title: Kite

text: Kites can be used for radio purposes, by kites carrying antennas for MF, LF or VLF-transmitters. This method was used for the reception station of the first transatlantic transmission by Marconi. Captive balloons may be more convenient for such experiments, because kite-carried antennas require a lot of wind, which may be not always possible with heavy equipment and a ground conductor. It must be taken into account during experiments, that a conductor carried by a kite can lead to high voltage toward ground, which can endanger people and equipment, if suitable precautions (grounding through resistors or a parallel resonant circuit tuned to transmission frequency) are not taken.


title: Kite

text: Kites can be used to pull people and vehicles downwind. Efficient foil-type kites such as power kites can also be used to sail upwind under the same principles as used by other sailing craft, provided that lateral forces on the ground or in the water are redirected as with the keels, center boards, wheels and ice blades of traditional sailing craft. In the last two decades several kite sailing sports have become popular, such as kite buggying, kite land boarding, kite boating and kite surfing. Snow kiting has also become popular in recent years.


title: Kite

text: Kite festivals are a popular form of entertainment throughout the world. They include large local events, traditional festivals which have been held for hundreds of years and major international festivals which bring in kite flyers from other countries to display their unique art kites and demonstrate the latest technical kites.


title: Kite

text: Many countries have kite museums. These museums may have a focus on historical kites, preserving the country’s kite traditions.


title: Kite

text: Kite flying is popular in many Asian countries, where it often takes the form of "kite fighting", in which participants try to snag each other's kites or cut other kites down. Fighter kites are usually small, flattened diamond-shaped kites made of paper and bamboo. Tails are not used on fighter kites so that agility and maneuverability are not compromised.In Afghanistan, kite flying is a popular game, and is known in Dari as "Gudiparan Bazi". Some kite fighters pass their strings through a mixture of ground glass powder and glue, which is legal. The resulting strings are very abrasive and can sever the competitor's strings more easily. The abrasive strings can also injure people. During the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, kite flying was banned, among various other recreations.


title: Kite

text: In Pakistan, kite flying is often known as Gudi-Bazi or Patang-bazi. Although kite flying is a popular ritual for the celebration of spring festival known as Jashn-e-Baharaan (lit. Spring Festival) or Basant, kites are flown throughout the year. Kite fighting is a very popular pastime all around Pakistan, but mostly in urban centers across the country (especially Lahore). The kite fights are at their highest during the spring celebrations and the fighters enjoy competing with rivals to cut-loose the string of the others kite, popularly known as "Paecha". During the spring festival, kite flying competitions are held across the country and the skies are colored with kites. When a competitor succeeds in cutting another's kite loose, shouts of 'wo kata' ring through the air. Cut kites are reclaimed by chasing after them. This is a popular ritual, especially among the country's youth, and is depicted in the 2007 film "The Kite Runner" (although that story is based in neighboring Afghanistan). Kites and strings are a big business in the country and several different types of string are used, including glass-coated, metal, and tandi. Kite flying was banned in Punjab, India due to more than one motorcyclist death caused by glass-coated or metal kite strings. Kup, Patang, Guda, and Nakhlaoo are some of the popular kite brands; they vary in balance, weight and speed.


title: Kite

text: In Indonesia kites are flown as both sport and recreation. One of the most popular kite variants is from Bali. Balinese kites are unique and they have different designs and forms; birds, butterflies, dragons, ships, etc. In Vietnam, kites are flown without tails. Instead small flutes are attached allowing the wind to "hum" a musical tune. There are other forms of sound-making kites. In Bali, large bows are attached to the front of the kites to make a deep throbbing vibration, and in Malaysia, a row of gourds with sound-slots are used to create a whistle as the kite flies. Malaysia is also home to the Kite Museum in Malacca.


title: Kite

text: Kite are also popular in Nepal, especially in hilly areas and among the Pahadi and Newar communities, although people also fly kites in Terai areas. Unlike India, people in Nepal fly kites in August – September period and is more popular in time of Dashain.


title: Kite

text: Kites are very popular in India, with the states of Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab notable for their kite fighting festivals. Highly maneuverable single-string paper and bamboo kites are flown from the rooftops while using line friction in an attempt to cut each other's kite lines, either by letting the cutting line loose at high speed or by pulling the line in a fast and repeated manner. During the Indian spring festival of Makar Sankranti, near the middle of January, millions of people fly kites all over northern India. Kite flying in Hyderabad starts a month before this, but kite flying/fighting is an important part of other celebrations, including Republic Day, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Viswakarma Puja day in late September and Janmashtami. An international kite festival is held every year before Uttarayan for three days in Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad.


title: Kite

text: Kites have been flown in China since ancient times. Weifang is home to the largest kite museum in the world. It also hosts an annual international kite festival on the large salt flats south of the city. There are several kite museums in Japan, UK, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA. In the pre-modern period, Malays in Singapore used kites for fishing.


title: Kite

text: In Japan, kite flying is traditionally a children's play in New Year holidays and in the Boys' Festival in May. In some areas, there is a tradition to celebrate a new boy baby with a new kite (祝い凧). There are many kite festivals throughout Japan. The most famous one is "Yōkaichi Giant Kite Festival" in Higashiōmi, Shiga, which started in 1841. The largest kite ever built in the festival is wide by high and weighs . In the Hamamatsu Kite Festival in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, more than 100 kites are flown in the sky over the Nakatajima Sand Dunes, one of the three largest sand dunes in Japan, which overlooks the Enshunada Sea. Parents who have a new baby prepare a new kite with their baby's name and fly it in the festival. These kites are traditional ones made from bamboo and paper.


title: Kite

text: In Greece and Cyprus, flying kites is a tradition for Clean Monday, the first day of Lent. In the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, traditional Bermuda kites are made and flown at Easter, to symbolise Christ's ascent. In Fuerteventura a kite festival is usually held on the weekend nearest to 8 November lasting for 3 days.


title: Kite

text: Polynesian traditional kites are sometimes used at ceremonies and variants of traditional kites for amusement. Older pieces are kept in museums. These are treasured by the people of Polynesia.


title: Kite

text: In Brazil, flying a kite is a very popular leisure activity for children, teenagers and even young adults. Mostly these are boys, and it is overwhelmingly kite fighting a game whose goal is to maneuver their own kites to cut the other persons' kites' strings during flight, and followed by kite running where participants race through the streets to take the free-drifting kites. As in other countries with similar traditions, injuries are common and motorcyclists in particular need to take precautions.


title: Kite

text: In Peru, kites are also very popular. There are kite festivals in parks and beaches mostly on August.


title: Kite

text: In Colombia, kites can be seen flown in parks and recreation areas during August which is calles as windy. It is during this month that most people, especially the young ones would fly kites.


title: Kite

text: In Guyana, kites are flown at Easter, an activity in which all ethnic and religious groups participate. Kites are generally not flown at any other time of year. Kites start appearing in the sky in the weeks leading up to Easter and school children are taken to parks for the activity. It all culminates in a massive airborne celebration on Easter Monday especially in Georgetown, the capital, and other coastal areas. The history of the practice is not entirely clear but given that Easter is a Christian festival, it is said that kite flying is symbolic of the Risen Lord. Moore describes the phenomenon in the 19th century as follows:


title: Kite

text: The exact origins of the practice of kite flying (exclusively) at Easter are unclear. Brereton and Yelvington speculate that kite flying was introduced by Chinese indentured immigrants to the then colony of British Guiana in the mid 19th century. The author of an article in the "Guyana Chronicle" newspaper of May 6, 2007 is more certain:


title: Kite

text: There are many world records involving kites. The world's largest kites are inflatable single-line kites. The world record for the largest kite flown for at least 20 minutes is "The Flag of Kuwait".


title: Kite

text: The single-kite altitude record is held by a triangular-box delta kite. On 23 September 2014 a team led by Robert Moore, flew a kite to above ground level. The record altitude was reached after eight series of attempts over a ten-year period from a remote location in western New South Wales, Australia. The tall and wide Dunton-Taylor delta kite's flight was controlled by a winch system using of ultra high strength Dyneema line. The flight took about eight hours from ground and return. The height was measured with on-board GPS telemetry transmitting positional data in real time to a ground-based computer and also back-up GPS data loggers for later analysis.


title: Kite

text: There are safety issues involved in kite-flying. Kite lines can strike and tangle on electrical power lines, causing power blackouts and running the risk of electrocuting the kite flier. Wet kite lines or wire can act as a conductor for static electricity and lightning when the weather is stormy. Kites with large surface area or powerful lift can lift kite fliers off the ground or drag them into other objects. In urban areas there is usually a ceiling on how high a kite can be flown, to prevent the kite and line infringing on the airspace of helicopters and light aircraft. It is also possible for fighter kites to kill people, as happened in India when three spectators were killed in separate incidents during Independence Day, August, 2016—precipitating a ban on certain types of enhanced line.


title: Kite

text: The government of Egypt banned kite-flying in July 2020, seizing 369 kites in Cairo and 99 in Alexandria, citing both safety and national security concerns.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Egyptian Maus are a small to medium-sized short-haired cat breed. They are one of the few naturally spotted breeds of domesticated cat. The spots of the Mau occur on only the tips of the hairs of its coat. It is considered a rare breed.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Egyptian Maus are considered by proponents to be one of the progenitor breeds of the modern domestic cat. The breed conformation is described as "a balance between the compactness of a Burmese and the slim elegance of a Siamese. Its medium-length body is muscular, with the hind legs longer than the front, giving the Mau the appearance of standing on tiptoes when upright."


title: Egyptian Mau

text: The Egyptian Mau is the fastest of the domestic cats, with its longer hind legs, and unique flap of skin extending from the flank to the back knee, which assists in running by allowing the legs to stretch back farther, providing for greater agility and length of stride. Maus have been clocked running more than .


title: Egyptian Mau

text: One of the most important recognizable traits of this breed is a long, dark, dorsal stripe that runs from its head to its tail along its spine.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Maus come in six colours. From most to least common, these colours are silver, bronze, smoke, black, caramel and blue/pewter. Black and pewter Maus cannot be shown, but may be used in breeding. All Maus must have green eyes, but an amber cast is acceptable in kittens and young adults up to eighteen months old.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: The Mau is known for having what is considered a loyal, playful and friendly personality. Maus are more temperature sensitive than most breeds—they are fond of very warm temperatures.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Maus have an unusually long gestational period, about 73 days. The maximum normal period for cats is 65–67 days, although Siamese may take a day or two longer.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Maus often possess very musical voices. They are known to chirp, chortle, and emit other distinctly unusual vocalizations when stimulated. Another behavior, quite common in happy Maus, has been described as "wiggle-tail." The cat, whether female or male, wiggles and twitches its tail, and appears to be marking territory, also known as spraying, but during this behavior the Mau is not releasing urine.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Historical evidence points to the Mau being an Egyptian breed. The feline genome data published in the Pentascope document shows the Egyptian Mau to be very closely related to the Maine Coon, Korat, and American Turkish Angoras (not distinguishable from native Turkish Angoras). The phylogenetic tree published in PlosOne demonstrates that the Egyptian Mau belongs to the group of Western-derived breeds. The East Mediterranean/Anatolian group is omitted because breeds that supposedly originate in that geographic area do not do so.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: The Mau achieved championship status in some organizations in 1968. There were attempts by British breeders to create Maus from cross-breeds of Abyssinians, Siamese and tabbies, however, these did not resemble the true Maus. This mix became the basis for the Ocicat.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Egyptian Maus will have either a "scarab beetle" or "M" marking on their foreheads. Those with the latter tend to be from the United States.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: Egyptian Maus are a relatively rare breed in the UK. Fewer than 200 kittens are registered with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy each year. Not all Mau kittens are registered.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: The Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization (EMRO) was an agency for the adoption, both locally and internationally, of tame Maus born in the Middle East. Supported solely by private and corporate donors, EMRO aimed to increase education in Egypt and around the world about the cats. It closed in 2017.


title: Egyptian Mau

text: EMRO's cats are not pedigreed Egyptian Maus; they are Egyptian and Arabian street cats of unrecorded pedigree that come from the Mau's region of landrace origin. Breed registries will not consider these cats and their immediate offspring as Egyptian Maus. Establishing later offspring as pedigreed Egyptian Maus requires detailed record-keeping to verify parentage, and examination of the cats to ensure they meet a number of exacting breed standard conformation requirements to rule out disqualifying physical traits. For example, the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) will consider the first generation of imported cats to be "native" Maus; their second- and third-generation offspring (derived from the same imported stock and/or bred to CFA-pedigreed Egyptian Maus – they must not be out-bred to any other breed) are considered "domestic" Maus. Finally, the fourth generation cats are eligible for placement on the active registry as formal Egyptian Mau breed specimens, provided they have been evaluated fully and approved by a designated representative of the Egyptian Mau Breed Council as conformant.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, started his music career in high school in his band The Plebes with Jay Farrar, which subsequently transitioned into the alternative country band Uncle Tupelo. After Uncle Tupelo broke up, Tweedy formed Wilco which found critical and commercial success, most notably with "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "A Ghost Is Born", the latter of which received a Grammy for Best Alternative Album in 2005.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Across his career Tweedy has released 20 studio albums, including four with Uncle Tupelo, twelve with Wilco, one with his son Spencer, a solo acoustic album, three solo studio albums, along with numerous collaborations with other musicians, most notably "Mermaid Avenue" with Billy Bragg.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy was born in Belleville, Illinois, on August 25, 1967, the fourth child of Bob and JoAnn Tweedy (née Werkmeister). Bob Tweedy (died August 4, 2017) worked at Alton & Southern Railroad in East St. Louis while JoAnn was a kitchen designer. Tweedy has three siblings: older brother Greg Tweedy (died in 2013), brother Steven Tweedy, and sister Debbie Voll.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy's mother bought him his first guitar when he was six years old, although he did not begin to play it seriously until he was twelve. Apparently Tweedy told people that he knew how to play the guitar once he got his first guitar, even though he couldn't. When he was twelve, Tweedy was injured in a bicycle accident and was laid up for the summer. He decided to learn how to play a few chords before somebody "called him out" on the lie. In 1981, when Tweedy was fourteen years old, he befriended Jay Farrar in an English class at Belleville Township High School West. All of the members of Farrar's family enjoyed playing music, so Farrar already had knowledge of the musical elements of rock and roll. By this time, Tweedy was a fan of The Ramones and country music while Farrar enjoyed The Sex Pistols.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In the early 1980s, Tweedy joined a rockabilly band called The Plebes with brothers Wade and Dade Farrar, which Tweedy joined in order to qualify for a battle of the bands competition, which they won. Tweedy pushed The Plebes away from the rockabilly music that they had been playing, which caused Dade Farrar to leave the band. The band renamed themselves The Primitives in 1984, taking their name from a song by garage rock band The Groupies. Wade Farrar sang lead vocals and played harmonica, Jay Farrar played guitar, Tweedy played bass guitar, and Mike Heidorn played drums. In late 1986, the band decided to change their name to Uncle Tupelo, because a more popular British band was also using the name "The Primitives". Mike Heidorn's liner notes for "No Depression", which were included in the 2003 re-issue of the album. The Primitives went on hiatus in 1986 after Wade Farrar left the band to finish his engineering degree at Southern Illinois University. While waiting for Wade to return from campus, Farrar, Tweedy, and Heidorn formed Uncle Tupelo.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: At his parents' request, Tweedy enrolled at several universities, but dropped out of them so that he could concentrate on Uncle Tupelo. While moonlighting as a record store clerk at Euclid Records in St. Louis, Tweedy met Tony Margherita. After Margherita saw the band perform at an acoustic concert in 1988, he decided to become the band's manager. The band began playing regular shows at Cicero's basement bar in the Delmar Loop near Washington University with other bands playing in a similar style. Uncle Tupelo recorded a ten-track demo tape entitled "Not Forever, Just For Now" in 1989, attracting the attention of Giant/Rockville Records. The independent label signed the band, and Uncle Tupelo's first album, "No Depression", was released the next year. The title song, originally performed by the Carter Family, became strongly associated with the alternative country scene, and became the name of an influential alternative country periodical called "No Depression."


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: During times when Uncle Tupelo was not touring, Tweedy and Farrar played as Coffee Creek, a short-lived cover band with The Bottle Rockets' Brian Henneman and Mark Ortmann. Around this time, Tweedy began developing problems with alcohol, leading to tensions between Tweedy and Farrar. While he never refused to play a gig, Tweedy was forced to sit out in place of Henneman at some performances. Tweedy quit drinking entirely after meeting future wife Sue Miller, although he replaced this habit with smoking marijuana. However, after developing a dependence on marijuana, he quickly quit using it, as well. After releasing "Still Feel Gone", the band formed a friendship with Peter Buck of R.E.M., who produced their third album "March 16–20, 1992" for free. Uncle Tupelo left the Rockville label in favor of Sire Records (Warner) later in 1992 because Rockville refused to pay the band any royalties for their albums. After the signing, Max Johnston and John Stirratt joined the band as Mike Heidorn was replaced by Bill Belzer who was later replaced by Ken Coomer. The five-piece band recorded "Anodyne", which sold over 150,000 copies and debuted at number 18 on the "Billboard" Heatseekers chart, but was the last album Uncle Tupelo released.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In January 1994, Farrar called Tony Margherita to tell him that the band was breaking up, saying that he was not having any fun in the band anymore and was not getting along with Tweedy. Tweedy was enraged that Farrar decided to break up the band without notifying him, and this led to a series of harsh verbal exchanges. Farrar and Tweedy agreed to a final Uncle Tupelo tour, but the concerts were marred by the two not participating in each other's songs. The band decided to play Tweedy's "The Long Cut" on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", which further distanced Farrar and Tweedy. Farrar began to assemble a new band named Son Volt with Mike Heidorn, bassist Jim Boquist, and his brother Dave Boquist. At the same time, Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco with Stirratt, Johnston, and Coomer.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In 1994, Tweedy formed Wilco with John Stirratt, Max Johnston, and Ken Coomer. Wilco has released ten albums and found commercial success with their albums "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", "A Ghost Is Born", "Sky Blue Sky" and "Wilco". The band also released two collaboration albums with Billy Bragg and one with The Minus 5. Jeff Tweedy has been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, including Best Alternative Album for "A Ghost Is Born". Tweedy has also participated in a number of side groups including Golden Smog and Loose Fur, published a book of poems, and released a DVD of solo performances. He was originally influenced by punk and country music, but has later reflected more experimental themes in his music.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Wilco signed with Reprise/Warner Bros. Records and began recording "AM" almost as soon as the band was formed. After recording, Tweedy was introduced to Jay Bennett, who then joined the band. Also during this time, Tweedy quit smoking marijuana after a particularly bad experience with some cannabis brownies. "A.M." did not fare as well commercially in comparison to Son Volt's first album, only reaching number 27 on the Heatseekers chart while Son Volt's debut "Trace" hit the "Billboard" 200. Dan Murphy of Soul Asylum invited Tweedy to join him in a supergroup named Golden Smog with Gary Louris and Marc Perlman of the Jayhawks, Kraig Johnson of Run Westy Run, and Noah Levy of The Honeydogs. Under the pseudonym Scott Summit, Tweedy released "Down by the Old Mainstream" with Golden Smog in 1996.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy and Wilco began to explore new styles and broke from the style of previous recordings on the seminal sprawling double album "Being There" in 1996. Tweedy did not write music for many of the songs ahead of time, and welcomed unexpected sounds into the recording. Wilco recorded nineteen songs for the double-CD album, and wanted the label to release it with a retail price comparable to a single-CD release. "Being There" was a commercial success, selling 300,000 copies and peaking in the top half of the "Billboard" 200. Reprise records invested $100,000 in the single "Outta Mind (Outtasite)", but received little radio exposure. While on tour, Tweedy began to spend time reading books by William H. Gass, Henry Miller, and John Fante. As he read their books, Tweedy decided to place more of an emphasis on writing. Representatives in the A&R department of Reprise wanted a radio single from "Summerteeth", and Wilco reluctantly agreed to a re-working of "Can't Stand It". The single was a top five hit on adult album alternative radio stations, but failed to cross over to a larger audience.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Before the release of "Summerteeth", the daughter of the late folk legend Woody Guthrie contacted folk rock singer Billy Bragg, who in turn contacted Tweedy about recording an album of unreleased Woody Guthrie songs. Tweedy was indifferent to the idea of working with Bragg, but Jay Bennett's enthusiasm about the idea convinced Tweedy to get the band involved in the project. As a result of Tweedy's feelings on the political nature of some of the lyrics, Bragg recorded mostly political songs while Wilco recorded more neutral songs. Almost all of the songs that appeared on "Mermaid Avenue" and "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II" were recorded over a six-day period in December 1997. The first "Mermaid Avenue" album and a second Golden Smog album ("Weird Tales") were released in 1998, "Summerteeth" was released in early 1999, and "Mermaid Avenue Vol. II" was released in 2000. Tweedy received his first Grammy nomination when "Mermaid Avenue" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1999.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Jeff Tweedy was invited to play at Chicago's Noise Pop festival, and was told that he could collaborate with a musician of his choosing. Tweedy chose Jim O'Rourke based on his fascination with O'Rourke's "Bad Timing" album. O'Rourke offered to bring drummer Glenn Kotche to the festival, and the trio formed a side project named Loose Fur. The other band members of Wilco had written a number of songs for "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", but Tweedy was unsatisfied with them because he believed that the songs did not sound like the ones he played with Loose Fur. Tweedy became such a fan of Kotche's playing style that he decided to dismiss Ken Coomer from the band in favor of Kotche. Tweedy had strong feelings about how songs should be sequenced, which clashed with Jay Bennett's focus on the songs themselves. Because Bennett was mixing the album, this led to a series of arguments between songs about how the album should sound. Tweedy asked O'Rourke to remix several songs on the album that had been mixed by Bennett, which caused tensions within the band to escalate. The album was completed in June 2001, and Tweedy was insistent that it was in its final form. Tweedy also fired Bennett around this time, believing (according to Bennett) that Wilco should only have one core member. The band maintains that the firing of Bennett was a collective decision.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Reprise Records' parent company Time Warner merged with America Online in 2001, and the recording company was asked to cut costs. Howie Klein, the CEO of Reprise Records, considered Wilco to be one of the label's core bands, but was offered a lucrative buy-out by AOL Time Warner. Reprise did not consider the album commercially viable and was not interested in releasing the album. David Kahne (Head of A&R) agreed to release Wilco from Reprise under the condition that Wilco got to keep all legal entitlements to the "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" album. After an article in the "Chicago Tribune" publicly described these managerial practices, CEO Gary Briggs quit. Shortly after leaving the label, Briggs remarked:


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was originally scheduled to be released on Reprise on September 11, 2001, prior to the band's departure from Reprise. Seven days later, Tweedy decided that he would stream the entirety of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" on Wilco's official website. Over thirty record labels offered to release "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" after the departure from Reprise was official. One of the thirty was Warner Brothers affiliate Nonesuch Records, who signed Wilco in November 2001. AOL Time Warner paid Wilco to make the album on Reprise, gave them the record for free, and then bought it back on the Nonesuch label. The album was released on April 23, 2002 to significant critical acclaim, including being named the best album of the year by "The Village Voice". The album became the biggest hit of Jeff Tweedy's career and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over 500,000 copies.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Scott McCaughey contacted Tweedy about recording an album together for a The Minus 5 release. They scheduled a meeting for September 11, 2001, but were reluctant to enter the recording studio after the terrorist attacks. At night, McCaughey and Tweedy decided to begin recording songs as a way to calm down. A few more tracks were later added to the album with the rest of Wilco, and it was released with the name "Down with Wilco" in 2003.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In November 2003, Wilco began recording a fifth studio album. Unlike their previous albums, all of the songs were originally performed in the studio and then later adapted for playing at concerts. Wilco released "A Ghost Is Born" on June 22, 2004, and it attained a top ten peak on the "Billboard" 200. The album was awarded with Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Recording Package in 2005. A few weeks before the album's release, Tweedy released a book of forty-three poems entitled "Adult Head" on Zoo Press. The following year, the band released their first live album, a two-disc set entitled "", recorded at The Vic Theater.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Wilco recorded twelve tracks for a sixth studio album entitled "Sky Blue Sky", which was released on May 15, 2007. "Sky Blue Sky" debuted at number four on the "Billboard" 200, the band's highest debut yet. It sold over 87,000 copies in its first week of release.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In early May 2009, former Wilco member Jay Bennett sued Tweedy for breach of contract. Bennett died later that month of an apparent accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. In June 2009 Wilco released their seventh studio album "Wilco (The Album)", followed by "The Whole Love" in 2011, "Star Wars" in 2015, "Schmilco" in 2016 and "Ode to Joy" in 2019. Wilco's latest album "Cruel Country" appeared in May 2022.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Jeff Tweedy has performed several solo tours, on which he typically plays acoustic music. He also recorded the song "Simple Twist of Fate" for the soundtrack to "I'm Not There". On October 24, 2006, Nonesuch Records released "", a live DVD by Tweedy. The disc includes performances and conversations gathered over five nights on Tweedy's February 2006 solo acoustic tour, with footage from concerts at Seattle's Moore Theater, Portland's Crystal Ballroom, Eugene's McDonald Theatre, Arcata's Humboldt State University, and The Fillmore in San Francisco. The DVD was directed by Christoph Green and Fugazi's Brendan Canty, the creators of the documentary series "Burn to Shine".


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy has partnered with Mavis Staples on three acclaimed albums. In 2010 they released "You Are Not Alone", in 2013, "One True Vine", and in 2017 "If All I Was Was Black". Tweedy played an array of instruments on these albums and wrote many of the songs.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy worked with the psychedelic-influenced garage rock group White Denim on their record "Corsicana Lemonade", recording some songs at Wilco's Chicago studio The Loft. In 2015 the album "Still" by Richard Thompson was released. The album was produced by Tweedy in The Loft Studios and features Tweedy on guitar and backing vocals.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy has appeared as a fictional singer-songwriter on 2014 episodes of "Parks and Recreation" and "Portlandia".


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: On June 4, 2014, it was announced that he had formed a new band called Tweedy with his son Spencer. The band's debut album "Sukierae" was released on September 16. The release was followed by a world tour in which half of the set consisted of new songs off "Sukierae" performed by a touring band including Spencer. The latter half of the set Tweedy plays solo, typically performing Wilco and Uncle Tupelo classics.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In June 2017 Jeff Tweedy released a solo acoustic album of eleven songs spanning his career from Wilco, Loose Fur, and Golden Smog titled "Together at Last". In November 2018 Jeff Tweedy released a memoir titled "Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)" and his first solo album of new material, titled "Warm". A companion album to "Warm" titled "Warmer" was released on April 13, 2019, as a Record Store Day exclusive.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic Susan Tweedy and her family created a recurring video series on Instagram dubbed "The Tweedy Show" featuring Jeff and their sons performing original and cover songs. During the shelter-in-place Jeff Tweedy also wrote and recorded his third solo album titled "Love Is the King" which was announced to release on October 23, 2020 and wrote his second book titled "How to Write One Song" which was announced to release on October 13, 2020, on the E. P. Dutton publishing label.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy's musical style has varied over his music career. Tweedy's vocal style is considered nasal, emotional, and raspy, and has been compared to that of Neil Young. His first exposure to music was through gramophone records that his siblings left behind when they attended college, and he particularly liked The Beatles' White Album. Tweedy would frequently read issues of magazines such as "Rolling Stone", and began to purchase punk rock albums such as The Clash's "London Calling" and X's "Wild Gift". Belleville crowds did not respond well to punk music, so while Tweedy was a member of The Primitives they played covers of country songs at much faster tempos. When Uncle Tupelo formed, the band began composing its own songs influenced by Jason & the Scorchers and The Minutemen. Wilco's first album shared many musical similarities with the four previous Uncle Tupelo albums, but on "Being There", Tweedy began introducing more experimental themes into his music. He claims that he wanted to rebel against the belief spread by the "No Depression" magazine that Wilco was primarily a country band. One of the most influential albums for Tweedy was "Bad Timing" by Jim O'Rourke, which helped to inspire "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "A Ghost Is Born". Tweedy uses a 1957 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar, as well as a 1965 Fender Jazzmaster, at least three different Telecasters, an Epiphone Casino, a Rickenbacker 360, and a Gibson SG Standard. He has vintage SGs from '62 and '65 as well as a 2007 Custom Shop model and a 2008 Custom Shop Vintage Original Spec (V.O.S.) that are all rigged with Maestro tremolo bars. He also has been known to use a Breedlove 000 and even designed a limited edition 000 for Breedlove in 2007. His amplifier of choice is a Vox AC30.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy has been prone to migraines throughout his entire life, forcing him to miss forty days of elementary school in one year. While he attempted to regulate his use of painkillers, he was never able to stop their use for more than five weeks. Tweedy attributes this to comorbidity with major depressive disorder and severe panic attacks. In 2004, he entered a dual diagnosis rehabilitation clinic in order to receive treatment for an addiction to prescription painkiller Vicodin. Tweedy quit smoking the next year; John Stirratt claimed afterward that this significantly improved the focus of the band.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy is married to former talent agent Sue Miller and lives in the Irving Park area of Chicago. Tweedy first met Miller when he was trying to get Uncle Tupelo booked at Cubby Bear, where Miller worked. Miller opened a club in Chicago named Lounge Ax in 1989, and booked Uncle Tupelo for 16 shows over four years. Miller and Tweedy began dating in 1991 and they were married on August 9, 1995. Sue was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. In a 2015 interview with "Rolling Stone", Tweedy said "she's doing great now." Tweedy also said that music is a healthy distraction in such difficult times. They have two sons: Spencer and Sam. Spencer was the drummer for pre-teen rock band The Blisters and a new band called Tully Monster. In 2008, Spencer joined Wilco on stage at Madison Square Garden to play drums on their song "The Late Greats," while opening for Neil Young.


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: Tweedy has converted to Judaism. His wife is Jewish, and their sons both had Bar Mitzvah ceremonies. During the ceremony for his oldest son, Tweedy played an acoustic version of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young".


title: Jeff Tweedy

text: In November 2019 Tweedy's home in Irving Park was shot at least seven times in an attack described by his son as "not targeted". No injuries were reported.


title: Joint venture

text: A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to access a new market, particularly Emerging market; to gain scale efficiencies by combining assets and operations; to share risk for major investments or projects; or to access skills and capabilities. Work by Reuer and Leiblein challenged the claim that joint ventures minimize downside risk.


title: Joint venture

text: According to Gerard Baynham of Water Street Partners, there has been much negative press about joint ventures, but objective data indicate that they may actually outperform wholly owned and controlled affiliates. He writes, "A different narrative emerged from our recent analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) data, collected from more than 20,000 entities. According to the DOC data, foreign joint ventures of U.S. companies realized a 5.5 percent average return on assets (ROA), while those companies’ wholly owned and controlled affiliates (the vast majority of which are wholly owned) realized a slightly lower 5.2 percent ROA. The same story holds true for investments by foreign companies in the U.S., but the difference is more pronounced. U.S.-based joint ventures realized a 2.2 percent average ROA, while wholly owned and controlled affiliates in the U.S. only realized a 0.7 percent ROA."


title: Joint venture

text: Most joint ventures are incorporated, although some, as in the Oil and gas industry, are "unincorporated" joint ventures that mimic a corporate entity. With individuals, when two or more persons come together to form a temporary partnership for the purpose of carrying out a particular project, such partnership can also be called a joint venture where the parties are "co-venturers".


title: Joint venture

text: The venture can be a business JV (for example, Dow Corning), a project/asset JV intended to pursue one specific project only, or a JV aimed at defining standards or serving as an "industry utility" that provides a narrow set of services to industry participants.


title: Joint venture

text: Some major joint ventures include United Launch Alliance, Vevo, Hulu, Penske Truck Leasing, and Owens-Corning.


title: Joint venture

text: In European law, the term "joint venture" is an exclusive legal concept, better defined under the rules of company law. In France, the term "joint venture" is variously translated " "association d'entreprises", "entreprise conjointe", "coentreprise" "or" "entreprise commune"."


title: Joint venture

text: In the UK, India, and in many common law countries, a joint-venture (or else a company formed by a group of individuals) must file with the appropriate authority the memorandum of association. It is a statutory document which informs the outside public of its existence. It may be viewed by the public at the office in which it is filed. A sample can be seen at wikimedia.org. Together with the articles of association, it forms the "constitution" of a company in these countries.


title: Joint venture

text: The articles of association regulate the interaction between shareholders and the directors of a company and can be a lengthy document of up to 700,000+


title: Joint venture

text: pages. It deals with the powers relegated by the stockholders to the directors and those withheld by them, requiring the passing of ordinary resolutions, special resolutions and the holding of Extraordinary General Meetings to bring the directors' decision to bear.


title: Joint venture

text: A Certificate of Incorporation or the Articles of Incorporation is a document required to form a corporation in the U.S. (in actuality, the state where it is incorporated) and in countries following the practice. In the US, the "constitution" is a single document. The Articles of Incorporation is again a regulation of the directors by the stock-holders in a company.


title: Joint venture

text: This is a legal area and is fraught with difficulty as the laws of countries differ, particularly on the enforceability of "heads of" or shareholder agreements. For some legal reasons, it may be called a Memorandum of Understanding. It is done in parallel with other activities in forming a JV. Though dealt with briefly for a shareholders' agreement, some issues must be dealt with here as a preamble to the discussion that follows. There are also many issues which are not in the Articles when a company starts up or never ever present. Also, a JV may elect to stay as a JV alone in a "quasi partnership" to avoid any nonessential disclosure to the government or the public.


title: Joint venture

text: There are many features which have to be incorporated into the shareholders' agreement which is quite private to the parties as they start off. Normally, it requires no submission to any authority.


title: Joint venture

text: The other basic document which must be articulated is the Articles, which is a published document and known to members. This repeats the shareholders agreement as to the number of directors each founder can appoint to the board of directors; whether the board controls or the founders; the taking of decisions by simple majority (50%+1) of those present or a 51% or 75% majority with all directors present (their alternates/proxy); the deployment of funds of the firm; extent of debt; the proportion of profit that can be declared as dividends; etc. Also significant is what will happen if the firm is dissolved, if one of the partners dies, or if the firm is sold.


title: Joint venture

text: Often, the most successful JVs are those with 50:50 partnership with each party having the same number of directors but rotating control over the firm, or rights to appoint the Chairperson and Vice-chair of the company. Sometimes a party may give a separate trusted person to vote in its place proxy vote of the Founder at board meetings.


title: Joint venture

text: Recently, in a major case the Indian Supreme Court has held that Memorandums of Understanding (whose details are not in the articles of association) are "unconstitutional" giving more transparency to undertakings.


title: Joint venture

text: Joint ventures are risky forms of business partnerships. Literature in business and management has paid attention to different factors of conflict and opportunism in joint ventures, in particular the influence of parent control structure, ownership change, and volatile environment.


title: Joint venture

text: According to a report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2003, China was the recipient of US$53.5 billion in direct foreign investment, making it the world's largest recipient of direct foreign investment for the first time, to exceed the USA. Also, it approved the establishment of nearly 500,000 foreign-investment enterprises. The US had 45,000 projects (by 2004) with an in-place investment of over 48 billion.


title: Joint venture

text: Until recently, no guidelines existed on how foreign investment was to be handled due to the restrictive nature of China toward foreign investors. Following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, initiatives in foreign trade began to be applied, and law applicable to foreign direct investment was made clear in 1979, while the first Sino-foreign equity venture took place in 2001. The corpus of the law has improved since then.


title: Joint venture

text: Companies with foreign partners can carry out manufacturing and sales operations in China and can sell through their own sales network. Foreign-Sino companies have export rights which are not available to wholly Chinese companies, as China desires to import foreign technology by encouraging JVs and the latest technologies.


title: Joint venture

text: Under Chinese law, foreign enterprises are divided into several basic categories. Of these, five will be described or mentioned here: three relate to industry and services and two as vehicles for foreign investment.


title: Joint venture

text: Those five categories of Chinese foreign enterprises are: the Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures (EJVs), Sino-Foreign Co-operative Joint Ventures (CJVs), Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises (WFOE), although they do not strictly belong to Joint Ventures, plus foreign investment companies limited by shares (FICLBS), and Investment Companies through Foreign Investors (ICFI). Each category is described below.


title: Joint venture

text: The EJV Law is between a Chinese partner and a foreign company. It is incorporated in both Chinese (official) and in English (with equal validity), with limited liability. Prior to China's entry into WTO – and thus the WFOEs – EJVs predominated. In the EJV mode, the partners share profits, losses, and risk in equal proportion to their respective contributions to the venture's registered capital. These escalate upwardly in the same proportion as the increase in registered capital.


title: Joint venture

text: The JV contract accompanied by the articles of association for the EJV are the two most fundamental legal documents of the project. The Articles mirror many of the provisions of the JV contract. In case of conflict the JV document has precedence. These documents are prepared at the same time as the feasibility report. There are also the ancillary documents (termed "offsets" in the US) covering know-how and trademarks and supply-of-equipment agreements.


title: Joint venture

text: The foreign investment in the total project must be at least 25%. No minimum investment is set for the Chinese partner. The timing of investments must be mentioned in the Agreement and failure to invest in the indicated time, draws a penalty.


title: Joint venture

text: Co-operative Joint Ventures (CJVs) are permitted under the Sino-Foreign Co-operative Joint Ventures. Co-operative enterprises are also called Contractual Operative Enterprises.


title: Joint venture

text: The CJVs may have a limited structure or unlimited – therefore, there are two versions. The limited-liability version is similar to the EJVs in status of permissions – the foreign investor provides the majority of funds and technology and the Chinese party provides land, buildings, equipment, etc. However, there are no minimum limits on the foreign partner which allows him to be a minority shareholder.


title: Joint venture

text: The other format of the CJV is similar to a partnership where the parties jointly incur unlimited liability for the debts of the enterprise with no separate legal person being created. In both the cases, the status of the formed enterprise is that of a legal Chinese person which can hire labor directly as, for example, a Chinese national contactor. The minimum of the capital is registered at various levels of investment.


title: Joint venture

text: Convenience and flexibility are the characteristics of this type of investment. It is therefore easier to find co-operative partners and to reach an agreement.


title: Joint venture

text: With changes in the law, it becomes possible to merge with a Chinese company for a quick start. A foreign investor does not need to set up a new corporation in China. Instead, the investor uses the Chinese partner's business license, under a contractual arrangement. However, under the CJV, the land stays in the possession of the Chinese partner.


title: Joint venture

text: There is another advantage: the percentage of the CJV owned by each partner can change throughout the JV's life, giving the option to the foreign investor, by holding higher equity, obtains a faster rate of return with the concurrent wish of the Chinese partner of a later larger role of maintaining long-term control.


title: Joint venture

text: The parties in any of the ventures, EJV, CJV or WFOE prepare a feasibility study outlined above. It is a non-binding document – the parties are still free to choose not to proceed with the project. The feasibility study must cover the fundamental technical and commercial aspects of the project, before the parties can proceed to formalize the necessary legal documentation. The study should contain details referred to earlier under Feasibility Study (submissions by the Chinese partner).


title: Joint venture

text: There is basic law of the PRC concerning enterprises with sole foreign investment controls, WFOEs. China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) around 2001 has had profound effects on foreign investment. Not being a JV, they are considered here only in comparison or contrast.


title: Joint venture

text: To implement WTO commitments, China publishes from time to time updated versions of its "Catalogs Investments" (affecting ventures) prohibited, restricted.


title: Joint venture

text: The WFOE is a Chinese legal person and has to obey all Chinese laws. As such, it is allowed to enter into contracts with appropriate government authorities to acquire land use rights, rent buildings, and receive utility services. In this it is more similar to a CJV than an EJV.


title: Joint venture

text: WFOEs are expected by PRC to use the most modern technologies and to export at least 50% of their production, with all of the investment is to be wholly provided by the foreign investor and the enterprise is within his total control.


title: Joint venture

text: WFOEs are typically limited liability enterprises (like with EJVs) but the liability of the directors, managers, advisers, and suppliers depends on the rules which govern the Departments or Ministries which control product liability, worker safety or environmental protection.


title: Joint venture

text: An advantage the WFOE enjoys over its alternates is enhanced protection of its know-how but a principal disadvantage is absence of an interested and influential Chinese party.


title: Joint venture

text: These enterprises are formed under the Sino-Foreign Investment Act. The capital is composed of value of stock in exchange for the value of the property given to the enterprise. The liability of the shareholders, including debt, is equal to the number of shares purchased by each partner.


title: Joint venture

text: The registered capital of the company the share of the paid-in capital. The minimum amount of the registered capital of the company should be RMB 30 million. These companies can be listed on the only two PRC Stock Exchanges – the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. Shares of two types are permitted on these Exchanges – Types "A" and Type "B" shares.


title: Joint venture

text: Type A are only to be used by Chinese nationals and can be traded only in RMB. Type "B" shares are denominated in Renminbi but can be traded in foreign exchange and by Chinese nationals having foreign exchange. Further, State enterprises which have been approved for corporatization can trade in Hong Kong in "H" share and in NYSE exchanges.


title: Joint venture

text: "A" shares are issued to and traded by Chinese nationals. They are issued and traded in Renminbi. "B" shares are denominated in Renminbi but are traded in foreign currency. From March 2001, in addition to foreign investors, Chinese nationals with foreign currency can also trade "B" shares.


title: Joint venture

text: Investment companies are those established in China by sole foreign-funded business or jointly with Chinese partners who engage in direct investment. It has to be incorporated as a company with limited liability.


title: Joint venture

text: The total amount of the investor's assets during the year preceding the application to do business in China has to be no less than US$400 million within the territory of China. The paid-in capital contribution has to exceed $10 million. Furthermore, more than 3 project proposals of the investor's intended investment projects must have been approved. The shares subscribed and held by foreign Investment Companies by Foreign Investors (ICFI) should be 25%. The investment firm can be established as an EJV.


title: Joint venture

text: On March 15, 2019, China's National People's Congress adopted a unified Foreign Investment Law, which comes into effect on January 1, 2020.


title: Joint venture

text: JV companies are the preferred form of corporate investment but there are no separate laws for joint ventures. Companies which are incorporated in India are treated on par as domestic companies.


title: Joint venture

text: Private companies (only about $2500 is the lower limit of capital, no upper limit) are allowed in India together with and public companies, limited or not, likewise with partnerships. sole proprietorship too are allowed. However, the latter are reserved for NRIs.


title: Joint venture

text: Through capital market operations, foreign companies can transact on the two exchanges without prior permission of RBI but they cannot own more than 10 percent equity in paid-up capital of Indian enterprises, while aggregate foreign institutional investment (FII) in an enterprise is capped at 24 percent.


title: Joint venture

text: The establishment of wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) and project offices and branch offices, incorporated in India or not. Sometimes, it is understood, that branches are started to test the market and get its flavor. Equity transfer from residents to non-residents in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is usually permitted under the automatic route. However, if the M&As are in sectors and activities requiring prior government permission (Appendix 1 of the Policy) then transfer can proceed only after permission.


title: Joint venture

text: Joint ventures with trading companies are allowed together with imports of secondhand plants and machinery.


title: Joint venture

text: It is expected that in a JV, the foreign partner supplies technical collaboration and the pricing includes the foreign exchange component, while the Indian partner makes available the factory or building site and locally made machinery and product parts. Many JVs are formed as public limited companies (LLCs) because of the advantages of limited liability.


title: Joint venture

text: In Ukraine, most of joint ventures are operated in the form of Limited liability company, as there is no legal entity form as Joint venture. Protection of the rights of foreign investors is guaranteed by Law of Ukraine "On Foreign Investment". In Ukraine, JV can be established without legal entity formation and act under so called Cooperation Agreement (Dogovir pro spilnu diyalnist; Ukr. Договір про спільну діяльність). Under Ukraine civil code, CA can be established by two or more parties; rights and obligations of the parties are regulated by the agreement. Cooperation agreement has been widely spread in Ukraine, mainly in the field of oil and gas production. Since the Independence of Ukraine, Corruption doesn't allow to execute the Ukraine Law, Investors need to protect their Rights and Property themselves.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Henry the Young King (28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was the eldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine to survive childhood. Beginning in 1170, he was titular King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine. Henry the Young King was the only English king since the Norman Conquest to be crowned during his father's reign, but was frustrated by his father's refusal to grant him meaningful autonomous power. He died, aged 28, six years before his father, leaving his brother Richard to become the next king.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Little is known of the young Henry before the events associated with his marriage and coronation. His mother's children by her first marriage to Louis VII of France were Marie and Alix. He had one elder brother, William (d. 1156), and his younger siblings included Matilda; Richard; Geoffrey; Eleanor; Joan; and John.


title: Henry the Young King

text: In June 1170, the fifteen-year-old Henry was crowned king during his father's lifetime, a traditional practice of the French Capetian dynasty which held formal overlordship of Henry II's continental domains. King Stephen had previously attempted to have his son Eustace crowned as early as 1143 but was unable to secure papal support. On the latter's death in 1153, Stephen did not even attempt to have his second son William acknowledged as heir.


title: Henry the Young King

text: He was known in his own lifetime as "Henry the Young King" to distinguish him from his father. Because he was not a reigning king, he is not counted in the numerical succession of kings of England. According to one of Thomas Becket's correspondents, Henry was knighted by his father before the coronation, but the "History of William Marshal" asserts that the king was knighted by William in the course of the rebellion of 1173.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Henry did not appear to have been very interested in the day-to-day business of government, which distinguished him from his father and younger brothers. His father, however, is reputed to have failed to delegate authority to his son, retaining power in England. The majority opinion amongst historians is that of W. L. Warren: "The Young Henry was the only member of the family who was popular in his own day...also the only one who gave no evidence of political sagacity, military skill, or even ordinary intelligence...", and elaborated in a later book, "He was gracious, benign, affable, courteous, the soul of liberality and generosity. Unfortunately he was also shallow, vain, careless, empty-headed, incompetent, improvident, and irresponsible."


title: Henry the Young King

text: The Young King's contemporary reputation, however, was positive. Likely this was due to the enthusiastic tournament culture of his time. In the "History of William Marshal", the biography of the knight assigned to him as a tutor in 1170 and his tournament team leader until 1182, he is described as a constant competitor at tournaments across northern and central France between 1175 and 1182. With his cousins Counts Philip I of Flanders and Baldwin V of Hainaut, he was a key patron of the sport. He is said to have spent over £200 a day on the great retinue of knights he brought to the tournament of Lagny-sur-Marne in November 1179.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Though he lacked political weight, his patronage brought him celebrity status throughout western Europe. The baron and troubadour Bertran de Born knew him, stating:


title: Henry the Young King

text: There was a perception amongst his contemporaries, and the next generation, that his death in 1183 marked a decline both in the tournament and knightly endeavour. His one-time chaplain, Gervase of Tilbury, remarked on his passing: "Assuredly, as he was a solace to the world while he lived, so it was a blow to all chivalry when he died in the very glow of youth."


title: Henry the Young King

text: The traditional view of Young Henry, propagated into the modern era by Warren, has, however, been challenged in recent years. Matthew Strickland has argued in his compendium of the Young King's life and career that he was, in fact, an able and likeable individual who merely grew frustrated at his father's refusal to grant him any domains or responsibilities of his own.


title: Henry the Young King

text: The young Henry played an important part in the politics of his father's reign. On 2 November 1160, he was betrothed to Margaret of France, daughter of King Louis VII of France and his second wife, Constance of Castile, when he was 5 years of age and she was at least 2. The marriage was an attempt to finally settle the struggle between the counts of Anjou and the French kings over possession of the frontier district of the Norman Vexin, which Louis VII had acquired from Henry's grandfather, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, in around 1144. By the terms of the settlement, Margaret would bring the castles of the Norman Vexin to her new husband. However, the marriage was pushed through by Henry II when Young Henry and Margaret were small children so that he could seize the castles. A bitter border war followed between the kings.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Henry II had toyed with the idea of having Young Henry crowned king as early as 1162 and even procured a papal bull from Alexander III ordering Archbishop Roger of York to crown Young Henry whenever required. Thomas Becket, newly ordained as Archbishop of Canterbury, had been ordered to prepare for the coronation of Young Henry and the pipe rolls for 1162 record the allocation of funds for the commissioning of a golden circlet. This was not to be, however; Barlow suggests that the southern prelates dissuaded King Henry from using the papal bull as the Archbishopric of Canterbury was now occupied. This greatly upset Roger of York, who wrote to Rome asking for confirmation of his right to crown kings; while ultimately unsuccessful, Roger's delays derailed Henry's plans and the Young King would not be crowned until 1170.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Young Henry was finally crowned on Saturday 14 June 1170 on the feast of St Basil at Westminster Abbey, in the presence of most of the Anglo-Norman nobility and the overwhelming majority of the non-vacant English bishoprics. Matthew Strickland notes that the exiled Thomas Becket had few supporters left in the upper ranks of the English church after six years of dispute with Henry II.


title: Henry the Young King

text: It was almost certainly a calculated insult to Louis VII that Margaret of France was not crowned alongside her husband in 1170. Robert of Torigny claims she simply arrived from Normandy too late to participate, but other sources reveal she was deliberately delayed at Caen. Warren believes that this was an ultimately fruitful attempt to prevent Louis VII from dissuading Thomas Becket from accepting his latest overtures. Whatever the case, Louis was so enraged by this that he launched an immediate attack on the Norman border, forcing Henry to return to the duchy personally to oversee its defences. Mediation by Count Theobald of Blois, however, led to a meeting between the two monarchs at Vendôme and, following subsequent meetings at La Ferté and Fréteval, Henry was able to placate King Louis.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Young Henry and Margaret were formally married on 27 August 1172 at Winchester Cathedral, when Henry, aged seventeen, was crowned King of England a second time, this time together with Margaret, by Rotrou, the Archbishop of Rouen.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Young Henry fell out with his father in 1173. Contemporary chroniclers allege that this was owing to the young man's frustration that his father had given him no realm to rule, and his feeling starved of funds. The rebellion seems, however, to have drawn strength from much deeper discontent with his father's rule, and a formidable party of Anglo-Norman, Norman, Angevin, Poitevin and Breton magnates joined him. The revolt of 1173–1174 came close to toppling the king; he was narrowly saved by the loyalty of a party of nobles with holdings on the English side of the Channel, and by the defeat and capture of William I, the King of Scotland. Young Henry sought a reconciliation after the capture of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the failure of the rebellion. His funds were much increased by the terms of the settlement and he apparently devoted most of the next seven years to the amusement of the tournament.


title: Henry the Young King

text: In November 1179, he represented his father at the coronation of Philip Augustus as associate king of France at Reims. He acted as Steward of France and carried the crown in the coronation procession. Later, he played a leading role in the celebratory tournament held at Lagny-sur-Marne, to which he brought a retinue of over 500 knights at huge expense.


title: Henry the Young King

text: The Young Henry's affairs took a turn for the worse in 1182. He fell out with William Marshal, the leader of his tournament "mesnée". The unknown author of "L'Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal" suggests that Marshal's disgrace was because he had indulged in a clandestine affair with Queen Margaret. David Crouch, one of the Marshal's principal modern biographers, argues that the charge against William was actually one of "lèse majesté", brought on by Marshal's own arrogance and greed. By this account, the charge of adultery was only introduced in the "History of William Marshal" as a distraction from the real charges, of which he was most probably guilty. Though the Young King sent his wife early in 1183 to the French court, it was done most likely to keep her safe in the impending war with his brother, Richard, rather than because she was in disgrace.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Margaret gave birth to a baby boy named William, who may have been born prematurely on 19 June 1177 and died only three days later.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Henry the Young King died, aged 28, in the summer of 1183, during the course of a campaign in Limousin against his father and his brother Richard the Lionheart. He had just finished pillaging local monasteries to raise money to pay his mercenaries. He contracted dysentery at the beginning of June. Weakening fast, he was taken to Martel, near Limoges. It was clear to his household that he was dying on 7 June, when he was confessed and received the last rites.


title: Henry the Young King

text: As a token of his penitence for his war against his father, he prostrated himself naked on the floor before a crucifix. He made a testament and, since he had taken a crusader's vow, he gave his cloak to his friend William Marshal, with the plea that he should take the cloak (presumably with the crusader's cross stitched to it) to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.


title: Henry the Young King

text: On his deathbed, he reportedly asked to be reconciled to his father, but King Henry, fearing a trick, refused to see him. He died on 11 June, clasping a ring his father had sent instead as a sign of his forgiveness. After his death, his father is said to have exclaimed: "He cost me much, but I wish he had lived to cost me more."


title: Henry the Young King

text: After Henry's death, there was an attempt by his mother and a faction of his friends to promote his sainthood. Thomas of Earley, Archdeacon of Wells, published a sermon not long afterward detailing miraculous events attending the cortège that took his body north to Normandy. Henry had left orders that his entrails and other body parts should be buried at the abbey of Charroux, but the rest of his body should rest in Rouen Cathedral.


title: Henry the Young King

text: However, during the funeral procession, a member of Henry's household was seized by his mercenary captains for debts the late king had owed them. The knights accompanying his corpse were so penniless they had to be fed by charity at the monastery of Vigeois. There were large and emotional gatherings wherever his body rested.


title: Henry the Young King

text: At Le Mans, the local bishop halted the procession and ordered the body buried in his cathedral, perhaps to help defuse the civil unrest Henry's death had caused. The dean of Rouen recovered the body from the chapter of Le Mans a month later by a lawsuit, so that the Young Henry could be buried in Normandy as he had desired in his testament.


title: Henry the Young King

text: Henry's remains are in Rouen Cathedral, where his tomb is on the opposite side of the altar from the tomb of his younger brother, Richard I of England, with whom he was perpetually quarrelling. The tomb of the Archbishop of Rouen, who had married him to Margaret, lies nearby in the ambulatory. His brothers Richard and John each later became King of England.


title: Henry the Young King

text: The physical appearance of Henry at his coronation in 1170 is given in a contemporary court poem written in Latin, where the fifteen-year-old prince is described as being very handsome, "tall but well proportioned, broad-shouldered with a long and elegant neck, pale and freckled skin, bright and wide blue eyes, and a thick mop of the reddish-gold hair".


title: Henry the Young King

text: Henry and Richard were "both tall in stature, rather above the middle size, and of commanding aspect. In courage and magnanimity they were nearly equal; but in the character of their virtues there was great disparity... [Henry] was admirable for gentleness and liberality... had a commendable suavity... commended for his easy temper... remarkable for his clemency... the vile and undeserving found their refuge in [Henry]... was the shield of bad men... was bent on martial sports... bestowed his favours on foreigners... [Henry's] ambition magnanimously compassed the world."


title: Henry the Young King

text: Another description says "He was tall in stature and distinguished in appearance; his face expressed merriment and mature judgment in good measure; fair among the children of men, he was courteous and cheerful. Gracious to all, he was loved by all; amiable to all, he was incapable of making an enemy. He was matchless in warfare, and as he outstripped them all in valour, cordiality, and the outstanding graciousness of his manners, his true generosity, and true integrity...


title: Ladyfinger (biscuit)

text: Ladyfingers, or in British English sponge fingers (sometimes known by the Italian name or by the French name ) also known in the Haredi Jewish community as baby fingers (due to concerns of modesty), are low-density, dry, egg-based, sweet sponge cake biscuits roughly shaped like large fingers. They are a principal ingredient in many dessert recipes, such as trifles and charlottes, and are also used as fruit or chocolate gateau linings, and sometimes for the sponge element of tiramisu. They are typically soaked in a sugar syrup or liqueur, or in coffee or espresso for tiramisu. Plain ladyfingers are commonly given to infants, being soft enough for teething mouths, but easy to grasp and firm enough not to fall apart.


title: Ladyfinger (biscuit)

text: Ladyfingers originated in the late 15th century at the court of the Duchy of Savoy, and were created to mark the occasion of a visit by the King of France. Later, they were given the name "savoiardi" and recognized as an "official" court biscuit. They were particularly appreciated by the younger members of the court and offered to visitors as an example of the local cuisine.


title: Ladyfinger (biscuit)

text: Like other sponge cakes, ladyfingers traditionally contain no chemical leavening agent, and rely on air incorporated into the eggs for their "sponge" texture. Some brands, though, contain ammonium bicarbonate. The egg whites and egg yolks mixed with sugar are typically beaten separately and folded together with flour. They contain more flour than the typical sponge cake. The mixture is piped through a pastry bag in short lines onto sheets, giving the biscuits their notable shape.


title: Ladyfinger (biscuit)

text: Before baking, powdered sugar is usually sifted over the top to give a soft crust. The finished ladyfingers are usually layered into a dessert such as tiramisu or trifle.


title: Ribaldry

text: Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy".


title: Ribaldry

text: Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at the foibles and weaknesses that manifest themselves in human sexuality, rather than to present sexual stimulation either overtly or artistically. Also, ribaldry may use sex as a metaphor to illustrate some non-sexual concern, in which case ribaldry borders satire.


title: Ribaldry

text: Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribaldry typically depends on a shared background of sexual conventions and values, and its comedy generally depends on seeing those conventions broken.


title: Ribaldry

text: The ritual taboo-breaking that is a usual counterpart of ribaldry underlies its controversial nature and explains why ribaldry is sometimes a subject of censorship. Ribaldry, whose usual aim is "not" "merely" to be sexually stimulating, often does address larger concerns than mere sexual appetite. However, being presented in the form of comedy, these larger concerns may be overlooked by censors.


title: Ribaldry

text: Ribaldry differs from black comedy in that the latter deals with topics which would normally be considered "painful" or "frightening", whereas ribaldry deals with topics that would only be considered offensive.


title: Ribaldry

text: Ribaldry is present to some degree in every culture and has likely been around for all of human history. Works like "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes, "Menaechmi" by Plautus, "Cena Trimalchionis" by Petronius, and "The Golden Ass" of Apuleius are ribald classics from ancient Greece and Rome. Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale" from his "Canterbury Tales" and "The Crabfish", one of the oldest English traditional ballads, are classic examples. The Frenchman François Rabelais showed himself to be a master of ribaldry (technically called grotesque body) in his "Gargantua" and other works. "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" by Laurence Sterne and "The Lady's Dressing Room" by Jonathan Swift are also in this genre; as is Mark Twain's long-suppressed "1601".


title: Ribaldry

text: Another example of ribaldry is "De Brevitate Vitae", a song which in many European-influenced universities is both a student beer-drinking song and an anthem sung by official university choirs at public graduation ceremonies. The private and public versions of the song contain vastly different words. More recent works like "Candy", "Barbarella", "L'Infermiera", the comedic works of Russ Meyer, "Little Annie Fanny" and John Barth's "The Sot-Weed Factor" are probably better classified as ribaldry than as either pornography or erotica.


title: Ribaldry

text: A bawdy song is a humorous song that emphasises sexual themes and is often rich with innuendo. Historically these songs tend to be confined to groups of young males, either as students or in an environment where alcohol is flowing freely. An early collection was "Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy", edited by Thomas D'Urfey and published between 1698 and 1720. Selected songs from "Wit and Mirth" have been recorded by the City Waites and other singers. Sailor's songs tend to be quite frank about the exploitative nature of the relationship between men and women. There are many examples of folk songs in which a man encounters a woman in the countryside. This is followed by a short conversation, and then sexual intercourse, e.g. "The Game of All Fours". Neither side demonstrates any shame or regret. If the woman becomes pregnant, the man will not be there anyway. Rugby songs are often bawdy. Examples of bawdy folk songs are: "Seventeen Come Sunday" and "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell". Robert Burns compiled "The Merry Muses of Caledonia" (the title is not Burns's), a collection of bawdy lyrics that were popular in the music halls of Scotland as late as the 20th century. In modern times Hash House Harriers have taken on the role of tradition-bearers for this kind of song. "The Unexpurgated Folk Songs of Men" (Arhoolie 4006) is a gramophone record containing a collection of American bawdy songs recorded in 1959.


title: Ribaldry

text: Blue comedy is comedy that is off-colour, risqué, indecent or profane, largely about sex. It often contains profanity or sexual imagery that may shock and offend some audience members.


title: Ribaldry

text: "Working blue" refers to the act of using swear words and discussing things that people do not discuss in "polite society". A "blue comedian" or "blue comic" is a comedian who usually performs risqué routines layered with curse words.


title: Ribaldry

text: There is a common belief that comedian Max Miller (1894–1963) coined the phrase, after his stage act which involved telling jokes from either a white book or a blue book, chosen by audience preference (the blue book contained ribald jokes). This is not so, as the "Oxford English Dictionary" contains earlier references to the use of blue to mean ribald: 1890 "Sporting Times" 25 Jan. 1/1 "Shifter wondered whether the damsel knew any novel blue stories." and 1900 "Bulletin" (Sydney) 20 Oct. 12/4 "Let someone propose to celebrate Chaucer by publicly reading some of his bluest productions unexpurgated. The reader would probably be locked up."


title: Ribaldry

text: Private events at show business clubs such as the Masquers often showed this blue side of otherwise clean-cut comedians; a recording survives of one Masquers roast from the 1950s with Jack Benny, George Jessel, George Burns, and Art Linkletter all using highly risqué material and obscenities. Many comedians who are normally family-friendly might choose to work blue when off-camera or in an adult-oriented environment; Bob Saget exemplified this dichotomy. Bill Cosby's 1969 record album "" records both his family-friendly evening standup comedy show, and his blue midnight show, which included a joke about impregnating his wife "right through the old midnight trampoline" (her diaphragm) and other sexual references.


title: Ribaldry

text: Some comedians build their careers on blue comedy. Among the best known of these are Redd Foxx, Lawanda Page, and the team of Leroy and Skillet, all of whom later performed on the family-friendly television show "Sanford and Son". Page, Leroy, and Skillet specialised in a particular African American form of blue spoken word recitation called signifying or toasting. Dave Attell has also been described by his peers as one of the greatest modern-day blue comics.


title: Ribaldry

text: On talk radio in the United States and elsewhere, blue comedy is a staple of the shock jock's repertoire. The use of blue comedy over American radio airwaves is severely restricted due to decency regulations; the Federal Communications Commission can levy fines against radio stations that air obscene content.


title: Ribaldry

text: As a part of English literature, blue literature dates back to at least Middle English, while bawdy humor is a central element in works of such writers as Shakespeare and Chaucer. Examples of blue literature are also present in various cultures, among different social classes, and genders. Until the 1940s, writers of English-language blue literature were almost exclusively men; since then it has become possible for women to build a commercial career on blue literature. While no extensive cross-cultural study has been made in an attempt to prove the universality of blue literature, oral tradition around the world suggests that this may be the case.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Abdul Ghani Baradar (born 29 September 1963 or 1968; known by the honorific "mullah") is an Afghan political and religious leader who is currently the acting first deputy prime minister alongside Abdul Salam Hanafi and Abdul Kabir, of Afghanistan. The co-founder of the Taliban along with Mullah Omar, he was Omar's top deputy from 2002 to 2010, and since 2019 he has been the Taliban's fourth-in-command, as the third of Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada's three deputies.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: He held senior positions in the Taliban during their first rule from 1996 to 2001. After the Taliban government fell to the US-led invasion in 2001, he rose to lead the organization's Quetta Shura in Pakistan, becoming the "de facto" leader of the Taliban. He was imprisoned by Pakistan in 2010, possibly because he had been discussing a peace deal with the Afghan government secretly, without the involvement of Pakistan. He was released in 2018 at the request of the United States and was subsequently appointed a deputy leader of the Taliban and head of their political office in Qatar. Following the Taliban victory in August 2021, he received his current government post.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Baradar is considered to be a "moderate" Taliban member. On 15 September 2021, Baradar was listed on "Time" magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People In 2021".


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Reports of his date and place of birth vary. According to the United Nations Security Council Consolidated List, he was born in about 1968 in the Yatimak village of Deh Rawood District in Uruzgan Province of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. However, identity documents have stated his year of birth as 1963, or his date and place of birth as 29 September 1963 in Uruzgan.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: He is a Zirak Durrani Pashtun of the Sadozai tribe, a sub-tribe of the Popalzai. According to Dutch journalist Bette Dam, he and Muhammed Omar became friends when they were teenagers. According to "Newsweek", Omar and Baradar may be brothers-in-law via marriage to two sisters. Muhammed Omar the first leader of the Taliban, nicknamed him 'Baradar', which means 'brother', or Mullah Brother.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: He fought during the 1980s in the Soviet–Afghan War in Kandahar (mainly in the Panjwayi area), serving as Omar's deputy in a group of Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet-backed Afghan government. Omar gave him the nom de guerre 'Baradar', which means 'brother', because of their close friendship. He later operated a madrassa in Maiwand, Kandahar Province, alongside Omar.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: In 1994, he was one of four men, including Omar, who founded the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. During Taliban rule (1996–2001), Baradar held a variety of posts. He was reportedly governor of Herat and Nimruz provinces, and/or the Corps Commander for western Afghanistan. An unclassified U.S. State Department document lists him as the former Deputy Chief of Army Staff and Commander of Central Army Corps, Kabul, while the United Nations Security Council Consolidated List states that he was the Deputy Minister of Defense.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Following the 11 September 2001 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan and deposed the Taliban with the help of Afghan forces. Baradar fought against the U.S.-supported Northern Alliance and, according to "Newsweek", "hopped on a motorcycle and drove his old friend [Omar] to safety in the mountains" in November 2001 as Taliban defenses were crumbling. One story holds that a U.S.-linked Afghan force seized Baradar and other Taliban figures sometime that month, but Pakistani intelligence secured their release. Another story reported by Bette Dam contends that Baradar rescued Hamid Karzai, his fellow Popalzai tribesman, from grave danger when the latter had entered Afghanistan to build anti-Taliban support.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: The new Afghan government was organized in accordance with the December 2001 Bonn Agreement; Hamid Karzai served as interim leader and later President of Afghanistan. Baradar now found himself fighting international forces and the newly formed Afghan government. Many fellow Taliban commanders were killed over the years following the initial invasion, including Baradar's rival Dadullah, who was killed in Helmand Province in 2007. Baradar eventually rose to lead the Quetta Shura and became the de facto leader of the Taliban, directing the insurgency from Pakistan. Western diplomats considered him to be among those in the Shura who were more open to contact with the Afghan government, and more resistant to influence from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. Temperament-wise he has been described as acting as "an old-fashioned Pashtun tribal head" and a consensus builder.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Despite his military activities, Baradar was reportedly behind several attempts to begin peace talks, specifically in 2004 and 2009, and widely seen as a potentially key part of a negotiated peace deal.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Baradar was arrested by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in late January or early February 2010 in Karachi. Pakistan only confirmed the arrest a week later and Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik denied reports that US agents had been involved in the arrest. According to "New York Times" reporting soon after the arrest, American intelligence agencies had tipped off Pakistani counter-terror officers about a meeting of militants with a possible link to Baradar, but that it was only after several men had been arrested that they realised one was Baradar himself. According to "New York Times" reporting months later, Pakistani officials were then claiming that they had been targeting Baradar himself, because he had been secretly discussing a peace deal with the Afghan government without the involvement of Pakistan, who had long supported the Taliban. They claimed that the ISI tracked Baradar's cell phone to an area of Karachi, called on the CIA to use a more sophisticated tracking device to find his precise location, and then the Pakistanis moved in to arrest him. "The New York Times" concluded that events and motives were still unclear. The story was only lightly covered in the Pakistani press when it initially broke, except for the newspaper "Dawn", which published detailed information. Abdul Qayyum Zakir became the Taliban military leader after Baradar's arrest.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Although some analysts saw Baradar's arrest as a significant shift in Pakistan's position, others claimed that Pakistan arrested Baradar to stop his negotiations with the Karzai government, so that Pakistan would get a seat at the table – because an agreement between the Taliban and the Karzai government could deprive Pakistan of influence in Afghanistan. Another view contended that Pakistani General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was using the series of Taliban arrests to help extend his own career beyond his slated November 2010 retirement date, the theory being that this would raise his standing among American policymakers and thus pressure the Pakistani government to retain him. The Afghan government was reportedly holding secret talks with Baradar and his arrest was said to have infuriated President Hamid Karzai.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Despite repeated claims that Pakistan would deliver Baradar to Afghanistan if formally asked to do so, and that his extradition was underway, he was expressly excluded from a group of nine Taliban prisoners that Pakistan released in November 2012. They eventually released him in mid-October 2018. Washington special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said that he had asked Pakistan to release him, as Khalilzad believed Baradar could help in the Afghan peace process.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: Baradar was appointed a deputy to the supreme leader of the Taliban and the chief of the Taliban's political office in Doha, Qatar, in January 2019, about three months after Pakistan released him. He was the most senior of three deputies to the leader, the other two being Sirajuddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob. Although he served under supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, according to "The Economist", and "The Diplomat", Baradar was regarded as the Taliban's de facto leader. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called him "a very sophisticated player" in a meeting with the then President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: In February 2020, Baradar signed the Doha Agreement on the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan on behalf of the Taliban.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: On 17 August 2021, Baradar returned to Afghanistan for the first time since the fall of the first Taliban government in 2001. It was rumoured that he would become the president of Afghanistan following the overthrow of the government of Ashraf Ghani by the Taliban in August 2021. On 23 August 2021, CIA Director William J. Burns held a secret meeting with Baradar in Kabul to discuss the 31 August deadline for a U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: On 14 September 2021, it was reported that Baradar had not been seen in public for several days, and that there were rumours he had been injured or killed in infighting over power in the new Afghan government. The following day a video interview with Baradar was released, in which he denied the rumours.


title: Abdul Ghani Baradar

text: On 15 September 2021, Baradar was listed on the "Time" magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in 2021", classified as a Leader.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and ; Croatian and ; , JLA), also called the Yugoslav National Army, was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its antecedents from 1945 to 1992.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: The origins of the JNA started during the Yugoslav Partisans of World War II. As a predecessor of the JNA, the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOVJ) was formed as a part of the anti-fascist People's Liberation War of Yugoslavia in the Bosnian town of Rudo on 22 December 1941. After the Yugoslav Partisans liberated the country from the Axis Powers, that date was officially celebrated as the "Day of the Army" in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFR Yugoslavia).


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: In March 1945, the NOVJ was renamed the "Yugoslav Army" (""Jugoslavenska/Jugoslovenska Armija"") and, on its 10th anniversary, on 22 December 1951, "People's" (""Narodna"") was added.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: The support the Soviets had within JNA ranks during the Informbiro period, after 1948, is contested. Low-end estimates indicate that 10–15% of the army's personnel favoured the Soviet position. Yugoslav sources estimate the number of military members arrested ranged from 4,153 officers and soldiers (estimated by Radonjić), to 7,000 imprisoned officers estimated by Milovan Đilas. The purge included 22 officers in the presidential guard regiment reporting directly to Tito, including Momčilo Đurić, wartime commander of the Yugoslav Partisan Supreme Headquarters escort battalion. During this period of Soviet blockade, the Yugoslav Army's development stagnated.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: Forty-nine Yugoslav Army graduates of the General Staff Academy, the Frunze Academy, and other Soviet military academies were deemed potential Soviet supporters. Many of those attending such academies in the USSR at the time of the Tito–Stalin split never returned to Yugoslavia.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: The split particularly affected the Air Force. Almost all Air Force officers had Soviet training, and some of them fled Yugoslavia in Air Force planes. The defectors included Major General Pero Popivoda, who was the head of the Air Force operational service. The Batajnica, Zemun, and Pančevo airbases near Belgrade saw several attacks by groups of saboteurs. The Zemun airbase commander and his deputy fled to Romania.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: Between 1948 and 1955, the United States gave Yugoslavia US$600 million in direct military grants and an equal amount in economic aid, enabling Yugoslavia to devote more of its domestic resources to defence. After two visits to the United States by Colonel General Kocha Popovic and Colonel General Kilibarda in May–June and August 1951, respectively, U.S. weaponry began arriving by late 1951. By 1952 the Armed Forces had grown to 500,000 troops, and defence expenditures consumed 22 percent of the gross national product. A Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) of 30 officers commanded by General Harmody was established by the United States in Belgrade in 1951. It operated for ten years, disbursing military grants and arranging another US$1 billion in arms sales on favorable terms. Among weapons transferred were 599 M-4A3


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: tanks, 319 M-47 tanks, 715 M-7, M-l8, and M-36 self-propelled guns, 565 M-3A1 and M-8 armored cars, and a total of total of 760 105mm,


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: 155mm, and 203mm artillery pieces. The artillery pieces delivered were used to reequip artillery units within Yugoslavia's eight divisions.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: Under the constitution and laws of SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav People's Army was a part of the armed forces with the Territorial Defense (Yugoslavia) as the joint armed forces of all working people and citizens of Yugoslavia.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: The main task of the Yugoslav People's Army was to protect the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and social organization of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: Though the Presidency of Yugoslavia was the supreme commander of the armed forces and in command of Yugoslav People's Army, some duties from the presidency could be given to the Secretary of Defence. The Secretary of Defence was the officer with the highest military rank that could command the armed forces, including the Yugoslav People's Army and Territorial Defense. The President of Yugoslavia had the power to promote members of the military to the highest military ranks such as general or admiral, and to relieve duty of the highest military officers. The Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army, in the case that the Secretary of Defense was prevented or absent to fulfill his function, was formally his deputy who could take command of the armed forces. In 1987, under decree of the Presidency of Yugoslavia, the General Staff of the JNA was renamed to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia, thus effectively giving command of JNA and the TO to one military body in order to more efficiently command the armed forces in case of war, according to the law of "All-people's defense" from 1982.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: In the mid-1980s, plans were made under a formal top-secret strategic and operational plan named "Jedinstvo" (Eng. "unity") for a structural change from republic armies and divisions to military districts and brigades to allow for easier federal consolidation of the republics' territorial armies, particularly in the case of a crisis.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: Because of internal and external security changes during that time, "Jedinstvo" was later modeled in three parts: "Jedinstvo 1", "Jedinstvo 2", and "Jedinstvo 3", starting from 1987 (with a planned completion date of 1995) for the JNA to start major reform.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: The first part of JNA major overhaul under "Jedinstvo 1" had its basic force structure nearly completed in 1989. Manpower was planned to be reduced to about 1 million in wartime, while in peacetime it would be 299,057 personnel including officers, soldiers and the civilian workforce, including civil service. Equipment purchase was not realized in full.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: The JNA's organization and structure after "Jedinstvo 1" consisted of the Ground Forces, Air Force and Navy. Under reforms through the "Jedinstvo" plan it was planned to reorganize the army's structure into four major army areas called "Vojna Oblast" under command of SSNO ("Савезни секретаријат за народну одбрану" ("ССНО") – The Union's Secretariat for People's Defence, the federal ministry of defence) - "Vojna oblast" or military regions were further divided into corps, brigades, garrisons and smaller districts and sectors that were responsible for administrative tasks such as draft registration, mobilization, and construction and maintenance of military facilities. The regions were:


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: Directly under SSNO were the Guard's motorized brigade, school centers, three SIGNAL regiments, a light anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and a few independent battalions and divisions.


title: Yugoslav People's Army

text: In the "Jedinstvo 1" reforms, JNA eliminated most of its old divisional infantry organization and established the brigade and corps structure with some independent units under direct command of SSNO. Territorial defense was also changed and laws and the constitution were amended to address those changes. The Ground Forces "converted ten of twelve infantry divisions into twenty-nine tank, mechanized and mountain infantry brigades with integral artillery, air defense and anti-tank regiments under corps structure. One airborne brigade was organized before 1990. The shift to brigade-level organization provided greater operational flexibility, maneuverability, and tactical initiative and reduced the possibility that large army units would be destroyed in set piece engagements with an aggressor. The change created many senior field command positions that would develop relatively young and talented officers." In 1989, five independent divisions under general staff command and 25 partisan (reserve) divisions under corps command were formed including many other battalions, regiments and batteries under different commands.