title: Senzo Meyiwa

text: In November 2014, it was reported that Meyiwa had apparently lied about his real age throughout his professional career. According to his tombstone and the school register, he was born on 24 January 1984, making him 30 years old, and not 27 at the time of his death.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: "It was a dark and stormy night" is an often-mocked and parodied phrase considered to represent "the archetypal example of a florid, melodramatic style of fiction writing", also known as purple prose.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: The status of the sentence as an archetype for bad writing comes from the first phrase of the opening sentence (incipit) of English novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel "Paul Clifford":


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: "Writer's Digest" described this sentence as "the literary posterchild for bad story starters". On the other hand, the "American Book Review" ranked it as No. 22 on its "Best first lines from novels" list.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: In 2008, Henry Lytton-Cobbold, a descendant of Bulwer-Lytton, participated in a debate in the town of Lytton, British Columbia, with Scott Rice, the founder of the International Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Rice accused Bulwer-Lytton of writing "27 novels whose perfervid turgidity I intend to expose, denude, and generally make visible." Lytton-Cobbold defended his ancestor, noting that he had coined many other phrases widely used today such as "the pen is mightier than the sword", "the great unwashed", and "the almighty dollar". He said that it was "rather unfair that Professor Rice decided to name the competition after him for entirely the wrong reasons." The phrase "the almighty dollar", however, had been used earlier by Washington Irving.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: The "Peanuts" comic strip character Snoopy, in his imagined persona as the World Famous Author, sometimes begins his novels with the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night." Cartoonist Charles Schulz made Snoopy use this phrase because "it was a cliché, and had been one for a very long time". A book by Schulz, titled "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Snoopy," and credited to Snoopy as author, was published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston in 1971.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: Janet and Allan Ahlberg wrote a book titled "It Was A Dark and Stormy Night" in which a kidnapped boy must keep his captors entertained with his storytelling.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: It is the opening line in the popular 1962 novel "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. L'Engle biographer Leonard Marcus notes that "With a wink to the reader, she chose for the opening line of "A Wrinkle in Time", her most audaciously original work of fiction, that hoariest of cliches ... L'Engle herself was certainly aware of old warhorse's literary provenance as ... Edward Bulwer-Lytton's much maligned much parodied repository of Victorian purple prose, "Paul Clifford"." While discussing the importance of establishing the tone of voice at the beginning of fiction, Judy Morris notes that L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" opens with "Snoopy's signature phrase".


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: There are a variety of recursive stories based on the quote where one character tells another character a story which itself begins with the same opening line. An example would be "It was a dark and stormy night and the Captain said to the mate, Tell us a story mate, and this is the story. It was a dark and stormy night...etc" The stories often feature a character named Antonio, and they have been in existence since at least 1900.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: Joni Mitchell's song "Crazy Cries of Love" on her album "Taming the Tiger" opens with "It was a dark and stormy night". In the December 1998 issue of "Musician", Mitchell discusses her idea of using several cliche lines in the lyrics of multiple songs on the album, such as "the old man is snoring" in the title song "Taming the Tiger". Her co-lyricist, Don Fried, had read of a competition in "The New Yorker" to write a story opening with "It was a dark and stormy night" and was inspired to put it in the lyrics of "Crazy Cries of Love". Mitchell states:


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: In the board game titled "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night", contestants are given first lines of various famous novels and must guess their origin. Originally sold independently in bookstores in the Chicago area, it was later picked up by the online book reading club Goodreads.com.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: The annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest was formed in 1982. The contest, sponsored by the English Department at San Jose State University, recognizes the worst examples of "dark and stormy night" writing. It challenges entrants to compose "the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels." The "best" of the resulting entries have been published in a series of paperback books, starting with "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" in 1984.


title: It was a dark and stormy night

text: Version 3.6.2 of the statistical programming language, R, has the codename "Dark and Stormy Night." R release names appear to be Peanuts references, in this instance to the character Snoopy's abortive attempts to write a novel and his hackneyed opening sentence of choice.


title: A. Raja

text: Andimuthu Raja (born Sathyaseelan; 26 October 1963) is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu, who serves as Member of Parliament for the Nilgiris constituency and deputy general secretary for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing the Nilgiris constituency of Tamil Nadu and had been elected to house four times since 1996. Raja is an advocate by profession and he did his masters from Government Law College in Tiruchirappalli.


title: A. Raja

text: Raja was first elected to Parliament as a member of Lok Sabha in 1996 from the Perambalur constituency and was reelected from the same constituency in 1999 and 2004 elections and from Nilgiris constituency in 2009. He was Minister of State for Rural development from 1996 to 2000, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare from September 2000 to May 2004 and a cabinet minister for Environment and Forests from May 2004 to May 2007. He became the cabinet minister for Communication and Information Technology from May 2007, following the resignation of Dayanidhi Maran. Raja was investigated in the 2G Spectrum case, along with two other members of the DMK, Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi. All three were acquitted in 2017. Raja was re-elected as Nilgiris MP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and was elected Deputy General Secretary of the DMK in September 2020.


title: A. Raja

text: Raja was born to S.K.Aandimuthu and Chinnapillai Ammal Andimadam of the day Perambalur District of Tamil Nadu. His grandparents, who belong to a Dalit community, went from Velur in Perambalur district to Sri Lanka to work on the tea estates. They returned to India in the 1950s, and Raja's father returned in 1961. In high school in Perambalur, Raja was first introduced to Periyar and Dravidar Kazhagam. He quickly became interested in the atheistic, rationalistic Dravidian ideology, along with those of Ambedkar and Marx. He did his B.Sc. in Mathematics from the Government Arts College in Musiri, but was disinterested in the subject, and was drawn to politics and writing instead. He completed his graduation in law from the Government Law College in Madurai and his masters from Government Law College Tiruchirapalli. He was married to M. A. Parameswari and the couple have a daughter named Mayuri. Parameswari died of cancer on 29 May 2021.She was aged 54.


title: A. Raja

text: Raja started his political career in his final year of undergraduate, when he joined DMK students wing, and quickly rose through party ranks. When Vaiko was expelled from DMK, Raja was recommended by Rajya Sabha MP S Siva Subramaniam and KN Nehru for the DMK's candidature in Perambalur for 1996 Lok Sabha elections. He won, and entered Parliament.


title: A. Raja

text: Raja was deputed as the Minister of State, Rural Development on 13 October 1996 and he continued to retain the post till 29 September 2000. On 30 September 2001, he was deputed as the minister of state for Health and Family welfare during the National Democratic Alliance. In December 2003, the DMK pulled out of the alliance and Raja resigned his minister's post along with his other DMK colleagues. He continued with the same ministry after the 2004 elections which was won by the Congress led alliance, which included the DMK. His tenure as an Environment ministry came under intense scrutiny in 2011 during the 2G Spectrum case. His association with the key accused in the 2G case, Unitech and DB Realty, was rooted to 2004 when he was the Environment minister. One of the key points out of the CBI is the approval of 2016 clearances given by his ministry in a span of two years from 2006 to 2008, some of which were associated with the trading of hazardous waste. The other issue raised was about the large majority of Raja's supporters in the expert appraisals committee (EAC), responsible for granting clearances to various sectors.


title: A. Raja

text: In 2007 May, Dinakaran, the newspaper run by Kalanidhi Maran, the elder brother of Dayanidhi Maran who was the central minister for IT and Communication, ran into a controversy when it published the results of a series of opinion polls which showed M. K. Stalin, the second son of Karunanidhi, having more approval (70%) than his elder brother M. K. Azhagiri (2%) as the political heir of Karunanidhi. It also showed others as 20%, possibly indicating Dayanidhi Maran and Kanimozhi. The Madurai office of Dinakaran was fire bombed by supporters of Alagiri and three employees were killed. The Sun TV office in Madurai was also attacked by the perpetrators. A day after the incident, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi came to Chennai for felicitating Karunanidhi for 50 years in legislative assembly. Dayanidhi Maran, who usually accompanies Karunanidhi at every function, discarded the event as a mark of protest. On 13 May, the DMK administrative committee empowered Karunanidhi to remove Dayanidhi from the party. This subsequently led to his resignation from the central ministry. Following his resignation, the IT portfolio was allocated to Raja on 16 May 2007. On 17 October 2008, he submitted his post-dated resignation to the DMK party chief, M. Karunanidhi, in protest of the killings of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.


title: A. Raja

text: The 2G spectrum financial scandal involved the alleged corrupt sale in 2008 of telecommunications bandwidth to selected organizations at prices that understated the real market value of the asset. The sale is claimed to have occurred when Raja headed the Telecommunications and IT Ministry; it has been considered the largest political corruption case in modern Indian history, amounting to around of lost income for the Government of India. It is alleged that the sale should have been put under a transparent auction system.


title: A. Raja

text: A first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claims that the allocation was not done as per market prices. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) holds Raja personally responsible for the sale of 2G spectrum at 2001 rates in 2008. In August 2010, evidence was submitted by the CAG showing that Raja had personally signed and approved the majority of the questionable allocations. Although the political opposition was demanding his resignation over the 2G spectrum case, Raja initially refused to resign, stating his innocence, and this view was backed by his party president M. Karunanidhi. He eventually resigned on 14 November 2010.


title: A. Raja

text: In 2011, the results of an investigation by retired judge Shivraj Patil, who was appointed by then telecom minister Kapil Sibal, also found Raja to have been directly responsible for "procedural lapses" regarding the sale. The CBI and Enforcement Directorate estimated that Raja could have made as much as Rs 30 billion from the alleged bribes.


title: A. Raja

text: In January and February 2011, Raja's houses and offices were raided by the CBI, who seized computers as potential evidence. On 2 February 2011, the CBI arrested Raja with his aide, R. K. Chandolia, and Siddharth Behura, the former telecom secretary and placed them in Tihar jail. Raja and R.K. Chandolia are heard in conversation with Niira Radia in the released Radia tapes.


title: A. Raja

text: Subsequent to his arrest, the DMK supported him on the basis that he was innocent until proven guilty.


title: A. Raja

text: On 6 June 2012, Delhi court permitted Raja to visit Tamil Nadu between 8 and 30 June, on grounds of discharging his previous duties in the state.


title: A. Raja

text: On 15 May 2012, he was granted bail by the Supreme court under a condition that he would not visit the Department of Telecommunications nor his home state Tamil Nadu. He stayed in Tihar jail for fifteen months. The Enforcement Directorate grilled Raja on 10 July 2012 for four hours, to ascertain his role in grant of 2G licenses especially to Swan Telecom and Unitech Wireless.


title: A. Raja

text: Delhi court on 21 December 2017 acquitted all accused, including former Telecom Minister A. Raja and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation case and held that the 2G spectrum scam never happened in the first place.


title: A. Raja

text: Sadiq Batcha, a close friend of Raja's, shifted his base to Chennai from his hometown of Perambalur, after Raja became a central minister in 2004. He started a real estate firm called Green House Promoters, which had Raja's nephew Paramesh Kumar as joint managing director and Raja's brother A Kaliyaperumal and Raja's wife Parameswari as directors. Parameswari resigned from the post on account of investigations. Batcha started another real estate firm in 2008 called Equals Estates Pvt Ltd, which had Parameswari as a director. The firm had a turnover of 755 crores in two years, mainly attributed to the association of Raja. Batcha was put under the CBI scanner during the 2G spectrum case as they believed him to be the conduit for Raja. On 16 March 2011, Batcha was found dead in his Chennai residence. Police found a suicide note that read the reason as the excessive media coverage that maligned his image. Police registered a case under suspicious circumstances under Section 174 of the IPC.


title: A. Raja

text: On 3rd July 2022, A Raja said that the Union government is not giving the state autonomy and the Prime Minister and the Home Minister should not force them into demanding a ""thani nadu"" (separate nation) while speaking at a meeting held for DMK local body representatives, in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi says all states are to be seen the same, and Home Minister Amit Shah says if you want unity, learn Hindi. The party’s founding father Periyar, until [his] death, demanded a "thani nadu". But we (DMK) kept aside that demand for our democracy and national integrity, So, I am saying this with the utmost humility. Our CM is travelling in Anna’s [C. N. Annadurai] path so far, do not push us into following Periyar’s path. Do not make us revive our demand for a separate state”DMK immediately distanced itself from the comments and said that the comments made in support of a separate nation is not the stand of the party.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The Pink and White Terraces ( and ), were natural wonders of New Zealand. They were reportedly the largest silica sinter deposits on earth. Until recently, they were lost and thought destroyed in the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera, while new hydrothermal features formed to the south-west i.e. Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The Pink and White Terraces were formed by upwelling geothermal springs containing a cocktail of silica-saturated, near-neutral pH chloride water. These two world-famous springs were part of a group of hot springs and geysers, chiefly along an easterly ridge named Pinnacle Ridge (or the Steaming Ranges by Mundy). The main tourist attractions included Ngahapu, Ruakiwi, Te Tekapo, Waikanapanapa, Whatapoho, Ngawana, Koingo and Whakaehu.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The Pink and the White Terrace springs were around apart. The White Terraces were at the north-east end of Lake Rotomahana and faced west to north west at the entrance to the Kaiwaka Channel. Te Tarata descended to the lake edge around below. The Pink Terraces lay four fifths of the way down the lake on the western shore, facing east to south-east. The pink appearance over the mid and upper basins (near the colour of a rainbow trout) was due to antimony and arsenic sulfides, although the Pink Terraces also contained gold in ore-grade concentrations.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The Pink and White Terraces were previously thought to be about 1,000 years old. The hydrothermal system which powered them may be up to 7,000 years old. The silica precipitation formed many pools and steps over time. Precipitation occurred by two methods. The ascending foundation over time formed a lip which would trap the descending flow and become level again. This process formed attractive swimming places, both for the shape and for the warm water. When the thermal layers sloped in the other direction away from the geyser, then silica steps formed on the surface. Both types of formation grew as silica-laden water cascaded over them, and the water also enhanced the spectacle. Geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter wrote after his visit in 1859 that "doubtless thousands of years were required" for their formation.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The White Terraces were the larger formation, covering about and descending over about 50 layers with a drop in elevation of about , and over about . The Pink Terraces descended about over about . The Pink Terraces started at the top wide and the bottom layers were about wide. Tourists preferred to bathe in the upper Pink Terrace pools due to their clarity and the range of temperature and depths.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: One of the first Europeans to visit Rotomahana was Ernst Dieffenbach. He briefly visited the lake and terraces while on a survey for the New Zealand Company in early June 1841. The description of his visit in his book "Travels in New Zealand" inspired an interest in the Pink and White Terraces by the outside world.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The terraces became New Zealand's most famous tourist attraction, sometimes referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. New Zealand was still relatively inaccessible to Europeans and passage took several months by ship. The journey from Auckland was typically by steamer to Tauranga, the bridle track to Ohinemutu on Lake Rotorua, by coach to Te Wairoa (the home of the missionary the Reverend Seymour Mills Spencer), by canoe across Lake Tarawera, and then on foot or by canoe up and/or down the Kaiwaka Channel; over the hill to the swampy shores of Lake Rotomahana and the terraces.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: Those who made the journey to the terraces were most frequently well-to-do, young male overseas tourists or officers from the British forces in New Zealand. The list of notable tourists included Sir George Grey in 1849, Alfred Duke of Edinburgh in 1869, and Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope in 1874.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The appearance of the terraces was recorded for posterity by a number of photographers, but as it was before colour photography was invented, their images lack the enticing colour the formations were known for. Several artists drew and painted the terraces before their loss in 1886, most notably Charles Blomfield who visited on more than one occasion. Their atmospheric views are the main record of the Eighth Wonder of the World. The colour chemistry of the Pink Terraces can be seen today at Waiotapu, where the Champagne Pool is lined with these same colloidal sulfides.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: Sophia Hinerangi, sometimes known as Te Paea, took over as principal guide from the older Kate Middlemass in the early 1880s. She became recognised as the principal tourist guide of the Pink and White Terraces. Hinerangi observed the disturbances to Lake Tarawera water levels in the days preceding the eruption. In 1885, Alfred Warbrick began guiding, though he was not from Te Tuhourangi.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: A number of people mapped and commented on the region before the loss of the terraces. No Māori maps are known. The first colonial sketch map of the lake was by Percy Smith in 1858. Ferdinand Hochstetter carried out the first topographic and geological survey of the Lake Rotomahana area in 1859, producing four maps of the lake while camped on its shore; culminating in his defining "Method of Squares" (or Grid) lake map of 30/4/1859. His lake research was later published in his "Geographic and Geological survey" where the formation of the terraces was also examined. A commissioned map by August Petermann was included in that work and this was considered valid until 2011 when Sascha Nolden discovered Hochstetter's original maps in Switzerland and repatriated them to New Zealand in digital form. In 2017 the Hochstetter and Petermann maps were compared and Petermann's map found defective. Hochstetter's 30/4/1859 map is now considered the more accurate map of Lake Rotomahana.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: In 1873, Percy Smith climbed Mt. Tarawera and gave the impression that the mountain top was rough but showed no sign of volcanic vents.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: In March 1881, G. Seelhorst climbed Wahanga dome and the northern end of Ruawahia dome in search of a presumed "falling star" following reports of glowing and smoke from an area behind Wahanga.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: In 1884, a surveyor named Charles Clayton described the top of Wahanga dome as volcanic with several depressions, one being approximately .


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: On 10 June 1886, Mount Tarawera erupted. The eruption spread from west of Wahanga dome, to the north, down to Lake Rotomahana. The volcano belched out hot mud, red hot boulders, and immense clouds of black ash from a rift that crossed the mountain, passed through the lake, and extended beyond into the Waimangu valley.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: After the eruption, a crater over in depth encompassed the former site of the terraces. After some years this filled with water to form a new Lake Rotomahana, higher, ten times larger and deeper than the old lake.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: Alfred Patchet Warbrick, a boat builder at Te Wairoa, witnessed the eruption of Mount Tarawera from Maunga Makatiti to the north of Lake Tarawera. Warbrick soon had whaleboats on Lake Tarawera investigating the new landscape; he in time became the chief guide to the post-eruption attractions. Warbrick never accepted that the Pink and White Terraces had been destroyed.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The terraces were long thought to have been destroyed in the 1886 eruption. However, in February 2011, a team including researchers from GNS Science, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and Waikato University were mapping the lake floor when they reported discovering part of the Pink Terraces. The lowest two tiers of the terraces were reported found at deep. A part of the White Terraces was also reported as rediscovered in June 2011. The announcement of the rediscovery of the White Terraces coincided with the 125th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Tarawera in 1886.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The 2011 GNS claims of rediscovery were challenged by Bill Keir, who calculated that the 'rediscovered' structures were not where the terraces had been before the eruption. Specifically, the then newly discovered structures were under the lake surface, but the historic terraces were expected to be as little as under, and "could not be more than below the surface". Keir speculated that the structures discovered by the GNS team were prehistoric terraces, never before seen by humans; or perhaps step-shaped objects created by the eruption.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: The GNS team went back in 2012, and again in February 2014, to photograph the remains. When their work was published in 2016 in the "Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research", they drew back from earlier claims and reported the terraces were likely destroyed. In 2017 an article by Bill Keir in the "Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand" stated that the terraces could not have survived intact.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: In 2010, Sascha Nolden discovered Hochstetter's archive in Basel, Switzerland, and began progressively cataloging and publishing it. The archive includes Hochstetter's field diaries which contain the raw data from his compass survey of Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces. These diaries include bearings which, when reverse-engineered, delivered the geographical coordinates of the Pink and White Terraces' locations. The Hochstetter diaries have been published in two research papers by Bunn and Nolden. This research led Bunn and Nolden to report that, contrary to the prevailing belief, the Pink and White Terraces were not submerged beneath Lake Rotomahana: they are instead buried underground along the shoreline, based on coordinates in an article published in the "Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand", and could potentially be excavated and restored to public view. Any such excavation, however, would need the permission of the Māori tribe which owns the land. Bunn released a summary and supporting image gallery of the new 2018 findings. Later, he explained the release of the new findings.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: , Tuhourangi Tribal Authority chairman Alan Skipworth was not yet convinced by Bunn and Nolden's claims, calling press reports that the Pink and White Terraces had been rediscovered "premature".


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: An article written by Bunn, Davies and Stewart, published in 2018, uses a novel "field of view" approach to navigate to the Pink and White Terraces locations. This draws on unpublished photography from Hochstetter's 1859 expedition, as well as his diary data.


title: Pink and White Terraces

text: A review article by de Ronde, Caratori Tontini, and Keam about the location of the Pink and White Terraces was published in 2018. The article concluded "… various lines of geological and geophysical evidence do not support the location of the Pink and White Terraces as suggested by ." and "… possible Pink Terrace tiers first reported by are located exactly where we believe they should lie after fitting the pre-eruption outline map of Lake Rotomahana to our high-resolution bathymetric map." The article also states that the data analysis confirms that the White Terraces would have been destroyed.


title: Makaton

text: Makaton is a communication tool together with speech and symbols, to enable people with disabilities or learning disabilities to communicate. It is not a British Sign Language (BSL) or any form of Sign Language in its own right. Makaton supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention, listening, comprehension, memory and expressive speech and language. The Makaton language programme has been used with individuals who have cognitive impairments, autism, Down's Syndrome, specific language impairment, multisensory impairment and acquired neurological disorders that have negatively affected the ability to communicate, including stroke and dementia patients.


title: Makaton

text: The name “Makaton” is derived from the first letters of three members of the initial teaching team at Botleys Park Hospital, Margaret Walker (the designer of the programme and Speech Therapist at Botleys Park), Katherine Johnston and Tony Cornforth (Psychiatric Hospital Visitors from the Royal Association for Deaf people.)


title: Makaton

text: Makaton is a registered trade mark of The Makaton Charity, which was established in 2007 and replaced the original Charitable Trust, the Makaton Vocabulary Development Project (MVDP) which was established in 1983. The original trademark application for Makaton was filed in the UK on 28 August 1979, with registration approved as from that date under UK trade mark registration no. 1119745.


title: Makaton

text: In 2004 the Oxford University Press included Makaton as a common usage word in the "Oxford English Dictionary". The entry states "Makaton, n. Brit. A proprietary name for: a language programme integrating speech, manual signs, and graphic symbols, developed to help people for whom communication is very difficult, esp. those with learning disabilities."


title: Makaton

text: The Makaton Language Programme uses a multimodal approach to teach communication, language and, where appropriate literacy skills, through a combination of speech, signs, and graphic symbols used concurrently, or, only with speech with signs, or, only with speech with graphic symbols as appropriate for the student's needs. It consists of a Core Vocabulary of roughly 450 concepts that are taught in a specific order (there are 8 different stages). For example, stage 1 involves teaching vocabulary for immediate needs, like "eat" and "drink". Later stages contain more complex and abstract vocabulary such as time and emotions. Once basic communication has been established, the student can progress in their language use, using whatever modes are most appropriate. Also, although the programme is organised in stages, it can be modified and tailored to the individual's needs. In addition to the Core Vocabulary, there is a Makaton Resource Vocabulary of over 11,000 concepts which are illustrated with signs and graphic symbols.


title: Makaton

text: Original research was conducted by Margaret Walker in 1972/73, and resulted in the design of the Makaton Core Vocabulary based on functional need. This research was conducted with institutionalised deaf cognitively impaired adults resident at Botleys Park Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey (which closed in 2008). The aim was to enable them to communicate using signs from British Sign Language. Fourteen deaf and cognitively impaired adults participated in the pilot study, and all were able to learn to use manual signs; improved behaviour was also noted. Shortly after, the Core Vocabulary was revised to include both children and adults with severe communication difficulties (including individuals who could hear), and was used in many schools throughout the UK in order to stimulate communication and language.


title: Makaton

text: In the early stages of development, Makaton used only speech and manual signs (without symbols). By 1985, work had begun to include graphic symbols in the Makaton Language Programme and a version including graphic symbols was published in 1986. The Core Vocabulary was revised in 1986 to include additional cultural concepts.


title: Makaton

text: The Makaton Vocabulary Development Project (MVDP) was founded in 1976 by Margaret Walker, who worked in a voluntary capacity as director until her retirement in October 2008. The first Makaton training workshop was held in 1976 and supporting resources and further training courses were, and continue, to be developed. In 1983 the MVDP became a charitable trust and in 2007 changed its status to become The Makaton Charity.


title: Makaton

text: The Makaton Language Programme is used extensively across the UK and has been adapted for use in different countries; signs from each country's deaf community are used, along with culturally relevant Makaton symbols. For example, in the United Kingdom, Makaton uses signs from British Sign Language (BSL); the signs are mainly from the London and South East England regional dialect. Makaton is used extensively throughout the UK, but has also been adapted for use in over 40 countries, including France, Greece, Japan, Kuwait and the Gulf, Russia, South Africa and Switzerland. Using signs from each country's own existing sign language ensures that they reflect each country's unique culture and also provide a bank of further signs if required for use with the Makaton Language Programme.


title: Makaton

text: There has been increased use of Makaton in recent years on national TV and social media. It started in 1991 when the Makaton Charity produced a video/DVD of children's familiar nursery rhymes, signed, spoken and sung by a well-known children's TV presenter, Dave Benson Phillips who had previously used Makaton with poems and rhymes in the Children's BBC show "Playdays". The aim was for it to be enjoyed not only by children with developmental disabilities but also by their peers and siblings. Following this major success in 2003 it became a significant part of the BBC's "Something Special" programmes on the CBeebies programme thread, presented by Justin Fletcher which has won numerous awards and is now into its eleventh series.


title: Makaton

text: On 16 November 2018, comedian Rob Delaney read a book on the BBC's children's channel CBeebies entirely in Makaton and English; he had used Makaton to communicate with his late son Henry, who was rendered unable to talk after a tracheotomy.


title: Makaton

text: Recognition of Makaton has also impacted on the training of professionals e.g. teachers, speech therapists and medical students and may be a requirement for many professional positions.


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: Face to Face is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released in October 1966. The album marked a shift from the hard-driving style of beat music that had catapulted the group to international acclaim in 1964, instead drawing heavily from baroque pop and music hall. It is their first album consisting entirely of Ray Davies compositions, and has also been regarded by critics as one of rock's first concept albums. Davies' blossoming songwriting style became increasingly observational and satirical, commenting on English culture, social class and the music industry.


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: Despite containing the hit single, "Sunny Afternoon", the album's initial reception was lukewarm in both the UK and United States compared to the Kinks' previous LPs, charting at No. 12 and No. 135, respectively. "Face to Face" eventually earned retrospective critical acclaim, recognized as a pivotal record of the psychedelic era and an important milestone in the Kinks' evolution. The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in "" (1981). The album was included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: Ray Davies suffered a nervous breakdown just prior to the major recording sessions for the album. In contrast to the band's earlier "raunchy" sound, he had started to introduce a new, softer style of writing the previous year with compositions such as "A Well Respected Man" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion". In July 1966, the single "Sunny Afternoon", also written in that style, reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, and the song's popularity proved to Davies and the Kinks' managers that the group could find success with this style of songwriting. The new album would follow this pattern, as would the group's recorded output for the next five years. The 1966–71 period inaugurated by this album would later be called Davies' and the Kinks' "golden age".


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: Rock historians have credited the album as arguably one of the first rock/pop concept albums, with the loose common theme of social observation. In the album's original conception Ray Davies attempted to bridge the songs together with sound effects, but he was forced by Pye Records to revert to the more standard album format before the album's release. Some effects remain, such as in "Party Line", "Holiday in Waikiki", "Rainy Day in June" and in songs not included on the final album ("End of the Season", "Big Black Smoke").


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: "I'll Remember" was the earliest track on the album, having been recorded in October 1965 during sessions for "The Kink Kontroversy". Two other songs recorded during the "Face to Face" sessions – "This Is Where I Belong" and "She's Got Everything" – were eventually released as B-sides to singles released in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Both songs eventually appeared on the 1972 US compilation album "The Kink Kronikles". Pete Quaife temporarily quit the band before the June–July 1966 recording sessions; his replacement John Dalton can only be confirmed as playing on the track "Little Miss Queen of Darkness". Contractual issues held up the release of the album for several months after recording was completed; Ray Davies was also in conflict with Pye over the final album cover art, whose psychedelic theme he later felt was inappropriate.


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: Two songs on "Face to Face", although written by Ray Davies, were originally recorded and released by other British bands in the months prior to the release of this album. The Pretty Things had a minor UK hit in July 1966 with "A House in the Country", which peaked at No. 50; their final entry on the UK Singles Chart. Herman's Hermits, meanwhile, took their version of "Dandy" top ten in several countries (including No. 5 in the US and No. 1 in Canada), beginning in September 1966. The Rockin' Vickers also recorded a version of "Dandy" which they released as a single in December 1966 in both the UK and the US. Despite what the sleeve notes say on The Rockin' Vickers "The Complete", the song "Little Rosy" was not written by Ray Davies (Music: Herbie Armstrong; Lyrics: Paul Murphy).


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: The album was released in a particularly tumultuous year for the band, with personnel problems (Pete Quaife was injured; he resigned and later rejoined the band), legal and contractual battles and an ongoing hectic touring schedule. The album was critically well received, but did not sell particularly well at the time of its release (especially in the United States), and was out of print for many years. Reissues since 1998 have included bonus tracks of songs released contemporaneously as singles (most notably "Dead End Street") as well as two unreleased tracks.


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: "Mr. Reporter" was recorded in 1969 for Dave Davies' aborted solo album, and was released as a bonus track on the 1998 Castle CD reissue of "Face to Face". An earlier version featuring Ray Davies on lead vocals was recorded in February 1966 and was apparently intended for this album or an unissued EP. The scathing track satirizes the pop press, and was probably shelved to prevent offending music journalists who had been crucial to the Kinks' commercial success. This early version was finally officially released in 2014.


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: Other unreleased songs from the "Face to Face" sessions reportedly include "Fallen Idol", about the rise and fall of a pop star, "Everybody Wants to Be a Personality", about celebrities, "Lilacs and Daffodils" (also known as "Sir Jasper"), which is reportedly about a schoolteacher (and is the only Kinks track with vocals by Mick Avory) and "A Girl Who Goes to Discotheques". It is unclear whether any of the unreleased tracks will ever be released officially. Dave Davies indicated they were never satisfactorily completed for release, and some were later reworked into different songs such as "Yes Man", another song from these sessions, which was an early version of "Plastic Man". In a 2012 interview, Ray Davies stated that "Lilacs and Daffodils" was "awful."


title: Face to Face (The Kinks album)

text: All tracks are written by Ray Davies, except "Party Line" by Ray and Dave Davies. Track lengths per AllMusic.


title: Isekai Cheat Magician

text: Taichi Nishimura and Rin Azuma are two ordinary high school students who also happen to be childhood friends. On the way to school, a magic circle appears beneath their feet, and Taichi and Rin both get mysteriously transported to another world called Altianutz. While trying to grasp their current situation, they get attacked by a vicious monster. Luckily, a group of adventurers comes to their aid and rescues them. After arriving at a nearby town, they decide to enroll as adventurers themselves. While enrolling, they discover that they possess incredibly powerful magic and physical prowess. Thus, their adventure begins as the most powerful "cheat magicians". However, as Taichi is forced to discover, his presence in Altia was willed by a mysterious woman who wishes to use his power to control the fate of this world.


title: Isekai Cheat Magician

text: The series was first published online on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in April 2012 by Takeru Uchida. It was later acquired by Shufunotomo, who published the first volume as a light novel under their Hero Bunko imprint in June 2013.


title: Isekai Cheat Magician

text: A manga adaptation of the series by Karin Suzuragi began publication in Kadokawa Shoten's "Monthly Shōnen Ace" on December 26, 2016.


title: Isekai Cheat Magician

text: A spinoff manga series by Taku Kawamura, titled , was serialized in "Monthly Shōnen Ace" from August 25, 2018 to October 26, 2019.


title: Isekai Cheat Magician

text: An anime adaptation was announced on April 16, 2018. The series was animated by Encourage Films and directed by Daisuke Tsukushi, with Takayo Ikami handling series composition, and Shuji Maruyama designing the characters. Yoshiaki Fujisawa composed the series' music. The series aired from July 10 to September 25, 2019 on AT-X, Tokyo MX, KBS, SUN, TVA, and BS11. MYTH & ROID performed the opening theme song "PANTA RHEI", while Rie Takahashi performed the ending theme song . The series ran for 12 episodes. An OVA episode premiered on July 5, 2021. Crunchyroll has licensed the series with a dub.


title: Bob Hastings

text: Robert Francis Hastings (April 18, 1925 – June 30, 2014) was an American radio, film, and television character actor. He also provided voices for animations. He was best known for his portrayal of annoying suck-up Lt. Elroy Carpenter on "McHale's Navy" and voicing Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Animated Universe.


title: Bob Hastings

text: Hastings was born in Brooklyn, New York, a son of Charles and Hazel Hastings. His father was a salesman. He started out as a boy singer on "National Barn Dance", "Doug Gray's Singing Gang" and "Coast to Coast on a Bus". He also portrayed Jerry on the radio program "The Sea Hound". Hastings served during World War II as a navigator on B-29s in the United States Army Air Corps.


title: Bob Hastings

text: After Hastings returned from military service, he played the role of Archie Andrews in a series based on the Archie comic book series on NBC Radio from 1945 to 1953.


title: Bob Hastings

text: Hastings moved to television in 1949, performing in early science-fiction series, including "Atom Squad". In 1954, he was the featured pitch-man (acting as an amateur magician) for Bakers Instant Cocoa Mix television commercials. His first recurring role was as a lieutenant on Phil Silvers' "Sergeant Bilko" series in the late 1950s. At that time he also guest-starred on Walter Brennan's ABC sitcom "The Real McCoys", in an episode titled “How to Paint a House”. He also appeared in "Captain Video" playing the brother of "The Video Ranger", who was, in turn, played by Hastings' real-life brother, Don. Hastings portrayed Edward Foyle in the NBC drama "Kitty Foyle" (1958).


title: Bob Hastings

text: Most of his career was spent in television, including two episodes of CBS's "Green Acres" as an Air Force officer and as a sheriff. Hastings was cast as Lt. Bolt in the 1960 episode "Space Man" of the CBS military sitcom/drama "Hennesey", starring Jackie Cooper. Hastings guest-starred in the ABC/Warner Bros. sitcom "Room for One More", starring Andrew Duggan and Peggy McCay, on the Robert Young CBS sitcom/drama "Window on Main Street", as Russian pilot Igor Piotkin on "Hogan's Heroes", and on the NBC police sitcom "Car 54, Where Are You?". In 1962, he played a railroad executive in the episode "Substitute Sheriff" of the NBC Western series "The Tall Man". He appeared five times on CBS's "Dennis the Menace", most notably as Coach Gilmore in the 1963 episode "The Big Basketball Game". He appeared three times (1961-62) on the sitcom "Pete and Gladys".


title: Bob Hastings

text: Hastings portrayed the aide to Captain Binghamton (Joe Flynn), the yes-man Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter on ABC's "McHale's Navy", humorously called "Carpy" and "Little Leadbottom" by McHale and his men. Hastings played Captain Ramsey on ABC's "General Hospital". He was also the voice of the Raven on episodes of CBS's "The Munsters". He hosted the game show "Dealer's Choice" and had a recurring role as bar owner Tommy Kelsey on "All in the Family".


title: Bob Hastings

text: After "McHale's Navy", Hastings was a regular on the Universal Studios lot, where Universal paid actors during downtime to be on the grounds and talk to tourists. He appeared in the 1968 Universal film "Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?", as well as "The Bamboo Saucer" (1968), "Angel in My Pocket" (1969), "The Love God?" (1969), and "The Boatniks" (1970). In 1971, Hastings was cast in the comedy movie "How to Frame a Figg", also starring Don Knotts, and also had roles in "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972), "The All-American Boy" (1973) and "No Deposit, No Return" (1976). Hastings also appeared in "Harper Valley PTA" (1978) as Skeeter Duggan a member of the PTA board who had been kidnapped at the orders of its dishonest president to commit election fraud. Hastings also played Cousin Phantom of the Opera in the 1981 television movie "The Munsters' Revenge".


title: Bob Hastings

text: Hastings also did voice work for animation and commercials, including Superboy in "The New Adventures of Superboy" cartoons of the 1960s, D.D. on Hanna-Barbera's "Clue Club", and the voice of Commissioner Jim Gordon in the popular "" and its various spinoffs in the DC animated universe, such as "", "", "The New Batman Adventures" and several Batman video games. His earlier work in animation included voicing the character of "Henry Glopp" on Hanna-Barbera's animated series "Jeannie" in 1973, "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" Episode: "Mystery in Persia" and "Fred Flintstone and Friends" as well as voicing characters on "Challenge of the Super Friends".


title: Bob Hastings

text: Hastings toured the country as a participant in various Old-Time Radio Conventions, reading scripts for such shows as Archie Andrews and The Bickersons. He appeared at the 2013 Cincinnati Nostalgia Expo, the Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound Showcase 2013 in Bellevue, Washington, in June 2010, and at the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention in Newark, New Jersey, in October 2010.


title: Bob Hastings

text: The older brother of longtime "As the World Turns" star Don Hastings, Bob Hastings married Joan Rice in 1948. They were married for 66 years and, at the time of his death, the couple had four children, 10 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.


title: Bob Hastings

text: Bob Hastings died on June 30, 2014, from prostate cancer at age 89. His funeral mass was held in Burbank, California's Saint Finbar Catholic Church.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Ford Taunus is a family car that was sold by Ford Germany throughout Europe. Models from 1970 onward were built on the same basic construction as the Ford Cortina MkIII in the United Kingdom, and later on, the two car models were essentially the same, differing almost only in the placement of the steering wheel. The model line was named after the Taunus mountain range in Germany, and was first made in 1939, and continued through several versions until 1994.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Ford Taunus G93A was a development of the Ford Eifel, and used the same 1172-cc four cylinder engine, but in a longer chassis and a streamlined body. It was the first German Ford to have hydraulic brakes. Due to the war, production was interrupted from 1942 to 1948; 7,128 were made, including estate cars and light vans.


title: Ford Taunus

text: From 1952 to 1968, all German Fords were called the Taunus, using the model names 12M, 15M, 17M, 20M, and 26M (on some Scandinavian markets, for a short while the branding 10M was used on a slightly better-equipped export version of the early Taunus, which is said to be the precursor of later uses). The "M" is said to stand for ""Meisterstück"", in English "Masterpiece", but that word was found to be already registered by another German automaker. Taunus was also sometimes adopted as the brand name in export markets, particularly where British and North American Fords were also available.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The 12M, 15M, and 17M models had an engine, which in the first 12M was a carryover of the sidevalve (flathead) engine from the first Taunus series, and beginning with the 15M, it was replaced by an overhead-valve design similar to the British Ford Consul engine. With the introduction of the new 12M line (internal code P4) for 1962 came the V4 engine, which starting in late 1964 with the larger 17M/20M became the base engine for the Taunus M-series. The 20M and 26M models had the Ford Cologne V6 engine, which is basically the same engine design with two extra cylinders added. The 12, 15, 17, etc. numbers refer to the engine displacement; 1200, 1500, 1700 cc, etc. However, a few exceptions from that rule were made, such as 17M 1800, which was powered by the V6 in its smallest displacement of 90.777 L and the 20M 2300S (in the later P7 series), which used a 2.3-l version of the same engine.


title: Ford Taunus

text: From 1962 to 1970, the smaller models 12M (P4) and its successor 12M/15M (P6) had front=wheel drive. All other models had rear-wheel drive.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Taunus 12M presented in 1952 was the first new German Ford after World War II. It featured ponton styling, similar in style to British Ford Zephyr.


title: Ford Taunus

text: Something else the new Ford Taunus 12M had in common with British Fords was the retention of an old side-valve engine at a time when competitors were increasingly moving over to overhead-valve units. The Taunus 15M used a new and more powerful engine:


title: Ford Taunus

text: The second generation 12M was not a new car, but a reworking of the 1952 model. All cars were called 12M, though both engines were continued. The car with the bigger engine was called Taunus 12M 1.5-litre.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The new Ford Taunus 12M P4 was similar in size, but a completely new car based on the Ford Cardinal project: New body, new V4 engine, front-wheel drive. It was the first Ford car with front-wheel drive (second is Ford Corcel, third is Ford Fiesta). Engines available included:


title: Ford Taunus

text: Body styles were two-door sedan, four-door sedan, two-door coupé, two-door station wagon, and sedan delivery.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Ford Taunus P6 came with new bodies, whilst engines and platform were continued. The car with the bigger engine was now called 15M again. Engines available included:


title: Ford Taunus

text: Growing prosperity in postwar Germany encouraged Ford to offer a line of bigger and more expensive cars. The Ford Taunus 17M of 1957 was as long as (though significantly narrower than) the British Consul Mk2, but a different car. It presented a style similar to American 1955 Fords, featuring substantial (at least by European standards) tailfins. The transatlantic flamboyance of the car's styling gained it the sobriquet "Baroque Taunus", showing styling influences from the North American Mercury Monterey of the same time period. Unusually for middle-class German cars of this period, it was available with either two or four doors. The competition noticed, and from 1959, buying an Opel Rekord with four doors was possible.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The P2 used an overhead-valve (OHV) engine with 1698 cc and 60 hp (44 kW). A maximum speed of 128 km/h (80 mph) was quoted. A road test of the time commended the smoothness of the three-speed, all-synchromesh manual transmission system.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Ford Taunus P3 had a completely new body in a very modern style. The look of car reminded some critics of a bath tub, and it consequently gained the soubriquet "Taunus "Badewanne"". At a time when competitors boasted that all four corners of the vehicles were visible from the driver's seat, the new Taunus instead offered a streamlined form. However, in Germany the concept of streamlining in cars was associated with narrow passenger cabins reminiscent of the 1930s and of the still popular Volkswagen Beetle. The new Taunus, however, provided greater interior width than its predecessor, despite being no wider on the outside. Although the 1.7-litre version was launched with the same 60 PS power output as the outgoing model, the new model was a full 10 km/h (6 mph) faster, which was attributed to improved aerodynamics and a lighter body shell. The front end styling is reminiscent of the 1961 U.S. Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental.


title: Ford Taunus

text: New 20M gets a V6 engine with 1.8 litres and 82 hp, or 2.0 litres (1998 cc) and 85 or 90 hp (63 or 66 kW) with a top speed of 158 or 161 km/h (99 or 101 mph).


title: Ford Taunus

text: For the new Ford P7, there was a new body; engines and platform were carried over from the P5. Rear lights were no longer mounted at corners. The 20M-model had a fake air scoop on the bonnet and a new, bigger engine.


title: Ford Taunus

text: Shrinking sales of the P7 forced Ford to offer a restyled car only one year later, and the new car was again called P7. Rear lights again mounted on corners. Here, to avoid confusion, it was called P7.2, sometimes it is called P7b. The name "Taunus" no longer used.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The 26M, introduced in 1969, is the top-of-the-line version with a new bigger engine (2.6 litres), bigger brakes, dual headlights, power steering, and the most luxurious trim level. V6-engines were slightly revised. The engine programme is enlarged; now, two base engines (V4 and V6) in six displacement sizes and nine power stages are available:


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Ford 20M RS Coupé was made in Germany as a (2300 S) P7b and (2600) P7b. In the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon, Ford entered three Ford 20M RS from Germany and Belgium. In 1969, a Ford 20M RS won the Safari and occasionally a Capri was seen with works involvement.


title: Ford Taunus

text: This is the last specifically German Ford. In early 1972, it is replaced by the new Consul and Granada.


title: Ford Taunus

text: In 1970 a new Taunus, the Taunus Cortina (TC), was introduced. Ford offered a two- or four-door sedan or a five-door station wagon/estate (identified like previous Taunus estates as the "Turnier"). Between 1970 and 1975, for the first Taunus TC, a fashionable fast-back coupé was also included in the Taunus range.


title: Ford Taunus

text: This model also formed the basis of the Cortina Mk.III, but with different door skins and rear wing pressings from the "coke-bottle" styling of the Cortina. In addition, there was never a Cortina III equivalent to the fast-back bodied Taunus TC coupé. The Taunus TC and Cortina Mk.III were both developed under the auspices of Ford of Europe, and most major components including key parts of the bodyshell were identical.


title: Ford Taunus

text: At the end of November 1975, in time for the 1976 model year, production began of the Taunus series "GBTS". The Taunus and Cortina Mk IV were in most cases now almost identical, apart from regional variations (in terms of specification changes and trim levels).


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Taunus TC along with the Cortina Mk III and their successors have been produced in slightly updated forms in Europe, Argentina and widely across Asia by Ford or their local co-operators. Cortinas were also built in small numbers starting with the predecessor Cortina Mk II throughout the model series' European/east Asian lifespan under license by Korean automaker Hyundai. This led to the Cortina 80 at the end of its production life serving as a starting point for the first Hyundai Stellar which succeeded the Cortina line in South Korea, handing over some major technical components such as the steering rack and the transmission propelling shaft to the otherwise non-Ford successor.


title: Ford Taunus

text: In 1982 production of the Taunus ceased in Europe; it was replaced by the Ford Sierra. The Sierra carried over the Cortina/Taunus OHC Pinto Engines and RWD configuration but was otherwise an all new car with independent suspension all round.


title: Ford Taunus

text: The Taunus was produced in Argentina from 1974 up until the end of 1984, when the production assembly was sold to Turkey to manufacture the Otosan Taunus. The Turkish car, easily distinguishable because of its remolded front and back panels continued in production until 1993.


title: Ford Taunus

text: A black 1976 model Taunus was driven by henchman chasing James Bond (Roger Moore) – in his Lotus Esprit – in the 1977 film "The Spy Who Loved Me" on the roads of Sardinia. A notable passenger of the Taunus was the iconic Jaws (Richard Kiel), who was presumably the only survivor when Bond managed to shake off the pursuing car and cause it to overshoot a cliff and plough into the roof of a barn. A blue 1948 model Taunus was driven by Steve Forrest in the very first episode of the 1965 TV series "The Baron".


title: Ford Taunus

text: A couple of different TC2 Ford Taunus models were driven by Barry Foster in his portrayal as Amsterdam detective Van der Valk in the original series


title: Ford Taunus

text: Modified Taunus TCs are used as the Omega forces patrol vehicles in the Italian film "Warrior of the Lost World".


title: Short Tucano

text: The Short Tucano is a two-seat turboprop basic trainer built by Short Brothers in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a licence-built version of the Brazilian Embraer EMB 312 Tucano.


title: Short Tucano

text: On 14 February 1986, the prototype conducted its maiden flight in Brazil before being delivered to Shorts to be used as a pattern aircraft and modified to meet Royal Air Force (RAF) requirements and used for trials and demonstrations. The first Short-assembled aircraft flew on 30 December 1986; deliveries to the RAF commenced during June 1988. The final example of the type was completed in 1995. Maintenance and support of the RAF's Tucano fleet was typically outsourced to several private companies.


title: Short Tucano

text: The RAF was the Tucano's primary operator, although export sales have been achieved with the nations of Kenya and Kuwait. A handful have also been purchased and piloted by private individuals. On 25 October 2019, the Tucano was withdrawn from RAF service and was replaced by the Beechcraft T-6Cs.


title: Short Tucano

text: Development of the Short Tucano commenced in May 1984, following an agreement between Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer and Northern Ireland aviation firm Short Brothers to collaborate on a response to an outstanding British requirement, which sought a replacement for the aging BAC Jet Provost basic trainer for the Royal Air Force (RAF). For this purpose, the RAF had issued Air Staff Target 412, defining the performance criteria it desire for a new high-performance turboprop-powered basic trainer. A short list was compiled of various aircraft that had been submitted in response; other than the Tucano, the types considered were the Swiss Pilatus PC-9, the British NDN-1T Turbo-Firecracker and the Australian Aircraft Consortium's (AAC) A.20 Wamira II.


title: Short Tucano

text: During 1984, Embraer dispatched the seventh EMB-312 airframe off the production line to Shorts, where it received numerous modifications in order to meet the AST-412 requirements. During September 1984, this same aircraft was displayed at the Farnborough Airshow; by this point, it had been equipped with an uprated PT6A-25C2 engine and a ventral air brake, which reportedly enabled the Tucano to achieve the required stall speed of 60 kn. However, tests undertaken at MOD Boscombe Down later on that year indicated the need to re-engine the aircraft in order to satisfy the RAF's requirement for time to height; accordingly, the Garrett TPE331 was selected.


title: Short Tucano

text: On 21 March 1985, the Short Tucano proposal was declared the winner of the AST.412, receiving a contract worth £126 million for the provision of 130 aircraft, along with an option for a further 15; this option was never taken up. The first flight of the prototype EMB-312G2, which was furnished with a four-bladed Hartzell propeller and the Garrett TPE331-10 engine, took place in Brazil on 14 February of the following year. Shortly afterwards, this aircraft was disassembled and airlifted to Short's Belfast facility on 29 March 1986, where it was reassembled and returned to the skies just ten days later. During June of that year, the TPE331-10 engine was replaced by the improved TPE331-12B, a major difference being the integration of an Electronic Engine Controller (EEC) system.


title: Short Tucano

text: On 30 December 1986, the first standard production model Tucano T.Mk 1 was flown; its official rollout took place on 20 January 1987. On 10 March 1987, the second aircraft made its first flight, and, by April, a third Tucano had joined the test fleet for clearance and final testing, which was largely undertaken at MOD Boscombe Down. The fourth aircraft to be built was the first delivered to the RAF on 16 June 1988 at the Central Flying School. Deliveries would continue to the RAF for another five years, the final aircraft arriving on 25 January 1993.


title: Short Tucano

text: In addition to the sizable order for the RAF, multiple export customers emerged for the Shorts-produced Tucanos. The Kenyan Air Force ordered a total of 12 units while a further 16 Tucanos were exported to Kuwait. Those Tucanos delivered to the Kuwait Air Force were suitable furnished to be combat-capable, it was armed for the purposes of both weapons training and light attack duties; such aircraft are fitted with four hard points, each capable of mounting various rocket pods, cannons, bombs, and external fuel tanks.


title: Short Tucano

text: Due to its Garrett engine, the Short Tucano is more responsive to thrust changes and is somewhat noisier than the original Tucano. In addition to the revised engine, the major differences of the Short Tucano are a strengthened airframe for an improved fatigue life, a cockpit layout similar to the RAF's Hawk advanced trainer, a revised oxygen system, a flight data recorder, a four-bladed propeller, ventral airbrake and restyled wingtips. Two Martin-Baker MB 8LC ejection seats are used and the canopy was modified to meet the RAF's bird strike requirements. During its production run, Shorts commonly promoted the airframe as being "100% British-built". In order to meet RAF requirements, the EMB-312 has some 900 modifications, which reduces commonality with the original aircraft to roughly 50% of its content.


title: Short Tucano

text: During June 1988, the first Tucano deliveries were made to the RAF; induction of the type commenced thereafter. The type has been principally operated by No. 1 Flying Training School, based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, where it has been used to provide basic fast-jet flying training to RAF and RN student pilots, on 72 (Reserve) Squadron. Typically, student pilots would fly around 130 hours during their training course on the Tucano before progressing to the jet-powered Hawk T2 aircraft, based at RAF Valley.


title: Short Tucano

text: The Short Tucano succeeded the BAC Jet Provost as the basic trainer for the RAF, preparing the student pilots for progression to the Hawk T1 advanced trainer aircraft. Following its introduction, the Tucano had reportedly proven to be roughly 70% cheaper to operate than its predecessor. The Tucano's accident record has also been remarkably better than other ab-initio training aircraft, with only five aircraft written off with no fatalities in over 20 years.


title: Short Tucano

text: In March 2007, while discussing the British military contribution to the War in Afghanistan, the British Parliament discussed the concept of replacing the region's detachment of RAF Harriers and Tornados, which were being used to provide close air support to Allied forces, with a number of armed Short Tucanos, which would be re-roled as a dedicated counter-insurgency asset. Such use would have required extensive modifications to the RAF aircraft, as they were not fitted with underwing hard points for mounting armaments and equipment upon. Air Chief Marshal Stephen Dalton was dismissive of this suggested use of the Tucano, stating that it would cost lives amongst those on the ground and damage Britain's credibility and influence within the coalition forces in Afghanistan, and criticising its lack of operational flexibility.


title: Short Tucano

text: The RAF's Tucanos have been typically maintained by private companies, defence firm VT Group operated one such support contract during the early 2010s. During July 2008, the Tucano's envisioned retirement date was moved from 2010 to around 2012, although further extension seemed likely. At one point, Marshall Aerospace were championing the concept of upgrading the Tucano fleet as an inexpensive means of meeting the RAF's future basic trainer requirements; the prospective upgrade would have been largely based around cockpit instrumentation improvements as the airframes reportedly had around 8,000 flying hours remaining; some aerodynamic refinements had also been mooted but were dismissed as not being cost-effective.


title: Short Tucano

text: By 2010, the Tucano fleet was scheduled to be withdrawn from RAF service in 2015, at which point it was to have been replaced by the winner of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme. However, the type's out of service date was put back by several years; the last of the Beechcraft T-6Cs, the Tucano's direct replacement, was delivered to RAF Valley on 3 December 2018.


title: Short Tucano

text: On 25 October 2019, the Tucano was withdrawn from RAF service; to mark the type's retirement, an aerial display was performed at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, which was also set for closure.


title: Short Tucano

text: On 22 Feb 1990, the first export Tucano Mk 51 "ZH203" (destined for Kenya) crashed near Rathlin Island due to tailplane flutter in high speed weapons carriage trials, killing Shorts Chief Test Pilot Allan Deacon who ejected but drowned.


title: Short Tucano

text: The RAF lost 5 aircraft in service, all non-fatal (four involved ejections): "ZF316" on 12 May 1992, "ZF270" on 13 May 1996, "ZF293" on 22 Aug 2000, "ZF344" on 12 Mar 2009 and "ZF349" on 8 Jan 2013.


title: Short Tucano

text: On 22 June 2015, movie soundtrack composer James Horner died when the Tucano he was piloting crashed in central California in a remote region of the Los Padres National Forest about 60 miles (97 km) north of Santa Barbara. Horner was the sole occupant of the plane.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, he only lived in America as a child, spending the rest of his life in England, Wales and India. Starting as a clerk, he eventually rose up to the rank of President of the British East India Company settlement in Fort St George, Madras. He later lost that position under charges of corruption for self-dealing and had to pay a fine. In 1699, he returned to Britain with a considerable fortune, around £200,000, mostly made by selling diamonds, and spent his time and wealth toward philanthropy and art collecting. He is best remembered as the primary benefactor of Yale College (now Yale University), which was named in his honor, following a sizable donation of books, portrait and textiles under the request of Rev. Cotton Mather, a Harvard graduate. No direct descendants of his has survived to this day.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to David Yale (1613–1690), a wealthy Boston merchant and attorney to Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, and Ursula Knight; he was the grandson of Ann Yale (born Lloyd), daughter of Bishop George Lloyd, who, after the death of her first husband, Thomas Yale, Sr, (1587–1619), married Governor Theophilus Eaton (1590–1658). Governor Eaton was the co-founder of two of the Thirteen British Colonies, who are represented on the Flag of the United States, mainly through the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the New Haven Colony, and was the brother of Nathaniel Eaton, Harvard's first Headmaster and President designate, at the founding of Harvard in 1636. His son, Samuel Eaton, the uncle of Elihu, was implied in the foundation of Harvard as well, being one of the seven founders of the Harvard Corporation, the governing board and charter that incorporated Harvard in 1650. It was they, along with Elihu's uncle and aunt, Thomas Yale, Jr, and Anne Yale, Jr, who brought the reconstituted Eaton/Yale family to America, while other members of the family stayed in England.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Elihu 's father, David Yale, would later come from London to New Haven Colony with his stepfather, Theophilus Eaton, in 1639. He moved to Boston in 1641 and met & married Elihu Yale's mother, Ursula, in 1643. In 1652 at the age of three, Elihu Yale left New England, never to return, as David Yale took his family back to London. While scarce, a letter suggests that David Yale remained a successful merchant and settled his family in the Hanseatic merchant district "Steelyard Court". In 1662 at the age of thirteen, Elihu Yale entered the private school of William Dugard, but Dugard died a few months after Elihu Yale enrolled. Elihu Yale likely lived through the Great Plague of London, though no one in his family died; and the Great Fire of London.


title: Elihu Yale

text: In 1670, at the age of 21, Elihu Yale became a clerk for the East India Company and served an apprenticeship in London in the Leadenhall Street office. It is possible that Elihu Yale had business training in his father's merchant counting house, and his father's connections helped him get the job. The following year in 1671, Yale was one of twenty men chosen as "Writers" in India. Elihu Yale was bonded for £500 with the help of his father and his brother David.


title: Elihu Yale

text: For 20 years Yale served the East India Company. In 1684, he became the first president of Fort St George, the company's post at Madras (now Chennai), India. He succeeded a number of agents from Andrew Cogan to William Gyfford. Yale was instrumental in the development of the Government General Hospital, housed at Fort St George.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Yale amassed a fortune while working for the company, largely through secret contracts with Madras merchants, against the East India Company's directive. By 1692, his repeated flouting of East India Company regulations and growing embarrassment at his illegal profiteering resulted in his being relieved of the post of governor.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Elihu Yale was re-appointed as president of the administration of Fort St George on 26 July 1687. He then implemented an order dated 14 January 1685 which required the English at Fort St George to make all attempts at procurement of the town of Santhome on lease. To this effect, Chinna Venkatadri was sent to negotiate with the local governor on 4 August 1687. The mission was successful and Venkatadri assumed sovereignty over Santhome for a period of three years. Notwithstanding the vehement protests of the Portuguese inhabitants of Santhome, the English gained absolute control over all lands up to St Thomas Mount for a period of three years.


title: Elihu Yale

text: In September 1688, the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb took Golconda after a prolonged battle. The Mughals took the Sultan of Golconda prisoner and annexed the state. The newly designated Mughal Subedar of the province immediately sent a letter to the British authorities at Fort St George demanding that the English at Madras acknowledge the overlordship of the Mughal Emperor. The English complied willingly. Aurangazeb guaranteed the independence of Madras, but in return demanded that the English supply troops in the event of a war against the Marathas. It was around this time that Yale's three-year-old son David Yale died and was interred in the Madras cemetery.


title: Elihu Yale

text: The records of this period mention a flourishing slave trade in Madras. After English merchants began to kidnap young children and deport them to distant parts of the world, the administration of Fort St George stepped in and introduced laws to curb the practice. On 2 February 1688, Elihu Yale decreed that slaves should be examined by the judges of the choultry before being transported. Transportation of young children, in particular, was made unlawful. Beyond this, the nature of Yale's involvement in the slave trade remains disputed. A blog post by a Yale history Ph.D. candidate and manager of the Yale Slavery and Abolition Portal notes that he permitted a law that at least ten slaves should be carried on every ship bound for Europe and in his capacity as judge he also on several occasions sentenced so-called "black criminals" to whipping and enslavement. On the other hand, according to Steven Pincus, a former Yale professor of history and current professor at the University of Chicago, Yale was never a slave trader and never owned slaves – and in fact opposed the slave trade during his time as President of Madras.


title: Elihu Yale

text: During Yale's presidency, a plan for setting up a corporation in Madras was conceived by Josiah Child, the Governor of the East India Company, in a letter addressed to the factors at Madras on 28 September 1687. Three months later, Child and his deputy had an audience with King James II, and as per the ensuing discussions, a charter was issued by the King on 30 December 1687 which established the Corporation of Madras. The charter came into effect on 29 September 1688, and a Corporation was established comprising a Mayor, 12 Aldermen, 60-100 Burgesses and sergeants. Nathaniel Higginson, who was then the second member of the Council of Fort St George, took office as the Mayor of Madras.


title: Elihu Yale

text: In August 1689, a French fleet appeared near the coast of Ceylon compelling the Governor of Pulicat Lawrence Pitt who was on high seas to seek protection within the bastions of Fort St George. Throughout the year 1690, French naval ships from Pondicherry ravaged the coast in order to drive the English and the Dutch out of the East Indies but were unsuccessful. They eventually withdrew from their enterprise when faced with heavy losses. It was also during this time that the English purchased the town of Tegnapatnam from the Marathas.


title: Elihu Yale

text: After Jacques de Paiva's death in 1687, Elihu Yale fell in love with his widow Hieronima de Paiva and brought her to live with him, causing quite a scandal within Madras’s colonial society. Elihu Yale and Hieromima de Paiva had a son. The son died in South Africa.


title: Elihu Yale

text: As president of Fort St George, Yale purchased territory for private purposes with East India Company funds, including a fort at Devanampattinam (now Cuddalore). Yale imposed high taxes for the maintenance of the colonial garrison and town, resulting in an unpopular regime and several revolts by Indians, brutally quelled by garrison soldiers. Yale was also notorious for arresting and trying Indians on his own private authority, including the hanging of a stable boy who had absconded with a Company horse.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Charges of corruption were brought against Elihu Yale in the last years of his presidency. He was eventually removed in 1692 and replaced with Nathaniel Higginson as the President of Madras.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Yale returned to Britain in 1699, with a fortune that amounted to £200,000, mostly made by selling diamonds from the Golconda mines and the Kollur mines, in Southern India. Along with Jean Chardin and Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, the traveling merchant of Louis XIV, he was among the most important European diamond traders in the world, as nearly all diamonds came from India during that period. In relation to GDP, his fortune amounted to 1/4 % of the United Kingdom's GDP at the time, which translates to nearly 6 billion British pounds in 2021 money. He kept doing business with his friends Governor Thomas Pitt and Sir Charles Cotterell, during the era where London became the international trading centre of diamonds, dislodging Portugal and the Netherlands.


title: Elihu Yale

text: He spent the rest of his life at Plas Grono on the Erddig estate, a mansion in Wrexham bought by his father, and at his main London residence in Queen's Square. He had four houses in London as well as several coach houses and stables to store his vast art collection of more than 10,000 items consisting of paintings, jewels, pictures, books, watches, swords, and other items. A famous object of his collection was one of the Jewels of Mary, Queen of Scots as well as a painting from Dutch painter Adriaen van der Werff. He also leased Latimer House from his son-in-law, Lord James Cavendish, son of the 1st Duke of Devonshire, to accommodate his daughter Ursula.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Elihu was later elected High Sheriff of Denbighshire in Wales, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1717. Around 1719, he was a subject in the painting Elihu Yale with Members of his Family and an Enslaved Child.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Elihu Yale married Catherine Hynmers in 1680, widow of Joseph Hynmers, second-in-command of Fort St George, India as Deputy Governor for the East India Company. The wedding took place at St Mary's Church, at Fort St George, where Yale was a vestryman and treasurer. The marriage was the first registered at the church.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Katherine Yale (died 1715) married Dudley North of Glemham Hall, son of Sir Dudley North of Camden Place, and Anne Cann, daughter of Sir Robert Cann, 1st Baronet of Compton Greenfield, Gloucestershire. He was a cousin of Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford of Wroxton Abbey and a grandson of Anne Montagu of Boughton House, member of the House of Montagu. Their daughter Anne North would marry Nicholas Herbert, member of the House of Herbert, son of the 8th Earl of Pembroke, Thomas Herbert of Wilton House and his first wife, Margaret Sawyer of Highclere Castle while one of their sons, William Dudley North, would marry Lady Barbara Herbert, daughter of Thomas and his second wife, Barbara Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. Nicholas's only daughter, Barbara, would marry the 2nd Earl of Aldborough, Edward Stratford, member of the House of Stratford.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Anne Yale (died 1734), married Lord James Cavendish of Staveley Hall, member of the House of Cavendish, son of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire of Chatsworth House and Lady Mary Butler, member of the House of Butler and daughter of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde of Kilkenny Castle. James was also a grandson of Countess Elizabeth Cecil of Hatfield House, member of the Salisbury's House of Cecil, a great-grandson of Countess Catherine Howard of Audley End House, member of the House of Howard, and a nephew of John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter of Burghley House, member of the Exeter's House of Cecil.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Ursula Yale (died 1721), died childless at Latimer House, the house was rented by Elihu Yale from his son-in-law Lord James Cavendish, husband of Anne Yale, and is buried in the small church on the estate, St Mary Magdalene.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Yale died on 8 July 1721 in London. His body was buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St Giles' Church, Wrexham, Wales. His tomb is inscribed with these lines:


title: Elihu Yale

text: In Boston, Massachusetts, a tablet to Yale was erected in 1927 at Scollay Square, near the site of Yale's birth. Yale president Arthur Twining Hadley penned the inscription, which reads: "On Pemberton Hill, 255 Feet North of This Spot, Was Born on April Fifth 1649 Elihu Yale, Governor of Madras, Whose Permanent Memorial in His Native Land is the College That Bears His Name."


title: Elihu Yale

text: In 1718, Cotton Mather contacted Yale and asked for his help. Mather represented a small institution of learning that had been founded in 1701 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, as the Collegiate School of Connecticut, which needed money for a new building. Yale sent Mather 417 books, a portrait of King George I, and nine bales of goods. These last were sold by the school for £800. In gratitude, officials named the new building Yale; eventually the entire institution became Yale College.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Yale was also a vestryman and treasurer of St Mary's Church at Fort St George. On 6 October 1968, the 250th anniversary of the naming of Yale College for Elihu Yale, the classmates of Chester Bowles, then the American ambassador to India and a graduate of Yale (1924), donated money for lasting improvements to the church and erected a plaque to commemorate the occasion. In 1970, a portrait of him, "Elihu Yale seated at table with the Second Duke of Devonshire and Lord James Cavendish" was donated to the Yale Center for British Art from Chatsworth House.


title: Elihu Yale

text: On 5 April 1999, Yale University recognised the 350th anniversary of Yale's birthday. An article that year in "American Heritage" magazine rated Elihu Yale the "most overrated philanthropist" in American history, arguing that the college that became Yale University was successful largely because of the generosity of a man named Jeremiah Dummer, but that the trustees of the school did not want it known by the name "Dummer College".


title: Elihu Yale

text: In her article for "The Atlantic" about Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University, Alexandra Robbins alleges that Yale's headstone was stolen years ago from its proper setting in Wrexham. She further alleges that the tombstone is now displayed in a glass case in a room with purple walls.


title: Elihu Yale

text: One of Elihu Yale's responsibilities as president of Fort St George was overseeing its slave trade, though he was never a slave trader, never owned slaves, opposed the slave trade, and imposed several restrictions on it during his tenure. Dave Collins argues that there is no evidence for Yale ever having enslaved anyone himself but adds that relatives in New Haven likely did.


title: Elihu Yale

text: Nonetheless, critics argue that he benefited from the trade by having it as one of his responsibilities as President, despite not owning any of the enslaved people or profiting from their sales. Elizabeth Kuebler-Wolf in the "Journal of Global History" argues that Yale enslaved at least one person (maybe two) as a household slave, as indicated by Hiram Bingham's book "Elihu Yale". In a 2020 piece for the "New Haven Independent", Sean O'Brien notes that some Fort St George archival material indicates that Yale punished Indians with enslavement.


title: Elihu Yale

text: The ancestry of the Yale family can be traced back from Chancellor Thomas Yale, born 1525, to many Royal and Noble houses of Britain as descendants of the Royal House of Mathrafal, the Royal House of Aberffraw, the Royal House of Plantagenet, the Princely House of Powys Fadog, the Tudors of Penmynydd and many others. For the House of Mathrafal, and Powys Fadog, it was through Tudur ap Gruffudd, Lord of Gwyddelwern and brother of the last native Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndŵr, while for the House of Aberffraw, and the Tudors of Penmynydd, it was through Elen Ferch Tomos, the mother of Owain. From these families they inherited Lordships and estates, such as Plas yn Iâl (Yale).


title: Elihu Yale

text: The Coat of arms of the Yales came originally in the family from Osborn Fitzgerald, Lord of Ynys-m-Maengwyn and Corsygedol, of which they were the direct descendants, and was used to create the coat of arms of Yale College. Osborn Fitzgerald was a member of the House of Fitzgerald through the Earls of Desmond. He made the trip from Ireland to Wales during the thirteenth century with Gruffydd ab Ednyved Vychan, son of Seneschal Ednyfed Fychan, and was granted Lordships by the Prince of North Wales, Llywelyn the Great. He was the progenitor of many houses in Wales, including the House of Yale, co-representative of the Sovereign Dynasties of Powys, North Wales, and South Wales. The House of Yale is, on the paternal side, a cadet branch of the Royal House of Mathrafal, through the Princes of Powys Fadog, and a cadet branch of the Fitzgerald Dynasty, through the Merioneth House of Corsygedol.


title: Elihu Yale

text: The family estate at Plas yn Iâl ("Iâl" is anglicised as "Yale"), North Wales, of which the family took the name, was inherited from Baron Elissau ab Gruffydd, a member of the Royal House of Mathrafal and descendant of the Royal House of Plantagenet, when he married Margaret, the heiress of Plas yn Yale, in the Lordship of Bromfield and Yale. Her ancestor, Lord Mostyn, was granted the estate by the Prince of Wales, Owain Gwynedd, for his services at the Battle of Crogen in 1165. Elissau ab Gruffydd was the grandfather of Chancellor Thomas Yale, who was the first to adopt definitively the Yale surname, and had, as his ancestor, Prince Gruffudd Fychan I, the Lord of Yale. The estate was originally called Allt Llwyn Dragon, which means Dragon's Grove Hill.


title: Sex and the law

text: Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes.


title: Sex and the law

text: Some laws regarding sexual activity are intended to protect one or all participants, while others are intended to proscribe behavior that has been defined as a crime. For example, a law may proscribe unprotected sex if one person knows that they have a sexual disease or to protect a minor; or it may proscribe non-consensual sex. In general, laws may proscribe acts which are considered either sexual abuse or behavior that societies consider to be inappropriate and against the social norms. Sexual abuse is unwanted sexual contact between two or more adults or two or more minors, and, depending on laws with regard to age of consent, sexual contact between an adult and a minor.


title: Sex and the law

text: Sex crimes are forms of human sexual behavior that are considered sufficiently unacceptable and harmful to society to be regarded as criminal. Someone who commits one is said to be a "sex offender". Some sex crimes are crimes of violence that involve sex. Others are violations of social taboos, such as incest, sodomy, indecent exposure or exhibitionism. There is much variation among cultures as to what is considered a crime or not, and in what ways or to what extent crimes are punished.


title: Sex and the law

text: Western countries are often far more tolerant of acts, such as oral sex, that have traditionally been held to be crimes in some countries, but combine this with lesser tolerance for the remaining crimes. By contrast, many cultures with a strong religious tradition consider a far broader range of activities to be serious crimes.


title: Sex and the law

text: As a general rule, the law in many countries often intervenes in sexual activity involving young or adolescent children below the legal age of consent, non-consensual deliberate displays or illicit watching of sexual activity, sex with close relatives (incest), harm to animals, acts involving the deceased (necrophilia). Intervention may also arise when there is harassment, nuisance, fear, injury, or assault of a sexual nature, or serious risk of abuse of certain professional relationships. Separately, the law usually regulates or controls the censorship of pornographic or obscene material as well.


title: Sex and the law

text: A variety of laws aim to protect children by making various acts with children a sex crime. For example, the "corruption of minors" by introducing material or behaviors that are intended to groom a minor for future sexual conduct. The materials or behavior can involve sexual content but does not necessarily have to. Depending on the jurisdiction, this conduct can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor. Sometimes these laws overlap with age of consent laws, laws preventing the exposure of children to pornography, laws making it a crime for a child to be involved in (or exposed to) certain sexual behaviors, and the production and ownership of child pornography (sometimes including simulated images). In some countries such as the UK, the age for child pornography is higher than the age of consent, hence child pornography laws also cover images involving consenting adults.


title: Sex and the law

text: Sadomasochistic conduct among adults can fall into a legal grey area. Some jurisdictions criminalize some or all sadomasochistic acts, regardless of legal consent and impose liability for any injuries caused. "(See Consent (BDSM))" Other jurisdictions permit sadomasochistic conduct so long as the participants consent to the conduct.


title: Sex and the law

text: While the phrases "age of consent" or "statutory rape" typically do not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent of consenting to engage in sexual acts. This should not be confused with the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, or the marriageable age.


title: Sex and the law

text: Some jurisdictions forbid sexual activity outside of legal marriage completely. The relevant age may also vary by the type of sexual act, the sex of the actors, or other restrictions such as abuse of a position of trust. Some jurisdictions may make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a hard and fast single age. Charges resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a relatively low-level misdemeanor such as "corruption of a minor", to "statutory rape" (which is considered equivalent to rape, both in severity and sentencing).


title: Sex and the law

text: Adultery is a crime in many Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Oman, Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sudan, and Yemen.


title: Sex and the law

text: Custom and tradition are the most frequently cited reasons for female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is the removal of the genitals in cultures especially islamic culture perpetuating male domination. Approximately 125 million girls and women are victims of female genital mutilation throughout the world. With the practices often being performed to exert control over the sexual behavior of girls and women or as a perceived aesthetic improvement to the appearance of their genitalia. The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of many health organizations that have campaigned against the procedures on behalf of human rights, stating that "FGM has no health benefits" and that it is "a violation of the human rights of girls and women" and "reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes".


title: Sex and the law

text: Most countries prohibit female genital mutilation, including prohibiting the procedure to be performed on its citizens and residents while outside their jurisdictions, and the New York State Penal Law lists female genital mutilation as a sexual offense.


title: Sex and the law

text: Sexual activity between family members or close relatives is often considered incest, which is illegal in many jurisdictions, though what constitutes an "incestuous relationship" varies by jurisdiction, and may depend on the type of sexual activity and whether the relationship is one of consanguinity, affinity or other relationship, such as by adoption. In law, the proscribed sexual activity is usually limited to sexual intercourse, though terminology varies, and which in some jurisdictions is limited to penile-vaginal sexual intercourse. Incestuous sexual activity, as defined by each jurisdiction, is usually unlawful irrespective of the consent of the parties and irrespective of their age. This prohibition usually also extends to the marriage of people in the proscribed incestuous relationships.


title: Sex and the law

text: One author argued that use of particular language devices and rhetoric in the legislation surrounding these laws manipulates the viewer to automatically deem such sexual acts to be immoral and criminal. In this view, the law is attempting to morally control society, which is not one of the purposes of the law. This means that people will condemn those who partake in familial sexual activities, even if all parties are consenting adults.


title: Sex and the law

text: In some states, sex between members of the same sex, or between men, is illegal. In a report done in 2013, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) indicated that homosexuality is still criminalized in some form in 76 states, with a high concentration of these states in the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia. Scholars have found that religion plays an important role in the legislation criminalizing sodomy. Countries that are predominately Muslim, for example, are less likely to decriminalize acts of sodomy as these acts are in direct contradiction with Islamic traditions. While quantitative research has not proven a link between the continued criminalization of sodomy and Christianity, there are many Protestant denominations, as well as the Catholic Church, that oppose the practice of homosexuality. While one might expect that the decriminalization of sodomy laws would support the mobilization of lesbian and gay rights, this is not necessarily the case, as there is debate on whether or a direct link exists between the two. In legislation regarding sodomy, there is typically no explicit statements given in the support of gay and lesbian rights since the reforms generally the result of a large emendation to penal code. There is some evidence in support of the opposite effect, as the re-criminalization of sodomy in India in 2013 caused a resurgence of gay rights activism.


title: Sex and the law

text: In studying the changes of sodomy statutes, Frank et al. (2009) found that between 1945 and 2005, "90 percent of all modifications involved liberalization in some way" of non-heterosexual acts. This was seen as evidence of a "sodomy-law reform wave." During the same period, however, eight countries expanded their laws regarding sodomy. In January 2014, Nigeria expanded their criminalization of homosexuality by passing legislation to enforce more severe penalties including a ban against same-sex marriage and participation in any gay organizations. Sodomy laws, however, are rarely used to penalize consensual acts, involving adults, that occur in private. In the 1970s, the only arrests (in the US) involving consensual, non-heterosexual acts were in public or quasi-public. While many sodomy laws are concerned with sexual acts as opposed to sexual orientations, the legislation is often interpreted as if being gay or lesbian is sufficient enough evidence to deem someone guilty as to having engaged in criminal acts. This led US judges to deny parents' custody of their children, student groups were not granted recognition by university officials, and many legislators were opposed to civil rights bills that included sexual orientation.


title: Sex and the law

text: Many revisions to sodomy laws were not a part of large government transitions, but rather included as a part of other general revisions of criminal legislation. There are two main pathways in which sodomy laws have been decriminalized: judicial invalidation and repeal of the law by vote of legislation. The United States did not decriminalize sodomy nationwide until 2003; however, many states, based on the council of judges and lawyers, did decriminalize sodomy as early as 1961.


title: Sex and the law

text: During the rise of Putin, Russia has seen a resurgence in "religious conservatism" which has resulted in the indirect re-criminalizing homosexuality. An amendment was made to Russian legislation in 2013 that emphasizes the protection of children from information that could be deemed as damaging to their mental health and development. In the amendment to the Federal Law of Russian Federation no. 436-FZ, "propaganda" of non-traditional sexual relationships among minors was classified as harmful, and while the law does not criminalize homosexuality directly, it has created a hostile environment for LGBT activism. The US and Europe have condemned Russia's actions, but despite the domestic and international pushback, the Russian anti-LGBT propaganda law still stands.


title: Kristen Welker

text: Kristen Welker (born July 1, 1976) is an American television journalist working for NBC News. She serves as a White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C., and co-anchor of "Weekend Today", the Saturday edition of "Today", alongside Peter Alexander.


title: Kristen Welker

text: Welker is the daughter of Harvey and Julie Welker. Her father is an engineer, her mother a real estate agent. Welker's father is white and her mother is black. She graduated from Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia in 1994 and Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1998. At Harvard, she majored in history and graduated with honors. Welker also interned for "Today" in 1997, while at Harvard.


title: Kristen Welker

text: Welker has worked at ABC affiliates WLNE-TV in Providence, Rhode Island, and KRCR-TV in Redding/Chico, California, and joined NBC in 2005 at affiliate WCAU in Philadelphia, where she was a reporter and weekend anchor. She then joined NBC News in 2010 as a correspondent based at the NBC News West Coast Headquarters in Burbank, California. She became an NBC White House correspondent in December 2011.