title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School and author of "Republic, Lost", suggested that the moneyed persuasive power of special interests has insinuated itself between the people and the lawmakers. He quoted congressperson Jim Cooper who remarked that Congress had become a "Farm League for K Street" in the sense that congresspersons were focused on lucrative lobbying careers after Congress rather than on serving the public interest while in office. In a speech, Lessig suggested the structure of incentives was such that legislators were tempted to propose unnecessary regulations as a way to further lobbying industry activity. According to one view, major legislation such as proposed Wall Street reforms have spurred demand for "participating in the regulatory process." Lessig suggested the possibility that it was not corporations deciding to take up lobbying, but Congress choosing to debate less-than-important issues to bring well-heeled corporations into the political fray as lobbyists. As a result of his concerns, Lessig has called on state governments to summon a Second Constitutional Convention to propose substantive reform. Lessig believes that a constitutional amendment should be written to limit political contributions from non-citizens, including corporations, anonymous organizations, and foreign nationals.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Scholars such as Richard Labunski, Sanford Levinson, Glenn Reynolds, Larry Sabato, as well as newspaper columnist William Safire, and activists such as John Booth of "RestoringFreedom.org" have called for constitutional changes that would curb the powerful role of money in politics.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Law in the United States is generally made by Congress, but as the federal government has expanded during much of the twentieth century, there are a sizeable number of federal agencies, generally under the control of the president. These agencies write often industry-specific rules and regulations regarding such things as automobile safety and air quality. Unlike elected congresspersons who are constantly seeking campaign funds, these appointed officials are harder to influence, generally. However, there are indications that lobbyists seek to expand their influence from the halls of Congress deeper into the federal bureaucracy.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: President Obama pledged during the election campaign to rein in lobbying. As president in January 2009, he signed two executive orders and three presidential memoranda to help ensure his administration would be more open, transparent, and accountable. These documents attempted to bring increased accountability to federal spending and limit the influence of special interests, and included a lobbyist gift ban and a revolving door ban. In May 2009, the "Recovery Act Lobbying Rules". The Executive Branch Reform Act, H.R. 985, was a bill which would have required over 8,000 Executive Branch officials to report into a public database nearly any "significant contact" from any "private party." The purpose was to identify lobbying activity. The bill was supported by proponents as an expansion of "government in the sunshine" including groups such as "Public Citizen".


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: But the proposals ran into serious opposition from various groups including the lobbying industry itself. Opponents argued that the proposed reporting rules would have infringed on the right to petition, making it difficult not just for lobbyists, but for regular citizens to communicate their views on controversial issues without having their names and viewpoints entered into a government database. Opposition groups suggested that although the proposed rules were promoted as a way to regulate "lobbyists," persons described as a "private party" could be practically anybody, and that anybody contacting a federal official might be deemed to be a "lobbyist". The U.S. Department of Justice raised constitutional and other objections to the bill. Opponents mobilized over 450 groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Realtors with letter writing campaigns against the proposed restrictions. Lobbyist Howard Marlowe argued in a "stern letter" that the restriction on gift-giving to federal employees would create "fear of retribution for political donations":


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: In 2011, there were efforts to "shift regulatory power from the executive branch to Congress" by requiring that any "major rule" which may cost the economy more than $100 million must be decided by Congress with an up-or-down vote. But skeptics think that such a move proposed by Republican lawmakers could "usher in a lobbying bonanza from industry and other special-interest groups" to use campaign contributions to reshape the regulatory milieu.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Critics suggest that Congress has the power to fix itself, but is reluctant to sacrifice money and power. One report suggested that those in control had an "unbroken record of finding ways to navigate around reform laws or turn regulatory standards to their own advantage."


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: There are counterarguments that the system is working as it should, despite being rather messy. According to this line of argument, the Madisonian view of politics—in which factions were supposed to compete with other factions—is working exactly as it should. Competing factions, or in this case, competing interest groups, square off. Battling happens within the federal government, but instead of by settling arguments by elections, arguments are settled by powerful interest groups fighting each other, often financially. And it might appear to members of groups which lost in a lobbying battle that the "reason" for their loss was that the other side lobbied unfairly using more money. There are numerous instances in which opposed lobbies stalemate, and instances in which these stalemates have been seen as a positive result. And sometimes powerful financial interests lose the battle.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Lobbying brings valuable information to policymakers, according to another argument in favor of lobbying. Since lobbyists often become highly knowledgeable about a specific issue by studying it in depth over years, they can bring considerable expertise to help legislators avoid errors as well as grasp the nuances of complex issues. This information can also help Congress oversee numerous federal agencies which often regulate complex industries and issue highly detailed and specific rulings. Accordingly, it is difficult for Congress to keep track of what these agencies do. It has been argued that lobbyists can help Congress monitor this activity by possibly raising "red flags" about proposed administrative rulings. Further, congresspersons can quickly gauge where they stand about a proposed administrative ruling simply by seeing which lobbying groups support the proposal, and which oppose it.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Another argument in support of lobbying is that different interest groups and lobbyists, while trying to build coalitions and win support, often amend or soften or change their positions in this process, and that interest groups and lobbyists regulate each other, in a sense.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: But a more general sentiment supporting the lobbying arrangement is that every citizen can be construed as being "represented" by dozens of special interests:


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: If powerful groups such as the oil industry succeed in winning a battle in government, consumers who drive gas-powered cars can benefit a bit, according to this view. Even readers of Wikipedia could be conceived as being a "special interest" and represented by various lobbies. For example, opponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act believed that the act might restrict sites such as Wikipedia; on January 18, 2012, as a form of protest and as a way to encourage readers and contributors of English Wikipedia to write their congresspersons, the online encyclopedia was "blacked out for a day as part of an effort to lobby the government.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Another view in support of lobbying is that it serves a helpful purpose as helping guard against extremism. According to this view, lobbying adds "built-in delays" and permits and encourages opposing lobbies to battle. In the battling, possibly damaging decrees and incorrect decisions are stymied by seemingly unhelpful delays and waits.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Generally, the United States requires systematic disclosure of lobbying, and it may be one of the few countries to have such extensive requirements. Disclosure in one sense allows lobbyists and public officials to justify their actions under the banner of openness and with full compliance of the law. The rules often specify how much a lobbyist can spend on specific activities, and how to report expenses; many of the laws and guidelines are specified in the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Transparency and disclosure requirements mean that there are volumes of statistics available for all kinds of analyses—by journalists, by the public, by rival lobbying efforts. Researchers can subdivide lobbying expenditures by numerous breakdowns, such as by contributions from energy companies.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Sometimes defining clearly who is a "lobbyist" and what precisely are "lobbying activities" can be difficult. According to the Lobbying Disclosure Act, several authorized definitions include:


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Still, distinguishing "lobbyists" from a "strategic adviser" can be difficult, since the duties of each can often overlap and are hard to define precisely. There have been issues raised about what constitutes the difference between a "lobbyist" and a "bundler"; one report described "bundlers" as "supporters who contribute their own money to his campaign and solicit it from others", and there was a question whether such persons were really "lobbyists" involved with raising campaign monies for the election of Barack Obama, and whether Obama had broken his own pledge not to receive money from lobbyists. The legal ramifications of lobbying are further intertangled with aspects of campaign finance reform, since lobbyists often spend time seeking donations for the reelection efforts of congresspersons; sorting out these issues can pose ethical challenges.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: There are numerous regulations governing the practice of lobbying, often ones requiring transparency and disclosure. People paid to lobby must register with the secretary of the Senate and the clerk of the House of Representatives within 45 days of contacting a legislator for the first time, or 45 days after being employed. An exception is that lobbyists who earn less than $3,000 per client for each fiscal quarter, or whose total lobbying expenses are less than $11,500 each quarter, do not need to register. Part-time lobbyists are exempt from registering unless they spend more than 20% of their working hours doing lobbying activities in any quarter. If lobbyists have two or more contacts with a legislator as a lobbyist, then they must register. Requirements for registering also apply to companies that specialize in lobbying, or ones that have an in-house lobbyist, particularly if they spend more than $11,500 on lobbying. Generally, nonprofit organizations, other than churches, are exempt from registering if they hire an outside lobbying firm. Filing must be made each quarter, and a separate file is needed for each of the lobbyist's clients, and include information such as the name and title of the client, an estimate of lobbying expenses, and an estimate of income the lobbyist achieved after doing the lobbying.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: States, in addition, are moving in the direction of greater disclosure and transparency regarding lobbying activities. California has an online database called "Cal-Access" although there were reports that it has been underfunded. Money collected from registration fees are often used to pay for the disclosure services such as Cal-Access. There were complaints in Illinois that the disclosure requirements were often not rigorous enough and allowed lobbyists to work "without public notice" and with possible "conflicts of interest". Many local municipalities are requiring legislative agents register as lobbyists to represent the interests of clients to local city council members such as in the swing state of Ohio cities such as Columbus and Cincinnati.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Laws requiring disclosure have been more prevalent in the twentieth century. In 1946, there was a so-called "sunshine law" requiring lobbyists to disclose what they were doing, on whose behalf, and how much they received in payment. The resulting Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 governed lobbying rules up until 1995 when the Lobbying Disclosure Act replaced it. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, later amended in 2002 as the McCain Feingold Act, had rules governing campaign contributions. Each branch of Congress has rules as well. Legislation generally requires reports containing an accounting of major expenditures as well as legislation that was influenced; the wording of some of the pertinent laws can be found in .


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Lobbying law is a constantly evolving field; the American Bar Association published a book of guidelines in 2009 with over 800 pages. The laws are often rather specific, and when not observed, can lead to serious trouble. Failing to file a quarterly report, or knowingly filing an incorrect report, or failing to correct an incorrect report, can lead to fines up to $200,000 and imprisonment up to five years. Penalties can apply to lobbyists who fail to list gifts made to a legislator. In other situations, the punishment can be light: for example, Congressional aide-turned-lobbyist Fraser Verrusio spent a few hours in jail after pleading guilty to taking a client to a World Series baseball game and failing to report it. Tax rules can apply to lobbying. In one situation, the charity "Hawaii Family Forum" risked losing its tax-exempt status after it had engaged in lobbying activity; federal tax law requires charities such as that one to limit their lobbying to 20% of their overall expenditures or else be eligible for being taxed like a for-profit corporation.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Scandals can spur impetus towards greater regulation as well. The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal, which started in the 1990s and led to a guilty plea in 2006, inspired the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006 (). According to "Time Magazine" the Senate bill:


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: In 1995, the 104th Congress tried to reform Lobbying by passing the "Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995" which defines and requires lobbyists who are compensated for their actions to register with congressional officials. The legislation was later amended by the "Lobbying Disclosure Technical Amendments Act of 1998". There were subsequent modifications leading to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007. The "Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006" () legislation modified Senate rules, although some senators and a coalition of good-government groups assailed the bill as being too weak. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 was a comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill, (), which passed in 2007 in the House and Congress by a large majority. A parallel Senate version of the legislation, (), passed in 2007 by a nearly unanimous vote. After the House & Senate resolved their differences and passed an amended revision, President Bush signed the enrolled bill into law ().


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Some states have considered banning government employees permanently from lobbying on issues they had worked on. For example, there was a proposal along these lines to prevent county employees in Maryland from ever lobbying on issues they had worked on. The proposal insisted that county officials post financial disclosures as well as prohibit gifts from contractors.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Jack Abramoff, emerging from prison, has spoken publicly about lobbying. In his view, regulations designed to rein in the excesses of lobbying have not been effective, and reforms and regulations have not cleaned up the system "at all". Abramoff said lobbyists could "find a way around just about any reform Congress enacted", and gave an example:


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: A similar view suggested that lobbying reform efforts have been "fought tooth and nail to prevent its passage" since the people with the power to reform would curtail their own powers and income flows.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: Since commerce worldwide is becoming more integrated, with firms headquartered in one country increasingly doing business in many other countries, it is logical to expect that lobbying efforts will reflect the increasing globalization. Sometimes foreign-owned corporations will want to lobby the United States government, and in such instances, new rules can apply, since it can be particularly thorny resolving whether national security interests are at stake and how they might be affected.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: In 1938, the "Foreign Agents Registration Act" required an explicit listing of all political activities undertaken by a lobbyist on behalf of any foreign principal. There were serious concerns about lobbying firms representing foreign entities – and potentially values opposed to American principles – after Axis power agitprop was planted in American soils during World War II through the efforts of public-relations specialist Ivy Lee's proxy firm "German Dye Trust". As a result, in 1938, the Foreign Agents Registration Act or FARA was passed by Congress, and this law required foreign lobbyists to share information about their contracts with the Justice Department. FARA's mandate was to disclose to policymakers the sources of information that influenced public opinions, policies, and law. However, the goal was not to restrict the speech of the lobbyist or the content of the lobbying. Nonetheless, it was estimated that less than half of foreign lobbyists who should have registered under FARA actually did so.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: By the 1960s, perceived failures in FARA's enforcement led to public outcry against lobbying excesses, while revelations of foreign bribery circulated regularly well into the early 1970s. This prompted legislation proposed to reduce the autonomy of foreign firms, most of which was not ratified for concerns over a lack of constitutionality. While the House of Representatives passed a rule to increase public scrutiny of foreign lobbying, one estimate was that about 75% of lobbyists were exempt from a registration requirement, including individuals representing foreign interests.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: A general trend is that the number of lobbyists representing foreign companies is rising. The case of Washington's APCO Worldwide, a firm which represented the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha of Nigeria in 1995 whose regime had hanged nine pro-democracy activists, attracted negative publicity. While current law forbids foreign nations from contributing to federal, state, or local elections, loopholes allow American subsidiaries of foreign corporations to establish so-called "separated segregated funds" or SSFs to raise money. According to one view, the definition of which firms are defined as "foreign" was unclear, and the lack of clarity undermines the ability to regulate their activity. Foreign-funded lobbying efforts include those of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Libya, and China lobbies. In 2010, foreign governments spent approximately $460 million on lobbying Congress and the U.S. Government. Between 2015 and 2017, the Saudi Arabia paid $18 million to 145 registered lobbyists to influence the U.S. government.


title: Lobbying in the United States

text: While Congress has tried to quell criticisms against the leverage of domestic lobbying firms by updating domestic lobbying legislation – such as the revision of the Lobbyist Disclosure Act in 1997)—there was a report that its inaction in rectifying loopholes in foreign lobbying regulation has led to scandals. There was a report of an upsurge of lobbying by foreign-owned U.S. subsidiaries against Democratic efforts to limit campaign spending in early 2010. The proposed was to restrict lobbying by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign firms. In 2011, the Chinese firm Alibaba hired a lobbying firm in Washington when it began contemplating a purchase of the U.S. firm Yahoo!. There was a case in which a lobbying effort described as "extraordinary" was trying to change the designation of a fringe Iranian opposition group from being a terrorist organization to being a benign organization. Lobbyists seeking to downgrade the designation hired influential foreign affairs officials, including former CIA directors, a former FBI director, and others to advocate for the change of designation. But there have been others accused of illegally lobbying for foreign nations or who failed to register as a foreign agent who may face prison time as a result.


title: Zlatko Burić

text: Zlatko Burić (born 13 May 1953) is a Croatian-Danish actor. He was born in Osijek where he was educated at the Dramski Studio in 1972. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Burić belonged to the experimental theater group Kugla Glumište (formed in 1975) together with Željko Zorica-Šiš and Damir Bartol-Indoš.


title: Zlatko Burić

text: He moved to Denmark in 1981 where he married Sonja Hindkjær, with whom he has three children. After their divorce, he married Dragana Milutinović, on 7 October 1998. He has appeared in several successful Danish films from the 1990s and 2000s, frequently appearing in films directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, including "Bleeder" and as Milo in "The Pusher Trilogy". For his role in "Pusher", he won the Bodil Award for best supporting actor in 1997.


title: Zlatko Burić

text: In 2009, Burić had a large supporting role in the apocalyptic film "2012", as Yuri Karpov, a Russian billionaire. In 2012, he reprised his role as Milo in the British remake of "Pusher".


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The Mercedes-Benz W108 and W109 are luxury cars produced by Mercedes-Benz from 1965 through to 1972 (or 1973 in North America). The line was an upgrade of the Mercedes-Benz W114/W115, to succeed the W111 and W112 "fintail" sedans. The cars were successful in West Germany and in export markets including North America and Southeast Asia. During the seven-year run, a total of 383,361 units were manufactured.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: Since the W108 and W109 were only available as 4-door models, similarly squarish 2-door W111 and W112 coupés and cabriolets, "without" pronounced tailfins, filled those niches and are frequently mistaken for W108/109 two-doors.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The car's predecessors, the Mercedes-Benz W111 (1959–71) and W112 (1961–67), helped Mercedes-Benz develop greater sales and achieve economy of scale production, reducing both manufacture time and cost. Throughout the 1950s, Mercedes-Benz had been producing the coachwork 300 S and 300 SL and all but hand-built 300 Adenauers alongside conveyor assembled Pontons (190, 190 SL and 220) etc. Unifying the entire Mercedes-Benz range into the fintail () reduced production onto a single automobile platform.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: However, fashion trends in the early 1960s changed rapidly. By the time the Paul Bracq-designed 2-door coupé and cabriolet W111s were launched, the predecessor W111 sedan's fins lost their chrome trim and sharp appearance. The arrival of the W113 'Pagoda' coupé and cabriolet in 1963 saw them further buried into the trunk's contour. Finally, they disappeared completely on the W100 600 in 1963.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The evolution of the W111 began under the leadership of Bracq in 1961 and ended in 1963. Although the fins' departure was the most visible change, the W108 had a lower body waist line and increased glass area - the windscreen alone was 17% larger than W111's - prominent enough to be referred to as a "greenhouse". The cars had a 60 mm lower ride and 15 mm wider doors. The result was a visibly newer-looking, sleeker car with an open and spacious interior.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: Due to the success of long wheelbase 300 SE Lang (W112), which was intended as an interim car between 300 "Adenauer" (W189) and "Grosser Mercedes" 600 (W100), Mercedes-Benz continued to offer two wheelbase lengths for W108/W109. Initially, the wheelbase lengths denoted W108 (standard) and W109 (long). For 1968 model year, this distinction changed with the introduction of 280 SEL that retained W108, rather than W109, chassis designation.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The larger 3-litre six-cylinder inline engine (300 SEL) were exclusive to W109 with odd exception of standard wheelbase 300 SEb (1965–1967), which was designated as W108. The smaller six-cylinder inline engines (250 S/SE and 280 S/SE/SEL) were assigned to W108 only. Both eventually received the V8 engines in 1967 (W109) and 1970 (W108).


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: W109 was more luxuriously appointed than W108, featuring burled walnut dashboards, automatic transmission, and power windows along with optional air conditioning system. Most obvious distinction from the W108 were door window frames and a-pillars fully finished with polished metal bright trim.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The W108 and W109 had different types of suspension systems: W108 retained the steel coil springs and oil-filled shock absorbers while W109 used the self-levelling air suspension.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The W108/W109 premiered at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1965. The initial model range consisted of three W108s (250 S, 250 SE, and 300 SEb) and a sole W109 (300 SEL). The inline-six engines were carried over from the previous generation with mechanical refinements. The 2.2-litre M180 engine was enlarged to 2.5 litres while the fuel-injected 3-litre M189 version was carried over from "300 Adenauer".


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The 250 S was fitted with 2,496 cc M108 engine with dual two-barrel downdraft carburettors producing at 5,400 rpm. It could accelerate to in 13 seconds for manual and 14 for automatic. The top speed was for manual and for automatic. The 250 SE had the same engine as 250 S except for fuel injection system and different engine designation (M129). With increased engine output of at 5,500 rpm, 250 SE was one second faster to 100 km/h than 250 S and had higher top speed of for both manual and automatic versions.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: Both 300 SEb and 300 SEL were fitted with 2,966 cc M189 engine. The engine was an updated version of M186, originally developed in 1951 for Type 300 "Adenauer", with Bosch mechanical fuel-injection system that calibrated the optimal fuel mixture automatically based on throttle pedal position and movement, engine speed, atmospheric pressure, water temperature, and driving conditions. The engine's output was at 5,400 rpm, and 300 SEb and 300 SEL could accelerate to in 12 seconds and reach the top speed of ( with automatic transmission).


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The production figures for the first series from 1965 to 1967 showed 129,858 of 250 S/250 SE and 5,106 of 300 SEb/300 SEL. The tiny production figure of 300 SEb/300 SEL reflected the higher sales price with luxurious appointments, exclusivity, and smaller global market share.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: In 1966 company engineer Erich Waxenberger transplanted a massive 6.3 L Mercedes-Benz M100 V8 from the company's flagship 600 (W100) into a W109 chassis, creating the first Q-car from Mercedes-Benz. Full-scale production of 300 SEL 6.3 began in December 1967. 300 SEL 6.3 could reach in 6.5 seconds and the top speed of , making it the quickest production sedan, a title it held for many years.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: To coincide with the launch of new cheaper executive, W114/115 "/8" (Stroke Eight) models, slotted below MB's W108 and W109, the inline six engine range was revised in 1967. The 2.5-litre engine was enlarged to 2,778 cc (2.8 litres) and renamed as M130 for both carburetted () and fuel injected versions.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: 250 S and 250 SE were renamed as 280 S and 280 SE in November 1967 while 250 S was still offered in some export markets until March 1969. In January 1968, a long wheelbase variation, 280 SEL, was introduced for the first time. The 280 S could reach in 12.5 seconds and top speed of , or with automatic transmission. The 280 SE and 280 SEL accelerated to in 10.5 seconds with top speed of and respectively.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The standard wheelbase 300 SEb was dropped while 300 SEL 2.8 obtained 2.8-litre engine with higher output , replacing the M186 engine. The acceleration to was 10.5 seconds, and the top speed was .


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: Following the strong reception of limited production V8-powered 300 SEL 6.3 in 1967, Mercedes-Benz offered the all-new 3.5-litre M116 V8 engine with new Bosch D-Jetronic electronic fuel injection in 1969. The V8 engine would move W108/W109 further upmarket in many export markets and allow them to be more competitive in the United States where many passenger vehicles, especially the American luxury marques, were fitted with V8 engines. The new V8 engine was first fitted to W109 in August 1969 as 300 SEL 3.5 then to W108 in July 1970 as 280 SE/SEL 3.5.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The 3.5-litre V8 engine was bored out to 4,520 cc (4.5 litres) as to compensate for the loss of power following the changes in emission control regulations and due to lower fuel octane rating in the United States. The larger V8 engine was designated as M117 and had the same output figures as 3.5-litre V8 engine. It was initially exclusive for the United States, introduced in the spring of 1971, as the 280 SE/SEL 4.5 and the 300 SEL 4.5, until the new, 1973 model year W116, MB's first generation of distinct S-Class platform 450 SE/SEL models, which went on sale worldwide in September 1972, alongside the V8 powered 350/450 SL (R107) 2-seat cabrios and the 350/450 SLC (C107) 4-seat luxury coupes.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The 300 SEL 2.8 was dropped in January 1970 since the 300 SEL 3.5 was selling better and had better performance. The production of 280 SEL ended in April 1971, leaving 280 S and 280 SE as sole models with six-cylinder inline engines until the end of W108/W109 production in 1972, following the introduction of W116.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: The standard transmission for Europe was a four-speed manual gearbox. A four-speed automatic option was also available. Unusual among mainstream European automakers of the time, Mercedes developed and built their own automatic transmission system. A five-speed manual gearbox was offered for six-cylinder inline engines only from 1969 to 1972, though a few customers opted for it.


title: Mercedes-Benz W108/W109

text: When the 3.5-litre V8 engine was introduced in 1969, the sole transmission choice was a four-speed automatic with fluid coupling. The customers could request the four-speed manual transmission with price reduction if they inclined so. As for 4.5-litre V8 engine for the United States, the transmission was three-speed automatic with torque converter.


title: Michelle Collins

text: Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas "EastEnders" and "Coronation Street".


title: Michelle Collins

text: Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap "EastEnders" from 1988 to 1998, with a two-year break between 1990 and 1992. She played Stella Price in the ITV soap "Coronation Street" from 2011 to 2014. Her other notable TV roles include the BBC dramas "Real Women" (1998–1999), "Sunburn" (1999–2000) and "Two Thousand Acres of Sky" (2001–2003).


title: Michelle Collins

text: Collins was born at Hackney South East Hospital in Hackney, east London, to a Welsh mother, Mary, and a father of English and Flemish heritage. Her Flemish grandfather was Belgian from Antwerp and had emigrated to the UK in 1915 when aged five. She and her elder sister Vicki were brought up by their mother Mary in Highbury, London. When Collins was 14, her mother went back to university to obtain a law degree. In the 1970s Collins was a member of the youth organisation the Woodcraft Folk, and visited Romania with the group.


title: Michelle Collins

text: She trained at the Royal Court Activists and Cockpit Youth Theatre from the age of 14, and Kingsway Princeton College, where she studied drama and theatre at O/A-level.


title: Michelle Collins

text: After her exams Collins landed a role in Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Crimson Island", directed by Lou Stein, at the Gate Theatre. Her career changed direction after performing in the 1978 video for the Squeeze song "Cool For Cats". The band spent 18 months touring the country, working with artists such as Marc Almond, Level 42, Altered Images and Kid Creole and the Coconuts.


title: Michelle Collins

text: When the band broke up in 1982, she went back into acting and with the help of her friend, the British actor Tim Roth, she successfully gained a part in a musical with Gary Hutton and Gary Shail known as H.M.V. Collins had also been in "The Illustrated Mum" by Jacqueline Wilson.


title: Michelle Collins

text: Collins's first TV appearance was with Gary Oldman in the BBC drama "Morgan's Boy". Other TV credits included: two series of the sitcom "Running Wild", where she played Ray Brooks daughter; a part in ITV drama "The Bill"; a Screen Two production "Lucky Sunil", directed by Michael Caton Jones and a BBC play "Pressures". She later appeared in three films: "Personal Services", "Empire State" and Stephen Poliakoff's "Hidden City". Collins appeared in an episode of the BBC's "Bergerac" (series 4) in 1985.


title: Michelle Collins

text: While she was filming the BBC play "Pressures" in 1988, Collins was spotted by "EastEnders" producer Julia Smith, who asked her to audition for the role of Cindy Beale, who was to feature in 11 episodes of the soap. The manipulative, reckless nature of her character was a hit with viewers so her contract was extended and the character became a major villain in the series. Cindy was the unfaithful wife of "EastEnders" stalwart Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt), between 1988 and 1998. During breaks from "EastEnders" she filmed the drama "Real Women" for the BBC, with Pauline Quirke and Frances Barber. On 14 November 2014, Collins reprised the role of Cindy for a short stint for Children in Need.


title: Michelle Collins

text: After leaving "EastEnders" in 1998 (when her character met an untimely demise offscreen), her career flourished with a series of drama roles. These include: two series of "Real Women" (BBC One); two series of "Sunburn" (BBC One), for which Collins sang the theme song (which was a no. 28 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1999); "Daylight Robbery" (ITV); "The Sleeper" (BBC One); "Uprising" (ITV): three series of "Two Thousand Acres of Sky" (BBC One): the two-part series "Perfect" (ITV); "Lloyd and the Hill" (ITV) and "Ella and the Mothers" (BBC One). In 2003 Collins played Sarah Barton in "Single".


title: Michelle Collins

text: In 2003, Collins filmed the BBC drama "Sea of Souls" and then went on to star in a film for Granada/Channel 4 called "The Illustrated Mum", which told the story of two girls coping with the unpredictable behaviour of their depressed, alcoholic mother. The film, written by Jacqueline Wilson, was based on the children's novel of the same name. It was screened to great acclaim over Christmas 2003 and won an Emmy Award and two BAFTAs.


title: Michelle Collins

text: In 2004, she starred in an episode of "French and Saunders" and also starred with fellow "EastEnders" actor Martin Kemp in the ITV drama "Can't Buy Me Love", which was watched by nearly eight million viewers. The programme was inspired by the real-life story of Howard Walmsley, who was jailed for fraud after pretending to win the lottery to keep his wife Donna (played by Collins) from leaving him. Their lives and marriage were subsequently turned upside down by the events that unfolded.


title: Michelle Collins

text: In 2005, Collins starred in the ITV drama "The Last Detective" and in the BBC drama "The Family Man", alongside ex-EastEnder Daniela Denby-Ashe, which aired in March 2006. She starred in the West End musical "Daddy Cool", and while working during the night there shot sequences for a cameo in the short film "Broken" written and directed by Vicki Psarias, which went on to win the several international awards. She also featured in the film "Don't Stop Dreaming", released in 2007. She left "Daddy Cool" in January 2007 to shoot the "Doctor Who" episode "42".


title: Michelle Collins

text: On 2 July 2007, it was announced that Collins has been cast for the lead role of Karina Faith in new ITV drama series, "Rock Rivals", produced by Shed Productions. In 2009, Collins took part in the BBC Wales programme "Coming Home" about her Welsh family history. On 21 May 2009, it was rumoured that Collins had auditioned to star in US drama "Desperate Housewives", but she did join the cast.


title: Michelle Collins

text: In June 2010, it was announced that Collins would make a six-episode guest appearance as a patient's mother in "Casualty". In 2010, she also guest-starred in "Romeo & Juliet" at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, playing the Nurse. From 7 April-7 May 2011, Collins starred as Sheila Grundy, Fred Dibnah's third wife, in "The Demolition Man" at Octagon Theatre, Bolton.


title: Michelle Collins

text: In January 2011, a rumour was posted on Digital Spy that Collins was in talks to join "EastEnders" main rivalling soap "Coronation Street", after she allegedly met with soap's producer and close friend Phil Collinson. Three months later it was confirmed Collins had joined the cast as Stella Price, new landlady of the Rovers Return pub, beating Lisa Maxwell for the role. Her first episode aired on 16 June 2011 and gained a rating of 8.4 million. It was announced on 22 August 2013 Collins had decided to leave "Coronation Street". In January 2014, Collins claimed she was "unhappy" over the lack of screen time for her and her character. Collins filmed her final scenes on 19 February 2014, and made her final appearance as Stella on 2 April 2014.


title: Michelle Collins

text: Since leaving "Coronation Street", Collins has had various guest roles in television dramas: "Casualty" as Samantha Kellman (2014), "Death in Paradise" as Annette Burgess (2015), and "Midsomer Murders" as Nadine Campbell (2016). In October 2019 Collins appeared in "Casualty" as Lorna Rowle/Hammond.


title: Michelle Collins

text: In 2014, Collins revealed that in 1998 – distraught by the end of her relationship with Tassalini and feeling career pressure – she attempted suicide while filming "Sunburn" in Cyprus. She took an overdose of sleeping pills but later woke up and asked her costar to take her to the hospital.


title: Michelle Collins

text: After their split, Collins had an amicable relationship with Tassalini, who lived close by, and they raised their daughter together until he died in 2014. In April 2022 Collins announced she was engaged to her partner of 10 years, Mike Davidson. They married in August.


title: Michelle Collins

text: In August 2014, Collins was one of 200 public figures to sign a letter to "The Guardian" in opposition to Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.


title: Michelle Collins

text: Collins is involved in charitable causes. She is an ambassador for Oxfam and has visited Brazil, South Africa and Armenia, promoting the need for the basic right to education. She is also an ambassador for Ambitious about Autism and a patron for the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Danielle Spencer is an American actress and former child star best known for her role as Dee Thomas on the ABC sitcom "What's Happening!!", which ran from 1976 until 1979. She would later reprise the role on the series' sequel, "What's Happening Now!!"


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer was born in Trenton, New Jersey to writer Cheryl Pelt, who separated from her husband when Spencer was very young. Spencer considered her mother's next husband, Tim Pelt, to be her father. The family relocated to the Bronx, New York. Spencer became an actor around the age of eight and began taking acting classes. In 1976, Spencer was cast as younger sister Dee Thomas on the show "What's Happening!!", which was loosely based on the film "Cooley High". The show was a summer mid-season replacement, but performed so well in its time slot that a full second season was ordered.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: On September 7, 1977, during the second season of the show, Spencer and her stepfather Tim Pelt were involved a severe car accident that left Spencer in a coma for three weeks and caused Pelt's death. Pelt's fatal injuries were caused by trying to protect Spencer during the crash. Spencer has no memories of the accident and spent six months recuperating in arm and leg casts.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: After the cancellation of the show in 1979, Spencer and her mother relocated to Africa for a time. Upon her return, she attended the University of California-Davis to earn a degree in veterinary medicine, a pursuit that was encouraged by her late stepfather. As syndicated reruns of the 65 "What's Happening!!" episodes had done well, in some markets eclipsing the show's ratings during its network run, in 1985 a sequel series was created called "What's Happening Now!!". Spencer played Dee in various episodes over the sequel's three-season run while attending college. While in her sophomore year, she pledged and became a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. After "What's Happening Now!!" was canceled in 1988, Spencer attended Tuskegee University Veterinary School in Tuskegee, Alabama. She became a veterinarian in 1996.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer considers herself to be in semi-retirement from show business, but still acts occasionally. In 1997, she portrayed a veterinarian in the hit film "As Good as It Gets" and appeared in "Peter Rabbit and the Crucifix" in 2001. She continues to act in small roles in film and television when it does not conflict with her veterinary practice.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: The cast of "What's Happening!!" was honored at the 2006 TV Land Awards, where Spencer was the co-winner (along with "Little House on the Prairie" actress Alison Arngrim) of the "Character Most in Need of a Time-Out" award.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer released a book about her life as a child star entitled "Through the Fire: Journal of a Child Star". The book led to renewed interest in Spencer's life and career, and led to appearances on shows such as "The Wendy Williams Show", TV One's hit series "Life After" and "Unsung Hollywood" with her former cast members.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer married Garry Fields, a marketing manager and her publicist and manager, in Marina Del Rey, California in 1999. The couple divorced in 2013. Spencer met David L. David in New Jersey and has later married to each other and she has used the name Danielle Spencer-David.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: In 2004, Spencer experienced balance and chronic pain issues and was diagnosed with spinal stenosis as a result of the injuries from her 1977 car accident. A surgery to correct the problem left her partially paralyzed for eight months. Spencer received treatment at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey; she credits the institute for giving her life back to her.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer has been a veterinarian in California for more than 25 years. In an interview with "People", Spencer credited her own battle with spinal injury and paralysis for changing her perspective on the treatment of animals from simply alleviating their pain to finding the underlying cause of their problems.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: In 2014, Spencer was inducted as part of the permanent exhibition of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. She is the only former child actor who holds this honor. She also became involved in fashion design and debuted her "Dani Collection" line, which was patterned after her own style of dress.


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2014. Speaking out for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Spencer told "Black America Web" that her diagnosis took her by surprise. "With everything that I've been through with the spinal cord injury, I said I know God is not going to give me another affliction," she said, "so I was completely shocked when the doctors told me." Though the news came as a surprise, Spencer said the disease runs in her family. "I have a lot of help and support around me," she said. Spencer stated that she was considering her treatment options, with surgery at the top of the list. "I'm trying to get as many opinions as possible but it does look like that is what I'm going to do," she said. "Hopefully after that there won't be any chemotherapy or radiation involved."


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer makes appearances as a motivational speaker. She told "Ebony" Magazine in 2012, "I've made peace with the fact that surgeries, back pain and walking with crutches will be part of my life forever. Some days are good, some days are difficult. Yet, despite the challenges, there are reasons to celebrate. My life includes volunteering with a charity that feeds the homeless; providing care for animals through my work as a vet."


title: Danielle Spencer (American actress)

text: Spencer has moved to Richmond VA to be closer to her mother and continues with her veterinarian practices there and has made monthly appearances as Danielle Spencer-David on the local Richmond TV station WTVR.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a number of ways. When a wrestler is booked to lose a match, it is described as "a job". The act itself is described with the verb jobbing, while the act of booking (rather than being booked) to job is called jobbing out. To lose a match fairly (meaning without any kayfabe rules being broken) is to job cleanly. Wrestlers who routinely (or exclusively) lose matches are known as jobbers or "dummy wrestlers". A regular jobber skilled at enhancing the matches they lose, as opposed to a mediocre local rookie or part-timer, is called a carpenter. In the post-kayfabe era the term has taken on a negative connotation, leading to the use of the neutral term "enhancement talent".


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: A job which is presented as being the result of an extremely close, entertaining match, or underhanded tactics on the part of an opponent, will not necessarily tarnish a wrestler's reputation, especially if the situation is presented as one where the wrestler "deserved" to win but was cheated. At other times a high-profile loss, particularly one which makes the wrestler in question look weak, foolish, or otherwise damages their reputation, might signify certain behind-the-scenes events that have real-life implications on a wrestler. Such a job may mark the end of a push, a departure from the company, or a loss of faith in the wrestler as a marketable commodity. As a result, it may also mark a downward slide in a wrestler's career. This is especially the case when the wrestler is beaten very easily, or squashed.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: Sometimes, jobbing is presented to a wrestler because of the problems and bad working relationship that the wrestler and the owner of the promotion have. At other times, it is a requirement of a wrestler's on-the-job training, learning how to perform in front of a live audience while helping make the more established wrestlers look credible.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has referred to jobbers as "lovable", "adorable" "losers". Sometimes they euphemistically use the term ""local competitor"".


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: Jobber is a professional wrestling term used to describe a wrestler who is routinely defeated by main eventers, mid-carders, or low-carders. Most promoters do not use the term because of the negative connotation. Jobbers have been used since the 1950s, and they were popular in promotions of the United States and Canada around this time.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) made greatest use of full-time jobbers during their syndicated television shows in the 1980s and early 1990s, "Superstars of Wrestling", "Wrestling Challenge" and "All-Star Wrestling". Barry Horowitz and Steve Lombardi were the wrestlers most prominently identified with this role; other wrestlers who performed mainly as jobbers during this period included "Leaping" Lanny Poffo, Brady Boone, Tiger Chung Lee, Barry O, Reno Riggins, Duane Gill, Barry Hardy, Mick Foley, Scott Casey, Dangerous Danny Davis (also wrestling as Mr. X), The Shadows (Randy Colley, and Jose Luis Rivera), Los Conquistadores (Jose Luis Rivera and José Estrada Sr.), "Iron" Mike Sharpe, Von Krus, S. D. Jones, George South, Dusty Wolfe, Mario Mancini, Tim Horner, Sonny Rogers, Brian Costello, Red Tyler, and Tom "Rocky" Stone. Many of these wrestlers also did work matches against each other at larger arena cards at venues such as Madison Square Garden and were usually more competitive against their opponents, with several of these wrestlers gaining victories. In some cases, a number of these wrestlers had main-event matches at some point (such as Sharpe receiving matches against then-WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund or Danny Davis working in six-man tag-team matches with The Hart Foundation, usually against Tito Santana and the British Bulldogs (during the "dishonest referee" angle)) before being pushed toward the bottom of the roster's hierarchy; others, such as Mick Foley, would later become main-event wrestlers. Some were given gimmicks of their own, such as Poffo (a poet laureate as a face and as a snobbish intellectual, known as "The Genius", who also read poems as a heel) and Lombardi ("The Brooklyn Brawler", a smug, tough-talking brawler).


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: World Championship Wrestling (WCW), just like the WWE, made huge use of jobbers during the late 1980s and 1990s. Jobbers like Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, George South, Bobby Walker, Joe Gomez, The Gambler, The Roadblock and Trent Knight lost the majority of their matches. However, they usually scored clean victories against other pure jobbers. Wrestlers who worked as jobbers for WWE were also employed as jobbers in WCW during this period.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: The American Wrestling Association (AWA) also made moderate use of jobbers in their shows. In independent promotions jobbers rarely appear, but when they do, it is mostly in squash matches.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: A jobber may not necessarily lose, only make the superstar look powerful—or at least make another wrestler interfering with the match to look more powerful. One example is Jimmy Jacobs: employed by WWE as a jobber for a time, Jacobs wrestled Eddie Guerrero during the latter's last heel run. Though Jacobs was squashed, he actually won by disqualification when Guerrero beat him with a chair. Another example of a jobber winning was when "The Kid" suddenly won an upset over Razor Ramon on the May 17, 1993 episode of "Raw". He then renamed himself the "1-2-3 Kid". This win (and the Kid) were worked into Ramon's feud with Ted DiBiase, with DiBiase taunting Ramon repeatedly over losing to a nobody until he too was pinned by the Kid. On the September 20, 1993 episode of "Raw", I.R.S. was pinned with a rollup by P.J. Walker thanks to Ramon's interference.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: Jobbers can also get recognition on social media after appearing on a major promotion, giving them exposure they wouldn't receive otherwise. While being interviewed by Byron Saxton before his match against Braun Strowman in 2016, independent wrestler Johnny Knockout said he wanted to wrestle Strowman because "he likes big, sweaty men". The unexpected response led to Knockout eventually trending on Twitter ahead of other events on that night's "Raw".


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: Heels and some faces used to abuse and humiliate jobbers during or after a match: Jake Roberts would allow his pet snake slither over his opponents once he pinned them; Brutus Beefcake would cut their hair off (on those sporting long hair or a mullet); Big Boss Man would cuff them to the ropes and beat them with a baton; Ted DiBiase would put them under the Million Dollar Dream and then stuff a hundred-dollar bill in their mouths; Lex Luger, under his "Narcissist" gimmick, would make them stand up by holding them by the hair and make them look at themselves in a mirror; the Islanders would chew some fruit (usually pineapple) and then spit it over their chests, and so on.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: Some jobbers, such as Barry Horowitz, Iron Mike Sharpe, the Brooklyn Brawler or the Mulkey Brothers grew to become household names to fans. Others, such as Trent Knight, Cougar Jay, Reno Riggins, Tommy Angel, Bob Emory, Ricky Nelson, Curtis Thompson, Kenny Kendall, or Eddie Jackie, were expected by fans to be squashed and even humiliated during or after a match. For example, Jake "The Snake" Roberts got Bob Emory's and Trent Knight's heads inside the sack where he kept his python snake; Dick Murdoch smashed the aforementioned Emory against a podium and then hit him with a piece of wood, Kenny Kendall got hogtied twice by Bunkhouse Buck at the end of a match, Reno Riggins was made to put a woman's dress on.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: A slightly higher position is "jobber to the stars" (also known as a "glorified jobber"), which is a wrestler who defeats pure jobbers and mid-carders, but who consistently loses to top-level or up-and-coming stars. For example, Dolph Ziggler in the WWE is widely considered to have these traits. This often happens to popular faces and sometimes heels towards the end of their careers. Many of these jobbers to the stars are "heels" (villains) who routinely beat up on "nice guy" jobbers ("faces") so as to build up a reputation of being reasonably capable competitors (which makes the stars all the more impressive when they in turn defeat them easily) as well as to earn the contempt of the audience who enjoy seeing them finally get their comeuppance when they take on the tougher wrestlers. Heels can also be jobbers, such as Steve Lombardi during the 1980s and early 1990s. In the 1980s, Lombardi teamed with Barry Horowitz, to form a heel team. However, Lombardi and Horowitz ended up losing most of their matches in the WWE. In addition, Triple H was given the role of "jobbing to the stars" by WWF owner Vince McMahon in the summer of 1996 as punishment for the .


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: On the independent wrestling circuit, including the Mexican independent circuit, the star wrestlers with sufficient name recognition to be a draw would travel with their own jobber. Free from televised exposure, the star could beat the same opponent from town to town. Such a jobber could even be elevated to champion status, entering the ring with an impressive sounding title belt only to have it removed at the end of the match night after night.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: There are times, however, when a jobber will prove their skill, determination, and/or loyalty to the promotion and move beyond jobber status. Curt Hennig and Eddie Gilbert, who served as high-level jobbers during their initial WWE runs, later became main-eventers. Billy Kidman initially started out as a jobber in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), before moving up the ranks to become a champion in both the WCW and WWE. Paul Roma, who started as a jobber for the WWE in the 1980s, gained enough popularity in WCW to win that promotion's Tag Team Titles with partners such as Paul Orndorff and Arn Anderson, the latter as part of the Four Horsemen; however, in Roma's case, he went downhill again some time later. The brothers Hardy Boyz began their careers in WWE as jobbers for a few years, before receiving their first push as legitimate contenders in the tag division.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: Sometimes the opposite will occur, as was in the case of "Iron" Mike Sharpe, who started as a normal wrestler in the independent circuit and the WWE and ended up being a heel jobber. Another example is Siva Afi, who was a successful main-eventer/mid-carder in the independent circuit, including challenging Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to a 60-minute time limit draw in front of 20,000 people, ended up being a jobber in the WWF, which eventually led to other local promotions to give him a jobber position. A tag-team known as The Undertakers that did well on the independent circuit became jobbers when they joined the WWF in 1992 and became known as Double Trouble.


title: Job (professional wrestling)

text: Sometimes, jobbing may be used as a gimmick. While in ECW, Al Snow began referring to jobbing on-screen as part of his gimmick. He subsequently formed a stable called The J.O.B. Squad, composed of prominent jobbers. In World Championship Wrestling, the tendency of the Armstrongs (particularly Brad Armstrong) to lose matches was referred to as the "Armstrong curse". On average, however, Brad Armstrong was more of a jobber to the stars, while his brothers were pure jobbers for the most part, though Brian Armstrong would find the greatest success of the brothers in WWE as the Road Dogg, even poking fun at WCW's 'burial' of the Armstrongs by wearing a t-shirt that said "Look Ma! No Curse!". In 2003, after he returned from his neck injury, Chris Kanyon did a jobber angle, in which his gimmick was "Who's Better Than Kanyon? Nobody". He ended up jobbing to opponents on "WWE Velocity". A jobber angle involved Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), whose continual losses during the end of 2008 – including embarrassing losses in which he was pinned by roll-ups from mid-level WWE superstars – cost him the signing bonus he received when he joined WWE.


title: Juan Pablo Ledezma

text: Juan Pablo Ledezma (a.k.a. José Luis Fratello) is the alleged current leader of the Mexican gang called La Línea, which is the leading armed wing of the drug trafficking organization known as the Juárez Cartel and is said to be the current head of the organization.


title: Juan Pablo Ledezma

text: The Mexican government is currently offering a $2 million USD bounty for information leading to his capture, he works with Matt (Sosa) Hoffman (armed and dangerous). In 2019, imprisoned Sinaloa Cartel operative Jesús 'El Rey' Zambada revealed that notorious Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman had issued a bounty for Ledezma's death after Ledezma ended the Juarez Cartel's alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel. Ledezma is also suspected of orchestrating El Chapo’s brother’s killing in prison. Zambada also claimed that Ledezma was the only person who earned "an enormous hatred" from El Chapo. At the time of his arrest in May 2020, it was reported that Luis Alberto “El Mocho” M. was at that point the leader of La Linea and that El Mocho's predecessor, who is also imprisoned, is named Ricardo Arturo “El Piporro” C.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain Mushtaq BND (; born 29 December 1956) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer who, as of February 2022, is the head coach of the Pakistani national cricket team. Regarded as one of the best spin bowlers in the history of cricket, he is best known for pioneering the "doosra", a leg break delivery bowled with an off break action. He was the fastest to reach the milestones of 200 and 250 wickets in ODIs.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: A right-arm off break bowler, Saqlain played 49 Test matches and 169 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Pakistan between 1995 and 2004. He took 208 Test and 288 ODI wickets and also scored a Test match century as well, against New Zealand in March 2001. Until 2016, Saqlain was the fastest bowler in the history of ODI cricket to take 100 wickets.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain was born to a government clerk on 29 December 1976, in Lahore. He has two elder brothers: Sibtain, who also played first-class cricket for Lahore, and Zulqurnain. Saqlain played for Govt. M.A.O. College Lahore for three years and won the championship each year. Saqlain never played cricket at school level, but started playing for Zareef Memorial Cricket Club Second Eleven when he was only 13. He always wanted to be an off-spinner: "I never wanted to be a quick bowler. I was very skinny and never had too much strength in the body." Saqlain was coached by Ahmad Hassan and his brothers at the club level. At the age of 14 he went to the Govt. M.A.O. College Lahore, where he was coached by Mumtaz Akhtar Butt. He played for the college and won the championship for three consecutive years.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain started his first-class career in 1994–95 at the age of 17. In his first season he took 52 wickets and was selected to play for Pakistan A in a one-day tournament at Dhaka. In September 1995 he got international recognition, taking seven wickets for the PCB Patron's Eleven against the visiting Sri Lankans. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said of him that he was "the greatest off-spinner he has seen" and "as aggressive as a fast bowler, not afraid of getting hit, and has this total belief in himself."


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain represented Surrey for eight successive seasons from 1997 to 2004. However, his time was interrupted there and his international career with Pakistan effectively ended in 2004. In August 2005, he played his first match against Bangladesh A after recovering from injury and took 4–87 from 35 overs over two innings. However, that same week, in his return to the County Championship, he conceded 110 off 28 overs against Gloucestershire, taking just one wicket.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: In February 2006 he signed for Ireland for the C&G Trophy, along with teammate Abdul Razzaq. Later, in February 2007, Sussex announced that Saqlain had signed a two-year contract with them. His initial requirement was to cover for fellow Pakistanis Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who were part of Pakistan's World Cup campaign. On 26 September 2007, Saqlain was released by the county on his request. On 8 October 2007, Saqlain was re-signed by Surrey. On 28 October, according to Cricinfo, he was released by Surrey.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: In April 2009 he joined Old Whitgiftians CC to play in the Surrey Championship. He took 64 wickets in his first season, including five 5-wicket hauls, to earn Whits promotion to the first division. He was also involved in the youth setup. In 2010, after relocating to Leicestershire, he joined Syston Town Cricket Club, playing in the Everards County League. In late 2010, he was training in Taunton at the facilities of Somerset County Cricket Club, whom he has now joined as a temporary spin-bowling coach for the 2011 Caribbean Twenty20 competition. On 11 April 2013, it was announced that Saqlain would be joining Birmingham League Division Three Side Evesham for the 2013 Season.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain made his Test debut in September 1995 against Sri Lanka at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar. He picked up four wickets at an average of 26.75 in the match, and accumulated nine wickets in the series from two Tests. His next remarkable series was against the same team, after which he topped the list of wicket-takers with 14 in two Tests, including nine wickets in the first match of the series. Six months later he took a five-wicket haul against South Africa at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium—first Test of the home series. In the next home series, against West Indies, he played in the third Test at the National Stadium, Karachi. He took nine wickets for 80 runs, earning him the man-of-the-match award and ensuring Pakistan's clean sweep against the touring side. His next prominent performance was against Zimbabwe at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, where he claimed a five-wicket haul.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: The highlight of his Test career came in the away series against India in 1999, where he achieved his first ten-wicket haul in a Test match. He took five-wicket hauls in both innings of the match, In the first Test, with India needing only 17 runs to win, Saqlain effectively sealed Pakistan's win by taking the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, who had scored 136. In the second Test of the series at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi, he once again took five-wicket hauls in both innings but could not prevent defeat. He ended the series with 20 wickets at an average of 20.15, which earned him the man-of-the-series award.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: In November 1999, when Pakistan toured Australia, he took 10 wickets in two Test matches, including six wickets for 46 runs in Hobart. In Pakistan's tour to the West Indies in 2000 he was ineffective, taking only six wickets in five innings, which included five for 121 at Kensington Oval. His career-best bowling in an innings came in November 2000 against England at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, in a match in which he took 8 wickets for 164 runs in the first innings. The performance earned him a man-of-the-match award. He was the highest wicket-taker of the series, accumulating 18 wickets with an average of 23.94. In the 2001–02 season, Saqlain took seven wickets against Bangladesh. In the 2002–03 season, he took 15 wickets against Zimbabwe at their home; averaging 21.53, he was the highest wicket-taker of the series.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain played 49 Test matches for Pakistan during 1995 and 2004 and accumulated 208 wickets at an average of 29.83. He took 13 five-wicket hauls and three ten-wicket hauls, and his best performance for a match was 10 wickets for 155 runs. As a batsman, he scored 927 runs with the average of 14.48, including a century and two fifties. His highest score in the format was 101 not out against New Zealand at Jade Stadium, Christchurch.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain made his One Day International (ODI) debut in September 1995 against Sri Lanka at the Municipal Stadium, Gujranwala. He could not take a wicket, but Pakistan won the match by 9 wickets. His first match-winning performance came against same team in the final match of 1996 Singer Cup. He took 3 wickets in the match. His career-best bowling figures in this format are 5 wickets for 20 runs against England at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, in October 2000. He took five-wicket hauls in ODIs on six occasions. He claimed two hat-tricks, both against Zimbabwe, the first in 1996 and the second in 1999, when he became the first Pakistani to do so at a World Cup.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: On 28 May 2016, Saqlain Mushtaq was appointed by the ECB as England's spin consultant for the home series against Pakistan.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: On 29 October 2016, the ECB decided to use Saqlain's services to prepare England team for the test series against India. On 13 November 2016, it was announced that he would remain with the England team until the end of the third Test in Mohali, after agreeing an extension to his deal with the ECB.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: On 6 September 2021, he was appointed the interim head coach of Pakistan national cricket team by PCB after Misbah-ul-Haq's resignation from the post. In February 2022, due to team's excellent performance under him, his contract was extended for a year.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: Saqlain is credited with the invention of the "doosra", an off-spinner's delivery bowled with an action similar to that of an off-break. However, it spins in the opposite direction (i.e. from the leg side to the off side), confusing batsmen, which makes it an effective weapon. Saqlain became well known for this variation ball, which was integral to his success, although he received criticism for overusing it. Other bowlers like Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Johan Botha and Harbhajan Singh also used this delivery in international cricket.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: During his time at Surrey Saqlain worked on developing new deliveries, which he called the "teesra" which means "third one" and the "chotha". He used the teesra in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) while playing for Lahore Badshahs. Russel Arnold of Sri Lanka was the first player to face the teesra. He was also the first batsman to get out from a teesra. However, little else is known about these deliveries. Later, this delivery was used by Saeed Ajmal against England in 2012.


title: Saqlain Mushtaq

text: His other variation was the arm ball, which again uses a similar grip to the leg-break, but imparts back-spin instead of side-spin and causes the ball to go straight on.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: John T. Clark (real name John Terence Kelly) is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy. Clark is Clancy’s second most famous character after Jack Ryan. He has been featured in many of his Ryanverse novels. Although he first appeared in "The Cardinal of the Kremlin" (1988), his origin story was detailed in "Without Remorse" (1993).


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Clark has been described by his creator as "Ryan’s dark side" and "more inclined to take physical action than Jack is." A former Navy SEAL, he became an operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, and at one point served as Ryan's driver and bodyguard. During Ryan's first term as President of the United States, Clark served as director of a multinational counterterrorism unit codenamed Rainbow, which is composed of elite soldiers from countries which are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After retiring from CIA and Rainbow, Clark then worked for The Campus, an off-the-books intelligence organization created by President Ryan, later acquiring a position as director of operations.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In film, Clark has been portrayed by Willem Dafoe, Liev Schreiber, and Michael B. Jordan, the latter in a planned series including adaptations of "Without Remorse" and the in-development "Rainbow Six". Clark has also appeared in the "Rainbow Six" series of video games.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: John Kelly was born in Indianapolis to Irish-American parents somewhere in 1944-1945 and raised as a Catholic. His father, Timothy Kelly, served in the Navy during World War II and was a fireman who perished from a heart attack during a fire. John lost his mother to cancer when he was a young boy. He attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: His first wife Patricia "Tish" was pregnant when she was killed in a car accident. Six months after his wife died, Kelly had a brief relationship with Pamela Madden, a former prostitute who had been forced into working as a courier for a drug ring. She was later recaptured by members of the ring and subsequently tortured, raped, and killed; Kelly was gravely wounded. While recovering from his injuries at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he met his future second wife, nurse Sandra "Sandy" O'Toole. They eventually had two daughters, Patricia Doris and Margaret Pamela.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Kelly, who had by now changed his identity to Clark, first met Domingo "Ding" Chavez in the CIA during a black operation in Colombia ("Clear and Present Danger"). They would later work frequently together in succeeding novels. Chavez becomes Clark's son-in-law when he marries his daughter Patricia, and they later have a son, John Conor, who was born in "Rainbow Six", although misnamed as John Patrick in "Threat Vector".


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: When Clark was 18, he joined the US Navy (as John Terence Kelly) and later became a Navy SEAL who participated in several special operations, one of which was the rescue of a naval aviator shot down over North Vietnam. The aviator was the son of Admiral Dutch Maxwell and his rescue earned Kelly a promotion to Chief Petty Officer. After his first tour of duty, Kelly left the Navy but was later re-hired by the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Special Activities Division (Special Operations Group) for another mission in Vietnam; a rescue operation on a secret POW camp. At the same time, Kelly was carrying out his own war at home against a drug ring that killed his girlfriend, Pamela Madden. While he succeeded in taking it down, the Baltimore Police Department (including Emmet Ryan, Jack Ryan's father) eventually identifies him as the man who murdered the drug dealers. In response, Kelly faked his own death (with the help of the CIA, which falsifies the identity of his fingerprints in his Navy personnel file) and goes to work for the CIA full-time, under the pseudonym "John Clark". (See "Without Remorse") His middle name appears variously with one and two 'R's, and the name "John Terrence Clark" appears in the novel "Clear and Present Danger".


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Throughout his career, Clark has been through a number of real-life crisis zones. In addition to the Vietnam War, he has also been through the Iran hostage crisis (see "Debt of Honor") and the Gulf War, plus a number of missions in the Soviet Union, and claims to have "had Abu Nidal's head in my gunsights", but never got the green light allowing him to kill the man ("Clear and Present Danger").


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: He first enters the Jack Ryan universe in "Without Remorse", which also features police officer Emmet Ryan and his son Jack. Although he does not appear in "Patriot Games", it is later revealed that he was the CIA's liaison with a French black ops unit involved in the campaign against the ULA. He also does not appear in "Red Rabbit", but is mentioned as giving advice to trainees at The Farm, the CIA training facility. He appears briefly in "The Cardinal of the Kremlin", during which he extracts KGB Chairman Gerasimov's wife and daughter from Leningrad after the Chairman decides to defect to the United States. This marks Clark's first published appearance.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Clear and Present Danger," he commands a U.S. Army black-ops unit carrying out a secret war against the Medellín Cartel in Colombia. When the government abandons the men for political reasons, Clark and Jack Ryan fly down to Colombia and rescue the survivors. This is the first time he interacts with Ryan.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "The Sum of All Fears", he is Ryan's personal driver and bodyguard. Later in the novel, he is returned to the field for one operation, bugging the aircraft of the Japanese Prime Minister in Mexico City. During the operation, a terrorist bombing in Denver occurs and his mission is changed to intercepting the Palestinian terrorists trying to escape through Mexico, which he does successfully. He interrogates them and secures their confessions, then hands them over to the judicial system for eventual Islamic justice (execution by sword) in Riyadh.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Debt of Honor", he is again a field officer for the CIA's Directorate of Operations (DO). At the beginning of the novel, he and Domingo Chavez capture an Aidid-like African warlord, Mohammed Abdul Corp, and bring him to justice. Soon thereafter, they are sent to Japan to assess the national mood of the country, where Clark is undercover as a Russian reporter. When the situation turns into a war between Japan and the United States, they establish contacts with the opposition in the Japanese government and are also tasked to eliminate a pair of Japanese AWACS planes.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Clark spends the first half of the next book, "Executive Orders", serving as an instructor for CIA field officers in training. Early in the novel, Jack Ryan, the new President, issues a presidential pardon to John Terence Kelly for his several murders. This clears his name and personal honor, but he will continue his career as John Clark. Towards the end of the book, he and Chavez are returned to the field and ordered to discover who is responsible for an Ebola attack on the United States, an action they quickly trace to the new United Islamic Republic (comprising Iran and Iraq). With the cooperation of the Russian SVR, they are infiltrated into Tehran, where they laser-designate the home of UIR dictator Mahmoud Haji Daryaei so that Air Force stealth aircraft can destroy the house.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: The next year, Clark writes a memo to the CIA expressing his concerns over the rise of international terrorism since the demise of the Cold War, and recommends creating a NATO response team that could be rapidly deployed in terrorist situations. This special unit is created soon thereafter, with its base in Hereford, England. It is code-named Rainbow, and Clark is put in command of the unit with the equivalent rank of major general.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In the book "Rainbow Six", Rainbow is first put into operation. It responds successfully to three attacks by "Red" terrorists in Bern, Vienna, and Madrid. It also succeeds in defending itself from an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) against its home base. This is eventually determined to have been ordered by a radical eco-terrorist group, which Rainbow tracks down and destroys in the last pages of the novel.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Clark's next appearance is in "The Bear and the Dragon", where he is still the head of Rainbow. Initially assigned to train Russian Spetsnaz operatives, Rainbow is temporarily deployed to the Russian-Chinese war being fought in Siberia. In a joint Rainbow-Spetsnaz operation, he is involved in the destruction of China's only ICBM base. The operation is mostly successful: all but one of the missiles is destroyed, and the last one, while it is fired, is destroyed by the Navy before it can reach its intended target.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Neither Clark nor Rainbow appears in "The Teeth of the Tiger", but it is revealed that Rainbow is still operating. Prior to Jack Ryan resigning as President, Clark's Navy Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor. During the Medal of Honor ceremony Jack Ryan, Jr. was present in the Oval Office.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Clark returns in "Dead or Alive", in which he is part of a Rainbow team that successfully rescues all hostages taken by terrorists at the Swedish embassy in Libya. This proves to be his last act with the CIA, as he is pushed into retirement by Kealty political appointees. He then joins The Campus, an off-the-books intelligence agency that Ryan had founded before the end of his presidency. Clark is immediately involved with the organization's effort to find and neutralize "the Emir", an international terrorist leader modeled on Osama bin Laden, while also serving as mentor and trainer to Jack's son Jack Jr., a Campus analyst who wants to do fieldwork.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Locked On", Clark becomes a pawn in Czech billionaire and Kealty supporter Paul Laska's vendetta to discredit Ryan during the presidential campaign. The Emir had identified him as one of his captors to his Laska-affiliated lawyer. When it was revealed that he killed an East German Stasi operative in Berlin in 1981 (which was not a CIA matter but a personal job by his friend and Berlin station chief who had been blackmailed), he becomes the subject of a manhunt by the FBI and later French investigators hired by Laska.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Clark goes on the run and travels to eastern Europe to clear his name, later finding out that rogue SVR operative Valentin Kovalenko had given the information to Laska, who in turn covertly presented it to Kealty. However, he is captured shortly after and later tortured for information about The Campus by Kovalenko's men. He is later rescued by the Russian government, who then assigns him to temporarily lead Rainbow in order to retake a Russian spaceport which had been hijacked by Muslim Dagestani terrorists intent on launching nuclear weapons into Moscow.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Threat Vector", Clark has been exonerated by the outgoing Kealty administration. After an assassination job on a cell of former Libyan intelligence officers in Istanbul, he briefly retires from The Campus due to old age. However, he later comes out of retirement when Chinese special operations forces attack the headquarters of The Campus. He travels to China with fellow Campus operatives and works with the local rebels and FSB to assassinate People's Liberation Army Chairman Su Ke Qiang, who has been waging war against the United States by trying to annex Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and territories in the South China Sea by military force as well as sanctioning cyberattacks on the U.S.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Command Authority", Clark becomes director of operations for The Campus. He travels to Ukraine along with his fellow operatives to gather intelligence on Russian criminal organization Seven Strong Men and its leader Gleb the Scar. They take part in defending a CIA special mission compound in Sevastopol, which came under attack from pro-Russian protesters aided by FSB proxy agents and the Seven Strong Men. Clark later cooperates with Delta Force operatives in capturing Gleb the Scar, revealed to be directly involved in the polonium poisoning of former SVR head Sergey Golovko, in his heavily-guarded base of operations in Kyiv.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Full Force and Effect", Clark and his fellow Campus colleagues investigate a connection between an American corporate espionage firm and the North Korean government, who are intent on producing nuclear weapons. In "Commander in Chief", he tracks down the accountant of Russian president Valeri Volodin, who has been moving his personal net worth to a safe place in anticipation of his failure to placate the siloviki should his plan of a covert armed offensive across Europe fail to repair the ongoing economic recession in his country. In "True Faith and Allegiance", Clark helps investigate a series of terrorist attacks on American military and intelligence personnel, which is due to a massive intelligence breach. He later assassinates a Saudi technocrat who has been setting up ISIS with the attacks in order to save his country from economic ruin in a quagmire likely to result from American troops being redeployed to the Middle East.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Power and Empire", Clark investigates Chinese agent provocateur Vincent Chen's connection to a sex trafficking ring in Texas. He wages a one-man war on the ring in order to save a prostitute as well, who had been instrumental in revealing China's involvement in several false flag attacks designed to blame the current president, whose moderate stance on several issues compelled a secret cabal to act to have him removed from power. Clark was later arrested for murder, but was released from police custody soon after.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Clark briefly appears in "Line of Sight", where he assassinates a Romanian crime boss who had a vendetta against Jack Ryan Jr. in revenge for killing one of his associates in a previous novel.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Oath of Office", Clark leads a surveillance operation in Portugal on French arms dealer Hugo Gaspard, who has ties to ISIS. He witnesses Gaspard's murder by French assassin Lucile Fournier, who works under rival arms dealer Urbano da Rocha. Clark and his team then proceed to shadow Da Rocha and Fournier, who later strike a deal intended for Gaspard with a pair of Russian GRU officers. However, the Russians later double cross da Rocha, attempting to kill him in his villa. Clark rescues the arms dealer, who later reveals a plot to provide stolen nuclear weapons to dissident Reza Kazem on behalf of the GRU and the Iranian government.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Code of Honor", Clark leads the Campus's efforts to retrieve Calliope, a next-generation AI software, before the Chinese military uses it for sinister purposes. He later tracks down Kang, an assassin working for the People's Liberation Army who had tried to assassinate a former Navy admiral who now works for a communications company.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Outside the novels, John Clark's career continues further in the "Rainbow Six" video game series. In "", Clark retires and passes the leadership of Team Rainbow on to Chavez. Although Chavez appears in "" as Rainbow commander, no mention is made of Clark.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: John Clark has been awarded the Navy Cross, Silver Star with an oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star with Valor devices with three oak leaf clusters, three Purple Hearts and four Intelligence Stars. He is also a recipient of the Medal of Honor, awarded and presented to him by Jack Ryan (then President of the U.S.) for the rescue of a downed fighter pilot during his time in Vietnam (see "Without Remorse"). He is a simulated major general in the "Rainbow Six" book, though he only reached the rank of Chief Boatswain's Mate (Chief Petty Officer) during his Naval career.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: Clark has a small tattoo of a red seal, sitting up on its hind flippers "grinning impudently" on his forearm. Though no other visual details are given, a comment made by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel "Bear" Malloy in "Rainbow Six" indicated that at least some soldiers in Ryanverse who dealt with special operations had heard of the red seal tattoo and understood that it was associated with the Third Special Operations Group (SOG), with whom Clark served during the Vietnam War. Clark stated that everyone in his unit got the tattoo. In the real world, having such a tattoo would violate operations security (OPSEC); however, similar tattoos are not particularly uncommon, so long as the tattoo is not specifically unit identifiable. Also, the Third SOG is not a real military unit, but a similarly named group, the Studies and Observation Group MACV-SOG, was initially named the Special Operations Group and was active in Vietnam in the types of operations and environments referenced in the series, and had Navy SEALs among its personnel. The symbol of the red seal is actually the unit insignia for SEAL Team 1.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In 2012 Paramount Pictures began developing a film adaptation of "Without Remorse", and reportedly were in early negotiations with Tom Hardy to play Clark. By September 2018, Michael B. Jordan was cast to play John Clark in the new film series. "Without Remorse" was released on 30 April 2021 and was directed by Stefano Sollima from a screenplay written by Taylor Sheridan and Will Staples. It is produced by Akiva Goldsman. "Rainbow Six" is currently in development.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: John Clark has been portrayed by Willem Dafoe in "Clear and Present Danger" (1994) and Liev Schreiber in "The Sum of All Fears" (2002).


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "Clear and Present Danger" Clark is initially depicted as a cynical and opportunistic mercenary, but slowly reveals his virtues. Clark aids Ryan in rescuing Clark’s men from Escobedo and Cortez, saving Ryan’s life.


title: John Clark (Ryanverse character)

text: In "The Sum of All Fears" Clark is depicted as a much more sardonic character, though he, like his novel counterpart, has also participated in numerous CIA operations.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The Huckleberry Hound Show is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and the second series produced by the studio following "The Ruff and Reddy Show". The show first aired in syndication on September 29, 1958, and was sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound, another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo, and a third with Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, which starred two mice who in each short found a new way to outwit the cat Mr. Jinks. The series last aired on December 1, 1961.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The "Yogi Bear" segment of the show became extremely popular, and as a result, it spawned its own series in 1960. A segment featuring Hokey Wolf and Ding-A-Ling was added, replacing "Yogi" during the 1960–61 season. The show contributed to making Hanna-Barbera a household name, and is often credited with legitimizing the concept of animation produced specifically for television. In 1960, it became the first animated program to be honored with an Emmy Award.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: Joseph Barbera went to Chicago to pitch the program to Kellogg's executives through their ad agency, Leo Burnett. "I had never sold a show before because I didn't have to. If we got an idea, we just made it, for over twenty years. All of a sudden, I'm a salesman, and I'm in a room with forty-five people staring at me, and I'm pushing Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear and 'the Meeces', and they bought it."


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The series featured three seven-minute cartoons, animated specifically for television. The first always starred Huckleberry, the next two featured other characters. Each of three cartoons were in between the wraparound segments, which originally set in the circus tent where Huck acts like a showman in the late 1950s.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The show was originally intended to be part of a line-up of kid programmes sponsored by Kellogg and broadcast on ABC-TV, joining "Woody Woodpecker", "Superman" and "Wild Bill Hickok" in an early evening, weekday line-up. However, Kellogg's agency, Leo Burnett, decided instead to syndicate the show and buy air time on individual stations. The show was originally distributed by , which held a part-ownership of Hanna-Barbera at the time, over 150 stations. In April 1967, Screen Gems announced the show had been released from advertiser control, and would be made available to stations on a syndicated basis with available bridges to create 92 half-hour shows.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The distribution was later passed to Worldvision Enterprises, after it became a sister company to Hanna-Barbera. It was later distributed by Turner Program Services, after Turner's purchase of Hanna-Barbera; current distributor Warner Bros. Television picked up ownership of the show following the 1996 acquisition of Turner by parent company, Time Warner.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The show was not broadcast on the same day of the week, or the same time, in every city; airing depended on the deal for time that the Leo Burnett Agency brokered with individual stations. However, the first time the Huck series appeared on television was on Monday, September 29, 1958; it was first seen at 6 p.m. on WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which also served Battle Creek, home of Kellogg cereals. A few other stations airing it that day were WLWI in Indianapolis (at 6:30 p.m.) and WTAE in Pittsburgh (at 7:30 p.m.). The show debuted on other days that same week in other cities; Huck originally aired in Los Angeles on Tuesdays on KNXT, Chicago on Wednesdays on WGN-TV, and New York City on Thursdays on WPIX. The show first aired in Canada on Thursday, October 2, 1958, at 7 p.m. on CKLW-TV in Windsor, Ontario. The show first aired in Australia on Monday, February 16, 1959, on the National Television Network (now the Nine Network), and the show first aired in the United Kingdom on Friday, July 10, 1959, on ITV.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: Each of the three segments featured one or two main characters acting as a duo, and numerous one-off or supporting characters.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: Huck's voice was one that Butler had already developed and used in earlier work, such as Ruff in "The Ruff and Reddy Show", Smedley the Dog in the "Chilly Willy" cartoons, and earlier characters in the MGM cartoon library. It was said to be based on the neighbor of his wife, Myrtis; Butler would speak with said neighbor when visiting North Carolina.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: Yogi Bear (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Ed Norton from "The Honeymooners") and his friend Boo Boo Bear (voiced by Don Messick) live in Jellystone Park and occasionally try to steal picnic baskets while evading Ranger Smith (also voiced by Don Messick). Yogi also has a relationship with his girlfriend Cindy Bear (voiced by Julie Bennett).


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: Pixie (voiced by Don Messick) and Dixie (voiced by Daws Butler) are two mice who every day end up being chased by a cat named Mr. Jinks (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Marlon Brando).


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: Hokey Wolf (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Phil Silvers) is a con-artist wolf who is always trying to cheat his way to the simple life (much like other Hanna-Barbera characters, Top Cat and Yogi Bear). He is accompanied in this by his diminutive, bowler hat-wearing sidekick Ding-A-Ling Wolf (voiced by Doug Young impersonating Buddy Hackett).


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: In the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) briefly dons a mask of Huckleberry. The name for Rock et Belles Oreilles, a Québécois comedy group popular during the 1980s, was a pun on the name of Huckleberry Hound ("Roquet Belles Oreilles" in French). Australian prison slang vernacular includes "huckleberry hound", a term originated in the 1960s, meaning "a punishment cell, solitary confinement." In January 2009, IGN named "The Huckleberry Hound Show" as the 63rd best in its "Top 100 Animated TV Shows".


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: In 1960s Hungary, the series - there called "Foxi Maxi" - gained an instant following, also among adults. The reason for this was the fact that legendary scriptwriter József Romhányi had penned dialog with his trademark puns and humor, and some of the most popular actors of the day had supplied the voices. Romhányi and some of the same actors later worked on the Hungarian version of "The Flintstones".


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The episode "Cop and Saucer" was released as a part of the "A Sample of Boomerang" tape, from Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: On , Warner Home Video (via Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) released "The Huckleberry Hound Show – Volume 1" for the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection, featuring the complete first season of 26 episodes (66 segments) from the series on DVD, all presented remastered and restored. However, the episodes in the Volume 1 DVD set were the edited versions, instead of the uncut and unedited, original network broadcast versions due to expensive licensing issues.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: The characters from "The Huckleberry Hound Show" spawned various product, publishing, and other licensing deals. Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems' record arm, Colpix, released the first Huckleberry Hound album in October 1958, with stuffed animals and games also hawked in record stores.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: No later than 1961, the characters began appearing "in person" at events across America. Hanna Barbera commissioned costumed characters of Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and Quick Draw McGraw, which appeared at events like the Florida State Fair.


title: The Huckleberry Hound Show

text: Hanna-Barbera owner Taft Broadcasting started opening theme parks in 1972, beginning with Kings Island. These parks included areas themed to the company's cartoons, and included walk-around characters of Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and others. The characters were also featured on rides, including carousels. Licensed "Huckleberry" products included an Aladdin-brand Thermos.


title: Aceh Sultanate

text: The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam (; Jawoë: كاورجاون اچيه دارالسلام), was a sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries, before experiencing a long period of decline. Its capital was Kutaraja, the present-day Banda Aceh.


title: Aceh Sultanate

text: At its peak it was a formidable enemy of the Sultanate of Johor and Portuguese-controlled Malacca, both on the Malayan Peninsula, as all three attempted to control the trade through the Strait of Malacca and the regional exports of pepper and tin with fluctuating success. In addition to its considerable military strength, the court of Aceh became a noted center of Islamic scholarship and trade.