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New York City Farm Colony

The New York City Farm Colony was a poorhouse on the New York City borough of Staten Island, one of the city's five boroughs. It was located across Brielle Avenue from Seaview Hospital, on the edge of the Staten Island Greenbelt.

The New York City Farm Colony and Seaview Hospital make up their own special landmarked historic district, designated on 26 March 1985, and the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Colonial period
Part of the town of Castleton from the 1680s onward, the land was previously a 96-acre farm owned by Stephen Martineau (also "Martino") of Staten Island (Dutch: Staaten Eylandt), which was previously part of New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland; and before that, inhabited by the Raritan band of the Unami division of the Lenape.

At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the Dutch ceded New Netherland to Kingdom of England in the Treaty of Breda, and the Dutch Staaten Eylandt, anglicized as "Staten Island", became part of the new English colony of New York.

In 1670, Native Americans, including the Lenape, ceded all claims to Staten Island to the English in a deed to Governor Francis Lovelace. In 1671, in order to encourage an expansion of the Dutch settlements, the English resurveyed Oude Dorp (which became known as 'Old Town') and expanded the lots along the shore to the south. These lots were settled primarily by Dutch families, and became known as Nieuwe Dorp (meaning 'New Village'), which later became anglicized as New Dorp.

The earliest known history of the Martineau farm goes back to April 24, 1676, when the land was granted to François Martineau ("Martino"), a French Huguenot immigrant to New Amsterdam from Île de Ré and La Rochelle, France, by the English government. King Louis XIV of France sought to impose total Catholic religious uniformity in France, repealing the Edict of Nantes, which had guaranteed religious freedom for Huguenots, in 1685. It is estimated that anywhere between 150,000 and 300,000 Protestants fled France during the wave of persecution that followed the repeal; François was one such refugee who had previously lived in the Dutch farming village of Haarlem with his family.

In 1683, the colony of New York was divided into ten counties. As part of this process, Staten Island, as well as several minor neighboring islands, was designated as Richmond County. The name derives from the title of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his French-born mistress, Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth.

Stephen Martineau, the great-great-grandson of François Martineau, was born in 1761 on what was called the Oude Dorp (Old Town) Farm, near the northeastern shore of Staten Island. Stephen and his wife, Eleanor Haughwout, had 11 children. It was reportedly one of their daughters, Maria Martineau, who sold the farm in 1829 to the government of Richmond County for $3,000. The Richmond County Poor Farm was established on the land.

Modern era
When Staten Island became a borough of New York City in 1898, the city assumed responsibility for the property and redesignated it the New York City Farm Colony, although it was sometimes also referred to as the Staten Island Farm Colony. In 1915, its administration was merged with that of Seaview Hospital, which had been set up with the expressed purpose of treating tuberculosis (it is now a city-run nursing home, under the new name of Sea View Farms).

Jurisdiction over the site was transferred in 1924 to the city's Homes for Dependents agency, which lifted the requirement that all residents of the colony had to work — with most of the work involving the cultivation of many varieties of fruits and vegetables, and at various times even grains such as wheat and corn; these crops fed not only the colony's residents but met the needs of other city institutions as well.

For several years, the bank robber Willie Sutton, having broken prison in West Philadelphia and returned to his native New York, lived and worked at the Farm Colony, making many friends, and occasionally still carrying out robberies on the side, for which he was eventually recaptured.

Until the 1930s, many if not most of the farm colony's residents were elderly, and at times numbered as many as 2,000; this number steadily declined after the Social Security system was adopted on the federal level in the United States (although noted photographer Alice Austen lived there for a brief period in the early 1950s ), and the programs of the Great Society implemented in the 1960s further depleted its ranks, leading to the facility being closed in 1975.

Since its closure, the Farm Colony site has been the focus of debate over land use. In 1980, the city attempted to sell the property to developers, but environmentalists and many Staten Islanders resisted the sale. As a result, in 1982, the city's Department of General Services was given authority over the land; this agency in turn transferred 25 acre to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, which annexed the section to the Greenbelt. The remaining 70 acre at the site were officially designated a city landmark in 1985; many buildings remain standing at the colony, but have fallen into disrepair, and have also been subjected to vandalism.

In 1993, a Babe Ruth League baseball diamond was built on Farm Colony land; a second field was added in 2001. The former 96-acre site is now 43 acres due to the development of ball fields, and adding sections of the property to the local green belt.

A 2020 article about the property, stated that the site has been vacant for four decades, but was "being redeveloped into a multi-use complex with commercial space, and...housing options". However, as of August 2022, the project appeared to be dead, with no progress made.

title: New York City Farm Colony


text: Template:Hugo Awards

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

title: Template:Hugo Awards


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User talk:Krytonix

I've made my first successful edit over in the Hubbert Peak:Hydrogen section. It turns out that in harnessing energy from hydrogen we really are extracting chemical energy (this is a chemical reaction wherein hydrogen and oxygen ultimately become water). Hydrogen is not "an energy carrier like electricity" (in fact, it's what produces the electricity). --Krytonix 12:27, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Krytonix


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Kristen French

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was keep. Joyous 02:41, Feb 14, 2005 (UTC)

Kristen French
Although I am probably going to get a reputation as heartless for requesting VfDs on articles like this, murder victims (however tragic) are not necessarily encyclopedic and this article doesn't establish a reason for her death to be so. Thryduulf 12:28, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. While it would be a much better world if murder was so rare that being a victim of any murder, let alone extremely unpleasant ones, made someone notable, we do not live in that world. Average Earthman 13:14, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I agree that most murder victims are below the bar. Kristen French is a household name in Canada, and will be in the living memory of the generations who remember the Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka trials, the most infamous murder trials in Canadian history (Louis Riel's was for treason), until at least late in this century. Strong keep. This would merit deletion only if Ron Goldman and Laci Peterson were deleted. Samaritan 13:26, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * By the way, she's hard to google-test: her first name is sometimes spelled wrong, and often just omitted - say "French and Mahaffy" and everybody in Canada knows what you mean. The "French and Mahaffy families" are also major figures. Samaritan 13:46, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong keep, for precisely the reasons enumerated by Samaritan. French and Mahaffy are household names in Canada; the Bernardo trials were as big in the media there as the O.J. Simpson trial was in the States.  --TenOfAllTrades 14:01, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * The article should say this. I'm not Canadian and so don't have the background knowledge assumed in the article. Thryduulf 15:09, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep Samaritan and TenOfAllTrades are absolutely correct. - SimonP 16:20, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC)
 * I agree with Samaritan. Keep. --YUL89YYZ 17:08, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. While Wikipedia is not a memorial, this death was notable. Jayjg (talk) 19:14, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep for reasons stated above. This murder victim qualifies as notable. I assume there's probably an article for the second victim as well (Mahaffy or something like that). 23skidoo 20:14, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. —Mar·ka·ci: 2005-02-4 20:30 Z
 * Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy are both household names in Canada. They were both the subjects of major missing persons searches before their bodies were found, and not just locally -- I can personally vouch for having seen "HELP FIND KRISTIN FRENCH" billboards hundreds of miles away from St. Catharines. It's not even the slightest exaggeration to state that every single Canadian who was old enough to follow the news in the 1990s can name these two right off the top of their heads. This is equivalent to Laci Peterson, as Samaritan points out above; the victim is every bit as famous as the killer. Unqualified keep. Bearcat 21:13, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong keep, for reasons listed already. --Idont Havaname 23:36, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, apart from her murder she wasn't notable herself. Wikipedia is not a crime database. Megan1967 01:48, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Extreme keep. You'll surely burn in hell for this one, Thryduulf.  Say your prayers tonight.  —RaD Man (talk) 04:38, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I am not Canadian and so didn't have any pre-knowledge of this case, I was also only 11 at the time it happened and so not in the habit of following international news (if it made the news in the UK?). When I put the article up for VfD there was nothing in the artcile about strong media coverage, or a mention of the other victim. Thryduulf 09:51, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong Keep Spinboy 04:44, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong Keep Samaritan hit the nail on the head. - Jord 04:46, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep as per Samaritan and Bearcat. One key point is that this victim became sadly very famous in Canada long before her killers were caught, thus notability in her own right. -- Curps 05:06, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. It seems that this is again a very notable case in Canada. Capitalistroadster 07:04, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete otherwise non-notable murder victims unless their case sets a legal precendent, spawns new legislation, or something else that will matter 100 years from now (or becomes larger than life, like the fiction-inspiring Jack the Ripper victims). FWIW, I'm not sure we need to have the Laci P. article, but "laci peterson" gets 450,000 hits, while French Mahaffy gets less than 10,000. PS I sure wish people would stop making personal attacks on VfD pages. Niteowlneils 13:06, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment. I agree about the personal attacks.  One should note that Mahaffy is frequenly misspelled (as Mahaffey) which probably affects your Google count, and further that Google may be somewhat unreliable as a notability metric outside of the United States.  A search on "Jean Chretien"  (Canada's Prime Minister from 1993 to 2003) garners only 403,000 hits—fewer than Laci Peterson.
 * Above comment from User:TenOfAllTrades
 * What's more, all the online media responsible for those Laci Peterson hits did not exist when French's tragedy was most current. Unless we want to be an encyclopedia of what people wrote about in their blogs and livejournals in the early 2000s, this is no comparison. Samaritan 17:58, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I've just added information about the Green Ribbon of Hope adopted by her fellow students, teachers and friends at her school; the Green Ribbon Campaign continues as the major national campaign for missing children across Canada to this day. It also gave its name to the Green Ribbon Task Force, a controversial multi-agency police group that was later subject of an inquiry. Samaritan 18:28, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment. Setting the threshold at "what will matter 100 years from now" is not only impossibly high (much current Wikipedia content would fail this test) but utterly impossible to predict. Our only standard must be what matters today, because the readers of Wikipedia are using it today. Some crime victims become famous in their own right, sometimes by mere accident of circumstances: for instance Carlie Brucia, whose name is much better known than her killer's. If the public has made someone famous for whatever reason, then they are "notable" for our purposes, regardless of youth or lack of personal achievements. In any case, Samaritan makes a very valid point that Google hit counts can't be compared for events that occurred before vs. after the current era of widespread Internet use. -- Curps 19:08, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * keep. Yuckfoo 01:15, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. -- Necrothesp 03:53, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep and allow for organic growth. GRider\talk 19:02, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Redirect. A single article should be written on these crimes, possibly merging the information from the existing articles and all the separate articles on the perpetrators and victims Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka, Kristen French, and Leslie Mahaffy should be redirected to that one article.  I will leave it to those more familiar with the facts to decide an appropriate title for that article -- perhaps something on the lines of French-Mahaffy Murders.   It doesn't make structural sense to me to have the same basic set of facts quaduplicated in four different articles.   If any of these people had notability independent of these notorious crimes,  a separate article on that person would be reasonable, but that doesn't seem to be the case. --BM 19:41, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Largely because of the  Green Ribbon of Hope Campaign founded in her name.  This adds significance to what is otherwise a tragic footnote to history HowardB 08:45, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * 'Keep. Household name in Canada. Article could be expanded to explain her family's role in preventing media from gaining access to videos. Also, there may only be 10,000 Google hits, but the Canadian population is small and Canadian media do not have the same global penetration as the US outlets that covered Laci Peterson. Moreover, as a past event, few people are likely to be blogging about French than Peterson, thus limiting the number of hits. --Westendgirl 09:11, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep this was an important part of Canadian criminal history and will probably become more prominent when Karla Homolka gets released later this year. Dabbler 16:55, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text: User talk:82.43.194.71

title: User talk:82.43.194.71


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Samantha Runnion

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was KEEP.

The votes were 4 keep, 4 delete, 1 merge. dbenbenn | talk 18:50, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Samantha Runnion
Although it pains me to list the article here, I don't see why the (admitedly apalling) murder of Samantha merits a wikipedia article. Thryduulf 12:32, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I agree. Delete.  Too bad there is no article for the Joyful Child Foundation, which was formed after her death.  I could see merging the info into an article about that. Katefan0 18:07, Feb 4, 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge and Redirect. Form an article about the Joyful Child Foundation, and merge this content there.  We have a precedent with the case of Polly Klaas, which redirects to The Polly Klaas Foundation. --Idont Havaname 23:32, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * My mistake; that article is called Polly Klaas Foundation. --Idont Havaname 23:34, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, apart from her murder she wasn't notable herself. Wikipedia is not a crime database. Megan1967 01:49, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. A Google search for Samantha Runnion returns 7.940 results 1 including from CNN and it has led to the formation of a foundation. Capitalistroadster 07:08, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I have added info the murder given details of why Alejandro Avila was charged. The case is still going on and is continuing to attract publicity. As it could well be a capital case, it is likely to remain prominent for some time. Together with the Joyful Child Foundation being formed and the Samanta's Pride named after Runnion becoming active in Southern California, I consider that makes her notable. I have created an article on the Joyful Child Foundation but I consider that a redirect would not be ideal. The best solution in my view is to focus the Joyful Child Foundation article on its work against child abuse while keeping the Samantha Runnion article about the court case. No change of vote. Capitalistroadster 07:46, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, without comment. Wyss 23:00, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * please keep this. Yuckfoo 01:16, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. -- Necrothesp 03:52, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. I don't think this has been de-listed yet, but this is definitely a notable case. It got much media attention when it occurred. Mike H 09:06, Feb 12, 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


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7th Sea (role-playing game)

7th Sea is a "swashbuckling and sorcery"-themed tabletop role-playing game by John Wick. It is set in the fictional world of Théah, a fantasy version of 17th century Earth. Originally published by AEG, 7th Sea is currently published by Chaosium. The game won an Origins Award in 2000 and six ENNIE Awards in 2017.

History
Alderac Entertainment Group published the Game Master's Guide and Player's Guide for Seventh Sea in April 1999 in a lay-flat binding. Originally 7th Sea materials were published using a d10 (roll-and-keep) dice system. The game was fairly well received. Some of the game's later supplements included information about the game's world that affected its flavor, including an extensive and rather Lovecraftian background to sorcery.

In 2001, Studio G published two comic books: 7th Sea – Absolution and 7th Sea: Prelude to Ruin.

In 2004, Alderac switched to the d20 System and re-branded the game to Swashbuckling Adventures. After poor sales of the three Swashbuckling Adventure d20 books, a series of hybrid books were published which supported both the d20 system and the d10 system. Alderac no longer publishes books for the system although a series of electronic books has been released by volunteer writers through the AEG website.

In 2015, Alderac Entertainment Group announced that they had entered into a deal with John Wick Presents, effectively transferring the publication rights for 7th Sea to John Wick. AEG still retained limited rights to publish undisclosed products. Wick successfully crowd-funded the campaign of the second edition of the game on Kickstarter on March 13, 2016, with the first book – the new core rules – coming out in June of that year. Later that month, the 7th Sea Explorers' Society was launched on DriveThruRPG to allow fans to self-publish material for the setting.

On November 12, 2017, a separate effort raised money for 7th Sea: Khitai, the East Asian-inspired counterpart to 7th Sea. The rate of publication proved to be unsustainable, though, and in November of the following year Wick was forced to lay off his staff and defer further publication for the line.

On April 2, 2019, Chaosium announced that they had acquired the rights to the 7th Sea product line along with the Second Edition and Khitai Kickstarters from John Wick, including back stock of books published so far. Work on the product line has since resumed.

Reception
In 2000, 7th Sea won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game of 1999. The setting also inspired a collectible card game.

In 2017, 7th Sea won ENNIE Awards for "Product of the Year," "Best Game," "Best Rules," "Best Cartography," "Best Free Product," and "Best Supplement."

Publications
These are the books published for the current edition:
 * Core Rulebook (2016): Core rulebook set in the nations of Théah.
 * Pirate Nations (2016): New seafaring rules and places to visit in the Caribbean-themed Midnight Archipelago.
 * Heroes and Villains (2016): Collection of 40 heroes and 40 villains to use as NPCs or pre-generated player characters.
 * Nations of Théah Volume 1 (2016): Details Avalon, Castille, Montaigne and Vestenmennavenjar.
 * Nations of Théah Volume 2 (2016): Details Eisen, The Sarmatian Commonwealth, Ussura and Vodacce.
 * Crescent Empire (2017): Introduces a new setting, the Middle-Eastern-themed Crescent Empire with five new nations: Anatol Ayh, Ashur, Persis, Sarmion, and the 8th Sea.
 * The New World (2017): Introduces a new setting, the Mesoamerican-themed Aztlan Empire with three new nations: The Nahuacan Alliance, the TzakK'an, and the Kuraq.
 * Lands of Gold and Fire (2017): Introduces a new setting, the African-themed nations of Ifri: Aksum, Khemet, Maghreb, Manden Kurufaba, and Mbey.
 * Secret Societies (2020): Further details the secret societies from the core book.
 * Cities of Faith and Wonder (2022): City building guide with chapters on several important cities in the setting.
 * Land of 1000 Nations (2023): Introduces a new setting, the North American-themed Woven Land.

title: 7th Sea (role-playing game)


text:
FV432

The FV432 is the armoured personnel carrier variant in the British Army's FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles. Since its introduction in the 1960s, it has been the most common variant, being used for transporting infantry on the battlefield. At its peak in the 1980s, almost 2,500 vehicles were in use.

Although the FV432 was to have been phased out of service in favour of newer vehicles such as the Warrior and CVR(T), 500 were upgraded to extend their service into the 2020s.

In light of the army's need for additional armoured vehicles in the Afghan and Iraqi theatres, the Ministry of Defence announced in August 2006 that an extra 70 vehicles would be upgraded by BAE Systems in addition to the 54 already ordered as part of their "force protection initiative". The improvements took the form of an engine upgrade, a new steering unit and a new braking system, as well as improvement in armour protection to a level similar to that of the Warrior.

Plates lined with Kevlar have been added to the bottom hull to provide better protection against improvised explosive devices. It is intended that these FV432s will free up the Warrior vehicles for provision of reserve firepower status and/or rotation out of theatre. The updated version is called the Bulldog.

History
The FV432 was designed to be the armoured personnel carrier in the FV430 series. Production started in 1962 by GKN Sankey and ended in 1971, after constructing approximately 3,000 vehicles.

The FV432 is of all-steel construction. The chassis is a conventional tracked design with the engine at the front and the driving position to the right. Directly behind the driver's position is the vehicle commander's hatch. There is a large round opening in the passenger compartment roof, which has a split/folding (concertina) hatch, and a (right hand) side-hinged door in the rear for loading and unloading. A 'Boiling Vessel' is mounted on the rear door to provide hot water and heating food. As in many designs of its era, there are no firing ports for the troops carried – British Army doctrine having been for troops to dismount from vehicles to fight, unlike Russian infantry fighting vehicles that largely incorporate ports. The passenger compartment has five seats on either side – these fold up to provide a flat cargo space.

An NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons) system is fitted, normal ventilation provided by a fan mounted in the forward right hand side of the vehicle, air being drawn through a paper element filter (mounted externally on the right hand side of the hull), filtered air being distributed by a duct running around the perimeter of the interior at roof level, extending into the driver's compartment. Provision is made to add carbon filters in case of gas attack, and the system can accommodate heaters and/or air conditioning units. A roof-mounted relief valve allows a constant minimal pressure to be maintained and prevent ingress of foreign matter in the event of blast or alterations in external atmospheric pressure.

Wading screens and a trim vane were fitted as standard and an extension provided to elevate the exhaust pipe. The basic vehicle, which could be readied for wading in approximately five minutes, has a water speed of about 6 km/h when converted for swimming and was propelled by its tracks. Most of these vehicles have had their amphibious capability removed.

FV432s in service with infantry battalions are equipped with a pintle-mounted L7 GPMG if not fitted with the Peak Engineering turret. Vehicles with the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Royal Signals were originally fitted with the L4A4 variant of the Bren light machine gun, but they now use the GPMG. When equipped with the GPMG, the vehicle carries 1,600 rounds of belted 7.62mm ammunition. When carrying the Bren LMG, the vehicle carried 1,400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition in 50 magazines, each holding 28 rounds. There are two three-barrel smoke dischargers at the front.

The Australian Army evaluated two pre-production FV432s during 1962 and 1963, but decided to purchase M113 armoured personnel carriers instead. The trials undertaken in Queensland demonstrated that the M113's performance was superior to that of the FV432.

A number of surplus vehicles were sold to the Indian Army after being withdrawn from UK service.

Variants
The FV432 has been produced in three major variants, the Mark 1 (with a Mark 1/1 minor variant) with petrol engines, the Mark 2 with a Rolls-Royce K60 multi-fuel engine and the Mark 3 with a diesel engine. The Mark 2 minor variant, the 2/1, has its NBC pack flush with the hull side. An uparmoured variant, for use in Iraq and Afghanistan, of the Mark 3 was known as Bulldog. This name now appears to be extended to all Mark 3 versions of the FV432.

The FV432 has proven to be flexible in use and can be converted from one role to another with reasonable ease using 'installation kits' (IK), or more permanently with minor modifications to the hull. Major or more significant modifications have usually led to a new FV43n number. In addition to the normal armoured personnel carrier role, it has been used as: FV432s used by combat infantry units have also been equipped with:
 * a command vehicle, with seven crew, two mapboards and extra communications equipment (with an additional canvas "penthouse")
 * an ambulance, with spots for up to four stretchers or two stretcher and five seated patients but would not carry any armament other than the smoke dischargers.
 * a cargo carrier, for up to 3,600 kg
 * a communications vehicle
 * a recovery vehicle. Designated as the FV434, it includes a rear cutout to a "pickup-truck" box to carry a spare engine/other stores with tool store below, an internally mounted winch, and a 2.5-tonne lift arm. Frequently equipped with the canvas "penthouse".
 * anti-tank guided missile launcher (designated FV438) with two Swingfire ATGM launchers that were reloaded from an internal magazine of 10 missiles. Swingfire was a command line of sight wire-guided missile controlled from a sight mounted on the top of the FV438. The missile range was 4,000 metres. The launch tubes were to the left and slightly behind the CLOS sight.  Royal Armoured Corps, Infantry and Royal Artillery units were equipped at various times with FV438.
 * WOMBAT recoilless rifle early models carried this armament internally, using ramps and a hand winch to deploy and recover the weapon. Later models mounted it externally above the rear hatch. In this arrangement the weapon had limited-traverse (30° lateral, +7.5° −3° elevation), but it could also be demounted as in the earlier arrangement.
 * 84mm Carl Gustav recoilless rifle mounted on a bar across the top of the troop compartment.
 * 81mm mortar on a turntable in the rear of the hull can be traversed through 360° firing through the roof hatch; 160 mortar rounds are carried; crew consists of a driver, commander and two men.
 * Peak Engineering turret with the L37A1 variant of the 7.62mm GPMG, replacing the roof hatch.
 * 30 mm RARDEN-gun equipped turret (taken from the Fox scout car; 13 converted). These were used by the Berlin Brigade (usually in the distinctive urban camouflage used there). One of these, of the Royal Hampshires, was driven by their honorary colonel, Diana, Princess of Wales, on her visit to Berlin in 1985 These were later bought by the tank driving and paint-balling company Armourgeddon (who also converted more). These have been modified with a compressed air cylinder on the rear of the turret for the paintball gun.
 * ZB 298 Elliott Automation Grounds Surveillance Radar
 * MILAN anti-tank missiles (two missile teams, deployed away from the vehicle)

FV432s used by the Royal Artillery have been equipped with:
 * a battery command post with FACE fire control computer
 * a battery command post with BATES battlefield artillery target engagement system
 * Cymbeline mortar-locating radar
 * sound ranging equipment
 * observation post vehicle with ZB 298 Elliott Automation Grounds Surveillance Radar

FV432s used by the Royal Engineers have been equipped with:
 * a towed layer for L9 anti-tank Bar Mine
 * a launcher for L10 Ranger Anti-Personnel Mine
 * a towed Giant Viper mine-clearing system
 * a Thales Group SWARM Remote Weapon System

Bulldog
The need to upgrade the FV432 to extend its service life further led the MoD to sign an £85m contract with BAE Systems Land Systems to update over 1,000 FV 432s to Mark 3 standard. Major changes include a new diesel engine and braking system. Initially, only FV432 and 434 models were converted, but other variants are being considered. The first 500 of the batch were handed over to the British Army in December 2006.

For service in Iraq and Afghanistan, air-conditioning, enhanced reactive armour and IED jammers were added. Initially, only these further enhanced versions were known by the name Bulldog. The term now applies to all Mark 3 vehicles.

Current operators

 * 🇲🇿 Mozambique: 40 received in 2013
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine: The British government is providing an unspecified number of FV432 Mark 3 Bulldogs to the Ukrainian Army.
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

title: FV432


text:
Ernest de Sélincourt

Ernest de Sélincourt (1870–1943) was a British literary scholar and critic, the eldest son of Charles Alexandre De Sélincourt and Theodora Bruce Bendall. He is best known as an editor of William Wordsworth and Dorothy Wordsworth. He was an Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1928 to 1933 and a Fellow of University College, Oxford. After a distinguished career at Oxford, he became a Professor of English at Birmingham. Early in his career he taught in the Ladies' Department of King's College London, where his students included Virginia Woolf (then Virginia Stephen).

His papers are held at the University of Birmingham Special Collections.

De Sélincourt went to France in March 1917 as a professor with the YMCA and this service is duly recorded in the First World War medal rolls. He married Ethel Shawcross in 1896 in the Battle, Sussex, registration District. At the time of the 1911 census they had four children. She died in Oxford in 1931.

Works

 * The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser (1910) editor, three volumes
 * English poets and the national ideal – four lectures (1915)
 * The Poems of John Keats (1920) editor
 * (1921 Warton Lecture on English Poetry)
 * Guide to the Lakes by William Wordsworth (1906/1926) editor
 * The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet's Mind by William Wordsworth (1928) editor
 * Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth (1933) editor
 * Dorothy Wordsworth (1933)
 * Oxford Lectures on Poetry (1934)
 * The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth – 6 Volumes (1935–39) editor, six volumes
 * Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland (1941), editor (by Dorothy Wordsworth)

title: Ernest de Sélincourt


text:
The Voice of Hiphop & RnB

The Voice of Hiphop & RnB is a Swedish radio station. A webcast of the station is available through The Voice Mediaplayer on the internet.

History
The Voice, former Radio City and Mix Megapol, started in April 2004 in Stockholm on 105.9. The Voice is owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. After the merge with Bonnier Radio, SBS engaged in extensive research in the radio market in Stockholm. As they had (and have) a strong AC-station with Mix Megapol the research told them to seek a younger audience and they started The Voice of Hiphop & RnB. In 2006, relays were set up in Gothenburg on 107.8 and Malmö on 106.1.

Profile
The Voice mixes hip-hop artists like Eminem, Petter and 50 Cent with R&B from artists like Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Usher, Akon and Justin Timberlake.

The brand of The Voice and the logo is represented in both Denmark and Norway through their sister stations.

title: The Voice of Hiphop & RnB


text:
Island Falls

Island Falls may refer to:

 * Island Falls, Maine, a town in the United States
 * Island Falls (CDP), Maine, the main village in the town
 * Island Falls, Saskatchewan, a power station in Canada

title: Island Falls


text:
Aca Lukas

Aleksandar Vuksanović (Александар Вуксановић; born 23 September 1969), better known by his stage name Aca Lukas (Аца Лукас), is a Serbian pop-folk singer and musician.

Career
Vukasnović began his career in the early nineties by performing alongside Serbian rock musician Viktorija and her band. His stage name comes from the Belgrade nightclub "Lukas", where he would sing during his beginnings. In 1994, Lukas released his debut album Ponos i laž (Pride and Lie) under ITV Melomarket. It was followed by Pesma od bola (Song Out Of Pain, 1996) and Lična karta (ID, 1998), on which he started working with prominent songwriters Marina Tucaković and Aleksandar Radulović Futa. The albums' title songs became two of his arguably best known songs. His signature hit, "Lična karta", coveres "Trauma" by Greek singer Anna Vissi. In November 1999, Lukas held his first solo concert in Pionir Hall, Belgrade to 10,000 fans.

During the early 2000s, Vuksanović was signed to Grand Production, under which he released the subsequent album Rođendan (Birthday, 2000). Same year, Lukas also performed at the Belgrade Fair to reported 20,000 people. His fifth album, titled Nešto protiv bolova (Something For the Pain) was released in 2002 through Music Star Production. It was succeeded by Istina je da lažem (The Truth Is That I Am Lying) in 2003 under BK Sound. During the next two years, Lukas would make a hiatus to focus on his substance addiction problem. He returned in 2006 with Jagnje moje (My Lamb), released under Grand Production. Lukas won the second Grand Festival with "Upali svetlo" in 2008, which was included on his eighth album Lešće.

In November 2010, he performed in the Belgrade Arena for the first time. In 2012, Lukas released Stil života (Lifestyle) through City Records. During the following years, he collaborated with Ivana Selakov on the singles "Daleko si" (2012), "Omaklo mi se" and "Ljubav u doba kokaina" (2015). In June 2013, Lukas held his biggest solo concert to date at the Marakana Stadium in Belgrade in front of 50,000 people. Between 2013 and 2018, he was a judge on the televised singing competition Zvezde Granda. In June 2014, he released a duet with Ceca, called "Ne zanosim se ja". In 2016, Vuksanović made a cameo appearance in the comedy film The Samurai in Autumn. A year later in April, Lukas collaborated with Mile Kitić and Saša Matić on "Da me je ona volela".

In March 2021, Vuksanović released his tenth studio album Uspavanka za ozbiljne bebe (Lullaby for Serious Babies) under City Records, which among other songs included duets "Kidaš me" and "Problem" with Milica Pavlović and Maya Berović, respectively. In June the same, Lukas promoted his autobiography, titled "To sam ja" (That Is Me), at the Terazije Theater. The book, which was written in collaboration with journalist Vanja Bulić, saw poor reception from the critical public. In March 2022, Lukas competed at the Pesma za Evroviziju '22 music festival with song the "Oksar" to represent Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. In the finale, held on March 5, he placed fifth out of 18 final entries.

Personal life
Vuksanović was born on November 3, 1968, in Belgrade, and grew up in the downtown neighborhood of Karaburma. He graduated from a high school of music.

He has four children from three different marriages. With his first wife, Svetlana, Lukas has a son and a daughter, named Lazar and Miljana. Lukas was later married to a woman named Nataša, with whom he welcomed his second son, Andrej. In April 2010, Vukasnović married Sonja Višnjić. The following year, they became parents to daughter Viktorija. On September 2, 2017, Lukas was reported for a physical assault by his wife. A day later, after pealding guilty, he was sentenced to 9 months of suspended sentence and 18 months of restriction order against his wife for domestic assault. Their divorce was finalized in September 2019.

Over the years, there have been reports of his substance abuse and gambling addiction problems. In 2002, Lukas admitted himself to a rehabilitation facility in Switzerland.

In February 2009, he was shot in the right leg in front of his apartment building in New Belgrade.

Legal issues
Following the assassination of Zoran Đinđić in 2003, Vuksanović was arrested for illegal gun possession during the police action Sablja and sentenced to four months of prison.

LGBT rights organization 'Da Se Zna!' filed a complaint against Vuksanović in August 2020 for hate speech against LGBT community during his television appearance on Happy TV in January 2018.

In November 2020, Vukasnović made misogynistic remarks against N1 journalist Žaklina Tatalović while appearing on a live talk show broadcast by TV Pink. Subsequently after receiving public denunciation, he made an apology, which was perceived as insincere by the public. In September 2022, it was reported that Vuksanović was criminally convicted for insults against Tatalović and ordered to pay her 250.000 RSD as well as to cover her court expenses.

After the final of the Serbian selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, Pesma za Evroviziju '22, where Lukas had placed 5th in the final with the song "Oskar", he accused Serbian public broadcaster RTS of irregularities in the voting of the selection, stating he would file a criminal complaint against the head of the Radio Television of Serbia, its editor of entertainment program Olivera Kovačević and general director Dragan Bujošević for "stealing votes". RTS responded, stating that the SMS votes were counted automatically by software which did not allow interference. The Comtrade System Integration company, which set up the software to count the votes, said it was prepared to hand the votes to the authorities if requested to do so, adding that the same data is available from mobile phone operators. After the controversy, in April 2022, it was reported that RTS filed a lawsuit against Lukas for false reporting.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * Ponos i laž (1995)
 * Pesme od bola (1997)
 * Lična karta (1998)
 * Rođendan (2000)
 * Nešto protiv bolova (2001)
 * Istina je da te lažem (2003)
 * Jagnje moje (2006)
 * Lešće (2008)
 * Stil života (2012)
 * Uspavanka za ozbiljne bebe (2021)

 * Cover albums
 * Jedno veče u kafani (1998)
 * Drugo veče u kafani (1999)
 * Još sam tu (za drugove) (1999)
 * Zora beli... (1999)
 * Aca Lukas & O.K. Band (2000)

 * Live albums
 * Najveća žurka na Balkanu (1999)
 * Žurka (2002)

 * Compilations
 * The Best of Aca Lukas (2000)
 * Aca Lukas - Hitovi (2008)
 * Aca Lukas - Stil Zivota (2012)

title: Aca Lukas


text:
User:NortonSayeg

www.alzheimermed.com.br

A doença de Alzheimer (DA) pronuncia-se (AU-ZAI-MER) é uma doença degenerativa, progressiva que compromete o cérebro causando:diminuição da memória, dificuldade no raciocínio e pensamento e alterações comportamentais.

Definida por muitos como “mal do século”, “peste negra”, “epidemia silenciosa” etc. a DA é ainda pouco conhecida em nosso meio e tem efeito devastador sobre a família e o doente.

Tida como uma doença rara, conhecida erroneamente como “esclerose” pela população em geral, a doença de Alzheimer representa para a comunidade sério ônus social e econômico.

A DA pode manifestar-se já a partir dos 40 anos de idade, sendo que a partir dos 60 sua incidência se intensifica de forma exponencial. Existem relatos não documentados de DA aos 28 anos de idade.

Nos EUA, 70 a 80% dos pacientes são tratados em seus domicílios, demonstrando com clareza a importância da orientação para a família nas questões relativas aos cuidados e gerenciamento desses pacientes. O restante dos doentes está sob os cuidados de clínicas especializadas. 60% dos residentes em asilos apresentam alguma forma de demência.

Os sintomas mais comuns são: perda gradual da memória, declínio no desempenho para tarefas cotidianas, diminuição do senso crítico, desorientação têmporo-espacial, mudança na personalidade, dificuldade no aprendizado e dificuldades na área da comunicação.

O grau de comprometimento varia de paciente para paciente e também de acordo com o tempo de evolução da doença.

Na fase final o paciente torna-se totalmente dependente de cuidados. file:///C:/Meus%20documentos/Minhas%20imagens/alzh%20em%20branco%20enorme.jpg

title: User:NortonSayeg


text:
Hubert Opperman

Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, OBE (29 May 1904 – 18 April 1996), referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s earned him international acclaim.

Hubert rode a bicycle from the age of eight until his 90th birthday, when his wife Mavys, fearing for his health and safety, forced him to stop. His stamina and endurance in cycling earned Opperman the status of one of the greatest Australian sportsmen.

Early life
Opperman was born on 29 May 1904 in Rochester, Victoria. He was the eldest of five children born to Bertha (née Reddie) and Adolphus Samuel Ferdinand Oppermann. His parents were both born in Victoria, with his father of German descent.

Opperman's father had worked as a butcher, miner, timber-cutter and coach driver. Hubert, the eldest of five children, learned as a child to plough with six horses and to ride bareback. He attended several schools and delivered Post Office telegrams by bicycle. Some time following Hubert's birth, his parents moved to Western Australia, along with his uncle Albert Oppermann and his father's cousins August, Emil and Hugo Oppermann. (Hubert's grandfather, Otto Friedrich Oppermann, was one of three brothers who migrated to South Australia as miners in the 1850s; two brothers remained in South Australia, while Otto came to Victoria). Hubert's sister Winifred was born in Western Australia in 1907; after that the family moved back to Victoria where Hubert's twin siblings Bertha Ellen and Otto Alexander were born in 1910, followed by younger brother Bruce some years later. Bruce also became a competitive cyclist, and won several regional races in Victoria. It is not known when, or why, Hubert anglicised his surname and dropped one 'n' from its end.

Opperman attended schools in Baillieston, Ten Mile and Benalla. His father enlisted in the Australian Army in World War I and he was sent to live with his paternal grandmother in Melbourne, where he completed his education in Glen Iris. He left school at the age of 14.

Cycling career
He came third in a cycling race at 17 in 1921. The prize was a racing bike by Malvern Star Cycles, a cycle shop in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. The proprietor, Bruce Small, was so impressed he offered Opperman a role in the business, which helped turn both into household names in Australia.

Opperman is the only rider to have won the Australian national road race title four times, in 1924, 1926, 1927 and 1929. The 1924, 1926 and 1929 titles were awarded for winning the Blue Riband for fastest time in the Warrnambool to Melbourne Classic. In 1927 the Warrnambool to Melbourne was not run and the title was won by Opperman as the winner of the Dunlop Grand Prix, a 690.5 mi race over four stages.

In the Goulburn to Sydney Classic Opperman was first and fastest in 1924 and 1929 and was fastest in 1930 setting a new race record.

Opperman was critical of the handicap races then prevalent in Australian cycling Opperman's plea for scratch racing was partially met in 1934 in the Centenary 1000, a one-week road bicycle race over seven stages covering 1102 mi. The championship was based solely on time, although there was also a handicap race with riders divided into 4 grades. The race was run in as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Victoria. Opperman had injured his knee in a fall in stage 4 near Wangaratta, but despite this he was still well placed at 3rd in the championship. He injured his knee again in a fall whilst descending from Mount Hotham. Opperman also cut his hand requiring stitches, which he refused until after the stage. He battled on to Sale, losing 27 minutes on the stage to Lamb. He attempted to finish the race, but was forced to abandon at Traralgon, said to be the first time Oppy had retired from a race.

1928 Tour de France
The Melbourne Herald and The Sporting Globe in Australia and The Sun in New Zealand started a fund in late 1927 to pay for an Australasia team to the Tour de France. Opperman went to Europe in April 1928 with Harry Watson of New Zealand and Ernie Bainbridge and Percy Osborn of Australia. He went to the six-day race at the Velodrome d'Hiver in Paris, where he met an Australian participant, Reggie McNamara. The Franco-American writer René de Latour, who was working for McNamara at the six-day, wrote:

 * A marked difference between Oppy and his team-mates was that they did not all regard the journey to Europe in the same light. While the others looked on it more as a trip in which to collect a few souvenirs to take home, to the eager Oppy it was a wonderful chance to reach the top in international competition... His arrival in France had been announced with some scepticism: Un beau mentir qui vient de loin is a French saying. (A good lie comes from a distance.) His outstanding wins in Australia did not mean anything to the French riders, and even less to the Belgians.
 * 'Whom did he beat over there, anyway?' they would say. 'Let's see him on the road, then we'll know. We've yet to see any classy Australian road rider.'
 * 'Whom did he beat over there, anyway?' they would say. 'Let's see him on the road, then we'll know. We've yet to see any classy Australian road rider.'

Opperman joined a training camp run by Paul Ruinart, trainer of the Vélo Club Levallois, on the outskirts of Paris. Ruinart and the VC Levallois were at the peak of French cycling and took in Opperman and his team. They rode Paris-Rennes as their first race. A report says:

 * The 32 riders assembled at a small Parisian café at midnight. On the street outside, torrential rain alternated with freezing hailstorms. When called outside for the 2am start, the riders kept warm by running on the spot and flapping their arms. The Australians amused the others with a game of leapfrog followed by a sparring match between Watson and Bainbridge.

Nicolas Frantz of Luxembourg won and Opperman came eighth. Opperman then came third to Georges Ronsse of Belgium and to Frantz in Paris-Brussels.

The Tour de France started one month later. The shortest day was 119 km and the longest 387 km. Other teams had 10 riders but the Australasia squad had four, plans to increase the team with Europeans having failed. Their position was worsened by Henri Desgrange's plan to run most of the race as a team time trial, as he had the previous year. Teams started at intervals and shared the pace until the end. Desgrange wanted to stop riders racing casually for all but the last hour. The American historian Bill McGann wrote:

 * Desgrange... wanted the Tour de France to be a contest where unrelenting individual effort in the cauldron of intense competition resulted in the supreme test of both the body and will of the athlete. Desgrange was convinced that the teams were combining to fix the outcome of the race. At the very best, even if they were honest, they helped a weaker rider do well. He also felt that on the flat stages the riders did not push themselves, saving their energy for the mountains.

With four rather than 10 riders to share the pace, Opperman and his team were handicapped. De Latour wrote:

 * Even if I live to be 150 years old, there is one picture I am sure I shall never forget. It is the sight of the poor lonely Opperman being caught day after day by the various teams of 10 super-athletes, swopping their pace beautifully. The four Australians [sic] would start together. Bainbridge would do his best to hang on, but even though he may have been a good rider in the past, the passing years had taken most of his speed, and he would generally go off the back after 50 miles or so... That left three Aussies against the trade teams' 10. Then, inevitably, if it was not Osborn it was Watson who would have to quit at the 100 miles mark.

Opperman was often swept up by the French Alcyon team. Its manager, Ludo Feuillet, adopted him and helped with advice and tyres. Opperman finished the Tour 18th. He said of the long stages and the hours of darkness that riders endured:

 * As the bicycle banged and jolted over uneven ground, one yearned for company, for another human whose conversation would share the anxious misery of those uncertain hours. Yes, there it was, a vague outline of a hunched figure swinging and swaying in an effort to find a smooth track. French is the Esperanto of the cycling fraternity, so I ventured some words in that tongue. C'est dur ("It is hard"), but only a grunt came back. For a mile we plugged in silence, then again in French, I tried: 'This Tour – it is very difficult – all are weary.' Once more only a snarling noise returned. 'The boorish oaf,' I thought, 'I'll make the blighter answer.'

 * 'It is very dark, and you are too tired to talk,' I inferred, sarcastically. The tone touched a verbal gusher as a totally unexpected voice bawled, 'Shut up, you Froggie gasbag – I can't understand a flaming word you've been jabbering,' and then I realised that I had been unwittingly riding with Bainbridge.

After the 1928 Tour
In 1928 Opperman won the Bol d'Or 24-hour classic, paced by tandems on a 500m velodrome in Paris. Both his bikes had been sabotaged by the chains being filed so they failed. His manager had to find a replacement, his interpreter's bicycle which had heavy mudguards and wheels and upturned handlebars. Opperman rode the bike for 17 hours without dismounting. He was 17 laps of the track behind the leader but after 10 hours rose to second place to Achille Souchard, who had twice been national road champion.

Opperman punctured after 23½ hours and got off his bike for the first time since the broken chain. "He had met Nature's lesser calls as he pedalled, to the roar of the indelicate crowd", said a report. Opperman won by 30 minutes to the cheers of 50,000 yelling "Allez Oppy". His manager suggested he continue to beat the 1000 km record. Opperman declined but his trainer and the crowd persuaded. He cycled 1h 19m more alone to beat the record.

He became enough of a hero in France that "a gendarme in Montmartre held up the traffic and waved him through in solitary splendour with the cry: "Bonjour, bonne chance, Oppy!" Opperman had a hero's welcome when he returned to Melbourne.

1931 Tour de France
Opperman rode again in 1931 in a combined Australia/Switzerland team including Fatty Lamb, Ossie Nicholson and Frankie Thomas. Thomas had stomach trouble and did not finish stage 3 while Nicholson broke a crank and was eliminated in stage 4. Opperman finished 12th, suffering from several accidents and dysentery after having occupied sixth place, while Lamb finished in 35th place and was the last finisher.

After the 1931 Tour
In 1931 Opperman won Paris–Brest–Paris (726 miles, 1166 km) in a record 49 hours 23 minutes despite rain and wind. Paris–Brest–Paris, which became a challenge ride for amateurs, was then the longest race in the world. Opperman said: "In 1931 it had a class field, with two Tour winners, Frantz and Maurice De Waele, as well as Classics winners. We started in the dark and rode into the howling wind and driving rain all the way to Brest. It took us more than 25 hours. Once we had turned there, riders were all over the road with fatigue. Once I had to fend off Frantz when he fell asleep."

Opperman was patron of Audax Australia and Audax UK, organisations encouraging long-distance riding, until his death in 1996. He attended the centenary celebrations of Paris–Brest–Paris in 1991 and received the Gold Medal of the City of Paris. Opperman considered Paris–Brest–Paris his greatest win.

Records
Opperman rode for the Malvern Star bicycle company. Malvern Star were agents in Australia for the British BSA factory and BSA sponsored Opperman in the years before the Second World War to break place-to-place and other distance records in Great Britain. He broke Land's End-John o' Groats in 1934 in 2d 9h 1m and then the 1,000-mile record in 3d 1h 52m. He also took London-York in 9h 23m 0s and the 12-hour record after 243 miles.

In 1935 he set the 24-hour record with 461.75 miles and broke London-Bath-London with 10h 14m 42s, Land's End-London with 14h 9m 0s, and shared the tandem record for London-Bath-London with Ern Milliken, in 8h 55m 34s. He broke London-Portsmouth-London in 1937 with 6h 33m 30s. In each case he had to wear not the cycling clothes he wore elsewhere but a black jacket and black tights that reached to his shoes. They were required by the Road Records Association to make riders "inconspicuous." During the 1935 trip to Europe Opperman, Milliken and Hefty Stuart went to Belgium for the 1935 UCI Road World Championships, where Opperman finished 8th.

In 1940 Opperman set 100 distance records in a 24-hour race at Sydney. Many were not broken until decades later.

In 1937 Opperman set a record fastest time of 13 days, 10 hours and 11 minutes for the 2,875 miles transcontinental crossing from Fremantle to Sydney, over long stretches of rutted tracks and through soft sand where he had to carry his bicycle in searing heat. Sometimes he fell asleep while riding, and crashed. His time of just over 13 days cut five days off the record, and other records fell by the score.

Opperman recalled: "At one point, by the light of the car behind me, I could see a large snake in the wheel ruts, and I couldn't stop. All I could do was land the bike on top of it, hard. I suppose I must have killed it. Then, at Nanwarra Sands, I had to pick up the bike and carry it for 10 miles in the soft sand. We learned that I could gain time by sleeping for only 10 minutes at a time, something I have never forgotten."

Anti-doping stance
Opperman was widely known for his vocal opposition to doping and illegal drugs being used by athletes attempting to gain a competitive advantage, a practice he labelled as “vicious”.

Despite racing and competing in an era where doping in sport was considered to be available to most athletes and prevalent within sections of the world’s cycling community, Opperman was never the subject of any credible or formal accusation or investigation for doping and the taking of illegal substances.

As an advocate for natural athleticism over artificial enhancement, Opperman often cited the benefits of healthy diet, physical training, rest and preparedness in maximising a cyclist's endurance and competitive edge.

1932 Australian Olympic team masseur, Edwin Gill, called Hubert Opperman "one great antagonist of doping” and said that, along with fellow champion rider Duncan Gray, they opposed the practice of doping. When referencing that some cyclists’ trainers might have secretly added dope to a riders’ intake, Gill noted that Opperman would never participate. Gill recounted: "In Europe, he [Opperman] threatened to sack trainers if they indulged in the practice [of doping their riders]."

Towards the end of his cycling career, Opperman was adamant cyclists who took drugs were disadvantaging themselves, and that many clean champion riders were unfairly accused of taking drugs by their less successful opponents. In 1939 Opperman stated:"A beaten rider who has seen a rival make some extraordinary effort is often inclined to give himself a let out in his own mind by saying the other fellow must have been doped […] you cannot perform consistently if you dope, because a doped man takes more out of himself than nature would allow him to do. You can't thwart nature. There must be some compensation."In Russell Mockridge’s posthumous autobiography, My World On Wheels, Mockridge wrote that he believed ‘strong stimulants’ were used by cycling champions in their era, but conceded that the great champions, including Hubert Opperman, realised the dangers [of drugs and doping] and would not "dare depend on them”. Mockridge states that caring for and feeding a cyclist’s body with proper food and providing it sufficient rest from the rigours of professional cycling was the key to these men becoming great champions with longevity in their sport.

Mockridge, a fellow Australian and Victorian champion cyclist, said of Opperman and the great drug-free champions:"Men who treat themselves this way are the champions whose reign will be a long one — Bartali, Coppi, Volpi, Bini and Magni of Italy; Geminiani Bobet, Gerardin and Vietto of France; Van Vliet, Derksen, Van Kempen and Schulte of Holland; Scherens, Van Steenbergen and, until he was killed, Ockers, of Belgium; Harris of England, Opperman and Strom of Australia."In 1990 Opperman continued to be outspoken against doping and illegal drug taking in sport when addressing the Sport Australia Hall Of Fame awards lunch, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. On the topic of athletes potentially doping to cheat at the upcoming 1992 Olympic Games, he told the members and inductees:"The use of drugs is a vicious practice [...] personally I would circulate expert medical opinions concerning its adverse effects to every competitor, demand they sign it as read and understood and then if they are tested positive, suspend them for life. Fame is something which must be won. Honour is something which must not be lost."In the official biography Sir Bruce Small: From Malvern Star To Mr Gold Coast by Rachel Syers, Hubert Opperman's late son, Ian Opperman, stated:"One thing I wish to make quite clear is that Bruce Small [Hubert Opperman’s manager] and my father would never sanction the use of drugs and stimulants during their time together. Some authors have insinuated that my father received ‘help’ from sources never named and offer no proof that this occurred. My father was quoted in his own book, saying ‘there is no sporting prize worth the use of drugs and stimulants’. In 1995 Griffith University awarded my father an Honorary Doctorate in Health and Psychology and in 2014 he was named Australian Tour de France Team Captain of the Century. These honours would not have been awarded had there been any question of drug involvement."Daniel Oakman, a Senior Curator at the National Museum of Australia and historian was clear when describing Opperman’s healthy habits. Oakman said Opperman was viewed admirably for his ‘athletic virtue’ and that his ‘performance enhancement’ beverage of choice was simply coffee and a herbal brew as potent as a cup of tea or piece of chocolate. In 2021 Oakman attested: "Abstemious (he neither drank nor smoked), disciplined, and unpretentious, Oppy was seen as a paragon of athletic virtue. His sports beverage of choice was coffee and the South American herbal brew called Yerba maté, which had the same stimulating effect as tea and chocolate."

End of career
Opperman's career ended with World War II when he joined the Royal Australian Air Force. He served from 1940 to 1945 and rose to flight lieutenant. He raced briefly after the war but retired in 1947.

Politics
Opperman joined the Liberal Party of Australia after the war and in 1949 was elected to the Parliament of Australia for the Victorian electorate of Corio centred on Geelong. He beat a senior Labor minister, J. J. Dedman and held the seat for 17 years before appointment to High Commissioner for Malta.

He became the Government Whip in 1955. He was appointed Minister for Shipping and Transport, a Cabinet position, in 1960. Between December 1963 and December 1966 he was Minister for Immigration (retaining the position when Harold Holt succeeded Sir Robert Menzies as Prime Minister). He oversaw a relaxation of conditions for entry into Australia of people of mixed descent and a widening of eligibility for well-qualified people. One assessment said: "He was the perfect party man: unswervingly loyal, safe with secrets, an honest adviser and a shoulder for fellow ministers to cry on, sometimes literally. He made no pretence of statesmanship."

The assessment added:

 * He found the [opposition] Labor Party's socialist platform of the day too close to communism to allow any compromise. His dedication to hard work left him with little sympathy for organised labour in any form, and probably inspired one of his campaign slogans 'Opperman for the Working Man.' His autobiography, Pedals, Politics and People (1977), showed that – like his political idol, Menzies – he was a lover of tradition, European pageantry, and decorous manners. He never quite forgave Harold Macmillan for forgetting, during a visit to Corio, to give proper thanks for a rug specially woven by local mills in the Macmillan tartan.

Opperman became Australia's first High Commissioner to Malta in 1967, a job he held for five years.

Personal life
Opperman married Mavys Craig in 1928 and they had a son and a daughter.

Opperman was a Freemason, initiated into Stonnington Lodge No 368 of the United Grand Lodge Victoria on 23 December 1925.

Sir Hubert and Lady (Mavys) Opperman resided at Edgewater Towers, St Kilda, Victoria, from the day it opened in 1961 until their move to a Wantirna retirement village in the late 1980s. "They left the 'glorious' views of their St Kilda home for the smog free air at the foot of the Dandenongs" The Edgewater Towers project was the brain child of Opperman's friend and sponsor Bruce Small. The Oppermans had two flats on the 6th floor facing the bay and he was often seen bicycling along the foreshore wearing his signature black beret.

Death, honours and memorials

Opperman was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1953, and made a Knight Bachelor in 1968 for his services as High Commissioner to Malta.

Opperman continued cycling until he was 90. He lived in a retirement village which, as the British journalist Alan Gayfer pointed out in 1993, had "No Cycling" signs. Opperman died on an exercise bicycle.

He was voted Europe's most popular sportsman of 1928 by 500,000 readers of the French sporting journal L'Auto, ahead of national tennis champion Henri Cochet. An obituary said he "ranked alongside Don Bradman and the race horse Phar Lap as an Australian sporting idol, but his fame at home proved less durable than theirs, perhaps because he went on to become a politician." He won the Frederick Thomas Bidlake Memorial Prize in 1934 as "the rider whose achievements are deemed the greatest of the year."

Opperman entered the Golden Book of Cycling on 13 October 1935. This recognised his record-breaking exploits in Australia, and more particularly his 1934 onslaught which took five British records in 14 days.

Opperman is commemorated every year with the Opperman All Day Trial, an Audax ride held in Australia in March in which teams of three or more ride a minimum of 360 km in 24 hours. Oppy's racing bicycle, used in his epic crossing from Fremantle to Sydney, was included in a travelling exhibit put on by the national museum. This bike was viewed in Exmouth, WA, in 1979. Citations of his incredible transcontinental speed were reported at 13 days +. Opperman was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985. The City of Knox, where Opperman spent his last years, dedicated and named several trails and cycle ways around the municipality after races which Opperman won. It has also dedicated an annual bicycle event, The Oppy Family Fun Ride. The ride is part of the Knox Festival each March.

A 'most ancient of berets' worn by Opperman in Europe between 1928 and 1931 is part of the National Museum of Australia's collection.

In 2015, he was an inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductee.

Teams

 * 1924–1927: Malvern Star.
 * 1928: Ravat-Malvern Star.
 * 1929–1930: Malvern Star.
 * 1931: Alleluia-Wolber, Elvish-Wolber.
 * 1932–1935: Malvern Star.

title: Hubert Opperman


text:
User:JohnCrocker

A computer database designer by profession, I am also a musician (a pianist) and lover of history. I am fascinated by English and Japanese history and by ancient literature of all descriptions. My Japanese wife has assisted me in my limited knowledge of the Japanese language.

I created an article on the Bournemouth Sinfonietta. Never should we lose any more orchestras in Britain.

title: User:JohnCrocker


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Iragberi

Iragberi is a town located a few kilometres from Ede, Osun State, Nigeria with a population of approximately 80,000 people.

The town's principal occupation is farming; the varied crop selection includes rice, cocoa, coffea, cassava, maize, beans, yam and kola nuts, and others like [coal making].

The first ruler of Iragberi was Oba Aara Akoni-Agogo; he was said to be an emigrant from Ẹfọ̀n-Alààyè. The title of the town's traditional ruler is 'Aragberi', which is derived from 'Araa gba ori', meaning "Aara has collected the head," which is from folklore that describes a scenario where he collected the head of an individual who was tormenting the then Olu of Ibadan. The current Aragberi of Iragberi is Oba (Dr.) Folorunsho Agboade Makanju PhD., who was crowned in 2014. Website= jossy20.xyz [ref] July 2023

The neighboring towns include Ede, Awo, Iwoye, Ara, Aato, ejigbo and inisa. Iragberi is one of the major towns in Egbedore Local Government, area of Osun State, Nigeria. The sons and daughters of this ancient town are well read and traveled.

The town has two major tourist centres, but they are no longer functional; the first is the Palm Tree with Two Heads, while the second one is Woru Chain (a place where one of the powerful ancestors inhumed/concealed himself in land).

title: Iragberi


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Centrica

Centrica plc is a British multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire. Its principal activity is the supply of electricity and gas to consumers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers of electricity, operating under the trading names British Gas in England and Wales, Scottish Gas in Scotland, and Phoenix Gas in Northern Ireland. It owns Bord Gáis Energy in Ireland. The company also provides household services including plumbing.

Centrica is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Predecessors
The company has its historical origin in the Gas Light and Coke Company which incorporated in 1812. Over the next 137 years, it grew by acquisition of other gas companies to become the primary supplier of gas to Greater London. In 1949, under the Gas Act 1948 the ownership of the company transferred to a government agency, North Thames Gas Board. The various area gas boards were merged into the national British Gas Corporation in 1973. The Gas Act 1986 sold the company to private investors as British Gas plc.

Origin
Centrica became a separate, distinct corporation on 17 February 1997, when British Gas plc split (demerged) to form three separate companies: Centrica plc, BG plc and Transco plc. Centrica took over gas sales and gas trading, services and retail businesses, together with the gas production operations in the North and South Morecambe gas fields (Rampside Gas Terminal). The new company was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

The company operates through three intermediary holding companies:

 * British Gas Trading Ltd, founded in 1995.
 * GB Gas Holdings Limited, founded 1996, which holds British Gas (also known as Scottish Gas).
 * Centrica Hive Ltd, founded in 2007.

In 1998, Centrica's supplier monopoly for gas came to an end. Centrica maintained the British Gas retail brand but is only allowed to use this brand name in the United Kingdom. The electricity market also opened up to competition and, through the British Gas brand, the company started supplying its first domestic electricity customers.

1998 to 2010
At the end of 1998, under CEO Sir Roy Gardner and Finance Director Mark Clare, Centrica attempted to diversify – firstly by developing the Goldfish credit card, then in July 1999, by acquiring The AA for £1.1 billion. In July 2001, Centrica further diversified with the opportunistic purchase of the UK residential telecoms business of Australia's One.Tel.

Centrica also moved into the North American energy supply market, through the acquisition of the Canada-based company Direct Energy in July 2000, for £406 million. Direct Energy's operations were subsequently considerably expanded through a number of further acquisitions, including of Enbridge Services for £437 million in January 2002.

This strategy of diversification changed in the middle of 2003, possibly under pressure from major city shareholders to deliver better returns and/or possibly anticipating pressure on the core energy supply business. The change started with the sale of the Goldfish business to Lloyds TSB (who subsequently sold it to Morgan Stanley Bank International Limited).

Then, in July 2004, Centrica sold the AA to two private equity firms; Luxembourgish CVC and British Permira for £1.75 billion. In December 2005, Centrica sold their OneTel business to Carphone Warehouse. However, in October 2004 Centrica paid £57 million for Dyno-Rod, the emergency drainage franchiser, who had previously been contracted to carry out work for Centrica's customers who had bought drain and plumbing insurance.

From 2005, Centrica declared a strategy of consolidating within the energy sector, upstream and downstream, including expanding operations overseas. New chairman Roger Carr replaced retiring chairman Sir Michael Perry in 2005, whilst new CEO Sam Laidlaw picked up the reins from retiring CEO Sir Roy Gardner in March 2006.

In January 2006, it was rumoured that the Russian state-owned utility company Gazprom was seeking a takeover of Centrica. This created controversy in the media, while the Department for Trade and Industry stated any deal would be subject to "intense scrutiny". Tony Blair announced in April that he would not block any potential deal.

In September 2008, the company acquired the Caythorpe gas producing field near Bridlington to use for storage purposes. It also agreed to buy 20% of British Energy from EDF, financing this with a £2.2 billion, 3 for 8 rights issue. The rights issue offered shares at 160 pence per share and closed on 12 December 2008. In August 2009, Centrica took over Venture Production, a North Sea gas producer.

2010 to 2019
On 13 June 2010 Centrica, through Direct Energy, acquired Clockwork Home Services. Combining with the existing energy offer made Centrica the largest provider of heating and cooling, plumbing and electrical services in North America. On 17 November 2010, Centrica acquired the assets of heat pump installation company Cool Planet Technologies Ltd. for £0.5 million in cash. This aimed to boost the company's strategy of developing a broad range of low carbon technologies and advice.

In February 2012, Centrica signed a £2 billion three-year contract with Qatargas for the purchase of 2.4 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas. In March 2011, Centrica agreed the sale of the electricity and gas supply business of its Netherlands based subsidiary Oxxio to Eneco BV for €72 million (£63 million) in cash. The sale completed Centrica's exit from the supply of electricity and gas in Continental Europe, following the earlier disposal of its supply businesses in Belgium and Spain.

In November 2011, Centrica agreed to buy $1.6 billion stakes of eight fields on the Norwegian continental shelf from Statoil ASA. In a second deal, Centrica agreed to buy five billion cubic meters a year gas from the same company from 2015 to 2025 as equal to 5% of gas consumption in the United Kingdom. Centrica's Germany based trading division Centrica Energie GmbH was closed in April 2012.

In July 2013, it was announced that Centrica would acquire the energy marketing unit of Hess Corporation for $1.03 billion. In March 2014, Centrica acquired the retail arm and other assets belonging to Ireland's state owned Bord Gáis for a fee of around €1.1 billion. In 2010, Centrica entered into joint venture arrangements with Tullow Oil to explore for oil in the South Lokichar Basin in Kenya.

In August 2014, Tullow, the operator, revealed significant oil discoveries had been made in the Etom 1 exploration well and testing block 10BB, which expanded the already proven South Lokichar Basin "significantly northwards," taking in an additional 247 km2. In September 2013, Centrica established Hive as part of its Connected Home offering, building on its Remote Heating Control service provided through its British Gas subsidiary.

In February 2015, in light of significantly changed circumstances, a fundamental strategic review was launched. This focused on outlook and sources of growth; portfolio mix and capital intensity; operating capability and efficiency; and group financial framework. The review was a detailed analysis of the group's prospects, led by Centrica's senior management. It concluded that Centrica's strength lay in being a customer-facing business and that all activities and priorities would focus on meeting customers' changing needs. The shape of the group would be reworked to reflect this, including one group-wide efficiency programme that would reduce employee numbers by around 6,000.

Also in February 2015, under its British Gas brand, Centrica completed the acquisition of AlertMe, a connected home company based in the United Kingdom that provided innovative energy management products and services. In November 2015, Direct Energy also acquired Panoramic Power, a provider of device-level energy management technology, for $60 million (£39 million).

In April 2016, Centrica acquired Neas Energy A/S (Neas), one of Europe's providers of energy management and revenue optimisation services for decentralised third-party owned assets. It also acquired ENER-G Cogen International Limited ("ENER-G Cogen"), an established supplier and operator of combined heat and power (CHP) systems and REstore NV, Europe's demand response aggregator.

In June 2017, it was announced that the CQ Energy Canada Partnership, the Canadian exploration and production joint venture in which Centrica owned a 60% interest, was to be sold to a consortium comprising MIE Holdings Corporation, The Can-China Global Resource Fund and Mercuria for a purchase price of C$722 million (£413 million) in cash.

On 21 June 2017, the company agreed to sell its operational Langage and South Humber Bank combined cycle gas turbine power stations, with a combined capacity of 2.3GW, to EP UK Investments Ltd for £318million in cash.

On 11 December 2017, Centrica combined its North Sea exploration & production business with Bayerngas Norge, to form a joint venture named Spirit Energy with the German, Austrian and Swiss owners of Bayerngas, led by German energy and infrastructure firm Stadtwerke München (SWM).

In December 2017, the Competition and Markets Authority agreed to grant Centrica plc and Centrica Storage Limited's (CSL's) request to be released from the Rough Undertakings. CSL decided that it could no longer operate Rough as a storage facility as the facility was no longer capable of safe injection operations due to its age and condition and that due to the economics of seasonal storage, neither refurbishing or rebuilding the facility would be cost-effective.

The British Gas brand lost 750,000 domestic customers in 2017 amid intense competition, contributing to a February 2018 announcement that 4,000 jobs would be cut. Centrica cut its dividend in July 2019, after making a loss of £446 million in the prior six months.

Since 2020
In the spring of 2020, following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, offices and factories shut and energy use decreased sharply, and the financial problems caused by the pandemic among Centrica's customers were expected to lead to bad debts. Analysts dropped their estimate of Centrica's earnings for 2020, 2021, and 2022 by 30%, and Centrica paused its search for a buyer for its 69% stake in Spirit Energy. The share price in April reached a record low of £0.30, valuing the company at less than half of its net debt of nearly £4bn. In June 2020, Centrica's shares were moved from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250 Index. The same month, the company announced that it would cut 5,000 jobs, half of them from leadership, management and corporate departments. In 2020 Centrica employed about 27,000 people, with 20,000 based in the UK. The employee cuts are to be a result of a restructuring plan designed to simplify and create a smaller group that is focused on delivery to their customers. British Gas engineers employed by Centrica began a strike in January 2021, which was extended into February, and was eventually called off by the GMB union after 44 days of strike action, after members endorsed a new pay deal.

In July 2020, Centrica announced the sale of its subsidiary of Direct Energy in North America for $3.63 billion to NRG Energy, in order to put more focus into its home markets. The money from the sale is to be put to the reduction of net debt and to the contribution of pension plans.

On 1 June 2022, it was announced that it will be promoted from the FTSE 250, and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index effective on 20 June.

In February 2023, Centrica reported a large operating profit in 2022; it increased due to the jump in energy prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Centrica's operating profit for 2022 was more than triple its profit for 2021.

In July 2023, Centrica finalised an $8 billion agreement to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a new floating production facility in the Gulf of Mexico.

Organisation
Centrica's operations are principally the supply of electricity and gas to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom. They are organised as follows:

Centrica ceased to own large power stations in 2017.
 * Retail operations, including British Gas which supplies gas, electricity, and services to residential customers, and to businesses under the British Gas Business brand
 * Centrica Business Solutions, which partners with large businesses for energy supply and services such as renewable energy generation and electric vehicle charging
 * Centrica Energy Trading, which trades gas, electricity and LNG, obtained from Centrica's own production and elsewhere

Shareholdings
In May 2009, Centrica purchased a 20% stake in nuclear power generator British Energy from EDF Energy. The company now produces 14.3% of its electricity from nuclear plants (the second highest rate in the United Kingdom), helping it to achieve the lowest carbon emissions of the major providers. Centrica has also acquired an option to purchase a 20% stake in EDF's subsidiary, NNB Generation Company (NNB GenCo).

In December 2017, Centrica launched a new company as a joint venture with German energy and infrastructure firm Stadtwerke München (SWM). Spirit Energy, an exploration and production (E&P) company, is the result of a combination of Centrica's E&P business and Bayerngas Norge AS, which was formerly majority-owned by SWM. Centrica plc owns 69% of Spirit Energy, with Bayerngas Norge's former shareholders, led by SWM and Bayerngas GmbH, owning 31%.

Senior management
Sam Laidlaw was the chief executive of Centrica between 1 July 2006 and 31 December 2014. In the 2010 financial year Laidlaw received a salary of £941,000 and a bonus of £900,000.

Iain Conn was appointed Group Chief Executive of Centrica on 1 January 2015; he had previously been BP's chief executive, downstream (BP's refining and marketing division) for seven years.

Group Chief Financial Officer, Chris O'Shea, was appointed Interim Group Chief Executive of Centrica on 17 March 2020.

Greenwashing
British Gas was accused of greenwashing in the advertising of its Zero Carbon tariff in January 2008, after the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint about the 'greenest domestic tariff' claim.

Customer complaint response
In July 2011, British Gas was fined £2.5 million by the energy regulator Ofgem for failing to deal properly with customer complaints.

Ofgem found that British Gas failed to reopen complaints from customers who indicated they felt the matter was not resolved adequately, failed to provide sufficient information to complainants about the energy ombudsman service, and failed to deal properly with complaints from micro-businesses because it had not implemented the necessary processes and practices.

A spokesperson for British Gas said the company felt that finding it in breach of rules for failing to provide adequate information to consumers about the energy ombudsman was "disproportionate to the mistake".

British Gas Business was fined £1 million in July 2011 after Ofgem's investigation found the company had misreported the amount of electricity supplied under the British government's renewables obligation. British Gas claims it spotted the problem – it said an over-reporting of the amount of renewable energy it was supplying caused by human error – and notified the regulator.

Political activity
Centrica entered the political arena in February 2014, by threatening an investment strike in response to the Labour Party's proposal for a price freeze. Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary, said: "It is not acceptable for companies to threaten that the lights will go out because they don't want greater transparency, competition and accountability".

Centrica, in conjunction with Cuadrilla Resources, funded the North West Energy Task Force which on 8 January 2015 organised an Open Letter to Lancashire County Council in support of fracking. This letter was signed by Jane Watson, sister of Robert Altham, the judge who sentenced three anti-fracking protesters to jail in September 2018.

title: Centrica