title: Kim Jong-kook

text: Kim was born on April 25, 1976, in Yongsan, South Korea. His family consists of his parents and an older brother, who is a doctor. Kim attended Myeong Hak Elementary School, Shin Seong Middle High School and graduated from Hansei University in BA (music composition). He then obtained a master's degree from the Pop Culture Performing Arts – School of Arts Department of Dankook University.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: Kim Jong-kook first entered the Korean music industry in 1995 as a member of the duo, Turbo, which became immensely popular for their catchy music. After the duo disbanded a few years later, he became a solo singer in 2001, mostly concentrating on ballads.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: Kim Jong-kook had a setback after Turbo as he faced difficulties settling down as a solo artist. Problems like lack of songs from composers, less support from his respected agency, and also a change of taste within the fans caused his first album as a solo artist to fail. However, he made a successful comeback with his second album "Evolution" in 2004, which spawned the hit single "One Man". Kim then became a permanent cast member of the popular variety game show, "X-Man", which further raised his popularity.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: In 2005, Kim released his third album, "This Is Me". The album sold over 300,000 copies and became one of the best-selling albums in Korea that year. The lead single, "Lovable" topped various music charts, and was included in online games such as Pump It Up and Audition Online. Kim swept the Daesang (Artist of the Year) Award from all three major Korean TV stations, SBS, KBS, and MBC, becoming the second artist to accomplish this feat since Cho Yong-pil in the 1980s.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: Kim was made the leader of the first series of "Shootdori", where kids who are interested in soccer form teams and compete. However, he had to leave the team after receiving an enlistment notice. He wrote and sang a song for his team, titled "Toward a Dream". Kim enlisted in March 2006. Around that time, he released his 4th album, "Volume 4 - Kim Jong-kook's Fourth Letter". The music video of the lead single, "Saying I Love You", featured Yoon Eun-hye, who was previously involved in a love-line with him in "X-Man". Though Kim was unable to directly promote the album as he was in the military, the album sold more than 100,000 copies and later won "Album of the Year" at the Melon Music Awards.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: It was announced in late April 2008 that the singer would end his military service on May 23, 2008. On that day, he was greeted by fans, and during an interview, he said that he was "relieved". His fifth studio album, "Here I Am", was released on October 22, 2008, with songs such as "Today More than Yesterday" and "Thank You".


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: Kim also returned to television, becoming a permanent member of reality-variety show "Family Outing" since episode 19, part of SBS's "Good Sunday" lineup. "Family Outing" has become one of the top-rated shows in Korea, consistently achieving the highest ratings for the Sunday mid-afternoon time-slot, and has gained online popularity among Hallyu fans.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: His sixth album, titled "The Eleventh Story" was released on January 27, 2010. The album featured the singles "This is the Person" and "Don't Be Good to Me". The music video of the latter single featured fellow "Family Outing" cast member Park Ye-jin.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: In 2010, Kim became a cast member of SBS' variety show "Running Man". In 2011, he won the "Best TV Star Award" at the SBS Entertainment Awards. Kim gained pan-Asia popularity from the show, becoming one of the most searched Korean stars in Singapore, and having his showcase there sold out with more than 1,700 fans in attendance. He also enjoyed success in China, where he consistently topped polls such as being voted #1 Korean singer on the Chinese streaming website, Tudou, and being ranked second most popular Korean male celebrity on Baidu.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: On November 1, 2012, following a pre-release of selected songs from his new album, Kim made a comeback to the music scene with the release of his seventh studio album, "Journey Home", after three years. His fellow "Running Man" co-stars Haha and Gary participated in the album as well as former "Running Man" member Song Joong-ki, who starred in the music video for lead single "Men Are All Like That". The same year, he began to host the documentary program "Crisis Escape No. 1", which won him the "Best Entertainer Award" at the 2013 KBS Entertainment Awards.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: In 2014, he formed a duo with fellow "Running Man" cast member Haha, known as Running Man Brothers. The musical duo held a concert tour in the United States in July and December.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: In 2015, Kim made his official acting debut with a supporting role in the KBS drama, "The Producers", and was praised for his "solid acting chops".


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: In September 2015, he left Urban Works ENT after his contract expired. He later went on to sign an exclusive contract with Maroo Entertainment in October 2015.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: In December 2015, he and fellow Turbo members Kim Jung-nam and Mikey reunited for Turbo's 20th anniversary album. The album titled "Again" was released on December 21, 2015. The eponymous lead single, 다시 (Again), which features Yoo Jae-suk, topped online music charts upon its release.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: On August 23, 2016, he officially made his singing debut in China with his first single, "Hate That Happiness Came" (恨幸福来过), produced by JJ Lin and lyrics written by Vincent Fang.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: On December 19, 2020, Kim made history by becoming the first male celebrity, and 2nd person ever to win a Daesang in both Music and Entertainment. He received the Grand Prize Award (Daesang) at the 14th SBS Entertainment Awards for his participation in Running Man and My Little Old Boy.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: On June 17 , 2021, Kim launches fitness-focused YouTube channel "GYM JONG KOOK" with just under 100,000 subscribers registered in the first five minutes.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: Kim is the uncle of singer Soya. Kim is known to be good friends with Jang Hyuk, Cha Tae-hyun, Hong Kyung-min and Hong Kyung-in. The five are known as the "Dragon Brothers" because they were all born in 1976, the year of the dragon.


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: On August 27, 2010, Kim received a lumbar microdiscectomy surgery to relieve a herniated disk. Kim's management company, 101 Entertainment stated, “Kim Jong-kook carried on with his daily activities without knowing that he had a ruptured disk. However, he did feel pain, but did not think much of it, and he endured his condition with painkillers while filming SBS Running Man."


title: Kim Jong-kook

text: In January 2015, he was a guest on the popular talk show, "Healing Camp", where he shed light on many personal controversies, including his choice to work as a public service worker instead of an active-duty soldier during his mandatory military enlistment, which was partly due to the aforementioned back issues.


The National Human Rights Commission of India (abbreviated as NHRC) is a statutory public body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA). The NHRC is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, defined by the act as "Rights Relating To Life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts in India".


title: National Human Rights Commission of India

text: The sitting Judge of the Supreme Court or sitting Chief Justice of any High Court can be appointed only after the consultation with the Chief Justice of India.


text: Arun Kumar Mishra, a former Judge of Supreme Court is current chairperson of the commission (11th chairperson of NHRC). The last chairman of the NHRC was Justice H. L. Dattu, who completed his tenure on 2 December 2020. The other members are:


text: A state government may constitute a body known as the Human Rights Commission of that State to exercise the powers conferred upon, and to perform the functions assigned to, a State Commission. In accordance with the amendment brought in TPHRA,1993 point No.10 below is the list of State Human Rights Commissions formed to perform the functions of the commission as stated under chapter V of TPHRA,1993 (with amendment act 2006). At present, 25 states have constituted SHRC


text: Section 2, 3 and 4 of TPHRA lay down the rules for appointment to the NHRC. The Chairperson and members of the NHRC are appointed by the President of India, on the recommendation of a committee consisting of:


text: A report concerning the manner in which the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case was rejected, a case involving high-ranking officials, opened the organisation up to questioning over the usefulness of human rights commissions set up by the government at the national and state levels.


text: In mid-2011, the chairman of the NHRC, ex-Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan came under a cloud for allegedly owning assets disproportionate to his income. His son-in-law P. V. Srinijan, an Indian National Congress politician, had to resign for suddenly coming into possession of land worth Rs. 25 lakhs. Many prominent jurists, including former CJ J. S. Verma, SC ex-Judge V. R. Krishna Iyer, noted jurist Fali S. Nariman, former NHRC member Sudarshan Agrawal and prominent activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, have called on Balakrishnan's resignation pending from the HRC pending inquiry. In February 2012, the Supreme Court inquired of the government regarding the status of the inquiry.


text: NHRC held that 16 out of 19 police encounters with suspected Maoists in Guntur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh, prior to 2002 were fake and recommended to Government payment of compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the families.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair, held in September, that caps San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes simply referred to as "Folsom", takes place on Folsom Street between 8th and 13th Streets, in San Francisco's South of Market district.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The event started in 1984, and is California's third-largest single-day, outdoor spectator event and the world's largest leather event and showcase for BDSM products and culture. It has grown as a non-profit charity, and local and national non-profits benefit with all donations at the gates going to charity groups as well as numerous fundraising schemes within the festival including games, beverage booths and even spanking for donations to capitalize on the adult-themed exhibitionism.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Although sadomasochism has been practiced for many centuries, the modern gay leather scene in the United States developed beginning in 1945 when thousands of gay servicemen were given blue discharges from service after World War II and came to the major port cities of the United States to live in gay ghettos. In 1953, the Marlon Brando film "The Wild One" appeared, and some butch gays began to imitate Brando by wearing black leather jackets, a black leather cap, black leather boots and jeans and, if they could afford it, by also riding motorcycles. In the 1950s, the magazine "Bizarre" familiarized people with sexual fetishism.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The first proto-leather bar in San Francisco was the Sailor Boy Tavern, which opened in 1938 near the Embarcadero YMCA and catered to U.S. Navy Sailors looking for same-sex sexual encounters.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Folsom Street has been the center of San Francisco's men's leather community since the mid-1960s. Before centering in the South of Market neighborhood, leather friendly bars were located in the Embarcadero (Jack's On The Waterfront at 111 Embarcadero 1952–1963, On The Levee ?-1972), and the Tenderloin (The Spur Club at 126 Turk - raided and closed in 1959, The Why Not at 518 Ellis - opened and closed in 1960, The Hideaway at 438 Eddy - raided and closed in 1961). The first leather bar in SOMA was the Tool Box, a gay leather bar which opened in 1961 at 339 4th St and closed in 1971. It was made famous by the June 1964 Paul Welch "Life" article entitled "Homosexuality In America," the first time a national publication reported on gay issues. "Life"s photographer was referred to the Tool Box by Hal Call, who had long worked to dispel the myth that all homosexual men were effeminate. The article opened with a two-page spread of the mural of life size leathermen in the bar, painted by Chuck Arnett, a patron and employee. The article described San Francisco as "The Gay Capital of America" and inspired many gay leathermen to move there.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The first leather bar on Folsom Street was Febe's, on the southwest corner of 11th and Folsom, which opened July 25, 1966. The Stud bar, which opened in 1966 at 1535 Folsom St., was a gay leather bar that was also originally a Hells Angels hangout; by 1969 it had become a dance bar for hippies on the margins of the leather scene and had a psychedelic black light mural by Chuck Arnett (in 1987, it moved to 399 9th St. at Harrison). In 1967 A Taste of Leather, one of the first in-bar leather stores, was established at Febe's by Nick O'Demus. As of late 2009, A Taste of Leather announced it would be going out of business after 43 years.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: In 1971, the modern bandana code came into use among leather people. Many leather people went to the Embarcadero YMCA (at this YMCA, doing weight training while wearing nothing but gym shoes and a jockstrap as well as nude swimming were both allowed until 1975, when women could become members of the YMCA). Leather people who worked out at the Embarcadero YMCA took advantage of the opportunity to get together with sailors when they came into town and rented rooms at the adjacent Embarcadero YMCA Hotel.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: By the late 1970s Folsom's "Miracle Mile" had featured nearly 30 different leather bars, clubs, and merchants, most within walking distance of each other. These establishments included, in the order they were established: 1968 - Off the Levee (by the same owner of On The Levee), The Ramrod. 1971 - The In Between (later renamed The No Name), The Bootcamp. 1972 - The Barracks at 72 Hallam St., off Folsom between 7th and 8th Streets (a gay bathhouse for people into hardcore BDSM—each room was arranged like a stage set to cater to a different fetish fantasy). 1973 - The Red Star Saloon (connected to the Barracks) (which featured new artwork by Chuck Arnett), the End Up (not a leather bar but a dance bar; however, many leather people who liked to dance went there), Folsom Prison, The Ambush, Big Town—a gay leather shopping mall on the south side of Folsom between 6th and 7th Streets. 1975 - Hombre, The Catacombs (for those into hard core fisting), The Emporium. 1976 - The Trading Post, The Slot (for those into hardcore flagellation), The hotel (later renamed The Handball Express—a place for those into hardcore fisting). 1977 - The Brig, The Balcony. 1978 - The Arena, The Roundup (later renamed The Watering Hole—a place for those into urolagnia), The Quarters, Black & Blue, Folsom Street Baths at 1015 Folsom (a BDSM gay bathhouse, later renamed The Sutro Baths in 1980—the slogan of the Sutro Baths was "A rainbow of sexual preferences", which was inscribed on a banner above the orgy room, located where the main dance floor of 1015 Folsom now is. The Sutro Baths also admitted women and transsexuals). 1979 - The Stables at 1123 Folsom (for those who liked to dress as cowboys), The Trench (for those into hardcore urolagnia), The Hothouse on the northwest corner of 5th and Harrison (another BDSM gay bathhouse), Tailor of San Francisco, Mister S Leathers. 1980 - The Plunge—a gay BDSM bathhouse with a swimming pool on the northwest corner of 11th and Folsom (in 1983 the swimming pool was covered over and became the surface of the dance floor of the popular bisexual dance club The Oasis). 1981 - The Eagle at 398 12th St., as of 2010, was San Francisco's oldest leather bar, as well as its largest with its extensive outdoor patio, and it hosted many popular barbecues and beer busts to benefit charitable organizations; however, it closed in June 2011 due to a dispute over its real estate. The Eagle has subsequently reopened in 2013.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The predecessor of the Folsom Street Fair was the "CMC Carnival" ("California Motorcycle Club Carnival"), a gay leather BDSM dance (with DJs and a rock band) and fair, with vendors and a back room for casual sex. It was held on the second Sunday of November every year from 1966 to the last one in 1986 at various indoor venues including most often at the Seafarer's International Union Hall (referred to as "Seaman's Hall" for short) at 350 Fremont Street in the Embarcadero area of SOMA. In the early 1970s, the CMC Carnival was attended by a few hundred people and by the time of the last large CMC Carnival in 1982 at what was then the Yellow Cab Building at Jones and Turk in the Tenderloin, it was attended by over 4,000 people.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The "CMC Carnival" was organized by one of the leather motorcycle clubs, the "California Motorcycle Club", with the help of other gay motorcycle clubs. The members of these gay motorcycle clubs rode mostly Harley Davidson motorcycles and on periodic weekends rode their motorcycles to outings at picnic grounds in the Sierra Nevada. The first gay motorcycle club in the United States was the Satyrs, founded in Los Angeles in 1954. The first gay motorcycle club in San Francisco was the Warlocks, which was founded in 1960, followed by the California Motorcycle Club, also founded in 1960 later in the year. By the mid-1960s, San Francisco's South of Market district had become the center of the gay motorcycle club scene and was home to motorcycle clubs such as the Barbary Coasters (founded in 1966) and the Constantines and the Cheaters (both founded in 1967). Some leather people of the 1960s and 1970s felt that one was not really a leather person but just a poseur unless one owned an actual motorcycle, preferably a Harley Davidson.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Gay motorcycle clubs in San Francisco also organized many benefits for charity at various leather bars. During the 1970s and early 1980s one could see many dozens of motorcycles belonging to people who were members of these clubs parked up and down the length of Folsom Street on the "Miracle Mile". The membership of these motorcycle clubs was decimated by the AIDS crisis beginning in 1982.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: In 1979 the newly formed San Francisco lesbian motorcycle club, Dykes on Bikes, led what was then called the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade for the first time and has done so ever since (since 1994, the event has been called the "San Francisco Pride Parade"). By the mid-1980s, lesbian motorcycle enthusiasts in other cities began to form motorcycle clubs. In the 1980s and early 1990s, lesbian leatherwomen were often involved in helping to care for gay leathermen who had been stricken with AIDS.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: In 1984 the Folsom Street Fair began in San Francisco; it is the world's largest leather event and showcase for BDSM products and culture.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: In 2008 and 2012, Folsom Street Events received the Large Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards, although in 2012 it tied with Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend. In 2013, the San Francisco Leathermen's Discussion Group received the Small Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards. Then in 2015 Folsom Street Events received the Nonprofit Organization of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley consists of four works of art along Ringold Alley honoring leather culture; it opened in 2017. The four works of art are: A black granite stone etched with a narrative by Gayle Rubin, an image of the "Leather David" statue by Mike Caffee, and a reproduction of Chuck Arnett's 1962 mural from the Tool Box, a gay leather bar, engraved standing stones that honor community leather institutions including the Folsom Street Fair, leather pride flag pavement markings through which the stones emerge, and metal bootprints along the curb which honor 28 people who were an important part of the leather communities of San Francisco.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The community had been active in resisting the city's ambitious redevelopment program for the South of Market area throughout the 1970s. City officials had wanted to "revitalize" the historically blue-collar, warehouse, industrial district by continuing successful high-rise development already underway on Rincon Hill.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: But as the AIDS epidemic unfolded in the 1980s, the community's relative autonomy from City Hall was dramatically weakened. The crisis became an opportunity for the city (in the name of public health) to close bathhouses and regulate bars, which they did beginning in 1984.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: As these establishments for the leather community were rapidly closing, a coalition of housing activists and community organizers decided to start a street fair. The fair would enhance the visibility of the community, provide a means for much-needed fundraising, and create opportunities for members of the leather community to connect to services and vital information (e.g., regarding safer sex) that bathhouses and bars might otherwise have been situated to distribute.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Thanks to the success of the first Folsom Street Fair, the organizers created the Up Your Alley Fair on Ringold Street in 1985. This fair moved to Dore Street ("Dore Alley") between Howard and Folsom in 1987.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Street photographer Michael Rababy says that a century of artists and poets are being replaced by algorithmics and trust-fund hipsters, but as the millennium tower sinks, the Folsom Street Fair stands its ground.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: As one of the few occasions when sadomasochistic activities are encouraged and performed in public, it attracts a considerable number of sightseers and those who enjoy the attention of onlookers as well as hundreds of photographers and videographers. Although the costumes and activities are frequently transgressive, many people come together at the food court, many attendees find the event "eye-opening" and positive. On the other hand, the event has at times drawn public and internal criticism for its bawdy atmosphere and broad tolerance of lewd behavior, and it is a regular target for anti-gay organizations such as Americans for Truth about Homosexuality.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The organizers have reportedly earned a great amount of trust from city officials as they have demonstrated not only an exceptional level of community and volunteer support, but also have risen to be a role-model for other street fairs in San Francisco which have faced opposition from various neighborhood groups. With the assistance of the high-profile Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the gate donations totaled more than $300,000 in 2006 and the methodology emulated at other street fairs like the Sisters' Pink Saturday, the Castro Street Fair and San Francisco Lovefest.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The fair claims it draws 250,000 visitors annually, including leather fetishists from around the world, and is the third-largest street event in California, after the Tournament of Roses Parade and San Francisco Pride parade. Each year, net proceeds from Folsom Street Fair, including gate donations and beverage sales, are given to qualified local charities ("beneficiaries"). These include charities working in public health, human services, and the arts, as well as beverage partners, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who lead the organizing effort at the gates. The event regularly generates over $300,000 annually for charity. Money raising events also include a charity spanking booth, live BDSM demonstrations and a twister stage.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Fair organizers present one or two live stages for alternative bands and artists. Previous headlining live acts have included Austra, Little Boots, Miami Horror, Ladytron (DJ Team), Dragonette, Imperial Teen, Berlin, The Presets, Monarchy, The English Beat, Missing Persons, MNDR, Light Asylum, Shiny Toy Guns, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, Nitzer Ebb, MEN (featuring JD Samson of Le Tigre), My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, The Limousines, Ladyhawke, Adult., and Yacht. Over time, the fair is becoming more and more well known as a venue for top-notch, international underground musical talent. There are one or two dance areas with DJs and cage dancers, featuring DJ sets from the likes of Tony Moran, Manny Lehman, The Cucarachas featuring Tom Stephan, and Mark Moore of S'Express.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: In 2006, Folsom Street Fair introduced a women's area, dubbed "Bettie Page's Secret" for the first year, then "Venus' Playground" and as of 2016 the current area is called the Playground. The Playground is open to "women of every kind and all trans and non-binary folks." The Playground also hosts the Queer Commons, a space for all genders of queer folks. In 2007, an erotic artists' area was established as well with a performance art stage appearing in 2013 in honor of the 30th fair.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Since 1997, a smaller event called Folsom Street East has been organized in New York City by GMSMA. There is no affiliation between Folsom Street East (NYC) and Folsom Street Events (SF).


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Folsom Europe was established in Berlin, Germany in 2003 in order to bring the non-profit leather festival concept pioneered by the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco to Europe.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The Toronto version of Folsom Street Fair was dubbed "Folsom Fair North", FFN or FFNTO, and was held annually in July from 2003 until it was canceled permanently in 2008.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: For the 24th annual event held on September 30, 2007, the official poster artwork was a photo featuring well-known LGBT and BDSM community members in festive and fetish attire including Sister Roma "as players in an innovative version of the culturally iconographic" "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci, complete with a table draped with the Leather Pride flag and "cluttered with sex toys, whips, and various (BDSM) restraints". The image by FredAlert was used on the official event guide and produced as collector's posters that were displayed throughout the city as advertising for the event. Some conservative religious groups criticized the image as anti-Christian and blasphemous, although media outlets noted that parodies and homages of the Last Supper painting like Renée Cox's "Yo Mama's Last Supper" are numerous, including ones by "The Simpsons", "The Sopranos", Phish, "That '70s Show", Robert Altman (in the film "MASH") and the Boston Red Sox. Chris Glaser, a gay clergyman and interim senior pastor at San Francisco's Metropolitan Community Church agreed that "they are just having fun" with both the painting and the notion of 'San Francisco values,' stating he thought it was "tastefully and cleverly done".


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: From a press release about the poster, Andy Copper, Board President of Folsom Street Events, a non-profit organization, stated, "There is no intention to be particularly pro-religion or anti-religion with this poster; the image is intended only to be reminiscent of the 'Last Supper' painting. It is a distinctive representation of diversity with women and men, people of all colors and sexual orientations" and "We hope that people will enjoy the artistry for what it is - nothing more or less. Many people choose to speculate on deeper meanings. In truth, we are going to produce a series of inspired poster images over the next few years. Next year's poster ad may take inspiration from 'American Gothic' by Grant Wood or Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' or even 'The Sound of Music'! I guess it wouldn't be the Folsom Street Fair without offending some extreme members of the global community, though."


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The Catholic League, Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council targeted the largest mainstream sponsor of the event, Miller Brewing Company, threatening to boycott their products for the company's support of the event and allowing its logo to appear in the ad. Miller asked for its logo to be removed from the poster with a statement on its website: "While Miller has supported the Folsom Street Fair for several years, we take exception to the poster the organizing committee developed this year. We understand some individuals may find the imagery offensive and we have asked the organizers to remove our logo from the poster effective immediately."


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: The Catholic League dropped the boycott within a month with no evidence of Miller's sales being affected.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives who represents San Francisco and who is also Roman Catholic, fielded a question on this image as part of her Friday morning press conference. She responded,


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: It's a constitutional question. It's a religious question. It's about as global a question as you could ask ... I'm a big believer in the First Amendment. I do not believe Christianity has been harmed by the Folsom Street Fair.


title: Folsom Street Fair

text: In 2018, Delancey Street Press published the "Folsom Street Food Court", with images captured by Michael Rababy. The book is a documentary photography monograph that captures San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair. The unguarded images feature people in various states of dress and undress in the rarely photographed street fair food court. The book documents two years shot a decade apart, 2007 and 2017, to demonstrate that although the city of San Francisco has gentrified over time, the Folsom Street Fair seems to maintain its authenticity.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 1968—the longest tenure in the position's history.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: In the context of the strong growth of the last years of the "Trente Glorieuses", Pompidou continued De Gaulle's policy of modernisation, symbolised by the presidential use of the Concorde, the creation of large industrial groups and the launch of the high-speed train project (TGV). The State invested heavily in the automobile, agri-food, steel, telecommunications, nuclear and aerospace sectors. It also created the minimum wage (SMIC) and the Ministry of the Environment.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: His foreign policy, pragmatic although in keeping with the Gaullist principle of French independence, was marked by a warming of relations with Nixon's United States, as well as by close relations with Brezhnev's USSR, the launch of the Snake in the tunnel and the relaunching of European construction by the entry of the United Kingdom into the EEC, an idea which his predecessor at the Élysée Palace had opposed.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: Pompidou died in office in 1974 of Waldenström's disease, a rare form of blood cancer. His presidency is generally held in high esteem by French political commentators.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: A man of letters, he belongs to a long line of French statesmen with an excellent writing style. His ""Anthology of French Poetry"" is still a reference today and is part of the school curriculum. While he was passionate about contemporary art, his name remains known worldwide for the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, which he initiated, which was inaugurated in 1977 and which subsequently spread the name with its branches in Metz (France), Malaga (Spain), Brussels (Belgium) and Shanghai (China). A Georges Pompidou Museum is also dedicated to him in his home town.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: The family of Georges Pompidou was of very modest origins: he was the grandson of farmers of modest means in Cantal on both his father's and his mother's side. His parents were teachers. Thus his case is often cited as a typical example of social mobility in the Third Republic, thanks to public schooling.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was born on 5 July 1911 in the commune of Montboudif, in the department of Cantal in central France. After his "khâgne" at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he befriended future Senegalese poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor, he attended the École Normale Supérieure, from which he graduated with a degree of "agrégation" in literature.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: He first taught literature at the lycée Henri IV in Paris until hired in 1953 by Guy de Rothschild to work at Rothschild. In 1956, he was appointed the bank's general manager, a position he held until 1962. Later, he was hired by Charles de Gaulle to manage the Anne de Gaulle Foundation for Down syndrome (de Gaulle's youngest daughter Anne had Down syndrome).


title: Georges Pompidou

text: He served as prime minister of France under de Gaulle after Michel Debré resigned, from 14 April 1962 to 10 July 1968, and to this day is the longest serving French prime minister under the Fifth Republic. His nomination was controversial because he was not a member of the National Assembly. In October 1962, he was defeated in a vote of no-confidence, but de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly. The Gaullists won the legislative election and Pompidou was reappointed as Prime Minister. In 1964, he was faced with a miners' strike. He led the 1967 legislative campaign of the Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic to a narrow victory. Pompidou was widely regarded as being responsible for the peaceful resolution of the student uprising of May 1968. His strategy was to break the coalition of students and workers by negotiating with the trade-unions and employers (Grenelle conference).


title: Georges Pompidou

text: However, during the events of May 1968, disagreements arose between Pompidou and de Gaulle. Pompidou did not understand why the President did not inform him of his departure to Baden-Baden on 29 May. Their relationship, until then very good, would be strained from then on. Pompidou led and won the 1968 legislative campaign, overseeing a tremendous victory of the Gaullist Party. He then resigned. Nevertheless, in part due to his actions during the May 1968 crisis, he appeared as the natural successor to de Gaulle. Pompidou announced his candidature for the Presidency in January 1969.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: In social policy, Pompidou's tenure as prime minister witnessed the establishment of the National Employment Fund in 1963 to counter the negative effects on employment caused by industrial restructuring.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: After the failure of the 1969 constitutional referendum, de Gaulle resigned and Pompidou was elected president of France. In the general election of 15 June 1969, he defeated the centrist President of the Senate and Acting President Alain Poher by a wide margin (58%–42%). Though a Gaullist, Pompidou was more pragmatic than de Gaulle, notably facilitating the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Community on 1 January 1973. He embarked on an industrialisation plan and initiated the Arianespace project, as well as the TGV project, and furthered the French civilian nuclear programme. He was sceptical about the "New Society" programme of his prime minister, Jacques Chaban-Delmas. In 1972, he replaced Chaban-Delmas with Pierre Messmer, a more conservative Gaullist. While the left-wing opposition organised itself and proposed a "Common Programme" before the 1973 legislative election, Pompidou widened his presidential majority by including Centrist pro-European parties. In addition, he paid special attention to regional and local needs in order to strengthen his political party, the UDR (Union des Democrates pour la Ve République), which he made a central and lasting force in the Gaullist movement.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: The United States was eager to restore positive relations with France after de Gaulle's departure from office. New U.S. President Richard Nixon and his top adviser Henry Kissinger admired Pompidou; the politicians were in agreement on most major policy issues. The United States offered to help the French nuclear programme. Economic difficulties, however, arose following the Nixon Shock and the 1973–75 recession, particularly over the role of the American dollar as the medium for world trade.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: Pompidou sought to maintain good relations with the newly independent former French colonies in Africa. In 1971, he visited Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Gabon. He brought a message of cooperation and financial assistance, but without the traditional paternalism. More broadly, he made an effort to foster closer relations with North African and Middle Eastern countries in order to develop a hinterland including all nations bordering the Mediterranean.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: Pompidou's time in office was marked by constant efforts to modernise France's capital city. He spearheaded construction of a modern art museum, the Centre Beaubourg (renamed Centre Pompidou after his death), on the edge of the Marais area of Paris. Other attempts at modernisation included tearing down the open air markets at Les Halles and replacing them with the shopping mall of the same name, building the Montparnasse Tower, and constructing an expressway on the right bank of the Seine.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: While still in office, Pompidou died on 2 April 1974, at 9 PM, while in his apartment, from Waldenström macroglobulinemia. His body was buried on 4 April, in the churchyard of Orvilliers, where he had bought an old baker's house which he turned into a weekend home. The official memorial service for him was held at Notre-Dame de Paris with 3000 dignitaries in attendance (including 28 heads of state and representatives from 82 countries). April 6 was declared a national day of mourning and entertainment and cultural events were canceled, theatres and schools closed.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: A controversy arose surrounding the secrecy kept over Pompidou's illness, and the political class "agreed" that future presidents of the Republic would have to provide reports on the state of their health. However, President François Mitterrand, who had pledged during his 1981 campaign to publish regular health bulletins, would also conceal, after his accession to power, the severity of the cancer from which he was suffering.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: Pompidou's wife Claude Pompidou would outlive him by more than thirty years. The couple had one (adopted) son, Alain Pompidou, who went on to serve as president of the European Patent Office.


title: Georges Pompidou

text: France withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, which took place just four days after Pompidou's death, as a mark of respect.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: "Bad Habits" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 25 June 2021, through Asylum and Atlantic Records, as the lead single of his fifth studio album, "=". The song marked his first solo release from an album in over four years. A limited edition CD and cassette single were also released. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, who compared its sound and style to the works of The Weeknd, as well as Bronski Beat.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: "Bad Habits" was a commercial success, peaking at number one in 28 countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hungary, New Zealand, Switzerland and South Africa, becoming the official first number-one hit on the newly launched South African music charts. The song proved to be particularly successful in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, as it spent eleven consecutive weeks at the top of both the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart and also became the best-selling single of the year in both countries. In the United States, the song peaked at number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The song also topped the Global 200.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: A UK drill remix made by Fumez the Engineer featuring British rappers Tion Wayne and Central Cee was released on 12 August 2021. Following his performance with Bring Me the Horizon at the 2022 BRIT Awards, the pair announced they were releasing a heavy metal studio version of the track on 17 February 2022. This version of the song was later featured on the Tour deluxe edition of "=".


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: A slower acoustic song was planned to be released as the lead single from Sheeran's upcoming fifth studio album "=". However, when the easing of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were announced in England in early 2021, Sheeran chose to record "Bad Habits" and release it instead. "I was like, 'I don't know if the world needs a depressing sad, slow acoustic song when [the country is] opening up'", Sheeran said. He wrote the song in January 2021 to "surprise people" and "make something that was totally different" to what is expected of him.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: On 23 April 2021, Sheeran was spotted dressed as a zombie or vampire on a music video set in London, leading to speculations about upcoming music. Sheeran himself confirmed the pictures to be genuine by posting outtakes of the video shoot on his social media pages in June 2021. On 25 May, he uploaded a picture of himself sitting next to a giant Snorlax pillow, with a caption on the picture above him saying "6/25", hinting at a release on that date. On 4 June, he began teasing the single release on his social media accounts, as well as announcing a performance at TikTok's UEFA Euro 2020 show with David Beckham on 25 June. Sheeran announced the single on 11 June. A promotional image of the single cover appeared on the Tate Modern in London.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: "Bad Habits" was met with mixed reviews from critics. Alexis Petridis of "The Guardian" gave the song four out of five stars, describing it as "a certain smash that's ready for the Weeknd". Nick Levine of "NME" gave the track three out of five stars, calling it "neither a misfire nor a surefire winner," and compared the sound style to Bronski Beat works, especially "Smalltown Boy". "The Independent"s Adam White was less impressed, giving "the stilted comeback" two out of five stars and saying Sheeran was "letting the toplines do the work and rummaging through Abel Tesfaye's leftovers." Quinn Moreland of "Pitchfork" derided the song as "painfully predictable", writing that it "aspires for Abel but settles for anonymity".


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: In the United States, "Bad Habits" debuted at number five on the "Billboard" Hot 100, with 38.8 million airplay audience impressions, 17.7 million streams and 33,200 copies sold. It opened at number two on Digital Song Sales and number six on Streaming Songs, and surged 36–11 on Radio Songs. The song became Sheeran's eighth top 10 in the US and first since 2019. On the chart dated 28 August 2021, the song reached a new peak at number two behind "Stay" by the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber. The song ranked at number one on the Top Triller US Chart dated to 10 July 2021. The chart highlights the biggest songs on Triller based on a formula blending the amount of views of videos containing a respective songs, the level of engagement with those videos and the raw total of videos uploaded featuring each song.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: The music video for "Bad Habits" was directed by Dave Meyers and filmed at the Catford Centre in Catford, South East London. It was uploaded on 25 June 2021, onto YouTube where it has over 438 million views as of October 2022. The music video portrays Sheeran as a vampire in a hot pink suit. The video starts in a beauty salon with Sheeran as a vampire, withering a flower before flying across chaos-ridden streets. He joins with several other monsters in doing various activities amidst the panicking crowd, including attacking them for the fun of it and handing out a balloon to a monster child, until the sun begins to rise. Most of the monsters go into hiding, with a few vaporized by the sunlight, except for Sheeran, who transforms back into his normal human self, playing the guitar as the video ends. The black cat in the video is a reference to the at the entrance to the shopping Centre. The video concept received comparisons to "Michael Jackson's Thriller".


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: Sheeran said he wanted the video to "play on the nature of habits in a fantastical way so I decided on vampires." It was inspired by the song's lyrics and American television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Madison Bloom of "Pitchfork" described Sheeran as "the worst monster in the history of pop music", pointing out that the video "constantly suggests the potential for violence and gore but never commits."


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: Sheeran gave his first live performance of "Bad Habits" on 28 June 2021, on "The Late Late Show with James Corden". On 30 June, Sheeran performed the song on "The One Show". Sheeran performed the song on GMA Network's All-Out Sundays on 15 August.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: On 14 February 2022, following the performance, a studio version of the track was announced, set for release on 17 February. The remix was included on the tour version of "=."


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: At the 2022 Brit Awards, Sheeran performed "Bad Habits" with Bring Me the Horizon. They'd perform the song together again at Reading Festival later that same year.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: After its first full tracking week, on Billboard charts dated to 5 March 2022, the remix debuted on three charts, on Hot Alternative Songs at number 17, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs at number 19, becoming Ed Sheeran's first charting song on the chart since Blow, and Hot Hard Rock Songs at number 2, behind "The Rumbling" by SiM, marking Sheeran's first appearance on the chart and Bring Me the Horizon's twelfth.


title: Bad Habits (Ed Sheeran song)

text: The Editor in Chief of "MetalSucks," Emperor Rhombus, called the performance at the BRIT Awards an attempt to combine metal with pop, but said that it came off sounding like an Imagine Dragons song.


title: Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)

text: Bigg Boss 5 was the fifth season of the Tamil version of the reality television show "Bigg Boss" broadcast in India. The show was premiered on 3 October 2021 on Star Vijay and Disney+ Hotstar with Kamal Haasan as the host for the fifth time. While, Ramya Krishnan as appeared as a guest host for a week.


title: Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)

text: The grand finale took place on 16 January 2022, Raju Jeyamohan emerged as the winner while Priyanka Deshpande emerged as the runner up of the season.


title: Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)

text: Niroop Nandakumar, Thamarai Selvi, Abhinay Vaddi and Suruthi Periyasamy returned as contestants in "Bigg Boss Ultimate (season 1)".


title: Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)

text: Changes to other parts of the house were also visible compared to the last season. Instead of last season's Tamil cultural theme background with contrast sparkling colors, this season's theme mainly keeps up natural colors in the background including pink, orange, green, blue and yellow.


title: Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)

text: On 4 September 2021, incorporating a paradigm shift in a Tamil wedding scene and co-relating it with the "Bigg Boss" house. Two more promotional teasers were released in September 2021, featuring different commentaries from Kamal Haasan.


title: Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)

text: In the third week (Day 16), housemates were given a task to steal 5 medals all representing the five basic elements in the world. The 5 housemates who manage to steal the medals win a super power to save themselves from eviction in the future and topple captaincy. However, the power can only be used once and is only available until week 10.


title: Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)

text: Each week, housemates who did not perform satisfactorily in the Luxury Budget Task, are sent to the "Bigg Boss" underground prison. The prison is devoid of any facilities except a bed and a water bucket.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines-US Airways merger on December 9, 2013. Northwest continued to operate under its own name and brand until the integration of the carriers was completed on January 31, 2010.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest was headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. After World War II it became dominant in the trans-Pacific market with a hub in Tokyo, Japan (initially Haneda Airport, later Narita International Airport). In response to United Airlines's 1985 acquisition of Pan Ams' Pacific routes, Northwest paid $884 million to purchase Republic Airlines and then established fortress hubs at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Memphis International Airport. With this merger, NWA established the domestic network necessary to feed its well established Pacific routes. Lacking a significant presence in Europe, in 1993 it began a strategic alliance with KLM and a jointly coordinated European hub at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Prior to its merger with Delta, Northwest was the world's sixth largest airline in terms of domestic and international scheduled passenger miles flown and the US's sixth largest airline in terms of domestic passenger miles flown. In addition to operating one of the largest domestic route networks in the U.S., Northwest carried more passengers across the Pacific Ocean (5.1 million in 2004) than any other U.S. carrier, and carried more domestic air cargo than any other American passenger airline.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Regional and commuter airline flights for Northwest were operated under the name Northwest Airlink by Big Sky Airlines, Eugene Aviation Services, Express Airlines I/II, Fischer Brothers Aviation, Mesaba Airlines, Northeast Express Regional Airlines, Pacific Island Aviation, Pinnacle Airlines, Precision Airlines, Simmons Airlines and Compass Airlines via respective code sharing agreements. Northwest Airlines was also a minority owner of Midwest Airlines, holding a 40% stake in the company.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest Airlines was founded on September 1, 1926, by Colonel Lewis Brittin, under the name Northwest Airways, a reference to the historical name for the Midwestern United States that derived from the Northwest Territory. Like other early airlines, Northwest's focus was not in hauling passengers, but in flying mail for the U.S. Post Office Department. The airline was originally based in Detroit, Michigan. The fledgling airline established a mail route between Minneapolis and Chicago, using open-cockpit biplanes such as the Curtiss Oriole and the Waco JYM. From 1928 the enclosed cabin six-passenger Hamilton H-45 and H-47 were used.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest Airlines began carrying passengers in 1927; in 1928 Northwest started its first international route with service to Winnipeg. In 1929, a group headed by Richard Lilly, a businessman from St. Paul, Minnesota, purchased the airline.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In 1933 Northwest was selected to fly the "Northern Transcontinental Route" to Seattle, Washington. It adopted the name Northwest Airlines the following year after the Air Mail scandal. Northwest Airways, Inc. changed its name to Northwest Airlines, Inc. and the airline was incorporated under its new name in the State of Minnesota.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In 1939 Northwest had five daily flights from Chicago to Minneapolis; three continued west to Seattle through North Dakota and Montana. Northwest also served Winnipeg, Manitoba and Portland, Oregon by spurs from its transcontinental route. By the spring of 1948, Northwest was operating three different aircraft types: the 44-passenger seat Douglas DC-4, the 21-passenger seat Douglas DC-3 and the 36-passenger seat Martin 2-0-2.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In 1931 Northwest sponsored Charles and Anne Lindbergh on a pioneering test flight to Japan via Alaska, scouting what would become known as the Northwest Airlines' Great Circle route that could save on a New York to Tokyo flight. Northwest began to bolster the infrastructure on the domestic leg of this route during World War II when it flew soldiers and supplies from the Northwestern United States to Alaska. It was at this point that Northwest began painting its airliners' tails bright red as a visual aid in the often harsh weather conditions. The airline's experience with the sub-arctic climate led the U.S. government to designate Northwest as the main airline over the North Pacific following the war.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In the spring of 1947, Northwest began stationing employees at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, flying them from the United States via Alaska on its Great Circle route. On July 15, 1947, Northwest was the first airline to begin direct service between the United States and Japan, using a Douglas DC-4 airliner named "The Manila". (All pre-war airline service to the Orient had been via Hawaii and the Philippines.) The flight to Japan originated at Wold-Chamberlain Field in Minneapolis and stopped at Blatchford Field in Edmonton, Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, and Shemya AAF in the western Aleutian Islands. The flight continued from Tokyo to Lunghwa Airport in Shanghai and then to Nichols Field at Manila.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: A flight between Tokyo and Seoul (Gimpo Airport) began on October 20, 1947, and Naha Airport in Okinawa began to be a stop on the Tokyo to Manila route on November 16, 1947. Northwest service to Shanghai was suspended in May 1949 because of the civil war in China, with the Republic of China nearly ready to collapse, and its government evacuated to the island of Formosa (Taiwan). Northwest Airlines added Songshan Airport in Taipei, the new capital city of the Republic of China, as a stop on the Tokyo-Okinawa-Manila route on June 3, 1950, with ongoing interchange service to Hong Kong operated by Hong Kong Airways.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: With transpacific flights established, Northwest began branding as Northwest Orient Airlines, although its registered corporate name remained "Northwest Airlines."


title: Northwest Airlines

text: NWA continuously upgraded equipment on the transpacific routes. On June 22, 1949, Northwest received its first double-decker Boeing 377 "Stratocruiser", enabling more comfortable accommodations and faster transpacific flights. The Stratocruiser began flying from the West Coast to Honolulu in 1950 and to Tokyo via Alaska on September 27, 1952.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In 1954 Northwest Orient purchased Douglas DC-6Bs and started flying them to Tokyo and Manila. In January 1960, Northwest was operating transcontinental Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop service nonstop between New York City and Seattle with these flights being part of the airline's service between New York City and Asia with Douglas DC-7C aircraft being operated on the transpacific legs from Seattle and was also operating Electra propjet flights between Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago Midway Airport in the north and several destinations in Florida in the south including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On July 8, 1960, Northwest placed the Douglas DC-8 into service, offering the shortest flight times to East Asia, but within a year the airline was negotiating the sale of the five DC-8s. Northwest retired the last of its Boeing 377 Stratocruisers that September. The airline purchased several Boeing 720Bs in 1961, and in 1963 several new Boeing 707-320Bs; for a time it adopted the slogan "Northwest Orient: The Fan-Jet Airline". Nonstop transpacific flights became feasible with the introduction of the 707-320B/C. Northwest bought its first Boeing 747s in 1970 and soon began retiring its smaller 707s. In addition to operating the 747's on transpacific flights, Northwest briefly flew them on its busiest domestic routes as well.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: For years Northwest was the largest foreign airline serving Japan. In 1951 Northwest became involved with the founding of Japan Air Lines (JAL) by leasing airliners and crewmembers to the new airline. In 1952 United States and Japan ratified a regional bilateral aviation treaty, under which Northwest and Pan American World Airways became the two U.S. airlines at Tokyo. These carriers also received fifth freedom rights to carry passengers from and via Tokyo to other Asian destinations such as Seoul, Busan, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Manila, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Northwest also flew passenger routes from Japan to Guam and Saipan, U.S. possessions in Micronesia.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest's meteorologists, led by Dan Sowa, pioneered the first clear-air turbulence forecasting system in 1957, important since the airline flew many northern routes over turbulence-prone mountain areas. Northwest remained a leader in turbulence prediction, providing TPAWS (turbulence prediction and warning services) to other airlines.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: During the regulated era, Northwest's domestic network was mainly along the northern transcontinental route through Chicago, Minneapolis, and Seattle; New York and Detroit were added in 1945. Northwest also served Hawaii from the West Coast, and, starting in 1958–59, Georgia and Florida from Chicago. On June 1, 1959, Northwest accepted its first turboprop, the L-188 Electra, from the Lockheed Corporation. Northwest Airlines started flying the three-engine Boeing 727-100 in November 1964; many stretched B727-251s followed.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: After airline deregulation in 1978 Northwest began nonstop flights to other Asian cities, returned to China in 1984 after a 34-year hiatus, and strengthened its presence in the southwestern United States. It also began flying to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. On May 21, 1984, shareholders in Northwest approved the creation of NWA Inc., a Delaware corporation that became the holding company of Northwest.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On October 1, 1986, Northwest merged with Republic Airlines, also based in Minneapolis-St. Paul. It was the largest airline merger at the time and caused operational issues which led the combined carrier to have an on-time performance of just 42 percent in its early days. Through the merger, NWA adopted Republic's three-hub domestic network centered around Detroit, Memphis, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The combined airline became particularly strong in the first two cities, with a market share of over 80% in each. After the merger, the airline dropped "Orient" from its branding. One major reason for the merger was that Northwest's unique position as a domestic and transpacific carrier had been challenged in 1985 when United Airlines acquired the Pacific Division of Pan Am.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest continued to use the pre-merger Northwest Orient livery (minus the word "Orient") until a new livery and identity (designed by Landor Associates) were adopted in 1989. The new livery, nicknamed the "bowling shoe" by employees, featured colors of red, white, gray, and very dark blue.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Also in 1989, Northwest became the launch customer of the Boeing 747-400 and became one of only two airlines in the United States to operate it until its merger with Delta in 2009. The first aircraft it purchased was the first 747-400 to be built; it was later involved in a loss-of-control incident in 2002 and placed on display at the Delta Flight Museum following its retirement by Delta in 2015.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest was purchased in a 1989 leveraged buyout by an investment group headed by Al Checchi, Fred Malek and Gary Wilson, with KLM, and many others. To pay off the debt incurred, the new management sold many of the airline's aircraft to leasing companies, and sold property around the world, including land in central Tokyo. The expense of the buyout was so great that in 1993, following several years of losses due to industry overcapacity and a traffic downturn following the Gulf War, Northwest threatened bankruptcy unless its employee groups agreed to three years of wage cuts. After signing the concessionary agreements, Northwest made its first profit since 1989.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Also in 1993, Northwest began its strategic alliance with KLM, which was the largest airline partnership at that time. This partnership eventually became the Wings Alliance, but the alliance never grew beyond the two airlines. Northwest gradually pulled out of its minor European destinations and focused on domestic and Asian markets.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On May 1, 1996, Northwest inaugurated the first-ever nonstop service from North America to China, Detroit–Beijing. Nonstop Detroit-Shanghai service followed in April 2000. Later, these nonstop services were suspended in 2002 due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Northwest then served these routes via Tokyo. The airline sought government approval to restore nonstop Detroit-Shanghai service in March 2007 but lost its bid to United's Washington Dulles-Beijing route; however, before their merger with Delta Air Lines, Northwest received tentative authority to restart nonstop Detroit-Shanghai service starting March 25, 2009.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Through the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade), Northwest enjoyed profits and focused on improving technology to increase convenience and reduce costs. The airline offered airport self-service check-in kiosks starting in 1997 and had more than any other airline. Northwest was the first large U.S. airline to offer passengers internet check-in, with service from December 2000. During the early 2000s (decade), Northwest acquired a reputation of refusing to adopt industry-wide fare increases that had been accepted by other airlines. This changed in March 2005, when Northwest adopted fare hikes in response to rising oil prices.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Due to competition from low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines and increased labor costs resulting from a new contract with employees represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) labor union, Northwest began to make cutbacks in early 2001. Two small rounds of employee layoffs and other cutbacks were implemented in the months prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Following the attacks, Northwest was forced to make dramatic changes to its business structure through major employee layoffs and other cost-cutting measures. The retirement of costly and aging aircraft such as the Boeing 727 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 were accelerated as new aircraft went into service. In addition, the airline pursued options to reduce costs across the board, including removing pillows, peanuts, pretzels, in-flight entertainment on domestic flights, and newspapers and magazines. Over 50 McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Boeing 757, Boeing 747, and Airbus A320 family aircraft were withdrawn from use in an attempt to lower overall capacity and save money. Some of these aircraft were returned to service.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Following many years of a pioneering and close partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Northwest, along with partners KLM and Continental Airlines joined SkyTeam, an airline alliance of ten airlines from around the world, on September 15, 2004. This was partially a result of Air France merging with KLM, forming the Air France-KLM group. The airline continued to hemorrhage money, however.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Despite far-reaching money saving initiatives, Northwest was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the first time in its 79-year history. The filing took place in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on September 14, 2005. With Northwest's filing, four of the six largest U.S. carriers were operating under bankruptcy protection. Northwest joined Delta Air Lines (which filed just minutes before), United Airlines, and US Airways in bankruptcy. All four carriers subsequently emerged from bankruptcy protection. Northwest common stock shares dropped more than 50% for the second time in three days following the news, largely because the stock is generally canceled as part of the bankruptcy process. In the following weeks, Northwest Airlink carriers Mesaba Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines both announced that Northwest Airlines had missed payments to them for their Airlink flying. Northwest also announced plans to shrink its Airlink fleet by over 45 aircraft. Mesaba Aviation filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on October 13, 2005.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On July 16, 2007, Northwest Airlines applied to the United States Department of Transportation for nonstop service between its WorldGateway hub at Detroit to Shanghai (beginning in 2007 on Boeing 747-400s) and to Beijing (beginning in 2010 on Boeing 787 Dreamliners). The airline faced off against Delta Air Lines (who proposed Atlanta to Shanghai and Beijing), American Airlines (Chicago/O'Hare—Beijing), Continental Airlines (Newark—Shanghai), US Airways (Philadelphia—Beijing), United Airlines (Los Angeles—Shanghai and San Francisco—Guangzhou), and MAXjet (Seattle—Shanghai) in the route competition.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On August 12, 2007, Northwest Airlines became a passive investor in the purchase of Midwest Airlines by TPG Capital. The airline stated that while it was an investor, it would not participate in any management or control of Midwest Airlines. However, on August 14, 2007, AirTran Airways raised their offer for Midwest to $16.25 a share, 25 cents more than the TPG offer. But soon after on August 17, 2007, TPG Capital raised their offer to $17.00 a share which sealed the deal. Northwest Airlines became a minority owner of Midwest Airlines in the fourth quarter of 2007.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On September 25, 2007, Northwest Airlines received DOT approval to begin service to Shanghai from its Detroit hub beginning March 25, 2009. American, Continental, Delta, and US Airways also received new or additional China route authority to Shanghai or Beijing, and United received authority to serve Guangzhou.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On April 14, 2008, Northwest Airlines announced that it would be merging with Delta Air Lines to form the world's largest airline. The merger was approved on October 29, 2008. The CEO during the merger of Delta and Northwest was Richard Anderson who was Northwest Airlines CEO from 2001 to 2004. The combined airline uses the Delta name and branding. On October 1, 2009, Northwest WorldPerks merged into SkyMiles. On January 31, 2010, Delta completed the merge of the reservation systems and discontinued using the Northwest name for flights. The official last flight was Northwest Airlines Flight 2470 from Los Angeles, California to Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: As of 2006, Northwest Airlines Cargo was the largest cargo carrier among U.S. combination passenger and cargo airlines. NWA Cargo's fleet of dedicated freighter aircraft flew from some key cities in the United States and East Asia, as well as Amsterdam, connecting with the carrier's cargo hub in Anchorage, Alaska (Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport), facilitating the quick transfer of cargo between large cities on both sides of the Pacific. NWA Cargo also transports freight aboard the passenger fleet of Northwest Airlines to more than 250 cities worldwide. Delta announced that the NWA Cargo hub will be shut down by the end of 2009. As of early 2008, NWA's largest cargo client was DHL International. In December 2007, NWA announced that DHL International would terminate its cargo agreement with the airline effective late 2008. According to NWA Chief Financial Officer Dave Davis, the loss of its largest cargo client would bring significant changes to the division. Further changes to the NWA Cargo division continued into 2009 as it was merged into the Delta Cargo service. NWA Cargo ended all operations on December 28, 2009. On July 30, 2010, Northwest pleaded guilty to one count of felony price fixing for fixing prices for cargo shipping via NWA Cargo.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Immediately before Northwest ceased being an independent airline, its headquarters was in Building A, a facility in Eagan, Minnesota, near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the intersection of I-35E and Interstate 494. The building in the complex, which housed about 1,000 Northwest employees, was built in 1985. The building had a large "N" painted on the roof.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: After Delta and Northwest merged, Delta moved the Eagan headquarters employees to other offices in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. In October 2009 Delta Air Lines hired a real estate broker to put the former Northwest Airlines headquarters complex for sale or for lease. During that month the facility had a taxable value of $13.7 million. The airline marketed of the former NWA facility that is located along Interstate 494 separately from the main part of the property, as the airline considered the property to be excess. Terry Kingston, the executive director of the real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield, stated that there had been some interest in the Northwest Airlines property from other parties. Northwest was the only occupant of the four-story headquarters building. Employees remaining in the Minneapolis area were moved to Building C, the former Republic Airlines headquarters building, located on the property of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, as well as Building J located in Eagan.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Before the headquarters were in Eagan, they were on the grounds of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: A recurring issue in Northwest's history was its troubled labor relations. In 1998, Northwest walked away from the bargaining table, locked out its pilots (represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International) and shut down the airline for more than two weeks. The airline sustained heavy losses as a result, and ended 1998 in the red, after being profitable since 1993.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On January 5, 2000, Northwest Airlines filed a federal lawsuit against the flight attendants' union and a number of rank-and-file employees. Along with its January 5 complaint, Northwest Airlines filed a motion for discovery, requesting searches of the hard drives of the office and home computers of union officials. Additionally, Northwest requested searches of the home computers of rank-and-file employees, including Kevin Griffin and Frank Reed. On February 8, Minnesota District Court Judge Boylan approved the request and issued the discovery order. The order required all 43 named defendants, officers and rank-and-file members to turn over both home and office computer equipment to the accounting company Ernst & Young for "purposes of examining and copying information and communications contained on the computer hard drives." The order permitted the discovery of all data, including e-mail communications. After conducting discovery, Northwest Airlines fired over a dozen employees in early March, stating that they had engaged in a sickout. The Union filed grievances claiming none of the employees' sick calls were false. The effect on intra-airline email use was marked: postings critical of Northwest Airlines by employees dwindled, and the majority of messages after the search were posted anonymously.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On August 20, 2005, after months of negotiations, an impasse declared by the NMB and a 30-day cooling off period, the over 4,750 Northwest aircraft mechanics, janitors, and aircraft cleaners represented by AMFA went on strike against the company. After numerous negotiation sessions, no agreement was reached, and the company began hiring permanent replacement workers. In mid-October, after permanently hiring about 500 non-union workers, Northwest made a final offer to the union. The offer would have saved 500 union jobs and offered four weeks of severance pay to terminated employees. This offer was worse than the original declined by the union, which would have saved over 2,000 jobs and offered 16 weeks of severance pay. On October 20, 2005, AMFA announced that it would not allow its members to vote on the offer, citing that parts of the contract would violate the union's commitment to its members. Finally, in late December 2005, Northwest made what it termed its "final offer" to the union. The agreement would have terminated all striking workers and given them rights to unemployment compensation. The union voted down the offer. On October 9, 2006, AMFA leadership and Northwest reached an agreement. Under the settlement, all AMFA workers still on strike as of that date will be converted to lay-off status with 5 weeks of severance pay (10 weeks if they resign from Northwest). However, these employees will have a right of recall to their old jobs. Approval of the settlement was on November 6, 2006.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On May 30, 2007, it was announced that the flight attendants narrowly agreed to concessions and became the last major workgroup at Northwest to agree to new contract terms. The deal was approved by a vote of 2,966 to 2,862. Union leaders said that 90.5 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. The new contract would provide Northwest with $1957 million in annual cuts through 2011.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Negotiations with attendants had been ongoing and contentious for several years. The flight attendants were unable to strike during negotiations because of a court injunction and the refusal of the mediation board to release them from bargaining which would have allowed the setting of a strike deadline. The attendants had been working under imposed pay cuts and work rules since July 2006 when a previous tentative agreement was rejected by 55 percent of the voting members.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Prior to the May 2007 agreement, union leaders had expressed concern that its defeat could prompt the National Mediation Board to recess talks indefinitely, resulting in the loss of a $182 million bankruptcy claim the attendants had against Northwest. With the new agreement, the $182 million claim was to eventually be sold for cash with an estimated pre-tax value of $15,000 to $18,000 per flight attendant. Other labor unions at Northwest received similar claims as part of their concessionary agreements.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Previous to the recent agreements, Northwest provided employees with stock in exchange for concessions. For example, In 1993 Northwest's pilots, ground workers and flight attendants received stock and seats on the board of directors in exchange for pay cuts. As part of the agreement, Northwest was supposed to buy back these preferred shares in 2003 but refused to do so citing financial distress. Flight attendants, ground workers and mechanics still holding those preferred shares received shares of new Northwest stock (estimated at a combined value of $277 million).


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In the summer of 2007, Northwest was engaged in a labor conflict with its pilots over a large number of end of the month flight cancellations. The pilots claimed that Northwest did not have sufficient pilots to fly its schedule; Northwest accused the pilots of calling in sick to create the problem. The dispute was resolved with a new agreement with ALPA in August 2007 in which pilots would be compensated for overtime. Northwest also began hiring new pilots to alleviate the pilot shortages they faced throughout the summer of 2007.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Following the Republic merger in 1986, Northwest primarily operated on a hub and spoke route system with hubs in Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Tokyo. Under the KLM joint venture started in 1993, the two carriers established an Amsterdam hub where transatlantic routes operated by Northwest linked with European, African, and Asian routes operated by KLM. Northwest also operated a few routes outside this hub system, such as flights from the west coast to Honolulu.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In the mid-1980s, Northwest operated the only U.S. flag carrier service to Glasgow, Oslo, and Stockholm, as well as service to Copenhagen (the latter three cities are due to Minneapolis's large Nordic population). However, this was later withdrawn after several years. From April 2000, Northwest operated non-stop flights from Detroit to Milan and Rome, both were later withdrawn (from 2003 to 2005 Rome was served only during the summer season). In 2009 under the banner of Delta, service to Rome was then resumed for the summer season.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In 1991, Northwest began service to Australia, after United and Qantas began non-stop flights to the continental U.S. using the newly introduced, long-range 747-400. Northwest routed its Sydney-New York flight through Osaka, which raised Japanese protest because less than 30% of passengers on the Australia-Japan segment were originating in the U.S.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: On May 1, 1996, Northwest began the first-ever non-stop service from North America to Mainland China, from Detroit to Beijing, three times a week. From 1996 until 2002, Northwest operated nonstop flights from its Detroit hub to Beijing and Shanghai. Eventually, these routes were suspended. When that happened, Northwest operated these routes from Detroit with a connection at its Tokyo-Narita hub. However, on July 16, 2007, Northwest re-applied with the US Department of Transportation for nonstop service between Detroit and both Beijing and Shanghai. On September 25, 2007, the US Department of Transportation tentatively awarded authority to Northwest for a new Detroit to Shanghai (Pudong) route effective March 25, 2009. The route was to be flown using the Boeing 747-400 until the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft became available, however, the Detroit-Shanghai nonstop route was taken over by Delta on October 24, 2009, using its Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 777-200LR aircraft after Delta ended nonstop service between Atlanta and Shanghai due to weak customer demand. The Detroit-Beijing nonstop route was later launched by the merged Delta using a Boeing 777-200ER on July 1, 2011.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In 2008, Northwest was one of several U.S. airlines to receive permission from the British government to fly into Heathrow Airport in London after previously having to use Gatwick Airport. Northwest began service to Heathrow from its hubs in Detroit and Minneapolis, as well as starting Seattle-London service. However, after being acquired by Delta in 2008, the Seattle route was dropped in January 2009 so the Heathrow landing slot and aircraft used could be redeployed to a more profitable route. In 2009, the Heathrow routes from the Detroit and Minneapolis hubs were taken over by Delta using its Boeing 767-400ER aircraft.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest Airlines also served more Canadian cities than any other U.S. carrier including Calgary, Edmonton, Kitchener/Waterloo, London (ON), Montréal-Dorval, Ottawa, Quebec City, Regina, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. Seasonal service was also offered to smaller Canadian cities.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: At the time of the merger with Delta Air Lines, Northwest had a total of 320 aircraft with seven on order. It was also the last U.S. passenger airline to have a dedicated cargo fleet and cargo-only routes. The Northwest fleet was integrated into Delta's fleet on December 31, 2009.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest operated a mixed fleet of Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Airbus aircraft whereas Delta operated just Boeing and McDonnell Douglas aircraft. The Boeing 757 was the only type common to the pre-merger fleets of both Delta and Northwest.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: As part of a major fleet renewal program, Northwest introduced a simplified new paint scheme and logo in 2003. The airline replaced its McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliners with the Airbus A330. The first Airbus A330-300, used initially for European flights, arrived on August 6, 2003. Northwest Airlines also possessed the youngest trans-Atlantic fleet of any North American or European airline. Northwest Airlines also began flying reconfigured Boeing 757-200 airliners on some of its European flights carrying fewer passengers. Northwest was one of only two passenger airlines in the United States to fly the Boeing 747-400, the other being United Airlines. A number of Boeing 747-400 aircraft formerly operated by Northwest were then also flown by Delta following the merger of the two air carriers including the first B747-400 ever built with this aircraft currently on public display at the Delta Flight Museum located at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest was looking for manufacturers to discuss the replacement of their 100, 110 and 125 seat McDonnell Douglas DC-9 (DC-9-10, DC-9-30 and DC-9-50) aircraft, with an average age of 35 years.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In March 1988, Northwest Airlines announced that it would ban smoking on all flights within North America, effective April 23, 1988, on the same day that a rule from the U.S. federal government prohibiting smoking on all domestic flights of a duration of two hours or fewer, would take into effect. Northwest was the first major U.S. airline to enact a smoking ban since the airline Muse Air had ended its four-year smoking ban in 1985.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: World Business Class was Northwest Airlines' international business class product. It was offered on all widebody aircraft. Seats had 60 inches of pitch and 176 degrees of recline. Passengers aboard this class received free meals and refreshments, including alcoholic beverages. All seats were equipped with Audio-Video-On-Demand (AVOD), universal power-ports, a moveable reading light, a folding work table, and a swivel cocktail table.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: First Class was offered on all narrowbody aircraft, as well as CRJ-900 Northwest Airlink flights operated by Mesaba Airlines and E175 flights operated by Compass Airlines. Seats ranged from 19.5 to 21.5 inches wide, and had between 34 and 37 inches of pitch. Passengers aboard this class received complimentary meals, refreshments, and alcoholic beverages.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Economy Class was offered on all widebody aircraft. Seats ranged from 17 to 17.5 inches wide, and had between 31 and 34 inches of pitch. Passengers aboard this class received free meals, snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages. Beer and wine were complimentary on international flights with complimentary meals, other alcoholic beverages could be purchased for a fee.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Passengers aboard Airbus A330 aircraft also had an Audio-Video-On-Demand (AVOD) system located in the seatback in front of them, and passengers seated in rows 10–23 (A330-200) or rows 10–28 (A330-300) had a universal power-port located below their seat.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Economy Class was offered on all narrowbody aircraft. Seats ranged from 17 to 17.5 inches wide and had between 30 and 34 inches of pitch, the same as on international economy class. Passengers aboard this class received free refreshments. In latter years in lieu of complimentary prepared meals snack boxes, sandwiches (on select flights), and light snacks were available for purchase as part of a buy on board program. Alcoholic beverages were also sold.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Before 2008, Northwest Airlines was the only major U.S. airline (aside from low-cost, short-haul Southwest Airlines, Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines) to not offer any in-flight entertainment within North America (including Alaska). Although several of the airline's domestic aircraft were originally equipped with in-flight entertainment systems, these were removed in 2005 to cut costs. US Airways implemented a similar initiative in 2008. On flights between Honolulu International Airport and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, passengers experienced the same cabin as International Economy Class aboard Airbus A330 aircraft.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: Northwest Airlines' frequent-flyer program, "WorldPerks", offered regular travelers the ability to obtain free tickets, First Class upgrades on flights, discounted membership for its airport lounges (WorldClubs), or other types of rewards. Customers could accumulate miles from actual flight segments flown or through Northwest's partners, such as car rental companies, hotels, credit cards, and other vendors. WorldPerks' elite tiers were Silver Elite, Gold Elite, and Platinum elite which allowed for more mileage bonuses, priority waitlists and standby, and other benefits. Over the years, some details of the program changed, such as introducing capacity-controlled awards (only a certain number of seats allocated for free travel), expiration of account if no activity occurred in three years, a requirement of a Saturday-night stay for domestic coach awards, waiving of capacity controls for awards but requiring double the number of miles for redemption, and adding several partner airlines for mileage accumulation and award redemption. The original name of the WorldPerks program was the Northwest Orient Airlines Free Flight Plan, which began in 1981. The original program used paper coupons and gave credit for flight segments. Upon renaming the program to "WorldPerks" in 1986, a mileage-based system was used.


title: Northwest Airlines

text: In addition to its Northwest Airlink and SkyTeam alliance partnerships, Northwest offered frequent flyer partnerships with the following airlines:


title: Northwest Airlines

text: "WorldClubs" was Northwest's member lounge. Members had reciprocal access to a number of other clubs, including fellow SkyTeam carriers such as KLM, Delta Air Lines and Air France. Northwest also had partnerships with various other airline lounges on an airport-by-airport basis. Unlike some other airline lounges, WorldClubs offered free alcoholic beverages in domestic locations and Tokyo-Narita. Northwest also offered free Wi-Fi internet access worldwide.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House, but on only one occasion since Federation has the maximum term been reached. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution of both Houses. Elections for members of the House of Representatives are often held in conjunction with those for the Senate. A member of the House may be referred to as a "Member of Parliament" ("MP" or "Member"), while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a "Senator". The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve and maintain the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The House of Representatives currently consists of 151 members, elected by and representing single member districts known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats"). The number of members is not fixed but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, which are required on a regular basis. The most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election, increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election, returned to 148 at the 1996 election, increased to 150 at the 2001 election, and stands at 151 as of the 2022 Australian federal election.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The House of Representatives chamber is designed to seat up to 172 Members, with provision for an ultimate total of 240 to be accommodated.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: Each division elects one member using full-preferential instant-runoff voting. This was put in place after the 1918 Swan by-election, which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote and the help of vote splitting in the conservative parties. The Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preferential voting, effective from the 1919 general election.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (Imp.) of 1900 established the House of Representatives as part of the new system of dominion government in newly federated Australia. The House is presided over by the Speaker. Members of the House are elected from single member electorates (geographic districts, commonly referred to as "seats" but officially known as "Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives"). One vote, one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the same number of voters with a maximum 10% variation. However, the baseline quota for the number of voters in an electorate is determined by the number of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Consequently, the electorates of the smallest states and territories have more variation in the number of voters in their electorates. Meanwhile, all the states except Tasmania have electorates approximately within the same 10% tolerance, with most electorates holding 85,000 to 105,000 voters. Federal electorates have their boundaries redrawn or redistributed whenever a state or territory has its number of seats adjusted, if electorates are not generally matched by population size or if seven years have passed since the most recent redistribution. Voting is by the 'preferential system', also known as instant-runoff voting. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal. This allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: Under Section 24 of the Constitution, each state is entitled to members based on a population quota determined from the "latest statistics of the Commonwealth." These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51(xi). Until its repeal by the 1967 referendum, section 127 prohibited the inclusion of Aboriginal people in section 24 determinations as including the Indigenous peoples could alter the distribution of seats between the states to the benefit of states with larger Aboriginal populations. Section 127, along with section 25 (allowing for race-based disqualification of voters by states) and the race power, have been described as racism built into Australia's constitutional DNA, and modifications to prevent lawful race-based discrimination have been proposed.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The parliamentary entitlement of a state or territory is established by the Electoral Commissioner dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. This is known as the "Nexus Provision". The reasons for this are twofold, to maintain a constant influence for the smaller states and to maintain a constant balance of the two Houses in case of a joint sitting after a double dissolution. The population of each state and territory is then divided by this quota to determine the number of members to which each state and territory is entitled. Under the Australian Constitution all original states are guaranteed at least five members. The Federal Parliament itself has decided that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory should have at least one member each.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: According to the Constitution, the powers of both Houses are nearly equal, with the consent of both Houses needed to pass legislation. The difference mostly relates to taxation legislation. In practice, by convention, the person who can control a majority of votes in the lower house is invited by the Governor-General to form the Government. In practice that means that the leader of the party (or coalition of parties) with a majority of members in the House becomes the Prime Minister, who then can nominate other elected members of the government party in both the House and the Senate to become ministers responsible for various portfolios and administer government departments. Bills appropriating money (supply bills) can only be introduced in the lower house and thus only the party with a majority in the lower house can govern. In the current Australian party system, this ensures that virtually all contentious votes are along party lines, and the Government usually has a majority in those votes.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The Opposition party's main role in the House is to present arguments against the Government's policies and legislation where appropriate, and attempt to hold the Government accountable as much as possible by asking questions of importance during Question Time and during debates on legislation. By contrast, the only period in recent times during which the government of the day has had a majority in the Senate was from July 2005 (following the 2004 election) to December 2007 (following the Coalition's defeat at the federal election that year). Hence, votes in the Senate are usually more meaningful. The House's well-established committee system is not always as prominent as the Senate committee system because of the frequent lack of Senate majority.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: In a reflection of the United Kingdom House of Commons, the predominant colour of the furnishings in the House of Representatives is green. However, the colour was tinted slightly in the new Parliament House (opened 1988) to suggest the colour of eucalyptus trees. Also, unlike the House of Commons, the seating arrangement of the crossbench is curved, similar to the curved seating arrangement of the United States House of Representatives. This suggests a more collaborative, and less oppositional, system than in the United Kingdom parliament (where all members of parliament are seated facing the opposite side).


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: Australian parliaments are notoriously rowdy, with MPs often trading colourful insults. As a result, the Speaker often has to use the disciplinary powers granted to him or her under Standing Orders.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: Since 2015, Australian Federal Police officers armed with assault rifles have been present in both chambers of the Federal Parliament.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: From the beginning of Federation until 1918, first-past-the-post voting was used in order to elect members of the House of Representatives but since the 1918 Swan by-election which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote due to vote splitting amongst the conservative parties, the Nationalist Party government, a predecessor of the modern-day Liberal Party of Australia, changed the lower house voting system to Instant-runoff voting, which in Australia is known as full preferential voting, as of the subsequent 1919 election. This system has remained in place ever since, allowing the Coalition parties to safely contest the same seats. Full-preference preferential voting re-elected the Hawke government at the 1990 election, the first time in federal history that Labor had obtained a net benefit from preferential voting.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: From 1949 onwards, the vast majority of electorates, nearly 90%, are won by the candidate leading on first preferences, giving the same result as if the same votes had been counted using first-past-the-post voting. The highest proportion of seats (up to 2010) won by the candidate not leading on first preferences was the 1972 federal election, with 14 of 125 seats not won by the plurality candidate.


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: The main elements of the operation of preferential voting for single-member House of Representatives divisions are as follows:


title: Australian House of Representatives

text: Following the full allocation of preferences, it is possible to derive a two-party-preferred figure, where the votes have been allocated between the two main candidates in the election. In Australia, this is usually between the candidates from the Coalition parties and the Australian Labor Party.