title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland as Duluth, Minnesota, at the western end of Lake Superior. The seaway is named for the St. Lawrence River, which flows from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. Legally, the seaway extends from Montreal, Quebec, to Lake Erie, and includes the Welland Canal. Ships from the Atlantic Ocean are able to reach ports in all five of the Great Lakes.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The St. Lawrence River portion of the seaway is not a continuous canal; rather, it consists of several stretches of navigable channels within the river, a number of locks, and canals along the banks of the St. Lawrence River to bypass several rapids and dams. A number of the locks are managed by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Canada, and others in the United States by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation; the two bodies together advertise the seaway as part of "Highway HO". The section of the river from Montreal to the Atlantic is under Canadian jurisdiction, regulated by the offices of Transport Canada in the Port of Quebec.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The St. Lawrence Seaway was preceded by several other canals. In 1871, locks on the St. Lawrence allowed transit of vessels long, wide, and deep. The First Welland Canal, constructed between 1824 and 1829, had a minimum lock size of long, wide, and deep, but it was generally too small to allow passage of larger oceangoing ships. The Welland Canal's minimum lock size was increased to long, wide, and deep for the Second Welland Canal; to long, wide, and deep with the Third Welland Canal; and to long, wide, and deep for the current (Fourth) Welland Canal.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The first proposals for a binational comprehensive deep waterway along the St. Lawrence were made in the 1890s. In the following decades, developers proposed a hydropower project as inseparable from the seaway; the various governments and seaway supporters believed the deeper water to be created by the hydro project was necessary to make the seaway channels feasible for oceangoing ships. U.S. proposals for development up to and including the First World War met with little interest from the Canadian federal government. But the two national governments submitted St. Lawrence plans to a group for study. By the early 1920s, both "The Wooten-Bowden Report" and the International Joint Commission recommended the project.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Although the Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was reluctant to proceed, in part because of opposition to the project in Quebec, in 1932 he and the U.S. representative signed a treaty of intent. This treaty was submitted to the U.S. Senate in November 1932 and hearings continued until a vote was taken on March 14, 1934. The majority voted in favor of the treaty, but it failed to gain the necessary two-thirds vote for ratification. Later attempts between the governments in the 1930s to forge an agreement came to naught due to opposition by the Ontario government of Mitchell Hepburn and the government of Quebec. In 1936, John C. Beukema, head of the Great Lakes Harbors Association and a member of the Great Lakes Tidewater Commission, was among a delegation of eight from the Great Lakes states to meet at the White House with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to obtain his support for the seaway concept.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Beukema and St. Lawrence Seaway proponents were convinced a nautical link would lead to the development of the communities and economies of the Great Lakes region by permitting the passage of oceangoing ships. In this period, exports of grain, along with other commodities, to Europe were an important part of the national economy. Negotiations on the treaty resumed in 1938, and by January 1940 substantial agreement was reached between Canada and the United States. By 1941, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Mackenzie King made an executive agreement to build the joint hydro and navigation works, but this failed to receive the assent of the U.S. Congress. Proposals for the seaway were met with resistance; the primary opposition came from interests representing harbors on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and internal waterways and from the railroad associations. The railroads carried freight and goods between the coastal ports and the Great Lakes cities.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: After 1945, proposals to introduce tolls to the seaway were not sufficient to gain support for the project by the U.S. Congress. Growing impatient, and with Ontario desperate for the power to be generated by hydroelectricity, Canada began to consider developing the project alone. This seized the imagination of Canadians, engendering a groundswell of nationalism around the St. Lawrence. Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent advised U.S. President Harry S. Truman on September 28, 1951, that Canada was unwilling to wait for the United States and would build a seaway alone; the Canadian Parliament authorized the founding of the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority on December 21 of that year. Fueled by this support, Saint Laurent's administration decided during 1951 and 1952 to construct the waterway alone, combined with the Moses-Saunders Power Dam. (This became the joint responsibility of Ontario and New York: as a hydropower dam would change the water levels, it required bilateral cooperation.)


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The International Joint Commission issued an order of approval for joint construction of the dam in October 1952. U.S. Senate debate on the bill began on January 12, 1953, and the bill emerged from the House of Representatives Committee of Public Works on February 22, 1954. It received approval from the Senate and the House by May 1954. The first positive action to enlarge the seaway was taken on May 13, 1954, when U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Wiley-Dondero Seaway Act to authorize joint construction and establish the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation as the U.S. authority. The need for cheap haulage of Quebec-Labrador iron ore was one of the arguments that finally swung the balance in favor of the seaway. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Massena, New York, on August 10, 1954. That year John C. Beukema was appointed by Eisenhower to the five-member St. Lawrence Seaway Advisory Board.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: In May 1957, the Connecting Channels Project was begun by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. By 1959, Beukema was on board the U.S. Coast Guard cutter "Maple" for the first trip through the U.S. locks, which opened up the Great Lakes to oceangoing ships. On April 25, 1959, large, deep-draft ocean vessels began streaming to the heart of the North American continent through the seaway, a project supported by every administration from Woodrow Wilson through Eisenhower.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: In the United States, N. R. Danelian (who was the director of the 13-volume St. Lawrence Seaway Survey in the U.S. Department of Navigation (1932–63)), worked with the U.S. Secretary of State on Canadian-U.S. issues regarding the seaway, persevering through 15 years to gain passage by Congress of the Seaway Act. He later became president of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Association to promote seaway development to benefit the American heartland. The seaway was heavily promoted by the Eisenhower administration, which had been concerned with a lack of US control.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The seaway opened in 1959 and cost C$470 million, $336.2 million of which was paid by the Canadian government. Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada and American President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally opened the seaway with a short cruise aboard the royal yacht after addressing crowds in Saint-Lambert, Quebec. 22,000 workers were employed at one time or another on the project, a -long superhighway for ocean freighters. Port of Milwaukee director Harry C. Brockel forecast just before the Seaway opened in 1959 that "The St. Lawrence Seaway will be the greatest single development of this century in its effects on Milwaukee's future growth and prosperity." Lester Olsen, president of the Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said, "The magnitude and potential of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the power project stir the imagination of the world."


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The seaway's opening is often credited with making the Erie Canal obsolete and causing the severe economic decline of several cities along the canal in Upstate New York. But by the turn of the 20th century, the Erie Canal had already been largely supplanted by the railroads, which had been constructed across New York and could carry freight more quickly and cheaply. Upstate New York's economic decline was precipitated by numerous factors, only some of which had to do with the St. Lawrence Seaway.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Under the Canada Marine Act (1998), the Canadian portions of the seaway were set up with a non-profit corporate structure; this legislation also introduced changes to federal ports.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Great Lakes and seaway shipping generates $3.4 billion in business revenue annually in the United States. In 2002, ships moved 222 million tonnes of cargo through the seaway. Overseas shipments, mostly of inbound steel and outbound grain, accounted for 15.4 million tonnes, or 6.9%, of the total cargo moved. In 2004, seaway grain exports accounted for about 3.6% of U.S. overseas grain shipments, according to the U.S. Grains Council. In a typical year, seaway steel imports account for around 6% of the U.S. annual total. The toll revenue obtained from ocean vessels is about 25–30% of cargo revenue. The Port of Duluth shipped just over 2.5 million tonnes of grain, which is less than the port typically moved in the decade before the seaway opened Lake Superior to deep-draft oceangoing vessels in 1959.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: International changes have affected shipping through the seaway. Europe is no longer a major grain importer; large U.S. export shipments are now going to South America, Asia, and Africa. These destinations make Gulf and West Coast ports more critical to 21st-century grain exports. Referring to the seaway project, a retired Iowa State University economics professor who specialized in transportation issues said, "It probably did make sense, at about the time it (the Seaway) was constructed and conceived, but since then everything has changed."


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Certain seaway users have been concerned about the low water levels of the Great Lakes that have been recorded since 2010.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The Panama Canal was completed in 1914 and also serves oceangoing traffic. In the 1950s, seaway designers chose not to build the locks to match the size of ships permitted by the 1914 locks at the Panama Canal (, known as the Panamax limit). Instead, the seaway locks were built to match the smaller locks of Welland Canal, which opened in 1932. The seaway locks permit passage of a ship long by feet wide (the Seawaymax limit).


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a study to expand the St. Lawrence Seaway, but the plan was scrapped in 2011 because of tight budgets.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: There are seven locks in the St. Lawrence River portion of the seaway. From downstream to upstream they are:


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: There are eight locks on the Welland Canal. From the north to the south, there is lock 1 at Port Weller, followed by Lock 2 and then Lock 3, a site with a visitors' information centre and museum in St. Catharines, Ontario. There are four locks in Thorold, Ontario, including twin-flight locks 4, 5 and 6, with Lock 7 leading up to the main channel. The Lake Erie level control lock sits in Port Colborne, Ontario.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The size of vessels that can traverse the seaway is limited by the size of locks. Locks on the St. Lawrence and on the Welland Canal are long, wide, and deep. The maximum allowed vessel size is slightly smaller: long, wide, and deep. Many vessels designed for use on the Great Lakes following the opening of the seaway were built to the maximum size permissible by the locks, known informally as Seawaymax or Seaway-Max. Large vessels of the lake freighter fleet are built on the lakes and cannot travel downstream beyond the Welland Canal. On the remaining Great Lakes, these ships are constrained only by the largest lock on the Great Lakes Waterway, the Poe Lock at the Soo Locks (at Sault Ste. Marie), which is long, wide and deep.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: A vessel's draft is another obstacle to passage on the seaway, particularly in connecting waterways such as the St. Lawrence River. The depth in the seaway's channels is (Panamax-depth) downstream of Quebec City, between Quebec City and Deschaillons, to Montreal, and upstream of Montreal. Channel depths and limited lock sizes meant only 10% of current oceangoing ships, which have been built much larger than in the 1950s, can traverse the entire seaway. Proposals to expand the seaway, dating from as early as the 1960s, have been rejected since the late 20th century as too costly. In addition, researchers, policy makers, and the public are much more aware of the environmental issues that have accompanied seaway development and are reluctant to open the Great Lakes to more invasions of damaging species, as well as associated issues along the canals and river. Questions have been raised as to whether such infrastructure costs could ever be recovered. Lower water levels in the Great Lakes have also posed problems for some vessels in recent years, and pose greater issues to communities, industries, and agriculture in the region.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: While the seaway is (as of 2010) mostly used for shipping bulk cargo, the possibility of its use for large-scale container shipping is under consideration as well. If the expansion project goes ahead, feeder ships would take containers from the port of Oswego on Lake Ontario in upstate New York to Melford International Terminal in Nova Scotia for transfer to larger oceangoing ships.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: A website hosts measurements of wind, water, levels and water temperatures. A real-time interactive map of seaway locks, vessels, and ports is available at. The NOAA-funded Great Lakes Water Level Dashboard compiles statistics on water depth at various points along the seaway.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: To create a navigable channel through the Long Sault rapids and to allow hydroelectric stations to be established immediately upriver from Cornwall, Ontario, and Massena, New York, Lake St. Lawrence was created behind a dam. This required the condemnation and acquisition by the government of all the properties of six villages and three hamlets in Ontario; these are now collectively known as The Lost Villages. The area was flooded on July 1, 1958, creating the lake. There was also inundation on the New York side of the border, and the village of Louisville Landing was submerged.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: A notable adverse environmental effect of the operation of the seaway has been the introduction of numerous invasive species of aquatic animals into the Great Lakes Basin. The zebra mussel has been most damaging in the Great Lakes and through its invasion of related rivers, waterways, and city water facilities. Invasive species and artificial water level controls imposed by the seaway have had a negative impact on recreational fishing.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The seaway, along with the St. Lawrence River it passes through, also provides opportunities for outdoor recreation, such as boating, camping, fishing, and scuba diving. Of note, the Old Power House near Lock 23 (near Morrisburg, Ontario) became an attractive site for scuba divers. The submerged stone building has become covered with barnacles and is home to an abundance of underwater life. The seaway passes through the St. Lawrence River, which provides a number of divable shipwrecks within recreational scuba limits (shallower than ). The region also offers technical diving, with some wrecks lying at . The water temperature can be as warm as during the mid- to late-summer months. The first of Lake Ontario is warmed and enters the St. Lawrence River, as the fast-moving water body has no thermocline circulation.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: On July 12, 2010, "Richelieu" (owned by Canada Steamship Lines) ran aground after losing power near the Côte-Sainte-Catherine lock. The grounding punctured a fuel tank, spilling an estimated 200 tonnes of diesel fuel, covering approximately 500 m. The seaway and lock were shut down to help contain the spill.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The seaway is important for American and Canadian international trade. It handles 40–50 million annual tonnes of cargo. About 50% of this cargo carried travels to and from international ports in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The rest comprises coastal trade, or short sea shipping, between various American and Canadian ports. Among international shippers are found:


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: The St. Lawrence Seaway (along with ports in Quebec) is the main route for Ontario grain exports to overseas markets. Its fees are publicly known, and were limited in 2013 to an increase of 3%. A trained pilot is required for any foreign trade vessel. A set of rules and regulations are available to help transit.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Commercial vessel transit information is hosted on the U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation website.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Since 1997, international cruise liners have been known to transit the seaway. The Hapag-Lloyd "Christopher Columbus" carried 400 passengers to Duluth, Minnesota, that year. Since then, the number of annual seaway cruising passengers has increased to 14,000.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: Every year, more than 2,000 recreational boats, of more than 20 ft and one ton, transit the seaway. The tolls have been fixed for 2017 at $30 per lock. There is a $5 per lock discount for payment in advance. Lockages are scheduled 12 hours a day between the hours of 07:00 and 19:00 from June 15 to September 15.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: A list of organisations that serve the seaway in some fashion, such as chambers of commerce and municipal or port authorities, is available at the SLSDC website. A 56-page electronic "Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System" Directory is published by Harbor House Publishers.


title: St. Lawrence Seaway

text: "Map of the world Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway from 1959," depicting the entire length beginning at the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the east to the westernmost terminus at Lake Superior.


title: Alan Ladd Jr.

text: Alan Walbridge Ladd Jr. (October 22, 1937 – March 2, 2022) was an American film industry executive and producer. He served as president of 20th Century Fox from 1976 to 1979, during which he approved the production of "Star Wars". He later established The Ladd Company and headed MGM/UA. Ladd won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1996 for producing "Braveheart".


title: Alan Ladd Jr.

text: Ladd was born in Los Angeles, California, on October 22, 1937. He was the only child of Alan Ladd and Marjorie Jane (née Harrold), who divorced when he was two years old. He initially stayed with his mother, but lived with his father at his estate in Holmby Hills due to her poor health. He later recounted how the time he spent with the elder Ladd was sparse, and described their relationship as "basically nonexistent". Ladd served in the U.S. Air Force and was called up as a reservist during the Berlin Crisis of 1961, before being employed by his stepfather's business for a brief period. He subsequently joined Creative Management Associates as an agent in 1963 and worked under Freddie Fields. Among Ladd's clients were Robert Redford and Judy Garland. His paternal half-brother is actor and producer David Ladd.


title: Alan Ladd Jr.

text: Ladd relocated to London at the end of the 1960s to work as an independent producer. There, he established a film venture with Jay Kanter and Jerry Gershwin. Ladd made nine films during his sojourn there, including "The Walking Stick", "A Severed Head", "Villain", "The Nightcomers", and "Zee and Co.". He eventually returned to the United States in 1973 to become vice president of creative affairs at 20th Century Fox. Three years later, he was promoted from worldwide production head to president of Fox's film division.


title: Alan Ladd Jr.

text: Ladd came to Fox President Gordon Stulberg to request consideration for making George Lucas's "Star Wars". Stulberg approved the production, and the two men remained as Lucas's support at times when the board of directors of 20th Century Fox wished to shut down production. The production was plagued by location difficulties, story problems, and budgetary disagreements for a project that was mainly considered a risk to the studio. However, when Ladd saw the audience's rapturous appreciation of the film at its first public screening at the Northpoint Theatre in San Francisco in early May 1977, he was moved to joyful tears at seeing the unlikely production he and Stulberg had supported against all odds. "Star Wars" was a massive and critically hailed hit upon release, becoming, up to that point, the highest-grossing film of all time, and spawned an extensive media franchise that includes many other films as well as television, radio, video game and print media.


title: Alan Ladd Jr.

text: "Star Wars" and "Alien" were a few of the films produced during Ladd's tenure. However, he stepped down and left Fox in 1979 after falling out with Fox chairman Dennis Stanfill. Ladd founded his own production company, The Ladd Company, with Kanter and Gareth Wigan. The company produced "Chariots of Fire", which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1982. Other productions included "Outland" (1981), "Night Shift", "Blade Runner" (both 1982), "The Right Stuff" (1983), "Police Academy" (1984), and "Gone Baby Gone" (2007).


title: Alan Ladd Jr.

text: Ladd joined MGM/UA in 1985, eventually becoming Chairman and CEO of MGM-Pathé Communications. During his tenure, MGM/UA produced "Moonstruck" (1987), "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988), and "Thelma & Louise" (1991). After being unceremoniously dismissed by Credit Lyonnais (who administered MGM after a loan default), he proceeded to reform the Ladd Company with Paramount Pictures in 1993. He produced "The Brady Bunch Movie" and "Braveheart", one of the two projects he was permitted to take with him after leaving MGM. The latter film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1995, with Ladd receiving the award as one of the film's three producers. He later received the 2,348th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 28, 2007.


title: Alan Ladd Jr.

text: Ladd married his first wife Patricia Ann Beazley in September 1959. They met while studying at the University of Southern California together. They had three children, Kelliann, Tracy and Amanda, but divorced in 1983. Ladd married his second wife Cindra Pincock in 1985. They had one child, Chelsea, who predeceased him in March 2021. Ladd and Pincock separated in March 2015 and later divorced.


title: Peckerwood

text: Peckerwood is a term used in the Southern United States for a woodpecker which is also used as an offensive epithet toward white people, especially poor rural whites. Originally an ethnic slur, the term has been embraced by a subculture related to prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle clubs. The term was in use as an inversion of "woodpecker" by the 1830s, with the sense referring to white people documented from the 1850s. African-American folklore in the 1920s contrasted the white "peckerwood" bird with the African-American blackbird. The word became a common term in Jive.


title: Peckerwood

text: Use of the term, an inversion of woodpecker, dates to the early 19th century. The "Oxford English Dictionary" traces the earliest printed use to an Alabama newspaper in 1835. "Peckerwood" was in use in reference to white people by 1859; it often suggested a white person who was rustic or poor. The shortened form "peck" was in use in the same sense in the 1920s. In African-American folklore during the 1920s, the woodpecker symbolically represented white people, in contrast to the blackbird that represented African-Americans.


title: Peckerwood

text: Historically, the term "peckerwood" was commonly applied to white prisoners in general. The cemetery at Leavenworth Penitentiary, officially known as Mount Hope, is informally known as "Peckerwood Hill" by prisoners and guards. In the later half of the 20th century the term narrowed to apply to a white subculture associated with street gangs and prison gangs, such as the Aryan Brotherhood. This subculture is also known as PW, P-Dub, or collectively as "the Woodpile". Men in this group are called "peckerwoods" and women "featherwoods". The woodpecker is often used as a general symbol for the group, such as in prison tattoos. It is usually drawn with a long beak, sometimes drawn to resemble Woody Woodpecker or Mr. Horsepower. Sometimes the letters "PW" or "APW" (Peckerwood and American Peckerwood) are used.


title: Peckerwood

text: The term is also used for entry-level recruits of the Aryan Brotherhood. Within the prison system, peckerwoods may advance in the social hierarchy and become formal members of the gang, or similar gangs such as the Nazi Lowriders. Becoming a higher-ranking member involves the act of committing more and more serious crimes. Peckerwood is also used by some prison systems as a generic name for any white supremacist threat group, which has sometimes been a source of confusion. In and out of prison, the peckerwood subculture is most common in California, Texas and the U.S. South and Southwest, but less in the Midwest and Northeast.


title: Peckerwood

text: Much of the peckerwood prison subculture had its beginnings in the desegregation of United States prisons. Aryan Brotherhood had its beginnings in the San Quentin State Prison in 1964 as a response to the newly formed black prison gang Black Guerilla Family. The San Quentin State Aryan Brotherhood uses the gang Family Affiliated Irish Mafia (FAIM) for its street-operated activity. The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas was formed in the 80s after the dismantling of the "building tender" system in which groups were segregated. ABT originally formed as a hybrid of the two gangs Aryan Society and Aryan Brothers.


title: Peckerwood

text: In 1985, the Aryan Circle formed out of peckerwoods who didn't join the newly formed Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. Aryan Circle members believed ABT didn't truly stand for white supremacy. Fronted by Mark "Cowboy" Gaspard, the group was originally called Aryan Christians but changed its name due to members' varying beliefs. A group known as the "International Peckerwood Syndicate" has been listed by in the Oregon Department of Justice as operating in Oregon prisons. According to the ADL, the group, also known as the "Insane Peckerwood Syndicate", formed in 2005 and also has a presence in Washington state. Other prison gangs using the term "peckerwood" as part of their name have been documented in Connecticut, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico.


title: Peckerwood

text: On May 4, 2013, Charles Gaskin, who was a member of the gang according to his probation report, was sentenced for 26 years to life for the murder of registered sex offender Neil Lee Hayes. According to the report, Gaskin was required to physically harm a white person with a history of child molestation under "peckerwood law".


title: Peckerwood

text: The peckerwood subculture has established street gangs that mix elements from white power skinhead culture and conventional street gang activity, such as illegal drugs. These "Peckerwood" street gangs generally form in lower-income white neighborhoods. These gangs are the manifestation of a modern "white power" subculture that combines the elements of California Latino culture, extreme sports and cannabis subculture. Stylistically these gangs combine elements of Latino gang culture (Pendleton flannel and baggy pants) and skinhead culture (Doc Marten boots, bomber jackets, and shaved heads). As well, Peckerwood gang members identify with the color white and are known for wearing white caps and handkerchiefs. The most common gang sign for Peckerwoods is forming the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the right hand to form the letter "P," and the four fingers of the left to form the letter "W".


title: Peckerwood

text: Many of these Peckerwood gangs in California are subservient to the authority of Nazi Lowriders, which includes the punk gangs Vicious Circle and La Mirada Punks, as well as Insane White Boys, Independent Skins, Orange County Skins, and a rigid alliance with Southern California Skinhead Alliance (SoCal Skins). Leading the alliance with Nazi Lowriders, the Peckerwood gang Public Enemy No. 1 (PEN1) was established in Long Beach, California during the late 80s, and known for recruiting middle-class "latchkey kids" within the Southern California punk scene. PEN1 also known by its derivative Peni Death Squad, gained establishment as a Peckerwood gang in the late 90s in Orange County, being recruited by the Nazi Lowriders. Members of PEN1 also established a regional chapter of the straight edge street gang FSU (Fuck Shit Ups) in Huntington Beach as well. In 1993, the gang Insane White Boys (IWB) was incepted in Orange County and came into prominence being recruited by the Nazi Lowriders as well. The smaller gangs such as Public Enemy No. 1 and Insane White Boys are considered "kids" within the Peckerwood gang world, where as Nazi Lowrider groups are led by "seniors" who induct "kids" into membership. A kid can become a "junior", and a junior can become a senior if elected by three other seniors.


title: Peckerwood

text: Within the U.S. court system, membership within a Peckerwood group has not always been accepted as indicating the existence of a larger Peckerwood gang. Peckerwood groups tend to lack a constitution, and to be more loosely organized than formal gangs. The Smalltown Peckerwoods, a gang of about a hundred members on the U.S. West Coast, was not ruled to be part of a larger Peckerwood organization in the 2008 "People v. Williams" case, as the main commonalities were ideology and the name, rather than organizational. is also the name of a Santee, California-based outlaw motorcycle club formed in 1987. According to local police, the club's patches and clothing include Nazi imagery, and members have been associated with hate crimes, although the club has denied that it is racist.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was "Henry Huggins" after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for "Ramona and Her Mother" and the 1984 Newbery Medal for "Dear Mr. Henshaw". For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Beverly Atlee Bunn was born on April 12, 1916, in McMinnville, Oregon, to Chester Lloyd Bunn, a farmer, and Mable Atlee Bunn, a schoolteacher. Cleary was an only child and lived on a farm in rural Yamhill, Oregon, in her early childhood. She was raised Presbyterian. When she was six years old, her family moved to Portland, Oregon, where her father had secured a job as a bank security officer.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: The adjustment from living in the country to the city was difficult for Cleary, and she struggled in school; in first grade, her teacher placed her in a group for struggling readers. Cleary said, "The first grade was sorted into three reading groups—Bluebirds, Redbirds and Blackbirds. I was a Blackbird. To be a Blackbird was to be disgraced. I wanted to read, but somehow could not."


title: Beverly Cleary

text: With some work, Cleary's reading skills improved, but she eventually found reading boring, complaining that many stories were simple and unsurprising, and wondering why authors often did not write with humor or about ordinary people. However, on a rainy afternoon at home during Cleary's third-grade year, she found herself enjoying reading "The Dutch Twins", a book by Lucy Fitch Perkins about the adventures of ordinary children. The book was an epiphany for her, and afterward, she started to spend a lot of time reading and at the library. By sixth grade, a teacher suggested that Cleary should become a children's writer based on essays she had written for class assignments.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: After graduating from Portland's Grant High School in 1934, Cleary entered Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, California, which offered lower tuition fees than four-year universities, something many students needed during the Great Depression, with aspirations of becoming a children's librarian. After two years at Chaffey, she was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1938. While in college, Cleary worked odd jobs to pay her tuition, including working as a seamstress and a chambermaid. During what Cleary described as "two of the most interesting years of my life", she was one of the first residents of women's cooperative Stebbins Hall, and met her future husband, Clarence Cleary, at a school dance. In 1939, she graduated from the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington with a second bachelor's degree in library science and accepted a year-long position as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington. Her parents disapproved of her relationship with Cleary, a Roman Catholic, so the couple eloped and were married in 1940. After World War II, they settled in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. In 1955, Cleary gave birth to twins, Malcolm and Marianne. She lived in Carmel Valley Village in California from the 1960s onwards.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: After her graduation from the University of Washington in 1939, she served as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington, until 1940, and then as the post librarian at the U.S. Army Hospital on Camp John T. Knight in Oakland, California, from 1942 to 1945. She also worked at Sather Gate Book Shop in Berkeley before becoming a full-time writer for children.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: As a children's librarian, Cleary empathized with her young patrons, who had difficulty finding books with characters they could identify with, and she struggled to find enough books to suggest that would appeal to them. After a few years of making recommendations and performing live storytelling in her role as librarian, Cleary decided to start writing children's books about characters that young readers could relate to. Cleary has said, "I believe in that 'missionary spirit' among children's librarians. Kids deserve books of literary quality, and librarians are so important in encouraging them to read and selecting books that are appropriate."


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary's first book, "Henry Huggins" (1950), was the first in a series of fictional chapter books about Henry, his dog Ribsy, his neighborhood friend Beezus and her little sister Ramona. When writing the book, Cleary took inspiration from the times she composed stories for children during Saturday afternoon story hours when she worked as a librarian in Yakima. Like many of her later works, "Henry Huggins" is a novel about people living ordinary lives and is based on Cleary's own childhood experiences, the kids in her neighborhood growing up, as well as children she met while working as a librarian. Although her book was accepted by Morrow, the first publisher she sent it to, it had been initially rejected, and Cleary had added the characters of Beezus and Ramona while revising it.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary's first book to center a story on the Quimby sisters, "Beezus and Ramona", was published in 1955. A publisher asked her to write a book about a kindergarten student. Cleary resisted, because she had not attended kindergarten, but later changed her mind after the birth of her twins.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary also wrote two memoirs, one about her childhood, entitled "A Girl from Yamhill" (1988), and one about her years in college and as an adult up to writing her first book, entitled "My Own Two Feet" (1995). During a 2011 interview for the "Los Angeles Times", at age 95, Cleary stated, "I've had an exceptionally happy career."


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary's books have been historically noted for their attention to the daily minutiae of childhood, specifically the experience of children growing up in middle-class families. Leonard S. Marcus, a children's literature historian, said of Cleary's work: "When you're the right age to read Cleary's books you're likely at your most impressionable time in life as a reader. [Her books] both entertain children and give them courage and insight into what to expect from their lives." Cleary's employment of humor has also been noted by critics; William Grimes of "The New York Times" wrote that Cleary used a "humorous, lively style" while "ma[king] compelling drama out of the everyday problems, small injustices and perplexing mysteries – adults chief among them – that define middle-class American childhood", while Roger Sutton of "The Horn Book Magazine" noted that "Cleary is funny in a very sophisticated way. She gets very close to satire, which I think is why adults like her, but she's still deeply respectful of her characters—nobody gets a laugh at the expense of another. I think kids appreciate that they're on a level playing field with adults."


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Pat Pflieger, professor of children's literature at West Chester University, commented: "Cleary's books have lasted because she understands her audience. She knows they're sometimes confused or frightened by the world around them, and that they feel deeply about things that adults can dismiss." Eliza Dresang, professor in children and youth services at the University of Washington Information School, Cleary's alma mater, said, "Those books don't seem so radical now, but they were when she was writing them". Dresang added that Cleary's writing, "in terms of the topics [covered], the honesty, the accuracy, [and] the ability to portray real-life children", was decades ahead of her time. "Twentieth-Century Children's Writers" said, "Beverly Cleary's impact as a children's writer cannot be overestimated... her extraordinary talent in creating memorable young characters whose exuberant spirit and zest for life attract young and old readers alike."


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary’s husband, Clarence, died in 2004. She celebrated her 100th birthday on April 12, 2016. On March 25, 2021, Cleary died at her retirement home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, at the age of 104.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: In 1975, Cleary won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association for "substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature". She was the U.S. nominee for the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1984. In April 2000, she was named Library of Congress Living Legend in the writers and artists category for her contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States. She received the National Medal of Arts in 2003.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary's books have been published in over 25 different languages and have been recognized by many awards and honors. "Dear Mr. Henshaw" won the Newbery Medal in 1984, and Newbery Honors were conferred on "Ramona and Her Father" in 1978 and "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" in 1982. She won the 1981 National Book Award in category children's fiction (paperback) for "Ramona and Her Mother", a William Allen White Children's Book award for "Socks" (1973), the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal (1980), and the Children's Book Council's Every Child Award (1985).


title: Beverly Cleary

text: In 2012, "Ramona the Pest" was ranked number 24 among all children's novels in a survey published by the "School Library Journal", a monthly with a primarily U.S. audience. "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" (89) and "Ramona and Her Father" (94) were also among the top 100.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary has been mentioned as a major influence by other authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson, Judy Blume, Lauren Myracle, and Jon Scieszka.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Publisher HarperCollins recognizes Cleary's birthday, April 12, as National Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Day, in promotion of sustained silent reading.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: In Portland, Oregon, the Hollywood branch of the Multnomah County Library, near where she lived as a child, commissioned a map of Henry Huggins's Klickitat Street neighborhood for its lobby wall. Statues of her characters Henry Huggins, the Hugginses' dog Ribsy, and Ramona Quimby can be found in The Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden for Children, which is part of Portland's Grant Park in the Hollywood-Fernwood neighborhood. In June 2008, the neighborhood's K-8 school, formerly named Fernwood Grammar School and once attended by Cleary, was officially renamed Beverly Cleary School.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: In 1997, the Central Library in downtown Portland, Oregon, which serves as the main branch of the Multnomah County Library system, dedicated its children's room as the Beverly Cleary Children's Library.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: In 2004, the University of Washington Information School completed fund-raising for the Beverly Cleary Endowed Chair for Children and Youth Services to honor her work and commitment to librarianship. In 2008, the school announced that she had been selected as the next recipient of the university's Alumna Summa Laude Dignatus Award, the highest honor the University of Washington can bestow on a graduate.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: Cleary has a 220-student residential hall named after her, Beverly Cleary Hall, at her alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: In April 2016, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, Oregon Public Broadcasting produced an original half-hour program, "Discovering Beverly Cleary", which included an extensive interview with Cleary at age 99 at her home in Carmel, California, and photographs and stories from her life. It was broadcast in the spring of 2016 on PBS stations across the country.


title: Beverly Cleary

text: On April 22, 2021, after her death, the United States Senate passed a resolution "honoring the life and legacy of award-winning children's author Beverly Cleary." It was sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cleary's home state.


title: McCartney II

text: McCartney II is the second solo album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 16 May 1980. It was recorded by McCartney at his home studio in the summer of 1979, shortly before the dissolution of his band Wings in 1981. Like his first solo album, "McCartney" (1970), he performed all the instruments himself. It yielded three singles: "Coming Up", "Waterfalls", and "Temporary Secretary".


title: McCartney II

text: The album was a significant departure for McCartney, as much of it relies heavily on synthesizers and studio experimentation, while its music style embraces new wave and elements of electronica. It was initially released to largely unfavourable reviews by critics, though retrospective reception has been more positive and the album has become a cult favourite. In 2011, an expanded edition of "McCartney II" was issued with over a dozen bonus tracks. In 2020, the album was succeeded by "McCartney III". In 2022, the trilogy was reissued in the "McCartney I II III" box set.


title: McCartney II

text: After the release of what turned out to be Wings' final album, "Back to the Egg", McCartney went north to his farm in Scotland to begin some private recordings in July 1979. "Check My Machine" samples dialogue from the 1957 "Merrie Melodies" cartoon featuring Tweety and Sylvester entitled "Tweet Zoo". By sessions' end, he had recorded over 20 songs. With no immediate use for the recordings, he put them aside for the time being and returned to work with Wings to prepare for a UK tour that November and December. Simultaneously with the performances (which included the new "Coming Up"), McCartney released his first solo single since 1971, the Christmas-themed "Wonderful Christmastime", backed with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae", which charted at No. 6 in the UK but initially only at No. 83 in the US. (The song later reached No. 28 in 2020.) The A-side was recorded during the "McCartney II" sessions, while its flip side had been cut in 1975. However, upcoming events were about to change McCartney's plans with Wings.


title: McCartney II

text: After years of visa refusals due to his past arrests for marijuana possession, Japan had finally allowed McCartney, and thus Wings, to perform. It would be the first instance McCartney had performed in the country since he had done so with the Beatles in 1966, and anticipation was running high with Wings' tour completely sold out. However, upon his arrival in Tokyo on 16 January 1980, a search of McCartney's luggage revealed a bag containing 219 grams of marijuana, prompting his immediate arrest and eventually cancelling the tour. After a nine-day jail stay, McCartney was released and returned home to his Scottish farm. Deciding to put Wings on hold while he contemplated his future, he now decided to issue his solo recordings from the previous summer.


title: McCartney II

text: "McCartney II" was named in follow-up to his debut album "McCartney" (1970) because McCartney plays all instruments on both albums; he has also since stated that he had specifically hired a 16-track machine and "a couple of microphones" with which to record this album, adding that he had himself alternately played the drums used in several recording in either the kitchen or bathroom in order to achieve the echo he sought on particular songs.


title: McCartney II

text: Featuring arrangements that are heavy on synthesisers, "McCartney II" has been said to represent McCartney's "acceptance of new wave," and has been described as "airless proto-electronica." The album is often experimental, with most of its songs having been described as strange "eccentric synthpop". Although McCartney denies any direct influences on the album, he admired the "eccentricity" and "not-mainstream attitude" of Talking Heads' David Byrne.


title: McCartney II

text: McCartney was also inspired by experimental composers John Cage, Cornelius Cardew and Luciano Berio; McCartney explained: "I went to their concerts in London because I had plenty of time on my hands so it was the kind of thing I would go and see. Again, just to see what it was about, not necessarily because I was a massive fan. It was more like: what is a prepared piano? Oh, that's what it is. You know, funky stuff like that."


title: McCartney II

text: According to Stephen Dalton of "The Quietus", parts of the album are reminiscent of krautrock and "the whole post-punk disco boom", and described most of the album as "an alluringly weird mash-up of trip-hop, Krautrock and synth-pop." McCartney said that, "rather than me emulating anyone, it was more a question of me seeing what I could do with it. And again, not necessarily thinking I was making an album, just to have some time to experiment. These days I would say that with The Fireman project. So I've always been into that – if you go from 'Tomorrow Never Knows' through "McCartney I", "McCartney II", The Fireman…" Many of the most synthesised tracks are instrumentals which have been described as ambient; journalist Stephen Thomas Erlewine compared them "to a sprightly variation" of the instrumentals from the second side of "Low" (1977) by David Bowie, albeit with a warmer, less menacing sound.


title: McCartney II

text: Lead single "Coming Up" – an uplifting dance number – appeared that April with a video (Paul playing all the bandmates, dubbed 'The Plastic Macs', except for the backing singers played by Linda) and with two B-sides by Wings: "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)", recorded during Wings' December 1979 show there, and the piano laden instrumental "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" (a "Venus and Mars" outtake). An immediate UK No. 2 hit, "Coming Up" was flipped over for the live Wings version in the US where it became another No. 1 for McCartney, greatly raising hopes for his first solo album proper in years. The live Wings version of "Coming Up" was also included as a one-sided 7-inch single in copies of "McCartney II" within the US and Canada.


title: McCartney II

text: "Temporary Secretary" features frantic synthesiser lines and lyrics about requiring a secretary of any skill level for a short period of time. McCartney dubbed the song an "experiment," saying that he found the concept of a temporary secretary humorous. "Temporary Secretary" was released as a 12" single in Britain, backed with the experimental non-album track "Secret Friend". Author Howard Sounes thought it a "sexy" track. The single was only released in a quantity of 25,000 copies, failing to make an impact on the charts. The single artwork was created by Jeff Cummins of Hipgnosis. The song was performed live for the first time at the London O2 Arena on 23 May 2015. It was sampled in the 3D RDN remix of "Deep Deep Feeling" on "McCartney III Imagined".


title: McCartney II

text: "McCartney II" was released in mid-May. The album debuted in UK at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming McCartney's first number-one there since "Venus and Mars" in 1975. EMI reported that the album was on track to equal the sales of "Band on the Run". The second single from the album, "Waterfalls", peaked at number nine in the singles chart.


title: McCartney II

text: In the US, initial sales were strong thanks to the hit single "Coming Up" and the album reached number three in its second week on the "Billboard" album chart where it remained for five weeks. "Waterfalls" went virtually unnoticed in the US, only "bubbling under" the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 106 for one week. The album quickly dropped down the charts and was off the "Billboard" chart after 19 weeks, McCartney's shortest run since "Wild Life". It was one of his lowest-selling albums in the US up to that point.


title: McCartney II

text: The critical reception to "McCartney II" was mostly negative. Many critics found the album slight, with its experimental, synth-based compositions and its handful of instrumentals. "Record World" magazine described it as "arguably the least well-received solo work of any Beatle".


title: McCartney II

text: Retrospective reviews have rated the album more highly. Some writers credit it as a forerunner to the sound of 1980s pop.


title: McCartney II

text: In 2003, "Mojo" placed the album at number 26 on their list of the "Top 50 Eccentric Albums". In 2011, "NME" included the album on their list of "101 Albums to Hear Before You Die," whose list entries were selected by different musicians; "McCartney II" was picked by Austin Williams of Swim Deep.


title: McCartney II

text: In 2018, "Pitchfork" ranked it at number 186 in their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". They called it a "strange, guileless wisp of a synth-pop record" and wrote that although "[o]riginally derided as a novelty, "McCartney II" is now remarkable in its prescience of the lo-fi and bedroom pop movements."


title: McCartney II

text: The initial issue of "McCartney" on compact disc featured "Check My Machine" and "Secret Friend" as bonus tracks. The two songs were originally released as the B-sides of "Waterfalls" and "Temporary Secretary", respectively. In 1993, "McCartney II" was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with Wings' 1979 hit "Goodnight Tonight" added as a third bonus track.


title: McCartney II

text: When the new remastered version was released on 13 June 2011 as part of the "Paul McCartney Archive Collection", the album re-entered the UK charts at number 108.


title: McCartney II

text: The album was reissued on 5 August 2022 in a boxset entitled "McCartney I II III", consisting of 3 LPs or 3 CDs, along with the first and third albums of the trilogy.


title: McCartney II

text: "McCartney II" was described as an influence on Hot Chip's album "Made in the Dark" (2008), especially with songs like "Wrestlers", "Bendable Poseable", "Whistle for Will" and "We're Looking for a Lot of Love". "Now There Is Nothing" from the band's later album "In Our Heads" (2012) has been described as a homage to "McCartney II", with their guitarist Al Doyle explaining the song has "quite deliberately quirky time signature changes and key changes and these sort of very wandering harmonies—very typical of that period and McCartney productions." Alexis Taylor of the group has described "McCartney II" as one of his favourite albums of all time. The album has also been championed by multiple other musicians such as disc jockey Erol Alkan, Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals and Ty Bulmer of New Young Pony Club.


title: McCartney II

text: In 2011 the album was re-issued by Hear Music/Concord Music Group as part of the second set of releases, alongside "McCartney", in the "Paul McCartney Archive Collection". It was released in various formats:


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Diamond Head are an English heavy metal band formed in 1976 in Stourbridge, West Midlands. The band was part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement and is acknowledged by thrash metal bands such as Metallica and Megadeth as an important early influence.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Brian Tatler formed the band with drummer Duncan Scott while both still at school. In June 1976 they found singer Sean Harris, who was in the same year, and went through three bass players before settling on Collin Kimberley in Feb 1978. The band recorded two self-financed demo tapes in 1979. They were recorded within six hours on a four-track, one of which was sent to Geoff Barton at Sounds. The timing was perfect with the emergence of the new wave of British heavy metal. In 1979/80, Diamond Head were managed by budding local managers Dave Morris and Ian Frazier. Morris put some money into the band and tried to get the band a record deal; Frazier took to driving the band around the UK when on tour. Sean Harris's mother (Linda Harris) persuaded her boss and boyfriend (Reg Fellows) to come and see the band with a view to investing in them. Diamond Head's demos and live reputation gained enough attention for the band to get two support dates with AC/DC and one with Iron Maiden at The Lyceum, London. Although several record companies expressed interest in signing the band, and their managers secured a couple of offers, none were deemed worthy by Fellows and Linda Harris, who were now beginning to advise Sean Harris as he still lived at home with his mother.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: A difference of opinions about how to manage Diamond Head followed, which eventually led to Morris and Frazier quitting their role as managers, and the job fell solely to Fellows and Linda Harris. Thus while other new waves of British heavy metal bands were signed to major labels and putting their toe into the US market, Diamond Head remained independent. Guitarist Brian Tatler thinks that their joint managers had unrealistic expectations about the kind of record deal the band should sign, and when no deal lived up to this, Fellows decided that the band should record an album quickly and cheaply at a local 24 track studio, where they had recorded their first single "Shoot Out the Lights"; no money exchanged hands, and the studio owner Muff Murfin - in return for a week of studio time - took 50 percent of the bands publishing for fifteen years. It is believed that tapes were passed onto various labels, but when the debut album, "Lightning to the Nations", failed to secure a record deal, management decided that they would release 1000 copies of the album on an independent label (also owned by Muff Murfin) called Happy Face Records.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: The album was packaged in a plain sleeve with no title or track listings, and 250 copies were signed by each band member. The management thought that it should be perceived as a 'demo' album, so no fancy sleeve was required, making it very cheap to produce. The first 1000 copies were pressed and made available at concerts and via mail-order for £3.50. The only mail-order advertisement appeared in "Sounds" and ran for six weeks. The band's management did not pay for the advertisement and ended up being sued.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: The original stereo master tapes were lost after they were sent to the German record company, Woolfe Records, who released a vinyl version of the album with a new sleeve. The tapes were not returned until they were eventually tracked down by Lars Ulrich and Phonogram Germany for inclusion on the 1990 compilation album, "New Wave of British Heavy Metal '79 Revisited".


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: In 1980, Pete Winkelman from Wolverhampton got involved and tried to sign Diamond Head to his new label, Media Records. Winkelman had been a record plugger and he advised the band to change management but this advice was not heeded. In the end, Diamond Head only agreed to make one single for Winkelman, a re-recorded version of "Sweet & Innocent" b/w "Streets of Gold", which came out around October 1980.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: In January 1981, Diamond Head successfully opened for April Wine on their UK tour. An ambitious UK tour was planned for the summer as a way of being perceived as being more popular than they actually were. An EP called "Diamond Lights" was recorded quickly in three days to help pay towards the expenses. The management hired a tour bus for band and crew, and an articulated lorry filled with hired PA and lighting. They also hired the Wolverhampton chapter of Hells Angels to perform security duties on the whole tour. They bypassed promoters and booked the venues with a local agent to avoid paying a percentage, but with little promotion for the tour, it lost money.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: The only A&R man who was determined to sign the band was Charlie Eyre, who quit his job at A&M and joined MCA in order to sign Diamond Head and Musical Youth. Discussions went on for around six months until the band finally inked a five-album deal on 1 January 1982.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: First on the agenda was to record and release the "Four Cuts" EP, which contained two early era songs, "Shoot Out the Lights" and "Dead Reckoning", and the band did a whistle-stop UK tour of the clubs to promote it. A link-up with agent Neil Warnock at The Agency secured Diamond Head a Friday night slot on the Reading Festival bill in 1982, albeit as late and unadvertised replacements for Manowar. Their set was recorded by the BBC and later released in 1992 through Raw Fruit Records as the "Friday Rock Show Sessions".


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Their first MCA album, "Borrowed Time", featured a lavish Rodney Matthews-illustrated gatefold sleeve based on the album's Elric theme and was the most expensive sleeve commissioned by MCA at the time. The album was somewhat successful commercially, climbing to No 24 in the UK Albums Chart. The band were able to perform a full-scale UK tour at premier venues such as London's Hammersmith Odeon.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: To support the album, Diamond Head's released their sixth single, "In the Heat of the Night", backed with live versions of "Play It Loud" and "Sweet and Innocent" recorded at the Zig-Zag club, and an interview with DJ Tommy Vance (although the latter was not available on the 12").


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Once the two-week UK tour was over, they were told to start writing the next album. The band tried a more experimental sounding follow-up to "Borrowed Time", tentatively titled "Making Music" which was re-named "Canterbury" in 1983. Using top engineer Mike Shipley at an expensive London studio, called Battery in Willesden, put immense pressure on the band. Scott struggled to adapt to this new level of scrutiny and was fired, after completing just six drum tracks in three weeks. Then once all the bass parts had been recorded, Kimberley also quit Diamond Head. The album now fell to Harris and Tatler to finish causing the former to almost have a nervous breakdown. The initial success of the album was stalled as the first 20,000 copies suffered vinyl pressing problems, causing the LP to jump. It made number 32 in the UK Albums Chart, and it was noted that the album cost more to make but sold less. Diamond Head were invited to open that year's Monsters of Rock Festival and, for the first time, toured Europe as special guests of Black Sabbath. On 1 January 1984, MCA did not pick up the option for a third album.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: In early 1984, Diamond Head did an 18-date UK tour which lost money. Harris and Tatler continued to write together, and in October/November, Diamond Head re-convened in a purpose-built studio in Stambermill, West Midlands, to record their next album. It was never finished, and the band fell apart in early 1985. Tatler took over the running of the studio called RPK while Harris signed a solo deal with Pete Winkelman's new label I Major Records. This culminated in Harris and Robin George making an expensive album together under the name Notorious. In 1990, Winkelman encouraged Harris to make another Diamond Head record and so put him and Tatler back in touch after a long break. The band did two UK tours, and eventually, "Death and Progress" was released in June 1993, featuring guest contributions by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. However, the reunion was short lived as they were on the verge of splitting up as soon as the record was released. The last gig Diamond Head played was at Milton Keynes Bowl opening for Metallica. Towards the end of 1992, Harris grew dissatisfied with the album and Tatler and wanted to move on. Winkelman tried to broker a deal with RCA records for a 'new' band that would feature a new line-up. They performed one gig in Northampton under the name Magnetic AKA, but a deal failed to materialize, and it all fell apart.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: In 2000, Harris and Tatler reunited to perform some acoustic, un-plugged type gigs in the UK. They reworked the old songs and began recording a four track acoustic EP, although this ended up taking two years, and by the time it came out on the band's own label, the acoustic phase was over. They accepted an offer to play the Metal Meltdown Festival in New Jersey on 5 April 2002 (Diamond Head's first US show). An electric band was put together, and a 14 date UK tour was booked for August 2002. A new Diamond Head album was planned, and Mad Hat Studio in Wolverhampton was booked along with producer Andy Scarth. About halfway through the recording, Harris announced that he wanted to change the name of the band to 'Host'. This did not go down well with everyone, and when in 2003 Harris failed to get a deal for the album (which had cost around £16,000), things went quiet. Later that year, Diamond Head and Harris finally went their separate ways.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Nick Tart (from Cannock) was asked to join Diamond Head in 2004. The band's next album, "All Will Be Revealed," was released in 2005. To promote this album, they completed a 22 date European tour with Megadeth. Brian Tatler commented that this was one of the best experiences of his life, and he regained his enjoyment for playing live with the band again.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Diamond Head headlined a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the NWOBHM at the London Astoria, supported by Witchfynde, Bronz, Praying Mantis, and Jaguar. This concert was later released as a live CD titled "It's Electric" and also the band's first DVD, "To the Devil His Due", in 2006. The band's rhythm guitarist Adrian Mills left the band and was replaced with Andy 'Abbz' Abberley, previously in Cannock band Chase with drummer Karl Wilcox. In 2007 Diamond Head released "What's in Your Head?" produced by Dave (Shirt) Nichols. In 2008, Nick announced that he and his family were going to emigrate to Brisbane. The band continued to tour but now has the extra expense of flying the singer backward and forwards from Australia. Diamond Head toured the US (twice) plus Japan and Europe, including two dates opening for the Big 4. Nick's last show with Diamond Head was 4 October 2013.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: After recruiting new vocalist Rasmus Bom Andersen (a Danish-born singer living in London) in 2014, Diamond Head toured the UK and began work on their self-titled album "Diamond Head", released in 2016. The band took part in the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise around the Caribbean and toured the US and Europe. Work began on their eighth studio album, "The Coffin Train", in mid-2016, and it was released in May 2019. By this time, Diamond Head had signed to Silver Lining Records and is now managed by Siren Management. The album entered the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart at number 5, ten places higher than the band's self-titled album.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Diamond Head have cited their early inspirations as classic 1970s British rock bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, UFO, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Free, Brian Tatler relating that the first albums he bought were Led Zeppelin's "Led Zeppelin II" and Deep Purple's "Machine Head", and said that although a lot of his guitar work was inspired by Ritchie Blackmore and Michael Schenker, it was punk rock that showed him that anyone could form a band. Colin Kimberley commented Diamond Head got their complex sound from listening to bands like Black Sabbath and Rush and realising that a song with a single riff throughout was not interesting enough.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: In a recent interview, Tatler stated that he now tries not to be influenced by modern bands and keep his sound, although he imagines that "little bits creep into the writing process."


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: The Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats' 1991 album "Sideways" features a track called "Life After Diamond Head", a reference to the band.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Many reasons have been cited why Diamond Head never achieved significant commercial success, focused mainly on their change in musical direction with "Canterbury" and their delay in obtaining a record deal. Once they did sign to a major label, MCA proved to be the wrong label, forcing the band to sound more commercial. Also, while successful bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard were managed by established music management, Diamond Head were managed by Reg Fellows and the lead singer's mother, neither of whom had managed a band before. In addition, though many of their NWOBHM brethren toured the United States in the 1980s, Diamond Head did not set foot on US soil until 2002, performing one show at Metal Meltdown IV, New Jersey.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: American heavy metal band Metallica have covered the likes of "Sucking My Love", "Am I Evil?" and "The Prince" during their initial performances. The "Metal Up Your Ass" live demo, recorded in November of 1982, featured a live rendition of "Am I Evil?". "Sucking My Love" exists on various bootlegs that have been circulating since 1982, along with a recording on the early demo "No Life Til Leather".


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Metallica's first official studio release of "Am I Evil?" came in 1984 as part of the "Creeping Death" 12-inch single paired with another NWOBHM classic "Blitzkrieg", by the band of the same name. The two songs were also included in the first pressing of the "Kill 'Em All" LP when it was re-released by Elektra Records. A cover of "Helpless" was featured "The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited" in 1987 and "The Prince" was included as a B-side to the "One" single. The official recordings of "Am I Evil?", "Helpless" and "The Prince" would also be featured on Metallica's two-CD "Garage Inc." compilation in 1998, a collection of numerous cover songs that the band had played over the years. The first CD in the set was newly recorded covers, one of which was Diamond Head's "It's Electric".


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: During the Wherever We May Roam Tour Metallica played "Am I Evil?" and "Helpless" with the original Diamond Head members on 5 November 1992 at NEC Arena in Birmingham.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: Metallica performed "Am I Evil?" along with the other bands in the Big 4 (Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer) at the 2011 Sonisphere festival, and with Diamond Head themselves at the Sonisphere festival in Knebworth on 8 July 2011. The following day Brian performed "Helpless" with Metallica and Anthrax at the Sonisphere festival in Amnéville, France.


title: Diamond Head (English band)

text: On 5 December 2011, Brian Tatler and Sean Harris joined Metallica onstage at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco to celebrate Metallica's 30th Anniversary. Together they played "The Prince", "It's Electric", "Helpless" and "Am I Evil?". Tatler and Harris also took part in a group encore of "Seek and Destroy". Metallica have performed "Am I Evil?" onstage over 750 times.


title: Directed graph

text: In mathematics, and more specifically in graph theory, a directed graph (or digraph) is a graph that is made up of a set of vertices connected by directed edges, often called arcs.


title: Directed graph

text: It differs from an ordinary or undirected graph, in that the latter is defined in terms of unordered pairs of vertices, which are usually called "edges", "links" or "lines".


title: Directed graph

text: The aforementioned definition does not allow a directed graph to have multiple arrows with the same source and target nodes, but some authors consider a broader definition that allows directed graphs to have such multiple arcs (namely, they allow the arc set to be a multiset). Sometimes these entities are called directed multigraphs (or multidigraphs).


title: Directed graph

text: On the other hand, the aforementioned definition allows a directed graph to have loops (that is, arcs that directly connect nodes with themselves), but some authors consider a narrower definition that does not allow directed graphs to have loops.


title: Directed graph

text: Directed graphs without loops may be called simple directed graphs, while directed graphs with loops may be called "loop-digraphs" (see section Types of directed graph).


title: Directed graph

text: An arc is considered to be directed "from" "x" "to" "y"; "y" is called the "head" and "x" is called the "tail" of the arc; "y" is said to be a "direct successor" of "x" and "x" is said to be a "direct predecessor" of "y". If a path leads from "x" to "y", then "y" is said to be a "successor" of "x" and "reachable" from "x", and "x" is said to be a "predecessor" of "y". The arc is called the "reversed arc" of .


title: Directed graph

text: The adjacency matrix of a multidigraph with loops is the integer-valued matrix with rows and columns corresponding to the vertices, where a nondiagonal entry "a" is the number of arcs from vertex "i" to vertex "j", and the diagonal entry "a" is the number of loops at vertex "i". The adjacency matrix of a directed graph is a logical matrix, and is


title: Directed graph

text: For a vertex, the number of head ends adjacent to a vertex is called the "indegree" of the vertex and the number of tail ends adjacent to a vertex is its "outdegree" (called "branching factor" in trees).


title: Directed graph

text: A vertex with is called a "source", as it is the origin of each of its outcoming arcs. Similarly, a vertex with is called a "sink", since it is the end of each of its incoming arcs.


title: Directed graph

text: The degree sequence of a directed graph is the list of its indegree and outdegree pairs; for the above example we have degree sequence ((2, 0), (2, 2), (0, 2), (1, 1)). The degree sequence is a directed graph invariant so isomorphic directed graphs have the same degree sequence. However, the degree sequence does not, in general, uniquely identify a directed graph; in some cases, non-isomorphic digraphs have the same degree sequence.


title: Directed graph

text: The directed graph realization problem is the problem of finding a directed graph with the degree sequence a given sequence of positive integer pairs. (Trailing pairs of zeros may be ignored since they are trivially realized by adding an appropriate number of isolated vertices to the directed graph.) A sequence which is the degree sequence of some directed graph, i.e. for which the directed graph realization problem has a solution, is called a directed graphic or directed graphical sequence. This problem can either be solved by the Kleitman–Wang algorithm or by the Fulkerson–Chen–Anstee theorem.


title: Directed graph

text: A directed graph is "weakly connected" (or just "connected") if the undirected "underlying graph" obtained by replacing all directed edges of the graph with undirected edges is a connected graph.


title: Directed graph

text: A directed graph is "strongly connected" or "strong" if it contains a directed path from "x" to "y" (and from "y" to "x") for every pair of vertices . The "strong components" are the maximal strongly connected subgraphs.


title: Directed graph

text: A connected rooted graph (or "flow graph") is one where there exists a directed path to every vertex from a distinguished "root vertex".


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 13 October 2019. All 460 members of the Sejm and 100 senators of the Senate were elected. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) retained its majority in the Sejm, but lost its majority in the Senate to the opposition. With 43.6% of the popular vote, Law and Justice received the highest vote share by any party since Poland returned to democracy in 1989. The turnout was the highest for a parliamentary election since the first free elections after the fall of communism in 1989. For the first time after 1989, the ruling party controls one house, and the opposition the other.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: Following the 2015 parliamentary elections the Law and Justice (PiS) party was able to form a majority government, after receiving 235 seats to the 138 won by their main competitor, Civic Platform, the first time in the post-communist era that a party had won an outright majority in parliamentary elections. Beata Szydło became Prime Minister on 16 November 2015 heading a cabinet that also included Solidary Poland and Poland Together, which ran on joint lists with Law & Justice.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: On 23 December 2015 the Sejm passed a law, which reorganized the Constitutional Court, introducing a requirement for a two-thirds majority and the mandatory participation of at least 13, instead of 9 of the 15 judges. In addition, in early 2016 the PiS government passed a law which began the process of giving the government full control of state radio and television. In protest, the Committee for the Defence of Democracy, with help from the Modern party and Civic Platform, started demonstrations across the country.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: In December 2016 a parliamentary crisis took place, after the Marshal of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński excluded a Civic Platform's MP Michał Szczerba from the Sejm's proceedings. In protest, members of the opposition occupied the Sejm's rostrum. The Marshal, unable to proceed in the main session chamber, moved the session to the smaller Column Hall. Some politicians and commentators supporting Law and Justice accused opposition of attempting a "coup d'état". It ended fruitlessly for the opposition, though the Modern party was disgraced, as its leader, Ryszard Petru, was photographed flying to Madeira, with fellow MP Joanna Schmidt, during the tense situation. Modern's opinion poll ratings fell as a result.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: December 6, 2018 the Pro-Polish Coalition was formed - an alliance of KORWiN and the National Movement, with more parties joining later in order to contest the 2019 Elections to the European Parliament. The alliance later changed its name to just "Confederation".


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: In February 2019 the Wiosna party was founded as a left wing anticlerical party. For the 2019 European Parliament elections, the opposition formed a wide coalition, the European Coalition, with the exception of Wiosna. However, PiS won the European elections. Following the loss, the European Coalition dissolved and the Confederation lost many member parties and leaders. In June 2019 Modern and the Civic Platform formed a joint parliamentary club. August 6, the Left was formed, a "de facto" coalition of Razem, SLD and Wiosna, "de jure" carrying the SLD name. On August 8, 2019 PSL allied with Kukiz'15 in an alliance named "Polish Coalition".


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: The 460 members of the Sejm are elected by open party-list proportional representation in 41 multi-member districts. Each district has between 7 and 19 seats.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: Seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method, with a 5% threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (thresholds are waived for national minorities).


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: The Senate is elected using first-past-the-post voting in single-member districts. Candidates for Deputies are nominated either by the electoral committees of the various political parties and or by individual voter committees.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an absolute majority and could govern by itself, without a coalition partner.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: The Constitution of Poland requires that the next election should take place on a non-working day, Sunday or national holiday, within the 30-day period before the expiry of the 4-year period beginning from the commencement of the current Sejm's and Senate's term of office. Elections can be held earlier under certain conditions, for instance, if the Sejm is dissolved or if no government is formed in time limit set by the constitution.


title: 2019 Polish parliamentary election

text: Since the former Sejm and Senate first sitting took place on 12 November 2015, possible dates were Sundays 13 October, 20 October, 27 October, 3 November and 10 November 2019. The other possible but unlikely dates were public holidays 1 November (All Saints' Day) and 11 November (Independence Day) 2019.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Jupiter's Legacy is an American superhero comic book series, first published in 2013, written by Mark Millar, drawn by Frank Quitely, colored and lettered by Peter Doherty and published by Image Comics. Published as a series of eponymous limited series and interstitial prequel miniseries, it is to date the longest series that Millar had published as part of his Millarworld line of creator-owned comics, spanning an issue run three times as long as his then-most recent series, "Super Crooks" and "Nemesis". It was also the first collaboration between Millar and Quitely since their work on "The Authority" in 2001, and Quitely's first long-form work with a writer other than Grant Morrison.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: The story, which is influenced by "Star Wars", "King Kong", Roman mythology and origin stories from the Golden Age of Comics, was written as Millar's treatise on superheroes' connection to the American ideal. The first few issues of the opening story arc explore the generational conflict between a group of aging superheroes known as the Union, who used the powers they gained in 1932 for the betterment of mankind, in particular their leader, Sheldon Sampson (also known as the Utopian), and their children, who are daunted by the prospect of living up to their parents' legacy. Other conflicts and themes in the book include sociopolitical and economic differences among the older heroes and the end of capitalism, in the form of Sheldon's differences with his brother, Walter, which were inspired by Millar's reaction to the Great Recession.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: The series received generally positive reviews, with praise given to Millar's writing, Quitely's art and Peter Doherty's colors, though more than one reviewer regarded the series' take on realistic superheroes as derivative.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: The series' storyline is further explored in the spinoff series "Jupiter's Circle", which depicts the lives of the six founding members of the Union in the 1950s and 1960s. The first volume of the spinoff debuted in 2015, and the second in November 2015. The sequel series "Jupiter's Legacy: Requiem", which continues the storyline decades after the end of the original series, debuted in June 2021, also yielding positive critical reception.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: In April 2015, it was announced that Millar had partnered with film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura to adapt "Jupiter's Legacy" into feature films. In 2018, it was announced that Netflix, which acquired Millarworld the previous year, was developing a television adaptation of the comic series, with Steven S. DeKnight hired as showrunner and one of the executive producers. The series lasted one season.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: "Jupiter's Legacy" was initially to be titled Jupiter's Children. The original idea for the series was conceived when writer Mark Millar read the memoirs of "Star Wars" actress Carrie Fisher, in which she shared that despite her fame as Princess Leia, she did not feel anything special because of her two even more famous parents. It led Millar to observe that "even Princess Leia feels the sense of not living up to her parents." Thus Millar described the story as evoking the generational conflict of "Hamlet", and would explore, as one of its themes, the question of "what it would be like to grow up as Wonder Woman and Superman's kids", in particular the difficulty in living up to the legacy of previous generations. Millar created the series as a "big, weighty tome that happens to be about superheroes", which examines the connection of superheroes to the American ideal. Millar was also influenced by sources such as "Star Wars", "King Kong", origin stories from the Golden Age of Comics, and by Roman mythology. This is seen in the name Jupiter, which Millar chose because it evoked a grand, mythological scope to the story, which he hoped to contemporize by blending those themes with modern imagery, and a Wagnerian story structure. Other themes and motifs explored include the dawn of man, the origin of Earth, and contemporary concerns about the current economy and the end of capitalism. Millar explains:


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Asked about the pulp era opening scenes of issue one, in which the group of protagonists charter a boat to journey to a mysterious island, Millar explained that "King Kong" is his favorite film, and that the sequence in which that film's characters travel to Skull Island is "one of the greatest ever". Millar further explained that he wanted to give the characters a superhero origin that was more both mythical and simple, such as the Golden Age Green Lantern and the Silver Age Flash, instead of grounding it in real world science. The mystery of what exactly happened to the protagonists of "Jupiter's Legacy" on the island in 1932 is gradually revealed during the course of the miniseries, beginning with issue #4.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: In October 2012 Millar stated that his intention for the series was to have it produced as closely as possible to a monthly schedule, which he predicted would mean an issue published every six weeks, and that after the first five issues, which represents Book One of the story, there would be a break of a few months for the creative team to catch up, before resuming with the second half. Millar announced that the entire series would be released over the course of 20 months, for 10 – 12 issues in total. However, issue 4 was not published until January 1, 2014, and issue 5 was not published until January 14, 2015. In response, Millar announced that beginning in April 2015, all Millarworld titles would be completely drawn before the publication of their debut issues, to ensure a monthly schedule.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: The first three issues of the series are collected in "Jupiter's Children: Giant-Sized Edition" #1, which was published on December 26, 2013 for $3.99.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: In October 2014 Millar revealed that he would expand the universe of "Jupiter's Legacy" with "Jupiter's Circle", a ten-issue prequel set in 1959, when the Utopian, Lady Liberty and their contemporaries were in their prime, and interacting with such real-life personalities as J. Edgar Hoover and Katharine Hepburn. The first issue debuted in April 2015. Frank Quitely provided covers and character designs for the prequel, while its interiors are illustrated by Wilfredo Torres and Davide Gianfelice. Following the conclusion of Book One of the "Jupiter's Circle", it was indicated that Millar would publish Book Two of the parent series, "Jupiter's Legacy".


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Although Millar stated that he began sharing his concept for "Jupiter's Legacy" with filmmakers with whom he was acquainted since he began working on it in early 2012, he wanted the project completely worked out before he embarked in earnest on a film adaptation. He stated that he had actor Richard Dreyfuss in mind the entire time he wrote Walter, and hopes for him to play the character, calling Dreyfuss "one of the cinematic greats". Millar also explained that film adaptation of the book would require an entire trilogy, and that the third act in particular "needs room to breath[e]".


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Sheldon Sampson/The Utopian – A patriotic American who lost everything in the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and who in 1932 charters a boat to a mysterious island 600 miles west of Cape Verde after the island appears to him in a dream. Sheldon, who believes that the United States was the greatest idea in human history, and for whom the United States Constitution is sacred, is convinced that the island holds gifts that will return the country to greatness. After journeying to the island with his brother Walter and a group of five old college friends, including his future wife Grace, he becomes a Superman analogue named the Utopian, who is regarded as the greatest superhero on the planet. Donning a red and white costume with a gold eagle chest emblem, he and his five companions to the island form a superhero group called the Union, with headquarters located in New York City.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Sheldon's first wife is a television executive named Jane, who is good friends with Grace in the 1960s. Jane had thought Sheldon would have proposed to Grace after they acquired their superhuman powers, as Grace's family was as rich as Sheldon's, and she long harbored a crush on him, but as Sheldon tells Jane, he was not in love with Grace. However, Sheldon and Jane, who are unable to bear children, eventually divorce, and by 2013, he and Grace are the married parents to Chloe and Brandon, whom Sheldon views as shallow celebrities, feeling that he has failed them as a parent. He approaches crises reactively and leads by example, though he is criticized by Walter and the younger generation as old-fashioned and out of touch. He and Grace are the last two superheroes who still maintain their secret identities.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: In his civilian identity during the 1950-60s storyline of the prequel spinoff "Jupiter's Circle", he is the CEO of one of the most successful companies in the United States, with a fortune about half as large as John D. Rockefeller III's, but eventually gives his fortune to charity in the late 1960s. Jane eventually divorces him due to her perceived inability to live up to the perfect example he sets, after which Sheldon and Grace become a couple. By 2013, as seen in "Jupiter's Legacy", Sheldon runs an auto repair shop in Los Angeles because he says an honest day's work keeps one grounded. Sheldon leads the Union according to a strict moral code, suspending Walter's son Jules from the main team for dating a woman that he rescued from a fire. He also believes that superheroes should not unilaterally interfere in the actions of their government but should obey their elected leaders, which puts him into conflict with Walter, who along with Brandon, murders Sheldon.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Sheldon possesses the powers of flight, superhuman strength and resistance to injury. His super speed allows him to read sixty books a minute, and as a result, Grace comments in 1965 that he "pretty much reads everything." Sheldon can survive in the vacuum of space indefinitely, and can fly 170 million miles in less than three hours in the 1960s, allowing him to travel at least as far as the Jovian moon Europa. He also has the power to project beams of energy from his eyes, and possesses the power of telekinesis. He can use the latter ability to lift several people in the air, even if they are not within his line of sight, and carry them with him as he flies. He can also create a telekinetic bubble around himself and others, and use it to carry a quantity of breathable air to areas of vacuum so that non-superhumans inside the bubble can survive. His sense of hearing is so acute that even in the thin atmosphere of Europa, he is able, in 1965, to pick up an ultra-high frequency, low pulse-beat signal broadcast by a handheld transmitter 1,000 miles under the moon's surface that is inaudible to the normal human ear. On Earth, he can hear and precisely pinpoint the location of a burglar alarm 35 blocks away. Using his powers in tandem, he can tunnel 1,000 miles beneath the surface of Europa. He can hit a golf ball and land a hole in one on the Moon, though it has not been specified what abilities he uses to make the calculations needed to do this. He is immune to his brother's psychic abilities, but his invulnerability is not unlimited, as he can be injured if attacked by other superhumans with superhuman strength, especially en masse, and in 2013, he is ultimately killed by the energy projected by his son Brandon's eyes.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Sheldon Sampson was named after the winner of the charity auction that series writer Mark Millar held at the launch of the book, an event he holds every time he launches a creator-owned book.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Walter Sampson/Brainwave – Sheldon's brother who, after visiting the island in 1932, became one of the six original superheroes. He originally wore a red and blue costume with a red triangular chest emblem bearing a white circle and a jagged red line in its center. He has the power of flight and psychic powers that enable him to separate another person's mind from their physical body and imprison them in a "psychic painting" of his own creation, which is his "favorite trick". He can also create psychic illusions and kill a person by psychically inducing aneurysms in them. His other psionic abilities include telekinesis, with which he can cause an airplane flying passing overhead to fall to the ground, and pyrokinesis, with which he can instantly incinerate a person. The only person on whom Walter's telepathic powers do not work is Sheldon, although Walter's onetime teammate, George Hutchence (also known as Skyfox) wore a special set of ear plugs of his own design that blocked Walter's telepathic attacks. Like Sheldon, Walter can travel to and survive at the altitude of orbital satellites. According to Millar, "He isn't as strong or as handsome as his famous sibling and lacks charisma, but he's thoughtful and very aware of his legacy as he hits old age. He's looking around at the financial crash and wondering if he can help in ways other than rescuing kittens from trees and all those nice things superheroes do."


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Walter advocates more direct political activism on the part of superheroes and feels that they need to fix the ailing economy and tell President Obama what he should be doing in his second term. Walter's blueprints for fixing global problems involve climate engineering, eliminating the income tax, underground homes, and a ban on all religions.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: The prequel spinoff series "Jupiter's Circle" reveals that in their youth, Walter and teammate George Hutchence have a relationship marked by both friendship and frequent antagonism on George's part. When George's girlfriend Sunny breaks up with him and begins seeing Walter, it ends George's friendship with Walter, and leads George to cut all ties with the team. Walter would eventually marry Sunny and finish the Supermax prison for supercriminals that George designed, though George would eventually bear a vendetta against Walter after Walter tells George that he, Walter, used his telepathy to make Sunny fall in love with Walter, though Walter would deny this to Sheldon. Sunny eventually died of cancer at some point prior to the events depicted in "Jupiter's Legacy 2" #4.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Grace Kennedy Sampson/Lady Liberty – Sheldon's second wife, who journeyed with him to the mysterious island in 1932, and as a superhero, wears a blue suit with a gold eagle chest emblem similar to the Utopian's and goes by the codename Lady Liberty. Born Grace Kennedy, she is a physically strong woman who, prior to journeying to the island, was once the captain of a ladies' wrestling team. Like Sheldon, she is given superhuman strength by aliens encountered on the island. In the 1960s Grace is a partner in a law firm and a single woman with an unsuccessful social life, having not had a boyfriend since returning to the United States with the super powers she was given on the island. According to Sheldon's first wife, Jane, Grace always had a crush on Sheldon, but when they returned from the island after 18 months, he was in love with Jane, not Grace, whereas Sheldon thought she would pair off with George. After Sheldon and Jane divorce, however, Grace and Sheldon become a couple and bear Brandon and Chloe. Decades later, the couple are the last two heroes who still maintain secret identities. Grace's degree of invulnerability is such that her flesh can only be penetrated by the edged weapons wielded by her fellow superheroes, which they use to kill her.


title: Jupiter's Legacy (comic)

text: Richard Conrad/Blue-Bolt – Richard Conrad was one of the six founding members of the Union, who went by the alias Blue-Bolt. In the 1950s, as depicted in the prequel spinoff "Jupiter's Circle", he wore a blue costume, possessed the power of flight, and used a power rod of his own design that could project energy as a weapon. A neonatal surgeon at Los Angeles' St. Thomas Presbyterian Hospital, with connections in the Hollywood entertainment scene, he hails from a prominent political family in San Francisco. He is also a closeted homosexual who patronizes male prostitutes. Richard's friend Katharine Hepburn opines that regardless of the lavender marriages in Hollywood during that time, Richard, by virtue of risking his life for others every day, should not have to hide his homosexuality. When FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover discovers Richard's secret life, he attempts to blackmail Richard, threatening to ruin his life if he does not reveal his teammates' secret identities. This leads Richard to attempt suicide, but he survives his attempt thanks to his teammate Fitz, after which he decides to stand up to Hoover's threat. After George secretly blackmails Hoover with evidence of Hoover's own homosexuality, Hoover drops the matter.