two blocks: the final two hours of the block air on a one-hour delay on Saturdays (due to its weekend morning newscast and CBS Saturday Morning) and the first hour airs on a day-behind basis after its Sunday morning newscast. It was also one of a handful of CBS affiliates that aired Let's Make a Deal at 9 a.m. instead of the game show's recommended 10 a.m. or 3 p.m. timeslot in the Eastern Time Zone, but it swapped timeslots with the talk and lifestyle program Your Carolina With Jack & Megan and is now seen at 10 a.m.

Past programming preemptions and deferrals
From the 1960s through the 1990s, WSPA had preempted several CBS programs; among them were NBA games (during the league's low-rated period, between 1979 and 1981, when CBS showed Finals games on tape delay, although WSPA did carry the 1981 playoffs and NBA Finals), children's programs within the network's Saturday morning lineup including the CBS Children's Film Festival, Muppet Babies (which was preempted by Jack Roper's Kidsizzle from 1991 to 1993), the final season of Pee-Wee's Playhouse and the animated series Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures.

It also preempted several of the network's game shows including Tattletales (from January to April 1982 with reruns of Carter Country, and then by The Beverly Hillbillies until September 1982; and again from September 1983 onward, after which it was replaced with the hour-long Breakaway), Body Language (which aired on WSPA from September 1984 to January 1985; but was preempted by Breakaway from June to September 1984; The $100,000 Name That Tune from January to September 1985; and Tic Tac Dough from September 1985 to January 1986), Press Your Luck (which was picked up by the station in 1984 shortly after contestant Michael Larson's record $110,237 win; and dropped in January 1986 after Card Sharks took over the 10:30 a.m. slot and replaced Body Language on the schedule; it was replaced with Tic Tac Dough and then by Love Connection from April to September 1986), Card Sharks (which aired on WSPA from 1986 until September 1988, when it was preempted by Wipeout; it returned to the station on March 6, 1989, where it remained until the end of its run), Now You See It (which was preempted by Love Connection from April to July 1989) and the final few months of Family Feud Challenge. The station also preempted Late Show with David Letterman for one week in the summer of 1998.

News operation
WSPA-TV presently broadcasts 36 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours each weekday and three hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition to its newscasts on channel 7, WSPA-TV also produces an additional 16 hours of newscasts each week on sister station WYCW, two hours from 7 to 9 a.m. each weekday morning and one hour at 10 p.m. each weeknight, and a half-hour each weekend night.

In addition to the main studios in Spartanburg, in January 2017, WSPA/WYCW opened a street front studio in downtown Greenville. Known as "7 On Main", the facility is located at the corner of Main Street and Falls Park Drive. The stations also operate a news bureau on Main Street/SC 28 in Anderson. Nexstar maintains a Capitol bureau in Columbia, covering state government issues for the company's South Carolina stations (WSPA, WBTW in Florence–Myrtle Beach and WCBD in Charleston).

The station's newscasts have been known over the years as Eyewitness 7 News, 7 Eyewitness News, NewsChannel 7, 7 On Your Side and since January 2016 as 7 News. Among the notable former members of the station's news staff were Leeza Gibbons, Jane Robelot and former CBS anchor Susan McGinnis. In 1977, WSPA hired Annette Estes as anchor of its evening newscasts, becoming the station's first female news anchor; Estes left the station in 1987 to become the 6 and 11 p.m. co-anchor (alongside Carl Clark) at WYFF.

In September 1996, WSPA-TV began to produce a nightly half-hour newscast at 10 p.m. for WHNS through a news share agreement with the stations' then-owner Pappas Telecasting Companies; the news share agreement was terminated in 1999 (two years after WHNS was sold to the Meredith Corporation; it is now owned by Gray Television), when channel 21 launched its own news department that fall. On September 16, 2007, WSPA became the first television station in the Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville market to begin broadcasting its newscasts to high-definition.

Notable former on-air staff

 * Leeza Gibbons – reporter (later host of Leeza and Extra)
 * Jane Robelot – anchor/reporter (later host of CBS This Morning; now contributing reporter at WYFF and founder of Carolina Zoom Productions)
 * Sibila Vargas – morning and noon anchor

Subchannels
{{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}} WSPA previously carried a 24-hour local weather channel on its second digital subchannel, which was branded as "Storm Team 24/7". In 2009, that subchannel became an affiliate of the Retro Television Network. It was replaced with MeTV on September 26, 2011. WSPA dropped MeTV on April 1, 2018; it is now carried by WYFF (channel 4).

Analog-to-digital conversion
WSPA-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate; it continued to broadcast its analog signal despite the March 2009 tower collapse. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 53, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era VHF channel 7.

Translators
In addition to its main signal, WSPA operates a network of 13 translators throughout the mountainous areas of North Carolina.

 *  Cherokee, NC
 *  Spruce Pine, NC
 *  Sylva, NC
 *  Franklin, NC
 *  Montreat, NC
 *  Greenville, SC
 *  Bryson City, NC
 *  Mars Hill, NC
 *  Weaverville, NC
 *  Marshall, NC
 *  Canton, NC
 *  Brevard, NC
 *  Beaver Dam, NC

title: WSPA-TV


text:
Organic architecture

Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is achieved through design approaches that aim to be sympathetic and well-integrated with a site, so buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition.

Frank Lloyd Wright
The term "organic architecture" was coined by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), It was a continuation of the principles of his master, Louis Sullivan, whose slogan "form follows function" became contemporary architecture's watchword. Wright altered the statement to "form and function are one," citing nature as the clearest illustration of such integration. A consistent thread runs across his whole body of work, which the architect refers to as 'Organic Architecture'. In this situation, some people view the term 'organic' as a synonym for 'natural,' connecting Organic Architecture with the use of curved and free forms, replicating natural shapes, or using environmentally friendly materials. This is to misinterpret the term. While natural materials are frequently used in Organic Architecture to strengthen the link between the interior and the outside world, this is a result rather than a philosophy. In actuality, Organic Architecture is not a stylistic or aesthetic movement, but rather a specific technique or, more accurately, a philosophy.

Wright created the ultimate masterpiece of organic architecture, Fallingwater, which best demonstrates his organic architecture philosophy: the harmonious union of art and nature. Fallingwater is the residence Wright designed for the Kaufmann family in rural Pennsylvania. Wright had many choices to locate a home on this large site but chose to place the home directly over the waterfall and creek creating a close, clamorous dialog with the rushing water and the steep site. The horizontal striations of stone masonry with daring cantilevers of colored beige concrete blend with native rock outcroppings and the wooded environment.

Japanese Architecture
The primary components of organic architecture, which result in the inner harmony of an architectural building, are paradigmatic for Japanese architecture. Throughout history, those values have been defined and positioned at the forefront of total harmony, which has become the essence of Japanese culture. Using Japanese architecture as an example, Wright was able to validate the validity and solidity of his organic architecture ideas. Wright believed that traditional Japanese architecture embodied many of his theory's 'organic' qualities. When Wright created his works in Japan, he attracted pupils and admirers, and his influence on the development of Japanese architecture is still felt today.

Rudolph Steiner
Rudolph Steiner, a philosopher, social reformer, architect, and natural scientist, is also a significant player in organic architecture history. He is best known today for the Steiner concept of education or Waldorf schools, as well as being the father of the biodynamic approach to agriculture, but he also created a number of structures in the early 1900s and introduced his ideas about transformation into architecture. The original Goetheanum he constructed was an early example of organic architecture; but, due to fire, it was redesigned and replaced by the second, concrete and organically formed Goetheanum building, a cultural and spiritual center for the artists.

Other modernist architects in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere held complementarily and often competing views of how architecture could best emulate nature. Key figures in the U.S. included Louis Sullivan, Claude Bragdon, Eugene Tsui and Paul Laffoley while among European modernists Hugo Häring, Arthur Dyson, Hans Scharoun, and Rudolf Steiner stand out. Following World War II, organic architecture often reflected cybernetic and informatics models of life, as is reflected in the later work of futurist architect Buckminster Fuller.

In his book The Breaking Wave: New Organic Architecture, Architect and planner- David Pearson created the Gaia Charter, a set of rules for organic architecture. Pearson draws inspiration from various movements, including Celtic design, Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, and Antoni Gaudí's work.

"Let the design:

 * be inspired by nature and be sustainable, healthy, conserving, and diverse.
 * unfold, like an organism, from the seed within.
 * exist in the "continuous present" and "begin again and again".
 * follow the flows and be flexible and adaptable.
 * satisfy social, physical, and spiritual needs.
 * "grow out of the site" and be unique.
 * celebrate the spirit of youth, play, and surprise.
 * express the rhythm of music and the power of dance."

There are contemporary creations of organic architecture. The definition of 'organic' has dramatically changed during recent times. Avoiding materials of construction that require more embodied energy to build and sustain it, when the building blends naturally and sits seamlessly to its surroundings, reflecting cultural continuity, it is 'organic' and is idealistic. Examples include leaving natural material, such as bedrock, exposed and unsculptured, such as the underground Rådhuset metro station in Stockholm, which appears to occupy a natural cave system.

Principles of Organic Architecture
Building and Site- The site is earth but raw; it has its own form and structure (flat or contour); trees and other plantations are part of the landform. The nature of the land influences the form of the building to some extent or completely. Buildings, like plants, emerge naturally from the landscape.

Material- The material or skin of a building that attractively displays its texture, color, and strength. Organic architecture uses minimal materials.

Shelter- The structure should give a sense of shelter and safety, and it should never be left unprotected or without privacy.

Space- Space is the core of structure; it may be seen when walls, floors, and roofs are packed together, but it is invisible when it is free. He states: "The reality of the building does not consist of the roof and the walls but the space within to be lived in". An Area can only be completely appreciated when viewed from one point to another as you move from one space to another.

Proportion and Scale- Nature has its own proportions and scales, and changing them would result in ludicrous or illogical shapes. According to Wright, "Integral harmony of proportion to the human figure to have all details so designed as to make the human relationship to architecture not only convenient but charming".

Nature- Nature is an instructor for everyone, including architects, artists, engineers, and doctors. Nature taught us how to build and occupy space. Organic design requires that buildings mirror nature, be a part of nature, and not look out of place.

Repose- Creating an appropriate setting for human life. Uncluttered areas and the use of non-natural materials that have a harmful influence on the environment are not accepted in organic architecture.

Past
Taliesin West (1937): This Arizona home was Wright's winter residence. The walls are covered in desert rocks, and the colors throughout the house—greys, tawny yellows, and reds—reflect the colors of the surrounding natural world. The property also has a pavilion with a translucent roof that welcomes sunshine and highlights the open Arizona sky.

Rådhuset metro station (1975): Designed by Sigvard Olsson, Rådhuset station in central Stockholm has uncovered and unsculpted bedrock, highlighting the cave-like elements of this metro stop.

Tampere Central Library (1986): The main municipal library in Tampere, Finland, was built by architects Reima and Raili Pietilä. This example of organic building makes use of the Finnish rock Rapakivi granite and includes animal shapes and glacial patterns.

Recent
Cloud Art Museum (2020) : This museum takes its cues from the meandering river and undulating hills on its site. Curving and transparent glass walls support a cloud-shaped roof that seemingly floats above the picturesque setting of the Qingshen Wetland Park. While flowing architectural lines allow the buildings to better integrate with their environment, clouds are also an auspicious symbol in traditional Chinese culture

The Mushroom - a wood house in the forest (2020): Located in a misty pine forest, the architects used a commission for a modest hotel to experiment with novel natural-architecture interactions. The end result was two simple volumes in the shape of a mushroom stem and cap.

The House of Three Trees (2018)

Breakwater (2019)

title: Organic architecture


text:
Talk:Fiber optic gyroscope

The redirect is inappropriate, RLGs and FOGs are distinct devices. If nobody fixes it, I will when I get around to it.

title: Talk:Fiber optic gyroscope


text:
John Poulson

John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson (14 April 1910 – 31 January 1993) was a British architectural designer and businessman who caused a major political scandal when his use of bribery was disclosed in 1972. The highest-ranking figure to be forced out due to the scandal was Conservative Home Secretary Reginald Maudling. Poulson served a prison sentence, but continued to protest his innocence, claiming that he was "a man more sinned against than sinning".

Family and early life
Poulson came from a strict Methodist family and inherited a strong faith which stressed the importance of self-help. He did badly at school and at Leeds College of Art but nevertheless was articled to a Pontefract firm of architects, Garside and Pennington. He left to found his own architecture practice with financial backing from his father. He never registered with the ARCUK (Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom), later claiming "I was too busy to complete my examinations". Poulson soon began to cultivate contacts in the local borough council and officials at the larger West Riding County Council. Work soon began to arrive and Poulson told friends that he was "on his way". Poulson also became politically involved with the National Liberals, although he never let political differences stop him from making "friends" who were in charge of commissioning public buildings. He was a Freemason.

Post-war business
Poulson obtained a medical exemption from wartime service in 1939. The same year he married Cynthia Sykes, whose sister Lorna was married to John King, who many years later was ennobled as John King, Baron King of Wartnaby. He was thus well placed to expand his business throughout the wartime years. He was a workaholic and demanded the same commitment from his staff, dismissing staff who would not work his way. He had his own firm build him a house called Manasseh at a cost of £60,000, helped by building contractors donating services for free in the hope of getting contracts in the future. The house won the Ideal Homes "House of the Year" competition in 1958.

Poulson revolutionised the accepted architectural method of completing a design then handing it over for costing, planning and building. He developed a combined architecture and design practice, an all-in-one service which employed all the separate disciplines in integrated teams. This approach facilitated the development process and reduced costs. In the post-war years, Poulson's business boomed and by the 1960s was one of the largest in Europe. He later admitted that the practice expanded "beyond my wildest dreams" and offices were opened in London, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh, Beirut, and Lagos, Nigeria.

Local authorities
In 1958, the National Liberal MP Sir Herbert Butcher advised his friend Poulson to set up a servicing company to win business for his architect's practice. Poulson established Ropergate Services Ltd., named after the street in Pontefract where he was based. This company also had the advantage of reducing Poulson's tax liability considerably. In the late 1950s, there was a building boom as many local authorities embarked on major building schemes.

In Newcastle upon Tyne, council leader T. Dan Smith's ambition to redevelop Newcastle attracted the attention of the construction firm Bovis which had worked for Poulson. Bovis' managing director suggested formalising links and in February 1962 Smith was appointed as a consultant to the Poulson organisation. This connection was extremely valuable to Poulson as Smith had a network of contacts among other authorities in the north-east, many of whom were also recruited as Poulson consultants. Smith's involvement with the Labour Party reassured many Labour councillors wary of dealing with someone involved in the Conservative-allied National Liberals. Poulson also won other public sector work in the North East, such as Sunderland Police Station.

Poulson also found a useful contact in Andrew Cunningham, a senior figure in both the General and Municipal Workers Union and the Labour Party in North East England. Some of Poulson's largest residential blocks were built in Cunningham's home town of Felling, County Durham. Cunningham was later imprisoned for his dealings with the architect. Poulson's work in Felling consisted of the building of one 16-storey high-rise apartment block with six seven-storey blocks of maisonettes surrounding it. These were approved in 1966. Four of the low-rise maisonette blocks were demolished in 1987 owing to their poor state of repair and tenants dislike of them. Two maisonette blocks and the high-rise block Crowhall Tower remain.

In his home town of Pontefract, Poulson won much local authority work for the then Pontefract Municipal Borough Council, such as the town's library and the Horsefair flats, a high-rise social housing project consisting of four six-storey blocks and one twelve-storey block, constructed between 1963 and 1964, which has proved controversial owing to its proximity to Pontefract Castle.

Nationalised industries
Poulson was in a good position to gain commissions from the nationalised industries, partly due to his having offered gifts to many civil servants when they were relatively junior and calling upon them for a return of gratitude years later. As an example, Poulson had met Graham Tunbridge, a railway employee, during the war. After the nationalisation of British Rail, Tunbridge became estates surveyor for its Eastern Region and sent Poulson several contracts for modernisation of stationmasters' homes. When Tunbridge became Estates and Rating Surveyor for BR Southern Region, Poulson moved on to contracts at Waterloo railway station, Cannon Street station and East Croydon station. In return, Poulson had given Tunbridge £8,547 in cash and in kind.

Another beneficial contact was Scottish Office civil servant George Pottinger, who in the late 1950s was put in charge of a £3 million redevelopment of Aviemore as a winter sports complex. Poulson was appointed by Pottinger as architect in charge of the Aviemore project. In return, Poulson gave Pottinger gifts worth over £30,000 over six years.

Poulson's connections with the National Liberals began to give him political advancement in the early 1960s. He was Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Liberal Council from 1961 and frequently hosted National Liberal events in London at which he met senior government ministers. He also made contact with the Labour MP Albert Roberts. Roberts was later accused of having "acted inconsistently with the standards of the House of Commons".

Overseas work
Poulson was increasingly interested in obtaining commissions outside Britain in the mid-1960s. This required making more contacts. The Conservative MP John Cordle had extensive contacts in West Africa and after helping on several small contracts, in 1965 became a consultant to Poulson. Cordle admitted that he had received £5,628 from Poulson's business.

Maudling
Another contact was the then Shadow Commonwealth Secretary Reginald Maudling, whom Poulson knew from his National Liberal activities. Maudling was anxious to build up a business career to keep up his income and Poulson needed a big name as chairman of one of his companies, Construction Promotion. In 1966 Maudling accepted an offer to be chairman. In return, Maudling helped to bring pressure on the government of Malta to award a £1.5 million contract for the new Victoria Hospital on Gozo to Poulson.

Financial trouble
Poulson's business model was initially highly successful and, at its apogee, had an annual turnover of £1 million; he himself admitted to being a millionaire. However, it was consuming more contract work than was becoming available, and Poulson resorted to tackling these difficulties by bribing and corrupting local councillors, local authority officials and civil servants at all levels. This was an expensive strategy and Poulson later estimated that he "gave away" about £500,000 in the last few years of his involvement in the business. As part of his attempts to gain attention, Poulson had become a local Commissioner of Taxes.

On 31 December 1969, Poulson was formally removed from control of J.G.L. Poulson and Associates. On 9 November 1971, he filed his own bankruptcy petition, revealing debts of £247,000. The bankruptcy hearings in spring 1972 were assisted by Poulson's meticulous record-keeping which detailed his payments and gifts. Poulson's generosity drew the comment from Muir Hunter QC during the bankruptcy proceedings that "[i]n fact, Mr Poulson, you were distributing largesse like Henry VIII". The bankruptcy hearing also revealed Poulson's love for a lavish lifestyle and his penchant for rubbing shoulders with senior figures in the establishment. This desire to show his financial superiority over others only served to highlight his true character as a lonely, friendless and insecure person. One of Poulson's biggest creditors was the Inland Revenue to which he owed around £200,000. Whilst the Revenue were pressing Poulson for payment of this amount, he was himself presiding over debt hearings in Wakefield in his role as a Commissioner of Inland Revenue.

It swiftly became apparent that Poulson was at the centre of a massive corruption scandal, and in July 1972, the Metropolitan Police began an investigation for fraud. This precipitated the resignation of Reginald Maudling, then Home Secretary, who was notionally in charge of the police.

Dénouement
On 22 June 1973, Poulson was arrested and charged with corruption in connection with the award of building contracts. The trial at Leeds Crown Court lasted 52 days, and cost an estimated £1.25 million. Defending Poulson, Donald Herrod QC, said: "He has nothing to live for and his abiding fear is that he will never complete his sentence because of ill health". Donald Herrod later described his client as "hypocritical, self-righteous and perhaps something of a megalomaniac".

Following the trial which was widely reported in the press, he was convicted on 11 February 1974 of fraud and jailed for five years (later increased to seven years). Sentencing him, the judge called Poulson an "incalculably evil man". For his part, Poulson denied the charges, saying "I have been a fool, surrounded by a pack of leeches. I took on the world on its own terms, and no one can deny I once had it in my fist".

Many of his contacts, in particular T. Dan Smith and George Pottinger, were similarly convicted and gaoled, though not the three MPs: it was found that there was a legal loophole through which members of parliament could not be considered as in charge of public funds. The Poulson scandals did much to force the House of Commons to initiate a Register of Members' Interests. A subsequent Select Committee inquiry which reported in 1977 found that all three had indulged in "conduct inconsistent with the standards which the House is entitled to expect from its Members".

After serving periods in Armley Gaol, Wakefield and Oakham prisons, Poulson was released on 13 May 1977 from Lincoln Prison after Lord Longford had appealed on his behalf. Longford had successfully argued that to keep a sick man in gaol was an "indefensible cruelty". His bankruptcy was discharged, with creditors receiving 10p in the pound, in 1980. A condition of the discharge was that half the proceeds of his autobiography would go to his creditors; the resulting book, The Price, gives his side of the corruption scandal and maintains his innocence. Only a few copies of the book remain in circulation as it was withdrawn and pulped by the publishers through fear of libel actions.

Poulson died in the General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, on 31 January 1993. His wife and two daughters survived him.

Contributions
Among buildings designed by Poulson are the City House (1962) and International Pool (1965–1968), both in Leeds, and Forster House in Bradford, which was demolished in 2005 as part of the Forster Square redevelopment. The International Pool in Leeds was closed in 2007 and razed to the ground in 2009. The site is now used for car parking.

In an indirect way, Poulson did make a contribution to the UK's broadcasting culture. A special edition of the investigative ITV series World in Action, The Friends and Influence of John L Poulson, became a cause célèbre in the debate about the power of Britain's television regulators to interfere with broadcast journalism. The Poulson programme was banned by the then regulator, the ITA, even though its members had not seen it. A furious debate followed in which newspapers united in calling for an end to such "censorship".

Granada Television, the makers of World in Action, broadcast a blank screen as a protest against the banning. There was some irony in this: the editor of World in Action was Raymond Fitzwalter, who earlier, as deputy news editor of the Telegraph & Argus in Bradford, had led an investigation into Poulson's activities, which the newspaper published. Eventually, after the film was shown to the ITA, it was transmitted on 30 April 1973, three months late, and under a different title, The Rise and Fall of John Poulson.

The 1996 BBC television drama serial Our Friends in the North, written by Peter Flannery, contains a character, John Edwards (played by Geoffrey Hutchings), who is closely based on Poulson. One of the reasons the production took so long to reach the screen—Flannery had originally written it for the stage in 1982—was the fear of the BBC that Poulson and others fictionalised in the drama might take legal action. In the event, the deaths of Poulson and T. Dan Smith in 1993 finally allowed the production to commence.

title: John Poulson