text:
Civil affairs

Civil Affairs (CA) is a term used by both the United Nations and by military institutions (such as the U.S. military), but for different purposes in each case.

Civil Affairs in United Nations Peace Operations
Civil Affairs officers in UN Peace Operations are civilian staff members who are often at the forefront of a mission's interaction with local government officials, civil society, and other civilian partners in the international community. "'Civil Affairs components work at the social, administrative and sub-national political levels to facilitate the countrywide implementation of peacekeeping mandates and to support the population and government in strengthening conditions and structures conducive to sustainable peace.'"Civil Affairs components are deployed in most peacekeeping missions led by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and are also a feature of many special political missions led by the Department of Political Affairs. Officers are usually deployed at the local level, where they serve as the link between the UN mission, local authorities, and communities. Civil Affairs components work countrywide to strengthen the social and civic conditions necessary to consolidate peace processes and are a core function of multi-dimensional peacekeeping operations. As of mid-2013, there were approximately 700 Civil Affairs Officers in 13 UN Peacekeeping Operations worldwide.

Civil Affairs components perform one or more of three core roles, depending on the UN Security Council mandate given to a particular peacekeeping mission. In each role the work of Civil Affairs intersects with, supports and draws upon the work of a variety of other actors. Depending on the mandate, the three core roles are 1) Cross-mission representation, monitoring and facilitation at the local level; 2) Confidence-building, conflict management and support to reconciliation; and 3) Support to the restoration and extension of state authority.

The roots of Civil Affairs in UN Peace Operations
There were precursors for what was later termed civil affairs in Central America and in Cambodia during the 1991 to 1993 period. For example, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)’s civil administration component was responsible for the supervision of administrative structures in Cambodia, ranging from public security to finance and information. However, the first component known officially as ”civil affairs” was formed in 1992, with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)’s mandate in the former Yugoslavia.

The development and growth of civil affairs work has been a critical element of the development and growth of multidimensional peace operations. With the end of the cold war and the increase in peace operations required to respond to intrastate conflict, the UN was increasingly asked to tackle complex civilian tasks. These went beyond the limited role of liaising with political actors and the “good offices” work that had characterized civilian peacekeepers until that point. Cedric Thornberry, the first Director of Civil Affairs in a UN mission (UNPROFOR in 1992), described this new broader role as follows:

''To fully understand the UN’s meaning of “civil affairs” it is first important to appreciate that most of the missions created between 1989 and 1992, especially, were qualitatively different from those which had preceded. It is not just that most were a lot bigger … they were to fulfil many roles additional to the archetypal ones of the 1947-1988 period. The task of the UN became, not merely to observe, but actively, itself, to bring about peace […] In a rapid sequence of major operations – principally in Namibia, Central America and Cambodia – the UN was required not only to make peace, but to conduct nationwide processes of reconstruction and national reconciliation. Their task was, in broad terms, to harmonize or unify deeply divided societies, long racked by war, and to establish democracy where previously there had been tyranny.''

These key themes of helping to unify divided societies and helping states to exert legitimate authority are central to the continuing role of civil affairs today.

During the 1990s small civil affairs components were included in a number of missions, including those in Cyprus, Tajikistan and Georgia. At the end of that decade, major civil affairs components were deployed to Kosovo and East Timor, to implement the executive mandates that were given to peacekeeping operations at that time. In these cases civil affairs components found themselves mandated to establish effective administrations and to support capacity-building for self-government.

The start of the 2000s saw a surge in the deployment of large civil affairs components to peacekeeping missions. Each one had its own unique focus and contribution to make in implementing peace mandates at the local level, but each was there to strengthen links to ordinary citizens, as well as to support the development of social conditions conducive to peace and provide an overall facilitation role locally.

Civil Affairs into the Next Decade
In 2008, for the first time, the UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support developed and disseminated a policy directive that defines and conceptualizes the diverse work of civil affairs. This has provided the foundation for the development of this Handbook, as well as training and recruitment profiles to ensure that civil affairs components are strong, well-trained and well planned, ready to address the challenges ahead.

This institutional framework will need to continue to evolve and develop in response to analysis of the ongoing shifts in the global security environment. The World Bank's World Development Report 2011, for example, found that many countries are caught in a mutually reinforcing cycle of violence and poverty. It also found that more and more people are suffering from violence that is linked to lack of governance and rule of law, rather than to outright war. These changes in the global security environment have resulted in mandates increasingly requiring higher levels of civilian engagement on a wide variety of thematic and cross-cutting issues, ranging from governance, rule of law and institution-building through to early peacebuilding and protection of civilians from threats of violence.

For peacekeeping, of particular note among these emerging issues is the protection of civilians, which has increasingly become a major part of the international discourse around intervention. This was demonstrated in the international dialogue on both Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Ivory Coast in early 2011 and earlier in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Darfur. Protection of civilians has also increasingly become a specific mandated task, after inclusion in eight UN peacekeeping mandates by the Security Council. It can be expected that civil affairs will be at the forefront of an integrated and coordinated approach to mandate delivery on this issue, in terms of civilian and government engagement on the ground.

Meanwhile, as many peacekeeping operations mandated as part of a surge during the 2000s are starting to draw down their military presence, the UN continues to evolve, transitioning towards an increased focus on the civilian dimension of ”peacebuilding” and its role in avoidance of a return to conflict. Here, civil affairs has a key role to play – within both peacekeeping and political missions – by ensuring that efforts to mitigate conflict drivers and to engage and support local government and communities have meaning on the ground outside the capitals in which the UN is deployed. A continued focus on local presence in these contexts is key if the UN is to ensure that its work genuinely responds to the priorities and concerns of ordinary citizens within post-conflict countries, thereby helping to ensure their consent and to create durable conditions for peace.

These evolving roles, and the range of partners working in related fields and capacities, all create the need – and potential – for increased partnership and cooperation, to ensure that mandate aims progress effectively. Similarly, as these complex and multidimensional trends for the UN response to conflict emerge, the identification and provision of appropriate and available resources to respond to them effectively must also evolve. As indicated in the report of the Senior Advisory Group on Civilian capacity in the aftermath of conflict, these challenges will require a nimble, harmonized and, where necessary, specialized civilian response, as well as a focus on partnership across organizations such as the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and regional organizations such as the African Union (AU).

One of the major issues identified in the review of civilian capacities is the need to be able to better identify and support national capacities. As the review states: “The United Nations has seen success in humanitarian operations and peacekeeping, built on a strong partnership with Member States. But the international community has had less success in supporting and enabling the national capacities that are essential for an enduring peace.”19 Civil affairs components have a key role to play in identifying and supporting national capacities, within civil society and local government, including through helping to ensure that voices from the local level are heard in nationally led peacebuilding processes.

Overall, in the evolving environment of international peace and security, a key asset of civil affairs components is their agility and their capacity to respond flexibly to the wide range of demands and expectations within Security Council mandates. One aspect of this flexibility is their ability to direct their focus depending on the availability and presence of other international partners at the local level, particularly those with expertise in highly specialized areas. Civil Affairs can play an important role in mobilizing these partners in places and at times where they are most needed. This is a cost-efficient model, given the prohibitive and unnecessary expense of having a full complement of specialized expertise available in each locality around the country at all times. It also helps to ensure that local-level support is need-driven, rather than simply provided because a particular service or resource happens to be available.

Civil Affairs can be expected to remain at the forefront of the UN response to conflict, and to building the processes, structures, relationships and trust required to assist countries and communities to break the cycle of violence.

Core Role 1: Cross-mission representation, monitoring and facilitation at the local level
Cross-mission representation, monitoring and facilitation are performed in most missions and usually throughout the life cycle of the mission. In many situations civil affairs is the most important interface between the UN mission and the community, not just in terms of the local/regional authorities but also civil society in its broadest sense. Through its multiple interactions with the local population, civil affairs provides the mission with the pulse of the nation beyond the high-level contacts with government and political party leadership. This helps to nuance the mission's understanding of the sociopolitical climate, allowing analysis to move beyond the carefully articulated positions of national spokespeople and representatives, and to ensure that regional and local considerations are integrated into national negotiations or priority-setting processes.

In return, local communities and groups have an opportunity through Civil Affairs to access the mission, which they may perceive as distant and militarized. Civil Affairs can be a bridge, which means that groups who previously would not have dared to approach the heavily guarded mission gates and ask for a discussion with the mission field leadership, civilian or military, can now approach the UN as guests rather than supplicants. The mission is inevitably enriched by this kind of dialogue and Civil Affairs Officers are often the best facilitators of it.

Core Role 2: Conflict management, confidence-building and support to the development of political space
Conflict management, confidence-building and supporting the development of political space are integral to UN peacekeeping and central to Civil Affairs work. Through this role, Civil Affairs actively supports the development of social and civic conditions conducive to sustainable peace, and promotes popular engagement and confidence in the peace process. While often the lead component in this area of work, Civil Affairs usually undertakes these activities in partnership with other mission components, as well as UN agencies and local and international partners. Within the mission, police and military components and other civilian components, such as political affairs, public information and human rights, may all contribute in one way or another to objectives in this area.

Core Role 3: Support to the restoration and extension of state authority
Restoration of state authority is increasingly recognized as a key element of the stabilization of fragile states and a critical requirement for keeping and building peace. This is clearly reflected in many of the recent UN Security Council resolutions including, for example, Security Council resolution 1974 (2011), which calls for the Government of Afghanistan “to improve governance” and “to pursue continued legislative and public administration reform in order to ensure good governance”. In the case of Haiti, meanwhile, Security Council resolution 1892 (2009) “calls upon MINUSTAH, consistent with its mandate, to continue such support to strengthen self-sustaining state institutions, especially outside Port-au-Prince, including through the provision of specialized expertise to key ministries and institutions”.

In exceptional circumstances, the Security Council has also authorized peacekeeping missions to temporarily assume the administrative and legislative functions of the state through provision of a transitional administration, as was the case in Kosovo and TimorLeste. However, it is important to emphasize the specificity of the circumstances under which these two missions were established and the fact that executive mandates are generally seen as a last resort in situations where a territory is virtually deprived of any functioning state institutions.

U.S. Military Civil Affairs
According to the U.S. Army, "The force that the Army employs to compete and win within the population is Civil Affairs." With their knowledge of governance and diplomacy, Civil Affairs soldiers are the principal experts in assisting a commander on the conduct of civil-military operations, and the sole force trained and tasked to conduct Civil Affairs Operations.

All Active Component Army Civil Affairs personnel undergo rigorous assessment and selection, followed by extensive training in foreign languages, advanced survivability skills, and negotiations techniques in order to operate autonomously as a small team, in any kind of environment, to achieve strategic end states. A Civil Affairs Team of 2 to 4 soldiers will often be the only U.S. military personnel in an entire country, working for the U.S. ambassador as well as their military chain of command.

Reserve Component Civil Affairs personnel support the conventional military in post-conflict stabilization.

The fundamental role of Civil Affairs forces is to build networks of formal and informal leaders to accomplish important missions in diplomatically or politically sensitive areas. SOF Civil Affairs operate as reconnaissance elements within the population, performing their core task of Civil Reconnaissance. Civil Information Management, Helping to provide Foreign Humanitarian Assistance, and Nation Assistance. They achieve effects by conducting Civil Engagements, applying knowledge of governance, economics, and politics to affect human behavior in the context of military operations or in support of strategic objectives.

History of US Military Civil Affairs
Throughout U.S. history the U.S. Army was involved in Civil Affairs and civic action. Civil Affairs has its organizational origins in military governments that were and are established when a country is occupied during war, but also encompasses the wide variety of mission sets focused on or leveraging the broader population of a given area in times of peace or war.

United States Army
Civil Affairs has a lineage that traces back to Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. U.S. Army Civil Affairs forces are split between the Active and Reserve components.

Active Component Civil Affairs
Approximately 10% of Army Civil Affairs personnel are active component soldiers assigned to the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade, the 83rd Civil Affairs Battalion or a variety of Special Operations, Joint, diplomatic, or conventional Army staff, planning, and policy positions. Active Component Civil Affairs soldiers are assessed, selected, and trained to conduct Civil Affairs Operations in hostile or austere environments in any stage of conflict.

The 95th Civil Affairs Brigade and its five subordinate battalions are all stationed at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, which is a rapidly deployable unit that only supports the Army Special Operations Command. Each of the five battalions is regionally aligned to one of the five U.S. combatant commands; SOUTHCOM, CENTCOM, EUCOM, AFRICOM and INDOPACOM. The Civil Affairs soldiers in these units receive extensive language and regional instruction as part of their training pathway and are assigned to the battalion affiliated with the respective region they are trained for. Once these soldiers arrive to their assigned units they receive advanced training in a variety of fields, preparing them for the enhanced level of responsibility that they will have working on small, autonomous teams.

The 83rd Civil Affairs Battalion is one of the few battalions in the Army with a global mission set. Falling under the command of the U.S. Army XVIII Airborne Corps and located at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the Battalion provides support to special operations and conventional military missions in all five combatant commands, as well as diplomatic, interagency, and foreign partner organizations. As Active Component Civil Affairs soldiers, personnel assigned to the Battalion undergo the same rigorous selection and advanced training as those in the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade, and individuals will often rotate between both units.

Reserve Component Civil Affairs
Approximately 90% of the Army Civil Affairs personnel come from the reserves and usually support active duty Army units. Using reservists allows military commanders to utilize skills of soldiers with experience in professions needed to manage and restore civilian areas impacted by military operations. This includes lawyers, city managers, economists, veterinarians, teachers, policemen, and other occupations who have valuable skills in restoration of governance and essential services in a war torn area. As a result, they deploy with certifications and experiences that become difficult to duplicate by the active duty forces. Additionally, reserve civil affairs planners attend the stability, security, and development in complex operations course taught at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Reserve Civil Affairs units assigned to United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) are task organized in four reserve Civil Affairs Commands (CACOMs) which integrate at the strategic and operational level with theater commands and joint/combined task forces. Civil Affairs brigades comprise these CACOMS and integrate at the corps. At the tactical level, maneuver divisions are augmented by the Civil Affairs battalions. The four CACOMs are the 350th CACOM, the 351st CACOM, the 352nd CACOM, and the 353rd CACOM.

Two other Army Reserve Civil Affairs units are assigned to other theaters of operation. The 322nd Civil Affairs Brigade is based in Hawaii and falls under operational control of United States Army Pacific Command and the 9th Mission Support Command. The 361st Civil Affairs Brigade is based in Germany and falls under operational control of United States Army Europe and the 7th Mission Support Command.

Within the United States Army, reserve civil affairs units are administered through United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne), or USACAPOC(A), a subordinate of U.S. Army Reserve Command. USACAPOC(A) contains Psychological Operations (PO) and Civil Affairs (CA) units, consisting of Army Reserve elements. USACAPOC(A) was founded in 1985. It is headquartered at Fort Liberty.

On 1 October 2006, USACAPOC(A) realigned from the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) to the United States Army Reserve Command (USARC). Training and doctrine relating to USACAPOC(A) is provided by the United States Army John Fitzgerald Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) at Fort Liberty, NC.

U.S. Army Civil Affairs training
Upon completion of basic training, a Soldier slotted in a Civil Affairs Unit will attend the 10-week Civil Affairs Advanced Individual Training (AIT) course. The 5th Battalion of the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) is responsible for the training. Both Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations trainees are assigned to Alpha Company. Upon completion of the 10-week course, (the original 13-week course was lengthened to 15 weeks in 2008, then shortened to 10 weeks in 2010) the student will be able to interpret U.S. and foreign maps; conduct civil, governmental, humanitarian, and defense assistance; apply organizational and leadership skills required in field operations; and conduct research on documents and other aspects of urban and regional studies. The instruction is conducted by lecture, discussion, and practical exercises such as map reading, land navigation, communications, and civil affairs planning.
 * Reserve Civil Affairs
 * Initial Entry Training (IET)
 * Reserve enlisted soldiers who reclassify to Civil Affairs must attend the Civil Affairs Reclassification Course which is offered at several posts throughout the country. Currently, training for combat, combat support, and combat service support is organized through regional training commands. The six Civil Affairs schoolhouses report to the 3rd Brigade (CA/PO) 100th Division, located at Fort Totten, New York. These units are the 5th Battalion (CA), 95th Regiment, of Lubbock, Texas; 5th Battalion (CA), 98th Regiment of Fort Dix, New Jersey; the 12th Battalion (CA), 100th Regiment of Fort Knox, Kentucky; the 4th Battalion (CA), 104th Regiment, of Mountain View, California; 108th Regiment of Fort Liberty, North Carolina.

The American Council on Education recommends college credit be awarded in the lower-division baccalaureate or associate's degree category two semester hours in map-reading, three in public administration, and one in military science for this training. The soldier is awarded the Military Occupational Specialty designation of 38B10. All Active Component enlisted will attend airborne school and language school, while Reservists may attend these courses at a later date through their units.

Active Component enlisted Soldiers and officers in the rank of specialist, sergeant, and staff sergeant or 1LT and CPT who have a valid security clearance must attend and pass a rigorous selection and assessment course at Camp Mackall, NC. Those soldiers selected for Civil Affairs must attend the 48-week Qualification Course. During this course, Soldiers received advanced training in reconnaissance, diplomacy, foreign languages, and survival, with the option of attending the Special Operations Medic Course, culminating in a large-scale training exercise that exposes students to realistic operational situations and environmental elements. Upon graduating into the operating force, Civil Affairs soldiers continue their advanced training between missions, advanced survival courses, higher-level planning courses, enhanced language training, non-standard weapons courses, off-road mobility and evasive driving courses, and many others from within the Special Operations community and across the interagency field of government.
 * Active Component Civil Affairs

United States Marine Corps
The Marine Corps currently has four permanent CA units: 1st Civil Affairs Group (1st CAG), 2nd CAG, 3d CAG and 4th CAG, all in the Force Headquarters Group of the Marine Forces Reserve. The 5th Civil Affairs Group and 6th CAG were created provisionally in 2005-06 for Operation Iraqi Freedom, but each were stood down after one deployment to Iraq. Artillery units augmented by Marines from the CAGs also deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2006-07 to serve in a civil affairs capacity. In 2010, the Marine Corps added an active duty civil affairs detachment at each of the three Marine Expeditionary Forces. The Marine Corps assigns civil affairs as a primary military specialty for enlisted and additional specialty for officers. The Marine Corps uses its own civil affairs doctrine and runs the Marine Corps Civil-Military Operations School (MCCMOS) at Marine Corps Base Quantico to train civil affairs Marines. MCCMOS also has career progression courses and MOSs for CMO Planners (officers) and CMO Chiefs (SNCOs). Additionally MCCMOS has a Stability Assessment Framework Course and a Civil Affairs Integration Course.

United States Navy
The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) officially established its newest command, Maritime Civil Affairs Group (MCAG) during a ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek on 30 March 2007. In an effort to consolidate staffs and resources, CNO Notice 5400 of 9 July 2009 redesignated MCAG and Expeditionary Training Groups as Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training (MCAST) Command and relocated the command to Virginia Beach. MCAST Command officially stood up 1 October 2009.

Maritime Civil Affairs Teams (MCATs) lessen the impact of military operations imposed during peace and periods of declared war, and increase the impact of humanitarian civil assistance (HCA) and contingency operations in support of theater security cooperation plans.

MCA forces provide assistance with the restoration of local infrastructure in the aftermath of military operations, natural and man-made disasters and regional engagement activities in order to achieve shared mutual interests.

In order to maximize its effectiveness, each deployed MCAT is regionally focused and trained with the necessary language skills and cultural awareness. The teams are responsible for streamlining and coordinating the efforts of the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Each Maritime Civil Affairs sailor is responsible for shaping the regional perception of the U.S. and gaining the support of the local populace, preventing it from being influenced by forces of instability, such as terrorism, piracy, crime and natural disaster.

MCASTC has been disestablished.

United States Air Force
The Air Force has deployed units in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom that have directly integrated into Army Civil Affairs Battalions. Such units include the 16th Squadron, 732nd Expeditionary Air Wing (Civil Affairs/Public Works) which was assigned to the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion. During the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion deployment to Iraq in April 2006 to April 2007, members of the United States Air Force provided Airmen for logistical support for Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) and for the Provincial Reconstruction Teams throughout their area of operations.

New York State Guard
In the New York State Guard, one of approximately 25 states with state defense forces, (not to be confused with the New York Army National Guard), the term 'Civil Affairs' has a slightly different connotation. The Civil Affairs units include lawyers, judges, engineers, doctors and other professionals and paraprofessionals committed to voluntary, part-time military service in support of the New York National Guard and U.S. Military Reserve Units from all branches. When soldiers are called up for duty, the New York Guard makes sure their legal needs are attended to so that they can serve with the peace of mind of knowing that their affairs are in order. Civil Affairs soldiers draft their wills, prepare powers of attorney and other necessary documents, and advise them of their rights as soldiers under federal law and as citizens of the United States. There are five units, one in each brigade of the Guard, including the 5th Civil Affairs Regiment, Yonkers, New York; 7th Civil Affairs Regiment, New York City; 13th Civil Affairs Regiment, Garden City, New York; 23rd Civil Affairs Regiment, Latham, New York; and the 209th Civil Affairs Regiment, Buffalo, New York.

United Kingdom
The British Army has a Civil Affairs Group, formed in 1997 and consisting primarily of Territorial Army personnel. Most personnel are members of the Royal Engineers and the group is administered by the Central Volunteer Headquarters Royal Engineers (CVHQ RE), based at Gibraltar Barracks, in Minley, Surrey. Members of the group have been deployed operationally in Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan, the tactical level unit was called Military Stabilisation Support Team, and they usually worked for the Provincial Reconstruction Team.

The British Army first formed CA units in 1943, and by August 1944 there were 3,600 CA personnel in France with the 21st Army Group.

The Netherlands
The Royal Netherlands Army's Civil Affairs unit is 1 CIMIC Battalion. The staff consist of regular soldiers. Other personnel are reservists with a civilian occupation. Members of the battalion have been deployed to Bosnia; Macedonia; Africa and Afghanistan. The unit is, as of early 2009, based in Apeldoorn.

Civil affairs in popular media

 * A Bell for Adano (Pulitzer Prize winning novel by John Hersey) and its adaptation A Bell for Adano (movie) depict a U.S. military government officer in occupied Italy during World War II.
 * The Teahouse of the August Moon (novel), and its adaptations The Teahouse of the August Moon (play) and The Teahouse of the August Moon (film), depict U.S. military government personnel in occupied Okinawa during World War II. These were also adapted into the 1970 musical Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen.
 * Three Kings (1999 film) the characters Barlow, Vig, and Elgin wear the USACAPOC patch, and Barlow identifies himself as a Civil Affairs Reservist.

title: Civil affairs


text: File:CMXDinosaurusStereophonicus.jpg

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

title: File:CMXDinosaurusStereophonicus.jpg


text:
Wikipedia talk:Motto of the day/Archive 2

The Motto of the Day (MOTTO) is an old idea currently undergoing a revival initiative. The idea is pretty simple: to have a daily unofficial Wikipedia motto included on the Community Portal. It is an effort to laugh a bit at ourselves, celebrate our achievements, and foster sense of community. Mottos can be humourous or serious, but must reflect the community or purpose of Wikipedia, and can't be too obscure (so no little-known Yoda quotes). Nominate new mottos here.

Overseers: (In order of seniority)
 * Geo.plrd (July 2006- )
 * Hunterd (August 2006 - )
 * Vanderdecken (16 August 2006 - )
 * Daniel.Bryant (31 August 2006 - )

Currently inactive:
 * Renata3 (February 2006 - July 2006) - Resigned July 2006
 * Childzy (On Wikibreak) (July 2006 - )

Leave them a message at their Desk.

Question about the Motto scheduled for 8/20
It currently reads "Made in Jimmy ®". Is the point that Wikipedia is somehow created inside Jimbo's body? That somehow implies to me that Jimbo Wales is unique amongst male humans by having a uteris. How about something along the lines of "Made under Jimmy's oversight ®"? -- llywrch 23:17, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
 * How about a simple "made in Jimmy's mind"? :) Renata 00:16, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Still needs the "®". ;-) -- llywrch 00:40, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * "(Is) Wikipedia... somehow created inside Jimbo's body?" - . David P. A. Hunter, esq. III Let us to it, Pell-Mell 13:58, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Template
I've created a template that could help users navigate through the MOTD related pages:

Any thoughts?--TBC TaLk?!? 04:17, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I like this template, please post on the desk

so we can discuss it G e o. 02:17, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

I Exist Again!
Just so everyone knows, I'm back from my involuntary Wikibreak (look at my userpage diffs to see why) with a new ISP. Therefore, I'm fully active on WP, including here. Anything you need me to do for the project, I'll be happy. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 10:42, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Emergency!
There's no motto for today! From now on, it's all TBD. -- Gray  Porpoise Phocoenidae, not Delphinidae 01:24, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

only type motto
On the motto day page (Motto of the day/July 29, 2024), simply type the motto, without bolding, italics, or quotaion marks. This is taken care of in the template. Thanks! Reywas92 Talk 21:40, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

What's happenning??
Why has the motto been a redlink for the past three days? What are the Overseers doing?! -- The Raven's Apprentice (Talk 05:17, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm sure they have a good reason. They wouldn't just forget the whole thing. May the Edit be with you, always. T- borg  (drop me a line)  15:28, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Though I was just wondering, one can't just click on said redlink and write his/her own motto, in place of the "official" Motto of the day, can one? Just curios, other people might be tempted, don't you think? May the Edit be with you, always. T- borg  (drop me a line)  15:01, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

What ought to be done is for an overseer to go ahead and schedule mottos for the next few weeks. -- Gray  Porpois  e Phocoenidae, not Delphinidae 02:41, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Here we are. Redlink again. -- The Raven's Apprentice (Talk 14:00, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Ridiculous
I will try to keep a cool head about this but this is my opinion. This is flat out ridiculous how the motto is always redlinked. Does anybody realize how many people use the MOTD and love it dearly and find it enjoyable. But latly the mottos have been redlinked. I have come across so many userpages that used to have the MOTD but don't anymore because it has been redlinked all the time. Does anybody feel the same way as I do? I am saying this only because I would hate to see such a fun project go down in "red" flames.--ॐ S  e  adog  ॐ 00:33, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, I changed my motto to my talk page because I didn't want red links on my userpage. It's mostly fixed, being red every now and again at ~midnight(UTC). | A ndonic O  Talk 19:54, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
 * They've changed it around a few times. A while ago, it said, "This is the temporary motto of the day. Hooray!" Now, it just shows up blank. -- Gray  Porpois  e cetaceans have large brains 21:30, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Perhaps it would be best to assign another group the task of scheduling mottos, but still have the overseer approve and reject mottos. T  ennis Dy  N  ami  T  e  (sign in) 22:00, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Another option would be to let the overseers retain that privilege, but allow anyone to schedule the current day's motto if it does not exist. -- Gray  Porpoise Your wish is my command! 22:10, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I've been adding mottos now and again, either when there's been a redlink or I've seen one coming up in the near future. We need another recruitment drive... I'll stick something in the Community Bulletin Board notices. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 11:15, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Christmas
Hey, did you notice that the Christmas Day link in the December 25th motto shows that it should not go there? Wait, let me rephrase: The motto on the 25th says "the last day of Christmas" when the 25th is the FIRST day of Christmas? —ScouterSig 18:48, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Oops... I really should know better. It was me that thought of that motto and put it there (replacing vandalism before), it's been corrected now. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 11:13, 20 December 2006 (UTC)


text: File:Kroton cyberman.jpg

title: File:Kroton cyberman.jpg


text:
Talk:Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada

Opening heading
Why doesn't the Wikipedia use standard legal citation forms?
 * We try to, but if you're referring to using full words in case names rather than Bluebook abbreviations, I personally think at least it's better to avoid using abbreviations that aren't commonly used outside the legal profession because no one but lawyers will know what they refer to. Is there another issue you had?  Postdlf 02:21, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The disclaimer. Thanks for the heads up; I didn't know there was already such a document created. Because the external links section includes a link to third-party legal advice, I felt it prudent to warn readers that Wikipedia doesn't warrant the accuracy of the information. It certainly is easier to just point to a standardized, pre-approved message. ---Axios023 04:49, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
 * The disclaimer is still a self-reference, and those should generally be avoided. The disclaimer should cover it. --Transfinite (Talk) 23:14, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Then I suppose the thing that will satisfy both of us is to remove the links to partisan information.---Axios023 06:56, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

A "privilege". In the law, a "privilege" is a legal right to refuse to do something the law would otherwise require you to do, or the legal right to do something the law forbids you to do. In the context of this case, in which a right under the Fifth Amendment is involved, it is appropriate to speak of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.---Axios023 02:17, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Citation of “stop-and-identify” laws
If the Indiana law requires a citation, so do the Arizona and Ohio laws. I've added these citations, as well as citations for the laws mentioned in Hiibel. Although it saves the reader the need to go to the Stop and identify statutes article, it does have the drawback of creating two lists of links to be maintained. I've preserved this article's list style, but a good argument could be made for using the same style for both this and the Stop and identify statutes article so that one of the two articles could be updated and the results simply copied to the other. JeffConrad (talk) 20:42, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

 * My recommendation would be to eliminate the list from this page, as it's unnecessarily duplicative of the Stop and Identify statutes article. Jkatzen (talk) 17:27, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

 * I don't disagree; that actually was my first thought. I don't think it really matters which “stop-and-identify” laws were mentioned in the opinion; a state either has such a law or it does not. But I'm OK with whichever way people want it. If the list is eliminated, should it be replaced with a sentence specifically directing the reader to the Stop and identify statutes article or should it be assumed the reader will figure this out own on her own? JeffConrad (talk) 22:02, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

 * I've deleted the list and added a note with a reference to the Stop and identify statutes article; see if this works. JeffConrad (talk) 22:37, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Mimi Hiibel
It might be accurate to say something like:

 * “Mimi Hiibel tried to hurriedly leave the truck and was thrown to the ground by Trooper Merschel. Deputy Dove came to assist Merschel; Mimi screamed and struggled as one of the offficers held her down and the other handcuffed her.”

The actions of Mimi and Trooper Merschel may illustrate that Mimi is a bit hotheaded and Merschel given to excessive use of force, but they really have nothing to do with the case. Inclusion of the information simply distracts from the main issue. JeffConrad (talk) 07:00, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Fifth Amendment holding
I think 72.181.155.223 makes a valid point that the Court did not completely resolve all Fifth Amendment questions. But the Court indeed held that Hiibel's conviction did not violate his Fifth Amendment rights, and I think to omit this is misleading and ostensibly conflicts with the head notes and the text of the opinion. Justice Kennedy stated

 * “Still, a case may arise where there is a substantial allegation that furnishing identity at the time of a stop would have given the police a link in the chain of evidence needed to convict the individual of a separate offense. In that case, the court can then consider whether the privilege applies, and, if the Fifth Amendment has been violated, what remedy must follow.” (577 U.S., at 191)

Accordingly, we probably should qualify what we say about the holding. Perhaps we should just say something to the effect that the Court upheld Hiibel's conviction because he gave no reason why giving his name would incriminate him, but (at least in theory) left open the possibility that the Fifth Amendment privilege might apply in circumstances in which providing identity could be incriminating, and support it with the quotation above. I'm willing to give this a shot, but I'd like to hear what others think first. Practically, I question the assertion of a privilege that can only apply when not asserting it would likely be incriminating; it would seem to me that the assertion would then be incriminating per se. JeffConrad (talk) 06:17, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

I've changed the lead section to qualify the Fifth Amendment holding; see if it works. In one sense, the Court reserved judgment on the Fifth Amendment issue, but the opinion strongly implies that a name would seldom be incriminating. JeffConrad (talk) 22:56, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

2016 Death
Larry Hiibel died in June last year, at least year of birth and death should be mentioned (1944-2016): https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=165155360 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 185.16.52.176 (talk) 13:51, 7 October 2017 (UTC)
 * How is that relevant to the case? The article isn't about him as an individual. Also, Find a Grave is not considered a reliable source because its content is user-generated. postdlf (talk) 14:24, 7 October 2017 (UTC)
 * It is not relevant to the case per se, and the article is not about the person behind that case, correct. But the case can probably considered to be a landmark decision, year of birth and death of this man can be mentioned in 'Background of the case'. Out of politeness and maybe respect for people is why you do it, you might have heard of this. A FaG link is often found at wp as a source, in biographical articles to be honest it fits best to use them. As long as salon.com, gizmodo.com, and diverse other such sites, featuring opinion pieces, are considered plausible sources at wp reliability of a FaG link as source is not in question to me. You may also find an obituary pretty easily and prove those who create FaG entries wrong. I hope you understand your words can be sounding rude, even if you perhaps didn't want this to happen. I think I gave the hint, up to you what to do with the information provided.

United States v. Landeros
I haven't had time to read the 9th Circuit's opinion yet, but based on the Identity Project's update it seems relevant as a follow-up. Legoktm (talk) 08:54, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

“portions of the statute were voided by the court
due to such statutes being vague”

Which portions? soibangla (talk) 01:43, 28 March 2019 (UTC)
 * I’ve already reverted as the Court actually expressly said the opposite. See my note on their talk page. postdlf (talk) 01:55, 28 March 2019 (UTC)


text:
Rhim gazelle

The rhim gazelle or rhim (from Arabic غزال الريم) (Gazella leptoceros), also known as the slender-horned gazelle, African sand gazelle or Loder's gazelle, is a pale-coated gazelle with long slender horns and well adapted to desert life. It is considered an endangered species because fewer than 2500 are left in the wild. They are found in Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, and possibly Chad, Mali, Niger, and Sudan.

Name
According to Richard Lydekker, the name rhim is known in Algeria and Libya, while in Tunisian and Egyptian the animal is known as the ghazal abiad, "white gazelle", owing to its pale coat. The name rhim is cognate with and perhaps derived from the Hebrew term re'em found in the Bible, which may refer to an aurochs, oryx or perhaps a unicorn.

Although described and named by Frédéric Cuvier in 1842, the rhim gazelle was rediscovered by Edmund Giles Loder later in the same century, hence the synonym Gazella loderi and the common name Loder's gazelle.

Description
Growing to a length of 101 to 116 cm, this is the palest of the gazelles, and well adapted to desert life in many ways. The upper parts are pale buff or cream and the limbs and under parts white or pale buff. The horns on the male are slender and slightly S-shaped; those of the female are even thinner, lighter and nearly straight. There are faint facial markings and an indistinct stripe along the side. The tail is brownish-black, about 15 cm long, and contrasts with the pale rump.

Distribution and habitat
The rhim gazelle is known from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. It has also been reported from Niger and Chad, but these sightings seem doubtful and its precise range is unclear. The rhim gazelle is found in isolated pockets across the central Sahara Desert. The extreme heat of this environment limits their feeding to the early morning and evening, and G. leptoceros gains most of its water requirements from dew and plant moisture, relying little on open water sources. The rhim gazelle is a nomadic species, moving across its desert range in search of vegetation, though it does not have a set migratory pattern. Its typical habitat is sand dunes and the depressions between them and other sandy areas, but also rocky areas.

Physiological adaptations
Rhim gazelles use a special type of temperature regulation called heterothermy to survive in this harsh desert climate. With heterothermy, animals no longer keep their body temperature within a narrow range. Heterothermy in Rhim gazelles results in an increase in body temperature during the heat of the day that reduces the amount of evaporative cooling that gazelles would need to do in order to stay cool. By reducing evaporative cooling, gazelles reduce energy expenditure and conserve body water. During cooler temperatures at night, the stored heat can be released, allowing the gazelles’ body temperature to decrease back to a normal physiological range. Rhim gazelles maintain a normal skin temperature of about 35-°C in the summer and about 25-°C in the winter. When heterothermy is employed, the gazelle experiences a body temperature increase of 5-20°C depending on seasonal conditions.

Status
Endangered by the early 1970s, this species of gazelle was in serious decline. They were hunted firstly by mounted then by motorized hunters for sport, meat, or their horns, which were sold as ornaments in North African markets. The threats the animals face now include poaching, disturbance by humans and loss of suitable habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates there may only be 300 to 600 mature individuals in the wild, and has rated their conservation status as "endangered".

In philately
On February 1, 1987, the Libyan General Posts and Telecommunications Company, in cooperation with World Wide Fund for Nature, issued a set of four postage stamps illustrating Gazella leptoceros.

title: Rhim gazelle


text:
Jen Sorensen

Jen Sorensen (born September 28, 1974, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) is an American cartoonist and illustrator who creates a weekly comic strip that often focuses on current events from a liberal perspective. Her work has appeared on the websites Daily Kos, Splinter, The Nib, Politico, AlterNet, and Truthout; and has appeared in Ms. Magazine, The Progressive, and The Nation. It also appears in over 20 alternative newsweeklies throughout America. In 2014 she became the first woman to win the Herblock Prize, and in 2017 she was named a Pulitzer Finalist in Editorial Cartooning.

Career
Raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sorensen enrolled in the University of Virginia, where she drew a daily comic strip, Li'l Gus, for its student newspaper, University Journal, from 1994 to 1995, as well as contributing to the satirical magazine The Yellow Journal.

Sorensen soon became published in various comic anthologies, including Action Girl and the Big Book of the 70's. She published her own book, Slowpoke Comix #1, in 1998. In 1999, one year after the book was published, Slowpoke became a weekly comic strip. As of 2012 the strip goes simply by her own name, though a few alternative weekly papers continue to use the Slowpoke name.

Sorensen has published three volumes of cartoons: Slowpoke: Café Pompous from 2001, Slowpoke: America Gone Bonkers from 2004 and her latest book, Slowpoke: One Nation Oh My God! published in 2008. Besides her weekly political cartoon, she has produced illustrations for such periodicals as Nickelodeon Magazine, The American Prospect, The Dallas Observer, Women's Review of Books, and MAD Magazine.

She has written and illustrated a number of long-form comics, most notably a piece on health care reform commissioned by Kaiser Health News, and a synopsis of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for NPR.

Sorensen has been a member of the artist collectives "Cartoonists with Attitude" and "Serializer."

She served as comics editor for Splinter News (formerly Fusion) from 2014 to 2018.

Sorensen is also a member of the National Advisory Council of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at Ohio State University.

She has been interviewed by Yahoo/ABC News (video), The Washington Post, as well as the University of Virginia Magazine; the latter web article has a video of Sorensen working.

Awards

 * 2000: Xeric Award
 * 2005: Alternative Newsweekly Award, Cartoon (Five or fewer papers), 1st Place
 * 2009: The Grambs Aronson Award for Cartooning With a Conscience, Hunter College
 * 2012: Alternative Newsweekly Award, Cartoon, 1st Place
 * 2012: National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award in Editorial Cartoons
 * 2012: Herblock Prize Finalist
 * 2013: Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award
 * 2013: National Cartoonist Society Award for Best Editorial Cartoons
 * 2014: Herblock Prize
 * 2017: Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Editorial Cartooning
 * 2023: Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award

Herblock Prize
In 2012, Sorensen was a Herblock Finalist and was later awarded the prize in 2014, making her the first woman to be awarded the prize. Sorensen was awarded the prize based on her portfolio containing work from her local weekly newspaper The Austin Chronicle, her regular publications in The Nation, Ms. Magazine, Politico, MAD Magazine, as well as her political cartoon, Slowpoke. The Herblock Foundation judges felt that, "Jen Sorensen’s strong portfolio addresses issues that were important to Herblock, such as gun control, racism, income inequality, healthcare, and sexism. Her style allows her to incorporate information which backs up the arguments she presents. Her art is engaging and her humor is sharp and on target.”

Pulitzer Prize
Sorensen was named a 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Editorial Cartooning for a variety of her work featured in several U.S. publications. Her nominated work includes several cartoons on the current political climate, such as The Trump Supporting Union Member, Poverty Injection, Radical Cleric vs. Trump, and more. According to the Pulitzer Prize board, Sorensen's work is powerful and "often challenging the viewer to look beyond the obvious".

Books
Sorensen's comics have been published in several books, often published by Alternative Comics. Sorensen's books are generally compilations of her weekly comic strip, although the first book contained entirely new material. The Slowpoke books contain cartoon strips concerning U.S. politics and social justice issues. These comics comment on the Trump administration, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, healthcare, climate change, and more topics related to the current U.S. political climate.

 * Slowpoke Comix #1 - 1998 (Alternative Comics)
 * Slowpoke: Café Pompous - 2001 (Alternative Comics) (ISBN 1-891867-02-4)
 * Slowpoke: America Gone Bonkers - 2004 (Alternative Comics) (ISBN 1-891867-78-4)
 * Slowpoke: One Nation, Oh My God! - 2008 (Ig Publishing) (ISBN 0-978843-16-9)

title: Jen Sorensen


text:
Talk:Hock (anatomy)

VfD
On April 26, 2005, this article was nominated for deletion. The result was keep. See Votes for deletion/Hock (zoology) for a record of the discussion. Mindspillage (spill yours?) 12:52, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

hox
Some dinosaurs, like velociraptor, had a hock in both of its legs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.238.133.210 (talk) 18:01, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

 * No, they didn't. Look at the actual skeletons, not crappy artistic reconstructions. Mokele (talk) 18:13, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hock (anatomy)


text:
Talk:Lancaster

Most popular being in reference to the fact that the majority of users of the internet in the English language come from the United States... NOT Great Britain. California by itself has more internet users than all of the UK, and that it is only one of the 50 states. The majority of those in the United States, the world's primary english language internet location, think of the Pennsylvania city first when referencing the name. This is why it is the most popular reference. And being that California has more internet users than the UK, the California city could quite possibly be referenced more than the English city as well. The point is... the English city does not deserve preference to the name. All three cities have the same amount of clout to have the title. Usually, preference is given to the largest city by the name, which would be the California city, not the English city or the Pennsylvania city. Nevertheless, each city in it's own right could demand preference. There are other cities that would like single name preference which are more worthy of it than any of these Lancasters combined, that have to share a disambiguation page like San Jose. The California city is larger than any city in the UK except London, but the Costa Rica city is large also and is the capital city of that nation. ''Who gets preference? NOBODY!'' Each city in its own right has an equal standing in the world. This is why I have changed it back, and it will stay back this way, or I will see that it becomes a protected page by the administrators. There is no need for this useless edit war. The name belongs to a disambiguation page. --Anon 00:04, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)
 * California by itself has more internet users than all of the UK? Rubbish, internet use in the UK passed 58% over a year ago  and to match that every single person in California would have to be on the net.  Average Earthman 09:36, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * The population of the UK is 60,270,708. Now considering that the average household is 3.2 persons in Western civilization, you must assume that there are 18,834,596 households. Now with 58% having internet access, that would mean 10,924,065 households in the UK have internet. What about California? Its population is 33,871,648. Now that would mean 10,584,890 households. With 96% of California households having internet access  that would mean 10,161,494 households have internet. So the UK has 762,571 more internet users than California or the equivalent of the city of San Francisco. --71.108.65.62 17:28, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the rant! I agree that it's most appropriate to point Lancaster to a disamiguation page (despite only having ever visited or really heard of Original Lancaster myself). I disagree that some sort of justification is appropriate on that page, so I've deleted those parenthetical comments. Lupin 01:45, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Very well. It is fine now the way it stands.

BTW... of course you have only visited or heard of the original. Your're from the UK. If you asked an American the same, you'd most likely get Pennsylvania as the answer. The answer will vary based on perspective. This is why a disambiguation page is important and I am glad that you agree. --Anon 01:59, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)
 * Google appears to think the most important 'Lancaster' is the English University. But the English, Pennsylvanian and Californian Lancasters are all next to each other on the front page (rather than one dominating), so that certainly argues for no precedence. Average Earthman 09:36, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Anyway, population depends on where you draw the boundaries. The population of the City of Lancaster is actually slightly higher than that of Lancaster, CA. It's all very confusing, because Lancaster, England is a town in the City of Lancaster. Average Earthman 12:20, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Oh, here's another question - go to Google maps (http://maps.google.com/, not co.uk) and type in Lancaster. Now, is it checking where you are by IP address, or does it send everyone to Lancaster, England? Average Earthman 12:24, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm getting Lancaster, UK from a Canadian IP address. Lupin 14:26, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I'm getting a dialogue box asking which Lancaster I am requesting... CA, PA, OH, or UK?--71.108.65.62 19:41, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * From the point of view of a non-English speaking user outside either of the countries concerned: the English Lancaster has precedence for historical reasons; it is notable for its association with the House of Lancaster and the Wars of the Roses, is hundreds of years older than any other Lancaster, and it is (presumably) the one all the others are named after. Lancaster, California, as opposed to its English namesake, is probably unknown outside its own region and seems mostly to be a suburb of Los Angeles (or am I wrong?). I would suggest moving Lancaster, the original, back to where it was before, at Lancaster. Uppland 13:12, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * The Pennsylvania Lancaster also has as much historical significance as the English one. It was once capital of the United States for a day and is also known for historic battles in its vicinity during the Independence War from Britain, as well as the American Civil War. It was also the first inland city in the United States. I would say that it has just as much a claim to the title. Yahoo! also lists the Pennsylvanian Lancaster first, followed by the Californian, UK, and Ohio cities all in a row. I agree with Average Earthman that neither of the 3 deserves more precedence over the other. --71.108.65.62 17:09, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I see nothing on this page that convinces me that any of these places is the subject of an overwhelming number of the search box requests for "Lancaster". All these issues of civic pride (age, population, historical events, etc.) are secondary. From the point of view of being of most value to our readers, I'd say that anyone typing in "Lancaster" should come to the disambiguation page. Isn't that the simplest way to deal with all this? If some people are set on resisting the idea, I suppose we should do a poll and/or RfC, but that seems like overkill. With regard to the content of the dab page, we can eliminate a lot of the bickering and reverting by eliminating these attempts to cram in little comments about the various Lancasters, like what was or wasn't named after what. Just list the dang articles. People who want to know why a particular Lancaster is called "Lancaster" can click on it. The same goes for people who want to know how many people live in a particular Lancaster. In general, a dab page should say only enough about the various subjects to enable the reader to pick the right article. Only if there is no article does it ever make sense to give any more information. JamesMLane 04:28, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I agree, the disambig page is clearly the best solution. None of the Lancasters is overwhelmingly more popular than others, so it should go to a place where the reader can click on whichever one they meant. DreamGuy 06:04, Apr 25, 2005 (UTC)

It's obvious to me that Lancaster should redirect to Burt Lancaster. Just kidding, I think it should go to the disambig page. Rhobite 06:17, Apr 25, 2005 (UTC)

 * My first reaction to the word Lancaster is to think of the bomber! I agree that the name should go to the disambiguation page.-gadfium 06:23, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Speaking as a resident of the USA, when I hear "Lancaster", I think first of the bomber, then of the House of Lancaster, then of the UK city, then of the Pennsylvania city. I've never heard of any of the others. --Carnildo 06:38, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Having come across this controversy on WP:RFC, I think it is quite clear that Lancaster should direct to the disambig page. That is the best way to avoid edit wars over whose city gets precedence. Firebug 06:57, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

To User:Uppland, and anyone else that is clueless about California geography and didn't read the appropriate Wikipedia articles: Lancaster, California is in Antelope Valley in the North-east corner of Los Angeles County and is separated from the rest of the county by a very tall mountain range, the San Gabriel Mountains, so it is most certainly NOT "mostly...a suburb of Los Angeles". With my rant finished, I will acknowledge that Lancaster, England does have historical signifance, and so I have a weak preference for keeping that city as the main Lancaster article. On the other hand, it is certainly not worth a major edit or revert war over, so the safest choice may be to redirect Lancaster to Lancaster (disambiguation). Blank Verse  ∅  07:28, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * My own view is that all multi-article terms should be disambiguation pages, as we shouldn't be trying to second-guess our readers. (And the argument above that we should always link to what U.S users first think of when they hear a term, because they're more numerous on the Internet, is absurd; one doesn't organise an encyclopædia on the basis of – estimated – contingent facts about the demographics of computer-use.  If the Internet were to go out of fashion in the U.S., would we have to start changing all our articles to reflect the fact that most people who hear Washington think of a place in Tyne and Wear?) Mel Etitis  ( Μελ Ετητης ) 09:52, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Then what about: Aberdeen, Andover, Bath, Bedford, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Blackburn, Burnley, Buckingham, Cardiff, Carlisle, Canterbury, Cambridge, Chester, Chesterfield, Coventry, Derby, Dorchester, Dover, Durham, Exeter, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gloucester, Halifax, Hereford, Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester, London, Lincoln, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Plymouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Swansea, Taunton, Truro, Worcester, York (etc)? Clearly the precedence is for British cities to take precedence over foreign ones. Lancaster is a major city and it does deserve to be at Lancaster. Dunc|☺ 11:10, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * An automatic preference for a British city (because it's older) makes about as much sense as an automatic preference for an American city (because more Americans are online). Let's all put aside our nationalistic fervor and think about our readers.  The approach that best serves the readers is that Boston goes to the one in the U.S., London goes to the one in the U.K., and names with no such clearly predominant meaning go to a dab page.  With regard to the precedents listed by Dunc, I wouldn't regard them as cast in stone.  For example, I think Halifax should be either the one in Canada or a dab page. JamesMLane 11:27, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I prefer for Lancaster to link directly to some city, any city, rather than to a disambiguation page, because, that way, at least some users find what they seek without an extra click. Of the various possibilities, my first preference is, of course, Lancaster, Wisconsin, because it's the best! Go, City of the Dome! But if we can't have that, the obvious second choice is the city in England, because, well, it's the real one. And famous in literature, even if I do get Lancaster-the-town and house-of-Lancaster and Lancashire all muddled. And, unlike Boston, England, it is not small or obscure or clearly dwarfed in importance by any of the other Lancasters. BTW I live in the U. S. and spell "color" correctly, according to Noah Webster, who was the first English lexicographer. (Caution: preceding paragraph contains lame ironic jokes. I'm not joking about thinking it should link to the city in England though). Dpbsmith (talk) 16:39, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Some users will want to know "How many places are named 'Lancaster', and where are they?" Others, if they're brought to one particular Lancaster, will need two clicks rather than one to get to the one they want.  I don't think the current setup produces a net savings in clicks. JamesMLane 20:46, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I think there is a weak argument for Lancaster, UK, not because it's the oldest or the best or the largest or the one in the UK, but simply because it's the most notable. However, this is a very weak argument and I think it's probably best to redirect to the dab.  There certainly should not be a categorical rule that UK cities take precedence over US cities, or that older cities take precedence over newer ones.  For example, I think Andover, Bedford, Dover, and Portsmouth should all go to dabs and Halifax should go to the Canadian city, not to the one in the UK.  (This comment was from Kelly Martin.)

 * Disambiguation seems like the logical choice when there are more than one strong contenders. -Willmcw 03:22, Apr 29, 2005 (UTC)

Tally
Here's how I count the votes cast so far: "Lancaster" should be: Even if we don't count the unregistered user's vote for the dab page, the community preference seems clear. Do any of the proponents of the "Lancaster, England" view think we need to keep this open any longer? If not, we should wrap it up and make Lancaster the dab page. JamesMLane 04:06, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Lancaster, England: Uppland, Blank Verse   ∅ , Dunc|☺, Dpbsmith (talk)
 * The dab page: Anon, Lupin, Average Earthman, 71.108.65.62, JamesMLane, DreamGuy, Rhobite, gadfium, Carnildo, Firebug, Mel Etitis  ( Μελ Ετητης ), User:Kelly Martin, Willmcw, nixie

I've now posted this at Requested moves. JamesMLane 22:13, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

move request
I added the move template at the top, and now there should probably be a formal vote on it. Please vote either support or oppose below, with an optional one sentence comment. The related vote is located at Talk:Lancaster. Lachatdelarue (talk) 22:30, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

 * I can't see the point of a formal vote. We had an extensive discussion here.  Because people were commenting, without putting their names in a "Support" or "Oppose" column, I extracted the equivalent votes from their comments to produce the "Tally" above.  That was five days ago; no one has objected that I mischaracterized any of the votes.  The vote to move was 13-4 (or 14-4 if you count the anon).  Why should everyone have to come back to this page to have their opinions counted? JamesMLane 23:04, 4 May 2005 (UTC)
 * My thought was because a vote is supposed to take place after you post on the requested moves page. If you feel confident that no one with contest the move after it's been done, I will go ahead and do it. Lachatdelarue (talk) 23:08, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

 * I was going by this statement on Requested moves: "The move should usually be discussed on the talk pages of any relevant articles first . . . ." We've had the discussion (beginning almost two weeks ago), and five days have elapsed in which none of the opponents of the move objected to the conclusion that the move had been approved, so I'd say it's safe to go ahead. JamesMLane 23:36, 4 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I'll go ahead and move the pages. I always understood that statement on WP:RM to mean before the page is moved, not before it's listed, or maybe discussed some before being listed, but the voting after it's listed, since listing are supposed to stay there for five days. I don't know, any way it generally works out. Lachatdelarue (talk) 00:12, 5 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I personally think the move was a mistake and should be reverted; the majority of the links to Lancaster are about the English place and whoever made the move should have accepted the duty to sort them out. I also think the disambiguation page is odd - there is no evidence that any of the places listed do not have their name derived directly or indirectly from the original place; it also fails since for example Lancaster, New York simply leads to another disambiguation page. --Henrygb 20:35, 7 May 2005 (UTC)

 * One reason that a majority of the links are to the English place is that, after the move, I went through the links and disambiguated a number that were to other articles. I didn't disambiguate the English links because of what I understood to be the history.  I think the English article was for a long time at Lancaster, England; that someone moved it to Lancaster, Lancashire; and that someone else then moved it to Lancaster.  Then, by virtue of the discussion here, the article was returned to its original title of Lancaster, England.  Nevertheless, we didn't address the question whether the English city should be at Lancaster, England or Lancaster, Lancashire.  I frankly didn't want to spend the time to change all the links to read Lancaster, England if they were going to have to be changed anyway.  I respectfully suggest that the people involved in editing the article about the English city reach a consensus about its title.  Once it's stable, the links can be disambiguated.  You make a good point about Lancaster, New York, and I'll fix that. JamesMLane 07:08, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

 * Most English towns seem to have gone for "Town name, County name" where the town name alone does not suffice, so I prefer "Lancaster, Lancashire". "Lancaster, England" sounds like the sort of thing an North American would say and sounds distinctly odd to my ears (I'm English). Lupin 07:29, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

I agree with User:Lupin... Lancaster, Lancashire makes more sense than Lancaster, England. Persons in the UK give regard to their counties much like we give regard to our states in the US. Lancaster, Lancashire is the more appropriate for this situation. Those who type in Lancaster, England can have a redirect to the correct page. I also agree with User:JamesMLane and User:Kelly Martin that Halifax should go to the Canadian city. It, like Perth or Boston, quite significantly outweighs it's namesake in size, economy, familiarity, and international importance. Also, Dover and Birmingham should go to a disambiguation page. Here they are capital cities of their respective American states, yet Dover is also a major port in the UK and Birmingham is the UK's #2 city. This presents a situation much like User:Anon earlier stated regarding the 2 cities of San Jose, and the same uniform should follow. --71.108.65.62 04:19, 11 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I going to throw 'a spanner in the works' or 'a curve ball' depends on where you are. You mention Perth, Ontario as having precedence over Perth, Scotland but I would have to say that Perth Western Australia has a greater claim the either based on size location and importance.  Yet its acknowledged that all other cities and towns derive their name from Perth Scotland and wouldn't it therefore be logical for Perth Scotland to be the one with the significant claim.  I suggest where the name originates from a single point that should have precedence  Gnangarra 13:42, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

 * This article is now the dab. Therefore, I suggest that the discussion about Lancaster, England versus Lancaster, Lancashire should continue at Talk:Lancaster, England. JamesMLane 06:34, 11 May 2005 (UTC)

It strikes me that it is fairly obvious that it ought to be standard Wikipedia practice that, if it is not obvious which is the primary meaning of a name, it should lead to the dab page. We will get all sorts of conflicts if not. PatGallacher 15:26, 2005 May 19 (UTC)

Reopening the debate
I am looking for consistency, and believe the logic of the 2005 decision has been superceded. Can we work to a solution that brings Lancaster back in line with York, Derby etc. This flawed decision has moved over onto commons where the cats reflected the en: decision, and classifying is now unmanageable. The artificial Lancaster, Lancashire mouthful would not be thought of by an uploader, as outside wiki, the term does not exist. It it hampered by the district council calling itself City of Lancaster- leaving the counterintuitive situation where a local thinks of the city as the area roughly enclosed by the ring road, Lancaster as the area including the city and the new suburbs, and Morecambe as Morecambe and the other settlements as the countryside round Lancaster. Wiki calls the City of Lancaster, the entire local government area include remote seaside and fell, and leaves no word for the historic core or suburbs- save the artificial Lancaster, Lancashire. I would love to see a single notable reference for this usage. The only time it seems to occur is in websites generated from webforms where one is forced to enter a town, and a county before the postcode.which technically was wrong for former county towns. I know there is a US convention for referring to a settlement by name/state but this does not apply UK side. So could someone assist in putting the wheels into reverse and correcting this mess- and I will try then to sort out commons. --ClemRutter (talk) 14:10, 20 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Are you suggesting any particular changes, or asking us to find a solution based on a full review of all the possibilities? If the latter, it may take a while.   Will Beback    talk    20:57, 20 June 2011 (UTC)
 * This arises from the legal technicality that, as from 1974, city status attaches to a local government district rather than an urban settlement. I agree this is counterintuitive and I would prefer the district to be referred to as "Lancaster District" (as does Ordnance Survey), or "Lancaster (district)", or "City of Lancaster (district)", or "City of Lancaster district" or similar. But this isn't a local matter, it applies to all cities where there is a local government district substantially larger than a settlement of the same name (e.g. Carlisle, Sunderland, Leeds, Preston, ...). So this really needs to be discussed at a national level rather than here. --  Dr Greg   talk  21:26, 20 June 2011 (UTC)
 * A full review seems most sensible- even if it does take time. The 1974 city status change was unhelpful (we lost the City Status in Rochester, due to a legal technicality which still hurts), but it is only part of the problem. I claim that the Lancaster/York analogy is the best- as with both. Lancaster/York can refer to a historic core, a university, a royal house, a former county town, a person in the form of a Duke and if you stretch it a postcode area. It falls in that Lancaster is a district council and York has unitary status- I would prefer
 * Lancaster/York (disamb)-> Lancaster/York->subtrees.
 * Lancaster/York(disamb)-> City of Lancaster/York (district)-> Lancaster/York->City of Lancaster/York (historic city). The later cat being rather redundant in en: but useful in commons: which will mirror the en: decision. It also justifies the use of disamb brackets for City of Lancaster/York (district)
 * This is not an attempt to force through my opinion of what the solution should be- I am seeking advice and a workable concensus. The decision made here will be mirrored to commons:. My concerns arose on commons where the geograph.org.uk bot dumped several hundred images in the wrong category, and this identified the problem which I am raising. If the cat was not obvious to an experienced bot-driver then it wont be to the general reader. (On commons I have used the non-standard solution of creating a non-standard cat commons:Rural areas around Lancaster where the misplaced images are now dumped awaiting further processing. But that will have to go eventually.--ClemRutter (talk) 09:11, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

pronunciation
Since there are at least four pronunciations for Lancaster, depending on locale (e.g., /ˈlæŋkæstər/ in England, /ˈlæn.kæstər/ in California, /ˈlæŋkɨstər/ in Pennsylvania, and /ˈlæŋkəstər/ in South Carolina and Kentucky), it seems those cities / towns without a pronunciation listed should have one added. → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 11:30, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

title: Talk:Lancaster


text:
Hotel Dorint An der Kongresshalle Augsburg

The Hotel Dorint An der Kongresshalle Augsburg is the best-known high-rise building in the German city of Augsburg and visible throughout the city. At 115 m (167 m with the antenna) it is the highest building in the Augsburg area and among the ten highest in Bavaria. It is located at the intersection of Gögginger Straße and Imhofstraße, in the borough of Göggingen. In its vicinity are the Congress Hall and Wittelsbacher Park.

The building is architecturally similar to the Marina City towers in Chicago. The tower is nicknamed "Maiskolben" (corncob) by locals because of its cylindrical shape with numerous bulges.

Origin of the tower
The former Augsburg agricultural machinery dealer Otto Schnitzenbaumer had the tower built on the occasion of the 20th Olympic Games in Munich 1972 at a cost of 50 million Deutschmark and thereby fulfilled his desire to build a "symbol of modern Augsburg". Planning for the project soon faced resistance from inhabitants, however, leading to the founding of the "Save the Wittelsbacher park" campaign. Construction began in April 1971.

In order to keep to the planned build-time, the 18-sided interior which houses the lifts and stairwells was constructed from concrete cast in situ and the pre-cast concrete parts for the balconies and roofs were manufactured on site in an installation erected for that purpose. After a fourteen-month construction period, on 2 July 1972 the 400-bed Holiday Inn hotel welcomed its first guests, the 279 apartments were ready for people to move in, and the restaurant on the 35th floor and the viewing platform on the 34th floor gained much popularity.

A period of difficulties for the tower
In 1974, the unexpected news came that the building had been sold to Johann Nepomuk Glöggler's company in Luxembourg. The sales contract was however revoked in February 1976 because the money for the purchase had not been paid and the building returned to its original owner, but since Otto Schnitzenbaumer also had financial problems, the tower was put up for compulsory auction in 1979 at a guide price of 35 million Deutschmark by order of the court. Yet nobody wanted to buy it at this price.

At the second attempt, on 5 March 1980, the tower was purchased for 20 million Deutschmark by Landesbank Hessen (now Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen). They wanted to re-sell the building, but due to lack of prospective customers the tower was divided up in 328 property units to be sold separately. The hotel part of the tower with restaurant, consisting of the lower eleven and the two highest floors as well as the parking level went to the entrepreneur Franz Lauer from Fürth.

That was however far from being the end of the building's problems: in April 1989 the Swiss company "Toga Hotels" acquired the building's hotel wing, whose lease to Holiday Inn ran out one year later. Swiss operator Martin Zoller re-opened the hotel under the name Turmhotel ("Tower Hotel"), but he was forced to declare bankruptcy in March 1993. The 303 beds were controlled by the trustees of the bankrupt's estate, who suggested a new use for the building as a home for asylum-seekers or the elderly. Since the city strongly opposed these plans, they were again rejected and the 185 hotel rooms remained unused.

On 8 May 1996 the hotel wing again went into administration and was again put up for auction. It went for 20.9 million Deutschmark to the "First National Holding Venezuela" owned by the mineral oil company Hertel, who wanted to establish a 3-Star hotel under the name of "Goodnight" for a price of 7.2 million Deutschmark. This hotel would have had 108 rooms and, as well as, seven floors being used as a home for the elderly and the disabled. For years, however, nothing happened.

Renaissance
In January 2000 the solution arrived for the owners of apartments in the building, who until that time had also had to carry the additional cost of the hotel wing: the entrepreneur Dr. Wolfgang Ebertz from Cologne purchased the hotel for 12 million Deutschmark. After seven years of inactivity, the builders now came and completely refit the building, investing 45 million Deutschmark into it. In the year 2002 the hotel was reopened as the Dorint.

Millions were also invested in refurbishing the private apartments above the hotel, which now possess among other things a new entrance with a concierge and the largest video monitoring system in any German house. The facade was also renovated.

Transmission installations
The hotel tower has an antenna mast on its roof, from which the following VHF radio channels are transmitted:


text:
Talk:IC50

IC50 - important concept - flawed definition
In the context of "a graph saying more than a thousand words", the IC50-plot should be clear and unambiguous. How can you explain that when increasing the inhibitor concentration (x-axis), percentage inhibition drops (y-axis)? Please edit so that units in y-axis are the correct ones, i.e. initial reaction velocity.

-- — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.193.187.5 (talk) 09:57, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure how wikipedia works, but this definition is so poorly done that it warrants being strongly edited or pulled. Minimally, it should be a one line (simple) definition, with cross-reference/citation to the work of an authority in this area. More than that, the person writing should be an expert. Prof D

--

Improved the article to be more helpful. Moved most arcane paragraph to the end. I think this does its job now, alhtough it could certainly be improved/expanded...Teloscientist 21:20, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

--

IC Amoxicillin
Whoa - I am a total layman. I wanted to see what IC meant with regard to the prescription I was taking. This article gave me absolutely no insight whatsoever. I can understand things like half life, and agonists and antagonists, but this article still didn't help. I am sure that someone who understands or is learning chemistry, pharmacology might understand this article but I don't. Could you add another section for laypeople to explain how IC effects a drug in the real world? What is the difference between IC Amoxicillin and plain old Amoxicillin, for example? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Monkeshine (talk • contribs) 04:30, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

 * Hi Monkeshine, the drug your referring to is an antibiotic, the action of antibiotic's are directed against bacteria and such to kill or inhibit bacterial growth. The activity of antibiotics is not measured as an (inhibitory concentration) IC50 value nor is IC a different version of the drug (an IC value is a property of the drug and is the concentration of drug required to inhibit 50% of the biological activity of any given receptor; IC50=Inhibitory concentration 50%). However, IC50 values of antibiotics can be determined but are not commonly used to evaluate the activity of antibiotics as the overall goal of an antibiotic is to kill or inhibit bacterial growth of a bacteria. The equivilant of IC50 for an antibiotic is an MIC or the concentration required to inhibit bacterial growth (Minimum inhibitory concentration) or to kill bacteria (Minimum bactericidal concentration) ie MBC since it would not be a desirable outcome of treatment to have only 50% of the bacteria still able to grow and persist and continue to cause infection.

 * Hope this helps Lilypink (talk) 19:01, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Info about Inhibitors
I removed information in the lead paragraph relating to inhibitors.

"An inhibitor is a small molecule that lowers enzyme activity. In general, the higher the concentration of inhibitor, the more will enzyme activity be lowered. At any given concentration, two different inhibitors will have a different effect on the activity of the same enzyme. It is thus necessary to have a number which can be used to compare the potencies (i.e., how much a certain molecule will lower enzyme activity)."

This article is about IC50 which is a pharmacolgical constant. Inhibitors have IC50 values so I tried to reintegrate it with information already present in the article. I think that including it in the lead paragraph would mislead people into thinking it was a discussion about inhibitors not The IC50 concept Lilypink 19:04, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

 * IC50 is not a pharmacological constant! pA2 is a constant. IC50 changes with agonist concentration (see cheng-prussoff) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.51.48.1 (talk) 03:52, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

Merge in Pic50
Should we merge in the page Pic50 - it is very poorly written, and the section here explains it well. Mirams (talk) 20:15, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, definitely. pIC50 is simply the negative log of IC50. There is no reason for there to be a separate article about it. --Aurochs (Talk | Block) 20:33, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Yes you should merge the two topics — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.167.162.30 (talk) 15:35, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Multiple issues
This article needs some considerable cleanup. In particular, the discussion of computing IC50 values from competitive binding assays is hard to follow (as well as being partially copied directly from some of the references).

Some indication of the Cheng-Prusoff equation is also needed. Actually, it rejjjjjjjjjjally needs its very own page.Clayt85 (talk) 20:23, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Possible redundant/misplaced sentence
In 'Functional antagonist assays' it says "In general, the higher the concentration of inhibitor, the more agonist activity will be lowered." This seems redundant or misplaced so I've just italicised it for now. Can anyone delete/move/improve this wording ? - Rod57 (talk) 12:48, 17 April 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:IC50


text:
Talk:Impost

Untitled
Article has been kept as a disambig following this VfD debate. Sjakkalle 09:09, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Impost


text:
Dirt Rag

Dirt Rag was a mountain bike magazine based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The magazine covered many aspects of mountain-bike culture. It was in circulation between 1989 and January 2020.

Unique features
Founded in 1989, Dirt Rag was an independently owned mountain bike magazine that enjoyed worldwide distribution. The magazine focused on mountain bikes and their riders, but it also embraced all aspects of bicycle culture. The magazine was known for thorough and honest product reviews, a unique perspective on cycling, and original bicycle-related literature and art.

Dirt Rag celebrated a grassroots connection to its readers and coverage of neglected niches of the bicycle world.

Publishing facts

 * Dirt Rag was originally published seven times per year, but was reduced to four issues in its final year of publuication.
 * In 2012, Dirt Rag founded a new parent company, Rotating Mass Media, to oversee the Dirt Rag brand and the Dirt Fest mountain bike festivals.
 * Founders Maurice and Elaine Tierney were elected to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2002.
 * On January 30, 2020, Dirt Rag announced they would be "shutting its doors and ceasing all operations, including the website and Dirt Fest."

title: Dirt Rag


text:
Prussian Secret Police

The Prussian Secret Police (Preußische Geheimpolizei) was the secret police of Prussia in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1851 the Police Union of German States was set up by the police forces of Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and Württemberg (Deflem 1996). It was specifically organised to suppress political dissent in the wake of the 1848 revolutions which spread across Germany. For the next fifteen years the Union held annual meetings to exchange information.

Establishment
Karl Ludwig Friedrich von Hinckeldey, the Police Commissioner of Berlin, was appointed by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV on 16 November 1848. He was to prove to be a key figure in the development of the secret police in Prussia as well as the whole union. By 1854, thanks to his close relationship with the king he was appointed Generalpolizeidirektor (General Director of Police). Effectively he was a minister of police independent from the minister of the interior. Von Hinckeldey founded the Berlin political police in Berlin and developed a Prussian information catalogue on political opponents, focusing on revolutionaries involved in the 1848 uprisings. But as he saw Paris and London as the centers of political intrigue he was keen to organize the policing of political opponents outside borders of national jurisdictions.

Reputation
The Prussian Secret Police has historically held a bad reputation, as it was the model upon which the Gestapo was later founded. The Prussian Secret Police, however, did not routinely engage in persecution or the abuse of police powers, and did not behave in the way that other secret police forces might.

Reorganization under a new name
The Prussian Secret Police was renamed in 1933 as the Gestapo. Prussia itself was dissolved as an administrative entity following World War II.

title: Prussian Secret Police