title: Manly P. Hall

text: Hall returned in 1945 for another well-attended lecture at Carnegie Hall, titled: "Plato's Prophecy of Worldwide Democracy."


title: Manly P. Hall

text: Hall and his followers went to extreme lengths to keep any gossip or information that could tarnish his image from being publicized, and little is known about his first marriage, on 28 April 1930, to Fay B. deRavenne, then 28, who had been his secretary during the preceding five years. The marriage was not a happy one; his friends never discussed it, and Hall removed virtually all information about her from his papers following her suicide on 22 February 1941. Following a long friendship, on 5 December 1950, Hall married Marie Schweikert Bauer (following her divorce from George Bauer), and the marriage, though stormy, was happier than his first. Marie Schweikert Bauer Hall died April 21, 2005.


title: Manly P. Hall

text: In 1934, Hall founded the Philosophical Research Society (PRS) in Los Angeles, California, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the study of religion, mythology, metaphysics, and the occult. The PRS still maintains a research library of over 50,000 volumes, and also sells and publishes metaphysical and spiritual books, mostly those authored by Hall. After his death, some of Manly Hall's rare alchemy books were sold to keep the PRS in operation. "Acquisition of the Manly Palmer Hall Collection in 1995 provided the Getty Research Institute with one of the world's leading collections of alchemy, esoterica, and hermetica."


title: Manly P. Hall

text: Hall was a Knight Patron of the Masonic Research Group of San Francisco, with which he was associated for a number of years prior to his Masonic affiliations. On 28 June 1954, Hall was initiated as a Freemason into Jewel Lodge No. 374, San Francisco (now the United Lodge); passed 20 September 1954; and raised 22 November 1954. He took the Scottish Rite Degrees a year later.


title: Manly P. Hall

text: He later received his 32° in the Valley of San Francisco AASR (SJ). On 8 December 1973 (47 years after writing "The Secret Teachings of All Ages"), Hall was recognized as a 33° Mason (the highest honor conferred by the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite) at a ceremony held at the Philosophical Research Society (PRS).


title: Hit the Top

text: Hit the Top () is a South Korean television series starring Yoon Shi-yoon, Lee Se-young, Kim Min-jae and Cha Tae-hyun. The drama aired on KBS2, from June 2 to July 22, 2017, on Fridays and Saturdays at 23:00 (KST) for 32 episodes.


title: Hit the Top

text: "Hit the Top" is the first drama directed by Yoo Ho-jin, who directed the third season of variety show "2 Days & 1 Night"; and the directorial debut of Cha Tae-hyun, who also co-starred.


title: Hit the Top

text: In the year 1993, pop idol Yoo Hyun-Jae accidentally travels through time to 2017. Discovering that he mysteriously disappears in 1994 and is presumed dead, he begins to investigate into the reason for his disappearance while trying to adjust to life in the future. Meanwhile, Lee Ji-Hoon is an aspiring musician and is secretly enrolled as an idol trainee at Star Punch Entertainment. Ji-hoon struggles to hide this from his parents, who believe he has been studying for his civil service exams.


title: Hit the Top

text: "Hit the Top" is the second "variety-drama" produced by KBS after "The Producers" in 2015. It is produced by director Seo Soo-min, who is currently the chief producer for KBS's Happy Sunday programming block and the former PD of the now-defunct program Gag Concert. Seo also worked on a few episodes of "The Producers".


title: Hit the Top

text: Chorokbaem Media, the company behind "The Producers", was tapped to produce "Hit the Top" for KBS. Sitcom writer Lee Young-chul ("Potato Star 2013QR3", "High Kick!" and "Once Upon a Time in Saengchori") is penning the script. The first script reading took place on April 3, 2017, in Sangam-dong, Seoul, South Korea.


title: Ice pop

text: An ice pop is a liquid-based frozen snack on a stick. Unlike ice cream or sorbet, which are whipped while freezing to prevent ice crystal formation, an ice pop is "quiescently" frozen—frozen while at rest—and becomes a solid block of ice. The stick is used as a handle to hold it. Without a stick, the frozen product would be a freezie.


title: Ice pop

text: An ice pop is also referred to as a popsicle in Canada and the United States, flash in Algeria, paleta in Mexico, the Southwestern United States and parts of Latin America, ice lolly in the United Kingdom (the term "ice pop" refers to a freezie in the United Kingdom), ice drop in the Philippines, ice gola in India, ice candy in India and Japan, and kisko in the Caribbean. The term icy pole is often used in Australia, but is a brand name for a specific type, so ice block is also used.


title: Ice pop

text: As far back as 1872, two men, doing business as Ross and Robbins, sold a frozen-fruit confection on a stick, which they called the Hokey-Pokey.


title: Ice pop

text: Francis William "Frank" Epperson (August 11, 1894, Willows, California – October 22, 1983, Fremont, California) of San Francisco, California, popularized ice pops after patenting the concept of "frozen ice on a stick" in 1923.


title: Ice pop

text: Epperson claimed to have first created an ice pop in 1905, at the age of 11, when he accidentally left a glass of powdered lemonade soda and water with a mixing stick in it on his porch during a cold night, a story still printed on the back of Popsicle treat boxes.


title: Ice pop

text: In 1922, Epperson, a realtor with Realty Syndicate Company in Oakland, introduced the Popsicle at a fireman's ball. The product got traction quickly; in 1923, at the age of 29, Epperson received a patent for his "Epsicle" ice pop, and by 1924, had patented "all handled, frozen confections or ice lollipops." He officially debuted the Epsicle in seven fruit flavors at Neptune Beach amusement park, marketed as a "frozen lollipop," or a "drink on a stick."


title: Ice pop

text: A couple of years later, Epperson sold the rights to the invention and the Popsicle brand to the Joe Lowe Company in New York City.


title: Ice pop

text: In the United States and Canada frozen ice on a stick is generically referred to as a "popsicle" due to the early popularity of the Popsicle brand, and the word has become a genericized trademark to mean any ice pop, regardless of brand or format. The word is a portmanteau of "pop" and "icicle"; the word is genericized to such an extent that there are decades-old derived slang meanings such as "popsicle stand". The term "ice pop" is also used in the United States.


title: Ice pop

text: In Ireland the term "ice pop" is predominantly used. In the United Kingdom the term "ice lolly" is used to refer to ice pop while the term "ice pop" refers to a freezie (flavoured ice inside a tube). The term "chihiro" is used as a slang term in the Cayman Islands, partially derived from "chill". Different parts of Australia use either "ice block" or "icy pole" (which is a brand name), and New Zealand uses "ice block". In the Philippines the term "ice drop" is used with coconut flavor ice pops being called ice bukos. India uses the terms "ice gola" and "ice candy". In Japan the term "ice candy" is used.


title: Ice pop

text: After a trip to the United States in the early 1940s Ignacio Alcázar returned to his home city of Tocumbo, Michoacán, México, bringing the idea to manufacture ice pops or "paletas" (little sticks) using locally available fresh fruit. He and some family members expanded by opening a shop in Mexico City which became very popular and he began to franchise "Paletería La Michoacana" to friends and family from his town. The popularity of paletas and association with Tocumbo has increased to the status of a national Mexican food.


title: Ice pop

text: Paleta flavors can be divided into two basic categories: milk-based or water-based. The composition of each flavor may vary, but the base is most often fruit. Paleterias usually have dozens of flavors of paleta including local flavors like horchata, tamarind, mamey and nanche along with other flavors like strawberry, lime, chocolate and mango. Distinctly Mexican ingredients like chili pepper, chamoy, and vanilla are often present in these paletas. Paleterias adapt their flavors to the tastes of the community and local availability of ingredients.


title: Ice pop

text: A "paletero" (roughly equivalent to the English "ice cream man"), is a street seller of paletas and other frozen treats, usually from a pushcart labeled with the name of the enterprise that made the paletas (paletería). Today, many paleteros are now commonly found in American cities with significant Mexican populations. Vending requirements for paleteros vary widely by city.


title: Ice pop

text: An alternative to the store-bought ice pops is making them at home using fruit juice, drinks, or any freezable beverage. A classic method involves using ice cube trays and toothpicks, although various ice pop freezer molds are also available.


title: Ice pop

text: In the UK, there is an increasing number of people making alcoholic ice lollies at home by putting alcoholic drinks inside the mould. Buckfast, Kopparberg and Strongbow Dark Fruit ciders are popular choices used.


title: Ice pop

text: In 2018, the UK food-focused design firm called Bompas & Parr announced that they had created the world's first 'non-melting' ice pop. The ice pop does melt but not as fast as other ice pops. This is due to the strands of fruit fibers inside the ice pops which makes them thicker than regular ice pops. The thicker the ice pop the slower it melts. This design was inspired by the material called pykrete, which was invented by Geoffrey Pyke.


title: Ice pop

text: On June 22, 2005, Snapple tried to beat the existing "Guinness World Records" entry of a 1997 Dutch ice pop by attempting to erect a ice pop in New York City. The of frozen juice that had been brought from Edison, New Jersey, in a freezer truck melted faster than expected, dashing hopes of a new record. Spectators fled to higher ground as firefighters hosed away the melted juice.


title: Abacab

text: Abacab is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Genesis, released on 18 September 1981 by Charisma Records. After their 1980 tour in support of their previous album, "Duke" (1980), the band took a break before they reconvened in 1981 to write and record a new album. "Abacab" is the first Genesis album recorded at The Farm, a recording studio bought by the group in Chiddingfold, Surrey. It marked the band's development from their progressive roots into more accessible and pop-oriented songs, and their conscious decision to write songs unlike their previous albums.


title: Abacab

text: "Abacab" received a mostly positive reception from critics and was a commercial success for the band, becoming their second No. 1 LP on the UK Albums Chart and their first to reach the top ten of the US "Billboard" 200, peaking at No. 7. Genesis released four singles from the album, the most successful being "Abacab" and "No Reply at All". The album was certified gold in the UK and double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling two million copies in the US. The Abacab Tour visited North America and Europe in 1981, recordings from which formed most of their 1982 live album and concert video "Three Sides Live". Three tracks left off the album were released on the EP "3×3". The album was reissued with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix in 2007.


title: Abacab

text: In June 1980, the Genesis line-up of drummer and singer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist Mike Rutherford, with touring drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist and bassist Daryl Stuermer, wrapped their 1980 tour of the United Kingdom and North America in support of their tenth album, "Duke" (1980). Following a period of rest, in November 1980 the band bought Fisher Lane Farm, a farmhouse with an adjoining cowshed near Chiddingfold, Surrey, as their new private rehearsal and recording facility. In the process of remodelling the building into a studio, the trio reconvened in the farm house to write and rehearse new material, which initially took place in the living room, and they started recording the album in March 1981 once the studio was operational. "Abacab" marks the first Genesis album that was recorded in England since "A Trick of the Tail" (1976). The success of Collins's debut solo album "Face Value" (1981) had gained momentum by the recording stage; Banks claimed it did little to alter the sound or style of "Abacab" or the relationship towards him or Rutherford as they had been friends for a long time.


title: Abacab

text: Genesis recorded "Abacab" in 14 weeks, and they typically worked between 12 and 14 hours a day while making it. The new studio environment had a productive effect on the writing process and the band had enough material for a double album, but they discarded one hour of music because they considered the songs were too similar to their past albums. Though the band did not alter the way in which they approached the songwriting for "Abacab", Banks said a conscious effort was made by the group to avoid "Genesis cliches" such as using tambourines during a chorus, reprises, extended solos, lengthy instrumental passages, and keeping melodies simple, which signalled further changes in their direction. Because of this, Banks considered "Abacab" to be the least technical Genesis album at the time of its release. Rutherford said the omission of songs that were too familiar to what they had done previously was required to avoid Genesis becoming a caricature of itself, and so the change in direction was therefore necessary. He picked the songwriting periods for "Duke" and "Abacab" as a "rethink" of Genesis' approach. Collins said the group adopted what they had done for "Duke" and took it further for "Abacab", specifically with group improvisational jams and writing with the aid of electronics such as a drum machine. The home studio allowed the group to stop working on a track if a rehearsal failed to produce any desired results and switch to another, which was not possible at a professional facility due to the limited time available.


title: Abacab

text: The band's shift in direction was also underlined in their production with the departure of producer and engineer David Hentschel, who had worked with them since 1975. He was replaced by Hugh Padgham, who had worked with Collins on "Face Value" and former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel's third solo album which featured Collins on drums. Gabriel's track "Intruder" features a gated reverb effect on Collins's drums that Banks and Rutherford liked, and wanted Padgham to do the same on "Abacab". The album marked the first time Genesis produced an album on their own, with Padgham credited as engineer. The decision to bring the drums to the forefront of a song caused Banks to change his usual approach of writing and playing, which he found exciting. The band praised Padgham's fresh approach to recording; Banks recalled the attractive ideas he had for recording drums and his lack of knowledge in handling keyboards gave Banks the freedom to explore and obtain sounds that interested him. The band considered "Abacab" an album that closely represented their natural live sound. The band would produce different mixes of finished songs and selected the one they all liked best.


title: Abacab

text: "Abacab" is formed of nine tracks, six of which are group written with the remaining three solely credited to one of each member: "Me and Sarah Jane" is from Banks, "Man on the Corner" by Collins, and "Like It or Not" by Rutherford. The group decided to have the album consist mostly of collective songs as they thought such tracks became the strongest on "Duke".


title: Abacab

text: "Abacab" is titled after the order of sections of music the group had for the song, which at one point spelled "ABACAB". Rutherford said that the final version of the track is not the "ABACAB" order at all, "it's like 'Accaabbaac'." The song developed from a group jam session that had them playing along to a looped electronic drum track until the tape they were using to record on ran out.


title: Abacab

text: "No Reply at All" is a rhythm and blues style track that features the Phenix Horns of the American band Earth, Wind & Fire. This marked the first instance of Genesis using outside musicians for one of their tracks since a string section was used on their debut album, "From Genesis to Revelation" (1969). The band wanted to emulate the brass keyboard sound that was used on some parts on "Duke", and Collins had used the Phenix Horns on "Face Value" and suggested to Banks and Rutherford that they use them for the track. Collins thought the horns was a good move to "suddenly jar people and take them off automatic pilot" from the predictable ideas they had considered Genesis to be. Their involvement created some initial reservations from Banks, but he grew to enjoy the track by the time it was complete. In rehearsal, Banks played a drum machine while Rutherford and Collins played a guitar and drum part, respectively, and played until they found ideas and sequences that worked. Collins had the idea of writing a song that The Jackson 5 would have wanted to record, and direct the band in a direction that they never had before. Collins wrote the lyrics.


title: Abacab

text: "Me and Sarah Jane" originated from takes that the group had recorded from as early as the second day of recording.


title: Abacab

text: "Keep It Dark" tells the story of a man who gets taken to a surreal and peaceful alien planet but does not tell anyone as he thinks no one would believe him. Its original working title was "Odd", and became a favourite for Banks. It features the band taking two bars of a drum pattern previously recorded and playing the song on top of it.


title: Abacab

text: "Dodo"/"Lurker" features lyrics written by Banks, who included a riddle in "Lurker" that had fans wondering what the answer is. In a 1997 interview, he said: "There is no real solution [...] It was a bit of a joke [...] I honestly didn't really have a specific idea in mind."


title: Abacab

text: Banks described "Who Dunnit?" as a "real one-off piece". Featuring drums, guitar, and a Prophet-5 analogue synthesiser, he obtained the track's distorted keyboard sound by changing its presets as he played the notes. He pushed Collins and Rutherford to record what ideas he had for the track, to which Collins wrote a lyric. The band improvised on top of the track for 30 minutes, which was cut into a three-minute arrangement. Padgham wanted the drums on the track to sound loud and exciting, and not like typical drum recording sounds of the 1970s. Rutherford played the drums alongside Thompson during live performances of the song on the album's tour. While the group were deciding the final track listing for "Abacab", Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun believed "Who Dunnit?" should be included. At one point, Genesis considered releasing "Who Dunnit?" as a single.


title: Abacab

text: Among the songs that were left off the album were three that were picked for release on Genesis's second EP, "3×3". This contained "Paperlate", "You Might Recall", and "Me and Virgil", which were included on the international edition of their third live album "Three Sides Live", both released in 1982. Two other songs, "Naminanu" and "Submarine", originally part of a four-song suite with "Dodo"/"Lurker", were released as B-sides on the album's singles.


title: Abacab

text: The cover was designed by English artist Bill Smith, who recalled that the group were difficult to work with as "they only ever knew what they didn't like". He first presented the band with portfolios from various illustrators, but the group did not find anything that they liked from them. Rutherford took Smith's sketchbook and spotted an abstract design initially made for a book, which featured an arrangement of torn inch-long pieces of paper from a Pantone swatch of colours with squiggly black lines. The band chose it as the cover, and Smith reproduced it in four different colour schemes with an embossed finish. The band liked all four, and thought it would have an effective presentation on shop displays. Three of the designs had a limited print, after which their label Charisma Records selected the original montage to remain in stock. Smith recalled the difficulty in persuading Genesis manager Tony Smith and staff at Charisma that "these tiny scraps of coloured paper" was to be the album's cover, but he was successful from having the group's backing and noted it became "his best paid job ever." Genesis allowed Smith to retain the copyright to his work. In a contrast to previous Genesis albums, the sleeve is absent of lyrics. Banks reasoned this to reducing the emphasis on the words, which he thought had been overdone on previous albums, in order to make them a greater part in the album's overall sound.


title: Abacab

text: "Abacab" was released on 18 September 1981 in the United Kingdom by Charisma Records and 24 September 1981 in the United States by Atlantic Records. It was simultaneously released in four different colour schemes.


title: Abacab

text: In 2007, "Abacab" was remastered with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix and bonus features as part of the "Genesis 1976–1982" box set.


title: Abacab

text: In a review for "Melody Maker", reporter Paul Colbert thought the album was the band's least consistent and therefore, least predictable in three years. He recognised a "heavy PC [Phil Collins] twist to the sound" on "Man on the Corner" and "No Reply at All", but "he does not have it all his own way". Colbert, however, thought Genesis had produced "a couple of Frankensteins" such as the latter half of "Abacab", which he deemed "unstructured" and "uninspired" compared to their past instrumentals. He named "Keep It Dark" and "Who Dunnit?" as "the most exciting and innovative music" the band had produced for several years, and concluded with the album is "by far more promising" than "Duke" or "...And Then There Were Three...". Ken Kubernik of the "Los Angeles Times" wondered if the success of Collins' solo album "Face Value" was an influence on the group, to which he replied, "Yes and no." He praised the album for its "thick, resonant instrumental passages, quaint imagery in the lyrics, and superb production", but "beneath the surface are some new wrinkles in the trademark Genesis sound", noting a reduction in harmonies for more simple vocals and Collins' drum sound replacing Banks's keyboards as their "vortex". Kubernik did, however, praise Collins' vocals.


title: Abacab

text: Jim Bohen for "Daily Record" recognised "Abacab" had largely taken its direction from Collins's "Face Value" with its structure based around a "a huge, booming drum sound". He noted the instrumentation is less restrained than previous Genesis albums. "Who Dunnit?" was described as "an Ian Dury like tongue-twister", yet deemed "Dodo/Lurker", "Like It or Not", and "Another Record" as "less noteworthy". Bohen concludes, however, that the album "drags this trio of art-rockers into the 80s at last". A positive review was published in "The Pittsburgh Press" by Pete Bishop. He named "Abacab" a "state-of-the-art" album and picked "Abacab" and "No Reply at All" as particularly good tracks despite Collins's vocals not being "the world's strongest". Bishop said "Who Dunnit?" was the album's only "dud", yet believed overall the album would please Genesis fans. An uncredited review in "The Coshocton Tribune" in Ohio predicted the album would be Genesis's first top ten album in the US due to its similarity to "Face Value", but rated it ahead of "the dreary "Duke"".


title: Abacab

text: David Fricke of "Rolling Stone" praised the album for shedding the "ivory-tower artistry" of their previous albums, turning to sparse arrangements and "highly rhythmic interplay" and drawing inspiration from popular contemporaries such as XTC and The Police. In his retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine echoed this sentiment with greater emphasis, declaring ""Duke" showcased a new Genesis... but "Abacab" was where this new incarnation of the band came into its own." He also argued that although the album is far richer in pop hooks and accessibility than the band's previous works, at its heart "Abacab" "is truly modern art rock, their last album that could bear that tag comfortably."


title: Abacab

text: Genesis toured "Abacab" with a European and North American tour between September and December 1981. The tour marked the first appearance of the Vari-Lite automated lighting system in which Genesis invested $1 million towards its development. Recordings from shows in New York City, Uniondale, New York, and Birmingham, England were included in the band's third live album, "Three Sides Live", and the same-titled concert video, both released in 1982.


title: Abacab

text: All music written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford, except where noted. All songs arranged and performed by Genesis. Lyricists specified below.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: Crowd collapses and crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When a body of people reaches or exceeds the density of , the pressure on each individual can cause the crowd to collapse in on itself, or become so densely packed that individuals are crushed and asphyxiated.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: At this density, a crowd can start to act like fluid, sweeping individuals around without their volition. Such incidents are invariably the product of failures of organizations, and most major crowd disasters can be prevented by simple crowd management strategies. Such incidents can occur at large gatherings such as sporting, commercial, social, and religious events. The critical factor is crowd density rather than crowd size.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: One study has calculated that there were 232 deaths and over 66,000 injuries in the ten years between 1992 and 2002, and it is believed by crowd scientists that such incidents are both vastly under-reported and increasing in frequency. One estimate is that only one in ten crowd injuries occurring in doorbuster sales are reported, while many, if not most, injuries at rock concerts go unreported.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: The average individual occupies an oval floorspace approximately , or and at densities of individuals can move freely without contact. Even if people are moving quickly, at this density it is possible to avoid obstacles and the chance of a crowd-related incident is minimal. Even at the risk is low; however at densities of the possibilities for individuals to move become limited, while at higher densities () individuals become pressed against each other, and can be unable to move of their own volition. At this point a crowd can begin to act like a fluid, with individuals moved about by the pressure of those around them, and shockwaves can pass through the crowd as pressures within the crowd change. This can be highly dangerous, although in some cases this experience is actively sought, such as at rock concerts or football matches, where the excitement, camaraderie, and literally 'going with the flow' is an essential part of the experience, and activities like dancing and moshing are common. The dangers inherent in these conditions is that the crowd will collapse in on itself, or become so densely packed that individuals are crushed and asphyxiated.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: A crowd collapse occurs when a crowd is so dense that each individual is touching others all around, and is to an extent supported by those around. This can occur whether the crowd is moving or stationary. If a person then falls, the support to those around is lost, while the pressure from those further out remains, causing people to fall into the void. This process is then repeated, causing a bigger void, and will progress until the pressure eases; meanwhile, those who have fallen are at risk of being smothered by the weight of bodies on top, or being trampled as the crowd is swept over them.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: An example of a progressive crowd collapse was the 2015 Mina stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the Hajj when over 2,400 people were reported to have died.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: At even higher densities (up to ) a crowd can become so packed that people are crushed together to such an extent they can no longer breathe, and are asphyxiated. Such crowd crushes can occur when a moving crowd is funnelled into a smaller and smaller space, or when it meets an obstacle (such as a dead end, or a locked door), or when an already densely packed crowd has an influx of people, causing a pressure wave toward those at the front of the crowd. In this situation those entering may be unaware of the effect on those in front, and continue to press in.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: Examples of crushes are the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England in 1989 and the Love Parade disaster in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 2010.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: The term stampede is usually used in reference to animals that are fleeing a threat. Stampede events that involve humans are extremely rare and are unlikely to be fatal. According to Keith Still, professor of crowd science at Manchester Metropolitan University, "If you look at the analysis, I’ve not seen any instances of the cause of mass fatalities being a stampede. People don’t die because they panic. They panic because they are dying". Paul Torrens, a professor at the Center for Geospatial Information Science at the University of Maryland, remarks that "the idea of the hysterical mass is a myth".


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: In crowd collapse and crush incidents the most common cause of death is asphyxiation, caused either by vertical stacking, as people fall on top of one another, or by horizontal stacking, where people are crushed together or against an unyielding barrier. Victims can also exhibit fractures due to pressure, or trampling injuries, when a crowd has swept over them where they have lain.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: It is believed that most major crowd disasters can be prevented by simple crowd management strategies. Crushes can be prevented by organization and traffic control, such as barriers. On the other hand, barriers in some cases may funnel the crowd toward an already-packed area, such as in the Hillsborough disaster. Hence barriers can be a solution in preventing or a key factor in causing a crush. One problem is lack of feedback from people being crushed to the crowd pressing behind—feedback can instead be provided by police, organizers, or other observers, particularly raised observers, such as on platforms or horseback, who can survey the crowd and use loudspeakers to communicate and direct a crowd. In some cases it may be possible to take simple measures such as spreading movements out over time.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: A factor that may contribute to a crush is inexperienced security officers who assume that people's behaviour in a dense crowd is voluntary and dangerous, and start applying force or preventing people from moving in certain directions. In the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, some police and stewards were so concerned with what they saw as possible hooliganism that they took actions that actually made matters worse.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: There is risk of a crush when crowd density exceeds about four people per square meter. For a person in a crowd a signal of danger, and a warning to get out of the crowd if possible, is the sensation of being touched on all four sides. A later, more serious, warning is when one feels shock waves travelling through the crowd, due to people at the back pushing forward against people at the front with nowhere to go. Keith Still of the Fire Safety Engineering Group, University of Greenwich, said "Be aware of your surroundings. Look ahead. Listen to the crowd noise. If you start finding yourself in a crowd surge, wait for the surge to come, go with it, and move sideways. Keep moving with it and sideways, with it and sideways." Other recommendations include trying to remain upright, and keeping away from walls and other obstructions if possible.


title: Crowd collapses and crushes

text: After the 1883 crush known as the Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland, England which killed 183 children, a law was passed in England which required all public entertainment venues to be equipped with doors that open outwards—for example, using crash bar latches that open when pushed. Crash bars are required by various building codes.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Mostyn Neil Hamilton (born 9 March 1949) is a British former barrister and politician who has been leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) since 2020. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1983 to 1997 and a UKIP Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales from 2016 to 2021.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton was elected to the House of Commons in the 1983 general election. He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs by Prime Minister John Major in 1992.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In 1994, "The Guardian" alleged that Hamilton had taken cash payments in exchange for asking questions in Parliament. Hamilton sued "The Guardian" for libel, but settled on the day of the trial. "The Guardian" published a headline branding him "A Liar and a Cheat". The cash-for-questions affair enquiry in 1997 found that Hamilton had taken bribes. He subsequently lost a libel case on the matter. Hamilton became widely associated with sleaze, and was forced to resign his ministerial role. He was defeated by an independent candidate, Martin Bell, in the 1997 general election.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: He left the Conservative Party in 2002, and joined UKIP. In 2011, he returned to politics and was elected to the National Executive Committee of UKIP in 2011. Following his election to the National Assembly for Wales, he was UKIP Assembly Group Leader from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2021. He became leader of UKIP Wales in 2016. In September 2020, Hamilton was named acting leader of UKIP, following the suspension from the party of the previous leader, Freddy Vachha. Hamilton was defeated at the 2021 Senedd election. In October 2021, Hamilton was elected UKIP leader.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Due to his television appearances, "The Guardian" described him as "an all-purpose Z-list celebrity".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton was born in Fleur-de-Lis, a Gwent pit village near Blackwood, Wales. In 1960 he moved to Ammanford. His father was a chief engineer for the National Coal Board. His grandfathers were coal miners. He grew up in Ammanford in Carmarthenshire and joined the Conservative Party in 1964, at the age of 15.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton attended Amman Valley Grammar School in Ammanford. He received a BScEcon degree in economics and politics from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1970, and an MScEcon degree in economics and politics in 1975. While at Aberystwyth, he was active in the Federation of Conservative Students; he was a member between 1968 and 1974. In 1973, as a representative of the Federation of Conservative Students, Hamilton attended a conference of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI). Hamilton went on to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he attained a postgraduate law degree.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: At the 1970 Conservative Party conference, Hamilton called for mass privatisation. The following year, he opposed the plan for Britain to join the European Communities. In 1972, after several years' membership, Hamilton was elected to the executive council of the Conservative Monday Club. He left the Club in 1973, and stood as chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students against David Davis, but lost. In the early 1970s, Hamilton was the founder of the Eldon League, a right-wing social organisation given to having picnics and dinners 'and having a good time'. He appointed himself its "Grand Imperial Prior" and called for the abolition of the internal combustion engine and plastic. Hamilton stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate in the February 1974 general election in Abertillery and in the 1979 general election in Bradford North, but failed on both occasions.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton was a teacher at St John's College in Southsea between 1973 and 1976. In his spare time he studied for his bar practice exam. He also taught constitutional law at Hatfield Polytechnic between September 1978 and July 1982.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: From September 1979, Hamilton practised as a barrister. He specialised in taxation, trust and property law. However, after he lost his parliamentary seat in 1997, he vowed never to return to "that constipated profession". In April 2001, Hamilton said, "If I am bankrupt [which he was the following month], I won't be able to return to the bar but even if I was able to do so, I couldn't contain myself from saying what I thought to some of the judges." Hamilton was also European and Parliamentary Affairs Director of the Institute of Directors during this time.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 12 March 1983, Hamilton was selected as the Conservative candidate for the newly created Tatton constituency. Three months later, at the 1983 general election Hamilton was elected to Parliament as MP for Tatton. On entering the Commons, Hamilton was appointed as an officer of the backbench committee on Trade and Industry under the chairmanship of Michael Grylls.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In 1984, against party policy, Hamilton opposed the abandonment of leaded petrol in Britain. He argued there was no evidence that leaded petrol was damaging the environment, or health, and that jobs would be lost in his constituency if leaded petrol was banned.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton resumed his activities as a supporter of pressure groups, including the Western Goals Institute, led by ex-Young Monday Club Chairman, Andrew V. R. Smith and attracting the support of other parliamentarians such as Sir Patrick Wall, Bill Walker, Nicholas Winterton and the Revd. Martin Smyth. He was on their parliamentary advisory board. The Western Goals Institute achieved notoriety by inviting Jean-Marie Le Pen (leader of the French National Front) and Alessandra Mussolini (Benito Mussolini's granddaughter, a Deputy sitting for the Italian neo-fascist MSI) to address fringe meetings at the 1992 Conservative Party conference. The Party Chairman Sir Norman Fowler was outraged, and said the Conservative Party was not related to the Western Goals Institute. In the event the meetings were cancelled, as neither Le Pen nor Mussolini could come to Britain.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton also lent his support to the No Turning Back Group organised by his friend Michael Brown MP. Other MPs active in the No Turning Back Group included Michael Portillo, Peter Lilley, Alan Duncan and Gerald Howarth.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In 1985, he began working for Ian Greer Associates, lobbying on behalf of US Tobacco. Hamilton, together with Michael Brown, became an enthusiastic supporter of US Tobacco's product Skoal Bandits, a tea-bag type of pouch of tobacco designed for chewing. The product was believed to cause serious risk of oral cancer, particularly for minors, and the government was inclined to ban its import. Hamilton said he supported the introduction of Skoal Bandits on libertarian grounds, and lobbied ministers (including Edwina Currie and David Mellor) to allow its introduction. The House of Commons Select Committee on Standards investigation stated: "Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Brown had a number of contacts with Ministers and officials as part of their campaign to influence Government policy on Skoal Bandits" and said that there was "no evidence ... that any appropriate declaration was made". Hamilton was obliged to concede he had been wrong to make no reference to the payment "when I went on those meetings with Ministers".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In June 1990, Hamilton was recruited by the right-wing Monday Club activist Derek Laud to work for Strategy Network International, a firm specifically created to lobby against anti-apartheid movements and economic sanctions and for apartheid South Africa's 'transitional government' of Namibia set up in defiance of UN Resolution 435 on Namibian independence. Derek Laud was an ex-Monday Club activist and protégé of Hamilton's friend Michael Brown, who offered Hamilton a fee of £8,000 per year. Hamilton failed to register the paid-for consultancy. Hamilton took free trips to South Africa in the company of Brown.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Thatcher appointed Hamilton a whip in July 1990. In November 1990, Michael Heseltine initiated a leadership challenge to Margaret Thatcher. Hamilton was told by the Chief Whip to stay neutral, but says he ignored this instruction. "I naturally ignored this advice and fed all my intelligence into her campaign." He also said that he made the fateful suggestion that she interview each cabinet member individually, believing they would lack the resolve to tell her to her face that she must go. "Unfortunately, I had miscalculated." Hamilton strongly encouraged Thatcher to persist. At a meeting where Peter Lilley argued that Thatcher could not survive, Hamilton subjected him to a barrage of "sarcasm and heckling". On 21 November 1990, Hamilton and like-minded colleagues met Thatcher at Downing Street. Thatcher did subsequently resign, and in the next round of the election Hamilton voted for John Major.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: From 1992 to 1994, Hamilton was the Minister for Deregulation and Corporate Affairs in John Major's government. He came under pressure to step down after the resignation of another minister, Tim Smith, on 19 October 1994, after Smith had admitted to taking money in the cash-for-questions affair. Facing the same allegations, Hamilton denied them and issued proceedings for libel, but he resigned on 26 October at the insistence of John Major.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Denmark rejected the Maastricht Treaty on 2 June 1992. Like some other Conservative ministers, Hamilton had also opposed the treaty and was a member of the Eurosceptic "No Turning Back" group. Despite this, Hamilton remained, for a time, loyal to the Major government which endorsed the treaty. Hamilton urged his colleagues not to resign over the Treaty and other issues.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: No longer a minister at the time of the 1995 Conservative Party leadership election, Hamilton did not support Major. Initially a supporter of Michael Portillo, when Portillo did not contest the leadership Hamilton voted instead for John Redwood. Hamilton also sent condolences to Portillo in 2001, when he failed to win that year's leadership election.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Prior to the 1997 general election, Hamilton determined to try to retain his parliamentary seat. His majority at the 1992 general election had been almost 16,000 votes. In 1997, Tatton was the fourth safest Conservative seat in Britain. Hamilton was under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner as part of the "cash for questions" enquiry and some party members thought he should stand down after the collapse of his case against "The Guardian". Disquiet in the local association became public, but the majority gave him the benefit of the doubt.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton resisted the pressure from senior Conservatives and Conservative Central Office to stand down. Jeremy Paxman states that Conservative Central Office "begged him not to stand, but in a gesture of overweening arrogance, he refused to go quietly."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 8 April 1997, Hamilton was chosen as the Conservative candidate for Tatton (182 for, 35 against, 100 abstained). "The Observer" commissioned ICM polls in the constituencies of the three Conservative candidates tainted by scandal and seeking re-election: Hamilton, Allan Stewart and Piers Merchant. Both Stewart and Merchant were found to have support consistent with their party's standing, but in Tatton "there was massive hostility to Hamilton".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: When Martin Bell, the BBC war correspondent, announced he would stand as an independent candidate in Tatton, the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates for the area stood down in order to give Bell a clear run against Hamilton. Bell defeated Hamilton, winning by a majority of over 11,000 votes with a swing of 48%. Although Hamilton vowed to return to parliament, this defeat marked the end of his political career in the Conservative Party. In March 1999, George Osborne was selected by the Tatton Conservative Association to be their candidate for the following general election.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Following Hamilton's ejection from Tatton and the Conservative defeat in the 1997 election, the new party leader, William Hague, sought to distance the Conservative Party from the disgraced Hamilton and asked Hamilton to stay away from the party conference.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In September 2011, Hamilton attended the annual conference of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). The party's leader Nigel Farage pledged to support him in the election for the National Executive Committee. Hamilton was elected to the committee on 1 November 2011. He later become deputy chairman of the party. Hamilton was demoted from his role as campaign director in April 2014. In the May 2014 local elections, he stood as a UKIP candidate in the St Mary's Park ward of Wandsworth London Borough Council and finished 8th of the 9 candidates with 396 votes.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In the elections for the National Assembly for Wales on 5 May 2016, he was elected as a Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Mid and West Wales Region, one of seven UKIP candidates to win a seat through the Regional List system. On 10 May 2016, UKIP's AMs voted him their leader in the Welsh Assembly, defeating Nathan Gill. The UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, criticised the move as an "unjust act of deep ingratitude". Hamilton dismissed Farage's criticism as "irrelevant", accused him of "throwing toys out of pram" and referred to him as "the MEP for the South East of England". In leaked emails, he was accused by UKIP's biggest donor, Arron Banks, of being a "corrupt old Tory". Nathan Gill subsequently left the UKIP group in the assembly to sit as an independent, resulting in Neil Hamilton becoming UKIP's Leader in Wales in September 2016. Hamilton was ousted as leader of UKIP in the National Assembly on 17 May 2018 and was replaced by Caroline Jones.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In August 2018, UKIP leader Gerard Batten MEP announced that there would be a membership ballot for the leadership of UKIP in Wales. The eventual winner would become the UKIP Assembly Group Leader and ultimately the party's main spokesperson for Wales. Hamilton, Jones and another UKIP Assembly Member in Wales, Gareth Bennett, stood in the election, which was won by Bennett. Hamilton said he could "happily" work with Mr Bennett, but Jones said she had "a lot of thinking to do". Batten said he expected his Welsh Assembly members to now "work together for UKIP's cause and get on with the job."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Following his maiden speech in the Welsh Assembly, he was accused of making sexist remarks towards female politicians after referring to Kirsty Williams and Leanne Wood as "concubines" in a "harem".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton caused further controversy during a debate on the effects of Brexit in Wales. When Eluned Morgan claimed that the economic consequences of Brexit would be hardest for those who could least afford it, Hamilton remarked that "suicide's an option". He was instructed by the presiding officer to apologise for the remark. Hamilton initially refused, saying, "What is there to apologise for?" and "What was unparliamentary about the remark?" He did eventually apologise, saying, "I apologise for whatever remark I am supposed to have made."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In April 2018, Hamilton said that "the idea that Enoch Powell was some kind of uniquely racist villain is absolute nonsense". Commenting on Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech about mass immigration, Hamilton said that Powell was wrong about predicting racial violence, but had been "proved right by events" in terms of social change that was "never desired by the majority of the British people". Hamilton said that Powell "changed politics by articulating the fears and resentments of millions and millions of people who are being ignored by the establishment". In response, the leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood, accused Hamilton of "keeping Powell's racist rhetoric going". Labour AM Hefin David described Hamilton's comments as "outrageous".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In April 2019, Hamilton was the UKIP candidate in the by-election for Newport West. He came third behind the Labour and Conservative candidates with 2,023 votes (8.6%).


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton was the only MS not to live in Wales. By 2021 he was UKIP's only representative at any level above local government.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In the 2021 Senedd election Hamilton moved to the South Wales East region. He criticised BBC Wales for excluding UKIP from the main leaders' debates, with Hamilton instead being invited to a separate debate alongside Reform UK and the Wales Green Party. Hamilton contested the constituency of Islwyn but came sixth with just 507 votes. He was also top of the UKIP list for that region but was not appointed as an additional member either. Meanwhile the party lost all its other Senedd seats.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: After a period as acting leader, Hamilton was elected as leader in October 2021, receiving 498 out of 631 votes cast (78.9%) against challenger John Poynton.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 30 January 1984, a "Panorama" programme, "Maggie's Militant Tendency", was broadcast. The programme made a number of allegations regarding Hamilton's past and more recent activities. These included his attending and giving a fraternal speech in 1972 to the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) an Italian neo-fascist party led by one of Benito Mussolini's ex-ministers, Giorgio Almirante, Hamilton's membership of the Eldon League, and his involvement with the Powellite faction of the Monday Club and the far-right activist, George Kennedy Young, the former Deputy Director of MI6 and Chairman of the Society for Individual Freedom. The programme also made the claim that Hamilton gave a Nazi salute in Berlin while "messing around" on a parliamentary visit in August 1983. A Nazi salute is a criminal offence in the Federal Republic of Germany. In October 1986, Hamilton and his fellow MP Gerald Howarth (one of his closest friends), sued the BBC for libel along with Phil Pedley, a former chairman of the National Young Conservatives, who had appeared on the programme. "The Guardian" newspaper highlighted Hamilton's admission in "The Sunday Times" in an article he wrote after the court case that he did give "a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: The prosecution was financed by Sir James Goldsmith and Taki, "The Spectator" columnist. David Davis, then a director of Tate and Lyle, persuaded that company to donate a sum to the cause. Lord Harris of High Cross (who helped to finance Hamilton's failed libel action against Mohammed Al-Fayed 13 years later), also raised approximately £100,000.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: During the case, Hamilton said he saw himself as being "the Mike Yarwood of the Federation of Conservative Students" and that he frequently did impressions of public figures such as Frankie Howerd, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Charles De Gaulle and Enoch Powell. Hamilton said he had coloured himself black in 1982 to look like Idi Amin and dressed as Canon James Owen on a boat on the River Cam. He said he would have twenty character witnesses: "My main character witness was going to be Norman St John Stevas." In a "Sunday Times" article, Hamilton denied there was any malicious intent behind the salute. He also pointed out that one person present at the incident, Julian Lewis, was a Jew and that a "number of his relatives were killed by the Nazis during the war".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In mid-trial and without cross-examining Hamilton, the BBC capitulated on 21 October 1986. The Director-General, Alasdair Milne, stated he was instructed to do so by the Governors of the BBC. The corporation was directed to pay the men's legal costs. Hamilton and Howarth were awarded £20,000 each and in the next edition of "Panorama", on 27 October, the BBC made an unreserved apology. The settlement of the case raised serious concerns regarding political pressure and the intimidation of witnesses. Before the BBC defence lawyers had an opportunity to interrogate Hamilton, the Board of Governors met during the trial and instructed the BBC Board of Management to settle the case: "the BBC executives at this meeting expressed serious doubts about the decision. It was pointed out the BBC had not even begun to put its case".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: The National Young Conservatives hinted at a stitch-up at the BBC. The chairman, Richard Fuller, told the Eastern Area Young Conservatives: "I find it strange that they have apparently decided to settle now, when things appeared to be going well." Attention focussed on the actions of Malcolm McAlpine, a cousin of Alistair McAlpine, the treasurer of the Conservative Party: "He denied yesterday that he had promised Mr Hamilton that he could 'deliver' the governors behind a settlement".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In the immediate aftermath of the BBC settlement, allegations of witness intimidation abounded. A BBC internal memorandum to the Board of Management claimed some 17 witnesses had been intimidated into changing their testimony. A BBC source stated: "Nearly all the defence witnesses have had a quiet word in their ears. Only two or three people connected with Tory politics who would have given vital evidence for us now stick to their testimony. Some previously expressed disgust at incidents they had witnessed. Now they claim to have witnessed nothing."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Howarth and Hamilton said the case against Pedley would not be dropped and Pedley said he would not be joining the BBC decision. The "Financial Times" reported, "A solicitor for Mr Hamilton and Mr Howarth said later that their linked libel action against Mr Philip Pedley... would continue. Mr Pedley indicated that he intends to continue the case."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: The media began to focus on the remaining unsettled case. "The Guardian" reported that "The spotlight had swivelled to Phil Pedley, the Tory defendant who remained adamant he would fight on alone, backed by independent funds and, he claims, a wide range of Conservative supporters." Pedley did not name the supporters but the then chairman of the Young Conservatives, Richard Fuller, pledged financial support to the fight and in a meeting with Jeffrey Archer, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, Fuller resisted Archer's demand to back down.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Labour accused Conservative Central Office of organising a cover-up over claims that Hamilton had given a Nazi salute on a visit to Berlin and sought to question the then party chairman, Norman Tebbit. Dale Campbell-Savours claimed he had evidence in the form of a letter from Pedley to the former Party Chairman, John Selwyn Gummer, demonstrating Conservative Central Office (CCO) had contacted witnesses. Tebbit confirmed one witness had been in touch with CCO. "I am aware that one potential witness sought advice from Central Office but was told that no advice could be given..." Tebbit accused Campbell-Savours of making his accusations behind the cloak of parliamentary privilege and left the chamber to make his reply. "My staff are appalled and disgusted. They are filled with contempt for a man who can make these sort of accusations of a criminal offence against a member of staff, who, Mr Campbell-Savours knows damn well, is not guilty of it."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 25 October, the press reported new evidence of inappropriate witness contact. Later that day, Hamilton announced that he was dropping the action against Pedley. However, Pedley reaffirmed that he "had no intention of withdrawing from the case." Hamilton's announcement failed to quell demands for an enquiry and Campbell-Savours denounced Tebbit's tactic of making his statements outside the House of Commons chamber, accusing him of "a deliberate ploy to avoid placing himself in contempt by misleading the House in a personal statement". He invited Tebbit to make a statement in the House."If he refuses, then the country will know that a conspiracy of silence is being engineered by senior figures to hide the truth." More information appeared in the press alleging witness interference, including the Hogan Memorandum, the internal BBC document listing the witnesses who had changed their account. "The Independent" revealed the existence of a taped conversation of a Tory witness being "shaken rigid" by Central Office's suggestion that the Berlin events had not happened and "no other witness would substantiate or give evidence about those alleged incidents" and the witness was told no other witness would back his account. The witness said, "this was like a bad dream."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Campbell-Savours claimed this was proof of BBC nobbling and announced that he was sending his evidence to Sir Michael Havers, the Attorney General. In the Commons, Campbell-Savours stated: "Central Office set about an elaborate attempt to interfere directly with potential witnesses. Attempts were made to manage and rig statements by Mr. David Mitchell. I repeat what I have said previously, but additionally I am able to say today that there is a tape in existence that confirms the nature of the conspiracy to hide the truth, and which identifies persons. Today I have sent a transcript of that tape to the Attorney-General. I have to inform you, Mr. Speaker, that it is but one of two tapes. I await a transcript of the second tape."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Press interest turned to Hamilton's past statements about the Berlin visit, over which Tory witnesses were alleged to have been pressured to say that they had not seen goose-stepping or Nazi-style salutes. Hamilton had given a categorical denial he had made a Nazi salute in Berlin to John Selwyn Gummer, the Party Chairman, in January 1984:


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: But, writing in the "Sunday Times", Hamilton admitted making "a little salute" in the Reichstag. Hamilton's admission had the effect of reaffirming the testimony of the two witnesses who alleged he had given a Nazi salute in Berlin and exposing those witnesses who had reversed their position.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton and Howarth reversed their earlier position and dropped their libel action against Pedley. They said that extracting an apology from Pedley was not "worth the bother". On 3 December 1986, Pedley refused the offered settlement terms and asked for a hearing in open court. Justice Simon Brown ruled that Hamilton and Howarth be debarred from alleging Pedley's words were libel and should pay Pedley's costs.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Pedley made a statement from the steps to say he stood by his words in the "Panorama" programme and restated he had never said the MPs were Nazis, rather their behaviour was part of a pattern that would harm the Party and in the case of Hamilton's Berlin behaviour, the Final YC Report accused Hamilton of "batty eccentricity". On the more substantive allegations, Pedley said he reiterated the points made in the YC Report had been called into question."I consider I have the responsibility to vindicate the good work done by the members of that committee. Several have endured abuse and hate mail following publication of their names in the Young National Front paper Bulldog and other extremist papers. I hope this will now cease, together with set-ups and the surveillance and harassment of other witnesses; in my case by private security companies."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 20 October 1994, "The Guardian" published an article which claimed that Hamilton and another minister, Tim Smith, had received money, in the form of cash in brown envelopes. It claimed the money was paid to the men by Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods. In return, the men were to ask questions on behalf of Al-Fayed in the House of Commons. Smith admitted his guilt and resigned immediately. Hamilton claimed innocence but was forced to resign five days later, on 25 October 1994.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton brought legal action for libel against "The Guardian". Hamilton joined Ian Greer, a parliamentary lobbyist, as a co-plaintiff. In the process, the Bill of Rights 1689 was amended by the Defamation Act 1996 to allow statements made in Parliament to be questioned in court.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 30 September 1996, the day before the start of the trial, Hamilton and Greer settled, citing a conflict of interest and lack of funds. "The Guardian" greeted the Hamilton collapse with the headline "A Liar and a Cheat". Alan Rusbridger, editor of "The Guardian", said: "The decision by Neil Hamilton and Ian Greer must be one of the most astonishing legal cave-ins in the history of the law of libel" and called for the issues to be examined by Sir Gordon Downey, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and the Inland Revenue.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: They each paid £7,500 towards the paper's legal costs. All the "cash-for-questions" evidence was sent to Sir Gordon Downey, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. On 1 October 1996, Hamilton appeared on the evening television program, "Newsnight", and engaged in a live debate with Alan Rusbridger, the editor of "The Guardian".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: The "cash for questions" parliamentary enquiry took place in 1997, led by Downey. Hamilton vowed that if the "Downey report" found against him, he would resign.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Edwina Currie, a former health minister, gave evidence. She told the inquiry that, in May 1988, Hamilton had been unmoved by a set of photographs that depicted smoking-related cancers; that is, harm to young people which might be caused by a product (tobacco) that he promoted. Hamilton argued the pictures were irrelevant. Both Hamilton and Michael Brown had received a £6,000 honorarium and hospitality from Skoal Bandits. In December 1989, the sale of Skoal Bandit products was banned in the UK by the Secretary of State for Health, Kenneth Clarke.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Downey reported that he found the evidence against Hamilton in the case of Al-Fayed "compelling". Hamilton received over £25,000 and had deliberately misled Michael Heseltine, then President of the Board of Trade, in October 1994, when he said he had no financial relationship with Ian Greer. In a phone conversation, Hamilton gave an absolute assurance to Heseltine that there was no such relationship, but he had received two payments from Greer in 1988 and 1989, totalling £10,000. Hamilton had asked for payment in kind so the money would not be taxable. He also failed to register his stays at the Hôtel Ritz Paris and at Al-Fayed's castle in Scotland in 1989.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 3 July 1997, the enquiry found Hamilton guilty of taking "cash for questions". "The Independent" wrote: "Sir Gordon, contrary to Hamilton's confident expectations, had no compunction about concluding that he did indeed take cash in brown envelopes" and called on the new party leader to "expel the miscreants". Hamilton, Smith (also found guilty), Brown and Michael Grylls were harshly criticised. If Hamilton and Smith had remained in parliament, Downey said he might have recommended long periods of suspension for both. Hamilton rejected these findings, whereas Smith, who had stood down, accepted them, apologised for his conduct, and retired from politics altogether.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton also brought a legal action for libel against Mohamed Al-Fayed. On 16 January 1997, Al-Fayed appeared in an edition of the "Dispatches" documentary series on Channel 4. He claimed that Hamilton had demanded and had accepted cash payments of up to £110,000, Harrods' gift vouchers and a free holiday at the Hôtel Ritz Paris in 1987, in return for asking questions in Parliament on behalf of Harrods. While Hamilton did not deny the holiday, he continued to maintain that he was innocent of improper conduct.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 31 July 1998, Hamilton's action was approved for a court listing. Funds for the action were donated by Lord Harris of High Cross, the Earl of Portsmouth and Taki, who raised £50,000. Other contributors to the fund included Simon Heffer, Norris McWhirter, Peter Clarke, Lord Bell, Gyles Brandreth and Gerald Howarth (Hamilton's co-plaintiff in the BBC action). Some Conservative MPs (approximately 40 of the 165) also made contributions. In total, approximately £410,000 was raised.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: The jury trial commenced in November 1999. Hamilton and his wife were cross-examined by George Carman QC. Carman put to Hamilton that he had acted corruptly to demand and then take £10,000 from Mobil Oil in 1989 for tabling an amendment to a finance bill. At the time, Hamilton was a member of a Commons select committee on finance. Al-Fayed said Hamilton had taken the money either in brown envelope cash payments or through Ian Greer. Hamilton said in his own evidence: "I have never received a penny from Mr Fayed; I have never asked." His counsel, in the closing comments, argued that Al-Fayed's assertions had destroyed his client's reputation.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 21 December 1999, the jury unanimously decided in favour of Al-Fayed, declaring Hamilton corrupt. A year later, Hamilton lost his appeal against the decision, and was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords on 2 April 2001.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 22 May 2001, unable to pay his legal fees and with costs amounting to some £3m, Hamilton declared bankruptcy. He was discharged from bankruptcy in May 2004.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 10 August 2001, Hamilton and his wife, Christine, were arrested by police who were investigating an alleged rape. The Hamiltons said they could not have been present at the alleged rape scene because they were hosting a dinner party and produced alibis including one from Derek Laud. The investigation against the couple was dropped when it became apparent that the accusations were entirely false. This event was recorded on film by Louis Theroux, who, at that time, was spending time with the Hamiltons for an episode of his documentary series "When Louis Met...".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In June 2003, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, the woman responsible for the unfounded accusation, was sentenced to three years in jail for perverting the course of justice. In February 2005, the publicist Max Clifford, who had acted for Milroy-Sloan, settled, paying Hamilton an undisclosed sum.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In 2014, Milroy-Sloan, under her birth name Emily Checksfield, was jailed again for falsely claiming to police that her ex-partner had threatened to kill her with a Samurai sword. The same year, Clifford was jailed for sexual assaults on under-age girls. After Clifford died in prison in December 2017, he was described by Hamilton as a "monster".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 9 May 1997, Hamilton and his wife appeared on the current affairs satire quiz programme "Have I Got News for You". The episode was recorded one week after Hamilton lost his seat. Angus Deayton, the presenter of the panel game, wore a white suit instead of his usual brown one. This was a humorous reference to Martin Bell, who wore just such a suit throughout the 1997 general election campaign. As a further taunt, at the end of the show, the Hamiltons were handed their "fee" in brown envelopes. At one point Hamilton quipped: "I've found it's much better making political jokes than being one."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 30 March 2000, Hamilton appeared on "Da Ali G Show" on Channel 4, for a satirical comedic interview when he was seen to be sharing what appeared to be a marijuana joint with the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's "Ali G" character.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In 2001 Hamilton appeared on "When Louis Met...", a documentary by Louis Theroux, during which he described himself and his wife as "professional objects of curiosity".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Since then, the Hamiltons have appeared in pantomimes, television chat shows, and programmes such as "The Weakest Link", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and "Ready Steady Cook". He appeared on a celebrity edition of "Mastermind" on Boxing Day 2004. He appeared in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" wearing six-inch stiletto heels, a basque, suspenders and stockings, however he declined to appear on "Big Brother" or "Celebrity Wife Swap."


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In 2005, Hamilton appeared on the Johnny Vegas show "18 Stone of Idiot", where he danced in a perspex box whilst Vegas and a member of the public poured buckets of fish over his head.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton argued for the individual's right to smoke. He was the only member in committee to oppose the Conservative government's bill to outlaw trafficking in human organs. In April 1986, Hamilton was one of ten MPs to vote against the government on an EEC bill. Hamilton was a member of the "No Turning Back group", advocating Thatcherite policies.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: In November 1989, Hamilton won the "Spectator" parliamentary wit of the year award. He jokingly remarked that when told of winning the award, he thought it was for being the "Twit of the year".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Hamilton's comments are frequently controversial. During a debate about amputees he said that Frank Dobson "does not have a leg to stand on". (January 1987). To Jeremy Corbyn, he suggested that "some of [his] IRA friends could be used to get rid of pensioners by shooting them"—also in 1987.


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: On 4 June 1983, five days before polling day in the 1983 general election, Hamilton married Mary Christine Holman, the secretary to Tory MP Michael Grylls, in Cornwall. In September 2003, after having a residence in the Tatton constituency for twenty years, the Hamiltons moved to Hullavington, Wiltshire, where they purchased a home in October 2004. In 2006, they released a song coinciding with the World Cup, "England Are Jolly Dee".


title: Neil Hamilton (politician)

text: Since 2008, he has been company secretary of Vixen Consultants Limited. The trading name of Vixen Consultants is Christine Hamilton.


title: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

text: The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, each of whom spoke about the impact that music had on their lives.


title: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

text: The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, which ran from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018. Nominations were announced on December 7, 2018.


title: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

text: Dolly Parton was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two days prior to the Grammy Awards on February 8, 2019.


title: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

text: Kendrick Lamar received the most nominations, with eight. Childish Gambino and Kacey Musgraves tied for the most wins of the night with four each. Childish Gambino did not attend the Grammys and became the first major award winner to be absent from the ceremony since Amy Winehouse in 2008. "This Is America" producer Ludwig Göransson and recording engineer Riley Mackin accepted the Record of the Year Grammy on behalf of Childish Gambino.


title: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

text: Nominations were to be announced on December 5, 2018, but were delayed to Friday, December 7, 2018 following the death and state funeral of former President George H.W. Bush.


title: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

text: On February 4, 2019, it was reported that American singer Ariana Grande would not be performing at or attending the Grammys, due to a dispute with producer Ken Ehrlich. On February 7, 2019, Grande made a public statement on the matter, she alleged that Ehrlich stifled her creativity and tried to stipulate what song she could perform. She then later went on and alleged that Ehrlich "lied" and she could "pull together a performance over night."


title: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

text: On February 11, 2019, Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj backed up Grande and alleged Ehrilch "bullied" her. Minaj later said in a statement on Twitter: "I was bullied into staying quiet for 7 years out of fear. But I'll tell my fans the REAL on the next episode of #QueenRadio they deserve the truth."


title: Barbara Siggers Franklin

text: Barbara Vernice Franklin (née Siggers; June 29, 1917 – March 7, 1952) was an American gospel singer and pianist, the mother of American singer–songwriter Aretha Franklin and wife of C. L. Franklin, the African-American Baptist minister of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit.


title: Barbara Siggers Franklin

text: Barbara Siggers married Clarence LaVaughn Franklin on June 3, 1936. The couple had four children: Erma (1938–2002), Cecil (1940–1989), Aretha (1942–2018), and Carolyn Franklin (1944–1988). Prior to the marriage, Barbara had a son, Vaughn (1934–2002) from a previous relationship, whom Rev. Franklin adopted shortly after their marriage. Barbara was a gifted pianist and, according to Mahalia Jackson, one of the finest gospel singers in the country. Though her primary role was that of wife and mother, she actively participated in the musical affairs of the churches where C. L. served as pastor.


title: Barbara Siggers Franklin

text: Following marital trouble stemming from C. L.'s numerous and ongoing infidelities, including fathering a daughter (named Carol Ellan Kelley [née Jennings]) by Mildred Jennings, a 12-year-old congregant in Memphis in 1940, she left Franklin in 1948 and moved to Buffalo, New York, where her mother resided and where Franklin had served as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church from May 1944 to June 1946. She made a life for herself working in a music store, giving private music lessons, and training to be a nurse's aide. She and Franklin never officially divorced.


title: Barbara Siggers Franklin

text: Although it was widely reported that she had deserted her children, Aretha Franklin disputed that claim, and Nick Salvatore of Cornell University took pains to discredit it in his biography of C. L. Franklin. According to Salvatore, she visited Detroit to see her children, and they traveled to Buffalo during summer vacations for stays with her. She died of a heart attack on March 7, 1952, at 34 years of age.


title: 2004–05 NBA season

text: The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It began on November 2, 2004 and ended June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating the defending-champion Detroit Pistons, 4–3, in the NBA Finals.


title: 2004–05 NBA season

text: Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics.


title: Ron Mael

text: Ronald David Mael (born August 12, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwriter and younger brother Russell Mael in 1971. Mael is known for his quirky and idiosyncratic approach to songwriting, his intricate and rhythmic keyboard playing style and for his deadpan and low key, scowling demeanour onstage often remaining motionless over his keyboard in sharp contrast to Russell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics. Ron Mael is also noted for his conservative clothes and unfashionable moustache. The Mael brothers are the founders of Lil' Beethoven Records.


title: Ron Mael

text: Ronald David Mael was born on August 12, 1945, in Culver City, California. The Mael brothers grew up in Pacific Palisades – an affluent beach neighborhood of Los Angeles – with their father, Meyer Mael, who was a graphic designer and caricaturist for the "Hollywood Citizen-News", and their mother, Miriam (née Moskowitz), a librarian. Both Meyer and Miriam were the children of Jewish immigrants, Meyer of Austrian and Russian descent and Miriam Polish; despite this, a source affiliated with the brothers' 2021 documentary stated that they "weren't raised, nor do they identify as Jewish", and the documentary does not mention their Jewish heritage. Much of the Mael brother's initial inspiration came from their father taking them to the cinema as children, where they developed an interest in film, visual arts and narrative. Meyer died when Mael was 11.


title: Ron Mael

text: After being educated at Palisades High School, both brothers enrolled at UCLA; Ron began a course in cinema and graphic arts in 1963 while Russell studied theatre arts and filmmaking between 1966 and 1968.


title: Ron Mael

text: Ron Mael plays the keyboards and synthesizers and writes most of the songs for Sparks. When the band hit the peak of its popularity in the 1970s, he was well known for his strange appearance, often remaining motionless over his keyboard in sharp contrast to Russell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics. Ron's conservative clothes and unfashionable, Charlie Chaplin-esque toothbrush moustache attracted much attention, as does his current pencil moustache. Onstage, Ron alternates between playing the keyboard and engaging in comic mime routines, often in connection with projections on backdrop.


title: Ron Mael

text: For the first two albums with Halfnelson/Sparks, Mael played a Wurlitzer electronic piano, but found that it did not stand up to road use because the metal reeds broke frequently. When Sparks relocated to the UK, Mael began using an RMI Electra-Piano, played through an Echoplex tape echo unit, and this distinctive sound featured prominently on their breakthrough single "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us", the albums "Kimono My House" and "Propaganda" and in their live shows. Since 1981, he has used various Yamaha and Roland keyboards and synthesizers live. That year, he altered the Roland logo on the back of his Roland Jupiter-8 to read "Ronald", which he has done on all of his keyboards since then. He currently uses a Yamaha Motif XF8.


title: Ron Mael

text: The pair appeared as themselves in the 1977 disaster film "Rollercoaster", performing live. They also appeared in episode twenty-two of season six of the "Gilmore Girls".


title: Ron Mael

text: In a rare non-Sparks related musical turn, Ron and Russell Mael wrote the lyrics to Telex's 1982 album, "Sex."


title: Ron Mael

text: In June 2018, Edgar Wright announced he would be making a documentary on the cult pop-rock band Sparks. He had covered the band's concert in London in May at O2 Forum Kentish Town. This concert would also be a part of the documentary. The film, "The Sparks Brothers", had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021.


title: Ron Mael

text: In 2017, a reviewer noted that while the brothers' biographies recount an LA childhood in which they surfed and were both models for mail order catalogues, their private lives are otherwise almost entirely unknown. "Well, we're in good company with Bob Dylan", was their reported response. "We feel the less you do know, it keeps the mythology and the image in a better position." Even to the question of whether they have partners or spouses, they refused to give an indication, insisting that "the vagueness is more interesting than the reality."


title: Cobra Commander

text: Cobra Commander is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the "" franchise. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra and the archenemy of the G.I. Joe Team. He was portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the film "", and by Luke Bracey with the voice of Robert Baker in the 2013 sequel "".


title: Cobra Commander

text: Cobra Commander is a fanatical leader who rules with an iron fist and demands total loyalty or allegiance. His objective is total control of the world's governments, people, wealth, and resources, brought about by revolution and chaos. He is believed to have personally led uprisings in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and other trouble spots, while being held responsible for kidnapping scientists, businessmen, and military leaders, forcing them to reveal their top level secrets.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Over the years, Cobra Commander has suffered assassination attempts, and even an imposter posing as him for a time. However, he always manages to find a way out of every situation, having become a constant foil for the G.I. Joe Team, who have ended up fighting Cobra almost exclusively. No matter how dire or unscathed, Cobra Commander's hatred and drive have only grown ruthless and more focused.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Dangerously destabilized, Cobra Commander's persona runs the gamut from friendly and charismatic, to terrifyingly brutal and psychopathic. His charm can twist intentions and morals, so that his rhetoric actually reads as plausible and relatable to his minions. Psychoanalysts who have studied his case files, have described him as an ingenious hustler with visions of grandeur, which makes him all the more dangerous. Most dictators are hampered by pretending to pursue a noble cause, but Cobra Commander does not have that problem. He hopes to fray the fabric of society, using terrorism, tyranny, and economic slavery, to uproot the existing power structures around the world.


title: Cobra Commander

text: The character was created by Marvel Comics writer Larry Hama, who envisioned the character as "being in love with the sound of his own voice," and drew inspiration from famous conservative pundit William F. Buckley.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Cobra Commander was first released as a mail-in figure in 1982. Wearing a light blue uniform and his signature battle helmet, early production runs were marked with an early version of the Cobra sigil, nicknamed the "Mickey Mouse" emblem for its more rounded shape. All of the original sixteen figures from 1982 were released with "straight arms". In 1983, the figure with the proper Cobra sigil was released on a card for mass market with "swivel-arm battle grip", which made it easier for figures to hold their rifles and accessories. In 1984, the Commander was offered again as a mail-away exclusive, this time in a darker blue, with the iconic hood that he wore prominently in the Marvel comics. This figure continued to be available as a mail-away figure until the line ended in 1994.


title: Cobra Commander

text: In 1987, a new Cobra Commander figure was designed, this time outfitting him in full-body battle armor. Cobra Commander was given another overhaul in 1991, wearing a blue and black ceremonial uniform, with an ornate redesign of his original battle helmet. Also in 1991, a "Talking Battle Commander" figure was released, featuring a blue and yellow uniform inspired by the hooded Cobra Commander figure. This figure was repainted in black with silver accents, for 1993's Battle Corps subset. A 12" version of the Commander wearing the same uniform (blue with yellow accents) was released in 1993 as well. In 1994, Cobra Commander was suited up for space combat as part of the Star Brigade. Wearing a teal and purple spacesuit, the Commander's domed helmet was removable, revealing a masked head underneath. This face is similar to the sculpt which lay under the hood of the 12" figure, with dark hair, and a half mask covering his nose and mouth.


title: Cobra Commander

text: After the line was canceled in 1994, Hasbro made several attempts to resurrect A Real American Hero through repaint series. In 1997, Cobra Commander was released as part of the "Cobra Command Team" 3-pack, using the 1987 Battle Armor mold in a dark blue. In 2000, the Talking Battle Commander mold was repainted (sans talking backpack) in an even darker blue, with silver highlights, with a new character "Chameleon" (a Baroness doppelganger created to sidestep copyright problems). A second repaint of the 1987 figure was made available in 2001, in a muted version of its original color scheme. It was also a double-pack with the 'Laser-Viper' figure.


title: Cobra Commander

text: In 2002, the Commander was initially meant to be redesigned by Hasbro. After the more radical elements were removed, the Commander emerged as one of the least extreme make-overs of the line, once again sporting the iconic hood. A second Commander figure was released in 2003 for Spy Troops, featuring a more military look than the Commander has ever had before, and using the Commander's signature Battle Helmet. Both figures went on to be repainted multiple times in 2004's Valor vs. Venom line, including one version with an interchangeable helmet and hood.


title: Cobra Commander

text: A 12" Cobra Commander was released to coincide with the Spy Troops line, based on the same design as its smaller counterpart.


title: Cobra Commander

text: A version of Cobra Commander with no accessories came with the Built to Rule Cobra H.I.S.S. in 2004. The figure featured additional articulation with a mid-thigh cut joint, plus the forearms and calves of the figure sported places where blocks could be attached.


title: Cobra Commander

text: 2007 was the 25th anniversary of the original launch of "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero". To celebrate, Hasbro created three boxed sets of brand new figures, featuring modern sculpt and updated and increased articulation (including the replacement of G.I. Joe's trademark O-ring construction). Cobra Commander was included in the inaugural Cobra set, along with Destro, Baroness, Storm Shadow, and a Cobra Trooper. The figure was rereleased on a single card, and repainted in black and gold for the "Cobra Legions" 5-pack, and in comic accurate colors for a Comic 2-Pack. Mirroring the vintage line, Cobra Commander was released with a hooded head sculpt in the first wave of single carded figures.


title: Cobra Commander

text: A second Cobra Commander sculpt, based on the 1987 Battle Armor figure, was released in early 2008. The Battle Helmet version from 2007 was repainted in cartoon accurate colors for a second single card release, and the "Cobra Senior Officers" 3-Pack. The hooded version was repainted for the "Crimson Guard" 3-Pack.


title: Cobra Commander

text: While Cobra Commander's birth name and childhood are unknown, he is believed to be a North American citizen born in the mid-twentieth century. His only known relative, an older brother named Dan, enlisted in the military during the Vietnam War, and volunteered for repeated tours to spare his younger sibling from conscription. During this time, the man who would become Cobra Commander worked as a used car salesman. When Dan returned from Vietnam, he displayed deep psychological trauma, and took to self-destructive behavior, resulting in his death in a car collision with another family. Devastated by the loss of his brother, the future Cobra Commander blamed the family's survivor: another war veteran, against whom the young Cobra Commander formed an elaborate revenge scheme.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Cobra Commander tracked the former soldier to Japan, where he was training to become a member of the Arashikage ninja clan. The Commander approached the mercenary Firefly to assassinate the soldier, but Firefly referred Cobra Commander to Zartan, another assassin who infiltrated the clan, but ultimately killed the wrong man (the Hard Master). Storm Shadow was blamed for the murder, and his search for his uncle's killer would eventually lead him to join Cobra, where he would pledge loyalty to Cobra Commander as his personal bodyguard, in order to get close to him and find the real assassin. The soldier left the ninja clan soon after, to live in seclusion in the Sierra Nevada mountains, until enticed to return to service on the G.I. Joe team as Snake Eyes.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Cobra Commander returned to his wife and newborn son Billy, but when his wife found out what had happened in Japan, she threatened to go to the authorities. Cobra Commander abandoned his wife, taking Billy with him. Living on the road and earning a living by increasingly illicit scams and con jobs, the soon-to-be Commander blamed all his problems on the American social system, and traveled in search of people who shared his desire to topple big business and the government, using money earned from pyramid schemes to attract followers. It was during these early meetings that he first began wearing a blue hood to mask his civilian identity.


title: Cobra Commander

text: He then moved operations to Springfield, an average small American town which had suffered economic collapse. Through his criminal skills he revived Springfield's' fortunes, and used cash and charisma to win converts to his cause. Eventually he seized control of the entire town and used it as a base to grow his organization into the paramilitary group "Cobra." This corrupting rise to power distanced Cobra Commander from his son, enough that Billy eventually joined the underground anti-Cobra resistance. From Springfield, Cobra's agents spread throughout the world, overturning or subverting unstable governments to establish criminal networks and profitable arms trades. The organization also explored dangerous and experimental technology, including mind-scanners and battle robots. Cobra became a significant international threat, becoming so large that Cobra Commander could no longer control it on his own. He created a "High Command" of his most skilled lieutenants, which included Zartan, Baroness Anastasia DeCobray, Scottish arms dealer James McCullen Destro, and Australian mercenary Major Sebastian Bludd.


title: Cobra Commander

text: This led to frequent power-struggles within the organization, and ultimately the Baroness and Major Bludd enacted a plot to assassinate the Commander, and seize control of Cobra. In a twist of fate, the conspirators recruited Billy to carry out the assassination, but he was intercepted by Destro. Cobra Commander had no qualms about torturing his own son to unearth the conspiracy, yet Billy refused to surrender who had sponsored the hit. Storm Shadow later freed Billy, and they both escaped to New York, where Storm Shadow trained him in ninjitsu. Billy was later caught in the crossfire between the Soft Master and Cobra agent Scrap-Iron, resulting in an explosion which seemingly killed Billy and several others.


title: Cobra Commander

text: During a failed assault on the Pit, the secret headquarters of G.I. Joe, Cobra Commander and Destro were separated from the main Cobra force by an explosion and presumed dead. The two escaped and assumed civilian disguises to travel incognito. Cobra Commander was depicted as an average, physically fit Caucasian with a pony tail, large round green-spectacle sunglasses, and a long slender mustache. Although only a convenient disguise at the time, this civilian look would resurface on subsequent unmaskings. A police officer soon recognized the Commander from a picture carried by an accident victim: the Commander's son Billy, who had survived the explosion, but lost a leg and an eye. Unnerved by the discovery, the Commander swore to take responsibility for Billy's condition, and promised to be a better father.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Still incognito, the Commander traveled to Denver where he sought out the undercover Crimson Guard agent Fred VII, a mechanical genius. Billy eventually awoke from the coma, with acute amnesia (and a new motorized prosthetic leg built by Fred). After an encounter with the Blind Master and Storm Shadow's cousin Jinx, Billy recovered his memory and immediately rejected his father, whereupon the Commander renounced the organization he had founded, declaring that his ambitions had cost him the only things that truly mattered. Fred VII, in return, shot Cobra Commander in the back, apparently killing him.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Fred VII then impersonated the Commander himself, traveling to Cobra Island to vie for control of Cobra with Serpentor (eventually sparking the Cobra Civil War). Unknown to Fred VII, he had been under surveillance by another Crimson Guardsman when he buried the Commander's body. This agent discovered that Cobra Commander was not dead, and brought him back to health. Thereafter, the Commander formed an underground network of loyal agents within Cobra, and rebuilt his personal fortune and influence. When Doctor Mindbender went to harvest DNA from Cobra Commander's body for the creation of a new leader, he discovered the empty grave, upon which the original Cobra Commander revealed himself and seized open control of Cobra.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Hardened by his "death" and betrayal at the hands of those he once thought loyal, the resurgent Commander was even more ruthless than before. His first act was to eliminate those who tried to murder him or subsequently learned of the act: Fred VII, Raptor, Firefly, Mindbender, Zartan, Billy, and numerous unnamed Cobra personnel, all of whom he had buried alive within a volcano. Later, he established a brainwashing program to compel allegiance from those around him, including Destro, the Baroness, Zartan, Storm Shadow, and Billy. The returned Commander was far more willing to kill, pulling the trigger himself rather than relying on others to kill for him, as when he murdered the Borovian rebels Magda and the White Clown.


title: Cobra Commander

text: As Marvel's "G.I. Joe" series drew to a close, Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes finally battled each other in issue #150. Snake Eyes eventually won against an armored Cobra Commander, but the Commander would have the last laugh, as he captured Storm Shadow and successfully brainwashed him back to the allegiance of Cobra. Shortly afterward, Cobra forces in Europe fell to a unified attack by regular military forces. In the wake of this conflict, most of Cobra's high command disappeared, and Cobra Commander himself became an international fugitive. Soon after, the military disbanded the G.I. Joe team.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Among the few revisions Devil's Due instituted was the expansion of Cobra Commander's origin. After his brother's death, the future Commander sought out the surviving son of the family killed by Dan. He found the soldier (Snake Eyes) at a bar, where the Commander saved him from an oncoming truck and the two became friends. They traveled from state to state, acting as vigilantes. One night, Cobra Commander took Snake Eyes to the house of a corrupt Judge who he blamed for the hardships they had both experienced: years before, the judge had presided over a case involving Cobra Commander's brother Dan, who ran a veteran's hospital. The hospital had been burned down by a patient, but the judge ruled that it was insurance fraud; Dan lost everything and turned to drinking, which led to the crash that took his life and the lives of Snake Eyes' family. Realizing where his anger had taken him, Snake Eyes refused to kill the man and walked away. Cobra Commander killed the judge himself and vowed revenge against Snake Eyes for having turned on him.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Years after the G.I. Joe Team has disbanded, Kamakura finds evidence that Cobra Commander has returned to the United States. Snake Eyes forwards this information to Duke, who uses it to have the G.I. Joe Team reinstated. Cobra Commander calls together the members of his organization, to let them know about his plan to take over the United States with nano-mites. Destro is the last to arrive, but after hearing the Commander's plan, he turns the tables on Cobra Commander, and takes control of Cobra.


title: Cobra Commander

text: Cobra Commander eventually regains control with the help of Storm Shadow, and creates plans to get revenge on both Destro and Hawk. Later, Storm Shadow breaks free of Cobra's mind control, and contacts Billy for help. Billy recruits Snake Eyes and Kamakura to assist him in rescuing Storm Shadow, but not before Cobra Commander brainwashes him again. A battle between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow ends in a stalemate, leaving Storm Shadow in the control of Cobra Commander.