title: Monza

text: In the 12th century, it is estimated that the city of Monza had about 7,000 inhabitants. Agriculture was the main occupation, although crafts had begun to grow in importance. In 1128 Conrad III of Hohenstaufen was crowned King of Italy in the Church of San Michele at Monza.


title: Monza

text: In 1136 emperor Lothair III guaranteed the independence of the clergy of Monza from Milan. Monza subsequently regained its autonomy, which was not limited to the feudal government of lands and goods; the archpriest of Monza was confirmed the authority of the clergy of his church (year 1150). This autonomy was never absolute, as the church of Monza was not able to completely cut its ties with the bishop of Milan.


title: Monza

text: Frederick I Barbarossa visited Monza twice (1158 and 1163). During this period the city again regained its independence from Milan, a city hostile to the emperor. Frederick declared that Monza was his property and also gave the "Curraria" (the right to levy customs on the streets), a right usually granted only to royal seats.


title: Monza

text: During the period of the struggle against Milan and other cities of the Lombard League, Monza was primarily an administrative centre for Barbarossa. Monzan independence lasted until 1185 when Barbarossa ended the conflict with the Lombard League with the peace of Constance. He allowed the city of Milan to self-rule its subjects again while taking possession of the treasury of the cathedral.


title: Monza

text: In 1185 Henry VI, son of Barbarossa, was crowned king at Monza, on the occasion of his marriage to Queen Constanza of Sicily, heir to the Norman kingdom.


title: Monza

text: As early as the 12th century, Monza was a fortified place, although the status of free city had changed its economical role. Agricultural activities were now paired by the production of clothes, while wool processing developed on large farms outside the walls.


title: Monza

text: Monza was increasingly linked to events of Milan and shared its history and enemies: in 1255 the city was sacked by the Ghibellines, and in 1259 and Ezzelino III da Romano tried to seize the castle of Monza but was repelled; the village was set on fire.


title: Monza

text: After the decisive 1277 victory of the Visconti at the Battle of Desio, Monza was occupied by Archbishop Ottone Visconti and the Marquis of Montferrat, William VII (1278). The following year, the town was declared a possession of the people of Milan.


title: Monza

text: Enrico Aliprandi, a member of a family of Monza, joined the Torriani faction, with many enlisted soldiers under his command. He was acclaimed Lord of Monza by the people in 1322. The same year, Luchino Visconti and Francesco Garbagnate demolished the walls of Monza to prevent it from defending itself against attacks from the Milanese.


title: Monza

text: In 1325 Galeazzo I Visconti, who conquered the city after a long siege, began the construction of new defences. Among the projects was the bifurcation of the River Lambro (the "Lambretto" branch) and the construction of a castle, the third in Monza. It included a tall-tower, later used as a jail ("Forni"). The Castle of Monza was later expanded to such a degree that it was necessary to demolish the St. Mary of Ingino church as space was needed for new buildings. Two other towers were also built along the River Lambro. In 1327 Galeazzo himself was imprisoned in the "Forni", by order of emperor Louis IV. He was released the next year.


title: Monza

text: In April 1329, the condottiero Pinalla Aliprandi regained Monza from the imperial troops. Azzone Visconti allowed the reconstruction of the walls, beginning in 1333 and lasting until 1381. Martino Aliprandi was "podestà" of Monza from 1334 to 1336, overseeing the construction of the walls and the fortification of the fortress.


title: Monza

text: In 1354 Pope Innocent VI proclaimed the undisputed right to impose, in the Cathedral of Monza, the Crown of Italy, the Iron Crown. In 1380 Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated the castle to his wife Catherine, who died there after having been jailed by her son Giovanni Maria (1404). In 1407 Estorre Visconti was proclaimed Lord of Monza and began minting Monza's own coinage.


title: Monza

text: Antonio de Leyva, the Spanish governor of Milan and commander of the imperial troops, sacked the city in 1527. In the same year, a mine exploded causing the partial destruction of the Castle of Monza. De Leyva became Lord of Monza in 1529, devoting himself to the government regulation of ecclesiastical affairs, controlling their taxes and duties and shutting the doors of those who did not pay. His relative Marianna de Leyva was the inspiration to Alessandro Manzoni for his Nun of Monza.


title: Monza

text: The plague, which struck Monza in 1576 and 1630, caused a profound demographic and economic crisis. In 1648, Monza and its territory became the property of the Milanese Durini family.


title: Monza

text: At the end of the War of the Spanish Succession (1713), the Duchy of Milan was assigned to the House of Habsburg of Austria. This historical period is a season of rebirth of the city, with a considerable development of agriculture and crafts.


title: Monza

text: Empress Maria Theresa built the Royal Villa of Monza for her son Ferdinand, Governor of Milan (1777–1780). The choice of Monza was due not only to the beauty of the landscape, but also its strategic position and the fact that it was connected to Vienna as well as its proximity to Milan. The construction was completed in three years with design by architect Giuseppe Piermarini from Foligno.


title: Monza

text: At the conclusion of the Italian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte (1796), the Duchy of Milan was acquired first by the French Republic and then entered the Cisalpine Republic (which, in 1802, became the Italian Republic).


title: Monza

text: Considered by the French as a symbol of aristocratic power, the Royal Villa was destined for demolition. However, the protests of citizens stopped the process, although the abandonment caused the complex to decay.


title: Monza

text: Two-thirds of the gold and silver treasures of the Monza Cathedral were delivered to the mint of Milan, which turned them into coins used for military expenses. Bonaparte also took possession of the treasures of the Basilica and the Chapter Library books, and transferred them to the National Library in Paris. The Iron Crown was left provisionally in Monza.


title: Monza

text: In 1805, the Italian Republic became the Kingdom of Italy with its capital in Milan. On 26 May 1805, the Iron Crown was in Milan for the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte, who put it on his head, uttering the famous phrase "God gave it to me, woe to anyone who touches it." Napoleon also established the Order of the Iron Crown. Monza received the title of Imperial City. The Viceroy of Italy, Eugène de Beauharnais, was appointed in August 1805 and he settled in the Villa of Monza. In 1807 the castle was demolished.


title: Monza

text: In the fall of the First Empire (1815), Austria annexed the Italian territories to the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, Monza being included in the province of Milan. The Monzesi asked for the restoration of all the treasures taken by the French. In 1816 the city returned the possession of the books of the Treasury and Chapter Library. The Crown of Agilulf, however, had been melted in Paris.


title: Monza

text: The next emperor Ferdinand I of Austria had himself crowned King of Lombardy and Venetia in Milan with the Iron Crown (6 September 1838), with the opportunity to extend various benefits to the city. New roads are opened, including the King Ferdinand road (now Via Vittorio Emanuele), while in 1842 the Bridge of Lions was erected near the old Roman bridge. In 1841 the first railway connecting Milan and Monza was inaugurated.


title: Monza

text: Monza took part in the Five Days of Milan (22–23 March 1848) Monza, expelling the Austrian garrison. The Austrians returned in 1849.


title: Monza

text: In 1859, at the end of the Second Italian War of Independence, Lombardy became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. But the treasure and the Iron Crown had been transferred to Vienna by the Austrians and was returned to Monza only after the conclusion of the Third War of Italian Independence (December 1866).


title: Monza

text: On 31 December 1895 Monza had about 37,500 permanent inhabitants. The economy was based on the production of wheat, corn, fodder, potatoes, oats, rye and vegetables in general. Another source of wealth was the breeding of silkworms.


title: Monza

text: In 1900 Monza was the scene of the assassination of King Umberto I by anarchist Gaetano Bresci. To commemorate the spot of the crime, his successor Victor Emmanuel III ordered the construction of an Expiatory Chapel on Via Matteo da Campione.


title: Monza

text: At the beginning of the century, Monza counted 41,200 inhabitants; in 1911 it was among the eight most industrialised centres of Italy. The main activities were related to the processing of cotton, mechanics, hat factories and industries.


title: Monza

text: Between the two world wars, the city's industrial structure did not undergo substantial change while recording significant increases in production volumes. The Autodromo (1922) and a golf course (1925) were built in the park.


title: Monza

text: The Second World War, between 1940 and 1945, caused several bombings of Monza, with civilian casualties; after the September 1943 Italian Armistice, the area was occupied by the Germans.


title: Monza

text: In the second half of the century, the city experienced a significant increase in population and subsequent building development. With the development of various activities occurring problems related to traffic and links to nearby towns, especially with Milan.


title: Monza

text: At the beginning of the century, Monza had about 120,000 inhabitants. The city became the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza on 11 June 2004. In 2009–2013 a tunnel was built to supplement the Viale Lombardia (SS36 national road), one of the busiest streets in Europe.


title: Monza

text: In the course of its history, Monza withstood thirty-two sieges, but the Porta d'Agrate is all that remains of its original walls and fortifications. Nearby is the nunnery in which the Nun of Monza was enclosed in Manzoni's "I Promessi Sposi".


title: Monza

text: Monza is known for its Romanesque-Gothic style Cathedral of Saint John ("Duomo"). The black-and-white marble arcaded façade was erected in the mid-14th century by Matteo da Campione. The campanile was erected in 1606 to designs by Pellegrino Tibaldi.


title: Monza

text: The cathedral encloses the "Chapel of Theodelinda", a centrally-planned Greek-cross "oraculum" ("chapel of prayer") dated to circa 595. The foundations remain under the crossing of nave and transept, but at the close of the 13th century, the chapel was enlarged by enclosing the former atrium within the building. The frescoed chapel houses the Iron Crown of Lombardy, said to include one of the nails used at the Crucifixion of Jesus. The treasury also contains the crown, fan and gold comb of Theodelinda, and, as well as Gothic crosses and reliquaries, a golden hen and seven chickens, representing Lombardy and her seven provinces. Though the interior has suffered changes, there is a fine relief by Matteo da Campione representing a royal Lombard coronation, and some 15th-century frescoes with scenes from the life of Theodelinda.


title: Monza

text: Other villas includes the Mirabello, Mirabellino, Durini, Crivelli Mesmer, Prata, Villa Archinto Pennati, Calloni and Villa Carminati-Ferrario.


title: Monza

text: The cuisine of Monza is typical of Insubria and Brianza. It is linked to culinary traditions and the bond with the nearby areas, especially with the Milanese cuisine. Typical dishes are cassoeula, the buseca, risotto with luganega.


title: Monza

text: There are two departments of the University of Milan Bicocca located in Monza: the faculty of Medicine and Surgery and the Faculty of Sociology.


title: Monza

text: The Duomo's (Cathedral) Museum collection is home to early medieval treasures from the time of Queen Theodelinda, including the gilt silver "Hen with Chicks", the Cross of Agilulf, and the Iron Crown; there are also pieces from the late medieval, modern and contemporary ages.


title: Monza

text: Theatre in the city include the Teatro Manzoni, the Teatro Villoresi, the Teatro Binario 7. Cinemas include the Sala San Carlo, the AreaOdeon, the Cinema Capitol, the Cinema Metropol and the Cinema Teodolinda.


title: Monza

text: Monza is internationally known for the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza motor racing circuit, home to the Italian Grand Prix usually held in September, and previously to the Alfa Romeo team. Meanwhile, the Golf Club Milano is a golf course that has hosted nine editions of the Italian Open. Both are located inside the Monza Park, which comprises 688 ha.


title: Monza

text: The Italian Grand Prix has been hosted at the Monza circuit in every single year of Formula One history bar one (1980), and although no Italian has won the race since Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, the local support is for the Ferrari team, which has taken many historical wins on the circuit, especially with Michael Schumacher winning five times between 1996 and 2006. The event also saw Jody Scheckter secure the 1979 title in that event among other historical wins such as the Ferrari 1-2 finish against the odds in 1988. The Ferrari fans at Monza are known both in Italian and internationally as "tifosi". Aside from Ferrari, another Italian milestone at the venue was German 21-year old Sebastian Vettel taking his and Italian team Scuderia Toro Rosso's first win in torrential rain in 2008.


title: Monza

text: The event has been marred by tragedy several times, involving driver fatalities such as Wolfgang von Trips, Jochen Rindt and Ronnie Peterson, but also a fatal accident involving a trackside marshal in 2000, and multiple spectators being killed in von Trips' fatal accident in 1961. Monza is an extremely fast circuit that has been modified with three chicanes to curb speeds, but is still the fastest circuit on the Formula One calendar and is considered too fast to be considered to host MotoGP and no longer holds Superbike World Championship events either. When it hosted the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix it saw a double fatal accident for Jarno Saarinen and Renzo Pasolini in 1973 after a pile-up through the dauntingly fast "Curva Grande", that has since had significant runoff added to it. Italy's last Formula One champion Alberto Ascari also died at the Monza circuit in 1955, but it was during a test of a road car rather than during a race.


title: Monza

text: Monza Park is also known for the Royal Villa of Monza, a Habsburg family residence built in 1777, while the professional football club A.C. Monza play at the Stadio Brianteo, in the , and has also a Primavera 2 team. The Serie A1 volleyball club Vero Volley Monza plays currently at the Monza Arena. In 2006 Monza hosted the World Cyber Games tournament, and in July 2005 and July 2008, Monza hosted the "International Gran Galà Marching Show Bands" at Stadio Brianteo (with the USA band Blue Devils, 11 times WMSB Champion of the World).


title: Monza

text: Monza railway station is the most important railway junction in the Brianza area. Trains travel between Monza and Milan via the Suburban Railway (Line S9) and via local trains that connect Monza to Lecco, Como/Chiasso (CH) and Bergamo/Brescia. Also some EuroCity trains stop in Monza. In early 2008, work began on the expansion of Subway Line MM1 from Milano/Sesto San Giovanni to Monza Bettola. Monza railway station is located in Enrico Arosio Road.


title: Monza

text: Monza can be reached through the following motorways: A4-E64 (Turin-Milan-Venice), A52 (North Ring of Milan), A51 (East Ring of Milan). State road (SS36 – Nuova Valassina) connects the city to Lecco and Sondrio. A long tunnel has been added and is alleviating traffic problems that are happening in the city.


title: Explosion

text: An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known as detonations and travel through shock waves. Subsonic explosions are created by low explosives through a slower combustion process known as deflagration.


title: Explosion

text: Explosions can occur in nature due to a large influx of energy. Most natural explosions arise from volcanic or stellar processes of various sorts. Explosive volcanic eruptions occur when magma rises from below, it has very dissolved gas in it. The reduction of pressure as the magma rises and causes the gas to bubble out of solution, resulting in a rapid increase in volume. Explosions also occur as a result of impact events and in phenomena such as hydrothermal explosions (also due to volcanic processes). Explosions can also occur outside of Earth in the universe in events such as supernovae. Explosions frequently occur during bushfires in eucalyptus forests where the volatile oils in the tree tops suddenly combust.


title: Explosion

text: Among the largest known explosions in the universe are supernovae, which occur after the end of life of some types of stars. Solar flares are an example of a common, much less energetic explosion on the Sun, and presumably on most other stars as well. The energy source for solar flare activity comes from the tangling of magnetic field lines resulting from the rotation of the Sun's conductive plasma. Another type of large astronomical explosion occurs when a very large meteoroid or an asteroid impacts the surface of another object, such as a planet. For example, the Tunguska event of 1908 is believed to have resulted from a meteor air burst.


title: Explosion

text: Black hole mergers, likely involving binary black hole systems, are capable of radiating many solar masses of energy into the universe in a fraction of a second, in the form of a gravitational wave. This is capable of transmitting ordinary energy and destructive forces to nearby objects, but in the vastness of space, nearby objects are usually rare. The gravitational wave observed on 21 May 2019, known as GW190521, produced a merger signal of about 100 ms duration, during which time is it estimated to have radiated away 9 solar masses in the form of gravitational energy.


title: Explosion

text: The most common artificial explosives are chemical explosives, usually involving a rapid and violent oxidation reaction that produces large amounts of hot gas. Gunpowder was the first explosive to be invented and put to use. Other notable early developments in chemical explosive technology were Frederick Augustus Abel's development of nitrocellulose in 1865 and Alfred Nobel's invention of dynamite in 1866. Chemical explosions (both intentional and accidental) are often initiated by an electric spark or flame in the presence of oxygen. Accidental explosions may occur in fuel tanks, rocket engines, etc.


title: Explosion

text: A high current electrical fault can create an 'electrical explosion' by forming high energy electrical arc which rapidly vaporizes metal and insulation material. This arc flash hazard is a danger to people working on energized switchgear. Excessive magnetic pressure within an ultra-strong electromagnet can cause a "magnetic explosion".


title: Explosion

text: Strictly a physical process, as opposed to chemical or nuclear, e.g., the bursting of a sealed or partially sealed container under internal pressure is often referred to as an explosion. Examples include an overheated boiler or a simple tin can of beans tossed into a fire.


title: Explosion

text: Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions are one type of mechanical explosion that can occur when a vessel containing a pressurized liquid is ruptured, causing a rapid increase in volume as the liquid evaporates. Note that the contents of the container may cause a subsequent chemical explosion, the effects of which can be dramatically more serious, such as a propane tank in the midst of a fire. In such a case, to the effects of the mechanical explosion when the tank fails are added the effects from the explosion resulting from the released (initially liquid and then almost instantaneously gaseous) propane in the presence of an ignition source. For this reason, emergency workers often differentiate between the two events.


title: Explosion

text: In addition to stellar nuclear explosions, a nuclear weapon is a type of explosive weapon that derives its destructive force from nuclear fission or from a combination of fission and fusion. As a result, even a nuclear weapon with a small yield is significantly more powerful than the largest conventional explosives available, with a single weapon capable of completely destroying an entire city.


title: Explosion

text: Explosive force is released in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the explosive. If a grenade is in mid air during the explosion, the direction of the blast will be 360°. In contrast, in a shaped charge the explosive forces are focused to produce a greater local explosion; shaped charges are often used by military to breach doors or walls.


title: Explosion

text: The speed of the reaction is what distinguishes an explosive reaction from an ordinary combustion reaction. Unless the reaction occurs very rapidly, the thermally expanding gases will be moderately dissipated in the medium, with no large differential in pressure and no explosion. As a wood fire burns in a fireplace, for example, there certainly is the evolution of heat and the formation of gases, but neither is liberated rapidly enough to build up a sudden substantial pressure differential and then cause an explosion. This can be likened to the difference between the energy discharge of a battery, which is slow, and that of a flash capacitor like that in a camera flash, which releases its energy all at once.


title: Explosion

text: The generation of heat in large quantities accompanies most explosive chemical reactions. The exceptions are called entropic explosives and include organic peroxides such as acetone peroxide. It is the rapid liberation of heat that causes the gaseous products of most explosive reactions to expand and generate high pressures. This rapid generation of high pressures of the released gas constitutes the explosion. The liberation of heat with insufficient rapidity will not cause an explosion. For example, although a unit mass of coal yields five times as much heat as a unit mass of nitroglycerin, the coal cannot be used as an explosive (except in the form of coal dust) because the rate at which it yields this heat is quite slow. In fact, a substance that burns less rapidly ("i.e." slow combustion) may actually evolve more total heat than an explosive that detonates rapidly ("i.e." fast combustion). In the former, slow combustion converts more of the internal energy ("i.e." chemical potential) of the burning substance into heat released to the surroundings, while in the latter, fast combustion ("i.e." detonation) instead converts more internal energy into work on the surroundings ("i.e." less internal energy converted into heat); "c.f." heat and work (thermodynamics) are equivalent forms of energy. See Heat of Combustion for a more thorough treatment of this topic.


title: Explosion

text: When a chemical compound is formed from its constituents, heat may either be absorbed or released. The quantity of heat absorbed or given off during transformation is called the heat of formation. Heats of formations for solids and gases found in explosive reactions have been determined for a temperature of 25 °C and atmospheric pressure, and are normally given in units of kilojoules per gram-molecule. A positive value indicates that heat is absorbed during the formation of the compound from its elements; such a reaction is called an endothermic reaction. In explosive technology only materials that are exothermic—that have a net liberation of heat and have a negative heat of formation—are of interest. Reaction heat is measured under conditions either of constant pressure or constant volume. It is this heat of reaction that may be properly expressed as the "heat of explosion."


title: Explosion

text: A chemical explosive is a compound or mixture which, upon the application of heat or shock, decomposes or rearranges with extreme rapidity, yielding much gas and heat. Many substances not ordinarily classed as explosives may do one, or even two, of these things.


title: Explosion

text: A reaction must be capable of being initiated by the application of shock, heat, or a catalyst (in the case of some explosive chemical reactions) to a small portion of the mass of the explosive material. A material in which the first three factors exist cannot be accepted as an explosive unless the reaction can be made to occur when needed.


title: Explosion

text: Fragmentation is the accumulation and projection of particles as the result of a high explosives detonation. Fragments could originate from: parts of a structure (such as glass, bits of structural material, or roofing material), revealed strata and/or various surface-level geologic features (such as loose rocks, soil, or sand), the casing surrounding the explosive, and/or any other loose miscellaneous items not vaporized by the shock wave from the explosion. High velocity, low angle fragments can travel hundreds of metres with enough energy to initiate other surrounding high explosive items, injure or kill personnel, and/or damage vehicles or structures.


title: Explosion

text: Classical Latin means "to hiss a bad actor off the stage", "to drive an actor off the stage by making noise", from (“out”) + (“to clap; to applaud”). The modern meaning developed later:


title: Hypnotic (2021 film)

text: Hypnotic is a 2021 American thriller film directed by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, written by Richard D'Ovidio and starring Kate Siegel, Jason O'Mara, and Dulé Hill. It was released on October 27, 2021, by Netflix.


title: Hypnotic (2021 film)

text: A young woman seeking self-improvement enlists the help of a renowned hypnotherapist. But after a handful of intense sessions, she discovers unexpected and deadly consequences.


title: Hypnotic (2021 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 27% based on 15 critical reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. On Metacritic, "Hypnotic" holds a score of 33 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: The 2011–12 La Liga season (known as the "Liga BBVA" for sponsorship reasons) was the 81st season of the top level Spanish association football competition. The campaign began on 27 August 2011, and ended on 13 May 2012. Real Madrid won a record 32nd title following victory over Athletic Bilbao on 2 May 2012.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: Real Madrid broke a number of league records, including most points in a single season (100), most goals scored (121), best goal difference (+89), most away wins (16), and most overall wins (32). This season also saw Lionel Messi score a record 50 league goals in 37 games. Behind Messi was Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 46 goals; the pair's combined tally of 96 goals was the most ever by two players playing in the same major European league in the same season.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: The season was scheduled to start on 20 August 2011, but was delayed due to a strike called by the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE).


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: Deportivo de La Coruña, Hércules CF from Alicante and UD Almería were relegated to the 2011–12 Segunda División after finishing in the bottom three spots of the table at the end of the 2010–11 season. Deportivo were relegated to the Segunda División after 20 seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Spain, while Almería ended a four-year tenure in La Liga and Hércules made their immediate return to the second level.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: The three relegated teams were replaced by three 2010–11 Segunda División sides. Champions Betis, who terminated their second-level status after two years, runners-up Rayo Vallecano, who returned to the top flight after eight seasons at lower levels, earned direct promotion.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: The third promoted team was decided in the promotion play-offs where Granada CF returned to the league for the first time in 35 years, having spent 26 of them in Segunda División B and Tercera División.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: As in the previous years, Nike provided the official ball for all matches, with a new T90 Seitiro model which was used throughout the season.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: La Liga's governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the LaLiga Awards.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: The Pichichi Trophy is awarded by the newspaper "Marca" to the player who scores the most goals in a season.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: The Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper "Marca" to the goalkeeper with least goals-to-games ratio. A goalkeeper must play at least 28 games of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy.


title: 2011–12 La Liga

text: This award is given annually since 1999 to the team with the best fair play during the season. This ranking takes into account aspects such as cards, suspension of matches, audience behaviour and other penalties. This section not only aims to determine the best fair play, but also serves to break the tie in teams that are tied in all the other rules: points, head-to-head, goal difference and goals scored.


title: Lick It Up

text: Lick It Up is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Kiss. Before its 1983 release, the band members appeared on MTV without their trademark make-up. It was the first public appearance without make-up by the band, and their first for Mercury Records, where they had been signed following their departure from Casablanca Records.


title: Lick It Up

text: As soon as the Creatures of the Night Tour/10th Anniversary Tour wrapped up in June, the band immediately went back into the studio to begin work on their next album, which was recorded over the next two months. "Lick It Up" built upon the harder sound Kiss had displayed on 1982's "Creatures of the Night". While Vinnie Vincent contributed lead guitar to six songs on "Creatures of the Night" as a session player, by the time "Lick It Up" was released and for all the public knew, he was officially the guitarist in Kiss and played all the lead guitar on the album. For the first time, Vincent appeared on the cover art for the album, whereas Ace Frehley had appeared on the "Creatures of the Night" cover, despite having already left the band and not being involved in the recording of the album. The opening track (co-written by Vincent) features a solo from Rick Derringer.


title: Lick It Up

text: "Lick It Up" and "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" were released as singles from the album. They were accompanied by a pair of similarly themed, tongue-in-cheek videos featuring the band (along with many scantily clad women) in desolate, post-apocalyptic settings. "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" is one of three songs in the history of the band in which all four (current at the time) members share songwriting credit, the others being "Love Theme from Kiss" from their debut album and "Back to the Stone Age" from "Monster".


title: Lick It Up

text: Vincent was not legally a member of the band. Due partly to disputes over what his role in the band and his pay would be (some reports indicated that he had asked for, and was flatly denied, a percentage of the band's gross profits), Vincent never signed any contract making his employment official. These disputes, along with a growing attitude by him that he was solely responsible for the resurgence of Kiss, would lead to him leaving the band (or being fired, depending on the source) after the European leg of the "Lick It Up" tour.


title: Lick It Up

text: With the band unable to secure a replacement guitarist on such short notice, Vincent was enticed to return for the American leg of the tour; however, his refusal to sign his contract continued to be a sore point. A major rift developed between him and the rest of the band over his guitar solos. What were supposed to be 5–8 minute solos, timed to finish on a cue so that Paul Stanley could introduce the next song, suddenly extended in some instances, leaving the rest of the band impatiently waiting on stage for Vincent to finish.


title: Lick It Up

text: At an LA Forum show in January 1984, Vincent continued playing despite Stanley's cueing him to finish the solo. The two nearly came to blows in the dressing room afterward, with Stanley accusing Vincent of showing him up, and Vincent accusing the other three members of ruining his solo and trying to hold him back as a performer. They were separated by Eric Carr and Gene Simmons and a couple of roadies who tried to keep the peace. At a March show in Quebec, Canada, as the band prepared to close out their set, Vincent broke into an impromptu solo, leaving the other band members standing on stage with nothing to do. Vincent left (or was fired for a second time, depending on the source) shortly after. This time, the break was permanent.


title: Lick It Up

text: The album marked a turnaround from the band's flagging fortunes of the previous several years and successfully introduced them to a new generation of fans, as well as marking the beginning of the "unmasked" era that would last for the next decade. In an interview for "", Stanley said that "people were now listening with their eyes rather than their ears, mainly because "Creatures of the Night" was arguably a better album than "Lick It Up"." He also made the statement that "The only reason why I think people bought "Lick It Up" more than "Creatures of the Night" was because we had no make-up on. That was the only reason."


title: Lick It Up

text: "Lick It Up" was certified gold on December 22, 1983, the first Kiss album to achieve certification since 1980's "Unmasked". It was certified platinum in the US on December 19, 1990. "Kerrang!" listed "Lick It Up" at No. 3 on its year-end list of the best hard rock albums of 1983. In 2011, the album placed at No. 10 in "Guitar World"'s readers poll of the top 10 guitar albums of 1983.


title: Lick It Up

text: The video for "All Hell's Breaking Loose" was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards.


title: Lick It Up

text: "Lick It Up" is a staple of the band's live performances. Due to its popularity among fans, Kiss has performed the song over one thousand and five hundred times as of December 2022, making it one of the group's top ten most played pieces.


title: Physical layer

text: In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the physical layer or layer 1 is the first and lowest layer; The layer most closely associated with the physical connection between devices. This layer may be implemented by a PHY chip.


title: Physical layer

text: The physical layer provides an electrical, mechanical, and procedural interface to the transmission medium. The shapes and properties of the electrical connectors, the frequencies to broadcast on, the line code to use and similar low-level parameters, are specified by the physical layer.


title: Physical layer

text: The physical layer defines the means of transmitting a stream of raw bits over a physical data link connecting network nodes. The bitstream may be grouped into code words or symbols and converted to a physical signal that is transmitted over a transmission medium.


title: Physical layer

text: The physical layer consists of the electronic circuit transmission technologies of a network. It is a fundamental layer underlying the higher level functions in a network, and can be implemented through a great number of different hardware technologies with widely varying characteristics.


title: Physical layer

text: Within the semantics of the OSI model, the physical layer translates logical communications requests from the data link layer into hardware-specific operations to cause transmission or reception of electronic (or other) signals. The physical layer supports higher layers responsible for generation of logical data packets.


title: Physical layer

text: In a network using Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) architecture, the "physical signaling sublayer" is the portion of the physical layer that


title: Physical layer

text: The Internet protocol suite, as defined in RFC 1122 and RFC 1123, is a high-level networking description used for the Internet and similar networks. It does not define a layer that deals exclusively with hardware-level specifications and interfaces, as this model does not concern itself directly with physical interfaces.


title: Physical layer

text: The physical layer performs bit-by-bit or symbol-by-symbol data delivery over a physical transmission medium. It provides a standardized interface to the transmission medium, including a mechanical specification of electrical connectors and cables, for example maximum cable length, an electrical specification of transmission line signal level and impedance. The physical layer is responsible for electromagnetic compatibility including electromagnetic spectrum frequency allocation and specification of signal strength, analog bandwidth, etc. The transmission medium may be electrical or optical over optical fiber or a wireless communication link such as free-space optical communication or radio.


title: Physical layer

text: Line coding is used to convert data into a pattern of electrical fluctuations which may be modulated onto a carrier wave or infrared light. The flow of data is managed with bit synchronization in synchronous serial communication or start-stop signalling and flow control in asynchronous serial communication. Sharing of the transmission medium among multiple network participants can be handled by simple circuit switching or multiplexing. More complex medium access control protocols for sharing the transmission medium may use carrier sense and collision detection such as in Ethernet's Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD).


title: Physical layer

text: To optimize reliability and efficiency, signal processing techniques such as equalization, training sequences and pulse shaping may be used. Error correction codes and techniques including forward error correction may be applied to further improve reliability.


title: Physical layer

text: Other topics associated with the physical layer include: bit rate; point-to-point, multipoint or point-to-multipoint line configuration; physical network topology, for example bus, ring, mesh or star network; serial or parallel communication; simplex, half duplex or full duplex transmission mode; and autonegotiation


title: Physical layer

text: A PHY, an abbreviation for "physical layer", is an electronic circuit, usually implemented as an integrated circuit, required to implement physical layer functions of the OSI model in a network interface controller.


title: Physical layer

text: A PHY connects a link layer device (often called MAC as an acronym for medium access control) to a physical medium such as an optical fiber or copper cable. A PHY device typically includes both physical coding sublayer (PCS) and physical medium dependent (PMD) layer functionality.


title: Physical layer

text: "-PHY" may also be used as a suffix to form a short name referencing a specific physical layer protocol, for example M-PHY.


title: Physical layer

text: Modular transceivers for fiber-optic communication (like the SFP family) complement a PHY chip and form the PMA sublayer.


title: Physical layer

text: The Ethernet PHY is a component that operates at the physical layer of the OSI network model. It implements the physical layer portion of the Ethernet. Its purpose is to provide analog signal physical access to the link. It is usually interfaced with a media-independent interface (MII) to a MAC chip in a microcontroller or another system that takes care of the higher layer functions.


title: Physical layer

text: More specifically, the Ethernet PHY is a chip that implements the hardware send and receive function of Ethernet frames; it interfaces between the analog domain of Ethernet's line modulation and the digital domain of link-layer packet signaling. The PHY usually does not handle MAC addressing, as that is the link layer's job. Similarly, Wake-on-LAN and Boot ROM functionality is implemented in the network interface card (NIC), which may have PHY, MAC, and other functionality integrated into one chip or as separate chips.


title: Physical layer

text: Common Ethernet interfaces include fiber or two to four copper pairs for data communication. However, there now exists a new interface, called Single Pair Ethernet (SPE), which is able to utilize a single pair of copper wires while still communicating at the intended speeds. Texas Instruments DP83TD510E is an example of a PHY which uses SPE.


title: Physical layer

text: Examples include the Microsemi SimpliPHY and SynchroPHY VSC82xx/84xx/85xx/86xx family, Marvell Alaska 88E1310/88E1310S/88E1318/88E1318S Gigabit Ethernet transceivers, Texas Instruments DP838xx family and offerings from Intel and ICS.


title: Aspartic acid

text: Aspartic acid (symbol Asp or D; the ionic form is known as aspartate), is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Like all other amino acids, it contains an amino group and a carboxylic acid. Its α-amino group is in the protonated –NH form under physiological conditions, while its α-carboxylic acid group is deprotonated −COO under physiological conditions. Aspartic acid has an acidic side chain (CHCOOH) which reacts with other amino acids, enzymes and proteins in the body. Under physiological conditions (pH 7.4) in proteins the side chain usually occurs as the negatively charged aspartate form, −COO. It is a non-essential amino acid in humans, meaning the body can synthesize it as needed. It is encoded by the codons GAU and GAC.


title: Aspartic acid

text: In proteins aspartate sidechains are often hydrogen bonded to form asx turns or asx motifs, which frequently occur at the N-termini of alpha helices.


title: Aspartic acid

text: The -isomer of Asp is one of the 22 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e., the building blocks of proteins. Aspartic acid, like glutamic acid, is classified as an acidic amino acid, with a pK of 3.9, however in a peptide this is highly dependent on the local environment, and could be as high as 14. Asp is pervasive in biosynthesis.


title: Aspartic acid

text: Aspartic acid was first discovered in 1827 by Auguste-Arthur Plisson and Étienne Ossian Henry by hydrolysis of asparagine, which had been isolated from asparagus juice in 1806. Their original method used lead hydroxide, but various other acids or bases are now more commonly used instead.


title: Aspartic acid

text: There are two forms or enantiomers of aspartic acid. The name "aspartic acid" can refer to either enantiomer or a mixture of two. Of these two forms, only one, "-aspartic acid", is directly incorporated into proteins. The biological roles of its counterpart, "-aspartic acid" are more limited. Where enzymatic synthesis will produce one or the other, most chemical syntheses will produce both forms, "-aspartic acid", known as a racemic mixture.


title: Aspartic acid

text: In the human body, aspartate is most frequently synthesized through the transamination of oxaloacetate. The biosynthesis of aspartate is facilitated by an aminotransferase enzyme: the transfer of an amine group from another molecule such as alanine or glutamine yields aspartate and an alpha-keto acid.


title: Aspartic acid

text: In plants and microorganisms, aspartate is the precursor to several amino acids, including four that are essential for humans: methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine. The conversion of aspartate to these other amino acids begins with reduction of aspartate to its "semialdehyde", OCCH(NH)CHCHO. Asparagine is derived from aspartate via transamidation:


title: Aspartic acid

text: Aspartate has many other biochemical roles. It is a metabolite in the urea cycle and participates in gluconeogenesis. It carries reducing equivalents in the malate-aspartate shuttle, which utilizes the ready interconversion of aspartate and oxaloacetate, which is the oxidized (dehydrogenated) derivative of malic acid. Aspartate donates one nitrogen atom in the biosynthesis of inosine, the precursor to the purine bases. In addition, aspartic acid acts as a hydrogen acceptor in a chain of ATP synthase. Dietary L-aspartic acid has been shown to act as an inhibitor of Beta-glucuronidase, which serves to regulate enterohepatic circulation of bilirubin and bile acids.


title: Aspartic acid

text: Aspartate (the conjugate base of aspartic acid) stimulates NMDA receptors, though not as strongly as the amino acid neurotransmitter L-glutamate does.


title: Aspartic acid

text: In 2014, the global market for aspartic acid was or about $117 million annually with potential areas of growth accounting for an of $8.78 billion (Bn). The three largest market segments include the U.S., Western Europe, and China. Current applications include biodegradable polymers (polyaspartic acid), low calorie sweeteners (aspartame), scale and corrosion inhibitors, and resins.


title: Aspartic acid

text: One area of aspartic acid market growth is biodegradable superabsorbent polymers (SAP), and hydrogels. The superabsorbent polymers market is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% from 2014 to 2019 to reach a value of $8.78Bn globally. Around 75% of superabsorbent polymers are used in disposable diapers and an additional 20% is used for adult incontinence and feminine hygiene products. Polyaspartic acid, the polymerization product of aspartic acid, is a biodegradable substitute to polyacrylate. The polyaspartate market comprises a small fraction (est. < 1%) of the total SAP market.


title: Aspartic acid

text: In addition to SAP, aspartic acid has applications in the $19Bn fertilizer industry, where polyaspartate improves water retention and nitrogen uptake; the $1.1Bn (2020) concrete floor coatings market, where polyaspartic is a low VOC, low energy alternative to traditional epoxy resins; and lastly the >$5Bn scale and corrosion inhibitors market.


title: Aspartic acid

text: Aspartic acid is not an essential amino acid, which means that it can be synthesized from central metabolic pathway intermediates in humans, and does not need to be present in the diet. In eukaryotic cells, roughly 1 in 20 amino acids incorporated into a protein is an aspartic acid, and accordingly almost any source of dietary protein will include aspartic acid. Additionally, aspartic acid is found in:


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Bunty Aur Babli () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali and written by Jaideep Sahni, based on a story by Aditya Chopra, who serves as producer under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji as the titular leads, along with Amitabh Bachchan, marking the first motion picture starring the Bachchan father-son duo together. The younger Bachchan and Mukerji play con-artist partners-in-crime, Bunty and Babli, while the elder Bachchan plays DCP Dashrath Singh, whose focus is solely to catch them. The soundtrack of "Bunty Aur Babli" was composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics written by Gulzar and Blaaze together, and was released under the banner YRF Music.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: "Bunty Aur Babli" released worldwide on 27 May 2005, and proved to be a commercial success at the box-office, grossing ₹63.74 crore worldwide, thus becoming the third highest-grossing Indian film of 2005. It received positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise for its direction, novel story, screenplay, soundtrack, humor, costumes, styling and performances of the cast.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: At the 51st Filmfare Awards, "Bunty Aur Babli" received 8 nominations, including Best Film, Best Actor (Abhishek Bachchan), Best Actress (Mukerji) and Best Supporting Actor (Amitabh Bachchan) and won 3 awards – Best Music Director (Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy), Best Lyricist (Gulzar) and Best Female Playback Singer (Alisha Chinai), the latter two for the song "Kajra Re".


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: A sequel under the title of "Bunty Aur Babli 2", starring Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh was released theatrically on 19 November 2021.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Rakesh Trivedi (Abhishek Bachchan) is from a small village named Fursatganj. His father is a ticket collector on a train and wants him to get into a similar occupation as well. However, Rakesh has big dreams; he is forever coming up with new business schemes and is convinced he will make it big one day. He adamantly refuses any notion that he will one day work in a 9-to-5 environment. Rakesh's father gives him an ultimatum – go on the job interview he has arranged or get out of the house.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Vimmi Saluja (Rani Mukerji) is the daughter of a Punjabi family in another small village named Pankinagar; she spends her hours watching films and studying supermodels and dreams of becoming Miss India. However, Vimmi's parents tell her they have arranged her marriage to a young man with a decent job which she is not interested in.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Rakesh and Vimmi pack their bags and sneak out in the dark of night. They bump into each other at a train station and become friends after realizing their stories are similar. They support and encourage each other to achieve their dreams: Vimmi tries to enter the Miss India contest but gets thrown out after an argument. Rakesh tries to sell his ideas for an investment scheme, but a businessman turns him away. In fact, a man he had met at a restaurant stole ideas from Rakesh's presentation file and, when he enters the office, the interviewer states someone before he came in with the same idea. After finding out that the businessman who Rakesh had approached, used his idea to make money, he and Vimmi con him and take the money they believe is rightfully theirs.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Once they realize how easy it is to con people, they decide to run some more cons to raise money to make it to Bombay.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Unfortunately, they find the lifestyle too exciting to give up. Adopting the names of 'Bunty' and 'Babli', they successfully pull off con after con, looting the rich dressed as local guides, religious priests, health inspectors, business partners, etc. Their flamboyant antics make them famous in newspapers nationwide. Soon their friendship leads to romance and they decide to continue conning as husband and wife.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Little do Bunty and Babli know that DCP Dashrath Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) is catching up with their cons, getting closer each day. He relentlessly pursues them across India in the hopes of putting them behind bars. To complicate matters, Bunty and Babli have a child and, after a very close call eluding Dashrath, they decide to quit conning for their child's sake. This decision leads to their capture by Dashrath. While in custody, their heartfelt confessions and conversation soften the policeman's heart and he lets them go, certain he had destroyed Bunty and Babli's career as criminals.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Three years later, Dashrath rescues Bunty and Babli from their mundane domestic lives by offering them to work for the nation thwarting the activities of other scammers.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming the second highest-grossing Indian film of the year. Designer Aki Narula dressed Mukerji a new look Patiala salwars and kurtis, which became popular.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: The glorification of crime in the movie inspired many people to emulate the glamorous couple, resulting in a trend of real-life Buntys and Bablis.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: One such case is that of Sushant and Kajal, a married couple who conned two businesses out of money using a photo frame. The Darjeeling-based couple did a "'Bunty Aur Babli"' on their victims, and were caught and arrested.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Another case of the movie's influence on crime is that of another married couple, Suresh and Rekha. Their crimes also mirrored those committed in the film, and they admitted to committing the crimes they were accused of in a ""Bunty Aur Babli"" style.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Yet another couple, a sister and brother-in-law, were caught for crimes that mirrored those committed in the film. Shahnaaz Bano and Sajid Ahmed were caught smuggling and shoplifting diamonds and other expensive merchandise out of stores, using disguises.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: The soundtrack was composed by the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and was released on 13 April 2005 by Yash Raj Music. Initially, A. R. Rahman was approached to compose the film's music, having worked on Ali's previous film "Saathiya" (2002), but he declined due to his date issues. The lead actors Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji danced to the tunes of the album. The lyrics were penned by Gulzar and Blaaze. According to the Indian trade website "Box Office India", with around 19,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's second highest-selling.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: The music of "Bunty Aur Babli" received positive reviews from critics. Sukanya Verma of "Rediff", said in her review, "On the whole, the music of "Bunty Aur Babli", with its over-the-top, uninhibited, rustic and teasing spices, makes for one helluva musical masala." "Planet Bollywood's" review concluded, "Overall, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy do an excellent job of getting different singers for each track, trying to infuse different beats together and creating an album worth buying. It’ll take a few listens to pick your favourites, but its fresh and an above-average album to own. Enjoy!" ""Bunty Aur Babli" does not contain your routine Yash Chopra genre of music that are choreographed around the meadows and Swiss alps. They are more of situational rhythmic tracks that take a story forward" Joginder Tuteja of "Bollywood Hungama" said in his review. "Glamsham" was full of praise for the lyrics by Gulzar, "Throughout this zany, zingy and zippy album, the 70-year-old Gulzar imbues a youthfulness that comes from being young at heart. Indeed that's the quality, which flows freely out of this album. You can't miss its zest for life… or its lunge towards a luscious nirvana obtained from looking at life through rose-tinted glasses." Avijit Ghosh wrote in "The Telegraph", "In essence, "Bunty Aur Babli" is an on-the-road flick about a boy and girl in search of fun and freedom rather than a story of two cons. To capture the splintered yearnings of smalltown India which watches Aastha channel in the morning and FTV at night is a difficult and ambitious task. But like his protagonists, director Ali pulls it off. Bravely. Almost."


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: "Kajra Re" was voted as the best of 2005 overwhelmingly by listeners of 3 radio stations catering for South African Indians.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: Hidekaz Himaruya, the manga artist who created Hetalia, embedded the video of "Dhadak Dhadak" on his blog around Christmas time, which caused a sudden influx of Himaruya fans commenting on the video.


title: Bunty Aur Babli

text: In December 2019, Yash Raj Films announced a sequel, "Bunty Aur Babli 2", to be directed by Varun V. Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra. The film stars Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherji, Siddhant Chaturvedi and debutante Sharvari Wagh as the leads, and was scheduled to be released on 26 June 2020, but postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. It released theatrically on 19 November 2021. Although the film is direct sequel and takes places after 16 years of the first film but the character of Bunty is portrayed by Saif Ali Khan replacing Abhishek Bachchan.


title: Marcus Miller

text: William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, among others. He was the main songwriter and producer on three of Davis' albums: "Tutu" (1986), "Music from Siesta" (1987), and "Amandla" (1989). His collaboration with Vandross was especially close; he co-produced and served as the arranger for most of Vandross' albums, and he and Vandross co-wrote many of Vandross' songs, including the hits "I Really Didn't Mean It", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power" and "Don't Want to Be a Fool". He also co-wrote the 1988 single "Da Butt" for Experience Unlimited.


title: Marcus Miller

text: William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on June 14, 1959. He grew up in a musical family; his father, William Miller, was a church organist and choir director. Through his father, he is the cousin of jazz pianist Wynton Kelly. He became classically trained as a clarinetist and later learned to play keyboards, saxophone, and guitar.


title: Marcus Miller

text: Miller began to work regularly in New York City, eventually playing bass and writing music for jazz flutist Bobbi Humphrey and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Miller became a session musician. Miller's earliest influences include James Jamerson and Larry Graham. He spent approximately 15 years performing as a session musician. During that time he also arranged and produced frequently. He was a member of the "Saturday Night Live" band between 1979 and 1981. He co-wrote Aretha Franklin's "Jump To It" along with Luther Vandross. He has played bass on over 500 recordings, appearing on albums by such artists as Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Herbie Hancock, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, The Crusaders, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, George Benson, Dr. John, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Joe Walsh, Jean-Michel Jarre, Grover Washington Jr., Donald Fagen, Bill Withers, Bernard Wright, Kazumi Watanabe, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J and Flavio Sala. He won the "Most Valuable Player" award (given by NARAS to recognize studio musicians) three years in a row and was subsequently awarded "player emeritus" status and retired from eligibility.


title: Marcus Miller

text: In the mid-80s, Miller attempted a solo career as a funk/R&B singer, with the albums "Suddenly" (1983) and "Marcus Miller" (1984). He also served as the main songwriter, producer and instrumentalist on these albums. He has since then released ten more solo albums, although he has only occasionally sung on these subsequent albums.


title: Marcus Miller

text: Between 1988 and 1990, Miller was the musical director and house band bass player (in the "Sunday Night Band") during two seasons of the late-night TV show "Sunday Night" (also known as "Night Music") on NBC, hosted by David Sanborn and Jools Holland.


title: Marcus Miller

text: As a composer, Miller co-wrote and produced several songs on the Miles Davis album "Tutu", including the title track. He also composed "Chicago Song" for David Sanborn and co-wrote "'Til My Baby Comes Home", "It's Over Now", "For You to Love", and "Power of Love" for Luther Vandross. Miller also wrote "Da Butt", which was featured in Spike Lee's "School Daze". In addition, he composed and provided spoken vocals on "Burn it Up", which was featured on Najee's 1992 album "Just An Illusion".


title: Marcus Miller

text: In 1997, he played bass guitar and bass clarinet in the supergroup Legends, featuring Eric Clapton (guitars and vocals), Joe Sample (piano), David Sanborn (alto sax) and Steve Gadd (drums). It was an 11-date tour of major jazz festivals in Europe. In 2008 Miller formed another supergroup, SMV, with fellow bassists Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten, for a world tour lasting 18 months. He produced SMV's first release, Thunder. In the summer of 2011, Miller toured alongside Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter celebrating Miles Davis on the 20th anniversary of his passing.


title: Marcus Miller

text: Miller hosts a jazz history and influences show called "Miller Time with Marcus Miller" on the Real Jazz channel of Sirius XM Holdings satellite radio system. In addition to his recording and performance career, Miller has established a parallel career as a film score composer. He has written numerous scores for films, notably including films directed by Reginald Hudlin and Chris Rock.


title: Marcus Miller

text: Miller has been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards as a producer for Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chaka Khan and Wayne Shorter, and has won two Grammys. He won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1992, for Luther Vandross' "Power of Love" and in 2001 he won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for his seventh solo instrumental album, "M²". His 2015 album "Afrodeezia" earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.


title: Marcus Miller

text: In 2012 Miller was appointed a UNESCO Artist for Peace, supporting and promoting the UNESCO Slave Route Project.


title: Marcus Miller

text: Miller is noted for playing a 1977 Fender Jazz Bass that was modified by Roger Sadowsky with the addition of a Bartolini preamp so he could control his sound in the studio. Fender started to produce a Marcus Miller signature Fender Jazz Bass in four-string (made in Japan) and five-string (made in U.S) versions. Later, Fender moved the production of the four-string to their Mexico factory and discontinued both four- and five-string models in 2015. DR Strings also produced a series of Marcus Miller signature stainless steel strings known as "Fat Beams", which come in a variety of sizes.


title: Marcus Miller

text: As of 2015, Dunlop has begun producing Marcus Miller Super Bright bass strings which Miller has switched to. In 2015, Marcus began endorsing Sire Guitars, with whom he has a signature line of basses.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: Michael Joseph Winkelmann (born 20 June 1981), known professionally as Beeple, is an American digital artist, graphic designer, and animator known for selling NFTs. In his art, he uses various mediums to create comical, phantasmagoric works that make political and social commentary while using pop culture figures as references. British auction house Christie's has called him "A visionary digital artist at the forefront of NFTs". Beeple was introduced to NFTs in October 2020 and credits Pak for providing his first "primer" on selling NFTs. The NFT associated with "", a collage of images from his "Everydays" series, was sold on March 12, 2021, for $69 million in cryptocurrency to an investor in NFTs. It is the first purely non-fungible token to be sold by Christie's. The auction house had previously sold "Block 21", an NFT with accompanying physical painting for approximately $130,000 in October 2020.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: Winkelmann was born on 20 June 1981. He grew up in North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. His father worked as an electrical engineer, and his mother worked at a senior center. Winkelmann graduated from Purdue University in 2003 majoring in computer science.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: Winkelmann started "Everydays", which involved creating a piece of art every day, on May 1, 2007. This project is ongoing and has spanned more than 5,000 consecutive days of digital art creation. Winkelmann has discussed completing a piece of art even on days when it was inconvenient, like on his wedding day and the day of his children's births.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: The project was inspired by Tom Judd, who did a drawing every day for a year. Winkelmann thought it was a beneficial way to sharpen his drawing skills. In the following years, he focused on one skill or medium per year, including Adobe Illustrator in 2012 and Cinema 4D in 2015. Winkelmann's works often depict dystopian futures. Frequently, he uses recognizable figures from popular culture or politics to satirize current events.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: Some of Winkelmann's works were incorporated into Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2019 ready-to-wear collection.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: In February 2021, Winkelmann started selling non-fungible tokens, digital tokens associated with works of art whose ownership is verified by a blockchain. The first two Beeple NFTs were sold at an auction at ETHDenver, and more were sold on Nifty Gateway in November 2020. One of these NFTs, "Crossroad", would change into one of two animations depending on the victor of the 2020 United States presidential election; it was sold for $66,666.66 and resold for $6.7 million in February 2021.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: The NFT associated with "", a collage of images from the "Everydays" series, was put up for auction at Christie's on February 25 and sold for $69,400,000 on March 11, 2021. This was the first NFT to be sold by a legacy auction house, and is the first sale at Christie's that could be paid in Ether. In March 2021 Beeple called NFTs an "irrational exuberance bubble".


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: On 9 November 2021, one of Beeple's artworks (HUMAN ONE) was sold at Christie's for $28,958,000 to collector Ryan Zurrer. The artwork is a 7-foot-high sculpture; a generative work of art, a dynamically changing hybrid sculpture, both physically and digitally. Beeple described this artwork as ""the first portrait of a human born in the metaverse."" This is the first major work made by the artist that has both a sculptural and NFT component. After the sale, HUMAN ONE was exhibited at the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art in April 2022. This was the artist's debut museum exhibition. Subsequently, the work was shown at the M+ Museum, marking the work's Asian premiere and the artist's first solo show in Asia.


title: Mike Winkelmann

text: Winkelmann is based in North Charleston, South Carolina, having moved from Wisconsin in 2017. He is married and has two children.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: The flag of Honduras consists of three equal horizontal stripes of cyan, white and cyan, with five cyan stars in a quincuncial pattern at the centre of the middle stripe. The two outer bands represent the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and also represent the blue sky and brotherhood. The inner band represents the land between the ocean and the sea, the peace and prosperity of its people, and purity of thoughts. The five stars represent the five nations of the former Federal Republic of Central America and the hope that the nations may form a union again.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: In 1823, Honduras joined the United Provinces of Central America and adopted its flag. It continued using a plain blue and white triband after the union dissolved in 1838. On 7 March 1866 five blue stars were placed on the flag to represent the five original provinces: El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. The size and position of the stars were officially fixed when the design was standardized on 18 January 1949.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: The 1949 decree specified that the stripes were to be cyan, but in practice the flag remained blue for the next seven decades. The Honduran government only began flying cyan flags after the inauguration of president Xiomara Castro on 27 January 2022, after the National Autonomous University of Honduras made that recommendation in 2021.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: Ships of the Honduran Navy fly a naval ensign which has the coat of arms of Honduras above an inverted arch of five small stars and a pendant.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: The origins of the Honduran flag date back to United Provinces of Central America, which Honduras was part of. It was the first country in Central America to use a blue-white-blue triband, which in turn was based on the flag of Argentina


title: Flag of Honduras

text: Flag used since independence, and finally abolished in 1949. The flag has been defined as flag of the UPOCA without emblem.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: On February 16, 1866, President José María Medina modified the coat of arms and flag, adding 5 stars representing the 5 original united provinces. The most popular arrangement of blue stars was similar to the arrangement of the dots on a die, but there were also alternative arrangements. Versions other than the current one disappeared by the 1930s.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: Although there wasn't any mention regarding the exact shade of blue to be used, the most common version (including the one used by military forces) used navy blue.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: Between 1896 and 1898 Honduras was part of a union known as Greater Republic of Central America. Within the union, Honduras still has its own flag. Around this time, an unofficial version with gold stars comes out, sometimes only considered a mistake. The likely reason for this is that the union used gold stars.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: On January 26, 1949, President Juan Manuel Gálvez amended the 1866 decree, confirming the position of the stars. The decree also defined the shade of blue used on the stripes and stars as turquoise. However, that change wasn't implemented and the flag continued to be produced using navy blue for 73 years.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: In September 2018, an MP proposed to change the colour of the flag to Mayan blue, possibly in relation to the Mayan civilization, which occupied part of the country's territory.


title: Flag of Honduras

text: In 2020, the National Autonomous University of Honduras published its guidelines regarding the shades of blue used on the flag, due to the "absence" of an official position about the topic. Following the intention of the 1949 decree, the guidelines established a lighter shade of blue for the Honduran flag "until its colors are defined and regulated by legislative decree".


title: Flag of Honduras

text: On January 4, 2022, the Honduran Armed Forces announced a change from this month on their monograms, uniforms and logo to represent the national flag in turquoise. The announcement came shortly after President-elect Xiomara Castro also announced the use of the flag in that shade of blue.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: As in other states that employ the Westminster political system, His Majesty's Home Civil Service forms an inseparable part of the British government. The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by HM Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not of the British parliament. Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for the political advantage of the party in power. Senior civil servants may be called to account to Parliament.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: In general use, the term "civil servant" in the United Kingdom does not include all public sector employees; although there is no fixed legal definition, the term is usually defined as a "servant of the Crown working in a civil capacity who is not the holder of a political (or judicial) office; the holder of certain other offices in respect of whose tenure of office special provision has been made; [or] a servant of the Crown in a personal capacity paid from the Civil List". As such, the civil service does not include government ministers (who are politically appointed), members of the British Armed Forces, the police, officers of local government authorities or quangos of the Houses of Parliament, employees of the National Health Service (NHS), or staff of the Royal Household. As at the end of March 2021 there were 484,880 civil servants in the Home Civil Service, an increase of 6.23 per cent on the previous year.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: There are two other administratively separate civil services in the United Kingdom. One is for Northern Ireland (the Northern Ireland Civil Service); the other is the foreign service (His Majesty's Diplomatic Service). The heads of these services are members of the Permanent Secretaries Management Group.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Offices of State grew in England, and later the United Kingdom. Initially, they were little more than secretariats for their leaders, who held positions at court. They were chosen by the king on the advice of a patron, and typically replaced when their patron lost influence. In the 18th century, in response to the growth of the British Empire and economic changes, institutions such as the Office of Works and the Navy Board grew large. Each had its own system and staff were appointed by purchase or patronage. By the 19th century, it became increasingly clear that these arrangements were not working.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Under Charles Grant, the East India Company established the East India Company College at Haileybury near London, to train administrators, in 1806. The College was established on recommendation of officials in China who had seen the imperial examination system. In government, a civil service, replacing patronage with examination, similar to the Chinese system, was advocated a number of times over the next several decades.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: William Ewart Gladstone, in 1850, an opposition member, sought a more efficient system based on expertise rather than favouritism. The East India Company provided a model for Stafford Northcote, private Secretary to Gladstone who, with Charles Trevelyan, drafted the key report in 1854. The Northcote–Trevelyan Report, recommended a permanent, unified, politically neutral civil service, with appointments made on merit, and a clear division between staff responsible for routine ("mechanical") and those engaged in policy formulation and implementation ("administrative") work. The report was not implemented, but it came as the bureaucratic chaos in the Crimean War demonstrated that the military was as backward as the civil service. A Civil Service Commission was set up in 1855 to oversee open recruitment and end patronage as Parliament passed an Act "to relieve the East India Company from the obligation to maintain the College at Haileybury". Prime Minister Gladstone took the decisive step in 1870 with his Order in Council to implement the Northcote-Trevelyan proposals. This system was broadly endorsed by Commissions chaired by Playfair (1874), Ridley (1886), MacDonnell (1914), Tomlin (1931) and Priestley (1955).


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Northcote–Trevelyan model remained essentially stable for a hundred years. This was attributed to its success in removing corruption, delivering public services, even under stress of war, and responding effectively to political change. Patrick Diamond argues:


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Irish Civil Service was separated from the British civil service. The Acts of Union 1800 abolished the Parliament of Ireland, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was retained in formal charge of the Irish executive based at Dublin Castle. The Irish Office in Whitehall liaised with Dublin Castle. Some British departments' area of operation extended to Ireland, while in other fields the Dublin department was separate from the Whitehall equivalent.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Following the Second World War demands for change grew again. There was a concern (illustrated in C. P. Snow's "Strangers and Brothers" series of novels) that technical and scientific expertise was mushrooming, to a point at which the "good all-rounder" culture of the administrative civil servant with a classics or other arts degree could no longer properly engage with it: as late as 1963, for example, the Treasury had just 19 trained economists. The times were, moreover, ones of keen respect for technocracy, with the mass mobilisation of war having worked effectively, and the French National Plan apparently delivering economic success. And there was also a feeling which would not go away, following the war and the radical social reforms of the 1945 Labour government, that the so-called "mandarins" of the higher civil service were too remote from the people. Indeed, between 1948 and 1963 only three per cent of the recruits to the administrative class came from the working classes, and in 1966 more than half of the administrators at undersecretary level and above had been privately educated.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Lord Fulton's committee reported in 1968. He found that administrators were not professional enough, and in particular lacked management skills; that the position of technical and scientific experts needed to be rationalised and enhanced; and that the service was indeed too remote. His 158 recommendations included the introduction of a unified grading system for all categories of staff, a Civil Service College and a central policy planning unit. He also said that control of the service should be taken from the Treasury, and given to a new Department, and that the "fast stream" recruitment process for accessing the upper echelons should be made more flexible, to encourage candidates from less privileged backgrounds. The new Department was set up by Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour Government in 1968 and named the Civil Service Department, known as CSD. Wilson himself took on the role of Minister for the Civil Service (which has continued to be a portfolio of the Prime Minister), while the first Minister in Charge of the Civil Service Department was Cabinet Minister Lord Shackleton, also Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal. The first Permanent Secretary was Sir William Armstrong, who moved over from his post as Permanent Secretary at the Treasury. After the 1970 General Election, new Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath appointed Lord Jellicoe in Lord Shackleton's place.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Into Heath's Downing Street came the Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS), and they were in particular given charge of a series of Programme Analysis and Review (PAR) studies of policy efficiency and effectiveness.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: But, whether through lack of political will, or through passive resistance by a mandarinate which the report had suggested were "amateurs", Fulton failed. The Civil Service College equipped generalists with additional skills, but did not turn them into qualified professionals as ENA did in France. Recruits to the fast stream self-selected, with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge still producing a large majority of successful English candidates, since the system continued to favour the tutorial system at Oxbridge while to an extent the Scottish Ancient universities educated a good proportion of recruits from north of the border. The younger mandarins found excuses to avoid managerial jobs in favour of the more prestigious postings. The generalists remained on top, and the specialists on tap.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Margaret Thatcher came to office in 1979 believing in free markets as a better social system in many areas than the state: government should be small but active. Many of her ministers were suspicious of the civil service, in light of public choice research that suggested public servants tend to increase their own power and budgets.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: She immediately set about reducing the size of the civil service, cutting numbers from 732,000 to 594,000 over her first seven years in office. Derek Rayner, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer, was appointed as an efficiency expert with the Prime Minister's personal backing; he identified numerous problems with the Civil Service, arguing that only three billion of the eight billion pounds a year spent at that time by the Civil Service consisted of essential services, and that the "mandarins" (senior civil servants) needed to focus on efficiency and management rather than on policy advice. In late 1981 the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the Civil Service Department, transferring power over the Civil Service to the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Office. The Priestley Commission principle of pay comparability with the private sector was abandoned in February 1982.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Meanwhile, Michael Heseltine was introducing a comprehensive system of corporate and business planning (known as MINIS) first in the Department of the Environment and then in the Ministry of Defence. This led to the "Financial Management Initiative", launched in September 1982 ("Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Civil Service" (Cmnd 8616)) as an umbrella for the efficiency scrutiny programme and with a wider focus on corporate planning, efficiency and objective-setting. Progress initially was sluggish, but in due course MINIS-style business planning became standard, and delegated budgets were introduced, so that individual managers were held much more accountable for meeting objectives, and for the first time for the resources they used to do so. Performance-related pay began in December 1984, was built on thereafter, and continues to this day, though the sums involved have always been small compared to the private sector, and the effectiveness of PRP as a genuine motivator has often been questioned.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: In February 1988 Robin Ibbs, who had been recruited from ICI in July 1983 to run the Efficiency Unit (now in No. 10), published his report "Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps". This envisaged a new approach to delivery featuring clear targets and personal responsibility. Without any statutory change, the managerial functions of Ministries would be hived off into Executive Agencies, with clear Framework Documents setting out their objectives, and whose chief executives would be made accountable directly (in some cases to Parliament) for performance. Agencies were to, as far as possible, take a commercial approach to their tasks. However, the Government conceded that agency staff would remain civil servants, which diluted the radicalism of the reform. The approach seems somewhat similar to the Swedish model, though no influence from Sweden has ever been acknowledged.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Next Steps Initiative took some years to get off the ground, and progress was patchy. Significant change was achieved, although agencies never really achieved the level of autonomy envisaged at the start. By 5 April 1993, 89 agencies had been established, and contained over 260,000 civil servants, some 49 per cent of the total.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The focus on smaller, more accountable, units revived the keenness of Ministerial interest in the perceived efficiencies of the private sector. Already in the late 1980s, some common services once set up to capture economies of scale, such as the Property Services Agency and the Crown Suppliers, were being dismantled or sold off. Next, shortly after Thatcher left office, in July 1991, a new programme of market-testing of central government services began, with the White Paper "Competing for Quality" (Cm 1730). Five-yearly or three-yearly policy and finance reviews of all agencies and other public bodies were instituted, where the first question to be answered (the "prior options exercise") was why the function should not be abolished or privatised. In November 1991 the private finance initiative was launched, and by November 1994 the Chancellor of the Exchequer had referred to it as ‘the funding mechanism of choice for most public sector projects’. In 1995 the decision was taken to privatise the Chessington Computer Centre, HMSO, the Occupational Health & Safety Agency and Recruitment & Assessment Services.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: It was believed with the Thatcher reforms that efficiency was improving. But there was still a perception of carelessness and lack of responsiveness in the quality of public services. The government of John Major sought to tackle this with a Citizen's Charter programme. This sought to empower the service user, by setting out rights to standards in each service area, and arrangements for compensation when these were not met. An Office of Public Service and Science was set up in 1992, to see that the Charter policy was implemented across government.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: By 1998, 42 Charters had been published, and they included services provided by public service industries such as the health service and the railways, as well as by the civil service. The programme was also expanded to apply to other organisations such as local government or housing associations, through a scheme of "Chartermark" awards. The programme was greeted with some derision, and it is true that the compensation sometimes hardly seemed worth the effort of claiming, and that the service standards were rarely set with much consumer input. But the initiative did have a significant effect in changing cultures, and paradoxically the spin-off Chartermark initiative may have had more impact on local organisations uncertain about what standards to aim for, than the parent Citizen's Charter programme itself.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The position of Minister for the Civil Service is not part of the Civil Service as it is a political position which has always been held by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The highest ranking civil servant in the country is the Cabinet Secretary. A subsidiary title that was also held by the incumbent was "Head of the Home Civil Service" or more recently sometimes styled "Head of the Civil Service", who until recently was also the incumbent Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office. However, following the Coalition Government of David Cameron the three posts were split from the single holder. The last person to hold all three positions together was Gus O'Donnell, Cabinet Secretary, Head of the Home Civil Service and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, September 2005 – January 2012. The postholder is responsible for ensuring that the Civil Service is equipped with the skills and capability to meet the everyday challenges it faces and that civil servants work in a fair and decent environment. They also chair the Permanent Secretary Management Group and the Civil Service Steering Board which are the main governing bodies of the Civil Service.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: It was announced on 11 October 2011 that, following O'Donnell's retirement at the end of 2011, the role of Head of the Home Civil Service would be split from the post of Cabinet Secretary. There will additionally be a new, separate, Permanent Secretary to lead the Cabinet Office. After O'Donnell's retirement, Jeremy Heywood replaced him as Cabinet Secretary – serving until 24 October 2018 when he retired on health grounds; Ian Watmore as Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary; and lastly, Bob Kerslake as Head of the Home Civil Service. In July 2014 it was announced that Kerslake would step down and Heywood would take the title of Head of the HCS while John Manzoni would be Chief Executive of the Civil Service. From 24 October 2018 to 4 November 2018, the office of Head of the Home Civil Service was vacant, as Heywood resigned on health grounds. Following Heywood's death, Mark Sedwill was given the additional Civil Service portfolio.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The PSMG considers issues of strategic importance to the Civil Service as a whole, as well as providing corporate leadership where a single position is required across all government departments. It is chaired by the Head of the Home Civil Service and consists of all first permanent secretaries and other selected permanent secretaries and directors general. This includes the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, and the Head of the Diplomatic Service.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The CSSB was established in 2007 and meets monthly. Its role is to enhance the performance and reputation of the Civil Service by focusing on specific areas delegated to it by PSMG. The CSSB is chaired by the Head of the Home Civil Service.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Civil Service Commissioners are not civil servants and are independent of Ministers, they are appointed directly by the Crown under Royal Prerogative and they report annually to the King.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Their main role is regarding the recruitment of civil servants. They have the responsibility to ensure that all civil servants are recruited on the "principle of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition." They maintain a recruitment code on the interpretation and application of that principle, and approve any exceptions to it. They audit recruitment policies and practices within the Civil Service and approve all appointments to the most senior levels of the Civil Service.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Commissioners also hear and determine appeals in cases of concern about propriety and conscience raised by civil servants under the Civil Service Code which cannot be resolved through internal procedures.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Northern Ireland has a separate Commission called the "Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland" which has the same role.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Home Civil Service is a politically neutral body, with the function of impartially implementing the policy programme of the elected government.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Like all servants of the Crown, civil servants are legally barred from standing for election as Members of Parliament as they must uphold the duty of being politically neutral. Under regulations first adopted in 1954 and revised in 1984, members of the Senior Civil Service (the top management grades) are barred from holding office in a political party or publicly expressing controversial political viewpoints, while less senior civil servants at an intermediate (managerial) level must generally seek permission to participate in political activities. The most junior civil servants are permitted to participate in political activities, but must be politically neutral in the exercise of their duties. In periods prior to General Elections, the Civil Service undergoes purdah which further restricts their activities.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: All civil servants are subject to the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989, meaning that they may not disclose sensitive government information. Since 1998, there have also been restrictions on contact between civil servants and lobbyists; this followed an incident known as Lobbygate, where an undercover reporter for "The Observer", posing as a business leader, was introduced by a lobbyist to a senior Downing Street official who promised privileged access to government ministers. The Committee on Standards in Public Life, also created in 1998, is responsible for regulation of contacts between public officials and lobbyists.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The increasing influence of politically appointed special advisers in government departments can reduce the political neutrality of public administration. In Thatcher's government, Alan Walters was an official adviser from 1981 to 1984, and again in 1989. Walters' criticisms "of many aspects of Treasury policy, particularly in relation to exchange rate policy" and Thatcher's refusal to dismiss him led to Nigel Lawson's resignation as chancellor in 1989. Thatcher also claimed that the 1981 budget, which increased taxes during the recession and was criticised by 364 economists, had been devised by Walters.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: In 2000, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair was criticised for appointing 20 special advisers (compared to eight under his predecessor John Major) and for the fact that the total salary cost of special advisers across all government departments had reached £4 million. In 2001, Stephen Byers, then Secretary of State for Transport, was forced to resign because of the actions of his special adviser Jo Moore, who instructed a departmental civil servant, Martin Sixsmith, that September 11, 2001, would be "a good day to bury bad news"; this was seen as inappropriate political manipulation of the Civil Service. In particular, under the administration of Tony Blair, the influence of two Downing Street special advisers, Jonathan Powell and Alastair Campbell, both of whom were given formal power over Downing Street civil servants, provoked widespread criticism.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of 2010–2015 had proposed introducing a more American style system where senior civil servants, such as permanent secretaries, became political appointees. However, this was dropped after it was considered that the existing permanent civil service style was better-suited to the government of the United Kingdom.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The political neutrality of the civil service was called into question during the 2016 - 2019 Brexit negotiations, with political figures such as Brexit Party Leader Nigel Farage accusing the civil service of having a "pro-Remain bias". In response Sir Mark Sedwill, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, issued a letter to all Department Chiefs warning that Brexit was having an "unsettling" effect on civil servants.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: A version of the civil service code was introduced in 2006 to outline the core values and standards expected of civil servants. The core values are defined as "integrity", "honesty", "objectivity", and "impartiality". A key change from previous values is the removal of "anonymity" within the core values. The Code includes an independent line of appeal to the Civil Service Commissioners on alleged breaches of the Code.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Civil Service Management Code (CSMC) sets out the regulations and instructions to departments and agencies regarding the terms and conditions of service of civil servants. It is the guiding document which gives delegation to civil service organisations, from the Minister for the Civil Service, in order for them to make internal personnel policies.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code is maintained by the Civil Service Commissioners and is based on the "principle of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition."


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The Osmotherly Rules set out guidance on how civil servants should respond to Parliamentary select committees.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: A two-volume 125-page "Directory of Civil Service Guidance" was published in 2000 to replace the previous "Guidance on Guidance", providing short summaries of guidance on a wide range of issues and pointing to more detailed sources.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The structure of the home civil service is divided into organisations, grades and professions. Each Secretary of State has a Department which has executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies subordinate to it.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The grading system used in the civil service has changed many times, and the current structure is made up of two schemes. All senior grades (Deputy Director / Grade 5 level and above) are part of the senior civil service, which is overseen by the Cabinet Office on behalf of the civil service as a whole. Below the senior civil service, each individual department/executive agency can put in place its own grading and pay arrangements, provided they still comply with the central civil service pay and review guidance.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: For other grades many departments overlay their own grading structure, however all these structures must map across to the central government structure as shown below.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: The "lingua franca" is to describe civil servants, and in particular their grades, predominantly through a lens of administrative activity (as in the current structure of the table above), but in practice the civil service has, and always had, a number of subdivisions, with the Historic Grades having an additional designator (usually omitted for senior managers, but included from middle and junior managers) as shown as "xxx", with the major groupings being:


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Recruitment data from the 2018 Civil Service Fast Stream process showed that white applicants were 15 times more likely to be recruited than black candidates.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: A privilege day is a day of annual leave granted to employees of the civil service. These are in addition to bank holidays.


title: Civil Service (United Kingdom)

text: Since reforms by the Cabinet Office in 2013, the Maundy Thursday (Easter) and Christmas privilege days are no longer available for new civil servants. For civil servants who were in their positions when the changes came into force, these 1.5 days have been converted into additional annual leave. Because the Queen's Birthday privilege day was granted by Queen Victoria, it would have been difficult for the Cabinet Office to abolish it by an administrative measure, so the Cabinet Office decided to retain this day as a privilege day. Privilege days still count as "working days" for the purpose of freedom of information requests.