title: Expert system

text: Mistral is an expert system to monitor dam safety, developed in the 1990s by Ismes (Italy). It gets data from an automatic monitoring system and performs a diagnosis of the state of the dam. Its first copy, installed in 1992 on the Ridracoli Dam (Italy), is still operational 24/7/365. It has been installed on several dams in Italy and abroad (e.g., Itaipu Dam in Brazil), and on landslide sites under the name of Eydenet, and on monuments under the name of Kaleidos. Mistral is a registered trade mark of CESI.


title: Mitsui

text: The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. (general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industries, Pokka Sapporo Holdings, Toray Industries, Mitsui Chemicals, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Mitsui Fudosan.


title: Mitsui

text: Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi (1622–1694), who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture. From his shop, called Echigoya (越後屋), Mitsui Takatoshi's father originally sold miso and ran a pawn shop business. Later, the family would open a second shop in Edo (now called Tokyo).


title: Mitsui

text: Takatoshi moved to Edo when he was 14 years old, and later his older brother joined him. Sent back to Matsutaka by his brother, Takatoshi waited for 24 years until his older brother died before he could take over the family shop, Echigoya. He opened a new branch in 1673; a large gofukuya (kimono shop) in Nihonbashi, a district in the heart of Edo. This genesis of Mitsui's business history began in the "Enpō" era, which was a "nengō" meaning "Prolonged Wealth".


title: Mitsui

text: In time, the gofukuya division separated from Mitsui, and is now called Mitsukoshi. Traditionally, gofukuyas provided products made to order; a visit was made to the customer's house (typically a person of high social class or who was successful in business), an order taken, then fulfilled. The system of accountancy was called "margin transaction". Mitsui changed this by producing products first, then selling them directly at his shop for cash. At the time, this was an unfamiliar mode of operation in Japan. Even as the shop began providing dry goods to the government of the city of Edo, cash sales were not yet a widespread business practice.


title: Mitsui

text: At about this time, Edo's government had struck a business deal with Osaka. Osaka would sell crops and other material to pay its land tax. The money was then sent to Edo—but moving money was dangerous in middle feudal Japan. In 1683 the shogunate granted permission for money exchanges ("ryōgaeten") to be established in Edo. The Mitsui "exchange shops" facilitated transfers and mitigated that known risk.


title: Mitsui

text: After the Meiji Restoration, Mitsui was among the enterprises that were able to expand to become zaibatsu not simply because they were already big and rich at the start of modern industrial development. Firms like Mitsui and Sumitomo were led by non-family managers such as Minomura Rizaemon, who guided the business by accurately forecasting the coming political and economic situations, by acquaintance with high-ranking government officials or politicians, and bold investment.


title: Mitsui

text: Mitsui's main business in the early period was drapery, finance, and trade, the first two being the businesses it inherited from the Tokugawa Era. It entered into mining because it acquired a mine as collateral from the loan it had made, and partly because it could buy a mine cheaply from the government, Mitsui then diversified to become the biggest business in pre-war Japan. The diversification was made mainly into related fields to take advantage of accumulated capabilities; for instance, the trading company entered into chemicals to attain forward integration.


title: Mitsui

text: On July 1, 1876, Mitsui Bank, Japan's first private bank, was founded with Takashi Masuda (1848–1938) as its president. Mitsui Bank, which following a merger with Taiyō-Kobe Bank in the mid-1980s became part of Sakura Bank, survives as part of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. During the early 20th century, Mitsui was one of the largest zaibatsu, operating in numerous fields.


title: Mitsui

text: Mitsui Bank became the holding company of the Mitsui zaibatsu from 1876. It was joined as an ultimate parent company by Mitsui & Co. and Mitsui Mining in 1900, with various industrial concerns owned by various combinations of these companies and their subsidiaries.


title: Mitsui

text: Likewise, Mitsui invested in maritime transportation to support its trading activities as well as invest in passenger transportation, first with the creation in 1878 of Osaka Shosen Kaisha (OSK), which was merged with Mitsui Steamship in 1964, to become Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), which is today one of the largest ocean shipping groups in the world.


title: Mitsui

text: When the United Kingdom withdrew from the gold standard in 1931, during the height of the Great Depression, Mitsui Bank and Mitsui & Co. were found to have speculated around the transaction. This raised a political furor in Japan and resulted in the assassination of Mitsui executive Takuma Dan.


title: Mitsui

text: During the 1930s and '40s, the subsidiary tobacco industry of Mitsui had started production of special "Golden Bat" cigarettes using the then-popular in the Far East trademark. Their circulation was prohibited in Japan and was used only for export. Local Japanese secret service "kempetai" under the controversial Imperial Japanese Army General Kenji Doihara had the control of their distribution in China and Manchuria where the production exported. Within the mouthpiece were small discreet doses of opium or heroin, and consequently millions of unsuspecting consumers became addicted to these narcotics, while huge profits were created for the company. The mastermind of the plan, Doihara, was later prosecuted and convicted for war crimes before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, sentenced to death; but no actions ever took place against the company which profited from their production. According to testimony presented at the Tokyo War Crimes trials in 1948, the revenue from the narcotization policy in China, including Manchukuo, was estimated in 20 million to 30 million yen per year, while another authority stated that the annual revenue was estimated by the Japanese military at US$300 million a year.


title: Mitsui

text: During the Second World War, Mitsui employed American prisoners of war as slave laborers, some of whom were maimed by Mitsui employees.


title: Mitsui

text: In 1947 and 1948, the Supreme Commander Allied Powers pressed the Japanese government to dismantle the ten largest "zaibatsu" conglomerates, including Mitsui. The Mitsui Group, now broken into many separate companies, reorganized itself as a horizontal coalition of independent companies in the 1950s, once the occupation of Japan had ended and some of the smaller companies were allowed to re-coalesce. The central firms in the "keiretsu" became Mitsui Bank and Mitsui & Co.


title: Mitsui

text: Mitsui lagged somewhat behind its rivals Mitsubishi and Sumitomo Group in reorganization. Mitsui Bank, which should have been the mainstay and principal capital provider of the group, declined in size due to the collapse of the Imperial Bank after the war, which resulted in reduced cohesion of the conglomerate. Many companies that were once part of the Mitsui Group have become independent or tied to other conglomerates. Specifically, Toshiba, Toyota Motors, and Suntory, once part of the Mitsui Group, became independent, with the Toyota Group becoming a conglomerate in its own right.


title: Mitsui

text: Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI Corporation) is now considered to be part of the Mizuho Group, and many companies in the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are now more closely tied to the Sumitomo Group than the Mitsui Group. Recently there have been signs that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and the Mitsubishi Group could be taking over other parts of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. Mitsukoshi merged into Isetan, a major department store with close ties to the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, to form Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings in April 2008.


title: Mitsui

text: Companies currently associated with the Mitsui keiretsu include Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Japan Steel Works, Mitsui Chemicals, Mitsui Construction Co., Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, Mitsui Fudosan, Mitsui-gold, Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd., Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. (MOECO), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Ltd, Mitsui-Soko, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, Nippon Paper Industries, Pacific Coast Recycling, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Taiheiyo Cement, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Toray Industries, Toshiba Corporation, Tri-net Logistics Management, and Mitsui Commodity Risk Management (MCRM).


title: Wolpertinger

text: In German folklore, a wolpertinger (also called wolperdinger or woiperdinger) is an animal said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.


title: Wolpertinger

text: It has a body comprising various animal parts – generally wings, antlers, a tail, and fangs; all attached to the body of a small mammal. The most widespread description portrays the Wolpertinger as having the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer, and the wings and occasionally the legs of a pheasant.


title: Wolpertinger

text: Stuffed "wolpertingers", composed of parts of actual stuffed animals, are often displayed in inns or sold to tourists as souvenirs in the animals' "native regions". The Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum in Munich, Germany features a permanent exhibit on the creature.


title: Wolpertinger

text: It resembles other creatures from German folklore, such as the "Rasselbock" of the Thuringian Forest, the Dilldapp of the Alemannic region, and the "Elwedritsche" of the Palatinate region, which accounts describe as a chicken-like creature with antlers; additionally the American Jackalope as well as the Swedish Skvader somewhat resemble the wolpertinger. The Austrian counterpart of the wolpertinger is the raurakl.


title: Wolpertinger

text: According to folklore, Wolpertingers can be found in the forests of Bavaria. Variant regional spellings of the name include Wolperdinger, Woipertingers, and Volpertinger. They are part of a larger family of horned mammals that exist throughout the Germanic regions of Europe, such as the Austrian Raurackl, which is nearly identical to the German Wolpertinger.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: "Wrecking Ball" is a song recorded by American singer Miley Cyrus for her fourth studio album, "Bangerz" (2013). It was released on August 25, 2013, by RCA Records as the album's second single. The song was written by Mozella, Stephan Moccio, Sacha Skarbek, with Dr. Luke and Cirkut, who also served as the producers, credited as co-writers along with David Kim. "Wrecking Ball" is a pop ballad which lyrically discusses the deterioration of a relationship.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: "Wrecking Ball" debuted at number fifty on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and subsequently became Cyrus' first number-one song on the chart after the release of its controversial music video; it retained the peak position during the following week. Nine weeks later, the track returned to number one, and consequently had the largest gap between number-one sittings in "Billboard" Hot 100 history within a single chart run. As of January 2014, "Wrecking Ball" has sold three million copies in the United States. Outside of the United States, "Wrecking Ball" topped the charts in Canada, Hungary, Israel, Lebanon, Spain, and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts throughout much of continental Europe and Oceania. It is Cyrus' only song to crack the "Billboard" Decade-End, doing so at number 99.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: An accompanying music video for "Wrecking Ball" was released on September 9, 2013. It features close-up scenes of Cyrus tearfully singing, reminiscent of the clip for "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor, interspersed with footage of a nude Cyrus swinging on a wrecking ball. Critics were divided in their opinions of the music video, feeling that it was more provocative than the clip for her previous single "We Can't Stop". "Wrecking Ball" previously held the Vevo record for the most views in the first 24 hours after its release with 19.3 million views. At the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards, Cyrus took home the award for Best Video and the award for Video of the Year at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Adding to the video's success, Cyrus won the award for World's Best Video at the 2014 World Music Awards in Monte Carlo. Cyrus performed "Wrecking Ball" during several live performances, including the iHeartRadio Music Festival, an episode of "Saturday Night Live" and the "TikTok Tailgate" before Super Bowl LV.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: Before directly stating that "Wrecking Ball" was originally written with Beyoncé in mind, songwriter Sacha Skarbek tweeted "Beyonce song now becoming a Miley Cyrus song?!! Good/bad? I don't know??!!!! "


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: The song, and the cover of its parent album "Bangerz" (2013), were unveiled on August 25, 2013, before Cyrus' performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. She released the cover artwork for "Wrecking Ball" on September 6, which shows Cyrus dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and underwear while swinging on a wrecking ball. The song was serviced to contemporary hit radio stations in the United States on September 17. It serves as the second single from "Bangerz", following the lead single "We Can't Stop", which was released in June.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: "Wrecking Ball" is a pop ballad; According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing America, it is set in common time with a tempo of 60 beats per minute. The track is written in the key of D minor and follows the chord progression Dm–F–C–Gm, but the chorus is in F major. Cyrus' vocals span from the low note of F to the high note of B. BMiriam Coleman of "Rolling Stone" noted that it begins with a minimalist keyboard instrumentation, which puts emphasis on Cyrus "anguished vocals", and also described it as a "heartbroken counterpoint" to "We Can't Stop". Cyrus said that "Wrecking Ball" was inspired by "OneRepublic, and the way Timbaland used to do those big ballads."


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: "Wrecking Ball" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Writing for "The A.V. Club", Marah Eakin provided a favorable review, calling it a "solid ballad" and describing it as "a modern day 'My Heart Will Go On' that discussed a deteriorated, shortlived young romance." Kitty Empire from "The Observer" opined that "the heartbreak section of "Bangerz" mostly repays your attention" and mentioned "Wrecking Ball" to be a part of it. Although he found the song "predictable," Evan Sawdey of "PopMatters" gave it an overall positive review and complimented its production and the build up to its chorus, calling it "the kind of broad mainstream song that shows how you how to properly build up to a chorus before hitting us over the head with it. Jon Dolan of "Rolling Stone" felt that it "[rides] the hunger and confusion that make great coming-of-age pop." Writing for AllMusic, Heather Phares considered the track to be a standout from "Bangerz".


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: Writing for "Digital Spy", Robert Copsey questioned Cyrus' decision to premiere a ballad in the midst of controversies regarding her "salacious exploits", but enjoyed the song itself and opined that it "proves that there's method behind the madness." In a more mixed review, Joseph Atilano from the "Philippine Daily Inquirer" appreciated the lyrics for seeming heartfelt, but felt that its production was "comparatively weaker" by comparison to her earlier projects. Mikael Wood of the "Los Angeles Times" felt that the track proved that Cyrus "isn't just a twerk-bot programmed to titillate", but suggested that her "singing throbs with what feels like an embarrassment of emotion" and found it peculiar that the song discussed the singer's relationship with Hemsworth when her public behavior seemingly suggested that she "couldn't care less about" it.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: After a month of voting, on March 31, 2014, "Billboard" declared the song to be the winner of the 2014 Hot 100 March Madness and their favorite Top 5 single from the past year. It defeated songs like "Holy Grail" by Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, "Best Song Ever" by One Direction, "Applause" by Lady Gaga, "Timber" by Pitbull and Kesha and finally "Just Give Me a Reason" by Pink and Nate Ruess.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: Before officially being serviced as a single, "Wrecking Ball" made a "hot shot debut" at number 50 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 for the week issued on September 7, 2013, with 90,000 downloads in two days. It reached number 14 the following week with 201,000 downloads. After its official premiere as the second single from "Bangerz", the track peaked at number one in the United States in its fourth week, heavily assisted by online streaming credits from its recently released music video; this gave Cyrus her first number-one single in the country. It sold 477,000 copies that week, becoming the third-highest single sales week of 2013, behind the 582,000 units moved by "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift and the 557,000 units moved by "Roar" by Katy Perry. In December, "Wrecking Ball" returned to the peak position after being stuck at number two or three the previous nine weeks as Lorde's "Royals" topped the Hot 100, with assistance from a viral parody video and consequently became the largest gap between number-one sittings in "Billboard" history within a single chart run. The next week it tumbled to number 5 as Eminem's "The Monster" featuring Rihanna topped the chart. As of December 2014, "Wrecking Ball" has sold 3,640,000 copies in the United States. The track peaked at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and was later certified quadruple-platinum in the country. It reached the peak position on the Mexico Ingles Airplay.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In the United Kingdom, "Wrecking Ball" and "Bangerz" both debuted at the top of the UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart respectively on October 13, 2013 – for the week ending date October 19, 2013 – making Cyrus the first artist of 2013 to achieve an Official Charts Company "chart double". It was later certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. Additionally, the song became Cyrus' second chart-topping song in Britain after "We Can't Stop" in August 2013.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In Belgium, "Wrecking Ball" peaked at numbers four and five on the Belgian Ultratop in the Flanders and Wallonia regions respectively, and was eventually awarded a gold certification.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In Germany, "Wrecking Ball" peaked at number six on the German Singles Chart, and was later certified platinum. It charted at number three on the Italian FIMI chart, and earned a double-platinum certification.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In Australia and New Zealand, "Wrecking Ball" peaked at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and the New Zealand Singles Chart respectively. It was certified sixtuple-platinum in the former country, and was given a platinum certification in the latter.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: An accompanying music video for "Wrecking Ball" was directed by Terry Richardson, and was premiered through Vevo on September 9, 2013. The clip features close-up footage of Cyrus emotionally singing to the camera against a white backdrop, having been inspired by the music video for "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor. Interspersed throughout are scenes of Cyrus licking a sledgehammer and swinging on a wrecking ball. At first, she is shown dressed in a midriff-baring tank top, panties and Doc Martens boots; as the video progresses, she is then shown wearing only the boots.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: The music video received generally mixed reviews from critics, who were divided in their opinions regarding Cyrus's increasingly provocative image. Writing for "Billboard", Jason Lipshutz stated that the "nude Cyrus shown straddling a swinging wrecking ball" was the most surprising piece of the clip. The staff from "Entertainment Weekly" joked that viewers would be "scandalized/titillated/disappointed in Billy Ray Cyrus's parenting skills" after seeing his daughter nude and "fellating a sledgehammer". Writing for "The Guardian", Michael Hann criticized Cyrus's attempts to distance herself from her innocent "Hannah Montana" image, a former television series in which Cyrus portrayed the primary character Miley Stewart, a middle school student who led a secret double life as pop star Hannah Montana. He disapproved of the manner in which she transitioned into a career beyond her childhood success, specifically panning her for "exploring the iconography of porn." As of January 2015, "Billboard" named the video as the fourth best music video of the 2010s (so far).


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: James Montgomery from MTV News noted that the controversy surrounding Cyrus's nudity in the video was "to be expected" given her recent controversies, and complimented Richardson "for toning down the "salacious" scenes (if only for an instant), and allowing the softer, more genuine sides to shine through." Mikael Wood of the "Los Angeles Times" opined that the music video tried to paint Cyrus in a more serious light with its scenes of her emotionally singing and crying.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: "Billboard" editor Jason Lipshutz opined "Wrecking Ball" is Cyrus's "Cry Me a River", for their controversial music videos and the artists' music evolution. "A decade ago, Justin Timberlake was in "My music will shut everyone up" mode, too, as he railed against a teenybopper image". He concluded "Cyrus is breathtaking and talented, and, now that she has our attention with her own version of "Cry Me a River," can dial down the shock tactics and present her artistic vision in the form of a new full-length."


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: With 19.3 million views in the first twenty-four hours of its release, the music video held the record for having the most views in that time-frame across Vevo platforms. This record was held by One Direction's music video for "Best Song Ever", which amased 10.9 million views in July. The first-day viewing record was surpassed by the video for "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj in August 2014, which received 19.6 million views upon its premiere. The video has received over 1.0 billion views on YouTube. A director's cut of the music video was released on September 24, which features only the close-up footage of Cyrus singing against the white backdrop. Vanessa White Wolf from MTV News noted that "the only time Richardson cuts away is at the very end, where, after a quick director's credit page, we see Terry and Miley laughing and mugging for the camera."


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: The 2014 Australian art prize the Bald Archy was awarded to Judy Nadin for "Wrecking Balls Ashes to Ashes", parodying cricketer Mitchell Johnson as Cyrus.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In an interview in 2017, Cyrus stated that she is not "a big fan" of the music video herself. "'Wrecking Ball' -- I'll do it, but I don't love it... It's when you're so stoked about something and then you have to sing a song that bums you out. And I'll never live down when I licked a sledgehammer."


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: On September 21, 2013, Cyrus performed "Wrecking Ball" for the first time during the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas; she performed twice, first in the afternoon at Festival Village, and later in the evening at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Despite generating media attention for a provocative wardrobe, the performance was considered to be "fairly tame considering the VMAs". On October 5, Cyrus served as the host and musical guest during an episode of "Saturday Night Live", which gained favorable reviews from music critics. The following Monday, Cyrus performed the track on "Today" as part of their Toyota Concert Series. She also performed the song during appearances on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" later that month.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In November, Cyrus traveled to Europe to sing "Wrecking Ball" at the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards in Amsterdam on November 10, 2013; she garnered media attention for smoking a joint of marijuana on-stage while accepting the Best Video Award for the track. On November 17, 2013, she performed the song on "The X Factor" in the United Kingdom. After being criticized for delivering a lackluster vocal performance, Cyrus was placed under "vocal rest" by her doctors in preparation of the Bangerz Tour. During her trip, she also performed on "Wetten, dass..?" in Germany (November 9), BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in London (November 12), and the 2013 Bambi Awards in Germany (November 14). On November 24, Cyrus performed "Wrecking Ball" at the 2013 American Music Awards; a digitally animated cat projected on the screen behind her lip-synced the lyrics alongside her. In December, she performed at Jingle Ball concerts in Los Angeles (KIIS-FM Jingle Ball), Saint Paul, Atlanta, New York City, Washington, D.C., Tampa and Sunrise. Cyrus also performed "Wrecking Ball" on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" in Times Square on December 31.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: An episode of "MTV Unplugged" starring Cyrus premiered through MTV on January 29, 2014; she performed an acoustic version of "Wrecking Ball", among several additional tracks from "Bangerz". On May 27, 2014 Cyrus performed the song during the World Music Awards held in Monte Carlo, Monaco; where she also won four World Music Awards. She wore a gown with a scenic theme based on flowers during the performance. It received positive reviews for its understated simplicity and strong vocal delivery. Cyrus returned to perform the song during the musical festival on June 21, 2014, Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium of London, in front of 80,000 people. Cyrus has performed the song during her ongoing Bangerz Tour. A critic from the "Nashville Scene" praised the performance, writing, "Wrecking Ball was sung by Miley and earnestly shouted in unison by the arena, some of the audience tearing up." Blake Hannon praised Cyrus' vocal delivery, writing, "The crowd kept going when things slowed down for Wrecking Ball. It was the highlight of the night, and not because of anything visual. The costumed characters vanished and the screen was black, with Cyrus belting out one of the best pop power ballads in recent memory with only a smattering of lights. It's a reminder that beneath it all, Cyrus has a voice — and a pretty big one, at that."


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In September 2013, British singer-songwriter James Arthur covered "Wrecking Ball" on Radio Hamburg in Germany. Later that month, The Gregory Brothers released a country version, which Laura Vitto from Mashable felt "trades in Miley's pop-ballad sound for a twangier feel." American singer-songwriter Alonzo Holt released his own rendition in October, which featured vocals from Arthur; it peaked at number 97 on the UK Singles Chart and number 71 on the Irish Singles Chart. Upstate New York alternative metal band Cry To The Blind released a cover of "Wrecking Ball" on December 11, 2013. American group Haim covered "Wrecking Ball" during their performance on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, while the trio London Grammar sang it for the same session in December. Rumer Willis later sang the track during a performance which Chiderah Monde from "Daily News" felt "captured more of the emotion behind the song" than Cyrus' version. American singer Rebecca Black uploaded an acoustic version to her YouTube channel in November. Canadian singer Sarah Blackwood of Walk Off the Earth also released an acoustic version.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: Danie Geimer, a contestant on the third season of "The X Factor USA", performed the track during the first live show on October 29, while Dami Im from the fifth season of "The X Factor Australia" sang it in the semi-final round. Marley Rose (Melissa Benoist) covered the song and parodied elements of the music video for the "Glee" episode "The End of Twerk". The late Christina Grimmie sang the song during the Blind Auditions of sixth season of "The Voice" USA. Australian artist Kat Jade auditioned with a stripped-back/single-piano version in the third season of "The Voice" Australia after posting a popular acapella version of the song to her YouTube channel. "Weird Al" Yankovic covered the song as the first in his polka medley "NOW That's What I Call Polka!" for his 2014 album "Mandatory Fun". Metal band August Burns Red covered the song for the compilation album Punk Goes Pop 6. Melisa Cantiveros impersonated Miley Cyrus in Your Face Sounds Familiar (Philippines season 1) and performed this song, which she won the season.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: 50 Cent told "NME" that the song was the one he would perform at karaoke: "Just a big pop song that no one would suspect, just to fuck with them. Make them go, "What?"" The song was featured in the films "The Night Before" and "Free Guy.


title: Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song)

text: In 2021, the song was covered by Brandy in the ABC drama series "Queens". The song was released digitally worldwide on October 25, 2021.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Joseph Michael Mercola (; born July 8, 1954) is an American alternative medicine proponent, osteopathic physician, and Internet business personality. He markets dietary supplements and medical devices. On his website, Mercola and colleagues advocate unproven and pseudoscientific alternative health notions including homeopathy and opposition to vaccination. These positions have received persistent criticism. Mercola is a member of several alternative medicine organizations as well as the political advocacy group Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which promotes scientifically discredited views about medicine and disease. Until 2013, Mercola operated the Dr. Mercola Natural Health Center (formerly the Optimal Wellness Center) in Schaumburg, Illinois. He is the author of the books "The No-Grain Diet" (with Alison Rose Levy) and "The Great Bird Flu Hoax".


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola's medical claims have been criticized by the medical, scientific, regulatory, and business communities. A 2006 "BusinessWeek" editorial stated his marketing practices relied on "slick promotion, clever use of information, and scare tactics." In 2005, 2006, and 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned Mercola and his company that they were making illegal claims for their products' ability to detect, prevent, and treat disease. Quackwatch has criticized Mercola for making "unsubstantiated claims [that] clash with those of leading medical and public health organizations and many unsubstantiated recommendations for dietary supplements". Of Mercola's marketing techniques, surgical oncologist David Gorski says it "mixes the boring, sensible health advice with pseudoscientific advice in such a way that it's hard for someone without a medical background to figure out which is which."


title: Joseph Mercola

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercola spread misinformation about the virus and pseudoscientific anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms; researchers have identified him as the "chief spreader of coronavirus misinformation online".<ref name="Frenkel_7/24/2021"></ref> He has been warned on many occasions by the FDA for selling unapproved health products, including supposed treatments for COVID-19. Mercola was banned from YouTube on September 29, 2021.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Joseph Mercola was born July 8, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Jeanette Aldridge (née Freeman) was a waitress and his father, Thomas Nicholas Mercola, was an Air Force veteran who worked for Marshall Field's, a department store in Chicago. Mercola attended Lane Tech College Prep High School and studied biology and chemistry at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1976. In 1982, he graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (now Midwestern University). According to Mercola's website, he is a former Chairman of Family Medicine at St. Alexius Medical Center. He stopped treating patients in 2009 to work full-time on his health products and vitamin supplements business. In a 2017 affidavit, Mercola stated that his net worth was "in excess of $100 million."


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola lives in Cape Coral, Florida. He is married to Erin Elizabeth, a blogger listed by "The New York Times" as one of the most prolific spreaders of misinformation.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: He has written two books which have been listed on the "New York Times" bestseller list: "The No-Grain Diet" (May 2003) and "The Great Bird Flu Hoax" (October 2006). In the bird flu book, Mercola dismisses medical concerns over an avian influenza pandemic, asserting that the government, big business, and the mainstream media have conspired to promote the threat of avian flu to accrue money and power. Mercola has appeared on "The Dr. Oz Show" and "The Doctors".


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola operates Mercola.com, which he has described as the most popular alternative-health website on the internet. Aside from the main site, it also hosts blog subsites, like "Healthy Pets" and "Peak Fitness". Traffic counting from Quantcast shows the site receives about 1.9 million novel visitors per month, each returning almost ten times each month; the number of views is roughly equal to the number received by the National Institutes of Health. Using aggressive direct-marketing tactics, the site and his company, Mercola LLC, brought in roughly $7 million in 2010 through the sale of alternative medicine treatments and dietary supplements. The site promotes disproven health ideas, including the notions that homeopathy can treat autism and that vaccinations have hidden detriments to human health.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Phyllis Entis, a microbiologist and food safety expert, highlighted Mercola.com as an example of websites "likely to mislead consumers by offering one-sided, incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading information."


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Researchers say that Mercola employs teams in Florida and the Philippines who translate his posts into multiple languages and then post them to groups of websites and social media accounts.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: In August 2021, Mercola announced on his website that he would permanently remove all of his articles, but he would continue to post articles daily, which would be deleted after 48 hours. Rachel E. Moran, a conspiracy theory researcher at the University of Washington said that this announcement was "[Mercola] trying to come up with his own strategies of avoiding his content being taken down, while also playing up this martyrdom of being an influential figure in the movement who keeps being targeted."


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola is a critic of vaccines and vaccination policy, claiming that too many vaccines are given too soon during infancy. He hosts anti-vaccination activists on his website, advocates other measures rather than vaccination in many cases such as using vitamin D rather than a flu shot despite the data not being conclusive and strongly criticizes influenza vaccines. Mercola is viewed as an anti-vaccine propagandist. As of 2019, he has donated at least $4 million to anti-vaccine groups though his Natural Health Research Foundation, including more than $2.9 million to the anti-vaccination group the National Vaccine Information Center, amounting to about 40 percent of that organization's funding. He co-funded an anti-vaccination ad in Times Square in 2011.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola has asserted that thimerosal, a vaccine preservative, is harmful due to its mercury content. Thimerosal has been removed from most vaccines given to young children in the U.S., with no effect on rates of autism diagnosis. Extensive evidence has accumulated since 1999 showing that this preservative is safe, with the World Health Organization stating in 2006 that "there is no evidence of toxicity in infants, children or adults exposed to thimerosal in vaccines."


title: Joseph Mercola

text: In March 2021, an analysis of Twitter and Facebook anti-vaccine content found Mercola's to be one of 12 individual and organization accounts producing up to 65% of all anti-vaccine content on the platforms. As of June 2021, his various social media channels accounted for a total audience exceeding 4.1 million followers.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: In 2020, Mercola was one of the partners in a website called "Stop Covid Cold" offering advice to the public on preventing and treating COVID-19 with alternative remedies. The website includes links to Mercola's online store and puts a strong emphasis on vitamin D supplements, despite a lack of scientific evidence pointing to the effectiveness of such a treatment. The website was taken down in April 2021 after the Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter. In May 2021, Mercola announced he would remove mentions of COVID-19 from his websites, blaming Bill Gates and "big pharma".


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola claimed that inhaling 0.5–3% hydrogen peroxide solution using a nebulizer could prevent or cure COVID-19. A tweet from Mercola advertising this method was removed from Twitter on April 15, 2020, for violating the platform rules, but he continued to make these claims on other platforms, including during a speech at a major conference of anti-vaccination activists in October.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: He was warned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2021 for selling fake COVID-19 cures. In March, the Center for Countering Digital Hate named Mercola as one of the 12 most prominent sources of COVID misinformation in a report later cited by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. In September his accounts on YouTube were removed by the company for breaking their policies on COVID-19 misinformation.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola co-authored a book with Ronnie Cummins, the founder of the Organic Consumers Association, titled "The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal: Why We Must Unite in a Global Movement for Health and Freedom". The McGill Office for Science and Society described the book as "in effect, summarizing the misinformation surrounding COVID-19" and "monumentally wrong". Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Amazon demanding they do more to tackle misinformation about COVID-19 and stop promoting Mercola's book as a bestseller.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: Mercola, was cited in a February 2022 Stanford University report along with Robert W. Malone and Simone Gold, as prominent pseudomedical influencers (PMIs) who were among the top spreaders of COVID-19 misinformation. Using a number of social media accounts, including WhatsApp, Telegram, BitChute, and Facebook accounts in both English and Spanish, Mercola's followers numbered over 4 million. The Virality project listed 30 incidents of Mercola spreading misinformation. Amazon gave his book "The Truth About COVID-19" a prominent placement on their site. His July 10, 2021 video which garnered over 95 thousand views, said that COVID-19 vaccine, was an "experimental gene therapy" that would destroy millions of lives. The report described how Mercola and other PMIs "commonly use manipulated statistics and hard-to verify data as the backbone of their mis- and disinformation." One example they used was the way in which Mercola decontextualized the results of a Washington University study that said that people who have had a mild case COVID-19 may have a lasting antibody protection, to claim that vaccine manufacturers had claimed otherwise and this was bad news for them.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: For his many dietary supplement and device products over some 16 years during the 21st century, Mercola was warned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for falsely advertising products approved to "mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure" various diseases, including as examples: 1) in 2005, Living Fuel RX(TM) and Coconut Oil Products, in 2006, Optimal Wellness Center chlorella and coconut oil, and in 2011, Meditherm Med2000 Infrared camera, which had no approved evidence for use as a diagnostic or therapeutic device.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercola, his company, and social media site were warned again by the FDA in 2020–2021 for falsely advertising the efficacy of high doses of vitamin C, vitamin D3, quercetin, and pterostilbene products to "mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure" COVID-19 disease.


title: Joseph Mercola

text: In 2016, after marketing and selling tanning beds with the claims that they reduced cancer (backed by discredited studies), the Federal Trade Commission filed a false advertising complaint against Mercola and his companies that resulted in Mercola paying $2.6 million in refunds to customers who had bought their tanning beds, and agreed to a ban preventing them from ever again selling tanning beds.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: The Boxcar Children is a children's book series originally created and written by the American first-grade school teacher Gertrude Chandler Warner. Today, the series includes nearly 160 titles, with more being released every year. The series is aimed at readers in grades 2–6.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Originally published in 1924 by Rand McNally (as "The Box-Car Children") and reissued in a shorter revised form in 1942 by Albert Whitman & Company, "The Boxcar Children" tells the story of four orphaned children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden. They create a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar in the forest. They eventually meet their grandfather, who is a wealthy and kind man (although the children had believed him to be cruel). The children decide to live with the grandfather, who moves the beloved boxcar to his backyard so the children can use it as a playhouse. The book was adapted as the film "The Boxcar Children" in 2014 and the sequel novel "Surprise Island" was released as a film in 2018. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the original book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012 the original novel was ranked among the all-time "Top 100 Chapter Books", or children's novels, in a survey published by "School Library Journal".


title: The Boxcar Children

text: In the subsequent books, the children encounter many adventures and mysteries in their neighborhood or at the locations they visit with their grandfather. The majority of the books are set in locations the children are visiting over school holidays such as summer vacation or Christmas break. Only the first 19 stories were written by creator Warner. Other books in the series have been written by other writers, but always feature the byline "Created by Gertrude Chandler Warner". While the Alden children age in Warner's books, and remain younger in the ones published after her death, each book is set around its publication date.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: The original "Boxcar Children" novel tells a story of four orphaned Alden children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. Not wishing to live with their hard-hearted grandfather, whom they have never met because of his disapproval of their parents' marriage, the children strike out on their own following their parents' death. On a cold night, the children stop at a bakery to ask for food, where they are invited to stay for the night. However, when they overhear the baker and his wife are planning to keep the three older children as labor and send Benny to an orphanage, the children decide to escape and flee to the woods instead.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: There they sleep on some pine needles. But Jessie then sees it is about to rain, and frantically searches for some shelter. At that point, she finds an abandoned boxcar and takes her siblings to it. They all renovate it into their new home. They find useful items such as kitchenware at the junkyard, use a stream for water, and collect blueberries for their meals. They also adopt a stray dog that they name Watch. Realizing they cannot live on water and blueberries, Henry walks to a nearby town called Silver City for work. There he meets a young doctor, Dr. Moore, who hires Henry for odd jobs, often paying him in spare food and clothing as well as money. Suspecting that Henry is not telling the full truth about himself, Dr. Moore follows Henry home in secret and sees the children's living conditions. He decides that they are safe for now and that he should allow Henry to tell the truth when he feels comfortable. Mr. Moore gifts Henry a hammer and Henry also takes a few nails from the doctor. With the tools, he and his siblings create a swimming pool and a dam in the stream. Henry also makes a cart for Benny.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Once, while Henry was working at Dr. Moore's house, Dr. Moore invites Henry to see the Field Day competition. He does not tell Henry that it is conducted by James Henry Alden, who is in fact the grandfather of the boxcar children. There, Henry gets to know about a Free-for-all race. Just for enjoyment, he also takes part in it. But then, Henry starts to run in his fastest pace and wins the race. He is awarded a silver cup and 25 dollars by James Henry Alden, his grandfather. But neither of them know that they are a family. Once Henry returns back to his boxcar, his siblings are very glad for him.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: At some point, Benny's hair begin to grow, so Jessie cuts them with Violet's scissors. Benny in turn cuts Watch's hair and tries to make a 'J' symbol. This makes Jessie and Violet laugh very hard. However, Violet falls seriously ill. The siblings don't want to go to the hospital because of two reasons:


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Meanwhile, the children's grandfather, James Henry Alden, has been offering a reward for news of his missing grandchildren. The doctor connects the missing grandchildren with the ones in his care and goes to speak to Alden, warning him that his grandchildren are afraid of him and encouraging him to befriend the children before revealing who he is. Alden is introduced to the children as a friend of the doctor's. The children find him warm and friendly, so that by the time they learn the truth, they are surprised to learn that he is really their "cruel" grandfather and are more than willing to come live with him.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: At their grandfather's house, the children are happy and well-cared for, but speak fondly of their days in the boxcar. They all miss the boxcar too, especially Benny, who wants his cracked, pink cup. So, as a surprise, Mr. Alden arranges to have the boxcar completely restored, repainted, and moved into his backyard where the children can visit it whenever they like. Mr. Alden gets every single piece, even the old, dead stump from which the children used to climb inside. At the end of the novel, the children are very glad and make the boxcar as their clubhouse and happily live.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Henry James Alden: is the oldest of the Alden children; in most books of the series, Henry is 14 years old (13 in the 1924 edition). He is shown to be calm, hardworking, rational, humble and very protective of his younger siblings. Henry also shows a knack for repairing things and is a natural athlete. In Warner's original books, Henry ages and eventually goes off to college in "The Lighthouse Mystery".


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Jessica "Jessie" Alden: ("Jess" in the 1924 original edition) is usually 12 years old and is the older sister. She often acts motherly towards Benny and Violet and even Henry. She is often responsible for cooking. Jessie is described as being very tidy and organized. She is sometimes called Jess, but is mostly referred to as Jessie. She is not afraid of anything, adores the color blue, and is very strong. Jessie becomes shy whenever somebody calls her Jessica.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Violet Alden: is 10 years old in most of the books. She is the most sensitive of the children and is skillful at painting and sewing. She can frequently win over grouchy characters and is good with animals. Violet is often very shy and loves playing the violin. Her favorite color is violet or purple and she often wears one of those colors. She is the shyest of all the children, and sometimes helps Jessie take care of Benny.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Benjamin "Benny" Alden: is the youngest child at 6 years old (5 in the original 1924 edition). He celebrates his seventh birthday in "Surprise Island" and continues to age throughout the original series, until he is old enough for a department store job in the last original book, "Benny Uncovers a Mystery." Benny is known for his love of all food and the cracked pink cup he found in the dump. His endearingly childish qualities and comments make him a favorite among young readers. He is very enthusiastic. He loves Watch dearly and Benny was the one who named Watch.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Watch: is the dog of the Boxcar children. He acted as a "watchdog" when they lived in the boxcar and protected them. Watch was originally owned by a wealthy lady but ran away and was adopted by the Alden children. The lady was so charmed by the children that she permitted them to keep him. Watch is a Wire Fox Terrier (an Airedale in the 1924 edition), and the children found him while Henry was away at work. He had a thorn in his paw, and Jessie removed it. Because of this, he became known as her dog. In subsequent books, Watch's bed is in Jessie's bedroom.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: James Henry Alden: is the wealthy and kind grandfather of the Alden children, allowing them a lot of freedom and always offering them advice. He takes care of the kids after the death of their parents. At first, the kids thought their grandfather was mean, and so they ran away from him, but later on, they realized the goodness of their grandfather and came to live with him. James Henry Alden also organizes the Field Day competitions.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Dr. Moore: (Dr. McAllister in the original 1924 edition) is the man who gave Henry a job and checked Violet when she was ill. He is the very same person who connected Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny and Watch with their grandfather.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: John Joseph "Joe" Alden and Alice: The children's cousins/aunt and uncle. (Called both, but mostly cousins) Joe was first seen in the second book of the series, "Surprise Island". Alice was first introduced in "The Yellow House Mystery"; she also married Joe in the same book. They moved to a new house in "The Mystery of the Singing Ghost". They adopted Soo Lee from Korea.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Aunt Jane and Uncle Andy: The children's great aunt (Grandfather Alden's sister) and her husband. Aunt Jane was once unkind, but was changed in "Mystery Ranch", the fourth book of the series.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: John Carter: An employee of the children's grandfather. Does investigation and carries out the children's grandfather's wishes "off camera".


title: The Boxcar Children

text: In April 2014, the animated film "The Boxcar Children" was released. The voice of Grandfather Alden is played by Martin Sheen, and Dr. Moore is voiced by J. K. Simmons. Zachary Gordon, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy, and Jadon Sand voiced Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny respectively. The film is also available on DVD.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival / Kids (TiFF/Kids) in April 2014 and went on to play at 15 more festivals including Woods Hole International Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival and the Gijón International Film Festival in Spain. The film won Best Animated Feature Film at the 2015 St. Tropez International Film Festival.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: The film was released by Entertainment One. It had a limited theatrical run in North America, came out on DVD and VOD on August 19, 2014. Streaming and TV rights were sold exclusively to Netflix on October 4, 2014. The film was directed and produced by Daniel Chuba and Mark A.Z. Dippe. The executive producer was Maureen Sargent Gorman.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: The sequel film, "," was originally planned to be released in the fall 2017. However, Fathom Events released the film in select theaters starting May 8, 2018, followed by a DVD release on August 14, 2018.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: After the first novel, the children become amateur sleuths, and the subsequent series involves the children solving various mysteries and occasionally traveling to other locations as they do so. They stumble across a mystery no matter where they are, whether on vacation or in their own backyard. They usually solve the mystery with very little adult intervention, although adults are present in the novel (the author said she wrote about mostly-unsupervised children because that would appeal to children). Some of the mysteries border on the supernatural, although the practical Henry and Jessie always find the sensible reason for anything that appears other-worldly. Most of the mysteries involve thefts and usually involve the Alden children helping someone they know.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: The series are divided into mysteries and specials; all of the specials were written after Warner's death. , there are 159 mysteries and 21 specials in the series.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: Warner's life was chronicled in the biography "Gertrude Chandler Warner and the Boxcar Children" by Mary Ellen Ellsworth, illustrated by Marie DeJohn, which tells the story of Warner's childhood living across the street from the railroad tracks, her bouts with poor health, her teaching career, her earliest attempts at writing, and her inspiration for "The Boxcar Children".


title: The Boxcar Children

text: In July 2004, a museum in Putnam, Connecticut, was opened in a red boxcar to honor Gertrude Warner and the Boxcar Children series. She is buried in Grove Street Cemetery, Putnam, Connecticut.


title: The Boxcar Children

text: As she wrote the story, Warner read it to her classes and rewrote it many times so the words were easy to understand. Some of her pupils spoke other languages at home and were just learning English, so The Boxcar Children gave them a fun story that was easy to read. Warner once wrote that the original book "raised a storm of protest from librarians who thought the children were having too good a time without any parental control! That is exactly why children like it!"


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: The 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship was the fifty-second season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also second season under the moniker of FIA Formula 2 Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula 2 cars that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It is an open-wheel racing category that serves as the second tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The category run in support of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship, with each of the twelve rounds running in conjunction with a Grand Prix. It was the first FIA Formula 2 season to feature a new chassis and engine package.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Charles Leclerc was the reigning drivers' champion, having won the title at the penultimate round of the 2017 championship in Jerez de la Frontera. Leclerc subsequently secured a Formula 1 drive with the Alfa Romeo Sauber team in 2018 Russian Time were the reigning teams' champions, having secured their first Formula 2 title at the final round of the 2017 championship in Abu Dhabi. George Russell won the drivers' championship, finishing 68 points ahead of Lando Norris. In the teams' championship, Carlin prevailed over ART Grand Prix by 31 points.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: The season saw the introduction of a brand new chassis and engine package, the biggest change in the sport's history. The GP2/11 chassis, which had been used by Formula 2 and its predecessor GP2 since 2011, was replaced by the Dallara F2 2018. It is powered by a fuel-efficient V6 single turbocharged direct-injected engine developed by Mecachrome called V634T. The aging naturally-aspirated V8 engine and Dallara GP2/11 chassis which were used since 2005 and 2011 respectively were permanently retired. Despite the generational change of chassis and engines, Elf would continue as a preferred official fuel partner and supplier of FIA Formula 2 Championship and also Pirelli FIA Formula 2 tyre sizes would remained same as pre-2017 Formula One tyres. In addition, the Pirelli FIA Formula 2 hard tyre colour would repainted from orange to ice blue in a reference of 2018 Formula One dry slick tyre compounds.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Teams were required to use the "halo" cockpit protection device, a wishbone-shaped frame mounted above and around the driver's head and anchored to the monocoque forward of the cockpit. The halo was designed to improve safety standards by deflecting debris away from a driver's head and was originally developed for use in Formula One before its application was expanded to other open-wheel championships and it was incorporated into the final design of the Dallara F2 2018 chassis.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Following widespread criticism of the Dallara F2 2018 for its difficult start procedure and reliability issues, the championship temporarily introduced rolling starts until a solution to the car's problems could be found.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: The championship discontinued the use of promotional models or "grid girls". The decision was made by Formula One management in the face of changing social attitudes and the decision by other sports to phase out the use of models, and the decision applied to all categories appearing on the Grand Prix support bill, including Formula 2.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: The following teams and drivers were under contract to compete in the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship. As the championship was a spec series, all competitors raced with identical Dallara F2 2018 chassis with a V6 turbo engine developed by Mecachrome. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Twenty entries spread across ten teams were entered into the championship. Carlin returned to Formula 2 in 2018 after a one-year absence, while former World Series Formula V8 3.5 team Charouz Racing System joined the championship. Charouz left the Formula 3.5 V8 championship when the championship was discontinued and the team subsequently submitted an entry to join the Formula 2 grid which marked the return of a Czech single-seater junior team to the second tier of Formula One's feeder championships since the 2003 International Formula 3000 season. Racing Engineering were included on the initial entry list but later withdrew from the championship to focus on their European Le Mans Series entry. Fortec Motorsports were due to make their Formula 2 début, replacing the departing Rapax team, but later withdrew their entry due to a lack of sponsorship. Fortec were later granted permission to defer their entry by a year and were scheduled to make their début in 2019, but aborted the plans.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Defending teams' champions Russian Time signed FIA Formula 3 European Championship driver Tadasuke Makino to partner Artem Markelov. With reigning drivers' champion Charles Leclerc leaving the series to join Formula 1 team Sauber. Prema Racing enlisted Sean Gelael, who left Arden International to join the team. Gelael was partnered by Nyck de Vries, who drove for Rapax and Racing Engineering throughout the 2017 championship. Gustav Malja, who raced for Racing Engineering in 2017, moved to the Porsche Supercup.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Alexander Albon left ART Grand Prix to join DAMS where he replaced Oliver Rowland; Rowland left the series and moved to the FIA World Endurance Championship. Albon was paired with Nicholas Latifi, who remained with the team for a third year. ART Grand Prix promoted reigning GP3 Series champion George Russell to the category, partnering him with Jack Aitken, who also drove for the team in GP3. Nobuharu Matsushita, who drove for the team in 2017, left the series and returned to Japan to race in the Super Formula Championship.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Ralph Boschung left Campos Racing to join MP Motorsport. He was accompanied by Roberto Merhi, who previously competed in selected rounds of the championship with Campos and Rapax in 2017. Jordan King, who raced for MP, moved to the United States to compete in the IndyCar Series. With Gelael's switch to Prema and Norman Nato's departure to the European Le Mans Series, Arden International promoted two rookie drivers. Former GP3 Series driver Nirei Fukuzumi filled one seat, while Maximilian Günther—who finished second in the 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship and third in 2017—took the other.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Luca Ghiotto left Russian Time after a single season to join Campos Racing. He was partnered by series debutant Roy Nissany, who left the World Series Formula V8 3.5 to join the championship. Álex Palou left the team to compete in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Trident recruited two of Formula One team Haas' development drivers. Santino Ferrucci, who had contested five rounds of the 2017 championship with the team, was signed for the season. He is partnered by Arjun Maini, who was promoted from the GP3 Series. Nabil Jeffri, who raced for Trident in 2017, left the team to join the FIA World Endurance Championship.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Sérgio Sette Câmara left MP Motorsport to join newcomers Carlin. He was partnered by Lando Norris, who won the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship title with Carlin before making a guest appearance in the Formula 2 Championship with Campos Racing. Louis Delétraz and Antonio Fuoco joined Charouz Racing System. Delétraz left Rapax after the team withdrew from the championship, while Fuoco moved from Prema Racing as part of an agreement with Ferrari's driver development programme.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Santino Ferrucci was banned for two rounds as punishment for multiple violations of the sporting and technical regulations—including deliberately crashing into Arjun Maini—during the Silverstone round. He was later dismissed by Trident, with the team citing sponsorship issues rather than his suspension as the reason for Ferrucci's firing. Ferrucci was replaced by Trident's GP3 Series driver Alessio Lorandi for the Hungaroring round.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Roberto Merhi left MP Motorsport before the Spa-Francorchamps round. He was replaced by Dorian Boccolacci, who raced for the team in the GP3 Series. For the remainder of the season he joined Campos Vexatec Racing, replacing Roy Nissany. MP Motorsport promoted Niko Kari from their GP3 Series team, where he replaced Ralph Boschung for the remainder of the season. Dan Ticktum replaced Maximilian Günther at BWT Arden for the season finale at Abu Dhabi.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: The following twelve rounds took place as part of the 2018 championship. Each round consisted of two races: a Feature race, which was run over and included a mandatory pit stop; and a Sprint race, which was run over and did not require drivers to make a pit stop.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: The calendar was expanded to twelve rounds in 2018. The championship started at the Circuit Paul Ricard, where it was featured as part of the French Grand Prix support programme. The championship visited the Sochi Autodrom for the first time, where it ran in support of the Russian Grand Prix. The stand-alone event that was held at the Circuito de Jerez in 2017 was discontinued.


title: 2018 Formula 2 Championship

text: Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 8 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race also received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race as the grid for the sprint race is based on the results of the feature race with the top eight drivers having their positions reversed.


title: Guandao

text: A guandao is a type of Chinese pole weapon that is used in some forms of Chinese martial arts. In Chinese, it is properly called a yanyuedao (偃月刀; lit. "reclining moon blade"), the name under which it always appears in texts from the Song to Qing dynasties such as the "Wujing Zongyao" and "Huangchao Liqi Tushi". It is comparable to the Japanese naginata and the European fauchard or glaive and consists of a heavy blade with a spike at the back and sometimes also a notch at the spike's upper base that can catch an opponent's weapon. In addition there are often irregular serrations that lead the back edge of the blade to the spike. The blade is mounted atop a 1.5 m to 1.8 m (5–6 foot) long wooden or metal pole with a pointed metal counter weight used to balance the heavy blade and for striking on the opposite end.


title: Guandao

text: On modern versions, a red sash or tassel is attached at the joint of the pole and blade. Variations include having rings along the length of the straight back edge as found in the nine-ring guandao, having the tip curl into a rounded spiral as in the elephant guandao, or featuring a more ornate design as exemplified by the dragon head guandao. However, apart from the "elephant guandao" none of these variations seem to have historical ground.


title: Guandao

text: According to legend, the guandao was invented by the famous general Guan Yu during the early 3rd century AD, hence the name. It is said that he specified its form and size to be made by a smithy, and was uniquely able to wield such an imposing weapon due to his large stature and legendary strength. Guan Yu's guandao was called "Green Dragon Crescent Blade" (青龍偃月刀, Qīnglóng yǎnyuèdāo) which weighed 82 Chinese jin (estimated either at 18.263 kg or 48.38 kg—a Han Dynasty jin was 222.72 grams in the metric system, while the jin used in the Ming Dynasty—during which the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written—was about 590 grams).


title: Guandao

text: However, while the famous novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong describes him as wielding the guandao, this description may have been an anachronistic one intended to make the character seem more imposing: historically speaking there was no evidence to show that Guan Yu used the weapon that is thus attributed to him, and indeed there is no indication of the existence of what is now known as the guandao prior to the 11th century, when it was first illustrated in the military manual "Wujing Zongyao". The guandao, therefore, possibly did not even exist during Guan Yu's era, meaning that it could be somewhat of a pop culture-derived misnomer. Furthermore, the scholar Tao Hongjing (456-536 AD) recorded in the "Gujin Daojianlu" (古今刀劍錄, "A Catalogue of Ancient and Modern Sabers and Rapiers") that Guan Yu forged a pair of sabres using iron ore he harvested from Wudushan mountain (武都山) himself, which may have inspired the story that Guan Yu invented his weapon. However, this would also indicate that he did not use a guandao or even anything resembling a guandao, since the pole-mounted or long handled dao weapons such as the pudao or dadao were all wielded with two hands and so would not have been made or used in a pair.


title: Guandao

text: While some historians still contend that the guandao was simply an uncommon weapon prior to the Tang dynasty and was thus not illustrated before then, historical evidence leans towards the attribution being an instance of creative license. By the time of Qing Dynasty the guandao, for the most part, was not actually intended for field use, but was instead used as a tool to test the strength of those who wished to become military officers: weapons of various weights were made, the test composed simply of performing various required maneuvers using such weapons. During the Qing dynasty some extraordinarily heavy versions of guandao were made for this purpose: a candidate had to be able to wield a weapon weighing 80, 100, or 120 jin (48, 60 or 72 kg, using the modern value for 1 jin = approximately .6 kg), with weapons of each weight being successively higher grades in the exam, the passage of which led to appointment as military officers of various ranks based on the grade. The heaviest known "testing guandao", which resides in a museum at Shanhaiguan, weighs 83 kilograms. While the examples are taken from the Qing dynasty and therefore may have been influenced by the book (which was written in the Ming dynasty), military officer tests (which began in the Tang dynasty) have always involved lifting heavy stones of standardized weight and maneuvering them about, possibly contributing to the writer's decision to assign an unusual weight to Guan Yu's weapon.


title: Guandao

text: The weapon was also widely adopted by martial artists for the purposes of training and for demonstrating their strength, perhaps also to train specifically for the military officer's tests. Where it was used, it was largely used by infantry. In the Qing Dynasty, it was used by the all Han Green Standard Army. Apart from that, the lack of standardization of the antique examples that survive to today seems to indicate that at least from the 19th century onwards it was popular in the civilian martial arts realm as well.


title: Guandao

text: The modern guandao as adopted by martial artists today usually weighs between 2 kg and 10 kg (5 and 20 pounds), and is typically composed of a wood shaft of about three to five feet in length, a short blade of about 12 to 18 inches on one end, and a mace head on the other (which serves mostly as a counterweight to the blade but can also be used for striking), the whole assembly rarely exceeding five to six feet in total length. The greatly reduced weight and length reflects its nature as a more practical form for martial artists.


title: Guandao

text: The guandao is used quite frequently in the martial art of contemporary Wushu derived from the Shaolin or Wudangquan form of martial arts in modern times. According to contemporary Wushu practice, its purpose is more to disarm an opponent and deflect his strikes rather than to attack. To that end, a large veil cloth is attached to the end to dissuade and confuse opponents. However, there is no evidence of this being an authentic depiction of the weapon's historical usage. Tassels and cloths are attached to numerous weapons such as jian, dao, meteor hammer, and guandao used in Chinese opera, one of the sources of movements found in contemporary wushu.


title: Guandao

text: Forms utilizing the weapon in nearly all traditional styles of Chinese martial arts emphasize strong slashing movements and momentum to keep the heavy blade moving through a series of spinning cuts. The considerable weight of the weapon also makes guandao forms good for training the overall conditioning of the body.


title: Guandao

text: Similar weapons were also used in Southeast Asia. They were famously used by royals to fight each other on elephant back.


title: Guandao

text: Extremely unusually for historical weapons, the Guandao is reportedly still used today. Chinese soldiers armed with Guandaos and modern combat uniforms were photographed near the Line of Actual Control with India, where a 1996 agreement between India and China prohibits firearm usage.


title: Golden Age of Television (2000s–present)

text: In the United States, the current Golden Age of Television (also known as Peak TV or Prestige TV) is a period widely regarded as being marked by a large number of "high quality", internationally acclaimed television programs.


text: Named in reference to the original Golden Age of Television of the 1950s, the period has also been referred to as the "New", "Second", or "Third Golden Age of Television". The various names reflect disagreement over whether shows of the 1980s and early-mid 1990s belong to a since-concluded golden era or to the current one. The contemporary period is generally identified as beginning in 1999 with "The Sopranos", with some dispute as to whether the age ended in the mid-late 2010s or early 2020s, or remains ongoing.


text: It is believed to have resulted from advances in media distribution technology, digital TV technology (including HDTV, online video platforms, TV streaming, video-on-demand, and web TV), and a large increase in the number of hours of available television, which has prompted a major wave of content creation.


text: French scholar Alexis Pichard has argued that television enjoyed a Second Golden Age starting in the 2000s which was a combination of three elements: first, an improvement in both visual aesthetics and storytelling; second, an overall homogeneity between cable series and networks series; and third, a tremendous popular success. Pichard contends that this Second Golden Age was the result of a revolution initiated by the traditional networks in the 1980s and carried on by the cable channels (especially HBO) in the 1990s. Film director Francis Ford Coppola thinks that the second golden age of television comes from "kids" with their "little father's camcorder", who wanted to make films like he did in the 1970s but were not permitted to, so they did it for television.


text: The new Golden Age brought creator-driven tragic dramas of the 2000s and 2010s, including 1999's "The Sopranos" and "The West Wing"; 2001's "Six Feet Under and" "24"; 2002's "The Wire" and "The Shield", 2004's "Deadwood", "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica"; 2005's "Grey's Anatomy" and ""; 2006's "Friday Night Lights"; 2007's "Mad Men"; 2008's "Breaking Bad"; 2011's "Game of Thrones"; and 2013's "House of Cards". Others appear in the Writers Guild of America vote for 101 Best Written TV Shows. Production values got higher than ever before on shows such as "Mad Men", "Breaking Bad", and "Homeland" to the point of rivaling cinema, while anti-heroic series like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" were cited as improving television content thus earning critical praise.


text: Stephanie Zacharek of "The Village Voice" has argued that the current golden age began earlier with over-the-air broadcast shows like "Babylon 5", "" (both of which premiered in 1993), and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997). TV critic Alan Sepinwall cites shows such as "Buffy" and "Oz" (which both first aired in 1997) as ushering in the golden age. Will Gompertz of the BBC believes that "Friends", which debuted in 1994, might stake a claim as the opening bookend show of the period. Matt Zoller Seitz argues that it began in the 1980s with "Hill Street Blues" (1981) and "St. Elsewhere" (1982). Kirk Hamilton of "Kotaku" has said that "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (2005) should be considered a part of the golden age of television, and recommended "the sophisticated kids show" to others. With the rise of instant access to content on Netflix, creator-driven television shows like "Breaking Bad", "The Shield" (2002), "Friday Night Lights" (2006) and "Mad Men" gained loyal followings that grew to become widely popular. The success of instant access to television shows was presaged by the popularity of DVDs, and continues to increase with the rise of digital platforms and online companies.


text: The Golden Age of television is believed to have resulted from advances in media distribution technology, digital TV technology (including HDTV, online video platforms, TV streaming, video-on-demand, and web TV), and a large increase in the number of hours of available television, which has prompted a major wave of content creation. The increase in the number of shows is also cited as evidence of a Golden Age, or "peak TV". In the five years between 2011 and 2016, the number of scripted television shows, on broadcast, cable and digital platforms increased by 71%. In 2002, 182 television shows aired, while 2016 had 455 original scripted television shows and 495 in 2018. The number of shows are rising largely due to companies like Netflix, Amazon Video and Hulu investing heavily in original content. The number of shows aired by online service increased from only one in 2009 to over 93 in 2016.


text: An increasing reliance on rebooting and reviving existing franchises led to widespread belief that the Golden Age of Television was ending in the late 2010s, with the caveat that some of these reboots (such as "DuckTales", "Girl Meets World" and "One Day at a Time") share the positive reception and mature character development of original shows of the era. Viewership patterns in 2020 shifted rapidly toward reruns. To address burnout from binge watching and concerns that the practice makes television more disposable and forgettable, streaming providers reduced their reliance on the practice in the early 2020s by returning to a more traditional model of releasing one new episode a week. A showrunner for an unnamed series on Netflix, a platform that has been especially aggressive toward releasing full seasons at once as a company policy, commented that the volume of existing content has made it more difficult to devote the time to binge watching.


text: A 2021 interview of social media influencers noted that the teen sitcoms and teen dramas from the early Golden Age, driven by continued presence in reruns and video-on-demand platforms, have stronger followings among Generation Z than contemporary shows; they feel that the latter are more geared toward pre-teens or adults instead of teenagers, try too hard to appeal to current trends, and lack a sense of familiarity compared to shows that have been around since they were born. This is attributed as a cause for the increasing number of reboots and revivals of shows from early in the era.


text: Ed Power of the "Irish Examiner" opines that "the sun began to set" on the golden age between 2013 and 2015, with the finales of "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men", and "Since then, television has reverted to its older tradition of quantity over quality." Siobhan Lyons of "The Conversation" believes the 2022 finale of "Better Call Saul" marks the end of "the last of those defining, golden age shows," in a time increasingly oversaturated with streaming content and viewing options. NPR noted in May 2022 that although television executives had predicted a peak in television series since the mid-2010s, the number of series continued to grow into the early 2020s, from 400 original productions across broadcast, cable and major streaming outlets in 2015 to 559 in 2021. The network noted that the major streamers, with the exception of Disney+ (which NPR attributed to the company's strong brand recognition), were seeing diminishing quality and, particularly in the case of Netflix, declining popularity. HBO Max made a substantial cut to its library in August 2022, mostly to its children's television series, out of concerns that the quantity of content on the service (especially with its pending merger with Discovery+) was becoming overwhelming and difficult to find, and that the children's programming was not driving subscriptions or views on the service.


text: Around 2019, a period of intense competition began for market share among streaming services, a period known as the streaming wars. This competition was increased during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic as more people stayed home and watched TV. Many services attempted to compete on quality. The streaming wars, combined with the decline of the popularity of mainstream films (along with said mainstream films increasingly relying on franchises that are less likely to garner awards), and the rise of independent films winning major film awards within the last six years, resulted in a historical first — the first film from a streaming service to produce an Academy Award winner for Best Picture: Apple TV's "CODA" (a Sundance-winning film about the only hearing member of a deaf family struggling for fame) over Netflix's contender the Jane Campion-directed Western "The Power of the Dog" at the 94th Academy Awards. The streaming wars were largely recognized to have ended in 2022, as the major streamers lost subscribers and shifted their focus to profit over market share by raising subscription fees, cutting production budgets, cracking down on password sharing, and introducing ad-supported tiers.


text: Characteristics of this golden age are complicated characters who may be morally ambiguous or antiheroes, questionable behavior, complex plots, positive diverse perspectives, and often forays into R-rated territory.


text: Genres of television associated with this golden age include dramas (especially ones originating on cable and digital platforms; some being called "peak bleak" due to the extremely pessimistic nature of shows like "Succession" and "Game of Thrones"); sitcoms (especially ones that use comedy-drama which some critics would call "sadcoms"), single-camera setup, or adult animation; sketch comedy (especially series linked to alternative comedy); and late-night talk shows (especially ones that emphasize news satire).


text: A key characteristic of the golden age is serialization, where a continuous story arc stretches over multiple episodes or seasons. Traditional American television had an episodic format, with each episode typically consisting of a self-contained story. During the golden age, there has been a transition to a serialization format, with a continuous story arc stretching over multiple episodes or seasons. John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards note that the serialization format was previously already a key defining characteristic of Japanese anime shows, notably the popular "Dragon Ball Z" (1989), which distinguished them from American television shows at the time. Serialization later also became a key defining characteristic of American live-action television shows during the golden age.


text: The era is not without criticism: alongside the limited audience appeal of shows featuring unlikeable characters and too many showrunners embracing the "12-hour movie" structure of stories, the number of original shows being produced has some, like FX CEO John Landgraf and "Time"s TV critic Judy Berman, worried about overwhelming the viewing audience to the point of what the latter called "peak redundancy". Author Daniel Kelley claimed that this was also the Golden Age of "bad" TV with shows such as "Zoo", "Under the Dome" and "The I-Land". Derek Thompson of "The Atlantic" stated that TV replaced movies as "elite entertainment".


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: The Rockefeller Republicans were members of the Republican Party (GOP) in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to-liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vice President of the United States (1974–1977). Rockefeller Republicans were most common in the Northeast and industrial Midwestern states, with their larger moderate-to-liberal constituencies, while they were rare in the South and West.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: The term refers to "[a] member of the Republican Party holding views likened to those of Nelson Rockefeller; a moderate or liberal Republican". Geoffrey Kabaservice states that they were part of a separate political ideology, aligning on certain issues and policies with liberals, while on others with conservatives and on many with neither. Luke Phillips has also stated that the Rockefeller Republicans represent the continuation of the Whig tradition of American politics.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Rockefeller Republicanism has been described as the last phase of the "Eastern Establishment" of the GOP that had been led by New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. The group's powerful role in the GOP came under heavy attack during the 1964 primary campaign between Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater. At a point before the California primary, political operative Stuart Spencer called on Rockefeller to "summon that fabled nexus of money, influence, and condescension known as the Eastern Establishment". Rockefeller replied, "You are looking at it, buddy, I am all that is left".


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Michael Lind contends that the ascendancy of the more conservative fusionist wing of the Republican Party, beginning in the 1960s with Goldwater and culminating in the Reagan Revolution in 1980, prevented the establishment of a Disraelian one-nation conservatism in the United States. The phrase "Rockefeller Republican" has come to be used in a pejorative sense by modern conservatives, who use it to deride those in the Republican Party that are perceived to have views which are too liberal, especially on major social issues. The term was adopted mostly because of Nelson Rockefeller's vocal support of civil rights and lavish spending policies. Historian Justin P. Coffey has stated that Rockefeller's liberalism is a myth, with former Vice President Spiro Agnew pointing out that the reality was quite different, stating: "A lot of people considered Rockefeller very liberal and very dovish on foreign policy, but he was not. He was harder than Nixon, and a lot more hawkish about the mission of America in the world."


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: On a national level, the last significant candidate for president from the liberal wing of the party was John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent in 1980 and garnered 6.6% of the popular vote. Locally, especially in the Northeast, liberal Republican officeholders have continued to win elections, including Bill Weld and Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Phil Scott of Vermont, and Larry Hogan of Maryland.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: In domestic policy, Rockefeller Republicans were typically center to center-right economically, however they vehemently rejected conservatives like Barry Goldwater and their "laissez faire" economic policies while holding beliefs in social policies that were often culturally liberal. They typically favored a social safety net and a continuation of New Deal programs but sought to run these programs more efficiently than the Democrats. Rockefeller Republicans opposed socialism and government ownership, and were strong supporters of big business and Wall Street, although they supported some regulation of business; rather than increasing regulation of business, they advocated for developing a mutually beneficial relationship between public interests and private enterprise, drawing comparisons and similarities to the French dirigisme or the Japanese developmental state. They espoused government and private investments in environmentalism, healthcare, and higher education as necessities for a better society and economic growth in the tradition of Rockefeller. They were strong supporters of state colleges, trade schools, and universities with low tuition and large research budgets, and also favored investments in infrastructure such as highway projects.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Reflecting Nelson Rockefeller's tradition of technocratic problem solving, most Rockefeller Republicans were known to have a pragmatic and interdisciplinary approach to problem solving and governance while advocating for a broad consensus rather than a consolidation of support. Also welcoming an increased public role for engineers, doctors, scientists, economists, and businessmen over politicians in crafting policies and programs. As a result, many Rockefeller Republicans were major figures in business, such as auto executive George W. Romney and investment banker C. Douglas Dillon. In fiscal policy, they favored balanced budgets and were not averse to raising taxes in order to achieve them. Connecticut Senator Prescott Bush once called for Congress to "raise the required revenues by approving whatever levels of taxation may be necessary".


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: A critical element was their support for labor unions and especially the building trades appreciated the heavy spending on infrastructure. In turn, the unions gave these politicians enough support to overcome the anti-union rural element in the Republican Party. As the unions weakened after the 1970s, so too did the need for Republicans to cooperate with them. This transformation played into the hands of the more conservative Republicans, who did not want to collaborate with labor unions in the first place and now no longer needed to do so to carry statewide elections.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: In foreign policy, they tended to be Hamiltonian, espousing internationalist and realist policies, supporting the United Nations and promoting American business interests abroad. Most wanted to use American power in cooperation with allies to fight against the spread of Communism and help American business expand abroad.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Thomas E. Dewey, the Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954 and the Republican presidential nominee in 1944 and 1948, was the leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party in the 1940s and early 1950s, battling conservative Republicans from the Midwest led by Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, known as "Mr. Republican". With the help of Dewey, General Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Taft for the 1952 presidential nomination and became the leader of the moderates. Eisenhower coined the phrase "Modern Republicanism" to describe his moderate vision of Republicanism.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: After Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, the Governor of New York, emerged as the leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party, running for President in 1960, 1964 and 1968. Rockefeller Republicans suffered a crushing defeat in 1964 when conservatives captured control of the Republican Party and nominated Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for president.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Other prominent figures in the GOP's Rockefeller-wing included Connecticut Senator Prescott Bush, Pennsylvania Governor Raymond P. Shafer, Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott, Illinois Senator Charles H. Percy, Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith, New York Senator Jacob Javits, Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller, Nelson's younger brother (who was somewhat of an aberration in the conservative, heavily Democratic South), Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, John Chafee of Rhode Island and Lowell Weicker of Connecticut. Some also include President Richard Nixon, who was influenced by this group. Although Nixon ran against Rockefeller from the right in the 1968 primaries and was widely identified with the cultural right of the time, he adopted several Rockefeller Republican policies during his time as President, such as setting up the Environmental Protection Agency, supporting expanded welfare programs, imposing wage and price controls and in 1971 announcing he was a Keynesian. The men had previously reached the so-called Treaty of Fifth Avenue during the presidential primaries of 1960, whereby Nixon and Rockefeller agreed to support certain policies for inclusion in the 1960 Republican Party Platform.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Nelson Rockefeller was an influential voice within the Republican Party, but he never had the level of support of Goldwater or Nixon. However, even that level of influence began to decline with the election of Nixon to the presidency in 1968.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Their Democratic counterparts were the Blue Dog Democrats. On a number of issues, the Rockefeller Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats agreed more with each other than they did with more extreme members of their own party.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: It declined further, when Nixon's Southern strategy brought former Democratic voters in the Southern states over to the Republican side, and cemented those gains in 1972 and beyond. The term "Rockefeller Republican" was never appreciated from the conservative wing of the party, and as the voices of the Reagan right grew in the 1970s and eventually captured the presidency in 1980, it was looked down upon even more as a pejorative.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Barry Goldwater crusaded against the Rockefeller Republicans, beating Rockefeller narrowly in the California primary of 1964. That set the stage for a conservative resurgence, based in the South and West in opposition to the Northeast Rockefeller wing. However, the moderate contingent recaptured control of the party and nominated Richard Nixon in 1968. Easily reelected in 1972, Nixon was replaced as President upon his resignation by the moderately conservative Republican Gerald Ford. After Vice President Rockefeller left the national stage in 1976, this faction of the party was more often called "moderate Republicans" or Nixonians in contrast to the conservatives who rallied to Ronald Reagan. Four years after nearly toppling the incumbent Ford in the 1976 presidential primaries, conservative Ronald Reagan won the party's presidential nomination at the 1980 Republican National Convention and served two terms in the White House.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: During the 1980s, Barry Goldwater, a leading conservative, partly aligned with the liberal side of the GOP due to his libertarian views on abortion and gay rights.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: By 1988, the Republicans had chosen Prescott Bush's son George H. W. Bush as its presidential candidate on a conservative platform. Bush's national convention pledge to stave off new taxation were he elected president () marked the candidate's full conversion to the conservative movement and perhaps the political death knell for Rockefeller Republicanism as a prevailing force within party politics.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Ethnic changes in the Northeast may have led to the demise of the Rockefeller Republican. Many Republican leaders associated with this title were White Anglo-Saxon Protestants like Charles Mathias of Maryland. Liberal New York Republican Senator Jacob Javits, who had an Americans for Democratic Action rating above 90% and an American Conservative Union rating below 10%, was Jewish. As time went on, the local Republican parties in the Northeast tended to nominate Catholic candidates who appealed to middle class social values-laden concerns, such as George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, Al D'Amato, Rick Lazio, Tom Ridge, Chris Christie and others, who in many cases represented the party's diversity more on the basis of religion and were often otherwise like their Protestant conservative counterparts on policy.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: With their power decreasing in the final decades of the 20th century, many moderate Republicans were replaced by conservative and moderate Democrats, such as those from the Blue Dog or New Democrat coalitions. Michael Lind contends that by the mid-1990s the liberalism of President Bill Clinton and the New Democrats were in many ways to the right of Eisenhower, Rockefeller, and John Lindsay, the Republican mayor of New York City in the late 1960s. In 2009, CNN published an analysis describing how liberal and moderate Republicans had declined by the start of the 21st century. In 2010, Scott Brown was elected to the Senate to fill the seat once held by Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy. He was considered to be a moderate Republican in a similar mold as Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine. However, by middle of the century's second decade, only Senator Susan Collins of Maine remained as a moderately liberal Republican representing New England at the federal level.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: In 2010, several moderate Republicans lost their primaries or were challenged by the Tea Party movement. In Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski, the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, lost her GOP primary to conservative Tea Party challenger Joe Miller. The Tea Party's campaign organization "helped Miller portray the senator as too liberal for the state". Despite her primary defeat, Murkowski was reelected after waging a successful write-in campaign.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Mike Castle, a moderate former Governor and Representative of Delaware, lost his primary to conservative "insurgent" Christine O'Donnell, who depicted Castle as being too liberal. An op-ed of "The Washington Post" made the assertion that Castle's loss marked the end of the party legacy of Nelson Rockefeller.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: Senator John McCain survived a primary in 2010, but his Tea Party opponent J. D. Hayworth accused him of being insufficiently conservative. A few years after, in 2014, the Arizona Republican Party censured McCain "for a record they called too 'liberal.


title: Rockefeller Republican

text: In upstate New York, GOP-nominated Dede Scozzafava was opposed by national conservatives within the Republican Party during her election bid for a congressional district: "National PACs upset with Scozzafava's support of the federal stimulus, EFCA, same-sex marriage and abortion rights poured on money and attacks". She was pressured to drop out of the race, and when she did the Republican National Committee endorsed Tea Party-backed Doug Hoffman.