Early life and education.

Born 27 March 1955 in Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Galicia, Rajoy is the grandson of Enrique Rajoy Leloup, one of the architects of the Galician Statute of Autonomy (1936) ("Estatuto de autonomía de Galicia"), who was removed from university teaching by the Franco dictatorship in the early 1950s. He is the son of Olga Brey López and Mariano Rajoy Sobredo, a jurist, and president of the Provincial Court of Pontevedra, the city where he grew up.  Later on, his father was transferred to León and the whole family moved there. He was duly enrolled, together with his brothers Luis and Enrique, and spent ten years there before moving to the Jesuit school in Vigo. After finishing secondary school he started university, enrolling in the Law Faculty in Santiago de Compostela.  Rajoy graduated from the University of Santiago de Compostela and passed the competitive examination required in Spain to enter into the civil service, becoming the youngest-ever property registrar.  He was assigned to Padrón (A Coruña), Villafranca del Bierzo (León) and Santa Pola (Alicante), a position he still holds. In that year, Rajoy sustained facial injuries in a traffic accident. Since then, he has always worn a beard to cover the scars from these injuries.  Rajoy married Elvira "Viri" Fernández Balboa on 28 December 1996, in La Toja island (Pontevedra). The couple have two children.  While on the campaign trail in 2011, Rajoy published his autobiography, "En Confianza" ("In Confidence").

Political career.

Early political career.

Earlier member of the Spanish National Union (UNE), Rajoy joined the right-wing party People's Alliance (AP), becoming a deputy in the inaugural legislature of the Galician Parliament in 1981. In 1982, he was appointed by Galician regional President, Xerardo Fernández Albor, as Minister of Institutional Relations of the Xunta de Galicia. On 11 June 1986, Rajoy was elected President of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra, a position he held until July 1991.  In the General Elections of 22 June 1986, he won a seat in the Congress of Deputies as the head of the AP's list for Pontevedra, although he resigned in November to take up the post of vice-president of the Xunta of Galicia following the resignation of Xosé Luis Barreiro and the rest of the ministers. He occupied this latter position until the end of September 1987. In May 1988 he was elected General Secretary of the PA in Galicia during an extraordinary congress of the regional party.  When in 1989 the AP merged with other parties to form the People's Party (PP), with Manuel Fraga as its president, Rajoy was named a member of its National Executive Committee and delegate for Pontevedra. He was reelected to parliament in 1993. Before the PP's triumph in the 1996 elections, he was a PP-designated member of the Commission of Parliamentary Control of the RTVE.  In April, the former president of Castile and León and presidential candidate of the government general elections in 1989, José María Aznar, was elected president of the PP. Confirmed in the National Executive, Mariano Rajoy was appointed deputy secretary general of the party. He was re-elected in Pontevedra in the election on 6 June 1993.

Ministerial career (1996–2003).

On 3 March 1996, the PP won the early parliamentary elections and formed a government with the support of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV), Convergence and Union (CiU) and the Canarian Coalition (CC). Rajoy, a long-time associate of newly elected Prime Minister José María Aznar, made the move into national politics in Aznar's first government when he was appointed Minister of Public Administration on 6 May. His term was marked by the adoption, in 1997, of the Law on organization and operation of the general administration of the State (LOFAGE), which regulates the organization and functions of central government, and the Law on Government.  He changed his portfolio on 20 January 1999 and replaced Esperanza Aguirre as Minister of Education and Culture. Just after his appointment, he was reelected vice-secretary general of the PP during its thirteenth national conference.  In 2000 he led the People's Party election campaign for the elections on 12 March, in which they won absolute majority. On 28 April 2000, Rajoy was appointed Senior Vice President of Government and Minister of the Presidency.  Less than a year later, on 28 February 2001, he replaced Jaime Mayor Oreja, candidate for President of the Government of the Basque Country, as Interior Minister. In this role, he passed legislation including the Organic Law on the right of association, approved the decree implementing the Organic Law on the rights and duties of foreigners, and presented the draft law on the prevention of alcoholism.  In the major cabinet reshuffle of 9 July 2002, he became minister of the presidency, retained his vice presidency and was appointed spokesman of the government. In his new role, he faced two very difficult times of Aznar's second term: the Prestige oil tanker disaster off the coast of Galicia, and the participation of Spain in the Iraq War, at the request of George W. Bush.  Approached, with Rodrigo Rato and Jaime Mayor Oreja, to succeed José Maria Aznar at the direction of the PP and as presidential candidate of the government in the 2004 general elections, he was chosen as future PP leader on 1 September 2003 and left the government two days later.

Leader of the People's Party.

On 30 August 2003, Aznar announced that he would retire from politics in the 2004 elections and proposed Rajoy as his successor. Rajoy was elected Secretary General of the party the following day, and led the party into the 2004 elections. However, the PP's large lead evaporated in the wake of the 11-M bombings, and the PP was heavily defeated by the PSOE.  However, Rajoy was not held responsible for the defeat, and was elected party president at the PP's 14th congress in October 2004.

Leader of the Opposition (2004–2011).

2004 election.

On 11 March 2004, three days before the 2004 general elections, Madrid was struck by terrorist attacks, which the government initially blamed on the armed Basque separatist organisation, ETA. Aznar's government and government party leaders insisted on accusing ETA of the attacks, and on 13 March, Rajoy claimed to believe this because he was convinced of their will and capability for committing such crimes. The government was accused of attempting to blame ETA for the attacks in order to stay on track to win the elections (as they were favored to do), but then the Prisa center-left media company broke news that Al‐Qaida, rather than ETA, was responsible. On 14 March 2004 the PSOE, under the leadership of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, won the elections with a majority of 1,300,000 votes over the PP, and obtained 164 deputies, while the PP obtained 9,763,144 votes but 148 deputies, 35 less than they obtained in 2000. Rajoy was elected for the province of Madrid. On 1 December 2005, Rajoy survived a helicopter accident, along with Madrid Regional Government President Esperanza Aguirre; he broke a finger in the accident.  His criticisms of the Zapatero administration were focused on what he perceived as: In foreign policy:

2008 election.

Rajoy faced a serious situation within his party when he came under public pressure from the electorally successful Alberto Ruiz Gallardón (Madrid's Mayor) to be included in the PP lists for the March 2008 general election. Gallardón represents a more centrist sector within the party, whereas Rajoy, Angel Acebes and Eduardo Zaplana are widely accepted as representing a more conservative wing of the party, closer to Aznar. Rajoy's final decision was to leave Gallardón out of the list for those elections, an action which provoked concern about the alienation of potential PP voters. Some experts and newspapers even argued that it could cost Rajoy the elections. In any case, the power struggle for succession created a tense situation for him and for the party.  On 30 January 2008, Rajoy received the support of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy for the March 2008 general election. The PP was defeated in the general election, however, it gained votes and seats, and Rajoy continued to lead his party in opposition.

2011 election.

The 2011 general election campaign was dominated by economic issues. "Election campaign begins, crushed by the economic situation", was the headline in "El Pais" on 2 September 2011; the same day, "El Mundo" claimed that "the unemployment election campaign [had begun]". The high rate of unemployment was a major issue in the campaign. Close to 5 million people were out of work at the time of the election, and 1.5 million households had no wage earners.  Rajoy slammed Spain's unemployment rate as "unbearable and unacceptable" as data showed 4,350 people per day losing their jobs in October 2011. The Socialists, he said, "did not know how to manage Spain's economy, and now the Spanish people are paying the price for that". He promised he would shepherd Spain out of its crisis and recover the shaky confidence of international investors and reduce the government's ominously high borrowing costs. The debt crisis in Greece had raised concerns over the solvency of other weak economies like Spain. The PP campaign slogan called on voters to "Join the change!" and the party manifesto stressed its commitment to cutting the country's budget deficit in line with EU requirements. It proposed tax breaks for savers and small firms who hired staff; benefits for those who took on young employees; more flexible labour contracts and wage negotiations and major cuts in red tape, to encourage entrepreneurs to set up businesses. At the same time, it pledged to protect public healthcare and education, saving money through efficiency and better management.

Premiership (2011–2018).

First term (2011–2015).

In November 2011, Rajoy's right-wing People's Party won its biggest majority since the country's return to representative democracy in the 1970s, securing 186 out of the 350 seats in the lower house of Parliament. Voters turned to him in hopes of alleviating the pain of Europe's debt crisis. Following the general election held in 2011, Rajoy was elected Prime Minister by the Congress of Deputies on 20 December 2011.

Inauguration.

Rajoy, designated candidate for Prime Minister of the government of King Juan Carlos I, appeared before the Congress of Deputies on 19 December 2011. He stated that to achieve the objective of a deficit of 4.4% of GDP in 2012, an investment of €16,500,000,000 would be needed. He added that his only increased public spending would be the revaluation of pensions, beginning 1 January 2012, and that he would not create any new jobs in the public sector, except for security forces. He stated an intention "to reduce the size of the public sector" and also wanted to reform public holidays so as to avoid encouragement of popular four-day weekends. This would be accomplished by incorporating the use of the nearest Monday for most public holidays. He also announced his desire to end the practice of early retirement.  Rajoy was chosen by Parliament two days later with 187 votes in favor, 149 votes against and 14 abstentions, receiving the support of the People's Party, the Forum of Asturias (FAC) and the Navarrese People's Union (UPN), with Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Convergence and Union (CiU), the United Left (IU) and Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) dissenting. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the coalition Amaiur and the Canary Coalition (CC) abstained. He was appointed a few hours later as Prime Minister by Juan Carlos I and sworn in the next day at the Zarzuela Palace, before the King and Queen, Zapatero, the outgoing Prime Minister, and the Presidents of the Cortes Generales, and others.

First days.

Rajoy's government was formed on 21 December 2011 with thirteen ministers—the lowest number in Spanish democratic history. Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, Vice President of the Government, Minister of the Presidency, and government spokesperson, and Ana Pastor Julián, Minister of Equipment, were appointed. The Ministries of Culture, Science, and Territorial Policy were ended, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance was split into two new ministries. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment was kept intact, despite statements made by Rajoy speech before Congress that indicated the opposite intention. Among the ministers, Cristóbal Montoro Romero, Minister of Finance, and Miguel Arias Cañete, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, had been members of the previous Aznar government and continued to occupy the same posts.

Spending cuts.

On 30 December 2011, the Council of Ministers approved a cuts plan (called an austerity plan) amounting to €8,900,000,000 in savings and €6,200,000,000 in new revenues. Salaries of public workers were frozen, the workweek in public administration was reduced to 37.5 hours, and recruitment of new public employees was halted, except in the areas of security, health and education. A programme which provided rent assistance for young people was abolished, and the minimum wage was frozen—something that had not happened since 1966. The income tax and tax on real estate was also increased for 2012 and 2013. Pensions were adjusted up 1%, however, and the tax deduction for the purchase of homes was reinstated. The premium of €400 for the long-term unemployed (due to a lack of industry) at the end of law was maintained but only for those registered as jobseekers with the public employment service for at least twelve months out of the previous eighteen and whose income amounts were less than three quarters of the net minimum wage. A 4% value-added tax was expanded to include new home purchases.

Lawsuit.

On 4 January 2013 the association Democracia Real Ya (DRY), created after the 15 May 2011 protest movement, brought charges against Mariano Rajoy and another 62 deputies (including four ministers) before the Supreme Court, accusing them of diversion of public funds and misappropriation. Mariano Rajoy was accused of receiving a subsistence allowance despite the fact that he was living in the Moncloa Palace in Madrid. The lawsuit before the Supreme Court was a consequence of the data which had appeared in the media providing information about several deputies who had houses in Madrid but at the same time were receiving extra funds for lodging. According to the association DRY, these representatives, who could be lodged at no cost to the public purse, were paid a monthly subsistence allowance valued at €1,823.36. Furthermore, if they had been elected by the constituency of Madrid and had a house in this city, they were allowed €870 a month to cover accommodation and food expenses resulting from the exercise of their functions that, with respect to Rajoy, were already covered – from the state budget – in the Moncloa Palace. DRY therefore accused them of diversion of public funds and misappropriation. Additionally, DRY demanded that they return all the money that didn't belong to them, particularly bearing in mind that "the cuts are making most Spaniards' life a misery".  On 24 April 2013, having found no irregularity in the existing regulation and discarding the existence of constituents elements of offense, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit.

Corruption scandals.

The newspaper "El País" published in its edition of 30 January 2013 a series of documents, under the title of "Bárcenas' secret papers", referring to the accounts of the conservative party from 1999 to 2009. According to those hand-written documents, Mariano Rajoy and María Dolores de Cospedal had received extra payments in "black" money from the former treasurer of the People's Party, Luis Bárcenas. These documents state that both Bárcenas and his predecessor, Álvaro Lapuerta, managed cash donations from businessmen and private builders (three of whom are additionally accused in the Gürtel case), cited as sources of undeclared income of the PP. Expenditure included, apart from allocations for the effective functioning of the party, payments made to members of the leadership of the party during those years with no explicitly stated purpose. Barcenas' accounts show yearly payments of 25,200 euros for 11 years to the President, in addition to smaller amounts for a total estimated at 33,207 with purposes such as "Mariano's suits", "Mariano's ties", or "M.R.'s suits". PP Secretary-General María Dolores de Cospedal appears in the papers of these payments, as well as other leaders, such as former ministers Javier Arenas, Jaime Mayor Oreja and Francisco Álvarez-Cascos.  By 7 February, just one week after publication of the documents, one million people had signed a petition launched by the organization Change.org asking for the immediate resignation of Mariano Rajoy.  On 8 July, the center-right newspaper "El Mundo", usually a support of the Popular Party, published a four-hour interview with Luis Bárcenas, which had taken place a few days before he was put behind bars on 27 June, in which the former party treasurer revealed that the People's Party had been illegally financed for 20 years. The following day, the same newspaper published the originals of Barcenas' papers which reflected overpayments to Mariano Rajoy in 1997, 1998 and 1999, when he was a minister in the Aznar cabinet. These payments violated the Incompatibilities Act of 1995. On 14 July, "El Mundo" published several text messages between Rajoy and Bárcenas, the latest dating from early 2013, after the discovery of Bárcenas' bank accounts in Switzerland and after some media had pointed to illegal payments within the PP. In those messages, Rajoy expressed his support to Bárcenas and asked him to keep quiet. In light of these new revelations, High Court judge Pablo Ruz summoned Bárcenas to appear before him on 15 July. In this new appearance, Bárcenas admitted the payment of 50,000 euros in 2010 to Rajoy and Dolores de Cospedal. As a result of the scandal, all the opposition parties urged Rajoy to give an explanation to parliament, with the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party threatening him with a censure motion should he refuse to come out and explain himself, and demanding his immediate resignation.  In his appearance before Congress, on 1 August, Rajoy admitted that he had made "a mistake" in trusting Bárcenas and criticised the opposition for trying to "criminalize" him by believing the word of an "offender", stating that he wasn't resigning nor calling new elections. Rajoy also stated that Bárcenas was no longer a member of the PP when he, Rajoy, was appointed prime minister (in December 2011). However, on 11 August, "El Mundo" published a paysheet, dated May 2012, issued by the PP for the ex-treasurer, as well as a letter sent by Bárcenas himself to Rajoy in April 2010 (just a few days after he [Bárcenas] had been officially "removed" from his duties as treasurer) informing Rajoy of his "re-incorporation" in the party. On 26 November 2014, Ana Mato, Minister of Health, resigned due to the involvement of herself and her husband Jesús Sepúlveda in the Gürtel case.  He testified in Audiencia Nacional as a witness in the framework of the investigation into the Gürtel corruption scandal, of the illegal financing of his party. He is the first PM in Spain in service to attend a trial. Although he benefited from this corruption scheme, he denied any knowledge. This situation prompted a no-confidence motion against Rajoy's government, which was debated on 13 June and defeated as expected on 14 June. Pío García-Escudero, the President of the Senate also testified as a witness in the same investigation. On 26 April 2018, his former Minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, was imputed by the judge for his involvement in the corruption scandal Case Lezo, which involves leaders of the PP in the Community of Madrid.

2015 general election and deadlock.

The 2015 general election was held on 20 December, the latest possible day. The result was that the People's Party remained the most voted-for party, but it lost 64 of its 187 seats and thus its majority. The election produced a fragmented parliament and an uncertain political situation that led to another election in 2016, as neither Rajoy nor the left-wing opposition could form a coalition government. During the electoral campaign, on 16 December, he was punched in the face by a teenager, breaking his glasses. All the political parties, unanimously, condemned the attack.

Second term (2016–2018).

2016 general election.

In the general election of 26 June 2016, the PP increased its number of seats in parliament, while still falling short of an overall majority. Eventually on 29 October Rajoy was re-appointed as prime minister, after the majority of the PSOE members abstained in the parliamentary vote rather than oppose him.  In February 2016, Rajoy was declared 'persona non grata' of Pontevedra, his adopted city, because of his cabinet's decision to extend the operating license of a controversial cellulose factory by 60 years (see List of people declared persona non grata).

2017 witness and no confidence-motion.

On 26 July, Rajoy was due to appear as a witness in the Gürtel corruption case. This situation prompted a no-confidence motion against Rajoy's government, which was debated on 13 June and defeated as expected on 14 June.

Terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, Younes Abouyaaqoub murdered 15 people and wounded 130 in an attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona through vehicle-ramming attack and stabbed one person while fleeing.  Few hours later, five men from the same terrorist cell drove into pedestrians in Cambrils, a coastal town one hour from Barcelona. One woman was fatally stabbed and six persons injured. All five attackers were killed by the police.

Catalan independence referendum.

On 1 October 2017, an illegal referendum took place in Catalonia that descended into chaos after the intervention of the police to halt voting, where there were clashes between people and the police themselves. Rajoy oversaw the 2017-18 Spanish constitutional crisis marked by this referendum, and the Catalan unilateral declaration of independence that led to the imposition of direct rule in Catalonia on 27 October 2017.

2018 motion of no confidence.

The first definitive court ruling on the Gürtel corruption scandal convicted a series of former PP party officials. Former treasurer Luis Bárcenas was sentenced to 33 years of prison and a fine of 44 million euros for hiding a fortune of an uncertain amount in Swiss banks. The 1,687-page ruling also said that it was settled that there was a "network of institutionalised corruption" and that the PP "financially benefited" from the Gürtel affair, something for which it was fined 245,492 euros. The sentence also recognised that it was proven that the PP had a slush fund since 1989, consisting of a "financial and accounting structure that was parallel to the official one". More court rulings are pending, as this ruling only covered the 1999-2005 period of the Gürtel scandal.  Following the court ruling, the leader of PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, promoted a motion of no confidence against Rajoy to be voted on Friday, 1 June. 176 votes were needed to get it approved. In the debate of the previous day, a sufficient number of deputies expressed their intention to support it. Rajoy lost this motion, (with 180 votes in favour of the motion, 169 against, and 1 abstention) and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Sánchez.  On 5 June 2018, Rajoy announced his resignation as President of the People's Party. On 15 June, he resigned his seat as Deputy after thirty years. The vacant seat was taken by Valentina Martínez Ferro.

Later activity.

On 20 June 2018, Rajoy was reinstated to his position as property registrar in Santa Pola after 29 years.  On 27 February 2019 he declared as a witness at the trial of Catalonia independence leaders before the Supreme Court.

Political positions.

Social issues.

Immigration.

Rajoy declared himself a strong supporter of allowing migrants to enter Spain, saying Spain would support those seeking asylum. In 2015, he criticised the Hungarian government for taking steps to deter migration into their country. Despite making these statements, the Government of Rajoy was highly criticized for taking anti-immigration measures such as cutting budget to immigration observatories, and the reinforcement of the fence of Melilla, with highly criticised "hot returns" - the illegal expulsion of migrants by the police without any legally established procedures or meeting the international obligations - with police violence eventually taking place. These acts were condemned by the European Court of Human Rights and the UN. The following months, the Rajoy executive refused to repeal the hot returns and appealed the sentence of Strasbourg.

Bullfighting.

Rajoy is a strong supporter of bullfighting. He has said that "the tradition is an art form deeply rooted in Spanish history". He lifted the ban on live bullfights on state-run television and they are once again shown in the traditional 6 pm slot on TVE.

History.

During the 2015 election campaign, Rajoy asserted that the PP “was the only party defending the unity of Spain.” Among his electoral promises was the creation of a National Museum of Spanish History intended to “defend the unity of Spain.” The location chosen for making this announcement left little doubt about the nationalist undertones of that proposal: the site of the Battle of Covadonga, in the northwestern region of Asturias. That battle is recognized as the first triumph by Christian military forces after the Muslim conquest of the Iberia Peninsula in 711–718. As befits this accomplishment, historians usually consider Covadonga as the site of the beginning of the Reconquista, or the “reconquest” of the Iberian Peninsula by Christian rulers.

Foreign policy.

Gibraltar.

Rajoy wants British-controlled Gibraltar returned to Spain. He described Gibraltar as an “anachronism”, and “the last colony in Europe”.

Scottish independence.

Scotland held a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom on Thursday 18 September 2014. In November 2013, Rajoy stated that an independent Scotland would have to reapply for membership of the European Union, causing considerable irritation to the devolved Scottish Government and criticism that Rajoy was interfering in the internal affairs of another state. Relations between the Spanish and devolved Scottish governments deteriorated further when the Scottish Government alleged that Rajoy invited a senior UK official to visit Madrid allegedly to co-ordinate British and Spanish opposition to the independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia.

Anti-egalitarianism.

During his early political life, Rajoy defended anti-egalitarian stances. In 1983, as the youngest member of the Parliament of Galicia, Rajoy wrote in a piece in the "Faro de Vigo" titled "Human equality and models of society" the notion that "all policies seeking to achieve equality were a fallacy". As he wrote a year later in another piece for the "Faro de Vigo" titled "La envidia igualitaria" ("The egalitarian envy", 24 July 1984), when he was already president of the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra: "Biological equality is not possible. But social equality isn't either. [...] As it is demonstrated in an undeniable way that nature, as hierarchic, engenders all human unequal, let's avoid exploiting envy and resent laying down the egalitarian dictatorship on such negative impulses".

Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party leader.

Mariano Rajoy Brey, né le à Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, est un homme d'État espagnol, membre du Parti populaire (PP), président du gouvernement de 2011 à 2018.


History.

Radio FG was founded in 1981 as a community radio rooted in the Parisian gay scene and in support of the gay community. The 'FG' initials were said to vary in meaning from "Fréquence Gaie" ("Gay Frequency") to "Futur Génération" ("Future Generation") to "Filles et Garçons" ("Girls and Boys").  During its initial four years of broadcasting, the station faced financial struggles as well as internal conflicts, but managed to survive. As time went by, the station, facing an identity crisis, distanced itself from its social activism and re-defined itself as a dedicated electronic music station.  In 2001 Radio FG abandoned its community radio status to become a private radio station.  In September 2003 Radio FG became known as FG DJ Radio and broadened its spectrum of music to include R'n'B and Raï music. Mixshows (known as Club FG for most of the time) originally accounted for 30-50 percent of the entire broadcast week. It now only accounts for 10 percent.  Today, the station broadcasts throughout the Parisian suburbs and in other major cities around France. In September 2004 the radio started a free webradio service called Underground FG. The station devotes 24 hours a day a mix of house, techno and dance music (similar to the original Radio FG), alongside older mixes that already aired on Radio FG.  The website now offers 7 different live streams: FG DeepDance, FG Undrgrnd, Club FG, FG Remix, FG House Chic, and FG Dance by Hakimakli; along with a 6-hour-delayed stream of its main station called FG +6H targeted to its North American audience. There's also a version of the regular FG DJ Radio for Belgium now: Radio FG Belgique. Formerly streams are Vintage FG (which was playing classics) and Energy Burnmix FG.  In about February 2017, Radio FG decided to replace non-stop overnight music (Monday – Thursday mornings 2 am – 5 am) by non-stop rebroadcasts of interviews airing on the drivetime show "Happy Hour FG" with Antoine Baduel. The reason for this change is still unknown, but it could be necessary to save money, especially because Mediametrie doesn't look a lot after the midnight-5 am slot. This raises concerns for the station's listeners, especially Radio FG is an electronic music station. However, Radio FG is not the first music station have to do so. NRJ (France's main top 40 station) also (until today) carries a mostly-speech output from 8 pm to 6 am (Guillaume Radio 2.0, MiKL, Le PreMorning), and Fun Radio, another electronic station, plays far less music from 8 pm to midnight every weeknight (Lovin'Fun and Le Night Show).

History of logos.

Frequencies.

France:  Belgium :  Monaco:  FG Chic:

Radio FG (since February 2013, formerly FG DJ Radio, acronym for Feel Good) is a French-language radio station that began broadcasting from Paris on 98.2 MHz in the FM band in 1981. It is France's first radio station that broadcasts deep house and electro house music (originally electronic and underground music). The station's current playlist is house, dance, R&B and electronica alongside several American hip-hop songs broadcast from time to time.

Radio FG est une station de radio musicale française diffusant principalement house et techno depuis ses studios situés à Paris.


Geography and climate.

Neighbouring departments are Maldonado and Lavalleja to the East, Florida to the North, San José to the West, and Montevideo to the South. Part of the southern border is formed by the Río de la Plata. It is the second smallest department of the country after that of Montevideo, but the second largest in population.  Located in the humid templated region, the average temperature is low compared to that of the rest of the country (around 15°C), as are the levels of precipitation (up to 2,000 mm yearly, on average).  By area Canelones Department is the second smallest of Uruguay's 19 departments.

Topography and hydrography.

Canelones Department, is characterized by flat lands and absence of relief (as most parts of Uruguay), with small coastal sand dunes at the south, and with meadows and woods in the center, north and west.  The department is rich in waterways, with many rivers and streams. However, there are two rivers that stand out for their importance: the Santa Lucía River and the Río de la Plata, which is actually a sea of salt water. On the coastline formed by the Río de la Plata, there are many spa towns and their respective beaches.  Santa Lucia River, meanwhile, forms the northern boundary with Florida, which is separated by a bridge known as the "Paso Pache".

Regions.

Despite being a small department, Canelones has a population of over 500,000 inhabitants and one of the highest densities in the country with 114 inhabitants per square kilometer.  The department is divided into approx. 20 sections. Within these, there are significant populations centers, some of which have the status of municipality, others are part of recently formed cities by decree, and then there are also those that do not have enough inhabitants and are therefore often considered simple population entities with no mayor or government, remaining under the direct jurisdiction of the Municipality of Canelones (in Spanish, "Intendencia Municipal Canelones" or "Comuna Canaria"), which is based in the departmental capital, Canelones.

History.

Canelones was one of the nine original departments created in 1830. Over the years its boundaries have changed little.

Economy.

Agriculture is one of the principal contributors to the economy of Canelones. The cultivation of grapevines is widespread, and the area is a major contributor to Uruguay's burgeoning wine industry. In addition cereal crops, principally maize are produced, as are a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Tourism, in the eastern coastal area, is also a major source of income for the department, and has enabled the development of important urban centres, such as Atlántida.

Population and Demographics.

At the 2011 census, Canelones Department had a population of 520,187 (253,124 male and 267,063 female) and 222,193 (+44.25% than in 2004 (153,931)) households. The average household size was 2.3 persons.  Demographic data for Canelones Department in 2010: "2010 Data Source:"  According to the 2011 census, Canelones department had a rural population of 48,219 (9,3%).

Government.

The executive power is exercised by the Intendencia Departamental de Canelones. The Intendant is elected every five years with the possibility of reelection. The legislative power is exercised by the Junta Departamental.  On 15 March 2010, by the Act of Ley No 18.653, the following Municipalities were formed in the Canelones Department:  "Source: Intendencia Municipal de Canelones" <nowiki>*</nowiki> Stated as 2004 estimates. <nowiki>**</nowiki> "Source: El Observador (2010)"

The Departamento de Canelones (; ), with an area of and 518,154 inhabitants, is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones.

Le département de Canelones est situé dans le sud de l'Uruguay. Il est actuellement dirigé par Marcos Carámbula (Front large).


History.

The origin of the name Velas has never been clarified by historians, although it may refer to the number of sailing ships that congregated in the municipality (""velas"" is Portuguese for sails), but may also refer to the ""sails"" of the windmills that populated the municipality during early settlement. There may also been confusing in the similarity between "velas", the word "velhas" (which means ""old"" in Portuguese) or ""belas"" (which means ""beautiful"", in the same language). Another reference is to the Portuguese term ""vilar"", which means vigilant, and may have been used to situation in the Canal, where residents were ever-vigilant for volcanic eruptions and/or seismic events.  The village of Velas is one of the oldest settled communities on the island, and has been traced back to the testimony of Infante D. Henrique, who referred to the 1460 when the community congregated around their church to the evocation of São Jorge. Its administrative status was elaborated in 1500, when it became the municipal authority and main village in the western part of the island (Topo being the first municipality). It was in 1507 that Velas could be identified on a map of the island of São Jorge as village. Similarly, the localities of Santo António (Norte Grande), and in 1559 Manadas were first recognized as a major settlements in the municipality; both centers would become religious parishes in 1543 and 1568 respectively. It was also in 1568, that Rosais would be recognized as a parish.  On the evening of April 28, 1580 (and during the following day), the ground would begin a series of about 80 earthquakes, that would cease abruptly. Nevertheless, on May 1 the tremors would return, followed by a volcanic explosion in the area of Queimada and later in the heights of Ribeira do Nabo, two kilometers east of the initial explosion. Volcanic lava was emitted along the Ribeira do Almeida and in Santo Amaro, and there was record of a pyroclastic flow that was responsible for the deaths of at least 10 people. This volcanic eruption lasted four months, and was responsible for many lava flows that travelled to the sea, and ash that fell as far as Terceira. During those months, 4000 cattle died due to gases and the lack of grazing lands, owing to the ash. Eight-years later, several floods would be responsible for the damage to many homes, while in 1593 agricultural production would fall, caused by a bad harvest.  On December 21, 1641, the community of Velas was also the center of an up-well in ocean that "'"clawed itself from the sea with such luck that it dominated Monte dos Fachos, with three tides""; this mini-tsunami, although never called this in the literature, caused destruction in the village, injuring 50 people and dragging personal items into the sea.  By 1570, Velas had 1000 inhabitants, and later 2000 by the end of the 17th century. In 1822, there were 4200 residents in this municipality, but slowly these numbers diminished with several phases of emigration.  Piracy had always been a problem in the canal that separated the islands of the central group. Consequently, forts, such as the Fort of Santa Cruz in Velas (1629), another fort in 1641 (later expanded in 1644) and the Fort of Nossa Senhora da Conceição were constructed to impede attacks. In 1647, the residents of the municipality also constructed a lookout in the parish of Manadas to watch for pirates, as well as to intimidate them: the erected a gallows on the site to ward-off potential attackers. On September 18, 1708 a naval squadron, commanded by the French corsair René Duguay-Trouin, that included eight carracks and three other heavily armed ships attacked the town of Velas, after being unable to enter the port. The first direct attack on the villagers was repelled by men under the command of Sergeant-major Amaro Teixeira de Sousa, who was able to thwart a landing on September 19. But, the next day a new attempt was made, wherein one group (that included six boats) was directed at the "doors to the city", while a larger group (that included ten boats) was sent to the Morro das Velas (in the western corner of the village). This second group disembarked near Arco a contingent of 500 men, while killing local residents. The French privateers remained in the village for five days, sacking the churches and main houses. Following this encounter, the residents constructed the Fort of Nossa Senhora do Pilar, also referred to as Castelo da Eira.  In 1647, the parish of Urzelina separated from the parish of Manadas, owing to the existence of its natural port, which was important for the period of the "orange cycle", as well as off-shipment port for Verdelho and Terrenatez wines. Being a new focus of piracy, the citizens of Manadas constructed a gallows on a lookout to "dissuade" pirates. These improvements did not help during that year's earthquake in neighboring Terceira: as a result of the destruction both islands were affected by a period of famine, that was only alleviated through municipal supports.  Between April 23, 1659 and its consecration in February 1675, the Church of São Jorge undertook major renovations, initiated by Father Baltazar Dias Teixeira, under the authority of King D. Afonso VI of Portugal. In order to pay for this re-construction, which would replace a primitive chapel of 1460, the town council initiated an annual tax in 1660, and the actual building began in 1664. The completion of the temple, and its consecreation would be presided over by the Bishop of Angra do Heroísmo, D. Lourenço de Castro.  While the taxes imposed on the population were likely an unintended necessity, the famine of 1678, caused by the failure of the cereal crop would lead to minor conflicts between the councils of Pico and São Jorge. Similarly, the Taro Revolt, which started on July 12, 1694 would create internal divisions and tensions between the peasant and administrative classes on the island.  In 1698, the locality of Santo Amaro was elevated to parish status.  During the period of 1713 and 1714 the communities of Velas were affected by both a bad agricultural year and chaotic weather patterns. Famine and disease pursisted after a tropical cyclone in late summer (September 25, 1713), which caused ""the loss of supplies that caused the deaths of many people from famine"". Later, on December 11, 1713, heavy rains in the areas of Urzelina and Rosais caused the destruction of 27 homes; the Ribeira do Almeida (which ran between the village and Queimada) was so heavily inundated with debris that it allowed residents to walk across the field, which was a sheltered bay in other years. A similar disaster was repeated in December 1732, when flooding caused the deaths of five residents and affected the communities of Urzelina, Figueiras, Serroa and Velas. But, in 1755, at the same time that the Lisbon earthquake affected the Portuguese capital, a tsunami reached the southern coasts of the islands of the Azores. The southern ports and communities of Velas attacked by successive waves, destroying personal possessions and homes. Two years later, the Mandado de Deus ("The Sent of God") resulted in landslides, destruction of homes and many deaths. The earthquake was known for damaging the Church of Santa Bárbara in Manadas, specifically (in 1770 it was declared a National Monument by royal decree of King D. Sebastião, since it was constructed in 1485).  The latter part of the 18th century, in addition to the reconstruction of many of the older temples (caused by the 1757 earthquake), was a period of many public works. In Manadas, the cornerstone for chapel of Santa Rita de Cássia was laid in 1757, while in 1762 the Church of Nossa Senhora dos Neves over the older 17th-century chapel was constructed.

Geography.

Physical geography.

The municipality of Velas occupies half the island of São Jorge, from the northwest coast to the interior around Pico Gordo. It is coincident with the Western regional geomorphological zone from Ponta dos Rosais until approximately the area of Ribeira Seca, and characterized by a cascade of escoria cones and axial deposits that extend along the plateau, formed from fissural volcanism that originates in faults extending from the center of the island which run parallel along a north-northwest to south-southeast axis. A secondary range of faults also extend slightly to the area around the town of Velas. The progress of fissural volcanism runs along these accesses, and has resulted in volcanic features that are younger than the rest of the island; two volcanic complexes have their origin in Velas: the Volcanic Complex of Rosais (which is less than 10 million years in age) and the Volcanic Complex of Manadas (the older system which is between 10 and 600 million years in age). This has resulted in vistas that are exemplified by high coastal cliffs and central plateau dotted by several spatter cones along the center, as well as fajãs (geological debris fields or coastal deltas). The largest "fajã", which extends from the geological cones of Morro de Lemos and Morre Grande to the Bay of Velas, is occupied by the principal population center, the town of Velas.

Human geography.

Typically, the municipality is circled by the western branch of the Regional E.R.1-1a roadway that connects several of the main settled areas on this side of the island: in addition to the urbanized are of Velas, the western plateau is interrupted by the communities of São Pedro, Ribeirinho, Canadinha Nova, Arrifana, Rosais, Loural, Santo António, Norte Grande, Outeiro, Ribeira da Areia, Ladeiras, Manadas, Urzelina, Biscoitos, Boa Hora, Morgadias and Santo Amaro. The extreme coastal communities are relatively detached from the rest of these settlements, and include Fajã da Ribeira Areia, Fajá do Ouvidor (the only fajã with road access), Fajã de Além, Fajã Rasa, Fajã do Centelo, Fajã do João Dias and Fajã das Almas. Administratively, the municipality of Velas encompasses six civil parishes (or "freguesias") that operate day-to-day functions, while Velas handles municipal services such as development, water, electricity, public administration, security and civil institutions. The six parishes of the municipality are:

Velas () is a municipality in the São Jorge Island, in the Portuguese autonomous region of Azores. The municipality encompasses the western portion of the island, with its municipal seat in the town of Velas on the south coast, and is divided into six parishes. The population in 2011 was 5,398, in an area of 117.38 km2.

Velas est une commune des îles des Açores. La commune comptait, en 2011, 5 398 personnes, pour une densité de population de 45 hab./km et une superficie de 15,18 km. La commune fait partie de l'île de São Jorge, dont elle occupe la partie occidentale. C'est le port principal de l'île. Comme pour d'autre ports en eaux profondes des Açores (Horta, Angra do Heroísmo), il s'abrite au pied d'un ancien cône volcanique.


History.

At first, the stadium did not have lights for night matches; these were not installed until 1957. There was room for 14,000 spectators, but there were only 1,200 seats. When FC Nantes was promoted to Ligue 1, the stadium was renovated and enlarged for 25,000 spectators. In May 1965, it was renamed Marcel-Saupin, after the recently deceased president and founding member of FC Nantes, despite his links to collaborators during World War II. The unfavourable location of the stadium, wedged between the Loire and the urban centre, limited its expansion to 29,500 spectators in the 1970s, despite the increasing popularity of the club.  For more than twenty years, "Saupin" was one of the legendary stadiums of French football, following the success of FC Nantes. From the fireworks of Philippe Gondet and Jacky Simon to the championship matches between Nantes and AS Saint-Etienne, and tough matches with old Atlantic rivals Girondins de Bordeaux, it was there the "Canaries" wrote the most glorious chapters of their history with six French championship titles, their first Coupe de France, and a European semi-final in 1980. The French national team also played there many times in the early 1970s before their resurgence in popularly forced them to play most of their matches at the Parc des Princes in Paris.  After a final title in 1983, FC Nantes said goodbye to Saupin on April 28, 1984, after which they moved to Beaujoire, a modern stadium constructed for the 1984 European championship, hosted by France. Saupin became the stadium of the Nantes reserve team. As part of an urban renewal project led by the Parisian architect Philippe Gazeau, the stadium was largely demolished in August 2006. Only the north stands, which are now named after Oscar Muller, and the field were preserved so that the reserve team would still be able to play there. The rest of the site houses the Maison des sciences de l'homme and the Institut d'études advancées of the University of Nantes, a hotel-residence, and corporate offices.  On 10 October 2009, Nantes hosted FC Blois in a CFA2 match, the first game in the new Stade Marcel-Saupin. Nantes defeated Blois 1-0 in front of 760 spectators.

Concerts.

In 1984, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Carlos Santana played a festival at the stadium.

The Stade Marcel-Saupin is a sports complex in the city of Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), France. It was opened in 1937 under the name Stade Malakoff, and was used primarily by the rugby union Stade nantais université club, then became the stadium of FC Nantes after World War II until the club moved to the Stade de la Beaujoire in 1984.

Le stade Roi Baudouin (en ), d'abord appelé stade du Centenaire et parfois stade du Jubilé avant 1945 puis stade du Heysel jusqu'en 1993, est un stade multisports belge, souvent désigné comme le « stade national ».


Plot.

Twelve of the city golems, clay creatures forced to obey the written instructions placed inside their heads, decide to create a "king" golem. They fashion a golem from their own clay and place in his head instructions that would fulfill their hopes: "Bring peace to the world", "Treat everyone fairly" and so on. They enroll the help of a priest and dwarf bread baker to write the sacred instructions and bake the clay, respectively; Meshugah, the "king" golem, is initially sent to work in a candle factory.  Around the same time, a cabal of Ankh-Morpork's guild leaders seeks to gradually depose the Patrician, replace him with Nobby Nobbs as the new king and rule the city through him.  To implement this, the cabal orders the golems' newly made king, Meshugah, to make poisoned candles and have them delivered to the palace. Vetinari is successfully poisoned, making him severely ill. Meshugah, however, is "overloaded" by all the different instructions his creators gave him, and goes "mad": he starts overworking and, when he finishes raw materials, he rampages through the city, and goes on to murder the priest and baker who took part in his creation.  At this point the City Watch steps in trying to solve the murders and the poisoning of Lord Vetinari. With the assistance of their new forensics expert dwarf Cheery Littlebottom, Commander Vimes and Captain Carrot slowly unravel the mystery.  Carrot and Dorfl, one of the golems, fight and defeat the golem king at the candlestick factory. Afterwards, Vimes confronts the city's chief heraldry expert, a vampire, who instigated the whole affair. Dorfl arrests him despite tenuous evidence and Vimes burns down all the heraldic record as retribution against the "elite" and "noble" plotters, who had happily and self-righteously sacrificed the lives of several "commoners" in the pursuit of their scheme.  In the end, Vetinari has recovered completely, Dorfl is sworn in as a Watchman, Vimes gets a pay raise, and the Watch House gets a new dartboard. Vetinari reveals to his assistant, Drumknott, that he had known of the plot for some time already. Vimes' rash actions in the pursuit of truth had considerably scared the city elite, which is precisely why Vetinari had let him continue: so that the plotters would know just how much worse off they'd be if Vetinari died.

Reception.

"Publishers Weekly" described the book as "fantasy served with a twist of Monty Python, parody that works by never taking itself too seriously", with "sly puns" and "lively, outrageous characters". "The A.V. Club", conversely, emphasized the book's "intelligent wit and wordplay with a notable lack of punnery", praised Pratchett for the "complexity" of the politics and the "three-dimensional" nature of the characters, and noted that the "sword and sorcery" plot "doesn't insult the reader's intelligence" despite involving "the bumbling City Watch" and "a murderous enchanted statue".  At the "SF Site", Steven H Silver commended Pratchett for presenting "mysteries which can be solved with the clues provided", and stated that although the book does not have "quite as many laugh out loud moments as [previous Discworld novels]", it shows that Pratchett is "a novelist as well as a humorist".  Gideon Kibblewhite reviewed "Feet of Clay" for "Arcane" magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall. Kibblewhite comments that "It's another gem from a master of comic fantasy."

Feet of Clay is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the nineteenth book in the "Discworld" series, published in 1996. The story follows the members of the City Watch, as they attempt to solve murders apparently committed by a golem, as well as the unusual poisoning of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari.

Pieds d'argile est le dix-neuvième livre des "Annales du Disque-monde" de l'écrivain anglais Terry Pratchett. L'œuvre originale fut publiée en 1996 sous le titre "Feet of Clay". La traduction française est de Patrick Couton.


Early years.

Barbour was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, where he was raised as the youngest of three sons of Grace LeFlore (née Johnson) and Jeptha Fowlkes Barbour, Jr. Haley's father, a lawyer, died when Barbour was two years old. Barbour's father was a Circuit Judge who had an inmate, Leon Turner, assist him after Judge Barbour became ill. As governor, Haley later gave Turner, who had helped raise him, a posthumous pardon in the closing days of his administration.  He enrolled at the University of Mississippi School of Law, receiving a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1972.  Subsequently, Barbour joined his father's old law firm in Yazoo City. He was also a law partner of his cousin, William Henry Barbour, Jr., who later became a federal district judge.

Early political career.

Barbour soon became prominent within the Republican party running Gerald Ford's 1976 presidential campaign in the Southeast. He also worked on the campaign of former Texas Governor John Connally, who had become a Republican, for president in 1980. In 1982 Barbour was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate election in Mississippi, but was defeated by longtime incumbent John C. Stennis, a conservative Democrat, 64% to 36%, despite an endorsement by President Ronald Reagan. During the campaign, "The New York Times" reported that a Barbour aide complained about "coons" at a campaign event. Barbour, embarrassed that the comment was overheard by a reporter, told the aide that he would be "reincarnated as a watermelon and placed at the mercy of blacks" if he continued making racist comments.  Barbour later served as a political aide in the Reagan Administration and worked on the 1988 presidential campaign of George H. W. Bush.  Barbour won re-election as governor in 2007. Before being elected governor, Barbour "had a long career on the national stage and has been well-known as a Republican operative since the Reagan years." He worked as a lawyer and lobbyist, was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate and also served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997, during which time the Republicans captured the majorities of both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives for the first time since 1954. On June 24, 2009, Barbour was elected the new chairman of the Republican Governors Association, following the resignation of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford as its leader.

Lobbying career.

Barbour has been described as "one of Washington's all-time mega-lobbyists". He "was a wealthy K Street lobbyist for giant corporations such as RJ Reynolds, Philip Morris, Amgen, Microsoft, United Health, Southern Company, and many others." In 1991, Barbour helped found the lobbying group now known as BGR Group, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm, with Ed Rogers, a lawyer who formerly worked in the George H. W. Bush administration. In 1994, Lanny Griffith (also a former Bush administration appointee) joined the firm.  In 1998, "Fortune" magazine named Barbour Griffith & Rogers as the second-most-powerful lobbying firm in America. In 2001, after the inauguration of George W. Bush, "Fortune" called it the most powerful. The firm "is employed by several foreign countries, as well as oil and cigarette companies". Its role in advocating on behalf of the tobacco industry has been particularly prominent. BGR also "lobbied on behalf of the Embassy of Mexico in 2001 to promote a bill related to Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This provision would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States, through family connections or job skills, without a requirement that they return to their home country for the requisite 3-10 years. This is what's often referred to as 'amnesty.'" "As part of that work, Barbour's firm arranged meetings and briefings with 'Senators, members of Congress and their staffs, as well as Executive Branch Officials in the White House, National Security Council, State Department, and Immigration & Naturalization Service'. Barbour's firm charged Mexico $35,000 a month, plus expenses."  As of 2010, the firm remained one of DC's top 25, but had seen revenues drop both in 2009 and in 2010. As of 2011, Barbour continued to "collect payments from BGR through a blind trust, which was recently valued at $3.3 million".  In early 2014, Barbour and his nephew, Henry Barbour, formed a Super PAC named Mississippi Conservatives, which supported the (successful) reelection campaign of Senator Thad Cochran.

RNC chairman.

In 1993, Barbour became chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). In 1994, during his tenure as RNC chair, Republicans captured both houses of the United States Congress, taking the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. In 1997, Barbour retired from his position as chairman of the RNC.

Governor of Mississippi.

2003 campaign.

After two decades in Washington, D.C., Barbour announced his intention to run for governor of Mississippi in 2003. On August 5, 2003, Barbour won the Republican gubernatorial primary over Canton trial attorney Mitch Tyner. Barbour's campaign manager was his nephew Henry Barbour.  During the campaign, a controversy arose when Barbour chose to speak at the Blackhawk Rally, a fundraiser for the Blackhawk "council school" in Blackhawk, Mississippi. Such "council schools", also referred to in Mississippi lexicon as "academies", were established by the White Citizens' Council movement in reaction to the demands for racial integration by the Civil Rights Movement. The Blackhawk rally was hosted by the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC). A photograph of Barbour with CCC members appeared on the CCC webpage, and some commentators and pundits demanded that Barbour ask for his picture to be removed from the site, but Barbour refused. Barbour stated that "Once you start down the slippery slope of saying, 'That person can't be for me,' then where do you stop?... I don't care who has my picture. My picture's in the public domain." Barbour's Democratic opponent, then-governor Ronnie Musgrove, declined to be critical, stating that he had also attended Blackhawk rallies in the past, and would have done so that year except for a scheduling conflict. Historically, both Democrats and Republicans have participated in Blackhawk rallies.  Barbour defeated incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove in the general election on November 4, 2003, with 53 percent of the vote to Musgrove's 46 percent. Barbour became just the second Republican governor elected in Mississippi since Reconstruction, the first being Kirk Fordice.  Barbour took office in January 2004.

Fiscal matters.

Barbour has been praised for translating his lobbying skills into success at winning over a legislature dominated by Democrats. Barbour has called several special legislative sessions to force an issue.  Writing for "Reason" magazine in February 2011, Damon Root expressed the opinion that Barbour supports farm subsidies, corporate welfare, and eminent domain. When he took office, the state of Mississippi had run a $709 million budget deficit for the 2004 fiscal year. With bipartisan support, and without raising taxes, Barbour implemented a plan called to cut the budget deficit in half. He accomplished this largely by reducing spending on social services, most notably Medicaid; the 2005 budget drastically reduced coverage for 65,000 individuals classified as Poverty-Level Aged and Disabled (PLAD), most of whom qualified for the federal Medicare program, and also significantly limited prescription drug coverage. However, the same budget increased the percentage of Medicaid prescriptions that are for generic drugs. In 2005, the state was budgeted to spend a total of $130 million less on Medicaid than in the previous year. This trend continued in the state budget for the 2006 fiscal year. After a long special session, the legislature approved a budget that featured more social service cuts but also increased educational spending. With tax revenues higher than expected during the 2006 fiscal year, due in large part to increased sales tax revenues in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the state achieved its first balanced budget in years. In the 2008 fiscal year budget, for the first time since its enactment in 1997, the state fully funded the Mississippi Adequate Education Program.  Building on a 2002 tort reform bill passed by his predecessor, Barbour also introduced a new tort reform measure that has been described as one of the strictest in the nation. Barbour rarely made a speech during his gubernatorial campaign without mentioning this subject and was able to convert political support into law, overcoming the resistance of House Democratic leaders, who argued that further legislation would disenfranchise people with legitimate complaints against corporations. Barbour then embarked on a "tort tour" to encourage other states to follow Mississippi's lead. "We've gone from being labeled as a judicial hellhole and the center of jackpot justice to a state that now has model legislation," commented Charlie Ross, the chair of the Mississippi Senate's Judiciary Committee.  The effectiveness of Barbour's tort reform efforts has been questioned. According to conservative journalist Timothy Carney, he "touts job growth down in Mississippi under his governing, and some of that is due to tort reform, but some of it is due to rank favoritism and special-interest deals more akin to Obama than Reagan — for instance, subsidies for a biofuels plant."  Through his entire terms, Barbour's Commissioner of Corrections was Chris Epps, who had been appointed on August 30, 2002 by Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove. Republican governors Barbour and Phil Bryant reappointed Epps on January 13, 2004 and January 11, 2012, respectively. On November 6, 2014, it was revealed by federal prosecutors in the FBI's Operation Mississippi Hustle sting that Epps and a confederate, former Republican state House member Cecil McCrory, had taken bribes from many for-profit prison operators, consultants, vendors and subcontractors for other prisoner services. The amounts Epps personally received were estimated to be at least $1.47 million in bribes for steering what Assistant US Attorney LaMarca estimated was $800 million in contracts between 2006 and 2014. Epps cooperated with the prosecution and wore a wire for a substantial amount of time before their indictments were made public. Before federal Judge Henry Travillion Wingate pronounced his sentence in July 2017, Epps asked forgiveness of the many he had harmed. He said, "It comes back to greed. I made some stupid mistakes I will regret for the rest of my life." Judge Wingate characterized Epps' conduct as, "staggering." He continued, "Mississippi is still in shock. It was an act of betrayal. He has bruised the image of Mississippi and given joy to many of the inmates he’s overseen who can now say the head of the state prison system was just as corrupt as any of them." He sentenced Epps to over 19 years in federal prison. On February 8, 2017, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, announced he had filed civil cases against 15 corporations and individuals who had engaged in contracts with the MDOC and Epps, seeking damages and punitive damages. He stated, "The state of Mississippi has been defrauded through a pattern of bribery, kickbacks, misrepresentations, fraud, concealment, money laundering and other wrongful conduct." He continued, "These individuals and corporations that benefited by stealing from taxpayers must not only pay the state's losses, but state law requires that they must also forfeit and return the entire amount of the contracts paid by the state. We are also seeking punitive damages to punish these conspirators and to deter those who might consider giving or receiving kickbacks in the future." Defendants in the bribery cases included Management & Training Corporation; The GEO Group, Inc.; Cornell Companies, Inc.; Wexford Health Sources, Inc.; Global Tel*Link Corporation; Health Assurance, LLC; Keefe Commissary Network, LLC of St. Louis; Sentinel Offender Services, L.L.C.; AJA Management & Technical Services, Inc., and the Branan Medical Corporation; On May 18, 2017, Hood announced that the state had quickly settled the first suit for two million dollars. The defendant was Alere Incorporated, which had purchased the Branan Medical Corporation. Ten lawsuits in bribery schemes remained pending. Those have accused at least 10 individuals and 11 out-of-state corporations of using so-called "consultants" to gain more than $800 million in Mississippi prison contracts. On January 24, 2019, Hood announced his actions had recovered $27 million from those vendors against which he had filed suits. Management and Training Corporation paid $5.2 million. GEO Group paid $4.6 million, with the named defendant being Cornell Companies, which had been merged with GEO in 2010. Wexford Health Sources paid $4 million. Keefe Commissary Network paid $3.1 million. $3.1 million was paid by C.N.W. Construction Company. $750,000 was paid by CGL Facility Management, which provides maintenance services. $32,188 was received from AdminPros LLC, a Medicaid billing service. Insurance agent Guy E. "Butch" Evans paid $100,000.

Hurricane Katrina response.

The evacuation order for Hurricane Katrina was issued by local officials more than 24 hours before it hit, and Mississippi activated 750 National Guard troops as of August 29, the day of the hurricane.  On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi's coast, killing 231 people, devastating the state's $2.7 billion-a-year casino industry and leaving tens of thousands homeless. (see Effect of Hurricane Katrina on Mississippi). Barbour's response was characterized by a concerted effort at evacuation, tough-minded talk on looters and an unwillingness to blame the federal government. His response was likened, favorably, to that of Rudy Giuliani in the wake of the September 11 attacks.  Barbour credited the countless government workers who helped southern Mississippi to cope with the hurricane. Barbour was praised by the coast's citizens as a strong leader who can communicate calmly to the public, and provide "a central decision-making point for when things get balled up or go sideways, which they do", as Barbour says.  While the reconstruction process does not dictate how localities should rebuild, Barbour has touted New Urbanist principles in constructing more compact communities. "They have the chance to build some things very differently," he says. "The goal is to build the coast back like it can be, rather than simply like it was."  Barbour has been accused by Bloomberg News of personally profiting from Hurricane Katrina recovery. Barbour is an owner of the parent company of lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers Inc., and he receives a pension and profit-sharing plan benefits from it. The lobbying firm has lobbied the state to give recovery contracts to its clients. Some of the proceeds of the firm's lobbying activities are deposited into Barbour's investment account. According to Barbour's attorney, a blind trust executed in 2004 prevents Barbour knowing the composition of his investments in order to eliminate any conflicts of interest.

Tobacco matters.

Barbour's taxation policies have come under scrutiny. The "Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids" insinuated that Barbour's lobbying-era affinity with the tobacco industry may also explain his 2006 proposal to dismantle Mississippi's controversial youth-tobacco-prevention program, called The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, although the political motives of this group's leadership has been called into question by Barbour supporters.  Barbour has also received criticism from some Mississippi Democrats for his refusal to approve a bill to increase the cigarette tax and decrease the grocery tax passed by the Mississippi House of Representatives during his first term as governor. Mississippi currently has the third-lowest cigarette tax and the highest grocery tax—while being the poorest state in the country. He stated that the lack of revenue generated after the tax swap would quite possibly result in bankrupting the state government, which was already fragile due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. The House of Representatives could produce no figures to dispute this assertion. Also, in his successful 2004 campaign, Barbour ran on the platform that he would veto any tax increase.  In May 2009, Barbour followed the State Tax Commission's recommendation and signed into law the state's first increase since 1985, from 18 cents to 68 cents per pack. The tax is estimated to generate more than $113 million for the year that begins July 1, 2009.

2007 re-election.

Barbour announced on February 8, 2007, that he would seek a second term as Governor of Mississippi. Barbour announced the beginning of his re-election campaign at a series of meetings across the state on February 12, 2007. During his campaign, Barbour signed the Americans for Tax Reform "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" and vowed not to institute any new taxes or raise any existing ones.  Barbour defeated Frederick Jones in the Republican primary on August 7 and Democrat John Arthur Eaves, Jr. in the November general election.

Race and integration.

Barbour has faced considerable "in-state criticism for his approach to racial issues". Mississippi state Representative Willie Perkins has "compared Barbour to the southern Democrats who preceded him", saying: "As far as I'm concerned, he has never done anything as a governor or a citizen to distinguish himself from the old Democrats who fought tooth and nail to preserve segregation."  In 2006, he declined to posthumously pardon Clyde Kennard, an African-American civil rights pioneer, after evidence was presented that Kennard had been falsely convicted of burglary in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1960. Instead, Barbour designated a Clyde Kennard Day, calling for remembrance of Kennard's "determination, the injustices he suffered, and his significant role in the history of the civil rights movement in Mississippi". Barbour subsequently joined in a petition for a court rehearing of the case that resulted in the original conviction being thrown out.  Barbour proved instrumental in winning state legislative support for the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Legislation to fund a state museum had been introduced every year since 2000, but died for various reasons. In November 2006, Barbour proposed creating a state commission to develop plans for the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. In his "State of the State" address on January 16, 2007, Barbour said the museum was "overdue, and it needs doing", The proposal won legislative approval, and a site for the museum was selected in March 2008. The project then stalled for three years, however, with museum backers listing lack of direction from the governor's office and Barbour's refusal to spend $500,000 in museum planning funds as part of the reason why. Barbour also declined to name a museum commission to oversee the final push for funding and construction. Barbour announced in late 2010 that he would run for president of the United States. Then in an interview with "The Weekly Standard" neoconservative newsmagazine, Barbour appeared to minimize the oppressiveness of racial intolerance in Mississippi when he characterized the White Citizens' Council in his hometown of Yazoo City as merely "an organization of town leaders" that kept more radical anti-integrationist elements (like the Ku Klux Klan) at bay. In what many political observers felt was an attempt to disassociate himself from Mississippi's racially intolerant past as well as to dampen the criticism over his remarks, Barbour again declared his complete support for construction of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The museum secured $20 million in funding from the Mississippi Legislature in April 2011 after Barbour personally testified in favor of its funding.  During an April 11, 2010, appearance on CNN, host Candy Crowley asked if it had been insensitive for Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell to omit mentioning slavery in a proposed recognition of Confederate History Month. Barbour replied, "To me, it's a sort of feeling that it's a nit, that it is not significant, that it's not a—it's trying to make a big deal out of something doesn't amount to diddly." Barbour continued, "I don't know what you would say about slavery... but anybody that thinks that you have to explain to people that slavery is a bad thing, I think that goes without saying."  In December 2010, Barbour was interviewed by "The Weekly Standard " magazine. Asked about coming of age in Yazoo City during the civil rights era, he told the interviewer regarding growing up there, "I just don't remember it as being that bad." Barbour then credited the White Citizens' Council for keeping the KKK out of Yazoo City and ensuring the peaceful integration of its schools. Barbour dismissed comparisons between the White Citizens' Councils and the KKK, and referred to the Councils as "an organization of town leaders". Barbour continued in his defense of the Councils, saying, "In Yazoo City they passed a resolution that said anybody who started a chapter of the Klan would get their ass run out of town. If you had a job, you'd lose it. If you had a store, they'd see nobody shopped there. We didn't have a problem with the Klan in Yazoo City." Barbour's statement did not address the role of the white supremacist group in publicly naming and blacklisting individuals who petitioned for educational integration and how it used political pressure and violence to force African-American residents to move. This led to a considerable outcry in which critics such as Rachel Maddow accused Barbour of whitewashing history. In response to criticism, Barbour issued a statement declaring Citizens' Councils to be "indefensible."  In what was speculated to be an attempt at damage control just days after the interview, Barbour suspended the prison sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott, two African American women who each received two life sentences resulting from a 1993 mugging in which the two women allegedly conspired to steal what amounted to $11. Barbour has denied that there was any connection between the suspension of the Scott sisters' prison sentence and the controversy surrounding his "Weekly Standard" interview. Jamie Scott suffered from kidney failure while in prison, and requires a donated organ, which her sister Gladys had volunteered to provide. Barbour's decision to release the Scott sisters, however, was contingent upon her consent for the promised organ donation by Gladys Scott, which critics argued amounted to coercion and raises questions of medical ethics. The sisters were released in 2011, but by 2018 the transplant had not occurred because of other medical conditions suffered by the intended recipient.

Other second term activities.

In September 2008, some Democrats accused Barbour of trying to influence the outcome of the 2008 Senate race by placing the candidates at the bottom of the ballot. Since Mississippi electoral law mandates the placing of federal elections at the top of the ballot, Barbour was ordered by a circuit court to comply with the ballot laws.  In April 2009, Barbour joined a conservative policy group to discuss Republican policies in town hall meetings. The group also includes former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and Senator John McCain.  On June 24, 2009, Barbour assumed the chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association, succeeding South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. On October 29, 2009, Barbour endorsed Texas Governor Rick Perry for the Texas Republican gubernatorial nomination.  On March 3, 2010, Barbour and his wife participated in events with First Lady Michelle Obama, promoting the Let's Move! anti-obesity campaign.  In March 2011, Barbour drew criticism for his role in allowing the release of a convicted killer eight years into a 20-year sentence. In prior years, Barbour had used his powers as governor to release five other killers.

2012 pardons.

On his last day as governor in 2012, Barbour granted pardons, clemency, or early release to 203 people convicted of crimes, including murder, rape and armed robbery. Barbour's actions included 19 people convicted of murder. Pardons by governors are not uncommon; the issue in this case is the number of pardons compared to former governors. Previous Governor Ronnie Musgrove, issued only one pardon, for a man convicted of marijuana possession; Governor Kirk Fordice, who preceded Musgrove, issued only two full pardons for convicted murderers.  Harry Bostick, whom Barbour pardoned, had been convicted of DUI three times, and at the time of his pardon was being held for (and subsequently pleaded guilty to) the DUI killing of Charity Smith.  On January 11, a Mississippi judge temporarily blocked the release of 21 inmates who had been given pardons or medical release. Attorney General Jim Hood argued the Mississippi Constitution says any inmate seeking a pardon must publish their intentions at least 30 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper in or near the county where the person was convicted. Hood also criticized Barbour for failing to notify or speak with the families of victims before granting the pardons. He responded to criticism of his actions, saying that 90% of those involved had already been released from prison, many years earlier; he acted in order to allow them to find employment, get professional licenses, vote and hunt. He also stated that in 90% of the cases his decision was based on recommendations of the parole board.  An article in "The New York Times" said that a disproportionate number of pardons were granted to applicants from wealthy families and those with personal or political connections, a situation also observed in the pardon systems of other states.  On March 8, 2012, the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the pardons, which had been challenged based on the argument that many of them did not follow a requirement in the state constitution to publish notices in newspapers for 30 days. The Court wrote "we are compelled to hold that – in each of the cases before us – it fell to the governor alone to decide whether the Constitution's publication requirement was met." The court also said it could not overturn the pardons because of the constitution's separation of powers of the different branches of government.

Possible 2012 presidential campaign.

After he visited Iowa in 2009, there was speculation that Barbour might run for the Republican nomination for U.S. President in 2012. An advisor of Barbour stated, "When he surveys what most Republicans consider to be a weak field, he sees no reason he couldn't easily beat them. He's a better strategist and fundraiser than any other candidate currently considering running—and just as good on television and in debates." While considering a potential run, Barbour stated forthrightly in February 2011, "I'm a lobbyist", and said that his K Street past prepared him for the job.  Many commentators were skeptical of Barbour's chances in 2012. David Broder of "The Washington Post" wrote that "several others would have to stumble before he could get a serious consideration." Statistician Nate Silver argued that "Barbour may have difficulty appealing to voters outside the South, especially after his recent comments about the civil rights era." "Salon.com" noted that "Barbour has some serious baggage... he's lobbied on behalf of the Mexican government for amnesty. There's also the issue of his freighted racial history, and whatever pragmatic concerns it raises for November-minded Republicans." Timothy Carney, reflecting on Barbour's history as a lobbyist, concluded: "If the Tea Party still has some wind, it's hard to see how Barbour gets anywhere near the GOP nomination." On April 25, 2011, Barbour announced that he would not run for president in 2012.

Post-gubernatorial career.

After leaving office as governor, Barbour joined Butler Snow, a Jackson, Mississippi law firm (together with his former Chief of Staff Paul Hurst); re-joined lobbying firm BGR Group; and became a client of speakers' bureau Leading Authorities. At a "Christian Science Monitor" breakfast in June 2012, Barbour suggested that the Republican Party should take a more moderate approach to certain elements of its platform. He suggested barring corporations and unions from making direct campaign contributions, expressed satisfaction with Mitt Romney's moderate brand of Republicanism, and suggested that the party should soften its stance on illegal immigration and reach out to Latino voters: "We need a secure border for lots of reasons, and then we need to recognize that we're not going to deport 12 million people and we shouldn't."  During a private Crossroads fundraiser in Tampa in 2012, Barbour said, of the planned keynote address by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at the 2012 Republican National Convention, "I would love for Christie to put a hot poker to Obama's butt..." He was criticized by some online commentators for the alleged racism of these remarks. He later apologized for his statement.  Barbour was stopped with a loaded handgun in a briefcase by TSA security at the Medgar Evers airport in Jackson on January 2, 2018 as he was boarding a flight for Washington, D.C.; he was briefly detained by airport police and said he would pay the associated fine. The governor said he forgot he had the gun there after an employee had removed it from his car days before.

Public image.

Barbour maintained a positive approval rating in his state during periods when he was governor. A July 2010 Rasmussen Reports poll found that Barbour had a 70% approval rating in Mississippi.

Awards and honors.

In 2009, Barbour was awarded the Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency headquarters building in Pearl, MS was named in his honor on January 5, 2012.  On October 18, 2012, The Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi was named in his honor.

Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd Governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 1997.

Haley Reeves Barbour, né le, est un avocat et le gouverneur républicain de l'État américain du Mississippi de janvier 2004 à janvier 2012


History.

On 23 November 1702, governor of New France Louis-Hector de Callière gave a seigneury to Philippe de Vaudreuil, who was governor of Montreal at the time. Rigaud de Vaudreuil later became governor of New France.  In 1725, the region had only 38 inhabitants. About 1742 people began to be interested in the region and Vaudreuil's population rose. 381 people lived in Vaudreuil in 1765. With the creation of the Grand Trunk Railway, people began to live in Dorion, which was called Vaudreuil Station. Dorion became a village in 1891.  Dorion was bisected by Autoroute 20 which links Downtown Montreal and Toronto via Highway 401 in Ontario. The Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway links between Toronto and Montreal are located in Dorion. Housing developments began in the 1950s and continued well into the 1970s. Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, housing began sprouting north and east of Dorion.  Vaudreuil and Dorion merged in 1994, becoming the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion.

Geography.

Vaudreuil-Dorion is located on the south shores of the Lake of Two Mountains at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, just off the western edge of Île Perrot. The city consists of two non-contiguous parts: its eastern part is the larger main area along Lake of Two Mountains where the population centres of Vaudreuil and Dorion are located; the western portion is a smaller rural area that borders Rigaud, and is separated from the eastern portion by Saint-Lazare and Hudson.

Transportation.

The city is the point of intersection for two of Canada's busiest highways: Autoroute 40/Autoroute 30/Autoroute 20 (connecting the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor) and Highway 417 connects to Ottawa and Arnprior, Autoroute 20 and Highway 401 connects Toronto to Montreal and Autoroute 30 is Montreal's Southern Bypass.  Local bus service is operated by Exo La Presqu'Île, connecting to the Vaudreuil and Dorion stations on the Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter rail line.

Media.

CJVD-FM operates studios in Vaudreuil-Dorion, broadcasting at 100.1 FM in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the West Island and Valleyfield. On the air since 2008, CJVD airs a French and English hits format spanning from the 1960s to 1995.

Education.

Commission scolaire des Trois-Lacs operates Francophone public schools:  Lester B. Pearson School Board operates Anglophone public schools:

Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. Ranked in 2017 as the 15th/100 best cities to raise children in Canada.

Vaudreuil-Dorion est une ville québécoise située dans la MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges dans la région de la Montérégie. Elle est née de la fusion des anciennes villes de Vaudreuil et Dorion le. Ses habitants sont les "Vaudreuillois-Dorionnais". Le recensement de 2011 y dénombre.


Early years.

Born in Baden-Baden, (Germany), he was the only child of Albert I, Prince of Monaco (1848–1922), and Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton (1850–1922). His mother was a daughter of William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton, and his wife, Princess Marie Amelie of Baden.  Within a year of his parents' marriage Louis was born, but his mother, a strong-willed 19-year-old, disliked Monaco and was unhappy with her husband. Shortly thereafter, she left the country permanently, and the princely couple's marriage was annulled in 1880. Louis was raised in Germany by his mother and stepfather, Count (later Prince) Tassilo Festetics von Tolna, along with his eldest half-sister, Maria-Mathilde (later grandmother of Princess Ira von Fürstenberg), and did not see his father until age 11 when he was obliged to return to Monaco to be trained for his future princely duties.  Louis' father, Prince Albert I, was a dominating personality who had made Monaco a center of cultural activity and whose intellectual achievements were recognized around the world. Unhappy to be living with his cold and distant father, Louis went to France as soon as he was old enough to enroll in Saint-Cyr, the French national military college. Four years later, after graduating, he was attached to the French Foreign Legion before serving with a regiment of Chasseurs d' Afrique (African Light Horse) in Algeria.  While stationed in Algeria, he met Marie Juliette Louvet (1867–1930), a cabaret singer. Juliette was already the mother of two children, Georges and Marguerite, by her former husband, French "girlie" photographer Achille Delmaet. Reportedly, Prince Louis fell deeply in love but, because of her ignominious station in life, his father would not permit the marriage. It has been asserted that Louis ignored his father and married Juliette in 1897: there is, however, no evidence for this allegation. Their illegitimate daughter, Charlotte Louise Juliette, was born on 30 September 1898 in Constantine, Algeria. There is no mention of Marie Juliette Louvet in the authorized biography of her grandson, Prince Rainier III, who is Monegasque by nationality but whose ancestors include people of French, Mexican, Italian, German, Scottish and English nationality.  Louis served in the French Army for four years from 1895 to 1899, reaching the rank of lieutenant. He was awarded the médaille coloniale (Colonial Medal) and the Cross of the Legion of Honor. At the conclusion of his military service he returned to Monaco, leaving behind his mistress and daughter. At the outbreak of World War I, he re-enlisted in the French Army as a volunteer, serving as a staff officer under General Franchet d’Espèrey. Louis was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor and eventually became a Brigadier General.

Solution to succession aspects in 1911–18.

A political crisis loomed for the Prince because without any other heir, the throne of Monaco would pass to his first cousin Wilhelm, the Duke of Urach, a German nobleman who was a son of Prince Albert's aunt, Princess Florestine of Monaco. To ensure this did not happen, in 1911 a law was passed recognizing his illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, as Louis's acknowledged heir, and making her part of the princely family. This law was later held to be invalid under the 1882 statutes. Thus another law was passed in 1918 modifying the statutes to allow the adoption of an heir, with succession rights. Charlotte was formally adopted by Louis in 1919, and became Charlotte Louise Juliette Grimaldi, Princess of Monaco, and Duchess of Valentinois.  Wilhelm, 2nd Duke of Urach, thus placed further back in the line of succession to the throne of Monaco, was chosen as King of Lithuania for a few months in 1918, being known as Mindaugas II. It is thus a moot point whether it would have been possible for him to be the sovereign of two European countries simultaneously, had he in fact succeeded to the throne of Monaco, but he had several sons. In any case he renounced his claim to the principality in 1924, passing it to other French cousins that were also descended from the Grimaldi family, the counts of Chabrillan.  On 17 July 1918, largely because of the von Urach potential claim, France and Monaco signed a brief but far-reaching treaty requiring prior French approval of all future Monégasque princes. Article 2. specified: ""Measures concerning the international relations of the Principality shall always be the subject of prior consultations between the Government of the Principality and the French Government. The same shall apply to measures concerning directly or indirectly the exercise of a regency or succession to the throne, which shall, whether by marriage or adoption or otherwise, pass only to a person who is of French or Monégasque nationality and is approved by the French Government."" Under article 3 Prince Albert agreed ""...for himself and his successors the commitment assumed towards the French Government not to alienate the Principality, in whole or in part, in favour of any Power other than France.""

Reign.

On 26 June 1922, Prince Albert I died in Paris. Louis Grimaldi ascended to the throne as Louis II, Prince of Monaco. While his reign never achieved the grandeur of his father, Louis II left an indelible imprint on the tiny principality. In 1924 the Monaco Football Club was formed and in 1929, the first Grand Prix of Monaco automobile race was held, won by Charles Grover (aka "Williams") driving a Bugatti painted in what would become the famous British racing green color. He collected artefacts belonging to Napoleon I which are now assembled and displayed in the Napoleon Museum attached to the Royal Palace in Monte Carlo.  Particularly in the earlier years of Prince Louis' reign, he acquired the reputation for administrative probity: he obtained the departure of Camille Blanc who had long managed Monte Carlo Casino, about whom there were increasing questions as to his administration of the Casino's affairs.  In 1931, the prestige of Monaco's cultural life received a boost when René Blum was hired to form the ""Ballet de l'Opéra à Monte-Carlo"." Just before the outbreak of World War II in 1939, a modern large football stadium had been built where the Universiade were staged at the newly named "Stade Prince Louis II."  While Prince Louis' sympathies were strongly pro-French, he tried to keep Monaco neutral during World War II but supported the Vichy France government of his old army colleague, Marshal Pétain. Nonetheless, his tiny principality was tormented by domestic conflict partly as a result of Louis' indecisiveness and also because the majority of the population was of Italian descent and they supported the fascist regime of Italy's Benito Mussolini. In 1942, the Italian Army invaded and occupied Monaco. Shortly thereafter, following Mussolini's collapse in Italy, the German army occupied Monaco and began the deportation of the Jewish population. Among them was René Blum, founder of the Opera, who died in Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp. Under Prince Louis' secret orders, the Monaco police, often at great risk to themselves, warned people in advance that the Gestapo was about to arrest them.  However, throughout the War, Prince Louis' vacillation caused an enormous rift with his grandson Rainier, the heir to the throne, who strongly supported the Allies against the Nazis.  For a number of months in 1944, communists participated in the Liberation administration of Monaco.  Following the liberation of Monaco by the Allied forces, the 75-year-old Prince Louis did little for his principality and it began to fall into severe neglect. By 1946, he was spending most of his time in Paris and on 24–27 July of that year, he married in Monaco for the first time. His wife was Ghislaine Dommanget (1900–91), a French film actress and former wife of actor André Brulé. Absent from Monaco during most of the final years of his reign, he and his wife lived at Marchais, the family estate near Paris.

Death and succession, 1949.

Prince Louis II died in 1949 in the Prince's Palace and is buried at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Monte Carlo, Monaco. His widow, Ghislaine, Dowager Princess of Monaco, died on 30 April 1991 in Paris, where she was interred in the Passy Cemetery.  Hereditary Princess Charlotte ceded her succession rights to her son, Rainier, in 1944, at which time he became Hereditary Prince. When Louis died five years later, he was succeeded by his grandson, Prince Rainier III.

Louis II (Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi; 12 July 1870 – 9 May 1949) was Prince of Monaco from 1922 to 1949.

Louis, né le à Baden-Baden (grand-duché de Bade) et mort le à Monaco, est le fils du prince régnant et de la princesse Marie, née Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton. Du fait de la séparation du couple princier, ne fit la connaissance de son fils que dix ans après sa naissance, en 1880, au moment de leur divorce et peu avant le remariage de Lady Mary avec le comte hongrois Tasziló Festetics de Tolna (1850-1933).