title: Meteoroid

text: Millions of meteors occur in Earth's atmosphere daily. Most meteoroids that cause meteors are about the size of a grain of sand, i.e. they are usually millimeter-sized or smaller. Meteoroid sizes can be calculated from their mass and density which, in turn, can be estimated from the observed meteor trajectory in the upper atmosphere.


title: Meteoroid

text: Meteors may occur in showers, which arise when Earth passes through a stream of debris left by a comet, or as "random" or "sporadic" meteors, not associated with a specific stream of space debris. A number of specific meteors have been observed, largely by members of the public and largely by accident, but with enough detail that orbits of the meteoroids producing the meteors have been calculated. The atmospheric velocities of meteors result from the movement of Earth around the Sun at about , the orbital speeds of meteoroids, and the gravity well of Earth.


title: Meteoroid

text: Meteors become visible between about above Earth. They usually disintegrate at altitudes of . Meteors have roughly a fifty percent chance of a daylight (or near daylight) collision with Earth. Most meteors are, however, observed at night, when darkness allows fainter objects to be recognized. For bodies with a size scale larger than to several meters meteor visibility is due to the atmospheric ram pressure (not friction) that heats the meteoroid so that it glows and creates a shining trail of gases and melted meteoroid particles. The gases include vaporised meteoroid material and atmospheric gases that heat up when the meteoroid passes through the atmosphere. Most meteors glow for about a second.


title: Meteoroid

text: Although meteors have been known since ancient times, they were not known to be an astronomical phenomenon until early in the nineteenth century. Prior to that, they were seen in the West as an atmospheric phenomenon, like lightning, and were not connected with strange stories of rocks falling from the sky. In 1807, Yale University chemistry professor Benjamin Silliman investigated a meteorite that fell in Weston, Connecticut. Silliman believed the meteor had a cosmic origin, but meteors did not attract much attention from astronomers until the spectacular meteor storm of November 1833. People all across the eastern United States saw thousands of meteors, radiating from a single point in the sky. Careful observers noticed that the radiant, as the point is now called, moved with the stars, staying in the constellation Leo.


title: Meteoroid

text: The astronomer Denison Olmsted made an extensive study of this storm, and concluded that it had a cosmic origin. After reviewing historical records, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers predicted the storm's return in 1867, which drew the attention of other astronomers to the phenomenon. Hubert A. Newton's more thorough historical work led to a refined prediction of 1866, which proved to be correct. With Giovanni Schiaparelli's success in connecting the Leonids (as they are now called) with comet Tempel-Tuttle, the cosmic origin of meteors was now firmly established. Still, they remain an atmospheric phenomenon, and retain their name "meteor" from the Greek word for "atmospheric".


title: Meteoroid

text: A fireball is a brighter-than-usual meteor that also becomes visible when about 100 km from sea level. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines a fireball as "a meteor brighter than any of the planets" (apparent magnitude −4 or greater). The International Meteor Organization (an amateur organization that studies meteors) has a more rigid definition. It defines a fireball as a meteor that would have a magnitude of −3 or brighter if seen at zenith. This definition corrects for the greater distance between an observer and a meteor near the horizon. For example, a meteor of magnitude −1 at 5 degrees above the horizon would be classified as a fireball because, if the observer had been directly below the meteor, it would have appeared as magnitude −6.


title: Meteoroid

text: Fireballs reaching apparent magnitude −14 or brighter are called bolides. The IAU has no official definition of "bolide", and generally considers the term synonymous with "fireball". Astronomers often use "bolide" to identify an exceptionally bright fireball, particularly one that explodes in a meteor air burst. They are sometimes called detonating fireballs. It may also be used to mean a fireball which creates audible sounds. In the late twentieth century, bolide has also come to mean any object that hits Earth and explodes, with no regard to its composition (asteroid or comet). The word "bolide" comes from the Greek βολίς ("bolis") which can mean "a missile" or "to flash". If the magnitude of a bolide reaches −17 or brighter it is known as a superbolide. A relatively small percentage of fireballs hit Earth's atmosphere and then pass out again: these are termed Earth-grazing fireballs. Such an event happened in broad daylight over North America in 1972. Another rare phenomenon is a meteor procession, where the meteor breaks up into several fireballs traveling nearly parallel to the surface of Earth.


title: Meteoroid

text: A steadily growing number of fireballs are recorded at the American Meteor Society every year. There are probably more than 500,000 fireballs a year, but most go unnoticed because most occur over the ocean and half occur during daytime. A European Fireball Network and a NASA All-sky Fireball Network detect and track many fireballs.


title: Meteoroid

text: The entry of meteoroids into Earth's atmosphere produces three main effects: ionization of atmospheric molecules, dust that the meteoroid sheds, and the sound of passage. During the entry of a meteoroid or asteroid into the upper atmosphere, an ionization trail is created, where the air molecules are ionized by the passage of the meteor. Such ionization trails can last up to 45 minutes at a time.


title: Meteoroid

text: Small, sand-grain sized meteoroids are entering the atmosphere constantly, essentially every few seconds in any given region of the atmosphere, and thus ionization trails can be found in the upper atmosphere more or less continuously. When radio waves are bounced off these trails, it is called meteor burst communications. Meteor radars can measure atmospheric density and winds by measuring the decay rate and Doppler shift of a meteor trail. Most meteoroids burn up when they enter the atmosphere. The left-over debris is called "meteoric dust" or just meteor dust. Meteor dust particles can persist in the atmosphere for up to several months. These particles might affect climate, both by scattering electromagnetic radiation and by catalyzing chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere. Meteoroids or their fragments achieve dark flight after deceleration to terminal velocity. Dark flight starts when they decelerate to about . Larger fragments fall further down the strewn field.


title: Meteoroid

text: The visible light produced by a meteor may take on various hues, depending on the chemical composition of the meteoroid, and the speed of its movement through the atmosphere. As layers of the meteoroid abrade and ionize, the colour of the light emitted may change according to the layering of minerals. Colours of meteors depend on the relative influence of the metallic content of the meteoroid versus the superheated air plasma, which its passage engenders:


title: Meteoroid

text: Sound generated by a meteor in the upper atmosphere, such as a sonic boom, typically arrives many seconds after the visual light from a meteor disappears. Occasionally, as with the Leonid meteor shower of 2001, "crackling", "swishing", or "hissing" sounds have been reported, occurring at the same instant as a meteor flare. Similar sounds have also been reported during intense displays of Earth's auroras.


title: Meteoroid

text: Theories on the generation of these sounds may partially explain them. For example, scientists at NASA suggested that the turbulent ionized wake of a meteor interacts with Earth's magnetic field, generating pulses of radio waves. As the trail dissipates, megawatts of electromagnetic power could be released, with a peak in the power spectrum at audio frequencies. Physical vibrations induced by the electromagnetic impulses would then be heard if they are powerful enough to make grasses, plants, eyeglass frames, the hearer's own body (see microwave auditory effect), and other conductive materials vibrate. This proposed mechanism, although proven to be plausible by laboratory work, remains unsupported by corresponding measurements in the field. Sound recordings made under controlled conditions in Mongolia in 1998 support the contention that the sounds are real. "(Also see Bolide.)"


title: Meteoroid

text: A meteor shower is the result of an interaction between a planet, such as Earth, and streams of debris from a comet or other source. The passage of Earth through cosmic debris from comets and other sources is a recurring event in many cases. Comets can produce debris by water vapor drag, as demonstrated by Fred Whipple in 1951, and by breakup. Each time a comet swings by the Sun in its orbit, some of its ice vaporizes and a certain amount of meteoroids are shed. The meteoroids spread out along the entire orbit of the comet to form a meteoroid stream, also known as a "dust trail" (as opposed to a comet's "dust tail" caused by the very small particles that are quickly blown away by solar radiation pressure).


title: Meteoroid

text: The frequency of fireball sightings increases by about 10–30% during the weeks of vernal equinox. Even meteorite falls are more common during the northern hemisphere's spring season. Although this phenomenon has been known for quite some time, the reason behind the anomaly is not fully understood by scientists. Some researchers attribute this to an intrinsic variation in the meteoroid population along Earth's orbit, with a peak in big fireball-producing debris around spring and early summer. Others have pointed out that during this period the ecliptic is (in the northern hemisphere) high in the sky in the late afternoon and early evening. This means that fireball radiants with an asteroidal source are high in the sky (facilitating relatively high rates) at the moment the meteoroids "catch up" with Earth, coming from behind going in the same direction as Earth. This causes relatively low relative speeds and from this low entry speeds, which facilitates survival of meteorites. It also generates high fireball rates in the early evening, increasing chances of eyewitness reports. This explains a part, but perhaps not all of the seasonal variation. Research is in progress for mapping the orbits of the meteors to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon.


title: Meteoroid

text: A meteorite is a portion of a meteoroid or asteroid that survives its passage through the atmosphere and hits the ground without being destroyed. Meteorites are sometimes, but not always, found in association with hypervelocity impact craters; during energetic collisions, the entire impactor may be vaporized, leaving no meteorites. Geologists use the term, "bolide", in a different sense from astronomers to indicate a very large impactor. For example, the USGS uses the term to mean a generic large crater-forming projectile in a manner "to imply that we do not know the precise nature of the impacting body ... whether it is a rocky or metallic asteroid, or an icy comet for example".


title: Meteoroid

text: Meteoroids also hit other bodies in the Solar System. On such stony bodies as the Moon or Mars that have little or no atmosphere, they leave enduring craters.


title: Meteoroid

text: The diameter of the largest impactor to hit Earth on any given day is likely to be about , in a given year about , and in a given century about . These statistics are obtained by the following:


title: Meteoroid

text: Over at least the range from to roughly , the rate at which Earth receives meteors obeys a power-law distribution as follows:


title: Meteoroid

text: where "N" (>"D") is the expected number of objects larger than a diameter of "D" meters to hit Earth in a year. This is based on observations of bright meteors seen from the ground and space, combined with surveys of near-Earth asteroids. Above in diameter, the predicted rate is somewhat higher, with a asteroid (one teraton TNT equivalent) every couple of million yearsabout 10 times as often as the power-law extrapolation would predict.


title: Meteoroid

text: Meteoroid collisions with solid Solar System objects, including the Moon, Mercury, Callisto, Ganymede, and most small moons and asteroids, create impact craters, which are the dominant geographic features of many of those objects. On other planets and moons with active surface geological processes, such as Earth, Venus, Mars, Europa, Io, and Titan, visible impact craters may become eroded, buried, or transformed by tectonics over time. In early literature, before the significance of impact cratering was widely recognised, the terms cryptoexplosion or cryptovolcanic structure were often used to describe what are now recognised as impact-related features on Earth. Molten terrestrial material ejected from a meteorite impact crater can cool and solidify into an object known as a tektite. These are often mistaken for meteorites.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Lean on Me is a 1989 American biographical drama film written by Michael Schiffer, directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Morgan Freeman. It is based on the story of Joe Louis Clark, a real life inner city high school principal in Paterson, New Jersey, whose school is in danger of being placed into receivership of the New Jersey state government unless students improve their test scores on the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Test. This film's title refers to the 1972 Bill Withers song of the same name, which is used in the film.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Parts of the film, including the elementary school scenes, were filmed in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: In 1987, the once idyllic Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, has deteriorated due to drug abuse and crime running rampant throughout the school. The majority of students cannot pass basic skills testing, and even the teachers are not safe from gang violence.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Mayor Bottman (Alan North) learns that the school will be turned over to state administration unless 75% of the students can pass the minimum basic skills test. He consults with school superintendent Dr. Frank Napier (Robert Guillaume), who suggests they hire Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman), a former teacher of Eastside High who was forcibly transferred years before due to budget cuts, as the new school principal. Reluctantly, the mayor hires Clark.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Known as "Crazy Joe", Clark's immediate radical changes include expelling 300 students identified as drug dealers or abusers and troublemakers, instituting programs to improve school spirit including painting over graffiti-covered walls, and requiring students to learn the school song, and be punished if they cannot sing it on demand. When one of the expelled students is found beating up another student, Clark orders the doors of the school chained shut during school hours since funds are insufficient to purchase security doors.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Clark's actions begin to have a positive effect on his students. He encounters Thomas Sams (Jermaine Hopkins), a young student expelled for crack use, who pleads to be allowed back into school. Clark escorts Sams up to the roof of the school; there he viciously berates the boy for using crack, demanding that he jump off the edge of the building. Clark is (secretly) elated, when the now-hysterical Sams refuses to jump and proceeds to turn himself around. Clark also reunites one of his old elementary school students, Kaneesha Carter (Karen Malina White), with her estranged mother.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Some parents react strongly to these measures, particularly Leonna Barrett (Lynne Thigpen) -- the mother of one of the expelled students, who presses the mayor to oust Clark.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Clark's radicalism brings him into conflict with his own faculty, notably: Mr. Darnell (Michael Beach), an English teacher, whom Clark suspends for picking up a piece of trash during a recital of the school song; Mrs. Elliot (Robin Bartlett), a music teacher, whom Clark fires for being insubordinate after he cancels a long-planned choral event (the school's upcoming annual Lincoln Center concert). Napier lectures Clark over these incidents, demanding that he act as a team player; Clark subsequently re-instates Mr. Darnell.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: Unfortunately, a practice basic skills test fails to garner enough passing students. Clark confronts his staff for their failure to educate their students, and to prepare them for the world. Clark institutes a tutorial program to strengthen academic skills; he also encourages remedial reading courses on Saturdays, so that parents may attend alongside their children if they want (or need) to.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: When the day for the minimum basic skills test finally arrives, the students are much better prepared and filled with a sense of self-worth. Before the scores can be calculated, the fire chief raids the school and discovers the chained doors. Clark is arrested for violating fire safety codes. That evening, the students gather at the meeting of the Paterson Board of Education, where school board member Leonna is leading the call for Clark's removal.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: The students demand that Clark be released from jail and retained as principal. The mayor has Clark released from jail, so that he may urge the children to return home for their own safety. He is interrupted by assistant principal Ms. Levias, who reports that more than 75% of the students have passed the basic skills test. He announces the results over his megaphone.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: As a result, the school's current administration remains intact. Clark is allowed to keep his job as principal, as he cheerfully informs the mayor that "You can tell the State to go to hell." The students celebrate by breaking into their school song. The film ends with the senior students, including Sams, graduating high school (amid the closing credits); Clark hands them their diplomas.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 68%, based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Lean on Me (film)

text: On September 13, 2018, it was reported that a television series based on the film was in development at The CW. The project, hailing from Warner Bros. Television, was written by Wendy Calhoun, with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, John Legend, Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius also set to executive produce. The female-led drama was to center around "when a spirited young black teacher [named] Amarie Baldwin scores the principal job at an Akron, Ohio public high school, she must dig deep to transform a failing campus into an urban oasis. In a time when education and school safety have life-or-death stakes, Amarie will take on a broken system that tests her mettle, love life and family. But can she keep her moxie in check in order to embody the aspirational educator that motivates and uplifts an entire community?" On February 8, 2019, it was revealed that the script was not picked up to pilot.


title: Chuck D

text: Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped create politically and socially conscious hip hop music in the mid-1980s. "The Source" ranked him at No. 12 on its list of the Top 50 Hip-Hop Lyricists of All Time.


title: Chuck D

text: Ridenhour was born on August 1, 1960 on Long Island, New York. When he was a child, his mother played Motown and showtunes in the home and his father belonged to the Columbia Record Club. He began writing lyrics after the New York City blackout of 1977. He attended W. Tresper Clarke High School, where he was offered no formal education in music. He then went to Adelphi University on Long Island to study graphic design, where he met William Drayton (Flavor Flav). He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Adelphi in 1984 and later received an honorary doctorate from Adelphi in 2013.


title: Chuck D

text: While at Adelphi, Ridenhour co-hosted hip hop radio show the "Super Spectrum Mix Hour" as Chuck D on Saturday nights at Long Island rock radio station WLIR, designed flyers for local hip-hop events, and drew a cartoon called "Tales of the Skind" for Adelphi student newspaper "The Delphian".


title: Chuck D

text: Ridenhour (using the nickname Chuck D) formed Public Enemy in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Upon hearing Ridenhour's demo track "Public Enemy Number One", fledgling producer/upcoming music-mogul Rick Rubin insisted on signing him to his Def Jam Records. Their major label releases were "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" (1987), "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" (1988), "Fear of a Black Planet" (1990), "Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black" (1991), the compilation album "Greatest Misses" (1992), and "Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age" (1994). They also released a full-length album soundtrack for the film "He Got Game" in 1998.


title: Chuck D

text: Ridenhour also contributed (as Chuck D) to several episodes of the documentary series "The Blues". He has appeared as a featured artist on many other songs and albums, having collaborated with artists such as Janet Jackson, Kool Moe Dee, The Dope Poet Society, Run–D.M.C., Ice Cube, Boom Boom Satellites, Rage Against the Machine, Anthrax, John Mellencamp and many others. In 1990, he appeared on "Kool Thing", a song by the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and along with Flavor Flav, he sang on George Clinton's song "Tweakin'", which appears on his 1989 album "The Cinderella Theory". In 1993, he was the executive producer for "Got 'Em Running Scared", an album by Ichiban Records group Chief Groovy Loo and the Chosen Tribe.


title: Chuck D

text: In 1996, Ridenhour released "Autobiography of Mistachuck" on Mercury Records. Chuck D made a rare appearance at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, presenting the Video Vanguard Award to the Beastie Boys, ommending their musicianship. In November 1998, he settled out of court with Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace's estate over the latter's sampling of his voice in the song "Ten Crack Commandments". The specific sampling is Ridenhour counting off the numbers one to nine on the track "Shut 'Em Down". He later described the decision to sue as "stupid".


title: Chuck D

text: In September 1999, he launched a multi-format "supersite" on the web site Rapstation.com. The site includes a TV and radio station with original programming, prominent hip hop DJs, celebrity interviews, free MP3 downloads (the first was contributed by rapper Coolio), downloadable ringtones by ToneThis, social commentary, current events, and regular features on turning rap careers into a viable living. Since 2000, he has been one of the most vocal supporters of peer-to-peer file sharing in the music industry.


title: Chuck D

text: He loaned his voice to "" as DJ Forth Right MC for the radio station Playback FM. In 2000, he collaborated with Public Enemy's Gary G-Whiz and MC Lyte on the theme music to the television show "Dark Angel". He appeared with Henry Rollins in a cover of Black Flag's "Rise Above" for the album "". In 2003, he was featured in the PBS documentary in which he recorded a version of Muddy Waters' song "Mannish Boy" with Common, Electrik Mud Cats, and Kyle Jason. He was also featured on Z-Trip's album "Shifting Gears" on a track called "Shock and Awe"; a 12-inch of the track was released featuring artwork by Shepard Fairey. In 2008 he contributed a chapter to "Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture" (The MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky, and also turned up on The Go! Team's album "Proof of Youth" on the track "Flashlight Fight." He also fulfilled his childhood dreams of being a sports announcer by performing the play-by-play commentary in the video game "" on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.


title: Chuck D

text: In 2009, Ridenhour wrote the foreword to the book "The Love Ethic: The Reason Why You Can't Find and Keep Beautiful Black Love" by Kamau and Akilah Butler. He also appeared on Brother Ali's album "Us".


title: Chuck D

text: In March 2011, Chuck D re-recorded vocals with The Dillinger Escape Plan for a cover of "Fight the Power".


title: Chuck D

text: Chuck D duetted with Rock singer Meat Loaf on his 2011 album "Hell in a Handbasket" on the song "Mad Mad World/The Good God Is a Woman and She Don't Like Ugly".


title: Chuck D

text: In 2016 Chuck D joined the band Prophets of Rage along with B-Real and former members of Rage Against the Machine.


title: Chuck D

text: In July 2019, Ridenhour sued Terrordome Music Publishing and Reach Music Publishing for $1 million for withholding royalties.


title: Chuck D

text: Chuck D is known for his powerful rapping. "How to Rap" says he "has a powerful, resonant voice that is often acclaimed as one of the most distinct and impressive in hip-hop". Chuck says this was based on listening to Melle Mel and sportscasters such as Marv Albert.


title: Chuck D

text: Chuck often comes up with a title for a song first. He writes on paper, though sometimes edits using a computer. He prefers to not punch in or overdub vocals.


title: Chuck D

text: Chuck D identifies as Black, as opposed to African or African-American. In a 1993 issue of DIRT Magazine covering a taping of "In the Mix" hosted by Alimi Ballard at the Apollo, Dan Field writes, At one point, Chuck bristles a bit at the term "African-American." He thinks of himself as Black and sees nothing wrong with the term. Besides, he says, having been born in the United States and lived his whole life here, he doesn't consider himself African. Being in Public Enemy has given him the chance to travel around the world, an experience that really opened his eyes and his mind. He says visiting Africa and experiencing life on a continent where the majority of people are Black gave him a new perspective and helped him get in touch with his own history. He also credits a trip to the ancient Egyptian pyramids at Giza with helping him appreciate the relative smallness of man.


title: Chuck D

text: Ridenhour is politically active; he co-hosted "Unfiltered" on Air America Radio, testified before the United States Congress in support of peer-to-peer MP3 sharing, and was involved in a 2004 rap political convention. He has continued to be an activist, publisher, lecturer, and producer.


title: Chuck D

text: Addressing the negative views associated with rap music, he co-wrote the essay book "Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality" with Yusuf Jah. He argues that "music and art and culture is escapism, and escapism sometimes is healthy for people to get away from reality", but sometimes the distinction is blurred and that's when "things could lead a young mind in a direction." He also founded the record company Slam Jamz and acted as narrator in Kareem Adouard's short film "Bling: Consequences and Repercussions", which examines the role of conflict diamonds in bling fashion. Despite Chuck D and Public Enemy's success, Chuck D claims that popularity or public approval was never a driving motivation behind their work. He is admittedly skeptical of celebrity status, revealing in a 1999 interview with "BOMB Magazine" that "The key for the record companies is to just keep making more and more stars, and make the ones who actually challenge our way of life irrelevant. The creation of celebrity has clouded the minds of most people in America, Europe and Asia. It gets people off the path they need to be on as individuals."


title: Chuck D

text: In an interview with "Le Monde", published January 29, 2008, Chuck D stated that rap is devolving so much into a commercial enterprise, that the relationship between the rapper and the record label is that of slave to a master. He believes that nothing has changed for African-Americans since the debut of Public Enemy and, although he thinks that an Obama-Clinton alliance is great, he does not feel that the establishment will allow anything of substance to be accomplished. He stated that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is like any other European elite: he has profited through the murder, rape, and pillaging of those less fortunate and he refuses to allow equal opportunity for those men and women from Africa. In this article, he defended a comment made by Professor Griff in the past that he says was taken out of context by the media. The real statement was a critique of the Israeli government and its treatment of the Palestinian people. Chuck D stated that it is Public Enemy's belief that all human beings are equal.


title: Chuck D

text: In an interview with the magazine "N'Digo" published in June 2008, he spoke of today's mainstream urban music seemingly relishing the addictive euphoria of materialism and sexism, perhaps being the primary cause of many people harboring resentment towards the genre and its future. However, he has expressed hope for its resurrection, saying "It's only going to be dead if it doesn't talk about the messages of life as much as the messages of death and non-movement", citing artists such as NYOil, M.I.A. and The Roots as socially conscious artists who push the envelope creatively. "A lot of cats are out there doing it, on the Web and all over. They're just not placing their career in the hands of some major corporation."


title: Chuck D

text: In 2010, Chuck D released the track "Tear Down That Wall." He said "I talked about the wall not only just dividing the U.S. and Mexico but the states of California, New Mexico and Texas. But Arizona, it's like, come on. Now they're going to enforce a law that talks about basically racial profiling."


title: Chuck D

text: He is on the board of the TransAfrica Forum, a Pan African organization that is focused on African, Caribbean and Latin American issues.


title: Chuck D

text: He has been an activist with projects of The Revcoms, such as Refuse Fascism and Stop Mass Incarceration Network. Carl Dix interviewed Chuck D on The Revcoms' YouTube program "The RNL – Revolution, Nothing Less! – Show".


title: Chuck D

text: Chuck D has claimed on Twitter to be a maternal great grandson of architect George Washington Foster.


title: Chuck D

text: Chuck D lives in California and lost his home in the Thomas Fire that occurred from December 2017 to January 2018.


title: Envy

text: Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.


title: Envy

text: Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred by "those who have what we ought to have". Bertrand Russell said that envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness. Recent research considered the conditions under which it occurs, how people deal with it, and whether it can inspire people to emulate those they envy.


title: Envy

text: Some languages, such as Dutch, distinguish between "benign envy" ("benijden" in Dutch) and "malicious envy" ("afgunst"), pointing to the possibility that there are two subtypes of envy. Research shows that malicious envy is an unpleasant emotion that causes the envious person to want to bring down the better-off even at their own cost, while benign envy involves recognition of other's being better-off, but causes the person to aspire to be as good. Benign envy is still a negative emotion in the sense that it feels unpleasant. According to researchers, benign envy can provide emulation, improvement motivation, positive thoughts about the other person, and admiration. This type of envy, if dealt with correctly, can positively affect a person's future by motivating them to be a better person and to succeed.


title: Envy

text: There is some discussion on whether the subtypes should be seen as distinct forms of envy, as some argue that the action tendencies (to damage someone else's position for malicious envy and to improve one's own position for benign envy) are not part of how the emotion is defined, while others think action tendencies are an integral part of an emotion. Those that do not think subtypes of envy exist argue that the situation affects how envy leads to behavior; while those that do think subtypes exist think that the situation affects which subtype of envy is experienced.


title: Envy

text: One theory that helps explain envy and its effects on human behavior is the socioevolutionary theory. Based upon Charles Darwin's 1859 theory of evolution by natural selection, modern socioevolutionary theory predicts that humans behave in ways that enhance the reproduction of their genes. Consistent with envy being a motivation, it may boost attention and memory. Based on a model of evolved responses to those who are better off, Sznycer has argued that envy increases support for economic redistribution.


title: Envy

text: Often, envy involves a motive to "outdo or undo the rival's advantages". In part, this type of envy may be based on materialistic possessions rather than psychological states. Basically, people find themselves experiencing an overwhelming emotion due to someone else owning or possessing desirable items that they do not. Feelings of envy in this situation would occur in the forms of emotional pain, a lack of self-worth, and a lowered self-esteem and well-being.


title: Envy

text: Envy may negatively affect the closeness and satisfaction of relationships. Overcoming envy might be similar to dealing with other negative emotions (anger, resentment, etc.). Individuals experiencing anger often seek professional treatment (anger management) to help understand why they feel the way they do and how to cope. Subjects experiencing envy often have a skewed perception on how to achieve true happiness. By helping people to change these perceptions, they will be more able to understand the real meaning of fortune and satisfaction with what they do have. According to Lazarus, "coping is an integral feature of the emotion process". There are very few theories that emphasize the coping process for emotions as compared to the information available concerning the emotion itself.


title: Envy

text: There are numerous styles of coping, of which there has been a significant amount of research done; for example, avoidant versus approach. Coping with envy can be similar to coping with anger. The issue must be addressed cognitively in order to work through the emotion. According to the research done by Salovey and Rodin (1988), "more effective strategies for reducing initial envy appear to be stimulus-focused rather than self-focused". Salovey and Rodin (1988) also suggest "self-bolstering (e.g., "thinking about my good qualities") may be an effective strategy for moderating these self-deprecating thoughts and muting negative affective reactions". Further research needs to be done in order to better understand envy, as well as to help people cope with this emotion.


title: Envy

text: Russell believed that envy may be a driving force behind the movement of economies and must be endured to achieve the "keep up with the Joneses" system. He believed this is what helps to maintain "democracy" as a system in which no one can achieve more than anyone else. Attended to, envy may inform a person about who they admire and what they want. Benign envy may lead a person to work harder to achieve more success.


title: Envy

text: Children show evidence of envy at an early age. Adults can be just as envious; however, they tend to be better at concealing the emotion. Envy plays a significant role in the development of adolescents. Comparing oneself is a universal aspect of human nature. No matter the age or culture, social comparison happens all over the globe. Comparison can range from physical attributes, material possessions, and intelligence. However, children are more likely to envy over material objects such as shoes, video games, high value mobile phones, etc. Children believe these material objects are correlated to their status.


title: Envy

text: Social status has been found to have a strong connection with self-esteem. An adolescent's self-esteem is very fragile during early years and is heavily impacted by peer opinion. If a child is comfortable with who they are and self-confident they are less likely to become envious of others' material objects, because they do not self-identify with materials. Material objects are not the only things that adolescents become envious over; however, it is the most prevalent.


title: Envy

text: As children get older they develop stronger non-materialistic envy such as romantic relationships, physical appearance, achievement, and popularity. Sometimes envious feelings are internalized in children, having a negative impact on their self-esteem. Envy comes from comparing; these comparisons can serve as a reminder that they have failed social norms and do not fit in with their peers. A feeling of inadequacy can arise and become destructive to a child's happiness and cause further internal damage.


title: Envy

text: A child's identity is formed during their early years. Identity development is considered the central task during adolescence. When children grow up understanding who they are, they are able to better define what their strengths and weaknesses are while comparing themselves to others. Comparison can have two outcomes: it can be healthy in aiding in self-improvement or it can be unhealthy and result in envy/jealousy which can develop into depression. This is why self-exploration and identity development are critical in adolescent years.


title: Envy

text: It is important to identify healthy and unhealthy envy in a child at an early age. If a child is showing signs of unhealthy envy, it is best to teach the child productive ways to handle these emotions. It is much easier to teach a child how to control their emotions while they are young rather than allowing them to develop a habit that is hard to break when they are older.


title: Envy

text: The things that drive people mad with envy change throughout their lifetime. Studies have shown that the younger the person, the more likely they are to be envious of others. Adults under the age of 30 are more likely to experience envy compared to those 30 years and older. However, what people become envious over differs across adulthood.


title: Envy

text: Younger adults, under the age of 30, have been found to envy others' social status, relationships, and attractiveness. This starts to fade when a person hits their 30s. Typically, at this point in life, the person begins to accept who they are as an individual and compare themselves to others less often. However, they still envy others, just over different aspects in life, such as career or salary. Studies have shown a decrease in envy as a person ages; however, envious feelings over money was the only thing that consistently increased as a person got older. As a person ages, they begin to accept their social status. Nonetheless, envious feelings will be present throughout a person's life. It is up to the individual whether they will let these envious feelings motivate or destroy them.


title: Envy

text: Aristotle, in "Rhetoric," defined envy (φθόνος "phthonos") as "the pain caused by the good fortune of others", while Kant, in Metaphysics of Morals, defined it as "a reluctance to see our own well-being overshadowed by another's because the standard we use to see how well off we are is not the intrinsic worth of our own well-being but how it compares with that of others".


title: Envy

text: In Buddhism, the term irshya is commonly translated as either envy or jealousy. "Irshya" is defined as a state of mind in which one is highly agitated to obtain wealth and honor for oneself, but unable to bear the excellence of others.


title: Envy

text: The term "mudita" (sympathetic joy) is defined as taking joy in the good fortune of others. This virtue is considered the antidote to envy and the opposite of schadenfreude.


title: Envy

text: Both in the Old and New Testament there are various descriptions of envy and events related to it, mostly with a dramatic outcome.


title: Envy

text: Envy is one of the Seven deadly sins in Roman Catholicism. In the "Book of Genesis" envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel, as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's.


title: Envy

text: Envy is among the things that comes from the heart, defiling a person. The whole body is full of darkness when the eye, the lamp of body, is bad. "He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished", said Solomon. Envy ruins the body's health, making bones rot and prohibiting the inheritance of the kingdom of God. Sometimes, as a punishment, people are left in their sins, falling prey to envy and other heavy sins.


title: Envy

text: Envy is credited within the Bible as the basis of all toil and skills of people. For example, mankind will choose occupations to gain wealth, fame and pleasures to equal or exceed their neighbors. Envy is, therefore, a sin deeply ingrained in human nature. It comes into being when man lacks certain things, a circumstance that exists when God is not approached for provision or when the provision is used for one's own selfish passions and pleasures.


title: Envy

text: Envy may be caused by wealth (Isaac, envied by the Philistines), by the brightness of wealth, power and beauty (The Kingdom of Assyria envied of other kingdoms), by political and military rising (Saul eyed David from the moment he heard the women song of joy), fertility (Leah, envied of Rachel), social ascent (Joseph whom his brothers were jealous of), countless miracles and healings (the apostles envied of high priest and the Sadducees), popularity (Paul and Barnabas, envied of unfaithful Jewish from Antioch), the success of Christianization of many Thessalonians (Paul and Silas, envied of unfaithful Jews from Thessalonica), virtues and true power to heal, to make miracles and to teach people (Jesus envied of the chief priests).


title: Envy

text: In the NT, Jewish Christians are admonished to not look with evil eye at the last converts ("Gentiles" or Pagan Christians) to avoid therefore becoming the last ones, missing the kingdom of God. They should be happy for anyone saved, like Christ, who came to save the lost, as the shepherd seeking the lost sheep. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, was among the lost ones and he succeeded in bringing salvation to him and to his house.


title: Envy

text: Sometimes arisen out of sophistry, Christians believe envy cannot coexist with true and spiritual wisdom, but with false, earthly, unspiritual, demonic wisdom.


title: Envy

text: Throwing away envy is a crucial condition in the path to salvation within Christianity. Envy was seen by the Apostle Paul as a real danger even within the first Christian communities. Envy is taught as a sin of the past, defeated by God's teaching, often referencing the tenth commandment, which forbids Christians from coveting their neighbor's things, woman, and servants, and urges them to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, as Apostle Paul said, and to love their neighbors as themselves. In 1 Corinthians, it states that brotherly, Christian love banishes definitively envy from one's heart.


title: Envy

text: "One who does not envy but is a compassionate friend to all ... such a devotee is very dear to Me." - Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, Verse 15.


title: Envy

text: In Hinduism, envy is considered a disastrous emotion. Hinduism maintains that anything which causes the mind to lose balance with itself leads to misery. This concept is put forth in the epic Mahabharata, wherein Duryodhana launches the Kurukshetra war out of envy of the perceived prosperity of his cousins. He is known to have remarked:


title: Envy

text: "Father! The prosperity of the Pandavas (cousins) is burning me deeply! I cannot eat, sleep or live in the knowledge that they are better off than me!"


title: Envy

text: Thus, Hinduism teaches that envy can be overcome simply by recognizing that the man or woman who is the object of one's envy is merely enjoying the fruits of their past karmic actions and that one should not allow such devious emotions to take control of their mind, lest they suffer the same fate as the antagonists of the Mahabharata.


title: Envy

text: In Islam, envy ("ḥasad" حسد in Arabic) is an impurity of the heart and can destroy one's good deeds. One must be content with what God has willed and believe in the justice of the creator. A Muslim should not allow his envy to inflict harm upon the envied person.


title: Envy

text: Muhammad said, "Do not envy each other, do not hate each other, do not oppose each other, and do not cut relations, rather be servants of Allah as brothers. It is not permissible for a Muslim to disassociate from his brother for more than three days such that they meet and one ignores the other, and the best of them is the one who initiates the salaam." Sahih al-Bukhari [Eng. Trans. 8/58 no. 91], Sahih Muslim [Eng. Trans. 4/1360 no. 6205, 6210]


title: Envy

text: A Muslim may wish for himself a blessing like that which someone else has, without wanting it to be taken away from the other person. This is permissible and is not called "ḥasad". Rather, it is called "ghibṭa".


title: Envy

text: "There is to be no envy except in two cases: (towards) a person to whom Allah has granted wisdom, and who rules by this and teaches it to the people, and (towards) a person to whom Allah has granted wealth and property along with the power to spend it in the cause of the Truth." [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim]


title: Envy

text: In Judaism (in the Hebrew Bible 'jealousy', is a key feature of God's personality – He is furious in jealousy (for His own people's undivided worship). YeHoVaH is jealous for His own.


title: Envy

text: The God of Israel is, "slow to anger and great in compassion" (Exodus 34:6) but when His jealousy and anger had accumulated there was an outburst of punishment. (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 103:8; Ps 86:15; Ps 145:8; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:3; Nehemiah 9:17; Joel 2:13 etc.)


title: Envy

text: While jealousy is branded as a negative and unwanted emotion generally in society today and also in Christianity, which had developed out of Judaism, in the Biblical (so-called Old Testament) context it is a strong aspect of God's character and therefore not a flawed characteristic – unlike envy, which God does denounce. (Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:9 and verse 18)


title: Envy

text: We envy people when we want what they have. We are jealous when we want to keep for ourselves what belongs exclusively to us. Therefore, we see the frightening permission God gave husbands who became jealous of their wives, to make them take a curse upon themselves, in case they had slept with another man while they belonged to their husband. (Numbers 5:11 – 31)


title: Envy

text: This points to the intimacy and exclusivity He is interested in, from His own people. Ephraim 'committed harlotry' against YHVH and thereby defiled the nation of Israel. Therefore, He withdrew Himself from them, to their detriment: "Woe to those when I depart from them!" (Hosea 9:12), He warns. "They will cry to YHVH, but he will hide His face from them". (Micah 3:4) A wounded Lover speaking. "You paid, but were not paid; for your harlotry. Therefore, oh harlot, hear the Word of YHVH: I shall set My jealousy against you and they will deal furiously with you." (Ezekiel 23:25)


title: Envy

text: YHVH showed Ezekiel how the people in Jerusalem set up 'an image that provokes jealousy'. (Ezekiel 8:11, 12, 1 Kings 14:22, 2 Chronicles 14:2)


title: Envy

text: God also loves like a jealous lover: He told Moses to make a breastplate for Aaron the priest, to wear when he goes into the Most Holy Place. On the breastplate he had to display the names of all the tribes of Israel, so He could see it whenever Aaron went in to work where YHVH's Presence was (Exodus 28:29). Somewhere else He says, I have your name engraved in the palm of My hand. (Isaiah 49:16)


title: Envy

text: The God of Israel wants with His people a marriage of faithfulness, fairness, kindness and compassion – and that they should know Him. (Hosea 2:21,22)


title: Envy

text: He is even jealous for the land itself, the land of Israel. (Joel 2:18) "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.. YHVH will yet comfort Zion and will yet choose Jerusalem.. For I will be to her a wall of fire all around; and the glory in her midst." (Zechariah 1:14, 17, Zechariah 2:9)


title: Envy

text: The Hebrew Bible says Judah provoked YHVH to jealousy with all their sins and their false gods. (1 Kings 14:22) There is a notable difference in meaning between jealousy (of something that is one's own) and envy (which is covetousness of another one's possessions). (Exodus 20: 14; Proverbs 27:4)


title: Envy

text: In English-speaking cultures, envy is often associated with the color green, as in "green with envy", and yellow. Yellow is the color of ambivalence and contradiction; a color associated with optimism and amusement; but also with betrayal, duplicity, and jealousy. The phrase "green-eyed monster" refers to an individual whose current actions appear motivated by jealousy, not envy. This is based on a line from Shakespeare's "Othello". Shakespeare mentions it also in "The Merchant of Venice" when Portia states: "How all the other passions fleet to air, as doubtful thoughts and rash embraced despair and shuddering fear and green-eyed jealousy!"


title: Envy

text: The character Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist series is one of the seven homunculi named after the seven deadly sins.


title: Envy

text: The character of Zelena on ABC's "Once Upon a Time" takes on the title "The Wicked Witch of the West" after envy itself dyes her skin in the episode "It's Not Easy Being Green".


title: Envy

text: In the parable "Garden of Statues", a character goes mad with envy because of all the attention his sculptor neighbor is getting.


title: Envy

text: In Nelson W. Aldrich Jr.'s "Old Money", he states that people who suffer from a case of malicious envy are blind to what good things they already have, thinking they have nothing, causing them to feel emptiness and despair.


title: Mark Esper

text: Mark Thomas Esper (born April 26, 1964) is an American politician and manufacturing executive who served as the 27th United States secretary of defense from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, he had previously served as the 23rd U.S. secretary of the Army from November 2017 to July 2019.


title: Mark Esper

text: A West Point graduate, Esper joined the United States Army and saw combat during the Gulf War as an infantry officer with the 101st Airborne Division. Esper subsequently served in the 82nd Airborne Division and the Army National Guard. After leaving military service, he served as chief of staff at the Heritage Foundation; a congressional staffer; a deputy assistant secretary of defense; and a senior executive for the Aerospace Industries Association, the Global Intellectual Property Center, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Immediately before joining the Trump administration, Esper lobbied for defense contractor Raytheon as its vice president of government relations.


title: Mark Esper

text: In 2017, he joined the Trump administration as the 23rd secretary of the Army. In 2019, Esper was named acting defense secretary; he was confirmed shortly afterwards as the 27th defense secretary by the United States Senate with a vote of 90–8. He was fired by President Donald Trump by tweet on November 9, 2020.


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper was born on April 26, 1964, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania as the son of Pauline "Polly" Reagan and Thomas Joseph Esper. His father was a member of the Maronite Church. His paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Lebanon, and his uncle was war journalist George Esper.


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper graduated from Laurel Highlands High School outside Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1982. He received his Bachelor of Science in engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1986. Esper was a dean's list student at West Point and received the Douglas MacArthur Award for Leadership. He received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School in 1995 and a doctorate in public policy from George Washington University in 2008.


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper served as an infantry officer with the 101st Airborne Division and deployed with the "Screaming Eagles" for the Gulf War. His battalion was part of the famous "left hook" that led to the defeat of the Iraqi Army. He later commanded an airborne rifle company in Europe and served as an Army fellow at the Pentagon. Esper served on active duty for more than ten years before moving to the Army National Guard and later the Army Reserve, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Esper is a recipient of the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Among his military awards and decorations are the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper was chief of staff at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, from 1996 to 1998. From 1998 to 2002, Esper served as a senior professional staffer for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. He was also a senior policy advisor and legislative director for U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel. He was policy director for the House Armed Services Committee from 2001 to 2002. From 2002 to 2004, Esper served in George W. Bush's administration as deputy assistant secretary of defense for negotiations policy, where he was responsible for a broad range of nonproliferation, arms control and international security issues. He was director for national security affairs for the U.S. Senate under Majority Leader Bill Frist from 2004 to 2006.


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper was executive vice president at the Aerospace Industries Association in 2006 and 2007. From September 2007 to February 2008, Esper served as national policy director to U.S. Senator Fred Thompson in his 2008 presidential campaign. From 2008 to 2010, Esper served as executive vice president of the Global Intellectual Property Center and vice president for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He was hired as vice president of government relations at defense contractor Raytheon in July 2010. Esper was recognized as a top corporate lobbyist by "The Hill" in 2015 and 2016. Esper's departure from Raytheon included a deferred compensation package after 2022, based partly on Raytheon's stock price.


title: Mark Esper

text: President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Esper as Secretary of the Army on June 19, 2017. He was Trump's third nominee for the position, following the withdrawals of Vincent Viola and Mark E. Green. He was confirmed to this post by an 89–6 vote of the U.S. Senate on November 15, 2017 and sworn in on November 20, 2017.


title: Mark Esper

text: President Trump tweeted his objections to transgender servicemembers in July 2017, and, under his Presidential Memorandum of August 25, 2017, he required the Department of Defense to produce a report on this subject. Esper was asked by reporters in February 2018 whether soldiers had concerns about serving beside openly transgender individuals. He replied: "It really hasn't come up."


title: Mark Esper

text: After Esper was nominated to become Secretary of Defense, he said that he had met several transgender service members and was impressed with them. Nonetheless, he supported Directive-type Memorandum-19-004, which required service members to meet cisgendered standards associated with their biological sex. Esper claimed it was not a "blanket ban" on transgender service members but rather a policy to ensure that service members are deployable worldwide and can meet military standards without "special accommodations." He said that service members would be individually assessed and that some would be offered waivers to continue serving. In this interview, Esper cited the Defense Department's February 2018 report to support his views.


title: Mark Esper

text: Trump announced the appointment of Esper as Acting Secretary of Defense on June 18, 2019, after Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan decided to withdraw his nomination. Four days later, it was announced that Trump would nominate Esper to serve as Secretary of Defense in a permanent capacity. On July 15, 2019, the White House formally sent his nomination to the Senate. Following his formal nomination, Esper was replaced as Acting Defense Secretary by Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer, as the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 prevented Esper from serving as acting secretary while his nomination was formally under consideration. During that period, Esper reverted to his position as Secretary of the Army. The Senate Committee on Armed Services scheduled a hearing on the nomination for the next day. On July 22, 2019, the Senate voted 85–6 to invoke cloture on his nomination. On July 23, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a vote of 90–8.


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper has said that his operating positions as Secretary of Defense would be apolitical, in keeping with the National Defense Strategy formulated in 2018 by his predecessor Jim Mattis.


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper met with his European counterparts in February 2020 to discuss basing options for a new United States Army headquarters in Europe, bearing the name "V Corps" that had originally been established in World War I but was inactivated while stationed in Germany in 2013. Esper stated the new headquarters was needed to improve military coordination among NATO partners.


title: Mark Esper

text: In response to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which included $738 billion in defense spending, Esper said: "I’m good with those dollars. No complaints." Esper provided a framework for members of Congress to insert a proviso in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which guides the naming of military installations.


title: Mark Esper

text: On November 24, 2019, during a dispute regarding whether Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher would be stripped of his Trident pin, Esper fired the United States Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer. The Department of Defense attributed the firing to Spencer privately proposing to the White House (without informing Esper and contrary to Spencer's public position) an arrangement to let Gallagher retire while keeping his Trident pin. On November 25, Esper stated that Trump had ordered him to stop the Navy from conducting a peer review regarding Gallagher's right to wear the pin. Esper said he previously supported the peer review, but followed Trump's order. Meanwhile, Trump cited the Gallagher case as the primary reason for Esper's firing of Spencer, while also citing "large cost overruns" in the Navy.


title: Mark Esper

text: On February 29, 2020, the Trump administration signed a conditional peace agreement with the Taliban, which called for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan within 14 months, if the Taliban uphold the terms of the agreement. In May 2020, Esper said: "I don’t put a timeline on it. We have a timeline of May of next year but that timeline was premised on everything moving at a set pace."


title: Mark Esper

text: In 2020, Trump directed the Pentagon to remove 11,800 of the nearly 35,000 American troops stationed in Germany. Trump said the move was partially influenced by U.S. frustration with Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, owned by Russia's Gazprom; cited Germany's unwillingness to spend more on defense in support of NATO and accused Germany of being "very delinquent"; and said of Germany, "They make a fortune off the troops. They build cities around our troops. ... We'll let ourselves get rich first." While Trump framed the withdrawal as an act of retribution against the Germans, Esper cited a different rationale, framing the decision in strategic terms, although he acknowledged that Trump's anger at German military spending "accelerated" the process. Esper agreed with Trump that Germany was a "rich country" that "can and should pay more for its defense."


title: Mark Esper

text: The idea for a significant reduction of troops from Germany originated from the White House, where it was pushed by two Trump advisers, Robert C. O'Brien and Richard Grenell. Defense Department officials were largely cut off from the decision making, and they feared that the partial withdrawal from Germany would inhibit regional defenses against Russia. Esper had significant concerns about the plan, but avoided publicly criticizing it and worked to implement Trump's directive. Esper reportedly believed that Trump's demand for speedy troop withdrawal was logistically impossible; the Associated Press reported that "A number of NATO diplomats and officials have suggested the pullout—which would be costly and might not even be logistically possible before the U.S. elections in November—probably won't happen."


title: Mark Esper

text: Trump's announcement of the withdrawal of U.S. troops was made without consultation with Germany or other NATO allies. In June 2020, Esper traveled to NATO headquarters in Brussels to meet with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and to reassure him that the U.S. would not announce any further troop movements or reductions without first consulting with NATO allies.


title: Mark Esper

text: In June 2020, Trump said at a press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda that the United States planned to move some U.S. troops from Germany to Poland. Esper backed Trump's decision, saying that the Pentagon wants to send more troops to the Baltic states, Poland and Romania.


title: Mark Esper

text: In late January 2020, as the coronavirus spread, Esper said he was "not tracking" its spread, as the Trump administration downplayed the risks of the disease.


title: Mark Esper

text: As the coronavirus outbreak turned into a pandemic in early March 2020, Esper directed overseas commanders of U.S. forces to check with him before taking actions to protect U.S. troops, lest they contradict the Trump administration's messaging on the coronavirus. Esper said that "My No. 1 priority remains to protect our forces and their families." The following week, Esper directed the deployment of two Navy hospital ships, the USNS "Comfort" and the USNS "Mercy", to take pressure off New York and Los Angeles hospitals as they coped with the pandemic. Esper also authorized the Defense Department to provide civilian health authorities with five million respirator masks and 2,000 specialized ventilators.


title: Mark Esper

text: In early April 2020, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly removed Navy Captain Brett Crozier from command of the aircraft carrier USS "Theodore Roosevelt" after Crozier pleaded with Navy leaders to move more quickly to in the face of a coronavirus outbreak on the ship. Esper defended Modly's decision, though he conceded that he had not read Crozier's letter calling for help. Within days, widespread condemnation led Modly to resign. Esper named James McPherson, Under Secretary of the Army, to replace him.


title: Mark Esper

text: On April 14, 2020, Esper announced the extension of a travel freeze on military members and Department of Defense civilian employees. The original order to stop movement was to last for 60 days, but Esper said that additional time was needed to stop the spread of the virus. Several days following the announcement, Esper extended the freeze through June 30, 2020.


title: Mark Esper

text: Lawmakers, retired officers and experts criticized Esper's response to the coronavirus, describing it as slow and indecisive. According to Politico, there was discontent within the Department of Defense about Esper's leadership on the issue. Esper primarily left it up to local commanders in terms of how they would respond to the pandemic, which resulted in uneven responses. Several military officials said there was a lack of top-down planning and guidance on important decisions. In a letter in late April 2020, ten Democratic senators called Esper's leadership "disjointed and slow", saying that DOD's civilian leadership had "failed to act sufficiently, quickly, and has often prioritized [combat] readiness at the expense of the health of service members and their families." A Pentagon spokesman defended DoD's handling of the pandemic.


title: Mark Esper

text: In May 2020, at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe, Esper was criticized for interacting with seven World War II veterans who were between the ages of 96 and 100 without wearing a facemask. In response to critics, the administration said that Esper and the veterans were tested before the event.


title: Mark Esper

text: According to multiple reports, on June 1, 2020, amid nationwide civil unrest arising from the murder of George Floyd by police, Trump at one point demanded the deployment of 10,000 active-duty troops to the streets of Washington and other U.S. cities in a heated meeting in the Oval Office with Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who opposed this request. Trump's spokesperson Alyssa Farah and Attorney General William Barr denied that Trump had requested the deployment of 10,000 active-duty troops, with Barr saying instead that Trump wanted troops on "standby."


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper participated in a June 1 call with state governors, Trump, and Barr, in which Trump urged governors to "dominate" and use aggressive methods. During the call, Esper said, "I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal." Esper's suggestion that American cities were a "battlespace" prompted significant criticism, including from former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin E. Dempsey and former Special Operations Command head Raymond A. Thomas. At a subsequent press conference, Esper said that he did not intend the use of the term to focus "on people, and certainly not on our fellow Americans."


title: Mark Esper

text: On June 1, Esper walked alongside Trump to a photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church outside the White House; just prior, police in riot gear and mounted police cleared protestors who started throwing bricks and other projectiles after police began using smoke and flash grenades and a chemical irritant spray from Lafayette Square, clearing a path for Trump, Esper and several other Trump administration officials. Esper's participation in the photo op was criticized by a number of retired senior military officers.


title: Mark Esper

text: Two days later, at a Pentagon press conference, Esper said, regarding the Lafayette Park photo op, that, "Well, I did know that we were going to the church. I was not aware of a photo op was happening," adding, "And look, I do everything I can to try to stay apolitical and try and stay out of situations that may appear political. And sometimes I’m successful at doing that, and sometimes I’m not as successful, but my aim is to keep the department out of politics to stay apolitical."


title: Mark Esper

text: Esper broke with Trump by publicly opposing invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807 and the deployment of active-duty troops in American cities, saying that "the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities ... I say this not only as Secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier, and a former member of the National Guard. The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act." Esper took steps in the following days to further de-escalate the situation, removing weapons and ammunition from the National Guard, and returning troops to their home bases without notifying the White House. Trump reportedly considered firing Esper over the situation.


title: Mark Esper

text: On June 6, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) invited Esper and Milley to testify before the committee regarding the events of June 1; they declined. Chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in statement that the pair "have not 'refused' to testify'" and that the department's “legislative affairs team remains in discussion" with the committee. HASC chairman Representative Adam Smith later acknowledged in a written letter that Esper and Milley may have been prevented from appearing by the White House. Esper and Milley subsequently agreed to appear before the House Armed Services Committee on July 9. In the meantime, on June 8, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy briefed the committee on the presence of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. on June 1, which was during the protests.


title: Mark Esper

text: Days later, Esper and Milley responded in detail to a series of questions asked of them by HASC chairman Smith regarding events during the week of June 1. Smith later said the Pentagon had been "reasonably cooperative" in providing witnesses to the committee amid logistical issues during the coronavirus pandemic.


title: Mark Esper

text: Amid the nationwide racial unrest beginning in late May 2020, Esper directed Pentagon civilian and uniformed leaders to come up with ideas that could be used to quickly improve equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion in the Armed Forces; established an internal Defense Board on Diversity and Inclusion in the Military to recommend ways to increase racial diversity and ensure equal opportunity across all ranks, especially in the officer corps, by December 2020; and created a Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion in the Armed Services, mirroring the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.


title: Mark Esper

text: On June 18, 2020, Esper said that while the Defense Department has often led on issues of race and discrimination, he cited underrepresentation of minorities in the officer ranks as a particular problem.


title: Mark Esper

text: In October 2020, Esper and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh to sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation (BECA), which facilitates the sharing of sensitive information and intelligence—including access to highly-accurate nautical, aeronautical, topographical, and geospatial data—between the United States and India. The agreement had been under discussion for over a decade, but previous concerns over information security impelled India's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government to block it.


title: Mark Esper

text: On November 9, 2020, President Donald Trump tweeted that Esper was "terminated," and that he had been replaced by Christopher C. Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center who would serve as Acting Secretary of Defense. Esper had written his resignation letter shortly after the 2020 election when a winner had not yet been determined.


title: Mark Esper

text: In November 2021, Esper filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense for preventing the publication of parts of his memoir. He dropped the suit three months later, with his attorney stating that the Department had withdrawn "the overwhelming majority" of its objections to material it had deemed classified.


title: Mark Esper

text: The memoir, "A Sacred Oath", was published in May 2022. Esper characterized the Trump administration's decision-making process as overtaken by concerns about the president's 2020 reelection. He said he considered resigning several times but remained on concerns he would be replaced by a Trump loyalist who was providing dangerous ideas to the president. Esper wrote that Trump asked him at least twice if the Pentagon could "shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy the drug labs" and "no one would know it was us." During the 2020 George Floyd protests, Trump sought to deploy 10,000 active duty troops in Washington, asking Esper about protestors, "Can't you just shoot them?" He wrote Trump's top domestic policy advisor Stephen Miller sought to send 250,000 troops to the southern border on the premise that a large caravan of migrants was en route; Esper wrote he responded the Pentagon did not "have 250,000 troops to send to the border for such nonsense." As White House officials watched a live video feed of the raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Esper said Miller proposed beheading al-Baghdadi, dipping his head in pig's blood and parading it around to warn other terrorists. He said he told Miller that would be a war crime; Miller flatly denied the episode occurred. Esper characterized Trump as "an unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service."


title: Folliculitis

text: Folliculitis is the infection and inflammation of one or more hair follicles. The condition may occur anywhere on hair-covered skin. The rash may appear as pimples that come to white tips on the face, chest, back, arms, legs, buttocks, or head.


title: Folliculitis

text: Although acne can often involve superficial infection and inflammation of some hair follicles, the condition of those follicles is usually not called folliculitis, as that term is usually reserved for the separate set of disease entities comprising infected and inflamed hair follicles with causes other than acne.


title: Folliculitis

text: Folliculitis starts with the introduction of a skin pathogen to a hair follicle. Hair follicles can also be damaged by friction from clothing, an insect bite, blockage of the follicle, shaving, or braids that are very tight and close to the scalp. The damaged follicles are then infected by "Staphylococcus" spp. Folliculitis can affect people of all ages.


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: Sarah Jones (born July 17, 1983) is an American actress, best known for her starring roles as NASA astronaut Tracy Stevens in the Apple TV+ original science fiction space drama series "For All Mankind" and as Detective Rebecca Madsen in the Fox TV drama series "Alcatraz."


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: Jones was born in Winter Springs, Florida, and graduated from Winter Springs High School in 2001. She "grew up dancing" with the expectation that it would become her career, but she turned to acting as "the next best thing" after her dancing ended because of injuries. She had gotten her first break working as a dancer for the MTV Movie Awards.


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: She began in acting with a role on "Medical Investigation", before going on to appear in other television credited roles that same year, including episodes of "Cold Case" and "Judging Amy", before she appeared in the 2007 Hallmark Channel movie, "Murder 101: College Can Be Murder".


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: Jones also appeared in a recurring role as Leah on the television show "Huff", guest-starred in a 2006 episode of "Ugly Betty" as Natalie Whitman, and "Big Love" as Brynn. She played the youngest of three sisters who run a wedding planner business in Fox's 2007 short-lived dramedy series "The Wedding Bells". She also appeared in two independent movies, "Still Green" and "The Blue Hour". Jones won the Spirit of the Independent Award at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival for Best Ensemble for "Still Green" (2007), which she shared with Ryan Kelley, Douglas Spain, Noah Segan, Paul Costa and the rest of the cast of the film. She can also be seen in the Cary Brothers music video "Who You Are".


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: She portrayed Polly Zobelle, the scheming daughter and accomplice of Ethan Zobelle in "Sons of Anarchy".


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: In 2011, she had a featured guest starring role in the FX crime drama "Justified" episode "The Life Inside". Other notable credits include a recurring role on "Big Love" and "Lone Star". Jones then signed on to play the lead role of Det. Rebecca Madsen in the J. J. Abrams show, "Alcatraz". Jones has received wide recognition for her portrayal. She took part in a recreation of the chase scene in "Bullitt". The show premiered on January 16, 2012. While the series itself was moderately received, her performance was generally praised by critics. Despite an impressive start, the series was officially cancelled by Fox on May 9, 2012, due to dropping viewership throughout its run. However, Jones was featured in a May 2012 spread for "Vanity Fair" magazine, and she quickly returned to series television, being cast as a regular on "Vegas".


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: She portrayed Alison in the hulu original series "The Path", and Amelia Davenport in the USA Network TV series "Damnation".


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: In 2018, Jones was cast as Lynn in CBS drama pilot "L.A. Confidential", based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same name.


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: In 2019, Jones starred as NASA astronaut Tracy Stevens in the Apple TV+ original science fiction space drama series "For All Mankind". In 2021, Jones reprised her role in Season 2.


title: Sarah Jones (screen actress)

text: Jones was dating Cary Brothers in 2007. She was dating fellow "Sons of Anarchy" actor Theo Rossi from 2010 until 2013. Jones describes herself as a feminist.


title: Yes Day

text: Yes Day is a 2021 American family comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta, from a screenplay and screen story by Justin Malen, based upon the children's book of the same name by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. It stars Jennifer Garner, Édgar Ramírez, and Jenna Ortega.


title: Yes Day

text: It was released on March 12, 2021 on Netflix. It received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, who praised the acting (particularly that of Ortega) but criticized its writing and humor. At the 2021 Imagen Awards, Ortega was nominated for Best Actress in a Feature Film.


title: Yes Day

text: Allison and Carlos Torres are married with three children: Katie, Nando, and Ellie. When they first met, they were adventurous and said yes to everything. However, once having children, they feel they must say no to protect them.


title: Yes Day

text: One evening, they are called into a parent-teacher conference at school where they discover Katie and Nando have both submitted homework calling their mom a dictator. Allison expresses frustration that her children perceive her this way and tells Carlos that she feels he makes her play the role of "bad cop" with their children. Mr. Deacon, a school employee, and father of six overhears and shares with them that he maintains order in his house by having a 'yes day' from time to time: one 24-hour period where the parents cannot say no, within reason.


title: Yes Day

text: Carlos and Allison present the idea to their family, telling them that if they don't get into trouble, do their chores, and keep their grades up, they can have a yes day as a reward. Katie makes a wager with Allison that if her mom makes it through Yes Day, Katie will go to the music festival Fleek Fest with her mother. If she doesn't make it, Katie will be allowed to go with a friend, Layla. The children eventually manage to earn a yes day and put together a list of five activities for the day. First, Ellie dresses her parents in crazy outfits and requests that they don't look at anything with a screen on it all day. Next, they go and order a massive $40 sundae that is free if they can eat it all in 30 minutes. They successfully finish the challenge, with the help of Carlos. They then go through a car wash with the windows down. Next, they go to a capture the flag competition, where each family member leads a group and the goal is for one team to catch the others, throwing balloons filled with Kool-Aid at their opponents. Allison wins the game for her team, winning the children's approval. Carlos, however, is tempted to drop out of Yes Day, but ultimately decides he can't bear to disappoint his family.


title: Yes Day

text: The fourth event is a trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain. When Katie steps away, Allison sees texts on her daughter's phone from Layla indicating she and Katie will be hanging out with older boys at Fleekfest. Allison tells her that the wager is off and she's going to Fleekfest with her, not Layla. Hurt, Katie storms off. In an attempt to win a pink gorilla for Katie as an apology, Allison and Carlos get into a fight with another park-goer and are arrested. The children sneak away. Katie goes to Fleekfest with Layla but quickly becomes uncomfortable being alone with older boys, and her friend abandons her. Nando stages a "nerd party" at the house as the final big event, but it quickly gets out of control when Ellie accidentally sets off a foam explosion inside the house that was meant for the backyard. Meanwhile, Katie's phone dies while trying to contact her siblings and she panics. With help from H.E.R., who is performing at the event, Allison finds Katie and they reconcile. H.E.R. is moved and invites them on stage for a song. Carlos arrives home and finally manages to be a disciplinarian, forcing the party to stop and the children to help with the cleanup. As Yes Day draws to a close, Ellie makes one final request. They all spend the night playing games as a family in a tent in the backyard, until Nando's foam bomb (having been flushed down the toilet) starts to fill up the house.


title: Yes Day

text: In a mid-credits scene, the Torres family and other players pelt Mr. Deacon with Kool-Aid balloons at the Capture the Flag field as revenge for suggesting Yes Day in the first place.


title: Yes Day

text: In September 2018, it was announced that Jennifer Garner had joined the cast of the film, with Miguel Arteta directing from a screenplay by Justin Malen, with Netflix distributing. In October 2019, Jenna Ortega, Édgar Ramírez and Julian Lerner joined the cast of the film. In April 2020, Megan Stott announced she had joined the cast of the film.


title: Yes Day

text: A week following the film's digital release on March 12, 2021, Netflix reported the film had been watched by 53 million households. A month later, in April 2021 the viewership increased to 62 million households.


title: Yes Day

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film a has an approval rating of 50% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads, ""Yes Day" fails to take full advantage of its wish-fulfillment premise, aiming for family fun but settling for harmlessly mediocre." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Wrong Missy

text: The Wrong Missy is a 2020 American romantic comedy film directed by Tyler Spindel which was produced by Happy Madison Productions. With a screenplay by Chris Pappas and Kevin Barnett, the film stars David Spade as a recently single businessman who accidentally invites a woman (Lauren Lapkus) with whom he had a horrible first date to a corporate retreat after a case of mistaken identity. It features lesser roles for Rob Schneider (as a boat captain) and Molly Sims (as "Miss Right", who was meant to get the invite), and a cameo for Vanilla Ice.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: The film was released on Netflix on May 13, 2020, and received mostly negative reviews from critics. Some found praise for Lapkus's performance.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: In Portland, Tim has a blind date with Melissa, nicknamed Missy, who turns out to be extremely strange, and her oddball behavior turns out to be both dangerous and disastrous. Her wild antics force Tim to sneak out of the restaurant through a bathroom window, thereby dislocating his ankle.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: Three months later, Tim bumps into a beautiful and successful woman (also named Melissa) at the airport. They connect over drinks, finding out they have nearly everything in common and seem to be perfect for each other. She gives him her number. After a series of intimate texts, he eventually invites Melissa to his work retreat in Hawaii. However, Missy shows up on the plane, and Tim realizes he had been texting the wrong Melissa the whole time. The antics start again as Missy forcibly gives him a tranquilizer and, when he awakens, she is giving him a handjob.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: On the corporate retreat in Hawaii, the new CEO, Jack Winstone, greets everyone at the welcome party. When Missy makes an appearance, she is awkward and wild, and seems to always leave Tim in embarrassing situations in front of his boss and colleagues. Back at their room, he awakens from another tranquilized state to her on top of him, riding him cowgirl style. She often becomes reckless and intoxicated and her behavior results in humiliation for Tim.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: However, before too long, Missy starts to help Tim succeed at his work retreat, and even hypnotizes his boss to win his favor. As they spend more time together, Tim eventually begins to fall for her. His workplace competitor, Jess "the Barracuda", is not pleased when Winstone gives a job to Tim instead of her, so she reveals to Missy that her invitation was a mistake, and Tim had wanted to bring someone else. When Missy checks Tim's phone, she finds out the truth. Saddened and devastated, she leaves Hawaii.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: However, at the moment Missy leaves in a cab, the actual Melissa arrives in Hawaii (having been invited by Jess). At lunch, Tim begins acting outlandishly, much like Missy did on their first date, imbibing a bevy of alcoholic shots and then performing a walking handstand in the dining room. After falling from the balcony and crippling himself, Tim lets the new Melissa know that he has developed feelings for Missy, and then departs Hawaii.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: Back in the office, Tim decides to remove the hypnotic spell Missy put on his boss by uttering the obscene and obscure magic words. His honesty results in him losing his job.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: Tim tricks Missy into a date, where he plays the same trick that she had used on him. Except she meets Vanilla Ice at the bar. Tim comes up and apologizes to her and tells her all the things that he likes about her, and says that he wants to be more like her. She forgives him, and they kiss.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: The film was announced in January 2019, with David Spade set to star and Tyler Spindel directing. The additional castings of Lauren Lapkus, Geoff Pierson, Sarah Chalke, Molly Sims, Nick Swardson, Jackie Sandler, Chris Witaske and Roman Reigns were announced by March 2019, with filming commencing that same month.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: The film was released on Netflix on May 13, 2020. In July 2020, Netflix revealed the film had been watched by 59 million households over its first four weeks of release, among the most-ever for one of their original films.


title: The Wrong Missy

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads: "Lauren Lapkus lifts "The Wrong Missy" above abject failure, but this lazy comedy will be the wrong option for all but the most Happy Madison-starved viewers." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."


title: The Wrong Missy

text: Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" praised Lauren Lapkus, saying she is "like a grenade of happy insanity tossed into the middle of every scene," and while finding the film generic, he stated, "it does make you want to see Lauren Lapkus's next act."


title: Investcorp

text: Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products, for private and institutional clients. Founded in Bahrain in 1982, the firm has offices in United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, China, and Singapore. Its principal client base is in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, but it also has institutional clients in North America, Europe, and Asia.


title: Investcorp

text: The company's main activities involve private equity, real estate and credit management, and has $41.2 billion worth of assets under management, as of March 31, 2022. It typically places the private equity of companies and real estate properties it acquires directly with investors on a deal-by-deal basis and through a fund structure. In addition, the firm operates the Gulf Opportunity Fund investing in the MENA region, and a number of technology funds.


title: Investcorp

text: Investcorp currently has approximately $22.2 billion in invested assets under management across its four asset classes. In 2011, it ranked 67th in the PEI300 (Private Equity Index 300) ranking of private equity firms by assets deployed, with $4.68bn invested in private equity over the previous five years.


title: Investcorp

text: The company is regulated in Bahrain as a wholesale bank, and has traditionally utilised long-term and medium-term bank financing, including private placements and syndicated loans, in order to ensure a longer maturity profile. The company's capital adequacy ratio (Basel III) at 2017 December 30 was 29.8%.


title: Investcorp

text: The company was co-founded in 1982 by Nemir Kirdar, Elias Hallak, Mike Merritt, and Cem Cesmig and acquired Tiffany & Co in 1984, floating in 1987. In 1988, Maurizio Gucci sold almost 47.8% of Gucci to Investcorp, and withheld the other 50% until 1993.


title: Investcorp

text: The company diversified in 1997 into hedge funds. Kirdar stepped down as CEO and executive chairman in 2015. Wtih Kirdar resigning, Mohammad Alardhi became the executive chairmen of Investcorp. In the same year, the company's business model became more focused on raising funds, raising institutional capital, and diversifying strategies further.


title: Investcorp

text: Investcorp made several acquisitions between 2016 and 2019, pushing into China with investments into tech and the food sector. In 2019, the company also pushed into the US market with the acquisition of Mercury Capital. Investcorp's portfolio company, Moneybookers, ended its relationship with WikiLeaks in August 2010 as a result of U.S. government pressure.


title: Investcorp

text: Corporate investment is Investcorp's traditional activity. This includes mid-size companies in North America, Western Europe and MENA including Turkey, as well as technology lower mid-cap investment, through Investcorp Technology Partners.


title: Investcorp

text: The real estate division based in New York and London, sources and performs due diligence, and arranges financing and the acquisition of US and European properties and US commercial mortgage debt positions. The investment in these properties or loans is typically aggregated into a series of multi-investment portfolios for placement to clients. Debt investments are also made within a series of debt funds which are managed by the group. Since 1995, Investcorp has acquired in the region of 470 properties, totaling approximately $14 billion in value. It currently has more than $5 billion of property under management.


title: Investcorp

text: Investcorp's hedge fund business was established in 1996 and today has approximately $3.5 billion of capital under management, of which approximately $0.2 billion is reserved for proprietary investments. The fund of funds program comprises a selection of funds of hedge funds with varying risk/return profiles. These are invested across different strategies through approximately 45 hedge fund managers.


title: Investcorp

text: In addition Investcorp has developed a single manager seeding platform, and currently offers, on a joint venture basis, access to six managers with specific strategies. The single manager platform currently has around $1.8 billion in client and proprietary assets under management. In the last few years customised portfolios have grown as a proportion of the firm's overall hedge fund assets under management, with traditional fund-of-funds reducing.


title: Investcorp

text: 16% of the hedge fund business is invested through fund of funds. The remainder is invested through customized investments, seeding businesses and a single manager platform. The hedge fund business also provides institutional investors with access to its emerging manager program, investing with and seeding early stage managers who, according to Investcorp research, outperform larger hedge funds on a risk adjusted basis.


title: Investcorp

text: Investcorp Credit Management has assets under management of over $11 billion. Based in London, New York and Singapore, they manage funds which invest primarily in senior secured corporate debt issued by mid and large-cap corporates in Western Europe and the US.


title: Italian Empire

text: The Italian colonial empire (), known as the Italian Empire ("Impero Italiano") between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century and comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencies of the Kingdom of Italy. In Africa, the colonial empire included the territories of present-day Eritrea, Somalia, Libya, and Ethiopia; outside Africa, Italy possessed the Dodecanese Islands (following the Italo-Turkish War), Albania (a protectorate from 1917 to 1920 and from 1939 to 1943, when it was invaded and forced into a personal union with Italy), and had a concession in China.


title: Italian Empire

text: The Fascist government that came to power with dictator Benito Mussolini after 1922 sought to increase the size of the Italian empire and to satisfy the claims of Italian irredentists. Systematic "demographic colonization" was encouraged by the government, and by 1939, Italian settlers numbered 120,000-150,000 in Italian Libya and 165,000 in Italian East Africa.


title: Italian Empire

text: During World War II, Italy allied with Germany in 1940 and occupied British Somaliland, western Egypt, Yugoslavia, Tunisia, parts of south-western France and Greece; however, it then lost those conquests and its African colonies to the invading allied forces by 1943. In 1947, Italy officially relinquished claims on its former colonies. Only the territory of Somalia was eventually turned into a UN trust territory under Italian administration until 1960. Following the independence of Somalia in 1960, Italy's 65-year period of imperialism concluded.


title: Italian Empire

text: Imperialism in Italy dates back to ancient Rome, and the Latin notion of "mare nostrum" ("Our Sea", referring to the Mediterranean) has historically been the basis for Italian imperialism, especially during the fascist era. During the Middle Ages and the modern period, the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa controlled networks of "colonies" in the Mediterranean region known as the Venetian Empire and the Genoese Empire respectively. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, Italian explorers contributed to the colonial enterprises of other European countries in the Americas: Cristopher Columbus from Genoa served Spain, Amerigo Vespucci from Florence served Portugal, the Cabot brothers from Venice served England, and Giovanni da Verrazzano from Florence served France. However, no Italian power took an active role in the scramble for the Americas, with the notable exception of the Pope who acted as an arbiter between European colonial powers during the Renaissance. The geographical position of Italy, located in the center of an internal sea, without an open free access to the ocean, contributed to this purely Mediterranean policy. Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, made the only Italian attempt to create a colony in the Americas, in what is now French Guiana, organizing in 1608 an expedition to explore the north of Brazil and the Amazon river in 1608 under the command of the English captain Robert Thornton. However, Thornton, on his return from the preparatory expedition in 1609, found Ferdinand I dead and his successor, Cosimo II, was not interested in the project. In 1651, Giovanni Paolo Lascaris, Italian nobleman and Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller of Malta (at the time a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily), possessed four Caribbean islands: Saint Christopher, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Croix, which were colonized from 1651 until 1665. No other colonial attempt in the ocean was made and, by 1797, the Venetian and Genoese possessions in the Mediterranean were lost.


title: Italian Empire

text: Once unified as a nation-state in the late 19th century, Italy intended to compete with the other European powers for the new age of European colonial expansion. It saw its interests in the Mediterranean and in the Horn of Africa, a region yet to be colonized and with access to the ocean. Italy had arrived late to the colonial race and its status as the least of the Great Powers, a position of relative weakness in international affairs, meant that it was dependent on the acquiescence of Britain, France and Germany towards its empire-building. Italy had long considered the Ottoman province of Tunisia, where a large community of Tunisian Italians lived, within its economic sphere of influence. It did not consider annexing it until 1879, when it became apparent that Britain and Germany were encouraging France to add it to its colonial holdings in North Africa. A last-minute offer by Italy to share Tunisia between the two countries was refused, and France, confident in German support, ordered its troops in from French Algeria, imposing a protectorate over Tunisia in May 1881 under the Treaty of Bardo. The shock of the "Slap of Tunis", as it was referred to in the Italian press, and the sense of Italy's isolation in Europe, led it into signing the Triple Alliance in 1882 with Germany and Austria-Hungary.