title: National Invitation Tournament

text: The status of the post-season National Invitation Tournament as a "consolation" fixture has led to somewhat of a stigma in the minds of many fans. When teams with tenuous hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth lose away from home late in the season, opposing fans may taunt the players in the closing seconds with chants of "NIT! NIT!" This is done regardless of whether the home team is headed for the NCAA Tournament or not. Irv Moss, a journalist for the "Denver Post", once wrote of such a taunt to a defeated team, "The three-letter word... was far more cutting than any four-letter word they could have hollered."


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: Because the post-season NIT consists of teams that failed to receive a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the NIT has been nicknamed the "Not Invited Tournament", "Not Important Tournament", "Never Important Tournament", "Nobody's Interested Tournament", "Needs Improvement Tournament", "No Important Team", "National Insignificant Tournament," or simply "Not In Tournament". It has also been called a tournament to see who the "69th best team" in the country is (since there are now 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament).


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: David Thompson, an All-American player from North Carolina State, called the NIT "a loser's tournament" in 1975. NC State, which had been the previous year's NCAA champion, refused to play in the tournament that year, following the precedent set by ACC rival Maryland the previous season after losing the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game to the top-ranked Wolfpack. In succeeding years, other teams such as Oklahoma State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, and LSU have declined to play in the NIT when they did not make the NCAA tournament. One such team was Maryland; after being rejected by the NCAA selection committee in 2006, head coach Gary Williams announced that 19-11 Maryland would not go to the NIT, only to be told that the university had previously agreed to use Comcast Center as a venue for the NIT. The Terrapins were eliminated in the first round by the Manhattan College Jaspers. In 2008, however, Williams announced that if invited, the Terps would play, because it would serve as a chance to further develop six freshman players on his squad and to give senior forward James Gist more exposure. At UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, there are individual championship banners for all 11 NCAA titles; there hung a banner for the UCLA's 1985 NIT championship until the 1995 NCAA championship banner replaced it. However, during the recent remodeling of Pauley Pavilion a plaque was installed along the concourse of the building commemorating the Bruins 1985 NIT Championship.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: For other teams, however, the NIT is perceived as a step up in a program climbing from mediocrity or obscurity, and the response is more enthusiastic. For example, at the University of Tulsa, which won the NIT in 1981 and 2001, the Golden Hurricane's NIT "championship tradition" is viewed with pride and as a "lure" for players to join the program. The University of Connecticut also regards the NIT as the beginning of its success. The NIT is also held in generally higher regard than the three newer tournaments that have debuted since 2008 (the current College Basketball Invitational and The Basketball Classic, plus the Vegas 16, which folded after only one edition); St. Bonaventure, a school that has a policy of refusing to play in those newer tournaments, still accepts bids to the NIT if invited.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: The NIT Season Tip-Off carries none of the postseason tournament's stigma, and is one of many popular season-opening tournaments held every year around the country (alongside events such as the Maui Invitational and the now-defunct Great Alaska Shootout).


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: In the past, NIT teams were selected in consultation with ESPN, the television home of the NIT. The goal of the NIT was to sustain the MIBA financially. Therefore, schools selected to play in the NIT were often major conference teams with records near .500 that had large television fan bases and would likely have a respectable attendance for tournament games on their home court. The latter is one reason why New Mexico was invited virtually every year — the Lobos often had a winning season but failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Seeding considerations and home court advantage included the number of fans willing to show up to each game. In an effort to maintain some quality, a rule saying that a team must have a .500 or better overall record to qualify for the NIT was imposed.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: The NCAA announced a revamped selection process starting with the 2017 tournament. The main highlights are:


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: In addition, the selection process was changed. ESPN no longer had a hand in the selection of the teams. Instead, a committee of former NCAA head coaches, chaired by Newton, and including Gene Keady (Purdue), Don DeVoe (Tennessee), Rudy Davalos, Les Robinson (NC State), Reggie Minton (Air Force), John Powers, and Carroll Williams among others, prepared a list of potential teams in advance.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: Beginning with the 2016 NIT, the committee makeup was restructured; committee members will serve a maximum four-year term, and the committee will feature a mix of current athletics administrators who are actively working at NCAA schools or conferences and former head college basketball coaches. Previously, the NIT Committee had eight members, all of whom had been former head college basketball coaches or athletics directors. The previous structure had no term limits or succession plan.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: ESPN continues to provide television coverage of the tournament. In 2011 the NCAA and ESPN agreed to a $500 million agreement through 2023–24 for rights to cover championships in several sports, including the NIT; this compares with the 11-year, $6.2 billion TV contract with CBS for the NCAA tournament.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: These changes are intended to encourage participation by good college teams that would rather stay home than play in the NIT – to make it the "Little Dance" instead of the "loser's tournament". Former NIT Committee chair and former Alabama and Vanderbilt head coach C. M. Newton stated, "What we want to have is a true basketball event, a real tournament, one where there's no preconceived ideas of who gets to New York. We'd love to have great crowds, but this is not a financial consideration. We want good television coverage, but we're not going to play this thing for television and move games around".


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: From 2007 to 2019, the 32-team field used from 1980 through 2001 is the same, eliminating the eight-game "play-in" opening round where teams played to qualify for second round games against the top eight seeds used 2002–2006. The tournament features four eight-team regions. There's one exception: 16 teams competed in 2021. For the first time since 2011, the format prevented the tournament from extending the NIT's automatic bid to any regular-season conference champion that did not make the NCAA's field of 68 (Ohio Valley Conference champion Belmont was not invited). Seven teams earned an NIT bid that way in 2006.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: A new attendance record for an NIT game was set at Syracuse University's Carrier Dome on March 19, 2007, at the Syracuse-San Diego State game. Syracuse won the game 80–64 with an attendance total of 26,752. The previous record of 23,522 was set by Kentucky in 1979.


title: National Invitation Tournament

text: From 1969 to 1996, a National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT) existed; the tournament was resurrected under the same name in 1998, and has been known as the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) since 1999. The original NWIT was an eight-team tournament held in Amarillo, Texas throughout its history. The revived tournament began with 16 teams, expanded to 32 in its second season, and has since expanded further to 40, 48, and (since 2010) 64 teams. However, the WNIT is affiliated with the NIT in name only. Neither the NWIT nor WNIT was connected with MIBA, and the WNIT was not purchased by the NCAA; it is currently being run and operated by Triple Crown Sports.


title: Cement clinker

text: Cement clinker is a solid material produced in the manufacture of Portland cement as an intermediary product. Clinker occurs as lumps or nodules, usually to in diameter. It is produced by sintering (fusing together without melting to the point of liquefaction) limestone and aluminosilicate materials such as clay during the cement kiln stage.


title: Cement clinker

text: The Portland clinker essentially consists of four mineral phases: two calcium silicates, alite (CaSi) and belite (CaSi), along with tricalcium aluminate (CaAl) and calcium aluminoferrite (CaAlFe). These main mineral phases are produced by heating at high temperature clays and limestone.


title: Cement clinker

text: Portland cement clinker is made by heating a homogeneous mixture of raw materials in a rotary kiln at high temperature. The products of the chemical reaction aggregate together at their sintering temperature, about . Aluminium oxide and iron oxide are present only as a flux to reduce the sintering temperature and contribute little to the cement strength. For special cements, such as "low heat" (LH) and "sulfate resistant" (SR) types, it is necessary to limit the amount of tricalcium aluminate formed. The major raw material for the clinker-making is usually limestone mixed with a second material containing clay as a source of alumino-silicate. An impure limestone containing clay or silicon dioxide (SiO) can be used. The calcium carbonate (CaCO) content of these limestones can be as low as 80% by weight. The second raw material (materials in the rawmix other than limestone) depend on the purity of the limestone. Some of the second raw materials used are: clay, shale, sand, iron ore, bauxite, fly ash and slag.


title: Cement clinker

text: The clinker and its hydration reactions are characterized and studied in detail by many techniques, including calorimetry, strength development, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscopy.


title: Cement clinker

text: Portland cement clinker (abbreviated k in the European norms) is ground to a fine powder and used as the binder in many cement products. A small amount of gypsum (less than 5 wt.%) must be added to avoid the flash setting of the tricalcium aluminate (CaAlO), the most reactive mineral phase (exothermic hydration reaction) in Portland clinker. It may also be combined with other active ingredients or cement additions to produce other types of cement including, following the European EN 197-1 standard:


title: Cement clinker

text: Clinker is one of the ingredients of an artificial rock called Pulhamite after its inventor. Other ingredients were Portland cement and sand. Pulhamite can be extremely convincing and was popular in creating natural looking rock gardens in the nineteenth century.


title: Cement clinker

text: Clinker, if stored in dry conditions, can be kept for several months without appreciable loss of quality. Because of this, and because it can be easily handled by ordinary mineral handling equipment, clinker is internationally traded in large quantities. Cement manufacturers purchasing clinker usually grind it as an addition to their own clinker at their cement plants. Manufacturers also ship clinker to grinding plants in areas where cement-making raw materials are not available.


title: Cement clinker

text: Gypsum is added to clinker primarily as an additive preventing the flash settings of the cement, but it is also very effective to facilitate the grinding of clinker by preventing agglomeration and coating of the powder at the surface of balls and mill wall.


title: Cement clinker

text: Organic compounds are also often added as grinding aids to avoid powder agglomeration. Triethanolamine (TEA) is commonly used at 0.1 wt. % and has proved to be very effective. Other additives are sometimes used, such as ethylene glycol, oleic acid, and dodecyl-benzene sulfonate.


title: Cement clinker

text: Upon addition of water, clinker minerals react to form different types of hydrates and "set"(harden) as the hydrated cement paste becomes concrete. The calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H) (hydrates of alite and belite minerals) represent the main "glue" components of the concrete. After initial setting the concrete continues to harden and to develop its mechanical strength. The first 28 days are the most critical for the hardening. The concrete does not dry but one says that it sets and hardens. The cement is a hydraulic binder whose hydration requires water. It can perfectly set under water. Water is essential to its hardening and water losses must be avoided at the young age to avoid the development of cracks. The step protecting young concrete against desiccation by water evaporation is the curing.


title: Cement clinker

text: , cement production contributed about 8% of all carbon emissions worldwide, contributing substantially to global warming. Most of those emissions were produced in the clinker manufacturing process.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: "Hispanic" and "Latino" are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States Census Bureau, "Hispanic" includes people with ancestry from Spain and Latin American Spanish-speaking countries, while "Latino" includes people from Latin American countries that were formerly colonized by Spain and Portugal.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: "Hispanic" was first used and defined by the U.S. Federal Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Directive No. 15 in 1977, which defined Hispanic as "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central America or South America or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race." The term was formed out of a collaboration with Mexican American political elites to encourage cultural assimilation into American society among all Hispanic/Latino peoples and move away from the anti-assimilationist politics of Chicano identity, which had gained prominence in the preceding decades through the Chicano Movement. The rise of Hispanic identity paralleled an emerging era of conservatism in the United States during the 1980s.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: "Latino" first emerged at the local level through media outlets in the early 1990s. The "Los Angeles Times" was one of the first major newspapers to use the term "Latino" instead of "Hispanic". Some local panethnic institutions and Spanish-language media adopted the term for community unity and political organizing. The emergence of "Latino" resulted in increasing criticism over "Hispanic". Many supporters of "Latino" argued that "Hispanic" was reasserting a colonial dynamic or relationship with Spain. Others argued that "Hispanic" failed to acknowledge mestizo culture and political struggle as well as erased the existence of Indigenous, Afro-Latin American, and Asian Latinos peoples throughout the Americas. "Latino" was also described as more inclusive. "Latino" was included along with "Hispanic" on the 2000 U.S. Census.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: There remains no definitive consensus over which term should be used, which has led to the rise of "Hispanic/Latino" and "Hispanic and Latino" as categorical terms often used by government institutions and prominent organizations. The choice between the terms is frequently associated with location: persons in the eastern United States tend to prefer "Hispanic", whereas those in the west tend to prefer "Latino". According to a 2011 study by the Pew Research Center, the majority (51%) of Hispanic and Latino Americans prefer to identify with their families' country of origin or nationality, while only 24% prefer the terms "Hispanic" or "Latino". Both "Hispanic" and "Latino" are generally used to denote people living in the United States. Outside of the United States, people living in Latin American countries usually refer to themselves by the names of their respective countries of origin.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: was the Latin name given to a person from Hispania during Roman rule. The ancient Roman Hispania, which roughly comprised what is currently called the Iberian Peninsula, included the contemporary states of Spain, Portugal, and Andorra, and the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The term "Hispanic" was adopted by the United States government in the early 1970s during the administration of Richard Nixon after the Hispanic members of an interdepartmental Ad Hoc Committee to develop racial and ethnic definitions recommended that a universal term encompassing all Hispanic subgroups—including Central and South Americans—be adopted. As the 1970 census did not include a question on Hispanic origin on all census forms—instead relying on a sample of the population via an extended form ("Is this person's origin or descent: Mexican; Puerto Rican; Cuban; Central or South American; Other Spanish; or None of these"), the members of the committee wanted a common designation to better track the social and economic progress of the group vis-à-vis the general population.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Legal scholar Laura E. Gómez notes that key members of the Mexican American political elite with assimilationist ideologies, all of whom were middle-aged men, helped popularize the term "Hispanic" among the Mexican American community, which in turn fueled both electronic and print media to use the term when referring to Mexican Americans in the 1980s. Gómez conducted a series of interviews with Mexican American political elites on their role in promoting "Hispanic" and found that one of the main reasons was because it stood in contrast to Chicano identity: "The Chicano label reflected the more radical political agenda of Mexican-Americans in the 1960s and 1970s, and the politicians who call themselves Hispanic today are the harbringers of a more conservative, more accomadationist politics." Some of these elites sought to encourage cultural assimilation through "Hispanic" within their community and not be seen as "militant" in order to appeal to white American sensibilities, particularly in regard to separating themselves from Black political consciousness. Gómez records:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The designation has since been used in local and federal employment, mass media, academia, and business market research. It has been used in the U.S. Census since 1980. Because of the popularity of "Latino" in the western portion of the United States, the government adopted this term as well in 1997, and used it in the 2000 census.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Previously, Hispanic and Latino Americans were categorized as "Spanish-Americans", "Spanish-speaking Americans", or "Spanish-surnamed Americans". However:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The term "Hispanic" has been the source of several debates in the United States. Within the United States, the term originally referred typically to the Hispanos of New Mexico until the U.S. government used it in the 1970 Census to refer to "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race." The OMB did not accept the recommendation to retain the single term "Hispanic". Instead, the OMB has decided that the term should be "Hispanic or Latino" because regional usage of the terms differs. "Hispanic" is commonly used in the eastern portion of the United States, whereas "Latino" is commonly used in the western portion. Since the 2000 Census, the identifier has changed from "Hispanic" to "Spanish/Hispanic/Latino".


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Other federal and local government agencies and non-profit organizations include Brazilians and Portuguese in their definition of "Hispanic". The US Department of Transportation defines "Hispanic" as "persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central or South American, or others [of] Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race." This definition has been adopted by the Small Business Administration as well as by many federal, state, and municipal agencies for the purposes of awarding government contracts to minority-owned businesses.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)—which was organized in 1976 by five Hispanic Congressmen: Herman Badillo (NY), Baltasar Corrada del Río (PR), Kika de la Garza (TX), Henry B. Gonzalez (TX) and Edward Roybal (CA)—and the Congressional Hispanic Conference include representatives of Spanish and Portuguese descent. The Hispanic Society of America is dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, which proclaims itself the champion of Hispanic success in higher education, has member institutions in the US, Puerto Rico, Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: In a 2012 study, most Spanish speakers of Spanish or Latin American descent in the United States did not choose to use the terms "Hispanic" or "Latino" when describing their identity. Instead, they preferred to be identified by their country of origin. Over half of those surveyed said they had no preference for either term. When forced to choose, 33% chose "Hispanic" and 14% chose "Latino."


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: A study done in 2009 shows that there is not a significant difference between the attitudes or preferences towards the terms among young (18–25) and older individuals. The statistical numbers are almost identical. Among the overall Hispanic population, young Hispanics prefer to identify themselves with their family's country of origin. Both groups prefer the term "American" versus "Latino/Hispanic". Yet, older Hispanics are more likely to identify as white than younger Hispanics. When it comes to the preference of "Latino" or "Hispanic", the younger subgroup is more likely to state that it does not matter. If they do have a preference, both groups prefer the term "Hispanic" rather than "Latino".


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The term "Latin America" was coined in France in the mid-19th century as , during the time of the Second French intervention in Mexico. Scholar Juan Francisco Martinez writes that "France began talking about Latin America during the rule of Napoleon III as a way of distinguishing between those areas of the Americas originally colonized by Europeans of Latin descent and those colonized by peoples from northern Europe. But the term was used to justify French intervention in the young republics of Latin America."


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The adoption of the term "Latino" by the US Census Bureau in 2000 and its subsequent media attention brought about several controversies and disagreements, specifically in the United States and, to a lesser extent, in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. Regarding it as an arbitrary, generic term, many Latin American scholars, journalists and organizations have objected to the mass media use of the word "Latino", pointing out that such ethnonyms are optional and should be used only to describe people involved in the practices, ideologies and identity politics of their supporters. They argue that if "Hispanic" is an imposed official term, then so is "Latino", since it was the French who coined the expression "Latin America" () to refer to the Spanish, French, and Portuguese-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere, during their support of the Second Mexican Empire.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Some authorities of American English maintain a distinction between the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino":


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The "AP Stylebook" also distinguishes between the terms. The "Stylebook" limits "Hispanic" to persons "from—or whose ancestors were from—a Spanish-speaking land or culture. Latino and Latina are sometimes preferred". It provides a more expansive definition, however, of "Latino". The "Stylebook" definition of "Latino" includes not only persons of Spanish-speaking land or ancestry, but also more generally includes persons "from—or whose ancestors were from— ... Latin America." The "Stylebook" specifically lists Brazilians as an example of a group that can be considered Latino.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: "Latino" is traditionally reserved for males or a combination of males and females, and "Latina" for females. A group of Latina women is termed "Latinas", whereas a group of Latino men or a combination of Latino and Latina individuals are designated as "Latinos" ().


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Both "Latino/a" and "Latin@" aim to challenge the gender binary that is inherent in Portuguese and Spanish, which combines the Portuguese/Spanish masculine ending and the feminine .


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: "Latin@" has been noted to have the symbolical importance of suggesting inclusiveness, by having the encircle the , in one character. Latin@ may be used to promote gender neutrality or be used to encompass both Latinos and Latinas without using the masculine "Latinos" designation for the mixed genders group.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The term "Latinx" was introduced in the early 2000s as a gender-neutral term for Latino/Latina, in addition to encompassing those who identify outside of the gender binary, such as those who are transgender, or those who are gender-fluid. The term has been embraced by the Latin LGBTQ+ communities.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The term "Latinx" reportedly surfaced with LGBTQ+ spaces on the internet in 2004, but use of the term did not take off until a decade later.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The term has drawn criticisms for its invented roots, in addition to its perceived corruption of the Spanish language.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The U.S. government has defined "Hispanic or Latino" persons as being "persons who trace their origin [to] ... Central and South America, and other Spanish cultures". The Census Bureau's 2010 census provides a definition of the terms "Latino" and "Hispanic": "Hispanic or Latino" refers to a person of Mexican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. It allows respondents to self-define whether they were Latino or Hispanic and then identify their specific country or place of origin. On its website, the Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino" persons as being "persons who trace their origin [to] ... Spanish-speaking Central and South America countries, and other Spanish cultures".


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: These definitions thus arguably do not include Brazilian Americans, especially since the Census Bureau classifies Brazilian Americans as a separate ancestry group from "Hispanic or Latino". A surge of Portuguese-Americans faced a big scare when the Census Bureau revealed plans to categorize people of Portuguese descent as "Hispanics" in the 2020 National Census. The unified feelings of dispute were displayed in a national survey conducted by Palcus within the Portuguese-American community. The results were an overwhelming 90% of participants objecting to Portuguese-Americans being classified under the Hispanic ethnicity.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Fortunately for those opposed to the Portuguese-as-Hispanic classification, the Census Bureau later released an update stating that they never intended to classify people of Portuguese descent as Hispanic in the 2020 National Census. The 28 Hispanic or Latino American groups in the Census Bureau's reports are the following: "Mexican,; Central American: Costa Rican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Nicaraguan, Panamanian, Salvadoran, Other Central American; South American: Bolivian, Chilean, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Paraguayan, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Other South American; Other Hispanic or Latino: Spanish, Spanish American, All other Hispanic".


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: In the US, the terms are officially voluntary, self-designated classifications. However, the mass media has helped propagate them irrespective of this fact. The rapid spread of "Latino" in the US has been possible due to the policies of certain newspapers such as the "Los Angeles Times" and other California-based media during the 1990s. Raoul Lowery Contreras writes:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Lowery Contreras argues that, according to the statistics of the Census Bureau, most middle-class people with Latin-American background living in the United States reject the term. He traces the polarization of the word to "Los Angeles Times" columnist Frank del Olmo, who regarded the term "Hispanic" as "ugly and imprecise". He writes:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: The naming dispute is a phenomenon that has its roots mainly in California and other neighboring states. Before the adoption of the ethnonym "Hispanic or Latino" by the United States Government, the term "Hispanic" was commonly used for statistical purposes. However, many people did not feel satisfied with the term and started campaigns promoting the use of "Latino" as a new ethnonym. The Office of Management and Budget has stated that the new term should be, indeed, "Hispanic or Latino" because the usage of the terms differs—"Hispanics is commonly used in the eastern portion of the United States, whereas Latino is commonly used in the western portion".


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Despite this, debates regarding the proper name of the perceived homogeneous population of US citizens with Latin American or Spanish background still abound, and are even more acute. To find out how much people agree or disagree with either term, many polls have been conducted. According to a December 2000 poll by Hispanic Trends, 65% of the registered voters preferred the word "Hispanic", while 30% chose to identify themselves as "Latino". Daniel David Arreola, in his book "Hispanic spaces, Latino places: community and cultural diversity in contemporary America", points out that many Latin Americans feel more comfortable identifying themselves with their country of origin:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: A Pew Hispanic Center survey conducted November 9 – December 7, 2011, and published April 4, 2012, reported:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: One of the major arguments of people who object to either term is not only the perceived stereotypical overtones they carry, but the unjust and unfair labeling of people who do not even belong to the practices and ideologies of such identities. This is true of many indigenous peoples such as the Wixarikas and the Lacandones, who still practice their own religious rituals without syncretism with Catholic elements. Journalist Juan Villegas writes:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: These characteristics that are often used, such as Hollywood, to classify a person of Latina/o culture and identity has been termed by scholars, "As a system of media signification, Latinidad is a performative and performed dynamic set of popular signs associated with Latinas/os and Latina/o identity. Common signifiers of Latinidad are language, linguistic accents, religious symbols, tropical and spicy foods, and brown skin as a phenotypic identity." (Berg Ramirez p. 40–41). As Guzman discusses, "signifiers most commonly associated with Latinidad produce a sense of authenticity within media texts", (p. 235). Ramirez continues to discuss how these signifiers of Latinidad do not necessarily mean they are stereotypical. In actuality, Latina/os may utilize these "signifiers" for self-identifying purposes. In terms of media portrayal, Hollywood has invested a lot of time and money to develop a general notion of "Latinidad" because marketers, advertisers and media content producers have found that they are a very bankable demographic, thus turned "Latinidad" and Latina/o culture and identity to a commodity. What is problematic about this is when creating this general notion, the diversity within this demographic becomes suppressed and flattened in a demographic that is very heterogeneous just so marketers, advertisers and media content producers can communicate their version of "authentic" racial identity to consumers. Consequently, this opens the space for stereotypes to be created and perpetuated.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Others, such as Catherine Alexandra Carter and Rodolfo Acuña, address the issue from a more global and political perspective, stressing the importance of terms like "Latino" or "Hispanic" for the marketing industry and for statistical ends:


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Davila expands on the ramifications of the mass media's dominant use of "Latino" or "Hispanic" to categorize this demographic, "... the extent to which assertions of cultural differences intersect with dominant norms of American citizenship that give preeminence to white, monolingual, middle-class producers of and contributors to a political body defined in national terms. My concern is ... with how notions of citizenship, belonging, and entitlement are directly intertwined and predicated on dominant U.S. nationalist categories. Such categories conflate race, culture, and language with nationality, establishing the hierarchies and coordinates against which cultural and linguistic differences are ultimately evaluated (Ong 1999; Williams 1989). It is therefore these hierarchies that frame the discourses of Latinidad channeled in the media, as well as the media's treatment of language and what it may potentially communicate to and about Latino's claim to belonging, and in what terms they may or may not be within the political community of the United States." Consequently, this may leave issues, concerns, and topics relevant to this demographic left unheard, discussed and addressed. They are left invisible, therefore not only conflating the cultural differences, but also marginalizing them for the sake of convenience and marketability to the mass media. However, this is not to say this is a monolithic issue. Instead, this further gives incentive for the demographic to create a space in which they can transform these notions where the representations are more diverse, complex and authentic.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: Not everyone rejects the terms and in fact feel that this idea of Latinidad is taken for granted. G. Christina Mora, author and UC Berkeley sociologist professor emphasizes the importance of the Hispanic term. In her book, "Making Hispanics: How Activists, Bureaucrats, and Media Constructed a New American" she explains the origins of the term and how it positively unites Hispanics. The term officially came into existence through United States government but it was due to an activist movement. Before this term, groups such as Mexicans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans were only accounted for in census data as "white". The lack of specific data tied to Hispanics failed to show their social circumstance and therefore could not create necessary changes. There was no data to back up that they were significantly being affected by poverty, discrimination, and disadvantageous education. Without data, Hispanics would not receive adequate funding to change their circumstances and future. Due to the activism on behalf of Chicano and Puerto Rican individuals, there is data that supports and unites a group towards social equality.


title: Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categories)

text: "I hope that my daughter will be conscious that the idea of Latino/Hispanic was actually rooted in an effort to work for social justice and political inclusion. Though we are a diverse community, many still grapple with disadvantage, discrimination and underrepresentation. All in all, I hope my daughter will embrace her Latinidad by being conscious of its roots in social justice and by continuing the cause of civil rights and political participation in America."


title: Dan Hill

text: Daniel Grafton Hill IV (born 3 June 1954) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter. He had two major international hits with his songs "Sometimes When We Touch" and "Can't We Try", a duet with Vonda Shepard, as well as a number of other charting singles in Canada and the United States. He also established himself as a songwriter who produced hit songs for artists such as George Benson and Celine Dion.


title: Dan Hill

text: Hill was born in Toronto, the son of social scientist and public servant Daniel G. Hill and social activist Donna Mae Hill (née Bender, 1928–2018), and older brother of the author Lawrence Hill and the late novelist Karen Hill. His musical talent was apparent from a young age, and he received his first guitar shortly after his tenth birthday. While in high school, he was singing and performing at concerts and coffee houses. At one point Hill was working for the Ontario provincial government sorting mail and delivering supplies, while performing at the Riverboat at night. Before finishing high school, he recorded a demo tape with the assistance of his boyhood friend Matt McCauley, later a well-known composer and arranger. In 1972, he signed a contract with RCA, who released a single the following year but did little to advance his career.


title: Dan Hill

text: Continuing to record with McCauley, he succeeded in breaking the RCA contract and signing with GRT Records, an independent Canadian label. In 1975, they released his first Canadian hit single,"You Make Me Want to Be," which was followed by his first album, "Dan Hill."


title: Dan Hill

text: In 1977, Hill recorded the ballad "Sometimes When We Touch". He also wrote the lyrics and was assisted in the music by Barry Mann for the album from the same year, "Longer Fuse", and it was released as a single. It was Hill's biggest hit, peaking at No. 3 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Canadian RPM Singles chart, and leading to Hill's appearances on "The Merv Griffin Show" and "The Mike Douglas Show". Tina Turner covered the song in 1978 on her album "Rough".


title: Dan Hill

text: Another one of his hit songs was "It's a Long Road", which he recorded for the 1982 action movie "First Blood". In 1985, he was one of the many Canadian performers to appear on the benefit single "Tears Are Not Enough" by Northern Lights. Although he had many hits in his native Canada, further singles did not fare as well in the United States, where, after "Let the Song Last Forever" in late 1978, he went almost a decade without cracking any of "Billboard"'s singles charts.


title: Dan Hill

text: In 1987, Hill returned to the "Billboard" Hot 100 with the Top 40 hit "Can't We Try", a duet with the then-unknown Vonda Shepard (her last name was incorrectly spelled "Sheppard" on the label). It peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100. He also had a near Top 40 hit with "Never Thought (That I Could Love)". Both records reached No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and set the stage for Hill to have three more top 10 U.S. AC hits through to 1991's "I Fall All Over Again", though he did not make the Hot 100 again after "Never Thought".


title: Dan Hill

text: In 1996, Hill received a Grammy for his role as co-producer on Celine Dion's album "Falling Into You". In 2021, he was to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.


title: Dan Hill

text: As one of the new Canadian singers and songwriters, such as Bruce Cockburn and Murray McLauchlan, who emerged from the coffeehouses and other small venues during the 1970s, Hill belongs to the generation who achieved a prominent place in Canadian popular culture. In addition to his Grammy for his work on Celine Dion's "Falling into You", he received five Juno Awards and other prestigious awards. A road trip to a Hill concert was the subject of the 1994 Canadian comedy film, "South of Wawa". Although he has performed less frequently in recent decades, in 2007, he toured with the CBC Radio program "The Vinyl Cafe".


title: Dan Hill

text: Hill was a lifelong friend of writer Paul Quarrington, and the two also occasionally performed together as a folk music duo, billed as Quarrington/Hill. The pair's final collaboration, a song about death called "Are You Ready", was completed just ten days before Quarrington's death in early 2010, which would be featured in a television documentary, "Paul Quarrington: Life in Music".


title: Dan Hill

text: Hill befriended Manny Pacquiao after the boxer sang a version of "Sometimes When We Touch" on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in 2009. Hill later helped Pacquiao record a version of the song at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles.


title: Dan Hill

text: A summary of his career, published in 2021, added some specifics: "throughout the 1990s, he focused on penning lyrics for some of the most prominent singers of the era, including Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and Reba McEntire ... he returned to his singer-songwriter roots with the 2020 single "What About Black Lives?" part of the yet-to-be-released studio album "On the Other Side of Here".


title: Dan Hill

text: The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) announced the induction of Dan Hill on February 10, 2021.


title: Dan Hill

text: Dan Hill is divorced from Beverly Chapin and is with a new partner. He has one son, David, with his ex-wife. Some sources have incorrectly stated that he was married to American country singer Faith Hill whose surname comes from her first marriage to an unrelated Nashville record executive also named Daniel Hill.


title: Dan Hill

text: In early 2009, Hill published "I Am My Father's Son: A Memoir of Love and Forgiveness" () which recounts his childhood and his relationship with his prominent father. Like his father, Hill was diagnosed as a diabetic. Hill learned from a doctor before a concert, that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.


title: Dan Hill

text: Hill wrote an article in the 14 February 2008 edition of "Maclean's" entitled "Every Parent's Nightmare", about the terror he experienced from friends his son brought home. On 14 March 2008, CBC Television's "" aired an in-depth interview with Hill discussing his son's involvement with Toronto gangs.


title: Software categories

text: Software categories are groups of software. They allow software to be understood in terms of those categories, instead of the particularities of each package. Different classification schemes consider different aspects of software.


title: Software categories

text: Computer software can be put into categories based on common function, type, or field of use. There are three broad classifications:


title: Software categories

text: The GNU Project categorizes software by copyright status: free software, open source software, public domain software, copylefted software, noncopylefted free software, lax permissive licensed software, GPL-covered software, the GNU operating system, GNU programs, GNU software, FSF-copyrighted GNU software, nonfree software, proprietary software, freeware, shareware, private software and commercial software.


title: Software categories

text: Free software is software that comes with permission for anyone to use, copy and distribute, either verbatim or with modifications, either gratis or for a fee. In particular, this means that source code must be available. "If it's not the source, it's not software." If a program is free, then it can potentially be included in a free operating system such as GNU, or free versions of the Linux system.


title: Software categories

text: Free software in the sense of copyright license (and the GNU project) is a matter of freedom, not price. But proprietary software companies typically use the term "free software" to refer to price. Sometimes this means a binary copy can be obtained at no charge; sometimes this means a copy is bundled with a computer for sale at no additional charge.


title: Software categories

text: Open-source software is software with its source code made available under a certain license to its licensees. It can be used and disseminated at any point, the source code is open and can be modified as required. The one condition with this type of software is that when changes are made users should make these changes known to others. One of the key characteristics of open source software is that it is the shared intellectual property of all developers and users. The Linux operating system is one of the best-known examples of a collection of open-source software.


title: Software categories

text: Copylefted software is free software whose distribution terms ensure that all copies of all versions carry more or less the same distribution terms. This means, for instance, that copyleft licenses generally disallows others to add additional requirements to the software (though a limited set of safe added requirements can be allowed) and require making source code available. This shields the program, and its modified versions, from some of the common ways of making a program proprietary. Some copyleft licenses block other means of turning software proprietary.


title: Software categories

text: Copyleft is a general concept. Copylefting an actual program requires a specific set of distribution terms. Different copyleft licenses are usually “incompatible” due to varying terms, which makes it illegal to merge the code using one license with the code using the other license. If two pieces of software use the same license, they are generally mergeable.


title: Software categories

text: Noncopylefted free software comes from the author with permission to redistribute and modify and to add license restrictions.


title: Software categories

text: If a program is free but not copylefted, then some copies or modified versions may not be free. A software company can compile the program, with or without modifications, and distribute the executable file as a proprietary software product. The X Window System illustrates this approach. The X Consortium releases X11 with distribution terms that make it non-copylefted free software. If you wish, you can get a copy that has those distribution terms and is free. However, nonfree versions are available and workstations and PC graphics boards for which nonfree versions are the only ones that work. The developers of X11 made X11 nonfree for a while; they were able to do this because others had contributed their code under the same non-copyleft license.


title: Software categories

text: Shareware is software that comes with permission to redistribute copies but says that anyone who continues to use a copy is required to pay. Shareware is not free software or even semi-free. For most shareware, source code is not available; thus, the program cannot be modified. Shareware does not come with permission to make a copy and install it without paying a license fee, including for nonprofit activity.


title: Software categories

text: Like shareware, freeware is software available for download and distribution without any initial payment. Freeware never has an associated fee. Things like minor program updates and small games are commonly distributed as freeware. Though freeware is cost-free, it is copyrighted, so other people can't market the software as their own.


title: Software categories

text: This classification has seven major elements. They are: platform and management, education and reference, home and entertainment, content and communication, operations and professional, product manufacturing and service delivery, and line of business.


title: Steel Pulse

text: Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ronald McQueen (bass); along with Basil's brother Colin briefly on drums and Mykaell Riley (vocals, percussion). Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.


title: Steel Pulse

text: Basil Gabbidon and David Hinds became inspired to form Steel Pulse after listening to Bob Marley and The Wailers' "Catch a Fire". The band formed in 1975; their debut single release "Kibudu, Mansetta And Abuku" arrived on the small independent label Dip, and linked the plight of urban black youth with the image of a greater African homeland. They followed it with "Nyah Luv" for Anchor. They were initially refused live dates in Caribbean venues in Birmingham due to their Rastafarian beliefs. During the popularization of punk rock in the mid-1970's, Steel Pulse began to play punk venues such as the Hope and Anchor in London and The Electric Circus in Manchester in 1976.


title: Steel Pulse

text: Aligning themselves closely with the Rock Against Racism organization and featuring in its first music festival in early 1978, they chose to tour with sympathetic elements of the punk movement, including the Stranglers, XTC etc. Eventually they found a more natural home in support slots for Burning Spear, which brought them to the attention of Island Records.


title: Steel Pulse

text: Their first release for Island was the "Ku Klux Klan" single, a tilt at the evils of racism, and one often accompanied by a visual parody of the sect on stage. By this time their ranks had swelled to include Selwyn Brown (keyboards), Steve "Grizzly" Nisbett (drums), Alphonso Martin (vocals, percussion) and Mykaell Riley (vocals). Their debut album, "Handsworth Revolution" (recorded in 1977 and released in early 1978), was part the evolution of roots reggae outside Jamaica. However, despite critical and moderate commercial success over three albums, the relationship with Island Records had soured by the advent of their third album, "Caught You" (released in the US as "Reggae Fever").


title: Steel Pulse

text: Tom Terrell, who would later serve as their manager, was instrumental in masterminding a Steel Pulse concert on the night of Bob Marley's funeral, which was broadcast live around the world from the , 930 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., on 21 May 1981.


title: Steel Pulse

text: In 1982, Steel Pulse switched to Elektra Records, and unveiled their most consistent collection of songs since "Handsworth Revolution" with "True Democracy", distinguished by the Garvey-eulogizing 'Rally Round' cut. A further definitive set arrived in "Earth Crisis" in 1984. However, Elektra chose to take a leaf out of Island's book in trying to coerce Steel Pulse into a more mainstream vein, asking them to emulate the pop-reggae stance of Eddy Grant. "Babylon the Bandit" was consequently weakened, but did contain "Not King James Version".


title: Steel Pulse

text: Their next move was to MCA for "State of Emergency" (1988), which retained some of the synthesized dance elements of its predecessor.


title: Steel Pulse

text: "Rastafari" "Centennial," Steel Pulse's first live record, was recorded live at the Elysee Montmartre in Paris, over three nights in January 1992, and dedicated to the hundred year anniversary of the birth of Haile Selassie. It was the first recording since the defection of Alphonso Martin, leaving the trio of Hinds, Nisbett and Selwyn. While they still faced criticism at the hands of British reggae fans, in the United States their reputation was growing, becoming the first ever reggae band to appear on the "Tonight" television show. Their profile was raised further when, in 1992, Hinds challenged the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission in the Supreme Court, asserting that their cab drivers discriminated against black people in general and Rastafarians in particular. The lawsuit was later dropped by Steel Pulse.


title: Steel Pulse

text: In 1989, the group contributed "I Can't Stand it" to the soundtrack of Spike Lee's film "Do The Right Thing".


title: Steel Pulse

text: In 1994, the group headlined some of the world's biggest reggae festivals including Reggae Sunsplash USA, Jamaican Sunsplash, Japan Splash and Northern California annual Reggae on the River Festival. In 1986, Steel Pulse contributed a version of "Franklin's Tower" on Pow Wow Records' "Fire on the Mountain: Reggae Celebrates the Grateful Dead" compilation. They recorded The Police's "Can't Stand Losing You" for a reggae compilation of Police tunes that appeared on the Ark 21 label. "Rastanthology", a 17-song collection of Steel Pulse classics (the 1996 compilation was released on the band's own Wise Man Doctrine label).


title: Steel Pulse

text: Until February 2001, it had been many years since Pulse had performed in their hometown of Birmingham. They decided to perform at the Ray Watts memorial concert, which was held at the Irish Centre. Pulse shared the stage with Watts' band, Beshara, along with other artists from Birmingham.


title: Steel Pulse

text: In 2004, Steel Pulse returned to their militant roots with "African Holocaust" – their eleventh studio album. With guest appearances by Damian Marley, Capleton, and Tiken Jah Fakoly (on the track African Holocaust), the album is a collection of protest and spiritual songs, including "Global Warning" (a dire warning about climate change), "Tyrant", a protest song against political corruption, and "No More Weapons", an anti-war song. Also featured on the album is the Bob Dylan song, "George Jackson".


title: Steel Pulse

text: In 2007, the band released a music video for the track "Door of No Return". The video was produced by Driftwood Pictures Ltd., and was shot on location in Senegal and New York City. The video was directed by Trishul Thejasvi and produced by Yoni Gal. The video had its world premier at the Times 51st BFI London Film Festival in October 2007.


title: Steel Pulse

text: In a 2013 interview with "Midnight Raver", David Hinds indicated that a new studio album and documentary, tentatively titled "Steel Pulse: The Definitive Story", would be released in 2014. However, on 10 July 2014 "Midnight Raver" reported that, according to Hinds, both the studio album and documentary will be delayed until at least 2015.


title: Steel Pulse

text: In anticipation to a new Steel Pulse album, the Roots Reggae Library has indexed two compilation albums of the latest Steel Pulse singles. The albums are called "Positivity" and "Jah Way", both named after tracks on the albums.


title: Steel Pulse

text: In October 2018, Steel Pulse announced their new album, the first in 14 years, "Mass Manipulation", was released on Rootfire Cooperative a non-traditional label which provides interest free loans and label services to independent musicians. The single "Stop You Coming and Come" was released on 7 December. The album was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Awards.


title: Steel Pulse

text: A Grammy award was awarded for their 1986 album "Babylon the Bandit." Steel Pulse has received nominations for "Victims" (1991), "Rastafari Centennial" (1992), "Rage and Fury" (1998), "Living Legacy" (2000). and "Mass Manipulation" (2019).


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Netherlands Marine Corps () is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines trace their origins back to the establishment of the on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the Dutch Republic, Johan de Witt and famous Admiral Michiel de Ruyter.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The present-day Corps is a rapid reaction force that can be deployed to any location in the world within a maximum of 48 hours. The marines are capable of operating in all environments and climates, specialising in expeditionary warfare, amphibious warfare, arctic warfare and mountain warfare. The core fighting element of the corps consists of two battalion-sized Marine Combat Groups (MCGs) which are supplemented by various combat support and combat service support squadrons. In addition, the Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces (NLMARSOF) are capable of conducting the full spectrum of special operations.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Throughout its history, the Marines have seen action in a number of major conflicts including the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the War of the Spanish Succession and World War II. In recent history the Marines have regularly been deployed in stabilisation roles such as the Bosnian War, the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan and the Mali War. Additionally, the Corps conducts counterpiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and provides Vessel Protection Detachments (VPDs) to Dutch merchant ships. The Netherlands Marine Corps uphold close international relations with the Royal Marines, the United States Marine Corps, the Sea Battalion () and the Special Operations Regiment.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The corps was founded on 10 December 1665 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War by the then grand pensionary of the Dutch Republic, Johan de Witt, and Admiral Michiel de Ruyter as the . The first commander of the corps was Willem Joseph van Ghent. The Dutch had successfully used conventional troops embarked on ships during the First Anglo-Dutch War. The was the fifth European Marine unit formed, being preceded by Spain's Infantería de Armada (1537), the Portuguese Marine Corps (1610), France's Troupes de marine (1622) and the English Royal Marines (1664), although the Dutch Marines were the first in history to specialise in amphibious operations.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Like Britain, the Netherlands has had several periods during which its Marine Corps were disbanded. The French occupation of The Netherlands, which lasted from 1810 until 1813, is an example of such disbandments. A new Marine unit was raised on 20 March 1801 during the time of the Batavian Republic and on 14 August 1806 the was raised under King Louis Bonaparte. The modern dates back to 1814, receiving its current name in 1817.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: In 1667, led by Admiral van Ghent, and their new commander, the Englishman Colonel Thomas Dolman, the Regiment de Marine played a prominent part in the large Dutch raid, the "Raid on the Medway" on England (10–14 June). The ' battle honour "Chatham" is one of the few ever won on British soil by a foreign unit. The July 2nd attack on Landguard fort near Harwich, performed by 1,500 Mariniers after landing at Woodrich was countered by the fort's garrison.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The also fought in the Franco-Dutch War and Third Anglo-Dutch War. On June 29 of 1672, after serving in the naval Battle of Solebay, two-thirds of the Marines were withdrawn from the fleet and formed into a brigade in order to reinforce the inefficient army, which consisted largely of mercenaries, in anticipation of an English invasion. They returned to their ships in time to help stop an English invasion by defeating a combined English and French force at the naval Battle of Kijkduin (Battle of Texel) on 21 August 1673. Led by Gerolf van Isselmuyden, they served in the land battle of Seneffe against the French in 1674.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Dutch support for American independence led to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, where the served at Dogger Bank.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: In 1704, Marines were part of a combined English-Dutch force under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt that captured Gibraltar and defended it successfully shortly afterwards. The cooperation with the British was repeated once again during the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The served in various colonial operations of the Dutch Empire in the Dutch East Indies. The gradual conquest of the colony and operations consolidating Dutch rule lasted from the 1850s until shortly before World War I. The battle honours from the Aceh War (1873–1913) and Bali are displayed on the Corps' colour.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: During the Battle of the Netherlands in World War II, a unit in Rotterdam which was preparing to ship out to the Dutch East Indies successfully defended the bridges across the Maas, preventing German paratroopers in the centre of the city from rendez-vousing with conventional German infantry. The Germans ended the stalemate by bombing Rotterdam. The threat of an attack by Marines caused its German captain to scuttle the in Aruba in 1940.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: When the Dutch capitulation was declared and the Marines abandoned their positions, the German commander was surprised to encounter only a handful of troops emerge in their black uniforms. The ordered his men to salute them out of respect for their bravery and labeled them ("The Black Devils").


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: During the German occupation of the Netherlands, some joined the Princess Irene Brigade to fight against the Germans. They distinguished themselves in combat near the Dutch city of Tilburg in the autumn of 1944.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Starting in 1943, the United States Marine Corps trained and equipped a new brigade, the , of the at Camp Lejeune and Camp Davis in North Carolina in preparation for amphibious landings against the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese surrendered before such landings were needed, but the , fully trained and equipped, left North Carolina in six transports in 1945 and fought against Indonesians insurgents in the Indonesian War of Independence. The were part of the A Division, which was itself commanded by a officer. The brigade was disbanded in 1949.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Dutch maintained control over Western New Guinea after the Indonesian War of Independence and the served there until 1962 when the colony in the course of the West New Guinea dispute was handed over to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: On 11 June 1977, the Bijzondere Bijstandseenheid Mariniers (BBE-M, Special Support Unit Marines) of the Dutch Marine Corps stormed a train that was being held hostage since 23 May by armed South Moluccan nationalists in the village of De Punt, in the province of Drenthe. Six Royal Netherlands Air Force F-104 Starfighters buzzed the train as a diversion just before the assault. Six terrorists and two hostages were killed during the assault.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: From 18 February 1992 to 18 November 1993, three battalions of Marines and a Navy field hospital (FDS) were stationed in Cambodia as part of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). The marines were deployed following the 1991 Paris peace treaty when the civil war was ended, they were tasked with providing safe passage to refugees, disarming rebel groups and organising fair elections.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Marines have deployed to Former Yugoslavia during multiple deployments, including in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia. Marines of 1st Mortars Company were deployed near Sarajevo in 1995 with their MO-120 RT 120mm mortars in order to neutralise Serbian mortar and artillery positions. The Marines were part of multinational brigade. For example, Marine Special Forces were tasked with the arrest of Yugoslavian war criminals, other Marine units have deployed to accompany and protect refugee convoys in Kosovo.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: In 1991, 400 marines in addition 600 personnel of the Royal Netherlands Army were deployed to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as part Operation Provide Comfort. The detachment of Marines consisted of a staff company, a support company and two infantry companies. The units constructed three refugee camps which were later transferred to civilian organisations. The last marines returned in July 1991.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: In 2003 and 2004, two battalions of Marines were deployed to Iraq as part of the Stabilisation Force Iraq (SFIR). They were stationed in the province of Al-Muthanna where they operated under British command. Their main base was located at Camp Smitty in As Samawah. One company of marines was located at the village of Ar Rumaythah and one at the village of Al Khidr.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Since 2015, Marines have contributed to Operation Inherent Resolve by providing training to the Peshmerga and the Iraqi Special Operations Forces as part of the International military intervention against ISIL. A&A teams cooperated with the by providing advice and assistance to Iraqi troops in the fight against ISIL.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: From 18 November 2003 until 19 February 2004, one platoon of Dutch Marines was deployed on board , a Landing platform dock (LPD) of the Royal Netherlands Navy to provide logistical support for United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Between 2005 and 2006, Major General of the Marines Patrick Cammaert was appointed division commander of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) by UN secretary general Kofi Annan.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: From 11 January 2002 to July 2010, marines were deployed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The second battalion and the field hospital were deployed in Mazar-e Sharif in 2005 to provide security during the elections. Marines and Navy personnel were also stationed in the Provincial Reconstruction Team in pol-e-Khomri, province of Baghlan. They took over from the Dutch Airforce and Army in 2005 and were relieved in October 2006 when Hungarian forces took over. Formerly Marines have served in Uruzgan as the NLD Operational Mentor and Liaisons Team, for recruiting and training new military personnel of the Afghan National Army in the Uruzgan province. Training took place at Kamp Holland, Tarin Kowt. A reinforced company was deployed in the Deh Rashan area of Uruzgan province. Two marines were killed on April 17 of 2010 when their Bv S10 Viking was hit by an IED. Teams of NLMARSOF cooperated with operators of the (KCT) in the Special Operations Task Groups Orange, Task Force Viper and Task Force 55 from 2006 until 2010.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: C-Squadron of NLMARSOF has deployed to Afghanistan since 2018 as part of the Resolute Support Mission. Together with KCT operators they form the Special Operations Advisory Team (SOAT), which is tasked with providing training and assistance to the Afghan police tactical unit Afghan Territorial Force 888 (ATF-888) of the Afghan National Police.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Since 2008 marines have been deployed as boarding teams aboard naval ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy, tasked with conducting counterpiracy operations off the coast of East Africa. The Dutch marines received international attention following the Action of 5 April 2010, during which the container ship MV "Taipan" was liberated from Somali pirates by an NLMARSOF boarding team. The operation was filmed using a helmet-mounted camera and made public by the Ministry of Defence, consequently displayed by news media across the globe. Moreover, NLMARSOF frogmen have conducted extremely rare operational underwater operations, including the sabotage of pirate ships. Since 2011 the Corps has provided Vessel Protection Detachments (VPDs) to Dutch merchant vessels sailing through areas prone to piracy.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Corps is headed by the , an officer in the rank of Brigadier General. All operational units fall under the command of the (GC-OEM, Group Commander Operational Units Marines). The brigade-level command element Netherlands Maritime Force (NLMARFOR) is the expeditionary operational staff headquarters which is commanded by a Colonel. The core fighting element of the corps consists of two battalion-sized Marine Combat Groups (MCGs), 1st Marine Combat Group is the main contribution of the Netherlands Marine Corps to the United Kingdom/Netherlands Landing Force (UK/NL LF).


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Following the large scale reorganisation of the Armed Forces in 2013, the Corps was affected as well. The Corps was restructured, among other changes. The battalion composition and naming was changed:


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Corps consists of two battalion-sized Marine Combat Groups (MCGs), 1st MCG and 2nd MCG, which are headed by a Lieutenant Colonel and each field approximately 726 men with a command staff consisting of 30 men each.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The three Raiding Squadrons of each MCG are commanded by Majors and consist of 108 men each. The Raiding Squadrons each field three Raiding Troops with two Raiding Sections of 16 men each per troop.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Recon, Surveillance & Target Acquisition (RSTA) Squadrons are commanded by a Major and consist of 87 men. Each RSTA Squadron fields a forward Observer Troop with four Fire Support Teams of six men each, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System section with AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven and AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma UAVs, a Reconnaissance Sniper Troop, a Mortar Troop with L16 81mm mortars and a Low Altitude Air Defense section. In addition, the RSTA Squadron staff provides Joint Fires Cells for its Marine Combat Group in order to coordinate all types of fire support.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Combat Support Squadrons consist of 114 men and field a staff, an Assault Engineer Troop, an Anti-Armour Troop and an Armoured All-Terrain Vehicle Troop. Each of these three troops fields three identical sections, with each section supporting one Raiding Squadron of the Marine Combat Group. The Assault Engineer Troop also provides Improvised Explosive Device detection capabilities. The Anti-Armour Troop provides direct fire support with Spike anti-tank guided missiles. The Armoured All-Terrain Vehicle Troop provides Bv 206S and BvS 10 armoured all-terrain personnel carriers to transport the three Raiding Squadrons.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Combat Service Support Squadron fields 171 personnel and provide maintenance, medical and logistic support. Each Combat Service Support Squadron consists of a Workshop Troop, a Transport Troop, an Equipment Support Troop, a Medical Support Troop and a Communication and Information Systems Troop.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: In 2014, 13e Raiding Squadron was the first unit to complete additional training to become certified maritime special operations capable (MARSOC). A MARSOC unit can support and conduct special operations with NLMARSOF.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces (NLMARSOF) is the SOF element of the Corps. NLMARSOF consists of two operational squadrons, a training squadron, a logistic element and a support group. The Maritime Counter Terrorism Squadron (M-Squadron) consists of three troops and is tasked with combating large-scale and complex domestic terrorist threats. It operates as an integral element of the (DSI) of the National Police. The Conventional Squadron (C-Squadron) is tasked with conducting the full spectrum of special operations abroad. C-Squadron fields three troops; two frogman troops specialised in underwater operations and one mountain leader troop specialised in mountain warfare. C-Squadron can be deployed by submarine, parachute, various underwater transport and snowmobiles. The Training Squadron (T-Squadron) trains all aspiring MARSOF operators in addition to providing operational training. The Special Operations Forces Support Group (SOFSG) provides operational support while the Logistic Support Group (LSG) is responsible for the maintenance, acquisition and storage of all equipment.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: NLMARSOF was founded in 2013 by merging the Mountain Leader Reconnaissance Platoon, the and the Special Forces Underwater Operator Platoon. The maritime SOF training takes about 40 weeks, and eligible marines are trained to become long-range reconnaissance SOF operators and counter-terrorism specialists, with an emphasis on maritime special operations. Those who wish to specialise as mountain leader or frogman can apply for these specialisations following the completion of training. NLMARSOF is modelled after the British Special Boat Squadron.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Surface Assault and Training Group (SATG) provides the Marine Corps with maritime vessels. The Surface Assault and Training Group consists of 241 men; besides the staff it fields an Amphibious Support Group, a Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Troop, a Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) Troop, a Fast Raiding Interception and Special Forces Craft (FRISC) Squadron, a Landing Craft Control Team Light and a Landing Craft Control Team Heavy. The Amphibious Support Group provides logistical support for the SATG. The LCU Troop fields five Landing Craft Utility with their crews, while the LCVP Troop fields 12 LCVPs with their crews.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The FRISC Squadron fields three troops: a troop with Raiding Crafts for the Marine Combat Groups, a troop with Maritime Counter Terrorism Crafts (MCT) for the Maritime Counter Terrorism Squadron and a troop with Special Operation and Interceptor Crafts for the Conventional Squadron of the Maritime Special Operations Forces. The two Landing Craft Control Teams consist of a staff, a Beach Recce Group, a Beach Control Group and a Heavy Vehicle Group. The Landing Craft Control Team Heavy is equipped with Leopard 1 BARV beach armoured recovery vehicles. Both Beach Recce Groups field a team of divers to clear mines, barriers and other obstacles from landing beaches.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Seabased Support Group (SSG) fields 98 men and coordinates maritime operational logistic support for Marine units embarked on one the Rotterdam-class amphibious transport docks. The Seabased Support Group fields an Equipment Support Troop, a Weapons and Ammo Troop, a Workshop and Transport Troop and a Communications and Information Systems (CIS) Troop.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The 32nd Raiding Squadron (Dutch Caribbean Forces) consists 153 personnel and is stationed in Aruba and is responsible for the defence of the Netherlands Antilles. The 32nd Raiding Squadron falls operationally under the command of the Naval Commander of the Caribbean (CZMCARIB). 32nd Raiding Squadron is stationed at the Barracks Savaneta (Aruba). Marines on Aruba also participate in anti-drug operations. The squadron is commanded by a Major and consists of Headquarters, 3 Raiding troops and the following supporting units a Fast Raiding, Interception and Special Forces Craft (FRISC) troop (with 12 boats), and a combat service support troop for transport, logistics, maintenance and medical care.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Marine Training Command (MTC) is tasked with the validation, qualification and training of all operational units of the Corps. Furthermore, the command is responsible for maintaining adequate readiness and quality through the implementation of stringent training standards. Its training programs are adapted to the programs of its fleet equivalent, the Sea Training Command (STC), in order to maximise efficiency and interoperability of the marines and the fleet. The command is headed by a Colonel.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Marine Education Centre (, MOC) is tasked with the selection, training and education of new marine recruits. The MOC provides all marine basic training and is based at the Van Ghent Barracks in Rotterdam, headed by a Lieutenant Colonel.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The majority of the operational units are based at the in Doorn, in the province of Utrecht. These barracks are the headquarters of the Marine Combat Groups, Sea-based Support Group, and the staff and M-Squadron of NLMARSOF. Due to obsolescence of the location a new base is being constructed at near the city of Apeldoorn. The is based in the city of Rotterdam and provides the basic training and many other training courses within the Corps. The is based on the island of Texel and functions as a forward operating base for the Surface Assault and Training Group from which all sorts of amphibious training can be employed. Moreover, the Corps has multiple bases and auxiliary branches in the Dutch Caribbean. Below follows an overview of the Corps' bases:


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The are known for their arduous training programmes, which are primarily focused around hardship. Due to its longstanding and close cooperation with its British counterpart, the Royal Marines, training programmes are highly similar for both organisations. Although women have been allowed to join the since the beginning of 2017, no woman has successfully completed basic training yet.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Depending on the educational background, there are two career possibilities to become a Dutch marine: enlisted marine and marine officer. An overview of marine training courses:


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: During operational training, there is more emphasis on various other tactics in amphibious warfare, and it will take about a year to become MARSOC (Maritime Special Operations Capable) certified, which will last for two years. SOCs are able to operate within any environment in the world, under any condition and circumstance. Therefore Dutch marines regularly train in arctic, jungle, desert, high-altitude, maritime and urban conditions, and embark on various training missions throughout the world. In these two years SOCs will work closely with MARSOF platoons throughout the world, and can choose to enlist for further specialization.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Experienced marines are able to obtain various specialisations. It is common for marines to have multiple specialisations.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Popular specialisations include: weapons instructor, mortar, communications, or heavy weapons specialist, designated marksman, sniper, assault engineer, medic or free-fall para. Some of these specialisations require the rank of Corporal before being able to follow specialisation training, and must not exceed a maximum age.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The basic infantry weapons of the are the Colt Canada C7 assault rifle, Colt Canada C8 carbine and Glock 17 pistol. Support fire is provided by the Colt Canada LOAWNLD squad automatic weapon, the FN MAG general-purpose machine gun and the Browning M2 heavy machine gun (which is usually mounted on a vehicle); indirect fire by the L16A2 81mm mortar. Designated marksmen operate the HK417 designated marksman rifle, while sniper rifles include the Accuracy AWM and Accuracy International AXMC (chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum) and Barret M82 anti-materiel rifle (chambered in .50 BMG). Grenade launchers include the Heckler & Koch UGL, M320 GLM and Heckler & Koch GMG, the last a vehicle mounted automatic grenade launcher. Anti Armour Troops operate the Panzerfaust 3 and Spike MRAT anti-tank weapon. Furthermore, NLMARSOF has access to additional weaponry for their specific tasks. These include the FN P90 personal defense weapon, HK416 and SIG Sauer MCX carbines and M72 LAW anti-tank weapon.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Armoured All-Terrain Vehicle Troops (AATV) are equipped with 74 BvS10 tracked amphibious vehicles; 46 personnel carriers, 20 command vehicles, 4 recovery vehicles and 4 ambulances. In addition, 96 of the 156 originally purchased Bv 206S have been given a mid-life update and remain operational. The rest of the vehicles have been cannibalised, sold or disposed and will be replaced by 124 new light-armoured vehicles in cooperation with the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden from 2024 onwards. For foreign deployments the marines have access to a joint pool of Bushmaster infantry mobility vehicles. Four Leopard 1 BARVs are in use, tasked with recovering vehicles during beach assaults.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Light mobility is provided by Land Rover 110XD tactical vehicles, which are due for replacement by 100 new armoured amphibious-capable vehicles in 2023. The Mercedes-Benz G280 CDIs which were used in the Dutch Caribbean have been replaced by 60 new purpose-built DMV Anaconda 4x4s, which are based on the Iveco Daily 4x4. The first 46 vehicles for the Caribbean were acquired in four variants: a command variant, a patrol variant, a general support variant and a driver instruction variant. The vehicles are equipped with several weapon systems and communication systems and are intended for low-intensity operations. Another 14 vehicles have been delivered to the Anti-Armour Troops (AAT) in the Netherlands. The AAT variant can carry Spike anti-tank weapons and launchers. Moreover, NLMARSOF has access to the fleet of 75 Defenture VECTOR special operations vehicles through a joint NLD SOCOM pool. Non-armoured Volkswagen Amarok vehicles are used for peacetime duties, replacing the obsolete Mercedes-Benz 290GDs.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The marines have access to a large fleet of vessels. The two Landing Platform Docks (LPDs) of the Royal Netherlands Navy, HNLMS "Rotterdam" and HNLMS "Johan de Witt", are capable of transporting a complete Marine Combat Group and its equipment and can carry 4 LCUs or 6 smaller LCVPs landing craft (or a combination of 2 LCUs and 3 LCVPs) in their large internal dock. The Corps' fleet includes five Landing Craft Utility Mk. II (LCUs), which are capable of carrying three trucks, two armoured vehicles, one BARV or 130 fully equipped marines and are armed with two Browning M2 .50 machine guns. Furthermore, twelve Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel Mk5C (LCVPs) are operated, which are capable of carrying two 2 Land Rovers, one Bv 206S or 35 fully equipped marines and are armed with 2 FN MAG machine guns. Additionally, the marines have access to a fleet of 48 Fast Raiding, Interception and Special Forces Craft (FRISCs); 11 for special operation use, 12 for use in the Dutch Caribbean, 17 for use as small landing crafts and 6 used in combination with the Holland Class OPVs.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Corps cooperates closely with the Defence Helicopter Command which provides airlift using NH90, CH-47 Chinook and AS532 Cougar transport helicopters.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Corps has multiple distinctive uniforms. The Corps' standard combat uniform is based on the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) in the woodland pattern, as opposed to the Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM)-based combat uniform of the other services of the Netherlands Armed Forces. This combat uniform is due to be replaced by new combat uniforms in the Netherlands Fractal Pattern from 2023 onwards. Operators of NLMARSOF and other selected units wear combat uniforms in the commercial Multicam pattern.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The service dress uniform can be worn during everyday office, barracks and non-field duty purposes. The uniform consists of trousers with red pipings and a jacket (both in dark-blue fabric), a white dress shirt with a black neck tie and headgear (beret or peaked cap). The uniform can be supplemented with brown leather gloves, decorations worn in Prussian arrangement and a belt with holster.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The mess dress uniform is worn during formal occasions, such as a dinner or a ball and consists of a smoking, complemented with a peaked cap and miniature medals.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The full dress uniform consists of a dark-blue jacket with a red standing collar, dark-blue trousers with red pipings, orange sash (worn by officers), pith helmet, , white gloves and a saber.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The Netherlands Marine Corps was granted a colour (Dutch: ) by Queen Wilhelmina on 16 September 1929 and was renewed in 1988. The colour forms the embodiment of the history and character of the Corps. In contrast to the functional use of colours in the past, during which they served as landmarks on the battlefield, the contemporary role has been greatly reduced. Nonetheless, the colour continues to play an important role during various military ceremonies. For example, soldiers swear the oath of enlistment while holding the colour. Moreover, the colour constitutes an important connection between the Corps and the Royal House of the Netherlands. Only the sovereign can grant a military unit a colour or standard, therefore the royal cypher of the monarch that granted the regiment its (original) colour is displayed. In addition, the colour is inscribed with (historical) battle honours. By prominently displaying them, the aim is to add to the "esprit de corps", uphold the collective memory and serve as inspiration for future actions.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The colour of the is distinct from other Dutch colours by the display of blue anchors in the four corners. The lanyard of the Military William Order, which it was granted in 1946 for actions in World War II, is permanently attached to the colour as well. The battle honours as they appear on the colours are: Spanje - Algiers, West-Indië, Seneffe, Kijkduin - Doggersbank, Atjeh - Bali, Chatham, Rotterdam, Javazee, Java - Madoera, Nieuw-Guinea. In 2019, it was announced that the Corps was being granted a new battle honour for display on the colour for actions in Afghanistan; Helmand - Kandahar - Uruzgan.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: Since 1972, units of the Netherlands Marine Corps have formed part of the British 3 Commando Brigade during exercises and real conflict situations. Also Mountain Warfare /Force Reconnaissance Troop of C Squadron NLMARSOF will be placed under UK operational command as part of C Squadron, UK Special Boat Service. Together, these form the UK/NL AF. Either the First or the Second Marine Combat Group can be assigned as the Dutch contribution to this force. UK/NL AF contributes to the European Multinational Maritime Force (EMMF).


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The cooperation between the and the Royal Marines has led to extensive integration in the areas of operations, logistics and materials. Within NATO this is seen as a prime example of what can be achieved in military integration.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The NLMC and Royal Marines have a long history of cooperation. During combined actions by the British and Dutch navies during the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713), amphibious operations were carried out, the most notable being the Capture of Gibraltar in 1704. During this action, a successful attack was carried out against the fortress of Gibraltar by an 1800-strong brigade of Dutch and British Marines under the command of Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt. Both corps share this battle honour.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The British and Dutch armed forces share close relations. The Royal Marines and Netherlands Marine Corps are allied through a 'Bond of friendship'.


title: Netherlands Marine Corps

text: The nickname of the Dutch Marines among their British Royal Marine counterparts is "Cloggies," due to the stereotype that most or all Dutch wear clogs, instead of normal footwear.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Ricochet is a 1991 American action crime thriller film, directed by Russell Mulcahy, written by Steven E. de Souza, and starring Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T, Kevin Pollak, and Lindsay Wagner. The film details a struggle between a Los Angeles district attorney (Washington) and a vengeful criminal (Lithgow) whom he arrested when he was a cop.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: In 1983, rookie Los Angeles police officer and law student Nick Styles (Denzel Washington) meets Alice (Victoria Dillard), and drifts away from childhood friend Odessa (Ice-T), who has become a drug dealer in South Central Los Angeles. Styles and his partner Larry Doyle (Kevin Pollak) patrol a carnival, where they encounter hitman Earl Talbot Blake (John Lithgow) and his accomplice Kim (Josh Evans). Styles is forced into an armed standoff when Blake takes a hostage after killing several drug dealers. After stripping his equipment and uniform off, Styles uses a gun hidden in his athletic supporter, shooting Blake in the knee and subduing him. The incident is caught on camera by an amateur videographer and televised, making Styles a hero. He and Doyle are promoted to Detective, while Blake and Kim are sent to prison.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Eight years later in 1991, Styles has become an Assistant District Attorney and is married to Alice with two daughters. Behind bars, Blake allies himself with the Aryan Brotherhood to plot an escape and take revenge against Styles. Kim is paroled and assists in Blake's escape. Blake and the AB members stage a violent and deadly prison escape during a parole hearing, which only Blake and the AB leader survive. Afterwards, Blake murders the AB gang leader and burns his corpse; however, while in prison, he had swapped their dental records, in order to fake his own death and ensure authorities would believe that Blake had died in the fire.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Styles finds Odessa, now a major drug dealer in the neighborhood, and pleads with him to halt dealing to children. Blake and Kim kill a city councilman who works with Styles, dressing his body in drag, planting child pornography in his briefcase and staging his death to look like a suicide, framing Styles for embezzling city funds. Blake and Kim abduct Styles outside his home and hold him hostage in an empty swimming pool for several days. They regularly inject Styles with heroin and cocaine while engaging in arm wrestling. Blake hires a prostitute (Linda Dona) to have sex with Styles. She ignores the weakened Styles' objections and rapes him as Blake records the incident on video. After Blake and Kim deposit an unconscious Styles on the steps of City Hall, Alice overhears Styles' superiors telling him he has tested positive for gonorrhea, and believes he is cheating on her.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Styles witnesses a video of Blake entering his daughters' room with a hatchet. Styles heads to the park where his family are watching a circus act, and holds a black-clad figure he believes to be Blake at gunpoint; the figure turns out to be a clown, making Styles seem unstable. Blake releases the recording of Styles' rape, making it appear as if Styles is soliciting prostitutes. District Attorney Priscilla Brimleigh (Lindsay Wagner) suspends Styles.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Determined to prove his innocence, Styles and Doyle beat information out of one of Blake's former AB allies. In an alley, Blake fatally shoots Doyle and plants Styles' fingerprints on the gun.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Desperate, Styles contacts Odessa for help, bringing his family to the housing project Odessa uses as a drug lab. On the roof, Styles raves to the street below, apparently suicidal; this draws out Blake, who wants Styles to live a long, miserable life. Styles fakes his own death by escaping an explosion in the building.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Odessa's gang abducts Kim, and Odessa sends a message to Blake that Styles is alive and intends to find him, challenging him to come to the Watts Towers. Blake finds Kim tied to the scaffolding and kills him. On the towers, Blake and Styles fight until Odessa applies electricity to the metal tower, electrocuting Blake. Styles pulls Blake off the tower and as he falls, impales himself on a spike. Styles reunites with his family and calls out to Odessa one last time, inviting him to basketball. Television news crews broadcast the dramatic turn of events, declaring Styles innocent. When a newscaster (Mary Ellen Trainor) asks Styles for comment, he turns off the news camera.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Originally, the screenplay to "Ricochet" by Fred Dekker was written as a Dirty Harry film, but Clint Eastwood deemed it too grim. When the script was attached to Joel Silver as producer in a different direction, Dekker met Kurt Russell about starring while Dekker was to be director, which it never was able to reach in its pre-production stage.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Reportedly, violent scenes in the film were heavily cut down following the test screenings. According to interview with director Russell Mulcahy, in one of the scenes that were cut out Blake physically abuses Styles until Styles vomits, and Blake gets a sponge to clean him up. This is why Styles has vomit on him when he is found in the streets. The uncut version of the film was never released.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: The score of the film was composed, produced, and conducted by Alan Silvestri. Like "Predator 2", it was performed by the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 74% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film two thumbs down on their show "At the Movies", describing it as ridiculous, goofy, embarrassing, unsavory and distasteful but also stylish, ambitious and having some smart dialogue.


title: Ricochet (1991 film)

text: The movie had a modest box office. It premiered on October 4, 1991, making $4,831,181 in its opening weekend, 2nd behind "The Fisher King", ending up grossing over $21 million in its theatrical run. It also came 5 weeks prior to the premiere of "Cape Fear", a film starring Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte with a similar storyline.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge (born 1 May 1951) is a Barbadian, former first-class cricketer, who represented the West Indies in Test and One-day Cricket for 17 years. Greenidge is regarded worldwide as one of the greatest and most destructive opening batsmen in cricket history. In 2009, Greenidge was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Born Cuthbert Gordon Lavine in St. Peter, Barbados, he was raised by his mother. At the ages of 8 and 14, he was raised by his grandmother after his mother moved to London (England) to find work. His mother married, and Gordon moved to 'Reading' (England) as a 14-year-old to live with her and his stepfather. He described racism frequently while attending school in Reading and left school without any qualifications. He played cricket for his school, and the team won the Reading Schools Cricket League. He was selected to play for the Berkshire Bantams in 1967 and scored 135* runs in their game against Wiltshire. This attracted the attention of Hampshire and Warwickshire, who offered Greenidge a trial.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge began his career in English county cricket with Hampshire in the English County Championship. He joined in April 1968 as a 17 year old playing for the second eleven and was also given responsibilities such as painting the seating at the stadium. His fielding at this stage "left much to be desired". Nearly losing his contract, Greenidge applied himself over the winter and in 1970 scored 841 runs in 15 second eleven matches and eventually broke into the Hampshire first eleven team averaging 35 in seven matches with 4 scores over fifty.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: He batted as an opener with Barry Richards for Hampshire, first playing together in August 1970. Gordon Greenidge said of the experience of playing alongside Barry Richards was "something I shall never forget. It was an education and an inspiration. If, at the end of my career, people talk of Richards and Greenidge in the same breath, then I for one will not mind it in the least". During his first-class career, he scored a total of 37,000 runs with 92 centuries.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: In 1974, Greenidge scored his highest first class score of 273 not out at Eastbourne for Derrick Robin's XI against the Pakistani side who were touring England that year. He said that he had drunk too much lager the night before and had woken up with "the most dreadful hangover". He did not recollect the innings saying "I middled every ball and yet hardly saw one delivery clearly...I can't remember a single shot but when I returned to the pavilion rather later than I had anticipated, I discovered I had made 273 not out". He hit 13 sixes and 31 fours in the innings.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: In 1984, Greenidge achieved the highest batting average of any player during the English season. In his 16 innings, he scored 1069 runs at an average of 82.23.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge received the ‘Hampshire Cricket Society Player of the Year’ in 1986 and played his final season for Hampshire in 1987.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge holds the record for the highest score for Hampshire in a 60 over game of 177 against Glamorgan and the highest score in a 40 over game for Hampshire of 172 against Surrey.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Gordon Greenidge was eligible to play for England but he opted to play for the West Indies. Greenidge played as an opening batsman and he began his Test career in 1974 against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, scoring 93 and 107 on debut.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge made his ODI debut against Pakistan in the 1975 Cricket World Cup. The 1975 Cricket World Cup was a quiet tournament for Greenidge. His only innings of note was 55 in the semi-final against New Zealand. It took four more years to score an ODI century when he made 106 not out against India at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham. His highest score of 133 was made against the same team shortly after the 1983 Cricket World Cup. All but two of his ODI centuries were match-winning ones.