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Enrico Letta

Enrico Letta (born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. He was the leader of the Democratic Party (PD) from March 2021 to March 2023.

After working as an academic, Letta entered politics in 1998 when he was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for the Community Policies, a role he held until 1999 when he was promoted to become Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Crafts. In 2001, he left the Cabinet upon his election to the Chamber of Deputies. From 2006 to 2008, he was appointed Secretary of the Council of Ministers. In 2007, Letta was one of the senior founding members of the Democratic Party, and in 2009 was elected as its Deputy Secretary.

After the 2013 Italian general election produced an inconclusive result, and following negotiations between party leaders, President Giorgio Napolitano gave him the task of forming a national unity government (Letta Cabinet), composed of Letta's PD, the centre-right The People of Freedom (PdL), and the centrist Civic Choice, in order to mitigate the economic and social crises engulfing Italy as a result of the Great Recession. Following an agreement between parties, Letta resigned as PD Deputy Secretary and was appointed Prime Minister of Italy on 28 April 2013. His government tried to promote economic recovery by securing a funding deal from the European Union to alleviate youth unemployment and abolished the party subsidies, something seen as a watershed moment for Italian politics, which for years had depended upon public funds. Letta also faced the early stages of the 2015 European migrant crisis, including the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck, the deadliest shipwreck in the recent history of the Mediterranean Sea; in response, Letta implemented Operation Mare Nostrum to patrol the maritime borders and rescue migrants.

In November 2013, PdL leader Silvio Berlusconi attempted to withdraw his party's support from the government in order to bring about a change of Prime Minister; in response, all of the cabinet's centre-right ministers chose to leave the PdL and formed a new party, saying they wished to continue supporting Letta. Despite securing his position, the election in December 2013 of Matteo Renzi as PD secretary brought significant leadership tensions within the PD to public view. After several weeks of denying that he would seek a change, Renzi publicly challenged Letta for the position of prime minister on 13 February 2014. Letta quickly lost the support of his colleagues and resigned as prime minister on 22 February.

Following his resignation, Letta initially retired from politics, leaving Italy to accept appointment as dean of the School of International Affairs at Sciences Po in Paris. In March 2021, the PD secretary Nicola Zingaretti resigned after growing tensions within the party. Many prominent members of the party asked Letta to become the new leader; after a few days, Letta announced that he would return to Italy to accept the candidacy, and he was elected as new secretary by the national assembly on 14 March 2021. On 4 October 2021, Letta was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the Siena district.

Early life and education
Letta was born in Pisa, Tuscany, to Giorgio Letta, an Abruzzo-born professor of mathematics who taught probability theory at the University of Pisa, member of the Lincean Academy and of the National Academy of the Sciences, and Anna Banchi, born in Sassari and raised in Porto Torres of Tuscan and Sardinian origins. Born into a numerous family, uncles on his father's side include the centre-right politician Gianni Letta, a close advisor of Silvio Berlusconi, and the archeologist Cesare Letta, while one of his paternal aunts, Maria Teresa Letta, served as vice president of the Italian Red Cross; a maternal great-uncle is the poet and playwright Gian Paolo Bazzoni.

After spending part of his childhood in Strasbourg, Letta completed his schooling in Italy at the liceo classico Galileo Galilei in Pisa. He has a degree in political science, which he received from the University of Pisa and subsequently obtained a PhD at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, a Graduate School with university status.

From 2001 to 2003, Letta was professor at the University Carlo Cattaneo near Varese, and then he taught at the Sant'Anna School in Pisa in 2003 and at the HEC Paris in 2004.

Political career

Letta, a Catholic, began his political career in the Christian Democracy (DC), the dominant centrist and Roman Catholic party, which ruled Italy for almost fifty years. From 1991 to 1995, Letta was president of the Youth of the European People's Party, the official youth wing of the European People's Party, a political party at European level founded by national-level Christian democratic parties, including the Italian DC; he used his presidency to help strengthen long-term connections among a variety of centrist parties in Europe, and has since remained a convinced supporter of the European Union and European integration.

During the Ciampi Cabinet headed by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 1993 and 1994, Letta worked as chief of staff for the minister of foreign affairs, Beniamino Andreatta; Andreatta, a left-leaning Christian Democrat economist with whom Letta had already been collaborating in a think tank known as Agenzia di Ricerche e Legislazione (AREL), played a highly influential role in Letta's political career.

Following the collapse of the DC in 1994, Letta joined its immediate successor, the Italian People's Party (PPI); after serving as secretary general of the Euro Committee within the Ministry of Treasury from 1996 to 1997, he became deputy secretary of the party in 1997 and 1998, when it was fully allied with the centre-left. In 1998, after the fall of Romano Prodi's first government, Letta was appointed Minister for the Community Policies in cabinet of Massimo D'Alema at the age of 32, becoming the youngest cabinet minister in post-war Italy.

In 1999, Letta became Minister of Industry, Commerce and Crafts in the second government of D'Alema; a position that he hold until 2001, serving also in the cabinet of Giuliano Amato. During Amato's government he hold the role of Minister of Foreign Trade too.

In the 2001 Italian general election, Letta was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy, a newly formed centrist formation to which the Italian People's Party had joined. In the following year, he was appointed national responsible for economic policies of The Daisy.

In 2004, Letta was elected member of the European Parliament, with nearly 179,000 votes, within The Olive Tree list, joining the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group. As MEP he became member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Letta served also in the committee for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union.

In 2006, Letta was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies and was appointed Secretary of the Council of Ministers in the second government of Romano Prodi, thereby succeeding his uncle Gianni Letta who had held the same position in the outgoing cabinet of Silvio Berlusconi. In this post, he became the closest advisor of Prime Minister Prodi, becoming one of the most influential politicians within the government. However, Prodi's government fell after only two years following tensions within its majority caused by the resignation of the Minister of Justice, Clemente Mastella. Following the 2008 Italian general election, which saw a victory of the centre-right, Letta returned the post to his uncle, when the Berlusconi IV Cabinet was sworn in.

Leadership election candidacy
In 2007, together with other The Daisy's members, Letta joined the Democratic Party (PD), the new centre-left party, born from the union between The Daisy and the Democrats of the Left. Having been a founding member of the party, Letta run in the first leadership election, which was held as an open primary. He announced his candidacy in July 2007 through a YouTube video. After a few weeks from the announcement, he compared the PD to Wikipedia, stating: "As in Wikipedia, even in the PD each of the hundreds of thousands of members must bring their own contributions, their own skills, which in certain fields are certainly more important than mine and those of the other leaders of the centre-left." In support of his candidacy, Letta founded the 360 Association, a centrist and Christian leftist group, mainly composed by former members of The Daisy.

Letta's candidacy was supported by prominent members of the Italian centre-left, like Francesco Cossiga, Paolo De Castro, Gianni Pittella, Vito De Filippo and many other former members of The Daisy. Moreover, Letta's faction was composed by politicians considered close to Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a Christian leftist professor and founding father of the Italian centre-left. However, Letta had to face the politician who, more than any other, had worked to the formation of the Democratic Party and who was unanimously considered the future leader of the centre-left, Walter Veltroni, the incumbent Mayor of Rome. In the primary election, Veltroni won by a landslide with 75.8% of votes, followed by the former Minister of Health Rosy Bindi with 12.9% and Letta with 11.0%.

After the primary election, Veltroni appointed Letta national responsible for labour. In May 2008, after the defeat in the 2008 election, Letta was appointed Shadow Minister of Labour and Social Policies in the second and last Shadow Cabinet formed in Italy.

Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party
During the leadership election of 2009, Letta supported the eventual winner, the social-democrat Pier Luigi Bersani, being appointed Deputy Secretary by the party's national convention.

In June 2010, Letta organized a three-day meeting in Verona, during which he met, within its association, entrepreneurs and key leaders of Lega Nord, the largest party in Veneto and eastern Lombardy. An opinion poll among northern Democrats, released during the "Nord Camp", showed that they were keener on an alliance with Lega Nord than Berlusconi's The People of Freedom. Letta was praised both by Roberto Maroni and Umberto Bossi.

In the 2013 Italian general election, the centre-left alliance Italy Common Good led by Bersani won a clear majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, thanks to a majority bonus that has effectively trebled the number of seats assigned to the winning party, while in the popular vote it narrowly defeated the center-right alliance of former Prime Minister Berlusconi. Close behind, the new anti-establishment Five Star Movement of comedian Beppe Grillo became the third-strongest force, clearly ahead of the centrist coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti. In the Senate, no political group or party won an outright majority, resulting in a hung parliament.

On 20 April 2013, when Bersani resigned as Secretary after the candidates for President of the Republic Franco Marini and Romano Prodi were defeated in the presidential election, the whole leadership of the PD, including Deputy Secretary Letta, resigned their positions.

Government formation
Following five inconclusive ballots for the 2013 Italian presidential election, incumbent president Giorgio Napolitano accepted to be re-elected at the Quirinal Palace. Eventually, Napolitano reluctantly agreed to serve for another term in order to safeguard the continuity of the country's institutions. Napolitano was easily re-elected on 20 April 2013, receiving 738 of the 1007 possible votes, and was sworn in on 22 April 2013 after a speech when he asked for constitutional and electoral reforms.

After his re-election, Napolitano immediately began consultations with the chairmen of the Chamber of Deputies, Senate and political forces, after the failure of the previous attempt with Bersani, and the establishment of a panel of experts by the President himself (dubbed as wise men by the press), in order to outline priorities and formulate an agenda to deal with the persistent economic hardship and growing unemployment. On 24 April 2013, Enrico Letta was invited to form a government by President Napolitano, following weeks of political deadlock.

On 27 April, Letta formally accepted the task of leading a grand coalition government, with support from the centre-left Democratic Party, the centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) of Silvio Berlusconi and the centrist Civic Choice of outgoing PM Mario Monti. The government he formed became the first in the history of the Italian Republic to include representatives of all the major coalitions that had run in the latest election. His close relationship with his uncle, Gianni Letta, one of Berlusconi's most trusted advisors, was perceived as a way of overcoming the bitter hostility between the two opposing factions. Letta appointed Angelino Alfano, secretary of the People of Freedom, as his Deputy Prime Minister. The new government was formally sworn-in as on 28 April. During the swearing ceremony, a man fired gunshots outside Chigi Palace and wounded two Carabinieri. The attacker, Luigi Preiti, was stopped and arrested; he declared that he wanted to kill politicians or at least to hit a "symbol of politics" and that he was forced by despair being unemployed and recently divorced.

On 29 April, Letta's government won the confidence vote in the Chamber with 453 votes in favour, 152 against and 17 abstentions. On the following day, he won the confidence vote in Senate too, with 233 votes in favour, 59 against an 18 abstentions. In his first speech in front of the Parliament, Letta stressed "necessity to restore decency, sobriety and a sense of honor"; he also advocated for a reduction of politics' costs.

Economic policies
During his premiership, Letta had to face a serious socio-economic crisis caused by the Great Recession and the subsequent European debt crisis. In 2013, one of the major problems of the country was the huge youth unemployment, which was valued around 40%. To face this issue, on 14 June 2013, Letta scheduled a summit at Chigi Palace with the ministers of the economy, finance and labour of Italy, Germany, France and Spain, to agree on common EU policies for reducing unemployment. After a few weeks, during a press conference at the conclusion of the Council of the European Union in Brussels, Letta announced that Italy would receive 1.5 billion euros in EU funds to fight youth unemployment.

On 31 May, the Council of ministers resolved to sponsor a bill to abolish party subsidies, which was widely considered a revolution in Italian politics and political parties, which heavily depended on public funds. On 4 June, Letta, within his Minister of Economic Development, Flavio Zanonato and his Minister of the Environment, Andrea Orlando, announced the receivership of Ilva, one of the largest steel makers in Europe, for a duration of 36 months, appointing Enrico Bondi as receiver.

On 15 June, the government approved the so-called "Action Decree" on hiring policies enabling economic recovery. The decree was later approved by the Parliament between July and August 2013 with a confidence vote. The reform was harshly criticized by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement. On 29 August, the government abolished IMU, the Italian tax on real estate introduced by the technocratic government of Mario Monti, for primary homes and for farm buildings.

Immigration policies
As a result of the Libyan and Syrian Civil Wars, a major problem faced by Letta upon becoming prime minister in 2013 was the high levels of illegal immigration to Italy.

On 3 October 2013, a boat carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa. It was reported that the boat had sailed from Misrata, Libya, but that many of the migrants were originally from Eritrea, Somalia and Ghana. An emergency response involving the Italian Coast Guard resulted in the rescue of 155 survivors. On 12 October it was reported that the confirmed death toll after searching the boat was 359, but that further bodies were still missing; a figure of "more than 360" deaths was later reported, becoming the deadliest shipwreck occurred in the Mediterranean Sea.

After the Lampedusa tragedy, Prime Minister Letta decided to strengthen the national patrolling of Sicilian channel by authorizing Operation Mare Nostrum, a military and humanitarian operation whose purpose was to patrol the maritime border and provide relief to migrants. This operation had two main purposes: to safeguard life at sea and to combat the illegal smuggling of migrants. The operation brought at least 150,000 migrants to Europe, mainly from Africa and the Middle East. The operation ended a few months after the end of his premiership, on 31 October 2014.

Foreign policies
A strong pro-Europeanist politician, Letta built up close relations with the other prominent European leaders like Angela Merkel, who was the first foreign leader he met, just a few days after his sworn in, on 30 April. Letta built also a warm relation with the French President François Hollande, with whom he shared a common view on austerity policies, considered outdated to face the economic crisis; Letta and Hollande often stressed the necessity to increase the public expenditures in investments.

On 17 and 18 June, Letta participated in his first G8 summit at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland. During the summit, Letta had his first bilateral meeting with the President of the United States, Barack Obama. On 17 October, Letta was invited to the White House by President Obama, who stated that he had been really impressed by the Italian Prime Minister and his reforms' plan.

On 5 and 6 September, Letta took part in the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg. The summit was focused on the aftermath of the Syrian civil war. Letta advocated for a diplomatic resolution of the crisis promoted by the United Nations. On 25 September, during his speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly, Letta asked a deep reform of the UN Security Council.

September 2013 government crisis
On 28 September 2013, five ministers of The People of Freedom resigned on the orders of their leader, Silvio Berlusconi, pointing to the decision to postpone the decree that prevented the increase of the VAT from 21 to 22%, thus opening a government crisis. On the following day, Letta had a meeting with President Napolitano to discuss about the possible alternatives to solve the crisis. The head of State stressed that he would dissolve parliament only if there were no other possible alternatives.

In the following days, dozens of members of PdL prepared to defy Berlusconi and vote in favour of the government, prompting him to announce that he would back the Prime Minister. On 2 October, the government received 235 votes in favor and 70 against in the Senate, and 435 in favor and 162 against in the Chamber of Deputies. Letta could thus continue his grand coalition government.

On 23 November, the Senate had to vote about the expulsion of Berlusconi from the Parliament, due to a conviction of tax fraud by the court of final instance and the Court of Cassation, which occurred a few months before. Because he had been sentenced to a gross imprisonment for more than two years, the Senate voted to expel him from the Parliament, barring him from serving in any legislative office for six years.

After his expulsion from the Parliament, Berlusconi, who disbanded the PdL a few days before re-founding Forza Italia party, withdrew his support to the government. However, the interior minister Angelino Alfano did not follow his former leader, founding, along with other ministers and many members of the parliament, the New Centre-Right party, remaining in government. The government later won key confidence votes in December 2013, with 173 votes in favour in the Senate and 350 in the Chamber.

On 26 January 2014, the Minister of Agriculture, Nunzia De Girolamo, resigned from her post due to claims of improper conduct linked to a scandal in the local healthcare system of her hometown, Benevento. Her resignation was accepted by Letta on the following day, who took the ministerial role ad interim.

Resignation
On 8 December 2013, the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, won the Democratic Party leadership election by a landslide, immediately starting rumors about the possibility of becoming the new Prime Minister. On 17 January 2014, while on air at Le invasioni barbariche on La7 TV channel, interviewed about tensions between him and Prime Minister Letta, Renzi tweeted the hashtag #enricostaisereno ("Enrico don't worry") to reassure his party colleague that he was not plotting anything against him.

The growing criticism of the slow pace of Italian economic reform left Letta increasingly isolated within his own party. At a PD's meeting on 13 February 2014, the Democratic Party leadership voted heavily in favour of Renzi's motion for "a new government, a new phase and a radical programme of reforms". Minutes after the party backed Renzi's proposal by 136 votes to 16, with two abstentions, Letta went to the Quirinal Palace, for a bilateral meeting with President Napolitano.

In an earlier speech, Renzi had paid tribute to Letta, saying that he did not intend to put him "on trial". But, without directly proposing himself as the next prime minister, he said the Eurozone's third-largest economy urgently needed "a new phase" and "radical programme" to push through badly-needed reforms. The motion he put forward made clear "the necessity and urgency of opening a new phase with a new executive". Speaking privately to party leaders, Renzi said that Italy was "at a crossroads" and faced either holding fresh elections or a new government without a return to the polls.

On 14 February, Letta resigned from the office of Prime Minister. Following Letta's resignation, Renzi received the task of forming a new government from President Napolitano on 17 February, and was formally sworn in as prime minister on 22 February.

Academic career
In 2015, Letta resigned as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, after having voted against the new electoral law proposed by Prime Minister Renzi; at the same time, he announced that he would not renew the PD's membership.

In April 2015, Letta moved to Paris to teach at the Sciences Po, a higher education institute of political science. Since 1 September, he became dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) of the same institute. Along with his commitment to Sciences Po, he also had teaching periods at the University of Technology Sydney and the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. In the same year, Letta launched Scuola di Politiche (School of Politics), a course of political science for young Italians.

In 2016, Letta supported the constitutional reform proposed by Renzi to reduce the powers of the Senate. In the same year, along with the Jacques Delors Institute, he launched a school of political science focused on European issues, known as Académie Notre Europe. In October 2017, he joined the new Comitè Action Publique 2022, a public commission for the reform of state and public administration in France which was strongly supported by President Emmanuel Macron.

In March 2019, following the victory of Nicola Zingaretti in the PD leadership election, Letta announced that he would re-join the party after four years. In the same year, Letta also served on the advisory board of the annual Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), co-chaired by Thomas Piketty and Tharman Shanmugaratnam. In 2020, he spoke in favour of the constitutional reform to reduce the number of MPs, considering it the first step to overcome perfect bicameralism.

Following his retirement from politics, Letta became advisor of many corporations and international organizations like Abertis, where he became member of the Board of Directors in 2016, Amundi, in which he served as member of the Global Advisory Board since 2016, the Eurasia Group, of which he has been Senior Advisor since 2016, Publicis, where he served within the International Advisory Board since 2019 and Tikehau Capital, of which he became member of the International Advisory Board.

Letta is a member of many no-profit organizations like the International Gender Champions (IGC), the British Council, Re-Imagine Europa, the Trilateral Commission, in which he presided the European Group, the Aspen Institute Italia, in which he served in the Executive Committee, Associazione Italia ASEAN, of which he became chairman and the Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranéen (IPEMED).

Secretary of the Democratic Party
In January 2021, after the government crisis which forced Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to resign, a national unity government led by Mario Draghi was formed. In the midst of the formation of Draghi's government, Zingaretti was heavily criticized by the party's minority for his management of the crisis and strenuous support to Conte. On 4 March, after weeks of internal turmoil, Zingaretti announced his resignation as secretary, stating that he was "ashamed of the power struggles" within the party.

In the next days, many prominent members of the PD, including Zingaretti himself, but also former Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, former party secretary Dario Franceschini and President of Emilia-Romagna Stefano Bonaccini, publicly asked former Letta to become the new leader of the party. Following an initial reluctancy, Letta stated that he needed a few days to evaluate the option. On 12 March, he officially accepted his candidacy as new party's leader. On 14 March, the national assembly of the PD elected Letta secretary with 860 votes in favour, 2 against and 4 abstentions.

On 17 March, Letta appointed Peppe Provenzano and Irene Tinagli as his deputy secretaries. On the following day, he appointed the party's new executive, composed of eight men and eight women. Later that month, Letta forced the two Democratic leaders in Parliament, Graziano Delrio and Andrea Marcucci, to resign and proposed the election of two female leaders. On 25 and 30 March, senators and deputies elected Simona Malpezzi and Debora Serracchiani as their leaders in the Senate and in the Chamber.

In July 2021, Letta announced his intention to run for the Chamber of Deputies in the Siena district, which remained vacant after the resignation of Pier Carlo Padoan. On 4 October, Letta won the by-election with 49.9% of votes, returning to the Parliament after six years. In the concurrent local elections, the PD and its allies won municipal elections in Milan, Bologna, Naples, Rome, Turin and many other major cities across the country.

As leader of the third political forces in the parliament, Letta played an important role in the re-election of incumbent president Sergio Mattarella. On 23 January 2022, during Fabio Fazio's talk show Che tempo che fa, Letta stated that his favorable candidates to the presidency were Mario Draghi and Sergio Mattarella. On the morning of 29 January, after the fall of all other possible candidacies, Letta asked the other leaders to follow "the Parliament's wisdom", referring to the massive support that Mattarella had received in the previous ballots. On the same day, all the main parties asked Mattarella to serve for a second term. Despite his initial firm denial, Mattarella accepted the nomination and was re-elected with 759 votes.

In July 2022, tensions arose within the governing majority especially between Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, and Prime Minister Draghi. Letta, who was trying to form a broad centre-left coalition with the M5S in the following election, was particularly critic toward the possibility of a government crisis. On 13 July, Conte announced that the M5S would revoke its support to the national unity government regarding the so-called decreto aiuti (aid decree), concerning economic stimulus to contrast the ongoing energy crisis, opening a political crisis within the majority. On the following day, the M5S abstained and Prime Minister Draghi, despite having won the confidence vote, resigned. However, the resignation was rejected by President Mattarella. On the same day, Letta stressed that a government crisis needed to be officially opened in the Parliament, adding that "Italy deserved to stand with a strong personality like that of PM Draghi and the team that was around him." However, on 21 July, Draghi resigned again after a new confidence vote in the Senate failed to pass with an absolute majority, following the defections of M5S, Lega, and Forza Italia; A snap election was called for 25 September 2022.

After the 2022 general election, Enrico Letta conceded defeat and announced that he would not stand at the congress to elect the new party secretary. He was succeeded by Elly Schlein, following the election on 26 February 2023.

Personal life
Letta is married to Gianna Fregonara, an Italian journalist, with whom he had three children, Giacomo, Lorenzo and Francesco.

Letta is known to be fond of listening to Dire Straits and playing Subbuteo; he is also an avid supporter of A.C. Milan. In addition to his native Italian, Letta speaks French and English fluently.

title: Enrico Letta


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Kirpan

The kirpan (ਕਿਰਪਾਨ; pronunciation: [kɪɾpaːn]) is a curved, single-edged blade that Khalsa Sikhs are required to wear as part of their religious uniform, as prescribed by the Sikh Code of Conduct. Traditionally, the kirpan was a full-sized talwar sword around 76 cm (30 inches) in length; however, British colonial policies and laws introduced in the 19th century reduced the length of the blade, and in the modern day, the kirpan is typically manifested as a dagger or knife. According to the Sikh Code of Conduct, "The length of the sword to be worn is not prescribed". It is part of a religious commandment given by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, founding the Khalsa order and introducing the five articles of faith (the five Ks) which must be worn at all times.

Etymology
The Punjabi word ਕਿਰਪਾਨ, kirpān, has a folk etymology with two roots: kirpa, meaning "mercy", "grace", "compassion" or "kindness"; and aanaa, meaning "honor", "grace" or "dignity". It is derived from or related to Sanskrit कृपाण (kṛpāṇa, “sword, dagger, sacrificial knife”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European stem *kerp-, from *(s)ker, meaning "to cut".

Purpose
Sikhs are expected to embody the qualities of a Sant Sipahi or "saint-soldier", showing no fear on the battlefield and treating defeated enemies humanely. The Bhagat further defines the qualities of a sant sipahi as one who is "truly brave...who fights for the deprived".

Kirpans are curved and have a single cutting edge that can be sharp or blunt, which is up to the religious convictions of the wearer. They vary in size and a Sikh who has undergone the Amrit Sanskar ceremony of initiation may carry more than one; the Kirpans must be made of steel or iron.

Symbolism
The Kirpan represents bhagauti, meaning "primal divine power".

History
Sikhism was founded in the 15th century in the Punjab region of Early-Modern India. At the time of its founding, this culturally rich region was governed by the Mughal Empire. During the time of the founder of the Sikh faith and its first guru, Guru Nanak, Sikhism flourished as a counter to both the prevalent Hindu and Muslim teachings. The Mughal emperor Akbar focused on religious tolerance. His relationship with the Sikh Gurus was cordial.

The relationship between the Sikhs and Akbar's successor Jahangir was not friendly. Later Mughal rulers reinstated shari'a traditions of jizya, a poll tax on non-Muslims. The Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth guru, refused to remove references to Muslim and Hindu teachings in the Adi Granth and was summoned and executed.

This incident is seen as a turning point in Sikh history, leading to the first instance of militarization of Sikhs under Guru Arjan Dev's son Guru Hargobind. Guru Arjan Dev explained to the five Sikhs who accompanied him to Lahore, that Guru Hargobind has to build a defensive army to protect the people. Guru Hargobind trained in shashtar vidya, a form of martial arts that became prevalent among the Sikhs. He first conceptualized the idea of the kirpan through the notion of Sant Sipahi, or "saint soldiers".

The relationship between the Sikhs and the Mughals further deteriorated following the execution of the ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur by Aurengzeb, who was highly intolerant of Sikhs, partially driven by his desire to impose Islamic law. Following the executions of their leaders and facing increasing persecution, the Sikhs officially adopted militarization for self-protection by creating later on the Khalsa; the executions also prompted formalization of various aspects of the Sikh faith. The tenth and final guru, Guru Gobind Singh formally included the kirpan as a mandatory article of faith for all baptised Sikhs, making it a duty for Sikhs to be able to defend the needy, suppressed ones, to defend righteousness and the freedom of expression.

Legality
In modern times there has been debate about allowing Sikhs to carry a kirpan that falls under prohibitions on bladed weapons, with some countries allowing Sikhs a dispensation.

Other issues not strictly of legality arise, such as whether to allow carrying of kirpans on commercial aircraft or into areas where security is enforced.

Australia
In May 2021, the state of New South Wales imposed a ban on bringing any knives, including kirpans, onto school grounds after a 14-year-old boy allegedly stabbed a 16-year-old boy with his kirpan in a school in Sydney's north-west on 6 May. After members of Sydney's Sikh community spoke out and defended their children's rights to bring religious items to school, the state's Department of Education reversed this decision in August 2021 and implemented new guidelines around the bringing of kirpans with the following conditions:
 * Kirpans must be smaller than 8.5 cm in length and must have no sharp points or edges
 * Kirpans must only be worn under clothing
 * Kirpans must be removed during sports

In August 2023, the state of Queensland repealed a previous ban on bringing knives to schools and other public places after Australian Sikh Kamaljit Kaur Athwal took the Queensland state government to court in 2022. The Supreme Court of Queensland found that the ban, which was stated in section 55 of the Weapons Act 1990 (Qld), contravened the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth).

Belgium
On 12 October 2009, the Antwerp court of appeal declared carrying a kirpan a religious symbol, overturning a €550 fine from a lower court for "carrying a freely accessible weapon without demonstrating a legitimate reason".

Canada
In most public places in Canada a kirpan is allowed, although there have been some court cases regarding carrying on school premises. In the 2006 Supreme Court of Canada decision of Multani v. Commission scolaire Marguerite‑Bourgeoys the court held that the banning of the kirpan in a school environment offended Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that the restriction could not be upheld under s. 1 of the Charter, as per R. v. Oakes. The issue started when a 12-year-old schoolboy dropped a 20 cm (8-inch) long kirpan in school. School staff and parents were very concerned, and the student was required to attend school under police supervision until the court decision was reached. A student is allowed to have a kirpan on his person if it is sealed and secured.

In September 2008, Montreal police announced that a 13-year-old student was to be charged after he allegedly threatened another student with his kirpan. The court found the student not guilty of assault with the kirpan, but guilty of threatening his schoolmates, and he was granted an absolute discharge on 15 April 2009.

On 9 February 2011, the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously voted to ban kirpans from the provincial parliament buildings. However, despite opposition from the Bloc Québécois, it was voted that the kirpan be allowed in federal parliamentary buildings.

As of 27 November 2017, Transport Canada has updated its Prohibited Items list to allow Sikhs to wear kirpans smaller than 6 cm in length on all domestic and international flights (except to the United States).

Today, many Khalsa Sikhs in Canada freely wear their kirpans in public. An example of this is Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh, who wears his kirpan.

Denmark
On 24 October 2006, the Eastern High Court of Denmark upheld the earlier ruling of the Copenhagen City Court that the wearing of a kirpan by a Sikh was illegal, becoming the first country in the world to pass such a ruling. Ripudaman Singh, who now works as a scientist, was earlier convicted by the City Court of breaking the law by publicly carrying a knife. He was sentenced to a 3,000 kroner fine or six days' imprisonment. Though the High Court quashed this sentence, it held that the carrying of a kirpan by a Sikh broke the law. The judge stated that "after all the information about the accused, the reason for the accused to possess a knife and the other circumstances of the case, such exceptional extenuating circumstances are found, that the punishment should be dropped, cf. Penal Code § 83, 2nd period."

Danish law allows carrying of knives (longer than 6 centimeters and non-foldable) in public places if it is for any purpose recognized as valid, including work-related, recreation, etc. The High Court did not find religion to be a valid reason for carrying a knife. It stated that "for these reasons, as stated by the City Court, it is agreed that the circumstance of the accused carrying the knife as a Sikh, cannot be regarded as a similarly recognisable purpose, included in the decision for the exceptions in weapon law § 4, par. 1, 1st period, second part."

India
Sikhism originated in the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal era and a majority of the Sikh population lives in present-day India, where they form around 2% of its population.

Article 25 of the Indian Constitution deems the carrying of a kirpan by Sikhs to be included in the profession of the Sikh religion and not illegal. Sikhs are allowed to carry the kirpan on board domestic flights in India.

Italy
In 2015 an amritdhari Sikh was fined in the Lombard town of Goito, in Mantua province for carrying a kirpan. In 2017 Italy's higher appeal court, the Corte di Cassazione upheld the fine. Media reports have interpreted the sentence as instituting a generalized ban on the kirpan. Amritsar Lok Sabha MP Gurjeet Singh Aulja met with Italian diplomats and was assured no generalized ban on kirpans is operative, and that the case had only specific relevance to a singular instance and carried no general applicability.

Sweden
Swedish law has a ban on "street weapons" in public places that includes knives unless used for recreation (for instance fishing) or profession (for instance a carpenter). Carrying some smaller knives, typically folding pocket knives, is allowed, so that smaller kirpans may be within the law.

England and Wales
As a bladed article, possession of a kirpan without valid reason in a public place would be illegal under section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. However, there is a specific defence for a person charged to prove that he carries it for "religious reasons". There is an identical defence to the similar offence (section 139A) which relates to carrying bladed articles on school grounds. The official list of prohibited items at the London 2012 Summer Olympics venues prohibited all kinds of weapons, but explicitly allowed the kirpan.

Scotland
Similar provisions exist in Scots law with section 49 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 making it an offence to possess a bladed or pointed article in a public place. A defence exists under s.49(5)(b) of the act for pointed or bladed articles carried for religious reasons. Section 49A of the same act creates the offence of possessing a bladed or pointed article in a school, with s.49A(4)(c) again creating a defence when the article is carried for religious reasons.

United States
In 1994, the Ninth Circuit held that Sikh students in public school have a right to wear the kirpan. State courts in New York and Ohio have ruled in favor of Sikhs who faced the rare situation of prosecution under anti-weapons statutes for wearing kirpans, "because of the kirpan's religious nature and Sikhs' benign intent in wearing them." In New York City, a compromise was reached with the Board of Education whereby the wearing of the knives was allowed so long as they were secured within the sheaths with adhesives and made impossible to draw. The tightening of air travel security in the twenty-first century has caused problems for Sikhs carrying kirpans at airports and other checkpoints. As of 2016, the TSA explicitly prohibits the carrying of "religious knives and swords" on one's person or in cabin baggage and requires that they be packed in checked baggage.

In 2008, American Sikh leaders chose not to attend an interfaith meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., because the United States Secret Service would have required them to leave behind the kirpan. The secretary general of the Sikh Council stated: "We have to respect the sanctity of the kirpan, especially in such interreligious gatherings. We cannot undermine the rights and freedoms of religion in the name of security." A spokesman for the Secret Service stated: "We understand the kirpan is a sanctified religious object. But by definition, it's still a weapon. We apply our security policy consistently and fairly."

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

title: Kirpan


text:
Wildlife trust

The term wildlife trust can be used in one of two senses to describe organisations concerned with wildlife:

 * in a specific sense, to refer to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, or one of its constituent members known as The Wildlife Trusts; a list of these can be found at that page.
 * in a more generic sense to refer to a charitable organisation whose aims relate to wildlife (usually wildlife conservation, but also education); a (very incomplete) list of these is below.

Wildlife trusts (other than those that are part of the UK movement The Wildlife Trusts):

 * Wildlife Trust (US) — a US-based organisation
 * Endangered Wildlife Trust
 * The Irish Wildlife Trust
 * The Vincent Wildlife Trust
 * The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
 * Wildlife Trust of India
 * Okavango People's Wildlife Trust
 * Northmoor Trust

title: Wildlife trust


text:
Kyle Field (musician)

Kyle Field is an American musician who releases material under the moniker Little Wings.

Early life
Field was born in Alabama in 1972. As a child, his family relocated to Los Angeles, California, where his father worked as a coach for the UCLA Bruins.

Music
Field contributed bass and vocals in the band Rodriguez, along with M. Ward and Mike Funk.

In the late 1990s in San Luis Obispo, California, Field formed the band Little Wings, of which he is the only permanent member. In the past, the band has had members Adam Selzer on drums, Rob Kieswetter (aka Bobby Birdman) on keyboards, Mark Leece as bassist and various others. As Little Wings, Field has released over a dozen albums, under the Walking and independent K Records labels. Field also has played with Grandaddy, Lee Baggett, André Herman Dune, Peaches and Devendra Banhart throughout the 2000s.

Little Wings influenced the band Real Estate.

Visual art
Field is also an acclaimed visual artist, having earned his BFA in 1997 from the University of California, Los Angeles. His first book of drawings was released on the label Ahornfelder.

Personal life
Kyle Field lives near San Francisco, California.

Discography
As Little Wings:
 * Discover Worlds Of Wonder [KLP154] (2000)
 * The Wonder City [KYO46] (2002)
 * Wonderue [KLP134] (2002)
 * Light Green Leaves [KLP139] (2002)
 * Harvest Joy [KLP152] (2003)
 * Magic Wand [KLP161] (2004)
 * Grow [KLP169] (2005)
 * Soft Pow'r [RAD001] (2007)
 * Black Grass [RAD005] (2011)
 * Last [RAD007] (2013)
 * Made it Rain [GNM-022] (2013)
 * Light Green Leaves [GNM-034] (reissue 2015)
 * Explains [WOODSIST077] (2015)
 * People [Self Released] (2019)
 * Ropes in Paradise [PIAPTK] (2019)
 * Zephyr [SC05] (2022)
 * High On The Glade [PD077] (2024)

Has appeared on:
 * Calvin Johnson and The Sons of the Soil, Calvin Johnson and The Sons of the Soil [KLP180] (2007)
 * The Microphones, Mount Eerie [KLP140] (2003)
 * The Microphones, Song Islands [KLP125] (2002)
 * Tapir!, The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain [HVNLP220] (2024)

title: Kyle Field (musician)


text:
Lake Vanda

Lake Vanda is a lake in Wright Valley, Victoria Land, Ross Dependency, Antarctica. The lake is 5 km long and has a maximum depth of 69 m. On its shore, New Zealand maintained Vanda Station from 1968 to 1995. At depths of greater than approximately 50 meters, Lake Vanda is a hypersaline lake with a salinity more than ten times that of seawater and more than the salinity of the Dead Sea. Lake Vanda is also meromictic, which means that the deeper waters of the lake don't mix with the shallower waters. There are three distinct layers of water ranging in temperature from 23 C on the bottom to the middle layer of 7 C and the upper layer ranges from 4 - 6 C. It is only one of the many saline lakes in the ice-free valleys of the Transantarctic Mountains. The longest river of Antarctica, Onyx River, flows west, inland, into Lake Vanda. There is a meteorological station at the mouth of the river.

The lake is covered by a transparent ice sheet 3.5 - 4 m year-round, though melting in late December forms a moat out to approximately 50 m from the shore. The surface of the ice is not covered with snow and is "deeply rutted with cracks and melt lines". During the colder months, the moat refreezes.

While no species of fish live in Lake Vanda or the Onyx River, microscopic life, such as cyanobacteria algal blooms, have been recorded. Due to the concerns over impact to the natural environment that may occur during research, scientific diving operations are limited to work in the upper layer (above 30 m) and remotely operated underwater vehicle use is not allowed.

Vanda Station
Lake Vanda Station was well known for The Royal Lake Vanda Swim Club. Visitors to Lake Vanda Station could dip into the high salinity waters when the icecap edge melted out during summer to form a 'moat', and receive a Royal Lake Vanda Swim Club shoulder patch. Vanda staff would assist the melt by hacking out a 'pool'. Many dignitaries and politicians were inducted into the club, The dip had to be naked (Rule 1), complete immersion (Rule 4), witnessed by a 'Vandal' (Vanda Station staffer) and with no restrictions on photography (Rule 6) to qualify. Rule 10 allowed a natural figleaf, but it had to be natural and also naturally green without artificial aid.

Vanda Station was removed in 1995 as lake levels rose, and is replaced by a shelter, Lake Vanda Hut, that is periodically staffed by 2-8 stream researchers.

title: Lake Vanda


text:
Dumpton Park railway station

Dumpton Park railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the district of Dumpton between the towns of Broadstairs and Ramsgate, Kent. It is 78 mi down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Broadstairs and Ramsgate stations.

The station and all trains that serve the station are operated by Southeastern.

The station has no buildings and just a few parking spaces, a bridge from the south side of the line to an island platform, with a small shelter at the bottom of the steps. Until 1965 the station served as the interchange between the main line and the nearby Tunnel Railway.

History
Following the railway grouping of 1923, both the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham & Dover Railway became a part of the newly-formed Southern Railway, which looked at the duplication of lines and stations at Ramsgate and Margate. The company decided to link the two lines at Ramsgate to allow through running between them. That scheme had been proposed by the South Eastern & Chatham Railway before World War I, but work did not commence until 1925. That resulted in the closure of the two terminus stations at Ramsgate Town and Ramsgate Harbour, and the construction of a line skirting the northern edge of the town to link the two existing lines. New stations on the north-eastern and north-western fringes of the town, at Dumpton Park and Ramsgate respectively, replaced the stations in the town centre and at the harbour. Construction work on the new line involved over 700 men moving 200000 LT of chalk, at a cost of approximately £500,000 (£ in 2024).

The new link opened on 2 July 1926, although Dumpton Park station was not fully open to the public until 19 July 1926. On 2 July 1926, both former Ramsgate stations were closed along with the line through the tunnel to Ramsgate Harbour. The tunnel was sealed and abandoned, and the former Ramsgate Harbour station was sold to Thanet Amusements, which converted the site into a zoo and funfair called Merrie England. Although adequate for the town's residents, the new stations were a long way from the seafront attractions, which were at the foot of a steep hill. The day-trippers, on whom Ramsgate's tourist industry depended, were therefore increasingly attracted to Margate, where the station was next to the beach.

By 1933, Merrie England, then owned by Ramsgate Olympia, had become extremely popular, and began to lobby the Southern Railway to reopen the line through the tunnel, with a new junction station between Dumpton Park and Broadstairs. The Southern Railway rejected the proposal as too costly and impractical. Ramsgate Olympia and the Southern Railway were keen to make the attractions near the harbour accessible from the railway main line, and to provide a service from the seafront to the Dumpton Park stadium for Greyhound racing. The two companies eventually agreed on a scheme under which a new narrow-gauge line, dubbed the Tunnel Railway, would use the 780 yd of the tunnel nearest the beach, before branching off into a new 364 yd tunnel, which would emerge at a new station at Hereson Road, a 250 yd walk from Dumpton Park station. To increase passenger numbers and encourage people to use the new rail line, Ramsgate Olympia planned the construction of a large-scale housing estate, charabanc parking facilities, and a 10,000-seat stadium at Dumpton Park. The railway closed in 1965.

When Dumpton Park Station was first built there was a booking hall at street level, a smaller version of the one currently at Broadstairs station, and the bridge and steps were covered by overhead glass plus a lift to platform level. Glass covering continuing down the steps to The ticket office window and station building, which included waiting room, small office and the toilet block was a separate building just down but adjoined by a overhead glass covering with benches underneath.the platform The building has since been demolished and the covering removed, in the early to mid 1980s. Years ago there was a signal box at the end of the platform (northbound end).

Services
All services at Dumpton Park are operated by Southeastern using  EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

 * 1 tph to London Victoria via Chatham
 * 1 tph to Ramsgate

Additional services including trains to and from London Bridge and London Cannon Street call at the station in the peak hours.

title: Dumpton Park railway station


text:
Raffaele Lombardo

Raffaele Lombardo ; (born 29 October 1950]) is an Italian politician. Born in Catania, he was Sicily's president and former member of the European Parliament for the Italian Islands with the Movement for the Autonomies, and has sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

In 2005, Lombardo split off from the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) to form the autonomist Sicilian-based Movement for Autonomy (MpA), after he had accused the UDC leadership of being too centralist. In 2008, he was elected as president of Sicily, obtaining over 65% of the regional votes and defeating Anna Finocchiaro of the Democratic Party (PD). On 31 July 2012, he resigned from the presidency because he was under investigation for external contribution with mafia and pork-barrelling, as it appears that he had relationships with some figure of Cosa Nostra. Nevertheless, in the following elections he managed to have his 23 years old son Toti elected in the Sicilian Regional Assembly. On 19 February 2014, he was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for mafia association. In 2022, he was acquitted in the second appeal trial; the acquittal was confirmed by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation in 2023.

Education

 * 1968: Secondary school-leaving certificate in classical subjects
 * Graduate in medicine and surgery
 * Specialisation in forensic psychiatry
 * Private practice
 * 1977: Provincial secretary of the Catania Youth DC
 * Regional secretary of the Christian Democratic Centre (CCD) for Sicily
 * Member of Catania Municipal Council for eight years
 * Several terms as Catania Municipal Councillor with responsibility for budget, planning, health, cultural heritage, youth issues, and taxation

Career

 * 1986−1994: Member of the Sicilian Regional Assembly with Christian Democracy (DC)
 * 1991−1992: Assessor for Local Authorities of the Sicilian Regional Executive (resigned for enquiries)
 * 1999−2008: Member of the European Parliament with CCD
 * 2003−2008: President of the Province of Catania with UDC
 * 2008−2012: President of Sicily with MPA

title: Raffaele Lombardo


text: User talk:69.119.88.201

title: User talk:69.119.88.201


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Aaron Kraus

 This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page, if it exists; or after the end of this archived section. The result of the debate was Delete --Allen3 talk July 3, 2005 01:21 (UTC)

Aaron Kraus
Delete. Person is not notable and article is self-promotion. Tkessler 21:19, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete Vanity and mostly not true. Vaguely amusing though Dsmdgold 12:50, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete for same reasons Mgw 10:57, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. UMD students didn't pay terribly much attention to our student government, so I see no reason why anyone else should. Isomorphic 03:03, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Vanity.--KASchmidt 07:58, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * it pains me to vote to delete this gem of an article...Sensation002 20:19, 14 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete This is a vanity page 67.39.5.111 17:52, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)tom
 * ''The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be placed on a related article talk page, if one exists; in an undeletion request, if it does not; or below this section.


text:
Men, Women & Children (band)

Men, Women & Children (formerly known as Easy Tiger, Torpedo) was an electropop band formed in 2004 by ex-Glassjaw guitarist Todd Weinstock and TJ Penzone. They released their self-titled debut album in 2006. Penzone initially wanted the band to be named Easy Tiger, but had to rename the band after a band in Chicago by the same name refused to sell him the rights.

They have supported acts such as Metric, Gang of Four, Rx Bandits, De La Soul, Brand New, The Format, Snoop Dogg, Head Automatica and ¡Forward, Russia!. They also headlined their own shows with supporting acts like We Are The Fury.

On June 13, 2007, according to a blog posted on their Myspace page, the band separated itself from Warner/Reprise Records citing a lack of distribution of their first album as the major reason they wanted to leave.

On November 19, 2008, according to a blog posted by Todd and Nick on Myspace, three had left the band, including Todd, Nick, and David "Skully" Sullivan-Kaplan. The primary reason for the departures was a lack of communication caused by the distance between band members. Their last show with the band was on December 29, 2008, in New York City.

TJ Penzone has moved on to form "these People", and Rick Penzone is currently part of Color Film along with Glassjaw frontman Daryl Palumbo. Todd and Nick are now part of Cubic Zirconia. Skully has since married and lives in the UK and currently plays for Razorlight.

Discography

 * Men, Women & Children (2006)
 * Winter 2006 Mix - A five track mix tape CD given out to the first 100 guests at select US tour stops in December 2006.
 * Ultra Hot Volcano - A limited edition vinyl 7-inch single released through IAMSOUND Records (2008)

Singles

 * "Dance In My Blood" (2006)

Members

 * TJ Penzone – vocals (2006–2008)
 * Rick Penzone – bass (2006–2008)
 * Todd Weinstock – guitar (2006–2008)
 * Nick Conceller – keyboards (2006–2008)
 * David "Skully" Sullivan-Kaplan – drums (2006–2008)
 * Christopher Wrigley – (touring member) guitar, vocals (2007-2008)

title: Men, Women & Children (band)


text:
User:Pogo747

hi folks, nothing here yet.

My interests: food Japan

title: User:Pogo747


text: Category:Sport in Warwickshire

title: Category:Sport in Warwickshire


text:
Mario Mantovani

Mario Mantovani (born 28 July 1950, in Arconate) is an Italian politician.

His daughter is the deputy of the Brothers of Italy Lucrezia Mantovani.

Early life and career
Mantovani graduated in foreign languages and literature in 1975. From 1981 to 1986 he was director of the Padre Beccaro Institute in Milan.

In 1990 he founded the Sodalitas non-profit organization, which in Bellaria-Igea Marina has a series of residences and summer camps.

In 1996 he opened the Mantovani Foundation, specialized in the construction and management of nursing homes for the elderly. With his appointment as undersecretary in 2008 he leaves the presidency of the Mantovani Foundation, leaving the guide to his family.

Mantovani owns the Immobiliare Vigevanese company, as well as the Mantovani Foundation. With the first he builds social welfare residences and with the second he manages four RSAs in the province of Milan which, added to those led by Sodalitas, make eleven structures and 830 beds, all accredited in the Lombardy region rankings. It also manages 13 day care centers for the disabled managed on behalf of the ASL of Milan 1.

Member of the European Parliament
In 1999 he was elected MEP among the ranks of Forza Italia with 39,000 preferences and was re-elected in 2004 with 50,000 preferences. He sat in the European People's Party group. In 2008 he was elected to the Senate and left the seat in the European Parliament to Iva Zanicchi.

Mayor of Arconate
In 2001 he was also elected mayor of Arconate with 51% of the votes and was re-elected in 2006 with 68% of the votes. In November 2008, the municipal councilors that supported Mantovani resigned to allow him to reapply for the third consecutive time for mayor. He was reconfirmed mayor of Arconate in the municipal elections of 2009 with 66% of the votes. In May 2015 he resigned as municipal councilor.

Senator and Undersecretary for Infrastructure and Transport
In 2008 he was elected Senator and was appointed Undersecretary for Infrastructure and Transport in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet. From 29 January 2011 he became the new regional coordinator of The People of Freedom in Lombardy, succeeding the resigning Guido Podestà, president of the Province of Milan.

In the 2013 general elections he was re-elected to the Senate of the Republic. Also elected to the Regional Council of Lombardy, he resigned as Senator due to incompatibility on 3 June 2013.

Vice-president and assessor in the Lombardy Region
Following the regional elections in Lombardy in 2013, he was elected regional councilor on the PdL list, being the most voted among all the candidates with almost 13,000 preferences.

He was subsequently appointed by the president Roberto Maroni as vice president of the Lombardy Region and Assessor for health.

On 1 September 2015, after the regional health reform with the creation of the super-department between Health and Welfare, he left the regional health department (which will be governed ad interim by President Maroni) for the delegation of regional councilor for Relations with European Union, Community Planning and International Relations, until 13 October 2015.

In December 2016 he joined Daniela Santanchè's movement We Republicans – Sovereign People. He follows the party colleague also in January 2018, leaving his party, Forza Italia, and joining the movement led by Giorgia Meloni, Brothers of Italy.

Judicial proceedings
On 13 October 2015, he was arrested in Milan, accused of corruption, bid-rigging, and misdirection of public funds for school construction and patients needing dialysis transport, between 2012 and 2014, while Vice President of Lombardy.

In 2019 he has been sentenced to five years and six months for corruption, extortion and auction disruption.

title: Mario Mantovani


text:
Talk:Burnt-over district

Duplicate pages
Isn't this the same as Burned-over district?

title: Talk:Burnt-over district


text:
Talk:The Life of David Gale

Ebert's Political Views
I'm taking out the parts of Ebert's quotes that are strictly political. I think the point comes across just fine without them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.106.209.61 (talk) 18:31, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Tony Norman??
I've edited the page to change "Tony Norman" to "David Gale" at the very beginning of the "Plot" section. I'm not sure who Tony Norman is supposed to be but the context clearly refers to the David Gale character. If I've completely missed something here, feel free to change it back, but some extra explanation would be nice if that's the case. Cvkline (talk) 17:57, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Link to David Gale (the person)
I have removed the link to David Gale, since (I'm pretty sure) the person described on that page has nothing to do with this film.

Factual Inaccuracy & a Stub
This article is a stub (it was a lengthy article before; not sure what happened to it). I was surprised that the article makes the claim that the film was generally well received by critics; but with a simple glance at it's rating at rottentomatoes.com; it is clearly the opposite of that -- this film was not well received. I have no idea where the authors got this idea. The lack of references shows this. I'll likely either remove the line "The film was generally well received by critics upon its release, particularly because of its surprising twist at the end and Spacey's performance.", or slap an "Inaccuracy" tag on the article.

Filming Locations?
Sam Houston State University is listed a filming location. Can someone tell me what scenes are filmed there? I was suprised UT-Austin was not on the list but SHSU was. The classroom scene and outdoors scene immediately after are clearly shot in the old Batts Hall at UT and the South Mall.

Several scenes at Constance's house were filmed at 1303 W. 10th St (for whatever reason the road scene down the street when Gale first goes there jogged my memory of this location even though I haven't been there in decades). Google Street View shows clearly that it's the same house as in the movie. 70.116.69.206 (talk) 04:09, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Cage
Why does it say produced by Nicolas Cage on the information box on the right? Nicolas Cage had nothing to do with this movie. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.225.32.171 (talk • contribs) 17:56, 18 August 2006 24.225.32.171
 * IMDB has Cage as producer, too. -- Beardo 09:40, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

I watched the movie last night, Cage was credited as a producer.Brian8710 21:38, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

The Twist
I noticed the twist isn't mentioned in the article while it is for other movies like The Sixth Sense and Fight Club (film). Sense the twist is a large part of the negative reaction and controversary of the film, I think it'd be okay to add it to the summary. Other people's thoughts? Tebor 08:21, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
 * The twist is there now, but it was in an awkward position within the flow of the summary, so it's been rearranged.TashTish 17:59, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Davidgale.jpg
Image:Davidgale.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 00:47, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Some interpretations
First: it should be said that the game  which connects bitsey with the man, who is under death penalty lasts just three  days. Not some days! Second: to me it wasn't visible, that he leaves a thump print on the plastic bag. He didn't touched her in this way, just leads his hand to her wrapped face, may be in form of an unvisible mirrow. The critics are dump, because they deal with the first meaning of death penalty.Lacans ring of borowmay told in such a vicious circle story is marvellous on the second and third meaning of existence. Global players act on might and false power and reveal them, by using the martyer torture.[ PLOT] Ask critics for POV!--Danaide (talk) 11:17, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
 * On the page are some details told in an interpretative way.

This is kinda stupid
From the "Plot" section, I quote:

"In an epilogue, the mysterious stranger delivers the interview fee from the magazine to Gale's wife in Spain along with a postcard from Berlin apologizing for the false rape accusation."

Dusty Wright, played by Matt Craven, was the alleged one-time lover and full-time activist partner of Laura Linney's character Constance Harraway. Nothing mysterious or strange about him except in the beginning of the film. Iin fact he is a key figure, once we know who he is, which we do by the last third of the film. If no one minds, I'm going to re-write that bit. Everyone cool with it?

Jesus, write something properly if you're going to write it at all!ElKeKomeIKanta (talk) 15:20, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

The Trial of Socrates
This will be counted "original research," so I'll only put it here, but what no one seems to have ever noticed about this underrated movie is that it is pretty obviously based on I.F. Stone's book The Trial of Socrates. In the movie David Gale goes into a long, drunken rant about Socrates's trial that seems incidental to the movie, merely a sign of his intellectual preoccupations, but actually it's a strong clue. Stone's thesis, which I gather is controversial, is that Socrates wanted to convict Athenian democracy of being defective by forcing it to unjustly execute him. And that's exactly what David Gale does.Kylegann (talk) 13:00, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:The Life of David Gale


text:
Talk:Burned-over district

Duplicate pages
Isn't this the same as Burnt-over district? (unsigned, but it's User:JoeyDay Apr 20, 2005 )

 * Now merged. In the future: this is what Template:Merge and Template:Merge from are for. -- Jmabel | Talk 05:55, Apr 20, 2005 (UTC)

Did Finney coin the phrase? I also question the meaning they give to it. Usually I've heard it explained as the region being "burned over" by the fires of revivalism —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.63.27.10 (talk • contribs) 22 Nov 2005.
 * I've also heard other origins of the phrase. When I leared about it, I was told it was from the 'Hell-fire' speeches the ministers gave.  Could someone clear this up? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 158.104.220.71 (talk • contribs) 26 September 2006.

According to historian David M Kennedy the "Burned-Over District" was indeed so called due to the preaching of hellfire and damantion. He gives no mention as to a lack of people willing to convert, but does say that Millerites were from this region. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.212.232.141 (talk • contribs) 26 November 2006.

Historian John Wigger at the University of Missouri Columbia attributes the phrase to Charles Finney because Finney stated that, "So many revival fires swept across the district, it was burnt over." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.206.104.24 (talk • contribs).

 * Sounds like a very good lead; can you indicate where he said that, so that we have a citation? - Jmabel | Talk 22:25, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

The quote comes from Finney's Autobiography of Charles G. Finney page 78. The relevent paragraph is as follows (my bolded emphasis). Hope this helps: "I have spoken of cases of intensified opposition to this revival. One circumstance, I found, had prepared the people for this opposition, and had greatly embittered it. I found that region of country what, in the western phrase, would be called, a 'burnt district.' There had been, a few years previously, a wild excitement passing through that region, which they called a revival of religion, but which turned out to be spurious. I can give no account of it except what I heard from Christian people and others. It was reported as having been a very extravagant excitement; and resulted in a reaction so extensive and profound, as to leave the impression on many minds that religion was a mere delusion. A great many men seemed to be settled in that conviction. Taking what they had seen as a specimen of a revival of religion, they felt justified in opposing anything looking toward the promoting of a revival." --JCrocombe (talk) 13:55, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

End of the world
This article says William Miller predicted the end of the world for August 19, 1844. Millerites gives a different date. I believe there were several dates along the way. In any case, this should be sorted out. - Jmabel | Talk 00:37, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Millerites gives the date of the expected return of Jesus, not the Apocolypse, these are two different events in the paradigm of Christian eschatology. -- Zosodada

 * There actually were several dates. First between  21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844 and then, when that failed, October 22, 1844. 68.116.112.125 16:58, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Dead link
I cut The Burned-Over District from the external links, because it appears dead. No idea whether it is worth tracking down whether it may be out there somewhere: the description was not exactly informative, all it amounts to is a claim that it is on-topic. - Jmabel | Talk 09:08, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

The link to the .pdf file in the external links "Michael Hendricks, Consequences of Religious Excitement in the Burned-over District, March 24, 2004 apparently a self-published, but sourced, paper." has been removed as it seems to no longer exist. --JCrocombe (talk) 15:07, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Region
"Western New York"? Although Whitney Cross may have focussed in this sector, the Oneida Community, mentioned, was at Oneida, NY, which is east of Syracuse--certainly in central, not western, New York. If the Burned-over district is to be related to abolition and other reform movements of the period (which it should be), the movements occurred prominently in central New York as well. Syracuse was said to be "the great central depot on the Underground Railroad." Seneca Falls and Skaneateles likewise are in central rather than western New York.
 * Yeah, I'll change that if no one else has. As a Long Islander born & bred, it didn't catch my eye (to me, Westchester is upstate). - Jmabel | Talk 20:26, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Am looking into strong revivalism and "benevolence" activities in New York connected with Finney revivals at Utica and throughout the Cent. NY Erie Canal area to the Canadian border. The geographic positing of this in the west is distracting since it leaves out the people I am studying, but in the 1820s this place definitely burned with the spirit of live-your-religion-with-every-breath dedication.

Also, it should be noted that there was a strong link to Am. Indian missions and to education. The Sunday School, the Am Education Society, the Am. Board of Comm. for Foreign Missions local auxiliaries (and other denominational mission auxiliaries), and the maternal associations were all in full action mode. There was a large publishing industry here and it produced materials for evangelical religion, including foreign language religious pieces and church music material. Thomas Hastings and family were centered near Utica. I believe that the Stockbridge Indians and their missionaries fit into this story too, just haven't sorted it all out.

Gerritt Smith was at Peterboro and he appears to have forced a non-sectarian religious complexion onto his soiree of intellectual friends and community, but his influence was important to the bigger story.

I think it's important for readers, esp. for people new to this topic, to emphasize that the mainstream religious denominational activities of the area were overwhelmingly stronger than the "fringe" or less typical religious activities. The Presbyterians and Congregationals and Baptists and Methodists were there in large numbers and it was their activities that were the main financial support for the burning desire to participate actively in religion. Small towns sprang up throughout New York and there was outreach to give them pastors or at least occasional preaching. Money flowed from New England to provide this until a community could stand on its own financial feet. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.240.171.24 (talk) 11:44, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

Mrs.Bryan@att.net —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.240.171.24 (talk) 11:35, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

Allegedly
"Mormonism (whose main branch is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Joseph Smith, Jr. lived in the area and was led by the angel Moroni to golden plates from which he translated the Book of Mormon near Palmyra, New York."

Why not say "allegedly"? It is appropriate here. How about: "claimed to have been led by..."

That he lived in the area is a well-established fact. That he was led by an angel is a matter of faith, not of fact, I think. Wanderer57 23:51, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

 * Your wording is exactly correct and to leave it as it was would not be NPOV. I've updated the wording to reflect a neutral position.  There is no question that the Latter-day Saint Movement was started by Joseph Smith and that he lived in the aforementioned region.  His claims, however, are outside the purview of this article and therefore should not be addressed.  Said claims are thoroughly covered in other sections relating to the faith in question. 68.116.112.125 16:51, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Map?
I wonder if a map, particularily one reflecting the era in question, would be of some value. 68.116.112.125 16:59, 19 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Indeed, provided, albeit after some time! AndrewRT(Talk) 01:46, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I was surprised to see the map. Living in Rochester, I was under the impression that the Burned-Over District was more of a strip following the Erie Canal from Albany west and was influenced by movements originating in Massachusetts. Also had the impression that the "Southern Tier" of counties had a distinctly different history (except maybe for Chautauqua). I will try to figure out where I got these impressions and let you know. Madinpursuit (talk) 11:57, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

Madison and Oneida counties included... next?
I have added Madison and Oneida counties to both the list of counties under the heading "Location" and to the map used in the article, as both counties are described as being part of the burned-over district in one of the books about the region cited in the article; the communities of Rome and Utica, both in Oneida County, are mentioned on p. 35, and Madison County is mentioned by name. I suspect that other counties between the Madison-Oneida "island" and the main body of included counties should also be included, but don't have a source handy that substantiates that, so I've left Madison and Oneida included but isolated. — GrammarFascist  contribs talk 20:58, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

contradiction in language ?
this statement "The District can be broadly described as the area in New York State between the Finger Lakes and Lake Erie" seems to contradict the map at the start of the article — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.245.17.105 (talk • contribs) 21:43, 14 September 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Burned-over district


text:
Template talk:ISSN

Too specific
Present version is too specific. It doesn't work well for use in references, particularly when one reference has two ISSNs. Mud_volcano I think the original article actually needs to use an Infobox which includes ISSN as a component. (SEWilco 21:22, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC))

 * A page similar to Special:Booksources (as for ISBN) would be preferable, but in general, it seems to work fairly well. -- User:Docu

 * See 10867 and 3663. — Omegatron 01:06, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Wishful thinking about ISSN
I am not at all happy with ISSNs in general, starting with the problem that the managing company doesn't release the list of ISSNs for public download/parse/review. But I'm also none too happy with being shunted off to a German library for my ISSN work - especially since many of the articles have Wikipedia articles, homesites with useful info, or both. In my dreams, it would be possible to define an template for the journal's article, and have the  template link to the journal when available, or a "bridge page" when not - similar to how the ISBN  template works. Does anyone know if this magic is even possible? --Alvestrand 11:54, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I posted ISSN support wanted to wikitech-l. --LA2 20:20, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

why template for ISSN but not needed for ISBN
I am sorry for spamming but found no better place to ask. There is some tweak implemented in Wikipedia that allows automatic linking of an ISBN but for ISSN it does not happen and, therefore, one has to use this template. Consider this example:

 * Isaac Babel, 1920 Diary, Yale, 2002, ISBN 0300093136

produces the following output: Please note that no template, like ISBN 0300093136 is used to produce the link above near ISBN.
 * Isaac Babel, 1920 Diary, Yale, 2002, ISBN 0300093136

At the same time, to have an ISSN linked, one needs to add a template. Why is that so? --Irpen 18:44, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Actually, it's a good question. I was sort of wondering the same thing, but I had no idea that ISBN is magic like that.  I was thinking that ISBN might be a magic word, but it's not listed there.  But look here. I think this is our answer.  Wasn't immediately obvious.  I think ISBN needs to be wikilinked to this page on some the cite help pages.  --KeithB 05:07, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Unhelpful results for some titles
Using this template for ISSN codes which are valid, but not known to WorldCat (example:, as used on West Midland Bird Club) results in the user being taken to a page on their site with an unhelpful "The page you tried was not found. You may have used an outdated link or may have typed the address (URL) incorrectly." message (yet retuning a "200" http header, not "404"). I've written to WorldCat, using their feedback form, pointing this out, and asking them to substitute something like "We don't know that ISSN. Try searching for it on Google." as well as letting them know that Wikipedia is linking to them in this way; but if anyone has contacts there with whom they can raise the issue, please do. Or is there a more suitable alternative target? Andy Mabbett 19:32, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

 * It's kind of dead. I changed the query string to another website. -- User:Docu

Suggested category
More specific than (or rather, along with) Category:External link templates, Category:Arts and culture-related templates might be considered- though it's true not every magazine falls under this category, not every book does either, yet OCLC is in a subcat of this, so... dunno... (yes, I'm an admin and the protection isn't a barrier to my doing this myself, but common sense- what little I possess of it - suggests I not make this change unilaterally.) Schissel | Sound the Note! 05:52, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

WorldCat URL format change
I noticed that this template creates links to WorldCat using http:// worldcat.org/... rather than http:// www.worldcat.org/... Given that http:// worldcat.org/... redirects to the http:// www.worldcat.org/... version and is now the recomended format:, could this template please be changed to point to the www.worldcat.org version in the first place? :) -Paul1337 (talk) 00:52, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Cancel that editprotected request; I hadn't realised that this template used the ISSN search link template so the change only needs to be made there. -Paul1337 (talk) 02:05, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Tweak for print
Simply replace the current template with this. It'll help clean up PDFs and Books. {{only in print|ISSN&nbsp;{{{1}}} {{documentation}}

Headbomb {{{sup|ταλκ}}κοντριβς – WP Physics} 21:22, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

 * This should probably be done for {{tl|ISSN search link}} instead and a slew of other identifiers such as doi, PMID, PMC and other identifiers. It should also be for all forms of print probably, and not just for PDF/book print. I suggest discussing this shortly at Village Pump Proposals to make sure the community agrees. —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 22:14, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Discussion started at Village pump (proposals). Headbomb {{{sup|ταλκ}}κοντριβς – WP Physics} 22:58, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Alright, well there seems to be consensus for this, so might as well make that edit now. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 01:53, 5 March 2010 (UTC)
 * {{done}}  Ron h jones {{sup| (Talk)}} 22:48, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Thanks, much appreciated. Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 22:51, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

 * Please revert the edit or correct the HTML comment end tag. (Line 7: ) Preferably the former. – allen四names 01:35, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Hopefully fixed now? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:14, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Appear to work now. I don't know if the {{Tl|Only in print}} works. Thank you. – allen四names 01:45, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

Something wrong
I believe this edit accidentally removed two brackets and the template is now rendering incorrectly. Thanks.— TAnthonyTalk 06:02, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Delink option
Would it be possible to incorporate an option that specifies that "ISSN" be delinked? When you have an article that talks about numerous journals and periodicals one after another, ISSN need only be linked for the first usage of the template - if the editor could then place a parameter into following uses of the template that specified delinking the ISSN component, it would allow these instances to read better.

Much like the "lk" parameter in Template:Convert. Fattonyni (talk) 16:03, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

 * I see no reason to. Compare ISSN 1541-4817 to both as rendered and as wiki-text. – Allen4names 00:36, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

 * My point is that if one uses the ISSN template so that the number is linked (e.g. 1541-4817 in your example), ISSN is also linked. All fine and well if there is only one usage of the template. But with subsequent usages in an article, the editor ends up with numerous linked ISSN s throughout the article, the number of which could become very large depending on the type of article. This goes against WP policy of only linking the first term. If there was an option to disable the linking of ISSN, the following would be possible in an article:

 * Journal of Foo Organisation,
 * Journal of Bar Organisation, ISSN 0332-4907
 * Journal of FooBar Organisation, ISSN 0047-231X

 * So the ISSN is unlinked, but the link to the worldcat category is still provided for better integration. Fattonyni (talk) 15:02, 16 December 2010 (UTC)

Change request
At the moment the link to Worldcat is too specific. For example links to http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0028-0836 which is one hit for this ISSN. I would like someone to change it to http://www.worldcat.org/search?fq=x0%3Ajrnl&q=n2%3A0028-0836 which gives more hits. It's all the same journal but at many different libraries in different countries plus eJournals. What do you think? --91.22.200.127 (talk) 20:03, 16 February 2011 (UTC)
 * What is the "n2" in your url for and is it necessary? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 15:03, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * "n2" is the code for ISSN numbers. "bn" is for ISBN, "kw" for keyword etc. You can find this out via advanced search. --91.22.183.145 (talk) 15:08, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Okay I tried it and it didn't work. Can you test it out in the /sandbox version and then when it's working reactivate the request. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 15:32, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * That was hard work. The problem was the equal sign in the template as I found out in the end. Solution and final code see here. --91.22.183.145 (talk) 17:00, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Ah yes, of course! Well done for finding that out. All updated. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 18:28, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it is working. Thanks, much appreciated! --91.22.183.145 (talk) 18:32, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Protected edit request on 3 March 2014: Use protocol relative URL
Since worldcat websites support HTTPS, I suggest switching the link to protocol-relative URL. The change is " http://www.worldcat.org " -> "//www.worldcat.org". Thanks! Chmarkine (talk) 05:33, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done Jackmcbarn (talk) 13:18, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

Check for invalid ISSN
Currently, Wikipedia has no checks in place for an invalid ISSN. The template allows an invalid ISSN without displaying an error message. This has to change somehow. for opinions. -- Magioladitis (talk) 22:36, 30 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Maybe ISSN could use the same checking code as Module:Citation/CS1? Templates such as cite journal will produce a visible error for invalid ISSNs, such as:
 * Hope this helps! GoingBatty (talk) 00:01, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
 * The code that is used by Module:Citation/CS1,, is pretty simple and could be adapted to this template.
 * The code that is used by Module:Citation/CS1,, is pretty simple and could be adapted to this template.

 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 12:02, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if any of you could help adding this check in the code. -- Magioladitis (talk) 05:44, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
 * , I used the code in Module:Citation/CS1 as suggested to create Module:Check isxn, so the following works,
 * → Invalid ISSN
 * →
 * in this code, you would probably use
 * you can change the value passed through the error parameter to be an error message, a tracking category, or both. Frietjes (talk) 15:54, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

Trappist the monk as you are a sysop, do you want to be the one to try this? -- Magioladitis (talk) 10:00, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

 * that's what sandboxes are for, right? anyone can try anything there; special permissions not required.

 * as far as it goes, this appears to work
 * – should not have an error
 * – should have an error
 * – should have an error

 * I'm not sure that this is what is wanted. The module, in my opinion should have nothing to do with error messaging and should only return true or false.  The template should then act on the result of the test. When the test fails: should the template add an error category? should the template link the issn anyway?

 * perhaps we change the invoke to be:
 * and then act on whether that returns nothing (good) or 'false' (an error)
 * and then act on whether that returns nothing (good) or 'false' (an error)

 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 10:59, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

 * Could do it directly with  -- WOSlinker (talk) 18:42, 7 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I've gone and updated the template but used Please check ISSN rather than the category directly. -- WOSlinker (talk) 18:50, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Invalid ISSN problem - space issue
Doing it the correct way, WorldCat is ok and gives you results.
 * If I enter  into ISSN, I get .   Using a space and not a dash (-) is against ISSN specs.  If you use a space, WorldCat gives off an error.
 * If I enter, it does not give off an error.  Clicking on the link , WorldCat gives off an error.
 * If I enter  (no dash), it does not give off an error.  Clicking on the link, WorldCat gives off an error.

fr:Utilisateur:NicoV/Test contains some tests that frwiki is doing while adding invalid ISSN support. Bgwhite (talk) 00:39, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

 * forgot to ping... Bgwhite (talk) 00:41, 5 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Why am I being pinged?
 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 00:55, 5 January 2016 (UTC)
 * You and WOSlinker were involved in the discussion above. Magioladitis is on holiday, so I didn't ping him.  Bgwhite (talk) 01:18, 5 January 2016 (UTC)
 * So what you want from me is a reason why you aren't seeing error messages when you think you should be? If so, then there are two reasons. First, because Module:Check isxn uses code lifted from Module:Citation/CS1.  Module:Citation/CS1 doesn't care if there are too many or not enough hyphens because it rewrites the whole issn string.  Adding a snippet of code return a fail code when issn is not in the form   should do the trick.

 * The module now appears to do the right thing (these are direct module calls with the four issn patterns from the start of this conversation):
 * (0954 2361)
 * (0954--2361)
 * (09542361)
 * (0954-2361)
 * But, the module call in the template is different; the second reason. It passes  as the 'error message':
 * But, that template only adds a category so there isn't a 'visible' error message as perhaps you were expecting.
 * But, that template only adds a category so there isn't a 'visible' error message as perhaps you were expecting.

 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 01:59, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

 * I don't care why they don't work, only that it should be fixed. The frwiki ISSN template works.   I wasn't expecting a visible message because of the above discussion, but there should be one. The category wasn't added in any of the above examples.  Bgwhite (talk) 02:16, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

We should fix this template to yield an error message when an invalid ISSN is given. -- Magioladitis (talk) 07:29, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

Why is this ISSN marked as invalid?
The article is being placed in, but if I change the ISSN in the cite template to use 08888507 instead of id}}, the ISSN works fine and there is no error message. What is going on here? Is this due to a change in Module:Check isxn on 4 January 2016, ? It looks like the change is requiring a hyphen in the ISSN. – Jonesey95 (talk) 13:43, 16 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers rewrites the issn to make sure that it renders with the required hyphen – even when one is not provided or provided in the wrong place. This template doesn't support that.  It requires both the value and the format to be correct.
 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 13:52, 16 January 2016 (UTC)
 * The documentation, since its creation in 2006, has said:
 * "For a publication with the ISSN 1234-5678, use either 1234-5678 or 12345678."

 * It looks like ISSNs without hyphens were silently disabled by the change made in the section Change request above. ISSNs without hyphens worked fine before that, and they will work fine again if that change is reverted. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:25, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

 * Hi, I just refined the documentation here per the examples and per an issue I had with ISSNs, but if you go in to edit-source Preview mode for the ISSN doc page and scroll down you will see a red ISSN error displayed for the 2nd example (without a dash). Cheers!   04:01, 17 January 2016 (UTC)
 * The discussion just above this has more examples of the ISSN template having problems. Bgwhite (talk) 10:29, 17 January 2016 (UTC)
 * I have modified the documentation to reflect the change in the template's error-checking code described above. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:23, 18 January 2016 (UTC)

RFCs on citations templates and the flagging free-to-read sources
See
 * Village pump (proposals)
 * Village pump (proposals)

Headbomb {talk / contribs / physics / books} 17:06, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Suppressing ISSN label?
Hi! Does anyone know if there's presently a way to suppress the ISSN label in this template, in order to produce the WorldCat-linked ISSN without the ISSN prefix? Though I don't have a specific example of this, I imagine this function might be useful in lists of publications in which ISSN would become repetitive:

Thanks, Bob Amnertiopsis ∴ChatMe! 00:24, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

 * Try ISSN link. Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 00:47, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
 * That looks like the thing I'm looking for. Thanks! Bob Amnertiopsis ∴ChatMe! 02:22, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 16 September 2017
Please change "//www.worldcat.org/" to "https://www.worldcat.org/". When using Special:LinkSearch to search for HTTP links, relative links are caught in there as well giving an inaccurate list of articles using http links. Jon Kolbert (talk) 04:09, 16 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes check.svg Done — JJMC89  (T·C) 06:37, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 12 October 2017
Can you please create, or remove the Category:International Standard Series Number templates? Rathfelder (talk) 14:46, 12 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Removed. Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 14:54, 12 October 2017 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 23 February 2020
I am getting error messages when using this template to link to ISSN numbers.

I created a template:Issno that works fine.

Talk to G Moore 19:10, 23 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Sent to TFD, I don't know what error messages you're getting with, but those don't exist. What error are you talking about?   Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 19:30, 23 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm guessing that it has to do with what you see after clicking the link (these urls):
 * https://www.worldcat.org/search?fq=x0:jrnl&q=2640-8570
 * https://www.worldcat.org/search?fq=x0:jrnl&q=2638-9924
 * whereas these (from ):
 * https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=2640-8570
 * https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=2638-9924
 * or these (the base url used by cs1|2):
 * https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2640-8570
 * https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2638-9924
 * work. But, these other cases that I took from the first couple of articles at Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:ISSN, do work:
 * so that suggests that the problem is with WorldCat and not with this template.
 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 19:59, 23 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Also, it's very likely time to fix the link to resolve to issn.org and not OCLC per WP:ASTONISH.   Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 20:12, 23 February 2020 (UTC)
 * so that suggests that the problem is with WorldCat and not with this template.
 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 19:59, 23 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Also, it's very likely time to fix the link to resolve to issn.org and not OCLC per WP:ASTONISH.   Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 20:12, 23 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Also, it's very likely time to fix the link to resolve to issn.org and not OCLC per WP:ASTONISH.   Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 20:12, 23 February 2020 (UTC)

The ISSN template results in a link that does a queru with the "n2:" in front of the ISSN. When I manually take out the "n2", and search WorldCat it works. The following message appears on the Screen:

 * No results match your search for 'n2:2640-8570' > 'Journal, magazine'.

Having trouble? Help us improve our search and let us know what you're trying to find. Or, save this search for future reference. 23:46, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

"n2:" added to Worldcat search, which then fails to find record
I've added an ISSN to Contemporary Culture Index as, but when I click on it Worldcat shows a failed search for "n2:1944-4621". If I remove the "n2:", all is well and I get to the right page. This seems to be the problem described above. I wonder if someone could please fix it, or point out what I'm doing wrong? Thanks. Pam D  09:02, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Special:SerialSources
As previously discussed, I think there should be a page analogous to Special:BookSources for ISSNs; perhaps it could be called Special:SerialSources.

Here are some links I think it should include:
 * ISSN Portal: https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/{}
 * WorldCat: https://www.worldcat.org/search?fq=x0:jrnl&q=n2:{}
 * Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISSN{}
 * HathiTrust: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor={}&searchtype=isn

Solomon Ucko (talk) 17:11, 14 February 2024 (UTC)
 * That seems like a good topic for Village pump (proposals). There is nothing we can do on this template talk page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:10, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Good idea, thanks. I've started WP:VPR. Solomon Ucko (talk) 21:53, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Kaputt
None of the examples overleaf work. The response is every time "Oops, something went wrong | WorldCat.org We are unable to connect to this page, please try again" -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 03:33, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

 * It works here.   Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 04:25, 10 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Template talk:ISSN


text: User:Agathocles~enwiki

title: User:Agathocles~enwiki