title: Phragmites

text: Common reed is very important (together with other reed-like plants) for wildlife and conservation, particularly in Europe and Asia, where several species of birds are strongly tied to large "Phragmites" stands. The habitats for reeds in these regions are wetlands and meadows. These include:


title: Phragmites

text: In Australia, reedbeds provide cover for grassbirds ("Megalurus spp."), reed warblers ("Acrocephalus spp."), crakes ("Porzana spp.") and bitterns ("Ixobrychus spp.") and the Australian bittern ("Botaurus poiciloptilus").


title: Phragmites

text: "P. australis" is cultivated as an ornamental plant in aquatic and marginal settings such as pond- and lakesides. Its aggressive colonisation means it must be sited with care.


title: Phragmites

text: "Phragmites australis" is one of the main wetland plant species used for phytoremediation water treatment.


title: Phragmites

text: Waste water from lavatories and greywater from kitchens is routed to an underground septic tank-like compartment where the solid waste is allowed to settle out. The water then trickles through a constructed wetland or artificial reed bed, where bioremediation bacterial action on the surface of roots and leaf litter removes some of the nutrients in biotransformation. The water is then suitable for irrigation, groundwater recharge, or release to natural watercourses.


title: Phragmites

text: Reed is used in many areas for thatching roofs. In the British Isles, common reed used for this purpose is known as Norfolk reed or water reed. However, "wheat reed" and "Devon reed", also used for thatching, are not in fact reed, but long-stemmed wheat straw.


title: Phragmites

text: In Middle East countries "Phragmites" is used to create a small instrument similar to the clarinet called a sipsi, with either a single, as in the picture, or double pipes as in bagpipes. The reed of the zurna is made from the common reed which is flattened after removing its brittle outer glaze and the loose inner membrane, and after softening it by wetting. The result is a double reed with an elliptical opening that vibrates by closing and opening at a high speed. This is not to be confused with other double reeds like that of the oboe which uses two reeds made from the giant reed leaning against each other.


title: Phragmites

text: The leaves, roots, seeds and stems of phragmites are edible. Young shoots can be cooked or eaten raw just like bamboo shoots. The young stems, "while still green and fleshy, can be dried and pounded into a fine powder, which when moistened is roasted [sic] like marshmallows." The seeds and rhizomes "can be ground into flour or made into gruel." In Japan, young leaves are dried, ground, and then mixed with cereal flour to make dumplings. Grazing on phragmites by large-bodied domestic herbivores, such as cows, horses, sheep, and goats, can effectively control the plant and provide a reciprocal positive benefit for humans by generating meat, milk, leather, and wool etc.


title: Phragmites

text: The rhizomes of reeds, written as 蘆根 or 葦莖 in Chinese, were used in traditional Chinese medicine for illness related to the airways, such as cough, high fever, sticky and white phlegm, etc.


title: Phragmites

text: A concoction of reed roots was believed to bring the fever away via increased urination and also help to restore body fluid.


title: Phragmites

text: Some other uses for "Phragmites australis" and other reeds in various cultures include baskets, mats, reed pen tips (qalam), and paper. Beekeepers can utilize the reeds to make nesting.


title: Phragmites

text: In the Philippines, "Phragmites" is known by the local name "tambo". Reed stands flower in December, and the blooms are harvested and bundled into whisk brooms called "walis". Hence the common name of household brooms is "walis tambo".


title: Phragmites

text: Some "Phragmites", when introduced by accident or intent, spread rapidly. In the United States, prior to 1910, only a few areas in the Northeast contained non-native haplotypes of "Phragmites australis." However, by 1960 non-native haplotypes were found in samples taken from coast to coast. Today, in some places like Michigan, "Phragmites australis (haplotype M)" has become the dominant haplotype. The problem is invasive non-native "Phragmites australis" quickly spread through marshes and wetland areas. They replace native plants, deny fish and wildlife nutrients and space; block access to the water for swimming, fishing and other recreation endeavors; spoil shoreline views; and pose a fire hazard.


title: Phragmites

text: "Phragmites" can drive out competing vegetation in two ways. Their sheer height and density can deprive other plants of sunlight and the chemicals they produce when decaying reduce the germination of competing seeds.


title: Phragmites

text: Recognizing the non-native form of "Phragmites" early in its invasion increases the opportunity for successful eradication dramatically. Once it has become established, removal by hand is nearly impossible. The seeds or rhizomes can quickly lead to a new dense stand. Therefore, the most successful Phragmites control treatments to date have centered around the application of an aquatic herbicide followed by burning of the roots and stalks to prevent regrowth, which can lead to noticeable improvement in pond conditions for indigenous species and migratory birds. It is important to select the proper herbicide for the location. Further, even the proper herbicide can lead to unintended consequences since a large amount of decaying dead plant material can depress oxygen levels in the water and kill all the fish in a pond or small lake. Therefore, in smaller bodies of water the recommendation is to do a quarter of a large stand every two weeks. Some success has also been obtained using goats to graze on "Phragmites", controlled burns, and native wild rice crops.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: The LGM-35 Sentinel, also known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), is a future American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM) currently in the early stages of development. It is slated to replace the aging Minuteman III missiles, currently stationed in North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and Colorado, from 2029 through 2075. In 2020 the Department of the Air Force awarded defense contractor Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion sole-source contract for development of the LGM-35 after Boeing withdrew its proposal. Northrop Grumman's subcontractors on the LGM-35 include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Bechtel, Honeywell, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Parsons, Textron, and others.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: In 2010, the ICBM Coalition, legislators from states that house nuclear missiles, told President Obama they would not support ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia unless Obama agreed to revamp the US nuclear triad: nuclear missiles that could be launched from land, sea, and air. In a written statement, President Obama agreed to "modernize or replace" all three legs of the triad.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: A request for proposal for development and maintenance of a next-generation nuclear ICBM was made by the US Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center in July 2016. The GBSD would replace the Minuteman III, which was first deployed in 1970, in the land-based portion of the US nuclear triad. The new missiles, to be phased in over a decade from the late 2020s, are estimated over a fifty-year life cycle to cost around $264 billion. Boeing and Northrop Grumman competed for the contract.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: In August 2017, the Air Force awarded three-year development contracts to Boeing and Northrop Grumman for $349 million and $329 million, respectively. One of these companies was to be selected to produce a ground-based nuclear ICBM in 2020. In 2029, the GBSD program is expected to enter service and remain active until 2075.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: On 25 July 2019, Boeing announced it would not place a bid for the program, citing Northrop's recent acquisition of Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems), Boeing's supplier of solid rocket motors. Northrop signed an agreement to firewall Boeing's proprietary data after acquiring Orbital ATK. The Air Force has since halted funding for the Boeing project, leaving Northrop Grumman as the sole bidder.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: In December 2019, it was announced that Northrop Grumman won the competition to build the future ICBM. Northrop won by default, as their bid was the only one left to be considered for the GBSD program. The Air Force said that they will "proceed with an aggressive and effective sole-source negotiation" in reference to Northrop's bid.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: On 8 September 2020, the Department of the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract to develop the GBSD intercontinental ballistic missile. Work on the GBSD missiles will be done in Roy and Promontory, Utah; Huntsville and Montgomery, Alabama; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Bellevue, Nebraska; San Diego and Woodland Hills, California; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; Chandler, Arizona; Annapolis Junction, Maryland; and other locations.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: In March 2019, the W87 Mod 1 (W87-1) thermonuclear warhead was selected for GBSD, replacing the W78 warhead currently used on the Minuteman III. It is planned for GBSD to deploy in 2028, with W87-0 warheads initially being fitted to the system and W87-1 warheads being fitted from 2030 onward. This affords the Air Force a small amount of flexibility if the W87-1 is delayed.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: GBSD testing would occur mainly at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), California, with missile launches from VSFB over the Pacific Ocean. Additional testing would be conducted at U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, U.S. Army Garrison–Kwajalein Atoll and within the territorial waters of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: On 7 July 2022 a Minotaur II+ rocket launched from Vandenberg TP-01 for a suborbital reentry vehicle (Mk21A reentry vehicle belonging to AFNWC) demonstration mission for the future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile. Rocket exploded 11 seconds after launch.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: Supporters of the GBSD include the Heritage Foundation, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and members of Congress in the "ICBM Coalition." They argue that the current ICBMs, first introduced in the 1970s, have had their life extended long enough and need to be replaced with a modular system in which components are easier to replace or update. In defending the importance of land-based missiles, supporters say they are the least expensive leg of the nuclear triad because they do not necessitate large maintenance crews or incur expensive refueling costs, like nuclear-powered submarines. Additionally, they argue land-based missiles are visible reminders that the US can strike back in the event of a nuclear attack, thus making them essential to nuclear deterrence.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: In its annual 2021 Threat Assessment, the US Intelligence community said China was planning to double its arsenal of nuclear weapons over the next ten years in "the most rapid expansion in its history." It also warned that Russia may expand and modernize its nuclear arsenal.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: One of the main supporters of the GBSD is Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. In a March 21, 2021, interview with "Defense News", Tester said, "As of right now, I think it's important that we move forward with the GBSD because I believe there's still an important deterrent." Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy in the Biden administration, told the press on April 9, 2021, "We have to keep and maintain the stockpile to make sure that it is safe and effective, and we will continue to do that to ensure that we can deter nuclear aggression from other countries."


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: GBSD critics include former Secretary of Defense William Perry, Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower and author of "The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner," the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and Peace Action. They argue the new missiles would not only be costly, but also dangerous, increasing the risk of accidentally launching a nuclear war. Critics say ICBMs, which are supposed to act like a sponge drawing fire to the region, depleting Russia's nuclear power, could result in the deaths of more than 10 million people. Ellsberg and Author Norman Solomon argue peace groups must oppose not only the GBSD but the entire land-based leg of the nuclear triad to reduce the threat of an accidental nuclear war.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: Physicist David Wright, former co-director of the UCS Global Security Program, in his report, "Rethinking Land-Based Nuclear Missiles" writes that submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) are as accurate, if not more, than ICBMs or land-based missiles, and are "virtually undetectable," making the ICBMs not only obsolete but sitting ducks in the five states that house ICBMs. Wright concludes the vulnerability of ICBMs has prompted the Air Force to keep them on high alert, which is dangerous and could trigger a nuclear war. According to William Hartung, author of "Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex", a president would have only minutes to decide whether to launch ICBMs in a crisis to avoid the missiles being destroyed in a perceived first strike.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: In 2020, the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland, issued a report entitled "Common Ground of the American People", which was a compilation of studies conducted over the previous five years, collecting data from nearly 86,000 individuals who were polled on the GBSD. Sixty-one percent of Americans–including both Democratic and Republican majorities–said they supported phasing out the United States' 400 land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: Another 2020 poll conducted by the Federation of American Scientists and ReThink Media found a majority of both Republicans and Democrats favored alternative solutions to the GBSD, including extending the life of the Minuteman III ICBM. Over 800 registered voters were surveyed, with an oversampling of 200 registered voters in ICBM states: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. When respondents were asked, "What do you think the government should do about ICBMs?", 30 percent favored updating existing ICBMs rather than replacing them, 26 percent supported the GBSD, 20 percent preferred eliminating the ICBMs and 10 percent supported abolishing all nuclear weapons.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: According to a 2021 survey commissioned by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, the majority of voters believe that nuclear deterrence capability should be one of the highest priorities for the Department of Defense, with a majority also supporting modernization efforts. The survey asked more than 2,000 voters for their views on national security and nuclear arms. Eighty-one percent of survey respondents preferred the security benefits of the United States' ground-based nuclear capabilities more than the cost savings of removing these capabilities. When told the current Minuteman III ICBM system is over 50 years old, the majority of respondents said the ICBMs should be replaced by a modern system, compared to 23 percent who said the ICBMs should be refurbished to extend their current life. Just five percent indicated an opinion that they should be eliminated entirely. When informed that Russia and China have modernized their nuclear arsenals, support for replacing Minuteman III with a modern ICBM system rose to 65 percent, compared to only 15 percent in favor of refurbishing.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: The ICBM Coalition in Congress, which lobbies for the GBSD, was able to limit the reduction of deployed land-based missiles to 50 in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). As of May 2021, membership in the coalition included senators from states that will either house or develop the proposed GBSD missiles: Co-Chair, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND); Co-Chair, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT); Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY); Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT); Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT); Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD).


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: Tester serves as Chair of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. During a spring 2021 event hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance, Tester said he was committed to keeping the GBSD "on track" though added there will be debate about the proposed new missiles during the 2022 defense appropriations process.


title: LGM-35 Sentinel

text: According to the Arms Control Association, Caucus Senators received the following contributions from military contractors from 2012-2020: Romney ($645,000); Tester ($102,360); Barasso ($89,000); Daines ($85, 948); Enzi ($68,500); Cramer ($49,593). In total, military contractors have donated $1.2 million to the current members of the Senate ICBM Coalition and more than $15 million to the 64 members of the influential committees, the Senate and House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittees and the Senate and House Appropriations defense subcommittees, that can decide the fate of ICBM legislation. ICBM contractors are also engaged in lobbying representatives in Congress, with corporate backers of GBSD employing 380 lobbyists, according to the Arms Control Association.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Joseph Trapanese (born 1984) is an American composer, arranger, and producer. He works in the production of music for films, television, records, theater, concerts, and interactive media.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, Trapanese attended Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School before moving on to the Manhattan School of Music.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Trapanese began his composing career by collaborating with Daft Punk (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) on the soundtrack for the Walt Disney Pictures film "". His arrangements for the soundtrack have been described as "resolutely grand" and "stirring... ominous, hypnotic". The BBC described the work as "a sophisticated integration of acoustic and electronic instrumentation... majestic… rich, solemn tones… saturnine orchestration and a muscular rhythm”.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Trapanese has gone on to compose numerous projects including Disney XD's animated series "", Sony Pictures Classics' "" (co-composed with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park), Sony Pictures Television's original web series "The Bannen Way", the independent feature "Mamitas" (featured at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival), and numerous scores for live action and animated films from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. Trapanese contributed musical arrangements to "", "What Happens in Vegas" and "Traitor". Alongside composer Daniel Licht, Trapanese produced and orchestrated the scores for seasons 3 and 4 of Showtime's original series "Dexter", and provided orchestrations for seasons 5 and 6. The 2012 teaser trailer for "Iron Man 3" features Trapanese's composition "Something to Fight For".


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: His career eventually lead to working on major studio feature films working solo and alongside recording artists. Some of his well known credits include Universal Studios's "Straight Outta Compton", Lionsgate Films's "", Sony Pictures Classics' "The Raid 2", and Universal Studios's "Oblivion" (co-composed with Anthony Gonzalez of M83).


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: In 2017 he scored the Sony Pictures feature "Only the Brave", his third collaboration with director Joseph Kosinski, and co-scored the 20th Century Fox musical "The Greatest Showman" alongside composer John Debney. On that film he produced several of the chart-topping songs from the film written by Oscar-winning duo Justin Paul and Benj Pasek.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Following his collaborations with Daft Punk on "", Anthony Gonzalez (M83) on "Oblivion", and Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) on "", Trapanese continues to work with artists in film scoring, album production, and live events.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: On August 7, 2015 Dr. Dre released his long-awaited third album "Compton" which featured string arrangements by Trapanese and Jennifer Hammond. They were conducted by Trapanese at the "Straight Outta Compton" scoring sessions at the Sony Pictures Studios scoring stage in Culver City.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: On February 27, 2015 Kelly Clarkson released her seventh album "Piece by Piece" which featured an orchestra arranged and conducted by Trapanese recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood. He collaborated with producers Greg Kurstin, Jesse Shatkin, and Jason Halbert on the project.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: On September 22, 2013, Trapanese performed with M83 at the Hollywood Bowl as conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. For the concert, Trapanese arranged new orchestral material for songs from "Before The Dawn Heals Us", "Saturdays=Youth", "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming", and "Oblivion". He also arranged and conducted an orchestra for M83's show at Central Park Summerstage in New York City on August 8, 2012.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Released on October 25, 2013, by RCA Records, Kelly Clarkson's "Wrapped in Red" features an orchestra arranged and conducted by Trapanese. Produced by Greg Kurstin, it is Clarkson's first Christmas-themed release, featuring cover versions of various Christmas standards in addition to original material. As part of the album's promotion, on October 30, 2013, Trapanese led the orchestra for "Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale" at The Venetian Las Vegas, which was broadcast on NBC on December 11, 2013.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Trapanese collaborated with Active Child on the arrangement of "Silhouette" (featuring Ellie Goulding) for his 2013 EP "Rapor". In addition to the album, he provided new string and choir arrangements for his performances in Melbourne, London, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: For 2012's "The Bourne Legacy", Trapanese worked with Moby on a new orchestral version of his "Extreme Ways".


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: On October 18, 2011, M83's double-disc album "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" released with five tracks arranged by Trapanese. Trapanese's work can be heard on "Intro", "Wait", "Soon, My Friend", "My Tears Are Becoming a Sea", and "Outro".


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: The music Trapanese has produced for theater is performed primarily in New York City, most notably in productions by The Actors Company Theatre. Recent productions that he has provided music for include T. S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party", Arthur Miller's "Incident at Vichy", Václav Havel's "The Memorandum", and Edward Bond's "The Sea". His music for the production of Milan Stitt's "The Runner Stumbles" was described by the "New York Times" as "Precise and evocative... wistful, ringing melodies”.


title: Joseph Trapanese

text: Trapanese completed his bachelor's degree in composition at the Manhattan School of Music, and later an M.A. in Music for Visual Media at UCLA, with support from the Henry Mancini fund. Joseph's tutors included Giampaolo Bracali, Bruce Broughton, Paul Chihara, Roger Bourland, Jack Smalley, and Martin Bresnick, and he also engaged in brief studies with Louis Andriessen, Aaron Jay Kernis, Julia Wolfe, Mark Snow, and Ira Newborn. From 2008 to 2011, Trapanese taught the Electronic Music and Composition curriculum at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music.


title: Star (glyph)

text: In typography, a star is any of several glyphs with a number of points arrayed within an imaginary circle.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest to the west, the London Borough of Havering to the east, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in the south and east, and the London Borough of Newham to the south.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: The name comes from a bridge over the River Roding which was demolished in 1921. The bridge was made of red brick, unlike other bridges in the area made of white stone. The name had first been applied to the Redbridge area and Redbridge tube station was opened in 1947. It was earlier known as Hocklee's Bridge.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Redbridge has more than 35 parks, playgrounds and open spaces. These include Hainault Forest Country Park, with 300 acres of countryside including adventure play areas, cafe and petting zoo; Roding Valley Park, a wildlife sanctuary with a range of flora and fauna and woodland areas; Valentines Park, including Valentines Mansion, ornamental gardens, bowling green and outdoor gym; and Claybury Woods and Park, a conservation area that features an ancient area of oak and hornbeam woodland, meadows and wildlife ponds.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Valentines Mansion is a Georgian country house and gardens in the grounds of Valentines Park, Ilford.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Redbridge Museum, which opened in 2000, is situated on the second floor of Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford, along with the Redbridge Heritage Centre.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: The Embassy Cinema is an Art Deco former cinema in Chadwell Heath. It opened in 1934 and closed in 1966, but is currently the focus of a major restoration project.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Redbridge has 13 libraries across the borough. This includes the Redbridge Central Library, in Clements Road, Ilford, which had a major refurbishment in 2012. The libraries offer a number of services including reading clubs, story time sessions, study areas and learning resources. The libraries in Redbridge are:


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Redbridge has a number of sports and leisure facilities including the road and off-road cycling tracks at Redbridge Cycling Centre.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: There are two local football teams both playing in the Isthmian League Division One: Redbridge F.C. (not to be confused with Dagenham & Redbridge) and Ilford FC. In addition there is fellow Non-League football club Barkingside F.C. who play at The Oakside stadium.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Valentines Park in Ilford acted as one of Essex County Cricket Club's home grounds in 1923-4 and from 1935 until 2002, when the club stopped playing there due to financial constraints.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: In 2011 the population of Redbridge was recorded at 278,970. In common with the other London boroughs this continues a period of growth; between the 1991 and 2001 censuses the increase was 7.5% with a further rise of 15.3% by 2011. Redbridge has the third highest proportion of children and a higher-than-average proportion of older adults while the proportion of working age adults is slightly lower than average. The population density was last recorded at 4,945 residents per km(the London regional density is 5,199, far higher than the England and Wales figure of 371).


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: The healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth for Redbridge residents stands at 65.5 years for males and 62.4 years for females (the England average HLE is 63.4 for males and 64.1 for females).


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Redbridge is one of the most ethnically diverse local authorities in the UK. 34% of respondents to the 2011 census stated that they were born outside the UK and 65.5% identified as belonging to an ethnic group other than white British. Redbridge's largest ethnic group is White British (34.5%), followed by Indian (16.4%), and Pakistani (Redbridge has the highest proportion of Pakistani residents of any London borough).


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: In common with many London boroughs, the most recent (2011) census showed notable ethnic and religious population mobility in Redbridge. Ethnic groups whose proportions fell in Redbridge were White British (-23% of the borough's total), Irish (-0.9%), and Caribbean (-0.6%). Ethnic groups whose proportions rose include Pakistani (+4.9%), other Asians (+4.4%), Bangladeshis (+3.9%), and other White (+2.9%). Religious groups whose proportions fell in Redbridge were Christian (-13.9%) and Jews (-2.5%). For Jews this represented a fall of over 50% of their number in some wards. Religious groups whose proportions rose include Muslims (+11.4%) followed by Hindu (+3.6%).


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: According to the 2011 Census, the largest religious groupings are Christians (36.8 per cent), followed by Muslims (23.3 per cent), Hindus (11.4 per cent), those of no religion (11.0 per cent), no response (6.5 per cent), Sikhs (6.2 per cent), Jews (3.7 per cent), Buddhists (0.7 per cent) and other (0.5 per cent).


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: The number of Christians residing in Redbridge ranked fourth lowest in England and Wales, and 12 percent below the London average of 48.4%. The number of Muslims in Redbridge has more than doubled since 2001.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: These services serving these stations will be rebranded from TfL Rail to Elizabeth Line in late 2020.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 23.5% all residents aged 16–74; underground, metro, light rail, tram, 18.4%; train, 6.2%; bus, minibus or coach, 4.6%; on foot, 3.7%; work mainly at or from home, 2.6%; passenger in a car or van, 1.5%.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: All of which had been transferred from Essex to Greater London by the Act. The former town hall in Ilford is now known as Redbridge Town Hall.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Following a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, minor changes were made on 1 April 1994 to the boundary with Barking & Dagenham and Newham. Further changes were made on 1 April 1995 to the boundary with Waltham Forest and Epping Forest District. The latter change transferred an area around Grange Hill and Roding Valley tube stations from Essex to Greater London.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: In November 2018, Redbridge Council was reported as the sixth-most productive council in England overall and the most productive in provision of adult social care in a report published by the public service consultancy iMPOWER.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: Redbridge Council is the Local Education Authority. The Borough has the accolade of sending more young people to university than any other borough in the country in both 2011 and 2012. GCSE and A Level results are consistently higher than the Country's average. A 2017 report by Trust for London and the New Policy Institute found that Redbridge has the highest proportion of 19 year olds with Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to an A Level) of any London borough.


title: London Borough of Redbridge

text: All schools in the borough take part in the Redbridge Schools Choral Festival, a bi-annual music festival held in the Royal Albert Hall in Knightsbridge.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: President Richard Nixon made an address to the American public from the Oval Office on August 8, 1974, to announce his resignation from the presidency due to the Watergate scandal.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: Nixon's resignation was the culmination of what he referred to in his speech as the "long and difficult period of Watergate", a 1970s federal political scandal stemming from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate Office Building by five men during the 1972 presidential election and the Nixon administration's subsequent attempts to cover up its involvement in the crime. Nixon ultimately lost much of his popular and political support as a result of Watergate. At the time of his resignation the next day, Nixon faced almost certain impeachment and removal from office.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: According to his address, Nixon said he was resigning because "I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the nation would require". Nixon also stated his hope that, by resigning, "I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." Nixon acknowledged that some of his judgments "were wrong," and he expressed contrition, saying: "I deeply regret any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision." He made no mention, however, of the articles of impeachment pending against him.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: The following morning, August 9, Nixon submitted a signed letter of resignation to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, becoming the first U.S. president to resign from office. Vice President Gerald Ford succeeded to the presidency upon Nixon's resignation.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: With the release on August 5, 1974 of several taped Oval Office conversations, one of which was the "smoking gun" tape, recorded soon after the break-in, and which demonstrated that Richard Nixon had been told of the White House connection to the Watergate burglaries soon after they took place, and had approved plans to thwart the investigation, Nixon's popular support all but evaporated, and his political support collapsed.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: Nixon met with Republican congressional leaders two days later, and was told that he would face certain impeachment in the House and subsequent removal from office in the Senate. That night, knowing his presidency was effectively over, Nixon finalized his decision to resign.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: The president's speechwriter Raymond K. Price wrote the resignation speech. It was delivered on the evening of August 8, 1974 from the Oval Office and was carried live on radio and television.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: Jack Nelson of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that Nixon's speech "chose to look ahead," rather than focus on his term. This attribute of the speech coincides with John Poulakos's definition of sophistical rhetoric in "Towards a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric", because Nixon met the criterion of "[seeking] to capture what was possible" instead of reflecting on his term.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: In the British paper "The Times" the article "Mr. Nixon resigns as President; On this day" by Fred Emery took a more negative stance on the speech, characterizing Nixon's apology as "cursory" and attacking Nixon's definition of what it meant to serve a full presidential term. Emery suggests Nixon's definition of a full presidential term as "until the president loses support in Congress" implies that Nixon knew he would not win his impending impeachment trial and he was using this definition to quickly escape office.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: In his book "Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990", Stephen Ambrose finds that response from United States media to Nixon's speech was generally favorable. This book cites Roger Mudd of CBS News as an example of someone who disliked the speech. Mudd noted that Nixon re-framed his resignation speech to accent his accomplishments rather than to apologize for the Watergate scandal.


title: Richard Nixon's resignation speech

text: In 1999, 137 scholars of American public address were asked to recommend speeches for inclusion on a list of "the 100 best American political speeches of the 20th century," based on "social and political impact, and rhetorical artistry." Nixon's resignation speech placed 39th on the list.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The 7 Flushing Local and <7> Flushing Express are two rapid transit services in the A Division of the New York City Subway, providing local and express services along the full length of the IRT Flushing Line. Their route emblems, or "bullets", are colored , since they serve the Flushing Line.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: 7 trains operate at all times between Main Street in Flushing, Queens and 34th Street–Hudson Yards in Chelsea, Manhattan. Local service, denoted by a (7) in a circular bullet, operates at all times, while express service, denoted by a <7> in a diamond-shaped bullet, runs only during rush hours and early evenings in the peak direction and during special events.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The 7 route started running in 1915 when the Flushing Line opened. Since 1927, the 7 has held largely the same route, except for a one-stop western extension from Times Square to Hudson Yards on September 13, 2015.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: On June 13, 1915, the first test train on the IRT Flushing Line ran between Grand Central and Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue, followed by the start of revenue service on June 22. The Flushing Line was extended one stop from Vernon–Jackson Avenue to Hunters Point Avenue on February 15, 1916. On November 5, 1916, the Flushing Line was extended two more stops east to the Queensboro Plaza station. The line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on April 21, 1917. Service to 111th Street was inaugurated on October 13, 1925, with shuttle service running between 111th Street, and the previous terminal at Alburtis Avenue on the Manhattan-bound track.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: On March 22, 1926, Flushing Line service was extended one stop westward from Grand Central to Fifth Avenue, when that portion of the Flushing Line was opened. The line was extended to Times Square almost exactly a year later, on March 14, 1927. Though an eastward extension to Willets Point Boulevard opened on May 7 of the same year, service was provided by shuttle trains for the first week, until through service was inaugurated. The eastern extension to Flushing–Main Street opened on January 21, 1928.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The service on the Flushing Line east of Queensboro Plaza was shared by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) from 1912 to 1949; BMT trains were designated 9, while IRT services were designated 7 on maps only. The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The Times Square to Flushing route became known as the 7.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: Express trains began running on April 24, 1939, to serve the 1939 New York World's Fair. The first train left Main Street at 6:30 a.m. IRT expresses ran every nine minutes between Main Street and Times Square, while BMT expresses ran every minutes between Main Street and Queensboro Plaza. The running time between Main Street and Queensboro Plaza was 15 minutes and the running time between Main Street and Times Square was 27 minutes. Express service to Manhattan operated in the morning rush between 6:30 and 10:43 a.m. Express service to Main Street began from Times Square for the IRT at 10:50 a.m. and the BMT from Queensboro Plaza at 11:09 a.m., continuing until 8 p.m.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the Flushing Line became the responsibility of the IRT. After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths, and the BMT Astoria Line platforms extended to 10 BMT car lengths. The project, to start in 1950, would cost . The platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars, or seven 60-foot-long BMT cars beforehand.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: On March 12, 1953, two 9-car super express trains began operating from Flushing–Main Street to Times Square in the morning rush hour. The super expresses stopped at Willets Point before skipping all stops to Queensboro Plaza, bypassing the Woodside and Junction Boulevard express stops. The running time was cut down to 23 minutes from 25 minutes. Beginning August 12, 1955, four super expresses operated during the morning rush hour. On September 10, 1953, two express trains from Times Square were converted to super express trains in the evening rush hour. Super express service was discontinued in the morning rush and evening rush, on January 13, 1956, and December 14, 1956, respectively. Holiday and Saturday express service was discontinued on March 20, 1954.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: On November 1, 1962, fifty R17s (numbers 6500–6549) were transferred from the Mainline IRT to the 7, allowing for ten-car operation. This was the first time that the IRT ran ten-car trains without a second conductor. With the 1964–1965 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in April 1964, trains were lengthened to eleven cars. The Flushing Line received 430 new R33 and R36 "World's Fair" cars for this enhanced service.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: From May 13, 1985, to August 21, 1989, the IRT Flushing Line was overhauled for improvements, including the installation of new track, repair of station structures and to improve line infrastructure. The project cost $70 million. Temporary platforms were built at local stations along the line when track work was being performed on local track in station areas to provide access to trains.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The major element was the replacement of rails on the Queens Boulevard viaduct. This was necessitated because the subway was allowed to deteriorate during the 1970s and 1980s to the point that there were widespread "Code Red" defects on the Flushing Line, and there were some pillars holding elevated structures that were so shaky that trains would not run if the wind exceeded 65 mph. <7> express service was suspended for the duration of the project; however, extra 7 service was provided for Mets games and Flushing Meadows Park events. During the project, delays of up to 10 minutes on weekdays, and 20 minutes on weekends were expected. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) had considered running express bus service to replace <7> express service, but decided against it as it would require hundreds of buses, which the NYCTA did not have. During the construction project, the NYCTA operated 25 trains per hour on the local track, three fewer than the 28 trains per hour split between the local and express beforehand. Running times on the 7 were lengthened by ten minutes during the project.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The project was completed in June 1989, six months ahead of its scheduled completion of December 1989. The NYCTA held a public hearing on June 29, 1989, concerning its proposed reinstatement of express service. The NYCTA proposed implementing express service in July 1989 to coincide with changes in regular A Division schedules. It began to plan options to reinstate express service in 1988. Options were presented to local community boards, including the service pattern in place before May 1985, the continuation of all-local service, Super Express service running nonstop between Willets Point and Queensboro Plaza and Skip-Stop Express service.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: Before May 1985, express service operated to Manhattan from 6:30 to 9:45 a.m. and to Main Street from 3:15 to 7:30 p.m. Expresses ran every three minutes on average and locals ran every six minutes; due to the uneven split in service, in practice one express train would be followed two minutes later by another express train, and then an additional four minutes would elapse until the next express train arrived. This split between expresses and locals was in place due to high demand for express trains. Express trains that arrived four minutes after the previous trip had carried twice as many passengers than the expresses that arrived two minutes afterward. With the elimination of express service and the unreliable merge at 33rd Street, service reliability had increased, with on-time performance often exceeding 95%. Keeping local-only service was dismissed as it would not have saved times for the large number of riders boarding east of Junction Boulevard heading to Manhattan, because it did not provide for the most efficient use of subway cars, and because it did not provide an attractive alternative to the overcrowded Queens Boulevard Line. Super express service was dismissed as the demand for local service would require two or three locals for every express, replicating the problem of the pre-1985 service pattern. Skip-stop service was dismissed for limiting the capacity of the line to 24 trains per hour, from the line's capacity of 30 trains per hour under other service patterns for express service.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The NYCTA created a service plan with the goals of maintaining existing levels of reliability, having local service run at existing levels or higher than the pre-1985 level, and providing faster running times. The NYCTA proposed the reintroduction of express service, running to Manhattan between 6:30 and 10 a.m. (changed to 6:30 to 9:45 a.m. at the time of implementation) and to Flushing between 3:15 and 8:15 p.m.. Express service would bypass 61st Street–Woodside, allowing one express train to run for every local, with expresses and locals both running every four minutes. The operation of expresses and locals at even frequencies was expected to aid in the even spacing of trains arriving at 33rd Street. The fast express service was expected to discourage riders boarding north of Junction Boulevard to transfer to the crowded Queens Boulevard Line. The elimination of Woodside as an express stop was done in part because trains at the station would be held up by passengers transferring between the local and the express, which led to delays at the 33rd Street merge, negating the time savings. On July 28, 1989, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board approved the change by a vote of 5–3. <7> express service was restored on August 21, 1989, pushed back from July. Express service saved six minutes from Main Street to Manhattan and four minutes from Junction Boulevard. In September 1989, 200 riders and Republican Mayoral candidate Rudolph Giuliani rallied at the 61st Street station to protest the elimination of express service. Express service resumed stopping at Woodside on a six-week test basis on February 10, 1992, after pressure from community opposition.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: In the mid-1990s, the MTA discovered that the Queens Boulevard viaduct structure was unstable, as rocks that were used to support the tracks as ballast became loose due to poor drainage, which, in turn, affected the integrity of the concrete structure overall. <7> express service was suspended again between 61st Street–Woodside and Queensboro Plaza; temporary platforms were installed to access the express track in the four intermediate stations. The work began on April 5, 1993. When the viaduct reconstruction finished on March 31, 1997, ahead of schedule, full <7> express service was reinstated. Throughout this entire period, ridership grew steadily.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The 7 Subway Extension, which travels west and south to 34th Street and 11th Avenue, near the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Hudson Yards, was delayed five times. The 34th Street–Hudson Yards station, originally scheduled to open in December 2013, then pushed to May 2014. And then pushed again to September 13, 2015, and has been serving passengers ever since. However, the overall station construction project was not completed until early September 2018.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: In 2010, New York City officials announced they were considering a further extension of the service across the Hudson River to the Secaucus Junction train station in New Jersey. Though the project was supported by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, MTA chairman Joseph Lhota announced in 2013 that the New Jersey extension would not be pursued, in favor of the Gateway Tunnel project, which entails a new tunnel to Manhattan for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains. As part of a joint effort between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the MTA, and NJ Transit, this extension was considered again in February 2018.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: In 2008, the MTA started converting the 7 service to accommodate communications-based train control (CBTC). Originally expected to cost $585.9 million, the installation of CBTC was intended to allow two additional trains per hour as well as two additional trains for the 7 Subway Extension, providing a 7% increase in capacity. At the former southern terminal, Times Square, service on the 7 was limited to 27 trains per hour as a result of the bumper blocks there. The new southern terminal at 34th Street–Hudson Yards has tail tracks to store rush-hour trains and can increase the service frequency to 29 trains per hour. New CBTC-compatible cars for the A Division (the R188 contract) were delivered from 2013 to 2016. In October 2017, the CBTC system was activated from Main Street to 74th Street. On November 26, 2018, following numerous delays, CBTC was activated on the remainder of the 7 route.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The 7 operates with 11-car sets; the number of cars in a single 7 train set is more than in any other New York City Subway service. These trains, however, are not the longest in the system, since a train of 11 "A" Division cars is only long, while a standard B Division train, which consists of ten cars or eight cars, is long.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The 7, throughout almost all its history, has maintained a separate fleet from the rest of the IRT, starting with the Steinway Low-Vs. The Steinways were built between 1915 and 1925 specifically for use in the Steinway Tunnel. They had special gear ratios to climb the steep grades (4.5%) in the Steinway Tunnel, something standard Interborough equipment could not do.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: In 1938, an order of World's Fair Lo-V cars was placed with the St. Louis Car Company. These cars broke from IRT "tradition" in that they did not have vestibules at each car end. In addition, because the IRT was bankrupt at the time, the cars were built as single ended cars, with train controls for the motorman on one side and door controls for the conductor on the other.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: Starting in 1948, R12s, R14s, and R15s were delivered to the 7. On November 1, 1962, fifty R17s (6500–6549) were transferred from the Mainline IRT to the 7, allowing for ten-car operation. This was the first time that the IRT ran ten-car trains without a second conductor.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: In 1964, picture window R33S and R36 cars replaced the older R12s, R14s, R15s, and R17s in time for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Early in 1965, the NYCTA placed a strip map indicating all the stations and transfer points for the line in each of the line's 430 cars, helping World's Fair visitors. This innovation was not used for other services and as they shared rolling stock with each other; it was possible for cars to have the wrong strip maps.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The 7 was the last service to run using "Redbird" cars, and the 7s fleet consisted entirely of R33S/R36 Redbird trains until February 2002. In 2001, with the arrival of the R142/R142A cars, the Transit Authority announced the retirement of all Redbird cars. From January 2002 to November 2003, Bombardier-built R62A cars from other routes gradually replaced all of the Redbird cars on the 7. The first R62As entered service on the 7 route on February 19, 2002. On November 3, 2003, the last Redbird train made its final trip on this route, making all stops between Times Square and the then-named Willets Point–Shea Stadium. Several Redbird cars running on this service were decorated with Mets logos and colors during the 2000 World Series against the New York Yankees, as the Flushing Line runs adjacent to Citi Field and the former location of Shea Stadium.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: By 2008, all R62As on the 7 were upgraded with LED lighted signs to distinguish between express and local trains. These signs are located on the rollsigns that are found on the side of each car. The local is a green circle around the 7 bullet while the express is a red diamond. Previously, the rollsigns showed either a (7) (within a circle) or a <7> (within a diamond) with the word "Express" underneath it.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The R62As were displaced by the R188s from January 2014 to March 30, 2018, in preparation for the automation equipment for the Flushing Line. The displaced R62As were returned to the train, which had given much of its R142As for conversion to R188s. The first train of R188 cars began operating in passenger service on November 9, 2013. By 2016, most of the CBTC-equipped R188 train sets were on the 7, and by March 30, 2018, the last R62A trains were displaced by the R188 cars.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The 7 is unofficially nicknamed the "International Express", in part because it travels through several different ethnic neighborhoods populated by immigrants, especially along Roosevelt Avenue, and also because it was the principal subway route to the 1964–65 New York World's Fair. On June 26, 1999, First Lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater designated the 7 route as a National Millennium Trail (under the name "International Express"), along with 15 other routes including the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the Underground Railroad.


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: The following table shows the line used by the 7 and <7>, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:


title: 7 (New York City Subway service)

text: In addition to regular local and rush-hour express services, "Super Express" service to Manhattan is also provided after New York Mets games weeknights and weekends at Citi Field, as well as after US Open tennis matches: starting at Mets–Willets Point and operating express to Manhattan, also bypassing Junction Boulevard, Hunters Point Avenue and Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue.


title: Anthology (Michael Jackson album)

text: Anthology is a compilation of Motown hits by pop and R&B singer Michael Jackson with additional hits by The Jackson 5, as well as rare, unreleased material from 1973. The album was originally released in the United States on November 14, 1986, and re-released on November 8, 1995, and has sold three million copies worldwide.


title: Anthology (Michael Jackson album)

text: In 2008, in celebration of Jackson's 50th birthday (less than a year before his death), "Anthology" was re-released under Universal Music's "Gold" series.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is an animated television series. It premiered on September 8, 1990, on NBC. It is the second animated series to be based on Nintendo's "Mario" video game series and is loosely based on the video game "Super Mario Bros. 3". The animation was provided by Sei Young Animation.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: Unlike its predecessor, the series dropped the use of live-action segments, Wart's minions and King Koopa's alter-egos, featured an entirely new cast with the exceptions of John Stocker and Harvey Atkin, who reprised their respective roles as Toad and King Koopa, established a level of continuity in stories, and featured the introduction of a set of characters called the Koopalings, based upon the same characters from the Mario games but with different names to their official counterparts. Episodes were divided into two segments of around 11 minutes each, always opened by a title card featuring world-map footage taken from "Super Mario Bros. 3", and often featured the use of power-ups and other elements from the game.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3" focuses on Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool, who reside in the Mushroom World. Most of the episodes revolve around the four characters' efforts to prevent the attacks made by King Koopa and the Koopalings to take over Princess Toadstool's Mushroom Kingdom.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: Like "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!", the show was produced by DIC Animation City, with the overseas animation being done at the South Korean studio Sei Young Animation Co., Ltd., although the show was co-produced by Italian studio Reteitalia S.P.A.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: Since the show was based on "Super Mario Bros. 3", the enemies and power-ups were also seen in the show. In addition to being more faithful to the "Mario" gameplay, the series was given an established sense of continuity, something that the previous series lacked. Many episodes are set on Earth (consistently referred to as "The Real World" by the characters) and are set in locations such as Brooklyn, London, Paris, Venice, New York City, Cape Canaveral, Miami, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. One episode titled "7 Continents for 7 Koopas" is about the Koopalings invading each of the seven continents.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: This cartoon was originally shown in the hour-long "Captain N and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3" programming block along with the second season of "" on NBC, whose format involved having two Mario Bros. episodes with a full-length Captain N episode sandwiched in-between. All further airings of the series separated it from "Captain N" when "Weekend Today" aired in 1992. Also that year, it was included in Rysher Entertainment's "Captain N and the Video Game Masters" syndication package.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: The TV series entered production before official names were given in the development process of the video game, so the Koopalings names are all different.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: In 1994, Buena Vista Home Video released 4 VHS volumes of the series which each contained 2 episodes. In 2003, Sterling Entertainment released a VHS/DVD titled "King Koopa Katastrophe", which contained 6 episodes. The DVD release also contained the "Sonic Underground" episode "Sonic Tonic" as a bonus feature. The DVD was re-released by NCircle Entertainment in 2007, excluding the Sonic episode. A DVD featuring one episode plus two "Heathcliff" episodes was released as a prize in Golden Grahams cereal in 2004.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: Due to the success of the DVD sets of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!", Shout! Factory and Vivendi Visual Entertainment released a three-disc box set of "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3" with all twenty-six original episodes on June 26, 2007, which was released again in a double pack with "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" volume 1 as a double pack on December 4, 2007, as a tie-in with "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games". NCircle Entertainment (under license from Cookie Jar Entertainment) has also released the series in 4 volumes as well as the Collector's Edition of the complete series.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: The original broadcast version of "Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3" features covers of licensed songs on five episodes and two Milli Vanilli songs on one episode. Due to copyright restrictions (or in Milli Vanilli's case, due to their 1989 lip-syncing scandal), the complete series DVD sets from both Shout! Factory and NCircle Entertainment use the song "Mega Move" from "" in place of the licensed songs. However, the "King Koopa Katastrophe" DVD from Sterling Entertainment/NCircle Entertainment features three of the six episodes with the original broadcast music still intact.


title: The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

text: In Europe, one volume out of the four has only been released in Germany. The distributor Disky released three volumes (each with six episodes) in the UK, and the Netherlands.


title: Angela (character)

text: Angela is a fictional superhero created by author Neil Gaiman and artist Todd McFarlane. She first appeared in McFarlane's creator-owned series "Spawn", making her debut in issue #9 in March 1993, and later starring in her own self-titled miniseries. She is an angel and a bounty hunter, working under the auspices of Heaven to oppose Spawn.


title: Angela (character)

text: Angela was later the subject of a legal battle between McFarlane and Gaiman over the rights to the character, which Gaiman won. Gaiman later sold the rights to the character to Marvel Comics; she was integrated into the Marvel Universe in the 2013 story "Age of Ultron", and her character was expanded upon in the 2014 storyline "Original Sin", where she was established to be Aldrif Odinsdottir, the lost sister of Thor.


title: Angela (character)

text: In 1993 Todd McFarlane contracted Neil Gaiman, along with three other recognized authors, Alan Moore, Dave Sim, and Frank Miller, to write one issue of his creator-owned comics series "Spawn", which was published by Image Comics. While doing so, Gaiman introduced the characters Angela, Cogliostro, and Medieval Spawn. All three characters were co-created and designed by McFarlane. Angela first appeared in issue #9, as an adversary. In 1994 and 1995, a three-issue "Angela" limited series was published, written by Gaiman and illustrated by Greg Capullo, in which Angela and Spawn were forced by circumstance to temporarily work together as allies. The series was later reprinted as a trade paperback titled "Angela Trade Paperback", retitled as "Spawn: Angela's Hunt" in later printings and given a new cover design ().


title: Angela (character)

text: The monthly "Spawn" series continued to feature all of the characters Gaiman had created long after his direct involvement had ended. Some characters had tie-ins with McFarlane's toy company, and Cogliostro had a prominent role in the live-action movie in 1997, Angela would appear in "Spawn" #62, #89, and #96 through #100, and in a 1995, a one-shot. She was also featured in several crossovers. The "Rage of Angels" miniseries saw Angela meeting Glory in "Angela and Glory" (1996), and was continued in "Youngblood" #6 (1996) and "Team Youngblood" #21. There was also a crossover called "Aria/Angela", in which she featured in the series "Aria".


title: Angela (character)

text: McFarlane had agreed that Gaiman retained creator rights to the characters, but later claimed that Gaiman's work had been work-for-hire and that McFarlane owned all of Gaiman's co-creations entirely, pointing to the legal indicia of "Spawn" #9 and the lack of legal contract stating otherwise. McFarlane had also refused to pay Gaiman for the volumes of Gaiman's work that McFarlane republished and kept in print. In 2002, Gaiman filed suit and won a sizable judgment against McFarlane and Image Comics for the rights due any creator. All three characters were then equally co-owned by both men. In 2012, McFarlane and Gaiman settled their dispute, and Gaiman was given full ownership of Angela.


title: Angela (character)

text: Comic Book Resources confirmed on March 21, 2013, that Neil Gaiman was returning to Marvel Comics and would bring Angela with him. Joe Quesada was quoted as saying her first appearance as a proper Marvel character would happen at the finale of the "Age of Ultron" storyline.


title: Angela (character)

text: On May 9, 2013 "Entertainment Weekly" published the first image of Angela as redesigned by Joe Quesada for her appearances in books published by Marvel Comics.


title: Angela (character)

text: Angela is an angel and a bounty hunter, working under the auspices of Heaven to oppose Spawn. She attempted to kill Spawn upon their first meeting, but was defeated despite her significantly greater experience. Later, he came to her aid during her trial in Heaven, where he testified that she had permission to kill him. They were temporarily trapped in a pocket dimension when Spawn's cloak acted to protect him from her weapons. Spawn's restructuring of reality allowed them to return from the pocket dimension, and also erased Angela's 'permit' to use her weapons against him. While returning to Earth they started a romantic relationship. However, Angela was killed during the battle with Malebolgia. Spawn returned her body to the angels, who presumably brought her back to life.


title: Angela (character)

text: During the 2013 "Age of Ultron" storyline, Angela is revealed to be alive and has been pulled from Heaven as a result of Wolverine's damage to the Omniverse. In a combination of rage and confusion, she charges towards Earth from outer space, only to be intercepted by the Guardians of the Galaxy, leading to her joining the team.


title: Angela (character)

text: During the "Original Sin" storyline, it is revealed that she is Aldrif, the daughter of Odin and Freyja, making her sister to Thor and Loki. She was "killed" as an infant during Asgard's war with the Angels of the Tenth Realm called "Heven." This crime resulted in Odin severing the Tenth Realm from the other nine as punishment for their attack. Thor learns of his sister's existence when he is exposed to the secrets of Uatu, the Watcher's eye, by the Orb. He returns to Asgard to confront his mother about his sister's existence, and subsequently travels to the Tenth Realm with Loki to learn more about his sister.


title: Angela (character)

text: The Guardians of the Galaxy and Angela are attacked in warp space by a band of pirates, called Warpjackers. During the battle, Angela abandons the Guardians when the adult Loki telepathically tells her that the portal to Heven is open and that she can return home. As Thor battles Heven's guards, Angela appears having been guided to the doorway to Heven by Loki, and prepares to battle Thor. Angela fights an exhausted Thor who had just fought off the army of Heven, and is then told by the Queen of Angels to bring Thor to her. The now-female Loki has aligned with the Angels, telling Thor that "being on the winning side seems just perfect."


title: Angela (character)

text: While Loki leads an Angel fleet to Asgard, under the false pretence to help them destroy it, Thor escapes captivity and engages Angela in combat once again. The fight between Thor and Angela is interrupted when Odin (who Loki freed from his self-exile) arrives and recognizes Angela as his daughter, revealing Angela's true lineage as the long thought dead Aldrif. A long time ago, the Angel tasked to dispose of Aldrif's body found out the baby was alive and raised her as one of the Angels under the name of Angela. In light of this revelation, the Queen of Angels grants Angela her life, pardoning her for her service to the Angels, but exiles her from Heven due to her lineage. After leaving Heven, Odin tells Thor, Loki, and Angela that he still loves his children. Angela then decides to leave in order to explore the other realms.


title: Angela (character)

text: Later, Angela and her lover Sera abduct the newborn daughter of Odin and Freyja. Unbeknownst to Odin, the baby is possessed by the spirit of Surtur and Odin orders Thor to hunt down the pair. Angela and Sera with help from the Guardians of the Galaxy, stay ahead of Thor and take the baby to Heven to be cleansed of Surtur's spirit. There, Angela throws the baby into the stalled engines of Heven. Surtur's fire is expelled from the baby and reignites the engines of Heven. For this action, Angela's debt to Heven is repaid and thus closes her last remaining connection to the realm.


title: Angela (character)

text: After Angela returns the baby to Odin, she discovers that Sera is actually Malekith the Accursed and the real Sera, who was previously killed in battle, remains in Hel. Angela travels to Hel and petitions Hela to restore her love to life. When Hela refuses, Angela launches a campaign of conquest with the help of Sera and Hela's handmaiden, Leah, completing several trials to become the new Queen of Hel. When she succeeds, she frees the souls of the dead Angels enslaved by Hel, and restores Sera to life, only to abdicate and return to Earth with Sera and Leah, having no need for power.


title: Angela (character)

text: Angela later joins Strikeforce, an Avengers-adjacent black ops team as the co-leader alongside Blade.


title: Angela (character)

text: In her current Marvel incarnation, Angela is a born god and heir to the Asgardian throne. She has enormous amounts of super strength which enables her to fight opponents like Jane Foster (Thor), super speed where she moves faster than lightning and super durability where she can withstand attacks from the likes of Gamora, Drax and Thor. She also has the ability to fly. Angela can also heal faster than an average human being.


title: Angela (character)

text: Unlike the rest of Asgardian Gods, Angela is immortal and does not require Golden Apples to sustain her youth. She lived for eons without any substance.


title: Angela (character)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Angela: Asgard's Assassin" #1 was the 15th best selling comic book in December 2014. "Angela: Asgard's Assassin" #1 was the 217th best selling comic book in 2014.


title: Angela (character)

text: Doug Zawisza of "CBR.com" called "Angela: Asgard's Assassin" #1 "one of the most technically stunning debut issues from Marvel," writing, "Stephanie Hans' work is atmospheric and painterly, providing a distinct visual difference from Jimenez's but maintaining the same level of detail and dedication to addressing Angela as a figure flowing through the panels rather than a sex symbol posing in those panels. Hans adds rugged torn edges to the panels, giving them the appearance of being ripped from Sera's or Angela's memories. Just as subtly as "Angela: Asgard's Assassin" #1 shifts from main story to substory, it shifts back out, bringing readers to a conclusion fraught with anticipation. Any comic with "Asgard" in the title is destined to bring in the God of Thunder, but with Thor now being a different Thor than the one Angela is familiar with, Gillen elects to leave readers awaiting the confrontation between Angela and Odinson. To sweeten the pot, the writer teases a surprising reason for the visit, leaving readers with a cliffhanger in the process. It's a solid cap to a solid comic book, as "Angela: Asgard's Assassin" #1 gives readers yet another excellent female-led series in the Marvel Universe." Petra Halbur of "The Mary Sue" described "Angela: Asgard's Assassin" #1 as potentially "the best new series in recent memory," asserting, "There’s plenty to appreciate about Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #1aside from the heroine’s principles, of course. Awesomely, Stephanie Hans’ illustrations provide little to no fodder for The Hawkeye Initiative. Despite her ridiculously skimpy armor, Angela remains generally un-sexualized by the artist, striking no poses that draw especial attention to her breasts, legs or butt. I also love Sera’s design, a woman, er, angel of color who rocks her celestial armor with a short, plump frame (by comic book standards, anyways). Still, it’s this code of justice that really sets Angela apart from other seemingly morally complex antiheroes and opens her up to some interesting possibilities. I can’t imagine Thor and Angela will remain adversaries for very long and I dearly look forward to a team up between the honorable God of Thunder, his “balance” obsessed sister and the newly-minted Agent of Axis, Loki: three siblings with fundamentally clashing codes of conduct."


title: Angela (character)

text: Angela is the subject of a song by heavy metal band Iced Earth called "The Hunter", which appears on their Spawn-themed concept album "The Dark Saga".


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: A combustible material is something that can burn (i.e., "combust") in air. A combustible material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort and a flammable material catches fire immediately on exposure to flame.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: The degree of flammability or combustibility in air depends largely upon the volatility of the material - this is related to its composition-specific vapour pressure, which is temperature dependent. The quantity of vapour produced can be enhanced by increasing the surface area of the material forming a mist or dust. Take wood as an example. Finely divided wood dust can undergo explosive combustion and produce a blast wave. A piece of paper (made from wood) catches on fire quite easily. A heavy oak desk is much harder to ignite, even though the wood fibre is the same in all three materials.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Common sense (and indeed scientific consensus until the mid-1700s) would seem to suggest that material "disappears" when burned, as only the ash is left. In fact, there is an increase in weight because the combustible material reacts (or combines) chemically with oxygen, which also has mass. The original mass of combustible material and the mass of the oxygen required for combustion equals the mass of the combustion products (ash, water, carbon dioxide, and other gases). Antoine Lavoisier, one of the pioneers in these early insights, stated that "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed", which would later be known as the law of conservation of mass. Lavoisier used the experimental fact that some metals gained mass when they burned to support his ideas.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Historically, "flammable", "inflammable" and "combustible" meant "capable of burning". The word "inflammable" came through French from the Latin "inflammāre" = "to set fire to," where the Latin preposition "in-" means "in" as in "indoctrinate", rather than "not" as in "invisible" and "ineligible".


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: The word "inflammable" may be erroneously thought to mean "non-flammable". The erroneous usage of the word "inflammable" is a significant safety hazard. Therefore, since the 1950s, efforts to put forward the use of "flammable" in place of "inflammable" were accepted by linguists, and it is now the accepted standard in American English and British English. Antonyms of "flammable" or "inflammable" include: "non-flammable", "non-inflammable", "incombustible", "non-combustible", "not flammable", and "fireproof".


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: "Flammable" applies to "combustible" materials that ignite easily and thus are more dangerous and more highly regulated. Less easily ignited less-vigorously burning materials are "combustible". For example, in the United States flammable liquids, by definition, have a flash point below —where combustible liquids have a flash point above . Flammable solids are solids that are readily combustible, or may cause or contribute to fire through friction. Readily combustible solids are powdered, granular, or pasty substances that easily ignite by brief contact with an ignition source, such as a burning match, and spread flame rapidly. The technical definitions vary between countries so the United Nations created the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, which defines the flash point temperature of flammable liquids as between 0 and and combustible liquids between and .


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Flammability is the ease with which a combustible substance can be ignited, causing fire or combustion or even an explosion. The degree of difficulty required to cause the combustion of a substance is quantified through fire testing. Internationally, a variety of test protocols exist to quantify flammability. The ratings achieved are used in building codes, insurance requirements, fire codes and other regulations governing the use of building materials as well as the storage and handling of highly flammable substances inside and outside of structures and in surface and air transportation. For instance, changing an occupancy by altering the flammability of the contents requires the owner of a building to apply for a building permit to make sure that the overall fire protection design basis of the facility can take the change into account.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: A fire test can be conducted to determine the degree of flammability. Test standards used to make this determination but are not limited to the following:


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Flammability of furniture is of concern as cigarettes and candle accidents can trigger domestic fires. In 1975, California began implementing Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117), which required that materials such as polyurethane foam used to fill furniture be able to withstand a small open flame, equivalent to a candle, for at least 12 seconds. In polyurethane foam, furniture manufacturers typically meet TB 117 with additive halogenated organic flame retardants. No other U.S. states had similar standards, but because California has such a large market, manufacturers meet TB 117 in products that they distribute across the United States. The proliferation of flame retardants, and especially halogenated organic flame retardants, in furniture across the United States is strongly linked to TB 117. When it became apparent that the risk-benefit ratio of this approach was unfavorable and industry had used falsified documentation (i.e. see David Heimbach) for the use of flame retardants, California modified TB 117 to require that fabric covering upholstered furniture meet a smolder test replacing the open flame test. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the modified TB117-2013, which became effective in 2014.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: The US Government uses the Hazardous Materials Identification System (HMIS) standard for flammability ratings, as do many US regulatory agencies, and also the US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: For existing buildings, fire codes focus on maintaining the occupancies as originally intended. In other words, if a portion of a building were designed as an apartment, one could not suddenly load it with flammable liquids and turn it into a gas storage facility, because the fire load and smoke development in that one apartment would be so immense as to overtax the active fire protection as well as the passive fire protection means for the building. The handling and use of flammable substances inside a building is subject to the local fire code, which is ordinarily enforced by the local fire prevention officer.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Combustibility is a measure of how easily a substance bursts into flame, through fire or combustion. This is an important property to consider when a substance is used for construction or is being stored. It is also important in processes that produce combustible substances as a by-product. Special precautions are usually required for substances that are easily combustible. These measures may include installation of fire sprinklers or storage remote from possible sources of ignition.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Substances with low combustibility may be selected for construction where the fire risk must be reduced, such as apartment buildings, houses, or offices. If combustible resources are used there is greater chance of fire accidents and deaths. Fire resistant substances are preferred for building materials and furnishings.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: For an Authority Having Jurisdiction, combustibility is defined by the local code. In the National Building Code of Canada, it is defined as follows:


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: BS 476-4:1970 defines a test for combustibility in which a technician heats three specimens of a material in a furnace. Combustibile materials are those for which any of the three specimens either:


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Various countries have tests for determining noncombustibility of materials. Most involve the heating of a specified quantity of the test specimen for a set duration. Usually, the material must not support combustion and must not lose more than a certain amount of mass. As a general rule of thumb, concrete, steel, and ceramics - in other words inorganic substances - pass these tests, so building codes list them as suitable and sometimes even mandate their use in certain applications. In Canada, for instance, firewalls must be made of concrete.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: A number of industrial processes produce combustible dust as a by-product. The most common being wood dust. Combustible dust has been defined as: "a solid material composed of distinct particles or pieces, regardless of size, shape, or chemical composition, which presents a fire or deflagration hazard when suspended in air or some other oxidizing medium over a range of concentrations." In addition to wood, combustible dusts include metals, especially magnesium, titanium and aluminum, as well as other carbon-based dusts. There are at least 140 known substances that produce combustible dust. While the particles in a combustible dusts may be of any size, normally they have a diameter of less than 420 μm. , the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration has yet to adopt a comprehensive set of rules on combustible dust.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: When suspended in air (or any oxidizing environment), the fine particles of combustible dust present a potential for explosions. Accumulated dust, even when not suspended in air, remains a fire hazard. The National Fire Protection Association (U.S.) specifically addresses the prevention of fires and dust explosions in agricultural and food products facilities in NFPA Code section 61, and other industries in NFPA Code sections 651–664. Collectors designed to reduce airborne dust account for more than 40 percent of all dust explosions. Other important processes are grinding and pulverizing, transporting powders, filing silos and containers (which produces powder), and the mixing and blending of powders.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Investigation of 200 dust explosions and fires, between 1980 to 2005, indicated "approximately 100 fatalities and 600 injuries." In January 2003, a polyethylene powder explosion and fire at the West Pharmaceutical Services plant in Kinston, North Carolina resulted in the deaths of six workers and injuries to 38 others. In February 2008 an explosion of sugar dust rocked the Imperial Sugar Company's plant at Port Wentworth, Georgia, resulting in thirteen deaths.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Non-combustible material – A non-combustible material is a substance that does not ignite, burn, support combustion, or release flammable vapors when subject to fire or heat, in the form in which it is used and under conditions anticipated. Any solid substance complying with either of two sets of passing criteria listed in Section 8 of ASTM E 136 when the substance is tested in accordance with the procedure specified in ASTM E 136 is considered to be non-combustible.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: Materials can be tested for the degree of flammability and combustibility in accordance with the German DIN 4102. DIN 4102, as well as its British cousin BS 476 include for testing of passive fire protection systems, as well as some of its constituent materials.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: A more recent industrial standard is the European EN 13501-1 - Fire classification of construction products and building elements—which roughly replaces A2 with A2/B, B1 with C, B2 with D/E and B3 with F.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: B3 or F rated materials may not be used in building unless combined with another material that reduces the flammability of those materials.


title: Combustibility and flammability

text: A material's flash point is a metric of how easy it is to ignite the vapor of the material as it evaporates into the atmosphere. A lower flash point indicates higher flammability. Materials with flash points below are regulated in the United States by OSHA as potential workplace hazards.


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Muntadhar al-Zaidi ( "Muntaẓar az-Zaydī"; born 15 January 1979) is an Iraqi broadcast journalist who served as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned, Egyptian-based Al-Baghdadia TV. , al-Zaidi works with a Lebanese TV channel.


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: On 16 November 2007, al-Zaidi was kidnapped by unknown assailants in Baghdad. He was also previously twice arrested by the United States Armed Forces. On 14 December 2008, al-Zaidi threw his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference while shouting, "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog." Al-Zaidi suffered injuries as he was taken into custody and some sources said he was tortured during his initial detention. There were calls throughout the Middle East to place the shoes in an Iraqi museum, but the shoes were later destroyed by U.S. and Iraqi security forces.


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Following the incident, Al-Zaidi was represented by the head of the Iraqi Bar Association at trial. On 20 February 2009, al-Zaidi received a 90-minute trial by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. On 12 March 2009, he was sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a foreign head of state during an official visit. On 7 April, the sentence was reduced from three years to one year. He was released on 15 September 2009 for good behavior after spending nine months in jail. After his release, Al-Zaidi was treated for injuries received in prison and later said he planned to "build orphanages, a children's hospital, and medical and orthopaedic centres offering free treatment and manned by Iraqi doctors and medical staff."


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Muntadhar al-Zaidi was raised in Sadr City, a suburb of Baghdad, Iraq. He began working as a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia TV in 2005. He first became known as a victim of a kidnapping by unknown assailants in November 2007. Al-Zaidi has also been arrested twice by United States armed forces. He lives in a two-room apartment within central Baghdad. He is of the Shi'a-Muslim faith and also is of Sayyid descent.


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Ahmed Alaa, a close friend and colleague of al-Zaidi at al-Baghdadia television (barred in Iraq 2014), in a talk on "Islam Online," refers to "One of [al-Zaidi's] best reports" "on Zahra, a young Iraqi school girl killed by the occupation forces while en route to school." Alaa said al-Zaidi documented the tragedy in his reportage, complete with interviews with her family, neighbors and friends. "This report earned him the respect of many Iraqis and won him many hearts in Iraq," he said. Al-Zaidi once also turned down an offer to work for what he termed "a pro-occupation channel". Friends said al-Zaidi had been "emotionally influenced" by the destruction he'd seen in his coverage of the US bombing of Sadr City. On politics, al-Zaidi said "I’m Iraqi and I’m proud of my country." Friends of al-Zaidi said he utterly rejected the occupation and the civil clashes. They said he believed the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement was a "legalization of the occupation."


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Sami Ramadani, a political exile from Saddam's regime and a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University, wrote in an op-ed for "The Guardian" that al-Zaidi "reported for al-Baghdadia on the poor and downtrodden victims of the US war. He was first on the scene in Sadr City and wherever people suffered violence or severe deprivation. He not only followed US Apache helicopters' trails of death and destruction, but he was also among the first to report every 'sectarian' atrocity and the bombing of popular market places. He let the victims talk first".


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: On Friday morning, 16 November 2007, al-Zaidi was kidnapped on his way to work in central Baghdad. Unknown armed men forced him into a car, where he was beaten until he lost consciousness. The assailants used al-Zaidi's necktie to blindfold him and bound his hands with shoelaces. He was held captive with little food and drink and questioned about his work as a journalist. During his disappearance, al-Zaidi was reported missing by Iraq's Journalistic Freedoms Observatory. On 18 November, Reporters Without Borders "voiced deep concern" in a statement about al-Zaidi's detention. No ransom demand was made, and al-Zaidi's kidnappers released him still blindfolded, on to a street three days later around 3 a.m. on Monday, 19 November 2007, after which al-Zaidi's brother picked him up. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees mentioned al-Zaidi's kidnapping in a December 2007 report that listed violent incidents in the media, in particular, incidents targeting journalists in Baghdad. According to the report,


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: "journalists and media workers and other professionals continue to be targets for kidnapping and assassination."


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: After his kidnapping, al-Zaidi told Reuters; "My release is a miracle. I couldn't believe I was still alive." The editor of Al-Baghdadia TV described the kidnapping as an "act of gangs, because all of Muntadhar's reports are moderate and unbiased." Al-Zaidi has also been arrested twice by the United States armed forces in Iraq. In January 2008, al-Zaidi was detained overnight by US troops as they searched his residence. The soldiers later offered him an apology.


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: During a 14 December 2008 press conference at the prime minister's palace in Baghdad, Iraq, al-Zaidi threw both of his shoes at then-United States president George W. Bush. "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog," yelled al-Zaidi in Arabic as he threw his first shoe towards Bush. "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq," he shouted as he threw his second shoe. Bush ducked twice to avoid being hit by the shoes. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki attempted to catch one of the shoes to protect Bush. Al-Zaidi was pulled to the floor before being grabbed by the prime minister's guards, kicked, and rushed out of the room.


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Al-Zaidi was initially held by the prime minister's guards and was later turned over to the Iraqi army's Baghdad command. The command handed him over to the Iraqi judiciary. Hundreds took to the streets to demand his release. Al-Zaidi could have faced charges of insulting a foreign leader and the Iraqi prime minister. A conviction of these charges could have carried a sentence of up to two years in prison or a small fine, although it would have been unlikely to face the maximum penalty given his newfound "cult status" in the Arab world, according to a Middle-East observer. An Iraqi lawyer stated that al-Zaidi was likely to get at least two years in prison if he was prosecuted. Al-Zaidi went before a judge on 17 December. He declined to be represented by Khalil al-Duleimi, who defended the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein before his execution, and also said he wanted to be represented by an Iraqi lawyer. "I will introduce myself as his lawyer and demand the case be closed and Muntader be released because he did not commit a crime," said Dheyaa al-Saadi, al-Zaidi's lawyer and head of the Iraqi Bar Association. "He only freely expressed himself to the occupier, and he has such a right according to international law." On the same day, al-Zaidi appeared privately before a judge from within the Green Zone. He was released from jail on 15 September 2009, after serving nine months in prison. During his stay, he was tortured. He vowed to release the names of those who he said tortured him, including senior officials in the government and the army.


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Following his release, al-Zaidi went to Geneva and announced that he had started creating a humanitarian agency/foundation. The aim of the agency would be to "build orphanages, a children's hospital, and medical and orthopaedic centres offering free treatment and manned by Iraqi doctors and medical staff." His lawyer said that al-Zaidi "hopes to surf on the wave of support he has gained to do some good."


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: Al-Zaidi announced in early 2018 his intent to run for the Iraqi Council of Representatives on Muqtada al-Sadr's Alliance towards Reforms ticket. In an interview with Reuters he stated that "The main real purpose and reason behind my nomination is to get rid of the corrupt, and to expel them from our country". Zaidi has been critical of US and Iranian involvement in Iraq during his campaigning expressing a view that "America and Iran are the reasons for the tension in Iraq". During his campaign al-Zaidi sought to criticise US involvement in terms of Iraq's security forces, arguing that; "We have American troops under the name of 'consultants' – we don’t accept their presence in Iraq".


title: Muntadhar al-Zaidi

text: a. Alternative transliterations used in Western media: "Muthathar, Muntadhar, Muntadar, Muntazer, Muthathi"; "al-Zeidi" also transliterated as "Zeidi" is an Arabic name, meaning abundance or growth or "one who progresses and makes other people progress."


title: Leatherstocking Tales

text: The Leatherstocking Tales is a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, set in the eighteenth-century era of development in the primarily former Iroquois areas in central New York. Each novel features Natty Bumppo, a frontiersman known to European-American settlers as "Leatherstocking", "The Pathfinder", and "the trapper". Native Americans call him "Deerslayer", ""La Longue Carabine"" ("Long Rifle" in French), and "Hawkeye".


title: Leatherstocking Tales

text: The story dates are derived from dates given in the tales and span the period roughly of 1740–1806. They do not necessarily correspond with the actual dates of the historical events described in the series, which discrepancies Cooper likely introduced for the sake of convenience. For instance, Cooper manipulated time to avoid making Leatherstocking 100 years old when he traveled to the Kansas plains in "The Prairie".


title: Leatherstocking Tales

text: The Natty Bumppo character is generally believed to be inspired, at least in part, by the historic explorer Daniel Boone or the lesser known David Shipman. Critic Georg Lukacs likened Bumppo to Sir Walter Scott's "middling characters; because they do not represent the extremes of society, these figures can serve as tools for the social and cultural exploration of historical events, without directly portraying the history itself.


title: Leatherstocking Tales

text: Several films have been adapted from one or more of this series of Cooper's novels. Some used one of Bumppo's nicknames, most often Hawkeye, to identify this character, e.g., in:


title: Leatherstocking Tales

text: WQED (TV) Pittsburgh's "Once Upon A Classic" children's television series produced a four-episode adaptation entitled "Leatherstocking Tales" (1979), which won one Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series and was nominated for another for writing. The main character's name is Natty Bumppo, though other nicknames appear.


title: Gulf of Thailand

text: The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in length and up to in width, and has a surface area of . The gulf is surrounded on the north, west and southwest by the coastlines of Thailand (hence the name), on the northeast by Cambodia and the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, and opens to the South China Sea in the southeast.


title: Gulf of Thailand

text: The modern Thai name of the gulf is "Ao Thai" (, , 'Thai Gulf') and "Gulf of Thailand" has been adopted as the official name of the body by the International Hydrographic Organization. Its name in Malay is he "Gulf of Siam", "Teluk Siam", and in ", Chhoung Samut Siem". In Thai, the gulf is historically known as "Ao Sayam" (). In Vietnamese it is known as "Vịnh Thái Lan".


title: Gulf of Thailand

text: It is generally identified with the Great Gulf () known to Greek, Roman, Arab, Persian, and Renaissance cartographers before the influx of Portuguese explorers removed the phantom Dragon Tail peninsula from European world maps in the 16th century.


title: Gulf of Thailand

text: The Gulf of Thailand is bordered by Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It occupies a seabed area of 304,000 km from 6° N to 13°30' N latitude and 99°E to 104° E longitude. The northern tip of the gulf is the Bay of Bangkok at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. The southern boundary of the gulf is defined by a line from Cape Bai Bung in southern Vietnam (just south of the mouth of the Mekong River) to the town of Tumpat and Pengkalan Chepa on the Malaysian coast.