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User talk:Von Sponneck

Replies about Hans Graf von Sponeck
Hi!

I don't think I understand what you mean by "stuck". It's true that the Wikimedia servers sometimes get laggy but everything should work eventually - be patient. If you are talking about the template, it's in the first line of the article's code. Feel free to remove that line (put by me) when the article is wikified (currently it lacks wiki-links). Hope that answers your question. --Misza13 (Talk) 10:17, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

 * Why would you want to remove Wiki? Wiki is good. Wiki is the community. ;-) Seriously though, if by "Wiki" you mean the box which says "This article needs to be wikified..." then I have placed it there for a reason. If you've been around here on Wikipedia for some time you have undoubtedly noticed that articles here are written according to specific rules. While I admit that your article looks as well written (I am not talking about factual accuracy here) i.e. it is properly divided up into sections but lacks the wiki-links. Shortly: when some term appears in the article for the first time it should be made a link to an appropriate article of it's own.
 * Example: I have wikified the introduction to Hans Graf von Sponeck - when you edit that page, you'll see for yourself what I mean. After you (or anyone else) have done that with the rest of the article (remember: no more mentions of Dusseldorf, Germany, 1994 and so on need to be made as links) you can simply delete the first line (in the edit window) which says " ".
 * A good help to Wikipedia is here - you'll find good introductions to contributing to Wikipedia there including how to upload/insert pictures/photos into WP. But watch out that you don't violate copyright - we're very serious about it here. Oh, and one more thing...
 * Welcome to Wikipedia! --Misza13 (Talk)

title: User talk:Von Sponneck


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Religion in Israel

Religion in Israel is manifested primarily in Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. The State of Israel declares itself as a "Jewish and democratic state" and is the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority population (see Jewish state). Other faiths in the country include Islam (predominantly Sunni), Christianity (mostly Melkite and Orthodox) and the religion of the Druze people. Religion plays a central role in national and civil life, and almost all Israeli citizens are automatically registered as members of the state's 14 official religious communities, which exercise control over several matters of personal status, especially marriage. These recognized communities are Orthodox Judaism (administered by the Chief Rabbinate), Islam, the Druze faith, the Catholic Church (including the Latin Church, Armenian Catholic Church, Maronite Church, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Syriac Catholic Church, and Chaldean Catholic Church), Greek Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Anglicanism, and the Baháʼí Faith.

The religious affiliation of the Israeli population as of 2022 was 73.6% Jewish, 18.1% Muslim, 1.9% Christian, and 1.6% Druze. The remaining 4.8% included faiths such as Samaritanism and Baháʼí, as well as "religiously unclassified". While Jewish Israelis are all technically under the jurisdiction of the state Orthodox rabbinate, personal attitudes vary immensely, from extreme Orthodoxy to irreligion and atheism.

Jews in Israel mainly classify themselves along a fourfold axis, from least to most observant, hiloni (lit. 'secular'); masorti (lit. 'traditional'); dati (lit. 'religious' or 'orthodox', including religious zionist); and haredi (lit. 'ultra-religious' or 'ultra-orthodox').

Israeli law guarantees considerable privileges and freedom to practice for the recognized communities, but, in tandem, does not necessarily do so for other faiths. The Pew Research Center has identified Israel as one of the countries that place "high restrictions" on the free exercise of religion and there have been limits placed on non-Orthodox Jewish religious movements, which are unrecognized. Pew ranked Israel as fifth globally in terms of "inter-religious tension and violence".

Religious self-definition
A Gallup survey in 2015 determined that 65% of Israelis say they are either "not religious" or "convinced atheists", while 30% say they are "religious". Israel is in the middle of the international religiosity scale, between Thailand, the world's most religious country, and China, the least religious.

, 65% of Israeli Jews believed in God, and 85% participated in a Passover seder. A survey conducted in 2009 showed that 80% of Israeli Jews believed in God, with 46% of them self-reporting as secular. Israelis' majority (2/3) tend not to align themselves with Jewish religious movements (such as Reform Judaism or Conservative Judaism), but instead tend to define their religious affiliation by degree of their religious practice.

, 42% of Israeli Jews defined themselves as "secular"; on the other opposite, 8% defined themselves as haredi (ultra-orthodox); an additional 12% as "religious"; 13% as "traditional (religious)"; and 25% as "traditional (non-religious)".

In 2022, 45% of Israel Jews self-identified as "secular"; 10% as haredi (ultra-orthodox); 33% as masorti (lit. 'traditional'); and 12% as dati (lit. 'religious' or 'orthodox', including religious zionist).

Of the Arab Israelis, as of 2008, 82.7% were Muslims, 8.4% were Druze, and 8.3% were Christians. Just over 80% of Christians are Arabs, and the majority of the remaining are immigrants from the former Soviet Union who immigrated with a Jewish relative. About 81% of Christian births are to Arab women.

Among the Arab population, a 2010 research showed that 8% defined themselves as very religious, 47% as religious, 27% as not very religious, and 18% as not religious.

Judaism
Most citizens in the State of Israel are Jewish. As of 2022, Jews made up 73.6% percent of the population.

Secular-traditional spectrum

In 2007, a poll by the Israeli Democracy Institute found that 27% of Israeli Jews say that they keep the Sabbath, while 53% said they do not keep it at all. The poll also found that 50% of the respondents would give up shopping on the Sabbath as long as public transportation were kept running and leisure activities continued to be permitted; however, only 38% believed that such a compromise would reduce the tensions between the secular and religious communities.

Because the terms "secular" (hiloni) and "traditional" (masorti) are not strictly defined, published estimates of the percentage of Israeli Jews who are considered "traditional" range from 32% to 55%. A Gallup survey in 2015 determined that 65% of Israelis say they are either "not religious" or "convinced atheists", while 30% say they are "religious". Israel is in the middle of the international religiosity scale, between Thailand, the world's most religious country, and China, the least religious. The Israeli Democracy Index commissioned in 2013 by the Israel Democracy Institute regarding religious affiliation with religious movements of Israeli Jews found that 3.9 percent of respondents felt attached to Reform (Progressive) Judaism, 3.2 percent to Conservative Judaism, and 26.5 percent to Orthodox Judaism. The other two thirds of respondents said they felt no connection to any denomination, or declined to respond. However, it does not mean, that the secular/hiloni Israelis are without other forms of spirituality.

There is also a growing baal teshuva (Jewish returners) movement, involved with all Jewish denominations, of secular Israelis rejecting their previously secular lifestyles and choosing to become religiously observant, with many educational programs and yeshivas for them. An example is Aish HaTorah, which received open encouragement from some sectors within the Israeli establishment.

At the same time, there is also a significant movement in the opposite direction toward a secular lifestyle. There is some debate which trend is stronger at present. Recent polls show that ranks of secular Jewish minority in Israel continued to drop in 2009. Currently, the secular make up only 42%.

Orthodox spectrum

The spectrum covered by "Orthodox" in the diaspora exists in Israel, again with some important variations.

What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called dati ("religious") or Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") in Israel. The former term includes what is called Religious Zionism or the "National Religious" community (and also Modern Orthodox in US terms), as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as Hardal (Haredi-Leumi, i. e., "ultra-Orthodox nationalist"), which combines a largely Haredi lifestyle with a nationalist (i. e., pro-Zionist) ideology.

Haredi applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three separate groups, except mentioned Hardal, along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1) "Lithuanian/Lita'im" Haredim of Ashkenazic (i. e., "Germanic" — European) origin, predominantly, adherents of non-Hasidic traditional Orthodoxy, a.k.a. Misnagdim; (2) Hasidic Haredim of Ashkenazic (mostly of Eastern European) origin; and (3) Sephardi Haredim (including mizrahi).

Ultra-Orthodox sector is relatively young and numbered in 2020 more than 1,1 million (14 percent of total population).

Non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism
Conservative, Reform (the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism), Reconstructionist, Humanistic Judaism (the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism) and other new non-Orthodox Jewish religious movements are represented among Israeli Jews. According to The Israel Democracy Institute, as of 2013, approximately 7 percent of Israel's Jewish population "identified" with Reform and Conservative Judaism, a study by Pew Research Center showed 5% did, while a Midgam survey showed that one third "especially identified with Progressive Judaism", almost as many as those who especially identify with Orthodox Judaism. Only a few authors, like Elliot Nelson Dorff, consider the Israeli social group masortim (traditionalists) to be one and the same with the Western Conservative (masorti) movement, it produces understanding Conservative Judaism as a major denomination in Israel, associated with a large social sector.

The Chief Rabbinate strongly opposes the Reform and Conservative movements, saying they are "uprooting Judaism", that they cause assimilation and that they have “no connection” to authentic Judaism. The chief rabbinate's view does not reflect the majority viewpoint of Israeli Jews, however. A survey of Israeli Jews published in May 2016 showed that 72 percent of respondents said they disagreed with the Haredi assertions that Reform Jews are not really Jewish. The survey also showed that a third of Israeli Jews "identify" with progressive (Reform or Conservative) Judaism and almost two thirds agree that Reform Judaism should have equal rights in Israel with Orthodox Judaism. The report was organized by the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism ahead of its 52nd biennial conference.

Secular–religious status quo
The religious status quo, agreed to by David Ben-Gurion with the Orthodox parties at the time of Israel's formation in 1948, is an agreement on the role that Judaism would play in Israel's government and the judicial system. The agreement was based upon a letter sent by Ben-Gurion to Agudat Israel dated 19 June 1947. Under this agreement, which still operates in most respects today:
 * The Chief Rabbinate has authority over kashrut, Shabbat, Jewish burial and personal status issues, such as marriage, divorce, and conversions.
 * Streets in Haredi neighborhoods are closed to traffic on the Jewish Sabbath.
 * There is no public transport on the Jewish Sabbath, and most businesses are closed. However, there is public transport in Haifa, since Haifa had a large Arab population at the time of the British Mandate.
 * Restaurants who wish to advertise themselves as kosher must be certified by the Chief Rabbinate.
 * Importation of non-kosher foods is prohibited. Despite this prohibition, a few pork farms supply establishments selling white meat, due to demand therefore among specific population sectors, particularly the Russian immigrants of the 1990s. Despite the status quo, the Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that local governments are not allowed to ban the sale of pork, although this had previously been a common by-law.

Nevertheless, some breaches of the status quo have become prevalent, such as several suburban malls remaining open during the Sabbath. Though this is contrary to the law, the government largely turns a blind eye.

While the state of Israel enables freedom of religion for all of its citizens, it does not enable civil marriage. The state forbids and disapproves of any civil marriages or non-religious divorces performed amongst within the country. Because of this, some Israelis choose to marry outside of Israel. Many parts of the "status quo" have been challenged by secular Israelis regarding the Chief Rabbinate's strict control over Jewish weddings, Jewish divorce proceedings, conversions, and the question of who is a Jew for the purposes of immigration.

The Ministry of Education manages the secular and Orthodox school networks of various faiths in parallel, with a limited degree of independence and a common core curriculum.

In recent years, perceived frustration with the status quo among the secular population has strengthened parties such as Shinui, which advocate separation of religion and state, without much success so far.

Today the secular Israeli Jews claim that they aren't religious and don't observe Jewish law, and that Israel as a democratic modern country should not force the observance thereof upon its citizens against their will. The Orthodox Israeli Jews claim that the separation between state and religion will contribute to the end of Israel's Jewish identity.

Signs of the first challenge to the status quo came in 1977, with the fall of the Labor government that had been in power since independence, and the formation of a right-wing coalition under Menachem Begin. Right-wing Revisionist Zionism had always been more acceptable to the Orthodox parties, since it did not share the same history of anti-religious rhetoric that marked socialist Zionism. Furthermore, Begin needed the Haredi members of the Knesset (Israel's unicameral parliament) to form his coalition, and offered more power and benefits to their community than what they had been accustomed to receiving, including a lifting of the numerical limit on military exemptions for those engaged in full-time Torah study.

On the other hand, secular Israelis began questioning whether a "status quo" based on the conditions of the 1940s and 1950s was still relevant in the 1980s and 1990s, and reckoned that they had cultural and institutional support to enable them to change it regardless of its relevance. They challenged Orthodox control of personal affairs such as marriage and divorce, resented the lack of entertainment and transportation options on the Jewish Sabbath (then the country's only day of rest), and questioned whether the burden of military service was being shared equitably, since the 400 scholars who originally benefited from the exemption, had grown to 50,000. Finally, the Progressive and Conservative communities, though still small, began to exert themselves as an alternative to the Haredi control of religious issues. No one was happy with the "status quo"; the Orthodox used their newfound political force to attempt to extend religious control, and the non-Orthodox sought to reduce or even eliminate it.

Chief Rabbinate
It was during the British Mandate of Palestine that the British administration established an official dual Ashkenazi-Sephardi "Chief Rabbinate" (rabbanut harashit) that was exclusively Orthodox, as part of an effort to consolidate and organize Jewish life based on its own model in Britain, which encouraged strict loyalty to the British crown, and in order to attempt to influence the religious life of the Jews in Palestine in a similar fashion. In 1921, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864–1935) was chosen as the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi and Rabbi Jacob Meir as the first Sephardi Chief Rabbi (Rishon LeTzion). Rabbi Kook was a leading light of the religious Zionist movement, and was acknowledged by all as a great rabbi of his generation. He believed that the work of secular Jews toward creating an eventual Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael was part of a divine plan for the settlement of the land of Israel. The return to Israel was in Kook's view not merely a political phenomenon to save Jews from persecution, but an event of extraordinary historical and theological significance. Prior to the 1917 British conquest of Palestine, the Ottomans had recognized the leading rabbis of the Old Yishuv as the official leaders of the small Jewish community that for many centuries consisted mostly of the devoutly Orthodox Jews from Eastern Europe as well as those from the Levant who had made aliyah to the Holy Land, primarily for religious reasons. The European immigrants had unified themselves in an organization initially known as the Vaad Ha'ir, which later changed its name to Edah HaChareidis. The Turks viewed the local rabbis of Palestine as extensions of their own Orthodox Hakham Bashis ("[Turkish] Chief Rabbi/s") who were loyal to the Sultan.

Thus the centrality of an Orthodox dominated Chief Rabbinate became part of the new state of Israel as well when it was established in 1948. Based in its central offices at Heichal Shlomo in Jerusalem the Israeli Chief rabbinate has continued to wield exclusive control over all the Jewish religious aspects of the secular state of Israel. Through a complex system of "advice and consent" from a variety of senior rabbis and influential politicians, each Israeli city and town also gets to elect its own local Orthodox Chief Rabbi who is looked up to by substantial regional and even national religious and even non-religious Israeli Jews.

Through a national network of Batei Din ("religious courts"), each headed only by approved Orthodox Av Beit Din judges, as well as a network of "Religious Councils" that are part of each municipality, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate retains exclusive control and has the final say in the state about virtually all matters pertaining to conversion to Judaism, the Kosher certification of foods, the status of Jewish marriages and divorces, and monitoring and acting when called upon to supervise the observance of some laws relating to Shabbat observance, Passover (particularly when issues concerning the sale or ownership of Chametz come up), the observance of the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year in the agricultural sphere.

The Israel Defense Forces also relies on the Chief Rabbinate's approval for its own Jewish chaplains who are exclusively Orthodox. The IDF has a number of units that cater to the unique religious requirements of the Religious Zionist yeshiva students through the Hesder program of combined alternating military service and yeshiva studies over several years.

A poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute in April and May 2014 of which institutions were most and least trusted by Israeli citizens showed that Israelis have little trust in the religious establishment. When asked which public institutions they most trusted, the Chief Rabbinate at 29% was one of the least trusted.

Karaite Judaism
The Karaites are an ancient Jewish community that practices a form of Judaism distinct from Rabbinical Judaism, dating ostensibly to between the 7th and 9th centuries based on textual evidence,  though they claim a tradition at least as old as other forms of Judaism with some tracing their origins to the Masoretes and the Sadducees. Once making up a significant proportion of the Jewish population, they are now an extreme minority compared to Rabbinical Judaism. Nearly the entirety of their population, between 30,000 and 50,000, currently live in Israel, and reside mainly in Ramla, Ashdod and Beer-Sheva. There are an estimated 10,000 additional Karaites living elsewhere around the world, mainly in the United States, Turkey, Poland, and elsewhere in Europe.

Conversion process
On 7 December 2016, the chief rabbis of Israel issued a new policy requiring that foreign Jewish converts be recognized in Israel, and vowed to release criteria required for recognizing rabbis who perform such conversions. Previously, such conversions were not required to be recognized. However, within one week the chief rabbis had retracted their earlier promise and instead appointed members to a joint committee of five rabbis who would formulate the conversion criteria.

Samaritans
Israel is home to the only significant populations of Samaritans in the world. They are adherents of Samaritanism—an Abrahamic religion similar to Judaism. As of 1 November 2007, there were 712 Samaritans. The community lives almost exclusively in Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim and in Holon. Their traditional religious leader is the Samaritan High Priest, currently Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach. Ancestrally, they claim descent from a group of Israelite inhabitants from the tribes of Joseph (divided between the two "half tribes" of Ephraim and Manasseh), and the priestly tribe of Levi. Despite being counted separately in the census, for the purposes of citizenship, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate has classified them as Jews according to law.

Christianity
Most Christians living permanently in Israel are Arabs, or have come from other countries to live and work mainly in churches or monasteries, which have long and enduring histories in the land. Ten churches are officially recognized under Israel's confessional system, which provides for the self-regulation of status issues, such as marriage and divorce. These are the Catholic Church (including the Latin Church, Armenian Catholic Church, Maronite Church, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Syriac Catholic Church, and Chaldean Catholic Church), Eastern Orthodox Church (particularly the Greek Orthodox Church), the Syriac Orthodox Church, and Anglicans.

Christian Arabs are one of the most educated groups in Israel. Maariv has described the Christian-Arab sector as "the most successful in the education system", since Christian Arabs fared the best in terms of education in comparison to any other group receiving an education in Israel. Arab Christians were also the vanguard in terms of eligibility for higher education, and they have attained bachelor's and academic degrees at higher rates than Jews, Druze or Muslims in Israel.

There is also a small community of Hebrew Catholics, or Hebrew-speaking converts from Judaism to Catholicism. In 2003, a Patriarchal Vicar was appointed for the first time by the Vatican to oversee the Hebrew Catholic community in Israel.

According to historical and traditional sources, Jesus lived in the Land of Israel, and died and was buried on the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, making the land a Holy Land for Christianity. However, few Christians now live in the area, compared to Muslims and Jews. This is because Islam displaced Christianity in almost all of the Middle East, and the rise of modern Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel has seen millions of Jews migrate to Israel. Recently, the Christian population in Israel has increased with the immigration of foreign workers from a number of countries, and the immigration of accompanying non-Jewish spouses in mixed marriages. Numerous churches have opened in Tel Aviv.

Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches
Most Christians in Israel belong primarily to branches of the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches that oversee a variety of church buildings, monasteries, seminaries, and religious institutions all over the land, particularly in Jerusalem.

Protestants
Protestant Christians account for less than one percent of Israeli citizens, but foreign evangelical Protestants are a prominent source of political support for the State of Israel (see Christian Zionism). Each year hundreds of thousands of Protestant Christians come as tourists to see Israel.

Messianic Judaism

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement that arose within Evangelical Protestantism and incorporates elements of Judaism with the tenets of Christianity. They worship God the Father as one with Trinity. They worship Jesus, whom they call "Yeshua". Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the Messiah. They emphasise that Jesus was a Jew, as were his early followers. Most adherents in Israel reject traditional Christianity and its symbols, in favour of celebrating Jewish festivals. Although followers of Messianic Judaism are not considered Jews under Israel's Law of Return, there are an estimated 10,000–20,000 adherents in the State of Israel, both Jews and other non-Arab Israelis, many of them recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union. In Jerusalem, there are twelve Messianic congregations. This is growing religious group in Israel, according to both its proponents and critics. In Israel Jewish Christians themselves, go by the name Meshiykhiyyim (from Messiah, as found in the Franz Delitzsch Hebrew New Testament) rather than the traditional Talmudic name for Christians Notzrim (from Nazarene).

Islam
Jerusalem is a city of major religious significance for Muslims worldwide. After capturing the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel found itself in control of Mount Moriah, which was the site of both Jewish temples and Islam's third holiest site, after those in Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia: The Haram al Sharif (Temple Mount) from which Muslims believe that Mohammad ascended to Heaven. This mountain, which has the Dome of the Rock and the adjacent Jami Al-Aqsa on it, is the third-holiest site in Islam (and the holiest in Judaism). Since 1967, the Israeli government has granted authority to a Waqf to administer the area. Rumors that the Israeli government are seeking to demolish the Muslim sites have angered Muslims. These beliefs are possibly related to excavations that have been taking place close to the Temple Mount, with the intention of gathering archeological remnants of the first and second temple period, as well as the stance of some rabbis and activists who call for its destruction to replace it with the Third Temple.

Most Muslims in Israel are Sunni Arabs with a small minority of Ahmadi Arabs. From 1516 to 1917, the Sunni Ottoman Turks ruled the areas that now include Israel. Their rulership reinforced and ensured the centrality and importance of Islam as the dominant religion in the region. The conquest of Palestine by the British in 1917 and the subsequent Balfour Declaration opened the gates for the arrival of large numbers of Jews in Palestine who began to tip the scales in favor of Judaism with the passing of each decade. However, the British transferred the symbolic Islamic governance of the land to the Hashemites based in Jordan, and not to the House of Saud. The Hashemites thus became the official guardians of the Islamic holy places of Jerusalem and the areas around it, particularly strong when Jordan controlled the West Bank (1948–1967).

In 1922 the British had created the Supreme Muslim Council in the British Mandate of Palestine and appointed Amin al-Husayni (1895–1974) as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The council was disbanded by Jordan in 1951. Israeli Muslims are free to teach Islam to their children in their own schools, and there are a number of Islamic universities and colleges in Israel and the territories. Islamic law remains the law for concerns relating to, for example, marriage, divorce, inheritance and other family matters relating to Muslims, without the need for formal recognition arrangements of the kind extended to the main Christian churches. Similarly Ottoman law, in the form of the Mecelle, for a long time remained the basis of large parts of Israeli law, for example concerning land ownership.

Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is a small Islamic sect in Israel. The history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Israel begins with a tour of the Middle East in 1924 made by the second caliph of the Community Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad and a number of missionaries. However, the Community was first established in the region in 1928, in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine. The first converts to the movement belonged to the Odeh tribe who originated from Ni'lin, a small village near Jerusalem. In the 1950s they settled in Kababir, a former village which was later absorbed by the city of Haifa. The neighbourhood's first mosque was built in 1931, and a larger one, called the Mahmood Mosque, in the 1980s. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Ahmadi Muslims can openly practice their Islamic faith. As such, Kababir, a neighbourhood on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, acts as the Middle Eastern headquarters of the Community. It is unknown how many Israeli Ahmadis there are, although it is estimated there are about 2,200 Ahmadis in Kababir.

Druze
Israel is home to about 143,000 Druze who follow their own gnostic religion. Self described as "Ahl al-Tawhid", and "al-Muwaḥḥidūn" (meaning "People of Oneness", and "Unitarians", respectively), the Druze live mainly in the Northern District, southern Haifa District, and northern occupied Golan Heights. Since 1957, the Israeli government has also designated the Druze a distinct ethnic community, at the request of the community's leaders. Until his death in 1993, the Druze community in Israel was led by Shaykh Amin Tarif, a charismatic figure regarded by many within the Druze community internationally as the preeminent religious leader of his time. Even though the faith originally developed out of Ismaili Islam, Druze do not identify as Muslims,    and they do not accept the five pillars of Islam.

Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith has its administrative and spiritual centre in Haifa on land it has owned since Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in Acre in the early 1870s by the Ottoman Empire. The progress of these properties in construction projects was welcomed by the mayor of Haifa Amram Mitzna (1993–2003). As far back as 1969 a presence of Baháʼís was noted mostly centered around Haifa in Israeli publications. Several newspapers in Israel since then have noted the presence of Baháʼís in the Haifa area of some 6-700 volunteers with no salaries, getting only living allowances and housing, and that if an Israeli citizen were to wish to convert they would be told that "the religion does not seek or accept converts in the State of Israel" and that if they persist it is a personal matter between them and God and not a matter of joining a community of believers. Baháʼís generally practice a "staunch political quietism" and "do not engage in any missionary activity in Israel". Even Baháʼís from outside Israel are instructed to not "teach" the religion to citizens of Israel. The religion's situation in Israel was specified in an agreement signed in 1987 by then Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres as a "recognized religious community in Israel", that the "holiest places of the Baháʼí Faith, … are located in Israel, and confirms that the Universal House of Justice is the Trustee of the Baháʼí International Community over the Holy Places of the Baháʼí Faith in Israel and over the Bahá’í endowments in Israel". Baháʼís from other countries, wishing to visit Israel, are required to seek written permission from the Universal House of Justice prior to their visit for Baháʼí pilgrimage.

Hinduism
The small Hindu community in Israel is mostly made up of representatives of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In 2002, most of the devotees lived in Katzir-Harish.

Neopaganism
Although the exact number of adherents are unknown (one old estimate was 150 total), primarily due to societal stigma and persecution, a growing number of young Israelis are secretly reviving the pre-Judaic polytheistic worship of ancient Canaanite gods known as Semitic neopaganism. Additionally, others worship in different neopagan traditions such as Celtic, Norse, and Wiccan.

Jerusalem
Jerusalem plays an important role in three monotheistic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — and Haifa and Acre play a role in a fourth, Baháʼí. Mount Gerizim is a holy site to what can be considered a fifth, Samaritanism. The 2000 Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem lists 1204 synagogues, 158 churches, and 73 mosques within the city. Despite efforts to maintain peaceful religious coexistence, some sites, such as the Temple Mount, have been a continuous source of friction and controversy. Jerusalem has been sacred to the Jews since the 10th century BC. The Western Wall, a remnant of the Second Temple, is a holy site for Jews, second only to the Temple Mount itself.

Christianity reveres Jerusalem not only for its role in the Old Testament but also for its significance in the life of Jesus. The land currently occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is considered one of the top candidates for Golgotha and thus has been a Christian pilgrimage site for the past two thousand years. In 1889, the Ottoman Empire allowed the Catholic Church to re-establish its hierarchy in Palestine. Other ancient churches, such as the Greek, Armenian, Syrian, and Coptic churches are also well represented in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is the third-holiest city in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. The Temple Mount is known to Muslims as the Masjid Al-Aqsa, derived from the name mentioned in the Quran, and is topped by two Islamic landmarks intended to commemorate the event — Jami Al-Aqsa, and the Dome of the Rock, which stands over the Foundation Stone, from which Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to Heaven.

Other sites
As for the importance of Haifa and Acre in Baháʼí Faith, it is related to Bahá'u'lláh, who was imprisoned in Acre and spent his final years there.

Mount Gerizim is the holiest site to Samaritans, who used it as the site of their temple.

Within the Jewish community
The State of Israel generally respects freedom of religion. Freedom House reports: "Freedom of religion is respected. Each community has jurisdiction over its own members in matters of marriage, burial, and divorce."

Religious tensions exist between Jewish haredi and non-haredi Israeli Jews. Haredi Israeli males devote their young adulthood to full-time Talmudic studies and therefore generally get exemptions from military service in the Israel Defense Forces. Many leaders of haredi Judaism encourage these students to apply for exemptions from the mandatory army service, ostensibly to protect them from the secularizing influence of the Israeli army. Over the years, the number of exemptions has grown to about 10% of conscriptable manpower. Many secular Israelis consider these exemptions to be a systematic shirking of their patriotic duty by a large segment of society.

Haredi Israelis are represented by haredi political parties, which like all smaller parties in a system of proportional representation may tend to wield disproportionate political power at the point when government coalitions need to be negotiated following national elections. , the two main Haredi parties in the Knesset are Shas, representing Sephardi and Mizrahi interests, and United Torah Judaism, an alliance of Degel HaTorah (Lithuanian Haredi) and Agudath Yisrael. The Shinui party was created as a backlash to the perceived influence of the haredi parties, and to represent the interests of secular Jews that supposedly were not seen to by the other non-religious parties.

Tension also exists between the Orthodox establishment and the Conservative and Reform movements. Only Orthodox Judaism is officially recognized in Israel (though conversions conducted by Conservative and Reform clergy outside of Israel may be accepted for the purposes of the Law of Return). As a result, Conservative and Reform synagogues receive minimal government funding and support. Conservative and Reform rabbis cannot officiate at religious ceremonies and any marriages, divorces, and conversions they perform are not considered valid. Conservative and Reform Jews have been prohibited from holding services at the Western Wall on the grounds that they violate Orthodox norms regarding participation of women.

Tensions exist surrounding Mehadrin bus lines, a type of bus line in Israel which mostly runs in and/or between major Haredi population centers, in which gender segregation are applied. Non-Haredi female passengers have complained of being harassed and forced to sit at the back of the bus. In a ruling of January 2011, the Israeli High Court of Justice stated the unlawfulness of gender segregation and abolished the "mehadrin" public buses. However, the court rule allowed the continuation of the gender segregation in public buses on a strictly voluntary basis for a one-year experimental period.

Between Jews and Christians
Messianic Jews who are members of Messianic congregations are among the most active missionary movements in Israel. Their proselytising has faced demonstrations and intermittent protests by the Haredi anti-missionary group Yad LeAchim, which infiltrates those movements, as well as other proselytising groups such as Hare Krishna, and maintains extensive records on their activities. Attempts by Messianic Jews to evangelize other Jews are seen by many religious Jews as incitement to "avodah zarah" (foreign worship or idolatry). Over the years there have been several arson attempts of messianic congregations. There have also been attacks on Messianic Jews and hundreds of New Testaments distributed in Or Yehuda were burned. While missionary activity itself is not illegal in Israel, it is illegal to offer money or other material inducements. Legislation banning missionary work outright has been attempted in the past.

Some Orthodox Jewish communities in Israel have come under scrutiny for the negative stereotyping and scapegoating of Christian minorities in the region, including violent acts against Christian missionaries and communities. A frequent complaint of Christian clergy in Israel is being spat at by Jews, often haredi yeshiva students. The Anti-Defamation League has called on the chief Rabbis to speak out against interfaith assaults.

Israel has been accused of obstructing Christian worship by Palestinian Christians by withholding entry permits at times of religious significance to the community. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has also been accused of encroaching on Christian holy sites. In January 2023, with the rise of the political far-right and religious Zionist parties, emboldened Jewish extremists took to vandalizing Christian grave sites.

Marriage and divorce
Currently, Israel issues marriage licenses if performed under an official religious authority (whether it be Orthodox Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, etc.) only between a man and a woman of the same religion. Civil marriages were officially sanctioned only if performed abroad, but 2010 changes in Israeli law allow secular marriage in Israel for people that have proven to lack any religion also. This is a major issue among secular groups, as well as adherents to non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. There is fear that civil marriage will divide the Jewish people in Israel between those who can marry Jews and those who cannot, leading to concerns over retaining the character of the Jewish state.

Relative sizes of the religious communities in Israel
The census results are in thousands.

In 2011, non-Arab Christians, estimated to number 25,000, were counted as "Jews and others".

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

title: Religion in Israel


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User talk:Paxse

 This rapidly aging editor has Cambodia, many children, a small business, Cambodian district photography and a large extended family to keep him busy in off wiki hours. He still loves getting messages but please don't be offended if it takes a few days to receive a reply :) Click on this link to leave me a new message.

Asian 10,000 Challenge invite
Hi. The WikiProject Asia/The 10,000 Challenge has recently started, based on the UK/Ireland The 10,000 Challenge and WikiProject Africa/The 10,000 Challenge. The idea is not to record every minor edit, but to create a momentum to motivate editors to produce good content improvements and creations and inspire people to work on more countries than they might otherwise work on. There's also the possibility of establishing smaller country or regional challenges for places like South East Asia, Japan/China or India etc, much like The 1000 Challenge (Nordic). For this to really work we need diversity and exciting content and editors from a broad range of countries regularly contributing. At some stage we hope to run some contests to benefit Asian content, a destubathon perhaps, aimed at reducing the stub count would be a good place to start, based on the current WikiProject Africa/The Africa Destubathon which has produced near 200 articles in just three days. If you would like to see this happening for Asia, and see potential in this attracting more interest and editors for the country/countries you work on please sign up and being contributing to the challenge! This is a way we can target every country of Asia, and steadily vastly improve the encyclopedia. We need numbers to make this work so consider signing up as a participant! Thank you. -- Ser Amantio di Nicolao Che dicono a Signa?Lo dicono a Signa. 11:29, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

Women in Red World Contest
Hi. We're into the last five days of the Women in Red World Contest. There's a new bonus prize of $200 worth of books of your choice to win for creating the most new women biographies between 0:00 on the 26th and 23:59 on 30th November. If you've been contributing to the contest, thank you for your support, we've produced over 2000 articles. If you haven't contributed yet, we would appreciate you taking the time to add entries to our articles achievements list by the end of the month. Thank you, and if participating, good luck with the finale!

PROD AccessApps
I noticed you've done some work on AccessApps. I'm just letting you know that I've proposed that this article be deleted.CircleGirl (talk) 02:33, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Today's Wikipedian 10 years ago
--Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:50, 8 April 2019 (UTC)

Wikimania in Cambodia
Hey Paxse! We are coming together for Meetup/Phnom Penh/August 2021 in Koh Pich, and it would be great if you join as you seem to be one of the rare committed user living in the Kingdom of Cambodia. You can contact me through Facebook (Will Conquer) or Telegram (+855 96 236 3478) for more info. Willuconquer (talk) 09:55, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

title: User talk:Paxse


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Joseph Biroc

Joseph Francis Biroc, ASC (February 12, 1903 – September 7, 1996) was an American cinematographer. He was born in New York City and began working in films at the Paragon Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After working there for approximately six years, he moved to Los Angeles. Once in Southern California, Biroc worked at the RKO Pictures movie studio. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and filmed the Liberation of Paris in August 1944. In 1950, Biroc left RKO Pictures and freelanced on projects at various studios. In addition to his film work, which included It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), Biroc worked on various television series, including the Adventures of Superman and Wonder Woman. He frequently collaborated with film director Robert Aldrich.

Biroc won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for The Towering Inferno (1974), which he shared with Fred J. Koenekamp, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, one for the TV movie Brian's Song and one for the series Casablanca.

Early life
Joseph Francis Biroc was born on February 12, 1903, in New York City, New York. He developed a passion about film in his childhood. He saw his "first movie in 1910 on a vacant lot five blocks from his home" and knew from then he wanted to spend the rest of his life making movies.

Career
At the age of fifteen, with his uncle's help, Biroc began his career in film as a film lab technician with Paragon Labs in Fort Lee, New Jersey in 1918. The apprenticeship marked the beginning of a series of jobs at numerous laboratories for Biroc – which was then a required step for aspiring cinematographers.

Two years later, he started working at Craftsman Labs in New York from 1920 to 1923 and shortly for Goldwyn Pictures in Culver City, California in 1923. After his time at Goldwyn Pictures, Biroc returned to New York and took a job as film printer for Famous Players–Lasky, where he was shortly after promoted to assistant cameraman. After Famous Players–Lasky shut down in 1927, Biroc moved to Los Angeles to work for United Artists prior to moving to RKO to work as a camera operator. Biroc started at RKO by serving as assistant to cinematographers Leo Tover, Robert De Grasse, and Edward Cronjager. During his time at RKO, Biroc worked on Cimarron (1931), Swing Time (1936), and Shall We Dance (1937). He also worked on A Woman Rebels (1936), Sylvia Scarlett (1935), and Five Came Back (1939) (among others), but received no screen credit as RKO hardly credited camera operators. His last work before World War II was for Bombardier (1943).

In 1943, Biroc began his career as a motion picture cameraman in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Two years later, he filmed the brutalities at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany while serving as captain of the sixth detachment alongside George Stevens's Special Motion Picture Coverage Unit. The end of the war marked a significant period in Biroc's life as he achieved the rank of captain and eventually, the rank of major. He also obtained his first credit as cinematographer for It's A Wonderful Life (1946). Following this, Biroc “served as cinematographer for the first 3-D American feature length film in color” titled Bwana Devil (1952).

In 1952, Biroc began his association with producer-director Robert Aldrich, starting with shooting an episode of The Doctor and moving onto films such as Attack (1956), World for Ransom (1954), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte for which Biroc received his first Oscar nomination, The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), and The Longest Yard (1974). Biroc also “shot film for network television early on, such as musical shorts featuring Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and Louis Armstrong" – a feat considered rare for cameramen during the time period. During the majority of the 1950s, Biroc focused on television – both black and white and color. Biroc concluded his career in the 1970s and 1980s with work on television movies, specials, and miniseries.

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Biroc worked alongside four-time Oscar nominated cinematographer Joseph Walker in filming It's A Wonderful Life (1946) and achieved his first on-screen credit for his contribution.

Bwana Devil (1952)
Biroc was the cinematographer for the first feature-length 3-D color film in history, Bwana Devil (1952). He writes in an article for the American Cinematographer, “while other 3-D systems have employed dual cameras, none have pursued the theory that the 3-D cameras should see and record the scene exactly as the human eyes see it.” (336, August 1952). He goes on to explain how Natural Vision, the corporation he worked with, provided a different experience with 3-D pictures as it induced no eye strain.

Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977)
Biroc wrote an article for American Cinematographer where he explained the process behind filming the series Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977). In the article he mentions how the producers of the movie wanted the sets to look like actual locations, so each set had to have a big ceiling on it. He also mentions how he achieved a widespread shot for a scene – “we used a hospital chair as a dolly…we put a board across the handles of the wheelchair and the camera operator sat on the board.”

Hammett (1982)
Biroc worked with director Wim Wenders and producers Fred Roos, Ronald Colby, and Don Guest to achieve a classic lighting look for Hammett (1982). He stated in an interview with Richard Patterson for American Cinematographer, “Actually the way I photograph is the way they photographed 40, 50, 60, 80 years ago. It's just basic lighting and basic photography.”

Personal life
Biroc “was survived by one sister, Agnes Kronmeyer [who passed away in 2017] of Cranford, NJ, and four grandchildren.”

Television films
Refs:

Awards and nominations

 * Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black & White) nomination (1964; b&w) for Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
 * Emmy Award (1972) for Brian's Song
 * Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography - ABC Movie of the Week (1972)
 * Academy Award for Best Cinematography won (1974; shared) for The Towering Inferno
 * Emmy Award nomination (1977) for The Moneychangers [Part 1]
 * Emmy Award nomination (1978) for Washington: Behind Closed Doors [Part 1] & A Family Upside Down
 * Emmy Award nomination (1979) for Little Women [Part 2]
 * Emmy Award nomination (1980) for Kenny Rogers as the Gambler
 * Emmy Award (1983) for Casablanca [episode The Master Builder's Woman]
 * Emmy Award nomination (1985) for A Death in California
 * ASC Lifetime Achievement Award (1988)

Bibliography and further reading

 * "Hollywood Launches 3-D Production," in American Cinematographer(Hollywood), August 1952.
 * "Photographing Washington: Behind Closed Doors," in American Cinematographer(Hollywood), November 1977.
 * American Cinematographer(Hollywood), July 1981.
 * Focus on Film(London), no. 13, 1973.
 * Patterson, R., on Hammettin American Cinematographer(Hollywood), November 1982.
 * Basinger, Jeanine, in TheIt's a Wonderful Life Book, 1987.
 * American Cinematographer(Hollywood), March 1989.
 * Obituary, in American Cinematographer(Hollywood), November 1996.
 * Obituary, in Cinefantastique(Forest Park), vol. 28, no. 6, 1996.

title: Joseph Biroc


text: Category:Shopping malls in Austria

title: Category:Shopping malls in Austria


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Cranford

Cranford may refer to:

 * Cranford (novel), an 1853 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
 * Cranford, a 1972 BBC television adaptation of Cranford
 * Cranford (TV series), a 2007 BBC television adaptation of Cranford and other works by Elizabeth Gaskell
 * Return to Cranford, a 2009 two-part second season Christmas special of the 2007 TV series

Cranford may also refer to the following places:

 * Cranford, Donegal, Ireland
 * Cranford, London, England
 * Cranford, New Jersey, United States
 * Cranford (NJT station), a New Jersey Transit railroad station
 * Cranford, Northamptonshire, England, which comprises two settlements
 * Cranford St Andrew, Northamptonshire, England
 * Cranford St John, Northamptonshire, England
 * Cranford, Alberta, Canada

title: Cranford


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Glowlight danio

The  glowlight danio (Danio choprae) is a small, schooling fish closely related to the popular zebrafish Danio rerio. This should not be confused with the GloFish, a trademarked brand of fluorescent zebrafish that appear to glow in the dark under ultraviolet light. Danio choprae is an active danionin species that spends most of its time on mid-water levels. This species feeds on insects that have fallen into the water, aquatic insect larvae, and other small animals. In the aquarium, it accepts most foods offered, including most dry foods. It has a streamlined body marked with a brilliant orange longitudinal band and a series of vertical blue-black bars on the flanks. The fins are edged with yellow. In recent years, it has become quite widely traded as an aquarium fish, but otherwise has no commercial importance. Its common name derives from its similarity to the glowlight tetra, a South American characin only distantly related to this fish. They get on well with all other Danio species except the giant danio.

A less frequently traded geographical variant from the Putao area of northern Myanmar, known as the "northern glowlight danio", sometimes is referred to by a fictitious scientific name "Danio putaoensis". This variant is larger and has more vertical bars and longer barbels,it may refer to Danio flagrans.

Description

 * Maximum length: 3 - 4 cm
 * Colors: Brown, yellow, green, red
 * Temperature preference: 19-24°Celsius
 * pH preference: 6 to 7
 * Hardness preference: Soft to medium
 * Salinity preference': Fresh water
 * Compatibility: Good (but fast like most danios)
 * Lifespan: Typically three years, can live 6+ years with good care
 * Ease of keeping: Moderate
 * Ease of breeding: Moderate to hard

Etymology of the Latin name
S. L. Hora originally named this fish Danio choprae after Dr. B. N. Chopra. However, names ending in '-ae' are feminine and reserved for Latin names honouring women. Latin names honouring men usually end with '-i', and consequently the fish name sometimes is reported as Danio choprai.

title: Glowlight danio


text:
Talk:First conflict in the Goryeo–Khitan War

Copyright
Hello, Whlee. I was wondering if you wrote, or have permission to use, the content in the First Koryo - Khitan article because it is similar to an article on the Korean History Project website. Thanks -- Kjkolb 05:28, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

I understand what you are talking about, i recongnize the fact that the article is poorly written but i'm very busy these last few days. I will personalize it the following days when i got much more available extra-time. Regards. Whlee 10:24, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Question on Number
I think we should REALLY question the numbers of 800k Khitan troops. Wasn't the total population of Liao only 3 million? WangKon936 1:40, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Diplomatic Ties?
What exactly does "diplomatic relations" mean? Did Goryeo become tributary to Liao? Or does this just mean international trade or what? Can this article be clearer and less vague?

Attribution history
From its creation, this article was a copyright infringement of this source (archived version here). It has had to be deleted accordingly. However, an introductory paragraph was added by other editors which may merit retention. Other contributors added formatting or minor changes, but none substantial enough for GFDL attribution concerns. Attribution for substantial contribution to the opening paragraph, which I have restored here, is as follows. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 13:37, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * The first sentence was added 15:20, 22 December 2005 User:Chris the speller. "The First Koryo-Khitan War was a 10th-century conflict between the kingdom of Koryo and Khitan forces near what is now the border between China and North Korea."
 * The second sentence was added 16:46, 5 January 2006 User:Appleby. "The Goryeo-Khitan Wars continued with the second and third campaigns until 1019."
 * The second sentence was modified on 2 July 2008 by User:Dark and stormy knight. "It occurred in 993 and was the first of the Goryeo-Khitan Wars, which were continued with the Second Goryeo-Khitan War (1010) and Third Goryeo-Khitan War (1018)."


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Slough Jets

The Slough Jets are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, England playing in the NIHL South Division 1. The team was founded in 1986 after the construction of the Slough Ice Arena in Montem Lane in Slough and joined the first division of the British League. With the help of Gary Stefan who had previously been with Streatham Redskins, the Slough Jets were formed.

The Slough Jets are one of the few clubs in the UK who from their foundation have continued to play to the present day without interruption or a change of name.

The British Hockey League (1986-1996)
It did not take long for Slough Jets to make their mark, winning the London Cup in 1989. They followed this up by winning the Southern Cup and the British League Division One the following season, but they lost the final of the promotion play-off and so did not move up to the Premier Division.

The Jets were runners-up in Division One for three of the next four seasons, before winning the Division and the promotion play-off in 1995, thus moving up to the Premier Division.

The British National League (1996-2002)
After a brief settling-in period in the new league structure, the Jets won more silverware in 1998, capturing the Benson & Hedges Plate, and also finishing second in the BNL Southern Premier League the same year. The following season, 1998–99, was the most successful in the club's history to that point, as they won the British National League for the first time. They were also runners-up in the British National League Play-offs, losing to Fife Flyers on penalties.

The club were beaten finalists in the Benson & Hedges Plate in 2000, and this was also the year that one of their greatest players, Gary Stefan, was elected to the Great Britain Hall of Fame. The next few years were to be a fallow spell for the club, who were actually disbanded in 2002 due to financial problems, but were re-formed the same year.

The English Premier Ice Hockey League (2002-2014)
In 2002 Teal & White Ltd took over the management of the Slough Jets. In their first EPIHL season the Jets finished 3rd and qualified for the play-offs. In the following year they made the Final of the play-offs.

There was another change of ownership in 2005 as Slapshot Ltd took over the running of the club.

Jets took runner up in the league in 2005–06, 2007–08 and 2009–10 but never made it to league champions. They were successful in the post season play-offs, winning the titles in the 2007–08, 2009–10 and 2011–12 seasons. They also claimed the Premier Cup in 2011.

The final EPIHL season ended with the Jets struggling financially and coach Craig Moran having to hold together a team after Head coach Slava Koulikov left part way through the season along with other players. The Jets finished bottom of the 10 team league and failed to make the play-offs.

End of the Professional Era
In 2014 the Slough Jets ceased professional competition following a decision by Slapshot Ltd to exit the English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL) which was the 2nd tier of British Ice hockey at the time. The Slough Jets name continued with its existing amateur senior team in the National Ice Hockey League South 2 division and the Junior club. It was alleged that some supporters saw the move by the owners to end the professional era to effectively be the end of the club they supported. A move was made by Gary Stefan and Jets media man Mark Denholm to create a new EPIHL team at the rink but attempts to secure ice time were not successful.

A Slough Jets legends match was set up and played on July 14, 2014, to honour the club's professional history and raise money for charity.

The National Ice Hockey League (2014-Present)
Slough Jets currently play in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) South 1 Britton Division, which is the third tier of UK hockey. After winning NIHL2 league and National honours in the 2018/19 season, Slough Jets senior team moved to a 10 team NIHL1 division for 2019/20 season in a revised English Ice hockey league structure which introduced a new second-tier league called the NIHL National hockey league.

The Slough Jets ENL side had already been formed in 2010 to replace the disbanded Slough Harrier Hawks side and provide a bridge for young players to move from junior hockey to senior hockey. Craig Moran initially took on the Head coach role before resuming his Assistant Manager role for the EPIHL side. When professional hockey ceased in Slough, the Slough Jets NIHL side became the top level of Senior men's hockey at the venue. The coach for the amateur side for the 2014/15 season was Tony Milton.

The 2014/15 season was a success as they stormed to the title losing just one match in regular season play from their 6 team league. Franchise owner and player Zoran Kosic leading the points scoring with 48 points and notable performances from Alan Green and exciting Slough U18 pair Ben and Josh Ealey-Newman. Jets lost in the final of the playoffs however 4–0 to the Bristol Pitbulls.

Ahead of the 2015/16 season, departures affected the side with Zoran Kosic leaving and Alan Green and the Ealey-Newman brothers headed to Oxford. Nathan Darmanin was the top points scorer with 18 points as Jets only won 4 of 19 matches, finished 5 in their 6 team league and didn't make the play-offs.

With the closure of the rink for refurbishment, the team training in Guildford and Bracknell ice rinks and some fixture cancellations, the team struggled throughout the 2016/17 season. Player injuries and fixture congestion due to lack of ice whilst a temporary rink was constructed meant they could only finish bottom of the league with 4 victories to their name. Top points scorer again was Nathan Darmanin with 25 points.

Ahead of the 2017/18 season, it was announced that the former Bracknell Bees and Guildford Flames forward Lukas Smital was joining Slough Jets as player-coach to replace the departing Tony Milton. Smital took on a side who had struggled the previous season and finished bottom of their league of 6 teams. He was joined by former Bee and Slough player Joe Ciccarello as his assistant. Backstopped by impressive veteran Netminder Chris Douglas and with a mix of youth and experienced players, Slough finished a creditable 7th out of 13 teams in an expanded league structure achieving unexpected results against strong Chelmsford, Peterborough and Bracknell sides as Jets turned their temporary rink into a very difficult place to go and get a result.

Lukas Smital himself was top points scorer for the Jets with 67. Chris Douglas and Lukas Smital made the NIHL2 South first All-Star team. Luke Reynolds who joined the club part way through the season from Milton Keynes Thunder made the NIHL2 South second All-Star team

Following their return to the 'Hangar' in the 18/18 season, the team showed good form and produced a series of victories to lead the league. Wins against the Solent Devils home and away being the decisive results. Jets were tied on points with Solent Devils after victory against Peterborough Phantoms 2 in the final match of the season but were awarded the league title due to the head-to-head results.

After achieving the NIHL2 South title, the Slough Jets went to Coventry Skydome to play the NIHL2 North champions Widnes Wild for the NIHL2 National title. Man of the Match Sean Norris did the damage as Slough Jets came out victors 7-1

The play-offs were less successful as the Slough Jets went out with a heavy 9–3 defeat in the semi-finals to eventual champions Chelmsford Chieftains in a match which was missing influential player-coach Lukas Smital.

Top points scorer for the Jets during the season was Lukas Smital with 84 points. Lukas Smital again made the NIHL2 South first All-Star team. Sean Norris and Sam Talbot made the NIHL2 South second All-Star team

Jets re-signed Lukas Smital and the core of the NIHL2 South title winning side including Matt Smital in net, Lindgren, Reynolds, Rose, Talbot and Norris for the 2019/20 season. In defence the experienced Matt Jordan came in from Bracknell. Lukas Smital announced his retirement from playing at the age of 44. The club also moved to the NIHL 1 South Britton division.

The Jets made a strong start to their life in NIHL1 by leading the division at the end of the first month with Sean Norris winning Player of the Month. They were unable to carry on this form though and a severe concussion injury to key forward Sean Norris against Oxford City Stars on October 13 put him out of the side for several weeks and a further injury against Milton Keynes Thunder upon his brief return saw him sidelined again before he made a decision to leave the club. Norris left the club to join the NIHL National Basingstoke Bison full time and was followed there in mid-January by Sam Talbot further weakening the Jets side. Despite the loss of two key forward players and injuries to others, the emergence of junior players kept the club competitive and a top 4 spot still looked a possibility. By March the Jets still had several games in hand on other sides in the top 4 as the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

After the Elite Ice Hockey League announced it was cancelling the 2019/20 season on March 13 the EIHA made a statement that fixtures for the weekend were expected to continue. Chelmsford Chieftains cancelled the away fixture on March 14 citing players self isolating as well as concerns for player and supporter safety. Slough Jets cancelled their away fixture on March 15 against Bracknell Hornets as it became clear of the risk and concern amongst the players, supporters and their families. The EIHA made a decision to cancel the season the day after on March 16. The EIHA decided to award Bracknell Hornets a 5–0 victory for Slough Jets refusing to travel which moved them above Slough in the table and all other remaining fixtures were marked completed with no points awarded. This resulted in Slough Jets finishing the season 6th in the table.

Despite leaving the Jets mid season, Sam Talbot was voted onto the second NIHL1 South All-Star team.

The 2020/21 regular season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic however as part of a return to play several clubs played in a couple of round robin mini tournaments. First of all was the South Cup with the following teams involved; Haringey Huskies from NIHL2, Milton Keynes Thunder, Solent Devils and Slough Jets. As fans were not allowed in arenas at the time, the matches were streamed over the internet for fans to watch.

The eventual winners were Solent Devils who tied with Slough Jets on points but won on wins in regulation

The next return to play tournament was the Ruggedstock cup which was contested between Haringey Huskies, Milton Keynes Thunder and eventual champions, the Slough Jets.

An NIHL division 1 Cup final was held in Sheffield at the end of the season with two teams from the South in Slough Jets and Milton Keynes Thunder matching up against Widnes Wild and Sheffield Scimitars. The Jets lost in the semi-finals to Widnes Wild to end their season.

In the 2021/22 season, the Slough Jets fielded a youthful side including many U18 junior players and had an average age of just 20. Despite the lack of experience, the Jets started competitively and were particularly strong in the Cup games. A close 2–1 loss away against eventual league, cup and playoff winners Streatham IHC with seven seconds left showed the promise in the side. Slough Jets were the first away side to beat Bristol Pitbulls in their new rink with a 1–0 victory coming courtesy of a goal by Lewis English and a 61 shot shutout for Brett Shepherd.

A number of Jets players were also involved in matches in the NIHL National league. Adam Rosbottom left the Jets to play for the Bees full time in January at which point he was one of the Slough Jets top point scorers. Further departures shortly after were Thomas Banner to Basingstoke Bison and then Solomon Smith towards the end of the season.

Despite being in the top four spots most of the season, Jets failed to get the points to beat off rivals towards the end of the season eventually finishing 5th. Slough Jets failed to make the final of the cup with a narrow 5–4 loss to Invicta Dynamos in the semi-finals over two legs and also didn't make the play off final weekend with a more comprehensive loss 14–7 to Chelmsford Chieftains in the quarter-final over two legs.

The 'Hangar'
The Slough Jets' home rink is the Slough Ice Arena, which is also known as the "Hangar". A complete renovation of the rink begun in November 2016 with the reopening of the refurbished and remodelled facility in April 2018. Whilst renovations where carried out, the Jets played out of a temporary facility located in the leisure centre car park. In 2020 a NIHL National league team the Bees (formally Bracknell Bees) moved to the rink following the closure of the John Nike Leisuresport ice rink facility in Bracknell. The teams announced a desire to work together for mutual success and to develop players.

Slough Jets Juniors
The Slough Jets have a full junior programme with everything from 'Learn to play' programme to teams in all the junior age groups; under 9s, under-11s, under-13s, under-15s and under-18s. The Jets junior structure is part of the same organisation as the senior team with U18 players being included in senior training and match day squads.

Famous Jets
Future Oscar winner Gareth Unwin, who produced The King's Speech, once played for the team.

Season-by-season record
''This is a partial list of the last ten seasons completed by the Jets. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Slough Jets seasons.''

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes, POS = Position in league table at end of season

Note: ''*2019-20 season cut short due to COVID-19 pandemic. Points awarded or remaining games annulled''

Note: **2020-21 season did not run due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Franchise scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed EPIHL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Jets player

Franchise individual records

 * Most goals in a season: Derek Higdon, 96 (1993–94)
 * Most assists in a season: Brian Mason, 112 (1993–94)
 * Most points in a season: Scott Rex, 192 (1993–94)
 * Most penalty minutes in a season: Mike Flanagan, 252 (1995–96)
 * Most goals in a season, defenceman: Brian Mason, 48 (1993–94)
 * Most assists in a season, defenceman: Brian Mason, 74 (1990–91)
 * Most points in a season, defenceman: Brian Mason, 160 (1993–94)

Club roster 2022-23
(*) Denotes a Non-British Trained player (Import)

Club honours

 * 2020-21
 * Ruggedstock Cup Winners
 * 2018-19
 * NIHL 2 - Division Winners 2018-19
 * NIHL 2 - National Champions Winners 2018-19
 * 2014–15
 * NIHL 2 - Division Winners 2011–12
 * 2010–11
 * English Premier Cup Champions
 * 2009–10
 * EPIHL Play-Off Champions
 * English Premier League Runners-up
 * English Premier cup semi-finalists
 * 2008–09
 * EPIHL Play-Off Semi-finalists
 * 2007–08
 * EPIHL Play-Off Champions
 * English Premier League Runners-up
 * EPIHL Premier Cup Runners-up
 * 2005–06 Season
 * English Premier League Runners-up
 * 1998–99 Season
 * British National League Champions
 * 1997–98 Season
 * Benson & Hedges Plate Winners
 * 1994–95 Season
 * British Division 1 Champions
 * 1990–91 Season
 * British Division 1 Champions
 * 1989–90 Season
 * Heineken League Division One Champions
 * Southern Cup Champions
 * 1988–89 Season
 * London Cup Champions

Retired Shirts

 * #12 🇺🇸 Retired 1990 Richard Boprey
 * #18 Retired 1995 Mark Howell
 * #31 🇺🇸 Retired 1998 Charlie Colon
 * #17 🇨🇦 Retired 1999 Gary Stefan
 * #28 🇨🇦 Retired 2002 Joe Stefan
 * # 4 Retired 2008 Warren Rost

Head coaches

 * 🇨🇿 Lukas Smital (Current)
 * 🏴 Tony Milton
 * 🏴 Craig Moran
 * 🇷🇺 Slava Koulikov
 * 🇨🇦 Doug Sheppard
 * Peter Russell
 * 🇨🇦 Steve Moria
 * 🇨🇦 Andy Hannah
 * 🏴 Warren Rost
 * 🇨🇦 Joe Stefan
 * 🇨🇦 Scott Rex
 * 🇺🇸 Charlie Colon
 * 🇺🇸 Richard Boprey
 * 🇺🇸 Paul Ferguson
 * 🇨🇦 Gary Stefan

title: Slough Jets


text:
User talk:Dynamic lights

Welcome!

Hello,, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place  on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! --
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Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! We welcome and appreciate your contributions, such as Dynamic lights, but we regretfully cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from either web sites or printed material. This article appears to be a direct copy from http://www.dynamiclights.net/band.html. As a copyright violation, Dynamic lights appears to qualify for speedy deletion under the speedy deletion criteria. Dynamic lights has been tagged for deletion, and may have been deleted by the time you see this message. If the source is a credible one, please consider rewriting the content and citing the source. If you believe that the article is not a copyright violation, or if you have permission from the copyright holder to release the content freely under the GFDL, you can comment to that effect on Talk:Dynamic lights. If the article has already been deleted, but you have a proper release, you can reenter the content at Dynamic lights, after describing the release on the talk page. However, you may want to consider rewriting the content in your own words. Thank you, and please feel free to continue contributing to Wikipedia. -- Qaz  ( talk ) 10:27, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Vandalism
The copyviolation tag on the page you created has this as part of the text, "do not remove this notice from articles that you have created yourself." To remove this tag is considered avoidance vandalism. Please read the tag fully for it explains how to remedy the situation if you feel it is not correct but do not just remove it as you are the article creator. Qaz ( talk ) 23:30, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

ok sorry, please add everything necessary to the page. Dynamic lights 21:52, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

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 * 1) editing or creating articles related to you, your organization, or its competitors, as well as projects and products they are involved with;
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For information on how to contribute to Wikipedia when you have conflict of interest, please see our frequently asked questions for businesses. For more details about what, exactly, constitutes a conflict of interest, please see our conflict of interest guidelines. -- Orange Mike  |   Talk  02:34, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

This account has been blocked indefinitely from editing Wikipedia, because it has been identified as an account used for promotion of a company or group, with a username that implies that this has been done by that company or group. See Business' FAQ and Conflict of interest.

This kind of activity is considered spamming and is forbidden by Wikipedia policies. In addition, the use of a username like yours violates our username policy.

You may appeal this block by adding the text  or emailing the administrator who blocked you. Your reason should include your response to this issue and a new username you wish to adopt that does not violate our username policy (specifically, understand that accounts are for individuals, not companies or groups, and that your username should reflect this). Usernames that have already been taken are listed here. -- Orange Mike  |   Talk  02:34, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free media (Image:DynamicLights resurrection.gif)
Thanks for uploading Image:DynamicLights resurrection.gif. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

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Orphaned non-free media (Image:DynamicLights shape.gif)
Thanks for uploading Image:DynamicLights shape.gif. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, it is currently orphaned, meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. BJBot (talk) 05:07, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dynamic lights


text:
Talk:2006 Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia leadership election

Untitled
Please note that the link for "Bill Black" does not connect the reader to a biography of the correct person.
 * Then you ought to fix the article, that is what wikipedia is all about ;) - Jord 21:31, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:British Columbia Liberal Party leadership contest, 2011 which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. 117Avenue (talk) 02:41, 7 December 2010 (UTC)


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Egerhaben

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was Delete -- (drini's page| ☎ ) 21:10, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

Egerhaben

 * seems to be nonsense 84.191.166.24 10:29, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete The only web links that I can find are Wikipedia mirrors, so unverifiable. --Apyule 04:23, 10 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, even if verified it is not encyclopedic. Pavel Vozenilek 00:37, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lieutenant Randy Disher

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was Keep. Tito xd (?!?) 23:30, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Lieutenant Randy Disher
Non-notable GTBacchus 10:29, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

 * Keep character on hit show. Looking at the edit history, it appears the original speedy tag (nn real person), and the AFD nom (who tagged it as a "us-bio-stub"), were both based on the assumption this was a real person, who's job as "lieutenant" didn't make them notable.  Since, it's a fictional character on a hit show, it probably qualifies for an article, although, it needs work.  While I want a keep, I would be ok with a *temporary* re-dir to the show while the article is brought up to better standards (if it's not fixed by the end of the AFD) --rob 11:42, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep as per rob. -- Kjkolb 11:52, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep from original nom: now that I know it's a fictional character on a hit show, it seems a lot less wanton to have it in Wikipedia. I guess that's what I get for not watching TV. GTBacchus 03:17, 10 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep I created a stub article to the actor, Jason Gray-Stanford --Rogerd 03:59, 10 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep this article on Wikipedia. While this article is in need of editing, I don't believe it's necessary to delete the article, considering that many of the other fictional characters of the show, also have their own articles as well, and a summary of each character. I feel that by deleting this article, there is a bias toward who should and shouldn't have an article. which is unfair.
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


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User:Most reverted admin award/Full List Of Reverts

This is the full list of reverts, in reverse alphabetical order.


text: User talk:61.9.204.168

title: User talk:61.9.204.168


text:
Oxymitra

Oxymitra is the only genus in the liverwort family Oxymitraceae, in the order Marchantiales. The genus includes two or three species.

The species Oxymitra paleacea occurs in Europe, South America and North America (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, on sandstone or igneous substrates). North American plants have sometimes been considered a separate species O. androgyna, but they have more often been included in a wider definition of O. paleacea. The species Oxymitra cristata is found in South Africa.

title: Oxymitra


text: User talk:86.139.247.100

title: User talk:86.139.247.100


text:
Wikipedia talk:Articles for deletion/Sanal Edamaruku

Preserving current content of copyvio Web page below.

Sanal Edamaruku is the President of Rationalist International. He edits the internet publication of Rationalist International, which appears in English, French, German, Spanish and Finnish. He convened three International Rationalist Conferences in 1995, in 2000 and in 2002.

Sanal Edamaruku is also the President of Indian Rationalist Association (HQ@indianrationalist.org) which grew under his leadership into world's largest and most vibrant organization of its kind.

Sanal Edamaruku is a well known investigator of claims of miracles and paranormal, and has exposed hundreds of godmen and charlatans. His studies and exposures of powerful godmen like Satya Sai Baba, Pilot Baba, Balti Baba, Chandra Swami, Swami Sadachari, Mata Amritanandamayi, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar etc. have significantly influenced the public perception. His dynamic anti-superstition campaign is bringing about a silent revolution in Indian villages. Hundreds of rationalist volunteers trained by Sanal Edamaruku are challenging claims of paranormal all over India and in several other countries. Sanal Edamaruku's campaigns have attracted wide national and international media attention, and have been featured by TV channels Discovery, BBC, Channel IV of UK, CNN and print media including New York Times, Washington post, The Independent, The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Time, Newsweek, Asia Week and all major Indian newspapers.

Sanal Edamaruku is a powerful speaker and has delivered lectures in the USA, UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Japan. He has authored a wide range of articles and several books. His articles are translated and published in English, Hindi, Tamil, Oriya, French, Spanish, German, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegean, and several other languages. With two novels and many short stories, he has made a mark as creative writer in Malayalam language. He has built up Indian Atheist Publishers, Asia's largest freethought publishing house.

Sanal Edamaruku is a specialist of political and social life in Asia and of Eastern philosophy. He took his Masters in Political Science from the University of Kerala and his M Phil in International Studies from New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Magyar claims (2)

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was DELETE. — J I P | Talk 09:53, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

Magyar claims (2)
In a previous nomination of an article with this title (see Articles for deletion/Magyar claims), I called it an "unsalvageable [Hungarian] nationalist rant". Now we have something which is basically an anti-Hungarian-nationalist rant, polemicizing against the previously deleted article. I am sure an article could be written about Hungarian nationalist claims after WWI, but the earlier article wasn't it, and neither is this. Uppland 10:33, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete POV rant. Nothing in article to salvage.  The history of Hungary belongs in the logically named History of Hungary article.  --rob 11:06, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete as per rob Olorin28 12:03, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. This approaches the criteria of an attack-page speedy. NatusRoma 22:03, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. linas 23:32, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete --Rogerd 04:07, 10 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete as per rob. --Apyule 04:25, 10 October 2005 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


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Tara King

Tara King is a fictional character of British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers, played by Canadian actress Linda Thorson. The sixth partner of agent John Steed (and fourth female partner), she appeared in series six (in colour) of the series (1968–1969), playing in 33 episodes. She is Emma Peel's successor. She is also the first of John Steed's partners to be a real spy. Viewers are not given any indication whether or not she is related to Dr. Martin King — played by Jon Rollason — one of Steed's partners from series 2.

Arrival
Unlike Steed's other partners, we know few things about her. She enlisted at an early age in the Intelligence Service as a trainee, under the number 69. Her first contact with the bowler-hatted agent is described in the first episode of season 6: "The Forget-Me-Knot". This was a rather spectacular meeting: thinking Steed is the "enemy" of her training, she pounces on him before she realises she has made a mistake. Shortly after, she makes Steed's acquaintance. During their talk, we learn John Steed is considered as an idol by all agents, Tara included. She then helps him to resolve the episode's investigation.

Episode ending: Emma Peel leaves Steed and her life as a "talented amateur" to go back to her husband, Peter Peel, who has been miraculously found in the Amazonian jungle, two years after his plane crashed. This means Steed needs a new partner: he phones his boss Mother, who "knows his tastes". Mother appoints Tara King to replace Emma. Tara comes to Steed's flat just in time to pass Mrs Peel on the stairs. Emma (whom she has never met before) gives her a piece of advice: how to stir Steed's tea (anticlockwise). This scene, where Emma passes the torch to Tara, is one of the best-known sequences of the series.

Tara arrives at Steed's flat and, although he is saddened by Emma's departure, he is delighted to see his new partner, greeting her with the words "Tara – Ra-boom-di-ay". The clear implication is that she will not only replace Mrs. Peel in Steed's professional career, but also in his personal life. For the remainder of the series, his relationship with her was more flirtatious and physical than with Mrs. Peel.

Just before he meets Tara, Steed looks out of his window to see Mrs Peel picked up by Peter Peel in his car. We only see Peter from behind, but he clearly has a Steed-like style and image, with dark suit, bowler hat and umbrella. Steed looks at the scene, appearing to be puzzled/intrigued.

Characterisation
Dave Rogers writes in The Complete Avengers: The Full Story of Britain's Smash Crime-Fightin Team!: "Unlike Steed's earlier partners, Tara was single. 'It was my idea,' Linda told me. 'They suggested it might seem indecent for a single girl to be shown in his flat and perhaps having stayed overnight. I thought it was highly indecent for a married woman to be staying with him. So I persuaded them that it was much better for Tara to be single. Before my series, you had never really seen a girl making a fuss of Steed. But I saw Tara as being in love with him -- absolutely, unquestionably in love."

Tara was originally blonde but the shock of a grenade blast during 'The Great Great Britain Crime' subsequently turned her hair brunette. She states that she dislikes parties but loves skiing, motor sport, fashion and classical music and as a 2-year-old she went to Alaska. She normally carries a Smith & Wesson Model 40 Centennial 38 calibre revolver.

Tara continued the Lotus connection driving a red Lotus 54 in 8 episodes, and a Lotus 50 in 1. For ten episodes she drove an AC 428 initially meant to be Steed's car.

Reception
In the British Film Institute's 1996 tribute book, The Avengers, Toby Miller writes: "After Thorson was selected to replace Rigg, the discourse on her tells us where the producers saw the programme going. Publicists suggested she was chosen because she looked like Shirley MacLaine, was five feet nine inches tall, 'and 38 inches elsewhere'... Thorson was said to want a decidedly sexual relationship between her character and Macnee's and was quoted as favouring topless bathing, not wearing brassières, and seeing her role as using 'sex appeal rather than force' to get what she wanted from men. To critics like Banks-Smith, swinging a handbag rather than fighting made her 'a far more probable woman' than her predecessors."

In other media
Emily Woodward plays Tara in the audio adaptations of The Avengers produced by Big Finish Productions.

title: Tara King


text:
Brent Seabrook

Brent Seabrook (born April 20, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played fifteen seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks from 2005 to 2020. Chicago had selected him in the first round, 14th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft out of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He played four seasons of junior with the Lethbridge Hurricanes before joining the Blackhawks in 2005–06, becoming a key component in their success including three Stanley Cup championships. Internationally, he played for the Canadian national team and won gold medals at the 2003 IIHF World U18 Championships, 2005 World Junior Championships and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Junior
Growing up in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Seabrook played minor hockey with the South Delta Minor Hockey Association. He also played spring hockey with the Pacific Vipers, along with three future Chicago Blackhawks teammates, Colin Fraser, Troy Brouwer and Andrew Ladd. He went on to play major junior in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who drafted by him in the first round of the 2000 WHL Bantam Draft. Seabrook played with future Chicago Blackhawks teammate Kris Versteeg for three seasons in Lethbridge. After a 42-point season in 2002–03 with the Hurricanes, Seabrook was drafted 14th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Chicago Blackhawks
Seabrook made his professional debut after completing his fourth and final WHL season, being assigned to the Norfolk Admirals, the Blackhawks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for the final three games of the regular season and six post-season games. Seabrook cracked the Blackhawks' line-up his first year out of junior in 2005–06 and recorded five goals and 32 points as a rookie.

In his third NHL season, in 2007–08, Seabrook matched his rookie total with 32 points while tallying a personal-best nine goals. He began the season on the top-defensive pairing with Duncan Keith.

The following season, Seabrook became an integral part of a young and rejuvenated Blackhawks team that made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in seven years the following season in 2009. He scored 11 points in 17 post-season games as the Blackhawks made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they were defeated by the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

On March 17, 2010, Seabrook was knocked out by a high hit from James Wisniewski, a former teammate. Seabrook missed the next two games, while Wisniewski was ultimately suspended for eight games. On June 9, 2010, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in six games after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 in overtime in game six. On February 27, 2011, the Blackhawks signed Seabrook to a five-year, $29 million contract extension.

On May 29, 2013, Seabrook scored the Game 7 overtime winner against the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Semi-finals, advancing Chicago to the Western Conference Final. During the Finals, on June 19, Seabrook scored the overtime winner against the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of the series. Seabrook won his second Stanley Cup as the Blackhawks beat the Bruins in six games.

During the first round of the 2014 playoffs, Seabrook delivered a high-hit to David Backes of the St. Louis Blues. Backes was forced to leave the game and Seabrook was assessed a match penalty. The Department of Player Safety reviewed the hit and suspended Seabrook for three games.

On September 17, 2015, the Blackhawks named Seabrook as an alternate captain. On September 26, 2015, the Blackhawks signed Seabrook to an eight-year, $55 million contract extension.

Seabrook played in his 1,000th NHL game on March 29, 2018, in a game against the Winnipeg Jets.

On December 11, 2018, Seabrook and teammate Duncan Keith became the first pair of defencemen, and the seventh duo in NHL history to play 1,000 games together.

Injuries and retirement
On December 26, 2019, the Blackhawks placed Seabrook on long-term injured reserve after announcing he would require three separate surgical operations to repair his right shoulder and both hips. Seabrook missed the remainder of the 2019–20 season. He returned to practice with the team in July to prepare for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, which had been postponed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seabrook opted out of the playoffs on July 24 to focus on fully recovering from his surgery.

Seabrook intended to rejoin the Blackhawks prior to the 2020–21 season, but injured his back days before team's pre-season training camp. He was placed on injured reserve to start the season. On March 5, 2021, Seabrook announced he could no longer continue his playing career in the NHL due to injury. Seabrook intends on formally retiring after his current contract expires after the 2023–24 NHL season. On July 27, 2021, the Blackhawks traded Seabrook's contract to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Tyler Johnson and a second-round draft pick in 2023.

Seabrook played in 1,114 regular season games over 15 seasons in the NHL, where he recorded 103 goals and 361 assists. Stan Bowman, the Blackhawks' president of hockey operations, reflected on Seabrook's contributions, stating, "Without Brent Seabrook, the Chicago Blackhawks would not have three Stanley Cups. He concludes his career as not only one of the best defensemen in franchise history, but one the greatest Chicago Blackhawks of all time."

International play
During his junior career, Seabrook represented Canada in two World Junior Championships. In 2004 in Finland, he recorded three points to help Canada to the gold medal game against the United States, where they were defeated 4–3. Returning the following year in 2005 in the United States, he matched his three-point total from the previous tournament and helped defeat Russia 6–1 in the final to capture Canada's first gold medal that began a five-year run.

After his rookie season with the Blackhawks, Seabrook made his senior international debut with Canada at the 2006 World Championships in Latvia, where Canada failed to medal.

On December 30, 2009, Seabrook was called and asked to play for Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, along with Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews. He was expected to continue his NHL pairing with Keith during the tournament, but he instead became designated as Canada's seventh defenceman. He notched one assist over seven games as Canada won the gold medal over the United States 3–2 in overtime on February 28, 2010.

Personal life
Seabrook and his wife Dayna have three children: a son and two daughters.

On February 25, 2014, Seabrook, along with Blackhawks teammate Duncan Keith, made a cameo appearance in the episode "Virgin Skin" on the NBC drama Chicago Fire. His younger brother, Keith Seabrook, was drafted by the Washington Capitals and played in the AHL from 2009 to 2012, returning in 2014 after a brief hiatus from the sport.

title: Brent Seabrook