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Jim Cramer

James Joseph Cramer (born February 10, 1955) is an American television personality, author, entertainer, and former hedge fund manager. He is the host of Mad Money on CNBC, and an anchor on Squawk on the Street. After graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he worked for Goldman Sachs and then became a hedge fund manager, founder, and senior partner of Cramer Berkowitz. He co-founded TheStreet, which he wrote for from 1996 to 2021. Cramer hosted Kudlow & Cramer from 2002 to 2005. Mad Money with Jim Cramer first aired on CNBC in 2005. Cramer has written several books, including Confessions of a Street Addict (2002), Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World (2005), Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich (2006), and Jim Cramer's Get Rich Carefully (2013).

Early life
Cramer was born in 1955 in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia), to Jewish parents. Cramer's mother, Louise A. Cramer (1928–1985), was an artist. Cramer's father, N. Ken Cramer (1922–2014), owned International Packaging Products, a Philadelphia-based company that sold wrapping paper, boxes, and bags to retailers and restaurants.

Cramer and his family moved to Springfield Township, and he attended Springfield Township High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1973. He competed for the high school track team.

Among his first jobs, starting in 1971, Cramer sold Coca-Cola and then ice cream at Veterans Stadium during Philadelphia Phillies games.

Cramer first began studying stocks in the fourth grade, and continued the habit through high school.

Education and early career
In 1977, Cramer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in government. While at Harvard, he was the president and editor-in-chief of The Harvard Crimson. Additionally, Cramer was a National Merit Scholar.

After college, Cramer was an entry-level reporter, making $15,000 per year. Beginning March 1, 1978, Cramer worked for the Tallahassee Democrat in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was one of the first people to cover the Ted Bundy murders since he lived only a few blocks away. Then-executive editor Richard Oppel said: "[Cramer] was like a driving ram. He was great at getting the story." He subsequently worked for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner writing obituaries. During this time, his apartment was robbed and he lost everything, forcing him to live out of his car for nine months. He also worked for Governor of California Jerry Brown. Cramer was one of the first reporters at American Lawyer.

In 1984, Cramer received a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. Cramer started investing in the stock market while he attended law school. He made enough from trading to cover his tuition. Cramer began promoting his holdings by leaving stock picks on his answering machine. While at Harvard, alumnus Michael Kinsley introduced him to The New Republic owner Martin Peretz, who contacted Cramer to write a book review. After first profiting from the stock picks he heard on Cramer's answering machine, Peretz gave Cramer $500,000 to invest. In two years, Cramer made $150,000 for Peretz. During his years at Harvard Law School, Cramer worked as a minor research assistant for Alan Dershowitz. He assisted Dershowitz's campaign to acquit alleged murderer Claus von Bülow, even though Cramer believed von Bülow was "supremely guilty".

Goldman Sachs
In 1984, Cramer worked in sales and trading at New York investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Cramer was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1985, but did not practice. After he did not renew his registration, his license to practice law was suspended on April 2, 2009.

Hedge fund
In 1987, Cramer left Goldman Sachs and started a hedge fund, Cramer & Co. (later Cramer, Berkowitz & Co.). The fund operated out of the offices of hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt. Early investors included friend and Harvard classmate Eliot Spitzer, Steve Brill, and Martin Peretz. Cramer raised $450 million in $5 million increments and received a fee of 20% of the profits he generated.

Cramer says he sold all of his stocks on the Friday before Black Monday (1987). From 1988 to 2000, Cramer says he had only one year of negative returns – 1998, a year when the S&P 500 Index rose 29%. The underperformance in 1998 led to significant investor withdrawals. In 1999 the fund returned 47%, and in 2000 it returned 28%, beating the S&P 500 by 38 percentage points. Cramer said he produced a 24% average annual return over 14 years, and "routinely [took] home $10 million a year and more." However, his results have been disputed.

In 2001, Cramer retired from managing the hedge fund. The fund was then taken over by his former partner, Jeff Berkowitz.

SmartMoney
Cramer was also an "editor at large" for SmartMoney magazine. He was accused by some of an unethical practice when he made a $2 million personal gain after buying stocks before his recommendation article was published, though he was candid in the article that he had purchased the stock; however, according to Ira Lee Sorkin, former head of the New York office of the S.E.C., inasmuch as Cramer was a writer for a general-interest publication, an argument can be made that Cramer did not breach any obligations.

TheStreet
In 1996, Cramer and Peretz launched TheStreet, a financial news and investment website. In August 2019, TheMaven acquired the company for $16.5 million.

CNBC
Cramer was a frequent guest commentator on CNBC in the late 1990s. From 2002 to 2005, Cramer co-hosted Kudlow & Cramer (first called America Now) with Larry Kudlow.

Mad Money with Jim Cramer first aired on CNBC in 2005. The stated goal of the show is to provide people engaging in do-it-yourself investing with "the knowledge and the tools that will empower you to be a better investor". According to CNBC, Cramer is not allowed to own stocks that could be discussed on the show.

Other media appearances
Cramer hosted a one-hour radio show, Jim Cramer's Real Money, until December 2006, which spawned Mad Money.

In 2005, Cramer appeared as himself in two episodes of Arrested Development. He announced that he had upgraded Bluth Company stock to a "Don't Buy" from a "Triple Sell", and then said that the stock was not a "Don't Buy" anymore, but a "Risky". On November 13, 2005, Dan Rather interviewed Cramer on 60 Minutes. Among the topics of discussion was Cramer's past at his hedge fund, including his former violent temper. Cramer has also made appearances on Today, NBC Nightly News, Live with Regis and Kelly, Cheap Seats, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live! in February 2008 and as a guest judge on The Apprentice in January 2007 and was interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show in March 2009 (see Jon Stewart–Jim Cramer conflict).

Cramer also appeared in the 2008 motion picture Iron Man spoofing Stark Industries on his show Mad Money, and he also appeared in the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. He also says he consulted for the original Wall Street movie by telling the filmmakers how he would get through to Gordon Gekko.

Fox News Channel lawsuit
In 2000, Cramer and TheStreet settled a lawsuit with Fox News Channel in which Fox had claimed Cramer had reneged on a deal to produce a show for Fox, and Cramer had counter-sued. The conflict began when Fox complained that Cramer promoted TheStreet stock on its network without giving advance notice to the program's producer.

Performance
As manager of his hedge fund, Cramer said he realized a "rate of return of 24% after all fees for 15 years," until he retired from the hedge fund in 2001. He self-reported a 36% return in 2000, at the peak of the dot-com bubble.

In January 2000, close to the peak of the dot-com bubble, Cramer recommended investing in technology stocks, and suggested a repeat of the stock performance of 1999. In February 2000, the year in which Cramer said he produced a 36% return, Cramer said that there were only 10 stocks he wanted to own, and he was buying them every day. These stocks were 724 Solutions, Ariba, Digital Island, Exodus Communications, InfoSpace, Inktomi, Mercury Interactive, Sonera, VeriSign, and Veritas Software. He also dismissed the investing strategy of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, and said that price–earnings ratios did not matter.

An August 20, 2007, article in Barron's stated that "his picks haven't beaten the market. Over the past two years, viewers holding Cramer's stocks would be up 12% while the Dow rose 22% and the S&P 500 16%." Cramer was criticized for repeatedly giving erroneous advice during the Financial crisis of 2007–2008. He recommended investing in Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, and Lehman Brothers before the stocks fell in value significantly and several went out of business. On August 8, 2008, before the climax of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Cramer recommended investing in bank stocks.

On October 6, 2008, on Today, when the S&P 500 Index was valued at 1,056, Cramer suggested to investors, "Whatever money you need for the next five years, please take it out of the stock market." Five months later, the market bottomed at 666, a 36.9% decline.

A February 9, 2009, article in The Wall Street Journal said that betting against Cramer's Buy recommendations using short-term options could yield 25% in a month.

On February 8, 2023, Cramer recommended viewers to buy Silicon Valley Bank stock, just a month before its collapse. On March 10, he praised First Republic Bank as a "very good bank" in a Twitter post. First Republic's stock dropped by more than 80% in the days following Cramer's tweet and on May 1, it also collapsed, becoming the third and final bank to collapse in the 2023 banking crisis.

Performance of Action Alerts charitable trust
Cramer says that, between 2002 and May 2009, the performance of his "Action Alerts PLUS" charitable trust outpaced the S&P 500 Index and the Russell 2000 Index. The charitable trust realized a return of 31.75%, the S&P 500 had a return of 18.75%, and the Russell 2000 had a return of 22.51%. On an annual basis, the trust outperformed the S&P 500 by 7.35%, and the Russell 2000 Index by 3.33%. Paul Bolster said that Cramer beats the market in part because of the excess risk in his picks. "If we adjust for his market risk, we come up with an excess return that is essentially zero", Bolster said, adding that "zero", in this case, means his returns are roughly in line with the risk he's taking on. Another criticism of Actions Alerts Plus was that it did not compare itself to indexes that include dividend reinvestment (as the SEC requires for stock-oriented mutual funds). According to Kiplinger's article "One recent [Action Alerts PLUS] and included a chart, under the headline "Action Alert PLUS is CRUSHING the S&P 500", showing that the picks returned about 39% from the portfolio's inception through last March 31, compared with 15.5% for the S&P 500 over the same nine-year, three-month period. But the S&P figure did not include reinvested dividends. With them, the S&P 500 returned 38.3%."

A study by Wharton researchers Jonathan Hartley and Matthew Olson found that in the timeframe of August 2001 to March 2016, Cramer's charitable trust underperformed the S&P 500 primarily as a result of underexposure to market returns in years after the 2008 financial crisis. As of March 31, 2016, Cramer's trust since inception had a cumulative return of 64.5%, whereas the S&P 500 fewer dividends returned 70% during the same timeframe. Wharton finance professor Robert Stambaugh said he didn't think the findings showed significant underperformance or outperformance when adjusting for a variety of factors, but did say "It's a commendable attempt to dig more deeply into the style that underlies Cramer's stock picks."

"Market manipulation"
In a December 2006 interview, Cramer described activities used by hedge fund managers to manipulate stock prices—some of debatable legality and others illegal. He described how he could push stocks higher or lower with as little as $5 million in capital when he was running his hedge fund. Cramer said, "A lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund ... When I was positioned short—meaning I needed it down—I would create a level of activity beforehand that could drive the futures." He also encouraged hedge funds to engage in this type of activity because it is "a very quick way to make money."

Cramer stated that everything he did was legal, but that illegal activity is common in the hedge fund industry as well. He also stated that some hedge fund managers spread false rumors to drive a stock down: "What's important when you are in that hedge-fund mode is to not do anything remotely truthful because the truth is so against your view, that it's important to create a new truth, to develop a fiction." Cramer described a variety of tactics that hedge fund managers use to affect a stock's price. Cramer said that one strategy to keep a stock price down is to spread false rumors to reporters he described as "the Pisanis of the world", in reference to CNBC correspondent Bob Pisani, whom Cramer insinuated was able to be manipulated, saying "You have to use these guys." He also discussed giving information to "the bozo reporter from The Wall Street Journal" to get an article published. Cramer said this practice, although illegal, is easy to do "because the SEC doesn't understand it." During the interview, Cramer referred to himself as a "banking-class hero".

Recommendation regarding Bear Stearns (March 2008)
On the March 11, 2008, episode of Cramer's show Mad Money, a viewer submitted the question "Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?" Cramer responded "No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble. If anything, they're more likely to be taken over. Don't move your money from Bear." On March 14, 2008, the stock lost more than half of its value on news of a Fed bailout and $2/share takeover by JPMorgan Chase. On March 17, 2008, Cramer said his statements were made in regards to the liquidity of accounts held at Bear Stearns as opposed to the stock. Cramer said he was not recommending the common stock, but allaying concerns about the account holder's liquidity held in a Bear Stearns brokerage account. Cramer later wrote about the incident: "I did tell an emailer that his deposit in his account at Bear Stearns was safe, but through a clever sound bite, (Jon) Stewart, and subsequently (Frank) Rich—neither of whom have bothered to listen to the context of the pulled quote—pass off the notion of account safety as an out-and-out buy recommendation. The absurdity astounds me. If you called Mad Money and asked me about Citigroup, I would tell you that the common stock might be worthless, but I would never tell you to pull your money out of the bank because I was worried about its solvency. Your money is safe in Citi as I said it was in Bear. The fact that I was right rankles me even more."

An article by author Michael Lewis for Bloomberg News said that TheStreet listed Bear Stearns as a "Buy" at $62 per share on March 11, 2008, which was the same day as the caller's question and a day before the collapse of Bear Stearns. During the Jon Stewart–Jim Cramer conflict, on The Daily Show on March 12, 2009, Cramer admitted he made mistakes on his Bear Stearns calls.

Criticism of President Obama's policies (March 2009)
On March 2, 2009, Cramer said that President Barack Obama was on a "radical agenda", and said that was responsible for "the greatest wealth destruction I have seen by a president". In response to a reporter's question, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs replied, "If you turn on a certain program, it's geared to a very small audience. I'm not entirely sure what he's pointing to make some of the statements..... You can go back and look at any number of statements he's made in the past about the economy and wonder where some of the back-ups for those are, too."

On March 5, 2009, Cramer responded to the White House, saying, "Backup? Look at the incredible decline in the stock market, in all indices, since the inauguration of the president, with the drop accelerating when the budget plan came to light because of the massive fear and indecision the document sowed: Raising taxes on the eve of what could be a second Great Depression, destroying the profits in healthcare companies, tinkering with the mortgage deduction at a time when U.S. house price depreciation is behind much of the world's morass and certainly the devastation affecting our banks, and pushing an aggressive cap and trade program that could raise the price of energy for millions of people." By the end of Obama's term in office, major stock market indexes had more than doubled from the levels of March 2009.

Referring to March 8, 2009, charges leveled against Cramer by The New York Times columnist Frank Rich, Cramer said that he does not understand how Obama and his staff planned to raise taxes, institute cap-and-trade limitations, and rework the healthcare system all during a recession. The article said: "It isn't that Cramer disagrees with Obama's vision for the country – he even agrees with taxing the rich – but now is not the time to put those plans into action. The president needs to solve our housing, employment, and financial problems, and only then turn his attention to healthcare and changing the mortgage deduction."

Controversy with Nouriel Roubini
Cramer wrote in 2009 that Nouriel Roubini was "intoxicated" with his own "prescience and vision", and should realize that things are better than he predicted. Roubini called Cramer a "buffoon", and told him to "just shut up". Cramer responded by inviting Roubini to appear on his show, and say that to his face. In 2021, Roubini called Cramer "a total f---ing idiot".

Debate with Jon Stewart (2009)
On March 12, 2009, Cramer appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Stewart reiterated earlier claims regarding the CNBC host's "silly and/or embarrassing and/or stupid financial observations." Moreover, he said CNBC shirked its journalistic duty by believing corporate lies rather than being an investigative "powerful tool of illumination". Cramer disagreed with Stewart on a few points, but acknowledged that he could have done a better job foreseeing the economic collapse: "We all should have seen it more."

Stewart also said short-selling was detrimental to the markets and investors. Cramer agreed that short-selling was detrimental, stated his opposition to it, and said that he had never engaged in it. This contradicted earlier statements in which he described going short while managing a hedge fund. In a December 2006 interview from TheStreet's "Wall Street Confidential" webcast, Cramer said, "A lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund. ... When I was positioned short—meaning I needed it down—I would create a level of activity beforehand that could drive the futures." He said, "I will say this: I am trying to expose this stuff, exactly what you guys do, and I've been trying to get the regulators to look at it." However, Stewart played several video clips from 2006 where Cramer discussed the spreading of false rumors to drive down stock prices and encouraged short-selling by hedge funds as a means to generate returns. At one point in a clip from December 22, 2006, he said, "I would encourage anyone in a hedge fund to do it." He called it a very quick way to make money and very satisfying. He continued, "By the way, no one else in the world would ever admit that, but I don't care, and again, I'm not gonna say it on TV." Stewart responded, "I want the Jim Cramer on CNBC to protect me from that Jim Cramer." Cramer again admitted that he could do better and that he should try to change. The interview ended when Stewart pointedly suggested: "Maybe we can remove the 'financial expert' and the 'In Cramer We Trust' and start getting back to fundamentals on the reporting, as well, and I can go back to making fart noises and funny faces." Cramer responded: "I think we make that deal right here".

Criticism of the Federal Reserve (2007-08)
On August 3, 2007, in what was described a "rant" Cramer made a plea for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. Cramer said of the Fed Committee, "They're nuts. They know nothing. This is a different kinda market. And the Fed is asleep." When the transcript from the August 7, 2007, meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee was subsequently released on August 28, 2007, it showed that Cramer's comments elicited laughter from participants during a comment from Dennis Lockhart, president, and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. "I believe that the correct policy posture is to let the markets work through the changes in risk appetite and pricing that are underway, but the market observations of one of my more strident conversational counterparts—and that is not Jim Cramer [laughter]—are worth sharing." Cramer was vindicated for his negative outlook when the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the Great Recession took hold.

On Hardball with Chris Matthews on September 19, 2008, Cramer blamed the Federal Reserve for the United States housing bubble.

Calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "Crazy Nancy" during interview
On September 15, 2020, during a TV interview with U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Cramer addressed her as "Crazy Nancy", and then sent several tweets in which he defended his actions. He later apologized for using the phrase, which was also employed frequently by President Donald Trump. During a discussion about the likelihood of a coronavirus relief bill, Cramer expressed doubt over the deal saying, "I mean, what deal can we have, Crazy Nancy?" He then quickly added "I'm sorry, I—that was the president. I have such reverence for the office, I would never use that term." "But you just did," Pelosi replied.

"Inverse Cramer" ETF
In 2022, in response to a long-running series of unrelated humorous social media comments suggesting to invest against Cramer's stock recommendations, The Financial Times published SEC filings which revealed that Tuttle Capital Management –the same firm behind Tuttle Capital Short Innovation ETF (which bet against Cathie Wood's Ark Invest) fund– had filed to launch two funds with one labeled "LJIM" and the other "SJIM", representing "Long Cramer" (which would bet with all of Cramer's recommendations) and "Inverse Cramer" (betting against everything that Cramer recommended) respectively. The Inverse Cramer ETF listed in its filings that aside from jokes or obviously meritable investment recommendations, in general, the fund would bet against all of Cramer's recommendations both on Mad Money and Cramer's Twitter feed, and the fund estimates to have a "high turnover rate". The fund gained additional coverage upon Meta Platforms' Q3 2022 earnings miss and Cramer's subsequent apology, which outlined another loss for the company and was seen by some that Cramer's apology was seen as a sign to buy Meta stock.

Upon the launch of the fund, prior to Meta's earnings, Cramer responded on Twitter by touting his reputation and claiming the ETF would not last long before stating he wouldn't be making further comments on the company. He apparently reversed this decision, though, and continued to make comments before seemingly reversing course and "welcoming" the fund, though further touting his reputation.

Personal life
From 1988 to 2009, Cramer was married to Karen Backfisch, with whom he had two children. On April 18, 2015, Cramer married Lisa Cadette Detwiler, a real-estate broker, and general manager of The Longshoreman, an Italian bistro/restaurant in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Cramer lives in Summit, New Jersey. He also has a 65-acre estate in the New Jersey countryside, and a summer house in Quogue, New York, on Long Island.

In a 2013 interview on The Carlos Watson Show, Cramer said that he dealt with mental health issues surrounding his anger and his workplace behavior, attributing the problem to his childhood experiences with his father.

In 2009, Cramer and four other investors purchased the DeBary Inn in Summit, New Jersey. He and his wife also own Bar San Miguel, a restaurant and bar serving Mexican cuisine in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

Cramer was one of about 200 candidates for the Time 100 in 2009.

Cramer loves Philadelphia, and has said the key to an economic resurgence of the city is a high-speed rail connection with New York City. He is a passionate Philadelphia Eagles fan, and cried after the team was victorious in Super Bowl LII. He has held season tickets for 20 years and has met former Eagles coach Doug Pederson many times.

In December 2021, Cramer announced he tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an event that required PCR testing. He said his symptoms were mild due to having had two injections of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and a Moderna booster. His wife was sicker and she received the Johnson & Johnson initial dose and the Moderna booster.

title: Jim Cramer


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User talk:Axon/Index of homophobic articles

Some of these articles have changed considerably; I would encourage you to plant an flag on any that you think are still biased, and say why on the talk page. -- Beland 04:08, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

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


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Plowshare

In agriculture, a plowshare (US) or ploughshare (UK; ) is a component of a plow (or plough). It is the cutting or leading edge of a moldboard which closely follows the coulter (one or more ground-breaking spikes) when plowing.

The plowshare itself is often a hardened blade dressed into an integral moldboard (by the blacksmith) so making a unified combination of plowshare and moldboard, the whole being responsible for entering the cleft in the earth (made by the coulter's first cutting-through) and turning the earth over.

In well-tilled terrain the plowshare may do duty without a preceding coulter.

In modern plows both coulter and plowshare are detachable for easy replacement when worn or broken.

History
Triangular-shaped stone ploughshares are found at the sites of Chinese Majiabang culture dated to 3500 BC around Lake Tai. Ploughshares have also been discovered at the nearby Liangzhu and Maqiao sites roughly dated to the same period. The British archaeologist David R. Harris says this indicates that more intensive cultivation in fixed, probably bunded, fields had developed by this time. According to Mu Yongkang and Song Zhaolin's classification and methods of use, the triangular plough assumed many kinds and were the departure from the Hemudu and Luojiajiao spade, with the Songze small plough in mid-process. The post-Liangzhu ploughs used draft animals.

In heraldry
Ploughshares are often used in heraldry.

In ancient cultures
The ancient phrase from the biblical Book of Isaiah, "to turn swords to ploughshares," is still in common use today. These ploughshares represent peaceful use of wartime capabilities. On the other hand, the Book of Joel uses the phrase in reverse, "Beat your plowshares into swords".

However, in classical antiquity during the Battle of Marathon, many Persians were slain by a deadly ploughshare-wielding ally who appeared suddenly on the side of the ancient Athenians. After their victory and his disappearance, an oracle told the Athenians to worship the hero under the name Echetlaeus: the hero with the "echetlon", or ploughshare.

title: Plowshare


text: User talk:69.209.178.25

title: User talk:69.209.178.25


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Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)

A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district (constituency) to the legislature of State government in the Indian system of government. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Each state has between seven and nine MLAs for every Member of Parliament (MP) that it has in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament. There are also members in three unicameral legislatures in Union Territories: the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can work as a minister for more than 6 months. If a non-Member of the Legislative Assembly becomes a Chief Minister or a minister, he must become an MLA within 6 months to continue in the job. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can become the Speaker of the Legislature

Introduction
In states where there are two houses, there is a State Legislative Council, and a State Legislative Assembly. In such a case, the Legislative Council is the upper house, while the Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the state legislature.

The Governor shall not be a member of the Legislature or Parliament, shall not hold any office of profit, and shall be entitled to emoluments and allowances. (Article 158 of the Indian constitution).

The Legislative Assembly consists of not more than 500 members and not fewer than 60. The biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, has 403 members in its Assembly. States which have small populations and are small in size have a provision for having an even smaller number of members in the Legislative Assembly. Puducherry has 33 members out of which 3 are nominated by central government. Mizoram and Goa have only 40 members each. Sikkim has 32. All members of the Legislative Assembly are elected based on adult franchise, and one member is elected from one constituency. Until January 2020, the President had the power to nominate two Anglo Indians to the Lok Sabha and the Governor had the power to nominate one member from the Anglo Indian community deems fit if the governor thinks that they are not adequately represented in the Assembly. In January 2020, the Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Parliament and State legislatures of India were abolished by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019.

Nominated MLAs in states and UTs
Up to three MLAs can be nominated in the union territory of Puducherry by the central government who enjoy equal powers as elected MLAs. Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 provides for nomination of 2 members to the Legislative Assembly by the Lieutenant Governor if women are not adequately represented in the house.

Following amendment to the Act in 2023, the Lieutenant Governor may nominate two representatives of Kashmiri migrant families (one seat reserved for woman) and one member to represent the migrants from Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Qualification
The qualifications to become a member of the Legislative Assembly are largely similar to the qualifications to be a member of Parliament.

 * 1) The person should be a citizen of India.
 * 2) Not less than 25 years of age to be a member of the Legislative Assembly and not less than 30 years (as per Article 173 of Indian Constitution) to be a member of the Legislative Council.
 * 3) No person can become a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council of any state unless the individual is a voter from any constituency of the state. Those who cannot become members of Parliament also cannot become members of the state legislature.
 * 4) The person should not be convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment of 2 years or more.
 * 5) Person must be sound of mind.

Term
The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years. However, it may be dissolved earlier than that by the Governor at the request of the Chief Minister, when the Chief Minister has actual majority support in the Assembly. The Assembly may be dissolved earlier if no one can prove majority support and become Chief Minister. The term of the Legislative Assembly may be extended during an emergency, but not more than six months at a time. The Legislative Council is the upper house of the State. Just like the Rajya Sabha, it is a permanent House. The members of the state's upper house are selected based on the strength of each party in the lower house and by state gubernatorial nomination. The term is six years, and a third of the members of the House retire after every two years. The upper house of a state assembly, unlike the upper house of the Parliament, can be abolished by the lower house, if it passes a specific law bill, which states to dissolve the upper house, and gets it attested in both houses of parliament and then signed by the president into law. Only Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh have their upper houses in existence with a six-year term. All other states have abolished the upper house by the above-mentioned method, as the upper house causes unnecessary problems, expenditures and issues.

Powers
The most important function of the legislature is law-making. The state legislature has the power to make laws on all items on which Parliament cannot legislate. Some of these items are police, prisons, irrigation, agriculture, local governments, public health, pilgrimage, and burial grounds. Some topics on which both Parliament and states can make laws are education, marriage and divorce, forests, and the protection of wild animals and birds.

As regards money bills, the position is the same. Bills can originate only in the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Council can either pass the bill within 14 days of the date of the receipt of the Bill or suggest changes to it within 14 days. These changes may or may not be accepted by the Assembly.

The state legislature, besides making laws, has one electoral power, in electing the President of India. Elected members of the Legislative Assembly along with the elected members of Parliament are involved in this process.

Some parts of the Constitution can be amended by Parliament with the approval of half of the state legislatures. Thus, the state legislatures take part in the process of amendment to the Constitution.

MLAs by States
Members of Legislative Assembly by their political party


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User talk:Matt Wood

Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! --Spinboy 04:10, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
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title: User talk:Matt Wood


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Kicking Horse Pass

Kicking Horse Pass (el. 1627 m) is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff national parks. Divide Creek forks onto both sides of the Continental Divide.

Explorers
First Nations had known and used the pass, but it was first explored by Europeans in 1858 by the Palliser Expedition led by Captain John Palliser. It and the adjacent Kicking Horse River were named after James Hector (Hector's Branch Expeditions, 3 August 1858 – 26 May 1859), was kicked by his horse while attempting rescue of another horse that had gone into the river. Hector was led to the pass by his Stoney Nakoda guide Hector Nimrod.

From Hector's summary, which appears on pages 105–106 of Palliser's diary,

"Here we met a very large stream, equal in size to Bow River where we crossed it. This river descends the valley from the north-west, and, on entering the wide valley of Beaverfoot River, turns back on its course at a sharp angle, receives that river as a tributary, and flows off to the south-west through the other valley. Just above the angle there is a fall about 40 ft in height, where the channel is contracted by perpendicular rocks.

A little way above this fall, one of our pack horses, to escape the fallen timber, plunged into the stream, luckily where it formed an eddy, but the banks were so steep that we had great difficulty in getting him out. In attempting to recatch my own horse, which had strayed off while we were engaged with the one in the water, he kicked me in the chest, but I had luckily got close to him before he struck out, so that I did not get the full force of the blow. However, it knocked me down and rendered me senseless for some time…

31 August.— Every morning just now we have dense fogs, that generally last till nine or ten o'clock, but the evening's are fine and clear. After travelling a mile along the left bank of the river from the N.W., which because of the accident the men had named Kicking Horse River, we crossed to the opposite side."

Railway
A National Historic Site of Canada, the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was constructed between Lake Louise, Alberta and Field, British Columbia using this route in 1884, in preference to the original survey through the more northerly Yellowhead Pass.

The original section of the CPR between the summit of the pass near Wapta Lake and Field was known as "The Big Hill". With a ruling gradient of 4.5% (1 in 23), it was the steepest stretch of main-line railroad in North America.

Owing to frequent accidents and expensive helper engines associated with railroading in the pass, the CPR built the two Spiral Tunnels that opened in 1909, replacing the direct route. Although they add several kilometres, they reduce the ruling grade to a more manageable 2.2% (1 in 46). Accidents still occur, including a major derailment in 2019 that killed three CPR employees.

Road
The pack train trail over the pass, established at the time of the railway, gradually became a wagon road. In 1928, the Golden–Lake Louise highway, which essentially followed the CPR route, was completed.

British Columbia Highway 1, part of the Trans-Canada Highway was built in 1962, following a more northerly placement along the eastern approach. It reaches its highest point at Kicking Horse Pass at an elevation of 1643 m.

The original stretch of Highway 1 through the canyon was two lanes wide with sharp corners, uneven grade and a risk of falling rocks. It had twice the provincial average of incidents and accidents. Since the 2000s, 25 kilometres of road have been rebuilt in phases to modern standards, with 4 lanes and the removal of sharp corners. The final phase is due for completion in 2024.

The Golden Triangle cycling route includes the pass.

Television
Dave Broadfoot played The Honourable Member for Kicking Horse Pass in the CBC Television satirical series Royal Canadian Air Farce and in his personal standup routines.

title: Kicking Horse Pass


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Al-Asmaʿi

Al-Asmaʿi (أبو سعيد عبد الملك ابن قريب الأصمعي, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Qurayb al-Aṣmaʿī ; c. 740–828/833), or Asmai was an Arab philologist and one of three leading Arabic grammarians of the Basra school. Celebrated at the court of the Abbasid caliph, Hārūn al-Rashīd, as polymath and prolific author on philology, poetry, genealogy, and natural science, he pioneered zoology studies  in animal-human anatomical science. He compiled an important poetry anthology, the Asma'iyyat, and was credited with composing an epic on the life of Antarah ibn Shaddad. A protégé of Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi and Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala', he was a contemporary and rival of Abū ʿUbaidah and Sibawayhi also of the Basran school.

Ibn Isḥaq al-Nadīm's c.10th biography of al-Aṣma’ī follows the “isnad” narrative or ‘chain-of-transmission’ tradition. Al-Nadīm reports Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muqlah's written report of Tha’lab's report, giving Al-Aṣma’ī‘s full name as ’’‘Abd al-Malik ibn Qurayb ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Ali ibn Aṣma’ī ibn Muẓahhir ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Bāhilī.’’’

The celebrated c.13th biographer Ibn Khallikān calls al-Aṣmaʿī “a complete master of the Arabic language,” and “the most eminent of all transmitters of the oral history and rare expressions of the language.”. His account includes collected anecdotes of numerous adventures.

Biography
His father was Qurayb Abū Bakr from ‘Āṣim and his son was Sa’īd. He belonged to the family of the celebrated poet Abū ‘Uyaynah al-Muhallabī. Al-Aṣma’ī was descended from Adnān and the tribe of Bahila. The governor of Basra brought him to the notice of the caliph, Harun al-Rashid, who made him tutor to his sons, Al-Amin and Al-Ma'mun. It was said Al-Rashid was an insomniac, and that he once held an all-night discussion with al-Asmaʿi on pre-Islamic and early Arabic poetry. Al-Aṣma’ī was popular with the influential Barmakid viziers and acquired wealth as a property owner in Basra. Some of his protégés attained high rank as literary men. Among his students was the noted musician Ishaq al-Mawsili.

His ambitious aim to catalogue the complete Arabic language in its purest form, led to a period he spent roaming with desert Bedouin tribes, observing and recording their speech patterns.

Rivalry between Al-Aṣma’ī and Abū ‘Ubaida
His great critic Abū ʿUbaida was a member of the Shu'ubiyya movement, a chiefly Persian cultural movement. Al-Aṣma’ī, as an Arab nationalist and champion of the Arabic language, rejected foreign linguistic and literary influences.

Al-Nadīm cites a report of Abū ‘Ubaida that al-Aṣma’ī claimed his father travelled on a horse of Salm ibn Qutaybah. Abū ‘Ubaida had exclaimed,

 * “Praise be to Allāh and thanks to Allāh, for Allāh is greater [than His creatures]. One boasting of what he does not own is like a person wearing a false robe and, by Allāh the father of al-Aṣma’ī never owned any animal other than the one inside of his robe!"

Ubaida’s reference here to al-Asma’ī’s father seems to relate to the story given by Khallikān about al-Asma’ī’s grandfather, Alī ibn Asmā, who had lost his fingers in punishment for theft.

A corollary to 'Ubaida’s anecdote is related by Khallikān, that once al-Faḍl Ibn Rabī, the vizier to caliph al-Rashid, had brought forth his horse and asked both Al-Aṣma’ī and Abū 'Ubaida (who had written extensively on the horse) to identify each part of its anatomy. Abū 'Ubaida excused himself from the challenge, saying that he was an expert on Bedouin culture not a farrier; When al-Aṣma’ī then grabbed the horse by the mane, named each part of its body while, at the same time, reciting the Bedouin verses that authenticated each term as proper to the Arabic lexicon, Al-Faḍl had rewarded him the horse. Whenever after this, Aṣma’ī visited Ubaida he rode his horse. Al-Aṣma’ī, was a perennial bachelor and when Yahya, a Barmakid vizier of the caliph, presented him with the gift of a slave girl, the girl was so repulsed by Al-Aṣma’ī's appearance, Yahya bought her back.

Shaykh Abū Sa’īd reported that Abū al-‘Abbas al-Mubarrad had said al-Aṣma’ī and Abū ‘Ubaida were equal in poetry and rhetoric, but where Abū ‘Ubaida excelled in genealogy, al-Aṣma’ī excelled in grammar – “al-Aṣma’ī, [like] a nightingale [would] charm them with his melodies”

Al-Aṣma’ī died, aged 88 years in Baṣra, ca. 213/828 - 217/832, in the company of the blind poet and satirist Abū al-‘Aynā'. His funeral prayers were said by his nephew and poet ‘Abd al-Raḥmān: "To Allāh we belong and to Him we return."

Works
Al-Aṣma’ī's magnum opus Asma'iyyat, is a unique primary source of early Arabic poetry and was collected and republished in the modern era, by the German orientalist Wilhelm Ahlwardt. Al-Sayyid Muʻaẓẓam Ḥusain's English translation of selected poems taken from both the Aṣma’īyyat and Mufaddaliyyat- the larger important source of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry- is available online. Most other existing collections were compiled by al-Aṣma’ī's students based on the principles he taught.

Of al-Aṣma’ī's prose works listed in the Fihrist about half a dozen are extant. These include the Book of Distinction, the Book of the Wild Animals, the Book of the Horse, and the Book of the Sheep, and Fuḥūlat al-Shu‘arā a pioneering work of Arabic literary criticism.

 * Disposition of Man or Humanity (كتاب خلق الانسان) - Kitab Khalaq al-Insan
 * Categories (كتاب الاجناس)
 * Al-Anwā’ (كتاب الانواء) – “Influence of the stars on the weather”
 * Marking with the Hamzah) (كتاب الهمز)
 * Short and Long (كتاب المقصور والممدود)
 * Distinction, or of Rare Animals (كتاب الفرق) - Kitab al-Farq
 * Eternal Attributes [of God] (كتاب الصفات)
 * Gates (كتاب الابواب) or Merit (كتاب الاثواب)
 * Al-Maysir and al-Qidāḥ (كتاب الميسى والقداح)
 * Disposition of the Horse (كتاب خلق الفرس)
 * Horses (كتاب الخيل) - Kitāb al-Khail
 * The Camel (كتاب الابل) - Kitāb al-Ibil
 * Sheep (كتاب الشاء) - Kitāb al-Shā
 * Tents and Houses (كتاب الاهبية والبيوت)
 * Wild Beasts (كتاب الوحوش) - Kitab al-Wuhush
 * Times (كتاب الاوقات)
 * Fa‘ala wa-Af‘ala [gram.]) (كتاب فعل وافعل)
 * Proverbs (كتاب الامثال)
 * Antonyms (كتاب الاضداد)
 * Pronunciations/Dialects (كتاب الالفاظ)
 * Weapons (كتاب السلاح)
 * Languages/Vernaculars (كتاب اللغات)
 * Etymology (كتاب الاشتقاق)
 * Rare Words (كتاب النوادر)
 * Origins of Words (كتاب اصول الكلام)
 * Change and Substitution [gram.] (كتاب القلب والابدال)
 * The Arabian Peninsula (كتاب جزيرة العرب)
 * The Utterance/Pail) (كتاب الدلو)
 * Migration (كتاب الرحل)
 * The Meaning of Poetry (كتاب معانى الشعر)
 * Infinitive/Verbal Noun (كتاب مصادر)
 * The Six Poems (كتاب القسائد الست)
 * Rajaz Poems (كتاب الاراجيز)
 * Date Palm/Creed (كتاب النحلة)
 * Plants and Trees (كتاب النبات والشجر)
 * The Land Tax (كتاب الخراج)
 * Synonyms (كتاب ما اتفق لفظه واختلف معناه)
 * The Strange in the Ḥadīth (كتاب غريب الحديث نحو ماثتين ورقة رايتة بخط السكرى)
 * The Saddle, Bridle, Halter and Horse Shoe (كتاب السرج والنجام * والشوى والنعال)
 * The Strange in the Ḥadīth-Uncultured Words (كتاب غريب الحديث والكلام الوحشى)
 * Rare Forms of the Arabians/Inflections/Declensions (كتاب نوادر الاعراب)
 * Waters of the Arabs (كتاب مياة العرب)
 * Genealogy (كتاب النسب)
 * Vocal Sounds (كتاب الاصوات)
 * Masculine and Feminine (كتاب المذكر والمؤنث)
 * The Seasons كتاب المواسم

Contribution to Early Arabic Literature
Al-Aṣma’ī was among a group of scholars who edited and recited the Pre-lslāmic and Islāmic poets of the Arab tribes up to the era of the Banū al-‘Abbās

He memorised thousands of verses of rajaz poetry and edited a substantial portion of the canon of Arab poets, but produced little poetry of his own. . He met criticism for neglecting the ‘rare forms’ (nawādir  - نوادر) and lack of care in his abridgments.

List of Edited Poets

 * Al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī (whom he also abridged)
 * Al-Ḥuṭay’ah
 * Al-Nābighah al-Ja‘dī
 * Labīd ibn Rabī‘ah al-‘Āmirī
 * Tamīm ibn Ubayy ibn Muqbil
 * Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah
 * Muhalhil ibn Rabī‘ah
 * Al-A‘shā al-Kabīr, Maymūn ibn Qays, Abū Baṣīr:
 * A‘shā Bāhilah ‘Amir ibn al-Ḥārith
 * Mutammim ibn Nuwayrah
 * Bishr ibn Abī Khāzim
 * Al-Zibraqān ibn Badr al-Tamīmī
 * Al-Mutalammis Jarīr ibn ‘Abd al-Masīḥ
 * Ḥumayd ibn Thawr al-Rājiz
 * Ḥumayd al-Arqaṭ
 * Suhaym ibn Wathīl al-Riyāḥī
 * Urwah ibn al-Ward
 * ‘Amr ibn Sha’s
 * Al-Namir ibn Tawlab
 * Ubayd Allāh ibn Qays al-Ruqayyāt
 * Muḍarras ibn Rib‘ī
 * Abū Ḥayyah al-Numayrī

 * Al-Kumayt ibn Ma‘rūf
 * Al-‘Ajjāj al-Rājaz, Abū Shāthā’ ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ru’bah.. For his son, see Ru’bah.
 * Ru’bah ibn al-‘Ajjāj, called Abū Muḥammad Ru’bah ibn ‘Abd Allāh, was a contemporary of al-Aṣma’ī whose poetry al-Aṣma’ī recited.
 * Jarīr ibn ‘Aṭīyah al-Aṣma’ī was among group of editors who included Abū ‘Amr [al-Shaybānī], and Ibn al-Sikkīt.

title: Al-Asmaʿi


text:
Talk:Desert rosy boa

Are you sure, that your picture shows a rosy boa? It looks completely different from the rosy boas on http://members.aol.com/lichanura2/rosyboa.htm --Bühler 04:14, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Er, no actually. That image (that isn't in the article anymore) isn't a rosy boa after all, apparently.  I have no idea what it actually is though.  Any ideas?  --  TomPreuss 04:37, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

 * That's a Red-tailed Boa, a Boa species indigenous to central & south america. Orca1 9904 23:02, 22 June 2007 (UTC)Orca1_9904

Move proposal
Would anyone be opposed to moving this article to "Charina trivirgata", in line with the rest of the articles in this series? --Jwinius (talk) 09:20, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Oppose, for reasons stated elsewhere. Kafziel Complaint Department 07:24, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Support, since a consistent set of encyclopaediac articles are more likely to help than simple names. AshLin (talk) 04:31, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Oppose I don't see that translating to Neo-Latin serves anybody. I have made a long-term suggestion at Talk:Rubber Boa; but if this is the rosy boa and nothing else is, why? Septentrionalis PMAnderson 14:15, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

BAJA? There is no place known as Baja, Mexico or Baja Mexico, just as there is no place called "south,north,east or west in the U.S.A. It would be Baja Calfornia, Mexico. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pumasgoya (talk • contribs) 20:29, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Taxonomy change
Since this article was written in 2008 (very few edits since then for whatever reason), Lichanura trivirgata has been broken into two species: Lichanura trivirgata, and Lichanura orcutti.. Californiaherps, iNaturalist, and reptile database all list the California species as L. orcutti.

I propose this be re-written to reflect this change - this will require splitting the information into two species level articles. I some of these photos are actually of L. orcutti as well. Are there any thoughts/objections? Connor Long (talk) 16:04, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

 * @Connorlong90, the way to do this is have an article for each extant species (fossil species can sometimes justify a separate article, sometimes not) and a separate article for the genus. If a genus is monotypic then the genus and species articles are combined as per [[WP:MONOTYPICFAUNA]]. Lichanura now exists. Please feel free to create Lichanura orcutti (or whatever the common name is) and improve the set of articles. YorkshireExpat (talk) 20:40, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
 * That was my plan. I wanted to be sure there were no objections to recognizing L. orcutti as its own species/document the reason why material had been moved. Connor Long (talk) 20:52, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I have created a page for L. orcutti and have removed some references in this article referring to L. orcutti. The photo of the child with a specimen from riverside is likely L. orcutti as that is the species present in Riverside, CA. I have left that in place for now but it should likely be removed. Connor Long (talk) 23:43, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Desert rosy boa


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Antanaclasis

In rhetoric, antanaclasis (from the ἀντανάκλασις, antanáklasis, meaning "reflection", from ἀντί anti, "against", ἀνά ana, "up" and κλάσις klásis "breaking") is the literary trope in which a single word or phrase is repeated, but in two different senses. Antanaclasis is a common type of pun, and like other kinds of pun, it is often found in slogans.

Examples

 * I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man— Lyrics by Jay-Z from "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" by Kanye West
 * Your argument is sound, nothing but sound. — Benjamin Franklin. The word sound in the first instance means "solid" or "reasonable". The second instance of sound means "noise".
 * Although we're apart, you're still a part of me. — Lyrics from "Blueberry Hill" by Fats Domino.
 * Time isn't wasted, when you're getting wasted. — Lyrics from "I Love College" by Asher Roth
 * Real sugar, sweet as a sweet can be — Lyrics from "Real Sugar" by Roxette
 * And meet me in the john, John, meet me in the john, John. — Lyrics from "My Bag" by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions.
 * “In Genua, someone set out to make dreams come true... Remember some of your dreams?” – Sir Terry Pratchett. The first usage of dreams refers to aspirations or desires, while the second refers to literal dreams.
 * In Genesis 40:13 and 40:19, Joseph interprets two dreams and uses "lift up your head" to deliver two messages—one positive and the other, negative—to the two prisoners.
 * The word that is repeated five times in the sentence That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is, which has various meanings, depending on how it is punctuated.
 * Had is repeated eleven times in the sentence James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher, which can be read differently depending on punctuation and intonation.
 * Buffalo is repeated eight times, and has three different meanings (a city, an animal, and a verb), in "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo".
 * The Chinese poem "Shī-shì shí shī shǐ" ("Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den") by Yuen Ren Chao. The words are written differently in the original language (Classical Chinese), and are pronounced as the same syllable (some with different tones) when read aloud in modern Standard Mandarin.
 * Do you want the Aladeen news or the Aladeen news? — Doctor in The Dictator.

Shakespeare

 * Put out the light, then put out the light. — From Othello. Othello utters these words to himself as he enters Desdemona's chamber while she sleeps, intending to murder her. The first instance of put the light out means he will quench the candle, and the second instance means he will end the life of Desdemona.
 * I will dissemble myself in't; and I would I were the first that ever dissembled in such a gown. — In Twelfth Night, the fool Feste, where dissemble changes from "disguise" to "act hypocritically".
 * Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will And Will to boot, and Will in overplus... — Shakespeare's Sonnet 135. The speaker is named Will, but the woman he is addressing has another lover who is also named Will. In this sonnet, the word will is used thirteen times, meaning "William", "sexual desire", "penis", or "vagina", depending on the context (and it usually means more than one of these things at once).
 * Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands, Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down — from Henry V, King Henry utters four times the word mock to express two different meanings of 'mock' - one is 'to cheat' another is 'to taunt'.

Witticisms

 * "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana" is an example of a garden path sentence – the first half of the sentence misleads the reader into parsing the second half incorrectly. The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but differing versions of it have appeared in print since the 1960s.
 * Benjamin Franklin, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is reported to have said: "We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately". However, the phrase has also been attributed to Richard Penn in Alexander Graydon's Memoirs of a Life, and appeared in Frederic Reynolds' play Life, first published in 1801.
 * In an essay entitled "The Literati of New York City", Edgar Allan Poe wrote of George B. Cheever: "He is much better known, however, as the editor of The Commonplace Book of American Poetry, a work which has at least the merit of not belying its title, and is exceedingly commonplace".
 * The American football coach Vince Lombardi once told his team: "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired, with enthusiasm".

Advertising

 * The long cigarette that's long on flavor". — Pall Mall cigarettes
 * We make the traveler's lot a lot easier. — Overseas National Airways

Responding to questions
Antanaclases are prevalent in humorous paraprosdokians employed when responding to a question. For example, in response to the question "how are you two?", an Israeli (Modern Hebrew) speaker can say בסדר גמור; היא בסדר, אני גמור be-séder gamúr; hí be-séder, aní gamúr, literally "in-order complete; she in-order, I complete", i.e. "We are very good. She is good, I am finished". Note the ambiguity of the Israeli lexical item גמור gamúr: it means both "complete" and "finished". A parallel punning paraprosdokian in English is a man's response to a friend's question Why are you and your wife here?: A workshop; I am working, she is shopping.

Latin literature

 * The Roman poet Lucretius in De rerum natura Book 3 line 365 observes that we sometimes find ourselves temporarily blinded by bright objects because "lumina luminibus quia nobis praepediuntur" (because our eyes are impeded by the lights), taking advantage of the fact that in Latin the same word can mean both "eye" and "light".

title: Antanaclasis


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Eli El-Chantiry

Eli El-Chantiry (born April 23, 1957 in Kab-Elias, Lebanon) is a former Canadian politician. He was an Ottawa City Councillor from 2003 to 2022 and served as chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board.

He was born in Lebanon and moved to Canada with his family at age eighteen. After attending the University of Ottawa, he became a businessman, owning the Lighthouse Restaurant in Constance Bay in West Carleton.

El-Chantiry ran for city council in the 2003 Ottawa election to replace retiring Dwight Eastman. He won, defeating retired schoolteacher Adele Muldoon by 29 votes.

After the 13 June 2007 decision by Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien to resign as Chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board, El-Chantiry was nominated as the board's new leader, an appointment to be confirmed later in June 2007.

Following a public complaint on Eli El-Chantiry's 2014 campaign spending, his financials are audited. The audit firm found a “clerical” error in his expense filings and a problem with the accounting of his nomination fee refund. Also, there was a question of Eli El-Chantiry not accounting for reused campaign signs in 2014, but the auditor couldn’t determine a value for the signs. The committee let him off the hook.

Again, embattled and at the centre of several police services gaffes over the years, Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof publicly demanded El-Chantiry's resignation in March 2016.

In the 2018 Mayoral campaign, Eli El-Chantiry endorsed Jim Watson for mayor in the 2018 Ottawa municipal election.

Later in July 2018, in a recorded conversations between Ottawa Police Association president, Matt Skof, and an anonymous source, it was alleged Eli El-Chantiry was the target of an undercover bribery sting. OPP investigate recordings about Ottawa police board chair

As Chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board, in June 2018, Eli El-Chantiry announces the selection of Uday Jaswal, formerly of Durham Police Services, as Deputy Chief for Ottawa Police Services, "Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board, said Jaswal beat out four other competitors, who were shortlisted for the job as part of a country-wide search."[Jaswal] met all the criteria," said El-Chantiry. "He's a young, innovative thinker. He's educated, bilingual."

In October 2018, El-Chantiry is voted in for the fifth time as councillor for Ward 5.

El-Chantiry ceased to be a member or chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board in January 2019, being beat out by the first ever female police services board Chair.

On February 16, 2022, El-Chantiry became chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board in the midst of historic civil unrest in the city as a result of the Freedom Convoy 2022. City council voted to overhaul the police board and remove chair Diane Deans as a result of the handling of policing of the Canada convoy protest in Ottawa which began in late January 2022.

title: Eli El-Chantiry


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University of Oradea

The University of Oradea (UO or U of O) (Universitatea din Oradea) is an accredited public university located in Oradea in north-western Romania.

With 15 faculties, the university has a total of 123 fields of study for undergraduates and 151 post-graduate specialisation degrees. The university employs 1600 people, of which 935 are teaching personnel, and over 19,000 students (including all forms of studies).

International relations
The University of Oradea is collaborating with 214 universities, institutes and companies from 31 countries. It is integrated in the European Union's Socrates and Erasmus programs. There are over 800 international students enrolled in various Faculties.

Facilities
The University of Oradea has three lecture halls, each with 640 seats, 22 amphitheatres with a total of 1940 seats, as well as 60 lecture and seminar rooms. The facilities of the university have a 200-seat dining hall and two dormitories for boarding students. The new library is still under construction which, when completed, will be one of the largest in Romania. The university has an additional facility at Stâna de Vale, in the Apuseni mountains of Bihor county, which includes accommodations as well as educational and recreational facilities.

Faculties
The university has 15 faculties:
 * Faculty of Arts
 * Faculty of Constructions and Architecture
 * Faculty of Economics
 * Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (formerly Faculty of Electrotechnics and Information Technology)
 * Faculty of Energy Engineering
 * Faculty of Environmental Protection
 * Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport
 * Faculty of Law
 * Faculty of Letters
 * Faculty of Management and Technological Engineering; http://imt.uoradea.ro
 * Faculty of Medicine
 * Faculty of Orthodox Theology
 * Faculty of History, Political and Communication Sciences
 * Faculty of Science
 * Faculty of Social Humanistic Sciences

Faculty of Architecture
The Faculty of Architecture, founded in 2002, is located in Barbu Stefanescu Delavrancea 4. It has two sections, one for Romanian students and one for international students. Both sections offer students the opportunity to study Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Protection, Cadastral Survey, Civil, Industrial and Agricultural Constructions, and Architecture, in Romanian as well as in the English language.

The Dean of the Faculty of Architecture is Professor Aurora-Carmen Marcia.

Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law, founded in 1874, is located in General Magheru 26. It has two sections, one for Romanian students and one for international students. Both sections offer the courses of Roman Law, Criminal Law, Civil Law, Commercial and Cambia Law, Financial Law as well as Common and Canon Law.

Since the introduction of Romania into the European Union, the Faculty of Law has modified its curriculum offering courses on European Law.

The Dean of the Faculty of Law is Professor Cristian Mihes, Ph.D.

Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oradea, which was founded in 1991, is located in Piata 1 Decembrie 10. It has two sections, one for Romanian students and one for international students. The international section, which has over 500 students from all over the world, gives foreign students the opportunity to study medicine, in courses taught entirely in the English language. The Faculty has a 6-year curriculum, which was developed in collaboration with Harvard University and several other US universities, and the languages of instruction are Romanian and English. Currently, there are six university hospitals for general and specialized care, with a total of 2,987 beds.

The Faculty of Dentistry, located in the building of Piata Creanga 2, has one of the Dentistry laboratories. A second section of the Faculty, is located in the building of Piata 1 Decembrie 10. The Faculty has a 6-year curriculum and the language of instruction is Romanian.

The Faculty of Pharmacy, which was founded in 1992, is located in Strada Castanilor 2. The Faculty has a 5-year curriculum and the language of instruction is Romanian.

The clinical courses take place in the Bihor County Hospital, the Municipality Hospital and the Pelican Hospital.

After an initiative of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Professor Dr. Gheorghe Bumbu, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oradea is following the educational method which was first applied by Leiden University, in which medical students are given the opportunity to present the topics of their lectures, supervised by their professors.

Medical Days of Oradea
Medical Days of Oradea (Zilele Medicale Oradene) is the annual congress organised by the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the University of Oradea. During the Medical Days of Oradea, doctors and medical students from all over the country have the opportunity to present the outcomes of their research.

Search and Rescue
Search and Rescue is the annual conference of Emergency Medicine and Rescuing in Special Situations, organised by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oradea, S.A.R.T.I.S.S., S.M.U.R.D. and Salvamont Rescue Team.

Seminars
Beginning in Academic Year 2010 - 2011, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oradea organizes various training seminars, such as the Emergency Medicine Club and Trauma Suturing Skills.

Research
Biobaza, the newly founded research center of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, is located in the center of the city.

Publications
The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oradea publishes the Oradea Medical Journal which is an interdisciplinary medical journal focusing on the continuing education of primary health care providers all around the world.

Activities
Various activities are part of the academic curriculum. A freshmen's party, which is organised annually by the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, is the traditional event welcoming the new students.

The International Evening, organised by the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, is one of the most spectacular events of the academic year. During the event, students from all over the world offer a traditional dinner, while giving the opportunity to their guests, to have a small impression of their cultures and traditions through presentations and musical shows.

The Spring Barbeque, taking place on the first Friday of May, occurs in parallel with a medical books market, as well as various other competitions.

Summer Camping
Medical Adventure School on Holidays (MASH) is an annual summer training camping for medical students that started in 2001. It offers first aid courses, training for rescues in special situations, as well as various competitions and team tasks, to medical students from all over Europe.

MASH is organised by S.A.R.T.I.S.S. and the Association of Medical Students of the University of Oradea. The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oradea, Salvamont Rescue Team, the Romanian Red Cross and S.M.U.R.D. of Bihor County are some of the co-organizers.

title: University of Oradea


text:
Forrest Mims

Forrest M. Mims III is an American amateur scientist, magazine columnist, and author of Getting Started in Electronics and Engineer's Mini-Notebook series of instructional books that were originally sold in Radio Shack electronics stores and are still in print. Mims graduated from Texas A&M University in 1966 with a major in government and minors in English and history. He became a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force, served in Vietnam as an Air Force intelligence officer (1967), and a Development Engineer at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory (1968–70).

Mims has no formal academic training in science, but still went on to have a successful career as a science author, researcher, lecturer and syndicated columnist. His series of hand-lettered and illustrated electronics books sold over 7.5 million copies and he is widely regarded as one of the world's most prolific citizen scientists. Mims does scientific studies in many fields using instruments he designs and makes and his scientific papers have been published in many peer-reviewed journals, often with professional scientists as co-authors. Much of his research deals with ecology, atmospheric science and environmental science. A simple instrument he developed to measure the ozone layer earned him a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 1993. In December 2008, Discover named Mims one of the "50 Best Brains in Science."

Mims edited The Citizen Scientist — the journal of the Society for Amateur Scientists — from 2003 to 2010. He also served as Chairman of the Environmental Science Section of the Texas Academy of Science. For 17 years he taught a short course on electronics and atmospheric science at the University of the Nations, an unaccredited Christian university in Hawaii. He is a Life Senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Mims is a Fellow of the pseudoscientific organizations International Society for Complexity, Information and Design and Discovery Institute which propagate creationism. He is also a global warming denier.

Early life and education
Forrest Mims was born in 1944 in Houston, Texas to Forrest M. Mims, Jr. (1923–1996) and Ollieve E. (Dunn) Mims (1924–1995). He was the oldest of five children, two boys and three girls. Mims' father was an Air Force pilot and the family lived on military bases from Alaska to Florida but their home state was Texas.

Mims was interested in science at an early age, and he built an analog computer as a high school science fair project in 1960. While memorizing his Latin class vocabulary words, Mims conceived a computer that could translate twenty words from one language to another. The input was six potentiometers (variable resistors) each having a dial with 26 letters. Entering the first six letters of the word on the potentiometers set a total electrical resistance. The memory of known words was a bank of 20 screwdriver-adjustable trimmer resistors. (Mims later referred to this as "Screwdriver-Programmable Read Only Memory", SPROM.) The memory was searched by a motor driven switch that compared the resistance of the input word with each memory resistor. When a match was found the motor would stop and one of 20 output lamps would be on. This was not a practical language translator, but it was an impressive science fair project for the early 1960s. Mims wrote an article for the December 1987 issue of Modern Electronics describing his homebrew analog computer complete with schematics and photographs.

Mims entered Texas A&M University in the fall of 1962 as a physics major. The mathematics courses convinced him to major in liberal arts. He graduated in 1966, with a major in government with minors in English and history.

Mims pursued his electronics avocation while at A&M. His great-grandfather was blind, and this led Mims to create a travel aid for the blind. This device was similar to RADAR, except it used the newly developed infrared-emitting diode to send intense pulses of light that reflected from obstacles. The returned light was converted to an audio tone that increased in amplitude as the distance to the obstacles was reduced. The infrared diodes had just been introduced by Texas Instruments in 1965, and sold for $365 each. Mims visited Dr. Edwin Bonin of Texas Instruments and explained his project. After reviewing the finished design, Dr. Bonin sent Mims three infrared-emitting diodes.

Mims arranged to exhibit his prototype at the annual Texas Medical Association convention held in Austin in April 1966. Wearing his Texas A&M Corps of Cadets uniform, Mims demonstrated his "electronic eyes" to the convention attendees. Mims and his device were widely reported in Texas newspapers. The San Antonio Light wrote, "Although a political science major at A&M, Mims's second interest obviously is 'science and inventing things.'" Mims would continue to improve this device over the next several years. Popular Mechanics described how the device would fit on a pair of eyeglasses in August 1972

Air Force
After graduating from Texas A&M in 1966, Mims became a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force and was assigned to Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon, Vietnam as an intelligence officer in early 1967. Mims had been interested in model rocketry since high school and brought a supply of rockets to Vietnam. He used a nearby horse racing track as a launch site to test his rocket guidance systems. After an Army helicopter gunship came to check out the rocket launches, Mims learned to notify military authorities before launching rockets at the race track. A night launch from the roof of his apartment house caused an alert at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Mims' rocket exploits were reported in the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

Mims tested his infrared travel aid at the Saigon School for Blind Boys and Girls in Saigon and the story appeared in many U.S. newspapers. Colonel David R. Jones of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory learned of Mims's experiments on a trip to Vietnam and arranged for Mims to be assigned to the Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Colonel Jones had to make special arrangements because Mims did not have the required engineering degree. Mims arrived at the lab in March 1968, and worked on various laser projects.

Mims organized the Albuquerque Model Rocketry Club to interest students in model rocketry. The club soon had 40 members and held meetings at Del Norte High School and the Albuquerque Academy. In July 1969, several club members attended the Southwestern Model Rocket Conference at Eastern New Mexico University. George Flynn, Publisher of Model Rocketry magazine, attended the conference where he interviewed Mims and some of the club members. The club president, high school student Ford Davis, gave a presentation on a miniature radio transmitter developed by the club that could relay data from a model rocket in flight. Mims, the club's senior advisor, told Flynn about the various sensors and telemetry equipment used by the club. Flynn invited Mims to write an article about his "Transistorized Tracking Light for Night Launched Model Rockets" and it was published in the September 1969 issue of Model Rocketry. Mims earned $93.50 for his first article as a professional writer and became a regular contributor to Model Rocketry.

MITS
Ed Roberts worked with Mims at the Weapons Laboratory and was also interested in electronics and model rockets. Roberts augmented his Air Force salary with an off-duty company, Reliance Engineering. Mims, Roberts and two other co-workers decided they could design and sell model rocket electronics kits to hobbyists. The December 1969 issue of Model Rocketry carried a press release written by Mims announcing that Reliance Engineering had formed a subsidiary company, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems. They designed and built the telemetry modules in their homes and garages but they were only able to sell a few hundred units.

Mims' background in the new technology of light-emitting diodes allowed him to sell a feature story to Popular Electronics magazine. Their monthly circulation was 400,000 readers compared to Model Rocketry circulation of 15,000. The five-page article would give an overview of the device physics and typical applications; it would be featured on the November 1970 cover. Mims asked the editors if they also wanted a project story and they agreed. Ed Roberts and Mims developed an LED communicator that would transmit voice on an infrared beam of light to a receiver hundreds of feet away. Readers could buy a kit of parts to build the Opticom LED Communicator from MITS for $15. MITS sold just over hundred kits. MITS was not making money on the kits and magazine articles paid $400. Mims was out of the Air Force and wanted to pursue a career as a technology writer. Roberts bought out his original partners and focused the company on emerging market of electronic calculators. The January 1975 cover of Popular Electronics featured Roberts' Altair 8800 computer. Roberts asked Mims to write the Altair 8800 user’s manual in return for an assembled Altair, which Mims donated to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History together with many original MITS documents and his high school language translating analog computer, in 1987.

Author

Mims wrote technical books on semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes. He coauthored a book on electronic calculators with his friend, Ed Roberts in 1974.

Les Solomon, the Technical Editor of Popular Electronics, liked to meet the magazine's authors. When he was on vacation in 1970, he visited Forrest Mims and Ed Roberts in New Mexico. Solomon gave them advice on selling project kits such as the "Opticom LED Communicator" but Mims was really interested in becoming a full-time writer. Solomon explained the magazine publishing business and helped Mims get articles placed in Popular Electronics. Mims also wrote for other magazines; "Experiment With a $32 Solid State Laser" was featured on the June 1972, cover of Radio-Electronics. In October 1975, Mims convinced Art Salsberg, Editor of Popular Electronics, to offer him a monthly column, the "Experimenter's Corner". He later added two additional columns, "Project of the Month" and "Solid-State Developments". Mims wrote for this magazine until it ceased publication in April 1985. Meanwhile, Salsberg had started another hobbyist magazine, Modern Electronics; and Mims wrote a monthly column and was a contributing editor.

In the 1970s, electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, transistors and even integrated circuits were common enough that interesting projects could be constructed at home with simple tools. The Radio Shack stores sold books that featured projects that could be constructed using the components that were being sold in their stores. In 1972, Mims wrote two hobbyist project books for Radio Shack.

His books could be understood by hobbyists and were illustrated with hand-drawn schematic diagrams and, eventually, hand-lettered text. This style proved popular, and Radio Shack commissioned 36 books between 1972 and 2003. His “Understanding Digital Computers” sold more than 100,000 copies. The hand-lettered books sold more than 7 million copies, the best seller of which was “Getting Started in Electronics”, which sold 1.3 million copies and is still in print. By the 1990s, components became smaller and it was difficult to assemble electronics projects with low-cost hand-tools.

The interest in electronic kits and experiments declined, and in 2003 Radio Shack scaled back their project books and components. (Four volumes of Mims’ 16 Engineers Mini-Notebooks are still available. Mims developed and wrote the manuals for three Radio Shack lab kits: Electronics Learning Lab, Electronic Sensors Lab and Sun & Sky Monitoring Station.

Mims also wrote articles for a wide variety of general-interest and technical magazines and 849 weekly science columns from 1999 to 2016 for the Seguin Gazette, many of which were also published by the San Antonio Express-News under “The Country Scientist” heading

In the 1990s, he began conducting serious science and began to write about atmospheric science and his measurements of solar ultraviolet radiation and the Earth's ozone layer with homemade instruments that sprang from one of his columns for “The Amateur Scientist” in Scientific American (“How to Monitor Ultraviolet Radiation from the Sun, August 1990). His finding of a drift in ozone retrievals by NASA’s Nimbus-7 satellite led to his first publication in the prestigious journal Nature (F. M. Mims III, Satellite Monitoring Error, Nature 361, 505, 1993

More than twenty of his scientific papers have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Applied Optics, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Photochemistry and Photobiology, EOS and Research Bulletin of the American Foundation for the Blind. Mims was interviewed on The Amp Hour in episode #171 - An Interview with Forrest Mims - Snell Solisequious Scientist, where he discussed his career, the controversies, and his scientific research He was also interviewed by Hackaday (Forrest Mims, Radio Shack, And The Notebooks That Launched A Thousand Careers, and he wrote “A Citizen Science AMA” for Reddit and Slashdot Q&A.

Because of his annual visits to Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory since 1992 to calibrate his atmospheric instruments, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assigned Mims to write “Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory: Fifty Years of Monitoring the Atmosphere.” The 480-page book with 100 color plates was published by the University of Hawaii Press in 2012.

Among Mims’ recent books is “Environmental Science: An Explorer’s Guide,” a 600-page book with hundreds of illustrations published by Intelligent Education (2018). The book is divided into five units: Air, Earth, Fire, Space and Water. Each unit concludes with field reports that detail Mims’ first-hand scientific experiences. Mims has also written “Make: Forrest Mims’ Science Experiments,” a 212-page book published by Makermedia (2016) that includes 30 of Mims’ science columns in Make magazine.

Stepped-tone generator (Atari Punk Console)
The stepped-tone generator is a circuit that utilizes a 556 dual timer IC. The controls are two potentiometers. Mims titled the circuit "Sound Synthesizer" in 1982 then later called  "Stepped-Tone Generator". The circuit creates sounds similar to a plucked violin. Electronic music experimenters began exploring this circuit and, owing to the similarity of sounds it makes to the Atari 2600, a crew member of the producer of sound circuits 'kaustic machines' coined the name Atari Punk Console.

Scientific American
In May 1988, Mims wrote to Scientific American proposing that he take over The Amateur Scientist column, which needed a new editor. The magazine flew Mims to New York to discuss details but the editor had second thoughts after he learned that Mims was a practicing Christian who rejected Darwinian evolution and abortion.

Harper's magazine (Paul Tough, March 1991, pp. 28-32) published a transcript of an October 4, 1989, recording of the magazine's editor made by Mims with his attorney's advice explaining why he planned to terminate Mims' assignment to "The Amateur Scientist." The editor stated: "There's no question that on their own merits the columns are fabulous. If you don't do them for us you ought to do them for somebody, because they're great. ... What you've written is first rate. That's just not an issue. It's the public relations nightmare that is keeping me awake." The magazine agreed to publish only the three columns they requested that Mims write.

According to The Washington Post after Mims appealed to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sheldon Krimsky, chair of the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, replied in a letter that: "... Mims—and indirectly Scientific American—was told that 'even if a person holds religiously-derived beliefs that conflict with views commonly held in the scientific community, those beliefs should not influence decisions about publication of scientific articles unless the beliefs are reflected in the articles.'" The ACLU of Texas offered to take Mims' case, but he declined. Meanwhile, the affair received widespread publicity in major publications such as the New York Times.

Eric Pianka
In 2006, Mims expressed concern with a March 3, 2006 lecture by scientist Eric Pianka. The lecture was held at the 109th Annual Meeting of the Texas Academy of Science and hosted by Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Mims alleged that Pianka advocated genocide with a genetically enhanced Ebola virus with the goal of exterminating up to 90% of the human population. Pianka has stated that Mims took his statements out of context and that Pianka was explaining what would happen from biological principles alone if present human population trends continue, and that he was not in any way advocating genocide.

Using LEDs as narrow band light sensors
Mims' interest in LEDs began in 1962, when he was experimenting with photosensitive devices and discovered the inverse effect. In the "Backscatter" section in an online issue of The Citizen Scientist, Mims describes this himself:

While a high school senior in 1962, I first got the idea that light sensors should be able to double as light detectors.[sic] So I connected an automobile ignition coil to a cadmium sulfide photoresistor, switched on the power, and observed bright flashes of green light emitted by the semiconductor. The green flashes were distinctively different from the yellow flashes of an electrical arc.

Mims also continued his investigations into the dual use of LEDs while in college:

While studying government (my major) in college, I found that certain silicon photodiodes can emit near-infrared radiation that can be detected by similar photodiodes. I managed to send modulated tones between such photodiodes. In 1971 I demonstrated the ability of many LEDs to detect light while experimenting with an optical fiber communication system. By placing a single LED at each end of the fiber, it was possible to send signals both ways through the fiber with only a single, dual purpose semiconductor device at each end of the fiber.

In 1980, Mims demonstrated the dual use concept of LEDs by building a bi-directional LED voice-communication circuit that allowed two people to transmit speech optically through the air and also through a 100-meter section of optical fiber. This demonstration was done at 1325 L Street in Washington D.C. —the same site where Alexander Graham Bell invented lightwave communications 100 years earlier. Present for the demonstration, which was sponsored by the National Geographic Society, were representatives from National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institution and Bell Labs. Bell first demonstrated his Photophone on 3 June 1880.

In addition to utilizing the dual-mode use of LEDs for communication, Mims decided to utilize the dual use of LEDs to perform measurements on specific properties of the atmosphere. In a paper published in Applied Optics (1992), entitled “Sun Photometer with light-emitting diodes as spectrally selective photodiodes”, Mims describes how LEDs can function as light detectors. In 2002, Mims followed with another LED sun photometer paper, “An inexpensive and stable LED Sun photometer for measuring the water vapor column over South Texas from 1990 to 2001”.

In addition to his many electronics books written for Radio Shack, Mims developed several electronics kits for them. One kit in particular made use of the "Mims Effect" of LEDs, by utilizing 4 LEDs acting as narrow band light sensors to perform atmospheric analysis. Dubbed the Sun & Sky Monitoring Station, this kit — of which 12,000 units were sold — allowed the user to make sophisticated scientific measurements, including measuring the amount of sunlight, atmospheric haze, atmospheric water vapor, amount of PAR (Photosynthetic Radiation), and the ET (Extraterrestrial Constant). The Sun & Sky Monitoring Station is no longer carried by Radio Shack.

32 years of Atmospheric Measurements
For more than thirty years, Mims has made accurate and detailed atmospheric measurements. These include measuring the ozone layer, haze (aerosol optical depth), and the total column water vapor.

The project began in May 1988, when Mims started experimenting with making UV-B measurements using homemade equipment. In 1989, Mims designed and built the first Total Ozone Portable Spectrometer (TOPS) to monitor ozone, and instruments to measure haze and water vapor. The first TOPS (Total Ozone Portable Spectrometer) ozone instrument earned a 1993 Rolex Award.

On February 4, 1990, these instruments were first used at solar noon to measure the ozone layer, haze (aerosol optical depth) and total column water vapor. The photograph at left by Mims wife Minnie was made February 4, 2016, the 26th anniversary date.

The various sun photometers, radiometers and cameras on the table are used every day at solar noon when the sun is not blocked by clouds. See Wikimedia and www.forrestmims.org for 25-year charts of total ozone, total water vapor and optical depth (haze). Mims' original LED sun photometer (placed in service during fall 1989) is in his left hand. Two Microtops II are in his right hand. One is among the first (1997) and the other is the only MicroTOPS II with LED’s as photodetectors.

Mims first LED sun photometer is still in use (he is shown holding it in the 26th anniversary photo above). It has dual LED’s acting as narrow band sensors, one at 830 nm and another at 940 nm (near-IR). The 830 nm LED is for optical depth. The ratio of the photocurrents from the 830 nm and 940 nm LEDs provides total water vapor.

The chart at right shows the total ozone measured from 1990 through 2016.

Total ozone (Dobson units) measured at solar noon at Geronimo Creek Observatory since February 4, 1990. Measurements conducted only when sun is open and free of clouds. Mims has compared his measurements against Dobson 76 and Brewers 009 and 119 at the Mauna Loa Observatory each year since 1992.

In addition to measuring total ozone, Mims has measured the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 830 nm with his original instrument since 1990. The chart at left shows the data.

Measurements made at or near solar noon when the sun is not obstructed by clouds. Peaks indicate smoke, dust and smog. Saharan dust events are measured each summer.

The chart at right shows the total column water vapor measured since 1990. Total column water vapor is measured at 940 nm and 830 nm (reference wavelength) using the same sun photometer first used on February 4, 1990.

The ratio of these two wavelengths provides the total water vapor. The trend is slightly down (approx. -1.5 mm/decade). Calibration: NOAA GPS data from Galveston, TX, and Mauna Loa Observatory, HI. Measurements are made at or near solar noon when clouds are not before the sun.

Water vapor is the key global warming gas. The 1997-98 peak in Mims's data occurred during a major El Nino. No such peak occurred during the 2015-16 El Nino. The general shape of the data resembles the global water vapor plot in NASA's ongoing NVAP study.

In addition to Mims' measurements in his home state of Texas, he made atmospheric measurements in Brazil during two three-week campaigns for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. In August 1995, Mims led a 2-man team to measure the ozone layer during the SCAR-B campaign at Cuiaba in central Brazil since the ozone instrument aboard the Nimbus-7 satellite had ceased working.

In August 1997, Mims led a 2-man team that measured ozone layer, smoke optical depth, UV-B and water vapor near Alta Floresta in Amazonia.

During the fall of 1996, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center assigned Mims to fly at a moment's notice to a series of 7 major forest fires in Utah, California, Wyoming and Montana. A GSFC scientist had discovered that a new satellite ozone instrument could also detect smoke, and Mims was assigned to measure total ozone and the optical depth of smoke during satellite overpasses.

In 2022, the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society published Mims 30 year paper on Climatology: "A 30-Year Climatology (1990–2020) of Aerosol Optical Depth and Total Column Water Vapor and Ozone over Texas." This time series now exceeds a similar measurement series at Table Mountain, California, by the Smithsonian Institution's Astrophysical Observatory (1926-1957).

Twilight Science
Mims’ latest research involves the measurement of the altitude of aerosol layers in the atmosphere using a new kind of twilight photometer.

A twilight photometer is a highly sensitive light meter that is pointed at the zenith sky for up to an hour after sunset or before sunrise. As the sun sets in the evening, the edge of Earth’s shadow over a fixed point rises overhead. (The opposite occurs before sunrise.) Particles in the sunlit atmosphere just above Earth’s shadow scatter sunlight toward the surface, where it can be detected by a twilight photometer. The elevation of these particles can be calculated.

Twilight photometry traditionally uses a telescope pointed toward the zenith that focuses very dim twilight onto a photodiode or photomultiplier tube connected to multi-stage amplifier. Mims’ design is unique in that it employs an ordinary LED as a twilight detector and no external optics beyond the epoxy lens in which the LED chip is encapsulated.

Instead of a multi-stage amplifier, he uses a single operational amplifier with a feedback resistor of from 10 to 20 gigohms to provide a gain of 10 to 20 billion. Since 2013, Mims has used several LED twilight photometers to detect layers of smoke and dust in the troposphere and volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere. Sulfur dioxide from the 21-23 June 2019 volcanic eruption of Raikoke reached the stratosphere and covered much of the northern hemisphere with a veil of sulfuric acid aerosols. Mims’ twilight photometry from Central Texas and lidar measurements from Hawaii indicated that the elevation of the densest portion of the veil reached 25 km and was typically 16-20 km.

Furthering science
Forrest Mims has participated in forming a science-focused team in his three children. Daughter Sarah used kite-held smoke-and-spore sampling to keep the collection high away from local ground and airs while verifying the remote conditioning of the wind. Forrest had participated in setting up a stand on the ground for sampling the winds, but Sarah wanted to remove local-air-and-ground influences.

Books
List of books, booklets, manuals by Forrest Mims.

 * Radio Shack

 * Introduction to Electronics (1972)
 * Introduction to Transistors (1972)
 * Transistor Projects, Volume 1 (1973)
 * Transistor Projects, Volume 2 (1974)
 * Transistor Projects, Volume 3 (1975)
 * Transistor Projects, Volume 4 (1976)
 * Integrated Circuit Projects, Volume 1 (1973)
 * Integrated Circuit Projects, Volume 2 (1974)
 * Integrated Circuit Projects, Volume 3 (1975)
 * Integrated Circuit Projects, Volume 4 (1975)
 * Integrated Circuit Projects, Volume 5 (1976)
 * Integrated Circuit Projects, Volume 6 (1977)
 * Electronics Music Projects (1977)
 * Computer Circuits for Experimenters (1974)
 * Semiconductor Projects, Volume 1 (1975)
 * Semiconductor Projects, Volume 2 (1976)
 * Security for Your Home (1974)
 * Optoelectronic Projects (1975)
 * Radio Shack Introduces the World of Computing (1977)
 * Understanding Digital Computers (1979)
 * Engineer's Notebook 1 (1979)
 * Engineer's Notebook 2 (1982)
 * Beginner's Guide to Personal Computers (1981)
 * Getting Started in Electronics (1983)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: 555 Timer IC Projects (1984) *
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Op-Amps (1985)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Optoelectronics (1985)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Basic Semiconductor Circuits (1986)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Digital Logic Circuits (1985)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Formulas, Tables & Basic Circuits (1988)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Schematic Symbols, Design and Testing (1988)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Communication Projects (1985)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Science Projects (1990)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Environmental Projects (1995)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Sensor Projects (1996)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Magnets and Magnetic Sensor Projects (1998)
 * Engineer's Mini-Notebook: Solar Cell Projects (1999)
 * Electronics Learning Lab, Workbook 1 (2000)
 * Electronics Learning Lab, Workbook 2 (2000)
 * Electronic Sensors Lab (2001)
 * Sun and Sky Monitoring Station (2003)

 * Other

 * Model Rocket Telemetry (MITS, 1969)
 * Semiconductor Diode Lasers (with Ralph Campbell, Sams, 1972)
 * Light Emitting Diodes (Sams, 1973)
 * LED Circuits and Projects (Sams, 1973)
 * Electronic Calculators (with H. Edward Roberts, Sams, 1974)
 * Optoelectronics (Sams, 1975)
 * 816 Calculator Assembly Manual (MITS, 1970)
 * Altair 8800 Operator's Manual (MITS, 1975)
 * How to Protect Your CB Rig (Sams, 1976)
 * Electronic Circuitbook 1, Project Construction (Sams, 1976)
 * Electronic Circuitbook 5, LED Projects (Sams, 1976)
 * Home Computers (Consumer Guide, 1978)
 * Number Machines (David McKay, 1977)
 * Lasers, the Incredible Light Machines (David McKay, 1977)
 * What to Look for Before You Buy an Advanced Calculator (Hewlett-Packard, 1976)
 * The Programming Book (Hewlett-Packard, 1976)
 * The Beginner's Handbook of Electronics (with George Olsen, Prentice-Hall, 1980)
 * Light-beam Communications (Sams, 1975)
 * A Practical Introduction to Lightwave Communications (IEEE & Sams, 1982)
 * 103 Projects for Electronics Experimenters (Tab, 1981)
 * The Forrest Mims Circuit Scrapbook (McGraw-Hill, 1983)
 * Reference Data for Radio Engineers (Major Contributor, ITT Publishing, 1975)
 * The New American Academic Encyclopedia (Major Contributor, Arete, 1979)
 * Law and the Writer (Contributor, Writer's Digest Books, 1978)
 * Siliconnections (McGraw-Hill, 1985)
 * The Computer Scientist (Osborne/McGraw-hill, 1985)
 * VHS-1 Sun Photometer (TERC, 1996 and National Science Teachers Association, 1996)
 * Fifty Years of Monitoring a Changing Atmosphere - The Story of Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory (University of Hawaii Press, 2010)
 * Make: Forrest Mims' Science Experiments (Make, 2016)
 * Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist (Make, 2024)

Pianka controversy-related

 * PZ Myers comments on Pianka v. Mims  on Pharyngula.
 * Commentary on the Mims and Pianka controversy by James Redford.

title: Forrest Mims