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Dharma Initiative

The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project and organization featured in the television series Lost. It was introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". In 2008, the Dharma Initiative website was launched. Dharma's interests were directly connected with fringe science. Dharma is a Sanskrit term used in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The logo is an octagon with the word "dharma" inside, all inscribed inside a bagua.

Background
The Dharma Initiative and its origins are first explored in the episode "Orientation" by an orientation film in the Swan Station. Dr. Pierre Chang (Francois Chau), under the alias of Dr. Marvin Candle, explains that the project began in 1970, created by two doctoral candidates from the University of Michigan, Gerald and Karen DeGroot (Michael Gilday and Courtney Lavigne), and was funded by Alvar Hanso (Ian Patrick Williams) of the Hanso Foundation. They imagined a "large-scale communal research compound", where scientists and free thinkers from around the globe could research meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, electromagnetism, and a sixth discipline that the film begins to identify as "utopian social-" before being cut off.

The episodes "LaFleur" and "He's Our You" indicate that mathematician Horace Goodspeed was in charge of Dharma Initiative operations on the Island, at least from the very early 1970s through the time of "the Incident". Key decisions that needed to be made on the Island were taken by a committee, which included all department heads, including Head of Research Stuart Radzinsky and security head LaFleur (the name the time-traveling Sawyer was assuming). They, in turn, answer to the Dharma Initiative HQ based at the University of Michigan, as evidenced when Radzinsky threatens to call the University to override a key decision by Goodspeed. In the episode "The Variable", Daniel Faraday confirmed that Dharma Initiative Headquarters, at least through 1977, was located at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The "Lost Experience", an alternate reality game which took place in 2006, revealed that the objective of the Dharma Initiative was to alter any of the six factors of the Valenzetti Equation, an equation which "predicts the exact number of years and months until humanity extinguishes itself," to allow humans to exist for longer by changing their doomsday. These factors are represented as numbers in the Valenzetti Equation and are also the numbers frequently mentioned in the show: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42.

In 1977, the Dharma workers based on the Island drilled into a huge electromagnetic pocket, releasing a catastrophically dangerous amount of electromagnetic energy. This is referred to as "the Incident" and is frequently alluded to in other Dharma Initiative sources. Radzinsky insisted on drilling despite warnings from Dr. Chang about the danger. In the Swan Station orientation film, recorded in 1980, Dr. Marvin Candle insists that the computer at the Swan Station not be used for any other purpose, specifically to communicate with other stations. When the Oceanic 815 survivors travel back in time to 1977, they attempt to negate the release of this energy by detonating the plutonium core of a hydrogen bomb, causing a massive explosion that returns all of the time travelers back to 2007.

After the Incident, according to notes on the blast door map painted by Stuart Radzinsky in the Swan Station, the Dharma Initiative's facilities on the Island seemed to fall into disrepair. The blast door map has been annotated about destroyed access tunnels, a breakdown in the Cerberus Security System and mentions facilities being abandoned or destroyed via other incidents or accidents, specifically one happening on October 28, 1984, another in 1985, and a final one on December 7, 1987. By the time Danielle Rousseau and her crew shipwrecked on the Island, in 1988, many of the facilities on the Island had been abandoned, including the radio tower. At no point between then and the eventual purge of its members did the Dharma Initiative attempt a search and rescue for Danielle or her crew, despite Danielle broadcasting her own distress signal on a continuous loop from the tower for sixteen years.

When the Dharma Initiative arrived on the Island, they fought with the Island's natives, known to them as the Hostiles and to the survivors of Flight 815 as the "Others". The "Hostiles" had been living on the Island long before the Initiative arrived. The Arrow Station was eventually given a mission to observe and formulate strategies to counter the Hostiles. When Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) arrived on the Island in 1970, there was still an open conflict between the Hostiles and the Dharma Initiative. At some point prior to 1974, a truce of some kind was brokered with the Hostiles. A series of protocols were put into place between the Hostiles and the Initiative. Several episodes mention that there was a "line" and that certain parts of the Island were considered to be the "territory" of each group. This conflict ended in 1992, when Linus joined the Hostiles, who killed the Initiative, an event which became known as "The Purge". The bodies were buried in a mass grave.

In 2001, after Stuart Radzinsky's alleged suicide in The Swan, Kelvin Inman, a man who found Desmond adrift on the beach, was still working for the Dharma Initiative in the Swan station. Lost producer Carlton Cuse confirms in a podcast that Kelvin was indeed a member of the Dharma Initiative. In the "Lost Experience", an actor portraying fictional Hanso Foundation executive Hugh McIntyre appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he stated that the Foundation had stopped funding the Dharma Initiative in 1987. However, in season 2, an air drop of supplies arrived for the Swan station. This drop was made by a drone launched from the Dharma Logistics Warehouse located on the Orote Peninsula on the island of Guam. Two of the last known living members of the Dharma Initiative, known only as Hector and Glenn, had been sending regular supply drops to The Island for over twenty years. This indicates a financial structure had been left in place by the Hanso Foundation, hinted at in the Sri Lanka video, to pay the two workers and keep them supplied with packaged foodstuffs and equipment sufficient to continue sending pallets to The Island in perpetuity. They were regularly given the coordinates of The Island via a teletype link to the still-working Lamp Post station, allowing them to program the drones with the exact drop locations for their cargo. In the epilogue short video "The New Man in Charge", Ben Linus arrives at the warehouse and, after answering Hector and Glenn's questions, shuts it down, correctly telling the Dharma workers that there's a new man in charge (Hurley) and their work is no longer needed (as people are now allowed to leave The Island).

At the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, a new ARG began with a booth recruiting new members to the Initiative. At the Lost panel, Hans van Eeghen, a Dharma executive, revealed that the results from the booth were "abysmal", and a few people had been selected to view a video that had been sent from thirty years in the past. In the video, Pierre Chang said that the work on the Island is valid, and it is essential that the Dharma Initiative is restarted. Following this a website was launched, which allowed users to join the Dharma Initiative.

Research stations
The Dharma Initiative placed nine known research stations around the Island (as well as the off-island Lamp Post), most of which take the form of hidden underground facilities or bunkers. After Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on the Island in September 2004, the survivors encounter several of these stations. The first to be discovered is "The Swan" which they refer to informally as "the hatch". Nine additional stations have since been visited over the series, each with its own particular logo associated with it: an octagon, similar to the bagua design, with a differing symbol at the center.

On the blast door map, there are 6 structures depicted, and at least 4 of them are labeled by name and icon like DHARMA stations: The Swan, The Flame, The Staff and The Arrow. The other structures are labeled by question marks or numbers. Two of the alleged stations are drawn with dotted lines. The 6 structures all surround a big circled question mark in the center of the map. At the top left, there is another structure (a 7th structure) which is scribbled out. The Swan Station's blast door map makes reference to a light manufacturing facility, a meteorological research station, station "CVII", and others that were never shown on the series.

Among the hatches on the southeast side of the map, there are 4 rectangular structures/labels that have "CVI","CVII","CVIII", and "CVIV" written on them. CV stands for Cerberus Vent, which was revealed in secret writing on the back of one of the Lost jigsaw puzzles. The Swan station's blast door map claims that there was, at one time, a tunnel network that connected many of the stations. Notations on the map suggest that the tunnels started falling into disrepair in the early 1980s, soon after the incident occurred.

Station 1: The Hydra
The Hydra is a zoological research station located on a small island roughly two miles off-shore from the main island. It is described as being about twice the size of Alcatraz Island. The Hydra facility has cages outside the station in the jungle where polar bears used to be kept. An underwater complex was once used as an aquarium, which housed sharks and dolphins. The facility also features living and research quarters. The symbol for this station is the usual Dharma Initiative logo with a hydra in the middle, which can be seen on a large canopy behind Kate and Sawyer's cages in season 3.

At the start of season three, Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are held captive on the Hydra island by the Others. Kate and Sawyer are forced to build a runway, until they manage to escape. In season two, a shark has the Dharma symbol branded on its tail. Also in season three episode "A Tale of Two Cities", Tom comments that the polar bears that used to be housed in the cage Sawyer was being held in figured out the "food" puzzle in two hours. A leather collar bearing the Dharma Hydra symbol is found near a polar bear skeleton in the Tunisian desert. In the fifth season, Ajira Airways Flight 316 makes a forced but overall safe landing on the Hydra island, landing on the runway built by the Others. In the fifth-season episode "Some Like It Hoth", Dr. Chang threatens to send an over-inquisitive Hurley to the Hydra Station to participate in their "ridiculous experiments" if he mentions a body delivered to Dr. Chang by Miles Straume.

Station 2: The Arrow
The Arrow station is first seen in "...And Found". In "Because You Left", a flashback shows Chang doing the initial recording for the orientation film, where he explains that it is a station for monitoring the Hostiles and formulating strategies to combat them. He is interrupted before he can finish. In "The Man Behind the Curtain", flashbacks of the Dharma Initiative in operation on the Island show one of the members, Horace Goodspeed (Doug Hutchison), wearing a jumpsuit bearing the Arrow station logo with "mathematician" written below it. When rediscovered in 2004, the word "quarantine" appears on the inside of the station's door. In "LaFleur", Horace gives the order to notify the Arrow to "prepare the heavy ordnance" when he believes there is an imminent danger from the Hostiles.

When the tail section survivors come across the Arrow Station in "The Other 48 Days", it has apparently been converted into a storage room. Within, they find a radio, a glass eye, and part of the Swan station's orientation film hidden inside a Bible. Producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof stated on a podcast that each object is significant, and not randomly chosen.

Station 3: The Swan
The Swan was planned to be a laboratory used by the Dharma Initiative for research on electromagnetism. In the episode "The Incident", Dharma Initiative member Radzinsky claimed when complete, the Swan Station would allow manipulation of electromagnetism that "would change the world". According to the feature "Access Granted" on the third season Blu-ray, Dharma drilled into the earth and hit an area containing a large electromagnetic buildup, which their drilling released. The Swan was built over this area to act as a cork. Dharma then came up with a scheme to "dam" the leak but with the drawback that the field built up behind the dam and would eventually break it. A failsafe key could be used to permanently "seal" the leak. The specific event happened in July 1977, as revealed in "The Incident", and necessitated the evacuation of the island.

On the station's orientation film, Doctor Marvin Candle explains that an "incident" occurred early in the station's experiments. An edit to the film, which according to Inman was made by Radzinsky, removed specific details of this incident. This event required the entire Swan station area to be sealed with a large amount of concrete "like Chernobyl" (according to Sayid and Daniel Faraday) to contain the dangerous energy. This caused a consistent build-up of electromagnetic energy, which resulted in a change of the station's focus: a two-member crew, replaced every 540 days, were instructed to enter a numeric code into a microcomputer terminal every 108 minutes. The station is equipped with a split-flap display timer, which is interfaced to a microcomputer terminal and connected to an alarm system.

The station is stocked with food, a record player with a collection of old LPs, a small library, an armory, a shower, and bunk beds. There is also a brand new washer/dryer and one of the books in the library is "Rainbow Six" by Tom Clancy, published in 1998. It is almost entirely underground, except for an entrance shaft and a concealed door (possibly due to being hidden in the Hostiles territory). The station also has several internal blast doors, with a map in invisible ink on one of them. This map has been worked on by, at a minimum, Kelvin Inman and Radzinsky. Analysis of the map suggests no less than five unique handwriting styles, and thus five different contributors. The map has direct revision dates on it, and as well as the obvious map entry, also seems to serve as some sort of history to happenings on the island, as there are many annotations that seem to suggest the writers were attempting to locate and ascertain the status of many stations on the Island. There are sections that are written in Latin. Kelvin Inman is seen writing in the lower right hand part of the map in "Live Together, Die Alone", near a revision dated for 6.26.2002. There are also acrylic based paints and several murals painted in different portions of the hatch by unknown people as well as tick marks on the wall derived from them.

In the episode "Some Like It Hoth", set in 1977, the Swan Station is shown to be under construction in an area designated as the Hostiles' territory, a violation of the truce Dharma had brokered with them, under the primary authority of Radzinsky. In the episode "The Incident", Dharma hits the pocket, releasing the energy and drawing all metallic objects into the hole. The plutonium core of a hydrogen bomb is detonated by the survivors in an attempt to negate the energy. In "Live Together, Die Alone", Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) shipwrecks on the Island in 2001 and is taken to the Swan station. Here Kelvin Inman explains about entering the numeric code then pushing the button to save the world. In September 2004, Kelvin and Desmond get into a fight, resulting in Kelvin's death. Desmond enters the numbers too late, resulting in an electromagnetic build-up, which causes the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Two of the survivors, Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and Boone (Ian Somerhalder), discover the Swan accidentally. Locke manages to open it in the first-season finale "Exodus". Inside they find Desmond, who flees after they break the computer. The survivors manage to fix the computer, and begin pushing the button every 108 minutes.

After discovering the Pearl orientation film, Locke believes pushing the button is a psychological test, and with Desmond's help decides to find out what will happen if the button is not pushed. Desmond tries to convince Locke that the station is real, with data from the Pearl, but Locke breaks the computer anyway so he can't stop the countdown. This causes all the metal objects in the Swan to fly about, and the ground begins to shake. Realizing the importance of the button Locke accepts he was wrong, and Desmond turns the failsafe key. The sky turns violet temporarily, and the Swan is destroyed. The electromagnetic burst released by the destruction of the Swan Station renders the island momentarily visible to the outside world. The energy signature is detected by a monitoring station under the control of Penelope Widmore, which reported to her that they had "found it."

The Incident Room
In the video game Lost: Via Domus, the Incident Room is the abandoned laboratory revealed to be on the other side of the concrete wall in the Swan. The room was accessed by a tunnel and a large locked door. The room contains a large reactor and other severely damaged equipment. The reactor is tilted to one side and discharging electricity as well as coolant fluid. It has the appearance of two large electromagnetic coils suspended over a drilled shaft into the Island surrounded by severely damaged concrete. The Incident Room has its own computer much like the Swan's. This section of the Swan appeared on the blast door map as a blocked off section of the station ("Lockdown"), but was never seen in the show itself.

The Incident Room has been mentioned several times in Lost. When Sayid first visited the Swan he tried to find a way past the concrete wall, but it was just too thick to get through. Sayid told Jack that "The last time I heard of concrete being poured over everything in this way was Chernobyl", ("Everybody Hates Hugo").

The look and design for the "Incident Room" came from never before seen blueprints given to the developers by the Lost crew for the game. Although the game has been stated to be non-canon, the designs are the creators' intended layout for the blocked sections of the Swan station.

Station 4: The Flame
The Flame is the Dharma Initiative's communication station. It uses sonar and satellite technologies to communicate with the outside world and other stations on the Island, and can also be used to order food deliveries. Unlike the other stations, the Flame is not an underground bunker, but rather a wood-frame bungalow with a large satellite dish on the roof. Inside the station is a living area, a kitchen, and a computer room. Below the building is a large basement containing supplies, including a library of Dharma Initiative operations manuals. The facility also boasts several gardens, as well as chickens, cows, and goats roaming the area.

On the day Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on the Island, Mikhail Bakunin (Andrew Divoff) uses the station to access news feeds to gather information about the survivors. At Ben's request he alters one of the feeds to allow Juliet to see her sister and nephew alive and well off the Island. At some point after this, communication off the Island is no longer possible, as the Looking Glass is blocking all signals. In "Enter 77", Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), and Locke discover the station. Locke uses the computer to send a message saying the Hostiles have invaded the station, and by doing so he unintentionally destroys it by causing the C4 lining the basement to go off. As shown in "LaFleur", Radzinsky was stationed at the Flame in 1977, where he designed the model for the future Swan Station.

Station 5: The Pearl
The Pearl is where the Dharma Initiative studied psychology. It primarily serves as a monitoring station, to which surveillance feeds from the other stations are sent. Its orientation film asserts that the Swan is a psychological experiment, and that the purpose of those stationed in the Pearl is to monitor the participants in that station. The station consists of a three-by-three bank of television sets, two chairs with writing surfaces, and a computer hooked to a printer. A pneumatic tube is installed in the room, which the orientation film states is used to transport notebooks to another Dharma location. According to the orientation film that features Dr Mark Whickman, two-person teams, working eight-hour shifts over a three-week period, were to watch the video displays and take notes on their observations. Every action, regardless of how trivial, was to be recorded into notebooks by the Pearl's team members.

After Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on the Island, Nikki and Paulo (Kiele Sanchez and Rodrigo Santoro) are the first survivors to encounter the Pearl, while searching for diamonds. Several weeks later, Locke and Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) enter the Pearl and watch the orientation video. Locke believes this means pushing the button in the Swan is a psychological test, and resolves to discover what will happen if it is not pushed. However, Desmond postulates in "Live Together, Die Alone" that the Pearl participants were the true test subjects without knowing it. This is supported when the survivors discover that the pneumatic tube dumps the notebooks into an open field; the contents of the notebooks indicate that they had been dumped there long before the station closed. During season three, some of the survivors visit the Pearl in hope of finding a way to communicate with the Others, but discover that the station is only capable of receiving data, not sending them.

Station 6: The Orchid
Introduced in the three-part finale of the fourth season, "There's No Place Like Home", the Orchid station appears at first to be an abandoned greenhouse. Hidden below the greenhouse is a second level of the station, a furnished laboratory similar to the Swan station. The Orchid features a small chamber adjacent to an exotic matter anomaly, which can be used to warp time and space. An outtake from the orientation film was shown at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, where Doctor Edgar Halliwax explains that, contrary to Dharma's statements that the station was for botanical research, the station is used for researching a "Casimir effect" exhibited by the Island. The producers have confirmed that the video is canon, and holds relevance to the show itself.

Below the Orchid station is a room which consists of pillars and stones with unknown hieroglyphs that have been seen in a few other places on the Island, and ends with a room consisting of a giant frozen wheel built horizontally into the wall. As shown in "This Place is Death", the chamber was in place well before the construction of the Orchid. A well was connected to it at one point before the Orchid was built, but the chamber itself predates it. Despite being under the Orchid, it has nothing to do with the DHARMA Initiative, nor did any member of DHARMA ever set foot in the room or touch the wheel. Ben and Locke enter the station and Ben travels to this room, where he turns the wheel. As he pushes it, the gap containing the wheel glows and the Island vanishes. Ben is transported to the Tunisian Desert as a consequence of using it. As a result of turning the wheel, the survivors of Flight 815 and the freighter crew members on the Island (who are all candidates to replace Jacob) begin to jump randomly through time. When Locke returns to the wheel in "This Place is Death", it is shown to be bouncing erratically and still glowing. Locke turns the wheel back to its original position, transporting himself off the Island to the same place Ben ended up. The time jumps also stop, stranding the survivors in 1974. Charles Widmore would later tell Locke that the Tunisian Desert is the "exit point" for anyone who uses the wheel.

In a flashback in "Because You Left", Dr. Chang is called to investigate an incident at the Orchid. A construction worker is shown bleeding from his eyes and mouth, and six drill bits have been melted drilling into the future site of the chamber. Scans of the wall reveal the presence of the chamber with the wheel behind it. Chang refuses to use explosives to clear the wall, since it might release a limitless energy source. He believes that they will be able to control time if the energy can be harnessed properly.

Station ?: The Staff
The Staff is a medical research station, later designed to house pregnant women who were taken there to give birth and/or die. It consists of a long corridor, at the end of which is an operating room, as well as a nursery and a locker room. Hidden inside one of the lockers is a switch that unlocks a hidden vault that contains medical equipment and nursery furniture. There is also another hidden room, where the Others take women who have become pregnant on the Island to die.

After Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) is kidnapped by the Others in season one, she is taken to the Staff station. Here she has a drug administered to her fetus. A renegade Other, Alex (Tania Raymonde), helps Claire to escape when she learns that they are planning to steal Claire's baby. When it is found by Claire and Kate later on, Kate discovers costumes, a fake beard, and some theatrical glue in the Staff locker room. In season three, Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim) and Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) visit the Staff station to perform an ultrasound to discover when Sun's baby was conceived. In season four, Faraday, Charlotte, Jin and Sun visit the station to get some medical supplies for Jack's operation. This station is also where people come when they get "sick".

Station ?: The Looking Glass
The Looking Glass is located on the sea-bed at approximately 60 feet (18m) depth, some 600 feet (182m) from the beach. The station is used to jam communications going to and from the Island, as well as generating a beacon to guide the submarine to the Island. When the Dharma Initiative was still active, the Looking Glass was used to resupply the submarine. The station receives power from the cable that Sayid discovered in the episode "Solitary". The station's logo is a rabbit, a reference to the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (the sequel to which is Through the Looking-Glass). Its logo can be seen in the episode "Greatest Hits" when Charlie swims down to it. The Others were under the impression that the station was flooded. Only Ben knew that the station was still in operation and there were people working there.

In the season three finale, "Through the Looking Glass", Charlie Pace discovers that the rescue boat linked to Naomi, the parachute woman, was not sent out by Desmond Hume's ex-girlfriend Penny Widmore. Charlie locks the door to the control room when Mikhail shatters the porthole window, subsequently flooding the room. This prevents Desmond from getting to Charlie, thereby fulfilling Desmond's latest "premonition" (Charlie was meant to drown in the control room after disabling the jamming equipment). He quickly writes "Not Penny's Boat" on his hand and shows Desmond through the glass on the door.

Station 9: The Tempest
The Tempest is a chemical weapons development station on the Island, first seen in the episode "The Other Woman". It is used to control the release of poisonous gases over the Island. In "The Other Woman", it was revealed that part of Daniel Faraday's and Charlotte Lewis' primary missions were to disable the gases at the station. They said they needed to press the button to save everyone, although they may have wanted to disable the station's gases to prevent Benjamin Linus from using the Tempest as a weapon of last resort against the Island's enemies.

Station ?: The Lamp Post
The Lamp Post is the only known off-island Dharma station. It is located in Los Angeles under a church, built on top of a pocket of electromagnetic energy similar to that on the island. This station was used by the DHARMA Initiative to find the Island. As the island can move and is hard to locate, the researchers developed an equation to predict where the island would be in the future, thereby providing a window of opportunity to reach it. A large pendulum (resembling a Foucault pendulum) hangs from the ceiling making chalk marks on a map on the floor beneath, making a pattern with lines crossing a central point from almost every direction except up and down. Many computers surround the pendulum, along with a panel on the wall that marks latitude and longitude. The inside of the station first appears in the second episode of season five, "The Lie", though no explanation of its purpose (or that it is, in fact, a DHARMA station) is revealed until the following episode, "316". The computers also seem to be able to find data regarding the Island, for example how long the people who left the Island have to return before an unspecified catastrophe occurs (70 hours). It is unknown how these data are calculated or received. Eloise Hawking is currently in charge of the station, and uses it to help the Oceanic 6 return to the island with the assistance of Ben Linus.

The station's logo includes the traditional Dharma octagon-shape with a picture of what appears to be a lamp post emitting light to either side. This picture can also refer to the pendulum within the station as evidenced by the pointed tip in the picture.

Mysteries of the Universe
Starting on July 23, 2009, ABC's official Lost website started posting a five-part documentary from lost footage from a short-lived 1980s television series "Mysteries of the Universe". The brand and its episodes were created by ABC and the Lost team in 2009 as a promotion for the final season of the show. A documentary series with a similar name was made in the 1980s, which may provide documentary with an appearance of being factual – although the presentation contains humor. The videos contain new revelations about the DHARMA Initiative and the conspiracies that surround it.

Hanso Foundation
The Hanso Foundation, founded by Danish arms dealer Alvar Hanso, is depicted as the major benefactor of the Dharma Initiative. Nearly all information about the Foundation is drawn from its website, thehansofoundation.org, with further background revealed as part of the alternate reality game, the Lost Experience.

During the Lost Experience, documents and other information were released to suggest that the management of the Foundation was scandalous and, in some cases, criminal. For example, some executives were revealed to have falsely reported the extent of their education in their biographies. One executive was caught in an extramarital affair. Others defended tobacco companies, nuclear power plants and an oil company that dumped chemical waste in Florida. Another executive was sentenced to eight years for insider trading which he subsidized through a retirement fund for a health care union.

In popular culture
In Half-Life 2: Episode Two, players can find an Easter egg in the sixth chapter, "Our Mutual Fiend". In another twist which connects the two media, Our Mutual Friend is a book that Desmond was saving to read just before his suicide in the Swan station on Lost. In Uriah's lab, there is an inaccessible room containing a computer terminal with the numbers shown on the screen and a Dharma-style octagon with a pine tree symbol for the White Forest base on the wall. This easter egg was added at the request of Gabe Newell, who promised to insert a reference to Lost in response to Half-Life references in Lost's first season episode "The Greater Good".

In 2009, The Fringemunks released a song called "DHARMA Initiative" (a parody of Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon").

In the 30 Rock episode, "The Beginning of the End", which is also the name of a Lost episode, Kenneth Parcell has Dharma Initiative Ice Cream, calling it Government Ice Cream.

The character of Joculine in Psycholonials has a Dharma Initiative tattoo on her shoulder.

title: Dharma Initiative


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Totakeke

Totakeke may refer to:

 * K.K. Slider, also known as Totakeke, a character in Animal Crossing, a video game developed by Nintendo
 * Kazumi Totaka, a video game composer with Nintendo for whom the Animal Crossing character was named

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

title: Totakeke


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Hasse Walli

Hannes Mikael Waldemar "Hasse" Walli (born 10 February 1948) is a Finnish guitarist. His father Aarno Walli was a musician and bandleader, his mother Anne-Marie Strandberg a singer. Hasse Walli was about ten years old when he started playing drums. He drummed in various bands in early 1960s such as The Islanders, The Electric Five and Nameless. Gradually Walli switched from drums to electric guitar. After Nameless had split, Walli started as a solo guitarist in The Typhoons. The Typhoons split when its members had to join the obligatory military service.

Professional career
In spring 1966 Walli launched his professional musical career as guitarist when he started playing with Jormas, a band which was extremely popular not only in Finland but in the rest of Scandinavia too. During the seven months Hasse Walli spent in Jormas, they toured expansively Finland, Sweden and Denmark, Walli also appearing on the band's album and singles. Again, Jormas split too when its members had to join military service; Walli finding soon himself doing a brief stint in The Frankies of Johnny Liebkind. However, soon Hasse Walli became frustrated in having to play soft pop, when the rawer sounds of The Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (which especially inspired Walli) started to make waves in the mid-60s rock scene.

With his friend Måns Groundstroem, Edward Vesala (who was not to spend a lot of time in the band) and British expatriate Jim Pembroke, Walli initiated a new band dedicated to this sound, which was baptized Blues Section, and which was to become a groundbreaking act in the whole Finnish rock scene. Another great inspiration to Blues Section was the Jimi Hendrix gig in May 1967 at Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki. Blues Section lasted until the late 1968, during which time Walli recorded with the band their seminal eponymous album, several singles, film music and other material later to be heard on various collection albums, and played over 150 live gigs. During this period Walli also played guitar in the jazz band Otto Donner Treatment, the composer-musician Henrik Otto Donner being the essential and extremely innovative producer figure behind Blues Section and their record label Love Records. Following the split of Blues Section, Hasse Walli played for some time in the band of light pop singer Tapani Kansa and as a bar musician at the restaurant Fennia. In summer 1969 Walli was planning a new band called Paradise with the former Jormas members Pepe Willberg, Kikke Bergholm and Matti Oiling, which never came into being, though Willberg later on used the name Paradise with his own band. On 31 August 1969 Hasse Walli was involved in a car accident which interrupted his career for a while after when he was returning from a gig. Walli's injured left hand was operated and the guitarist, forced to take a break from playing, spent some time in the bohemian circles of Copenhagen, leading a vagrant life also as a street musician in French Riviera.

After returning to Finland, Hasse Walli played for a while with Kirka & D'Islanders, in a band called Zeus producing Vesa-Matti Loiri's first album 4+20 and collaborating with jazz musician Make Lievonen. Hasse Walli Eternal Band was a jazzy project which worked under different line-ups from 1968 to 1971, playing among all at the first Ruisrock festival of Turku in 1970. Other jazz projects of this period where Walli contributed were Irina Milan & Tabu, Simo Big Band, Carita Holmström's backing band, Paroni Paakkunainen & Unisono and German Heinz Sauer-Günther Lenz Quintet; furthermore, he played with Edward Vesala and Junnu Aaltonen, also at Afrikan Tähti band of pop singer Maarit. Walli's Punainen Lanka ensemble where Eija Ahvo and Harri Saksala sang and which explored folk music of Finland and America, was part of 70s leftist political song movement gaining strong foothold in Finland.

The band Piirpauke, combining folk music, ethnic sounds (later to be known as world music) to progressive jazz rock, was one of Hasse Walli's best-known musical projects, starting in 1975. The major figure in the band was Sakari Kukko, a multi-instrumentalist playing saxophone, flute and keyboards, who had played with Walli in various ensembles, Kukko-Walli Quartet among them. The best known Piirpauke track is the hypnotic Konevitsan kirkonkellot from the band's eponymous 1975 debut album, based on a traditional Karelian folk song. The band had an enormous live success and Hasse Walli stayed in Piirpauke about three years, later returning to the band for its tours in 1983 and 1994.

In the late 1970s Hasse Walli was active in ELMU, a society established in 1978 to propagate live music in a time when disco and recorded music were worryingly diminishing the working opportunities of musicians playing live. This was also the time when Walli got more and more interested in world music. His enthusiasism for reggae started in 1977 after having seen Bob Marley performing live in Stockholm. Hasse Walli had visited a youth festival in Cuba with Punainen Lanka and Sakari Kukko, and he formed in 1979 Hasse Walli Projekti which played Cuban music and reggae rhythms.

The first eponymous solo album of Hasse Walli was released in 1981, the year when Walli was also chosen the Musician of the Year by Katso magazine. The next year, when he had his band Hasse Walli All Stars, saw the second album, called Sounds Afro! By this time Walli had seriously gotten into African music, and he dissolved the band and travelled in January 1982 to Dakar, the capital of Senegal, to explore local sounds such as Mbalax, Senegalese pop.

Jamming with local musicians at clubs, Walli practiced hard to get into the heart of this musical style quite differing from the Western genres of rock, blues and jazz he had already learned to master. Hasse Walli played with some musicians who had been performing with the legendary Youssou N'Dour. On returning to Finland and enriched by his experiences in Senegal, Walli started a band called Dakar Sound. Afro-Line was another band of Walli he started with Congolese expatriate Marie-Alphonse Liwata, releasing the albums Viva Africa (1983), Dakar Nights (1985) and Close to the Line (1987). During the years 1983–86 Hasse Walli shuttled between Gambia, Dakar and Finland.

By 1988 Walli felt he had finally learned enough to compose and arrange Mbalax music and start an all-African band for this (Walli's earlier Afro bands had mostly consisted of Finnish musicians), and he returned to Dakar for this purpose. Soon got together the new band, called Asamaan, with such musicians as Manel Diop, Yamar Thiam, Aladji Oumar Faye, Omar Cheikh Diene, Pape Sarr and Mousse Gueye. The first Asamaan album Modern Mbalax came out in 1989, receiving excellent reviews in world music circles. Walli and Asamaan played at folk music, jazz and rock festivals, doing also some street performances in Helsinki. Asamaan published two more albums, African Sky (1990) and, with a new line-up, Teranga (1993). Film director Kari Happonen documented Mbalax music scene in Dakar and Asamaan in his 1991 documentary ''Mbalax! Rytmin lähteillä''.

Teranga marked the end of Hasse Walli's Afro period. When he returned from Senegal to Finland in June 1993, he thought the time might be now right to return to his 1960s musical roots, and the band Suuret Setelit was launched, playing rock and rhythm & blues. The gigs of Suuret Setelit were eagerly checked by a completely new generation of Hasse Walli fans. Suuret Setelit lasted until 1995, the year Walli also performed together with Remu Aaltonen, the last remaining member of the legendary 70s band Hurriganes. Hasse Walli also played several Back to the 60s type of concerts with some his peers from that period such as Danny; never forgetting his love of African music, either.

In recent years Walli has been touring with his current band Hasse Walli Power Trio. Additionally, he has worked with guitarist and singer Steve Webb, and they have released two albums together.

Trivia
Hasse Walli's younger brother was Petri Walli of Kingston Wall.

Discography

 * Jormas: Jormas (1966, HMV)
 * Blues Section: Blues Section (1968, Love Records)
 * Blues Section: Some of Love (1969, Love Records)
 * Piirpauke: Piirpauke (1975, Love Records)
 * Piirpauke: Piirpauke 2 (1976, Love Records)
 * Piirpauke: Live (1977, Love Records)
 * Piirpauke: Ilahu illalla (1983, Love Records)
 * Hasse Walli: Hasse Walli (1981, Kompass Records)
 * Hasse Walli: Sounds Afro (1982, Kompass Records)
 * Hasse Walli's Afro-Line: Viva Africa (1983, Sinetti Records)
 * Hasse Walli's Afro-Line: Dakar Nights (1985, Digelius Music)
 * Hasse Walli's Afro-Line: Close to the Line (1987, Digelius Music)
 * Hasse Walli & Asamaan: Modern Mbalax (1989, Olarin Musiikki)
 * Hasse Walli & Asamaan: African Sky (1990, Olarin Musiikki)
 * Hasse Walli & Asamaan: Teranga (1993, Olarin Musiikki)
 * Blues Section: Blues Section 2 (1995, Love Records)
 * Piirpauke: Metamorphosis Live 1977–1995 (1995, Rockadillo)
 * Hasse Walli: Kevyet Kengät (2000, HCD)
 * Hasse Walli: Todellinen Live (2001, HCD)
 * Hasse Walli & Steve Webb: Winners (2002, HCD)
 * Hasse Walli: Live Crazy (2004, HCD)
 * Hasse Walli & Steve Webb: Sweet Nina (2005, HCD)
 * Piirpauke: Historia of Piirpauke Vol. 1 (2008, HCD)

As a guest discography

 * Hector: Kadonneet lapset
 * Hector: Linnut Linnut
 * Kirka: Kirka
 * Vesa-Matti Loiri: 4x20
 * Sakari Kukko: Kajastus
 * Eero Koivistoinen: Valtakunta (1968, Otava)

Also on the releases of Sammy Babitzin, Freeman, Make Lievonen, Punainen Lanka, Juhani Aaltonen.

title: Hasse Walli


text:
Ali al-Khudair

Ali al-Khudair (علي الخُضير, also known as Ali bin al-Khudair, or Ali bin al-Khudayr) is a Saudi Arabian thinker and scholar. He was arrested in 2003. He has been called a member of the “al-Shu’aybi school”, named after his teacher, Hamoud al-Aqla al-Shuebi.

Before his 2003 arrest
Ali al-Khudair had issued fatwas against several Saudi Arabian thinkers, among them Turki al-Hamad, Mansour al-Naqeedan and Abdullah Abusamh declaring them as infidel.

His taped sermons and religious decrees are reported to have influenced many young people in Saudi Arabia.

After the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington DC, he issued a fatwa calling on his followers to rejoice in the attacks and listed American "crimes" that justified the attacks "killing and displacing Muslims, aiding the Muslims' enemies against them, spreading secularism, forcefully imposing blasphemy on peoples and states, and persecuting the mujahideen."

Arrest, 2003, and afterwards
He was arrested in May 2003 in Madinah, Saudi Arabia following the May 2003 suicide bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh that killed 34 people. According to Ain-al-Yaqeen he was one of three scholars who had issuing a fatwa `that declared the killing of security personnel during confrontations "halal" or permissible.` Two other scholars arrested were Nasser al-Fahd, and Ahmad Al-Khaledi.

Days after his arrest, an Islamist Web site posted a message from Osama bin Laden warning the Saudi government not to harm the cleric. Bin Laden described al-Khudair as "our most prominent supporter" and according to Mohamad Bazzi, cautioned that if he was hurt, Al-Qaeda's response would be "as great as the sheik's high standing with us".

According to Ain-al-Yaqeen, in November 2003 interview with Saudi television, al-Khudair "recanted and condemned the suicide bombings which took place in Riyadh" and withdrew the fatwas he had issued declaring Turki al-Hamad, Mansour al-Naqeedan and Abdullah Abusamh infidels, which was later proven to be false.

title: Ali al-Khudair


text:
Ellen Gilchrist

Ellen Louise Gilchrist (February 20, 1935 – January 30, 2024) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. She won a National Book Award for her 1984 collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan.

Life and career
Ellen Louise Gilchrist was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on February 20, 1935. She spent part of her childhood on a plantation owned by her maternal grandparents. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and studied creative writing under renowned writer Eudora Welty at Millsaps College. Later in life, Gilchrist enrolled in the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas, where she received an MFA.

Gilchrist was married and divorced four times (two marriages and divorces were with the same man) and had three children. She lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Ocean Springs, Mississippi. She was a professor of creative writing and contemporary fiction at the University of Arkansas. Her work was noted for its focus on culture and society in the South.

Gilchrist was heard regularly as a commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition from 1984 to 1985. Her NPR commentaries have been published in her book Falling Through Space.

Gilchrist died from breast cancer at home in Ocean Springs on the evening of January 30, 2024, at the age of 88. She was survived by her sons Pierre Gilchrist, Marshall Peteet Walker Jr., and Garth Gilchrist Walker, as well as 18 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and her brother Robert Alford Gilchrist.

Criticism
A success for the recently founded University of Arkansas Press, In the Land of Dreamy Dreams (1981) sold more than 10,000 copies in its first ten months and won immense critical acclaim. Victory over Japan, a collection of short stories, won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1984. Gilchrist also won awards for her poetry, although it was her short fiction for which she was most well-known. Gilchrist's stories are often praised for the characters that reappear regularly throughout her many volumes of short stories. Her final book is A Dangerous Age (Algonquin, 2008).

Novels

 * The Annunciation (1983)
 * The Anna Papers (1988)
 * Net of Jewels (1992)
 * Starcarbon: A Meditation on Love (1994)
 * Anabasis (1994)
 * Sarah Conley (1997)
 * A Dangerous Age (2008)

Story collections

 * In the Land of Dreamy Dreams (1981)
 * Victory over Japan (1984)
 * Drunk with Love (1986)
 * Light Can Be Both Wave and Particle (1989)
 * I Cannot Get You Close Enough: Three Novellas (1990)
 * The Age of Miracles (1995)
 * Rhoda (1995)
 * The Courts of Love (1996)
 * Flights of Angels (1998)
 * The Cabal (2000)
 * Collected Stories (2000)
 * I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting With My Daddy (2002)
 * Nora Jane: A Life in Stories (2005)
 * Acts of God (2014)

Other

 * The Land Surveyor's Daughter (poetry) (1979)
 * Riding out the Tropical Depression: Selected Poems, 1975-1985 (1986)
 * Falling Through Space: The Journals of Ellen Gilchrist (1987)
 * The Writing Life (2005)
 * Things Like the Truth: Out of My Later Years (2016)

title: Ellen Gilchrist


text:
Gareth Cooper

Gareth Cooper (born 7 May 1979 in Bridgend) is a former Wales international rugby union player who played in the scrum-half position.

Career
Cooper started playing rugby with Pencoed before moving to Bath in the West Country.

Cooper made his international debut in 2001 against Italy, when many were claiming him to be the successor to Rob Howley. He toured to Japan in later that year. After Howley's retirement in 2002 he was given his first run in the side in 2003, becoming first choice for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

He returned to play in Wales after that tournament with the Celtic Warriors, but he found himself scrapping with the Scarlets Dwayne Peel for the scrum-half jersey during the 2004 Six Nations.

He joined the Newport Gwent Dragons in 2004 when the Celtic Warriors were disbanded, but his form went downhill and Peel secured the scrum-half shirt with some stunning performances during Wales' Grand Slam in the 2005 Six Nations. Despite playing mostly on the bench for Wales he was selected for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, but with three other scrum halves on the tour he struggled to get game time as he was last in the pecking order behind Peel, Matt Dawson and Chris Cusiter.

With the emergence of Mike Phillips he struggled to fight for his way into the Wales team as he became a distant third choice. He moved to Gloucester in 2007.

He made the Wales squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup but still as third-choice scrum-half and he played just one match as substitute against Japan.

He got another chance for Wales on a tour to South Africa in 2008 when Phillips and Peel both were injured. He impressed in two matches against South Africa and kept his place ahead of Peel and the still injured Phillips for the Autumn internationals that year, including a 21–18 win over Australia.

He was injured during the 2009 Six Nations but returned to the Wales side for the summer tour to North America. The tour did not go well and he was replaced at half-time by Peel against Canada.

He left Gloucester in 2009 after losing his place to Rory Lawson and moved to the Cardiff Blues to replace Jason Spice. He played again for Wales in the 2010 Six Nations against England and Scotland but was replaced by Richie Rees for the remainder of the tournament.

Cardiff Blues announced on 3 November 2010 that he would be leaving the club, due to a long-standing groin injury.

title: Gareth Cooper


text:
VAXELN

VAXELN (typically pronounced "VAX-elan") is a discontinued real-time operating system for the VAX family of computers produced by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) of Maynard, Massachusetts.

As with RSX-11 and VMS, Dave Cutler was the principal force behind the development of this operating system. Cutler's team developed the product after moving to the Seattle, Washington area to form the DECwest Engineering Group; DEC's first engineering group outside New England. Initial target platforms for VAXELN were the backplane interconnect computers such as the V-11 family. When VAXELN was well under way, Cutler spearheaded the next project, the MicroVAX I, the first VAX microcomputer. Although it was a low-volume product compared with the New England-developed MicroVAX II, the MicroVAX I demonstrated the set of architectural decisions needed to support a single-board implementation of the VAX computer family, and it also provided a platform for embedded system applications written for VAXELN.

The VAXELN team made the decision, for the first release, to use the programming language Pascal as its system programming language. The development team built the first product in approximately 18 months. Other languages, including C, Ada, and Fortran were supported in later releases of the system as optional extras. A relational database, named VAX Rdb/ELN was another optional component of the system. Later versions of VAXELN supported an X11 server named EWS (VAXELN Window Server). VAXELN with EWS was used as the operating system for the VT1300 X terminal, and was sometimes used to convert old VAXstation hardware into X terminals. Beginning with version 4.3, VAXELN gained support for TCP/IP networking and a subset of POSIX APIs.

VAXELN allowed the creation of a self-contained embedded system application that would run on VAX (and later MicroVAX) hardware with no other operating system present. The system was debuted in Las Vegas in the early 1980s, with a variety of amusing application software written by the development team, ranging from a system that composed and played minuets to a robotic system that played and solved the Tower of Hanoi puzzle.

VAXELN was not ported to the DEC Alpha architecture, and instead was replaced with a Digital-supported port of VxWorks to Alpha, and a VAXELN application programming interface (API) compatibility layer for that platform. In 1999, SMART Modular Technologies acquired Compaq's (formerly Digital's) embedded systems division, which included VAXELN.

Origin of name
The system was originally supposed to be named Executive for Local Area Network (ELAN), but DEC discovered at the last minute that the word Elan was trademarked in a European country where DEC wished to conduct business. The company holding the trademark was the Slovenian sports equipment manufacturer Elan. To avoid litigation, DEC quickly renamed it to VAXELN by dropping the A, much to the disgruntlement of the developers. Some documentation and marketing material had already been printed referring to the product as ELAN, and samples of these posters were prized for many years by members of the original team.

title: VAXELN


text:
Michael Willcocks

Sir Michael Alan Willcocks, (born 27 July 1944) is a retired officer of the British Army and former Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Lords.

Military career
Willcocks was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1964. He was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in 1983.

Willcocks became Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff at Headquarters UK Land Forces in 1985, Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence/Operations at Headquarters UK Land Forces in 1988 and Commander Royal Artillery for the 4th Armoured Division in 1989. He went on to be Assistant Chief of Staff for Land Operations at the Joint War Headquarters for the Gulf War in 1991, Director of Army Plans and Programme at the Ministry of Defence in 1991 and Director-General Land Warfare at the Ministry of Defence in 1993.

Willcocks was then appointed Chief of Staff for the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps in 1994, Chief of Staff for the Land Component of the Peace Implementation Force (IFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 and Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 1996. His last appointments were as Deputy Commander (Operations) for the Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1999 and as UK military representative to NATO and the European Union from 2000 until his retirement in 2001.

Black Rod
Willcocks was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod on 9 May 2001. After seven years in this post, he announced in late 2008 that he was stepping down from the role, and relinquished the post on 29 April 2009.

At Willcocks' first State Opening of Parliament, Dennis Skinner, MP, famous for interrupting Black Rod, said "You're nowt but a midget!" At Willcocks' last State Opening, Skinner asked, "any Tory moles at the Palace?", referring to the controversial then-recent arrest of Conservative MP Damian Green in connection with an investigation about receiving confidential information from a civil servant at the Home Office who had been a former Conservative Party candidate. In a mild, but highly memorable breach of protocol, Willcocks responded (interruptions are supposed to be ignored) "I shall miss you, Dennis", receiving laughter from other MPs. As Black Rod, Willcocks oversaw the Queen Mother's lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.

Willcocks was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2000 New Year Honours. The Queen invested him with the insignia of a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on his retirement as Black Rod on 29 April 2009. He is also a Knight Commander of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George.

Other roles
Willcocks is also the current Charter Commissioner for the Press Complaints Commission.

title: Michael Willcocks


text:
Talk:Languages of Uganda/to do

 * 1) The article needs to be restructured. The current division (into Linguistic divisions, Languages, Language policy) is not a very intuitive one.
 * 2) A little more on language policy, including a historical perspective
 * 3) Languages in education and in the media
 * 4) History: how did the peoples and their languages get there in the first place? Should touch on the Nilotic flow throughout Eastern Africa (in several phases), the Bantu expansion, the position of the Kuliak languages, the relatively recent Luo expansions (see e.g. Luo history), the development of centralized Bantu kingdoms and Bantu/Luo contacts.

Last update: — mark ✎ 11:19, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Languages of Uganda/to do


text:
Talk:Security (finance)

October 2005
Could I get an appreciation of how physically secure financial instruments are, in the global industry.

For example, I understand that counterfeiting is pervasive and from a survey done by Gieshen Consultancy on the global theft of Intellectual Property, that just in one month something like $570million dollars of counterfeiting took place for currencies, checks, money orders, treasury bonds, credit and debit cards.

I'm particularly interested in the documentation and whether solutions are possible to ensure the authenticity of valuable instruments - since I represent a company that has tamper-evident technology.

In a nut-shell - what type of organisation has a need in this industry to know whether a particular instrument is a forgery or not, say even before the instrument is presented for payment or redeemed? For example if valuable instruments are transferable I would assume each party in the chain link would want to know whether the document is the original.

But is there a market for having the security or peace of mind in knowing that the document is the original in this industry?
 * I'm not sure whether this is the correct forum to discuss new business opportunities for your company. I'll respond anyway as the answer might be of general interest. It is extremely rare nowadays that actual bearer bonds (i.e. physical documents) are printed. They are viewed with great suspicion by authorities and market participants, as they facilitate money laundering, tax evasion, theft and forgery. The number of outstanding bearer securities is dwindling, as old bearer bonds mature, and companies move to completely electronic registration systems for their shares. ICMA keeps a list for its member of forged securities on its website ] - DocendoDiscimus 11:00 AM, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

this is weird?

Grammar issues
I've noticed that in several of these "security" related articles the grammar is lacking. I'd love to go in and change things (I have in a few cases) but am wary of changing meaning in an arena where I am far from an expert. Any takers? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.143.162.40 (talk) 05:42, 12 December 2006 (UTC).

In the "Collateral" section, reference is made to "the past decade", as if this is a news article appearing in The Times. Traditionally, encyclopedia articles didn't make such assumptions, and made date references explicit (i.e. "in the decade from 1998-2008"). Perhaps Wikipedia has more of a newspaper approach? I'm not a "Wikipedian", so I really don't know.

Synonym
Could someone clarify whether or not securities are the same, or similar to common stock?
 * Common stock is a type of security. Other examples of securities include preferred stock and bonds. Bond Head 12:08, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I added some context to make the relationship clearer. - Taxman Talk 12:17, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Orphaned word?
Securities may be represented by a certificate or, more typically, by an electronic book entry interest . Is the word, "interest," an orphaned word? Brian Pearson 01:43, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Contradiction in definitions
The very first line of this article defines a security as a "fungible, negotiable instrument". However, the article on negotiable instruments explicitly defines securities as _not_ being negotiable instruments according to Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code. This seems like a contradiction to me.140.247.159.144 04:06, 16 September 2007 (UTC) Not all securities are as fungible as others. For example unregistered securities, usually restricted securities, are not very fungible at all.74.96.35.243 (talk) 13:55, 1 April 2011 (UTC)JD/MBA Contributor

Security Pricing
The article requires contributions in terms of pricing elaborations of various security types like equity, mutual funds & exchange traded funds. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shahidmbakshi (talk • contribs) 14:15, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Ponzi schemes?? SEC??
If an investment company collects investors to buy shares so that they can develop land and buidings are they required to file with the SEC?

Is there an amount of money required before falling under the eye of the SEC?

I have reason to believe that a particular company might be working a Ponzi Scheme, but fear that if I am wrong I may be subjest to a libel lawsuit. How can I check on this company to see if they have filed with the SEC. and can they be policed for fraud by the SEC? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.21.7.124 (talk) 05:04, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Ponzi schemes in themselves don't have anything to do with securities, unless the scheme itself deals or pretends to deal in securities. I believe you are misinterpreting basic corporate finance to be some sort of SEC violating "ponzi scheme".  A ponzi scheme is a fraudulent system where a member's input (investment) is used to directly pay off outputs (other investors withdrawals) without any true business activity.  Unless you count buildings and land to be fellow investors, you are not witnessing a ponzi scheme, what you are describing is a simple real estate purchase.  Anyways, make sure you know what you're doing, and the procedure is to report the case to the SEC or other regulatory agency and not directly litigate.--138.16.88.11 (talk) 08:46, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Can Gold be part of a security and why ?
I have been asked if Gold can be prt of a Security not futures but real pure Gold. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.207.140.90 (talk) 09:30, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Understanding the article
Obviously this article covers a very complex topic.

I have read and re-read the main article, and I'm still baffled.

How is anyone supposed to understand what a security actually is? Yes it describes them superficially, but what are they? How do they originate? If a security for, say, $1,000,000 is issued, where does the $1,000,000 come from? Does it even exist? Or is 'money' being generated out of nowhere?

Perhaps the article can draw together salient points in a way that leaves the reader with a better understanding of what a security actually is and how it works. Or perhaps someone proficient could include a working example.

Sorry to sound really dim. I'm not, honest! 21stcenturypolitix (talk) 22:07, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

 * I concur. Some more clarification would be greatly appreciated. TurboChan (talk) 02:12, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Understanding the article: A further opinion
Having read the introductory paragraph, I expected the article to describe three different broad groups of securities: debt securities, equity securities and derivative contracts. It was confusing, therefore, when in the section titled 'classification', not one of these terms were used. They do re-appear in the section titled 'Debt and Equity' and confusingly, the first sentence in this section runs as follows: 'Securities are traditionally divided into debt securities and equities (see also derivatives)'. Huh? I thought we had already covered how securities are classified?

Overall, I find the tone too technical for the casual reader. However, I don't expect each article to explain every piece of jargon it uses or to explain financial concepts upon which the topic 'securities' would be based. Rather, I think the onus is on Wikipedia to arrange the articles in some kind of 'conceptual order' so that interested readers can move from basic ideas to more advanced ones.

72.27.107.89 (talk) 08:48, 16 December 2012 (UTC)D.M.D.

 * I agree. This article's style is way too technical, especially in the introduction, which is supposed to be the most accessible segment. I would recommend whittling down the introduction to more closely resemble something like Investopedia's article, and then describe in more technical depth deeper in the article. → (talk·contribs) 07:05, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

Merge proposal
It seems that financial instrument and security (finance) cover the same ground, so much so that, when I edited the lede to this article to remove what was clearly stated to be an outdated definition, I found no real difference in meaning. Since Wikipedia articles are about things, not terms, having two articles is a form of content forkery. I'm not sure what term is more appropriate, but this is the more developed article and so a merge would go to here with a subsequent rename to preserve the edit history. — Æµ§œš¹  [ãːɱ ˈfɹ̠ˤʷɪ̃ə̃nlɪ] 15:31, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Agree to merger. I think "financial instrument" is more appropriate, as "security" in this context is rather vague as to what it covers, notwithstanding any definition adopted for the purpose of a particular piece of legislation. --Ehrenkater (talk) 16:48, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

I would accept merging the articles on the condition that the merged article makes clear that cash is a financial instrument but not a security. Also, I'm not sure that commodity options and commodity futures would qualify as securities although they would be financial instruments unless and until they are converted into the underlying commodities. I think the combined article should be named "Financial instrument" so if we merge into this article then I think we should rename it back to "Financial instrument". --Pine✉ 19:00, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

I think this proposal misundertands what each defintion means. A security is an instance of financial instrument e.g. Barclays 25p Ord is a security instance of the financial instrument type 'Share' or 'Stock' — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ghanova (talk • contribs) 10:25, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

I would favor the merged article being financial instrument, explaining how a security is a form of financial instrument. "Financial instrument" is also easier for less financially technical articles to use, since many people may have little to no concept of what a security is and would have to click the link just to know we're talking about financial items, whereas people will at least know that a financial instrument is a financial something or other. Pdxuser (talk) 20:55, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

 * In the broadest sense, properties that worth a value are classified as tangible and intangible properties:

 * 1) In law, tangible property is, literally, anything which can be touched.
 * 2) Real property, also referred to as immoveable property, (real estate, i.e. land, buildings, and fixtures).
 * Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; (also) an item of real property; (more generally) buildings or housing in general. Also, the business of real estate; the profession of buying, selling, or renting land, buildings or housing.
 * 1) Personal property, also referred to as moveable property (ships, automobiles, tools, etc.).
 * 2) In law, intangible property, also known as incorporeal property, describes something which a person or corporation can have ownership of and can transfer ownership of to another person or corporation, but has no physical substance. It generally refers to statutory creations such as copyright, trademarks, or patents.
 * 3) A unique category of property is money, which in some legal systems is treated as tangible property and in others as intangible property. Whilst most countries legal tender is expressed in the form of intangible property (“The Treasury of Country X hereby promises to pay to the bearer on demand ...”), in practice bank notes are now rarely ever redeemed in any country, which has led to bank notes and coins being classified as tangible property in most modern legal systems.

 * >> Financial asset (or just asset), financial instrument, intangible property (intangible asset), security are all synonymous terms . <<

 * In finance, a financial asset is an intangible asset that derives value because of a contractual claim. Examples include bank deposits, bonds, and stocks. Financial assets are usually more liquid than tangible assets, such as land or real estate, and are traded on financial markets. According to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), a financial asset is defined as one of the following:

 * Cash or cash equivalent;
 * Equity instruments of another entity;
 * Contractual right to receive cash or another financial asset from another entity or to exchange financial assets or financial liabilities with another entity under conditions that are potentially favourable to the entity;
 * Contract that will or may be settled in the entity’s own equity instruments and is either a non-derivative for which the entity is or may be obliged to receive a variable number of the entity’s own equity instruments, or a derivative that will or may be settled other than by exchange of a fixed amount of cash or another financial asset for a fixed number of the entity’s own equity instruments.

 * In conclusion, any kind of financial assets can be listed under three groups:

 * 1) Security
 * A security is a tradable financial asset of any kind. Securities are broadly categorized into:
 * 1) Cash securities (or cash instruments, or cash assets):
 * 2) Debt securities (e.g. banknotes, bonds and debentures)
 * 3) Equity securities, or just equities (e.g. common/preferred stocks)
 * 4) Derivative securities (or derivative instruments, or derivative assets, or just directly derivaties):
 * Derivatives (e.g. forwards, futures, options and swaps) are financial instruments which derive their value from the value and characteristics of one or more underlying entities such as an asset, index, or interest rate. They can be divided into exchange-traded derivatives and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.
 * 1) Commodity
 * Goods and servies
 * 1) Currency

 * 85.110.30.21 (talk) 20:42, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

Is the Banknote a right example for Debt Security ?
The Banknote as described in Banknote page of Wikipedia is no longer a tradable asset, all the countries of the world have taken Banknote as Fiat Money, so it can not be exchanged for gold or coins, so I think it is no more a viable example for Debt Security. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aman.kharbas (talk • contribs) 08:10, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 * @Aman.kharbas, I checked briefly Banknote and don't see that is no longer tradable. Just wondering if there is a wp:rs that supports your assertion? X Ottawahitech (talk) 00:51, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Tradable?
I don't know if a British v. Amercian English thing, but "tradable" is not a word that is used in security definitions. The more common word is "transferable". "Trade" implies an an exchange of assets or rights. Some transfers are done without a exchange. patsw (talk) 00:32, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Security (finance)


text:
Talk:Matt Fong

Relevance of Chinese name
The Chinese name of Matt Fong is relevant because Mr. Fong is active in the Chinese American community, is fluent in Chinese, and personally uses his Chinese name. This is what the middle initial "K" stands for. His Chinese name was not simply invented by the media. Being American does not mean he is monolingual. --Jiang 08:10, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
 * But what if he speaks six or seven languages? Do we put his obviously American name (Fong is just as American as Smith or Jones) into each of them? My family name is used in Spain with an accent but not here, so I don't sign it with an accent. I have a chop I bought in China with my name in characters: Should I use it in an article about myself? GeorgeLouis (talk) 06:51, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Just removed unilaterally (with no discussion)
Chinese: 鄺傑靈; pinyin: Kuàng Jiélíng) Badagnani (talk) 03:31, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Photograph question
Is there a better photo available? This one is extremely unflattering. V. Joe (talk) 16:04, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:Matt Fong


text:
Global Telecom Holding

Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. (GTH; formerly Orascom Telecom Holding) is a holding company based in Amsterdam, and a subsidiary of the multinational telecommunications services company VEON. GTH previously owned mobile network operators in multiple countries.

Operations
Global Telecom has delisted from the EGX Egyptian Exchange and is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

History
In 1997, Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) was established as a separate entity to consolidate the telecommunications and technology interests of the Orascom group of companies established in 1976. Founded in 1998 as part of the Orascom company, it became the largest cellular operator in the Middle East in only five years. In 2010, Russian Vimpelcom acquired Orascom Telecom as well as Wind Telecomunicazioni from Weather Investments of the Egyptian entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris and merged the two companies to form Global Telecom Holding based in Cairo. Excluded from this transaction were the activities in North Korea (Koryolink) and Egypt, which were transferred to Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding, which remained majority-owned by Naguib Sawiris. The Italian activities of Wind Telecomunicazioni report directly to the parent company Vimpelcom and are not part of Global Telecom Holding.

Orascom Telecom Holding has been renamed to Global Telecom Holding in 2013. On 1 July 2019 Gerbrand Nijman (since June 2015 GTH's group CFO) succeeded Vincenzo Nesci as GTH's CEO.

title: Global Telecom Holding


text:
Tripping (song)

"Tripping" is a song by British singer Robbie Williams from his sixth studio album Intensive Care (2005). The single was released as the album's lead single on 3 October 2005 through Chrysalis Records. Backed with the track "Make Me Pure", also from the same album, it was sent to radio stations around the world.

Upon its release, "Tripping" became a global hit, reaching number one in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. It peaked within the top five in more than 10 European countries, including the United Kingdom, where it reached number two and was the 19th best-selling single of 2005. It was also a success in Australia, reaching number seven on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 20 in New Zealand.

Background and composition
Robbie Williams called the song "something like a mini gangster opera" and "kind of cabaret act reggae". The rolling rhythm of the song owes much to the early work of the Clash. During the chorus Williams reaches an extremely high disco-like head voice. Lyrically the song is a bit darker than previous songs. It tells the tale of gangsters and how they "don't kill their own and they all love their mothers", before an anguished chorus of "I've taken as much as I'm willing to take". The opening lyrics "First they ignore you, then laugh at you and hate you. Then they fight you, then you win" is a paraphrase commonly misattributed to Mahatma Gandhi.

Chart performance
The song became a worldwide success for Williams, debuting inside the top 10 in most countries around Europe, including number two in the United Kingdom, spending six weeks inside the top 10 and 15 weeks inside the top 75. The single reached number one in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The song also reached number one on the Eurochart Hot 100, becoming Europe's eighth-most-successful song of 2005. In Switzerland, the single was certified Gold for shipments exceeding 20,000 units. In Mexico, the song reached number nine and became the 11th most played track of the year. In Australia, "Tripping" peaked at number seven and went on to sell over 35,000 copies, being certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

Music video
The video, which was directed by Johan Renck, features Robbie Williams running in place as if he can't seem to get anywhere. It appears that Williams is having a nightmare, in which he is living sometime in the 1950s, and is stuck running endlessly in a maze without ever advancing, or driving in a stereotypical 1950s backdrop. It also includes a baby singing to him some of the chorus, and a pair of lesbian twins in the backseat of his Saab 95. He finds himself trapped in an elevator with a larger person dressed in drag, who unexpectedly suggests engaging in intimate actions. Initially, he attempts to resist, but eventually succumbs to the situation and allows the person to touch him. Right at that moment, Williams awakens, smiles, and gently closes his eyes.

Track listings
UK CD1 and European CD single
 * 1) "Tripping" (album version)
 * 2) "Make Me Pure" (edit)

UK CD2
 * 1) "Tripping" (album version)
 * 2) "Make Me Pure" (edit)
 * 3) "Meet the Stars"
 * 4) "Tripping" (video)
 * 5) Picture gallery

UK DVD single
 * 1) "Tripping" (video)
 * 2) "Make Me Pure" (video)
 * 3) "Bag Full of Silly" (audio)
 * 4) Video clip and photo gallery

Australian CD single
 * 1) "Tripping" (album version)
 * 2) "Make Me Pure" (edit)
 * 3) "Meet the Stars"

Credits and personnel
Credits are taken from the Intensive Care album booklet.

Studios
 * Recorded between June 2003 and May 2005 at AIR Studios, The Townhouse (London, England), Rockband East and West, and Henson Studios (Los Angeles)
 * Mixed at Mix This! (Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles)
 * Strings engineered at NRG (North Hollywood, California)
 * Mastered at Metropolis Mastering (London, England)

Personnel

 * Robbie Williams – writing, lead vocals, backing vocals, Fender Jazz Bass guitar, production
 * Stephen Duffy – writing, Fender Stratocaster guitar, Korg keyboard, Hobner melodica, glockenspiel, production
 * Claire Worrall – backing vocals, Wurlitzer
 * Jerry Meehan – Fender Precision Bass guitar
 * Matt Chamberlain – drums
 * Max Beesley – percussion, vibes, Waldorf synthesiser
 * Steve Sidwell – trumpet
 * Neil Sidwell – trombone
 * Dave Bishop – saxophone
 * David Campbell – string arrangement, conducting
 * Allen Sides – string engineering
 * Bob Clearmountain – mixing
 * Tony Cousins – mastering

title: Tripping (song)


text:
Daphne Major

Daphne Major is a volcanic island just north of Santa Cruz Island and just west of the Baltra Airport in the Archipelago of Colón, commonly known as the Galápagos Islands. It consists of a tuff crater, devoid of trees, whose rim rises 120 m above the sea.

Though easily accessible to most visitors to the Galápagos, the national park service has highly restricted visits to this island, and it is primarily used for scientific research. Daphne Major finches are the main source of the understanding of animal evolution in the Galápagos. An intensive study of Darwin's finches was conducted here by biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant over a period of 20 years. They examined the behaviour and life cycles of the finches, demonstrating the role of natural selection in producing biological evolution. Their efforts were documented in the Pulitzer Prize–winning book The Beak of the Finch.

Daphne is home to a variety of other birds including Galápagos martins, blue-footed booby, Nazca booby, short-eared owls, red-billed tropicbirds and magnificent frigatebirds.

title: Daphne Major


text:
Diamond formation

A diamond formation is a formation of four or more aircraft, soldiers on horseback, players in a team sport, etc., wherein the elements of the group adopt a diamond, or kite, shape.

Aircraft
As few as four aircraft can establish the formation and conventionally the largest number is sixteen, in "tight formation": 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1. Rarely attempted on jet aircraft, this feat was first achieved by the Pakistan Air Force flying U.S.-made F-86 Sabres in February 1958. It is considered a difficult formation as the aircraft have to fly very close to one another to create the desired effect. The larger the number of aircraft involved, the higher the risk, as compared to other formations.

Military
Diamond formations have been used in warfare, particularly by cavalry, throughout known history. Thessalian cavalry was especially famous for the formation since it could change direction quickly.

Football
A formation in association football where the four midfield players are positioned in the shape of a diamond.

Ice Hockey
A defensive formation used during a penalty kill.

title: Diamond formation


text:
Potomac, Virginia

Potomac is an extinct incorporated town formerly located in Arlington County, Virginia (then called Alexandria County). Today the dissolved town's former territory is located within the City of Alexandria after municipal annexation in 1930. As a planned community, its proximity to Washington D.C. made it a popular place for employees of the U.S. government to live. Potomac was located adjacent to the massive Potomac Yard of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.

History
The area was developed beginning in 1894 as the communities of Del Ray, St. Elmo, Mt. Ida, and Hume, following a grid plan independent of that of Old Town Alexandria. Potomac was incorporated as a town in 1908. In 1928, the town had 2,355 residents.

The Town of Potomac was annexed by the independent city of Alexandria in 1930. Today, the Town of Potomac Historic District in Alexandria designates this historic portion of the city, and includes 1840 acre and 690 buildings. The Town of Potomac was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

As of 2016, the United States Postal Service still recognizes "Potomac, VA" as an acceptable alternate address for ZIP code 22301, although "Alexandria, VA" is preferred.

title: Potomac, Virginia


text:
User talk:TranHungHuy

ĐẠI LONG COMPUTER S9 Bàu Cát - P.14 - Q. Tân Bình

title: User talk:TranHungHuy


text:
User:Arny

π

Main interests
These are the thematic areas I'm most interested in reading/watching and editing, possibly contributing new articles:

 * Science (especially Biology and Chemistry)
 * Technology (especially Electronics and Computing)
 * Science Fiction and other literature, film and TV and RPG games.
 * Regional - Europe and Croatia (mostly adding references)

Other interests
These are the areas I don't consider myself competent enough to write about, but which I like to research and read about. Of course I will still correct any errors I find, typographical or factual.

 * Science - Physics, Astronomy
 * Mythology - different ancient mythologies and folklore, especially the backgrounds for superstitions and Fantasy/Horror in popular culture. I also like to learn about scientific as well as mystical/occultist explanations for strange phenomena.
 * Philosophy, and I'm especially growing interest for eastern/Asian philosophies.

Wikibook(s)

 * User:Arny/Books/Buddhist_Practice (first revision of the below)
 * User:Arny/Books/Buddhist Philosophy and Practice

About Me
I'm a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry, also Electrical engineering and Computer Hardware Technician and currently pursuing a degree in Electronics. I like reading, mostly Science Fiction and watching TV series and films, mostly SF and Fantasy/Horror (what can I do, watching movies about Mafia and such give me nightmares ;). From time to time, I like to play a CRPG game. I'm Croatian, consequently European and also, well, Earthling ;) or actually a World Citizen Well I guess that can explain some of the above mentioned interests. In short, I'm sorta jack of all trades (and as it goes, master of none... well maybe a few ;)

Me, a Wikipedian?
I am not getting involved into any particular Wikiproject for now, because I have too many different interests to focus on one. I am mainly a Wikignome anyway :)

I will not correct errors in grammar and style here, because I'm not a native English speaker. I'll be satisfied just if I manage to make my own text readable and reasonably correct. However I will correct any typo, misspelling, factual error or any other mistake. Of course, I'll also remove any vandalism I spot.

And if anyone needs anything I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask!

One more thing to say, something like an oath to Wikipedia: ''I will be bold! And I will err. Very often. I promise.'' :)

My workspace (subpages and links)
My stats
 * ToDo (and works in progress)
 * Drafts
 * testing
 * Helpful templates
 * Archive - stuff I don't neeed on the userpage anymore.

My Bunch of Userboxes

 * Userboxes are my sin :)

My opinion on userboxes
As I believe in the freedom of speech, I support the idea that users should be able to express themselves as they wish on their userpages. Userboxes a great tool for that in my opinion, and they allow several people who share an opinion to use boxes that describe that. I still fully support the idea that WP articles should be NPOV, which is more than appropriate for an encyclopedia. However, userpages are outside of that scope and it should be allowed people to be themselves in any way they wish. Although it is stated that many userboxes may cause conflicts and divisions (and so can any other personal content which user can write), I believe everyone should in fact respect other people's opinions and beliefs and not criticize them for it, so let them express what they think. NOTE: Besides the freedom of speech and respect of opinins I've mentioned, I do not support it as an absolute rule as some other free speech supporters do. For example, I do not believe it should be applicable to racism, any form of chauvinism, spam and other things based on hatred or prejudice or any other reasons with sole purpose to harm or annoy people and/or make some personal benefit on the behalf of others. Such userboxes should be avoided, together with any other form of expression of such thoughts. Positive criticism based on facts that prove some harm was or may be done are something different of course. The main concept of free speech as I see it is letting the others say and think whatever you may disagree with, but brings no harm to anyone. All I said above is based on that I am not only liberal, but also a humanist. And beware, my userboxes state I'm a bleeding-heart-liberal-pacifist who will fight to the death for my beliefs. ;)

title: User:Arny


text:
User talk:Ikh

Howdy.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I understand your concerns. I read the no original thought policy and I can assure you "The Entrepreneur of Life" is neither original research/invention nor part of a personal essay. But you are right about the sources: I always provide references and sources but I must admit that the sources in this article were hidden at first - as invisible comments in the source code - because I had to verify the exact titles of the main sources first and come up with a reasonable translation. So long.

T.

Comparative military ranks of World War II
This may be a bad idea, but let me toss in a thought or two into this dispute. Given that the main disagreement seems to be over whether rank X in one country is equivalent to rank Y in another country, it may be a good idea to These are my two cents; maybe it's a bad idea, but seems to me like worth trying. ikh (talk) 18:11, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
 * indicate that this is a rough comparison and in some cases may not be entirely accurate
 * (this is quite tedious) list on this talk page, for each rank: the responsibilities, the sizes/types of the units under command, the next highest and lowest ranks, etc., and then have a discussion over which ranks are equivalent. This should make things much clearer, the decisions over rough equivalences of ranks should be easier, and these decisions would be harder to oppose.

Hi ikh! In a bottom of my page is Note that there is considerable debate as to the exact equivalency of officers of OF-6 equivalent rank and above. May be we can make to us more detailed Note? I ADD in a bottom to my page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_military_ranks_of_World_War_II/temp - Hierarchy of military organisation. What do you think about it?-Tt1 19:43, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

thanks!
sorry about that! i was merely trying to help "pump up the crowd." i am unbiased as to who won. Jthurman (talk) 23:29, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

 * LOL, np. We do have to try to maintain some visual quality.. hence reversion. ikh (talk) 23:29, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

My RfA
Thank you for your support on my request for adminship. It ultimately succeeded with votes of 52/1/2, so I am now an administrator. Should you have any questions, comments, complaints, or requests at any point in the future, please do not hesitate to let me know on my talk page or via e-mail. —bbatsell ¿?  05:23, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

 * hey, no prob, always willing to support good candidates... in either case, adminship is "no big deal" ikh (talk) 20:16, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Thank you!
Thank you very much for your support during my recent Admin election, I appreciate the trust that you have put in me. Please contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding my work as an admin.

Kind Regards, Elf-friend 07:47, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

my IRC and WP nicks
my IRC nick is "ikh", same as my WP one. ikh (talk) 21:37, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Re: References

 * Hey Thanks for the tip, i really appreciate it..i have articles from mags and newspapers that i can add in, thanks alot for the tip, i really appreciate someone actually giving tips, rather than being an ass and discouraging me from doing anything--Cypherous 16:56, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

MfD nomination of Talk:Entrepreneur of Life
Talk:Entrepreneur of Life, a page you substantially contributed to, has been nominated for deletion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Talk:Entrepreneur of Life and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes ( ~ ). You are free to edit the content of Talk:Entrepreneur of Life during the discussion but should not remove the miscellany for deletion template from the top of the page; such a removal will not end the deletion discussion. Thank you. Meclee (talk) 01:00, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:56, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

"Matrix(mathematics)" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matrix(mathematics)&redirect=no Matrix(mathematics)] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Anyone, including you, is welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Steel1943 (talk) 21:00, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ikh


text:
User:Treesmill

I am a retired airline pilot with a total of a little over 13,000 flying hours, 5,000 of those in command, almost all on big jets, acquired over 30 years. Since 1972 I have been a technical representative at company, national and international level. Since the mid-'80s I have specialised in air traffic management subjects. Apart from my experience as a pilot, I have a scientific background with training in electronics, telecommunications and computers. I have written and sold software to major companies.

title: User:Treesmill


text:
Talk:March Fong Eu

Still living?
Deceased? There is a crypt in Oakland's "Mountain View Cemetery" with her name inscribed thereupon.

Died last week, page has been updated. obits at electionlawblog, ballot access news, http://ballots.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-long-march-of-fong-eu.html

50.90.215.156 (talk) 18:43, 24 December 2017 (UTC)robbin stewart

Untitled
March Fong Eu sounds nothing like Jiang Yuegui. The Chinese name was not given to her by the media. Given her activites overseas, the name is most likely being used by her. --Jiang 08:15, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

BS in Dentistry?
Is it possible to get a BS in Dentistry? It's a post graduate plan, isn't it?

Just removed unilaterally (with no discussion)
(Chinese: 江月桂, pinyin: Jiāng Yuèguì) Badagnani (talk) 03:35, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

needs update on her federal and state supreme court cases
Eu v Democratic Party, 1989, is a landmark election law case.

http://ballots.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-long-march-of-fong-eu.html

479 U.S. 1024 (1987), Eu v. S.F. Cty. Democratic Cent. Comm., 489 U.S. 214 (1989). A State's broad power to regulate the time, place, and manner of elections "does not extinguish the State's responsibility to observe the limits established by the First Amendment rights of the State's citizens." Indeed, the First Amendment "has its fullest and most urgent application" to speech uttered during a campaign for political office. etc. -50.90.215.156 (talk) 18:49, 24 December 2017 (UTC)gtbear@gmail.com

title: Talk:March Fong Eu