title: Mormon pioneers

text: Some camp members were assigned specific tasks. William Clayton was appointed company scribe and was expected to record an accurate description of their journey and the distance they traveled each day. Clayton collaborated with Orson Pratt, a mathematician, and Appleton Harmon, a carpenter, to create a wagon-wheel odometer, or roadometer. It showed that the company averaged between fourteen and twenty miles per day. Apostle Orson Pratt was named the company's scientific observer. He made regular readings on scientific instruments, took notes on geological formations and mineral resources, and described plants and animals. Journals kept by both Clayton and Pratt have become valuable resources for historians of the Mormon trek west. Clayton made his notes and measurements available to other emigrants in his "The Latter-Day Saints' Emigrants' Guide".


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Women of the company also performed vital tasks along the way. While much time was spent on traditional activities such as cooking, sewing, and tending children, several women served as scribes and diary keepers. Harriet Page Young, wife of Lorenzo Young, was the first woman selected for the company. She was in ill health and Lorenzo Young feared to leave her and their young children behind. The other original women of the company, Ellen Sanders Kimball, wife of Heber C. Kimball, and Clarissa Decker Young, wife of Brigham Young, were asked to accompany the group to look after Harriet Young and keep her company. The three women were joined by a larger group of women church members from Mississippi who merged with the main party at Laramie, Wyoming.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The first segment of the journey, from Winter Quarters to Fort Laramie, took six weeks, with the company arriving at the fort on June 1. The company halted for repairs and to reshoe the draft animals. While at Fort Laramie, the vanguard company was joined by members of the Mormon Battalion who had been excused from service due to illness and sent to winter in Pueblo, Colorado. Also traveling in the new group were church members from Mississippi who had taken a more southern route toward the Great Basin. At this point, the now larger company took the established Oregon Trail toward the trading post at Ft. Bridger. At a difficult crossing of the Platte, just before encountering the Sweetwater River, the company made use of their portable boat and were able to cross with comparative ease. Seizing the opportunity to both help future travelers and increase the cash available to the migration, nine men under the direction of Thomas Grover were left behind to construct and operate a ferry at that location. Missourians and other travellers at the river paid the Saints $1.50 or more per wagon to help them cross.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: During the last week of June, Sam Brannan, leader of the "voyage of the Brooklyn Saints", met the company near Green River, Wyoming. He reported to Young about his group's successful journey and their settlement in what is today San Francisco, California. He urged the vanguard company to continue on to California but was unable to shift the leader's focus away from the Great Basin. Young also met mountain man Jim Bridger on June 28. They discussed possible routes into the Salt Lake Valley, and the feasibility of viable settlements in the mountain valleys of the Great Basin. Bridger was enthusiastic about settlement near Utah Lake, reporting fish, wild fruit, timber and good grazing. He told Young that local Indians raised good crops, including corn and pumpkins, but that there was ever-present danger of frost. The company pushed on through South Pass, rafted across the Green River and arrived at Fort Bridger on July 7. About the same time, they were joined by thirteen more members of the sick detachment of the Mormon Battalion.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The vanguard company now faced a more rugged and hazardous journey, and were concerned about negotiating the passes of the Rocky Mountains. They had received conflicting advice, but Young chose to follow the trail used by the Donner–Reed party on their journey to California the previous year. Shortly after leaving Fort Bridger, the group met trapper Miles Goodyear, who owned a trading post at the mouth of the Weber River. He was enthusiastic about the agricultural potential of the large Weber Valley. During the trip through the rugged mountains, the vanguard company divided into three sections. After crossing the Green River, several members of the party suffered from "mountain fever" (probably Colorado tick fever, which is carried by the Rocky Mountain wood tick). Young himself became ill soon after meeting Goodyear. The small sick detachment lagged behind the larger group, and a scouting division was created to move ahead on the designated route.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: In July 1847, the first company reached the Salt Lake Valley, with scouts Erastus Snow and Orson Pratt entering the valley on July 21. Pratt wrote: "...we could not refrain from a shout of joy, which almost involuntarily escaped from our lips the moment this grand and lovely scenery was within our view." The two scouts undertook a twelve-mile (19 km) exploratory circuit into the valley before returning to the larger party. The next day, larger segments of the valley were explored, streams and hot springs investigated and the first camp established in the Salt Lake Valley. On July 23, Pratt offered a prayer dedicating the land to the Lord. Ground was broken, irrigation ditches were dug, and the first fields of potatoes and turnips were planted.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: On July 24, Young first saw the valley from a "sick" wagon driven by his friend, Wilford Woodruff. According to Woodruff, Young expressed his satisfaction in the appearance of the valley and declared "This is the right place, drive on." Today a monument stands in the spot where he made this declaration. Young later reported that he had seen the valley, including Ensign Peak, in a vision and recognized the spot.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: On July 28, Young established a location for the future Salt Lake Temple and presented a city plan to the larger group for their approval. In August 1847, Young and other selected members of the vanguard company returned to Winter Quarters. By December 1847, more than two thousand Mormons had completed the journey to the Salt Lake Valley. Several hundred, including Young, returned east to gather and organize the companies scheduled for following years. Demographic estimates place 1,611 pioneers in the valley of the Great Salt Lake during the winter of 1847. The adult labor force, however, was quite small as a high percentage of the group, 53.2 percent were under the age of nineteen. Twenty five percent of the total were children under the age of eight.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Each year during the Mormon migration, people continued to be organized into "companies", each company bearing the name of its leader. The company was further divided into groups of 10 and 50 with authority and responsibility delegated downward.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The pioneers traveled to the Salt Lake Valley in the Great Basin using mainly large farm wagons, handcarts, and, in some cases, personally carrying their belongings. Their trail along the north bank of the Platte River and North Platte River and over the continental divide climbing up to South Pass and Pacific Springs from Fort John along the valley of the Sweetwater River, then down to Fort Bridger and from there down to the Great Salt Lake became known as the Mormon Trail.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Financial resources of the church members varied, with many families suffering from the loss of land and personal possessions in Missouri, and Illinois. This impacted the resources and supplies each family could draw upon as they covered the more than to the Great Basin. Church funds were also limited at this time, but church leaders provided what funding and other material assistance they could to families and companies which were undersupplied.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Covered wagons pulled by oxen were common, particularly in the early American companies. In October 1845, as church members were preparing to leave Nauvoo, the "Nauvoo Neighbor" printed an extensive list of suggested provisions for each family wagon. The provisions included two to three yoke of oxen, two milk cows, other livestock, arms and ammunition, 15  lb of iron, pulleys and ropes, fishing gear, farming and mechanical equipment, cooking equipment and at least 1000 pounds of flour plus assorted other foodstuffs. Some pioneers overestimated the number of goods they could haul on the long journey. As the oxen weakened under the strain, wagons were lightened by discarding prized possessions, including book collections, family china, and furniture. In 1847, just east of the Rocky Mountains, the Kimball family dug a large hole, wrapped their piano in buffalo skins and carefully buried it. An ox team retrieved the instrument the following spring and transported it to the Salt Lake Valley.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Several later companies were largely made up of people with fewer resources, who pulled or pushed handcarts (similar to wheelbarrows) holding all of their provisions and personal belongings. Many of these pioneers walked much of the way as family members rode in the carts.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Due to the weather in the American heartland, the best time to travel was April–September. Some companies, however, started late in the season which resulted in hardship and sometimes disaster. The most famous of these are the Willie and the Martin handcart companies. Leaving Iowa in July 1856, they did not reach Utah until November, suffering many deaths due to winter weather and the lack of adequate supplies.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: In November 1845, Samuel Brannan, newspaperman and small-scale publisher of the Mormon paper "The Prophet" (later the "New York Messenger"), was directed by church elders to charter a ship that would carry its passengers away from the eastern United States to California, which was then part of Mexico. Over the course of two months, Brannan managed to recruit 70 men, 68 women, and 100 children—238 persons total. Brannan negotiated a fare of $75 for adults and half-fare for children with the Captain Abel W. Richardson, master and a principal owner of the ship "Brooklyn".


title: Mormon pioneers

text: On February 4, 1846 (the same day the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo began), the ship "Brooklyn" cleared New York harbor and began its nearly 6-month voyage to the Pacific coast of the then-Mexican Territory of California. The ship weighed and measured 125 ft x x 4.3 m) and was built in 1834 by Joseph H. Russell at Newcastle, Maine.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The voyage is the longest passage made by a Mormon emigrant company. The ship "Brooklyn" sailed from Brooklyn Harbor, New York, and traveled south across the Atlantic equator, around Cape Horn, stopping at the Juan Fernández Islands, then to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), finally docking in Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) on July 29, 1846, having made the sea voyage in five months and twenty-seven days.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The passengers of the ship "Brooklyn" left the United States with the hope of finding religious freedom. However, they arrived in Mexican Alta California just weeks after its occupation by the United States Navy at the outset of the Mexican–American War. Despite the tensions that drove them from their homes in the Eastern States, the crew and passengers "felt more cheerful and secure." Mormon historian B. H. Roberts noted in his work "A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints":


title: Mormon pioneers

text: This dangerous trek of nearly would claim 10 lives of the ship's 238 passengers, nine of whom were buried at sea.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Brooklyn Place, in Chinatown, San Francisco, is named for the ship, as was the erstwhile Brooklyn, California.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: After the initial departure of the Latter-day Saints living in Illinois and Missouri, converts to the church from other areas in the United States and from Europe followed the initial trail to join the main body of the church in Salt Lake City. Every year from 1847 until 1869, church members making this journey were formed into organized companies. Migration continued until about 1890, but those who came by railroad are not generally considered to be "Mormon pioneers."


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Mormon pioneers emigrated from many countries. Denmark was one of those countries, with a large number of Mormon emigrants coming to Utah between 1850 and 1910. The migration of Danes was initiated when missionaries from the LDS Church, including Erastus Snow, Peter O. Hansen and two others, were sent to Denmark in 1850. Hansen made the first translation of the Book of Mormon from English, by translating it into Danish. Religious freedom was written into the constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1849. Along with the Danish translation of the Book of Mormon, this opened the area to great success in attaining converts. At that time the LDS Church was urging new members to gather to Utah, which led these early converts to make emigration plans.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Box Elder, Cache, Salt Lake, Utah, and Sevier counties had large numbers of Danes listed in 19th Century Utah census totals but Sanpete County was the area where the largest number settled.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The Mormons settled in the Salt Lake Valley, which at that time was used as a buffer zone between the Shoshones and the Utes, who were at war. Upon arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, the Mormons developed and cultivated the arid terrain to make it more suitable. They created irrigation systems, laid out farms, built houses, churches and schools. Access to water was crucial. Almost immediately, Young sent out scouting parties to identify and settle additional community sites. While it was difficult to find large areas in the Great Basin where water sources were dependable and growing seasons long enough to raise vitally important subsistence crops, satellite communities began to be formed in all directions. Church members eventually headed south into present-day Arizona and Mexico, west into California, north into Idaho and Canada, and east into Wyoming, settling many communities in those areas.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Shortly after the first company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the community of Bountiful was established to the north. In 1848, pioneers moved into lands purchased from trapper Miles Goodyear in present-day Ogden. In 1849, Tooele and Fort Utah in modern-day Provo were founded. The settlement of Provo was particularly troubling to the Utes, since it was at the heart of their territory. Ute chief Wakara suggested the pioneers instead move into the Sanpete Valley in central Utah, where they established the community of Manti. Tensions in Fort Utah mounted after Mormons murdered Old Bishop, and Young ordered an attack on Utes, called the Battle at Fort Utah. This was shortly followed by the Walker War.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: Fillmore, Utah, intended to be the capital of the new territory, was established in 1851. In 1855, efforts to subdue and evangelize to local Native people led to outposts in Fort Lemhi on Idaho's Salmon River, Las Vegas, Nevada and Elk Mountain in east-central of present-day Utah.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The experiences of returning members of the Mormon Battalion were also important in establishing new communities. On their journey west, the Mormon soldiers had identified dependable rivers and fertile river valleys in Colorado, Arizona and southern California. In addition, as the discharged men traveled to rejoin their families in the Salt Lake Valley, they moved through southern Nevada and southern Utah. Jefferson Hunt, senior Mormon officer of the Battalion, actively searched for settlement sites, minerals and other resources. His report encouraged 1851 settlement efforts in Iron Country, near present-day Cedar City. These southern explorations eventually led to Mormon settlements in St. George, Utah, Las Vegas and San Bernardino, California, as well as communities in southern Arizona. By 1885, Mormon communities were being established in northern Mexico.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The Mormon pioneers are celebrated annually on July 24 in the State of Utah, known as Pioneer Day. Salt Lake City also has the Mormon Pioneer Memorial Monument, where Young, Eliza R. Snow, and other Mormon pioneers are buried and where a memorial exists dedicated to all who crossed the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. Additionally, the "Pioneer" (characterized as "Pioneer Pete") is Lehi High School's mascot. In some places, Mormons hold an event called "Pioneer Trek" for people who are ages fourteen to eighteen. In participating in the trek, the youth dress as pioneers and pack a few things to carry in handcarts. They go on a hike for a couple of days so they can experience what the pioneers had. During this multi-day event, camp organizers sometimes require youth to avoid the use of technology or anything that the pioneers did not have on their journeys, to enhance the experience.


title: Mormon pioneers

text: The Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel gathers information from journals, church history records, and other materials to locate the company in which an ancestor traveled across the plains to get to Utah. This covers known and unknown wagon trains from 1847 to 1868. It contains lists of passengers in companies as well as genealogical information about ancestors. It is the most comprehensive list of Mormon immigrants and the wagon trains that brought them to Utah.


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: Bad Reputation is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Joan Jett. It was originally released independently on May 17, 1980 as a self-titled album after her previous band The Runaways disbanded. After Jett signed with Boardwalk Records, the album was re-released worldwide with the new title on January 23, 1981. The album was positively received by critics and reached number 51 on the "Billboard" 200.


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: Record producer Kenny Laguna financed the album's recording sessions using borrowed studio credits. Recorded before Joan Jett formed The Blackhearts, the majority of the album featured Jett backed by members of the Roll-Ups, with Lea Hart on guitar, Jeff Peters on bass and Paul Simmons on drums. Other tracks include well known musicians, such as the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook, and Blondie's Clem Burke and Frank Infante.


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: After independently recording the album with Laguna, Jett took the record to a number of major record labels, none of which were interested in releasing the project. Rather than continue to hunt for a willing label, Laguna and Jett decided to fund the pressing of the album themselves. The original, self-released, version of the album was simply titled "Joan Jett" and was sold directly to concert-goers and record stores out of Laguna's trunk.


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: The album sold relatively well, prompting its re-release a year later as "Bad Reputation" on Boardwalk Records, with rearranged but otherwise identical track listing. Jett said that the new title referred to the bad reputation that she had as a former member of The Runaways.


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: When the album's European rights were secured through Ariola Records, "Hanky Panky" replaced "Wooly Bully" as the final song on Side 2. When the album was issued through Boardwalk Records in the U.S. under the title "Bad Reputation", the label stuck with "Wooly Bully" as the final track, making the "Hanky Panky" import version a collector's item. However, the song was later included as a bonus track on CD re-releases.


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: The original Australian release featured a completely different cover, and "Hanky Panky" replaced "Shout" as track 9. "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" was also a huge hit in Australia when it was released hot on the heels of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "Crimson and Clover" from Jett's 1981 album, "I Love Rock 'n Roll".


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: In 1999, the album was again re-issued, this time on CD with several bonus tracks and a remastered version of the original album. All subsequent reissues feature the tracks in their original pre-Boardwalk release order.


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: Reviewing "Bad Reputation" in 1981, Robert Christgau of "The Village Voice" said, "Producers Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell make the old glitter formula of readymade riffs 'n' blare sound suitable for albums, and they get plenty of help from reformed Runaway Jett, who has writing credit on four of these twelve tunes and comes on tuffer than any gurl in history." Tom Carson of "Rolling Stone" found that "Bad Reputation" "is flawed by its literal-mindedness – the arrangements pump along gamely yet rarely swing or soar – and by some unresourceful material", but concluded that "in its mood and feel", the album "is a determined retelling of what sometimes seems like the truest rock story there is."


title: Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

text: In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Steve Huey described "Bad Reputation" as "an infectious romp through her influences, ranging from classic '50s and '60s rock & roll through glam rock, three-chord loud'n'fast Ramones punk, and poppier new wave guitar rock." "Rolling Stone" placed "Bad Reputation" at No. 36 on its list of the "50 Coolest Albums of All Time" in 2002.


title: Michael Chambers

text: Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers (born November 13, 1967) is an American dancer and actor, known for his role as "Turbo" in the 1984 film "Breakin'" and its sequel "", in which he is credited as "Boogaloo Shrimp". Chambers rose to fame during the Hollywood phase of popping, boogaloo and robot dancing, as well as the freestyle art of b-boying. Chambers, along with his "Breakin<nowiki>'</nowiki>" series co-star Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quiñones and other dancers from the films, were prominently featured in the music videos for Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" (1983) and Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You" (1984).


title: Michael Chambers

text: Born in Wilmington, California, Chambers is the youngest of four. He grew up in a small town, but a community with a diverse mix of ethnic groups and cultures. In 1978, while at junior high, Chambers would see a member of the Samoan American dance group Blue City Strutters perform. The group would heavily influence Chambers' style, performing King Tut and domino routines and bringing dance styles from San Jose and San Francisco to South Bay Los Angeles. Initially, he formulated his style of dance through his interest in fantasy and sci-fi television shows, including the work of Ray Harryhausen and other stop-motion experts. He credits his older brother with introducing him to the "moonwalk", a move he would later perfect and share with pop superstar Michael Jackson, as well as his signature style of animated popping.


title: Michael Chambers

text: While still a teenager, Chambers' older brother would take him to the Redondo Beach, California pier where he would perform his moves for money, earning hundreds of dollars through his street performances. To solve the problem of anonymity, Chambers' sister gave him a jacket that read "Mike a.k.a. Boogaloo Shrimp", his street dancing name. Chambers' dancing would increasingly draw the attention of promoters, and particularly Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quiñones, who was seeking to form a new dance troupe after the breakup of his previous group, The Lockers.


title: Michael Chambers

text: Chambers would also meet other popping/dance legends during this time, including Bruno "Pop N Taco" Falcon and Timothy "Popin' Pete" Solomon. Falcon and Chambers would share ideas and styles, building upon their own individual foundations. Both would later be featured in videos and movies, including the "Breakin<nowiki>'</nowiki>" series.


title: Michael Chambers

text: Chambers' early stints in professional dancing were through television commercials, followed by an appearance in the music video for Lionel Richie's "All Night Long". He made further appearances in the videos for Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You", Richard Marx' "Children of the Night", Stacey Q's "Give You All My Love" and Paula Abdul's "Opposites Attract", where he played the character MC Skat Kat and was assistant choreographer. In 1985, he co-starred in "Stop the Madness", an anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration, featuring several famous musicians, actors and athletes. He also appeared in such films as "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" (1991)—as a dancing robot—"" (1994) and "Dudley Do-Right" (1999). He also appeared as Urkel-Bot in two episodes of the television show "Family Matters": "Robo-Nerd" and "Robo-Nerd II".


title: Michael Chambers

text: Chambers was the announcer on the children' show "Fun House" from 1990 to 1991. In contrast to his style of dancing, he would dance while "rapping" the opening spiel at the start of the show. He also appeared in Sugar Ray's 1997 video for the song "Fly" and break danced in the video.


title: Michael Chambers

text: Chambers enjoys teaching and has been invited as a speaker several times to USC's Thorton Music School. He has also spoken at Santa Monica college, the University of Redlands and gave a surprise visit to Spelman College in Georgia.


title: Michael Chambers

text: As of 2014, Chambers was in talks to do a second sequel to the "Breakin" franchise. As of 2020, Chambers has been working with independent Chill-Hop artist E-Styles and is set to release a website, as well as music and YouTube pages, featuring vintage and original footage from his career.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: A video game with nonlinear gameplay presents players with challenges that can be completed in a number of different sequences. Each player may take on (or even encounter) only some of the challenges possible, and the same challenges may be played in a different order. Conversely, a video game with linear gameplay will confront a player with a fixed sequence of challenges: every player faces every challenge and has to overcome them in the same order.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: A nonlinear game will allow greater player freedom than a linear game. For example, a nonlinear game may permit multiple sequences to finish the game, a choice between paths to victory, different types of victory, or optional side-quests and subplots. Some games feature both linear and nonlinear elements, and some games offer a sandbox mode that allows players to explore an open world game environment independently from the game's main objectives, if any objectives are provided at all.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: A game that is significantly nonlinear is sometimes described as being open-ended or a sandbox, and is characterized by allowing players to measure progress through self-determined goals, independent of scripted game elements.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: A game level or world can be linear, nonlinear or interactive. In a linear game, there is only one path that the player must take through the level, however, in games with nonlinear gameplay, players might have to revisit locations or choose from multiple paths to finish the level.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: As with other game elements, linear level design is not absolute. While a nonlinear level can give the freedom to explore or backtrack, there can be a sequence of challenges that a player must solve to complete the level. If a player must confront the challenges in a fixed order nonlinear games will often give multiple approaches to achieve said objectives.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: A more linear game requires a player to finish levels in a fixed sequence to win. The ability to skip, repeat, or choose between levels makes this type of game less linear. "Super Mario Bros." is an early example of this, where the player had access to warp zones that skipped many levels of the game.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: In some games, levels can change between linear design and free roaming depending on the objective of the stage. "Super Mario 64" is an example where the main stages are free roam, while the levels where Bowser is encountered follow a straight path to the end.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: When a level is sufficiently large and open-ended, it may be described as an open world, or "sandbox game", though this term is often used incorrectly. Open-world game designs have existed in some form since the 1980s, such as the space trading game "Elite", and often make use of procedurally generated environments.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: In a game with a sandbox mode, a player may turn off or ignore game objectives, or have unlimited access to items. This can open up possibilities that were not intended by the game designer. A sandbox mode is an option in otherwise goal-oriented games and is distinguished from open-ended games that have no objectives, such as "SimCity", and "Garry's Mod".


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: Games that employ linear stories are those where the player cannot change the story line or ending of the story. Many video games use a linear structure, thus making them more similar to other fiction. However, it is common for such games to use interactive narration in which a player needs to interact with something before the plot will advance, or nonlinear narratives in which events are portrayed in a non-chronological order. Many games have offered premature endings should the player fail to meet an objective, but these are usually just interruptions in a player's progress rather than actual endings. Even in games with a linear story, players interact with the game world by performing a variety of actions along the way.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: More recently, some games have begun offering multiple endings to increase the dramatic effect of moral choices within the game, although early examples also exist. Still, some games have gone beyond small choices or special endings, offering a branching storyline (also known as an interactive narrative outside of a video game context), that players may control at critical points in the game. Sometimes the player is given a choice of which branch of the plot to follow, while sometimes the path will be based on the player's success or failure at a specific challenge. For example, Black Isle Studios' "Fallout" series of role-playing video games features numerous quests where player actions dictate the outcome of the story behind the objectives. Players can eliminate in-game characters permanently from the virtual world should they choose to do so, and by doing so may actually alter the number and type of quests that become available to them as the game progresses. The effects of such decisions may not be immediate. Branches of the story may merge or split at different points in the game, but seldom allow backtracking. Some games even allow for different starting points, and one way this is done is through a character selection screen.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: Despite experimenting with several nonlinear storytelling mechanisms in the 1990s, the game industry has largely returned to the practice of linear storytelling. Linear stories cost less time and money to develop, since there is only one fixed sequence of events and no major decisions to keep track of. For example, several games from the "Wing Commander" series offered a branching storyline, but eventually they were abandoned as too expensive. Nonlinear stories increase the chances for bugs or absurdities if they are not tested properly, although they do provide greater player freedom. Some players have also responded negatively to branching stories because it is hard and tedious for them to experience the "full value" of all the game's content. As a compromise between linear and branching stories, there are also games where stories split into branches and then fold back into a single storyline. In these stories, the plot will branch, but then converge upon some inevitable event, giving the impression of a Nonlinear gameplay through the use of nonlinear narrative, without the use of interactive narratives. This is typically used in many graphic adventure games.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: A truly nonlinear story would be written entirely by the actions of the player, and thus remains a difficult design challenge. As such, there is often little or no story in video games with a truly nonlinear gameplay. "Facade", a video game often categorized as an interactive drama, features many branching paths that are dictated by the user's text input based on the current situation, but there is still a set number of outcomes as a result of the inherent limitations of programming, and as such, is non-linear, but not entirely so.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: Branching storylines are a common trend in visual novels, a subgenre of interactive narrative and adventure games. Visual novels frequently use multiple branching storylines to achieve multiple different endings, allowing non-linear freedom of choice along the way. Decision points within a visual novel often present players with the option of altering the course of events during the game, leading to many different possible outcomes. Visual novels are popular in East Asia, especially in Japan where they account for nearly 70% of personal computer games released there. A recent acclaimed example is "", where nearly every action and dialogue choice can lead to entirely new branching paths and endings. Each path only reveals certain aspects of the overall storyline and it is only after uncovering all the possible different paths and outcomes through multiple playthroughs that everything comes together to form a coherent well-written story.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: It is not uncommon for visual novels to have morality systems. A well-known example is the 2005 title "School Days", an animated visual novel that Kotaku describes as going well beyond the usual "black and white choice systems" (referring to video games such as "Mass Effect", "Fallout 3" and "BioShock") where you "pick a side and stick with it" while leaving "the expansive middle area between unexplored." "School Days" instead encourages players to explore the grey, neutral middle-ground in order to view the more interesting, "bad" endings.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: It is also not uncommon for visual novels to have multiple protagonists giving different perspectives on the story. C's Ware's "EVE Burst Error" (1995) introduced a unique twist to the system by allowing the player to switch between both protagonists at any time during the game, instead of finishing one protagonist's scenario before playing the other. "EVE Burst Error" often requires the player to have both protagonists co-operate with each other at various points during the game, with choices in one scenario affecting the other. "Fate/stay night" is another example that features multiple perspectives. Chunsoft sound novels such as "Machi" (1998) and "" (2008) develop this concept further, by allowing the player to alternate between the perspectives of several or more different characters, making choices with one character that have consequences for other characters. "428" in particular features up to 85 different possible endings.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: Another approach to non-linear storytelling can be seen in "Cosmology of Kyoto". The game lacks an overall plot, but it instead presents fragmented narratives and situations in a non-linear manner, as the player character encounters various non-player characters while wandering the city. These narratives are cross-referenced to an encyclopedia, providing background information as the narratives progress and as the player comes across various characters and locations, with various stories, situations and related information appearing at distinct locations. It provides enough freedom to allow for the player to experiment with the game, such as using it as a resource for their own role-playing game campaign, for example.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: Branching storylines are also often used in role-playing video games (RPGs) to an extent. An early example, published in 1999, is the fantasy role-playing game "", where players have to choose between Light and Dark. While the dark side wants to destroy the world of Enroth, the light side tries to save it. The choice determines which grandmaster levels the player characters can obtain and the quests they have to do in that part of the game. Earlier in the game, the player already has to choose sides in a border conflict between Elves and Humans, or remain neutral. This affects the flag in their Castle Harmondale and a few quests, but not the outcome.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: A second example is Obsidian Entertainment's "", where the player's decisions influence whether one of three different factions gain control of the area surrounding post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. These factions include Caesar's Legion, a group of Roman-esque slavers; the New California Republic (NCR), an expansionist military government; and Mr. House, the enigmatic "de facto" ruler of New Vegas, in command of an army of robots that patrols the city. Each of the three sides aim to control Hoover Dam, which is still operational and supplying the American Southwest with power and clean, non-irradiated water; thus, control of the dam means effective control of the region. A fourth option, siding with a robot named Yes Man and prevailing upon or eliminating the other faction leaders, enables the player to go solo and take over the Hoover Dam for themselves.


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: Another RPG example is tri-Ace's "Star Ocean" series, where the storyline is not affected by moral alignments like in other role-playing games but, inspired by dating sims, by friendship and relationship points between each of the characters. "" in particular offers as many as 86 different endings with hundreds of permutations, setting a benchmark for the number of possible outcomes of a video game. Another unique variation of this system is the "Sakura Wars" series, which features a real-time branching choice system where, during an event or conversation, the player must choose an action or dialogue choice within a time limit, or not to respond at all within that time; the player's choice, or lack thereof, affects the player character's relationship with other characters and in turn the direction and outcome of the storyline. Later games in the series added several variations, including an action gauge that can be raised up or down depending on the situation, and a gauge that the player can manipulate using the analog stick depending on the situation. A similar type of conversation system later appeared in a more recent action role-playing game also published by Sega, "Alpha Protocol".


title: Nonlinear gameplay

text: Another unique take on the concept is combining non-linear branching storytelling with the concepts of time travel and parallel universes. Early attempts at such an approach included Squaresoft's "Chrono" role-playing game series (1995–1999) and ELF's visual novel "" (1996). "Radiant Historia" takes it further by giving players the freedom to travel backwards and forwards through a timeline to alter the course of history, with each of their choices and actions significantly affect the timeline. The player can return to certain points in history and live through certain events again to make different choices and see different possible outcomes on the timeline. The player can also travel back and forth between two parallel timelines, and can obtain many possible parallel endings. The PSP version of "" featured a "World" system that allows players to revisit key plot points and make different choices to see how the story unfolds differently. "Final Fantasy XIII-2" also features a similar non-linear time travel system to "Radiant Historia".


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: In chemistry, the term substrate is highly context-dependent. Broadly speaking, it can refer either to a chemical species being observed in a chemical reaction, or to a surface on which other chemical reactions or microscopy are performed.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: In the former sense, a reagent is added to the "substrate" to generate a product through a chemical reaction. The term is used in a similar sense in synthetic and organic chemistry, where the substrate is the chemical of interest that is being modified. In biochemistry, an enzyme substrate is the material upon which an enzyme acts. When referring to Le Chatelier's principle, the substrate is the reagent whose concentration is changed.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: In the latter sense, it may refer to a surface on which other chemical reactions are performed or play a supporting role in a variety of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, as discussed in the first few subsections below.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: In three of the most common nano-scale microscopy techniques, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), a substrate is required for sample mounting. Substrates are often thin and relatively free of chemical features or defects. Typically silver, gold, or silicon wafers are used due to their ease of manufacturing and lack of interference in the microscopy data. Samples are deposited onto the substrate in fine layers where it can act as a solid support of reliable thickness and malleability. Smoothness of the substrate is especially important for these types of microscopy because they are sensitive to very small changes in sample height.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: Various other substrates are used in specific cases to accommodate a wide variety of samples. Thermally-insulating substrates are required for AFM of graphite flakes for instance, and conductive substrates are required for TEM. In some contexts, the word substrate can be used to refer to the sample itself, rather than the solid support on which it is placed.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: Various spectroscopic techniques also require samples to be mounted on substrates such as powder diffraction. This type of diffraction, which involves directing high-powered X-rays at powder samples to deduce crystal structures is often performed with an amorphous substrate such that it does not interfere with the resulting data collection. Silicon substrates are also commonly used because of their cost-effective nature and relatively little data interference in X-ray collection.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: Single-crystal substrates are useful in powder diffraction because they are distinguishable from the sample of interest in diffraction patterns by differentiating by phase.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: In atomic layer deposition, the substrate acts as an initial surface on which reagents can combine to precisely build up chemical structures. A wide variety of substrates are used depending on the reaction of interest, but they frequently bind the reagents with some affinity to allow sticking to the substrate.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: The substrate is exposed to different reagents sequentially and washed in between to remove excess. A substrate is critical in this technique because the first layer needs a place to bind to such that it is not lost when exposed to the second or third set of reagents.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: In biochemistry, the substrate is a molecule upon which an enzyme acts. Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions involving the substrate(s). In the case of a single substrate, the substrate bonds with the enzyme active site, and an enzyme-substrate complex is formed. The substrate is transformed into one or more products, which are then released from the active site. The active site is then free to accept another substrate molecule. In the case of more than one substrate, these may bind in a particular order to the active site, before reacting together to produce products. A substrate is called 'chromogenic' if it gives rise to a coloured product when acted on by an enzyme. In histological enzyme localization studies, the colored product of enzyme action can be viewed under a microscope, in thin sections of biological tissues. Similarly, a substrate is called 'fluorogenic' if it gives rise to a fluorescent product when acted on by an enzyme.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: For example, curd formation (rennet coagulation) is a reaction that occurs upon adding the enzyme rennin to milk. In this reaction, the substrate is a milk protein (e.g., casein) and the enzyme is rennin. The products are two polypeptides that have been formed by the cleavage of the larger peptide substrate. Another example is the chemical decomposition of hydrogen peroxide carried out by the enzyme catalase. As enzymes are catalysts, they are not changed by the reactions they carry out. The substrate(s), however, is/are converted to product(s). Here, hydrogen peroxide is converted to water and oxygen gas.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: While the first (binding) and third (unbinding) steps are, in general, reversible, the middle step may be irreversible (as in the rennin and catalase reactions just mentioned) or reversible (e.g. many reactions in the glycolysis metabolic pathway).


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: By increasing the substrate concentration, the rate of reaction will increase due to the likelihood that the number of enzyme-substrate complexes will increase; this occurs until the enzyme concentration becomes the limiting factor.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: Although enzymes are typically highly specific, some are able to perform catalysis on more than one substrate, a property termed enzyme promiscuity. An enzyme may have many native substrates and broad specificity (e.g. oxidation by cytochrome p450s) or it may have a single native substrate with a set of similar non-native substrates that it can catalyse at some lower rate. The substrates that a given enzyme may react with "in vitro", in a laboratory setting, may not necessarily reflect the physiological, endogenous substrates of the enzyme's reactions "in vivo". That is to say that enzymes do not necessarily perform all the reactions in the body that may be possible in the laboratory. For example, while fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) can hydrolyze the endocannabinoids 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and anandamide at comparable rates "in vitro", genetic or pharmacological disruption of FAAH elevates anandamide but not 2-AG, suggesting that 2-AG is not an endogenous, "in vivo" substrate for FAAH. In another example, the "N"-acyl taurines (NATs) are observed to increase dramatically in FAAH-disrupted animals, but are actually poor "in vitro" FAAH substrates.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: Sensitive substrates also known as sensitive index substrates are drugs that demonstrate an increase in AUC of ≥5-fold with strong index inhibitors of a given metabolic pathway in clinical drug-drug interaction (DDI) studies.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: Moderate sensitive substrates are drugs that demonstrate an increase in AUC of ≥2 to <5-fold with strong index inhibitors of a given metabolic pathway in clinical DDI studies.


title: Substrate (chemistry)

text: Metabolism by the same cytochrome P450 isozyme can result in several clinically significant drug-drug interactions.


title: Scamorza

text: Scamorza () is a Southern Italian cow's milk cheese. It can also be made from other milks, but that is less common. It is a stretched-curd cheese, in which the fresh curd matures in its own whey for several hours to allow acidity to develop through the conversion of lactose to lactic acid. Artisanal cheese makers generally form the cheese into a round shape, and then tie a string around the mass one third of the distance from the top, and hang it to dry. The resulting shape is pear-like. This is sometimes referred to as "strangling" the cheese. The cheese is usually white unless smoked. When smoked, the color is almond with a lighter interior.


title: Scamorza

text: Scamorza can be substituted for mozzarella in most dishes, but the resulting taste will be much stronger and more dominant. It is reputed to melt better in baking. Using the smoked variety () adds a prominent background flavor in replacement of mozzarella.


title: Scamorza

text: The term may come from the Italian phrases or , both meaning "severed head". This would also explain the use of in regional Italian to mean "fool" or "idiot".


title: Scamorza

text: In Italy, scamorza is more commonly made in the south. Strictly speaking, scamorza is a product of Apulia and Calabria. However, it is available across the country, both in the unsmoked and smoked forms. Mario Batali cites grilled scamorza as a traditional dish in Neapolitan cooking. Scamorza in Bari is made from sheep's milk. This is not necessarily true of cheeses called scamorza outside the EU.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Truck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a form of a motorsport competition in which antique or modified tractors pull a heavy drag or sled along an , track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the drag the farthest. Tractor pulling is popular in certain areas of the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe (especially in the United Kingdom, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Denmark and Germany), Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Vietnam, India and New Zealand. The sport is known as the world's most powerful motorsport, due to the multi-engined modified tractor pullers.


title: Tractor pulling

text: All tractors in their respective classes pull a set weight in the drag. When a tractor gets to the end of the 100 meter track, this is known as a "full pull". When more than one tractor completes the course, more weight is added to the drag, and those competitors that moved past will compete in a pull-off; the winner is the one who can pull the drag the farthest. The drag is known as a "weight transfer drag". This means that, as it is pulled down the track, the weight is transferred (linked with gears to the drag’s wheels) from over the rear axles and towards the front of the drag. In front of the rear wheels, instead of front wheels, there is a "pan". This is essentially a metal plate, and as the weight moves toward it, the resistance between the pan and the ground builds. The farther the tractor pulls the drag, the more difficult it gets.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Tractor pulling originated from pre-Industrial Era horse pulling competitions in which farmers would compete with one another to see whose teams of draft horses could pull a heavy load over the longest distance. The first known competitions using motorized tractors were held in 1929 in Missouri and Kentucky. Tractor pulling became popular in rural areas across the Midwestern and Southern United States in the 1950s and 1960s. From there it gradually spread to Canada, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Prior to the invention of the tractor, when farm implements were pulled by horses, farmers would boast about the strength of their teams and seek to compare and contest in teams with one another to see who had the most powerful animals. In some cases, they compared horse teams pulling large loads over distance, such as a fully loaded hay cart or wagon. In other situations, a flat board or skid would have a horse or team of horses then hitched to it; weight would be added, usually in the form of rocks, and the driver would urge his horses to pull the load, with more weight added as competitors were eliminated; the animals pulling the most weight or for the greatest distance were judged the strongest. These events became the formalized sport of horse pulling, which is still carried out today with draft horses, specially bred to have high strength for pulling heavy loads. Today, fixed weights on drags are dragged for a set distance and additional weight is added in successive rounds. While it is said that the term horsepower is derived from this event, the concept was developed earlier, in experiments and measurements performed by James Watt and Mason Worrell.


title: Tractor pulling

text: It wasn't until 1929 that motorized vehicles were put to use in the first events at Bowling Green, Missouri, and Vaughansville, Ohio. Although the sport was recognized then, it did not really become popular until the '50s and '60s. It was also realized, at that time, there were no uniform set of rules. The rules varied from state to state, county to county, and competitors never knew what standards to follow. This made the sport difficult for new entrants.


title: Tractor pulling

text: In 1969, representatives from eight states congregated to create a uniform book of rules to give the sport the much needed structure, and created the National Tractor Pullers Association (NTPA). The NTPA's early years were events that used standard farm vehicles, with the motto "Pull on Sunday, plow on Monday". Pulling remained basically the same through the '70s, with only stock and modified tractors. Stock tractors were commercially available tractors produced by manufacturers, and modified tractors were the basic tractor chassis with another non-tractor engine mounted on it.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Tractors remained single engine until two Ohio brothers, Carl and Paul Bosse, introduced the crossbox which could allow multiple engines to be attached to a single driveshaft. Other innovators during this period included Bruce Hutcherson, with his triple Rodeck engine powered "Makin Bacon Special", Dave and Ralph Banter and their Chevrolet powered tractors, and the "Mission Impossible" tractors of Tim Engler, which at one point had up to seven blown alcohol engines on board.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Subsequently, modified tractors with four engines were common, while stock tractors tried to catch up by adding multiple large turbochargers, along with intercoolers, but both retained the appearance of a tractor. Soon tractors became single-use machines that were not used on the farm, making the "Pull on Sunday, plow on Monday" motto obsolete.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Throughout the '70s and '80s the modified division continued to thrill crowds by adding more engines, and soon the tractors lost their tractor appearance and turned into high 'spec' dragsters. The limit was reached in 1988 when a tractor with seven engines was built. As well as piston engines, turbine engines (frequently mistakenly called "jet engines") appeared in 1974, with Gardner Stone's "General" Tractor a four-turboshaft unit hitting the hook in 1989.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The growing popularity of the sport caused the creation of a new four-wheel drive division in 1976, which captured a large fan base. The engine sizes in these vehicles continued to increase, from up to and probably would have continued, but the NTPA limited it to naturally aspirated and no blown engine in 1989. Today the 4-wheel drive division is one of the most popular with the success of trucks like the Holman Brothers "4-Play" Chevy and Bob Boden's "Studley Studebaker".


title: Tractor pulling

text: The division imposes a weight-limit of on each competing truck, a maximum width of , and a maximum distance of from the centerline of the rear axle to the front of the vehicle (including weight racks and tow hook). (The length restriction allows for up to of cosmetic fiberglass, however.)


title: Tractor pulling

text: Alcohol methane engines with up to eight cylinders are permitted, but diesel engines are not. Any wheelbase is permitted.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The National Tractor Pullers Association restricts engines to and two valves per cylinder. They permit tubular steel frames. The maximum tire size for the 2WD class is , with a maximum circumference of when mounted on an rim and inflated to . The ground patch is not to exceed on original tread.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Super Stock tractor Open class uses primarily methanol fuel (some are diesel versions). The Super Stock Open machines can generate over an of torque, with billet or re-cast engine blocks. Super Stock Open and Super Stock Diesel tractors may use up to four turbochargers in three stages. The Diesel super stock tractors generate close to and of torque and are allowed to compete in the Open class, which very rarely occurs anymore. However, a true Open (methanol fuel) tractor is not allowed to compete in the Diesel class.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Diesel Pro Stock Tractors are limited to one turbocharger and diesel fuel is the only allowable source for power, in keeping with the 'spirit' of the original tractors. The maximum engine displacement is . These engines can achieve around and of torque In recent years, new classes have been created to appeal to different groups of pullers. There is now a class called Limited Pro Stock that is limited to engine and turbocharger. This class typically pulls at and is slightly restricted, as opposed to the Pro Stock class, which can run up to engine and an unrestricted size turbocharger, along with intercoolers.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The latest addition to Pro Stocks is the Light Pro Stock Class that typically pulls depending on location. These tractors are limited to engines but can run any size turbo. They are not allowed to run intercoolers, however these tractors are making an average of . The light overall weight makes this a driver's class as significant skill is required to keep the tractor on the track.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The mini-modified class is a highly specialized and custom built tractor to be fitted with a naturally aspirated engine, at minimum. NTPA Minis are limited to (always an aftermarket V-8 engine block) and uses up to a 14-71 hi helix supercharger. With the driver, they weigh only . Today's engine is capable of a minimum of on methanol or ethanol. Their reputation is known as the wildest ride in pulling, as naturally it is a very high horsepower to weight ratio. Whereas, their larger counterparts, the Modifieds, will weigh , utilizing the same engine that a Mini has, but, with multiple powerplants per custom built tractor chassis. Usually, a maximum of five engines is all that will make the weight limit. Nitromethane and oxidizers were outlawed in 1976.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Antique tractor pulling is how tractor pulling first got started (although the tractors were just modern tractors at that time). As early as 1929, farmers began attaching their tractors to drags, and dragging it down a field to see who could pull it the furthest. People who were event organizers at Bowling Green, Missouri and Vaughansville, Ohio found out farmers were doing this and that it drew spectators. By 1950, county fairs across the country started featuring tractor pulls. Spectators found it fascinating to see machines that would “Pull on Sunday, plow on Monday”. At first competitors would use a ‘Human Drag’, meaning a drag that was weighted by humans, different people would be added as the tractor made it down the track. However, organizers began to look at different ways to add weight to the drag, as spectators walking on the drag while moving proved to be a hazard. In the late 60s, a weight-exchanging drag was created, the drag that was created was basically a flatbed truck trailer with wheels near the back and a drag at the front. A mass that is moveable of up to 65,000 pounds or 29,000 kilograms, the mass starts at the back of the sled, slowly working its way up to the top as the drag moves down the track.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The tractors are divided into different weight classes based on the tractor weight, the weight classes starting at 2,500 and ending at 14,000 pounds (). The tractors could go in any class they choose, with many adding weight for the higher weighted classes. In order to be able to compete in Antique tractor pull competitions a tractor must perform at its original speed. Some pulling competitions will have a ‘dyno’, connecting the PTO shaft on the tractor to a dynamometer to test the horsepower. If a tractor shows it has more horsepower than the original tractor is supposed to have, it is placed into an alternate class called ‘Modified Tractors’.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Most antique tractors when pulling use about in their tires. There is also a drawbar rule, it is to be a minimum of in total steel at any point, as well must be rigid in all directions. The hitching device can be no more than round stock ( square), or less than round stock ( square), the hole has to be diameter. The drawbar on a tractor should be no shorter than from the center of the rear axle to the point of the hitch. All the weights on a tractor must be fixed. All drivers when pulling must remain seated.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The first Australian Tractor Pull was held at the Elmore Field Days (Victoria) in 1976. The following year saw Tractor Pulling begin in the Victorian rural town of Quambatook. It has developed over the years into a highly competitive and technical sport, where the difference between first and last place may be as small as one or two metres. Often the top tractors are separated by mere centimetres.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The Australian Tractor Pullers Association (ATPA) is a non-profit organisation that governs Tractor Pulling in Australia. Our events (Tractor Pulls) are held in conjunction with a promoter. This is often a local school, sporting, service or community club (for example; Apex, Rotary, Lions, Netball, Cricket, Football) who use the event as a fundraiser. Tractor Pulls are held in locations throughout Australia, predominantly in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. In the west the Western Australian Tractor Pullers Association (WATPA) runs events and is affiliated with the ATPA.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The ATPA is focused on actively promoting this spectacular sport and working with communities to not only establish a unique annual event, but more importantly to assist communities financially through the influx of spectators, sponsors and promotion.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The tractors are divided into classes and comply with either "Limited" or "Open" rules. The classes are Open Modified, Super Modified, Limited Modified, Open Mini Modified, Mini Modified, Pro Stock (diesel) and Two Wheel Drive Trucks. The distinction between classes is determined by the overall maximum weight, engine modifications, fuels and physical size.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Competition is open to both women and men, the only restriction being that competitors must at least hold a current Learner Driver’s Permit. It sometimes comes down to members of the same family competing for the trophies.


title: Tractor pulling

text: The Junior Modified Pulling Association conducts an "introductory" class for 8- to 16-year-olds to develop driving, mechanical and competitive skills. The Modified Mowers pull their own smaller version of the big sled.


title: Tractor pulling

text: In the early days two main techniques were used. Either a dead weight of fixed mass was dragged, or the step-on method was used, where people stood at fixed positions and stepped aboard as the drag passed. Another rule which has now been dropped was that a speed limit should be observed because of injuries resulting from the increased speed at which they boarded. Today's tractors can achieve theoretical speeds over .


title: Tractor pulling

text: Today's drags use a complex system of gears to move weights up to . Upon starting, all the weights are over the drag's rear axles, to give an effective weight of the drag plus zero. As the tractor travels the course, the weights are pushed forward off the drag's axles, pushing the front of the drag into the ground, synthetically creating a gain in weight until the tractor is no longer able to overcome the force of friction. Most drags have grouser bars that act like teeth and dig into the soil to stop the sled.


title: Tractor pulling

text: Apart from modified standard diesel tractors, a variety of high power engines are used in tractor pulling, which started in the late 1970s. In the early years, mainly single, double or multiple US-made big block dragster engines were used, but nowadays, a lot of parts from discarded military machinery are in use, like Klimov TV3-117 (Isotov) turboshafts from Russian helicopters, Soviet Zvezda M503 torpedo boat engines, Continental AV1790 tank engines, or World-War-2-era aircraft piston engines in V12-shape (e.g. Rolls-Royce Griffon) or as radial engines (e.g. Curtiss-Wright R-3350). Due to the limited number of vintage warbird engines remaining, some organisations that own them, such as the Fantasy of Flight museum in Florida, refuse to sell engines from their collection to customers that wish to use them for tractor pulling. In recent years a number of agricultural engines have been converted to run on methanol with multi-stage turbocharging.


title: Ebro Darden

text: Ibrahim Jamil "Ebro" Darden (born March 17, 1975) is an American radio personality, broadcaster, and DJ. Until 2014, he was Vice President of Programming for Emmis Communications' New York contemporary urban station WQHT (Hot 97). He is currently a co-host of the Hot 97 morning show "Ebro in the Morning", alongside Peter Rosenberg and Laura Stylez. As of 2015, Darden also hosts a hip hop music-based radio show on Apple Music 1


title: Ebro Darden

text: Dardens was born to a Black father and a Jewish mother. He attended a Pentecostal church and Hebrew school while growing up in Oakland and Sacramento.


title: Ebro Darden

text: Darden began his career in radio in 1990 at KSFM in Sacramento, California, while he was still a teenager. At KSFM he worked in research and as a sales runner until moving into programming as an intern, and later co-hosting for KSFM's night and morning shows. In 1997, he worked at KBMB in Sacramento as programming and music director, as well as an afternoon host. Eventually, Darden became operations manager at KBMB, while also co-hosting mornings at KXJM in Portland, Oregon, in 1999.


title: Ebro Darden

text: In 2003, Darden became music director for WQHT, ultimately becoming the program director for the station in 2007.


title: Ebro Darden

text: Darden worked alongside several past WQHT Hot 97 morning show co-hosts including Star and Buckwild, Miss Jones, DJ Envy, Sway, and Joe Budden from 2004 to 2007, and introduced Cipha Sounds and Peter Rosenberg to the AM drive in 2009. He rejoined the Hot 97 Morning Show in 2012, alongside Cipha Sounds, Peter Rosenberg, and Laura Stylez.


title: Ebro Darden

text: As programming director and on-air host, Darden was the main voice of several events at Hot 97 including Nicki Minaj's relationship with the station, and her alleged sexual relationship with the host; Hurricane Sandy; and Mister Cee's personal life.


title: Ebro Darden

text: In 2014, VH1 announced a new unscripted comedy series, "This Is Hot 97", which featured Darden and fellow hosts including Angie Martinez, Funkmaster Flex, Peter Rosenberg, Cipha Sounds, Miss Info, and Laura Stylez.


title: Ebro Darden

text: In addition to his current on-air role at Hot 97, Darden is now one of three anchor DJs on Apple Music 1 an internet radio service from Apple Music. He additionally serves as the Global Editorial Head of Hip-Hop and R&B for Apple Music.


title: Ebro Darden

text: A comedic rivalry between Darden and fellow accomplished radio personality Charlamagne tha God of Power 105.1 has been ongoing for years. In May 2017, Darden clarified their relationship, stating, "The stuff we do on the radio is stupid. It's for fun. I make fun of you for fun. That's it. It's not that deep... me and that dude don't have a personal problem... a personal relationship".


title: Ebro Darden

text: Darden was mentioned in Remy Ma's "shETHER" diss track, on which Ma insinuated that he slept with Nicki Minaj by stating "Coke head, you cheated on your man with Ebro". After jokingly going back and forth with both Ma and her husband Papoose on social media, Darden denied the rumors, stating that he and Minaj had only a professional relationship.


title: Ebro Darden

text: On the March 16, 2018 "Ebro in the Morning" broadcast, Darden was critical of Jersey City School Disctrict teachers going on strike stating "...the school system in Jersey City is not good. It's trash. Basura. So that makes everyone involved trash". Darden's statement invoked angry voicemails and social media posts from Jersey City teachers and residents, some of which were played or read on subsequent shows.


title: Ebro Darden

text: Ebro has been in an ongoing feud with Brooklyn artist 6ix9ine. Ebro made fun of 6ix9ine as looking like a clown and criticized him for bragging about streaming numbers, and 6ix9ine responded on the song "Stoopid" with the line "That nigga Ebro, he a bitch/Just another old nigga on a young nigga dick".


title: Lohana

text: Lohana, also referred to as Loharana, Thakkar and Lohrana, are an Indian trading or mercantile "jāti". Lohanas claim to be descendants of the Lava, son of Rama, and to descend from the Raghuvanshi dynasty. The Lohanas are divided into many separate cultural groups as a result of centuries apart in different regions. Thus there are significant differences between the culture, language, professions and societies of Gujarati Lohanas, Sindhi Lohanas, and Kutchi Lohanas.


title: Lohana

text: According to historian Richard Burton, Lohanas originate in Lohanpur in Multan district of Punjab (now in Pakistan).


title: Lohana

text: Matthew A. Cook adds that according to Burton, Lohana's largely Punjabi origin can be considered on basis of "features and manners, ceremonies and religious opinions as well as their surnames."


title: Lohana

text: According to Jürgen Schaflechner, there are many similarities between Punjabi Khatris and Lohanas, both of whom recruited Saraswat Brahmins as priests, have common religious rituals, mythologies, and even intermarried. Many Punjabi Khatris and Bhatias were also absorbed into the Lohana fold. Schaflechner cites the historian Rowe who states that "low ranking" Saraswat Brahmins originating in Balochistan formed a symbiotic relationship with castes such as Khatris, Lohanas, etc. who were trying to raise their varna status - which in turn would benefit the Saraswat Brahmins as well. For this purpose, certain religious texts were written during the British Raj era.


title: Lohana

text: Sindhi Lohanas are considered a collection of Vaishya castes. Other than Brahmins and Bhatias, all Sindhis are grouped under the Lohana caste. Although classified as Vaishya in the ritual hierarchy and having been traditionally traders, they claim Kshatriya origin based on their belief that they are from the lineage of Ram. They claim that they are the descendents of Lava of the Ramayana. This claim was more common in the Lohanas of Sindh as per Schaflechner. A "mytho-historic" legend prevalent in the community is that the Hindu God Varuna built an iron fort for some Rathore Rajputs to protect them. Lohanas claim that the fort "disappeared" after 21 days and the Rathores were then called "Lohana", a word the community interprets as "those of iron".


title: Lohana

text: However, as per Pierre Lachaier their name derives from the city of Lohargadh in Lahore district of Punjab (now in Pakistan). Before their traditional occupation of traders, both the Lohanas and Bhatias were involved in the profession of Agriculture. Goswami states that their ritual position was "ambiguous", and, "they were considered neither a high nor a low caste". The community could be traced back to 300 BC.


title: Lohana

text: Vast majority of Sindhi Hindus are Lohanas. Sindhi Lohanas have since been divided into several groups, among which are a traditionally more educated "upper section" called "Amils", who served as scribes to the Muslim rulers and a less educated "lower section" called "Bhaibands", who were traders:


title: Lohana

text: For hundreds of years, the Sindhi Lohanas absorbed other communities from the western Indian subcontinent.


title: Lohana

text: According to Chachnama, Samma was a branch of Lohana tribe. Ala al-Din Khiljl (1296-1316) mounted a number of campaigns in the region battling the Sumra princes whose cycle of capitulation/rebellion could be charted exactly to the perceived military stress on the metropole. Yet, the Delhi Sultans and their governor rarely resorted to invading Sumra held territories - relying, instead, on alliances with tribal elite and local power struggles. Against the Sumras, Khiljl advanced the cause of the Lohana tribe of Samma. The conflict guaranteed a rolling supply of princes and tribal chiefs wanting alliances with the center. The tussle for dominance between the Sumras and the Samma lasted until the reign of Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351- 1388), when the Jam emirs of Samma were finally able to end Sumra dominance, taking over lower Sindh.


title: Lohana

text: The community's oral history says that the decline of their kingdom began after the death of Veer Dada Jashraj. It also says that their name derives from the city of Lohargadh (/Lohanpur/Lohkot) in Lahore, from which they migrated in the 13th century after the establishment of Muslim rule there.


title: Lohana

text: Pir Sadardin converted some Lohanas to the Shia Ismaili Nizari sect of Islam in the 15th century. As Lohanas were worshippers of Shakti, the emergence of a devotional Ismaili oral tradition that incorporated indigenous conceptions of religion, known as ginans, played a role in the forming of a new ethnic caste-like grouping. This group came to be known as Khojas (from Khawaja), a title given by Sadardin, that would predominantly merge into what is now understood as the Nizari Ismaili branch of Shia Islam.


title: Lohana

text: In 1422, Jam Rai Dan was tribal leader in Sindh during the Samma Dynasty; he was converted to Islam by Sayad Eusuf-ud-Din and he adopted a new name Makrab Khan. At that time a person named Mankeji was head of 84 nukhs of Lohanas, who were in favour in court of that Samma king. He was persuaded by ruler and the Qadri to convert to Islam. However, not all Lohanas were ready to convert from Hinduism. But 700 Lohana families comprising some 6,178 persons converted in Thatta, Sindh. These are now known as Memons (from Mumins).


title: Lohana

text: After the Partition of British India in 1947, Lohanas from Kutch and Sindh migrated in large numbers to Gujrat, mostly to Kutch, Ahemdabad and Vadodara. Many also settled in Maharashtra in Mumbai, Mulund, Pune, and Nagpur.


title: Lohana

text: Thousands of Hindu Gujaratis left India between 1880 - 1920 and migrated to British colonies in the African Great Lakes region of Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika. A significant number of these came from the Patidar and Lohana communities. At that time, however, there was already a bustling merchant class diaspora of Gujarati Muslims in these countries.


title: Lohana

text: The Lohana migrants to East Africa, of which there were 40,000 in 1970, came mainly from the Saurashtran cities of Jamnagar and Rajkot. Many Lohanas set up businesses in those countries, two of the most successful being those set up by Nanji Kalidas Mehta and Muljibhai Madhvani.


title: Lohana

text: In the later part of 20th century, following the independence of British colonies, and particularly after Idi Amin's expulsion order for South Asians in 1972, most Lohanas moved to the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent to United States and Canada. In the UK, the highest concentration of Lohanas and other Gujarati Hindu communities is around the West London suburbs of Wembley and Harrow, and the city of Leicester in the East Midlands region of England.


title: Lohana

text: Lohanas largely follow Hindu rituals and worship Hindu deities such as Krishna. They worship avatars of Vishnu such as Rama with his consort Sita and Krishna in the form of Shrinathji. They worship Shakti in the form of Ravirandal Mataji, and Ambika. The 19th century saints Jalaram Bapa, and Yogiji Maharaj, also attract many Lohana devotees. Their main clan deities are Veer Dada Jashraj, Harkor Ba, Sindhvi Shree Sikotar Mata and Dariyalal. The Sun is also worshipped by the community. Some Lohana branches worship Hinglaj as a clan goddess.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: The Rogers Commission Report was written by a Presidential Commission charged with investigating the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster during its 10th mission, STS-51-L. The report, released and submitted to President Ronald Reagan on June 9, 1986, both determined the cause of the disaster that took place 73 seconds after liftoff, and urged NASA to improve and install new safety features on the shuttles and in its organizational handling of future missions.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: The commission found that the immediate cause of the "Challenger" accident was a failure in the O-rings sealing the aft field joint on the right solid rocket booster, causing pressurized hot gases and eventually flame to "blow by" the O-ring and contact the adjacent external tank, causing structural failure. The failure of the O-rings was attributed to a design flaw, as their performance could be too easily compromised by factors including the low temperature on the day of launch.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: More broadly, the report also determined the contributing causes of the accident. Most salient was the failure of both NASA and its contractor, Morton Thiokol, to respond adequately to the design flaw. The Commission found that as early as 1977, NASA managers had not only known about the flawed O-ring, but that it had the potential for catastrophe. This led the Rogers Commission to conclude that the "Challenger" disaster was "an accident rooted in history".


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: The report also strongly criticized the decision making process that led to the launch of "Challenger", saying that it was seriously flawed. Morton Thiokol called a meeting the night before the launch to raise concerns over the forecast temperature in regards to the O-Rings. During the meeting, Morton Thiokol's engineers issued a recommendation "not to launch below 53F", the previous lowest temperature of a launch (STS-51C, a year earlier). The NASA managers challenged this and after a 30 minute offline caucus, Morton Thiokol's senior management overruled their engineers decision and gave the launch the go ahead. The concerns were not communicated beyond the Level III Flight Readiness Review (FRR). It is certain that even though members of higher FRR teams knew about the issues, there were plenty of members who could have stopped the launch but decided not to. This was done in large part because of the management structure at NASA and the lack of major checks and balances, which proved to be fatal in this scenario. The report concluded that:


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: One of the commission's best-known members was theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. His style of investigating with his own direct methods rather than following the commission schedule put him at odds with Rogers, who once commented, "Feynman is becoming a real pain." During a televised hearing, Feynman famously demonstrated how the O-rings became less resilient and subject to seal failures at ice-cold temperatures by immersing a sample of the material in a glass of ice water. Feynman's own investigation reveals a disconnect between NASA's engineers and executives that was far more striking than he expected. His interviews of NASA's high-ranking managers revealed startling misunderstandings of elementary concepts. One such concept was the determination of a safety factor.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: In one example, early tests resulted in some of the booster rocket's O-rings burning a third of the way through. These O-rings provided the gas-tight seal needed between the vertically stacked cylindrical sections that made up the solid fuel booster. NASA managers recorded this result as demonstrating that the O-rings had a "safety factor" of 3. Feynman incredulously explains the magnitude of this error: A "safety factor" refers to the practice of building an object to be capable of withstanding more force than the force to which it will conceivably be subjected. To paraphrase Feynman's example, if engineers built a bridge that could bear 3,000 pounds without any damage, even though it was never expected to bear more than 1,000 pounds in practice, the safety factor would be 3. If a 1,000-pound truck drove across the bridge and a crack appeared in a beam, even just a third of the way through a beam, the safety factor is now zero: The bridge is defective, there was no safety factor at all even though the bridge did not actually collapse.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Feynman was clearly disturbed by the fact that NASA management not only misunderstood this concept, but inverted it by using a term denoting an extra level of safety to describe a part that was actually defective and unsafe. Feynman continued to investigate the lack of communication between NASA's management and its engineers, and was struck by management's claim that the risk of catastrophic malfunction on the shuttle was 1 in 10, i.e. 1 in 100,000. Feynman immediately realized that this claim was risible on its face; as he described, this assessment of risk would entail that NASA could expect to launch a shuttle every day for the next 274 years while suffering, on average, only one accident. Investigating the claim further, Feynman discovered that the 1 in 10 figure was stating what they claimed the failure rate ought to be, given that it was a manned vehicle, and working backward to generate the failure rate of components.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Feynman was disturbed by two aspects of this practice. First, NASA management assigned a probability of failure to each individual bolt, sometimes claiming a probability of 1 in 10, i.e. one in one hundred million. Feynman pointed out that it is impossible to calculate such a remote possibility with any scientific rigor. Secondly, Feynman was bothered not just by this sloppy science but by the fact that NASA claimed that the risk of catastrophic failure was "necessarily" 1 in 10. As the figure itself was beyond belief, Feynman questioned exactly what "necessarily" meant in this context, whether it meant that the figure followed logically from other calculations or that it reflected NASA management's desire to make the numbers fit.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Feynman suspected that the 1 in 10 figure was wildly fantastical, and made a rough estimate that the true likelihood of shuttle disaster was closer to 1 in 100. He then decided to poll the engineers themselves, asking them to write down an anonymous estimate of the odds of shuttle explosion. Feynman found that the bulk of the engineers' estimates fell between 1 in 50 and 1 in 200 (at the time of retirement, the Shuttle suffered two catastrophic failures across 135 flights, for a failure rate of 1 in 67.5). Not only did this confirm that NASA management had clearly failed to communicate with their own engineers, but the disparity engaged Feynman's emotions. When describing these wildly differing estimates, Feynman briefly lapses from his damaging but dispassionate detailing of NASA's flaws to recognize the moral failing that resulted from a scientific failing: he was upset NASA presented its fantastical figures as fact to convince a member of the public, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, to join the crew. Feynman was not uncomfortable with the concept of a risk factor, but felt strongly that the recruitment of laypeople required an honest portrayal of the true risk involved.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Feynman's investigation eventually suggested to him that the cause of the "Challenger" disaster was the very part to which NASA management so mistakenly assigned a safety factor. The O-rings were rubber rings designed to form a seal in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters, preventing the rockets' hot gas from escaping and damaging other parts of the vehicle. Feynman suspected that despite NASA's claims, the O-rings were unsuitable at low temperatures and lost their resilience when cold, thus failing to maintain a tight seal when rocket pressure distorted the structure of the solid fuel booster. Feynman's suspicions were corroborated by General Kutyna, also on the commission, who cunningly provided Feynman with a broad hint by asking about the effect of cold on O-ring seals after mentioning that the temperature on the day of the launch was far lower than had been the case with previous launches: below freezing at ; previously, the coldest launch had been at . In 2013, the BBC film "The Challenger" revealed that the O-Ring insight had in fact come to Kutyna from the astronaut and fellow commission member Sally Ride, who had secretly provided him with NASA test results showing the O-rings became stiff when they were too cold.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Feynman's investigations also revealed that there had been many serious doubts raised about the O-ring seals by engineers at Morton Thiokol, which made the solid fuel boosters, but communication failures had led to their concerns being ignored by NASA management. He found similar failures in procedure in many other areas at NASA, but singled out its software development for praise due to its rigorous and highly effective quality control procedures – then under threat from NASA management, which wished to reduce testing to save money given that the tests had always been passed.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Based on his experiences with NASA's management and engineers, Feynman concluded that the serious deficiencies in NASA management's scientific understanding, the lack of communication between the two camps, and the gross misrepresentation of the Shuttle's dangers, required that NASA take a hiatus from Shuttle launches until it could resolve its internal inconsistencies and present an honest picture of the shuttle's reliability. Feynman soon found that, while he respected the intellects of his fellow Commission members, they universally finished their criticisms of NASA with clear affirmations that the "Challenger" disaster should be addressed by NASA internally, but that there was no need for NASA to suspend its operations or to receive less funding. Feynman felt that the Commission's conclusions misrepresented its findings, and he could not in good conscience recommend that such a deeply flawed organization as NASA should continue without a suspension of operations and a major overhaul. His fellow commission members were alarmed by Feynman's dissent, and it was only after much petitioning that Feynman's minority report was included at all. Feynman was so critical of flaws in NASA's "safety culture" that he threatened to remove his name from the report unless it included his personal observations on the reliability of the shuttle, which appeared as "Appendix F". In the appendix, he stated:


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: "For a successful technology," Feynman concluded, "reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Feynman later wrote about the investigation in his 1988 book "What Do You Care What Other People Think?". The second half of the book covers the investigation and the issues between science and politics.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: Feynman later reported that, although he had believed he was making discoveries about the problems at NASA on his own, he eventually realized that either NASA or contractor personnel, in an apparent effort to anonymously focus attention on these problem areas, had carefully led him to the evidence which would support the conclusions on which he would later report.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: The Rogers Commission offered nine recommendations on improving safety in the space shuttle program, and NASA was directed by President Reagan to report back within thirty days as to how it planned to implement those recommendations. This is a summary of the chapter of Recommendations:


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: In response to the commission's recommendation, NASA initiated a total redesign of the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters, which was watched over by an independent oversight group as stipulated by the commission. NASA's contract with Morton Thiokol, the contractor responsible for the solid rocket boosters, included a clause stating that in the event of a failure leading to "loss of life or mission," Thiokol would forfeit $10 million of its incentive fee and formally accept legal liability for the failure. After the "Challenger" accident, Thiokol agreed to "voluntarily accept" the monetary penalty in exchange for not being forced to accept liability.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: NASA also created a new Office of Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance, headed as the commission had specified by a NASA associate administrator who reported directly to the NASA administrator. George Rodney, formerly of Martin Marietta, was appointed to this position. Former "Challenger" flight director Jay Greene became chief of the Safety Division of the directorate.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: The unrealistically optimistic launch schedule pursued by NASA had been criticized by the Rogers Commission as a possible contributing cause to the accident. After the accident, NASA attempted to aim at a more realistic shuttle flight rate: it added another orbiter, "Endeavour", to the space shuttle fleet to replace "Challenger", and it worked with the Department of Defense to put more satellites in orbit using expendable launch vehicles rather than the shuttle. In August 1986, President Reagan also announced that the shuttle would no longer carry commercial satellite payloads. After a 32-month hiatus, the next shuttle mission, STS-26, was launched on September 29, 1988.


title: Rogers Commission Report

text: After the Space Shuttle "Columbia" disaster in 2003, attention once again focused on the attitude of NASA management towards safety issues. The "Columbia" Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) concluded that NASA had failed to learn many of the lessons of "Challenger". In particular, the agency had not set up a truly independent office for safety oversight; the CAIB felt that in this area, "NASA's response to the Rogers Commission did not meet the Commission's intent". The CAIB believed that "the causes of the institutional failure responsible for "Challenger" have not been fixed," saying that the same "flawed decision making process" that had resulted in the "Challenger" accident was responsible for "Columbia"'s destruction seventeen years later.


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: In April 2017, Tracey went to an estate sale at Kurt Eichenwald's house. Tracey photographed collections of journalistic notes on terrorists and Guantanamo Bay, as well as ties, socks and hats belonging to Eichenwald, posting the photographs in a Twitter thread. Two years later, Eichenwald described Tracey as a "bizarre dude" who snuck into his house and took pictures of his socks.


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: In June 2017, congresswoman Maxine Waters walked away from an interview with Tracey and pushed aside his hand and microphone. The incident was captured on video. Tracey said that Waters had "initiated unwarranted physical contact" and "shoved" him, but that it was "not a violent shove".


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: In 2021, "The Daily Dot" described Tracey as an "independent journalist [who] is best known for his contrarian remarks on Twitter."


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: Tracey supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries and advocated "conscious abstention" in the 2016 presidential election. He has been highly critical of Bill and Hillary Clinton. In 2020, he supported Tulsi Gabbard's presidential campaign.


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: Tracey has been critical of the Democratic Party and of allegations of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia.


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: In 2019, Tracey criticized an article by Kevin Poulsen in "The Daily Beast", which revealed the identity and criminal history of a man who had allegedly created a modified video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that made her appear drunk.


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: In 2021, The Daily Dot reported that Tracey "has been referred to by some as a 'Left Heretic,' a term used for self-described liberals who oppose, among other things, what they deem to be 'identity politics'", and that "Tracey's writings in recent years have appeared largely in right-wing outlets."


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tracey was described as anti-war and accused of "taking the Kremlin's line". His repeated claims that the United States and NATO were interfering in the conflict with nefarious activities led him to be characterized as a tankie by Alaric DeArment writing for Above the Law website. In April 2022, Tracey dismissed photo evidence of the Bucha massacre as "war propaganda" and questioned its authenticity.


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: Raised in West Caldwell, New Jersey, he graduated from James Caldwell High School in 2006. He has resided in Jersey City, New Jersey.


title: Michael Tracey (journalist)

text: In February 2009, Tracey was arrested while a student at The College of New Jersey after he attempted to approach Ann Coulter, who had spoken at the college's campus in Ewing. He was charged with disorderly conduct and pleaded guilty to "violating a nuisance ordinance".


title: Reserved political positions in India

text: In India, a number of political positions and university posts are held for specific groups of the population, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and women in some cases.


title: Reserved political positions in India

text: There are reserved constituencies in both Parliamentary and State Assembly elections. Scheduled Castes (usually abbreviated as SC), and Scheduled Tribes (usually abbreviated as ST) are castes and tribes included in the schedules published by the government to indicate these castes' and tribes' backward status. All voters, including Non-SC, Non-ST community voters, have the right to vote for these candidates belonging to SC or ST candidate, if contesting from their constituency. About 25% of Indian population belongs to SC/ST communities. About the same ratio of seats are reserved for them in the Parliament. In each state, that number will depend on the percentage of population and percentage of SC/ST amongst them. In local body elections, like municipal polls, in addition to SC/ST, other Backward Class candidates also have reserved seats. The constituencies are allotted by lottery system. In the case of municipal and other local elections, the constituencies are known as wards. Thus, there may be as many wards or constituencies as the number of elected seats in the elected body. Reserved constituencies are constituencies in which seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes based on the size of their population.


title: Reserved political positions in India

text: In the earlier history of India under British rule, a separate electorate meant that not only were the seats reserved for a specific group, but voting for the reserved constituency was allowed for only members of that specific community. For example, only Muslims could vote for Muslim candidates in Muslim reserved constituencies.


title: Reserved political positions in India

text: An electorate is a group of voters encompassing all the officially qualified voters within a particular country or area or for a particular election. A joint electorate is one where the entire voting population of a country or region is part of a single electorate and the entire electorate votes for the candidates who contest in the elections.


title: Reserved political positions in India

text: In the case of separate electorates, the voting population of a country or region is divided into different electorates, based on certain factors such as religion, caste, gender, and occupation. Here, members of each electorate vote only for elected representatives for their electorate. Separate electorates are usually demanded by minorities who feel it would otherwise be difficult for them to get fair representation in government. For example, a separate electorate for Muslims means that Muslims will choose their separate leader by separate elections for Muslims. The Constitution of India entitles every citizen to elect representatives. The constitution-makers, however, were worried that open electoral competition would preclude less populous minority groups from election to the national and the state legislative assemblies.


title: Reserved political positions in India

text: In India's pre-independence era, in 1906, Muslims demanded fair representation to share power with the British government along with the Hindus; the British government provided for a separate electorate system to the Muslims in the Indian Councils Act of 1909. As a result, of the total 250 seats of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, 117 seats were reserved for Muslims. Accordingly, the general elections of 1937 were held based on the extended separate electorates, where only Muslims voted for the 117 seats, in Bengal.