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United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was renamed from the Subcommittee on District of Columbia in 2007 in order to align the operations of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations has joint jurisdiction with the United States House Committee on Appropriations over all appropriations bills in the United States Congress. Each committee has 12 matching subcommittees, each of which is tasked with working on one of the twelve annual regular appropriations bills. This subcommittee has jurisdiction over the budget for the United States Department of the Treasury and General Government (includes United States federal courts, the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and Washington, D.C. appropriations).

Appropriations process
Traditionally, after a federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year has been passed, the appropriations subcommittees receive information about what the budget sets as their spending ceilings. This is called "302(b) allocations" after section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. That amount is separated into smaller amounts for each of the twelve Subcommittees. The federal budget does not become law and is not signed by the President. Instead, it is guide for the House and the Senate in making appropriations and tax decisions. However, no budget is required and each chamber has procedures in place for what to do without one. The House and Senate now consider appropriations bills simultaneously, although originally the House went first. The House Committee on Appropriations usually reports the appropriations bills in May and June and the Senate in June. Any differences between appropriations bills passed by the House and the Senate are resolved in the fall.

Appropriations bills
An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates (gives to, sets aside for) money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment, and activities. Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year. The fiscal year is the accounting period of the federal government, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year.

There are three types of appropriations bills: regular appropriations bills, continuing resolutions, and supplemental appropriations bills. Regular appropriations bills are the twelve standard bills that cover the funding for the federal government for one fiscal year and that are supposed to be enacted into law by October 1. If Congress has not enacted the regular appropriations bills by the time, it can pass a continuing resolution, which continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time. The third type of appropriations bills are supplemental appropriations bills, which add additional funding above and beyond what was originally appropriated at the beginning of the fiscal year. Supplemental appropriations bills can be used for things like disaster relief.

Appropriations bills are one part of a larger United States budget and spending process. They are preceded in that process by the president's budget proposal, congressional budget resolutions, and the 302(b) allocation. Article One of the United States Constitution, section 9, clause 7, states that "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law..." This is what gives Congress the power to make these appropriations. The President, however, still has the power to veto appropriations bills.

Jurisdiction
This subcommittee continues to have jurisdiction over the budget of the District of Columbia, and was given jurisdiction over agency funding handled by the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary and Housing and Urban Development. The new subcommittee is responsible for funding general provisions of the federal government, with primary jurisdiction over discretionary spending of the Treasury Department, the United States federal judiciary, and the District of Columbia. The most diverse subcommittee, it also oversees funding for the Executive Office of the President and the Office of Management and Budget as well as various independent federal agencies, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Election Commission, the National Archives and Records Administration, and Office of National Drug Control Policy.


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Oxazepam

Oxazepam is a short-to-intermediate-acting benzodiazepine. Oxazepam is used for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia and in the control of symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.

It is a metabolite of diazepam, prazepam, and temazepam, and has moderate amnesic, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, hypnotic, sedative, and skeletal muscle relaxant properties compared to other benzodiazepines.

It was patented in 1962 and approved for medical use in 1964.

Medical uses
It is an intermediate-acting benzodiazepine with a slow onset of action, so it is usually prescribed to individuals who have trouble staying asleep, rather than falling asleep. It is commonly prescribed for anxiety disorders with associated tension, irritability, and agitation. It is also prescribed for drug and alcohol withdrawal, and for anxiety associated with depression. Oxazepam is sometimes prescribed off-label to treat social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, premenstrual syndrome, and other conditions.

Side effects
The side effects of oxazepam are similar to those of other benzodiazepines, and may include dizziness, drowsiness, headache, memory impairment, paradoxical excitement, and anterograde amnesia, but does not affect transient global amnesia. Side effects due to rapid decrease in dose or abrupt withdrawal from oxazepam may include abdominal and muscle cramps, convulsions, depression, inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, sweating, tremors, or vomiting.

In September 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required the boxed warning be updated for all benzodiazepine medicines to describe the risks of abuse, misuse, addiction, physical dependence, and withdrawal reactions consistently across all the medicines in the class.

Tolerance, dependence and withdrawal
Oxazepam, as with other benzodiazepine drugs, can cause tolerance, physical dependence, addiction, and benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. Withdrawal from oxazepam or other benzodiazepines often leads to withdrawal symptoms which are similar to those seen during alcohol and barbiturate withdrawal. The higher the dose and the longer the drug is taken, the greater the risk of experiencing unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms can occur, though, at standard dosages and also after short-term use. Benzodiazepine treatment should be discontinued as soon as possible by a slow and gradual dose reduction regimen.

Contraindications
Oxazepam is contraindicated in myasthenia gravis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and limited pulmonary reserve, as well as severe hepatic disease.

Special precautions
Benzodiazepines require special precautions if used in the elderly, during pregnancy, in children, alcohol- or drug-dependent individuals, and individuals with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Benzodiazepines including oxazepam are lipophilic drugs and rapidly penetrate membranes, so rapidly crosses over into the placenta with significant uptake of the drug. Use of benzodiazepines in late pregnancy, especially high doses, may result in floppy infant syndrome.

Pregnancy
Oxazepam when taken during the third trimester, causes a definite risk to the neonate including a severe benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome including hypotonia, and reluctance to suck, to apnoeic spells, cyanosis, and impaired metabolic responses to cold stress. Floppy infant syndrome and sedation in the newborn may also occur. Symptoms of floppy infant syndrome and the neonatal benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome have been reported to persist from hours to months after birth.

Interactions
As oxazepam is an active metabolite of diazepam, an overlap in possible interactions is likely with other drugs or food, with exception of the pharmacokinetic CYP450 interactions (e.g. with cimetidine). Precautions and following the prescription are required when taking oxazepam (or other benzodiazepines) in combinations with antidepressant medication (SSRIs such as fluoxetine, sertraline, and paroxetine, or multiple reuptake inhibitors such as bupropion, duloxetine, or venlafaxine), potent painkillers (opioids, e.g. morphine, oxycodone or methadone). Concurrent use of these medicines (as well as other benzodiazepines) can interact in a way that is difficult to predict. Drinking alcohol when taking oxazepam is not recommended. Concomitant use of oxazepam and alcohol can lead to increased sedation and memory impairment, severe problems with coordination (ataxia), decreased muscle tone, and in severe cases or in predisposed patients, even to life-threatening intoxications with respiratory depression, coma, and collapse. There is a risk of blood circulation collapse, possibly the same condition as blood circulation syncope, when oxazepam is used in combination with quetiapine, an antipsychotic.

Overdose
Oxazepam is generally less toxic in overdose than other benzodiazepines. Important factors which affect the severity of a benzodiazepine overdose include the dose ingested, the age of the patient, and health status prior to overdose. Benzodiazepine overdoses can be much more dangerous if a coingestion of other CNS depressants such as opiates or alcohol has occurred. Symptoms of an oxazepam overdose include:

 * Respiratory depression
 * Excessive somnolence
 * Altered consciousness
 * Central nervous system depression
 * Occasionally cardiovascular and pulmonary toxicity
 * Rarely, deep coma

Pharmacology
Oxazepam is an intermediate-acting benzodiazepine of the 3-hydroxy family; it acts on benzodiazepine receptors, resulting in increased effect of GABA to the GABAA receptor which results in inhibitory effects on the central nervous system. The half-life of oxazepam is between 6 and 9 hours. It has been shown to suppress cortisol levels. Oxazepam is the most slowly absorbed and has the slowest onset of action of all the common benzodiazepines according to one British study.

Oxazepam is an active metabolite formed during the breakdown of diazepam, nordazepam, and certain similar drugs. It may be safer than many other benzodiazepines in patients with impaired liver function because it does not require hepatic oxidation, but rather, it is simply metabolized by glucuronidation, so oxazepam is less likely to accumulate and cause adverse reactions in the elderly or people with liver disease. Oxazepam is similar to lorazepam in this respect. Preferential storage of oxazepam occurs in some organs, including the heart of the neonate. Absorption by any administered route and the risk of accumulation is significantly increased in the neonate, and withdrawal of oxazepam during pregnancy and breast feeding is recommended, as oxazepam is excreted in breast milk.

2 mg of oxazepam equates to 1 mg of diazepam according to the benzodiazepine equivalency converter, therefore 20 mg of oxazepam according to BZD equivalency equates to 10 mg of diazepam and 15 mg oxazepam to 7.5 mg diazepam (rounded up to 8 mg of diazepam). Some BZD equivalency converters use 3 to 1 (oxazepam to diazepam), 1 to 3 (diazepam to oxazepam) as the ratio (3:1 and 1:3), so 15 mg of oxazepam would equate to 5 mg of diazepam.

Chemistry
Oxazepam exists as a racemic mixture. Early attempts to isolate enantiomers were unsuccessful; the corresponding acetate has been isolated as a single enantiomer. Given the different rates of epimerization that occur at different pH levels, it was determined that there would be no therapeutic benefit to the administration of a single enantiomer over the racemic mixture.

Frequency of use
Oxazepam, along with diazepam, nitrazepam, and temazepam, were the four benzodiazepines listed on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme and represented 82% of the benzodiazepine prescriptions in Australia in 1990–1991. It is in several countries the benzodiazepine of choice for novice users, due to a low chance of accumulation and a relatively slow absorption speed.

Misuse
Oxazepam has the potential for misuse, defined as taking the drug to achieve a high, or continuing to take the drug in the long term against medical advice. Benzodiazepines, including diazepam, oxazepam, nitrazepam, and flunitrazepam, accounted for the largest volume of forged drug prescriptions in Sweden from 1982 to 1986. During this time, a total of 52% of drug forgeries were for benzodiazepines, suggesting they were a major prescription drug class of abuse.

However, due to its slow rate of absorption and its slow onset of action, oxazepam has a relatively low potential for abuse compared to some other benzodiazepines, such as temazepam, flunitrazepam, or triazolam. This is similar to the varied potential for abuse between different drugs of the barbiturate class.

Legal status
Oxazepam is a Schedule IV drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

Brand names
It is marketed under many brand names worldwide, including: Alepam, Alepan, Anoxa, Anxiolit, Comedormir, durazepam, Murelax, Nozepam, Oksazepam, Opamox, Ox-Pam, Oxa-CT, Oxabenz, Oxamin, Oxapam, Oxapax, Oxascand, Oxaze, Oxazepam, Oxazépam, Oxazin, Oxepam, Praxiten, Purata, Selars, Serax, Serepax, Seresta, Séresta, Serpax, Sobril, Tazepam, Vaben, and Youfei.

It is also marketed in combination with hyoscine as Novalona and in combination with alanine as Pausafrent T.

Environmental concerns
In 2013, a laboratory study which exposed European perch to oxazepam concentrations equivalent to those present in European rivers (1.8 μg/L) found that they exhibited increased activity, reduced sociality, and higher feeding rate. In 2016, a follow-up study which exposed salmon smolt to oxazepam for seven days before letting them migrate observed increased intensity of migratory behaviour compared to controls. A 2019 study associated this faster, bolder behaviour in exposed smolt to increased mortality due to a higher likelihood of being predated on.

On the other hand, a 2018 study from the same authors, which kept 480 European perch and 12 northern pikes in 12 ponds over 70 days, half of them control and half spiked with oxazepam, found no significant difference in either perch growth or mortality. However, it suggested that the latter could be explained by the exposed perch and pike being equally hampered by oxazepam, rather than the lack of an overall effect. Lastly, a 2021 study built on these results by comparing two whole lakes filled with perch and pikes - one control while the other was exposed to oxazepam 11 days into experiment, at concentrations between 11 and 24 μg/L, which is 200 times greater than the reported concentrations in the European rivers. Even so, there were no measurable effects on pike behaviour after the addition of oxazepam, while the effects on perch behaviour were found to be negligible. The authors concluded that the effects previously attributed to oxazepam were instead likely caused by a combination of fish being stressed by human handling and small aquaria, followed by being exposed to a novel environment.

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

title: Oxazepam


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2005 Luxembourg European Constitution referendum

A referendum on ratifying the proposed European Constitution was held in Luxembourg on 10 July 2005. The referendum was Luxembourg's first since 1937. On 28 June 2005 Parliament approved the constitution in advance of the referendum, and although the referendum was consultative, parliament agreed to abide by the results.

Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said that he expected a close vote and that he would resign if the referendum resulted in a 'no' vote. The final opinion poll published a month before the referendum indicated a small advantage for the "yes", but with 16% of voters undecided. Luxembourg is traditionally regarded as one of the EU's most enthusiastic member states, and most prominent political figures support the Constitution, with both the governing coalition and the main opposition parties campaigning for a 'yes' vote.

The proposal was approved by 56% of voters, making Luxembourg was the thirteenth EU member state to approve the EU treaty, but only the second approved in a referendum (after Spain). The vote came after French and the Dutch voters rejected the EU treaty.


text: User talk:4.7.48.60

title: User talk:4.7.48.60


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Aundray Bruce

Aundray Bruce (born April 30, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was an outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). As a college football player, he played defensive end for the Auburn Tigers before the Atlanta Falcons selected him with the first overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft. He played in the NFL for the Falcons and Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders.

Early years
Bruce was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He attended George Washington Carver High School in Montgomery. A high school phenom, Bruce started at tight end and outside linebacker. He also returned kicks and played four additional positions on offense (quarterback, running back, wide receiver, offensive tackle) and four other positions on defense (defensive tackle, defensive end, nose guard, cornerback). While he excelled in football, basketball was Bruce's first love. He led George Washington Carver High School to the 4-A basketball state championship in both his junior and senior years. As a senior, he was named the state tournament's MVP and won an All-Star game dunk contest.

College career
Bruce was named All-Southeastern Conference in 1986 and 1987, All-American in 1987, and Citrus Bowl MVP in 1987. He first garnered national attention in a game in 1987 against Georgia Tech by intercepting three passes and returning one for a touchdown and making 10 unassisted tackles. Entering the NFL Draft, he was saddled with expectations of becoming the next Lawrence Taylor, though once drafted was described as "unquestionably the least heralded No. 1 draft choice this decade." He graduated from Auburn in 1988 as an education major.

Professional career
Bruce was drafted with the first overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Bruce enjoyed his most prominent role on the Falcons 1991 playoff team when he saw spot duty on offense as a tight end as well as defense. He signed with the Los Angeles Raiders as a free agent in 1992 and finished his career with the organization. Bruce played in 151 games over his 11-season career, posting 32 sacks and 4 interceptions. While Bruce concluded his career with a 7-season tenure in Oakland, he is typically regarded as a draft bust. Despite being the #1 overall pick, he never made an All-Pro or Pro Bowl team, never had double-figure sack totals in a season, and only started 42 games. He only played for two playoff teams in his long career. To this day, no other team has selected a linebacker with the #1 pick in the draft.

Coaching career
Bruce is currently a defensive line coach for the Faulkner University Eagles in Montgomery, Alabama.

title: Aundray Bruce


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Property insurance

Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance, or boiler insurance. Property is insured in two main ways—open perils and named perils.

Open perils cover all the causes of loss not specifically excluded in the policy. Common exclusions on open peril policies include damage resulting from earthquakes, floods, nuclear incidents, acts of terrorism, and war. Named perils require the actual cause of loss to be listed in the policy for insurance to be provided. The more common named perils include such damage-causing events as fire, lightning, explosion, cyber-attack, and theft.

History
Property insurance can be traced to the Great Fire of London, which in 1666 devoured more than 13,000 houses. The devastating effects of the fire converted the development of insurance "from a matter of convenience into one of urgency, a change of opinion reflected in Sir Christopher Wren's inclusion of a site for 'the Insurance Office' in his new plan for London in 1667". A number of attempted fire insurance schemes came to nothing, but in 1681, economist Nicholas Barbon and eleven associates established the first fire insurance company, the "Insurance Office for Houses", at the back of the Royal Exchange to insure brick and frame homes. Initially, 5,000 homes were insured by Barbon's Insurance Office.

In the wake of this first successful venture, many similar companies were founded in the following decades. Initially, each company employed its own fire department to prevent and minimize the damage from conflagrations on properties insured by them. They also began to issue 'fire insurance marks' to their customers; these would be displayed prominently above the main door to the property in order to aid positive identification. One such notable company was the Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society, founded in 1696 at Tom's Coffee House in St Martin's Lane in London.

The first property insurance company still extant was founded in 1710 as the Sun Fire Office and is now, through many mergers and acquisitions, the RSA Insurance Group.

In Colonial America, Benjamin Franklin helped to popularize and make standard the practice of insurance, particularly Property insurance to spread the risk of loss from fire, in the form of perpetual insurance. In 1752, he founded the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. Franklin's company refused to insure certain buildings, such as wooden houses, where the risk of fire was too great.

Types of coverage
There are three types of insurance coverage. Replacement cost coverage pays the cost of repairing or replacing the property with like kind & quality regardless of depreciation or appreciation. Premiums for this type of coverage are based on replacement cost values, and not based on actual cash value. Actual cash value coverage provides for replacement cost minus depreciation. Extended replacement cost will pay over the coverage limit if the costs for construction have increased. This generally will not exceed 25% of the limit. When obtaining an insurance policy, the limit is the maximum amount of benefit the insurance company will pay for a given situation or occurrence. Limits also include the ages below or above what an insurance company will not issue a new policy or continue a policy.

This amount will need to fluctuate if the cost to replace homes in a neighborhood is rising; the amount needs to be in step with the actual reconstruction value of the home. In case of a fire, household content replacement is tabulated as a percentage of the value of the home. In case of high-value items, the insurance company may ask to specifically cover these items separate from the other household contents. One last coverage option is to have alternative living arrangements included in a policy. If property damage caused by a covered loss prevents a person from living in their home, policies can pay the expenses of alternate living arrangements (e.g., hotels and restaurant costs) for a specified period of time to compensate for the "loss of use" of the home until the owners can return. The additional living expenses limit can vary, but is typically set at up to 20% of the dwelling coverage limit. Owners need to talk with their insurance company for advice about appropriate coverage and determine what type of limit may be appropriate.

World Trade Center case
Following the September 11 attacks, a jury deliberated insurance payouts for the destruction of the World Trade Center. Leaseholder Larry A. Silverstein sought more than $7 billion in insurance money; he argued two attacks had occurred at the WTC. Its insurers—including Chubb Corp. and Swiss Reinsurance Co.—claimed the "coordinated" attack counted as a single event. In December 2004 the federal jury arrived at a compromise decision.

In May 2007 New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced more than $4.5 billion would be made available to rebuild the 16 acre WTC complex as part of a major insurance claims settlement.

Post-Hurricane Katrina property insurance claims
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, several thousand homeowners filed lawsuits against their insurance companies accusing them of bad faith and failing to properly and promptly adjust their claims.

Florida Consumer Choice Act
On 24 June 2009, Florida Governor Charlie Crist vetoed the Consumer Choice Act (H.B. 1171). The bill would have trumped state regulation, and allowed Florida's biggest insurance companies to establish their own rates.

Remarking upon State Farm's pullout from Florida, Ted Corless, a property insurance attorney who has represented large insurance carriers like Nationwide, noted "that homeowners are really going to have to look out for themselves". Five days after Crist vetoed the Consumer Choice Act, Corless defended property insurance deregulation by pointing out that "if the blue-chip insurance companies wanted to price themselves out of the market", then they would go out of business. He accused Crist of making choices on behalf of consumers, not protecting their right to choose. In 2006 the average Florida annual insurance premium was $1,386 for a homeowner, one of the highest in the country.

In May 2022, Florida lawmakers have signed off on quick fixes to the state's property insurance crisis but critics say the plan pays little attention to the growing threat of climate change. Governor Ron DeSantis signed bipartisan legislation implementing the most significant and comprehensive property insurance reforms Florida has seen in decades to provide short- and long-term relief to Floridians to combat skyrocketing insurance costs.

Fire insurance in India
Fire insurance business in India is governed by the All India Fire Tariff that lays down the terms of coverage, the premium rates and the conditions of the fire policy. The fire insurance policy has been renamed as "Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy".

Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy (SFSP)
The Standard Fire and Special Perils Policy (SFSP) is a kind of traditional insurance product that is specially designed to protect your property and its articles from the unforeseen unfortunate accidents caused due to fire and the allied perils. With multiple extensions, this policy not only keeps your property secure but also lessens the extent of the loss or damage that you may suffer causing a huge financial burden, and thus, it provides you relief from such anxiety. The risks covered are as follows:

 * Dwellings, offices, shops, hospitals:
 * Industrial, manufacturing risks
 * Utilities located outside industrial/manufacturing risks
 * Machinery and accessories
 * Storage risks outside the compound of industrial risks
 * Tank farms/gas holders located outside the compound of industrial risks

Perils covered
The following causes of loss are covered:

 * Fire
 * Lightning
 * Explosion, implosion
 * Aircraft damage
 * Riot, strike
 * Terrorism
 * Storm, cyclone, typhoon, tempest, hurricane, tornado, flood & inundation.
 * Impact damage
 * Malicious damage
 * Subsidence, landslide
 * Bursting or overflowing of tanks
 * Missile testing operations
 * Bush fire

Exclusions
The following are excluded from insurance coverage:
 * Loss or damage caused by war, civil war, and kindred perils
 * Loss or damage caused by nuclear activity
 * Loss or damage to the stocks in cold storage caused by change in temperature
 * Loss or damage due to over-running of electric and/or electronic machines

Claims In the event of a fire loss covered under the fire insurance policy, the insured shall immediately give notice thereof to the insurance company. Within 15 days of the occurrence of such loss the insured should submit a claim in writing giving the details of damages and their estimated values. Details of other insurances on the same property should also be declared.

title: Property insurance


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Constituent (linguistics)

In syntactic analysis, a constituent is a word or a group of words that function as a single unit within a hierarchical structure. The constituent structure of sentences is identified using tests for constituents. These tests apply to a portion of a sentence, and the results provide evidence about the constituent structure of the sentence. Many constituents are phrases. A phrase is a sequence of one or more words (in some theories two or more) built around a head lexical item and working as a unit within a sentence. A word sequence is shown to be a phrase/constituent if it exhibits one or more of the behaviors discussed below. The analysis of constituent structure is associated mainly with phrase structure grammars, although dependency grammars also allow sentence structure to be broken down into constituent parts.

Tests for constituents in English
Tests for constituents are diagnostics used to identify sentence structure. There are numerous tests for constituents that are commonly used to identify the constituents of English sentences. 15 of the most commonly used tests are listed next: 1) coordination (conjunction), 2) pro-form substitution (replacement), 3) topicalization (fronting), 4) do-so-substitution, 5) one-substitution, 6) answer ellipsis (question test), 7) clefting, 8) VP-ellipsis, 9) pseudoclefting, 10) passivization, 11) omission (deletion), 12) intrusion, 13) wh-fronting, 14) general substitution, 15) right node raising (RNR).

The order in which these 15 tests are listed here corresponds to the frequency of use, coordination being the most frequently used of the 15 tests and RNR being the least frequently used. A general word of caution is warranted when employing these tests, since they often deliver contradictory results. The tests are merely rough-and-ready tools that grammarians employ to reveal clues about syntactic structure. Some syntacticians even arrange the tests on a scale of reliability, with less-reliable tests treated as useful to confirm constituency though not sufficient on their own. Failing to pass a single test does not mean that the test string is not a constituent, and conversely, passing a single test does not necessarily mean the test string is a constituent. It is best to apply as many tests as possible to a given string in order to prove or to rule out its status as a constituent.

The 15 tests are introduced, discussed, and illustrated below mainly relying on the same one sentence:

 * Drunks could put off the customers.

By restricting the introduction and discussion of the tests for constituents below mainly to this one sentence, it becomes possible to compare the results of the tests. To aid the discussion and illustrations of the constituent structure of this sentence, the following two sentence diagrams are employed (D = determiner, N = noun, NP = noun phrase, Pa = particle, S = sentence, V = Verb, VP = verb phrase):

These diagrams show two potential analyses of the constituent structure of the sentence. A given node in a tree diagram is understood as marking a constituent, that is, a constituent is understood as corresponding to a given node and everything that that node exhaustively dominates. Hence the first tree, which shows the constituent structure according to dependency grammar, marks the following words and word combinations as constituents: Drunks, off, the, the customers, and put off the customers. The second tree, which shows the constituent structure according to phrase structure grammar, marks the following words and word combinations as constituents: Drunks, could, put, off, the, customers, the customers, put off the customers, and could put off the customers. The analyses in these two tree diagrams provide orientation for the discussion of tests for constituents that now follows.

Coordination
The coordination test assumes that only constituents can be coordinated, i.e., joined by means of a coordinator such as and, or, or but: The next examples demonstrate that coordination identifies individual words as constituents:

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) [Drunks] and [bums] could put off the customers.
 * (b) Drunks [could] and [would] put off the customers.
 * (c) Drunks could [put off] and [drive away] the customers.
 * (d) Drunks could put off the [customers] and [neighbors].

The square brackets mark the conjuncts of the coordinate structures. Based on these data, one might assume that drunks, could, put off, and customers are constituents in the test sentence because these strings can be coordinated with bums, would, drive away, and neighbors, respectively. Coordination also identifies multi-word strings as constituents:

 * (e) Drunks could put off [the customers] and [the neighbors].
 * (f) Drunks could [put off the customers] and [drive away the neighbors].
 * (g) Drunks [could put off the customers] and [would drive away the neighbors].

These data suggest that the customers, put off the customers, and could put off the customers are constituents in the test sentence.

Examples such as (a-g) are not controversial insofar as many theories of sentence structure readily view the strings tested in sentences (a-g) as constituents. However, additional data are problematic, since they suggest that certain strings are also constituents even though most theories of syntax do not acknowledge them as such, e.g.

 * (h) Drunks [could put off] and [would really annoy] the customers.
 * (i) Drunks could [put off these] and [piss off those] customers.
 * (j) [Drunks could], and [they probably would], put off the customers.

These data suggest that could put off, put off these, and Drunks could are constituents in the test sentence. Most theories of syntax reject the notion that these strings are constituents, though. Data such as (h-j) are sometimes addressed in terms of the right node raising (RNR) mechanism.

The problem for the coordination test represented by examples (h-j) is compounded when one looks beyond the test sentence, for one quickly finds that coordination suggests that a wide range of strings are constituents that most theories of syntax do not acknowledge as such, e.g.

 * (k) Sam leaves [from home on Tuesday] and [from work on Wednesday].
 * (l) Sam leaves [from home on Tuesday on his bicycle] and [from work on Wednesday in his car].
 * (m) Sam leaves [from home on Tuesday], and [from work].

The strings from home on Tuesday and from home on Tuesday on his bicycle are not viewed as constituents in most theories of syntax, and concerning sentence (m), it is very difficult there to even discern how one should delimit the conjuncts of the coordinate structure. The coordinate structures in (k-l) are sometimes characterized in terms of non-constituent conjuncts (NCC), and the instance of coordination in sentence (m) is sometimes discussed in terms of stripping and/or gapping.

Due to the difficulties suggested with examples (h-m), many grammarians view coordination skeptically regarding its value as a test for constituents. The discussion of the other tests for constituents below reveals that this skepticism is warranted, since coordination identifies many more strings as constituents than the other tests for constituents.

Proform substitution (replacement)
Proform substitution, or replacement, involves replacing the test string with the appropriate proform (e.g. pronoun, pro-verb, pro-adjective, etc.). Substitution normally involves using a definite proform like it, he, there, here, etc. in place of a phrase or a clause. If such a change yields a grammatical sentence where the general structure has not been altered, then the test string is likely a constituent:

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) They could put off the customers. (They = Drunks)
 * (b) Drunks could put them off. (them = the customers; note that shifting of them and off has occurred here.)
 * (c) Drunks could do it. (do it = put off the customers)

These examples suggest that Drunks, the customers, and put off the customers in the test sentence are constituents. An important aspect of the proform test is the fact that it fails to identify most subphrasal strings as constituents, e.g.

 * (d) *Drunks do so/it put off the customers (do so/it = could)
 * (e) *Drunks could do so/it off the customers (do so/it = put)
 * (f) *Drunks could put so/it the customers (so/it = off)
 * (g) *Drunks could put off the them. (them = customers)

These examples suggest that the individual words could, put, off, and customers should not be viewed as constituents. This suggestion is of course controversial, since most theories of syntax assume that individual words are constituents by default. The conclusion one can reach based on such examples, however, is that proform substitution using a definite proform identifies phrasal constituents only; it fails to identify sub-phrasal strings as constituents.

Topicalization (fronting)
Topicalization involves moving the test string to the front of the sentence. It is a simple movement operation. Many instances of topicalization seem only marginally acceptable when taken out of context. Hence to suggest a context, an instance of topicalization can be preceded by ...and and a modal adverb can be added as well (e.g. certainly):

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) ...and the customers, drunks certainly could put off.
 * (b) ...and put off the customers, drunks certainly could.

These examples suggest that the customers and put off the customers are constituents in the test sentence. Topicalization is like many of the other tests in that it identifies phrasal constituents only. When the test sequence is a sub-phrasal string, topicalization fails:

 * (c) *...and customers, drunks certainly could put off the.
 * (d) *...and could, drunks certainly put off the customers.
 * (e) *...and put, drunks certainly could off the customers.
 * (f) *...and off, drunks certainly could put the customers.
 * (g) *...and the, drunks certainly could put off customers.

These examples demonstrate that customers, could, put, off, and the fail the topicalization test. Since these strings are all sub-phrasal, one can conclude that topicalization is unable to identify sub-phrasal strings as constituents.

Do-so-substitution
Do-so-substitution is a test that substitutes a form of do so (does so, did so, done so, doing so) into the test sentence for the target string. This test is widely used to probe the structure of strings containing verbs (because do is a verb). The test is limited in its applicability, though, precisely because it is only applicable to strings containing verbs:

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) Drunks could do so. (do so = put off the customers)
 * (b) Drunks do so. (do so ≠ could put off the customers)

The 'a' example suggests that put off the customers is a constituent in the test sentence, whereas the b example fails to suggest that could put off the customers is a constituent, for do so cannot include the meaning of the modal verb could. To illustrate more completely how the do so test is employed, another test sentence is now used, one that contains two post-verbal adjunct phrases:

 * We met them in the pub because we had time.
 * (c) We did so in the pub because we had time. (did so = met them)
 * (d) We did so because we had time. (did so = met them in the pub)
 * (e) We did so. (did so = met them in the pub because we had time)

These data suggest that met them, met them in the pub, and met them in the pub because we had time are constituents in the test sentence. Taken together, such examples seem to motivate a structure for the test sentence that has a left-branching verb phrase, because only a left-branching verb phrase can view each of the indicated strings as a constituent. There is a problem with this sort of reasoning, however, as the next example illustrates:

 * (f) We did so in the pub. (did so = met them because we had time)

In this case, did so appears to stand in for the discontinuous word combination consisting of met them and because we had time. Such a discontinuous combination of words cannot be construed as a constituent. That such an interpretation of did so is indeed possible is seen in a fuller sentence such as You met them in the cafe because you had time, and we did so in the pub. In this case, the preferred reading of did so is that it indeed simultaneously stands in for both met them and because we had time.

One-substitution
The one-substitution test replaces the test string with the indefinite pronoun one or ones. If the result is acceptable, then the test string is deemed a constituent. Since one is a type of pronoun, one-substitution is only of value when probing the structure of noun phrases. In this regard, the test sentence from above is expanded in order to better illustrate the manner in which one-substitution is generally employed:

 * Drunks could put off the loyal customers around here who we rely on.
 * (a) Drunks could put off the loyal ones around here who we rely on. (ones = customers)
 * (b) Drunks could put off the ones around here who we rely on. (ones = loyal customers)
 * (c) Drunks could put off the loyal ones who we rely on. (ones = customers around here)
 * (d) Drunks could put off the ones who we rely on. (ones = loyal customers around here)
 * (e) Drunks could put off the loyal ones. (ones = customers around here who we rely on)

These examples suggest that customers, loyal customers, customers around here, loyal customers around here, and customers around here who we rely on are constituents in the test sentence. Some have pointed to a problem associated with the one-substitution in this area, however. This problem is that it is impossible to produce a single constituent structure of the noun phrase the loyal customers around here who we rely on that could simultaneous view all of the indicated strings as constituents. Another problem that has been pointed out concerning the one-substitution as a test for constituents is the fact that it at times suggests that non-string word combinations are constituents, e.g.

 * (f) Drunks would put off the ones around here. (''ones = loyal customers who we rely on)

The word combination consisting of both loyal customers and who we rely on is discontinuous in the test sentence, a fact that should motivate one to generally question the value of one-substitution as a test for constituents.

Answer fragments (answer ellipsis, question test, standalone test)
The answer fragment test involves forming a question that contains a single wh-word (e.g. who, what, where, etc.). If the test string can then appear alone as the answer to such a question, then it is likely a constituent in the test sentence:

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) Who could put off the customers? - Drunks.
 * (b) Who could drunks put off? - The customers.
 * (c) What would drunks do? - Put off the customers.

These examples suggest that Drunks, the customers, and put off the customers are constituents in the test sentence. The answer fragment test is like most of the other tests for constituents in that it does not identify sub-phrasal strings as constituents:

 * (d) What about putting off the customers? - *Could.
 * (e) What could drunks do about the customers? - *Put.
 * (f) *What could drunks do about putting the customers? - *Off.
 * (g) *Who could drunks put off the? - *Customers.

These answer fragments are all grammatically unacceptable, suggesting that could, put, off, and customers are not constituents. Note as well that the latter two questions themselves are ungrammatical. It is apparently often impossible to form the question in a way that could successfully elicit the indicated strings as answer fragments. The conclusion, then, is that the answer fragment test is like most of the other tests in that it fails to identify sub-phrasal strings as constituents.

Clefting
Clefting involves placing the test string X within the structure beginning with It is/was: It was X that.... The test string appears as the pivot of the cleft sentence:

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) It is drunks that could put off the customers.
 * (b) It is the customers that drunks could put off.
 * (c) ??It is put off the customers that drunks could do.

These examples suggest that Drunks and the customers are constituents in the test sentence. Example c is of dubious acceptability, suggesting that put off the customers may not be constituent in the test string. Clefting is like most of the other tests for constituents in that it fails to identify most individual words as constituents:

 * (d) *It is could that drunks put off the customers.
 * (e) *It is put that drunks could off the customers.
 * (f) *It is off that drunks could put the customers.
 * (g) *It is the that drunks could put off customers.
 * (h) *It is customers that drunks could put off the.

The examples suggest that each of the individual words could, put, off, the, and customers are not constituents, contrary to what most theories of syntax assume. In this respect, clefting is like many of the other tests for constituents in that it only succeeds at identifying certain phrasal strings as constituents.

VP-ellipsis (verb phrase ellipsis)
The VP-ellipsis test checks to see which strings containing one or more predicative elements (usually verbs) can be elided from a sentence. Strings that can be elided are deemed constituents: The symbol ∅ is used in the following examples to mark the position of ellipsis:

 * Beggars could immediately put off the customers when they arrive, and
 * (a) *drunks could immediately also ∅ the customers when they arrive. (∅ = put off)
 * (b) ?drunks could immediately also ∅ when they arrive. (∅ = put off the customers)
 * (c) drunks could also ∅ when they arrive. (∅ = immediately put off the customers)
 * (d) drunks could immediately also ∅. (∅ = put off the customers when they arrive)
 * (e) drunks could also ∅. (∅ = immediately put off the customers when they arrive)

These examples suggest that put off is not a constituent in the test sentence, but that immediately put off the customers, put off the customers when they arrive, and immediately put off the customers when they arrive are constituents. Concerning the string put off the customers in (b), marginal acceptability makes it difficult to draw a conclusion about put off the customers.

There are various difficulties associated with this test. The first of these is that it can identify too many constituents, such as in this case here where it is impossible to produce a single constituent structure that could simultaneously view each of the three acceptable examples (c-e) as having elided a constituent. Another problem is that the test can at times suggest that a discontinuous word combination is a constituent, e.g.:

 * (f) Frank will help tomorrow in the office, and Susan will ∅ today. (∅ = help...in the office)

In this case, it appears as though the elided material corresponds to the discontinuous word combination including help and in the office.

Pseudoclefting
Pseudoclefting is similar to clefting in that it puts emphasis on a certain phrase in a sentence. There are two variants of the pseudocleft test. One variant inserts the test string X in a sentence starting with a free relative clause: What.....is/are X; the other variant inserts X at the start of the sentence followed by the it/are and then the free relative clause: X is/are what/who... Only the latter of these two variants is illustrated here.

 * Drunks would put off the customers.
 * (a) Drunks are who could put off the customers.
 * (b) The customers are who drunks could put off.
 * (c) Put off the customers is what drunks could do.

These examples suggest that Drunks, the customers, and put off the customers are constituents in the test sentence. Pseudoclefting fails to identify most individual words as constituents:

 * (d) *Could is what drunks put off the customers.
 * (e) *Put is what drunks could off the customers.
 * (f) *Off is what drunks could put the customers.
 * (g) *The is who drunks could put off customers.
 * (h) *Customers is who drunks could put off the.

The pseudoclefting test is hence like most of the other tests insofar as it identifies phrasal strings as constituents, but does not suggest that sub-phrasal strings are constituents.

Passivization
Passivization involves changing an active sentence to a passive sentence, or vice versa. The object of the active sentence is changed to the subject of the corresponding passive sentence:

 * (a) Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (b) The customers could be put off by drunks.

The fact that sentence (b), the passive sentence, is acceptable, suggests that Drunks and the customers are constituents in sentence (a). The passivization test used in this manner is only capable of identifying subject and object words, phrases, and clauses as constituents. It does not help identify other phrasal or sub-phrasal strings as constituents. In this respect, the value of passivization as test for constituents is very limited.

Omission (deletion)
Omission checks whether the target string can be omitted without influencing the grammaticality of the sentence. In most cases, local and temporal adverbials, attributive modifiers, and optional complements can be safely omitted and thus qualify as constituents.

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) Drunks could put off customers. (the has been omitted.)

This sentence suggests that the definite article the is a constituent in the test sentence. Regarding the test sentence, however, the omission test is very limited in its ability to identify constituents, since the strings that one wants to check do not appear optionally. Therefore, the test sentence is adapted to better illustrate the omission test:

 * The obnoxious drunks could immediately put off the customers when they arrive.
 * (b) The drunks could immediately put off the customers when they arrive. (obnoxious has been successfully omitted.)
 * (c) The obnoxious drunks could put off the customers when they arrive. (immediately has been successfully omitted.)
 * (d) The obnoxious drunks could put off the customers. (when they arrive has been successfully omitted.)

The ability to omit obnoxious, immediately, and when they arrive suggests that these strings are constituents in the test sentence. Omission used in this manner is of limited applicability, since it is incapable of identifying any constituent that appears obligatorily. Hence there are many target strings that most accounts of sentence structure take to be constituents but that fail the omission test because these constituents appear obligatorily, such as subject phrases.

Intrusion
Intrusion probes sentence structure by having an adverb "intrude" into parts of the sentence. The idea is that the strings on either side of the adverb are constituents.

 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) Drunks definitely could put off the customers.
 * (b) Drunks could definitely put off the customers.
 * (c) *Drunks could put definitely off the customers.
 * (d) *Drunks could put off definitely the customers.
 * (e) *Drunks could put off the definitely customers.

Example (a) suggests that Drunks and could put off the customers are constituents. Example (b) suggests that Drunks could and put off the customers are constituents. The combination of (a) and (b) suggest in addition that could is a constituent. Sentence (c) suggests that Drunks could put and off the customers are not constituents. Example (d) suggests that Drunks could put off and the customers are not constituents. And example (e) suggests that Drunks could put off the and customers are not constituents.

Those that employ the intrusion test usually use a modal adverb like definitely. This aspect of the test is problematic, though, since the results of the test can vary based upon the choice of adverb. For instance, manner adverbs distribute differently than modal adverbs and will hence suggest a distinct constituent structure from that suggested by modal adverbs.

Wh-fronting
Wh-fronting checks to see if the test string can be fronted as a wh-word. This test is similar to the answer fragment test insofar it employs just the first half of that test, disregarding the potential answer to the question.

 * Drunks would put off the customers.
 * (a) Who would put off the customers? (Who ↔ Drunks)
 * (b) Who would drunks put off? (Who ↔ the customers)
 * (c) What would drunks do? (What...do ↔ put off the customers)

These examples suggest that Drunks, the customers, and put off the customers are constituents in the test sentence. Wh-fronting is like a number of the other tests in that it fails to identify many subphrasal strings as constituents:

 * (d) *Do what drunks put off the customers? (Do what ↔ would)
 * (e) *Do what drunks would off the customers? (Do what ↔ put)
 * (f) *What would drunks put the customers? (What ↔ off)
 * (g) *What would drunks put off customers? (What ↔ the)
 * (h) *Who would drunks put off the? (Who ↔ customers)

These examples demonstrate a lack of evidence for viewing the individual words would, put, off, the, and customers as constituents.

General substitution
The general substitution test replaces the test string with some other word or phrase. It is similar to proform substitution, the only difference being that the replacement word or phrase is not a proform, e.g.
 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) Beggars could put off the customers. (Beggars ↔ Drunks)
 * (b) Drunks could put off our guests. (our guests ↔ the customers)
 * (c) Drunks would put off the customers. (would ↔ could)

These examples suggest that the strings Drunks, the customers, and could are constituents in the test sentence. There is a major problem with this test, for it is easily possible to find a replacement word for strings that the other tests suggest are clearly not constituents, e.g.
 * (d) Drunks piss off the customers. (piss ↔ could put)
 * (e) Beggars put off the customers. (Beggars ↔ Drunks could)
 * (f) Drunks like customers. (like ↔ could put off the)

These examples suggest that could put, Drunks could, and could put of the are constituents in the test sentence. This is contrary to what the other tests reveal and to what most theories of sentence structure assume. The value of general substitution as test for constituents is therefore suspect. It is like the coordination test in that it suggests that too many strings are constituents.

Right node raising (RNR)
Right node raising, abbreviated as RNR, is a test that isolates the test string on the right side of a coordinate structure. The assumption is that only constituents can be shared by the conjuncts of a coordinate structure, e.g.
 * Drunks could put off the customers.
 * (a) [Drunks] and [beggars] could put off the customers.
 * (b) [Drunks could], and [they probably would], put off the customers.
 * (c) [Drunks could approach] and [they would then put off] the customers.

These examples suggest that could put off the customers, put off the customers, and the customers are constituents in the test sentence. There are two problems with the RNR diagnostic as a test for constituents. The first is that it is limited in its applicability, since it is only capable of identifying strings as constituents if they appear on the right side of the test sentence. The second is that it can suggest strings to be constituents that most of the other tests suggest are not constituents. To illustrate this point, a different example must be used:
 * Frank has given his bicycle to us to use if need be.
 * (d) [Frank has offered], and [Susan has already loaned], their bicycles to us to use if need be.
 * (e) [Frank has offered his bicycle] and [Susan has already loaned her bicycle] to us to use if need be.
 * (f) [Frank has offered his bicycle to us] and [Susan has already loaned her bicycle to us] to use if need be.

These examples suggest that their bicycles (his bicycle) to us to use if need be, to us to use if need be, and to use if need be are constituents in the test sentence. Most theories of syntax do not view these strings as constituents, and more importantly, most of the other tests suggest that they are not constituents. In short, these tests are not taken for granted because a constituent may pass one test and fail to pass many others. We need to consult our intuitive thinking when judging the constituency of any set of words.

Other languages
A word of caution is warranted concerning the tests for constituents as just discussed above. These tests are found in textbooks on linguistics and syntax that are written mainly with the syntax of English in mind, and the examples that are discussed are mainly from English. The tests may or may not be valid and useful when probing the constituent structure of other languages. Ideally, a battery of tests for constituents can and should be developed for each language, catered to the idiosyncrasies of the language at hand.

Competing theories
Constituent structure analyses of sentences are a central concern for theories of syntax. The one theory can produce an analysis of constituent structure that is quite unlike the next. This point is evident with the two tree diagrams above of the sentence Drunks could put off the customers, where the dependency grammar analysis of constituent structure looks very much unlike the phrase structure analysis. The crucial difference across the two analyses is that the phrase structure analysis views every individual word as a constituent by default, whereas the dependency grammar analysis sees only those individual words as constituents that do not dominate other words. Phrase structure grammars therefore acknowledge many more constituents than dependency grammars.

A second example further illustrates this point (D = determiner, N = noun, NP = noun phrase, Pa = particle, S = sentence, V = Verb, V' = verb-bar, VP = verb phrase):

The dependency grammar tree shows five words and word combinations as constituents: who, these, us, these diagrams, and show us. The phrase structure tree, in contrast, shows nine words and word combinations as constituents: what, do, these, diagrams, show, us, these diagrams, show us, and do these diagrams show us. The two diagrams thus disagree concerning the status of do, diagrams, show, and do these diagrams show us, the phrase structure diagram showing them as constituents and the dependency grammar diagram showing them as non-constituents. To determine which analysis is more plausible, one turns to the tests for constituents discussed above.

Within phrase structure grammars, views about of constituent structure can also vary significantly. Many modern phrase structure grammars assume that syntactic branching is always binary, that is, each greater constituent is necessarily broken down into two lesser constituents. More dated phrase structures analyses are, however, more likely to allow n-ary branching, that is, each greater constituent can be broken down into one, two, or more lesser constituents. The next two trees illustrate the distinction (Aux = auxiliary verb, AuxP = auxiliary verb phrase, Aux' = Aux-bar, D = determiner, N = noun, NP = noun phrase, P = preposition, PP = prepositional phrase, Pa = particle, S = sentence, t = trace, V = Verb, V' = verb-bar, VP = verb phrase):

The details in the second diagram here not crucial to the point at hand. This point is that the all branching there is strictly binary, whereas in the first tree diagram ternary branching is present twice, for the AuxP and for the VP. Observe in this regard that strictly binary branching analyses increase the number of (overt) constituents to what is possible. The word combinations have sent many things to us and many things to us are shown as constituents in the second tree diagram but not in the first. Which of these two analyses is better is again at least in part a matter of what the tests for constituents can reveal.

title: Constituent (linguistics)


text:
Kid Pix

Kid Pix is a bitmap drawing program designed for children. Originally created by Craig Hickman, it was first released for the Macintosh in 1989 and subsequently published in 1991 by Broderbund. Hickman was inspired to create Kid Pix after watching his son Ben struggle with MacPaint, and thus the main idea behind its development was to create a drawing program that would be very simple to use.

The application is now owned by Software MacKiev, who had been involved in development of the Macintosh version of Kid Pix Deluxe 3 and has been the sole developer of the Kid Pix series since the initial release of Kid Pix Deluxe 3X prior to acquiring the brand from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in October 2011. The program is currently in dormancy, with no updates since 2018.

History
Craig Hickman was studying photography at Evergreen State College in 1972 with the aim of taking a career in fine art photography when he encountered a friend entering code into a teletype in the college's terminal room. This impressed upon Hickman a desire to learn how to program. After leaving college he continued to write programs for his own education, and by 1988 owned an Apple Macintosh and had begun distributing software in the public domain.

While using MacPaint that year, his then-three-year-old son expressed a desire to use the application. Hickman noted how quickly he adapted to the use of the mouse and keyboard, but also that he inadvertently activated pop-up menus and other user interface elements. It was this experience that encouraged Hickman to write a simple paint program for his son to use; he also decided to make this freely available.

The Color Macintosh was released before Hickman's first launch of his program, which he had named Kid Pix. Encouraged by a friend to sell his software rather than give it away, Hickman began working on a commercial enhanced version of the original monochrome Kid Pix freeware release, called Kid Pix Professional, which would retail for US$25. An advertisement for Kid Pix Professional was bundled with Kid Pix when he released it in November 1989. By June 1990 Kid Pix Professional had been released, and Hickman estimates that around 100 copies were sold in total.

Hickman sent a copy of the application to Broderbund Software in the Summer of 1990 on the encouragement of friends, and having been given details for a contact within the company. He did not anticipate the application being adopted, but received a call within a week indicating that Broderbund would like to publish it. Broderbund's release of Kid Pix was demonstrated during the MacWorld keynote in 1991 and Kid Pix 1.0 was released in March 1991 to very positive feedback. By this point Broderbund had also begun developing a version of Kid Pix for MS-DOS. Kid Pix 1.0 received several industry awards, including the 1991 MacUser Eddi for best Children's Program, the 1991 Software Publishers Association Awards for Best User Interface in a New Program and Best Early Learning Program, and the MacWorld World-Class award for Best Education Program.

The latest Mac and Windows versions of the product were developed by the current owner and publisher of Kid Pix, Software MacKiev, who had been involved in development of the Macintosh version of Kid Pix Deluxe 3 and has been the sole developer of the Kid Pix series since the initial release of Kid Pix Deluxe 3X prior to acquiring the brand from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in October 2011. Hickman had no involvement with the development of Kid Pix from 1996 until late 2011 when he began consulting with Software MacKiev on the development of future editions.

Timeline

 * 1989 - Kid Pix Public Domain Version was released for free in November 1989.
 * 1990 - Kid Pix Professional was released at a price of $25 with sound, color, the mixer tool, more stamps and bilingual menus in English and Spanish.
 * Broderbund became a publisher for Kid Pix.
 * March 1991 - Kid Pix 1.0 was released at a price of $59.95 with impressive sales and reviews.
 * 1992 - Kid Pix Companion was released at a price of $39.95 and added new features and QuickTime videos.
 * 1993 - Kid Cuts, a derivative of Kid Pix that allowed for creation of special projects, was released at a price of $59.95.
 * 1994 - Kid Pix 2 distributed both Kid Pix and the Companion together.
 * 1994 - Kid Pix Fun Pack added new stamps and hidden pictures.
 * 1995 - Kid Pix Studio was released by Broderbund.
 * 1998 - Kid Pix Studio Deluxe was released by Broderbund
 * 1999 - Kid Pix Studio Deluxe was re-released by The Learning Company a year after its acquisition of Broderbund.
 * 2000 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3 was released by Broderbund/Riverdeep.
 * 2004 - Kid Pix Deluxe 4 was released by The Learning Company/Riverdeep.
 * 2004 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3X (Mac OS X Edition 1.0) was released by Software MacKiev.
 * 2006 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3X (Mac OS X Edition 1.1) by Software MacKiev added iPod movies export and enhanced integration with iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand, applications from the Apple's iLife application suite.
 * 2008 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3X (Mac OS X Edition 1.2.3) by Software MacKiev fixed compatibility with a new version of QuickTime and added compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard".
 * 2008 - Kid Pix Deluxe 4 was re-released on DVD-ROM by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt two years after Riverdeep's merge with Houghton Mifflin.
 * 2010 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3D (Mac OS X Edition 2.0) by Software MacKiev is a major upgrade, with path animation, 3D characters, movie backgrounds, and video narration.
 * 2011 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3D (Windows Edition) was released by Software MacKiev.
 * 2018 - Kid Pix 5: The S.T.E.A.M. Edition was released by Software MacKiev.

Kid Pix 2
Kid Pix 2 added new features to the original. These features were originally available in an add-on known as Kid Pix Companion.

"SlideShow" is a program allowing the creation of a slide show of Kid Pix images with transitions and custom recorded sounds. By setting the time delay between slides to the lowest possible setting animations can be created using multiple Kid Pix images acting as each of the frames of animation.

The "Wacky TV" allows the user to watch video clips in common media formats such as MOV or AVI. The picture can then be distorted using various buttons. The CD came with various sample clips to watch. If a movie contained sound, there was also an option to speed up the audio by 50%, or play it in reverse.

Kid Pix Studio
Kid Pix Studio offered a complement of programs to the original Kid Pix. It opened up the ability for children to create not only static images but animated creations as well.

SlideShow was extended to allow the use of any Kid Pix, Moopie, Stampimator and Digital Puppet files in the slide show.

"Moopies" is very similar to the standard Kid Pix program except with a reduced canvas size and the ability to add several animated rubber stamps and wacky brush items. Music and sounds can also be chosen to play in the background of the "moopie".

"Stampimator" is again similar to the standard Kid Pix program and "Moopies", except the animated rubber stamps can be dragged across the canvas recording a path which they would then repetitively follow.

Several pre-made computer puppets are provided in this program. The user can animate them like a real puppet including choosing facial expressions by hitting various keys on the keyboard. Sound and music, and a background can be added to go along with the movement of the puppet.

The "Moopies", "Digital Puppets", "Stampimator" and "Slideshow" creations can be saved as a standalone executable that enables them to be viewed by others regardless of them owning a copy of Kid Pix Studio. "Slideshows" also have the added possibility of being exported to a video file, although this functionality is limited to slide shows that contain only Kid Pix drawings.

The "Wacky TV" feature allowed users to watch movies and animations made in Moopies, and Slideshow, and even any movies the user may have on their computer. Several buttons are available for use in this feature, which allows users to watch the movies in several different ways, like in reverse or flipped screen. This was also available on the previous version of Kid Pix.

Kid Pix Studio Deluxe
A later version, titled Kid Pix Studio Deluxe, featured an updated picker screen and allowed editing text items after they have been placed down, which was not possible in prior versions of Kid Pix. It was also possible in this version to have the computer read the text aloud, and, exclusive to the Macintosh version, add some music to play in the background during a SlideShow.

Kid Pix Deluxe 3
Kid Pix received a significant makeover with Kid Pix Deluxe 3. It was updated with a new 3D looking interface and new sound effects which makes it almost unrecognizable from the older versions. The only surviving new feature inherited from Kid Pix Studio was the SlideShow. This is possibly because the others were rendered unnecessary with the addition of clip art pictures and animations to the basic Kid Pix program.

Added tools include:

 * Background, to select a premade background from a large library.
 * Static Clip Art, a large library of premade static clip art.
 * Animated Clip Art.
 * Sound Tool, used to select sounds for the image from the provided library or to record custom sounds.
 * Play Button, upon being clicked, the animated clip art on the page would animate, the selected sound (if any) would begin to play and text typed would be spoken by the selected voice.

Kid Pix Deluxe 4
Kid Pix Deluxe 4 was released in 2004 and saw several improvements over Kid Pix Deluxe 3, including an updated interface whose layout is more faithful to the original Kid Pix (thus causing the canvas to be larger), the Text tool having a WYSIWYG font menu, the Idea Machine being accessible from the user interface instead of simply from the program's menu, a leaner and more organized Background library, a bilingual Undo Guy that can yap out both English and Spanish phrases, and video tutorials on how to use the program and each of its individual tools. For Macintosh users, this was the first version of Kid Pix to be compatible with Mac OS X, the last version to be compatible with the "Classic" Mac OS (in this case, Mac OS 8 and 9), and the only version to utilize Apple's Carbon API.

Kid Pix Deluxe 3X
A new version of Kid Pix Deluxe 3, which was initially released in 2004, featured Mac OS X compatibility, increased canvas size and integration with applications from the Apple's iLife application suite, such as iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto and GarageBand. Also, it features export of Kid Pix projects to iPod video format, giving kids a head start in creating their own podcasts. Further, the exploding screen eraser from the previous Kid Pix Deluxe 3 Edition was replaced with a fire hose, which was less destructive and noisy.

Kid Pix Deluxe 3D
A significant upgrade from Kid Pix Deluxe 3X, the 3D edition was published for the Mac by Software MacKiev in October 2010 and for Windows in October 2011. While retaining the features of the previous "3X" edition, Kid Pix Deluxe 3D emphasizes digital storytelling with video narration and export to YouTube. The "3D" part of the name comes from the newly added 3D animations and backgrounds, and an export to 3D feature that creates anaglyph video images that can be viewed using red/blue 3D glasses (included in the package).

Kid Pix 5: The S.T.E.A.M. Edition
Kid Pix 5: The S.T.E.A.M. Edition is the newest version of Kid Pix by Software MacKiev, available for Mac, Windows, and iPad. It is the first version to have iPad support and 64-bit compatibility, and has a new Steam age interface. Currently, it is only available as an upgrade or for educational institutions.

Features

The canvas occupies most of the available screen face, and the entire canvas is visible at all times. The drawing tools available to the user are placed in a column of buttons down the left edge of the screen. Instead of using menus to access the different options that each tool has, they are displayed in a row of icons along the bottom of the screen. Selecting a new tool presents a new set of options, such as different styles for the Wacky Brush. The color palette is situated below the list of tools and consists of a collection of colored squares for each of the available colors. Files with the KPX extension can be converted to the more accessible PCX format by renaming the extension.

The drawing tools used in Kid Pix are:
 * Pencil Tool, the tool that draws free lines onto the picture. Six line thicknesses are provided.
 * Line Tool, used to create perfectly straight lines. Like the Pencil Tool, six line thicknesses are provided.
 * Paint Bucket, used to fill an area with a solid color or pattern.
 * Square Tool, used to create perfect square or rectangular shapes. Changing the line thickness in the line tool will change the thickness of the square.
 * Circle Tool, similar to the Square Tool. It is used to create perfect circles, and the thickness can be changed using the line tool.

Kid Pix includes a selection of tools that go beyond drawing simple lines and shapes. These include:
 * Wacky Brush, contains an array of options to paint various effects onto the image, such as a line of dripping paint, a line of shapes or a random leafless tree.
 * Mixer Tool, provides various options to affect the entire image with distortion, blurring and fading effects. Starting from Kid Pix Deluxe 3, an example of the effects would be shown on a butterfly.
 * Rubber Stamps, a collection of small icons that can be added to the picture in a way similar to the use of clip art. The original stamps were taken from the Apple Computer font Cairo. From Kid Pix Professional onwards the size of the stamp on the canvas could be enlarged. Eventually, these were transformed into 8-Bit like images that could be edited by the user.

Selection and erasing tools include:
 * Erasing Tools, these provide several different ways to erase various parts, or all, of a drawing. For example, the popular stick of dynamite would cause the entire image to explode in alternating black and white concentric circles.
 * Moving Truck, allows various parts of the image to be selected and moved around the canvas. There are different shapes and sizes that the selections can be, such as circles or rectangles.
 * Dye Tool, used to pick out colors already used somewhere in the canvas.

Text tools include:
 * Text tool, includes "rubber stamps" of the letters of the alphabet which speak the name of the letter when selected.
 * Typing tool, includes basic abilities to add text to the image in different fonts and various sizes.

Other tools include:
 * Sound tool, allows recording custom sounds to add to pictures (e.g. little pug noises, with a bark at the end).
 * The "Undo Guy" acts as a standard undo button, undoing the last change made to the image. When clicked, the Undo Guy says comical phrases in different voices. Starting with Kid Pix Deluxe 3D, the Undo Guy could undo and redo several times, but in all versions of Kid Pix prior to that version, the Undo Guy could only undo and redo once.
 * The "Pick a Draw Me" addition (located under the 'Goodies' Section) gives three random phrases for a drawing idea. Each phrase is said by a different person to inspire the user to draw something unconventional. This feature was absent in Kid Pix Deluxe 3 and all versions that succeeded it.

Reception
KidPix was given a blue chip award at the 1994 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Awards. The judges described it as "a fun-filled multimedia art exploration program with a sense of humor" and "chockful of clever goodies that invite computer and artistic exploration", but they noted that the DOS and Mac versions were superior to the Windows version. KidPix Companion was reviewed in the Oppenheim Guide Book where it was described as a program that "make[s] a good thing better", alongside a review for KidCuts which was described as "a 21st-century evolution of an old kids' favorite" and "a springboard for off-line creative play".

title: Kid Pix


text:
File:Sports Barnstar2.png

Candidate 2 for Sports Barnstar, a slightly modified version of Image:Original Barnstar.png, with a gold star and yellow face.

Source and licensing
"Image may be used elsewhere without restriction," says SunirShah, creator, on BarnStar. Original image from Barnstar Subterfuge (currently not available online).

title: File:Sports Barnstar2.png


text:
Nanoruler

A nanoruler is a tool or a method used within the subfield of "nanometrology" to achieve precise control and measurements at the nanoscale (i.e. nanometer, a billion times smaller than a meter). Measurements of extremely tiny proportions require more complicated procedures, such as manipulating the properties of light (plasmonic) or DNA to determine distances. At the nanoscale, materials and devices exhibit unique properties that can significantly influence their behavior. In fields like electronics, medicine, and biotechnology, where advancements come from manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular levels, nanoscale measurements become essential.

The nanoruler is also a tool developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with extreme precision, achieved through the technique of scanning beam interference lithography (SBIL). The director of the project, Mark L. Schattenburg, began it with the intention of helping the semiconductor industry, which is required in devices such as computer chips that have components nanometers in size, hence the importance of having a tool capable of nanoscale precision. The Nanoruler was developed in the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory of the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a phenomenon where free electrons in metals oscillate when illuminated by light at a specific wavelength(color) at a particular angle. This oscillation is similar to the ripples created when a rock is thrown into a pond. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) refers to a concentrated region of SPR found on metallic nanoparticles, or metals at the nanoscale, enabling more precise analysis. Each nanoparticle will have its unique LSPR depending on the particle's size and geometry. When multiple nanoparticles are brought together within nanometer distances, their LSPRs interact, leading to optical changes. LSPRs are highly sensitive and can be influenced by various factors, including plasmonic coupling, the surrounding dielectric medium, or distances. Scientists observe these effects and analyze the data, typically in the form of refractive index and shifts in wavelength, to determine measurements.

Fano resonances
Some nanorulers utilize Fano resonances, which are asymmetric line curves resulting from the interference of multiple electromagnetic waves. These resonances are typically observed at specific distances of separation, such as those between gold (Au) nanostructures. Analogous to LSPRs, Fano resonances are used for measurement because of their strong sensitivity to change, such as distances. This allows for precise measurements in very tiny separations for analysis. In certain applications, second harmonic generation (SHG), a nonlinear optical process where two photons of the same frequency combine to generate a single photon at twice the frequency, is utilized in support with Fano resonances for nonlinear measurements. Certain nanostructures (e.g. a gold nanodolmen using three gold nanorods) can exhibit strong SHG responses and lead to specific emission patterns. This method has been used to accurately determine complex 3-dimensional macromolecular entities.

DNA Origami Nanoruler
In 2006, Paul Rothemund made a breakthrough in DNA nanotechnology, developing the DNA origami. His DNA origami took a long, single-stranded DNA molecule (referred to as the "scaffold") and folded it into short, single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides (referred to as "staples"). This revolution allowed for the creation of nanostructures with highly controlled dimensions by designing the DNA scaffold strand and selecting the appropriate staple strands that can serve as nanorulers by itself. DNA origami structures can be designed with specific attachment sites for other nanoscale components, such as nanoparticles, fluorophores, or proteins. By measuring the distances between these components on the origami structures, researchers can perform precise distance measurements at the nanoscale through atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the use of RNA. In the design process, DNA origami structures are equipped with predetermined binding sites for RNA molecules, strategically positioned to facilitate hybridization. Upon introducing RNA molecules, these hybridization events are measured using AFM, providing both visualization and precise nanoscale measurements.

MIT's Nanoruler
In 2004, MIT developed the Nanoruler, a machine that was more precise and faster at grating than any other methods at the time. To achieve this, MIT combined two conventional methods of grating, mechanical ruling and interference lithography, into a new technique: scanning beam interference lithography (SBIL). In "traditional" interference lithography, two beams of light interfere with each other producing fringes, similar to how two ripples in the water will create a standing wave where the two ripples meet. The standing wave is the fringe, which gets recorded onto a photoresist on top of a substrate, eventually becoming grating lines. The difference between the "traditional" interference lithography method and the SBIL method is the final gratings they produce. Interference lithography struggles to produce linear gratings and the end results are often nonlinear. It's not ideal, since gratings should be linear and uniform. With SBIL, the approach is similar to that of interference lithography but utilizes two, narrow UV laser beams that interfere and create fringes. The narrowness creates smaller distortions, thereby more linear fringes than interference lithography. The substrate is also attached to a stage, enabling the photoresist to move in a "scanning" motion. This motion creates the grating pattern with near 1 nm precision across a 300 nm substrate in around 20 minutes.

Applications
Nanotechnology is a modern field that has yet to be fully understood. Nanorulers allow scientists to investigate the fundamental building blocks of matter, including atoms and molecules, which is essential for advancing our knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of materials. As research on nanomaterials is being done, it is important for manufacturing of these nanomaterials to be scalable and efficient.

Life sciences have particularly benefited from nanotechnology. Nanoscale measurements are used for characterizing nanoparticles for drug delivery, studying biological molecules, and exploring cell structures at the nanoscale. Additionally, SPR has been well-established and widely used for biosensing.

In MIT's case, they developed the Nanoruler machine in order to manufacture semiconductors with higher precision and at faster speeds. Reducing size is important in this industry because the smaller a semiconductor is, the more semiconductors can be placed within a device such as a microchip, which makes the microchip more powerful.

title: Nanoruler


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Ituri Province

Ituri Province  (Jimbo la Ituri in Swahili) is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the subdividing of the former Orientale province. Ituri was formed from the Ituri district whose town of Bunia was elevated to capital city of the new province.

Geography
The Ituri Rainforest is in this area. It is located northeast of the Ituri River and on the western side of Lake Albert. It has borders with Uganda and South Sudan.

Territories
Its five administrative territories are:

 * Aru (6,740 km2)
 * Djugu (8,184 km2)
 * Irumu (8,730 km2)
 * Mahagi (5,221 km2)
 * Mambasa (36,783 km2)

Geography
Ituri is a region of high plateau (2000–5000 meters) that has a large tropical forest but also the landscape of savannah. The province has rare fauna, including the okapi, the national animal of the Congo. As for flora, an important species is Mangongo, whose leaves are used by the Mbuti to build their homes.

Economy
The Kilo-Moto gold mines are partly located in Ituri. In the beginning of the 21st century, petroleum reserves have been found by Heritage Oil and Tullow Oil on the shores of Lake Albert.

History
Ituri, as Kibali-Ituri, was a province of the DRC from 1962 to 1966. Prior to the adoption of the 2006 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the legal status of Ituri was a topic of some dispute. From the beginning of the Second Congo War in 1998, it was held by soldiers of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) and the Ugandan-backed Movement for Liberation faction of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD-ML). In June 1999, the commander of UPDF forces in the DRC, Brig. Gen. James Kazini, ignored the protests of RCD-ML leaders and re-created the province of Kibali-Ituri out of the eastern section of the northeastern Orientale province. It is almost always referred to simply as Ituri. The creation of the new province under the political rivalry contributed to the start of the current Ituri conflict, which has caused thousands of deaths. Most official cartographers did not include the new province, and those referring to it as a "province" rather than a "region" were sometimes viewed as having a pro-Uganda bias. With the new constitution, Ituri's status as a province was finally settled.

Government
An Ituri Interim Administration was formed through the efforts of the Ituri Pacification Commission, a commission sponsored by the United Nations Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC, abbreviation of the French name "Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo") that was set up, after much initial delay, in 2003 after the pull-out of Ugandan troops from the district. It led to the creation of the Ituri Interim Assembly, which elected an administrator and an assembly chairperson; the current assembly chairperson is Petronille Vaweka, who is also the sole deputy for the district to the National Assembly in Kinshasa.

The Interim Assembly will be reconstituted or replaced by a provincial assembly under the 2006 constitution. An election for the governor and vice-governor will also be held, and the district will be re-created as a province of the DRC.

Presidents, later governors, of Kibali-Ituri from 1962–1966

 * September 1962 – 28 December 1966 Jean Foster Manzikala

Governors of Ituri since 1999

 * *1999* Adele Lotsoye Mugisa (appointed by James Kazini)
 * December 1999 – early 2001 Ernest Uringi Padolo
 * December 2001 – November 2002 Joseph Eneku
 * February 2002–2003 Jean-Pierre Mulondo Lonpondo
 * April 2003 – 2016 Emmanuel Leku Apuobo
 * March 2016 – present Jefferson Abdalla

Demographics
The population is composed primarily of Alur, Hema, Lendu, Ngiti, Bira and Ndo-Okebo, with differing figures on which one of the groups constitutes the largest percentage of the population in the province. The Mbuti, a pygmy ethnic group, reside primarily in the Ituri forest near the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, although some Mbuti have been forced into urban areas by deforestation, over-hunting and violence.

The 2020 population was estimated to be 4,392,200.

title: Ituri Province


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NTG

NTG may refer to:

 * A common abbreviation for Northern Territory Government
 * Nitroglycerin, a chemical used in demolition as dynamite and in medicine as a vasodilator
 * Methylnitronitrosoguanidine, a carcinogen and a mutagen
 * Nils Granlund, the Broadway showman and Loew's Theater publicist Nils Thor Granlund
 * Nine Trey Gangsters, an American East Coast street gang and subgroup of the United Blood Nation
 * Next Time Gadget, an American electronic musician
 * IATA code for Nantong Xingdong Airport, Jiangsu, China

title: NTG


text:
Soapbox

A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment of soap, or other dry goods, from a manufacturer to a retail store.

The term is also used metaphorically to describe a person engaging in often flamboyant, impromptu, or unofficial public speaking, as in the phrase, "Get off your soapbox." Hyde Park in London is known for its Sunday soapbox orators, who have assembled at its Speakers' Corner since 1872 to discuss religion, politics, and other topics. Blogs can be used as soapboxes within the context of the World Wide Web, and are often used for promotional purposes.

Origins of the term
Throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, prior to the invention of corrugated fiberboard, manufacturers used wooden crates for the shipment of wholesale merchandise to retail establishments. Discarded containers of every size, well-constructed and sturdy, were readily available in most towns. These "soapboxes" made free and easily portable temporary platforms for street corner speakers attempting to be seen and heard at improvised "outdoor meetings", to which passersby would gather to hear often provocative speeches on religious or political themes.

The decades immediately preceding World War I have been called the "Golden Age of Soapbox Oratory". Working people had little money to spend and public speakers pushing their social or political agendas provided a form of mass entertainment. Radical political parties, intent on bringing what they perceived as an emancipatory message to the working class, were particularly intent upon making use of "street meetings", with their speeches and leaflets, to advance their specific message.

Street-corner oratory could also present its share of problems. Chief among these was the policy of local law enforcement authorities, who sometimes saw in radical political discourse a form of incitement to crime and violence and a threat to public order. Additionally, large street corner crowds listening to "soapboxers" would often obstruct public walkways or spill into public streets, creating inconveniences to pedestrians or vehicular traffic alike. Consequently, local authorities would often attempt to restrict public oratory through licensing or prescriptive banning.

This conflict between dedicated political or religious partisans and civil authorities intent upon the maintenance of public order made soapboxing a matter of frequent public contention. Throughout its history, soapboxing has been tied to the right to speak. From the period 1907 to approximately 1916, the Industrial Workers of the World conducted dozens of free speech fights in the United States, particularly in the West and the Northwest, in order to protect or reclaim their right to soapbox. Many prominent socialists and other radicals began their political careers in these or similar free speech fights, including Seattle newspaper publisher Hermon Titus, Socialist Party of Washington leaders Alfred Wagenknecht and L.E. Katterfeld, IWW activist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and prominent syndicalist William Z. Foster.

Additional problems could be presented to street corner orators from rival political groups or hecklers. A skilled and effective "soapboxer" had to be clever, having the ability to express political opinions with clarity, to have ready answers for common objections, to be able to deflect hostility with humor or satire, and to be able to face difficulty or danger with fortitude. Soapboxing proved to be what one historian has called "a hard, but nevertheless necessary, process in the development of revolutionary leaders".

Contemporary soapboxing
During the 1960s, a Free Speech Movement was initiated on the Berkeley, California Campus over fund-raising at an intersection and other political freedoms, and the fight eventually spread to other college campuses across the United States. As advertising professionals transitioned their craft to politics, they were reputed to be "selling candidates like soap", an expression with roots in 19th-century sales tactics to differentiate soap products.

Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee included blurbs titled "Stan's Soapbox" in some of his comic books to share his opinions on various topics with readers.

title: Soapbox


text:
File:Sports Barnstar3.png

Candidate 3 for Sports Barnstar, a slightly modified version of Image:Original Barnstar.png, with a gold star and brown face.

Source and licensing
"Image may be used elsewhere without restriction," says SunirShah, creator, on BarnStar. Original image from Barnstar Subterfuge (currently not available online).

title: File:Sports Barnstar3.png