title: Mount Lycabettus

text: The hill is a tourist destination and can be ascended by the Lycabettus Funicular, a funicular railway which climbs the hill from a lower terminus at Kolonaki (The railway station can be found at Aristippou street). At its two peaks are the 19th century Chapel of St. George, a theatre, and a restaurant.


title: Mount Lycabettus

text: Lycabettus appears in various legends. Popular stories suggest it was once the refuge of wolves, (lycos in Greek), which is possibly the origin of its name (means "the one [the hill] that is walked by wolves"). Another etymology suggests a Pelasgian, pre-Mycenean, origin ("Lucabetu=mastoid hill").


title: Mount Lycabettus

text: Mythologically, Lycabettus is credited to Athena, who created it when she dropped a limestone mountain she had been carrying from the Pallene peninsula for the construction of the Acropolis after the box holding Erichthonius was opened.


title: Mount Lycabettus

text: The hill has a large open-air amphitheatre at the top, which has housed many Greek and international concerts. Since 2008 it is closed due to safety concerns. By 2022 the city of Athens suggested the renovation and reopening of the theatre. Among the artists who have performed at the Lycabettus theatre are Ray Charles, Joan Baez, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Leonard Cohen, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, John Mc Laughlin, Gary Moore, Peter Gabriel, Black Sabbath, Nick Cave, Bjork, Dead Can Dance, Pet Shop Boys, Deep Purple, UB40, Placebo, Morrissey, Radiohead, Moby, Massive Attack, Faith No More, Faithless, Whitesnake, Tracy Chapman, Nightwish, Slipknot, Patti Smith, Vanessa Mae, Bryan Ferry, Tito Puente, Buena Vista Social Club, Orishas, The Prodigy, Iron Maiden, Nazareth, Blackmore's Night and Scorpions.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: Sabu Cyril is an Indian film production designer. Having worked in 116 feature films and 2500 add films. He has won four National Film Award for Best Production Design, four state awards, six Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction (including south), five International Indian Film Academy Awards, and many other awards. His work in "Enthiran" won him international recognition. Over the years, he has emerged to be the most celebrated art director in the country.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: Known as Sabu Cyril today, he was born Sebastian Vincent Cyril in the hill station of Valparai(Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu), and completed his schooling in Asan Memorial (Chennai). He graduated from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai (formerly Government School of Arts and Crafts, Chennai).It was his grandfather George Vincent who first called him 'Sabu'.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: George Vincent was known for opening the first photography studio in Malabar, Kozhikode, called Chitra Studio. His son (Sabu’s uncle), Mr. A. Vincent was a reputed cinematographer and director in the South Indian Film Industry.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: It was probably his proximity to nature, wildlife and cinema that subconsciously helped Sabu develop an affinity to the world of aesthetics and design.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: Ever since he was a child, Sabu was always interested in knowing how things work and how this can be applied in everyday life. This curiosity drew him to the world of physics and chemistry, which helped him develop a scientific and practical outlook to problem-solving.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: Sabu started his career as a graphic designer and illustrator. It was only as a favour to a friend that he entered a film set.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: Circumstance and chance made Sabu an Art Director on his first ever film. Sabu believes that he could rise to the challenge because of his inclination towards science and art, it may seem as if he was destined to be a Production Designer all along.


title: Sabu Cyril

text: From 1982 to 1988, he was a freelance graphics designer for companies such as Welcomgroup Hotels, the Taj Group of Hotels, and Madura Coats. In 1988, he began his art director career, and has directed more than 2,500 advertisements, 3 teleserials and 115 feature films in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada and designed several stage shows. In 1996, he directed the stage design for the Miss World beauty pageant. He also worked as one of the 2nd unit Art Directors in the 1990 film Iyer the Great.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger. It was the lead single from his ninth studio album of the same name (1976), which was released on Capitol Records. Seger wrote the song as a coming of age tale about adolescent love and adult memory of it. It was based on Seger's own teenage love affair he experienced in the early 1960s. It took him six months to write and was recorded quickly at Nimbus Nine Studios in Toronto, Ontario, with producer Jack Richardson. As much of Seger's Silver Bullet Band had returned home by this point, the song was recorded with several local session musicians.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: Released as a single in December 1976, it reached number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming Seger's first hit single since "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" from 1969. It also charted at number five in Canada and was a top 25 hit in Australia. The song was responsible for changing Seger from being a popular regional favorite into a national star.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" has roots in Seger's adolescence; he wrote the song in an attempt to capture the "freedom and looseness" he experienced during that period of his life. At a certain point, he began socializing with a rougher crowd, who thought he was cool because he played music. The song's contents are largely autobiographical; for example, the group of friends would often hold parties they called "grassers", which involved going to a farmer's field outside Ann Arbor to dance. Through these, he met a woman—credited as Rene Andretti in the "Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings"—whose boyfriend was in the military and was away. "It's about this dark haired Italian girl that I went out with when I was 19, she was one year older than me," he later recalled. Seger promptly pursued a romance with the girl, but eventually her boyfriend returned and they married, leaving Seger broken-hearted. Seger later told journalist Timothy White that many of his early songs were written to impress the girl.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: The song took Seger over six months to complete writing. He had recently purchased a house due to the success of his first live album, "Live Bullet", and he and the band would write and practice in its large basement. The ending lyrics were written first. The use of descriptive imagery was inspired by Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” (1969), a song that Seger loved and which motivated him as he was developing his writing style. The catalyst for writing "Night Moves" came after Seger saw the 1973 film "American Graffiti": "I came out of the theater thinking, ‘Hey, I've got a story to tell, too! Nobody has ever told about how it was to grow up in my neck of the woods.'" Seger was inspired by the film's depictions of early 1960s car culture, of which he was a part. A 1996 article in "The Detroit News" claims that Seger wrote portions of the song while at an A&W drive-in restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Seger was inspired by the example of Bruce Springsteen's "Jungleland" to include two bridges in "Night Moves."


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" was recorded at Nimbus Nine Studios in Toronto, Ontario. Seger and the Silver Bullet Band had gone there for three days to record a few tracks with The Guess Who's producer Jack Richardson at the request of Seger's manager, who wanted him to produce a more "commercial" song. The band quickly recorded two Seger originals and a cover of the Motown hit "My World Is Empty Without You", but before Seger left on the third day, he composed a fourth song to record. He had been "waiting on the right moment" to record "Night Moves", as he feared a saxophone, performed by Alto Reed, would not complement it, and that lead guitarist Drew Abbott's playing would not be satisfactory. Richardson remembered Seger first playing the song at a piano in his office, though Seger did not feel it was good enough to record. Seger instead remembered that Richardson was not sold on the song at first. As the only members of the Silver Bullet Band still in Toronto were bassist Chris Campbell and drummer Charlie Allen Martin (plus Seger on acoustic guitar and piano), Richardson recruited Joe Miquelon to play electric guitar and Doug Riley to perform organ, while Sharon Lee Williams, Rhonda Silver and Laurel Ward sang the song's trademark backing vocals.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: The song was completed in fewer than ten takes, with the session dispersing momentarily to record the bridge section that consisted solely of Seger and a guitar. Paul Cotton of Poco was brought in to record a guitar solo that was later edited out, though the last notes of it are faintly audible preceding the last verse. The team stayed at the studio until 2:30 in the morning to get the song right. After the tracks were mixed by Richardson and engineer Brian Christian, Richardson said that he received a call from Seger's manager/producer Punch Andrews expressing dissatisfaction with the tracks, and Andrews said that Capitol Records had been equally disappointed. A few months later, when Richardson was talking to a Capitol A&R executive, he asked about the Seger sessions and was told that "both tracks" were potential B-sides. It turned out that Seger and Andrews had never given "Night Moves" to Capitol, so Richardson did and, after hearing it, Capitol made it the title track of Seger's next album, as well as the first single.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" is a mid-tempo number that starts quietly with acoustic guitar. Bass and drums are introduced as the song's setting is described: 1962, cornfields, '60 Chevy. While Seger actually owned a 1962 Chevy, he felt "'60" flowed better in the song. Seger uses the word "points" in verse one to reference his pointed boots and his love interest's breasts. An intense summertime teenaged love affair is described, knowingly more sexual than romantic, with short instrumental lines breaking the evocative imagery, sometimes in mid-sentence. Piano, backing vocals, electric guitar and organ are added as the song's emotional nostalgia builds momentum. Then suddenly it stops, as the narrative flashes forward to some period in the future, where he hums a song from 1962. Seger has claimed in interviews that he was referencing the song "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, though that song was actually released one year later. To a quiet acoustic guitar, the narrator, awakened by a clap of thunder and unable to fall back asleep, ponders a different sense of the title phrase. Seger said this passage was inspired by late-night self-analysis and "the uncertainty night represents": "I was thinking about the whole aura of nighttime, the four o'clock in the morning moment when you assess yourself, check your weaknesses." Then the rest of the instruments fall back in, for an extended coda vamp of the chorus.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: Richardson said that "the whole arrangement came together in the studio." The decision for an unusual bridge (consisting of three separate movements) was inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song "Jungleland". He credited that song, in addition to the "Born to Run" album, with helping him complete the song: "He had like a multiple bridge, he had various different things going on, and I thought to myself, 'That's how I'll finish 'Night Moves.'"


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: To "Rolling Stone" critic Dave Marsh the coda after the false ending takes the song beyond the realm of nostalgia to turn it into a complete story covering both the past and the present. According to Marsh the song could be "about the sexual discovery embodied in the verses, or about the sense of loss and nostalgia captured in its coda. Or you could say that the Bob Seger story really took place in the long silence between them, from the moment he began to play to the moment, fifteen years later, when he was finally widely heard." Marsh also states that the characters in "Night Moves" are more realistic than those in "American Graffiti" in that the characters in "Night Moves" don't pretend to expect fidelity when pursuing sex, and that the coda reveals how "trivial such a crucial moment" becomes years later.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" was a commercial success in the United States. It debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart during the week of December 11, 1976 at number 85, gradually rising over the ensuing weeks to a peak of number four on March 12, 1977, a position it held for two weeks. "Night Moves" was Seger's first single to chart in the top ten on the "Billboard" Hot 100. In total, it spent 21 weeks on the chart. In Canada, the song debuted on "RPM" Top Singles chart at number 93 in the issue dated December 18, 1976, eventually rising over the course of twelve weeks to a peak of number five on March 12, 1977.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: The song also charted in Australasian territories: in Australia, it peaked at number 25 on the national charts, and in New Zealand, it reached a peak of number 39. The song did not chart in the United Kingdom until 1995, when it peaked at a position of 45 on April 30, 1995.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" received critical acclaim. Timothy White of "Crawdaddy!" felt "the genius of the song [...] is the way Seger changes the meaning of the phrase 'night moves,' from a reference to making out, to a comment on the passage of time." "Billboard" described "Night Moves" as having a similar feel and theme to Van Morrison's "Wild Night," stating that the theme was "the earthy yearnings of adolescence" and saying that Seger matched Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart in vocal expressiveness. "Cash Box" said that the song is "based on standard, emotive rock ’n’ roll chords played on acoustic guitar, dressed up with keyboards, a soulful backing chorus and of course Seger’s throaty voice." In his 1979 volume "Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island", famed rock critic Greil Marcus selected the single "Night Moves" for inclusion on same, writing simply: "The mystic chords of memory." Paul Evans, in "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide", writes: "[It] is not only Seger's best song, but one of rock's most moving exercises in elegy."


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: Seger, for his part, has claimed that "Night Moves" is his favorite song he ever wrote, and that he continued to try and replicate it years afterward.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" was named by "Rolling Stone" as Best Single of the Year for 1977 and was included in their list of the Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at No. 301. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll, Seger's only such selection.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: Filmmaker Gary Weis produced an unofficial music video for "Night Moves" that aired on "Saturday Night Live" in January 1977.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: In 1994, nearly 20 years after the original song was released, an official accompanying music video was released. Directed by Wayne Isham, it was set in a drive-in movie theater in the early 1960s; it interspersed footage of Seger performing in a present-day version of the drive-in (seemingly, now abandoned) with various vignettes featuring characters described in the song. Matt LeBlanc, a friend of Isham's, was in the starring role, prior to his debut in "Friends"; he later claimed that he was drunk through the whole video, having shared a bottle of tequila with Seger in the musician's motorhome immediately before the shoot. Also featured in the video was Daphne Zuniga of "Melrose Place". In the video, Zuniga's dark, edgy young woman becomes an object of visual fascination for LeBlanc's clean-cut young man. Johnny Galecki and Natasha Gregson Wagner also appear in the video as a young couple.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: In the film "American Pop", the final feature character in the family saga concludes with him using his one opportunity to become a professional musician with this song that he wrote in this story. The performance is a piano-oriented interpretation that has never been commercially released.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: The song can be heard twice during the first season of "The O.C.". Seger is one of Julie’s favorite singers.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: "Night Moves" was referenced in the popular NBC sitcom "30 Rock" in the nineteenth episode of Season Three. Liz Lemon sings "Workin' on my Night Cheese!" as she consumes a one-pound brick of what appears to be cheddar cheese. It has also been reported that the purchase of the broadcast rights to "Night Moves" was required for the scene, reportedly costing the network as much as $50,000.


title: Night Moves (Bob Seger song)

text: The song is also featured in the video game "Grand Theft Auto V", on one of the game's fictional radio stations, Los Santos Rock Radio.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: The Carpetbaggers is a 1964 American epic drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the best-selling 1961 novel "The Carpetbaggers" by Harold Robbins and starring George Peppard as Jonas Cord, a character based loosely on Howard Hughes, and Alan Ladd in his last role as Nevada Smith, a former Western gunslinger turned actor. The supporting cast features Carroll Baker as a character extremely loosely based on Jean Harlow as well as Martha Hyer, Bob Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, Lew Ayres, Ralph Taeger, Leif Erickson, Archie Moore and Tom Tully.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: The film is a landmark of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, venturing further than most films of the period with its heated sexual embraces, innuendo, and sadism between men and women, much like the novel, where "there is sex and/or sadism every 17 pages".


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Jonas Cord Jr. becomes one of America's richest men in the early twentieth century, inheriting an explosives company from his late father. Cord buys up all the company stock and pays off his father's young widow, Rina Marlowe.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Cord becomes an aviation pioneer and his wealth grows. He destroys a business rival named Winthrop, then seduces and marries the man's daughter Monica, only to abandon her when she wants to settle down and have a home and children. Monica hangs on for years, aware of Cord's troubled youth, hoping he'll come back to her. In order to force the divorce, he reconnects with his stepmother Rina and begins an affair with her. Crushed, Monica gives Cord his divorce, then discovers she is pregnant with his child. After the birth, Jonas visits her, demanding to know if he is the father. Monica tells him to leave her and their newborn daughter alone.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Meanwhile, former Cord company stockholder Nevada Smith finds work in western films, becoming a popular cowboy hero. Rina persuades Cord to finance Nevada's project, a script about his former outlaw life, in which he will star. This gives Cord an interest in the second-rate studio that produces Nevada's films, plus creative control over the resulting movie. The film becomes successful despite Cord's constant interference. Rina becomes a big star; her career blossoms while Nevada's declines. To spite Cord, Rina marries Nevada, now considered a has-been.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Rina dies in a drunken car crash and Cord's studio is sold out from under him by Dan Pierce, a renegade employee loyal to the old management. After an alcoholic binge, Cord returns to the studio and builds up a film career for the studio's new discovery, Jennie Denton. Denton and Cord begin an affair and become engaged.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: With news of the engagement, Dan Pierce tries to blackmail Jennie with a copy of a pornographic film she made in her youth. Jennie confesses to Cord, who laughs, saying he knows all about her past and that he made her a star in order to have her services all to himself. With her dream of love shattered, Jennie runs out devastated.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Seeing the wreckage of both their lives, Nevada Smith confronts Cord and the two end up in a vicious fist-fight. During the brawl, Nevada forces Cord to confront the mess he has made of his own life and those around him. A contrite Jonas returns to Monica and begs her to take him back. Monica, who has always loved him, forgives him and they embrace.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: John Michael Hayes signed to write the script in June 1962. (Soon after, Embassy signed him to adapt "Where Love Has Gone".)


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Sonny Tufts was a candidate for Nevada Smith. He lost out to Alan Ladd. When Alan Ladd signed to play Nevada Smith, it was also announced that Paramount and Joseph E. Levine would make a prequel about Smith's adventures called "Nevada Smith".


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Joan Collins, in her autobiography "Past Imperfect" (1978), says she had a firm offer to play Rina Marlowe but had to decline because of pregnancy.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Robert Cummings was cast as an agent. His wife said "years ago Alfred Hitchcock told him he'd made a great villain with that baby face. It's a wonderful change of pace."


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Filming started on June 4, 1963. Carroll Baker had a highly publicized nude scene, shot on a closed set.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: "The Carpetbaggers" premiered in Denver, Colorado on April 9, 1964, and went on to be a large commercial success. It grossed $28,409,547 at the domestic box office, making it the 4th highest-grossing film of 1964. "Variety" reported that the film earned $13 million in domestic rentals. At the worldwide box office, the film grossed $40,000,000 against a $3 million budget. For her role as Monica, Elizabeth Ashley received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Due to its success, a prequel was filmed and released two years later. Ladd's part was taken by Steve McQueen.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" panned the film as "a sickly sour distillation of Harold Robbins's big-selling novel", with the protagonist "a thoroughly mechanical movie puppet, controlled by a script-writer's strings", and Peppard's performance "expressionless, murky and dull." "Variety" wrote, "Psychological facets of the story are fuzzy, and vital motivational information is withheld to the point where it no longer really seems to matter why he is the miserable critter he is. His sudden reform is little more than an unconvincing afterthought. There's nobody to root for in 'The Carpetbaggers.' And Hayes' screenplay never seems to miss an opportunity to slip in connotations of sex, whether or not they are necessary." Philip K. Scheuer of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the film "is trash, but it has the curiosity pull of a trashy novel. One sits there squirming in the captive presence of its unremitting boldness and bad taste for two-and-a-half hours (it ends again and again and starts up again and again), waiting only for its central figure, Jonas Cord Jr., to be cornered and stomped on like the rat he is. But then we find him, hat in hand, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation from a wronged ex-wife. More—he gets them." Richard L. Coe of "The Washington Post" described the film as "wild, fruity nonsense" and observed, "At all events, Robbins and Hayes have it beautifully tied up psychologically and all I can say is that I'm glad I never had an insane twin." The film became one of the targets for the negative impact of films on society. Crowther cited the film, along with "Kiss Me, Stupid", for giving American movies the reputation of "deliberate and degenerate corruptors of public taste and morals".


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: The movie was one of the 13 most popular films in the UK in 1965. However, many critics frowned upon the film, considering it to be "vulgar and tasteless" or "an upscale dirty movie". "The Monthly Film Bulletin" stated, "They don't make movies like this any more—or at least, like "The Carpetbaggers" should have been. Dmytryk does a very clean, efficient job of direction, interweaving the various strands of his complicated story with exemplary clarity, but somehow there is an element missing: the film is big, bold, sprawlingly epic and all that, but it never manages to carry off its outrageous silliness with any of the flourish of the good old days." "Mad" magazine lampooned the film in issue #92 with "The Carpetsweepers".


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: The theme tune by Elmer Bernstein was recorded in a version by Jimmy Smith arranged by Lalo Schiffrin. This version was used to accompany the titles and credits for the UK BBC 2 "The Money Programme", a finance and current affairs television magazine program.


title: The Carpetbaggers (film)

text: Elmer Bernstein re-recorded his music for the movie as an album on Ava Records. In 2013 Intrada Records issued the complete original soundtrack on CD, pairing it with the CD premiere of the Ava re-recording (tracks 22-31).


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: The statehood movement in Puerto Rico () aims to make Puerto Rico a state of the United States. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territorial possession of the United States acquired in 1898 following the Spanish–American War, making it "the oldest colony in the modern world". As of 2019, the population of Puerto Rico is 3.2 million, around half the average state population and higher than that of 20 U.S. states. Competing options for the future political status of Puerto Rico include maintaining its current status, becoming fully independent, or becoming a freely associated state. Puerto Rico has held six referendums on the topic. These are non-binding, as the power to grant statehood lies with the US Congress. The most recent referendum was in November 2020, with a majority (52.52%) of those who voted opting for statehood; however, only 0.7 million of the 3.2 million Puerto Ricans who live in the archipelago voted for statehood.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Although the previous two referendums (November 2012 and June 2017) also had ostensibly pro-statehood outcomes, "The New York Times" described them as "marred, with ballot language phrased to favor the party in office".


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: For example, the fourth referendum, held in November 2012, asked voters (1) whether they wanted to maintain the current political status of Puerto Rico and, if not, (2) which alternative status they prefer.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Of the fifty-four percent (54.0%) who voted "No" on maintaining the status quo, 61.11% chose statehood, 33.34% chose free association, and 5.55% chose independence. Opponents of statehood argued that these results did not show that a majority of Puerto Rican voters support statehood.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: The June 2017 referendum was, according to the New York Times, a "flawed election" where the turnout was only 23%, in part because most statehood opponents sat out. 97% of votes cast favored statehood. The November 2020 referendum was the first to ask voters a simple yes-or-no question: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?". There were 655,505 votes in favor of statehood (52.52%) and 592,671 votes opposed (47.48%). The 55% turnout rate equaled that for the simultaneous 2020 gubernatorial race and the 2016 gubernatorial race.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Following the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States in 1898, through the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Rico became an unincorporated, organized territory of the US through a series of judicial decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States, collectively known as "The Insular Cases" and the enactment of several statutes by Congress.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: In 1900, the U.S. Congress enacted the Foraker Act, establishing a civil government in the territory and then in 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship, by the enactment of the Jones-Shafroth Act. The Office of the President is responsible for policy relations between the United States and Puerto Rico, although according to the Territorial Clause of Constitution of the United States of America "The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States...". In 1952, voters in Puerto Rico approved a new constitution proposed by Gov. Luis Munoz Marin; this led to the territory being designated as a commonwealth.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Puerto Rico is, by a considerable margin, the largest U.S. territory in terms of both population and geographical area, being similar to Connecticut with respect to population size (~3.3 million to CT's 3.6 million) and geographical area (13,791 square km to CT's 14,357). Puerto Rico residents do not participate in the Presidential elections because Puerto Rico does not have any electoral votes, but individual Puerto Ricans do have the right to vote when resident in a U.S. state or the District of Columbia. Statehood would allow the population to vote in all elections as the residents of states already can.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Other benefits to statehood include increased disability benefits and Medicaid funding as well as the higher (federal) minimum wage. Benefits of statehood include an additional $10 billion per year in federal funds, the right to vote in presidential elections, higher Social Security and Medicare benefits, and a right for its government agencies and municipalities to file for bankruptcy. The latter is currently prohibited.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: The primary debate over Puerto Rican statehood is about representation. Some proposals seek to give it representation without statehood, giving it its apportioned representatives in the House and two Senators like a state without officially adding it to the union.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Whether Puerto Rico is given statehood or simply apportioned members of Congress as a Commonwealth or territory, this will have an impact on the make-up of the House. As the Reapportionment Act of 1929 mandates the House be capped at 435 members, Puerto Rico would end up with Representatives that would otherwise have been apportioned to other states. If only Puerto Rico was admitted, the following states would be projected to lose at least one seat: New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Since the transfer of sovereignty of Puerto Rico from Spain to the United States, the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US has been debated by many. On April 11, 1899, the peace treaty between Spain and the USA (the 1898 Treaty of Paris) became effective, and established a military government in Puerto Rico. This was short lived, since the following year (April 2, 1900) Congress enacted the Foraker Act, which established a civil government and free trade between Puerto Rico and the USA. Puerto Ricans, although incapable of electing members of the territory's executive branch, were now able to elect their local representatives and a resident commissioner to the US Congress, who had a voice but no vote. In 1917, the enactment of the Jones-Shafroth Act the territory of Puerto Rico was organized and statutory US citizenship was granted to its residents.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Since 1967, there have been several referendums, which included questions on statehood. Puerto Ricans chose not to alter the status quo in referendums until 2012. The 2012 referendum produced a more equivocal result.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: A referendum on the status of the island was held in Puerto Rico on July 23, 1967. Voters were given the choice between being a Commonwealth, statehood or independence. The majority of voters voted for Commonwealth status, with a voter turnout of 65.9%.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: A referendum in December 1998 offered voters four political status options: statehood, independence, free association, and territorial commonwealth, plus "none of the above." The latter option won 50.5% of the vote, followed by statehood, with 46.6%. Turnout was 71%.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: (1) whether they agreed to continue with Puerto Rico's territorial status and (2) to indicate the political status they preferred from three possibilities: statehood, independence, or a sovereign nation in free association with the United States. Voters who chose "No" to the first question numbered 970,910 (54.0%), expressing themselves against continuing the current political status, while those who voted "Yes" numbered 828,077 (46.0%), indicating their desire to continue the current political status relationship. Of those who answered the second question, 834,191 (61.2%) chose statehood, 454,768 (33.3%) chose free association, and 74,895 (5.5%) chose independence. The preferred status consultation did not include Puerto Rico's current status as a territory (Estado Libre Asociado as defined by the 1952 Constitution) as a choice, but instead an alternative named "E.L.A. Soberano" On December 11, 2012, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico enacted a concurrent resolution requesting the President and the Congress of the United States to respond diligently and effectively on the demand of the people of Puerto Rico to end its current political status and to begin the transition of Puerto Rico to become a state of the union. This was followed by a hearing at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Puerto Rico's status on August 1, 2013, and (in 2014) resolutions introduced in both houses of the United States Congress (H.R. 2000; S. 2020) to hold a yes-or-no referendum among the residents of Puerto Rico on statehood. Both resolutions died in committee.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Because there were almost 500,000 blank ballots in the 2012 referendum, creating confusion as to the voters' true desire, Congress ignored the results, but passed a budget bill which included $2.5M in funding for a future referendum, intended to help educate the population on any future plebiscite. The fifth referendum was held on June 11, 2017, and offered voters three options: "Statehood", "Free Association/Independence" and "Current Territorial Status". The turnout was only 23% because statehood opponents boycotted it, arguing that the ballot language was biased towards pro-statehood. Some would later try to attribute the boycott to the PPD party, citing its support for the status quo. Of the voters who participated, 97.18% chose statehood, 1.50% favored independence and 1.32% chose to maintain the commonwealth status.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: A bill (H.R. 4901) for Puerto Ricans to vote "yes" or "no" on statehood was introduced on October 29, 2019, by Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, but died in Committee. A corresponding bill in the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico that would implement the vote, known in English as the Law for the Final Definition of the Political Status of Puerto Rico (P.S. 1467), was approved by both houses on March 31, 2020, and sent to the Governor for signature. The single question was "Should Puerto Rico be immediately admitted into the Union as a state?", with only two options: "yes" or "no".


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: On May 16, 2020, Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced announced that a referendum on Puerto Rico's statehood would be held in November of that year. For the first time in the territory's history, only one direct question was asked: "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?" Previous referendums presented multiple options such as independence or maintaining the current territorial status. The announcement came amid growing disillusionment with Puerto Rico's territorial status due to the lack of access to federal funds for recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: The referendum was held on November 3, 2020. There were 655,505 voted yes to statehood (52.52%) and 592,671 voted no to statehood (47.48%). After the results, the Puerto Rico Legislature, which at the time had a pro-statehood majority, passed the "Puerto Rico Congressional Act" calling a special election to elect two shadow senators and four shadow House-members to Washington D.C. to advocate for Statehood. In the US House of Representatives a bill to provide for the admission of the State of Puerto Rico into the Union was introduced. These bills, H.R. 1522 and S. 780, were supported by 50 Puerto Rican pro-statehood organizations, who "[called] on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to approve that legislation."


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: On December 15, 2022, H.R. 8393 passed the House of Representatives in a 233-191 vote with 11 absences. It would institute a binding referendum that would allow Puerto Ricans to vote on the future status of the island, that Congress would have to obey. Every Democrat voted in favor of the bill, and were joined by 16 Republicans. The bill is not expected to pass the Senate.


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: Support for statehood has been expressed by President George H. W. Bush, former Massachusetts Governor (now U.S. Senator) Mitt Romney, President Joe Biden, U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer, U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy, former Florida Governor (now U.S. Senator) Rick Scott, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan, and


title: Puerto Rico statehood movement

text: The Taking of Congress () was an event that started on January 15, 2013, in the United States Capitol in which more than 130 private citizens from different advocacy groups in Puerto Rico started a campaign in which they visited every member of the United States Congress in order to speak about the results of the 2012 Puerto Rican status referendumin which a majority of voters expressed themselves against the current political status of Puerto Rico. They also attempted to persuade the members of Congress to initiate a process to change Puerto Rico's political status. The campaign was supported by former U.S. representative José Enrique Serrano and former Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico (now Governor) Pedro Pierluisi. Groups involved included "Alianza Pro Libre Asociación Soberana" (ALAS), "Boricua Ahora Es", "Igualdad Futuro Seguro", "Renacer Ideológico Estadista" (RIE), Proyecto Estrella, Young Democrats of America, and Young Republican Federation of Puerto Rico.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Mixed connective tissue disease, commonly abbreviated as MCTD, is an autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of elevated blood levels of a specific autoantibody, now called anti-U1 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) together with a mix of symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), scleroderma, and polymyositis. The idea behind the "mixed" disease is that this specific autoantibody is also present in other autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, polymyositis, scleroderma, etc. MCTD was characterized as an individual disease in 1972 by Sharp et al., and the term was introduced by Leroy in 1980.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: It is sometimes said to be the same as undifferentiated connective tissue disease, but other experts specifically reject this idea because undifferentiated connective tissue disease is not necessarily associated with serum antibodies directed against the U1-RNP, and MCTD is associated with a more clearly defined set of signs/symptoms.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: MCTD combines features of scleroderma, polymyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis (with some sources adding myositis, dermatomyositis, and inclusion body myositis) and is thus considered an overlap syndrome.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: The initial clinical manifestations of MCTD usually are unspecific. They can consist of general malaise, arthralgias, myalgias, and fever. The specific signs to suspect this disease is the presence of positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA), specifically anti-RNP, associated with Raynaud's phenomenon. Almost every organ can be affected by MCTD. Raynaud's phenomenon is the most common presenting symptom seen in patients, with arthralgia and swollen hands being the second and third most common respectively. With patients that meet full criteria for MCTD, arthritis is the most common symptom with Raynaud's, swollen hands, leukopenia/lymphopenia, and heartburn following in descending order. A 2016 epidemiological population based study found 3.6 years to be the average amount of time from the first manifestations of the disease until all the criteria for diagnosis were met.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: The contribution of genetics toward developing MCTD is unknown. Family members have been known to develop MCTD suggesting that genetics may play a role in MCTD, however most cases present individually. As MCTD can present with comorbid connective tissue diseases there must be a genetic link, however it has not yet been discovered. DNA methylation may affect the as yet unknown genetic risks of this disease as patients with MCTD have decreased DNA methylation levels in opposition to their healthy counterparts.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: MCTD is an autoimmune disorder. Anti-RNP antibodies develop against RNP when RNP is found outside of the nucleus. RNP is immunologically protected due to its location, however if a cell dies and RNP is no longer contained in the nucleus and thus unprotected, the immune system can respond by forming antibodies due to cellular mimicry. Risk to develop MCTD can increase if the body has exposed to molecules or viruses with a similar structure to RNP in the past.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: There are currently no known environmental factors or triggers contributing to MCTD.It has been associated with HLA-DR4.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Distinguishing laboratory characteristics are a positive, speckled anti-nuclear antibody and an anti-U1-RNP antibody.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: After the original 1972 description of MCTD by Sharp, there was some controversy over whether MCTD was a distinct connective tissue disease; however, after four decades and more than 2000 publications, it seems that there is a consensus that MCTD should be considered a distinctive clinical entity, and is thus considered as such by the majority of rheumatologists, though there is a subgroup of patients that could evolve in their disease course towards another connective tissue disease.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Although almost any organ can be affected by MCTD, there are various clinical manifestations that make it more likely to suspect the disease is MCTD over other connective tissue diseases:


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Several criteria have been described to standardize the diagnosis of the disease, some of the most used being those of Alarcón-Segovia, although there are no universally accepted criteria.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Due to the wide range of signs and symptoms, there is no agreement on what the optimal criteria are for diagnosis. Even with a low anti-RNP antibody titer, a patient can show symptoms of MTD. The reverse is also possible: a patient with a high anti-RNP antibody titer can show no symptoms.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: In general the criteria require the presence of high titres of anti-RNP antibodies, the presence of some characteristic signs of the disease – Raynaud or swollen hands/fingers – and the presence of some clinical manifestations of at least two other connective tissue diseases – SLE, scleroderma, polymyositis..


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: It is often several years before sufficient signs and symptoms appear to make the diagnosis of MCTD, relative to the more sequential clinical manifestations of SLE, scleroderma, and polymyositis, so often, in the initial phases, the diagnosis most appropriate for patients is "undifferentiated connective tissue disease".


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: If the patient has edematous hands and/or swollen fingers in conjunction with elevated titers of antinuclear antibodies, an elevated titre of anti-U1 RNP antibody is a good predictor of progressing to MCTD. The presence of this specific antibody is "sine qua non" for the diagnosis of MCTD, although its isolated presence does not guarantee that a patient has MCTD or will develop it. If the dominant autoantibodies are  antiDNAn, Sm, Scl70 or Ro, it is likely the patient will develop another connective disease distinct from MCTD. The clinical manifestations of MCTD appear correlated more intensely to the antibodies against protein A’ and 68 kD of the U1 RNP complex. The typical phenotype of MCTD also appears to be in part genetically determined, as patients with MCTD are associated with HLA-DR4 or HLA-DR2, meanwhile those with SLE are associated with HLA-DR3 and those with scleroderma are associated with HLA-DR5.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: SLE, scleroderma, and in MCTD have antibodies against anti-U1-snRNP at differing percentages. These antibodies are in most MCTD patients but are seen in only 30–35% of SLE and 2–14% of scleroderma patients, therefore they can help differentiate MCTD from other connective tissue disorders.  There are different haplotypes of SNRNP70 which due to their differences in patients with MCTD versus those with SLE or scleroderma help substantiate the claim that MCTD is a separate disease. The T-G-CT-G haplotype is more common in patients with MCTD, whereas the T-G-C-G haplotype is more commonly seen in scleroderma and SLE.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Although MCTD was originally described as a disease with a good treatment response to corticosteroids, the treatment of the disease is based on the specific manifestations and clinical complications, similar to how other signs and symptoms are treated in other connective tissue disease.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: For arthritis, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories or low dose prednisone are usually used, which can be used in association with methotrexate or hydroxychloroquine. Temporomandibular joint arthritis has been shown to be successfully treated with condylar reconstruction using chondral grafts. Higher doses of corticosteroids (0.25 to 1 mg/kg/day) are used in complications such as myositis, meningitis, pleuritis, pericarditis, myocarditis, interstitial lung disease, or hematologic abnormalities. On the contrary, Raynaud's phenomenon, acrosclerosis or peripheral neuropathies are usually resistant to corticosteroids. Cyclophosphamide are useful in interstitial lung disease and in the eventual serious renal involvement. In cases of myositis or thrombocytopenias resistant to corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulins may be useful. For Raynaud, general measures (such as tobacco cessation, protection against the cold), calcium antagonists, endovenous prostaglandins or endothelin-2 antagonists may be useful. In patients with gastroesophageal reflux, proton pump inhibitors and H2 receptor antagonists can be used, following protocol for the usual treatment of these scleroderma problems.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Since pulmonary hypertension is the leading cause of death, its early diagnosis by routine echocardiography and the rapid initiation of treatment with endothelin-1 antagonists (bosentan), phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (sildenafil) or endovenous prostacyclins (epoprostenol) manage to considerably improve morbidity and mortality.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Further investigation into appropriate treatment options for MCTD are in progress.  Treatment for various rheumatoid diseases are currently undergoing research and have the potential to be used for patients presenting with similar signs and symptoms.  Better understanding the pathophysiology of the disease and its progression will enable better targeted treatment options.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: The original description of the disease is characterized by a generally good prognosis and an excellent response to treatment with corticosteroids; however, in actuality it is clear that there is a group of patients with elevated morbidity and mortality. In a recent study the survival rates at 5, 10, and 15 years were 98%, 96%, and 88% respectively, with the main causes of death being pulmonary hypertension, cardiovascular problems, and infections. The presence of anticardiolipin antibodies is a more serious risk factor for the disease, as well as the presence of more scleroderma and polymyositis signs and symptoms.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Morbidity is quite high in patients with MCTD. In addition to fatigue and recurrent musculoskeletal complaints, patients can develop a fibromyalgia symptom as a result of occasional outbreaks requiring medium-high doses of corticosteroid.  The steroids, in combination with their adverse effects, frequently cause fibromyalgia symptoms and thus complicate treatment.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: The prognosis of mixed connective tissue disease is in one third of cases worse than that of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In spite of prednisone treatment, this disease is progressive and may in many cases evolve into a progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS), also referred to as diffuse cutaneous systemic scleroderma (dcSSc) which has a poor outcome. In some cases though the disease is mild and may only need aspirin as a treatment and may go into remission where no Anti-U1-RNP antibodies are detected, but that is rare or within 30% of cases. Most deaths from MCTD are due to heart failure caused by pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: Patients diagnosed with MCTD may progress to a clinical picture more consistent with other connective tissue diseases like SLE, scleroderma, or rheumatoid arthritis. In some studies these patients become reclassified over time with other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis in 9%, SLE in 15%, and scleroderma in 21% of cases. Such progression is, in part, determined genetically, thus SLE is more likely in patients with HLA-DR3 and scleroderma in patients with HLA-DR5.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: The prevalence of MCTD is higher than that of dermatomyositis and lower than that of SLE. In a 2011 Norwegian study, the prevalence of MCTD was 3.8 per 100,000 adults, with an incidence of 2.1 per million per year.


title: Mixed connective tissue disease

text: MCTD is much more frequent in women than in men at between a 3:1 to 16:1 ratio, and in women younger than 50. The general age at onset is around 15–25 years old.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Ion William Croitoru (December 7, 1963 – February 21, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. To wrestling fans, he is better known by his ring names, Johnny K-9, Taras Bulba, and Bruiser Bedlam. He worked in several Canadian wrestling promotions, including Stampede Wrestling, and later wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He wrestled as a jobber in the WWF, but he was booked to win titles in several other promotions.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru was also known for his history of legal problems. He was a member of Satan's Choice, a biker gang. He was convicted of assault, trafficking cocaine, and bombing a police station. In 2005, he was arrested for the murder of lawyer Lynn Gilbank and her husband Fred. After a lengthy investigation, the charges were dropped in June 2006 because of insufficient evidence. He worked as a security guard in Vancouver, British Columbia until being arrested in May 2009 for conspiracy to murder the Bacon Brothers. Jonathan Barber was killed when the plan went awry, and Croitoru was charged with first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty in July 2013 to conspiracy in exchange for a stay of proceedings on the murder charge. He was the focus for episode 11 of the third season of the Vice TV's documentary series "Dark Side of the Ring".


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru was born to Romanian parents in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Croitoru grew up in the working class district of east Hamilton and as a teenager liked to work out at a local gym known as Bad Boy's. Before entering professional wrestling, Croitoru claimed that he played junior hockey for the Kitchener Rangers in the Ontario Hockey League. According to the journalist Paul Legall of "The Hamilton Spectator", Croitoru played very briefly for the Kitchener Rangers, going on to write: "But a coach-who didn't like his bruising style-bounced him and squelched any dreams he had of professional hockey." However, no record of his time with the Rangers can be found. He was an accomplished weightlifter and once bench pressed 625 pounds.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: He started work as a bouncer in a Hamilton bar, and was recruited into wrestling after a wrestler who come there to drink saw him in the bar. Croitoru trained with Nick DeCarlo and Victor Rosettani Sr. before debuting in Stampede Wrestling in 1984. Bruce Hart gave Croitoru the ring name Orhan Turgedan, The Terrible Turk, a name Croitoru only wrestled under for a short time after leaving the promotion. He continued to wrestle in Canadian independent promotions, such as Grand Prix Wrestling in the Maritimes and Superstars of Wrestling in Windsor, Ontario.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: In 1985, Croitoru wrestled for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), where he received a push and was given a reign as AWA Southern Heavyweight champion. He defeated Jerry Lawler to win the belt on August 16, but dropped it back to Lawler in a rematch on September 6. The following month, Croitoru joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Johnny K-9, where he competed until 1989. Croitoru claimed that he decided on this name while being arrested after a fight. He saw "K-9" written on a paddywagon and decided on the ring name.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru's signature moves were the Stomach Claw and the Flying Headbutt. Croitoru stood six feet tall and was billed as weighing about 300 pounds. Sporting a Fu Manchu moustache and with his head shaved completely bald, he was typecast as a villain, who excelled in generating heat (fan anger) by his exploits in the ring. Croitoru usually showed up in the ring wearing black tights and a collar around his neck, and proceeded to generate "heat" from the audiences before his matches started. One television commentator stated that his fighting style was "like an animal or a dog". The Canadian journalist Adrian Humphreys called him a "hugely entertaining and dirty fighter" whose antics made him natural as a "heel". Croitoru liked his "bad boy" image, once telling a reporter he was the "baddest of the bad", going on to say "You can print that. I want everyone to know".


title: Ion Croitoru

text: He worked as a jobber to the stars, putting over such wrestlers as Pedro Morales, Tito Santana, and Paul Orndorff. He wrestled in many tag team matches and formed a short-lived team with Barry O in 1986, but his biggest match in the WWF was a televised match against Hulk Hogan.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: In his hometown of Hamilton, Croitoru was considered to be a celebrity and he was generally known as "Johnny K-9". Croitoru himself usually used that name when signing documents, and was even able to open up a bank account under his "Johnny K-9" moniker. Croitoru was only a jobber, which the journalist Jerry Langton noted was "a hard way to make a living, even by Hamilton standards". The decline of the steel industry in Hamilton ensured that anyone from Hamilton who was successful at anything, even as a wresting jobber was bound to become a celebrity in Hamilton. The mere fact that Croitoru had wrestled Hulk Hogan made him famous in his hometown, all the more so as many of the blue-collar people of Hamilton were fans of professional wrestling. Langton wrote that at the height of his fame, Croitoru "...could barely walk a block in downtown Hamilton without someone offering to buy him a beer".


title: Ion Croitoru

text: After leaving the WWF, he wrestled on a tour of Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling; he later returned to Japan to compete for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and Wrestle Association R. In the late 1980s, Croitoru also worked as a promoter along with Mike Kelly and Bob Clarke, operating the short-lived Canadian International Championship Wrestling in Hamilton, Ontario. During his wrestling career, Croitoru's persona changed from that of Middle Eastern or Eastern European villains such as the Terrible Turk and Taras Bulba to working class heroes such as Bruiser Bedlam.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: In 1989, Croitoru was convicted of drug possession. At his trial, Croitoru stated that the lengthy road trips required by his wrestling career had led him to abuse cocaine to ease the tedium of his existence. Croitoru also admitted to his weakness for the "fast life", saying he liked expensive cars and staying out late at nightclubs too much. In 1993, Croitoru opened up a gym called Bad Boy's in Burlington , named after the gym he had patronized in his youth. In September 1993, Croitoru was convicted of forgery, being fined $500 dollars and placed on probation. With his forgery conviction came the failure of his gym as he was unable to pay the rent.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) in 1994, where he was given the ring name Bruiser Bedlam. According to the storyline, he was brought in by manager Jim Cornette to help settle Cornette's feud with Bob Armstrong. Cornette explained his reasons for the Bruiser Bedlam moniker as: "He was 6’0" tall, 270 lbs (billed at 300), built like a fireplug, bald-headed, barrel-chested with tattoos and a legitimate 600 lbs bench presser with a mean look. I was always looking for heels to take back to Smoky Mountain, and Johnny K-9 was not a name that thrilled me. I was a big "Dick The Bruiser" fan when I was a kid, and this guy had the big bruiser, Brock Lesnar type look to him. Bruiser Bedlam Wrestling was the clip compilation show Bruiser's WWA ended on in the early ’80s. And Bedlam was a famous mental institution in England in the olden days (the word bedlam now signifies chaos, mayhem, and confusion), so Bruiser Bedlam became his new name". Cornette stated that Croitoru never moved to Tennessee during his time in SMW, and instead drove down from Hamilton every weekend for his matches.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Bedlam and Cornette combined for a victory in a two-on-one handicap match over Armstrong at SMW's Blue Grass Brawl II show on April 1. That year, he wrestled many tag team and six-man matches while teaming with Cornette. One observer, Edward Pardue, recalled: "A 'newcomer' debuted in SMW in the spring of 1994 named Bruiser Bedlam. Looking at this man on television, I got the impression he wasn't one to be trifled with. Jim Cornette had found the man to beat Bob Armstrong and beat him he did. Johnny 'Bruiser Bedlam' K-9 even got a pinfall victory over Randy Savage. There was no stopping Bruiser Bedlam in SMW...he left in pursuit of other territories to conquer. All I know is, if I ever had to fight Tyson in a street fight, that is one guy I would want to back me up!"


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Cornette stated that he was aware that Croitoru was involved in crime during his time in SMW, but maintained that he was only a petty criminal who liked to exaggerate his importance in the underworld. Cornette declared: "That was some people telling him-and I'm not trying to excuse this guy's crimes-but people were telling him, ‘You take this suitcase, and you take it to these people at this place and get the money they give you and bring it back.’ He was the guy nobody was going to fuck with on either side of that transaction. It wasn't like he was the kingpin from Colombia, "El Guapo" [translated as ‘The Handsome One’]. So he went to prison, and he was always in prison for conspiracy, and unfortunately, a lot has been heavily overstated because he was with these people and did what they told him to do. But I'd be greatly surprised if he ever killed anybody."


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Bedlam was booked for one title reign with the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship during his stint in SMW. The kayfabe rules behind the title state that any wrestler winning five consecutive matches as champion would win $5,000 but be forced to vacate the title. He won a match against Mike Furnas on April 4, 1994 to win the title, and he defended it over the following month. Bedlam won his fifth match on May 2 with a victory over Anthony Michaels, and the storyline saw him forced to give up the title. On May 20, he defeated Randy Savage with help from Dory Funk Jr. He went on to feud with Tracy Smothers, and the two wrestled in a lengthy series of matches, including several Coalminer's glove matches, in which a glove is available for the wrestlers to use as a weapon. Later that year, Bedlam wrestled several matches against "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony. The series consisted of several steel cage matches in which Bedlam put Anthony over, as well as tag team matches where Bedlam teamed with Cornette and Anthony teamed with Ron Wright. As Bruiser Bedlam, Croitoru was successful in the SMW, but the company's financial problems caused him to seek work elsewhere.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: In 1994, Croitoru also began wrestling in Midwest Territorial Wrestling, an independent promotion based in Michigan. He continued using the ring name Taras Bulba and proclaimed himself "King of Chain matches". He competed in a tournament to determine the promotion's first heavyweight champion, but Al Snow defeated him in the final round. Bulba was pushed for a run with the belt, however, defeating Mickey Doyle on January 21, 1995 to win the vacant title. He held the championship for almost four months before dropping it to Marty Jannetty.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: As Johnny K-9, Croitoru returned to the WWF for one match where he defeated Gary Scott in a dark match on January 23, 1995. Cornette had booked the WWF match in the hope that Croitoru might be able to return to the WWF, but the company was not interested. He then competed briefly in Cleveland All Pro Wrestling, where he wrestled against Cactus Jack in a booked loss on March 23. Croitoru also wrestled in Border City Wrestling (BCW) and was pushed to win the BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship by defeating Scott D'Amore on May 21, 1995. He held the title for a little over a month before dropping it back to D'Amore.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Once again using the ring name Bruiser Bedlam, he wrestled for Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) for a short time in 1996. While there, he competed in a barbed wire baseball bat match against Ian Rotten; Bedlam was booked for the victory in the match. He also wrestled New Jack at ICW's Holiday Hell supercard in a match that ended in a double countout. He wrestled on World Championship Wrestling's first annual Ilio DiPaolo tribute show, teaming with Cowboy Danny Johnson in a loss to Tony Parisi and Dominic DeNucci. In the late 1990s, Croitoru wrestled in Cambridge, Ontario-based International Championship Wrestling. He feuded with Greg Valentine, and the two wrestled in a series of matches. Bedlam won the ICW Heavyweight Championship from Valentine and used heel tactics such as brass knuckles to defend the belt.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru has also trained several wrestlers, including Pure Wrestling Association's Eddie Osbourne and Melissa Maughn, who competes under the ring name 21st Century Fox. Croitoru wrestled one more match on June 6, 2013 where he defeated Panama Wasp at Thrash Wrestling in Lumby, British Columbia.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru had a history of run-ins with the police. Many of his legal problems came while he was president of the Hamilton, Ontario chapter of the Satan's Choice Outlaw motorcycle club. After his income from his wrestling career dwindled following being fired from the WWF for cocaine use in 1991, he started to wrestle in what were described as "down-market" wrestling leagues. Croitoru had been selling illegal steroids for a number of years, and through another steroid dealer known to the media only as "Jimmy Rich" (a court-ordered pseudonym, as "Jimmy Rich" is now living in witness protection after turning Crown's evidence), he came into contact with Satan's Choice. After joining Satan's Choice Toronto chapter, Croitoru was allowed to found a new Satan's Choice chapter in Hamilton with himself as the chapter president in 1995. Croitoru had gained the approval of Satan's Choice national president Bernie Guindon to have his club return to Hamilton for the third time. The first Satan's Choice Hamilton chapter had "patched over" to join the Outlaws in 1977, while the second Satan's Choice Hamilton had disbanded itself following the murders of two of its members by the Outlaws in August 1985.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru's career in wrestling made him a local celebrity in Hamilton, allowing him to attract many recruits for his chapter. The clubhouse for the Hamilton chapter was located in a former convenience store at 269 Lottridge Street, about six blocks away from the Outlaws clubhouse at 402 Birch Avenue. The Hamilton chapter of the Outlaws had been a Satan's Choice chapter until 1977, so the choice of location was considered to be a provocation. The decision to open a third version of a Satan's Choice chapter in Hamilton was regarded as an insult to Mario Parente, the president of the Outlaws' Hamilton chapter. One policeman stated: "Oh, they hated Parente. And they knew it would piss him off to have another club in what he considered to be his town". The pool-table for the Satan's Choice Hamilton clubhouse was donated by the 'Ndranghetisti Pasquale "Fat Pat" Musitano, the boss of the Musitano family.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Detective Sergeant Len Isnor, the head of the Ontario Provincial Police's Anti-Biker Enforcement Unit, was not impressed with Croitoru, saying: "After a while, you can tell who's cut out for the life and who isn't. I could tell right away that he wouldn't make it. Some of the guys would talk to you. If there was a guy who was really into bikes, you could talk bikes, but K-9 [Croitoru] would talk about anything, especially himself- he was just stupid that way". Croitoru was especially close to Michel Dubé, the president of Satan's Choice Sudbury chapter, who was considered by Isnor to be the most dangerous outlaw biker in all of Ontario. Isnor recalled that he once talked to a biker and a convicted murderer with a "crazed look" in his eyes that reminded many of Charles Manson who told him that he was utterly terrified of Dubé, who was regarded as a reckless psychopath. Both Croitoru and Dubé purchased the cocaine that their chapters sold from the Hells Angels' "mother chapter" in Montreal. Guindon had ruled that members of Satan's Choice were free to do business with the Hells Angels. Richard "Rick" Vallée of the Angels Nomad chapter sold the majority of the drugs purchased by Satan's Choice's Hamilton and Sudbury chapters, which being new chapters did not have the same established drug-dealing connections that the older Satan's Choice chapters had.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Lorne Edgar Campbell, a long-time member of Satan's Choice was not impressed with Croitoru whom he met at a party at the clubhouse of the Sudbury chapter hosted by Dubé. Campbell described Croitoru as being of limited intelligence alongside having a fierce competitive streak as he would not accept any defeats, which Campbell found highly ironic given Croitoru's work as a wrestling jobber. During the party, Campbell defeated Croitoru several times in Indian leg-wrestling. Croitoru spent the rest of the party pestering Campbell to explain how he won, leading him to recall: "He wouldn't leave me alone. That night, he was like a dog following me around". Campbell finally explained: "As soon as you hook, you roll". At point, Croitoru had a rematch and won, leading Campbell to state: "When I showed him, he almost broke my back".


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru was arrested for trafficking cocaine and served ten months in prison. Soon after, he was convicted of assault and was given a sentence of seven months. He encountered more problems in late 1996 when he and several friends from Satan's Choice were refused entry to a strip club for wearing their gang's colors. During a visit to Sudbury to see Dubé, he attempted to enter the Solid Gold strip club, where he was informed in the parking lot that the club had a policy of refusing entrance to those wearing gang colors. Croitoru shouted "We wear our colors wherever the fuck we want!", which inspired Dubé to shout "fuck yeah!" in agreement; the assembled Satan's Choice bikers then attempted to enter the Solid Gold wearing jackets with their Satan's Choice patches, where the bouncers promptly refused them all entrance. When the bikers persisted with demanding entry to the Solid Gold, the police were called. To get revenge, Croitoru and his friends planned to blow up the strip club. Later that same night, Croitoru, Dubé and the others went to the Coulson Tavern in downtown Sudbury, where Dubé brooded obsessively over their humiliation at the Solid Gold. Croitoru and Dubé ended up walking across Larch Street to an all-night sandwich shop, where Dubé stated he would do anything to get revenge against the owners of the Solid Gold, leading Croitoru to say he knew someone in the Hamilton chapter who knew how to build bombs. The journalist Jerry Langton described Croitoru as an essentially weak character who was always too anxious to please those he considered his friends such as Dubé.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru had a member of the Hamilton chapter, Jure "Jerry" Juretta, build a bomb. Juretta was a former soldier in the Canadian Army and was accustomed to handling explosives. Croitoru and Juretta then drove to Sudbury to hand over the bomb to Dubé and vice president Brian Davies of the Sudbury chapter in a Tim Horton's coffee shop where Highway 69 and Notre Dame Avenue intersected in South Sudbury. They changed their minds and decided to bomb the local police station instead. The bombing on December 15, 1996 caused $133,000 in damages to the Sudbury, Ontario police station and a nearby bank and injured a police officer. Croitoru seemed surprised that Dubé had decided to bomb the police station instead, shouting on his phone (which unknown to him had been tapped by the police): "What do you mean the police station? It was supposed to be the Solid Gold!" Croitoru, Dubé, and Juretta were arrested and charged, but the trial did not begin until almost two years later.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Kenneth Murdock, a hitman, has claimed he was hired by the Musitano brothers to kill Croitoru but instead chose to spare his life. Murdock was given a list of four men to kill by his employers, Pasquale "Fat Pat" Musitano and his younger brother Angelo "Ang" Musitano. Murdock was to kill Johnny "the Enforcer" Papalia, the boss of the Papalia Mafia family; Carmen Barillaro, the right-hand man to Papalia; Mario Parente, the president of the Outlaws' Hamilton chapter, and finally Croitoru. The Musitano brothers wanted Croitoru killed because of his connections with the Hells Angels as they feared that he might allow the Angels to establish more influence in Hamilton at their expense. At the time, the Hells Angels had no chapters in Ontario, through their national president Walter Stadnick lived in Hamilton. Additionally, Croitoru had started to work for the rival Luppino family, which "Fat Pat" Musitano regarded as a betrayal. Murdock assassinated Papalia on May 31, 1997 and on killed Barillaro on July 23, 1997. On August 20, 1997, Murdock knocked on the door of Croitoru's house to tell him: "John, I've been sent here to kill you. But I'm not going to do it". Croitoru was left speechless for a moment before thanking Murdock. Shortly afterwards, Murdock was arrested on unrelated charges of extortion for the Musitano family, and while in police custody, the detectives played audio tapes of the Musitano brothers mocking and laughing at him, which inspired him to turn Crown's evidence and testify against his former employers.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: While Croitoru was awaiting trial for the bombing, the Hamilton branch of Satan's Choice was shut down after an informant gave the police information about the gang's involvement with drug dealing and extortion. On April 16, 1998, the police raided the Satan's Choice Hamilton clubhouse. The gang's clubhouse was confiscated and the club's national leadership decided to disband the Hamilton chapter. Croitoru's attempt to transfer over to the Toronto chapter was rejected as it was felt that he was a loose cannon who was a liability for Satan's Choice. Croitoru got in a fight in Hamilton with another former Satan's Choice member, "Jimmy Rich", on January 13, 1998. A police officer saw Croitoru punch Rich in the face and arrested Croitoru for assault. In addition to the assault charge, Croitoru was charged with extortion from an unrelated incident as well as carrying a concealed weapon and breaking the conditions of his release following the police station bombing.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: In September 1998, Croitoru was brought to trial for his role in the bombing. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 months in prison. Croitoru pleaded guilty to his role in having the bomb built. Besides for his role in the bombing, Croitoru was also convicted of illegally selling steroids, largely on the basis of the testimony of his former friend "Jimmy Rich". Dubé, who was facing two counts of murder plus charges relating to the bombing, hanged himself in jail on September 22, 1998. Isnor explained Dubé's suicide as: "Johnny K-9 was the only friend he had left in the world, and he knew that we had him, and he was going away forever."


title: Ion Croitoru

text: The police maintained that Croitoru worked as an enforcer and a debt collector for the Gravelle family of Hamilton after he was expelled from Satan's Choice. Croitoru maintained that he rarely had to strike anyone as a debt collector because he was sufficiently intimidating to make people pay up. A couple named Smith who stated that they worked as drug smugglers for Denis and Paul Gravelle describe Croitoru as a regular visitor to Paul's house. According to Bill Smith, when one of the "runners" for the Gravelle family "mouthed off" to Paul Gravelle, Croitoru beat him bloody in the basement of Paul Gravelle's house. Smith stated he saw pieces of the runner's face "smeared all over the wall" and there was blood everywhere as Croitoru had broken his nose, jaw and orbital bone.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: The Gravelle family were French-Canadians from northern Ontario, and Paul Gravelle in a 2005 interview stated when he moved to Hamilton, the only words in English he knew were: "Stick 'em up!" The Gravelle family were generally considered to be lesser players in the Hamilton crime scene, being only a fourth family behind the three main Mafia families in Hamilton, namely the Luppino, Musitano and Papalia families. Unlike the three Mafia families, the Gravelle family specialized in selling hashish. In 1992, the Gravelle brothers were arrested in connection with a shipment of 450 kilograms of hashish in Florida worth $14 million dollars, for which André Gravelle served four years in prison while Paul Gravelle served two years.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: After both Smiths were arrested at Toronto's Pearson Airport on February 11, 1998 with some $500,000 worth of hash in their bags while returning from Ocho Rios, they hired Lynn Gilbank as their lawyer. Gilbank felt that the Smiths were mere pawns and was outraged that members of the Gravelle family had been arrested many times, but had never done any serious prison time as they always shifted the blame onto their subordinates. Bill Smith stated that Lynn Gilbank had "a real hard-on for these people and she definitely was gonna step on some toes". Danny Gravelle was arrested with 314 kilograms of hashish in the tubing of his boat trailer while Denis Gravelle was arrested returning from Manitoulin island to Hamilton with some $20,000 worth of hashish. After Denis Gravelle was arrested, his lawyer approached Smith to tell him: "You're the one who ratted out Denis". Gilbank arranged for both Bill and Angie Smith to go into the witness protection later that day. At about 5:30 am on November 16, 1998, someone broke into Gilbank's home in Ancaster and executed her and her husband Fred with a shotgun.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru's most famous encounter with the law occurred on January 6, 2005 when he was charged with the November 16, 1998 murders of Lynn and Fred Gilbank. The couple was shot execution-style with a shotgun. Police suspect that the murders were in response to Lynn Gilbank's assistance in getting William and Angie Smith into a witness protection program after William Smith gave the police information about the Gravelle crime family. Croitoru, who had several contacts within the Gravelle family (including a contract to kill police inspector Rick Wills, who was investigating the Gravelles), was a suspect in the investigation and had his phones tapped during the investigation. While awaiting his murder trial, he ran a home renovation business until he was unable to secure a bank loan to cover business expenses. After closing the business he supported himself by working as a used car salesman. The police tried to trick Pat Musitano into naming Croitoru as the killer by starting a rumor that Paul Gravelle was accusing Musitano of being behind the murder of the Gilbanks, a ploy that did not work.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: After an investigation that lasted six years and cost $6 million, police laid charges against Croitoru and Andre Gravelle. Croitoru was charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. After spending seven months in prison, Croitoru was released on $100,000 bail. He was arrested on December 2, 2005 for violating his bail terms, and police filed another extortion charge against him.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Evidence against Croitoru and Gravelle was presented over the course of eight weeks in 2006, but the judge stated that the case against the two accused was not strong. A key witness for the Crown was a British immigrant and a professional lip-reader who had been paid $20,000 dollars to decipher what Croitoru was saying in a videotape of him talking in a restaurant. During the trial, it was revealed that before she came to Canada, she had been convicted of perjury in her native Britain. Furthermore, it was revealed that she had overstated her abilities as a test showed that she was only able to decipher 55% of the words being spoken by people right in front of her. As a result, the judge in the trial excluded her as a witness and ordered the jury to disregard her testimony. Without the transcript provided by the lip reader of what Croitoru was alleged to be saying, the Crown's case was fatally weakened.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant withdrew the charges on June 12, 2006. Following this action by the attorney general, both Croitoru and Andre Gravelle announced plans to file lawsuits against people involved with the prosecution. Gravelle sued for $25 million, and Croitoru sought $15 million for wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution. Hamilton Police Services was ordered to pay Gravelle $10,000 for court costs. In June 2006, Croitoru also pleaded guilty to the charges of extortion and violating the terms of his bail. As a result, he was forced to forfeit $10,000 of the bail money.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: The children of the Gilbanks went on the "W5" television show on March 10, 2007 to claim that there was serious police corruption that compromised the case against Gravelle and Croitoru. On the same show, the Hamilton police chief Brian Mullen was interviewed and denied that his force was corrupt. Bryant appeared on the same show to call the claims of the Gilbank children "false, baseless, scurrilous and potentially libelous and defamatory". Croitoru was asked to appear on the show, but he declined. Instead, Croitoru sent an email to the producers of "W5" reading: "I am suing for what happened to me so I cannot provide an interview for your program. I do want to say that what happened to me was very wrong. I did not have anything to do with the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbank and do not know who did. It is wrong that after six years of investigation-they watched everything I did and wiretapped all my calls-after six years of investigating me, the police did not find any evidence I committed this crime-everything showed that I'm innocent, but they charged me with two murders I did not commit-I sat in jail for months when there was no case, no evidence that I was guilty. What happened to me was not right, it should not happen to anyone". The case ruined the career of Inspector Rick Wills of the Hamilton police, who had once dined with Charles, the Prince of Wales during a royal visit to Canada as the outstanding representative of the Hamilton police. The police allege that André Gravelle had hired Croitoru to kill Wills, but Langton wrote that Wills had met with Gravelle and "...after talking with André, things cooled down". Wills promptly retired in August 2008 under a cloud of suspicion, but was ended up being charged in February 2009 for corruption for his actions during the Gravelle-Croitoru case as an investigation was opened into his handling of the case. Additionally, Wills was charged with stealing some $57,000 from the police evidence room. In 2010, Wills was found guilty of theft and was sentenced in 2011 to two years of house arrest. The eldest of the Gravelle brothers, Paul, had retired to Mexico. Gravelle told the media: "I've just gone out of it altogether now. I've retired. It's no secret, yes, I was a drug importer. Mostly hash oil and marijuana." When asked if he ordered Croitoru to kill the Gilbanks, Gravelle said: "No. That's not true. Our family is not killers...That's beyond us to do a thing like that. That's a despicable act. That's a cowardly act".


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru lived in Vancouver, British Columbia with his common-law wife Tracy Edwards from 2007 onward. He most recently worked as a bodyguard for Lion's Gate Entertainment, providing protection for entertainers such as Jack Nicholson and Cyndi Lauper. He also had a brief acting career appearing in a movie titled "Oklahoma Smugglers", in which he portrayed a wrestler, and in such television shows as "Reaper".


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru told the media that he loved Vancouver, saying: "It's beautiful out here, oh my God; the ocean, the mountains. Hamilton makes me puke now when I think about it; all those years wasted sitting there in that garbage, you know what I mean?" About his new profession as a bodyguard, he stated: "I love it! I dress up nice, eat the best food, just hang around and make sure nobody screws with these people". Croitoru stated that he was writing his autobiography, saying: "This will be a bestseller. I've been on every extreme in the world-the bikers, I was a wrestler, Major Junior A hockey player for the Kitchener Rangers-I've done a lot of things people can only dream about". Afterwards, Croitoru was reported to be looking for a ghostwriter to complete his autobiography.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Although he moved to Vancouver to get away from his underworld associates, he proved unable to resist the allure of the gangster subculture, and soon fell in with the United Nations gang active in the Fraser river valley. Police sources told the author Jerry Langton that Croitoru tried to join the Hells Angels' Vancouver chapter, but they directed him to the United Nations gang.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: In 2008-2009, there was a gang war for the control of the drug trade in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Clayton Roueche, the leader of the United Nations gang, had heard of Croitoru and recruited him. The police had tapped the phones of both Roueche and Croitoru, and often overheard them discussing cocaine deals. During his time on the Lower Mainland, Croitoru continued to use his Johnny K-9 pseudonym as his name.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Jonathan Barber was a young man who vaguely resembled Jonathan Bacon, one of the three Bacon brothers warring against the United Nations gang. On May 9, 2008, Barber—whose job was to install audio systems inside automobiles—was driving a Porsche Cayenne SUV owned by Bacon from Bacon's house in Abbotsford to his shop in Vancouver along the Kingsway highway when his vehicle was ambushed and shot up. The police allege that there was a group of United Nations members consisting of Croitoru, Dan Russell, Dilun Heng, Yong Lee, Barzan Tilli-Choli, and Karwan Saed who were also driving down the Kingsway and opened fire on Barber in the mistaken belief that he was Bacon. Barber's girlfriend, Vicky King, who was driving his car behind the SUV, was also injured, but she survived while he was killed.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: On May 15, 2009, Croitoru was arrested, along with seven other members of the United Nations gang. They were charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly plotting to kill the Bacon Brothers and other members of the Red Scorpions gang. Charged alongside Croitoru on charges of conspiracy to commit murder were United Nations leader Barzan Tilli-Choli (aged 26), Daniel Russell (aged 27), Karwan Saed (aged 32), Soroush Ansari (aged 28) Dilun Heng (aged 25), Young Sung (aged 27), and Aram Ali (aged 23); Croitoru at the age of 45 stood out in the group. On January 24, 2011, Croitoru was charged with first degree murder in connection with the execution of Jonathan Barber and the attempted murder of Barber's girlfriend Vicky King, then 17, in Burnaby on May 9, 2008. In July 2013, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, and the murder charges were stayed. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, which was reduced to four years and eight months after factoring in time served.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: In January 2015, he applied for parole, stating that he had agreed to help with the murders to impress members of the United Nations gang, but that he did not intend to kill anyone. The application was denied. The parole board in its report stated that he was "a man that engaged in a criminal lifestyle for over 20 years" with a "long history of negative associates and organized criminal activity that included violence was extremely concerning." The report concluded: "You appear comfortable using violence." On September 1, 2016, Croitoru was released to live in a halfway house in Toronto and was ordered not to have any contact with gangsters or criminals. Another parole condition was that he was not to enter Hamilton under any circumstances.


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru lived at the Keele Community Correctional Centre in Toronto, which was the only halfway house in Canada that was willing to accept him. In his last years, Croitoru learned that the original spelling of his surname in Romania was Kroitoru, and started to use that spelling. Despite the withdrawal of the murder charges in 2006, the police saw Croitoru as the prime suspect in the murder of the Gilbanks, and continued to investigate him, much to his vexation. One outlaw biker who asked not to be named stated: "He just became a nobody. Lost all of his fame. Lost all of his clout...Nobody wants to end up in the Keele Centre. The type of guys who go there are guys who can't go anywhere else...He had seen his better days."


title: Ion Croitoru

text: Croitoru died on February 21, 2017 at a federal halfway house in Toronto at the age of 53. Besides his widow, he left behind three children. His widow, Tracy, maintained that he was not a killer, saying the murder accusations had "ruined our life".


title: Ion Croitoru

text: One of his underworld associates who asked not to be named told Humphreys in 2017: "Wow that's really too bad. I didn't like the guy, but damn. He definitely was notorious. Johnny was not the most pleasant person but he fought for his beliefs. Had a passion for riding and the biker lifestyle. He was a bulldozer." Just days after his death, Jim Cornette and Brian Last discussed Croitoru on "The Jim Cornette Experience" podcast. Last stated: "Despite blowing up the police station and allegedly murdering people, he was very nice to me!" Cornette stated: "He was two different people. There was no happier guy in the locker room. A smile on his face every time you saw him and totally dedicated to the wrestling business." Last's comments were said ironically about people eulogizing him fondly and Cornette's comments were based on his friendship with Croitoru while also noting that he had difficulty reconciling Croitoru's double life.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: The Ouse Valley Viaduct (or the Balcombe Viaduct) carries the London-Brighton Railway Line over the River Ouse in Sussex. It is located to the north of Haywards Heath and the south of Balcombe. Known for its ornate design, the structure has been described as "probably the most elegant viaduct in Britain."


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: Construction of the Ouse Valley Viaduct commenced by the London & Brighton Railway company in 1839. It was designed by the principal engineer for the line, John Urpeth Rastrick, in association with the architect of the London to Brighton railway, David Mocatta. The viaduct is high and is carried on 37 semi-circular arches, each of , surmounted by balustrades, spanning a total length of . Each pier contains a jack arch with a semi-circular soffit, which had the benefit of reducing the number of bricks required. The roughly 11 million bricks required for its construction were mostly shipped up the River Ouse (via Newhaven and Lewes) from the Netherlands. On 12 July 1841, the viaduct was officially opened to train services, although the structure was not fully completed until the following year.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: Despite the structure's fine design, materials, and architectural features, the viaduct has had an expensive and problematic history. The first major restoration work occurred during the 1890s, during which sections of the original brickwork were entirely replaced in the belief that this would increase the structure's strength. However, the viaduct suffered considerable decay during the majority of the twentieth century. By May 1983, the viaduct had been recognised as a Grade II* listed structure. Between March 1996 and September 1999, the viaduct was subject to an extensive restoration by national rail infrastructure owner Railtrack; this work was part-funded by the Railway Heritage Trust, English Heritage and West Sussex County Council.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: In July 1837, an Act of Parliament was passed which gave the London & Brighton Railway company assent to construct its proposed railway line between London and the south coast. The route selected, which was surveyed by a team headed by Sir John Rennie, was fairly direct but had the downside of crossing over some relatively hilly terrain. As a consequence of a decision to limit gradients along the line to 1 in 264, the construction of a total of four tunnels and a single viaduct, the latter crossing the Ouse Valley between Balcombe and Haywards Heath in West Sussex, was necessary.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: Construction of the new line commenced in July 1838; work to build the ornate viaduct began during the following year. It was designed by the principal engineer for the line, John Urpeth Rastrick, in association with the architect of the London to Brighton railway, David Mocatta. The contractor appointed for its construction was Benjamin Baylis. The total cost of the viaduct's construction reportedly came to £38,500 (equivalent to about £3.3 million in 2022).


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: The viaduct was designed as a relatively elegant structure, being around in length and carrying a straight line over 37 identical arches. Each of these semi-circular arches had a span of and was supported upon tapered red-brick piers. Each pier was almost divided into two separate halves by vertical voids, capped by semi-circular rings at the top and base, as a weight-saving measure. This approach is credited with giving the structure a relatively slender appearance. The foundation of each pier is provided with two courses of inclined footings, which have a total depth of just over .


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: The viaduct is predominantly composed of traditional red bricks and smooth limestone. The contrast between the two materials effectively highlights the deck and upper elements of the structure, although the limestone has been subjected to considerable weathering and staining since its original installation. The brickwork and the limestone elements have been replaced over time to maintain the structure's integrity, extend its operational life, and restore its appearance to better resemble its original state. At its highest point, the Ouse Valley Viaduct is above the river beneath it.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: It has been estimated that around 11 million bricks, many of which had been shipped across the English Channel from the Netherlands to Newhaven and Lewes, in addition to some locally produced bricks, were used for the structure. Furthermore, Caen stone was also brought from Normandy in France; this material was used for the classically balustraded parapets, string courses, pier caps and the four small rectangular Italianate pavilions. Building materials were transported to the construction site on barges up the Ouse River Navigation. At each end of the abutment is an ornamental square open tower, the brickwork of which is faced with stone from Heddon Quarries near Newcastle-upon-Tyne.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: The Brighton Main Line was opened in two sections because completion was delayed by the need to construct some major earthworks. The viaduct was officially opened when the section between Norwood Junction and Haywards Heath was opened on 12 July 1841. Initially, there was only one track across the structure in operation; the second line, along with the viaduct's ornate stone parapets and pavilions, was not completed until the following year.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: By 1846, the viaduct had become part of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. In 1923, as a result of the Railways Act 1921, it became part of the Southern Railway network. It remained under Southern's ownership until January 1948, when the nationalisation of the Big Four railway companies formed the publicly owned railway operator British Railways.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: The first major restoration work occurred during the 1890s, and was focused on repairs to the brickwork. Engineers of the late Victorian era were concerned that the original lime mortar used in the viaduct's construction was inadequate and the decision was made to replace it with cement mortar. However, the replacement facing brickwork and substandard mortar eventually caused its own failures prompting more expensive repairs later on. This was likely due to the repair work having borne a greater share of the structure's load than intended, resulting in an accelerated failure rate. Poorly bonded header bricks are another probable culprit for its ineffectiveness. Additionally, the parapets and pavilions, although made from Caen stone (a high-quality limestone), have been subjected to heavy weathering.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: By 1956, the damage to the viaduct was extensive but the cost of refurbishment work was deemed too high by British Rail. The degradation was partially a consequence of the structure's long lifespan: when originally constructed in the 1840s, its intended design life was only 120 years. By May 1983, the viaduct had been officially recognised as a Grade II* listed structure.


title: Ouse Valley Viaduct

text: By the 1980s, the eight pavilions present on the viaduct were in such a poor condition that some of their roofs had fallen in and the installation of internal props was required to halt their further collapse. As a consequence of its heritage status, all envisioned alterations to the viaduct need to be reviewed and agreed upon by English Heritage. When British Rail proposed to dismantle the original pavilions and rebuild them using reconstituted stonework, English Heritage refused permissions; accordingly, there was no substantial restoration performed to the viaduct during this period, a decision which British Rail publicly attributed to the sizeable estimated cost of such works. The fabric of the structure continued to deteriorate over the next decade, with sections of stonework falling away from the balustrades and parapets.