title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 19 September at 10:40 mechanized infantry of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged two enemy platoons 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Củ Chi, supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes. The enemy withdrew at 16:10 leaving 20 dead and two captured. At 11:00 helicopters of the armored cavalry squadron of the 1st Infantry Division found an enemy base camp 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Dầu Tiếng and directed artillery and airstrikes onto the base killing seven PAVN/VC. At 12:40 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division air-assaulted into a landing zone 6 miles (9.7 km) west-northwest of Bến Cát, ten PAVN/VC were seen in the area and helicopter gunships attacked them and the unit found six dead and captured two and two individual weapons. At 13:45 mechanized infantry from the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division found 11 PAVN/VC dead 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Tân An, all had been killed by small arms fire three days earlier. At 16:55 a helicopter from the 1/9th Cavalry received fire 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Katum and returned fire and directed artillery fire onto the position, six dead and one destroyed machinegun were seen in the strike area.: 54–6


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 23 September at 02:15 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division at a patrol base 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Trảng Bàng observed ten PAVN/VC in the perimeter and directed artillery fire onto the position killing nine. At 10:00 a helicopter of the 1/9th Cavalry received fire 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Katum and directed airstrikes onto the area, seven PAVN/VC dead were seen in the strike area. At 11:00 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division supported by helicopter gunships engaged an enemy force 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Đức Hòa killing five and capturing one and one AK-47. At 12:30 an armored unit of the 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force 2 miles west of Phú Cường supported by airstrikes, the enemy withdrew after an hour leaving 11 dead and seven AK-47s. At 15:50 a unit of the 199th LIB was ambushed 5 miles (8.0 km) north-northwest of Xuân Lộc losing five killed in a 25 minute skirmish. At 19:20 a U.S. Navy PBR attacked enemy forces crossing the Saigon River 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Dầu Tiếng killing five. At 22:45 in the same area a PBR killed a further nine PAVN/VC crossing the river.: 63–4


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 24 September at 03:00 helicopter gunships of the 1st Infantry Division engaged six PAVN/VC 9 miles (14 km) east of Bến Cát killing five. At 04:45 mechanized infantry of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and ARVN armored cavalry and infantry from the 49th Regiment, 25th Division in a night defensive position 9 miles north-northeast of Củ Chi received a ground probe. The units responded with their weapons supported by helicopter gunships and an AC-47. The enemy withdrew at 05:05 leaving ten dead and four AK-47s. At 09:10 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division found a six ton rice cache 11 miles (18 km) west-northwest of Quần Lợi. At 10:30 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division supported by helicopter gunships and airstrikes engaged an enemy unit 15 miles (24 km) east-northeast of Tây Ninh. One airstrike caused a massive secondary explosion resulting in a 1,600 feet (490 m) smoke column. The enemy withdrew at 11:00 leaving 24 dead and a large munitions cache including 75 107 mm rockets and 25 antitank mines. At 16:00 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division was ambushed 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Phước Vĩnh killing two. At 17:40 an observation helicopter of the 1/9th Cavalry drew fire 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Sông Bé and directed airstrikes and an AC-119 onto the area, the bodies of eight PAVN/VC were seen among 15 destroyed bunkers in the strike area. At 21:05 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division detected ten PAVN/VC on their perimeter and directed artillery fire onto the area killing seven. At 22:40 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged 25 PAVN/VC 9 miles southwest of Bến Cát, the enemy withdrew at 01:30 leaving 16 dead. At 23:25 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division killed five PAVN/VC 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Trảng Bàng. An OH-6 was shot down 10 miles (16 km) east of Phước Bình.: 65–6


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 25 September at 22:50 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division detected 15 PAVN/VC near their night defensive position 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Trảng Bàng, artillery fire was directed onto the area and 20 bodies were seen in the strike area.: 67 On 26 September at 04:4 an ambush patrol of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Go Dau Ha. The enemy withdrew at 05:55 leaving 13 dead and one captured and one individual weapon. At 07:10 helicopter gunships from the 1/9th Cavalry received fire from an enemy force 23 miles (37 km) north-northeast of Tây Ninh and directed artillery and airstrikes on the area, eight PAVN/VC dead were seen in the strike area. At 11:10 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division engaged an enemy force 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Go Dau Ha supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes. The enemy withdrew at 16:20 leaving 30 dead and ten individual weapons; U.S. losses were one killed. At midday a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division supported by helicopter gunship engaged 20 PAVN/VC 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Đức Hòa killing 16; U.S. losses were two killed. At 15:45 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division supported by helicopter gunships engaged an enemy force 12 miles (19 km) east of Tân An. The enemy withdrew at 17:50 leaving 26 dead and three individual weapons. At 18:00 a unit of the 199th LIB found seven PAVN/VC bodies 17 miles (27 km) north-northeast of Xuân Lộc, all had been killed by airstrikes a week earlier.: 69


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 29 September at 11:35 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division was attacked 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Phước Bình losing one killed. At 11:55 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged 25 PAVN/VC 11 miles (18 km) south-southeast of Tây Ninh killing six. At 13:50 Rangers from the 1st Cavalry Division observed 30 PAVN/VC 7 miles (11 km) north of Sông Bé and directed helicopter gunships onto the location which killed ten. At 15:00 a Chieu hoi led mechanized infantry from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division to a weapons cache 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Lai Khê, containing 24 light machineguns, two 82 mm mortars and assorted munitions. At 16:10 a unit of the 1st brigade, 1st cavalry Division operating 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Tây Ninh found ten PAVN/VC killed by airstrikes earlier that day. At 17:30 1/9th Cavalry troops were landed 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Katum killing two PAVN/VC in a brief skirmish and then finding five PAVN/VC killed by airstrikes earlier. At 21:00mechanized infantry of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division detected 20 PAVN/VC outside their perimeter 11 miles northwest of Tây Ninh and directed artillery fire onto the area, seven dead were seen in the strike area. On 30 September at 02:25 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division at Firebase Canada 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Dầu Tiếng observed nine PAVN/VC outside their perimeter and engaged them with unit weapons, the enemy withdrew at 03:15 with unknown losses. At 09:50 mechanized infantry of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division were led to a weapons cache 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Phước Vĩnh containing a 60 mm mortar and 12 RPG rounds.: 74–6


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 3 October at 07:20 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division received mortar fire 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Bến Cát, the unit returned fire and called in artillery, helicopter gunship and airstrikes on the firing position. At 10:30 the enemy withdrew leaving 14 dead. Two observation helicopters were hit by ground fire with one crashing; U.S. losses were one killed. On 4 October at 08:55 a unit of the armored cavalry squadron of the 1st Infantry Division and RF forces engaged an entrenched enemy force 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Phú Cường, the enemy withdrew after 20 minutes leaving six dead and three crew-served weapons. At 11:20 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force 3 miles (4.8 km) south-southeast of Đức Hòa, the enemy withdrew leaving five dead and three individual weapons. At 13:50 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division found a weapons cache 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Tây Ninh containing 37 107 mm rockets. At 15:55 troops from the 1/9th Cavalry engaged an enemy company 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Lộc Ninh, artillery, helicopter gunship and air support was provided and the enemy withdrew at 16:20 leaving 24 dead. At 16:00 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged six PAVN/VC 8 miles (13 km) west of Trảng Bàng killing all six. At 16:50 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division operating 4 miles southeast of Sông Bé found the bodies of seven PAVN/VC killed a week earlier.: 10–2


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 5 October at 11:15 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division operating 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Trảng Bàng engaged an enemy force killing eight and capturing three and three individual and two crew-served weapons. At 13:00 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engage an enemy force 7 miles (11 km) north of Trảng Bàng, the enemy withdrew an hour later leaving nine dead and one captured. At 15:45 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division and troops from the 1/9th Cavalry engaged 20–30 enemy soldiers 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Lộc Ninh, the enemy withdrew after ten minutes leaving five dead; U.S. losses were one killed. At 20:30 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division supported by artillery and helicopter gunships engaged 20 PAVN/VC 6 miles northeast of Trảng Bàng, the enemy withdrew at 23:00 leaving 15 dead. On 6 October at 00:30 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged 6–8 PAVN/VC 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Tây Ninh killing five. At 10:55 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division operating 16 miles (26 km) north of Tây Ninh engaged an enemy squad, the enemy withdrew at 16:00 leaving 12 dead; U.S. losses were one killed. At 17:30 helicopters of the 1/9th Cavalry killed seven PAVN/VC 19 miles (31 km) west-northwest of Sông Bé.: 13–15


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 8 October at 14:40 helicopter gunships from the 1/9th Cavalry engaged 11 PAVN/VC 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Lộc Ninh killing ten. At 19:25 a reconnaissance unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division on U.S. Navy PBRs engaged an enemy force on the Vàm Cỏ Đông River 7 miles (11 km) east-northeast of Tân An killing five. An OH-6 was shot down in Biên Hòa Province. On 9 October at 10:10 troops from the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division engage an entrenched enemy squad 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Phú Cường, the enemy withdrew at 12:50 leaving one dead and two individual weapons. At 18:20 a unit of the 199th LIB engaged an enemy force 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Xuân Lộc, the enemy withdrew after 20 minutes with unknown losses. At 18:30 helicopter gunships from the 1/9th Cavalry received fire 9 miles northeast of Lộc Ninh, the gunships engaged the firing position and directed artillery fire onto the area, five PAVN/VC dead were seen in the strike area. At 20:10 a unit from the 199th LIB ambushed 12 PAVN/VC 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of Xuân Lộc killing six and capturing three individual weapons.: 18–20


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 11 October at 10:40 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division engaged an enemy force 14 miles (23 km) north-northeast of Tây Ninh, the enemy withdrew after 40 minutes leaving five dead; U.S. losses were two killed. At 14:15 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division found a 4 ton rice cache 16 miles (26 km) west-northwest of Sông Bé. At 14:40 an armored unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division providing road security 9 miles (14 km) north-northeast of Tây Ninh was attacked by RPGs, the unit returned fire supported by artillery and helicopter gunships and the enemy withdrew 20 minutes later leaving two dead; U.S. losses were two killed. At 16:30 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged 20 PAVN/VC 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Bến Cát, the PAVN/VC withdrew after 45 minutes leaving six dead and two individual weapons; U.S. losses were one killed. At 17:10 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st cavalry Division engaged an enemy squad 13 miles (21 km) west-southwest of Sông Bé, the enemy withdrew after 40 minutes with unknown losses; U.S. losses were one killed. At 20:45 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division and U.S. Navy PBRs engaged an enemy force 8 miles (13 km) north of Tân An killing nine in a 15 minute skirmish.: 23–4


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 12 October at 11:30 a unit of the 11th ACR operating 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Lộc Ninh engaged an enemy platoon killing five. At 16:00 a helicopter gunship from the 1/9th Cavalry received fire from 20-25 PAVN/VC 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Katum, the gunship returned fire and directed artillery and airstrikes onto the position, 14 dead were seen in the strike area. At 16:30 a USAF FAC observed an enemy unit 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Go Dau Ha and directed airstrikes on the location resulting in one secondary explosion. Air cavalry troops from the 25th Infantry Division later searched the area finding 19 PAVN/VC dead among five destroyed bunkers. At 23:25 infantry from the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and RF troops engage an enemy squad 6 miles south-southwest of Go Dau Ha, the enemy withdrew after a few minutes leaving five dead and two individual weapons. A patrol from the brigade engaged a further four PAVN/VC killing three and capturing one. The prisoner stated that his unit was planning to attack a nearby brigade firebase. At 00:50 on 13 October the firebase was hit by mortar and rocket fire, the defenders returned fire supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and an AC-119. The enemy withdrew at 02:40 leaving two dead, one AK-47 and three RPG rounds.: 25–6


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 18 October at 01:00 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division and a unit of the ARVN 46th Regiment, 25th Division engaged seven PAVN/VC on sampan 21 miles (34 km) east of Tân An killing all seven and capturing six individual weapons. At 06:55 a Ranger unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division engaged six PAVN/VC 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Tân An killing all six. At 12:45 a light observation helicopter of the 1/9th Cavalry received fire 13 miles (21 km) north-northeast of Tây Ninh, they returned fire and directed artillery onto the position, five dead were seen in the strike area. At 20:25 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division and U.S. Navy PBRs engaged 40 PAVN/VC 8 miles (13 km) north of Tân An supported by artillery and helicopter gunships, the enemy withdrew after 30 minutes leaving ten dead. At 21:00 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division received mortar fire 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Phước Bình and returned fire supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and an AC-119, the enemy withdrew leaving ten dead and three individual weapons.: 34–5


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 20 October at 08:30 infantry of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division found the bodies of eight PAVN/VC 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Trảng Bàng, they had been killed by small arms fire earlier. At 13:10 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division was led to a bunker complex and arms cache 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Quần Lợi by a Chieu hoi, the cache contained 30 individual weapons, 11 antitank mines and 100 RPG rounds. At 14:10 helicopter gunships from the 1st Cavalry Division engaged five PAVN/VC 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Phước Vĩnh killing four. At 15:00 a unit of the 199th LIB operating 6 miles southeast of Xuân Lộc found a weapons cache containing 22 individual and one crew-served weapons. At 15:20 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division received 25 rounds of 82 mm mortar fire and returned fire supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes. The enemy withdrew after 30 minutes leaving 14 dead and one AK-47; U.S. losses were five killed. At 15:50 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division engaged an enemy force 15 miles (24 km) north-northeast of Tây Ninh supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes. The enemy withdrew at 18:30 but 10 minutes later a UH-1 and an AH-1 were hit by ground fire in the area. PAVN/VC losses were two killed and U.S. losses were two killed. At 18:50 a helicopter gunship from the 1st Cavalry Division killed five PAVN/VC 12 miles (19 km) north of Tây Ninh and destroyed one 12.7mm machinegun. Also at 18:50 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division ambushed 10-12 PAVN/VC 7 miles (11 km) north-northwest of Phú Cường, killing six and capturing two AK-47s and one RPG-2 launcher. At 20:15 a mechanized unit of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and U.S. Navy PBRs killed nine PAVN/VC in the water 9 miles southeast of Dầu Tiếng.: 38–9


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 21 October at 18:25 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division supported by helicopter gunships engaged PAVN/VC 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Go Dau Ha killing 21. At 20:40 an armored unit of the 25th Infantry Division and RF troops engaged an enemy force 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Tây Ninh, the enemy withdrew two hours later leaving 15 dead, two AK-47s and four RPG launchers.: 41 On 22 October at 08:50 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th infantry Division engaged seven PAVN/VC 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Tây Ninh killing five. At 10:30 infantry from the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division found a munitions cache 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Tân An containing 14 107 mm rockets and 114 82 mm mortar rounds. At 11:45 a unit of the 199th LIB engaged 15 PAVN/VC 16 miles (26 km) east of Biên Hòa killing five and capturing two individual weapons. At 16:20 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged 10–15 PAVN/VC 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Tây Ninh supported by artillery and helicopter gunships. The enemy withdrew at 18:00 leaving seven dead; U.S. losses were one killed. At 17:00 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division operating 12 miles (19 km) east of Tân An found the bodies of 14 PAVN/VC killed by small arms fire in the previous 24 hours. At 19:30 a reconnaissance unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and RF forces engaged an enemy force 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Củ Chi, the enemy withdrew at 23:00 leaving five dead and one AK-47.: 43


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 23 October at 03:30 U.S. Navy PBRS engaged 15 PAVN/VC on a sampan on the Saigon River 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Bến Cát, killing five and capturing three individual weapons. At 03:45 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division ambushed and killed five PAVN/VC 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Go Dau Ha. At 09:10 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Go Dau Ha supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes. The enemy withdrew at 17:45 leaving 18 dead and two AK-47s; U.S. losses were one killed. At 11:10 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division found 40 PAVN bodies 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Phước Bình all had been killed three months previously. At 17:00 a unit of the 1/9th Cavalry found five PAVN/VC bodies 10 miles (16 km) east-northeast of Phước Bình, they had been killed by artillery fire 12 hours earlier. At 15:20 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged 5–7 PAVN/VC 7 miles west-southwest of Bến Cát killing five and capturing one and three AK-47s. At 16:30 a unit of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy unit 6 miles west-southwest of Bến Cát killing ten and capturing 2. At 19:30 a U.S. Navy PBR attacked eight PAVN/VC attempting to cross the Saigon River 7 miles west of Bến Cát killing all seven. At 22:00 a patrol from the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force 7 miles southeast of Tân An killing 15.: 45–6


title: Operation Toan Thang III

text: On 27 October at 03:50 a unit of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division engaged an enemy force near the Vàm Cỏ Đông River, 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Đức Hòa. Helicopter gunships and PBRs provided support and the enemy withdrew leaving four dead. At 11:00 mechanized infantry of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division operating 9 miles (14 km) east-southeast of Tân An found five PAVN/VC bodies all killed by small arms fire in the previous 12 hours. At 14:50 the 1/9th Cavalry engaged an enemy company 15 miles (24 km) north of Tây Ninh supported by artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes. The enemy withdrew at 18:45 leaving six dead and one crew-served weapon. At 15:15 a helicopter gunship from the 1/9th Cavalry received fire 15 miles east-northeast of Phước Bình and returned fire and directed artillery and airstrikes on the site, 12 dead were seen in the strike area. At 18:20 a unit of the 1st Brigade, 25th infantry Division engaged 10–15 PAVN/VC 9 miles northeast of Go Dau Ha killing five and capturing three individual weapons. At 20:00 U.S. Navy PBRs attacked seven PAVN/VC in a river 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Bến Cát killing five.: 51–2


title: Thomas Sweatt

text: On Thursday, August 4, 2005, two fatal arson cases in the District of Columbia were closed with the arrest of 50-year-old Thomas Sweatt of the 500 blocks in Lebaum Street SE. He was formally charged in both cases with second-degree murder while armed. The first offense occurred at approximately 4:05 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2002. Members of the Fifth District received a radio assignment for a house fire at 1208 Montello Avenue NE. Once on the scene, officers located 93-year-old Annie Brown of the Montello Avenue address. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the scene and transported the victim to the George Washington University Hospital, where she was admitted in serious condition. On February 14, 2002, Ms. Brown was pronounced dead. An autopsy performed by the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be smoke inhalation and the manner of death to be a homicide. The second incident occurred at approximately 4:30 am on June 5, 2003. DC Fire and EMS personnel responded to 2800 Evarts Street NE for the report of a house fire. Upon extinguishing the blaze on the first floor of the residence, firefighters located 85-year-old Lou Edna Jones of the Evarts Street address inside. She was transported to the Washington Hospital Center's MedSTAR Unit, where she was pronounced dead.


title: Train of Knowledge

text: During the early 1980s, the Victorian and New South Wales railway authorities were looking at merging the two overnight standard gauge trains, the Spirit of Progress and Southern Aurora, which would have freed some sleeping carriages for The Vinelander service to Mildura. Its sleeping carriages 1–4 and 11-14 could then be cascaded to the Train of Knowledge, replacing the older sleeping carriages 5 to 10. In expectation of that switch, maintenance of the older carriages was allowed to run down. However, by the end of 1983, the carriage cascade had not started, while schools around Victoria still wanted to lease the train. Consequently, VicRail started a refurbishment program, with cars 5, 7, 8 and Carey sent to Bendigo for refurbishment and 6, 9, 10, Melville and Avoca to either Ballarat or Newport. At the same time, the former buffet car allocated to The Gippslander train, Moorabool, was superseded by new BRN and refurbished BRS cars with buffet modules fitted, so it was used to replace the worn-out 43BPL.


title: Ardoch Algonquin First Nation

text: In February, 2008, Justice Douglas Cunningham sentenced Ardoch Algonquin co-chiefs Paula Sherman and Robert Lovelace to six month terms in prison for contempt of court, but Sherman, a single mother of three, agreed to obey the injunctions to avoid prison time. Lovelace, a non-indigenous person who immigrated to Canada in the 1960s, is father of seven, and an instructor at Queen's University and Sir Sandford Fleming Community College. The court also fined him $25,000 and fined the community an additional $10,000. Sherman, a professor at Trent University was fined $15 000, payable to Frontenac Ventures. Currently the injunction restricts the Algonquin and non-native activists from approaching the site closer than 200 metres; this has not, however, discouraged protests in surrounding communities. In June, 2008 the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Justice Cunningham's decision and ordered Lovelace immediately released. The Court of Appeal noted that the conflict between the Ardoch people and Frontenac Ventures could have been avoided if the Government of Ontario had consulted with them before approving uranium exploration in the area.


title: Cerato-platanin

text: In molecular biology, the cerato-platanin family of proteins includes the phytotoxin cerato-platanin (CP) produced by the Ascomycete Ceratocystis platani. CP homologs are also found in both the Ascomycota and the Basidiomycota branches of Dikarya. This toxin causes the severe plant disease: canker stain. This protein occurs in the cell wall of the fungus and is involved in the host-pathogen interaction and induces both cell necrosis and phytoalexin synthesis which is one of the first plant defense-related events. CP, like other fungal surface proteins, is able to self-assemble in vitro. CP is a 120 amino acid protein, containing 40% hydrophobic residues. It is one of the rare examples of protein in which contains a Hopf link. The link is formed by covalent loops - the pieces of protein backbone closed by two disulphide bonds (formed out of four cysteine residues). The N-terminal region of CP is very similar to cerato-ulmin, a phytotoxic protein produced by the Ophiostoma species belonging to the hydrophobin family, which also self-assembles.


title: Guanghua School of Management

text: Professor Weiying Zhang graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1982, and a master's degree in 1984, from Northwestern University at Xi'an. He received his M. Phil. in economics in 1992 and D. Phil. in economics from Oxford University. His D. Phil. supervisors were James Mirrlees and Donald Hay. Between 1984 and 1990, he was a research fellow of the Economic System Reform Institute of China under the State Commission of Restructuring Economic System. During this period, he was heavily involved in economic reform policy making in China. He was the first Chinese economist who proposed the "dual-track price system reform" . He was also known for his contributions to macro-control policy debating, ownership reform debating, and entrepreneurship studies. After he graduated from Oxford, he co-founded China Center for Economic Research (CCER), Peking University in 1994, and worked with the Center first as an associate professor and then as a professor until August, 1997. He then moved to Guanghua School of Management in September, 1997.


title: Lettice D'Oyly Walters

text: In 1926, Lettice, her son Michael, and printer, engraver and painter Maureen Patey Eyre Proudman established the Swan Press, listing the Walters' home address at 5 Swan Walk, Chelsea. The press published no new work, but reissued previously published material. The Sybil Campbell Library, which owns many of the books, notes that Swan Press "produced limited editions, usually of 100 numbered copies, in fine print, handset in a variety of typefaces by L.D.O. Walters and M.P. Eyre, hand pressed by H. Gage-Cole on handmade paper, bound by hand, examples of fine craftsmanship." Margaret Roake writes, "Since the foremost aim of the Swan Press was the production of fine typography, there was no standard format to the volumes. Each came in a size, typeface and style appropriate to the particular subject." Swan Press ceased publication with the memorial volume Michael for Michael H. H. Walters. Contributors to the memorial received a copy of Swan Press's edition of Ten Fables by Robert Lewis Stevenson, illustrated by Rachel Russell . Swan Press's editions were presented to the Sybil Campbell Library in memory of Michael Heriot Huth Walters. According to the library, "no public repository has records of the Swan Press."


title: Rollercoaster (Jim Verraros album)

text: Rollercoaster received positive comments from several publications. Adam B. Vary and Dennis Hensley of The Advocate called the album "surprisingly assured" and noted similarities to George Michael's music, while Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle felt that the album "thrives on a glossy pop sensibility". Guerra wrote that Rollercoaster successfully blends club music with "ballads", "crunchy rock tunes" and "even a '50s-flavored doowop ditty". He and Billboard compared the album's first and second singles respectively to "I'm a Slave 4 U" by Britney Spears. Barry Walters of Out magazine praised Rollercoaster for sounding "more like a solo disc from Justin Timberlake or JC Chasez than the bland pop from most of ' Idol cohorts". Although Walters suggested that Rollercoaster sounds "prematurely dated" due to its blend of "boy-band dance tracks, mainstream rock, and George Michael-ish balladry", he nonetheless called the album "subversive" for offering a gay perspective, highlighting the track "So Deep" for co-opting the "penetration metaphor" of songs typically performed by female artists.


title: Oded Goldreich

text: In 2021 he was selected by committee to win the Israel Prize in mathematics. Education Minister Yoav Gallant vetoed his selection over Goldreich's alleged support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel. One of the reasons for the decision was a letter signed by Goldreich calling German parliament not to equate BDS with anti-semitism. However, according to Goldreich, he did not support BDS but instead signed a petition calling for the halt of EU funding for the Israeli Ariel University on the occupied West Bank. The prize committee petitioned to the Supreme Court of Israel to ensure that Goldreich will win the prize. On 8 April 2021 Israel's Supreme Court of Justice ruled in favor of Gallant's petition so that Goldreich could receive the prize that year, giving Gallant a month to further examine the issue. On 11 April 2021, a 2004 Israeli Prize winner, Professor David Harel, decided to share his award with Goldreich in protest of the government's decision to not award the 2021 prize for Professor Goldreich. In August 2021 the Supreme Court wrote, "we found appropriate at this stage to accept the position of the Attorney General that the Education Minister should be allowed to examine new information that he received only two days ago regarding a petition that Professor Goldreich signed that was publicized around two weeks ago." This meant that the matter should be resolved by the new Minister of Education Yifat Shasha-Biton. In November 2021, Shasha-Biton announced that she would block Goldreich from receiving the prize. In December 2021 Attorney General Mandelblit told the High Court that Prof. Goldreich should be given the Israel Prize in Mathematics, despite Education Minister Shasha-Biton's decision.


title: Legendre transformation

text: Then, suppose that the first derivative f ′ {\displaystyle f'} is invertible and let the inverse be g = ( f ′ ) − 1 {\displaystyle g=(f')^{-1}} . Then for each p {\textstyle p} , the point g ( p ) {\displaystyle g(p)} is the unique critical point x ¯ {\textstyle {\overline {x}}} of the function x ↦ p x − f ( x ) {\displaystyle x\mapsto px-f(x)} (i.e., x ¯ = g ( p ) {\displaystyle {\overline {x}}=g(p)} ) because f ′ ( g ( p ) ) = p {\displaystyle f'(g(p))=p} and the function's first derivative with respect to x {\displaystyle x} at g ( p ) {\displaystyle g(p)} is p − f ′ ( g ( p ) ) = 0 {\displaystyle p-f'(g(p))=0} . Hence we have f ∗ ( p ) = p ⋅ g ( p ) − f ( g ( p ) ) {\displaystyle f^{*}(p)=p\cdot g(p)-f(g(p))} for each p {\textstyle p} . By differentiating with respect to p {\textstyle p} , we find ( f ∗ ) ′ ( p ) = g ( p ) + p ⋅ g ′ ( p ) − f ′ ( g ( p ) ) ⋅ g ′ ( p ) . {\displaystyle (f^{*})'(p)=g(p)+p\cdot g'(p)-f'(g(p))\cdot g'(p).} Since f ′ ( g ( p ) ) = p {\displaystyle f'(g(p))=p} this simplifies to ( f ∗ ) ′ ( p ) = g ( p ) = ( f ′ ) − 1 ( p ) {\displaystyle (f^{*})'(p)=g(p)=(f')^{-1}(p)} . In other words, ( f ∗ ) ′ {\displaystyle (f^{*})'} and f ′ {\displaystyle f'} are inverses to each other.


title: Legendre transformation

text: Consider the exponential function f ( x ) = e x , {\displaystyle f(x)=e^{x},} which has the domain I = R {\displaystyle I=\mathbb {R} } . From the definition, the Legendre transform is f ∗ ( x ∗ ) = sup x ∈ R ( x ∗ x − e x ) , x ∗ ∈ I ∗ {\displaystyle f^{*}(x^{*})=\sup _{x\in \mathbb {R} }(x^{*}x-e^{x}),\quad x^{*}\in I^{*}} where I ∗ {\displaystyle I^{*}} remains to be determined. To evaluate the supremum, compute the derivative of x ∗ x − e x {\displaystyle x^{*}x-e^{x}} with respect to x {\displaystyle x} and set equal to zero: d d x ( x ∗ x − e x ) = x ∗ − e x = 0. {\displaystyle {\frac {d}{dx}}(x^{*}x-e^{x})=x^{*}-e^{x}=0.} The second derivative − e x {\displaystyle -e^{x}} is negative everywhere, so the maximal value is achieved at x = ln  ( x ∗ ) {\displaystyle x=\ln(x^{*})} . Thus, the Legendre transform is f ∗ ( x ∗ ) = x ∗ ln  ( x ∗ ) − e ln  ( x ∗ ) = x ∗ ( ln  ( x ∗ ) − 1 ) {\displaystyle f^{*}(x^{*})=x^{*}\ln(x^{*})-e^{\ln(x^{*})}=x^{*}(\ln(x^{*})-1)} and has domain I ∗ = ( 0 , ∞ ) . {\displaystyle I^{*}=(0,\infty ).} This illustrates that the domains of a function and its Legendre transform can be different.


title: Legendre transformation

text: To find the Legendre transformation of the Legendre transformation of f {\displaystyle f} , f ∗ ∗ ( x ) = sup x ∗ ∈ R ( x x ∗ − x ∗ ( ln  ( x ∗ ) − 1 ) ) , x ∈ I , {\displaystyle f^{**}(x)=\sup _{x^{*}\in \mathbb {R} }(xx^{*}-x^{*}(\ln(x^{*})-1)),\quad x\in I,} where a variable x {\displaystyle x} is intentionally used as the argument of the function f ∗ ∗ {\displaystyle f^{**}} to show the involution property of the Legendre transform as f ∗ ∗ = f {\displaystyle f^{**}=f} . we compute 0 = d d x ∗ ( x x ∗ − x ∗ ( ln  ( x ∗ ) − 1 ) ) = x − ln  ( x ∗ ) {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}0&={\frac {d}{dx^{*}}}{\big (}xx^{*}-x^{*}(\ln(x^{*})-1){\big )}=x-\ln(x^{*})\end{aligned}}} thus the maximum occurs at x ∗ = e x {\displaystyle x^{*}=e^{x}} because the second derivative d 2 d x ∗ 2 f ∗ ∗ ( x ) = − 1 x ∗ < 0 {\displaystyle {\frac {d^{2}}{{dx^{*}}^{2}}}f^{**}(x)=-{\frac {1}{x^{*}}}<0} over the domain of f ∗ ∗ {\displaystyle f^{**}} as I ∗ = ( 0 , ∞ ) . {\displaystyle I^{*}=(0,\infty ).} As a result, f ∗ ∗ {\displaystyle f^{**}} is found as f ∗ ∗ ( x ) = x e x − e x ( ln  ( e x ) − 1 ) = e x , {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}f^{**}(x)&=xe^{x}-e^{x}(\ln(e^{x})-1)=e^{x},\end{aligned}}} thereby confirming that f = f ∗ ∗ , {\displaystyle f=f^{**},} as expected.


title: Legendre transformation

text: If X n {\displaystyle X_{n}} are i.i.d. random variables, let S n = X 1 + ⋯ + X n {\displaystyle S_{n}=X_{1}+\cdots +X_{n}} be the associated random walk and M ( ξ ) {\displaystyle M(\xi )} the moment generating function of X 1 {\displaystyle X_{1}} . For ξ ∈ R {\displaystyle \xi \in \mathbb {R} } , E [ e ξ S n ] = M ( ξ ) n {\displaystyle E=M(\xi )^{n}} . Hence, by Markov's inequality, one has for ξ ≥ 0 {\displaystyle \xi \geq 0} and a ∈ R {\displaystyle a\in \mathbb {R} } P ( S n / n > a ) ≤ e − n ξ a M ( ξ ) n = exp  [ − n ( ξ a − Λ ( ξ ) ) ] {\displaystyle P(S_{n}/n>a)\leq e^{-n\xi a}M(\xi )^{n}=\exp} where Λ ( ξ ) = log  M ( ξ ) {\displaystyle \Lambda (\xi )=\log M(\xi )} . Since the left-hand side is independent of ξ {\displaystyle \xi } , we may take the infimum of the right-hand side, which leads one to consider the supremum of ξ a − Λ ( ξ ) {\displaystyle \xi a-\Lambda (\xi )} , i.e., the Legendre transform of Λ {\displaystyle \Lambda } , evaluated at x = a {\displaystyle x=a} .


title: Legendre transformation

text: is the scalar product on Rn. The multidimensional transform can be interpreted as an encoding of the convex hull of the function's epigraph in terms of its supporting hyperplanes. This can be seen as consequence of the following two observations. On the one hand, the hyperplane tangent to the epigraph of f {\displaystyle f} at some point ( x , f ( x ) ) ∈ U × R {\displaystyle (\mathbf {x} ,f(\mathbf {x} ))\in U\times \mathbb {R} } has normal vector ( ∇ f ( x ) , − 1 ) ∈ R n + 1 {\displaystyle (\nabla f(\mathbf {x} ),-1)\in \mathbb {R} ^{n+1}} . On the other hand, any closed convex set C ∈ R m {\displaystyle C\in \mathbb {R} ^{m}} can be characterized via the set of its supporting hyperplanes by the equations x ⋅ n = h C ( n ) {\displaystyle \mathbf {x} \cdot \mathbf {n} =h_{C}(\mathbf {n} )} , where h C ( n ) {\displaystyle h_{C}(\mathbf {n} )} is the support function of C {\displaystyle C} . But the definition of Legendre transform via the maximization matches precisely that of the support function, that is, f ∗ ( x ) = h epi  ( f ) ( x , − 1 ) {\displaystyle f^{*}(\mathbf {x} )=h_{\operatorname {epi} (f)}(\mathbf {x} ,-1)} . We thus conclude that the Legendre transform characterizes the epigraph in the sense that the tangent plane to the epigraph at any point ( x , f ( x ) ) {\displaystyle (\mathbf {x} ,f(\mathbf {x} ))} is given explicitly by { z ∈ R n + 1 : z ⋅ x = f ∗ ( x ) } . {\displaystyle \{\mathbf {z} \in \mathbb {R} ^{n+1}:\,\,\mathbf {z} \cdot \mathbf {x} =f^{*}(\mathbf {x} )\}.}


title: Legendre transformation

text: As usual, the dual of E {\textstyle E} is denote by E ∗ {\textstyle E^{*}} . The fiber of π {\textstyle \pi } over x ∈ M {\textstyle x\in M} is denoted E x {\textstyle E_{x}} , and the restriction of L {\textstyle L} to E x {\textstyle E_{x}} is denoted by L | E x : E x → R {\textstyle L|_{E_{x}}:E_{x}\to \mathbb {R} } . The Legendre transformation of L {\textstyle L} is the smooth morphism F L : E → E ∗ {\displaystyle \mathbf {F} L:E\to E^{*}} defined by F L ( v ) = d ( L | E x ) v ∈ E x ∗ {\textstyle \mathbf {F} L(v)=d(L|_{E_{x}})_{v}\in E_{x}^{*}} , where x = π ( v ) {\textstyle x=\pi (v)} . Here we use the fact that since E x {\textstyle E_{x}} is a vector space, T v ( E x ) {\textstyle T_{v}(E_{x})} can be identified with E x {\textstyle E_{x}} . In other words, F L ( v ) ∈ E x ∗ {\textstyle \mathbf {F} L(v)\in E_{x}^{*}} is the covector that sends w ∈ E x {\textstyle w\in E_{x}} to the directional derivative d d t | t = 0 L ( v + t w ) ∈ R {\textstyle \left.{\frac {d}{dt}}\right|_{t=0}L(v+tw)\in \mathbb {R} } .


title: Legendre transformation

text: To describe the Legendre transformation locally, let U ⊆ M {\textstyle U\subseteq M} be a coordinate chart over which E {\textstyle E} is trivial. Picking a trivialization of E {\textstyle E} over U {\textstyle U} , we obtain charts E U ≅ U × R r {\textstyle E_{U}\cong U\times \mathbb {R} ^{r}} and E U ∗ ≅ U × R r {\textstyle E_{U}^{*}\cong U\times \mathbb {R} ^{r}} . In terms of these charts, we have F L ( x ; v 1 , … , v r ) = ( x ; p 1 , … , p r ) {\textstyle \mathbf {F} L(x;v_{1},\dotsc ,v_{r})=(x;p_{1},\dotsc ,p_{r})} , where p i = ∂ L ∂ v i ( x ; v 1 , … , v r ) {\displaystyle p_{i}={\frac {\partial L}{\partial v_{i}}}(x;v_{1},\dotsc ,v_{r})} for all i = 1 , … , r {\textstyle i=1,\dots ,r} . If, as in the classical case, the restriction of L : E → R {\textstyle L:E\to \mathbb {R} } to each fiber E x {\textstyle E_{x}} is strictly convex and bounded below by a positive definite quadratic form minus a constant, then the Legendre transform F L : E → E ∗ {\textstyle \mathbf {F} L:E\to E^{*}} is a diffeomorphism. Suppose that F L {\textstyle \mathbf {F} L} is a diffeomorphism and let H : E ∗ → R {\textstyle H:E^{*}\to \mathbb {R} } be the "Hamiltonian" function defined by H ( p ) = p ⋅ v − L ( v ) , {\displaystyle H(p)=p\cdot v-L(v),} where v = ( F L ) − 1 ( p ) {\textstyle v=(\mathbf {F} L)^{-1}(p)} . Using the natural isomorphism E ≅ E ∗ ∗ {\textstyle E\cong E^{**}} , we may view the Legendre transformation of H {\textstyle H} as a map F H : E ∗ → E {\textstyle \mathbf {F} H:E^{*}\to E} . Then we have ( F L ) − 1 = F H . {\displaystyle (\mathbf {F} L)^{-1}=\mathbf {F} H.}


title: Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse

text: Tim Padgett's review in The New York Times says that "Neuman skillfully explains" the issues, describing the book as "richly reported"; Publishers Weekly agreed it was "deeply reported" and Richard Feinberg describes it in Foreign Affairs as a "well-sourced account". Writing in India's The Week, R. Viswanathan says "Neuman has given a full account of the omissions and commissions of Chavez, he has ignored the fact that Chavez was a creation of his predecessors and opposition leaders." Scott B. MacDonald reviewed the book for Global Americans, stating that it "provides one of the more comprehensive profiles of Nicolás Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chávez and remains in power", and explaining how Maduro was chosen. MacDonald identifies what he calls a "few weaknesses" in the coverage: "the Cuban, Chinese and Russian roles in Venezuela's decline are limited to near-cameo appearances (despite the billions of dollars the two extra-regional actors pumped into the country and Havana's security role)" and "the criminal activities of the Venezuelan elite (including the military) are at times glossed over".


text: Reviewers commented on Neuman's coverage of the trajectory of Venezuelan history. In his review for ReVista, Harvard Review of Latin America, Gabriel Hetland wrote that he initially had "low expectations" for the book "precisely because of Neuman's affiliation with the Times" saying that the newspaper focused on the shortcomings of the Venezuelan government instead of its achievements, though said that the book, to his "pleasant surprise", focused on "how government policies under Chávez, and to a much lesser degree Maduro, benefited Venezuela's poor." Kirkus Reviews describes the book as a "necessary look at a ruined nation", and Rodriguez mentions the coverage of "Venezuela's slow-moving collapse". Publisher's Weekly characterizes it as an "account of the ongoing crisis in Venezuela" that depicts "the country's downward spiral since 2014–driven by a collapse in oil prices, U.S. sanctions, and hyperinflation—from the perspectives of political leaders and ordinary citizens." Padgett praises the description of the "insane economic malpractice and malfeasance" in Venezuela, as "a thorough and important history" on the Dutch disease Venezuela experienced since it discovered oil through the nation's more contemporary history with the Bolivarian Revolution. MacDonald describes the book as a "welcome addition to the chronicles of Venezuela's Chavista experiment", comparing it to Crude Nation: How Oil Riches Ruined Venezuela written in 2016 by Raul Gellegos about the "economic mismanagement" of Venezuela's oil resources.


text: Commenting on Neuman's coverage of the administrations of Juan Guaidó and Donald Trump, Viswanathan writes that "Neuman gives new details on the self-proclamation of Juan Guaido as interim president and Guaido's involvement in the attempt to invade Venezuela from the sea with a bunch of mercenaries in 2019", noting Neuman's ability to speak to American and Venezuelan officials about the May 2020 Venezuelan Operation Gideon. Feinberg states that "U.S. politicians come off poorly" in the book, writing that "Neuman reveals a Trump administration shockingly ill informed and reckless, its disastrous improvisations writing a distressingly dark chapter in inter-American relations." MacDonald finds the coverage of this aspect lacking, writing that "Neuman portrays the U.S. role as negative, without much discussion beyond the ham-fisted nature of the Trump administration." Hetland says that "Neuman's analysis of Juan Guaidó's rise and fall is invaluable. Neuman leaves no doubt that Guaidó was more a product of the Trump administration than of Venezuela's opposition" and concludes that "Neuman has done some fine reporting and he shows courage in directing his attention towards the profoundly foolish and damaging actions of Guaidó and the U.S. government."


title: Mennonite Church Canada

text: The first Mennonites in Canada arrived from Pennsylvania in 1786. The majority of the Mennonites that migrated to Canada over the next 150 years came directly from Europe. The first annual meeting of Mennonite ministers was held in 1810, which eventually led to founding the Mennonite Conference of Ontario (later the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec). The Conference of Mennonites in Central Canada was formed in 1903. When other bodies arriving in Canada began to settle outside this "central" base, the name was changed to the General Conference of Mennonites in Canada in 1932 (later the Conference of Mennonites in Canada). The Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference (later Western Ontario Mennonite Conference) was founded in 1923, and the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario in 1945. In 1988, the Western Ontario Mennonite Conference, the Conference of United Mennonite Churches in Ontario and the Mennonite Conference of Ontario and Quebec united to form the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada.


title: Holidays with paid time off in the United States

text: While most federal holidays are observed at the state level, some of these holidays are observed with different names, are observed on different days, or completely not observed in some states of the United States. ^ a. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is known officially as Martin Luther King, Jr./Civil Rights Day in Arizona, and New Hampshire, Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Florida, and Maryland, Martin Luther King Jr. / Idaho Human Rights Day in Idaho, Robert E. Lee/Martin Luther King Birthday in Alabama, and Martin Luther King's and Robert E. Lee's Birthdays in Mississippi. ^ b. Washington's Birthday is known officially as President's Day in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, Washington-Lincoln Day in Colorado (CRS 24-11-101), Ohio, Lincoln/Washington/Presidents' Day in Arizona, George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day in Arkansas, Presidents' Day in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Vermont, Washington's Birthday/President's Day in Maine, Presidents Day in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, and Oregon, Lincoln's and Washington's Birthday in Montana, Washington and Lincoln Day in Utah, and George Washington Day in Virginia. ^ The day after Thanksgiving is observed in lieu of Columbus Day in Minnesota. ^ Columbus Day is listed as a state holiday in New Hampshire although state offices remain open. ^ President's Day, Good Friday (11am–3pm), Juneteenth Day (June 19), Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Partisan Primary Election Day, and General Election Day are listed as a state holiday in Wisconsin although state offices remain open.


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: In the debate over the meaning of the word "redskin", team supporters frequently cite a paper by Ives Goddard, a Smithsonian Institution senior linguist and curator emeritus, who asserts that the term was a direct translation of words used by Native Americans to refer to themselves and was benign in its original meaning. In an interview Goddard admits that it is impossible to verify if the native words were accurately translated. Darren R. Reid, a history lecturer at Coventry University, contends that Native American usage was generally attributed to them by European writers. Reid states that the team logo works together with the name to reinforce an unrealistic stereotype: "It is not up to non-Indians to define an idealized image of what it is to a Native American." The "positive" stereotypes allow fans and supporters to honestly state that they are honoring Native Americans, but this is "forcing your idea of what it is to honour those people onto them and that, fundamentally, is disrespectful." Sociologist James V. Fenelon makes a more explicit statement that Goddard's article is poor scholarship, given that the conclusion of the origin and usage by Natives as "entirely benign" is divorced from the socio-historical realities of hostility and racism from which it emerged.


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: A controversial etymological claim is that the term emerged from the practice of paying a bounty for Indians, and that "redskin" refers to the bloody scalp of Native Americans. Although official documents do not use the word in this way, a historical association between the use of "redskin" and the paying of bounties can be made. In 1863, a Winona, Minnesota, newspaper, the Daily Republican, printed an announcement: "The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth." A news story published by the Atchison Daily Champion in Atchison, Kansas, on October 9, 1885, tells of the settlers "hunt for redskins, with a view of obtaining their scalps" valued at $250. For sociologist C. Richard King the lack of direct evidence does not mean that contemporary Native people are wrong to draw an association between a term that emphasizes an identity based upon skin color and a history that commodified Native American body parts.


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: A second case was filed in 2013 by younger plaintiffs not affected by laches, led by Amanda Blackhorse. Once again, the TTAB found Redskins to be disparaging under the Lanham Act. In December 2015, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the disparagement prohibition in the trademark law in a separate case (Matal v. Tam) involving a denial of trademark registration to the Asian-American band The Slants. On June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Tam, stating "The disparagement clause violates the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. Contrary to the Government's contention, trademarks are private, not government speech." On June 29, 2017, both the Native American petitioners and the Justice Department withdrew from any further litigation now that the Supreme Court has rendered the legal issue moot. While team owner Daniel Snyder expresses the opinion that the court decision is a victory for the team, the executive director of the NCAI asserts that the name remains a slur, and the decision that grants it First Amendment protection does not alter any of the arguments against its continued use.


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: The issue is often discussed in the media in terms of offensiveness or political correctness, which reduces it to feelings and opinions, and prevents full understanding of the historical, psychological and sociological context provided by academic research on the negative effects of the use of Native American names and images by sports teams. The effect of stereotyping on high or low expectations, confidence, and academic performance has been well-established. This effect is enhanced due to the invisibility of Native Americans in mainstream society and media, leaving stereotypes as the primary basis for thinking about the abilities and traits associated with Natives, including the roles and opportunities Natives Americans envision for themselves. Furthermore, even when stereotypes are positive (e.g. "Native Americans are spiritual"), they may have a limiting, detrimental effect on individuals. Stereotyping may directly affect the academic performance and self-esteem of Native American youth, whose people face high rates of suicide, unemployment, and poverty. Euro-Americans exposed to mascots may be more likely to believe not only that such stereotypes are true, but that Native Americans have no identity beyond these stereotypes. Research indicates that exposure to any stereotypes increased the likelihood of stereotypical thinking with regard to other minority groups in addition to the target of the stereotype, a "spreading effect".


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: In the 1940s the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) created a campaign to eliminate negative stereotyping of Native American people in the media. Over time, the campaign began to focus on Indian names and mascots in sports. The NCAI maintains that teams with mascots such as the Braves and the Redskins perpetuate negative stereotypes of Native American people, and demean their native traditions and rituals. The NCAI issued a new report in 2013 summarizing opposition to Indian mascots and team names generally, and the Washington Redskins in particular. In the trademark case, the TTAB placed significance on the NCAI opposition, estimating that the organization represented about 30% of the Native American population at the time the trademarks were granted, which met their criteria for a "substantial composite" of Native Americans finding the name disparaging. In its amicus brief filed in the case, the NCAI states that the combined enrollment of its member tribes in 2013 was 1.2 million individuals.


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: At its 2013 annual conference, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR), which includes the NAACP and the ACLU as members, passed a unanimous resolution of the 85 representatives present that, while recognizing that a business has the First Amendment right to use any name that it chooses, others need not be complicit in the use of a pejorative and insulting name; and calling upon all Federal, state and local government entities "to end any preferential tax, zoning, or policy treatment that could be viewed as supporting the franchise as long as it retains its current team name". The resolution also commended the "current and former government officials, media outlets, and other entities that have encouraged the Washington Redskins franchise to change its team name or that have refused to be complicit in promoting the current team name". In response, the team released a brief statement reiterating their previous position, and quoting two individuals as being both Native American and Redskins fans who do not want the name to change. The LCCHR also issued a press release in 2014 applauding the decision to cancel the trademark protection for the team's name. The NAACP issued their own press release supporting the TTAB decision stating "The NAACP has called specifically for this name change since 1992, and will continue to stand with the Native Indian community until the derogatory moniker has been changed."


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: From 2013 to 2019, picketing at stadiums occurred occasionally when the Redskins played, particularly in cities with a significant population of Native Americans, such as Dallas, Denver and Minneapolis. The latter protest was supported by several Minnesota politicians and was through documented by two films: Dodging Bullets—Stories from Survivors of Historical Trauma and More Than A Word. Picketing resumed for the 2014 season in Glendale, Arizona, when the team played the Arizona Cardinals, and again the largest rally was in Minneapolis, where estimates of the number of protestors was between 3,500 and 5,000. At a protest in Philadelphia in 2017, Native Americans pointed out the irony of NFL players making a statement opposing racial injustice by "taking a knee" for the National Anthem while one of the teams taking the field continues to use a racially offensive name and logo. Playing in Minnesota for the first time since 2014, hundreds of Native Americans protested against the team name outside of U.S. Bank Stadium during the game on October 24, 2019. On December 8, 2019, members of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association's Indian Mascot and Logo Task Force led a protest at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin. The Oneida Nation sponsored a video shown on the Jumbotron during the game expressing pride in being Native American as the antithesis of the message sent by the Redskins name and logo.


title: Washington Redskins name controversy

text: Following the February 2013 symposium "Racist Stereotypes and Cultural Appropriation in American Sports" at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 10 members of Congress sent a letter to the Redskins' owner and the NFL Commissioner requesting that the name be changed since it is offensive to Native Americans. In response, Daniel Snyder told USA Today: "We'll never change the name. ... It's that simple. NEVER—you can use caps." Snyder addressed an open letter to fans that was published in The Washington Post on October 9, 2013; in which he stated that the most important meaning of the name is the association that fans have with memories of their personal history with the team. Snyder also states that the name was chosen in 1933 to honor Native Americans in general and the coach and four players at that time who were Native American; and that in 1971 coach George Allen consulted with the Red Cloud Indian Fund on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation when designing the logo. In 2013, the Red Cloud Athletic Fund sent a letter to the Washington Post stating that "As an organization, Red Cloud Indian School has never—and will never—endorse the use of the name 'Redskins'. Like many Native American organizations across the country, members of our staff and extended community find the name offensive."


title: Joseph Wilcox House

text: The wing containing a summer kitchen with attached buttery and pantry was added in 1812 and features original hand-painted trompe l'oeil wainscotting and a fireplace with a beehive oven. A silver forge in the basement of the 1812 wing recalls the Wilcox family history of silversmithing and metallurgy; Joseph Wilcox's grandson, Horace Wilcox, started his career peddling tin ware from the basement under the house's summer kitchen but went on to found the Meriden Britannia Silver Company and was almost single-handedly responsible for Meriden's nickname "The Silver City" (3). The ell was added in 1870 and includes a room that was used as overflow housing for hotel guests from a resort across the street (since demolished) and factory workers from the nearby Wilcox silver manufactory. The northeast parlor's original features include a corner shell cupboard, paneled wainscoting, an elaborately paneled fireplace wall, five-panel doors with strap hinges, and the original wide floorboards. The nearby Wilcox Cemetery contains the graves of generations of Wilcoxes from the eighteenth through twenty-first centuries.


title: Ichneutica oliveri

text: ♀ . Head and thorax grey-white, the vertex of head, tegulae, and dorsum of thorax tinged with brown, the outer edge of patagia brown; palpi brown; frons with lateral black bars; fore tibiae and tarsi suffused with brown; abdomen whitish tinged with grey-brown. Fore wing whitish faintly tinged with rufous, the area from subcostal nervure to above inner margin suffused with olive and blackish to postmedial line, the veins and submedian fold remaining whitish ; a strong black streak below base of cell ; anteraedial line black denned on inner side by white, oblique, waved, from subcostal nervure to above inner margin ; orbicular defined by black and with some whitish in centre, oblique ; reniform defined by black, narrow, angled inwards on median nervure to below orbicular ; postmedial line black defined on outer side by white, slightly bent outwards below costa, then oblique, dentate, angled inwards in submedian fold to near antemedial line ; subterminal line represented by the outer edge of the white area, defined on inner side by dentate black marks below costa and from vein 6 to submedian fold, angled outwards to termen at apex and veins 7, 4, 3, the area beyond it olive and blackish ; a pale line at base of cilia. Hind wing grey suffused with fuscous brown ; the underside white tinged with grey, a dark discoidal spot and diffused curved postmedial line.


title: Bessarabia Germans

text: At the end of September 1940, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to transfer Germans living in the Romanian provinces of Bessarabia and Bukovina, now occupied by the Red Army. By the end of October of that year, this resettlement was practically complete, with a total of 124,000 ethnic Germans transferred to the Reich. The total number of ethnic Germans resettled into the Reich has been estimated by some historians at 500,000. On arrival in the Reich, most of the resettled Germans were given German citizenship, and the young men were drafted into the Wehrmacht. In accordance with Nazi racist theories of Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil),the goal was to settle the annexed eastern lands with German farmers; the majority were placed on farms in the Warthegau, formerly the Polish province of Poznan, and a smaller number in the former Polish territory of West Prussia. In order to accomplish this, the SS and German army began to expel Polish farmers from these lands, and German re-settlers took over their houses and farms. In their place, 332,000 German evacuees, mostly farmers, were settled on these lands.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: The Florida State Seminoles are coached by Bobby Bowden, father of Tommy Bowden. Their 2000 matchup marked only the second time that a father and son had faced each other as opposing head football coaches. The only other meeting had been the previous year, when Tommy lost by three points to his father. In the 2000 meeting, No. 4 Florida State dominated No. 10 Clemson from the start of the game. In an effort to impress BCS voters, Florida State ran up the score and the game ended with the Seminoles on top, 54–7. The Seminoles' win gave them the ACC football championship and dropped Clemson to a No. 16 ranking. With its spot as the No. 2 ACC team assured, Clemson accepted a bid to the Gator Bowl on November 14, prior to its annual in-state rivalry game against South Carolina. In that game, South Carolina took a one-point lead with 59 seconds remaining, but Clemson drove the length of the field and kicked a field goal as time expired, giving the Tigers a 16–14 win to end the regular season.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: Though the loss to Miami knocked the Hokies out of contention for the Big East championship and its accompanying automatic BCS bid, there was the possibility that Tech could receive an at-large BCS game bid if it scored high enough in the final BCS poll and the administrators of a BCS game wanted to invite the Hokies. Tech was considered a long shot due to the availability of Oregon State and Notre Dame, two teams with large followings that would attract greater television revenue and ticket sales. Gator Bowl officials made plans based on different possibilities. If Virginia Tech was selected for a BCS bowl but Notre Dame was not, the Fighting Irish would play in the Gator Bowl. If both were selected, Big East No. 3 Pittsburgh would be given the nod for the Gator Bowl. On December 3, the BCS selections were announced: The Fiesta Bowl selected No. 5 Oregon State and No. 10 Notre Dame instead of No. 6 Virginia Tech. This left the Hokies available for the Gator Bowl, which picked them on the next day.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: Immediately after the Fiesta Bowl bypassed Virginia Tech in favor of lower-ranked Notre Dame, protests from Tech fans and opponents of the BCS system erupted. Some said the selection was "unfair", that Virginia Tech was "hosed", or that the pick of Notre Dame was a "snub" of the Hokies. In an interview immediately after the selection, Vick said the Gator Bowl bid provided motivation to win the Gator Bowl. "We're going to go out there and make a statement, play a great game and show the nation", he said. Clemson, on the other hand, was enthusiastic about the Gator Bowl bid. A win in the game would have given the Tigers their first 10-win season since 1990, and the Gator Bowl appearance marked a continued improvement over its showing the previous year. Clemson players viewed the game as a reward for a successful season, while Virginia Tech players perceived it from a more workmanlike point of view. Due to revenue-sharing agreements among Big East schools, Virginia Tech's selection by the Gator Bowl resulted in a payment of $1.7 million less than if it had been selected by a BCS bowl game. Instead of receiving about $3.5 million from the revenue agreement and bowl payout, Tech received about $1.8 million.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: The Tigers' third possession didn't produce anything more than their first two possessions did. A running play was stopped for no gain, Dantzler was sacked for a loss of three yards by David Pugh, and a scramble by Dantzler gained only four yards. Clemson's punt was downed at the Tech 41-yard line, and the Hokies had another chance on offense. On the first play of the drive, Vick scrambled for a nine-yard gain. On the next play, Tech gained a first down on a run by backup running back Andre Kendrick to the Clemson 46-yard line. After an incomplete pass, Vick completed a six-yard toss to Kendrick. A five-yard offsides penalty gave Tech a first down at the Clemson 35-yard line, then Vick completed a six-yard throw to wide receiver Emmett Johnson. This was followed by Vick scrambling for a first down at the Clemson 19-yard line. A reverse run by Johnson picked up five yards, then a run up the middle gained a first down at the Clemson nine-yard line. Two rushes by Kendrick failed to reach the five-yard line, then Vick ran six yards for Tech's second touchdown of the game. The extra point was good, and Tech extended its lead to 14–0 with 1:08 remaining in the quarter.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: Tech's post-touchdown kickoff bounced to the Clemson two-yard line before it was returned to the Clemson 12-yard line. An incomplete pass on first down was followed by a first-down pass to Gardner at the 22-yard line. Dantzler then completed a pass to Watts at the 34-yard line for another first down. After an incomplete pass, Dantzler scrambled for a first down at the Clemson 47-yard line, where he completed a 17-yard pass to Robinson as time ticked below one minute remaining. From the Tech 36-yard line, Dantzler completed a pass to Gardner at the Tech 29-yard line. After a time out with 33 seconds remaining, Dantzler threw an incomplete pass. This was followed by another incomplete pass, and Clemson converted the first down with a pass to the Tech 24-yard line. An incomplete pass on first down was followed by another on second down. Following the play, there was only eight seconds left on the clock, and coach Bowden ordered Hunt into the game to attempt a 41-yard field goal. The kick was short and to the right, and Clemson turned the ball over with two seconds remaining. Vick took a knee to run the final seconds off the clock, and Virginia Tech entered halftime with a 21–10 lead.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: Because Clemson received the ball to begin the game, Virginia Tech received the ball to begin the second half. Kendrick received the kickoff at the Tech goal line and returned it to the 20-yard line, where the Hokies started the first possession of the second half. On the first play, Virginia Tech committed a 10-yard holding penalty. Suggs gained five yards with a run up the middle, then Vick completed a pass to tight end Browning Wynn at the 28-yard line. On third down, the Hokies were stopped short of the first down marker and punted for only the second time in the game. During the kick, Clemson committed a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty. The penalty allowed the Hokies to retain the football and gave them a first down at their 44-yard line. On the first play after the penalty, Vick completed a 55-yard pass to Davis at the Clemson one-yard line. After the pass, Suggs ran straight ahead for his second touchdown of the game. The extra point was missed by Warley, but Tech still extended its lead to 27–10 with 12:19 remaining in the quarter.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: Virginia Tech's kickoff was recovered and Clemson's kick returner ran out of bounds at the Tigers' 12-yard line. Dantzler scrambled for two yards, but Virginia Tech linebacker Jake Houseright was injured during the play and left the game. After a delay while the injured Houseright was helped off the field, Dantzler scrambled for six yards. Bernard Rambert gained a first down with a two-yard run, then he gained five yards on a run up the middle. Dantzler followed the gain with a 13-yard run of his own and a first down at the Clemson 40-yard line. Rambert caught a five-yard pass from Dantzler, then he ran for one yard up the left side of the field. During the play, Rambert was injured and had to be helped off the field. He was replaced by third-string freshman running back Keith Kelly. Dantzler threw an incomplete pass on third down, then Somaini punted the ball to Virginia Tech. The kick bounced off the chest of the Virginia Tech kick returner, and the loose ball was scooped up by Robert Carswell of Clemson. Following the turnover, Clemson's offense had a first down at the Tech 20-yard line with 8:44 remaining in the quarter.


title: 2001 Gator Bowl

text: With limited time remaining, Clemson attempted an onside kick in an effort to retain possession and have a chance to make up some of the scoring deficit. The kick was recovered by Virginia Tech, however, and the Vick-led Tech offense returned to the field at the Clemson 44-yard line. Suggs was stopped for no gain on a run up the middle, Vick threw an incomplete pass, then he completed a 14-yard pass to Wynn for a first down at the Clemson 30-yard line. After the first down, Ferguson gained a few yards on a run up the middle, then Suggs advanced the ball to just short of the first-down marker. On third down, Suggs gained the first down with a run up the middle. Following the first down, Clemson defender Alex Ardley was called for a personal foul and ejected from the game. The penalty gave Virginia Tech a first down at the Clemson 10-yard line. From there, Clemson was called for a five-yard offsides penalty. On the first play after the consecutive penalties, Vick pitched the ball to Suggs, who ran into the end zone untouched. The extra point kick was good, and Virginia Tech extended its lead to 41–20 with 3:41 remaining in the game.


title: Andrea De Carlo

text: His second novel, Uccelli da gabbia e da voliera ("Cage and Aviary Birds"), published in 1982, was praised by Federico Fellini, with whom De Carlo worked as assistant director on the movie E la nave va (And the Ship Sails On). Towards the end of shooting, De Carlo made the short film Le facce di Fellini ("The Faces of Fellini") about the relationship between the great Italian director and his actors. He later collaborated with Michelangelo Antonioni on the screenplay for a film that was never made. Macno, his third novel, was published in 1984, and originates in a conversation De Carlo had with a Los Angeles studio executive about audience control and manipulation. The title character rules a Latin-American country , and hires two journalists, as well as other professionals (including writers and scientists), and keeps them at his court--until he is murdered and his place taken by a lieutenant. One reviewer called the novel ambitious, but said it failed, with stereotypical characters and a plot that fails to coalesce: "the novel is an interesting attempt by a talented writer, but only a modest success."


title: Interstate 155 (Missouri–Tennessee)

text: Prior to the construction of the Caruthersville Bridge, a number of ferries crossed the Mississippi River between the two states. By the late 1930s, Missouri and Tennessee were two of the few remaining bordering states in the country which were not directly connected by road or rail, and a bridge across the river began to be proposed. Caruthersville newspaper The Republican reportedly suggested a bridge be constructed in the area in 1936 or 1937, and by early August 1939, a group of local citizens began promoting the idea. That same year, the Pemiscot County court reportedly endorsed the construction of a bridge across the river near Caruthersville, but little action was taken until 1946, when the Caruthersville Chamber of Commerce and Caruthersville Rotary Club began promoting the project. On September 15 of that year, the Caruthersville and Dyersburg hambers of commerce held a meeting and established the "Hands Across the River Committee" to promote the project. Three months later, the two chambers hired engineering firm Sverdrup & Parcel to conduct a feasibility study on the project. The study was conducted in the spring of 1947, and found that the traffic volumes on the bridge would not justify the cost of such an undertaking. Nevertheless, proponents of the bridge persisted, and in 1949 successfully lobbied both state legislatures to create a commission to study the bridge project, which held its first meeting on September 14 of that year. The commission authorized feasibility and traffic studies for three possible sites on August 14, 1951, which took place the following spring, and considered constructing the bridge as a toll bridge. The commission chose the site on November 18, 1952, which was subsequently approved by the Army Corps of Engineers on August 20, 1953. The studies had estimated that tolls would only finance approximately one half of the cost of the bridge, which prompted the commission to recommend seeking federal funding for the project or finance it by issuing bonds. The inability to secure a funding source would ultimately delay the project.


title: Interstate 155 (Missouri–Tennessee)

text: While the Caruthersville Bridge was being planned, the federal government had been planning for a nationwide network of controlled-access highways, which would become the Interstate Highway System. After this system was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, officials in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois began an effort to improve connectivity between the four states. This proposal included a new Interstate Highway between I-55 in Hayti and I-40 in Jackson, Tennessee, incorporating the bridge proposal, as well as a westward extension of I-24 from its allocated terminus in Nashville. On January 7, 1960, Tennessee officials submitted a letter to the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), predecessor agency to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), for the approval of a 63-mile (101 km) between Hayti and Jackson. This proposal was echoed by the bridge commission in a meeting with BPR administrator Rex Marion Whitton on May 25, 1961, but was reportedly not considered since the federal government had yet to determine how many miles they would be able to add to the Interstate system. On January 30, 1962, Governors John M. Dalton of Missouri and Buford Ellington of Tennessee jointly submitted an application to the BPR for the new Interstate. On September 17, 1963, the governors of the four states met with President John F. Kennedy where they reached an agreement on the alignment for the I-24 extension and endorsed the routing for the Hayti-to-Jackson Interstate Highway. On August 18, 1964, the BPR approved the I-24 extension and authorized an Interstate Highway spur route between Hayti and Dyersburg, which was named I-155. However, they did not give approval to the entire proposed route to Jackson.


title: Interstate 155 (Missouri–Tennessee)

text: Construction of I-155 began with the contract for the Caruthersville Bridge piers, which was announced to have been awarded on March 20, 1969. Preliminary work began with construction of an access road to the site in June 1969, and work on the first pier was underway three months later. The contract for the construction of the 1,030-foot (310 m) bridge approach on the Missouri side was awarded in December 1971, and the contract for the 2,480-foot (760 m) Tennessee approach was awarded in December 1972. Both projects experienced delays due to flooding and erosion in 1973. The contract for grading and construction of bridges for the stretch between the Tennessee approach and SR 182 was awarded in January 1973. This project required the construction of an artificial levee within the Mississippi River flood plain, which proved to be one of the most difficult jobs undertaken by TDOT. This work was completed by the end of 1975, after multiple delays. In Missouri, the contract for construction of the section between I-55 and Routes D and U was let in May 1974, and the adjacent section extending to the Mississippi River approach was awarded two months later. The design work for the section between SR 182 and US 51 was not approved prior to the enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and required an environmental impact statement (EIS). A draft EIS was approved by the FHWA on September 30, 1974.


title: Interstate 155 (Missouri–Tennessee)

text: While the Interstate Highway between Dyersburg and Jackson was never approved, TDOT continued to explore options to upgrade this stretch of highway, which was then only SR 20. The first major proposal was for a toll road throughout the 1970s; however, this idea was resisted by many state officials and citizens alike. On June 22, 1980, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials established US 412 along I-155 as part of a route between Jackson and Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. On June 14, 1985, the FHWA approved a draft EIS for the upgrade to US 412, which included the possibility of constructing the route as a fully controlled-access highway or a four-lane highway without access control. The upgrade was one of six freeway projects including in Governor Lamar Alexander's Better Roads Program in 1986, referred to as "Bicentennial Parkways", and was referred to in the initial plans as the "Interstate 155 Extension". Unlike all of the other freeway projects, however, the US 412 upgrade was instead constructed as a limited-access four-lane highway with a combination of interchanges and at-grade intersections. This took place between 1989 and 1995.


title: Lipkovo crisis

text: Fighting around Lipkovo began on March 28, 2001, with loud explosions that could be heard from the vicinity of the village. The conflict centered primarily around the strategically important reservoir in the area. On May 3, 2001, the NLA infiltrated the village of Lipkovo as well as neighboring villages, triggering a Macedonian bombardment of the villages. The offensive was later halted after NATO and EU officials condemned the bombardment, citing concerns that the NLA was using civilians as human shields. At least three ethnic Albanian citizens were killed. Nevertheless, heavy fighting escalated when the NLA launched an attack on Macedonian forces defending the Lipkovo Dam, resulting in the NLA gaining control of the dam. This NLA takeover of the reservoir which supplied water to over 100,000 inhabitants of Kumanovo, prompted an immediate Macedonian response. On June 11, an offensive was launched with the aim of retaking the dam. However, Macedonian forces announced later that same day that they had ceased all operations in the Lipkovo region to allow international officials to inspect the water pumps. On June 18th, after a period of five days marked by negotiations and discussions, the NLA militants permitted a convoy led by OSCE representatives, which included expert teams from a water supply company, to enter the village. The potential disaster that posed a threat to over 100,000 Kumanovo citizens who had been without water supply for 12 days was effectively over, thus ending the crisis. However, the village would remain under the control of NLA until the end of the conflict in Macedonia. On December 19, 2001, Macedonian police reestablished control after re-entering the village.


title: Retribution (professional wrestling)

text: Retribution picked up their first win in WWE, defeating Keith Lee, Braun Strowman, Sheamus and Riddle of Raw's Survivor Series team on the November 16, 2020 edition of Raw, with Ali pinning Riddle. On November 17, Retribution (kayfabe) hacked the WWE Twitter account and released a set of Twitter fleets of members T-Bar, Mace, Slapjack and Reckoning explaining their motives for being in the group. On the November 26th edition of Main Event, Retribution appeared as a guest on Miz TV explaining their motives and attacked The Gobbledy Gooker. They then began feuding with Ricochet with every member defeating him in singles matches in order to try to convince him to join their group. However, Ricochet would reject their offer. Following this, Retribution began feuding with The New Day with Ali targeting Kofi Kingston for taking his spot in the Elimination Chamber which led to KofiMania. On the February 22, 2021 episode of Raw, after T-Bar and Mace lost a tag team match to New Day, the first signs of a potential split occurred when Ali began to show frustration, criticizing the whole group for having lost the majority of their matches. The team disbanded at the Fastlane Kickoff Show, where Reckoning and Slapjack walked out on Ali, then T-Bar and Mace double chokeslammed him after he lost a match for the United States Championship to Riddle.


title: Retribution (professional wrestling)

text: Retribution met with immediate mockery upon their debut in August 2020. Pro Wrestling Torch journalist Zack Heydorn felt the group did not deliver on WWE's preceding hype, saying "Nothing about Retribution's current presentation screams danger, fear, or evil. They are like gnats that presumably could get swatted away with a flick of the wrist." Adam Silverstein of CBSSports.com wrote of the group's second appearance "Mostly, they just jumped around and yelled, 'Yeah!' like a bunch of teenagers making trouble after school. It is clear this faction was rushed and not thought out well. Perhaps next week with a new set of tapings there will be a clearer direction, but right now, it's terrible." Shortly after their debut, Blake Oestriecher of Forbes.com reported that the group had received widespread criticism from WWE fans on social media who noted the similarities between Retribution and the Antifa movement in the United States, though WWE stated that the group was not meant to be political in nature.


title: Retribution (professional wrestling)

text: In October, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful noted that the group had faced unfavorable comparisons to The Dark Order of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and called it "a hastily thrown together project after Vince McMahon was repeatedly questioned about declining viewership, lack of creative direction and an absence of new stars." He lambasted the storyline, writing, "The rollout of Retribution sucked... It didn't make any sense, and really still doesn't. Why were they allowed in the venue? Why weren't they arrested?" During a November Q&A, PWInsider's Dave Scherer was asked if Retribution can recover, to which he said, "They have been booked sooooo badly I don't think they can ever be more than just there." Scherer lamented that Ali, being the only member not to have his " mostly hidden", will "have permanent stink on him". On another Q&A in December, Scherer said that the faction was "a bunch of losers They have totally blown that whole faction. It's epically bad." In 2021, Retribution was voted by Wrestling Observer Newsletters readers as the second Worst Character, behind Bray Wyatt.


title: Retribution (professional wrestling)

text: Fightful reported that they had discussed the stable with several WWE talents: the members' ring names were unanimously criticized, with one wrestler likening them to "something out of a bad movie or game". A female talent lamented the casting of Martinez and Yim as Retribution members, saying that those women were "facing a battle to not make this look as dumb as it is". Following Martinez (Retaliation)'s sudden removal from the group, retired wrestler Lance Storm called her a "survivor", and suggested she would be "breathing a sigh of relief". Former WWE creative writer Vince Russo was critical of Retribution "for looking like a bunch of kids running around the neighborhood causing hi-jinks like Dennis The Menace". Former WWE writer Andrew Goldstein commented that the idea of the gimmick was flawed. "If you're going to name an infiltrating group 'RETRIBUTION', you need to have a thesis in your promos. There needs to be some sort of grievance that you're fighting against, and they've yet to name a grievance." He also commented that if it was written to contain recently released performers there would be a reason to support the group."


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation", the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973. The Supreme Court of the United States described it as "the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species enacted by any nation". The purposes of the ESA are two-fold: to prevent extinction and to recover species to the point where the law's protections are not needed. It therefore "protect species and the ecosystems upon which they depend" through different mechanisms. For example, section 4 requires the agencies overseeing the Act to designate imperiled species as threatened or endangered. Section 9 prohibits unlawful 'take,' of such species, which means to "harass, harm, hunt..." Section 7 directs federal agencies to use their authorities to help conserve listed species. The Act also serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Supreme Court found that "the plain intent of Congress in enacting" the ESA "was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost." The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). FWS and NMFS have been delegated by the Act with the authority to promulgate any rules and guidelines within the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to implement its provisions.


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: It was written by a team of lawyers and scientists, including Dr. Russell E. Train, the first appointed head of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), an outgrowth of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. Dr. Train was assisted by a core group of staffers, including Dr. Earl Baysinger at EPA, Dick Gutting, and Dr. Gerard A. "Jerry" Bertrand, a PhD marine biologist by training , who had transferred from his post as the senior scientific adviser to the Commandant of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, office of the Commandant of the Corps., to join the newly formed White House Council on Environmental Quality. The staff, under Dr. Train's leadership, incorporated dozens of new principles and ideas into the landmark legislation but also incorporated previous laws, as was desired by Congressman John Dingell (D-Michigan) when he first proposed the idea of an "Endangered Species Act." Among the staff, Dr. Bertrand is credited with having written major parts of the Act, including the infamous "takings" clause, 16 U.S.C. § 1538. "We didn't know what we couldn't do," Dr. Bertrand has said about the Act. "We were doing what we thought was scientifically valid and right for the environment."


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: Historians attribute this new-found concern for imperiled plants to ongoing global treaty negotiations toward what would eventually be adopted in 1975 under the title, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Prior to this time, attention to the conservation needs of native plants had been stalled by complications that do not pertain to animals. How to adequately distinguish plants illegally collected in the wild from plants propagated from seeds or cuttings taken from horticultural specimens was among the points of contention. Ultimately, federal authority over enforcement of endangered plant protections has centered on regulation of interstate commerce of such plants. This legal distinction for plants became controversial in practice when a group of citizens, Torreya Guardians, chose to help an endangered glacial relict plant, Florida Torreya, move to cooler poleward climates before conservation professionals were ready to begin their own experimentation with assisted migration of endangered species. Because movement of seeds and seedlings by this group was noncommercial and based on horticulturally produced specimens, there was no legal apparatus to halt their actions.


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: In 2023, with this Congressional act achieving its 50th anniversary, journalists were prompted to report on the Act's outcomes and controversies. Congressional overturning of several recent listings and ability to hamper implementation by restricting agency funding were among the points mentioned by some media. In contrast, a foundation associated with the Western Caucus of U.S. senators and representatives issued a 116-page report in 2023 titled "The Endangered Species Act at 50", with a subtitle expressing its primary criticism that "a record of falsified recoveries underscores a lack of scientific integrity in the federal program." Among the faculty expressing views in a University of Pennsylvania report, one drew attention to an underlying shift in national worldviews during the past half-century: The Act "reflects the confidence of mid-20th century liberal politics that any problem can be fixed with legislation based on scientific data," yet pragmatic solutions that require flexibility have been hindered and polarization has become intense. An academic review paper in 2008 reported that the Act had become "a social, legal, and political battleground" and that "the scientific question of whether the ESA works effectively to protect species remains open." Specific challenges and long-term controversies are summarized in this section.


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: Prior to listing of a species, stakeholders who wish to act in its behalf have freedom to engage with not only habitat but with the species itself. A well-known example entails actions taken in behalf of the subalpine Whitebark Pine of the northern Rocky Mountains soon after vast stands suddenly began to die in Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere. A petition for listing was submitted in 2008, but status as "threatened" was not conferred until 2022. By then, collaboration among concerned parties was well underway without agency direction. Supportive research and actions were undertaken by the conservation organization American Forests as well as a new organization specific to the tree: the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation. Other collaborators include research scientists within the U.S. Forest Service, geneticists at the University of California, Davis, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service were also involved in consultation prior to listing by the agency in charge of endangered species: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: Finally, the Act's specification of the timing of critical habitat designations has become problematic. The ESA requires that critical habitat be designated at the time of or within one year of a species being placed on the endangered list. In practice, most designations occur several years after listing. Between 1978 and 1986 the FWS regularly designated critical habitat. In 1986 the Reagan administration issued a regulation limiting the protective status of critical habitat. As a result, few critical habitats were designated between 1986 and the late 1990s. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a series of court orders invalidated the Reagan regulations and forced the FWS and NMFS to designate several hundred critical habitats, especially in Hawaii, California, and other western states. Midwest and eastern states received less critical habitat, primarily on rivers and coastlines. As of December 2006, the Reagan regulation had not yet been replaced, though its use had been suspended. Nonetheless, the agencies have generally changed course and since about 2005 have tried to designate critical habitat at or near the time of listing.


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: Although the Endangered Species Act of 1973 did not in itself limit the placement of "experimental populations" to the historically native range of a plant or animal, a regulatory change in 1984 regarding "experimental populations" made prospective translocations more difficult to justify. June 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would "revise section 10(j) regulations under the ESA to better facilitate recovery by allowing for the introduction of listed species to suitable habitats outside of their historical ranges. The proposed change will help improve the conservation and recovery of imperiled ESA-listed species in the coming decades, as growing impacts from climate change and invasive species cause habitats within their historical ranges to shift and become unsuitable." The comment period ended August 2022, with more than 500 comments posted online by supporters and opponents. The final decision was scheduled for publication June 2023.


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: Environmental opponents criticized the revision as "crashing like a bulldozer" through the act and "tipping the scales way in favor of industry." Some critics, including the Sierra Club, pointed out that these changes came just months after the IPBES released its Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which found that human activity had pushed a million species of flora and fauna to the brink of extinction, and would only serve to exacerbate the crisis. The California legislature passed a bill to raise California regulations to thwart the Trump administration changes; it was vetoed by Governor Newsom. In January 2020, the House Natural Resources Committee reported similar legislation. In December 2020, the Trump administration further rolled back the Endangered Species Act by reducing habitat protections for at-risk species, and thus restricting protections to where they currently live—not where they lived previously or where they might migrate to as a result of climate change.


title: Endangered Species Act of 1973

text: In 1988 another controversy arose that drew national attention, when the Northern spotted owl was listed as endangered. This species depended on intact and mature coastal forests in the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. And this, in turn, posed new restrictions on logging of national forest lands in those regions—which severely affected workers in small logging towns. Not until 1994 did adoption by the federal government of the Northwest Forest Plan, along with a community financial aid packet, bring a close to peak hostilities between loggers and those defending owl habitat. Preventing human destruction of habitat did not, however, result in species recovery. Natural immigration of a bigger and more aggressive owl species (the barred owl) that was formerly native only to the eastern states became a major cause of continuing population decline of the spotted owl. The government's decision to employ sharpshooters to cull the barred owl population presents a challenging ethical issue within conservation thinking.


title: Resistbot

text: Resistbot was established by Eric Ries and Jason Putorti in January 2017. Jason Putorti attended the University of Pittsburgh where he graduated with a BS in computer science. Before launching Resistbot, he served as the designer at AngelList and previously co-founded Causes and Votizen. He expresses that one of his goals in creating Resistbot was to create a universal way to increase civic engagement and civic education. Though the program was founded to oppose the actions of the Trump administration, it functions as an unbiased channel, allowing users to compose their own messages. Unlike many other advocacy efforts, it provides no scripts to users. Donations from users pay for postage for letters and voter registration forms, faxes and calls to officials, and texts between the users and the service. When Resistbot began, letters were faxed to officials' offices. However, as the program received more heavy usage, and officials started to unplug their fax machines, it switched to electronic delivery as a primary channel, with faxes, postal letters, and hand deliveries as secondary methods. The first states that had access to Resistbot's feature of texting one's state legislature were Arizona, California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Between June 21 and 22, 2018 alone, Resistbot volunteers delivered 12,781 letters to the U.S. Senate, largely about family separation. Those letters represented only a small sample of deliveries overall. Within five months of launch Resistbot had 730,000 users, by six months 1 million, and after fifteen months 4.5 million. As of 2023, nearly 10 million people have used the service to send 35 million letters, and Resistbot has handled 450 million text messages.