title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer has been a patron of the charity Pancreatic Cancer Action since 2015 and in 2017 presented the charity's BBC Radio 4 charity appeal during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.


title: Nick Hewer

text: In July 2008 he took part in the charity driving event, the Mongol Rally, in a Renault 4, driving from London to Ulaanbaatar. He raised over £12,000 for Hope and Homes for Children. He wrote a series of blogs about his journey for the online travel section of "The Daily Telegraph".


title: Nick Hewer

text: For many years Hewer was a supporter of the Labour Party. While appearing on "Question Time" in 2017 he said that he had supported the party since Harold Wilson, but was critical of the leaderships of Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Miliband. In January 2019, he said that he would no longer vote for Labour, after his "Countdown" co-presenter Rachel Riley received abuse on social media for speaking out against anti-Semitism within the party.


title: Nick Hewer

text: On 2 November 2012 Hewer received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Kingston University in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to business and entrepreneurship".


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer has a collection of hats that represent the national dress of various countries he has visited. His collection includes the hat of a Kazakhstan border guard, which he acquired under mysterious circumstances.


title: Time series database

text: A time series database (TSDB) is a software system that is optimized for storing and serving time series through associated pairs of time(s) and value(s). In some fields, "time series" may be called profiles, curves, traces or trends. Several early time series databases are associated with industrial applications which could efficiently store measured values from sensory equipment (also referred to as data historians), but now are used in support of a much wider range of applications.


title: Time series database

text: In many cases, the repositories of time-series data will utilize compression algorithms to manage the data efficiently. Although it is possible to store time-series data in many different database types, the design of these systems with time as a key index is distinctly different from relational databases which reduce discrete relationships through referential models.


title: Time series database

text: Time series datasets are relatively large and uniform compared to other datasets―usually being composed of a timestamp and associated data. Time series datasets can also have fewer relationships between data entries in different tables and don't require indefinite storage of entries. The unique properties of time series datasets mean that time series databases can provide significant improvements in storage space and performance over general purpose databases. For instance, due to the uniformity of time series data, specialized compression algorithms can provide improvements over regular compression algorithms designed to work on less uniform data. Time series databases can also be configured to regularly delete old data, unlike regular databases which are designed to store data indefinitely. Special database indices can also provide boosts in query performance.


title: Nesta Guinness-Walker

text: Nesta Pierre Guinness-Walker (born 14 September 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for Reading.


title: Nesta Guinness-Walker

text: He is the grandson of actor Matthew Guinness and the great-grandson of actor Sir Alec Guinness. He grew up in Twickenham and is of part-Barbadian descent.


title: Nesta Guinness-Walker

text: Guinness-Walker played youth football for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, spending two years with Chelsea and one year with Tottenham, before leaving at the age of 11, before playing Sunday League football as a teenager. He joined non-league Metropolitan Police at the age of 17. Following a successful trial period he signed for AFC Wimbledon in May 2019. He scored his first goal for Wimbledon in a 2–1 defeat to Ipswich Town on 20 August 2019. He was offered a new contract by the club at the end of the 2021–22 season, but he left the club on 5 July 2022.


title: Nesta Guinness-Walker

text: On 29 July 2022, Reading announced the signing of Guinness-Walker on a one-year contract following a successful trial.


title: Zuffa

text: Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after they purchased it from the Semaphore Entertainment Group. The word "Zuffa" is an Italian word (), meaning "fight". On July 11, 2016, Zuffa announced that it would be purchased by a group led by WME-IMG including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital for the price of $4.025 billion.


title: Zuffa

text: Throughout the existence of the International Fight League (IFL) between 2006 and 2008, both Zuffa and the IFL had competed in a hostile relationship. Zuffa accused the IFL and sued them for illegally using proprietary information obtained by hiring executives from the UFC organization. The IFL responded with their own suit claiming that Zuffa was threatening potential partners not to work with the IFL, including Fox Sports Net (a deal with Fox Sports was later signed before resolution of the suit). The tension between the IFL and the UFC worsened with accusations that the IFL had attempted to buy out several top UFC fighters.


title: Zuffa

text: In July 2008, there were reports of the IFL's possible purchase by the UFC. That same month, Joe Favorito, former IFL senior vice president, cited financial troubles for the closing of the company on July 31, 2008. Anonymous sources stated that Zuffa had bought the IFL. Other reports cited the UFC's airing of IFL footage on its programming, and the signing of previous IFL fighters, as an indirect confirmation of the purchase.


title: Zuffa

text: On December 11, 2006, Zuffa acquired the assets of the World Fighting Alliance, and formed WFA Enterprises, LLC. as a subsidiary to handle these assets, including select fighter contracts. On the same day, it was reported that Zuffa was formalizing plans to buy World Extreme Cagefighting, to be run as a separate promotion from the UFC.


title: Zuffa

text: Following the purchase of the WEC, Zuffa made several changes to the promotion. This included modifying the WEC's cage, transferring to a focus on lighter weight classes, giving it the ability to host events in Las Vegas, and having the championships of fighters who were contracted UFC fighters vacated. From 2007 to the end of 2010, the WEC was run as a separate promotion under the Zuffa banner, airing events 28 to 53 on Versus in the US and on The Score in Canada. On October 28, 2010, Dana White announced that the WEC would be absorbed into the UFC in early 2011.


title: Zuffa

text: On March 27, 2007, it was announced that Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta were acquiring the assets of Pride Fighting Championships, the UFC's largest rival, from Dream Stage Entertainment. To handle the take over, the Fertitta brothers created a new corporate entity to handle the assets, Pride FC Worldwide Holdings LLC. With common ownership in place, Zuffa and Pride Worldwide would be working closely together. Although goals of reviving Pride were not realized, many of Pride's assets, including contracts with fighters and intellectual property, are now regularly utilized by the UFC.


title: Zuffa

text: On March 12, 2011, it was announced that Zuffa had purchased Strikeforce in a deal made with partial owner Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment. The amount of money involved has not been officially disclosed, however, it has been reported that the deal was worth $40 million. The deal included licensing rights, fighter contracts, and the Strikeforce video library. Strikeforce continued to operate as a separate company, similar to that of the WEC, until January 12, 2013. After the final show was held in Oklahoma City, the promotion was dissolved and several fighter contracts were absorbed into the UFC.


title: Zuffa

text: When United Glory was originally formed in 2006, it was known as Ultimate Glory before a lawsuit with Zuffa forced a name change.


title: Zuffa

text: In June 2014 the UFC announced that they had signed a multi-year, multi-event broadcast deal to show and archive all Invicta FC events on UFC Fight Pass. This has allowed the UFC to further expand its women's divisions by adding a strawweight division in July 2014, and signing Invicta fighters such as Carla Esparza and Felice Herrig.


title: Zuffa

text: In June 2014 the UFC announced that they had signed a development deal with the recently revived, Vale Tudo Japan. A brand that was brought back in 2012 by the long running, Shooto promotion. The UFC plans on promoting and operating a new tournament series that will focus on 135 and 145 pound divisions. There were plans of a "The Ultimate Fighter"-like TV show to help promote these tournaments but it is unclear on what the status remains on it.


title: Zuffa

text: On January 12, 2010, Zuffa sold a minority interest in the company to Flash Entertainment. The company announced the completion of a deal in which a 10-percent interest in the company to the Abu Dhabi government-owned Flash Entertainment. With the sale, company ownership would be 40.5 percent held by Lorenzo Fertitta, the company's CEO and chairman, 40.5 percent held by his older brother, Frank Fertitta III, 10 percent by Flash Entertainment and nine percent by Dana White. Flash Entertainment was formed in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi government's Executive Affairs Authority.


title: Zuffa

text: In December 2010, Zuffa filed a lawsuit against video game publisher Ubisoft, for what they claimed was a violation of trademark on the game, "Fighters Uncaged", packaging. On the packaging of the game the trademarked term, "Ultimate Fighting" is shown in all capital letters. Zuffa claimed that the use of the term is identical or confusingly similar to the use of the UFC's trademarks. While Ubisoft failed to provide any comments on the lawsuit, by August 2011, the two companies announced the dissolution of the lawsuit.


title: Zuffa

text: In May 2011, it was announced that Zuffa would be holding a charity auction featuring more than 100 items to benefit the Lone Survivor Foundation during the last week of May 2011. All products were autographed by UFC fighters and included baseball caps, T-shirts, MMA gloves, and DVDs. Products generally ranged in price from $50 to a few thousand dollars.


title: Zuffa

text: In February 2014, Zuffa was one of a number of major combat sport promotions to support a major brain trauma study that was being conducted by the Cleveland Clinic. This was further followed up in February 2016, when Zuffa donated a million dollars to the Ruvo Center.


title: Zuffa

text: The current rules used in the UFC were first established by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board in 2000, in consultation with the UFC and other MMA promotions in the United States. The first UFC event under the new rules was UFC 28, held before Zuffa's takeover. New Jersey's "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts" has since been established throughout the country by other state athletic commissions, including Nevada and California. The UFC has, however, kept close ties with state commissions, especially the Nevada State Athletic Commission, of which Lorenzo Fertitta is a former board member.


title: Zuffa

text: During the early years of mixed martial arts, when Pride Fighting Championships along with the Ultimate Fighting Championship were early premierships of the sport, it has been documented that there was a noteworthy lack of rules and regulations regarding drug testing for PED's. This led to a widespread debate and discussion regarding how prevalent the use of steroids were in the sport, as well as a long list of competitors in the UFC and other major organizations facing failed drug tests. This was further highlighted by continued problems with UFC champions, including Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, failing drug tests. So in February 2015, Zuffa announced a more aggressive year round, random-testing approach for its competitors to begin in July 2015.


title: Zuffa

text: Zuffa has been one of the largest and most aggressive spenders among anti-piracy political lobbyists in the United States since the end of the 2000s. One thing in particular that sets them apart from other sports leagues is that, in addition to supporting efforts of stricter piracy laws, they have also on numerous occasions gone after selected individuals in addition to pirate hosting websites. Some of the most notable cases have included, a well publicized lawsuit with Justin.tv in 2011 and a $32 million settlement involving a New York man in 2014.


title: Zuffa

text: Zuffa has always maintained the stance that the large amounts of illegal streams of their events causes massive financial losses. In response to having such a stringent stance it has been extremely controversial and has caused a number of debates within the mixed martial arts community on its effectiveness. As a result, the UFC began experimenting on an online subscription model known as UFC Fight Pass in 2014. It is unclear how beneficial the service has been since its emphasis has been largely minimal next to UFC's partnership with Fox and noticeable decline in average PPV buyrates, highlighted by the S&P downgrading Zuffa's credit rating in late 2014.


title: Zuffa

text: On May 9, 2011 it was announced that Zuffa would be providing year-round customized insurance coverage for any injury suffered by a UFC or Strikeforce athlete. The policy covers any injuries that occur during competition, training, and non-training related accidents. The policy was underwritten by Houston-based specialty insurance group HCC Insurance Holdings and went into effect on June 1, 2011.


title: Zuffa

text: An insurance policy is not a first for mixed martial arts or combat sports as a whole. Former promotions such as the International Fight League, offered insurance to its athletes. However Zuffa's policy is the first to cover a large group of combat sport athletes. According to UFC president Dana White, the policy was a goal of the company since Zuffa first purchased the UFC in 2001. In addition UFC chairman and CEO, Lorenzo Fertitta stated that the policy took three years to establish while trying to find possible insurers. Prior to the introduction of this policy, Zuffa provided up to $100,000 for an athlete on each event to cover injuries sustained during competition. However, if an athlete was injured outside of competition they would have to pay for their own medical expenses.


title: Zuffa

text: The Ultimate Fighting Championship has been accused of monopolistic business practices both in casual criticism and in formal lawsuits for a number of years. There are numerous fighters who have accused the company of various wrongdoing's regarding issues including unequal pay, predatory actions toward rival promotions, lack of a pension or union safety net, and other perceived unethical business practices. These perceptions have been most highlighted by a Federal Trade Commission investigation that took place between 2011 and 2012. As well as in a series of class action lawsuits filed against the company in late 2014 and early 2015.


title: Zuffa

text: In the months following the March 2011 acquisition of rival promotion Strikeforce, rumours began to circulate that a possible investigation by the FTC would take place. These rumours later came to be true when it was officially announced around the end of January 2012 that the FTC had in fact conducted an investigation, and found no wrongdoings regarding the UFC being a monopoly.


title: Zuffa

text: On December 16, 2014 a class action lawsuit was filed against Zuffa by fighters Cung Le, Jon Fitch and Nate Quarry. Within a few days, Javier Vazquez and Dennis Hallman filed a second class action. And on December 24, Brandon Vera and Pablo Garza filed a third lawsuit. Shortly after the initial news spreading, Zuffa quickly responded following the first class action with the statement that, "The UFC will vigorously defend itself and its business practices." This soon led other promoters such as Scott Coker, President of Bellator MMA, expressing an interest in the outcome of the lawsuit, while rejecting his organization as being labeled a "minor league" as was done several times in the initial filing. By the end of December 2014, the UFC made a formal statement stating, "We are proud of the company we have built, confident in our legal position, and intend to prevail in this lawsuit."


title: Zuffa

text: On February 7, 2015, a fourth lawsuit was filed against the UFC, this one by Mac Danzig and Gabe Ruediger. It was around this time that Zuffa motioned to move the hearing date from May 7 to March 26, as well as to move the venue from Northern California to Las Vegas, where they are headquartered. A few weeks later, Zuffa motioned to have the lawsuits dismissed, in four separate documents they claim, "The Complaints' vague and conclusory allegations fall far short of the Supreme Court's requirements in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, for pleading specific facts showing a plausible antitrust claim."


title: Zuffa

text: Shortly thereafter, a fifth lawsuit was added by Kyle Kingsbury and Darren Uyenoyama on March 20, 2015. On April 12, the plaintiff athletes filed an opposition to February's motion to dismiss and transfer. Following the May 7 hearing regarding the motion to change venue, a Californian federal judge granted Zuffa the motion to change venue to Las Vegas after citing contract agreements from the former employees. As a result of the change of venue to Nevada, Zuffa was denied its motion to remain a discovery for 15 years of its financial records. This would prompt a debate, especially by MMAFA founder Rob Maysey, on who should have access to the UFC's sensitive information and how that information should be viewed.


title: Zuffa

text: Both sides have argued for different criteria, so as not to put them at an disadvantage. However, Zuffa has requested a two-tiered system of confidentiality: confidential and highly confidential. They have stated they feel that Maysey's access to highly confidential information could have an influential impact on him and his role in the MMAFA. Meanwhile, Maysey has openly stated his goal is to represent the fighters and ultimately try to get a reform similar to the Ali Act of 2000.


title: Zuffa

text: Moving forward to September 25, 2015, due to the gradual nature and complications regarding the lawsuit; Zuffa requested another dismissal of the case and asked that it be thrown out of Las Vegas federal court. In a surprise bench ruling, this was ultimately denied, which promoted the UFC to release a formal response. The following week, magistrate judge Peggy Leen ruled that the UFC could not prevent plaintiffs attorney Rob Maysey from viewing its most highly confidential and sensitive business and financial information. This has officially caused an expert discovery that is estimated to last from 12–16 months (September 2016 to January 2017). In doing so, both parties will have to hand over various highly confidential and sensitive documents.


title: Zuffa

text: The goal of the expert discovery is to determine three key factors for antitrust liability to all hold true: (1) Does the UFC have monopoly power? (2) Did the UFC acquire or maintain such power through exclusionary conduct? (3) Did the UFC cause antitrust injury since having a monopoly is not always illegal in the United States? This is expected to involve a wide range of important figures (past and present) in both mixed martial arts and boxing, including most top ranked UFC staff, Scott Coker, Bjorn Rebney, Ray Sefo, Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Ben Askren, Mark Cuban, Oscar De La Hoya, Bob Arum, Lou DiBella, Bob Meyrowitz, Ken Hershman and even various PRIDE FC executives. Following this ruling through the end of 2015, both sides have provided well over 100,000 documents.


title: Zuffa

text: Starting in January, the UFC defense team filed its official answer, denying the fighters’ antitrust claims. In an amended complaint, which contained nearly identical legal and economic substance to the original version from December 2014. The only major difference being the number of plaintiff fighters has declined from eleven to six. Pablo Garza, Gabe Ruediger, Darren Uyenoyama, Dennis Hallman, and Mac Danzig all dropped out of the lawsuit while the original three plaintiffs, Cung Le, Nate Quarry, and Jon Fitch, remain along with Brandon Vera, Javier Vazquez, and Kyle Kingsbury. In addition, Zuffa has stood by its point of protecting its brand. Additionally, the UFC inadvertently produced PRIDE FC acquisition materials.


title: Zuffa

text: Following this in October, Zuffa made a motion to dismiss the consolidated complaint, which was ultimately denied.


title: Zuffa

text: By this point of the lawsuit, there was considerably less notable coverage of the case. Aside from the occasional legal filings, the first of which being in February 2018 in which the plaintiffs field a motion for class certification which faced opposition from Zuffa. Furthered in September, when the plaintiffs filed their opposition to Zuffa's motion for summary judgment.


title: Zuffa

text: Before finally on December 5, 2018 when the plaintiffs held an informational session to cover the status of the lawsuit in Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: Zuffa

text: All of which led to some major breaking news in regards to financial information about Zuffa being revealed once hearings started place in August and September. At this point the case included 12 plaintiffs attorneys, two from Bellator MMA, and two from Top Rank. As they intend to look into the business practices used by Zuffa throughout the years towards other MMA promotions throughout the 2000s. Who often have placed some level of blame of their demise on Zuffa.


title: Zuffa

text: Around May 11, 2016, ESPN's Darren Rovell reported that Goldman Sachs was helping Zuffa set up a sale of its majority ownership to one of four bidders at a speculated price range between $3.5 billion to $4 billion. Immediately after Rovell reported this, UFC President Dana White went on "The Dan Patrick Show" and denied that the UFC was up for sale, claiming that Zuffa was more focused on "working on deals and our expansion globally" than selling the promotion. However, White would further add that Zuffa would be listening to offers if they met the reported $4 billion. Despite White's denial of a potential sale, Dave Meltzer of SB Nation's mmafighting.com reported a month later that the sale of the UFC was imminent, as Zuffa received two bids within the range of $3.9 billion to $4.2 billion from both WME-IMG, the events and China Media Capital.


title: Zuffa

text: Finally, on July 11, after months of speculation, the UFC released a statement confirming that Zuffa had sold its majority stake to an ownership group headed by WME-IMG for $4.2 billion. ESPN's Darren Rovell and Brett Okamoto would go on further to report that, despite the sale to WME-IMG, Dana White would be staying on with the UFC as President and would "be given a stake in the new business." They would also add that the Abu Dhabi-based Flash Entertainment would still maintain its 10 percent stake in the company. In 2017, WME-IMG reorganized as Endeavor. On April 29, 2021, Endeavor launched an initial public offering (IPO) and became a publicly traded company listed on New York Stock Exchange. Endeavor subsequently used some of the proceeds from the IPO to buy out Zuffa's other shareholders at a value of $1.7 billion, making Zuffa a wholly-owned subsidiary of Endeavor.


title: Heritability of autism

text: The heritability of autism is the proportion of differences in expression of autism that can be explained by genetic variation; if the heritability of a condition is high, then the condition is considered to be primarily genetic. Autism has a strong genetic basis, although the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear whether autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is explained more by multigene interactions or by rare mutations with major effects.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Early studies of twins estimated the heritability of autism to be more than 90%; in other words, that 90% of the differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals are due to genetic effects. This however may be an overestimate: new twin data and models with structural genetic variation are needed. When only one identical twin is autistic, the other often has learning or social disabilities. For adult siblings, the likelihood of having one or more features of the broader autism phenotype might be as high as 30%, much higher than the likelihood in controls.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Genetic linkage analysis has been inconclusive; many association analyses have had inadequate power. For each autistic individual, mutations in more than one gene may be implicated. Mutations in different sets of genes may be involved in different autistic individuals. There may be significant interactions among mutations in several genes, or between the environment and mutated genes. By identifying genetic markers inherited with autism in family studies, numerous candidate genes have been located, most of which encode proteins involved in neural development and function. However, for most of the candidate genes, the actual mutations that increase the likelihood for autism have not been identified. Typically, autism cannot be traced to a Mendelian (single-gene) mutation or to single chromosome abnormalities such as fragile X syndrome or 22q13 deletion syndrome.


title: Heritability of autism

text: The large number of autistic individuals with unaffected family members may result from copy number variations (CNVs)—spontaneous alterations in the genetic material during meiosis that delete or duplicate genetic material. Sporadic (non-inherited) cases have been examined to identify candidate genetic loci involved in autism. A substantial fraction of autism may be highly heritable but not inherited: that is, the mutation that causes the autism is not present in the parental genome.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Although the fraction of autism traceable to a genetic cause may grow to 30–40% as the resolution of array CGH improves, several results in this area have been described incautiously, possibly misleading the public into thinking that a large proportion of autism is caused by CNVs and is detectable via array CGH, or that detecting CNVs is tantamount to a genetic diagnosis. The Autism Genome Project database contains genetic linkage and CNV data that connect autism to genetic loci and suggest that every human chromosome may be involved. It may be that using autism-related subphenotypes instead of the diagnosis of autism per se may be more useful in identifying susceptible loci.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Twin studies are a helpful tool in determining the heritability of disorders and human traits in general. They involve determining concordance of characteristics between identical (monozygotic or MZ) twins and between fraternal (dizygotic or DZ) twins. Possible problems of twin studies are: (1) errors in diagnosis of monozygocity, and (2) the assumption that social environment sharing by DZ twins is equivalent to that of MZ twins.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A condition that is environmentally caused without genetic involvement would yield a concordance for MZ twins equal to the concordance found for DZ twins. In contrast, a condition that is completely genetic in origin would theoretically yield a concordance of 100% for MZ pairs and usually much less for DZ pairs depending on factors such as the number of genes involved and assortative mating.


title: Heritability of autism

text: An example of a condition that appears to have very little if any genetic influence is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with a concordance of 28% vs. 27% for MZ and DZ pairs respectively. An


title: Heritability of autism

text: example of a human characteristics that is extremely heritable is eye color, with a concordance of 98% for MZ pairs and 7–49% for DZ pairs depending on age.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Identical twin studies put autism's heritability in a range between 36% and 95.7%, with concordance for a broader phenotype usually found at the higher end of the range. Autism concordance in siblings and fraternal twins is anywhere between 0 and 23.5%. This is more likely 2–4% for classic autism and 10–20% for a broader spectrum. Assuming a general-population prevalence of 0.1%, the risk of classic autism in siblings is 20- to 40-fold that of the general population.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A small scale study in 1977 was the first of its kind to look into the heritability of autism. It involved 10 DZ twins and 11 MZ twins in which at least one twin in each pair showed infantile autism. It found a concordance of 36% in MZ twins compared to 0% for DZ twins. Concordance of "cognitive abnormalities" was 82% in MZ pairs and 10% for DZ pairs. In 12 of the 17 pairs discordant for autism, a biological hazard was believed to be associated with the condition.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 1979 case report discussed a pair of identical twins concordant for autism. The twins developed similarly until the age of 4, when one of them spontaneously improved. The other twin, who had had infrequent seizures, remained autistic. The report noted that genetic factors were not "all important" in the development of twins.


title: Heritability of autism

text: In 1985, a study of twins enrolled with the UCLA Registry for Genetic Studies found a concordance of 95.7% for autism in 23 pairs of MZ twins, and 23.5% for 17 DZ twins.


title: Heritability of autism

text: In a 1989 study, Nordic countries were screened for cases of autism. Eleven pairs of MZ twins and 10 of DZ twins were examined. Concordance of autism was found to be 91% in MZ and 0% in DZ pairs. The concordances for "cognitive disorder" were 91% and 30% respectively. In most of the pairs discordant for autism, the autistic twin had more perinatal stress.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A British twin sample was reexamined in 1995 and a 60% concordance was found for autism in MZ twins vs. 0% concordance for DZ. It also found 92% concordance for a broader spectrum in MZ vs. 10% for DZ. The study concluded that "obstetric hazards usually appear to be consequences of genetically influenced abnormal development, rather than independent aetiological factors."


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 1999 study looked at social cognitive skills in the general-population of children and adolescents. It found "poorer social cognition in males", and a heritability of 0.68 with higher genetic influence in younger twins.


title: Heritability of autism

text: In 2000, a study looked at reciprocal social behavior in general-population identical twins. It found a concordance of 73% for MZ, i.e. "highly heritable", and 37% for DZ pairs.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 2004 study looked at 16 MZ twins and found a concordance of 43.75% for "strictly defined autism". Neuroanatomical differences (discordant cerebellar white and grey matter volumes) between discordant twins were found. The abstract notes that in previous studies 75% of the non-autistic twins displayed the broader phenotype.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Another 2004 study examined whether the characteristic symptoms of autism (impaired social interaction, communication deficits, and repetitive behaviors) show decreased variance of symptoms among monozygotic twins compared to siblings in a sample of 16 families. The study demonstrated significant aggregation of symptoms in twins. It also concluded that "the levels of clinical features seen in autism may be a result of mainly independent genetic traits."


title: Heritability of autism

text: An English twin study in 2006 found high heritability for autistic traits in a large group of 3,400 pairs of twins.


title: Heritability of autism

text: One critic of the pre-2006 twin studies said that they were too small and their results can be plausibly explained on non-genetic grounds.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A study of 99 autistic probands which found a 2.9% concordance for autism in siblings, and between 12.4% and 20.4% concordance for a "lesser variant" of autism.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A study of 31 siblings of autistic children, 32 siblings of children with developmental delay, and 32 controls. It found that the siblings of autistic children, as a group, "showed superior spatial and verbal span, but a greater than expected number performed poorly on the set-shifting, planning, and verbal fluency tasks."


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 2005 Danish study looked at "data from the Danish Psychiatric Central Register and the Danish Civil Registration System to study some risk factors of autism, including place of birth, parental place of birth, parental age, family history of psychiatric disorders, and paternal identity." It found an overall prevalence rate of roughly 0.08%. Prevalence of autism in siblings of autistic children was found to be 1.76%. Prevalence of autism among siblings of children with Asperger syndrome or PDD was found to be 1.04%. The risk was twice as high if the mother had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. The study also found that "the risk of autism was associated with increasing degree of urbanisation of the child's place of birth and with increasing paternal, but not maternal, age."


title: Heritability of autism

text: A study in 2007 looked at a database containing pedigrees of 86 families with two or more autistic children and found that 42 of the third-born male children showed autistic symptoms, suggesting that parents had a 50% chance of passing on a mutation to their offspring. The mathematical models suggest that about 50% of autistic cases are caused by spontaneous mutations. The simplest model was to divide parents into two risk classes depending on whether the parent carries a pre-existing mutation that causes autism; it suggested that about a quarter of autistic children have inherited a copy number variation from their parents.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 1994 study looked at the personalities of parents of autistic children, using parents of children with Down syndrome as controls. Using standardized tests it was found that parents of autistic children were "more aloof, untactful and unresponsive" compared to parents whose children did not have autism.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 1997 study found higher rates of social and communication deficits and stereotyped behaviors in families with multiple-incidence autism.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Autism was found to occur more often in families of physicists, engineers and scientists. 12.5% of the fathers and 21.2% of the grandfathers (both paternal and maternal) of children with autism were engineers, compared to 5% of the fathers and 2.5% of the grandfathers of children with other syndromes. Other studies have yielded similar results. Findings of this nature have led to the coinage of the term "geek syndrome".


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 2001 study of brothers and parents of autistic boys looked into the phenotype in terms of one current cognitive theory of autism. The study raised the possibility that the broader autism phenotype may include a "cognitive style" (weak central coherence) that can confer information-processing advantages.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A study in 2005 showed a positive correlation between repetitive behaviors in autistic individuals and obsessive-compulsive behaviors in parents. Another 2005 study focused on sub-threshold autistic traits in the general population. It found that correlation for social impairment or competence between parents and their children and between spouses is about 0.4.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 2005 report examined the family psychiatric history of 58 subjects with Asperger syndrome (AS) diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. Three (5%) had first-degree relatives with AS. Nine (19%) had a family history of schizophrenia. Thirty five (60%) had a family history of depression. Out of 64 siblings, 4 (6.25%) were diagnosed with AS.


title: Heritability of autism

text: According to a 2022 study held on 86 mother-child dyads across 18 months, "prior maternal depression didn’t predict child behavior problems later."


title: Heritability of autism

text: in the development of autism, presumably due to perinatal factors. However, three large-scale epidemiological studies have refuted this idea. These studies took place in California, Sweden, and Australia. One study done in Western Australia, utilized the Maternal and Child Health Research Database that houses birth records for all infants born, including infants and later children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. During this study, the population analyzed for the incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder was restricted to those children with birth years between 1980 and 1995. The focus was on the incidence of autism spectrum disorder in the twin population in comparison to the non twin population. The following two studies, explored the risk of Autism spectrum disorder in the twin population. The conclusion that the twinning process alone is not a risk factor was drawn. In these studies the data exemplified that both MZ twins will have autism spectrum disorder, but only one of the DZ twins will have autism spectrum disorder with an incidence rate of 90% in MZ twins compared to 0% in DZ twins. The high symmetry in MZ twins can explain the high symmetry of autism spectrum disorder in MZ twins outcome compared to DZ twins and non twin siblings.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Twin and family studies show that autism is a highly heritable condition, but they have left many questions for researchers, most notably


title: Heritability of autism

text: Clues to the first two questions come from studies that have shown that at least 30% of individuals with autism have spontaneous "de novo" mutations that occurred in the father's sperm or mother's egg that disrupt important genes for brain development. These spontaneous mutations are likely to cause autism in families where there is no family history of the disorder. The concordance between identical twins isn't quite 100% for two reasons, because these mutations have variable 'expressivity' and their effects manifest differently due to chance effects, epigenetic, and environmental factors. Also spontaneous mutations can potentially occur specifically in one embryo and not the other after conception. The likelihood of developing intellectual disability is dependent on the importance of the gene to brain development and how the mutation changes this function, also playing a role is the genetic and environmental background upon which a mutation occurs.


title: Heritability of autism

text: The recurrence of the same mutations in multiple individuals affected by autism has led Brandler and Sebat to suggest that the spectrum of autism is breaking up into quanta of many different genetic disorders.


title: Heritability of autism

text: The most parsimonious explanation for cases of autism where a single child is affected and there is no family history or affected siblings is that a single spontaneous mutation that impacts one or multiple genes is a significant contributing factor. Tens of individual genes or mutations have been definitively identified and are cataloged by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Examples of autism that has arisen from a rare or de novo mutation in a single-gene or locus include the neurodevelopmental disorders fragile X syndrome, 22q13 deletion syndrome, and 16p11.2 deletion syndrome.


title: Heritability of autism

text: These mutations themselves are characterized by considerable variability in clinical outcome and typically only a subset of mutation carriers meet criteria for autism. For example, carriers of the 16p11.2 deletion have a mean IQ 32 points lower than their first-degree relatives that do not carry the deletion, however only 20% are below the threshold IQ of 70 for intellectual disability, and only 20% have autism. Around 85% have a neurobehavioral diagnosis, including autism, ADHD, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, gross motor delay, and epilepsy, while 15% have no diagnosis. Alongside these neurobehavioral phenotypes, the 16p11.2 deletions / duplications have been associated with macrocephaly / microcephaly, body weight regulation, and the duplication in particular is associated with schizophrenia. Controls that carry mutations associated with autism or schizophrenia typically present with intermediate cognitive phenotypes or fecundity compared to neurodevelopmental cases and population controls. Therefore, a single mutation can have multiple different effects depending on other genetic and environmental factors.


title: Heritability of autism

text: In this model, autism often arises from a combination of common, functional variants of genes. Each gene contributes a relatively small effect in increasing the risk of autism. In this model, no single gene directly regulates any core symptom of autism such as social behavior. Instead, each gene encodes a protein that disrupts a cellular process, and the combination of these disruptions, possibly together with environmental influences, affect key developmental processes such as synapse formation. For example, one model is that many mutations affect MET and other receptor tyrosine kinases, which in turn converge on disruption of ERK and PI3K signaling.


title: Heritability of autism

text: In this model most families fall into two types: in the majority, sons have a low risk of autism, but in a small minority their risk is near 50%. In the low-risk families, sporadic autism is mainly caused by spontaneous mutation with poor penetrance in daughters and high penetrance in sons. The high-risk families come from (mostly female) children who carry a new causative mutation but are unaffected and transmit the dominant mutation to grandchildren.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Several epigenetic models of autism have been proposed. These are suggested by the occurrence of autism in individuals with fragile X syndrome, which arises from epigenetic mutations, and with Rett syndrome, which involves epigenetic regulation factors. An epigenetic model would help explain why standard genetic screening strategies have so much difficulty with autism.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Genomic imprinting models have been proposed; one of their strengths is explaining the high male-to-female ratio in ASD. One hypothesis is that autism is in some sense diametrically opposite to schizophrenia and other psychotic-spectrum conditions, that alterations of genomic imprinting help to mediate the development of these two sets of conditions, and that ASD involves increased effects of paternally expressed genes, which regulate overgrowth in the brain, whereas schizophrenia involves maternally expressed genes and undergrowth.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Though autism's genetic factors explain most of autism risk, they do not explain all of it. A common hypothesis is that autism is caused by the interaction of a genetic predisposition and an early environmental insult. Several theories based on environmental factors have been proposed to address the remaining risk. Some of these theories focus on prenatal environmental factors, such as agents that cause birth defects; others focus on the environment after birth, such as children's diets. All known teratogens (agents that cause birth defects) related to the risk of autism appear to act during the first eight weeks from conception, strong evidence that autism arises very early in development. Although evidence for other environmental causes is anecdotal and has not been confirmed by reliable studies, extensive searches are underway.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Autism spectrum disorder affects all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups. Still, more males than females are affected across all cultures, the ratios of males-to-females is appropriately 3 to 1. A study analyzed the Autism Genetics Resource Exchange (AGRE database), which holds resources, research, and records of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. In this study, it was concluded that when a spontaneous mutation causes autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is high penetrance in males and low penetrance in females. A study published in 2020 explored the reason behind this idea further. It is commonly known that the main difference between males and females is the fact that males have one X and one Y sex chromosome whereas female have two X chromosomes. This leads to the idea that there is a gene on the X chromosome that is not on the Y that is involved with the sex bias of ASD.


title: Heritability of autism

text: In another study, it has been found that the gene called NLGN4, when mutated, can cause ASD. This gene and other NLGN genes are important for neuron communications. This NLGN4 gene is found on both the X (NLGN4X) and the Y (NLGN4Y) chromosome. The sex chromosomes are 97% identical. It has been determined that most of the mutations that occur are located on the NLGN4X gene. Research into the differences between NLGN4X and NLGN4Y found that the NLGN4Y protein has poor surface expectations and poor synapses regulations, leading to poor neuron communication. Researchers concluded that males have a higher incidence of autism when the mechanism is NLGN4X-associated. This association was concluded since females have two X chromosomes; if there is a mutation in a gene on an X chromosome, the other X chromosome can be used to compensate for the mutation. Whereas males have only one X chromosome, meaning that if there is a mutation in a gene on an X chromosome, then that is the only copy of the gene and it will be used. The genomic difference between males and females is one mechanism that leads to the higher incidence of ASD in males.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Known genetic syndromes, mutations, and metabolic diseases account for up to 20% of autism cases. A number of alleles have been shown to have strong linkage to the autism phenotype. In many cases the findings are inconclusive, with some studies showing no linkage. Alleles linked so far strongly support the assertion that there is a large number of genotypes that are


title: Heritability of autism

text: manifested as the autism phenotype. At least some of the alleles associated with autism are fairly prevalent in the general population, which indicates they are not rare pathogenic mutations. This also presents some challenges in identifying all the rare allele "combinations" involved in the etiology of autism.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A 2008 study compared genes linked with autism to those of other neurological diseases, and found that more than half of known autism genes are implicated in other disorders, suggesting that the other disorders may share molecular mechanisms with autism.


title: Heritability of autism

text: There is a large number of other candidate loci which either should be looked at or have been shown to be promising. Several genome-wide scans have been performed identifying markers across many chromosomes.


title: Heritability of autism

text: A few examples of loci that have been studied are the 17q21 region, the 3p24-26 locus, PTEN, 15q11.2–q13 and deletion in the 22q11.2 area.


title: Heritability of autism

text: Homozygosity mapping in pedigrees with shared ancestry and autism incidence has recently implicated the following candidate genes: PCDH10, DIA1 (formerly known as C3ORF58), NHE9, CNTN3, SCN7A, and RNF8. Several of these genes appeared to be targets of MEF2, one of the transcription factors known to be regulated by neuronal activity and that itself has also recently been implicated as an autism-related disorder candidate gene.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Skat (), historically Scat, is a three-player trick-taking card game of the Ace-Ten family, devised around 1810 in Altenburg in the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. It is the national game of Germany and, along with Doppelkopf, it is the most popular card game in Germany and Silesia and one of the most popular in the rest of Poland. A variant of 19th-century Skat was once popular in the US. John McLeod considers it one of the best and most interesting card games for three players, and Kelbet described it as "the king of German card games."


title: Skat (card game)

text: Skat was developed by the members of a local Tarock club, the "Brommesche Tarok-Gesellschaft" between 1810 and 1817 in Altenburg, in what is now the State of Thuringia, Germany. It is based on the three-player game of Tarock, also known as Tarot, and the four-player game of Schafkopf (equivalent to the American game Sheepshead). It has become the most loved and widely played German card game, especially in German-speaking regions. In the earliest known form of the game, the player in the first seat was dealt twelve cards and the other two players ten each. He then made two discards, constituting the "Skat", and announced a contract. But the main innovation of this new game was that of the bidding process.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The first book on the rules of Skat, "Das Scatspiel: Nebst zwei Liedern", was published in 1848 by one of its inventors, secondary school teacher J. F. L. Hempel. Nevertheless, the rules continued to differ from one region to another until the first attempt to set them in order was made by a congress of Skat players on 7 August 1886 in Altenburg. These were the first official rules finally published in a book form in 1888 by Theodor Thomas of Leipzig. The current rules, followed by both the International Skat Players Association, German Skat Federation and British Skat Association, date from Jan. 1, 1999.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The word Skat is a Tarok term derived from the Latin word "scarto, scartare", which means to discard or reject, and its derivative "scatola", a box or a place for safe-keeping. The word scarto is still used in some other Italian card games to this day. Skat is completely unrelated to an American game called Scat.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Skat is a game for three players, who are known as forehand, middlehand and rearhand, rearhand also being the dealer ("see picture"). At the beginning of each round, or "deal", one player becomes "declarer" and the other two players become the "defending team". The two defenders are not allowed to communicate in any way except by their choice of cards to play. The game can also be played by four players. In this case, the dealer will sit out the round that was dealt, while the player to his right will play the role taken by the dealer in the three-player variant. Players may agree at the outset how many rounds/deals they will play for.


title: Skat (card game)

text: A central aspect of the game is the three coexisting varieties called "suit", "grand" and "null" games, that differ in suit order, scoring and even overall goal to achieve.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Each round of the game starts with a bidding phase to determine the declarer and the required minimum game value (explained below). Then, ten tricks are played, allowing players to take trick points. Each card has a card value (except in null games) and is worth that number of points for the player winning the trick. The total value of all cards is 120 points. The declarer's goal is to take at least 61 points in tricks in order to win that round of the game. Otherwise, the defending team wins the round. Points from tricks are not directly added to the players' overall score, they are used only to determine the outcome of the game (win or loss for declarer), although winning by certain margins may increase the score for that round.


title: Skat (card game)

text: After each round a score is awarded in accordance with the game value. If the declarer wins they are awarded a positive score, if they lose the score is doubled and subtracted from the declarer's tally (i.e. a negative score). In tournaments a winning declarer gets an additional 50 points if they win, if the defending team wins however they receive 40 points each in addition to the declarer losing twice the game's value in points.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The pack consists of 32 cards. Many modern packs use the French pack consisting of an ace ("Ass"), king ("König"), queen ("Dame"), jack ("Bube"), 10, 9, 8 and 7 in all four suits (clubs , spades , hearts and diamonds ). Some players in Eastern and Southern Germany and Austria prefer traditional German packs with suits of acorns , leaves , hearts and bells , and card values of deuce ("Daus"), king ("König"), "Ober", "Unter", 10, 9, 8, and 7 in all four suits. Until recently in Saxony and Thuringia, for example, German-suited packs were used almost exclusively. By contrast, regions of the former West Germany had adopted a French-suited pack.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Since German reunification, a compromise "Turnierbild" ("Tournament Style") pack is used in tournaments that uses the shapes of the French suits but with corresponding German suit colors, green spades imitating leaves and gold diamonds imitating bells. The choice of pack does not affect the rules.


title: Skat (card game)

text: At the beginning of each round each player is dealt ten cards, with the two remaining cards (the so-called "Skat") being put face down in the middle of the table. Dealing follows this pattern: deal three cards each, then deal the "Skat", then four cards each, then three cards again ("three–"Skat"–four–three"). In four-player rounds, the dealer does not receive any cards and skips actual play of the round. He or she may peek into the hand of one other player (if allowed to do so) but never into the "Skat".


title: Skat (card game)

text: Dealing rotates clockwise around the table, so that the player sitting to the left of the dealer will be dealer for the next round.


title: Skat (card game)

text: After the cards have been dealt, and before the deal is played out, a bidding or auction () is held to decide:


title: Skat (card game)

text: The goal for each player during the bidding is to bid a game value as high as their card holding would allow, but never higher than necessary to win the bidding. How the actual game value is determined is explained in detail below and is necessary to understand in order to know how high one can safely bid.


title: Skat (card game)

text: It is possible for a player to overbid, which leads to an automatic loss of the game in question. Often this does not become obvious before the player picks up the "Skat", or even not before the end of the game in question (in case of a "hand" game, when the "Skat" is not picked up). Players have therefore to exercise careful scrutiny during bidding, as not to incur an unnecessary loss.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The bidding may also give away some information about what cards a player may or may not hold. Experienced players will be able to use this to their advantage.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The game value (also called "hand value", ) is what the game will be worth after all tricks have been played. It is determined not only by the 10 cards held, but also by the two-card "Skat". The "Skat" always belongs to the declarer, and if it contains certain high cards this may change the game value. It is therefore not possible in general to determine the exact game value before knowing the "Skat".


title: Skat (card game)

text: The game value is determined by the type of the game and the game level as explained below for the suit, grand and null games.


title: Skat (card game)

text: This base value is then multiplied by the multiplier game level ( or ) to determine the game value, so:


title: Skat (card game)

text: A game level of 1 for becoming declarer is always assumed. It is then increased by one for each of the following:


title: Skat (card game)

text: In case of a "Hand" game, the following special cases are allowed. Each one increases the game level by another point:


title: Skat (card game)

text: Cards in the trump suit are ordered as follows (this is important to know when counting the length of the matador's jack straight):


title: Skat (card game)

text: The non-trump suit cards are ranked A-10-K-Q-9-8-7 (or A-10-K-O-9-8-7 for the German pack respectively).


title: Skat (card game)

text: As mentioned above, the cards in the "Skat" are to be included when determining the multiplier game level (also in case of the "Hand" game, where the "Skat" is unknown until after the deal has been played out). During bidding, each player therefore has incomplete information regarding the true game value. The final game value is calculated by multiplying the base value for the suit by the multiplier game level:


title: Skat (card game)

text: Grand game is a special case of suit game, in which only the Jacks are trumps in the same order as in the suit game:


title: Skat (card game)

text: The base value for the grand game is 24 in the official rules. It used to be 20 until 1932, and many hobbyists continued to use 20 well into the postwar era.


title: Skat (card game)

text: All other rules for determining game value are as in a suit game, that is, the base value of 24 is multiplied by the multiplier game level.


title: Skat (card game)

text: In the null game, declarer promises not to take any tricks at all. There is no trump suit, 10s are sorted directly above 9s, and jacks are treated as normal suit cards sorted between 10 and queen. Thus the cards are ordered: A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7. The game values of null games are fixed, as follows:


title: Skat (card game)

text: The following examples give a player's holding and the contents of the "Skat" (which will be unknown to all players during the bidding) and explain how to derive the game value.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The length of matador's jack straight will be 1 ( is present, is missing). The multiplier game level will be 2 (1 for matador's jack straight plus 1 for becoming declarer).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Note that game value is dependent not only on the cards held (including the "Skat") but also on which game is being declared and the outcome of the play. Each holding can thus be evaluated differently by different players. A risk-taking player might be willing to declare "Hand" on a holding on which another player might not — these two players will therefore give different valuations to the same holding. However, after all tricks have been played, it is always possible to determine the exact game value by combining the actual holding with the type of game and outcome of the play. Only then it becomes apparent if declarer has won or lost (if he overbid).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Assuming a trump suit of hearts in a suit game, this holding will have a different valuation before and after the "Skat" has been examined.


title: Skat (card game)

text: This holding can be safely valuated at 40 (10 × 4), regardless of the "Skat". With Hearts as trump, the game value will always be at least that much.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Now, assuming declarer wins by taking 95 points in tricks, after having declared "Hand" and "Schneider", the actual game value will be as follows:


title: Skat (card game)

text: The player could have bid up to that value (110) during the bidding. In practice this would have been too risky because only in the "Skat" increased the length of matador's jack straight to 7.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Note: Most players will declare a grand game with the above hand, as it will be much more lucrative than a suit game in Hearts (declarer will concede at most two club tricks, probably achieving "Schneider" for a game value of at least 144 (24 × 6).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Now for the special cases: if you think you can do more than just win, you can add points for the special cases.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The highest possible multiplier game level is 18: that is with (or without) four jacks and all seven cards of trump suit (including those in the "Skat", if any) 11, plus the maximum of 7 for becoming declarer, "Hand", "Schneider", declaring "Schneider", "Schwarz", declaring "Schwarz" and "Ouvert". The lowest possible multiplier game level is 2: either with , or without and with 1, plus 1 for becoming declarer.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The order of bidding is determined by the seating order. Starting from the left of the dealer players are numbered clockwise: the first seat (), the second seat () and the third seat (). In a three-player game, the dealer will be the third seat. In a four-player game the third seat will be to the right of the dealer.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Bidding starts by the player in second seat making a call to the player in first seat on which the latter can "hold" or "pass". If the first seat player holds, the second seat player can make a higher call or pass himself. This continues until either of the two players passes. The player in third seat is then allowed to continue making calls to the player who has not yet passed. Bidding ends as soon as at least two players have passed. It is also possible for all three players to pass.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The starting order can be memorized as “deal–respond–call–continue” (). The player who continues in this mnemonic is either the dealer (in a three-player game) or the player in third seat. The mnemonic is commonly used among casual players.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Example: Anna, Bernard and Clara are playing, and seated in that order around the table. Anna deals the cards. Clara makes the first call to Bernard, who passes right away. Anna then makes two more calls to Clara, who accepts both bids. Anna then passes as well. The bidding ends, with Clara being the declarer for this round.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Except for "pass", only the possible game values are legal calls. Therefore, the lowest possible call is 18, which is the lowest possible game value in Skat. Players are free to skip intermediate values, although it is common to always pick the lowest available call while bidding.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The sequence of possible double digit game values, beginning with 18 is 18—20—22—23—24—27—30—33—35—36—40—44—45—46—48—50—54—55—59—60—63—66—70—72—77—80—81—84—88—90—96—99 (triple digit bids are possible albeit rare in a competitive bidding). Among German players the values representing null games, especially 23, the most common one, are often replaced by the call “null”. Also, numbers are frequently abbreviated by only calling the lower digit of a value not divisible by 10 (e.g. “two” instead of “22” or “five” instead of “45”); this is unambiguous if values are always called out in order and intermediate values never skipped, as is the custom. (As the German words for "null" and "zero" are identical, this yields the rather unintuitive sequence 18—20—2—0—4—7—30 and so on.)


title: Skat (card game)

text: If all players pass, the hand is not played and the next dealer shuffles and deals. A dealer never deals twice in a row.


title: Skat (card game)

text: It is common in informal play to play a variant of Skat called "Ramsch" (junk, rummage) instead of skipping the hand and dealing for the next one. This is not part of the sanctioned rules, however.


title: Skat (card game)

text: In a pass-out game, the player in first seat will be the last one to pass. If that player intends to become declarer, however, he has to make a call of at least 18 (picking up the "Skat" in that situation implies the call).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Players Anna, Bernard and Clara are seated in that order, clockwise; Anna is the dealer. The bidding proceeds as follows:


title: Skat (card game)

text: The winner of the bidding becomes declarer. He will play against the other two players. Before the hand is played, declarer either


title: Skat (card game)

text: After putting two cards back into the "Skat", declarer then either declares a suit game by announcing a trump suit, declares a grand game or a null game.


title: Skat (card game)

text: If "Hand" has been declared, the player may make additional announcements such as "Schneider", "Schwarz" and "Ouvert".


title: Skat (card game)

text: A common variant in non-sanctioned play allows the defenders to announce ""Kontra"" just before the first trick is played, if they have made or held at least one call. In this case, the stakes will be doubled for the hand. Declarer, in turn, may announce “"Re"”, to redouble the stakes. In a less common further variation this process can be repeated twice more by announcing ""Supra"" and ""Resupra"" (or more colloquially, ""Bock"" "[(roe) buck]" and ""Hirsch"" "[red deer]", or the like, which are colloquial augments of ""Reh"" "roe deer").


title: Skat (card game)

text: The player in the first seat sitting to the left of the dealer leads to the first trick. The other two follow in clockwise direction. Every player plays one card to the trick, which is in the middle of the table. The winner of a trick stacks the cards face down in front of him and leads to the next trick, which is again played clockwise.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Completed tricks are kept face down in front of the players who won them, until all the cards have been played. Examining completed tricks (except for the last one) is not allowed. The tricks of the two players who are playing together are put together, either during or after play.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The players must play a card in the same suit as the first card of the trick, if possible (“following suit”). If a player cannot follow suit, he may play any card (including a trump card). Trumps, including all four jacks, count as a single suit. If a trump is led, every player must also play trump, if he has any.


title: Skat (card game)

text: If there are trump cards in the trick, the highest trump in it wins the trick. If there are no trumps in it, the highest card of the suit led wins the trick.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The non-trump suit cards rank in order A-10-K-Q-9-8-7. The trumps rank the same way with the four jacks on top in the order , , , .


title: Skat (card game)

text: In the grand game, only the four jacks are trumps in the suit order given above for a regular suit game. All other ranks are the same as in the regular suit game (10 is ranked just below the ace). There are thus five "suits" in the grand game (if a jack is led to a trick, the other two players must play jacks too, if they have them).


title: Skat (card game)

text: The goal of a null game is for declarer not to take any tricks. If declarer takes a trick in a null game, he immediately loses and the game is scored right away.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Declarer may, unilaterally, concede a loss while he is holding at least nine cards (i.e. before playing to the second trick). Afterwards approval of at least one defender is required. Defenders may concede at any time, but may be requested by declarer to complete the play (e.g. if declarer thinks that "Schneider" or "Schwarz" is still possible).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Claiming of remaining tricks is possible as well, but for a defender only if she would be able to take the remaining tricks herself.


title: Skat (card game)

text: After the last trick has been played, the game is scored. Winning conditions for null game are different from suit and grand games.


title: Skat (card game)

text: To win a suit or grand game, declarer needs at least 61 card points in his tricks. If declarer announced "Schneider", he needs at least 90 card points in order to win. The two cards in the "Skat" count towards declarer's tricks. If declarer announced "Schwarz", he must take all ten tricks in order to win.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The highest-ranking cards for taking the tricks (the jacks) are not the highest scoring cards. The aces and 10s combined make up almost three quarters of the total points; taking as many as possible of them is thus imperative for winning. On the other hand, taking 7s, 8s and 9s (the "Luschen" or blanks) doesn't help (or hurt) at all, unless "Schwarz" was declared.


title: Skat (card game)

text: To win a null game, declarer must not take a single trick. null games are often not played through to the end, either because declarer is forced to take a trick, ending the game prematurely, or because it becomes apparent to the defenders that they will be forced to take the rest of the tricks. There are no card points in a null game.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Even with the majority in card points, declarer may still lose if the game value is lower than the value he bid during the bidding. This is called "overbidding". An overbid hand is automatically lost, leading to a negative score for declarer.


title: Skat (card game)

text: An overbid hand is scored by determining the lowest possible game value that is a multiple of the base value of declarer's suit (or 24 in case of a grand) which is at least as high as declarer's bid. This value is then doubled and subtracted from declarer's score (negative score).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Example: Declarer bids 30, missing the two top trumps (without 2), intending to play a club suit game (game value would be 12 × 3 = 36). They then find the in the "Skat" (with 1). Their game value is now only 24 (12 × 2) — they have overbid. Unless they manage to play at least "Schneider" (raising the game value to 36), or make a game other than clubs with a game value of at least 30, the game will be lost. They will receive a negative score of −72 (36 is the lowest multiple of 12, the base value of clubs, greater than the 30 they bid; 36 times two is 72). They can try to minimize their loss by declaring a game in Hearts instead of Clubs (base value 10 instead of 12). This will be worth only −60 points, unless opponents score "Schneider" against them.


title: Skat (card game)

text: The score to be awarded is the actual game value. How high the player bid during the bidding is immaterial, as long as the game value is at least as high as declarer's bid (see Overbid Hands above). Note that often the score will be higher than the bidding value, because players typically do not bid as high as their hand would allow.


title: Skat (card game)

text: For a won game, that score is added to declarer's tally. For a lost game, the score is doubled and subtracted from declarer's tally (negative score).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Until 1998, lost "Hand" games did not count double, but this rule was dropped in that year. The reason was that in tournament play nearly all games played were "Hand" games. This increased the game level by one, but did not penalize as much as a normal game would have if lost.


title: Skat (card game)

text: In league games, 50 points get added for each game that is won by the declarer and 40 points each get added to the tally of the defending team shall they win to lower the chance factor and to stress the skill factor. In that situation, it becomes far more important for each player to bid his hand as high as possible.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Example 1: Declarer bids 20 and declares a grand game. He then wins with 78 points in tricks. Declarer held . The game value is 24 × (2 + 1) = 72 points. These are awarded to the declarer.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Example 2: Declarer bids 30 and declares a "Null Ouvert" game. She, however, is forced to take the ninth trick, losing the game. The game value is 46, it will be doubled and subtracted from her total score (−92 points).


title: Skat (card game)

text: Ramsch ("junk") is not part of sanctioned Skat rules, but is widely practiced in hobbyist rounds, and is the variant most often suggested to be officially sanctioned. It is played if all three players pass in the bidding. There is no declarer in "Ramsch"; every player plays for himself, and the goal is to achieve as "low" a score as possible. The idea behind "Ramsch" is to punish players who underbid their hands.


title: Skat (card game)

text: To make "Ramsch" more interesting, an additional rule is often played that adds a second winning condition: the "Ramsch" is also won by a player if that player manages to take "all" tricks ( i.e. "march"). At first, this seems to be not too difficult, since the other players will initially try to take as few tricks as possible and to get rid of their high-ranking cards. Once they get suspicious, however, they may thwart the effort simply by taking one trick from the player trying for the "Durchmarsch".


title: Skat (card game)

text: Hobby players often add the following rule: 10s are lower in trick taking power than Queens and Kings, but still count as ten points. Sometimes, they only count one point. There are a couple of variants to the rules concerning 10s, so this should be sorted out before starting the game. Often, the players are allowed to check and exchange cards with the skat, or decline to do so and pass the skat on to the next player, doubling the score (known as "Schieberamsch"). Jacks are not allowed to be passed on in this variation. The two cards in the "Skat" are usually added to the tricks of the player who takes the last trick. After all ten tricks are played, the player with the highest number of card points (or alternatively, every player) has their card points amount deducted from their score as negative game points. If one player takes no tricks at all ("Jungfrau", ), the points of the losing hand are doubled. Some players also give a fixed value of 15 negative points to the loser and if there are two "virgins", 20.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Another variation used in smaller tournaments is the Gewinner-Ramsch ("winner-rubbish"). If none of the players bid a Ramsch is played. Unlike the original negative game the winner is who achieves the lowest score and is awarded 23 points, the score of a won Null. Additionally they are awarded the won game. The skat is given to the player with the highest score. If two players achieve the same lowest score they will both be awarded the 23 points and the won game. While not very widely spread this variation is a nice addition as it rewards the player who most rightfully did not bid.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Playing with a "Pinke" means playing for money instead of just points. This is often used in club play or regular rounds where the loser(s) pay the money into a pot which goes to a fund to pay for an end-of-season outing or meal. Sometimes it refers to a custom whereby a declarer who loses pays into a pot which is claimed by the next winner of Grand Hand.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Revolution is a Null Hand game during which the defenders are allowed to confer and exchange cards, sometimes with a limit of two cards. It is valued at 92 points which goes against the normal Skat principle that positive games should outrank negative ones since it is higher than a simple Grand Hand.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Sechserskat is played with a 36-card pack i.e. with the addition of the Sixes. It is mentioned as early as 1920.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Also known as "Bierlachs", "Bierskat" ("Beer Skat") is a variant that is common in German pubs. A target score is set, typically 501, and only negative scores are recorded i.e. if the declarer wins with 33 points, the score is recorded as -33 to the two defenders. The first to -501 loses and buys the next round.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Idiotenskat ("Idiot Skat") is an amusing variant in which players play with their hands facing their opponents, so they are only able to see their opponents' cards. The game is recorded as early as 1958.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Räuberskat ("Robber Skat") is a variant in which there is no bidding; instead there is a sequence of specified contracts. In turn the players must play a suit game, Grand, Null and Ramsch, once each. After viewing his or her first 5 cards, the soloist must choose one of the contracts and the game ends when all have played their four contracts i.e. after 12 deals if three play. It is considered useful for beginnings with little experience of bidding, but also an interesting alternative for experienced players. It should not be confused with the two-player variant, sometimes also called "Räuberskat".


title: Skat (card game)

text: "Officers' Skat" () is a variant for two players. Each player receives 16 cards on the table in front of him in two rows, 8 face down and 8 face up on top of them. Bidding is replaced by the non-dealer declaring a game type and trump. When a face-up card is played, the hidden card is turned over. Each deal results in a total of 16 tricks and players must agree whether a game lasts for a certain number of deals or until one player scores a certain number of game points. Scoring is similar to normal Skat.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Oma Skat is also played with a third dummy hand called Oma ("Grandma"). However, in this case, the hand is not exposed. Instead it is placed in a stack, face down, and the top card of the stack is played to the trick each time. Thus Oma need not follow suit.


title: Skat (card game)

text: In Piloten-Skat ("Pilots' Skat") bidding takes place as if there were 3 players. Again the defender plays with the third hand against the soloist. After the first card is led, the third hand is exposed and played by the defender.


title: Skat (card game)

text: It is possible to play a modified version of the game with only two players. The cards that would be dealt to a third player are simply laid down as a “dummy” hand instead and not used.


title: Skat (card game)

text: In Strawman Skat ("Skat mit einem Strohmann" or "Strohmann"), players are dealt 9 cards each, one hand being the straw man. There is a second skat of 3 cards that remains unused throughout the hand. After the first trick, the straw man is exposed and is played by the defender. The second skat goes, at the end, to the player who scores the most points.


title: Skat (card game)

text: In Skat En Deux, the dealer bids against the non-dealer, opening with "pass" or "18" as normal. If he passes, the non-dealer may pass or bid. Ten cards are dealt each, the spare hand going to the right of the dealer each time. This hand is played by the defender. After announcing his game, the defender exposes the third hand to the declarer. Thus, it is possible to predict what hand the opponent has and play much more strategically. It is sometimes used to teach new players the principles of Skat.


title: Skat (card game)

text: In Schmegegge Skat declarer plays against defender and a half-dummy that is played by defender. The dummy always has five cards exposed, and after each trick a new card for the dummy gets turned up, so there's always five. Play generally follows Skat but Ramsch uses 2 card tricks with dummy out of play: if both players pass initially, two cards of dummy are revealed for information, and if both pass a second time, they play 2-card tricks after a chance to exchange two cards unseen with dummy.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Skat in the United States and Canada was played for many years as an older version of the game, also known as Tournee Skat, which was based on the original German game that used suit bidding rather than point bidding. However, the old Frage contracts, which involved picking up the skat, were dropped apart from Grand Guckser. Suit bidding was officially dropped in Germany in after the First World War as a result of soldiers popularising the point bidding game. In addition, the Tourné bids were dropped and the Frage contracts retained. Otherwise Tournee Skat shares many of its rules with its modern European counterpart. Today Tournee Skat is declining in popularity and most tournament Skat players in North America play the modern game described above.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Upon determining the game, declarer may also state that he or she intends to Schneider or Schwarz for extra game points or penalties.


title: Skat (card game)

text: Card points are the same as in German Skat: A=11, 10=10, K=4, Q=3. J=2 and all other cards have no value. The game points, however, are a bit different. Base value for the different games are as follows:


title: Skat (card game)

text: Note that if "Schneider" or "Schwarz" are declared but not made, then the contract is not met and declarer loses the amount that he or she would have won if successful. The above multipliers do not figure into games played "null" or "ramsch".


title: Paleoproterozoic

text: The Paleoproterozoic Era (;, also spelled Palaeoproterozoic), spanning the time period from (2.5–1.6 Ga), is the first of the three sub-divisions (eras) of the Proterozoic Eon. The Paleoproterozoic is also the longest era of the Earth's geological history. It was during this era that the continents first stabilized.


title: Paleoproterozoic

text: Paleontological evidence suggests that the Earth's rotational rate ~1.8 billion years ago equated to 20-hour days, implying a total of ~450 days per year.


title: Paleoproterozoic

text: Before the enormous increase in atmospheric oxygen, almost all existing lifeforms were anaerobic organisms whose metabolism was based on a form of cellular respiration that did not require oxygen. Free oxygen in large amounts is toxic to most anaerobic organisms. Consequently, most died when the atmospheric free oxygen levels soared in an extinction event called the Great Oxidation Event, which brought atmospheric oxygen levels to up to 10% of their current level. The only creatures that survived were either resistant to the oxidizing and poisonous effects of oxygen or sequestered in oxygen-free environments. The sudden increase of atmospheric free oxygen and the ensuing extinction of the vulnerable lifeforms is widely considered one of the first and most significant mass extinctions on Earth.


title: Paleoproterozoic

text: Many crown node eukaryotes (from which the modern-day eukaryotic lineages would have arisen) have been approximately dated to around the time of the Paleoproterozoic Era.


title: Paleoproterozoic

text: During this era, the earliest global-scale continent-continent collision belts developed. The associated continent and mountain building events are represented by the 2.1–2.0 Ga Trans-Amazonian and Eburnean orogens in South America and West Africa; the ~2.0 Ga Limpopo Belt in southern Africa; the 1.9–1.8 Ga Trans-Hudson, Penokean, Taltson–Thelon, Wopmay, Ungava and Torngat orogens in North America, the 1.9–1.8 Ga Nagssugtoqidian Orogen in Greenland; the 1.9–1.8 Ga Kola–Karelia, Svecofennian, Volhyn-Central Russian, and Pachelma orogens in Baltica (Eastern Europe); the 1.9–1.8 Ga Akitkan Orogen in Siberia; the ~1.95 Ga Khondalite Belt; the ~1.85 Ga Trans-North China Orogen in North China; and the 1.8-1.6 Ga Yavapai and Mazatzal orogenies in southern North America.


title: Paleoproterozoic

text: That pattern of collision belts supports the formation of a Proterozoic supercontinent named Columbia or Nuna. That continental collisions suddenly led to mountain building at large scale is interpreted as having resulted from increased biomass and carbon burial during and after the Great Oxidation Event: Subducted carbonaceous sediments are hypothesized to have lubricated compressive deformation and led to crustal thickening.


title: Paleoproterozoic

text: Felsic volcanism in what is now northern Sweden led to the formation of the Kiruna and Arvidsjaur porphyries.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Lucianne Goldberg (née Steinberger; April 29, 1935 – October 26, 2022), also known as Lucianne Cummings, was an American literary agent and author. She was named as one of the "key players" in the 1998 impeachment of President Clinton, as it was she who controversially advised Monica Lewinsky's confidante Linda Tripp to tape Lewinsky's phone calls about their affair. The 20-hour recording became crucial to the Starr investigation. She was the mother of Jonah Goldberg, a conservative political commentator, and Joshua Goldberg, a Republican nominee for the New York City Council.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: She was born Lucianne Steinberger in Boston, Massachusetts, to Dr. Raymond Leonard and Lucy Jane ( Moseley) von Steinberger. She grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., where her father was employed as a government physicist, and her mother was a physiotherapist. She attended high school in Alexandria, leaving at age 16 to begin working. She married her high school sweetheart, William Cummings; the couple separated after three years of marriage and later divorced.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg started her literary career at a very early age at "The Washington Post", during her secondary education. Goldberg decided to seek the opportunity as a press aide in Lyndon Johnson's unsuccessful 1960 campaign for president. After John F. Kennedy won the Democratic nomination, she got a position at the Democratic National Committee followed by a spot on Kennedy's Inaugural Committee.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg said she had served on Kennedy's White House staff, but according to "The Washington Post", her name does not appear on any staff records. In response, she said she worked in the Old Executive Office Building doing opposition research, then worked out of the National Press Building in public relations.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: In 1963, she opened up her own one-person public relations firm, Lucianne Cummings & Associates. She received national media attention in 1965 when she attempted to sell a handwritten note from Jackie Kennedy to Lady Bird Johnson through an auction house for $1000 ($ in today's dollars). She had come into possession of the note when acting as a messenger for Kennedy in 1960. Upon hearing of the auction, the First Lady became irate, and demanded that the note be returned to the White House. Cummings apologized and returned the note, then found out the next day that her income tax returns were going to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: In 1966, she married Sidney Goldberg, who was then the executive editor of the North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA), later acquired by United Features Syndicate. She took the name Goldberg upon her marriage and worked for the Women's News Service, also a subsidiary of United Features Syndicate.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: In 1970, Goldberg and her friend Jeannie Sakol founded an organization called the "Pussycat League" to oppose the women's liberation movement, and in 1971 she and Sakol published "Purr Baby Purr", a critique of feminism.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: During the 1972 presidential campaign, she joined the press corps covering Democratic candidate George McGovern claiming to be a reporter for the Women's News Service, though she was on leave of absence from that position. In fact Goldberg was being paid $1000 a week – $ in today's dollars – to spy on McGovern and those traveling with him on the campaign's planes. When recruited, she was told President Nixon himself had approved the spying, which was to include traditional political intelligence and information on personal habits: "'They were looking for really dirty stuff', [she] said. 'Who was sleeping with whom, what the Secret Service men were doing with the stewardesses, who was smoking pot on the plane – that sort of thing. I was told to send it all along.'" Goldberg's role as a reporter-spy came to light in the Watergate hearings that led to the resignation of Nixon.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Feminist Betty Friedan alleged in June 1973 that Goldberg, as an organizer of the Pussycat League, had been attempting to derail the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment by engaging in Watergate-style "dirty tricks" and by touring the country falsely telling women they would lose their husbands and rights to family support if the amendment was passed.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg ultimately set up her literary agency and became known as a promoter of "right-wing, tell-all attack books", according to "The New York Times". One of her clients, celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley, sued her in 1983 over proceeds from foreign sales of Kelley's unauthorized biography on Elizabeth Taylor. Kelley ultimately won a judgment of $40,000, with the judge declaring that Goldberg was only guilty of "sloppy bookkeeping". Goldberg was also the U.S. agent for the memoirs of Prince Charles' former valet, which were blocked for publication in England by Queen Elizabeth.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: In the early 1990s, Goldberg promoted a conspiracy theory book about the suicide death of President Bill Clinton's White House aide, Vincent Foster, and several books dealing with Clinton's purported sexual infidelities including one by Arkansas state troopers who alleged they had procured women to have sex with then-Governor Bill Clinton. None of the Clinton-themed books were ever published. Goldberg was also the agent for former detective Mark Fuhrman's bestselling account of the O. J. Simpson trial, "Murder in Brentwood".


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg penned several novels. "Friends in High Places" co-written with Sondra Robinson, was published in 1979. Her first solo novel "Madame Cleo's Girls", a story of three high-priced call girls, was published in 1992, followed by "People Will Talk" in 1994. She also ghostwrote for celebrities; the romance novel "Washington Wives" (1987) (penned under the name of Maureen Dean, wife of Watergate figure John Dean) is one of her behind-the-scenes works.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg met Linda Tripp in 1993 or 1994 while working on the proposal for the book on the death of President Bill Clinton's aide Vince Foster. The two women became friends, and in 1997 Goldberg advised Tripp to secretly record former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, talking about her sexual relationship with President Bill Clinton. Goldberg advised Tripp that it was legal to record phone conversations in Maryland without the consent of the other party; in fact, it was illegal to do so.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg urged Tripp to take the resulting 20 hours of tapes to Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who had a broad mandate to investigate improprieties by Clinton. Goldberg also brought the tapes to the attention of lawyers working on the Paula Jones sexual harassment case against Clinton. The tapes became crucial to Starr's investigation on whether Clinton committed perjury during a sworn deposition when he denied his affair with Lewinsky, which led to his impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives and acquittal by the U.S. Senate.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Soon after the secret taping began in the fall of 1997, Goldberg arranged for Tripp to speak with "Newsweek" reporter Michael Isikoff, who had been investigating other allegations about Clinton's sex life. After the scandal became public in January 1998, the media interviewed Goldberg frequently. She declared that the tapes proved that Lewinsky and Clinton had had a sexual relationship, and previewed other highlights of the Clinton–Lewinsky affair such as the existence of a semen-stained dress which later proved to have Clinton's DNA.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: "The Washington Post" called her "the producer and publicist" who set the stage for the scandal and the investigation; she called herself the "facilitator". Of Goldberg's role in the scandal, "Time" magazine said; "At a minimum, she is forever sealed in history as the New York City literary agent who uttered to her friend the most ruinous sentence of the Clinton presidency: 'Linda, buy a tape recorder.'" Author Jeffrey Toobin named her as one of the seven "Key Players" in the impeachment.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg said her actions in helping to disclose the Lewinsky–Clinton affair were motivated by her sense that general morality had declined and that America needed "a wake-up call". She also said that the disclosure of Lewinsky's affair with Clinton helped to protect Lewinsky, who suffered from an obsessive infatuation with Clinton. During this time, Goldberg made no secret of her animus toward Clinton, saying she was glad Clinton was getting caught "at something" and that "[i]f it took this to get him, fine". She also said she was a political independent, though she was described in the press as having long-standing ties to the Republican Party.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: After the disclosures about the Clinton–Lewinsky affair, Goldberg was subjected to media attacks on her character and past business dealings. The Democratic National Committee faxed an unflattering "information sheet" on Goldberg to reporters within days after the story broke. Goldberg admitted that slurs on her character were to be expected: "'I have never thought of myself as a victim in all this'", she [said]. "'Never. Let them take their best shot.'" She later said the scrutiny had worn her down.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg denied allegations made in the media that she was part of a vast right-wing conspiracy to bring down the presidency of Bill Clinton. When Jeffrey Toobin published his 1999 book, "A Vast Conspiracy", that also alleged Goldberg had told friends that she had an affair with Lyndon Johnson, and a "Washington Post" writer claimed he and others had overheard Goldberg bragging about an affair with Vice President Hubert Humphrey as well, Goldberg threatened Toobin and Random House with a libel suit, denied both affairs, and denied telling any such stories.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg was subpoenaed to testify before a Maryland grand jury contemplating indicting Tripp for having made the recordings. Under Maryland law, the knowledge that such recordings were illegal was a necessary element of the crime. Goldberg explained that she had given Tripp incorrect advice, telling her it was legal to make secret recordings. Charges against Tripp were later dropped.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore later set up a webcam focused on the windows of Goldberg's Manhattan apartment, which he called "I See Lucy Cam". Moore's project did not violate New York State's laws. Claiming that Goldberg did not respect the privacy rights of other people, Moore wrote, "'[s]he believes in keeping an eye on persons who are a threat to the country. So do we'." Goldberg responded by "selling advertisements to be placed on her window for $1,000 a week".


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg was a prominent presence on the conservative website "Free Republic" in the late 1990s, posting under the name "Trixie". She and other conservatives, including Matt Drudge, left the site when the webmaster, in Goldberg's words, "let all the Y2K, gun-nut, Jew-baiting crazies take over [the forum] and flame the plain-old conservatives". She then founded her own website, "Lucianne.com", and for a time, was a nationally syndicated talk radio host whose show featured a Washington correspondent.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg was married to Sidney Goldberg, a newspaper executive with United Features Syndicate from 1966 until his death in 2005. The couple had two children. Joshua (1967–2011) was the editor of her websites, and was the 2009 Republican nominee for the New York City Council seat representing district number six on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He lost the election to the now Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer. Jonah (b. 1969) is a best selling author and conservative political commentator. The children were raised in their father's Jewish faith, while Lucianne, who was raised an Episcopalian, remained a Christian.


title: Lucianne Goldberg

text: Goldberg died on October 26, 2022, at her home in Weehawken, New Jersey. She was 87 and suffered from liver and kidney failure prior to her death.


title: Kirstie (TV series)

text: Kirstie is an American television sitcom starring Kirstie Alley that aired on TV Land from December 4, 2013, to February 26, 2014. TV Land cancelled "Kirstie" on July 29, 2014.


title: Kirstie (TV series)

text: "Kirstie" tells the story of Tony Award-winning actress Madison "Maddie" Banks as she navigates through life after Arlo, the son whom she gave up at birth, reappears. Arlo wishes to reconnect with his biological mother after his adoptive parents died. With her assistant, Thelma, and her driver, Frank, encouraging her, Maddie decides it's not too late to give motherhood a try.


title: Kirstie (TV series)

text: A fifth-season episode of fellow TV Land original series "Hot in Cleveland" ("Bucket: We're Going to New York") has the women from that show visiting "Kirstie" character Maddie Banks, who is revealed to be the former acting school roommate of Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick).


title: Bar Keepers Friend

text: Bar Keepers Friend is an American brand of mass-produced cleaning agents. The original canned scouring powder product has been manufactured and sold since 1882. It was invented by a chemist in Indianapolis, Indiana, where it continues to be manufactured by SerVaas Laboratories. The canned product's primary active ingredient is oxalic acid. Bar Keepers Friend has various cleaning uses.


title: Bar Keepers Friend

text: Bar Keepers Friend was originally manufactured in 1882 as a cleaning agent in powdered form. This formulation is still manufactured today. It was invented by chemist George William Hoffman in Indianapolis, Indiana. The product was originally sold to bars in Indianapolis and Hoffman asserted in a patent application that the name had been used since January, 1887. The formula contains oxalic acid as a primary ingredient.


title: Bar Keepers Friend

text: The Bar Keepers Friend logo represents the swinging doors of a saloon. According to the president of SerVaas Laboratories, Paul SerVaas, although some people complained during Prohibition, "the name was never changed. It's been Bar Keepers Friend since 1882".