title: The Dutchess

text: The Dutchess is the debut solo studio album by American singer and rapper Fergie. It was released on September 13, 2006, through A&M Records and the will.i.am Music Group as her first solo album. The album was recorded between The Black Eyed Peas' tour in 2005, and the songs were written throughout the last eight years that preceded its release. While developing the album, Fergie wanted to create an autobiographical album that would be more intimate between her and the listener. By doing so, the album experiments with different music genres, including pop, hip hop, R&B, reggae, punk rock and soul. Lyrically, "The Dutchess" has themes about love and critics, while also dealing with her drug abuse and addiction.


title: The Dutchess

text: Upon its release, "The Dutchess" received mixed reviews from music critics, with many praising its production, calling it one of the most eclectic and adventurous albums of 2006, but some criticized the album's lyrical content and believed the material was not strong enough for her voice. It became a commercial success, reaching number two on the US "Billboard" 200 and spending ninety-four weeks inside the chart, while also topping the Australian Albums Chart and becoming a worldwide success, reaching platinum status in over eight countries. It has been certified 5× Platinum in the United States and has sold 12 million copies worldwide.


title: The Dutchess

text: The album produced five top five singles in the United States, including three number-one hits on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, "London Bridge", "Big Girls Don't Cry", and "Glamorous", as well as the number two single "Fergalicious" and the number five single "Clumsy". All five of the aforementioned singles have sold over two million digital downloads each in the United States, thus setting a new record in the digital era for the most multi-platinum singles from one album. Fergie held this record until 2012, when Katy Perry achieved six multi-platinum singles with her album "Teenage Dream" (2010).


title: The Dutchess

text: After ten years with the band Wild Orchid, Fergie joined the hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas in 2002, replacing Kim Hill and receiving a prominent role in the group. Fergie's debut album with the band, "Elephunk", was the group's breakthrough, spawning the worldwide hit singles "Where Is the Love?" and "Shut Up", selling over 8 million copies worldwide and receiving four Grammy nominations (and winning one for the song "Let's Get It Started"). Later, while releasing her second effort with the group, the even more successful "Monkey Business" (2005), which features the hit singles "Don't Phunk with My Heart" and "My Humps" (with both receiving a Grammy award) and sold 10 million copies worldwide, the singer announced that she and the other members of the group were working on solo projects, with her debut album being announced for a 2006 release. In an interview for Jam! Canoe, Fergie claimed, "We've been working on it, Will and I," she says. "And I'm so happy with the way it's turning out, but we just felt after 'Elephunk' that we needed to make another Black Eyed Peas record." Regarding the album's musical direction she said, "It'll be a deeper look into who I am. Soundwise, it'll be eclectic like the Peas but I'll get to experiment with more of the different sounds of my voice. I like to use my voice as an instrument sometimes and I'll be able to show that on that album."


title: The Dutchess

text: "The Dutchess" was initially recorded in 2005, among promotion from The Black Eyed Peas' album "Monkey Business". Great part of the album was recorded on the John Lennon studio bus while touring with the band. As stated by Fergie, "We'd go in a couple of hours before going on stage and that's how it got done. The songs span a seven-year period. Some were done before I was in the Black Eyed Peas – we just updated them, and some were done in this one-month span that we took off from touring, which is very rare for us. Will and I moved into this studio house in Malibu called Morningview. It's like a ranch. It was very serene-complete opposite to the chaos of touring. I was alone a lot, which is something that doesn't happen to me on tour, so I got to find these emotions that are a little bit deeper than the surface. [For example], 'The Makeup Song (All That I Got)' and 'Velvet' are very intimate lyrically and feeling-wise. I wanted [the latter] to sound like velvet feels-very smooth-and I wanted it to be sensual."


title: The Dutchess

text: According to Fergie, the songs on the album are "from a seven-year period, but [Interscope CEO] Jimmy Iovine heard some [tracks] and was like, 'This is great, let's put it out'. One of the album's executive producers and fellow Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am stated that she was "writing about her personal struggles and casting her demons away and feminine power. [It's] her singing for young girls to be strong, and what they're going through in life, just growing up in this world of uncertainty." Ludacris, John Legend, B Real from Cypress Hill and Rita Marley, Bob Marley's widow, were also confirmed on the album. B Real was set to appear on a track called "Thriller Man", an homage to Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill a Man,", with B Real stating, "It's pretty hot. Basically she took the song and switched the story around to suit it to her and put the female touch on it. She did the same chorus, she even did my same rhyme style, but she sung it. It's hard to describe it, you just got to hear it – she did it justice." However, "Thriller Man" was not included on the album. Ron Fair and DJ Mormile were also the album's executive producers, with Fair, chairman of Geffen Records, expressing, "Once people get this album and hear what she's capable of as a singer and writer, I think that's when the roof blows off it. That's when she's not just a little trifling pop girl doing disposable hits." It was also announced that the album would feature samples from Little Richard, The Commodores and The Temptations.


title: The Dutchess

text: The album's title, "The Dutchess", is a derivation of the noble title "The Duchess of York", as Fergie (a derivative of her last name "Ferguson") and Sarah Ferguson, the real Duchess of York, share a surname and nickname. The album's title garnered media attention, with Sarah Ferguson commenting, "Automatically, everybody in America thinks I'm Fergie, the most beautiful woman in the world, from Black Eyed Peas. [...] You know, I rang her up about that. I said, 'Fergie, it's Fergie... Now that you've done this, you have to sing at a concert for my foundation Children in Crisis'." Fergie then commented about its title, "If you notice, on the album cover it says 'Fergie as the Dutchess' because I wanted each song to be a movie poster. But because 'London Bridge' did so well so fast, we had to get everything done so only half the songs on the album have movie poster themes. For example, for 'Fergalicious' I'm holding a lollipop; it's pretty campy and cute. The pictures were all shot by Ellen von Unwerth in Paris so a lot of them are very Brigitte Bardot-esque."


title: The Dutchess

text: According to "The Age" newspaper's website, "'The Dutchess' offers a more introspective Fergie, a woman willing to talk about her loves, her critics and her former meth (Methamphetamine) addiction." Fergie explained in a Q&A interview for "Billboard" that, "This [album] is a complete thought. It's not just a verse or a sentence. It's my complete feeling and emotion. I think people will be surprised because they don't know that sensitive side of me yet. I also like to experiment with different tones in my voice, and I wanted to make the album really colorful." She further explained the album's concept:


title: The Dutchess

text: Regarding the album's sound, Fergie explained, "It's a very colorful album. There's dub, there's reggae, there's stuff like the Temptations, a band that I saw when I was 10 years old in concert. There's the low rider, oldie style that we revisit that I was really inspired by in high school. There's that punk-rock aspect – that just really raw rock and roll, get your hair messed up, sweat as much as you want, don't feel pretty onstage – that aspect. There's jazzy. We're just crazy." "Every song has its own character," she elaborated. "They use different pieces of my voice and that's what I want to express, 'cause it's fun. It makes the album less boring for me and hopefully for others as well." According to "The Age", the album contains "everything from torch songs to bouncy pop, reggae and even techno," representing her wide musical influences. Andy Kellman of "AllMusic" noted that the album has "throwback hip-hop, throwback soul, reggae, ska-punk, scat, vaguely torchy midtempo fluff, and a classy string-drenched ballad.


title: The Dutchess

text: "I'm not claiming to be a battle MC," she says. "That's not where I'm taking this. This is just paying homage to artists like Roxanne Shanté, Monie Love, Salt-n-Pepa, JJ. Fad – women I looked up to." Fergie loves hip-hop, but she has always known she's an outsider. "In junior high I was fascinated by gangsta rap," she says, sipping a caipirinha. "I was suburban, yet I had glimpses from where I lived. I'm hearing all the stories about what was going on in East L.A. and South Central, looking at it from the outside. I think I come from a whole generation of that. That's why a lot of people can relate with me, because they lived that, too. Seeing it but not really living it. So there weren't any of the negative consequences to the guns and all of that. It was just interesting and sexy."


title: The Dutchess

text: The album starts with "Fergalicious", an electronica, hip hop and dance song, which according to the song's co-writer, producer and featured guest, will.i.am, has Fergie "just being sassy and flaunting her stuff from a strong female perspective, paying homage to Salt-N-Pepa." He also labelled it "the sister of [Black Eyed Peas hit] My Humps'." Fergie stated that, "In 'Fergalicious,' I emulated ['80s female rap trio] J.J. Fad, and sampled the track from Afro-Rican's "Give It All You Got." Lyrically, the song uses food metaphors to describe how tasty the singer is. "Clumsy" follows, with will.i.am comparing the song to Shangri-Las "Leader of the Pack" with a ghetto-ass beat, guitars and background singers." Lyrically, it finds Fergie "trippin', stumblin', flippin', fumblin'" after being struck by Cupid's arrow. In "All That I Got (the Make-Up Song)", she wants a guy who will love her for more than her outward appearance, with the singer asking, "Would you love me/If I didn't work out/Or didn't change my natural hair?" "London Bridge" was co-written by Sean Garrett and produced by Polow da Don and includes sexual innuendo. It was described as "a club track that only lightly touches on personal lyrics about fame and celebrity" ('It's like every time I get up on the dude/ Paparazzi put my business in the news,' she sings), with the singer also threatening to mace pushy photographers and boasts. "It's poking fun at certain things. I'm really not going to spray the paparazzi with mace – I don't know if you know that about me," she said in an interview. Regarding the song's title, she claimed, "There are a couple things that you could relate with that title, but I'm just going to leave it to people's imagination."


title: The Dutchess

text: "Pedestal" lashes out at gossip bloggers like Perez Hilton who "hide behind computer screens", as noted by Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, while "Voodoo Doll" is a reggae song, with dub influences, where Fergie talks about her past and getting over those demons. According to Fergie, "It's about my struggle with crystal meth. There's a demon part that's a completely different voice than the singing part, and it's almost like two voices. It's me battling with myself." "Glamorous" is again produced by Polow da Don and features Ludacris. It was described as an R&B song with techno influences. Lyrically, it talks about how fame doesn't give her amnesia about where she came from. "Here I Come" features once more will.i.am and it is done to the tune of The Temptations' "Get Ready." In "Velvet", Fergie invites a man to share her bed. As stated by Fergie, "I wanted it to sound like velvet feels – very smooth – and I wanted it to be sensual." The pop/rock song "Big Girls Don't Cry" talks about a crumbling romance. will.i.am admitted that it "really pushed my production skills. I did an Edie Brickell type of production – 'I'm not aware of too many things,' on guitars."


title: The Dutchess

text: "Mary Jane Shoes" is a song inspired in reggae, ska-punk and scat. It features Rita Marley, Bob Marley's widow, and I Threes. "That was quite an honor for me," Fergie said of the song. "I kind of get to play Bob Marley in that song, which is a beautiful thing." She went on to describe the song as "a breezy reggae song, and at the end I go into a little bit of punk-rock mosh music because I love to do that if you've ever seen my stage shows." will.i.am commented, "She goes from dub, doing her interpretation of roots, to some ska-punk and ends up with jazz. From a production standpoint that was fun, flipping all those different styles." The melody of the chorus bears striking resemblance to the chorus of Marley's "No Woman, No Cry." The song is followed by the ballad "Losing My Ground", which is about desperation, and the album closes with "Finally", a slightly Broadway-styled, ballad. It was named a "dramatic piano and string-laden coda" track. It was co-produced by John Legend, who also plays the piano. Lyrically, it reflects on lessons learned the hard way and decides that life is good. Fergie further explained the track:


title: The Dutchess

text: "The Dutchess" was first released on September 13, 2006, in Japan and was released in the United States, Canada and New Zealand on September 19, 2006. On September 21, 2006, Fergie held a launch party for the album, after a day of radio and television promotion. She first performed "London Bridge" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards on the "Red Carpet on the Rock" pre-show. She also went to "TRL", NBC's "Today Show", "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Late Show with David Letterman", performing the single "London Bridge". She also performed the track during 2006 Fashion Rocks, where she used a glittery mini-dress, and later was joined by her band The Black Eyed Peas to perform their single "Pump It". Fergie also went to the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, performing the single "Fergalicious". In 2007, Fergie continued the promotion of the album, being part of the AOL Sessions, Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash, Radio 1's Big Weekend, 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards, 2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards, Concert for Diana, 2007 American Music Awards and more. To further promote the album, Fergie embarked on the Verizon VIP Tour, which began on May 8, 2007.


title: The Dutchess

text: In April 2008, it was announced that "The Dutchess" was going to be re-released, with the inclusion of "Labels or Love", soundtrack for the film "Sex and the City" (2008), Nelly's "Party People", "Barracuda" (a Heart cover) and a remix of "Clumsy" with Soulja Boy. Along with the four bonus tracks, the new package features an exclusive fold-out poster illustration of Fergie, an insert coupon discount to merchandise and a connect CD option providing video content. An EP with the four tracks on the deluxe edition plus a fifth song 'Pick It Up' was released to the iTunes Store. "The Dutchess Deluxe EP" debuted at number forty-six on the US "Billboard" 200 chart with sales of 11,000 copies.


title: The Dutchess

text: "London Bridge" was released as the album's lead single on July 18, 2006, to radio stations and on August 7, 2006, on the iTunes Store. The urban pop track caused controversy due to its double entendre title, but became a huge success, topping the "Billboard" Hot 100 (for three weeks) and New Zealand charts, while also reaching the top-ten in over twelve countries. The music video for the song features The Black Eyed Peas members as well as Fergie on the Tower Bridge, among other scenes.


title: The Dutchess

text: The following single, "Fergalicious", was released on October 23, 2006. The track, which features will.i.am, managed to reach number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100, the top-five in Australia and New Zealand, although it peaked lower than "London Bridge" in Europe. Its music video features Fergie as Willy Wonka in a candy factory.


title: The Dutchess

text: "Glamorous" was released as the third single from the album, on February 20, 2007. The track, which features Ludacris, became another number-one single for Fergie in the United States, and also reached the top-ten in over seven countries.


title: The Dutchess

text: The fourth single, "Big Girls Don't Cry", was released on May 22, 2007. The ballad became a huge success worldwide, topping the charts of ten countries, including Australia, Canada and the United States; it was also the album's most successful single in Europe. The music video for the song features American actor Milo Ventimiglia as her love interest.


title: The Dutchess

text: "Clumsy" was then selected to be the fifth single of the album. It was released on September 25, 2007 and became a top-ten hit in five countries, including in Australia and the United States, becoming her fifth consecutive top-five hit in the U.S. Its music video features Fergie falling head over heels for love in various scenarios shot using a green screen.


title: The Dutchess

text: "Finally" was released as the sixth and final single to the United States and the United Kingdom on March 18, 2008. A music video for the song was filmed, but it was never released.


title: The Dutchess

text: "Pick It Up" was released as promotional single exclusively to Japan on January 1, 2007. The song "Here I Come" was released as promotional single in Australia and New Zealand on January 19, 2008. It reached the top-forty in both countries.


title: The Dutchess

text: Critical response to "The Dutchess" was mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 58, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Leah Greenblatt wrote for "Entertainment Weekly" that "Though not every track is a gem, The Dutchess reaches further than most albums by contemporary divas," prov[ing] that she's earned her Black Eyed independence – and perhaps even her new royal title." Bill Lamb of "About.com" agreed, writing that it "is one of the top debuts of the year, [which] is good enough to pull into question the wisdom of Fergie sticking with the Black Eyed Peas or considering striking out on her own. [...] Adventurous, bold, and a whole lot of fun, she is an artist to be relished." "Uncut" called it "one of the most rambunctiously entertaining and high-spirited records of 2006," while Robert Christgau gave the album a "choice cut", praising the tracks "Fergalicious" and "London Bridge". Kathryn Perry of "The Boston Phoenix" named the album "an eclectic, danceable collection of hip-hop, R&B, and pop confections," while Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" called it "a shameless solo debut full of Eighties-style electro bangers." Dan Gennoe of "Yahoo! Music" saw the album as "an exceptionally random R&B mixtape," but perceived that while "be[ing] loaded with future hits and staggering imagination, it's also fundamentally flawed."


title: The Dutchess

text: In a more lukewarm review, Andy Kellman of "AllMusic" gave the album 2 out of possible 5 stars, noting that the album is "mildly entertaining but tremendously taxing" and writing that the album has "passable switch-ups, but none of them has any lasting (or even immediate) value, with the possible exception of the inexplicably asinine 'London Bridge'." Sal Cinquemani of "Slant Magazine" analyzed that "the album too often seems to be striving to display diversity at the expense of artistry," also criticizing the song's lyrics, writing that they "don't delve very deep." Mike Joseph of "PopMatters" was more negative, observing that it "sounds like it was driven maybe 10% by an artist and 90% by a focus group. Fergie prances, preens, moans, talks and raps, but the result is canned and sterile." Although expressing that "Fergie is talented enough to compete with the likes of Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera," Norman Mayers of "Prefix Magazine" noted that "the material on 'The Dutchess' won't take her to those heights," while Benjamin Boles of "Now" pointed out that it "would've been better if they cut the 'serious' songs." Ann Powers of "Los Angeles Times" concluded that "the problem is the Duchess herself. Fergie exudes earthy charm, but can't keep up with the breakneck music. She forces emotion on the slower show-stoppers, and she's all cartoon kitten on the come-ons."


title: The Dutchess

text: "The Dutchess" debuted at number three on the US "Billboard" 200 with sales of 142,000 copies in its first week. It later fell to number nine, selling 74,000 copies. After four weeks falling on the charts, "The Dutchess" became the "greatest gainer" of the week ending November 18, 2006, climbing from number twenty-one to number fourteen. In 2007, the album remained inside the top-twenty, while in March it kept on climbing, due to the success of its single "Glamorous", which was inside the top-ten at the time. In May, the album continued its success, becoming once more the "greatest gainer", reaching number twelve on the week ending May 5, 2007. After the Concert for Diana, in which Fergie performed, the album reached number eleven, becoming for the third time the week's "greatest gainer". A week later, the album re-entered the top with the aid of the single "Big Girls Don't Cry," ascending to number eight in its forty-third week on the chart with 50,000 copies. The song kept on climbing the following weeks, remaining at number six for two weeks, with sales of 50,000 and 56,000 copies, respectively. It later fell to number nine with sales of 53,000 copies, and climbed to numbers 8 and 7 in the following weeks. After fifty-one weeks on the chart, "The Dutchess" reached a new peak on the US "Billboard 200" chart, climbing to number two with sales of 49,000 copies. It spent ninety-four weeks on the albums chart, and went on to sell 3.9 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.


title: The Dutchess

text: In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number twenty-seven and eventually peaked at number eighteen, spending thirty weeks on the chart. It was later certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling over 300,000 copies. In Australia, the album debuted at number thirteen, before moving to number ten. The album kept on falling on the charts, before re-entering at number thirty-five on May 13, 2007. It entered the top-ten once again with the success of "Big Girls Don't Cry", which brought the album to rise until reach a peak of number-one for four consecutive weeks. It has shifted over 210,000 copies and it was certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, spending sixty-two weeks inside the nation's top-fifty, and twenty-one weeks inside the top ten. The album also received platinum certifications in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Poland and Russia. It has sold over twelve million copies worldwide.


title: The Dutchess

text: "The Dutchess" became one of the most commercially successful albums of 2006 and 2007, spawning five top-five hits in the United States. When the album's fourth single, "Big Girls Don't Cry", was released, she became the first female artist with three number-ones from one album since Christina Aguilera in 2000. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. In the United States, with the fifth single "Clumsy" climbing to the top ten, Fergie earned her fifth top-five hit, becoming the first album to produce five top five singles in the 21st century, being surpassed only in 2010 by Katy Perry with her third studio album "Teenage Dream". The album also set a new record in the digital era for the most multi-platinum singles from one album, with each single selling over two million digital downloads in the United States. Fergie held this record until 2012, when Katy Perry surpassed her again, achieving six multi-platinum singles with her album "Teenage Dream" (2010). Fergie also had five consecutive top-five hits in Australia, becoming the second artist to achieve the feat with a debut album; the first artist to do so was Delta Goodrem with her 2003 album, "Innocent Eyes", which had five consecutive number ones. While analyzing the album after eight years of its release, Jason Lipshutz of "Billboard" commented:


title: Phil Niekro

text: Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 318 career victories are the most by a knuckleballer and rank 16th on MLB's all-time wins list. He won the National League Gold Glove Award five times, was selected to five All-Star teams, and led the league in victories twice and earned run average once. He was a key contributor to the Braves winning their only two division titles before 1991. Niekro was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro and his younger brother Joe amassed 539 wins between them, the most combined wins by brothers in baseball history. Phil's 121 career victories after the age of 40 is a major league record. His longevity is attributed to his knuckleball, which is a difficult pitch to master but is easy on the arm and often baffles hitters due to its unpredictable trajectory.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro remains the last MLB pitcher to win and lose 20 games in the same season, finishing 21-20 with the Braves in 1979. It was his third and final 20-win season and his second and final 20-loss season. That season, Phil and Joe Niekro were NL co-leaders in wins.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro was born in Blaine, Ohio, and grew up in Lansing, Ohio, the son of Henrietta (Klinkoski) and Philip Niekro. He was of Polish descent. He attended Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, Ohio, and was a boyhood friend of Basketball Hall-of-Famer John Havlicek. The baseball field where he played at Bridgeport High School's Perkins Field athletic complex was renamed "The Niekro Diamond" in 2008 after Phil and his brother, fellow major league pitcher Joe Niekro. The brothers were the sons of a coal miner who had pitched semi-pro baseball and learned to throw a knuckleball from another coal miner. He taught the boys the pitch in the backyard. In addition, Phil played American Legion Baseball.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1959 for $250 ($ in current dollar terms). He pitched for several minor league teams at several levels for the next few years, appearing mostly as a relief pitcher. While he was briefly promoted to the Class AAA Louisville Colonels in 1960, he spent the rest of that season pitching for the Jacksonville Braves. He spent the next season with the Class AA Austin Senators. He returned to Louisville in 1962 and had a 9–6 record. He missed the 1963 season due to military service.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro debuted with the Milwaukee Braves in 1964, working 15 major league innings and spending time with the team's class AAA minor league affiliate. He stayed with the major league team all year in 1965, pitching innings in 41 games and recording six saves. In 1966, Niekro split time again between the Braves and their minor league system, going 4–3 with a 4.11 earned run average (ERA).


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro led the league with a 1.87 ERA in 1967, earning an 11–9 record with 10 complete games and 9 saves. He began the year as a relief pitcher but had earned a job in the starting rotation during the season.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Before the 1968 season, sportswriter Fred Down described the Braves' pitching staff as "chaotic" and reported that team leadership was planning to use Niekro as both a starter and a reliever in the coming season. He appeared in 37 games, finishing with a 14–12 record and 15 complete games. He appeared in relief three times, earning two saves.


title: Phil Niekro

text: In 1969, his first All-Star season, he had a 23–13 season with a 2.56 ERA, finishing second in the National League Cy Young award balloting to Tom Seaver. The Braves went to the playoffs, where Niekro was 0–1 with four earned runs allowed in an eight-inning appearance against the New York Mets. Niekro's playoff loss came against Seaver. The team was eliminated from the playoffs after losing the next two games.


title: Phil Niekro

text: In 1970, he went 12–18 with a 4.27 ERA in what turned out to be a down year. He surrendered a league-leading 40 home runs that year, a feat he would not repeat until 1979.


title: Phil Niekro

text: From 1971 to 1973, he combined for a record of 44–36. The Braves finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th in their division. On August 5, 1973, Niekro threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres, the first for the Braves since moving to Atlanta.


title: Phil Niekro

text: In 1974, Niekro led the league in several pitching categories, including wins (20), complete games (18), and innings pitched (302.1). He finished third in the voting for the Cy Young Award that year.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Between 1977 and 1979, Niekro was the league leader in complete games, innings pitched and batters faced. In 1979, the 40-year-old Niekro led the league in both wins (21) and losses (20). He finished sixth in Cy Young Award voting in both 1978 and 1979, and made his third All-Star appearance in 1978, as well as winning three consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1978 to 1980.


title: Phil Niekro

text: In 1980 and 1981, he went 15–18 and 7–7 while leading the league in games started (38) and losses (18) in 1980.


title: Phil Niekro

text: In 1982, at the age of 43, Niekro led the Braves with a 17–4 season while winning his fourth Gold Glove Award and appearing in his fourth All-Star game. On October 1, with the Braves clinging to a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Niekro beat the San Diego Padres almost single-handedly by throwing a complete game shutout and hitting a two-run home run. Niekro started Game One of the subsequent 1982 National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals and pitched well, but the game was called on account of rain just before it became official. He pitched six innings of Game 2 and left with a 3–2 lead. However, the Cardinals scored two late runs after Niekro left the game and would eventually sweep the series.


title: Phil Niekro

text: In 1983, he went 11–10 and won his fifth Gold Glove Award. After the season, the Braves released him.


title: Phil Niekro

text: In 1984, Niekro signed a two-year contract with the New York Yankees. He won 16 games in 1984 and made his fifth and final All-Star appearance.


title: Phil Niekro

text: On October 6, 1985, Niekro gained entry into the 300 win club with a shutout win over the Toronto Blue Jays. At 46 years, 188 days, Niekro became the oldest pitcher to pitch a shutout in the major leagues. This record stood for nearly 25 years before Jamie Moyer (47 years, 170 days) bested the feat in May 2010. He did not throw his trademark knuckleball throughout the game until the final hitter; to former AL MVP Jeff Burroughs. Niekro struck Burroughs out to end the game. He finished the 1985 season with a 16–12 record, the final time he won 15 or more games in a single season. He was released by the Yankees before the 1986 season started.


title: Phil Niekro

text: After two seasons in New York, Niekro pitched for the Cleveland Indians in 1986. He went 11–11 with a 4.32 ERA. He started the 1987 season with the Indians, going 7–11 in 26 starts.


title: Phil Niekro

text: On August 9, 1987, Niekro was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Darryl Landrum and a player to be named later, who was later revealed to be Don Gordon. After going 0–2 in three starts, the Blue Jays released Niekro.


title: Phil Niekro

text: On September 23, 1987, Niekro signed again with his old team, the Atlanta Braves. On September 27, he made his final start of his career, pitching three innings and surrendering five runs in the no-decision. The Braves lost the game against the San Francisco Giants 15–6. Niekro retired at the end of the season.


title: Phil Niekro

text: At the age of 48, Niekro was the oldest player in major league history to play regularly until Julio Franco played at age 49 in 2007. He set a major league record by playing 24 seasons in the major leagues without a World Series appearance. His total of innings pitched is the most by any pitcher in the post-1920 live-ball era.


title: Phil Niekro

text: A sidearm pitcher, his pitching featured the knuckleball, which frustrated major league hitters. Ralph Kiner compared Niekro's special pitch to "watching Mario Andretti park a car". Pete Rose said, "I work for three weeks to get my swing down pat and Phil messes it up in one night... Trying to hit that thing is a miserable way to make a living." Catcher Bob Uecker was also frustrated by the pitch at times, saying, "Niekro struck out a hitter once and I never touched the ball. It hit me in the shinguard, bounced out to Clete Boyer at third base and he threw out the runner at first. Talk about a weird assist: 2–5–3 on a strikeout." Uecker also said humorously of the pitch, "The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and pick it up."


title: Phil Niekro

text: After the end of his professional baseball career, Niekro managed the all-women Colorado Silver Bullets baseball team. Niekro taught his nephew Lance Niekro to throw a knuckleball after Lance's unsuccessful stints as a power-hitting first base prospect with the San Francisco Giants.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997, his fifth year of eligibility. He was the only player elected that year; Tony Pérez and Don Sutton were among the notable eligible players who were not elected that year. After he was notified, Niekro said, "Giving a description of today's phone call is impossible. I've been stunned before. I just didn't prepare myself this year. I was not going to get myself so high." The year before, Niekro had received the most Hall of Fame votes out of all the players in the ballot, but had not received the required 75% of the vote for election.


title: Phil Niekro

text: Niekro was a member of the board of directors for Kiz Toys, a toy company based out of Cumming, Georgia, and Niekro advised the company on the KizSport baseball line, reviewing product designs and development.


title: Phil Niekro

text: The Gwinnett Braves' home, Coolray Field, has a restaurant, Niekro's, named after him. It features the Knucksie Sandwich, made with barbecue pork and cole slaw atop a corn muffin, said to be his favorite. Niekro and his family supported the students of Bridgeport High School with the proceeds from the annual golf tournament "The Niekro Classic".


title: Phil Niekro

text: On December 26, 2020, Niekro died in his sleep at age 81. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.


title: Legitimacy of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

text: The legitimacy under international law of the 1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been questioned. The UN Charter is the foundational legal document of the United Nations (UN) and is the cornerstone of the public international law governing the use of force between States. NATO members are also subject to the North Atlantic Treaty.


text: Supporters of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia argued that the bombing brought to an end the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo's Albanian population, and that it hastened (or caused) the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government, which they saw as having been responsible for the international isolation of Yugoslavia, war crimes, and human rights violations. Others however argue that NATO triggered or accelerated the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo as the violence escalated once the campaign began.


text: The laws of public international law that determine whether launching a war is legally justified are called "jus ad bellum".


text: NATO described the conditions in Kosovo as posing a risk to regional stability. As such, NATO and certain governments asserted they had a legitimate interest in developments in Kosovo, due to their impact on the stability of the whole region which, they claimed, is a legitimate concern of the Organisation.


text: The UN Charter is legally binding on all United Nations member states, including all members of NATO, because they have each signed it. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the use of force by UN member states to resolve disputes, but with two specific exceptions to this general prohibition:


text: NATO did not have the backing of the United Nations Security Council to use force in Yugoslavia. Further, NATO did not claim that an armed attack occurred against another state. However, its advocates contend that NATO actions were consistent with the United Nations Charter because the UN Charter prohibits unprovoked attacks only by individual states. The principal legal issue remains, however, since NATO as such is not a member state of the UN, whether the member states of NATO, the United States and the European powers that sent armed forces to attack as part of the NATO bombing campaign, violated the UN Charter by attacking a fellow UN member state: (1) in the absence of UN Security Council authorization, and (2) in the absence of an attack or a threat of imminent attack on them.


text: The United Nations considers NATO to be a "regional arrangement" under UN Article 52, which allows it to deal with matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security as are appropriate for regional action provided that such arrangements or agencies and their activities are consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. However, the UN policy on military intervention by regional arrangements in UN Article 53 states the Security Council can, where appropriate, "utilize such regional arrangements or agencies for enforcement action under its authority. However, no enforcement action shall be taken under regional arrangements or by regional agencies without the authorization of the Security Council."


text: Because the NATO actions in Kosovo were taken after consultation with all members, were approved by a NATO vote, and were undertaken by several NATO members, NATO contends that its actions were in accordance with its charter. Article 4, however, is silent as to the use of force and does not discuss under what circumstances force may be authorized.


text: Article 5 of NATO's charter calls on NATO members to respond in mutual defense when any NATO member is attacked. It is unclear whether under the NATO charter force may be used in the absence of such an attack. Article 5 has been interpreted as restricting NATO's use of force to situations where a NATO member has been attacked. It has been argued, therefore, that NATO's actions were in violation of the charter of NATO.


text: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan supported intervention in principle, saying "there are times when the use of force may be legitimate in the pursuit of peace", but was critical of unilateral action by NATO. He argued "under the [UN] Charter the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security - and this is explicitly acknowledged in the North Atlantic Treaty. Therefore, the Council should be involved in any decision to resort to the use of force."


text: On the day the bombing started, Russia called for the UN Security Council to meet to consider "an extremely dangerous situation caused by the unilateral military action of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia". However, a draft resolution, tabled jointly by Russia, Belarus and India, to demand "an immediate cessation of the use of force against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" was defeated. Among the 15 UN Security Council nations, there were three votes in favour (Russia, China and Namibia) and twelve against, with no abstentions. Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Gabon, Gambia, Malaysia, and Slovenia, along with the US, Britain, France, Canada, and Netherlands voted against it.


text: Rejection of Russia's condemnation amounted to political, but not legal, support of NATO's intervention. After the war ended with the Kumanovo Treaty and the bombing stopped, some argued that the creation on 10 June 1999 of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), by Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999), constituted a legal ratification post festum (after the event).


text: One of the few countries to support the Yugoslav government fully during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was that of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi. This friendship between Libya and Yugoslavia dates back to before the fall of the latter, as Gaddafi maintained a close relationship with Josip Broz Tito. At his 2009 speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Gaddafi strongly condemned the intervention in Yugoslavia, along with earlier U.S. interventions in Grenada and Panama. Libya's support for Yugoslavia throughout the 1990s led to many in Serbia supporting the Gaddafi government in during the First Libyan Civil War in 2011, with many Serbs drawing parallels between the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya and Serbia's own experience with NATO intervention.


text: The bombing campaign is sometimes referred to as a "humanitarian war" or a case of "humanitarian intervention". Part of NATO's justification for the bombing was to end the humanitarian crisis involving the large outflow of Kosovar Albanian refugees caused by Yugoslav forces. In April 1999, the development of this humanitarian crisis as well as accusations of genocide were used by policy-makers in the United States and Europe to legally justify the campaign on the basis of "humanitarian law", allowing for intervention where large scale human rights violations are occurring. Human rights organizations and individuals were divided on the campaign, given that the invocation of human rights and humanitarian law was used to initiate war. Moreover, they expressed doubts about the campaign given that it worsened the violence against Kosovar Albanians. Critics of the campaign have employed the term "humanitarian bombing" in an ironic manner to demonstrate their derision.


text: Some journalists have argued that the humanitarian situation worsened after the bombing campaign was launched, thereby questioning the stated objective as laid out by NATO. Writing for the "Washington Post", Christopher Layne and Benjamin Schwartz opined on U.S. President Bill Clinton's claim that the campaign stopped "deliberate, systematic efforts at ..genocide" by arguing that prior to the bombing the Yugoslav Army's "brutal operations" were aimed at rooting out the Kosovo Liberation Army rather than expelling the Albanian population which only occurred afterwards, claiming that "the U.S.-led NATO bombing precipitated the very humanitarian crisis the administration claimed it was intervening to stop". Alexander Cockburn of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that "an alternative assessment was that NATO’s bombing was largely to blame for the expulsions and killings" of Kosovars as prior to it the Yugoslav Army was "behaving with the brutality typical of security forces". On the 10th anniversary of the bombing campaign, Ian Bancroft wrote in "The Guardian": "Though justified by apparently humanitarian considerations, NATO's bombing of Serbia succeeded only in escalating the Kosovo crisis into a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe"; citing a post-war report released by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe he concluded that it is "widely acknowledged that the bulk of the ethnic cleansing and war crimes occurred after the start of [NATO]'s campaign".


text: Aside from the above-discussed issue of the legal justifiability of launching the war against Yugoslavia, the NATO bombing campaign has been criticized for exceeding the limits of lawful wartime conduct under international humanitarian law, such as the Geneva Conventions.


text: Noam Chomsky was also highly critical of the NATO campaign and its aerial bombing in particular, where public utilities were bombed in addition to military targets. Chomsky argued that the main objective of the NATO intervention was to integrate FR Yugoslavia into the Western neo-liberal social and economic system, since it was the only country in the region which still defied the Western hegemony prior to 1999. He described bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia as an act of terrorism.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger (sometimes abbreviated Y!M) was an advertisement-supported instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo!. Yahoo! Messenger was provided free of charge and could be downloaded and used with a generic "Yahoo ID" which also allowed access to other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail. The service also offered VoIP, file transfers, webcam hosting, a text messaging service, and chat rooms in various categories.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger dates back to Yahoo! Chat, which was a public chat room service. The actual client, originally called Yahoo! Pager, launched on March 9, 1998 and renamed to Yahoo! Messenger in 1999. The chat room service shut down in 2012.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: In addition to instant messaging features similar to those offered by ICQ, it also offered (on Microsoft Windows) features such as: IMVironments (customizing the look of Instant Message windows, some of which include authorized themes of various cartoons such as "Garfield" or "Dilbert"), address-book integration and Custom Status Messages. It was also the first major IM client to feature BUZZing and music-status.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: A new Yahoo! Messenger was released in 2015, replacing the older one. Yahoo! Messenger was shut down entirely on July 17, 2018, replaced by a new service titled Yahoo! Together, only to be shut down as well in 2019.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger offered file sending capabilities to its users. Files could be up to 2 GB each. After the software's relaunch, only certain media files could be shared: photos, animated GIFs and videos. It also allowed album sharing, with multiple media files in one IM. The animated GIF feature integrated with Tumblr, also owned by Yahoo! at that time.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: The new Yahoo! Messenger added a like button to messages and media. It was basic in functionality, adding a heart when clicked and listing contacts who added a like.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: The new Yahoo! Messenger allowed messages to be unsent, deleting them from both the sender and the receiver's messaging page.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Chat was a free online chat room service provided exclusively for Yahoo! users. Yahoo! Chat was first launched on January 7, 1997. Yahoo! Chat was a separate vertical on Yahoo! In its original form, Yahoo! Chat was a user-to-user text chat service used by millions worldwide. Soon after launch, Yahoo! Chat partnered with NBC and NewsCorp to produce moderated Chat Events. Yahoo! Chat events eventually developed broadcast partnerships with 100+ entities and hosted 350+ events-a-month. Yahoo's Live Chat with the music group Hanson on July 21, 1998, was the Internet's largest live event to date. The blockbusters kept on with events including 3 Beatles (Paul, George, Ringo), a live event from Columbine during the tragedy (in partnership with Time Online), live chats from outer space with John Glenn and many others. Sadly, in one of Yahoo's poorer decisions, Yahoo! Chat Events were discontinued in 2001, right at the start of the social media era.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: On March 9, 1998, the first public version of Yahoo! Pager was released, with Yahoo! Chat among its features. It allowed users to create public chat rooms, send private messages, and use emoticons.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: In June 2005, with no advance warning, Yahoo disabled users' ability to create their own chat rooms. The move came after KPRC-TV in Houston, Texas reported that many of the user-created rooms were geared toward pedophilia. The story prompted several advertisers, including Pepsi and Georgia-Pacific, to pull their ads from Yahoo.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: On November 30, 2012, Yahoo announced that among other changes that the public chat rooms would be discontinued as of December 14, 2012. quoting "This will enable us to refocus our efforts on modernizing our core Yahoo products experiences and of course, create new ones."


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Until the chat rooms became unavailable on December 14, 2012, all versions of Yahoo! Messenger could access Yahoo chat rooms.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo has since closed down the chat.yahoo.com site (first having it redirect visitors to a section of the Yahoo! Messenger page, but as of June 2019 not even resolving that host name anymore) because the great majority of chat users accessed it through Messenger. The company worked for a while on a way to allow users to create their own rooms while providing safeguards against abuse. A greyed-out option to "create a room" was available until the release of version 11.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: As of January 2014, the iOS version supported voice calls, with video calling on some devices. The Android version supported "voice & video calls (beta)".


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: From September 2016, Yahoo! Messenger no longer offered webcam service on their computer application. Yahoo's software previously allowed users with newer versions (8 through 10) to use webcams. This option enabled users from distances all over the world to view others who had installed a webcam on their end. The service was free with provided speeds averaging from a range in between 1 and 2 frames per second. The resolution of the images could be seen starting at 320×240 pixels or 160×120.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: The Yahoo! Messenger Protocol (YMSG) was the client's underlying network protocol. It provided a language and series of conventions for software communicating with Yahoo!'s Instant Messaging service. In essence, YMSG performed the same role for Yahoo!'s IM as HTTP does for the World Wide Web. Unlike HTTP, however, YMSG was a proprietary protocol, a closed standard aligned only with the Yahoo! messaging service. Rival messaging services have their own protocols, some based on open standards, others proprietary, each effectively fulfilling the same role with different mechanics.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: One of the fundamental tenets of instant messaging is the notion that users can see when someone is connected to the network—known in the industry as 'presence'. The YMSG protocol used the mechanics of a standard internet connection to achieve presence—the same connection it used to send and receive data. In order for each user to remain 'visible' to other users on the service, and thereby signaling their availability, their Yahoo! IM client software maintained a functional, open, network connection linking the client to Yahoo!'s IM servers.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger's installation process automatically installed an extra uniform resource identifier (URI) scheme handler for the Yahoo! Messenger Protocol into some web browsers, so that URIs beginning codice_1 could open a new Yahoo! Messenger window with specified parameters. This is similar in function to the mailto URI scheme, which creates a new e-mail message using the system's default mail program. For instance, a web page might include a link like the following in its HTML source to open a window for sending a message to the YIM user "exampleuser":


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: To specify a message body, the codice_2 parameter was used, so that the link location might look like this:


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: On October 13, 2005, Yahoo and Microsoft announced plans to introduce interoperability between their two messengers, creating the second-largest real-time communications service userbase worldwide: 40 percent of all users. The announcement came after years of third-party interoperability success (most notably, Trillian and Pidgin) and criticisms that the major real-time communications services were locking their networks. Microsoft has also had talks with AOL in an attempt to introduce further interoperability, but AOL was unwilling to participate.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Interoperability between Yahoo and Windows Live Messenger was launched July 12, 2006. This allowed Yahoo and Windows Live Messenger users to chat to each other without the need to create an account on the other service, provided both contacts used the latest versions of the clients. It was not possible to talk using the voice service between the two different messengers.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: As of December 14, 2012, the interoperability between Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger ceased to exist. The Live Messenger contacts appeared as greyed out and it was not possible to send instant messages to them.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: There were various games and applications available that can be accessed via the conversation window by clicking the games icon and challenging your current contact. It requires Java to function.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: In version 8.0, Yahoo! Messenger featured the ability for users to create plug-ins, which are then hosted and showcased on the Yahoo chat room. Yahoo now no longer provides plugin development SDK.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger users could listen to free and paid Internet radio services, using the defunct Yahoo! Music Radio plug-in from within the messenger window. The plug-in also player functionality, such as play, pause, skip and rate this song.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: As of August 2000, according to Media Metrix, Yahoo! Messenger had about 10.6 million users in the U.S., about the same as MSN Messenger but trailing AOL Instant Messenger. However another analyst doubted the figures for Yahoo! and MSN.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: As of the month of September 2001, over five billion instant messages were sent on the network, up 115% from the year before, according to Media Metrix. Another study in August 2002 showed that it had a 16.7 percent share of IM work and home subscribers in the U.S., compared to 24.1 percent for MSN and 28.3 percent for AIM.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: In April 2002, 19.1 million people in the U.S. used Yahoo! Messenger, according to Media Metrix. Another study from Nielsen Net Ratings showed that as of 2002, Yahoo! Messenger had some 12 million users worldwide. This increased to 22 million by March 2006.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger was the dominant instant messaging platform among commodity traders until the platform was discontinued in August 2016.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: As of March 27, 2016, the only supported clients were the Android, iOS and web browser clients. The previous Windows, Mac, Unix and Solaris clients were not supported anymore, and their servers began shutting down on August 5, 2016, with the clients no longer working by August 31, 2016. It turned out that the servers for the legacy clients were finally shut down sometime between the mid-morning and early afternoon hours Eastern Standard Time on September 1, 2016, resulting in the legacy desktop clients no longer being able to access their buddy/contact lists. As of 2018 (with the last version), Yahoo! Messenger was available for computers as a web service, including both a messenger-only site and Yahoo! Mail integration. Apps were also available on Android and iOS. Pidgin could connect to Yahoo! Messenger by using the FunYahoo++ plugin.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Mobile versions of Yahoo! Messenger were launched originally for Palm OS and Windows CE devices. In a deal signed March 2000, Yahoo! Messenger would come bundled on Palm handheld computers. It was also available for Verizon Wireless customers, through a deal with Yahoo! announced in March 2001, and through Sprint's MiniBrowser. A version for the T-Mobile Sidekick II was released in 2004. This was to be followed by versions for Symbian (via Yahoo! Go), BlackBerry, and then for iPhone in April 2009. A version called Yahoo! Messenger for SMS also existed, which allowed IM via SMS.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Pager launched on March 9, 1998, an instant messaging (IM) client integrated with Yahoo! services including Yahoo! Chat. It included basic messaging support, a buddy list with status message support, the ability to block other users, alerts when a buddies came online, and notifications when a new Yahoo! Mail message arrived. In 2000, the name changed to Yahoo! Messenger.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Version 5.0, released November 2001, introduced IMVironments, an initiative that allowed users to play music and Flash Video clips inside the IM window. Yahoo! partnered with rock band Garbage that provided their single "Androgyny" available to share by users. Other partnerships also made IMVironments for the "Monsters, Inc." movie, the "Super Smash Bros. Melee" video game, and the Hello Kitty character, among others.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: In August 2002 with the release of version 5.5, the resolution for video calling was increased to a possible 320x240 and 20 frames per second (up from 160x120 and 1 frame per second).


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: From October 2002, Yahoo! offered for corporate subscribers a more secure and better (SSL) encrypted IM client, called Yahoo! Messenger Enterprise Edition. It was released with a $30 yearly subscription package in 2003.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger version 6.0 was released in May 2004. It added games, music, photos, and Yahoo! Search, alongside a "stealth" mode. It also debuted Yahoo! Avatars.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: With the release of version 7.0 in August 2005, the client was now renamed to Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. It had several new features such as VoIP, voicemail, drag-and-drop file and photo sharing, Yahoo! 360° and LAUNCHcast integration, and others. It was seen as a challenger against Skype.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: On October 12, 2005, Yahoo! and Microsoft formed an alliance in which Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger (later known as Windows Live Messenger) will be interconnected, allowing users of both communities to communicate and share emoticons and buddy lists with each other. The service was enabled on Yahoo! Messenger with Voice 8.0 in July 2006. As of version 8.1, the name switched back to just Yahoo! Messenger.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Beginning in 2006, Yahoo made known its intention to provide a web interface for Yahoo! Messenger, culminating in the Gmail-like web archival and indexing of chat conversations through Yahoo! Mail. However, while Yahoo! Mail integrated much of the rudimentary features of Messenger beginning in 2007, Yahoo did not succeed initially in integrating archival of chat conversations into Mail. Instead, a separate Adobe Flex-based web messenger was released in 2007 with archival of conversations which take place inside the web messenger itself.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2007, Yahoo! Messenger for Vista was introduced, which is a version designed and optimized for Windows Vista. It exploited the new design elements of Vista's Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and introduced a new user interface and features. The application was in a preview beta until finally released for download on December 6, 2007. As of October 24, 2008, Yahoo! Messenger for Vista is no longer available.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger version 9 was released in September 2008. It allows the viewing of YouTube videos within the chat window, and integrates with other Yahoo! services such as Flickr. This version also saw the release of Pingbox, which embeds on a blog or website and allows visitors to send IM texts anonymously without needing Yahoo! Messenger software or to sign in. Version 10, released November 2009, incorporates many bug fixes and features high-quality video calling.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: The last major Windows client release, version 11 in 2011, featured integration with Facebook, Twitter and Zynga, allowing chat with Facebook friends and playing Zynga games within. It also archives past messages on an online server which is accessible through the client. Version 11.5 (released November 2011) added tabbed IMs.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: In December 2015, an all-new, rewritten Yahoo! Messenger was launched, only on mobile and through a browser. A desktop version of the "new" Messenger was later released, shortly before the "legacy" Messenger shut down on August 5, 2016.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Together was a freeware and cross-platform messaging service, developed by Yahoo! for the Android and iOS mobile platforms. The software was introduced in beta on May 8, 2018, as Yahoo! Squirrel to replace Yahoo! Messenger and Verizon Media's AOL Instant Messenger. In October 2018, it was renamed to its present name.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Together was targeted to families and the consumer market rather than enterprise. The app was compared to Slack. Less than a year after its public beta release, Yahoo! Together went offline on April 4, 2019.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: Yahoo! Messenger users were subjected to unsolicited messages (SPIM). Yahoo's primary solution to the issue involved deleting such messages and placing the senders on an Ignore List.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: , it was estimated that at least 75% of all users who used Yahoo chat rooms were bots. Yahoo introduced a CAPTCHA system to help filter out bots from joining chat rooms, but such systems generally do little to prevent abuse by spammers.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: On November 4, 2014, the Electronic Frontier Foundation listed Yahoo! Messenger on its "Secure Messaging Scorecard". Yahoo! Messenger received 1 out of 7 points on the scorecard. It received a point for encryption during transit, but missed points because communications were not encrypted with a key the provider didn't have access to (i.e. the communications were not end-to-end encrypted), users couldn't verify contacts' identities, past messages were not secure if the encryption keys were stolen (i.e. the service did not provide forward secrecy), the code was not open to independent review (i.e. the source code was not open-source), the security design was not properly documented, and there had not been a recent independent security audit.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: The British intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)'s secret mass surveillance program Optic Nerve and National Security Agency (NSA) were reported to be indiscriminately collecting still images from Yahoo webcam streams from millions of mostly innocent Yahoo webcam users from 2008 to 2010, among other things creating a database for facial recognition for future use. Optic Nerve took a still image from the webcam stream every 5 minutes.


title: Yahoo! Messenger

text: In September 2016, "The New York Times" reported that Yahoo's security team, led by Alex Stamos, had pressed for Yahoo to adopt end-to-end encryption sometime between 2014 and 2015, but this had been resisted by Jeff Bonforte, Yahoo's senior vice president, "because it would have hurt Yahoo's ability to index and search message data".


title: SABMiller

text: SABMiller plc was a South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world's second-largest brewer measured by revenues (after Anheuser-Busch InBev) and was also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands included Fosters, Miller, and Pilsner Urquell. It operated in 80 countries worldwide and in 2009 sold around 21 billion litres of beverages. Since 10 October 2016, SABMiller is a business division of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, a Belgian multinational corporation with headquarters in Leuven.


title: SABMiller

text: SABMiller was founded as South African Breweries in 1895 to serve a growing market of miners and prospectors in and around Johannesburg. Two years later, it became the first industrial company to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. From the early 1990s onwards, the company increasingly expanded internationally, making several acquisitions in both emerging and developed markets. In 1999, it formed a new UK-based holding company, SAB plc, and moved its primary listing to London. In May 2002, SAB plc acquired Miller Brewing, forming SABMiller plc.


title: SABMiller

text: The acquisition of SABMiller by Anheuser-Busch InBev on 10 October 2016 ended the corporate use of the name SABMiller; this entity became a business division of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (abbreviated as AB InBev) began trading on the Brussels Stock Exchange as ABI, as BUD on the New York stock exchange and as ANH on the Johannesburg market. SABMiller ceased trading on global stock markets


title: SABMiller

text: The company divested itself of its interests in the MillerCoors beer company to Molson Coors. On 21 December 2016, the company agreed to sell the former SABMiller Ltd. business in Eastern Europe to Asahi Breweries Group Holdings, Ltd. Anheuser-Busch InBev had previously agreed to sell Grolsch Brewery, Peroni Brewery and Meantime Brewery to Asahi; that deal closed on 12 October 2016. On the same day, the sale of SABMiller's 49 percent share in the world's largest volume beer brand, Snow beer to China Resources Enterprise was also closed.


title: SABMiller

text: Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is also selling much of an SABMiller's subsidiary that was bottling and distributing Coca-Cola to the Coca-Cola Company. The affected regions include Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, El Salvador and Honduras.


title: SABMiller

text: Companies such as South African Breweries and Carlton & United Brewing that were subsidiaries of SABMiller, and were not sold after SABMiller was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, are now subsidiaries of AB InBev. CUB was sold to Asahi in July 2020.


title: SABMiller

text: The origins of the company date back to the foundation of South African Breweries in 1895 in South Africa. For many decades, the operations of South African Breweries were mainly limited to southern Africa, where it had established a dominant position in the market during South African Apartheid, until 1990 when it began investing in Europe.


title: SABMiller

text: In 1999, after listing on the London Stock Exchange to raise capital for acquisitions, the group purchased the Miller Brewing Company in North America from the Altria Group in 2002, and changed its name to SABMiller.


title: SABMiller

text: Following this, the group's next major acquisition was of a major interest in Bavaria S. A., South America's second largest brewer and owner of the Aguila and Club Colombia brands in 2005.


title: SABMiller

text: In 2008, SABMiller and Molson Coors created MillerCoors, a joint venture to produce beverages in the United States.


title: SABMiller

text: The company became engaged in the hostile takeover of Fosters in August 2011, and in September 2011 the board of Foster's agreed to a takeover bid valuing the company at A$9.9bn (US$10.2bn; £6.5bn). The deal was completed by the end of 2011, but excluded the Foster's lager brand in the UK and Europe, where it is owned by Heineken.


title: SABMiller

text: In November 2011, SABMiller launched Impala Cervejas in Africa, the first commercially produced cassava beer, although Africans have been making cassava home brews for generations. The taste is described as "somewhat bitter, somewhat tangy, not sweet".


title: SABMiller

text: In 2013, the company joined leading alcohol producers as part of a producers' commitments to reducing harmful drinking.


title: SABMiller

text: In July 2014, the company announced it was divesting its 39.6 percent stake in casino and hotel group Tsogo Sun Holdings Limited through institutional share placements and a partial buy-back from Tsogo Sun. SABMiller's stake at the time was valued at approximately ZAR11.7 billion (US$1.09 billion).


title: SABMiller

text: In September 2014, the company made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire a controlling stake in Dutch rival Heineken International, a move Bloomberg states was part of SABMiller's strategy to protect itself from a potential takeover bid from Anheuser-Busch InBev.


title: SABMiller

text: On 27 November 2014, it was announced that SABMiller, The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments had agreed to combine the bottling operations of their non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages businesses in southern and east Africa. The new bottler, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, will serve 12 high-growth countries accounting for approximately 40 percent of all Coca-Cola beverage volumes in Africa. SABMiller will hold 57 percent shareholding in the proposed venture.


title: SABMiller

text: In May 2015, SABMiller announced it would acquire British brewery company Meantime Brewing for an undisclosed fee.


title: SABMiller

text: On 16 September 2015, Anheuser-Busch InBev made the acquisition bid for SABMiller that would unite the world's two biggest beermakers and control about half the industry's profit. The deal, however, would need to go through several regulatory hurdles which would require certain operations to be spun off the group. A tentative deal was announced on 13 October 2015.


title: SABMiller

text: The US$107 billion merger between Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller closed on 10 October 2016. The new company, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is now the world's largest beer company. The target annual sales for the new company is US$55 billion.


title: SABMiller

text: the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had agreed to proposed deal only on the basis that SABMiller "spins off all its MillerCoors holdings in the U.S. — which include both Miller- and Coors-held brands – along with its Miller brands outside the U.S." The entire ownership situation was complicated: "In the United States, Coors is majority owned by MillerCoors (a subsidiary of SABMiller) and minority owned by Molson Coors, though internationally it’s entirely owned by Molson Coors, and Miller is owned by SABMiller."


title: SABMiller

text: As per the agreement with the regulators, the former SABMiller sold to Molson Coors full ownership of the Miller brand portfolio outside of the U.S. and Puerto Rico for US$12 billion on 11 October 2016. Molson Coors also retained "the rights to all of the brands currently in the MillerCoors portfolio for the U.S. and Puerto Rico." The agreement made Molson Coors the world's third largest brewer.


title: SABMiller

text: In Canada, Molson Coors regained the right (from the former SABMiller) to make and market Miller Genuine Draft and Miller Lite.


title: SABMiller

text: The company agreed to sell the former SABMiller Ltd. business in Eastern Europe to Asahi Breweries Group Holdings, Ltd. This deal closed on 21 December 2016. Anheuser-Busch InBev had previously agreed to sell Grolsch Brewery, Peroni Brewery and Meantime Brewery to Asahi; that deal closed on 12 October 2016. On the same day, the sale of SABMiller's 49 percent share in Snow beer to China Resources Enterprise also closed.


title: SABMiller

text: In July 2020, ABI-InBev agreed to sell the former SABMiller business Carlton & United Brewing to Asahi.


title: SABMiller

text: SABMiller grew from its original South African base into a global company with operations in both developed markets and emerging economies such as Eastern Europe, China and India. It is one of the world's largest brewers, with brewing interests and distribution agreements across six continents.


title: SABMiller

text: In August 2016, after the plans for acquiring SABMiller had been established by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the company said it would close SABMiller's regional offices in Miami, Hong Kong and Beijing after the acquisition deal closed in October 2016. Plans had not yet been revealed for the operation in Zug, Switzerland which controlled SABMiller's central & eastern European beer brands. However, the subsequent sale of much of the business in such countries to Asahi Breweries may affect the Zug operation. The office in Woking (UK) was expected to remain open for a transitional period but the HQ in London's Stanhope Gate would close. The office in Johannesburg was expected remain open for use by the Anheuser Busch Inbev SA/NV as its Africa hub.


title: SABMiller

text: Operations in some of the following regions may also be affected by the Anheuser Busch Inbev SA/NV owners in future.


title: SABMiller

text: SABMiller's brewing operations in Africa spanned 31 countries. In China, the group's national brand, Snow beer, was produced in partnership with China Resources Enterprise Limited, with SABMiller owning 49 percent; this is the leading brand by volume in China. Before acquiring SAB Miller, Anheuser-Busch InBev had agreed to sell its interests in Snow to China Resources Beer (Holdings) Co for $1.6 billion to satisfy regulators. The deal closed on 12 October 2016.


title: SABMiller

text: South Africa was SABMiller's most established market with brands including Castle Lager, Castle 1895, Castle Milk Stout, Hansa Marzen Gold, Hansa Pilsener, Carling Black Label, Carling Blue Label, Castle Lite, Redd's, Peroni, Brutal Fruit, Flying Fish, Liberado, and Carver's Weiss. The South African Breweries company is now a distinct entity, a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV which had made commitments to the South African Competition Tribunal to maintain a stable employee level.


title: SABMiller

text: The soft drink division was a large producer of products for The Coca-Cola Company in Africa, although operations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho were sold to the Coca-Cola Company in late 2016.


title: SABMiller

text: According to recent reports, Coca-Cola paid $3.15 billion to acquire AB InBev's stake (from the former SABMiller) in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.


title: SABMiller

text: In September 2011, the board of Foster's Group agreed to a takeover bid by SABMiller, valuing the company at A$9.9bn (US$10.2bn; £6.5bn). The Foster's Group, now known as Carlton & United Brewing was a direct subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV until July 2020 when it was sold to Asahi Global.


title: SABMiller

text: Carlton Draught, Cascade Draught (see Cascade Brewery), Foster's Lager, Melbourne Bitter, Pure Blonde, Victoria Bitter, and the Matilda Bay Brewing Company portfolio.


title: SABMiller

text: As part of the agreements made with regulators before Anheuser-Busch InBev was allowed to acquire SABMiller, the company sold the Peroni, Meantime and Grolsch brands to Asahi Breweries of Japan on 13 October 2016.


title: SABMiller

text: After acquiring SABMiller, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV agreed on 21 December 2016 to sell the former SABMiller Ltd. business in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania to Asahi for US$7.8 billion. The deal includes popular brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Tyskie, Lech, Dreher, Ursus, Timisoreana and Kozel. The breweries in the sale include Pilsner Urquell, Kompania Piwowarska, Ursus, Topvar and Dreher.


title: SABMiller

text: SABMiller first entered the Latin American market with the acquisition of Cervecería La Constancia from El Salvador and Cervecería Hondureña in Honduras, making the company the first international brewer to enter Central America. Since then, the group has expanded its Latin American operations into six countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru.


title: SABMiller

text: Isenbeck (Argentina), Aguila, Club Colombia, Costeña, Poker, Pilsen (Colombia), Cristal, Pilsen Callao, Pilsen Trujillo, Cusqueña, Arequipeña (Peru), Pilsener, Club (Ecuador), Pilsener, Regia, Suprema, Golden Light (El Salvador), Port Royal, Salva Vida, Imperial, Barena (Honduras), Atlas (Panama), and Balboa (Panama).


title: SABMiller

text: On 9 October 2007, SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company announced a joint venture to be known as MillerCoors. US antitrust regulators approved the joint venture on 5 June 2008. The merger was completed on 30 June 2008 and MillerCoors began operation as a combined entity on 1 July 2008. The combined venture was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.


title: SABMiller

text: Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft, Olde English 800, Milwaukee's Best, Miller Chill, Hamm's, and Leinenkugel.


title: SABMiller

text: As per the agreement with the regulators prior to the 2016 sale, the company sold to Molson Coors full ownership of the Miller brand portfolio outside of the U.S. and Puerto Rico for US$12 billion. Molson Coors also retained "the rights to all of the brands currently in the MillerCoors portfolio for the U.S. and Puerto Rico."


title: SABMiller

text: Before the acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev on 10 October 2016, the SABMiller brands included some classified by the company as "global beers", which are the flagships of SAB Miller: Foster's made in Australia, Pilsner Urquell from the Czech Republic, Tyskie made in Poland and Miller Genuine Draft.


title: SABMiller

text: All of the Miller brands were sold to Molson Coors on 11 October 2016. Pilsner Urquell and Tyskie are among the brands being sold to Asahi Breweries.


title: SABMiller

text: SAB Miller also owned over 150 market-leading local brands. The company was one of the world's largest Coca-Cola bottlers and had carbonated soft-drink bottling operations in 14 markets. These were subsequently owned by the new Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV entity which is also a PepsiCo bottler. In December 2016, Coca-Cola Co. bought the Coca-Cola operations in Africa and in two Central American countries. The deal requires regulatory approval and should close by the end of 2017.


title: SABMiller

text: SABMiller runs a number of sustainable development initiatives across its companies and in the countries in which it operates. They use new lightweight bottles that use 30 percent less glass. The lightweight bottles are designed to not only reduce the amount of waste materials but also cut down on energy used in production and distribution reducing the company's carbon emissions. SABMiller submits to a number of third party annual reports that review the company's environmental record. The corporation provides links to such reports on their own website.


title: SABMiller

text: Like many multinationals, SABMiller has attracted close scrutiny for its adherence to the corporate social responsibilities it espouses. One major study, undertaken by BioMed Central and published in 2013, examined the global CSR of three of the biggest manufacturers of alcohol - Pernod Ricard, SABMiller and AB InBev - and concluded it amounted to 'the illusion of righteousness'.


title: SABMiller

text: In November 2010, the charity ActionAid published a report alleging that SABMiller has avoided paying a total of around £20 million of corporation tax in five African countries – Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia – and in India. SABMiller has denied these allegations.


title: SABMiller

text: In October 2015, the "Financial Times" described the actions of SABMiller and other multinationals operating in Africa as "looters". The issue is transfer pricing, the transfer of goods or services to another arm of the group in a different country. In their 2015 annual report, SABMiller stated that its tax contribution in Africa is "substantial". It releases its tax contributions for four of the 17 African markets in which it operates.


title: SABMiller

text: Since SABMiller had been acquired on 10 October 2016, and became a wholly owned business division of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, there was no longer a need for a management team or board of directors for this former company. In August 2017, Anheuser Busch Inbev had announced that Mauricio Leyva, then the CEO of SAB South Africa, would be the only SABMiller executive to remain with Anheuser Busch Inbev SA/NV on the new entity's 18 member permanent board. Leyva would become zone president for Middle Americas at Anheuser Busch Inbev SA/NV. News reports indicated that "three ... SABMiller executive committee members - general counsel John Davidson, human resources head Johann Nel and Africa MD Mark Bowman - [would] stay on for a six-month transitional period only".


title: Christopher Reid (rapper)

text: Christopher Reid (born April 5, 1964), formerly known as Kid (shortened from his original MC name, Kid Coolout), is an American rapper, actor and comedian. During the peak of his career with the rap duo Kid 'n Play (with Christopher Martin), Reid was notable for both his seven-inch, vertical hi-top fade and freckles.


title: Christopher Reid (rapper)

text: Reid was born in The Bronx, New York, to a Jamaican father (1928–2019) and an Irish mother (1930–1973). He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1982. He also graduated in 1990 from Lehman College in the Bronx after attending Miles College.


title: Christopher Reid (rapper)

text: He is best known as one half of late-1980s/early-1990s hip hop musical act Kid 'n Play with fellow rapper/actor Christopher "Play" Martin. Reid was particularly notable for his extreme hi-top fade hairstyle. Reid has appeared on a number of television programs, including "Martin" and "Sister, Sister", and has served as the host of amateur contest shows, such as "Your Big Break" and "It's Showtime at the Apollo". Reid tours as a stand-up comedian.


title: Christopher Reid (rapper)

text: Reid's most recent musical contribution has been writing the theme song to HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher". He also appeared on the VH1 reality magician game show "Celebracadabra" in 2008. Pursuing a solo career, he released a music video for a song called "Why Don't You Stay", to which he raps and sings on the track. He appeared in The Asylum's film "", a sequel to H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds".


title: Christopher Reid (rapper)

text: He has been a guest on "The Dawn and Drew Show", "Comics Unleashed", New England Sports Network's "Comedy All-Stars", and "Slanted Comedy".


title: Christopher Reid (rapper)

text: In 2012, he broke into voice-over work in the military shooter video game "", in which he plays Lt. Alphanso Adams, part of a three-man squad sent into a ruined Dubai to investigate a signal from an MIA military unit, The Damned 33rd.


title: Christopher Reid (rapper)

text: He is a known fan of the sports radio station in Dallas “The Ticket” 1310 AM/96.7 FM. He is “guest picker” of sports picks on the station and has guest hosted “The Norm And D Invasion” with Donovan Lewis.


title: Investor

text: An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Types of investments include equity, debt, securities, real estate, infrastructure, currency, commodity, token, derivatives such as put and call options, futures, forwards, etc. This definition makes no distinction between the investors in the primary and secondary markets. That is, someone who provides a business with capital and someone who buys a stock are both investors. An investor who owns stock is a shareholder.


title: Investor

text: Investors might also be classified according to their styles. In this respect, an important distinctive investor psychology trait is risk attitude.


title: Investor

text: The term "investor protection" defines the entity of efforts and activities to observe, safeguard and enforce the rights and claims of a person in his role as an investor. This includes advice and legal action. The assumption of a need of protection is based on the experience that financial investors are usually structurally inferior to providers of financial services and products due to lack of professional knowledge, information or experience. Countries with stronger investor protections tend to grow faster than those with poor investor protections. Investor protection includes accurate financial reporting by public companies so the investors can make an informed decision. Investor protection also includes fairness of the market which means all participants in the market have access to the same information.


title: Investor

text: Investor protection through government involve regulations and enforcement by government agencies to ensure that market is fair and fraudulent activities are eliminated. An example of a government agency that provides protection to investors is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which works to protect reasonable investors in the United States.


title: Investor

text: Company dividends are paid from after-tax profits, with the tax already deducted. Therefore, shareholders are given some respite with a preferential tax rate of 15% on "qualified dividends" in the event of the company being domiciled in the United States. Alternatively, in another country having a double-taxation treaty with the US, accepted by the IRS;. Non-qualified dividends paid by other foreign companies or entities; for example, those receiving income derived from interest on bonds held by a mutual fund, are taxed at the regular and generally higher rate of income tax. When applied to 2013, this is on a sliding scale up to 39.6%, with an additional 3.8% surtax for high-income taxpayers ($200,000 for singles, $250,000 for married couples).


title: Investor

text: A financier () is a person whose primary occupation is either facilitating or directly providing investments to up-and-coming or established companies and businesses, typically involving large sums of money and usually involving private equity and venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, corporate finance, investment banking, or large-scale asset management. A financier makes money through this process when his or her investment is paid back with interest, from part of the company's equity awarded to them as specified by the business deal, or a financier can generate income through commission, performance, and management fees. A financier can also promote the success of a financed business by allowing the business to take advantage of the financier's reputation. The more experienced and capable the financier is, the more the financier will be able to contribute to the success of the financed entity, and the greater reward the financier will reap. The term, financier, is French, and derives from "finance" or "payment".


title: Investor

text: Financier is someone who handles money. Certain financier avenues require degrees and licenses including venture capitalists, hedge fund managers, trust fund managers, accountants, stockbrokers, financial advisors, or even public treasurers. Personal investing on the other hand, has no requirements and is open to all by means of the stock market or by word of mouth requests for money. A financier "will be a specialized financial intermediary in the sense that it has experience in liquidating the type of firm it is lending to".


title: Investor

text: Economist Edmund Phelps has argued that the financier plays a role in directing capital to investments that governments and social organizations are constrained from playing:


title: Investor

text: The concept of the financier has been distinguished from that of a mere capitalist based on the asserted higher level of judgment required of the financier. However, financiers have also been mocked for their perceived tendency to generate wealth at the expense of others, and without engaging in tangible labor. For example, humorist George Helgesen Fitch described the financier as "a man who can make two dollars grow for himself where one grew for some one else before".


title: Layzie Bone

text: Steven Howse (born September 23, 1974), known professionally as Layzie Bone, is a rapper known primarily for being a member of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He has also gone by the names L-Burna and The #1 Assassin. He is the younger brother of fellow group member Flesh-N-Bone and cousin of group member Wish Bone. Layzie is also a member of the rap group Bone Brothers and CEO of the record label Harmony Howse Entertainment.


title: Layzie Bone

text: The group formed the band B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e (all except for Flesh-N-Bone) and recorded an album entitled "Faces of Death" in the studio of their then-mentor, Kermit Henderson, on his indie label Stoney Burke in 1993. After this Layzie and the rest of the Bone Family boarded a Greyhound Bus to Los Angeles where they worked with notable producer and rapper Eazy-E and his Ruthless/Relativity Records label. Diego Blak (born Diego Hodge), a marketer and promoter and co-executive producer of "Faces of Death", introduced them to Eazy-E at a concert he promoted in Cleveland, Ohio, where they auditioned for him in his dressing room and then traveled back to Los Angeles after the show to seal the deal. At this point Eazy named them Thugs-n-Harmony but they wanted to keep the Bone name so they were called Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.


title: Layzie Bone

text: Layzie has also promoted the indie label Mo Thugs Records which he and the rest of Bone originated. He released his first solo album Thug By Nature on March 20, 2001, exactly the same day Bizzy Bone released his second solo album, "The Gift". He also has collaborative albums with Young Noble from The Outlawz and A.K. of Do or Die, solo albums out such as It's Not A Game, The New Revolution, Cleveland, Startin' from Scratch: How A Thug Was Born, and the upcoming solo album to be announced Ruthless. He has had a series of albums with Bizzy Bone; Still Creepin On Ah Come Up and under the name Bone Brothers entitled: Bone Brothers, Bone Brothers 2, Bone Brothers 3. In the fall of 2010, Layzie established a new label, Harmony Howse Entertainment. As of 2011, he and Fredro Starr of the Onyx group are planning to release a collaborative EP entitled "FireSquad", which is set to be released late 2011. By the middle of 2013, Layzie has announced on Twitter that he is taking a step aside from performing and appearing with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to focus on his solo-career. He's the uncle of the independent rapper, Dizzy Wright.


title: Layzie Bone

text: Layzie is currently working on his latest album "Perfect Timing", scheduled to be released on April 20, 2016, now TBD, Layzie releases Cleveland is The City Featuring Aaron "D-Boyy" Dissell. The song was used by Fox News during the 2015 NBA Finals as the Cleveland Cavaliers theme song.


title: Layzie Bone

text: On July 6, 2020, Layzie Bone released his new album titled "Wanted Dead or Alive" featuring Krayzie Bone, Flesh-N-Bone, Dame Dolla, Willy Ray, Cyrano ESQ, Maybach Dice, Paul Zero, Dame Dolla, Stew Deez, Ken Dawg, Ebony Burks.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: Brandon Emmanuel Knight (born December 2, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time Gatorade National Player of the Year, Knight played one season of college basketball for Kentucky before being selected by the Detroit Pistons in the 2011 NBA draft. After two seasons with the Pistons, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. He spent a season and a half in Milwaukee before being traded to the Phoenix Suns in February 2015. In August 2018, he was traded to the Houston Rockets. At the 2019 trade deadline, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers before being traded back to the Pistons at the 2020 trade deadline.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: Born in Miami, Florida, Knight attended Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A student-athlete at Pine Crest, Knight held a 4.3 grade-point average. As a junior in 2008–09, he averaged 31.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.2 steals. As a senior in 2009–10, he averaged 32.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4 assists. He was subsequently named Gatorade National Player of the Year both years, in addition to earning Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year in 2010. He led Pine Crest to four state title games, winning state championships in 2008 and 2009. He was also a four-time class 3A-1A Basketball Player of the Year (as named by the "Miami Herald") and a two-time Florida Mr. Basketball. His 3,515 career points ranks second on the Florida high school basketball scoring list.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: Following his senior season, Knight participated in the McDonald's All-American Game, Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Brand Classic. In the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game, he hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the West a 107–104 win.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: Ranked as the No. 6 overall prospect of 2010 by Rivals.com, Knight made a verbal commitment to the University of Kentucky in April 2010. Knight did not sign a binding national letter of intent with Kentucky. He kept his options open by signing a financial-aid agreement, which indicated his intention to play for Kentucky, but left him free to go elsewhere amid speculation about coach John Calipari going to the NBA.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: Knight averaged 17.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 38 games as a freshman for the Kentucky Wildcats. He shot 42% from the field, 38% from three-point range and 80% from the free-throw line on the season. He set Kentucky freshman records in points scored (657), 3-pointers made (87) and most 20-point games in a season (14). He also led the team in SEC play with 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 16 games to earn First-Team All-SEC honors by the coaches, Second-Team All-SEC by the media and an SEC All-Freshman team selection. Knight scored a career-high 30 points against West Virginia in the third round of the 2011 NCAA tournament. He then recorded 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists against North Carolina in the Elite Eight and was named the NCAA East Region All-Tournament Most Outstanding Player.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: In April 2011, Knight declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: Knight was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the eighth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. In May 2012, he earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors, becoming the first Pistons' rookie since Grant Hill (1994–95) to be named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Knight's 847 points were the second-most by a Pistons' rookie since the 1985–86 season and his 12.8 points per game was the fourth highest average by a Pistons' rookie since the 1980–81 season.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: Knight appeared in 141 games (135 starts) in two seasons with Detroit, averaging 13.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 37.3 percent from beyond the arc. He scored in double figures 92 times with the Pistons, including three 30-point outings.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: On July 31, 2013, Knight was traded, along with Khris Middleton and Viacheslav Kravtsov, to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Brandon Jennings. Knight's first season with Milwaukee was hit early with a hamstring injury in the season opener on October 30, limiting him to two minutes that night and forcing him to miss eight of the next 10 games. On December 20, 2013, Knight scored 17 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and recorded 8 assists in a 114–111 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. On December 31, Knight scored a career-high 37 points in a 94–79 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He enjoyed the most productive season in his three years as a pro, becoming only the second player in the franchise's 46-year history to lead the team in scoring (1,291 points) and assists (352) during his first season with the team.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: On November 19, 2014, Knight infamously missed a wide-open layup for the win in OT against the Brooklyn Nets. Although, Milwaukee still won the game 122–118. On January 15, 2015, Knight scored 20 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, recorded 6 assists, and recorded a career-high 6 steals in a blowout win versus the New York Knicks. The 2014–15 season saw Knight enter the All-Star break as the team's leader in scoring and assists. In 52 games at the All-Star break, he averaged 17.8 points, a career-high 5.4 assists, career-high 4.3 rebounds and career-high 1.6 steals, while shooting career highs of 43.5 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range.


title: Brandon Knight (basketball)

text: On February 19, 2015, Knight was traded, along with Kendall Marshall, to the Phoenix Suns in a three-team trade also involving the Philadelphia 76ers. He missed time in March with a left ankle injury, before missing the conclusion of the season with a left heel bone bruise that required surgery.