title: Royal Artillery Band

text: The 'Bandmaster' in today's British military band is the 'Assistant Conductor' to the Director of Music, and represents him in his absence. Among the performers of the band are the instrumental section leaders, whose job it is, to ensure a cohesive style of playing within their own sections, and where applicable, to be able to play solos. In an orchestra, there is the addition of the Leader (Principal First Violin), who on occasion must be able to direct the orchestra (from the violin), or conduct. An unusual aspect of military bands is that, by necessity, a leader or section leader is selected for being the best exponent on his chosen instrument. The situation arises therefore, on a day-to-day basis, that an ensemble, band, or orchestra, must perform under the command of a musician of any rank, notwithstanding the fact that there may be senior-ranking musicians playing within the sections. The musician in charge is also completely responsible in rehearsal. Such a situation is often difficult to comprehend or accept, even from fellow servicemen. However, it should be remembered, that the musician in charge is representing the Director of Music. Senior-ranking members of the band, although in this case under the command of the lower rank, nevertheless remain at all times in control, in such areas as attitude, discipline, and presentation, leaving artistic control, and interpretation firmly in the hands of the leading musician.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: The Royal Artillery Band is the oldest band in the British Army, but was the last regular army band to be accorded 'state band' status, a status which it lost on 9 February 2014 when both the Royal Regiment and its band vacated Woolwich Barracks. However, the Band had held the status of a state band twice before, during the reigns of King George II/King George III, and Queen Victoria. Notwithstanding, the Royal Artillery Band was often in demand for important state and public duties, and to represent the nation. It was the favourite band of King George IV, the Duchess of Kent (Queen Victoria's mother), Queen Victoria, and Sir Winston Churchill. The number of Regular Army State Bands, was further reduced on 1 September 2014, when The Band of the Life Guards and The Band of The Blues and Royals were joined to form The Band of The Household Cavalry. At the same time the Army Reserve (United Kingdom) Bands of the Honourable Artillery Company and the Royal Yeomanry were both granted State Band status.


title: Royal Artillery Band

text: The tune 'The British Grenadiers' was first adopted for use as a regimental march by the Honourable Artillery Company (the oldest British regiment), during the English Civil War. Although grenades were first launched by artillerymen in 1643, the term 'grenade' was only first documented in 1688. Originally a Dutch song, the melody now known as 'The British Grenadiers' in its more recognizable form known today, was brought to England by King William I of the Netherlands. However, a version of it, titled 'The New Bath' had previously appeared in a '17th Century Dance Book' by Playford. In the Netherlands, it is known as 'De jonge prins van Friesland' ('The Young Friesian Prince') after Prince Johann Willem Friso. In 1716, the march became the regimental quick march of the Royal Artillery, and was known as the 'Royal Artillery Grenadiers March', but was not declared 'official' until 1882. It first appeared in print, as 'The British Grenadiers' in 1740. An example of an eighteenth century fife and drums infantry band may be seen in the film 'Barry Lyndon':


title: Troilus and Cressida

text: In the Greek camp, the great general and king Agamemnon is conversing with his lieutenants and fellow kings. He asks why they seem so glum and downcast for although their seven-year siege of Troy has met little success so far, they should welcome the adversity that the long war represents, since only in difficult times can greatness emerge. Nestor, the oldest of the Greek commanders, cites examples of how heroism emerges from hardship. In response, Ulysses expresses his deep respect for what they have said, but points out that the Greek army is facing a crisis not because of the duration of the war, but because of a breakdown in authority within the Greek camp. Instead of being united, they are divided into factions: Achilles refuses to fight, and instead sits in his tent while his boyfriend Patroclus makes fun of the Greek commanders; others, like Ajax and his foul-mouthed slave Thersites, follow this example, and so the entire army is corrupted. The others agree that this is a great problem, and as they discuss what is to be done, Aeneas appears under a flag of truce, bringing a challenge from Hector. The Trojan prince offers to fight any Greek lord in single combat, with the honour of their respective wives as the issue. The Greeks agree to find a champion and offer Aeneas hospitality. As Aeneas is led away, Ulysses tells Nestor that this challenge is truly directed at Achilles, since only Achilles could match the great Hector in battle. But to have Achilles fight Hector would be dangerous, because if Achilles lost, it would dishearten the entire army. Therefore, Ulysses suggests, they should have Ajax fight Hector instead; even if Ajax loses, they can still claim that Achilles would have won in his place. At the same time, by choosing Ajax as their champion, they will infuriate Achilles and perhaps goad him into rejoining the war, bringing with him all his soldiers. Nestor, impressed with Ulysses's intelligence, agrees to the plan.


title: Troilus and Cressida

text: In Troy, King Priam and his sons debate the wisdom of continuing the war, when they can end it by returning Helen to the Greeks. Hector, supported by his brother Helenus, argues eloquently that while the theft of Helen may have been a brave act, she cannot be worth the great and bloody price they are paying to keep her. When he is done speaking, his sister Cassandra, a prophetess who is considered mad, dashes in and cries that if they do not let Helen go, Troy will burn. When she is gone, Troilus dismisses her warning as ravings, and argues that they must keep Helen for the sake of their honor and Paris supports him. Hector retorts that this is why young men cannot be trusted to make moral decisions, since passion overwhelms their reason. But Troilus says that Helen is more than a woman, she is a theme of honour and renown, and Hector yields and agrees to continue the war. He goes on to report the challenge that has been sent out to the Greeks, and how he hopes it will bring Achilles to the field.


title: Troilus and Cressida

text: Meanwhile, in the Greek encampment, Cressida's father, Calchas, who has betrayed Troy in order to join the Greeks, asks the Greek general to grant him a favor. He asks that they exchange the Trojan commander Antenor, for his daughter, so that he might be reunited with her. Agamemnon agrees, and orders Diomedes to supervise the exchange. On Ulysses's advice, the Greek commanders then file past Achilles's tent, and scorn the proud warrior, ignoring his greetings and making him uneasy. He goes to Ulysses and asks him why he is being scorned, and Ulysses tells him that he is no longer a hero and he will be forgotten quickly. He tells, and suggests that Achilles could restore his fame and honor if he stopped dallying with enemy women and took the field. When Ulysses is gone, Patroclus tells Achilles to follow Ulysses's advice; seeing that his reputation is at stake, Achilles agrees. Thersites comes in and reports that Ajax is now striding about the camp, completely puffed up with his own importance. Patroclus persuades the foul-mouthed slave to talk Ajax into bringing Hector, safely conducted by Agamemnon, to Achilles' tent after their fight the next day, so that Achilles may speak with Hector.


title: Timok Rebellion

text: According to the Radical politician Pera Todorović, at a planning meeting of the Radicals' Executive Committee before the rising, one member suggested killing all bureaucrats. In the words of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, the rebels were motivated by "such vestiges of feudalism as payment in labor and bondage imposed for the nonpayment of debts, as well as an unbearable tax burden, bureaucratic tyranny, and the growing power of commercial and usurious capital." Among their demands were a reduction in taxes, greater local self-government and the maintenance of the militia. On 2 November, peasants across the region refused to hand over their weapons to military units unless they were given modern replacements. It took the reformed Royal Army only a couple of weeks to crush the poorly organised rebellion, which at its height had controlled almost half the country and had threatened the line between Belgrade and Niš. At the start of the rebellion, King Milan I was afraid that the soldiers would not "be willing to fire into the flesh of their own people", but his decision to pay officers double what top bureaucrats earned and to give bonus pay to soldiers who fought the rebels proved his fears ungrounded. The consul of Austria-Hungary in Belgrade noted that "a new page was written in the history of the Serbian people when the army launched its first shell at the rebels."


title: Tiraspol

text: On 17 March 2024, Transnistrian official press released a video allegedly showing a Mil Mi-8 helicopter in poor condition and likely not in use, not having been moved in over 13 years at the moment of the explosion, in a military unit in Tiraspol being attacked and destroyed by a kamikaze drone. No victims were reported. Transnistria claimed the drone had been launched from Ukraine from the direction of Odesa, more precisely from a bridge located 5–6 kilometres (3.1–3.7 miles) from the nearest border crossing between Transnistria and Ukraine. Ukraine immediately denied having anything to do with the incident. On the day of the incident, the Bureau for Reintegration of the Republic of Moldova called it an "attempt to provoke panic and fear in the region". Later, on 25 March, the bureau confirmed the explosion of the helicopter was not caused by a drone attack but by "other factors" and that the video contained "obvious elements of video montage". In the video, the drone disappears shortly before the explosion below the helicopter occurs. Reportedly, explosives placed under the helicopter were detonated remotely instead.


title: Melvin White (American football)

text: White attended University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he graduated with a degree in criminal justice and played four seasons for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team. White started 12 games at cornerback during his redshirt freshman year and recorded 12 tackles and 1 pass breakup in a game against LSU. During his sophomore year, White started 12 games. In a game against Arkansas State, White recovered a fumble that led to a field goal. In a game against Ole Miss, White registered a career-high seven tackles and added a 93-yard fumble return for a touchdown. During his junior season, White started 13 games at safety, finishing third on the team with 8.5 tackles-for-loss (−30 yards) with two interceptions for 101 yards and a touchdown, seven pass breakups and one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. In a game against Nicholls State, White returned a blocked field goal for a 68-yard touchdown, the third longest return touchdown in school history. In a game against Troy, White recorded an 89-yard interception touchdown, also the third longest in school history. During a victory against San Diego State in the New Orleans Bowl, White made 5 tackles and 2 pass breakups. For his efforts, White was given an Honorable mention All-Sun Belt Team. During his senior season, White started 13 games at cornerback and led the team with 10 passes defensed in addition to recording 60 tackles and one forced fumble. In his collegiate career, White compiled 155 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions, 19 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He graduated in December 2012 with a degree in criminal justice.


title: Phan Trọng Chinh

text: In 1964 Chinh commanded the 25th Division operating west and northwest of Saigon. The division guarded Highway 4, the major rice supply route to the Mekong Delta, and protected the roads and towns of Tây Ninh, Hậu Nghĩa and Long An provinces (with a total of fourteen districts). Strong Vietcong forces operated in both Hau Hậu Nghĩa and Long An, close to the capital, but the 25th, although reinforced by four Ranger battalions, appeared unable to come to grips with the local VC, or otherwise interfere with their activities. American advisers at Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) and in the field were puzzled and angry, blaming Chinh's lack of aggressiveness. Unbeknownst to the Americans, however, Nguyễn Cao Kỳ had instructed Chinh to orient the bulk of his unit south as an anticoup force, perhaps as a counter to the neighboring ARVN 5th Division commanded by General Phạm Quốc Thuần, a close friend of Kỳ's rival General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. Kỳ had given him strict orders not to commit any more than one battalion of each regiment to combat at anyone time. Chinh thus had his hands full providing static security for those provinces under his authority and keeping an eye on the political situation in Saigon. Some of his most critical military operations consisted of merely opening the main roads from time to time so that produce could be brought into the capital and supplies and other goods taken out to the towns and military bases within his jurisdiction. Defeating the enemy was not his first priority.: 47–8


title: Phan Trọng Chinh

text: On 9 May 1966 Colonel Cecil F. Hunnicutt became senior adviser to the 25th Division. His immediate superior, Colonel Arndt Mueller, the III Corps deputy senior adviser, ordered him to put some life in the unit and somehow get it moving. At the time, Chinh had delegated control of many of his battalions to the province and district chiefs and had made little effort to supervise their activities. Hunnicutt, later described as a "competent, dynamic officer," pushed Chinh, Chinh's subordinates and his own advisers to greater efforts and the performance of the 25th slowly began to improve." From April to September, relations between Hunnicutt and Chinh were apparently cordial. The American adviser was frank with his counterpart, proposed many operational and personnel changes, and passed on his judgments to Mueller when Chinh failed to act. For example, when Hunnicutt recommended the removal of the Cu Chi district chief for blatant graft and corruption, Chinh unofficially acknowledged the situation but explained that his personal friendship with the accused prevented him from acting. Hunnicutt, however, reported both the case and Chinh's views to Mueller, who promptly informed General Lê Nguyên Khang, the new III Corps commander. Khang took immediate action and relieved the offending officer, severely embarrassing Chinh in the process.: 188


title: Phan Trọng Chinh

text: In August, the relationship between Hunnicutt and Chinh grew steadily worse. Frustrated over the performance of the division, Hunnicutt began to exert more pressure, recommending several of Chinh's major commanders for relief and threatening to withdraw the field advisers from units whose performance failed to improve. Shortly thereafter, Hunnicutt pulled his advisory team from the division's reconnaissance company following several incidents of Vietnamese drunkenness and misbehavior, and he also accused several battalion commanders of avoiding engagements with enemy units and falsifying their operational reports. Hunnicutt informed Chinh that the US could not afford to support operations that were not pursued aggressively and achieved so little. He also believed that Chinh was cognizant of his critical monthly evaluation (SAME) reports, but unaware that MACV routinely passed on much of the information directly to the South Vietnamese Joint General Staff (JGS). Tired of Hunnicutt's constant badgering and humiliated by his complaints, Chinh decided to sever his relationship with him. On 28 September he sent a memorandum to Khang, accusing Hunnicutt of submitting "sneaky reports on his division, threatening to pull advisors from units and of being insulting to the 46th and 50th Regiments." He demanded that the III Corps commander remove Hunnicutt as senior adviser within twenty-four hours. The same day Chinh left his headquarters at Đức Hòa district, a few kilometers west of Saigon; spent two days in the capital; and, upon his return remained in his quarters for several days on the pretext of being ill. Thereafter he avoided Hunnicutt whenever possible.: 189–90


title: Phan Trọng Chinh

text: Upon Hunnicutt's scheduled departure two months later, Chinh made the dispute public through a special "order of the day" to his troops and a slightly more detailed letter to his commanders. Both communications criticized Hunnicutt and those Vietnamese officers in his command who, Chinh felt, had cooperated too closely with their American advisers. Charging that Americans like Hunnicutt had little respect for the Vietnamese and were trying to take over the army by demanding control over all important appointments, Chinh stated that he was currently punishing one subordinate (later identified as the province chief of Long An) because "he only forwards reports to advisors"; "fails to keep his immediate commanders informed"; and, "having first let the means subjugate his mind... has put himself in the hands of the provider of those means" -namely, the Americans. He went on to lecture his subordinates on the need to avoid being subverted by American wealth and power, as well as on the importance of keeping their self-respect and their loyalty to their own superiors. Chinh's accusations were quickly picked up, first by the Vietnamese and then by the American press, causing a sensation in Washington and forcing MACV to take a closer look at the matter. Several days later deputy-COMUSMACV Lieutenant general John A. Heintges flew to Đức Hòa to talk with Chinh. Heintges reported that Chinh appeared contrite and apologetic, worrying about the ruckus he had stirred and blaming irresponsible translators and careless news reporters for misconstruing his words and taking them out of their proper context. Neither Heintges nor Westmoreland believed Chinh's explanation, but felt that his regret was sincere and that Hunnicutt "may have been a little too aggressive in his approach to this supersensitive, complex ridden, apprehensive, unsure, and relatively weak division commander." Heintges considered Chinh's excuse plausible enough for public relations purposes, allowing him to rescind the statements on the pretext that outsiders had misunderstood them. In closing the case, Heintges termed it an isolated incident. Hunnicutt rotated at the end of his normal tour, the recipient of the Legion of Merit for his outstanding performance as senior adviser and Chinh, after publicly recanting his words, now appeared more amicable toward his new adviser.: 190


title: Phan Trọng Chinh

text: In August 1967 JGS Chairman General Cao Văn Viên finally provided Westmoreland with a list of about forty "corrupt, incompetent or old and tired" senior officers that he intended to discharge after the South Vietnamese presidential election scheduled for September. He promised that replacements would be found for Chinh and Thuần and possibly Giai.: 246 Finally, in December, perhaps to appease Westmoreland, Viên decided to "remove" Chinh by promoting him to the post of III Corps deputy commander. His American advisers had given Chinh some credit for his interest in the civil matters of his division tactical area and seemed pleased by his new appointment. According to Komer, Chinh was always "a better pacificer than a Division Commander," and the new post would hopefully keep him out of mischief. The new President Thiệu was equally pleased to be able to replace Chinh, an old rival, with a supporter, General Nguyen Xuan Thinh. Westmoreland, noting that Thinh had been relieved as commander of the 22nd Infantry Division in 1965 because of his poor performance, was not enthusiastic about the choice, but he could only hope that he would do better than his predecessor.: 247


title: Climate change in Alaska

text: At present, the southeast Alaskan temperate rainforest is strongly dominated by old growth stands.: 49 The vegetation is strongly represented by a series of conifers; Sitka spruce, western hemlock, mountain hemlock, amabilis fir, shore pine, western red cedar, and Alaska yellow cedar. : 57 This forest, unlike its neighboring regions to the north and south, is completely safe from fires. Fire is virtually nonexistent in the southeast region due to the moist and cool climate. Small scale windthrow is the main disturbance that affects the rain forest in this region. Temperatures and precipitation in the southeast region of Alaska for the year of 2011 have matched what a typical temperate rainforest needs to be defined as one by DellaSala. Juneau, Alaska, received 66.40 inches of precipitation and averaged 40.6 °F during 2011. Snowfall, as will be discussed in further detail later, is an important player for the temperate rainforest in this region, and the Juneau area received 115.9 inches which, converted to its liquid equivalent is 11.59 inches. The weather characteristics of the southeast region match up very well with what a temperate rainforest needs as defined by DellaSala.


title: Climate change in Alaska

text: Windstorms are the most relevant disturbance regime that impacts the southeast temperate rainforests. Stand-replacing wind storms happen in 100-year intervals and wind throw as a main disturbance will continue to be one of the main disturbances in the coming years. Wind protected areas that support old growth stands will become more prone to wind throw events. Stem decay and other disease agents have smaller impacts on these stands and are to be considered a finer scale and exclusive disturbance. With rising temperatures comes longer growing-season, and is predicted to increase growth rates of these fungi. Combined wind-throw events and fungi disturbances generate concern for persistence of old growth stands throughout the region. Decreasing old growth stands paves the way for an increase of early successional species taking over a greater proportion of area. One species of tree, yellow-cedar, has already been observably impacted by the changing climate. The main disturbance to yellow-cedar in the northern part of the southeast region is lack or depletion of snow-pack. The yellow-cedar has been dying throughout an area of 200,000 hectares over the last 100 years. The yellow-cedar's fine root system is susceptible to cold soil temperatures; temperatures below −5 °C are lethal. Snow pack acts as an insulator to the trees root system. Rising temperatures means earlier snow-melt and later freeze-up dates. When insulated by snow, the temperature barrier remains in place and the tree's roots can survive. Onset of early spring freezing episodes will be detrimental to the yellow-cedar population. Changing climate factors will also have a detrimental effect on the sea level surrounding Alaska. Since 1950, sea levels off of the coast of Alaska have declined as much as 32 inches. This significant change is due to shifts in Earth's tectonic plates due to a process called glacial isostatic adjustment.


title: Simon Cameron

text: A delegate from Dauphin County to the Harrisburg State Convention of the Democratic-Republicans in 1824, Cameron was slow to support the presidential candidacy of General Andrew Jackson in the 1824 election, despite Jackson's broad support in Pennsylvania, and only did so because he supported Calhoun for vice president. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was elected, and made Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky his successor at the State Department. In that capacity, Clay was responsible for selecting three printers in each state to print the laws and resolutions of Congress, and since Cameron was not known as an ardent Jacksonian, his firm became one of the official printers. Cameron corresponded extensively with Clay, offering him political advice on Pennsylvania affairs. Adams advocated internal improvements to the nation's transportation infrastructure, financed by high tariffs, policies Cameron supported. By the time the administration lost control of Congress in 1827, Cameron began to gravitate away from Adams and towards Jackson. In doing so, Cameron followed a new political ally, Pennsylvania Congressman James Buchanan. His support for Jackson in his successful run for the presidency in 1828 was only lukewarm.


title: Simon Cameron

text: Cameron's support for Jackson grew in the president's first term, though he was busy with his involvement in banking, founding the Bank of Middletown, and canal and railroad construction. Jackson found Cameron to be a useful lieutenant in Pennsylvania. The president had originally pledged to serve only one term, in changing his mind he enlisted Cameron to get the Pennsylvania legislature to pass a resolution urging him to change his mind and run again in 1832. Calhoun had broken with the administration, and Jackson convened the 1832 Democratic National Convention for the main purpose of endorsing a new running mate, Martin Van Buren of New York. Pennsylvania politicians preferred one of their own to run with Jackson, but Cameron arranged a delegation that would back Van Buren, and he was elected along with Jackson. As a reward, Cameron was appointed to the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy, though he held the position only briefly. By the mid-1830s, Cameron had built a national reputation in what was becoming known as the Democratic Party.


title: Simon Cameron

text: Although he was not a delegate to the 1835 Democratic National Convention, Cameron supported the nomination of Van Buren for president and Congressman Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky for vice president, and campaigned for them; both were elected. Still seeking a federal position, he asked Buchanan for help being appointed a commissioner under the 1837 treaty with the Winnebago Indians, who ceded land in exchange for payments to tribe members as well as to those who had part-Native American descent. The commissioners were to pass on claims by traders to whom recipients were said to owe money. Cameron was named as one of the two commissioners, and in August 1838, journeyed to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Territory. There, they adjudicated the traders' claims, and also those of people of part-Native American blood who sought compensation. Many of the latter were represented by whites, and there were allegations of abuses, both at the time and since, though documentary evidence was never presented. According to Cameron biographer Paul Kahan, "the lack of evidence, coupled with the vague assertions of corruption, became a hallmark of this scandal, and it is one of the reasons why it is so hard for historians to assess who was actually telling the truth." According to another biographer, Erwin S. Bradley, "briefly, Cameron's part in the Winnebago affair may be stated as follows: he did exceed his instructions and showed poor business acumen in failing to require bond of the third parties intrusted with the certificates; but the charges ... remain unproved". The impression of corruption long clouded Cameron's reputation, with his enemies mocking him, to his anger, as the "Great Winnebago Chief".


title: Simon Cameron

text: Somewhat shunned after the Winnebago affair, Cameron continued to support Buchanan. The defeat of Van Buren for re-election in 1840 divided Pennsylvania Democrats into those who backed the former president to run again in 1844, and those who supported the administration of Governor David R. Porter. Both Cameron and Senator Buchanan joined the latter camp, and were known as "Improvement Men", and supported continued public improvements, a protective tariff, and the establishment of a state bank. A supporter of Buchanan, Cameron was strongly opposed to the presidential candidacy of Van Buren in 1844, and supported those at the national convention to require a two-thirds vote to nominate, thus effectively dooming Van Buren's candidacy, though his exact role is uncertain. Cameron was unenthusiastic about the eventual presidential nominee, former Tennessee governor James K. Polk, not liking Polk's ambiguous position on tariffs, and worked for his election in a desultory fashion. Polk won Pennsylvania, and was elected president.


title: Simon Cameron

text: Buchanan resigned following Polk's inauguration in March 1845, and the legislature prepared for an election to fill the remaining four years of his term. Governor Shunk's faction nominated George W. Woodward, as they had to fill Sturgeon's seat, and he gained a majority in the Democratic legislative caucus, though some legislators remained away. Cameron worked to unite the minority of the Democratic Party with the Whigs and Native American Party (or Know Nothings) to gain a majority in the legislature and elect himself. Since the election and especially in his inaugural address, it had become clear that Polk did not support a protective tariff; most of the dissenting Democrats did, as did Cameron and the Whigs. Cameron also held similar views to the Whigs on internal improvements, and found them willing to support him—he hinted to the nativists that he supported increasing the residence time for immigrants to gain citizenship. To the outrage of the mainstream Democratic Party, on March 13, 1845, Cameron was elected on the fifth ballot with 66 votes (including 16 from Democrats), to 55 for Woodward, and six votes scattered.


title: Simon Cameron

text: Polk was not a candidate for re-election in 1848, and Secretary of State Buchanan sought the Democratic presidential nomination. Cameron was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the 1848 Democratic National Convention and in common with the state's other delegates, supported Buchanan on each ballot. The nomination went to Michigan Senator Lewis Cass, and Cameron was accused of working behind the scenes to defeat Buchanan. The Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor of Louisiana for president, with his running mate former congressman Millard Fillmore of New York. In the fall elections, the Pennsylvania Whigs carried the state for Taylor and Fillmore (who were elected), with a majority for their party in both houses of the state legislature. Cameron's term in the Senate was up in 1849; the Whigs wanted to elect one of their own, while many Democrats still resented the manner in which he had been elected. Cameron apparently had no supporters in the Democratic caucus; he received no votes in the legislature's balloting for senator, in which Whig James Cooper was elected.


title: Simon Cameron

text: Cameron and Buchanan continued to grow apart, even as Buchanan prepared to seek the 1852 Democratic presidential nomination. In 1850, trying to diminish any southern support the former secretary might get, Cameron sent Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis a thirty-year-old news article showing that Buchanan had signed an anti-slavery petition. In response, Buchanan had friendly newspapers attack Cameron. The two battled at the 1851 Democratic state convention which nominated William Bigler for governor; though Bigler was elected, Buchanan blamed Cameron for the fact that the Whigs had taken control of the state senate. Pennsylvania's delegation to the 1852 Democratic National Convention, which included Cameron, was instructed to vote for Buchanan; nevertheless, Cameron worked for the nomination of Cass and the evident dissension in his home state's ranks hurt Buchanan's chances. The nomination went to former New Hampshire senator Franklin Pierce. Once elected, Pierce declined to return Buchanan to the cabinet, and Cameron was successful in getting a number of his allies federal positions.


title: Simon Cameron

text: Once the presidential election was over, Republicans considered how to obtain the Democratic votes needed to gain the senatorship. Cameron had the support of Representatives David Wilmot and Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, who were convinced Cameron could win. Cameron kept his plans as quiet as possible; unnerved by rumors and the memories of Cameron's controversial victory in 1845, Democrats nominated John W. Forney, a journalist and loyal Democrat. Forney had gotten President-elect Buchanan to write a letter of support to show to legislators, but there were three Democratic members who disliked Buchanan and the letter helped them decide to vote for Cameron. They secretly met with Cameron's managers, who told the Republicans and Know Nothing legislators that there would be Democratic votes, and obtained an agreement to support Cameron on the first ballot. In the election on January 13, 1857, Cameron was elected without a vote to spare, to the shock of many legislators and observers. The three Democrats were expelled from their hotels in Harrisburg, and each lost his re-election bid. Cameron was informed of his election by his son, Donald Cameron, who leapt out of a window at the rear of the legislative chamber, and raced to his father's hotel.


title: Simon Cameron

text: The year 1860 was a presidential election year, and Cameron sought the nomination, believing that Pennsylvania's strength at the nominating convention would be sufficient to win. Not all Pennsylvania Republicans supported Cameron, and there were rumors that he had made a deal with the Democrats, or that his candidacy was a stalking horse to build support for the frontrunner, New York Senator William H. Seward. This was supported by a visit Seward had paid to Harrisburg in 1859, in which he had been feted by Cameron. Afterwards, Seward had written to his political manager, Thurlow Weed, that Cameron had promised the ultimate support of the Pennsylvania delegation, though it might initially vote for Cameron. The rumors that Cameron would support Seward were damaging since the New Yorker's abolitionist leanings limited his support among Pennsylvania's conservative voters. Kahan suggested that the fact that Cameron hosted both Seward and another presidential hopeful, Governor Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, in 1859, meant that he was trying to keep good relations with the major contenders for the nomination and place himself in a position to be a kingmaker. There was little support for Cameron outside of Pennsylvania. One of the other contenders, former representative Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, played down suggestions Lincoln might take second place on a ticket led by Cameron, Lincoln's supporters discussed the possibility of Cameron as vice presidential candidate, hoping it might win the crucial state of Pennsylvania.


title: Simon Cameron

text: Lincoln may still have been unaware of the understanding made at the convention; his advisor, Leonard Swett, wrote to Cameron on November 27, 1860, that Lincoln was not bound by any such bargain. Swett sent a copy to the president-elect, who did nothing initially, but asked Weed for his view on Cameron on December 20. Cameron had reneged on his support for Seward, Weed's candidate, and Weed advised excluding Cameron in favor of a trustworthy Southerner. Cameron would not visit Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Illinois without an invitation, and, after sending Swett to Pennsylvania to confer with him, Lincoln felt compelled to invite Cameron, who arrived on December 30, 1860. Others urged Lincoln to leave Cameron out of the cabinet, citing the Winnebago affair or the allegations of bribery in his elections to the Senate; former congressman George N. Eckert wrote, "I wish to say to you that under no circumstances or contingency will it answer to even dream of putting Simon Cameron in the Cabinet. He is corrupt beyond belief. He is rich by plunder—and can not be trusted any where."


title: Simon Cameron

text: Upon his arrival in Springfield, Cameron met with Lincoln for several hours, first at the president-elect's law office and then at the senator's hotel. Both men were personable in nature, and the meetings were enjoyable; at their conclusion, Lincoln offered Cameron a place in the cabinet, either as Secretary of the Treasury or of War. At Cameron's request, Lincoln gave him the offer in writing, which he regretted soon thereafter, as no sooner had Cameron left town, that a fresh flood of anti-Cameron communications came to him, and he met with Alexander McClure, a member of a faction in Pennsylvania opposed to Cameron. Lincoln wrote to withdraw the offer, asking Cameron to keep it confidential, unless he chose to publicly decline, in which case he had no objection to the offer being made public. One reason for Lincoln's about-face was that he had asked Cameron to keep the offer confidential, which he had not done. Cameron complained to Lincoln's associates about the president-elect's conduct, but did and said nothing publicly, and in fact arranged for Lincoln and his family to use a luxurious Pennsylvania Railroad car for the journey to Washington.


title: Simon Cameron

text: In early January, after meeting with Chase, who he wanted in the cabinet, Lincoln told two of his advisers, "I am in a quandary. Pennsylvania is entitled to a cabinet office. hundreds of letters, and the cry is 'Cameron, Cameron!' ... The Pennsylvania people say: 'If you leave out Cameron you disgrace him.'" Lincoln decided not to offer Cameron the Treasury post, but to hold out the possibility of another appointment. On January 13, Lincoln sent Cameron a letter stating he meant no offense by the previous letter, and stating that he had no doubt Cameron would perform the duties of a cabinet secretary "ably and faithfully". Cameron continued to press Lincoln by displaying the December 31 letter offering a post without showing the January 3 one rescinding the offer. With much of Lincoln's cabinet undetermined by the end of January, Herndon wrote, "Lincoln is in a fix. Cameron's appointment ... bothers him. If Lincoln do appoint Cameron, he gets a fight on his hands, and if he do not he gets a quarrel deep-abiding, & lasting ... Poor Lincoln! God help him!"


title: Clara Rackham

text: At Newnham College Clara Tabor studied Classics but much of her time was taken up with outdoor pursuits and with politics. She was a prominent supporter of the Liberal Party in the Newnham College Political Society, a proficient long-distance cyclist, swam regularly in the River Cam, and was captain of the hockey team. Clara left with the equivalent of a third-class degree . However, she had made a lifelong friend in another Newnham student, Susan Lawrence, one of the first three women to be elected to parliament as Labour MPs, and had also met her future husband, Harris Rackham, a lecturer in Classics at Newnham College from 1893. Harris, a brother of the illustrator Arthur Rackham, became a Senior Fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge in 1899. The couple married in 1901 and lived at 4 Grange Terrace before moving to 18 Hobson Street, the Senior Tutor's House at Christ's College in 1911, and then setting up home in a Georgian house at 9 Park Terrace, Cambridge overlooking Parker's Piece in 1924. The marriage was a happy one and lasted until Harris's death in 1944. Clara remained in the house until 1957.


title: Clara Rackham

text: Rackham established the Cambridge branch of the Women's Co-operative Guild in 1902 and became its President, remaining active in her local group for over twenty years and writing on the value of co-operative ideals in Cambridge: A Brief Study in Social Questions edited by Eglantyne Jebb. Jebb founded the Save the Children Fund in 1919 to raise money for German and Austrian children. In 1923 Rackham served on the birth control subcommittee of the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organizations (SJCIWO) and by 1930 had become chairman of the organisation. Rackham chaired the National Conference of Labour Women at the Kingsway Hall in London where SJCIWO put forward two reports for discussion; on abolition of the marriage bar, and on equal pay for equal work. In Cambridge she worked with her friend, the Homerton College-trained Leah Manning . Both women were associated with the ragged school set up in a building in Young Street which is now the site of Anglia Ruskin University Music Therapy Department. In the 1930s Rackham supported Manning's initiatives in parliament to welcome Basque children to Britain who were seeking refuge during the Spanish Civil War and some of these children were given homes in Cambridge.


title: Clara Rackham

text: Rackham steered the national organisation through its most turbulent period in 1915 with considerable tact and skill when Millicent Fawcett's qualified support for women's involvement in the war effort was opposed by a majority of the NUWSS committee who tendered their resignations and by large sections of the membership who were either pacifists or primarily interested in ending the war by securing a negotiated peace with Germany. She managed to combine her deep personal loyalty to Fawcett with her own principled opposition to the war by the advocacy of a compromise whereby the NUWSS would agree to support women's war work in principle but individual members would be permitted to pursue whatever activities they wished either in war work, for example, working in hospitals, or supporting initiatives to bring about peace. Rackham's proposal was accepted as NUWSS policy thereby averting the danger of the organisation falling apart. After women over 30 were enfranchised under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the NUWSS dissolved itself and was succeeded by the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship in 1919. She had no formal legal training but from 1923 to 1931 she edited, and often wrote, a legal column for The Women's Leader, the journal of the new organisation.


title: Clara Rackham

text: Rackham became a magistrate in 1920, and, with Florence Ada Keynes (mother of economist John Maynard Keynes) and Edith Bethune-Baker, was one of the first women in Cambridge to serve on the bench. The work of the criminal justice system and, in particular, the way in which the law dealt with juvenile offenders became a central concern for her throughout her life. Margery Fry, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform from its inception in 1921, and another JP, was a friend. She joined the Howard League and worked with Clara Martineau of Birmingham City Council as part of a group reporting on child sexual abuse to Parliament in 1925. Rackham was also a founder-member of the Magistrates' Association in 1927 and an advocate of probation, and opponent of corporal punishment. In 1933 she wrote to The Manchester Guardian regarding the recent Children and Young Persons Act and drew attention to the range of options made available to magistrates when dealing with children in need of care or protection while criticising aspects of the legislation for not going far enough. In 1933 she argued that no young person under the age of 17 should be sent to prison. At the time the age limit was 14. She resigned as a magistrate in 1950, and from her other committees when she became aware that loss of hearing had made it hard for her to carry on.


title: Clara Rackham

text: Rackham was chairman of the Cambridgeshire County Council Education Committee from 1945 to 1957 and took a strong interest in girls' education, nursery education, and education in the early years and campaigned for free school milk and meals for the benefit of undernourished children. She was a personal friend of Henry Morris, the innovative Director of Education for Cambridgeshire from 1922, and shared his visionary ideal of the 'village college'. Village colleges combined secondary education with community and adult education and were set up in Sawston, Bottisham, Bassingbourn, Comberton, Impington, Linton and elsewhere in the countryside surrounding Cambridge with Rackham's enthusiastic support. However, she never fully embraced the Labour Party's post-war support for comprehensive education, believing that small selective grammar schools were of more benefit to working-class children. She served with Lilian Mary Hart Clark on the governing body of the Cambridge School of Arts, Crafts and Technology, which was renamed the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology in 1958, and Anglia Ruskin University in 2005. A large modern building containing laboratories and teaching rooms was erected on the Cambridge campus in 1972 and named Rackham in her honour. This was demolished in 2009. She had a lifelong interest in the education of working people, was a part-time lecturer in social history and local government for the Workers' Educational Association, and elected Chairman of the WEA Eastern District. She always valued and retained her links with Newnham College where she organised a summer school for working women and was on the college's governing body from 1920 to 1940 and on the Newnham College council from 1924 to 1931.


title: Clara Rackham

text: Rackham became a well-known figure in Cambridge in her later years, riding everywhere on her bicycle, doing voluntary work in the community, enjoying her contact with young and old alike, adjusting with indomitable good humour to her own loss of hearing, and reading aloud to the partially sighted. In 1962 she delivered her last speech at the Golden Jubilee of the Cambridge Branch of the National Council of Women of Great Britain. In 1993 Joyce Bellamy and Eileen Price, who wrote the entry on Rackham in The Dictionary of Labour Biography, recalled how overwhelmed they had been by the public response to a letter requesting information about her life and work which they had sent to The Cambridge Evening News in 1980. Although she had been brought up in the Christian faith, her outlook on life became decidedly secular over the years and she eventually joined the British Humanist Association. Bellamy and Price note that Rackham had come to adopt the practice of waiting outside the borough council chamber until the prayers before council meetings had finished. She also refused the mayoralty of Cambridge because she did not wish to take part in religious observances while agreeing to chair meetings of Cambridge Borough Council which were not preceded by prayers . She declined the Freedom of the City of Cambridge, requesting instead that a bench be placed outside the Meadowcroft retirement home on Trumpington Road for the use of the residents. She stated that she did not want to have a bust of herself displayed in Shire Hall, Cambridge during her lifetime but stipulated that the council could do whatever they thought was appropriate after her death.


title: Clara Rackham

text: A celebration of Rackham's life and work in words, music and theatre organised by Mary Joannou took place in the presence of members of the Rackham family at Anglia Ruskin University on 2 November 2018. The event included a specially commissioned play entitled Clara Rackham and the General Strike written by Ros Connelly, young dancers from the Bodyworks Studio, and presentations by Sarah Rackham, Deborah Thom and Councillor Anna Smith. The civic ceremony in which the blue plaque was unveiled by Stella Manzie, who spoke about Rackham's pioneering achievements in local government, took place at Newnham College on 20 November 2018. Gillian Sutherland, Fellow Emerita at Newnham College, spoke about Rackham in her historical context. Both events were filmed by Antony Carpen and may be seen on YouTube. The blue plaque was put up at 9 Park Terrace, a property belonging to Emmanuel College, on 25 January 2019 and a reception was held in Emmanuel. The blue plaque may be seen on the website of Cambridge, Past, Present & Future, a charity which administers the blue plaque scheme in Cambridge. In 2019 the Friends of the Milton Road Library have named one of the two community rooms in the re-opened Milton Road Library after Clara Rackham. Mary Joannou's biography of Clara Rackham, The Life and Times of Clara Rackham: Socialist, Suffragist and Social Reformer was published by Routledge in 2022.


title: Transcendent Man

text: Against this optimistic backdrop of human and machine evolution, concerns about Kurzweil's predictions are raised by technology experts, philosophers, and commentators. Physician William B. Hurlbut warns of tragedy and views Kurzweil's claims as lacking a more moderate approach necessitated by biological science. AI engineer Ben Goertzel champions the transhumanist vision, but acknowledges the possibility of a dystopian outcome. AI researcher Hugo de Garis warns of a coming "Artilect War", where god-like artificial intellects and those who want to build them, will fight against those who don't. Kevin Warwick, professor of Cybernetics at University of Reading, advocates the benefits of the singularity, but suggests the Terminator scenario could also occur, where humans become subservient to machine and live on a farm, and the singularity is the point where humans lose control to the intelligent machines. Warwick basically spells doom for anyone who is human after the singularity. Dean Kamen observes that advances in technology have finally made immortality a reasonable goal. At the end of the film, Kurzweil states, "if I was asked if god exists, I would say not yet."


title: Sweet XVI

text: Sweet XVI opens with the "inspirational" mid-tempo "Super Woman" where the singer raps courtesy of executive producer Yonni, Terrell Sass and John Elmore. Additional production contribution was provided by Orlando Williamson, Chaz D. Jackson, Joel Powell, and Mark Strowbridge. It is followed by the extended play's second track, the "catchy" old-school hip hop flavoured cut "Cherry Lips." Track three, "Same Page," is a silky-electro R&B jam and collaboration with singer-songwriter Eric Bellinger. Released as the first and only single, "Same Page" premiered via Complex – highlights the benefits of communication and compromise in a healthy relationship with lyrics:"Even though we love to fight/We don't wanna waste no time/We shut up and just apologize/No matter who's wrong or who's right. "Right Now," a "racy," "sensual" ode serves as the extended play's fourth track and finds the singer's doing her own background vocals with Auto-tune. Track five, the "power" anthem "M.O.N.E.Y" is a synth-heavy banger which lean on the ATL hip-hop sound. The extended play's sixth track features rapper Mic Check; the track incorporates a pop friendly sound amplified with piano to convey the singer's message of perseverance and positivity with lyrics – "I've had so many wrongs that I've lost count/But it made me who I am and I wouldn't change a thing/'Cause he crown me like a king."


title: The Tribune's Curse

text: Ateius Capito met King Ptolemy while serving on the staff of Aemilius Scaurus, and offered to become Ptolemy's agent in Roman politics. The one thing Ptolemy wanted more than anything else was to prevent Crassus from acquiring his command in Syria; earlier that year, when Ptolemy petitioned the Senate for a military expedition to put him back on the Egyptian throne, Crassus vetoed the idea, going so far as to produce a fraudulent interpretation of the Sibylline Books, arguing that the gods would be angered at such an undertaking. Ptolemy eventually regained his throne by bribing Aulus Gabinius to mount an expedition, but never forgave Crassus. Thanks to Crassus' money, Capito could not legally prevent him from getting the Syrian command, so he decided to use the curse, which he purchased from Ariston (a corrupt man who also sold Crassus his fake Sibylline prophecy). After performing the curse, Capito faked his death by having a young slave dressed in his clothes and mauled by the Nile crocodiles kept as pets inside the Embassy, where he has been hiding out ever since, waiting to make a dash to his new retirement villa in Egypt.


title: Together (1971 film)

text: With the $100,000 profit from The Art of Marriage, Cunningham rented his first office and began looking for another picture to shoot. He started collecting donations from family and friends, who contributed $1,000 each in some cases. Cunningham said The Art of Marriage was good (in terms of starting him off) but "crummy" and wanted to make a better version of the film. Cunningham shot the film Together, which was intended in some ways to be a remake of Marriage. After Together was shot Cunningham hired the struggling Wes Craven, who needed a job and was interested in getting into the film business. Cunningham was doing re-shoots for Together and hired Craven to synchronize the dailies from the three- to four-day reshoot. Craven then became assistant editor, and he and Cunningham had to mix without any income. There was a scene in the film that consisted of Marilyn Chambers and a "very handsome" black man. The scene involved Chambers running a yellow flower down the man's penis. Hallmark Releasing had never seen a scene like this before and wanted to exploit it. They subsequently bought the film for $10,000.


title: Hungarian State

text: On 2 December 1848 Ferdinand V of Hungary "abdicated" in favour of his nephew Francis Joseph. The Hungarian reform laws (April laws) were based on the 12 points that established the fundaments of modern civil and political rights, economic and societal reforms in the Kingdom of Hungary. Franz Joseph refused to accept the reforms of the Hungarian April laws. Franz Joseph also arbitrarily "revoked" the laws. This was an unconstitutional deed, because the laws were already signed by his uncle King Ferdinand, and the monarch had no right to revoke parliamentary laws which were already signed. The Habsburg government in Vienna proclaimed a new constitution, the so-called Stadion Constitution, on 4 March 1849. The centralist Stadion Constitution provided strong power for the monarch, and marked the way of neo-absolutism. The new March Constitution of Austria was drafted by the Imperial Diet of Austria, where Hungary had no representation. Austrian legislative bodies like the Imperial Diet traditionally had no power in Hungary. Despite this, the Imperial Diet also tried to abolish the Diet of Hungary (which existed as the supreme legislative power in Hungary since the late 12th century.) The Stadion Constitution also went against the historical constitution of Hungary, and tried to nullify it too. The revoking of the Hungarian April Laws and reduction of Hungary's territory and traditional status within the Habsburg Monarchy, prompted a renewal of the Hungarian Revolution. These events were deemed an existential threat for the Hungarian state.


title: Hungarian State

text: On 7 March 1849 an imperial proclamation was issued in the name of the emperor Francis Joseph, according to the new proclamation, the territory of Kingdom of Hungary would be administered by five military districts, while Principality of Transylvania would be reestablished. On 7 December the Diet of Hungary formally refused to acknowledge the title of the new king, "as without the knowledge and consent of the diet no one could sit on the Hungarian throne" and called the nation to arms. From a legal point of view, according to the coronation oath, a crowned Hungarian King can not relinquish the Hungarian throne during his life; if the king is alive and unable do his duty as ruler, a governor (or regent with proper English terminology) had to deputize the royal duties. Constitutionally, Ferdinand remained still the legal King of Hungary. If there is no possibility to inherit the throne automatically due to the death of the predecessor king (as king Ferdinand was still alive), but the monarch wants to relinquish his throne and appoint another king before his death, technically only one legal solution has remained: the parliament had the power to dethrone the king and elect his successor as the new King of Hungary. Due to the legal and military tensions, the Hungarian parliament did not make that favor for Franz Joseph. This event gave to the revolt an excuse of legality. Actually, from this time until the collapse of the revolution, Lajos Kossuth (as elected regent-president) became the de facto and de jure ruler of Hungary.


title: Hungarian State

text: The struggle opened with a series of Austrian successes. Prince Windischgrätz, who had received orders to quell the rebellion, began his advance on 15 December; opened up the way to the capital by the victory at Mór (on 30 December), and on 5 January 1849 the Imperial-Royal Army occupied Pest and Buda, while the Hungarian government and diet retired behind the Tisza and established themselves at Debrecen. A last attempt at reconciliation made by the more moderate members of the Diet of Hungary, in Windischgrätz's camp at Bicske (on 3 January), had foundered on the uncompromising attitude of the Austrian commander, who demanded unconditional submission; whereupon the moderates, including Ferenc Deák and Lajos Batthyány, retired into private life, leaving Kossuth to carry on the struggle with the support of the enthusiastic extremists who constituted the rump of the diet at Debrecen. The question now was: how far the military would subordinate itself to the civil element of the national government. The first symptom of dissonance was a proclamation by the commander of the Upper Danube division, Artúr Görgey, from his camp at Vác (on 5 January) emphasizing the fact that the national defence was purely constitutional, and warning all who might be led astray from this standpoint by republican aspirations. Immediately after this proclamation Görgey disappeared with his army among the hills of Upper Hungary, and, despite the difficulties of a phenomenally severe winter and the constant pursuit of vastly superior forces, fought his way down to the valley of Hernád – and safety. This successful winter campaign first revealed Görgey's military ability. His success caused some jealousy in official quarters, and when, in the middle of February 1849, a commander-in-chief was appointed to carry out Kossuth's plan of campaign, the appointment was given not to Görgey, but to Count Henrik Dembinski, who, after fighting the bloody and indecisive battle of Kápolna , was forced to retreat.


title: Hungarian State

text: Meanwhile, the earlier events of the war had so altered the political situation that any idea which the diet at Debrecen had cherished of a compromise with Austria was destroyed. The capture of Pest-Buda had confirmed the Austrian court in its policy of unification, which after the victory of Kápolna they thought it safe to proclaim. On 7 March the diet of Kremsier was dissolved, and immediately afterwards a proclamation was issued in the name of the emperor Francis Joseph establishing a united constitution for the whole empire, of which the Kingdom of Hungary, cut up into half a dozen administrative districts, was henceforth to be little more than the largest of several subject provinces. The news of this manifesto, arriving as it did simultaneously with that of Görgey's successes, destroyed the last vestiges of a desire of the Hungarian revolutionists to compromise, and on 14 April 1849, on the motion of Kossuth, the diet proclaimed the independence of Hungary, declared the House of Habsburg as false and perjured, forever excluded from the throne, and elected Lajos Kossuth Governor-President of the Hungarian State. This was an execrable blunder in the circumstances, and the results were fatal to the national cause. Neither the government nor the army could accommodate itself to the new situation. From henceforth the military and civil authorities, as represented by Kossuth and Görgey, were hopelessly out of sympathy with each other, and the breach widened until all effective co-operation became impossible.


title: Hungarian State

text: Meanwhile, the defeats of the Imperial-Royal Army and the course of events in Hungary had compelled the court of Vienna to accept the assistance which the emperor Nicholas I of Russia had proffered in the loftiest spirit of the Holy Alliance. The Austro-Russian alliance was announced at the beginning of May, and before the end of the month the common plan of campaign had been arranged. The Austrian commander-in-chief, Count Haynau, was to attack Hungary from the west, the Russian Prince Paskevich, from the north, gradually surrounding the rebels, and then advancing to deal a decisive blow in the mid-Tisza counties. They had at their disposal 375,000 men, while the Hungarians had 160,000. The Hungarians, too, were now more than ever divided among themselves, with no plan of campaign and no commander-in-chief appointed to replace Görgey, whom Kossuth had deposed. Haynau's first victories (20–28 June) put an end to their indecisions. On 2 July the Hungarian government abandoned Pest and transferred its capital first to Szeged and finally to Arad. The Imperial Russian Army was by this time well on its way to the Tisza, and the defeat of the Hungarian State became imminent. Kossuth again appointed as commander-in-chief the brave but inefficient Dembinski, who was utterly routed at Temesvár (on 9 August) by Haynau. This was the last great battle of the War of Independence. This put the Hungarian leadership in an untenable position that led to their surrender.


title: Liberty High School (Clarksburg, West Virginia)

text: On November 27, 2018, a 15-year-old transgender male student was confronted in the "boys'" restroom by assistant principal, Mr. Lee Livengood. Livengood had blocked the student from leaving the restroom before questioning him on why he was in there instead of the "girls'" restroom. According to the Associated Press (AP), after the student replied that it is his legal right to use that restroom, Livengood instructed him to "prove" his male sex by using the urinal in front of him. Upon leaving the restroom, Livengood said to him "Not going to lie, you freak me out." According to NBC news, the ACLU's West Virginia chapter stated that it has asked the Harrison County schools superintendent to take administrative action against Livengood. Also according to NBC, the West Virginia ACLU chapter stated that "it is seeking best-practice policies and training in the school system for dealing with transgender students and issues." According to the AP, the ACLU West Virginia executive director Joseph Cohen responded to this event, calling it "a life or death issue." In their report, the AP cited The American Academy of Pediatrics, which published a study in 2018 showing 51% of trans male adolescents had attempted suicide. As of date of this entry, the superintendent of Liberty High School, Dr. Mark Manchin, has not responded to news media's requests for comment. Livengood has since then regained his status as assistant principal.


title: 99th Flying Training Squadron

text: Considered ready for combat duty, the 99th was transported to Casablanca, Morocco, on the USS Mariposa and participated in the North African campaign. From Morocco, they traveled by train to Oujda then to Tunis, the location from which they operated against the Luftwaffe. Flyers and ground crew alike were isolated in their initial command, the 33d Fighter Group, by the racial segregation practices of the Army and group commander Colonel William Momyer. The flight crews were given little guidance from battle-experienced pilots except for a week spent with Colonel Philip Cochran. The 99th's first combat mission was to attack the small, but strategic, volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea, in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. On Friday, 2 July 1943, Lieutenant Charles B. Hall of Brazil, Indiana, shot down the first enemy plane for the group. "It is probably the first time in history that a Negro in a pursuit plane has shot down an enemy in aerial combat." The 99th moved to Sicily, where they would receive a Distinguished Unit Citation for their performance in combat.


title: Blackwoods Campground

text: Acadia National Park was created in 1916 as the Sieur de Monts National Monument. Master planning for the park in the 1920s included provision for the establishment of campgrounds, reflecting a growing trend in the popularity of camping at that time. Between 1927 and 1932 the park established Beark Brook Campground. Funding for other campgrounds did not arrive until the 1930s, when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established to provide jobs and to improve the nation's park infrastructure. Funding for the construction of Blackwoods Campground was secured in 1936. The Blackwoods area, on land given to the park by John D. Rockefeller Jr., was surveyed by a CCC crew and a plan was drafted that included the central court and three loops containing 400 campsites. The design reflected the latest thinking on campground layout, and included provisions for trailer camping, then a relatively recent innovation. Between 1938 and 1942 the CCC built the camp road, the central court, and 100 sites on Loop A. Due to the onset of American participation in World War II, the checkin station was left unfinished.


title: Bloomington Playwrights Project

text: In 1993, BPP benefactor Reva Shiner helped establish an annual new play competition, the Reva Shiner Full Length Play Contest, which brought submissions of scripts from all around the country, including work from both established and up-and-coming playwrights. In its first year of existence the contest, which awards the winner both a cash prize and a full production, was won by Glenn Alterman and his play Nobody's Flood. Subsequent winners include Between Men and Cattle by Richard Kalinoski; Sister Calling My Name by Buzz McLaughlin; Medea With Child by Janet Burroway; Alice in Ireland by Judy Sheehan; The Return of Morality by Jamie Pachino; Outrage by Itamar Moses; and Maleficia by Suzanne Wingrove. Many of these plays have gone on to win additional awards and high-profile productions. In 2010, a new competition for dramatic plays was established. The Woodward/Newman Drama Award is an exclusive honor offered by Bloomington Playwrights Project, sponsored by Newman's Own Foundation, remembering the many great dramas Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman performed in together. The winner is awarded a prize of $3,000 and a full production as part of the BPP's Mainstage season.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: McLaren used a new floor, diffuser, and brake ducts at the Austrian Grand Prix as well as a tweaked front wing. Sainz qualified eighth, while Norris qualified fourth and was promoted to third after a penalty was given to Lewis Hamilton, achieving McLaren's best grid start since the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix. After Norris lost positions in the opening laps to Hamilton and Alex Albon, both McLarens ran comfortably in the top ten for the remainder of the race. In the closing laps, Hamilton collided with Albon and was given a five-second penalty. On the final lap, Norris (then in fifth) overtook Sergio Pérez and set his first fastest lap to finish within five seconds of Hamilton, achieving his first Formula One podium. Sainz finished fifth after also overtaking Pérez. This was McLaren's second podium in three races after the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, in contrast to their previous gap of 118 races. The result placed McLaren second in the World Constructors' Championship (WCC) behind Mercedes, with Norris third and Sainz fifth in the World Drivers' Championship (WDC). In an article on strategy calls published in 2021, the team said the result was possible because of the "flawless" double-stacked pit stop allowing Norris to be in position to capitalize on Hamilton's penalty.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: The MCL35 was equipped with low downforce front and rear wings for the Italian Grand Prix. Norris missed the majority of the second practice session due to a sensor issue. The Italian Grand Prix was also the beginning of an FIA ban on qualifying engine modes. Sainz qualified third and Norris sixth. Both drivers overtook others on the first lap to end the first lap second and third respectively, and held position until the first safety car of the race. After yellow and red flags caused by incidents for Magnussen and Leclerc, Sainz restarted the race seventh and Norris eighth. Norris finished fourth while Sainz attempted to catch race leader Pierre Gasly, reducing the gap to 0.415 seconds by the final lap. This was Sainz's second career podium and McLaren's second podium of the season. Seidl stated that McLaren had been the second-quickest team behind Mercedes and that the team would have finished second and third had the race been less chaotic. Sainz credited the red flag for his second place, saying that without the tyre change advantage it gave to those ahead of him after the safety car he would have been able to claim first. AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost later said that Gasly's advantage through the second sector which allowed him to hold off Sainz was down to the AlphaTauri team's decision to run a higher downforce on their AT01. Norris also claimed that the red flag and the advantage it gave to Stroll was the reason he could not reclaim third place. The race resulted in McLaren's best finish since 2014, and increased their lead for third place in the WCC, while Norris took fifth and Sainz ninth in the WDC. In an article on strategy published in 2021, McLaren said the team "could have won had we not pitted under the Safety Car and instead changed tyres when the race was brought to temporary halt by a red flag" but Director of Sporting and Strategy Randy Singh said the team "made the right call" at the time.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: During the first practice session of the Tuscan Grand Prix, McLaren tested a new nose intended to be raced later in the season for it to be applied to the 2021 chassis. After the second practice session, Sainz commented that the car lacked rear stability, but its "performance can improve considerably" with the right changes. He qualified ninth and Norris eleventh, the first time in 2020 the latter had not made it to Q3. Both drivers said that the MCL35 was highly sensitive to wind, particularly tailwinds, but were happy with the performance of the car compared to the practice sessions. During the race, Stroll collided with Sainz on the opening lap causing him to spin. Sainz was then hit by Sebastian Vettel who could not take evasive action, but unlike Vettel, Sainz's car was undamaged. After the safety car restart Sainz was involved in an accordion effect crash with Antonio Giovinazzi's Alfa Romeo, the Williams of Nicholas Latifi, and Magnussen which triggered the first red flag of the race. Sainz became the first McLaren race retirement of the 2020 season; Norris finished the race sixth and took fourth in the WDC as his teammate fell to eleventh. At the conclusion of this race McLaren had scored in excess of 100 points in nine Grands Prix, much quicker than the 16 races it took in 2019. After the race Piers Thynne, McLaren's production director, stated that the team had "lost significant parts" in the race.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: At the Russian Grand Prix, McLaren ran the MCL35 with a new front wing, and continued to test the new nose design introduced at the previous race. Sainz returned to the chassis he had used up until the Spanish Grand Prix after the restart incident at the Tuscan Grand Prix. He and Norris qualified sixth and eighth respectively. When questioned about his drop from third in practice three to sixth in qualifying, Sainz explained that the team had again had issues with the MCL35's wind sensitivity. Seidl also stated that the new nose was "not a step forward really" but that the team was "quite restricted at the moment, with the number of parts" after the incident at the previous race and an accident Sainz had in practice; the new nose would form part of a future upgrade package introduced at the following race. Both McLarens had poor starts from the dirty side of the grid. At turn two, Sainz ran off the track and "misjudged entry speed around the bollard" trying to re-join the track, colliding with the wall and retiring from the race. Norris was forced to run over debris from Sainz's car, causing a steering issue that compromised his performance for the rest of the race. Norris pitted during the safety car period, but his hard tyres did not last the entire race distance as hoped; forcing him to pit again and dropping him out of the points. McLaren stated this was done since Norris was already likely to drop out of the points on the ageing tyres, and was thus intended to take the fastest lap point away from other teams. This was McLaren's first pointless race since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix, ending a 12 race point-scoring streak and was the team's only pointless race in 2020.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: The team continued to develop the new aerodynamics package at the Portuguese Grand Prix. The team opted to run the MCL35 with the new nose box, delaying the rest of the package to future races. Despite further issues with wind sensitivity in qualifying, Sainz qualified seventh and Norris eighth. Both McLarens gained places on the opening lap, with Sainz taking the lead from laps two through to five and Norris moving up to fourth. This early advantage was partially attributed to the speed at which the MCL35 brought the soft tyres into the operating window. However, both McLarens began to lose positions as the medium tyre came into its operating window and the drag reduction system was enabled. Stroll attempted to overtake Norris in to turn one, but turned in on him on the apex of the corner, causing damage to both cars and dropping Norris to second-last after pitting. Sainz struggled with tyre graining but finished sixth, with Norris finishing thirteenth. Sainz improved to tenth and Norris fell to seventh in the WDC.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: Several components on the MCL35 were redesigned to account for the high-load nature of the Turkish Grand Prix. Sainz suffered an issue with his power unit's electronics in the first practice session, triggering a virtual safety car and causing him to miss most of the session. Norris and Sainz originally qualified eleventh and thirteenth respectively. However, Norris was given a five-place grid penalty for breaking yellow flag conditions, with stewards stating "Car 4 was not attempting to set a quick lap time, due to the changing track conditions he nevertheless did so and thereby breached the referenced regulations." Sainz was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Pérez, which Sainz said was due to the weather conditions. Recovering to fifth in the race, he took seventh in the championship from his teammate who finished eighth and set the fastest lap of the race. The result meant that the team exceeded their 2019 total of 145 points over 21 races, having scored 149 points in 14 races.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: Sainz predicted ahead of the Sakhir Grand Prix that choosing the correct setup – particularly downforce levels – would be challenging because of the circuit's lengthy straights. McLaren ultimately ran the MCL35 with a lower downforce aerodynamics kit, featuring a "spoon-shaped" rear wing. During the second practice session, Sainz experienced an issue with his gearbox that interrupted his running. Norris damaged the floor of his MCL35 on a kerb and then experienced power issues. Both drivers expressed surprise at their apparent loss of pace from the previous week. Sainz qualified eighth, which he said was "the maximum our car could do", while Norris qualified fifteenth which he attributed to poor out-lap timing and an error. Norris was required to start nineteenth after replacing his internal combustion engine and turbocharger, exceeding his component limits. In the race, Sainz had a good start and was in third by the end of the first lap, and briefly challenged Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes for second place. However, shortly after Sainz's second pitstop, a safety car gave rivals who passed him after his pitstop a tyre advantage. At the restart, Sainz overtook Bottas to take fourth place. Norris recovered to finish tenth after being passed by George Russell's Mercedes on the last lap, and said that he lacked the pace to challenge for higher positions, which he attributed to the MCL35's struggle with dirty air. McLaren dropped to fourth in the WCC after Racing Point finished first and third, while Sainz took seventh and Albon overtook Norris for eighth in the WDC.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: Due to the restrictions imposed by the FIA's token system for 2021 development, most of the aerodynamic changes for the MCL35M were introduced in the 2020 season. McLaren "substantially re-engineer some areas" of the MCL35 to adapt to 2021 regulations that reduce the overall downforce of the car, while the switch to the Mercedes power unit necessitated the redesign of hydraulics, cooling, electronics, pipework for air and fluids, and control boxes. These changes were driven by the different layout of the M12 over the E-Tech 20, since the Mercedes engine's turbine and compressor are in different locations: the E-Tech 20 had both the turbine and compressor at the rear of the engine, while the M12 places the compressor at the front and turbine at the rear to allow for a larger and more efficient power unit. The MCL35M also saw the introduction of a new gearbox, which McLaren continued to develop independently. This new gearbox necessitated the extension of the car's wheelbase. Key described the MCL35M as "akin to a new car".


title: McLaren MCL35

text: Key identified two target areas for improvement with the MCL35M: low-speed cornering performance and wind sensitivity, two areas in which the MCL35 struggled. Production Director Piers Thynne said that "The number of new parts on the MCL35M is about the same as when we built the MCL35," meaning "essentially, we've been building a new car." However, gearbox internals were not changed, nor were some suspension components as these were allowed to be carried over from 2020 outside of the 2021 budget cap. The rear end of the chassis and the gearbox housing were changed significantly, hence McLaren was the only team required to re-homologate their chassis due to the changes in car architecture. The MCL35M passed FIA crash tests in December 2020. The air intake of the MCL35M was significantly changed from the MCL35's, becoming a more conventional design similar to that seen on the Mercedes vehicles. The sidepods also adopted a more sloping design in order to dump air onto the floor and into the diffuser to create more downforce and counter the effects of the 2021 technical regulations which were intended to reduce downforce.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: McLaren delivered their final major upgrade to the MCL35M at the Hungarian Grand Prix in order to focus on the car's successor; the package featured revised bargeboards. Norris qualified sixth for the race and Ricciardo eleventh. Both drivers had good starts: Norris had made his way up to third place by the first corner, but was hit from behind by Bottas and then collided with Verstappen. Simultaneously, Stroll collided with Leclerc who was forced into Ricciardo. Both MCL35Ms suffered heavy damage, and Norris retired during the red flag, becoming the first McLaren retirement since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix and ending his fifteen race point-scoring streak. Ricciardo's damage was estimated to cost him approximately 0.8 seconds per lap. He finished the race twelfth and was promoted to eleventh after Vettel's disqualification, making the Hungarian Grand Prix the team's first pointless race in seventeen Grands Prix. Ferrari drew level with McLaren on points in the WCC, and took third place after the count-back. Ricciardo lost eighth in the WDC. After the Grand Prix, McLaren remained at the track for two days to take part in a test session for Pirelli's 2022 tyre prototypes. Both Ricciardo and Norris drove a mule car based on the MCL35M during the test, which focused on the soft compound tyres.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: The MCL35M featured a low downforce set up for the Italian Grand Prix, with modified front and rear wings. Norris qualified fourth and Ricciardo fifth for the second sprint of the season. During sprint qualifying, Ricciardo moved up to third, and both drivers were promoted a place after provisional polesitter Bottas took an engine penalty. During the race, Ricciardo overtook Verstappen into the first corner, while Norris defended from Hamilton behind. After the first round of pit stops, Verstappen and Hamilton collided, leaving the McLarens free to challenge for the win. Norris was instructed in the closing stages not to challenge Ricciardo's position. Ricciardo set the fastest lap on the final lap, leading Norris to the finish to claim McLaren's first one-two finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix and first win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Ricciardo regained eighth in the WDC, while McLaren reclaimed third place in the WCC. The MCL35M was the only car to achieve a 1–2 finish in the 2021 season.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: Ricciardo suffered a power unit malfunction during practice for the Russian Grand Prix which necessitated a change to an older engine. The car was run with a high downforce aerodynamic kit. Norris qualified on pole for the first time in his career, while Ricciardo started fifth. Although he lost first place to Sainz on the opening lap, Norris regained the lead and led the race. With nine laps to go, Hamilton unsuccessfully began to attack for first place. Although the race had been dry up to this point, it began to rain lightly with six laps remaining. With four laps left, McLaren recommended Norris switch from hard slicks to intermediate rain tyres, which Norris refused, a decision he later said "was right at the time for the conditions at the time" but ultimately "cost us everything" as he slid off track and down to seventh place by the time he pitted. Seidl, Norris, and Hamilton all said the result was ultimately not a reflection of the MCL35M's pace and potential at the track, and Norris set the fastest lap of the race. Ricciardo, however, switched to intermediates earlier and finished fourth.


title: McLaren MCL35

text: The MCL35M continued to be used in 2022 for private tests as part of McLaren's Testing of Previous Cars program. FIA Formula 2 Championship driver and Red Bull Junior Team member Jehan Daruvala tested the car over two days at Silverstone Circuit prior to the British Grand Prix, completing 130 laps. A second test at Algarve International Circuit was held in July: IndyCar driver Colton Herta completed 162 laps over two days, and McLaren simulator driver Will Stevens tested for one. 2021 IndyCar Series champion Álex Palou and O'Ward tested the MCL35M at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during September 2022, together completing a total of 267 laps. O'Ward and Palou again tested the car at the Red Bull Ring in October 2022, together completing 171 laps over two days. In November 2022, the car was used in a private two-day test at Circuit Paul Ricard for Oscar Piastri, who McLaren signed to replace Ricciardo in 2023. Piastri had a second test in November at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, completing 150 laps.


title: Nanette Wylde

text: Elizabeth Joe writes about Wylde's 2003 net.art project The Daily Planet Interactive: "In this project, she specifically parodies information delivery systems and (American) media culture. It is an interactive Net art project that aims to foster a new viewer outlook with respect to cultural identity and accepted social practices that are one-sided." AND "Wylde addresses the ideas of society being consumed with the need to attain information by partially obscuring information from the viewer. Moreover, she continues to cleverly play with viewer expectations for she does not allow the headlines to run consistent with the newspaper format headings. In both respects, the viewers' expectations are not met – they do not receive the information they want. These ideas closely mimic Wylde's underlying theme of how the media controls/manipulates information and only disseminates information they think should be important to the masses." Joe continues, "It is also important to note Wylde's tactic with respect to further addressing the idea that the media only distributes one-way communication to its viewers. Newspapers can be perceived as a social construction that propagates information for a specific purpose. Through her web project viewers are afforded 'two-way communication' where they are free to not only take in media headlines and personal entries, but are also afforded the opportunity to voice their questions and opinions."


title: Old Ball

text: Old Ball was part of a wider "hooded animal" tradition that the folklorist E. C. Cawte identified as existing in different forms in various parts of Britain. Features common to these customs were the use of a hobby horse, the performance at Christmas time, a song or spoken statement requesting payment, and the use of a team who included a man dressed in women's clothing. In South Wales, the Mari Lwyd tradition featured troupes of men with a hobby horse knocking at doors over the Christmas period. In south-west England, there are two extant hobby horse traditions—the Padstow 'Obby 'Oss festival and Minehead Hobby Horse—which take place not at Christmas time but on May Day. Although the origins of these traditions are not known with any certainty, the lack of any late medieval references to such practices may suggest that they emerged from the documented elite fashion for hobby horses in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In this, the hooded animal traditions may be comparable to England's Morris dance tradition, which became a "nation-wide craze" in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries before evolving into "a set of sharply delineated regional traditions".


title: Secretory carcinoma

text: As of 2021, 26 cases of secretory carcinoma of the skin had been reported. In a review of 25 cases, the skin tumors occurred in 16 females and 9 males aged 13 to 98 years (mean: 51.8 years). These tumors most common locations were the axilla (10 cases), neck (3), and lip (3 cases) with single cases occurring in other skin sites such as a cheek, eyelid, thigh, or skin at the base of a breast nipple. The tumors were treated primarily by surgical removal plus in some cases nearby lymph node radiotherapy. Although these patients need to be followed for longer periods, at the times of their last follow-up reports, all of these patients' tumors had taken indolent courses without recurring or metastasizing to distant tissues. However, in a recent report not included in the series of 25 cases, a 31-year-old female was diagnosed with an axillary secretory carcinoma of the skin and treated with surgical removal of the tumor and radiotherapy to nearby lymph nodes; 4 years later, the patient developed metastasizes in both lungs. Most of these tumors consisted of cells that expressed the NTRK3-ETV6 fusion gene.


title: Secretory carcinoma

text: Salivary gland–type carcinoma of the thyroid, also termed intrathyroidal mammary analog secretory carcinoma, has been reported in 12 cases in the English language. In a review of 11 cases, salivary gland–type carcinomas of the thyroid were diagnosed in adult females (9 cases) and males (2 cases) with an average age 61.5 years (range: 36–74 years). These individuals presented with a thyroid mass with two individuals complaining of shortness of breath and one individual complaining of hoarseness. Their tumors' microscopic histopathology resembled that described in the pathology section of mammary secretory carcinoma and consisted of tumor cells that expressed the NTRK3-ETV6 fusion gene. All cases were treated by thyroidectomy (removal of the thyroid gland) plus radiotherapy in 6 cases and/or chemotherapy in 3 cases. Six of 10 individuals experienced local recurrences (n = 3) or one or more metastases (n = 3) after initial treatment; their tumors had invaded nearby normal thyroid tissues, trachea, mediastinum, and/or and cartilage and metastasized to the liver, lung, kidney, bone, and/or soft tissues. Salivary gland-type carcinoma of the thyroid appears to be a more aggressive disease than mammary secretory carcinoma or MASCSG.


title: Rich Campbell (American football)

text: Selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 1st round (6th overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft, and the only 1st round quarterback chosen, Campbell eventually played in only seven games over four NFL seasons. Packers offensive coordinator Bob Schnelker thought Campbell didn't have the arm strength, so he rarely put him in to play. Campbell recalls offensive coordinator Schnelker (a former tight end - not a quarterback) as "a really good X's and O's guy but not a guy that will work with you after practice and encourage and develop you. That was what I needed at that time and I didn't get it." Campbell led the Packers to a last minute road win over the Chicago Bears near the end of the 1984 season; that Bears team would make it to the NFC Championship game, and the Bears defense would dominate the entire NFL the next year, winning the Super Bowl. Trailing by a point with 1:53 to go, Campbell moved the Packers 71 yards, capping the drive with a 43-yard TD pass to Phillip Epps with 34 seconds to go. The Packers won 20-14, avenging an earlier 9-7 loss to Chicago in September. After that 1984 season, the Packers traded Campbell to the Los Angeles Raiders, but he never played again. He has since become a newspaper columnist at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.


title: Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration

text: When deciding what to actually write for the short series, Watsuki knew fans most likely wanted the Hokkaido arc that ended as a rough draft. But he revealed that the conclusion of the theme was the main reason the original manga ended, and with him unable to come up with a new one, he said that there was "just no way" he could write it. Watsuki's next idea was a sequel about the next generation; either a story about Yahiko or one combining Kenshin's child Kenji and Yahiko's child Shinya to make Ken - Shin. But he said that would mean it is not about the Kenshin, and felt that while it was acceptable as a "continuation" of the original manga, it was not suitable for Restoration. He next considered a prequel, but realized that would mean Kenshin's friends could not appear, making a prequel more suitable for the one-shot. Watsuki's last idea was for a "parallel story," which he defined as "another" or "separate" story that works as a "pleasant gimmick" allowing one to enjoy a work in a different form. But said one thing you can not do is change a character's foundation, as that would make it "fake." Many ideas were rejected when writing the script for the film, one of his rejected was a thirty-week story he envisioned "before Rurouni," making it a "story based on a template." Watsuki described it as "worthy of another Kenshin story" and in line with promoting the film. This became Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration.


title: Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration

text: The first thing Watsuki thought about when starting it was what he should change besides the structure. He described the process of writing a serial manga as like building a "multi-layered three-dimensional puzzle"; putting together differently shaped pieces to make it entertaining and worth reading every week or month. He called it an organic process where even the author can not envision its completed form until it is done. Although Restoration was a monthly serial, because it had already been "built" once before, the artist said it was more like a one-shot or "flat puzzle." He challenged himself to express Kenshin's inner feelings. Watsuki compared Kenshin's role in the original manga to that of Kōmon in Mito Kōmon or Yoshimune's in Abarenbō Shōgun, where the supporting characters built the drama and he was the hero who would defeat the villains. This made it easy to express the thoughts of the surrounding characters but not Kenshin's, so he wanted to "dig deeper" into Kenshin this time. It turned out harder than he imagined. Although drawing it was not difficult, when he tried to make it entertaining the story got gloomier due to Kenshin's regrets. By chapter four he got worried it would be a repeat of the Jinchū Arc of the original manga. This is when he gave up digging deeper into Kenshin's thoughts.


title: Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration

text: Keeping Saitō's role as Kenshin's comrade connected by a strange friendship, Watsuki felt condensing the story strengthened their bond even more. His uniform is the most notable change in his appearance; when the character was originally created the author had very little reference material, so this time he made it more historically accurate thanks to the internet. Watsuki initially depicted Jin-e as attacking Kenshin out of sheer madness, but then gave him a motive. He called this a miscalculation because it diminished the character's level of madness compared to the original. This time he left out Jin-e's Shin no Ippō technique for being too supernatural, but that too diminished some excitement unique to shōnen manga; another miscalculation. The biggest change in his appearance is his skin tone, done to increase his oddity, but this made keeping the tone of the entire story consistent difficult. "A lot of things didn't work out in Restoration for Jin-e. It drove home that the original version of Jin-e is the perfect and the ultimate."


title: Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration

text: Watsuki had five goals for the prequel one-shot; make sure current readers of Weekly Shōnen Jump who had never read the original Rurouni Kenshin could enjoy it, make sure existing fans would enjoy it, fill in the gaps of an element he had missed, include an element he had never used before, and tie the ending into the first chapter of Restoration. To address the first goal he narrowed the pre-existing characters down to only Kenshin, used a familiar story structure to make it easy to read, and added comedy. To achieve the second he connected Kenshin's flashback scene in the middle to the ending spread where he included characters that were on the covers of the kanzenban edition of Rurouni Kenshin. For the third goal, Watsuki elaborated on the common question of "Why would Kenshin, who wandered for ten years, suddenly stop in the First Act?" In Act Zero Elder notices Kenshin's unhealed emotional scar and her kind advice has a slight effect on him, becoming the motivation for his actions in the first chapter. The author included an element he never used before by including a Westerner. Despite Rurouni Kenshin being set in an era of modernization and Westernization, it never featured a Western character. Additionally, the one-shot is set in Yokohama's foreign settlement, where Watsuki visited in the spring for research. In order to tie the ending into the first chapter of Restoration, he simply used the recurring narration seen often in the series, commenting "Oh, the number of times I've written that narration..." Watsuki said he struggled to decide on these five points until going to dinner with Hisashi Sasaki, his first editor on the original Rurouni Kenshin. After talking in the cab ride on the way to the restaurant, they came up with the framework in only 15 minutes. Watsuki said this reminded him that Rurouni Kenshin would not have been possible without Sasaki.


title: Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration

text: In a review about the series' reboot, Publishers Weekly praised the manga for appealing to both newcomers as well as old fans of Rurouni Kenshin. The reviewer also noted the manga had light parts during its comedy which he found strange in the samurai genre. Kat Kan of Voice of Youth Advocates shared similar feelings, but suggested it to try it for older teens rather than children as a result of its violent content. Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network praised the reboot for the focus on Kenshin and Yahiko's development but criticized Kaoru and Saito for lacking focus. Chris Beveridge appreciated the fight scenes, most notably due to how they are presented in this retelling as Sanosuke is stronger than in the original manga, making his duel with Kenshin more enjoyable. Although ICv2 enjoyed the reboot, the writer had mixed thoughts about the speech patterns given towards Kenshin but still praised his heroic persona. Leroy Douresseaux was more negative, finding the Takeda's arc boring and the plot in general too lighthearted for the shonen genre. Manga News enjoyed how Watsuki managed to retell a storyline from the original series in only two volumes. Matthew Warner from the Fandom Post stated that the reboot managed to distance itself from the first manga based on how different are the fights and praised Yahiko's character arc in his battle.


title: I Love American Music

text: Perry has described "I Love American Music" as being a dedication to the fans and musicians of American roots music, particularly influenced by the figures of Eugene, Oregon's blues scene in the 1980s, such as Robert Cray, Henry Vestine and Curtis Salgado. In a blog post written on the day of the single's release, Perry elaborated "I think what touches me the most in retrospect were the kind of minor players who were nonetheless freaking fantastic and for one reason or another never got the notoriety.These guys lived in squalor, in 1 room crash pads, in order to be able to do what they did, while their friends and relations went off to sell insurance, program computers, and generally take a shot at what they felt was the American dream. Unfortunately, this country does not value its cultural heritage, (its real dream) and mostly isn't even aware of its glorious history or the lives of their soulful poets. These poor bastards mostly go to their deaths unknown. Many I was fortunate to call my friends. So I wrote a little song for them".