title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Even in towns which did not exclude overnight stays by blacks, accommodations were often very limited. African-Americans migrating to California to find work in the early 1940s often found themselves camping by the roadside overnight for lack of any hotel accommodation along the way. They were acutely aware of the discriminatory treatment that they received. Courtland Milloy's mother, who took him and his brother on road trips when they were children, recalled:


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: African-American travelers faced real physical risks because of the widely differing rules of segregation that existed from place to place, and the possibility of extrajudicial violence against them. Activities that were accepted in one place could provoke violence a few miles down the road. Transgressing formal or unwritten racial codes, even inadvertently, could put travelers in considerable danger.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Even driving etiquette was affected by racism; in the Mississippi Delta region, local custom prohibited blacks from overtaking whites, to prevent their raising dust from the unpaved roads to cover white-owned cars. A pattern emerged of whites purposely damaging black-owned cars to put their owners "in their place". Stopping anywhere that was not known to be safe, even to allow children in a car to relieve themselves, presented a risk; Milloy noted that his parents would urge him and his brother to control their need to use a bathroom until they could find a safe place to stop, as "those backroads were simply too dangerous for parents to stop to let their little black children pee". Racist local laws, discriminatory social codes, segregated commercial facilities, racial profiling by police, and sundown towns made road journeys a minefield of constant uncertainty and risk.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Road trip narratives by blacks reflected their unease and the dangers they faced, presenting a more complex outlook from those written by whites extolling the joys of the road. Milloy recalls the menacing environment that he encountered during his childhood, in which he learned of "so many black travelers ... just not making it to their destinations". Even foreign black dignitaries were not immune to the discrimination that African-American travelers routinely encountered. In one high-profile incident, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, the finance minister of newly independent Ghana, was refused service at a Howard Johnson's restaurant at Dover, Delaware, while traveling to Washington, D.C., even after identifying himself by his state position to the restaurant staff. The snub caused an international incident, to which an embarrassed President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by inviting Gbedemah to breakfast at the White House.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Repeated and sometimes violent incidents of discrimination directed against black African diplomats, particularly on U.S. Route 40 between New York and Washington, D.C., led to the administration of President John F. Kennedy setting up a Special Protocol Service Section within the State Department to assist black diplomats traveling and living within the United States. The State Department considered issuing copies of "The Negro Motorist Green Book" to black diplomats, but eventually decided against steering them to black-friendly public accommodations as it wanted them to be treated equally to white diplomats.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: John A. Williams wrote in his 1965 book, "This Is My Country Too", that he did not believe "white travelers have any idea of how much nerve and courage it requires for a Negro to drive coast to coast in America". He achieved it with "nerve, courage, and a great deal of luck", supplemented by "a rifle and shotgun, a road atlas, and "Travelguide", a listing of places in America where Negroes can stay without being embarrassed, insulted, or worse". He noted that black drivers needed to be particularly cautious in the South, where they were advised to wear a chauffeur's cap or have one visible on the front seat and pretend they were delivering a car for a white person. Along the way, he had to endure a stream of "insults of clerks, bellboys, attendants, cops, and strangers in passing cars". There was a constant need to keep his mind on the danger he faced; as he was well aware, "[black] people have a way of disappearing on the road".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Segregation meant that facilities for African-American motorists in some areas were limited, but entrepreneurs of varied races realized that opportunities existed in marketing goods and services specifically to black patrons. These included directories of hotels, camps, road houses, and restaurants which would serve African-Americans. Jewish travelers, who had also long experienced discrimination at many vacation spots, created guides for their own community, though they were at least able to visibly blend in more easily with the general population. African-Americans followed suit with publications such as "Hackley and Harrison's Hotel and Apartment Guide for Colored Travelers", published in 1930 to cover "Board, Rooms, Garage Accommodations, etc. in 300 Cities in the United States and Canada". This book was published by Sadie Harrison, who was the Secretary of The Negro Welfare Council (or Negro Urban League).


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: "The Negro Motorist Green Book" was one of the best known of the African-American travel guides. It was conceived in 1932 and first published in 1936 by Victor H. Green, a World War I veteran from New York City who worked as a mail carrier and later as a travel agent. He said his aim was "to give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trip more enjoyable". According to an editorial written by Novera C. Dashiell in the 1956 edition of the "Green Book", "the idea crystallized when not only [Green] but several friends and acquaintances complained of the difficulties encountered; oftentimes painful embarrassments suffered which ruined a vacation or business trip".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Green asked his readers to provide information "on the Negro motoring conditions, scenic wonders in your travels, places visited of interest and short stories on one's motoring experience". He offered a reward of one dollar for each accepted account, which he increased to five dollars by 1941. He also obtained information from colleagues in the U.S. Postal Service, who would "ask around on their routes" to find suitable public accommodations. The Postal Service was and remains one of the largest employers of African-Americans, and its employees were ideally situated to inform Green of which places were safe and hospitable to African-American travelers.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The "Green Book's" motto, displayed on the front cover, urged black travelers to "Carry your Green Book with you – You may need it". The 1949 edition included a quote from Mark Twain: "Travel is fatal to prejudice", inverting Twain's original meaning; as Cotten Seiler puts it, "here it was the visited, rather than the visitors, who would find themselves enriched by the encounter". Green commented in 1940 that the "Green Book" had given black Americans "something authentic to travel by and to make traveling better for the Negro".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Its principal goal was to provide accurate information on black-friendly accommodations to answer the constant question that faced black drivers: "Where will you spend the night?" The guide also helped recirculate the money spent by tourists within the black community.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: As well as essential information on lodgings, service stations and garages, it provided details of leisure facilities open to African Americans, including beauty salons, restaurants, nightclubs and country clubs. The listings focused on four main categories – hotels, motels, tourist homes (private residences, usually owned by African-Americans, which provided accommodation to travelers), and restaurants. They were arranged by state and subdivided by city, giving the name and address of each business. For an extra payment, businesses could have their listing displayed in bold type or have a star next to it to denote that they were "recommended".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Many such establishments were run by and for African-Americans and in some cases were named after prominent figures in African-American history. In North Carolina, such black-owned businesses included the Carver, Lincoln, and Booker T. Washington hotels, the Friendly City beauty parlor, the Black Beauty Tea Room, the New Progressive tailor shop, the Big Buster tavern, and the Blue Duck Inn. Each edition also included feature articles on travel and destinations, and included a listing of black resorts such as Idlewild, Michigan; Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts; and Belmar, New Jersey. The state of New Mexico was particularly recommended as a place where most motels would welcome "guests on the basis of 'cash rather than color'".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The "Green Book" attracted sponsorship from a great number of businesses, including the African-American newspapers "Call and Post" of Cleveland, and the "Louisville Leader" of Louisville. Esso (later ExxonMobil), was also a sponsor, due in part to the efforts of a pioneering African-American Esso sales representative named James "Billboard" Jackson. Additionally, Esso had a black focused marketing division promote the "Green Book" as enabling Esso's black customers to "go further with less anxiety." By contrast, Shell gas stations were known to refuse black customers.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The 1949 edition included an Esso endorsement message that told readers: "As representatives of the Esso Standard Oil Co., we are pleased to recommend the "Green Book" for your travel convenience. Keep one on hand each year and when you are planning your trips, let Esso Touring Service supply you with maps and complete routings, and for real 'Happy Motoring' – use Esso Products and Esso Service wherever you find the Esso sign." Photographs of some African-American entrepreneurs who owned Esso gas stations appeared in the pages of the "Green Book".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Although Green usually refrained from editorializing in the "Green Book", he let his readers' letters speak for the influence of his guide. William Smith of Hackensack, New Jersey, described it as a "credit to the Negro Race" in a letter published in the 1938 edition. He commented:


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Earl Hutchinson Sr., the father of journalist Earl Ofari Hutchinson, wrote of a 1955 move from Chicago to California that "you literally didn't leave home without [the "Green Book"]". Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine, used the "Green Book" to navigate the from Arkansas to Virginia in the 1950s and comments that "it was one of the survival tools of segregated life". According to the civil rights leader Julian Bond, recalling his parents' use of the "Green Book", "it was a guidebook that told you not where the best places were to eat, but where there was "any" place". Bond comments:


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: While the "Green Book" was intended to make life easier for those living under Jim Crow, its publisher looked forward to a time when such guidebooks would no longer be necessary. As Green wrote, "there will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go as we please, and without embarrassment." By the early 1960s, some members of the community were questioning whether the guide might be inadvertently supporting Jim Crow laws by directing travelers to friendly accommodations.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Los Angeles is now considering offering special protection to the sites that kept black travelers safe. Ken Bernstein, principal planner for the city's Office of Historic Resources notes, "At the very least, these sites can be incorporated into our city's online inventory system. They are part of the story of African Americans in Los Angeles, and the story of Los Angeles itself writ large."


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The "Green Book" was published locally in New York, but its popularity was such that from 1937 it was distributed nationally with input from Charles McDowell, a collaborator on Negro affairs for the U.S. Travel Bureau, a government agency. With new editions published annually from 1936 to 1940, the "Green Book"s publication was suspended during World War II and resumed in 1946.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Its scope expanded greatly during its years of publication; from covering only the New York City area in the first edition, it eventually covered facilities in most of the United States and parts of Canada (primarily Montreal), Mexico, and Bermuda. Coverage was good in the eastern United States and weak in Great Plains states such as North Dakota, where there were few black residents. It eventually sold around 15,000 copies per year, distributed by mail order, by churches and black-owned businesses as well as by Esso service stations; this was unusual for the oil industry at the time but over a third of the stations were franchised to African Americans.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The 1937 edition, of 16 pages, sold for 25 cents; by 1957, the price increased to $1.25. With the book's growing success, Green retired from the post office and hired a small publishing staff that operated from 200 West 135th Street in Harlem. He also established a vacation reservation service in 1947 to take advantage of the post-war boom in automobile travel. By 1949, the "Green Book" had expanded to more than 80 pages, including advertisements. The "Green Book" was printed by Gibraltar Printing and Publishing Co.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The 1951 "Green Book" recommended that black-owned businesses raise their standards, as travelers were "no longer content to pay top prices for inferior accommodations and services". The quality of black-owned lodgings was coming under scrutiny, as many prosperous blacks found them to be second-rate compared to the white-owned lodgings from which they were excluded. The 1951 "Railroad Edition" featured porters, an icon of American travel. In 1952, Green renamed the publication "The Negro Travelers' Green Book", in recognition of its coverage of international destinations requiring travel by plane and ship.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Although segregation was still in force, by state laws in the South and often by practice elsewhere, the wide circulation of the "Green Book" had attracted growing interest from white businesses that wanted to tap into the potential sales of the black market. The 1955 edition noted:


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: A few years after its publication ... white business has also recognized its ["The Green Book"s] value and it is now in use by the Esso Standard Oil Co., The American Automobile Assn. and its affiliate automobile clubs throughout the country, other automobile clubs, air lines, travel bureaus, travelers aid, libraries and thousands of subscribers.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: By the start of the 1960s, the "Green Book"s market was beginning to erode. Even before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African-American civil rights activism was having the effect of lessening racial segregation in public facilities. An increasing number of middle-class African Americans were beginning to question whether guides such as the "Green Book" were accommodating Jim Crow by steering black travelers to segregated businesses rather than encouraging them to push for equal access. Black-owned motels in remote locations off state highways lost customers to a new generation of integrated interstate motels located near freeway exits. The 1963 "Green Book" acknowledged that the activism of the civil rights movement had "widened the areas of public accommodations accessible to all", but it defended the continued listing of black-friendly businesses because "a family planning for a vacation hopes for one that is free of tensions and problems".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The final edition was renamed, now called the "Travelers' Green Book: 1966–67 International Edition: For Vacation Without Aggravation"; it was the last to be published after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made the guide effectively obsolete by outlawing racial discrimination in public accommodation. That edition included significant changes that reflected the post-Civil Rights Act outlook. As the new title indicated, it was no longer just for the Negro, nor solely for the motorist, as its publishers sought to widen its appeal. Although the content continued to proclaim its mission of highlighting leisure options for black travelers, the cover featured a drawing of a blonde Caucasian woman waterskiing—a sign of how, as Michael Ra-Shon Hall puts it, "the "Green Book" 'whitened' its surface and internationalized its scope, while still remaining true to its founding mission to ensure the security of African-American travelers both in the U.S. and abroad".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: In the 2000s, academics, artists, curators, and writers exploring the history of African-American travel in the United States during the Jim Crow era revived interest in the "Green Book". The result has been a number of projects, books and other works referring to the "Green Book". The book itself has acquired a high value as a collectors' item; a "partly perished" copy of the 1941 edition sold at auction in March 2015 for $22,500. Some examples are listed below.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Architecture at sites listed in the "Green Book" was documented by photographer Candacy Taylor in collaboration with the National Park Service's Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. The book was published by Abrams in 2020 as "Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America."


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The Ruger 10/22 is a series of semi-automatic rifles produced by American firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. It uses a patented 10-round rotary magazine, though higher capacity box magazines are also available. The standard carbine version of the Ruger 10/22 has been in production continuously since 1964, making it one of the most successful rimfire rifle designs in history, with numerous third party manufacturers making parts and accessories for upgrading and customization. The 10/22's aftermarket is so prolific that a complete 10/22 can be built without using any Ruger-made components.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: A magnum version of the 10/22, known as the 10/22 Magnum, chambered for the .22 WMR cartridge, was made from 1998 to 2006. A .17 HMR version, the 10/17, was announced in 2004, but was only listed in the catalog for two years.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The 10/22 is popular for small-game hunters and those who want an inexpensive rifle for firing inexpensive ammunition for target and plinking use. This popularity has led to many after-market modifications being available to improve performance, augment the rifle's looks, or increase its magazine capacity, making the 10/22 one of the most customizable firearms ever made.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: Custom manufacturers also make "clones" of the 10/22, which are similar in design (most parts will interchange) but built to much higher specifications and costs. The 10/22 barrel uses a unique two-screw, V-block system to attach the barrel to the receiver, allowing for removal or replacement of the barrel, which would ordinarily require the work of a gunsmith.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The 10/22 is available in a wide variety of configurations. In 2015, the Ruger 10/22 came in 11 different models, not counting distributor exclusives. The Carbine came in three models; the Tactical, Takedown and Target each had two models; the Sporter and Compact each had one model. The discontinued "10/22 International" model was fitted with a Mannlicher stock. Standard barrel lengths are 20" in the "10/22 Rifle", 18" in the "10/22 Carbine", and 16" in the "10/22 Compact Rifle" which is also fitted with a shorter stock. All .22 Long Rifle versions use an aluminum receiver, while the discontinued .22 Magnum version used a steel receiver with integral scope bases.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: Standard model with 18.5" barrel. Offered with hardwood or black synthetic stocks, black alloy, or stainless steel receivers and a model fitted with LaserMax laser sight.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: Introduced in 2018 the Target Lite is similar to the Target model but with a laminate thumbhole stock.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: A model with 16.12" fitted with a flash suppressor. Also offered with 16.12" heavy target barrel with Hogue OverMolded stock fitted with bipod.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The 10/22 Competition rifle has a hard-coat anodized, CNC-machined receiver made from heat-treated and stress relieved 6061-T6511 aluminum. The receiver incorporates a rear cleaning port and an integral, optics-ready 30 MOA Picatinny rail. The rifle also has an enhanced semi-auto chamber, BX-Trigger, heat-treated and nitrided CNC-machined match bolt, 16-1/8" cold hammer-forged bull free-floating barrel which is fluted to reduce weight and dissipate heat and is also threaded with a 1/2"-28 pattern to accommodate the included muzzle brake or other barrel accessories.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: In 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Ruger 10/22 a contest was held to design an anniversary model. The winning design by public vote has a stainless steel 18.5" threaded barrel with flash suppressor, a lightweight black synthetic stock with interchangeable stock modules, a picatinny rail and ghost-ring adjustable rear sight.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: A limited-edition 50th Anniversary Collector's Series Carbine model was offered in 2014. It had a black alloy receiver with "1964-2014" special markings, 18.5" barrel, fiber optic sights, and a 25-round magazine.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: In June 2015, Ruger announced a limited Second Edition of the Collector's Series 10/22 carbine. It features a dark grey version of Ruger's Modular Stock System found on the Ruger American Rimfire rifle, a protected non-glare blade front sight, ghost ring adjustable rear aperture sight, and a Picatinny rail.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: In 2009 Ruger also announced the "Target Tactical Rifle" model, a hybrid of the 10/22T and Ruger M77 Hawkeye Tactical rifle. V - "Varmint" barrel, L - "Law" + E - "Enforcement" model, H - "Hogue" stock.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: On March 28, 2012, Ruger introduced the 10/22 Takedown model. This model disassembles into barrel and action/buttstock components. It is shipped in a backpack style case that has room for the rifle, ammunition, and accessories. The MSRP is higher than the basic carbine models. The standard Takedown model has a brushed aluminum receiver made to resemble stainless steel and 18.5" barrel with a black synthetic stock. Also offered in a black alloy receiver and 16.12" threaded barrel with a flash suppressor or with a threaded, fluted target barrel.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The Takedown Lite models are similar to the other Takedown models but has a lightweight target barrel design.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: In 2009, Ruger released the "SR-22 Rifle" model, a 10/22 receiver embedded in a chassis that mimics the dimensions of an AR-15 style rifle such as their own SR-556. The SR-22 Rifle uses standard 10/22 rotary magazines, in addition to most aftermarket 10/22 magazines. The positions of the magazine release, the safety and the charging handle are all more similar to a standard 10/22 than an AR-15. The SR-22 Rifle competes directly with other AR-15 style rimfire rifles such as those made by Colt and Smith & Wesson. The SR-22 rifle boasts an aluminium handguard, adjustable six position stock, and a top receiver rail. Threaded holes on the handguard provide the customization of optional attachment rails.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The "22 Charger" pistol, first introduced in late 2007, is a pistol based on the 10/22 action. The 22 Charger originally came with a black laminated wood pistol stock with forend, a matte blued heavy barrel, a bipod, and a Weaver style scope base in lieu of iron sights. Overall length is just under , making it quite large for a handgun. As it has an included bipod it is likely to be used from a shooting bench or table. The bipod attaches to a sling swivel on the stock fore-end and is easily removable. Due to technical features, such as the magazine being outside the pistol grip, the Charger is not legally available in some U.S. states. The 22 Charger was later discontinued. It was reintroduced in December 2014, with a brown laminate stock with a M16A2 style pistol grip, 10-inch threaded barrel, picatinny rail, 15-round magazine and adjustable bipod. At the same time a "Takedown" model was introduced with a green laminate stock. Both models were later offered from September 2015 with black polymer stocks.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: A wide variety of aftermarket modification kits are offered for the 10/22, including conversions to bullpup configuration and cosmetic alterations to replicate the appearance of weapons like the M1 Carbine, Thompson submachine gun, FN P90, and AR-15.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The "AWC Ultra II" is a modified version of the Ruger 10/22 made by AWC Systech and has an integrally-suppressed shortened barrel. The sound suppressor encloses a ported stainless barrel and is made of 300 series stainless steel having a 1" diameter which closely resembles a bull barrel. The barrel length is 16.5" with an overall weapon length of 34" and the weight is 6 lbs. Due to the integral suppressor, this model is a Title II weapon in the U.S.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The "AT 10/22 QD" is a short-barreled modified version of the 10/22 made by Arms Tech Limited. It features a six-inch barrel, a folding stock, and is designed to accept Arms Tech's own QD-223 suppressor. It comes in at a mere 5 pounds without the suppressor. Due to its extremely short barrel, it is considered a Title II weapon in the U.S.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The AMT Lightning 25/22 was a .22 LR-caliber semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Arcadia Machine & Tool (AMT). The Lightning 25/22 is functionally a clone of the Ruger 10/22 with the substitution of a larger 25-round magazine instead of the 10-round magazine used by Ruger.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The Winchester Wildcat is a .22 LR-caliber semi-automatic rifle manufacture for Winchester by Silah in Turkey.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The Thompson/Center T/CR22 is a .22 LR-caliber clone of the Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Thompson/Center Arms.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The Bergara BXR is a .22 LR-caliber clone of the Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle manufactured by Bergara in Spain.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: There are many types of magazines for the Ruger 10/22. The standard 10/22 ships with a black 10-round polymer rotary magazine, the BX-1. Ruger has also introduced a transparent polycarbonate version ("40th-anniversary edition") of the BX-1 called the BX-1CLR, as well as a 1-round version for training and a 5-round version for states or countries that restrict magazine capacities. In 2011–2012, Ruger came out with the BX-25, a curved 25-round box magazine with a black composite frame and steel feed lips, as well as the 15-round BX-15 box magazine for states that restrict magazine capacities. Aftermarket options include 25-, 30-, and 50-round box magazines; 50-round teardrop-shaped rotary magazines, and 50- and 110-round drum magazines.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: The standard BX-1 rotary magazine stores the cartridges in a cogwheel-like holder, rather than stacked as seen in a box magazine. This allows the magazine to be compact and fit flush into the rifle without protruding from the stock at the natural balance point for one-handed carry. The bolt of the rifle pushes a cartridge from the metal feeding lip of the magazine with each shot, allowing the next cartridge to feed into place. The rotary magazine is also used by the Ruger's American Rimfire series bolt-action rifles, as well as the 10/22-footprinted "Summit" toggle-action rifles produced by Primary Weapon Systems/Vorquartsen.


title: Ruger 10/22

text: Not all Ruger 10/22 magazines are interchangeable, and firing a magazine with the wrong type of ammunition can result in a malfunction.


title: Hummer H3

text: The Hummer H3 is an off-road vehicle that was produced from 2005 to 2010 by General Motors. The smallest model of the Hummer lineup, it was offered as a 5-door SUV or a 4-door pickup truck known as the H3T. Unlike the larger H1 and H2 models, the H3 was not developed by AM General. It was introduced for the 2006 model year, based on a modified GMT355 that underpinned the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon compact pickup trucks that were also built at GM's Shreveport Operations in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Port Elizabeth plant in South Africa. While mechanically related to the Colorado and Canyon, GM claims they share only 10% of their components, with the chassis modified and reinforced for heavy off-road duties.


title: Hummer H3

text: The H3 was launched with a 3.5 liter straight-5 cylinder L52 engine that produced and of torque and was mated to a standard five-speed Aisin AR5 manual transmission or an optional Hydra-Matic 4L60-E four-speed automatic transmission. In 2007 this engine was replaced by the 3.7 liter LLR that produced and of torque, figures that were revised in 2009 to and . Under when equipped with either transmission this straight-5 engine achieved in the city and on the highway with a combined average of . Available solely with the automatic transmission, a 5.3 liter LH8 V8 engine producing and of torque was added in 2008 for the Alpha model. The V8 version had lower fuel economy, estimated at in the city, on the highway, with a combined average of .


title: Hummer H3

text: In 2007, a H3X edition was added. It included the luxury package, 18-inch chrome wheels with unique center caps, chrome trim, chrome tube steps, a body-colored grille and a hard tire cover. The H3X also came with exclusive colors of Sonoma Red Metallic or Desert Orange Metallic.


title: Hummer H3

text: The H3 featured a two-speed, electronically controlled full-time four-wheel drive system that made it for both on-road and off-road driving. Electronic locking front and rear differentials were optional. Like the Hummer H2, the H3 can ford of water (tested in depths up to ) at a speed of and of water at a speed of . Standard ground clearance with the 31-inch tires was while the approach, departure, and breakover angles were 37.4°, 34.7°, and 22.1° respectively, allowing the H3 to scale a vertical wall and negotiate grades of 60% and side slopes of 40%. Front and rear recovery hooks were standard, with an optional trailer hitch and wiring harness. The H3 features a traction control that can use the brakes independently to stop wheelspin and improve traction while adjusting to road conditions. It is also equipped with Stabilitrak stability control and ABS with variable brake force distribution assist.


title: Hummer H3

text: The optional Adventure or Off Road package included 33-inch tires, off-road shocks, differential lockers and 4:1 low range gearing. These upgrades increased ground clearance, suspension articulation, approach and departure angles, and increased the H3's undercarriage protection.


title: Hummer H3

text: Maximum towing capacities were for the straight-5 with manual transmission, for the straight-5 with automatic transmission, and for the V8 with automatic transmission. Cargo volume with the second-row seats in the upright position was that could be expanded to a maximum of when the seats are folded down. The V8 models featured the least payload capacity of just over while the straight-5, manual transmission models were rated at payload.


title: Hummer H3

text: Electronic stability control, anti-lock four-wheel disc brakes, brake-controlled traction control, LATCH child-seat anchors, and tire-pressure monitoring were standard features on the H3. Side-curtain airbags were optional until 2008 when they were made standard across. The H3 was rated "Acceptable", the second highest rating, by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in both frontal offset and side-impact crashes (with side airbags) and "Poor", the lowest rating, for rear-crash protection/head restraints.


title: Hummer H3

text: The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2008 H3 the following scores:


title: Hummer H3

text: The vehicle was originally developed as a regular cab (two-door) concept pickup truck in 2003, that was shown at the 2004 Los Angeles Auto Show. The five-passenger four-door crew-cab production version appeared at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show.


title: Hummer H3

text: The H3T featured a 5-foot bed with built-in storage boxes and came in standard H3T, H3T Adventure, H3T Luxury, and H3T Alpha (with cloth or leather trim) trim packages.


title: Hummer H3

text: A road test by "Motor Trend" reported the 2009 truck "crawled up rock steps, ran through sand washes, and navigated steep ledges with confidence and capability to spare." They described its turning radius "uncomfortably wide" and said "at highway cruising it would've been nice to have a faster, firmer feel.


title: Hummer H3

text: The Hummer H3 and H3T were intended to be a smaller and more affordable version of the larger Hummer H2 and H2 SUT. Therefore, many of the luxury features that were standard on the H2 and H2 SUT were optional on the H3 and H3T.


title: Hummer H3

text: Even though the Hummer H3 and H3T were not as luxurious as their H2 and H2 SUT counterparts, they still came well-equipped. Standard features included alloy wheels, leather-wrapped steering wheel, premium cloth seating surfaces, an A/M-F/M-CD player audio system with a six-speaker audio system, keyless entry, power windows and door locks, air conditioning, four-wheel-drive, a five-speed manual transmission, dual front bucket seats, a folding rear bench seat, aluminum interior trim, a Driver Information Center (DIC) in the gauge cluster, and a 3.5L Inline Five-Cylinder (I5) gasoline engine.


title: Hummer H3

text: Options available on the H3 and H3T included chrome-clad alloy wheels, additional chrome exterior trim, AM/FM radio with single-CD player with MP3 capability (later, an AM/FM stereo with an in dash 6-disc changer with MP3 capability) radios with auxiliary audio inputs, a touchscreen GPS navigation system, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, OnStar, remote vehicle start, a security system, luxury leather-trimmed seating surfaces with dual heated front bucket seats, a dual-zone climate control system, a Bluetooth hands-free phone system (later models only), a Monsoon premium audio system with amplifier and subwoofer, an automatic transmission, and a 5.3L Vortec V8 gasoline engine (H3 Alpha and H3T Alpha only).


title: Hummer H3

text: In 2007, GM South Africa launched Hummer production in Port Elizabeth. The plant manufactured the Hummer H3 for the South African market, as well as units exported to Europe, Asia and Australia. In Australia, Hummer vehicles were only sold by special Holden-Saab-Hummer dealerships.


title: Hummer H3

text: The H3 was qualified in 2010 by the Japanese Transport Ministry for tax breaks that set easier fuel efficiency standards for heavier vehicles. The H3's average in city traffic cleared the required Japanese emissions standards relative to its weight. A total of 723 Hummers were sold in Japan during the 12 months before March 2009.


title: Hummer H3

text: Robby Gordon competed in the 2010 Dakar Rally in a purpose built, tube frame chassis H3, finishing eighth overall.


title: Hummer H3

text: In early 2009, Raser Technologies and FEV built a prototype plug-in hybrid H3 that could achieve up to 100 MPG equivalent, using its battery. This vehicle was renamed the Electric Hummer H3, and later showcased by California State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at a press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento as part of a campaign to promote greener vehicles.


title: Hummer H3

text: At the end of February 2010, General Motors announced it would discontinue the Hummer brand. After filling a rental-car fleet order, the last Hummer H3T rolled off the assembly line at Shreveport on May 24, 2010.


title: Oman Air

text: Oman Air () is the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman. Based at Muscat International Airport in Seeb, Muscat, it operates domestic and international passenger services, as well as regional air taxi and charter flights.


title: Oman Air

text: Oman Air can trace its roots back to 1970 when Oman International Services (OIS) was established. The company became a civil aircraft ground handling provider at Beit Al Falaj Airport. In 1972, OIS moved its operations to the new terminal at Seeb International Airport. The company took over Gulf Air's Light Aircraft Division in 1977, before establishing "Aircraft Engineering Division" in the same year. Rapidly expanding civil aviation industry of Oman led OIS to the building of several facilities – including hangars, workshops and in-flight catering – to cater for the increase in activity.


title: Oman Air

text: In 1981, Oman Aviation Services became a joint-stock company. OAS also purchased 13 aircraft from Gulf Air, allowing the company to replace its turboprops Fokker 27-600 with the −500 series. The following year, Oman Aviation Services jointly commenced jet services, along with Gulf Air, to Salalah. From 1983 to 1993, the company purchased new equipment, including the Cessna Citation, and new facilities to help it improve its services.


title: Oman Air

text: In 1993, Oman Air was founded. The airline's start was in March, when a wet-leased Boeing 737-300 from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS) flew from Muscat to Salalah. In July of the same year, the airline's first international flight was operated to Dubai, also using a Boeing 737-300. Flights to other destinations quickly followed, with Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) services starting in November, Kuwait and Karachi in January 1994, and Colombo in October. In 1995, two Airbus A320s were wet-leased from Region Air of Singapore to replace the 737s. From 1995 to 1997, services were commenced to Mumbai, Dhaka, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Chennai. In October 1998, Oman Air was admitted in the international aviation industry trade group International Air Transport Association (IATA). By the end of the following year, Gwadar, Peshawar, Jeddah and Al Ain were included in the airline's ever-expanding route network, although the former two, along with a host of other destinations, were withdrawn in 2000.


title: Oman Air

text: In March 2007, the Omani government recapitalised the airline, which saw the government increasing its shareholding from approximately 33 to 80 percent. It was also announced that Oman Air would be re-evaluating its strategic plans, with a possibility of entering the long-haul market. This culminated in May 2007 when the Sultanate of Oman withdrew from Gulf Air to focus on the development of Oman Air, making Gulf Air a solely Bahraini airline. Oman Air commenced its long-haul services on 26 November 2007 by launching flights to Bangkok and London.


title: Oman Air

text: On 2 April 2007, Oman Air announced it had placed a firm order with Airbus for 5 Airbus A330 aircraft for delivery in 2009. At the 2009 Dubai Air Show, Oman Air finalized the order, which involved 3 A330-300s and 2 A330-200s. Deliveries started during the third quarter of 2009. In February 2009, Oman Air announced intentions to lease another 2 A330-200s from Jet Airways. During the 2009 Dubai Air Show, Oman Air Air also finalised an order for five Embraer 175 aircraft with another 5 options, which the airline received from 2011.


title: Oman Air

text: In March 2010, Oman Air became the first airline in the world to offer both mobile phone and Wi-Fi Internet services on selected routes.


title: Oman Air

text: By November 2010, the Omani government held a 99.8 percent stake in the airline. In 2010 Maitha Al Mahrouqi was appointed Country Manager. In 2011, Oman Air won the Gold award for the "Airline of the Year" at France's Laurier d'Or du Voyage d'Affaires.


title: Oman Air

text: During September 2013 the CEO was quoted as saying that Oman Air was studying to move to a 50 aircraft strong fleet by 2017. In April 2015, Oman Air announced it would phase out its smaller aircraft to focus on an all Airbus and Boeing fleet. The 2 ATR 42-500 aircraft were withdrawn by the end of 2015 while the 4 Embraer 175 and the Boeing 737-700 aircraft will be retired by the end of 2016. In April 2017 Oman Air announced plans to replace the A330s with Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s. In July 2017, Oman Air received the award for "Best Airline Staff Service in the Middle East" at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. Besides, in September that year, the Seven Stars Luxury Lifestyle and Hospitality Awards named it the "Best Airline in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa" for the second year in a row. In October 2018, the CEO of Oman Air Abdulaziz bin Saud al Raisi announced that the airlines aim to add over 60 new destinations and 70 aircraft by 2022.


title: Oman Air

text: In June 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) granted the level 4 New Distribution Capability (NDC) certification to the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman. The carrier became one of the first airlines to function on the latest standards, adding the title to its existing level 3 NDC certification. Oman Air, along with Kenya Airways announced the expansion of its codeshare cooperation, which was first signed in August 2017. The expansion, effective since 1 October 2019, increased the destinations for their flyers, where they were allowed to seamlessly travel beyond Nairobi to Entebbe in Uganda and Johannesburg in South Africa.


title: Oman Air

text: In February 2021, Oman Air announced it would abandon fleet expansion plans due to lower demand as COVID-19 spreads. Chairman Mohammed Al-Barwani announced the reduction of fleet from the current 50 planes to 36 aircraft. Additionally, a few non-profitable routes, including Athens and Casablanca, are being terminated.


title: Oman Air

text: In September 2021, Oman Air announced its intentions to enter Oneworld alliance by the end of 2022. This was followed by an announcement in June 2022 that it will join the alliance in 2024.


title: Oman Air

text: In compliance with Islamic dietary laws, all meals served onboard Oman Air are prepared according to Halal guidelines. Special meals are available by request.


title: Oman Air

text: Oman Air is also one of only five airlines in the GCC to serve alcoholic beverages (the others being Gulf Air, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways). Alcoholic beverages are only available on long-haul international flights and in compliance with GCC and Islamic laws, alcohol is not served inflight during the Ramadan season or on inter-Middle East flights. The alcohol ban is also applied on Saudi Arabia and Iran routes, in which alcohol is prohibited in both countries by Islamic law.


title: Oman Air

text: Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 787 aircraft are equipped with Wi-Fi and mobile network portability on board. The inflight magazine of Oman Air is called "Wings of Oman" and is available to all classes of travel on both domestic and international flights in both English and Arabic.


title: Oman Air

text: Sindbad is Oman Air's frequent flyer program, launched in 2006. It is a three-tier frequent flyer program managed directly by Oman Air. The three tiers are Sindbad Blue, Sindbad Silver which requires 20,000 Tier miles or flown 15 segments on Oman Air in a 12 months period to qualify as well as maintain the Sindbad Silver Tier level, Sindbad Gold which requires 40,000 Tier miles or 30 Tier segments in a 12 months period to qualify and maintain the Sinbad Gold Tier. Sindbad has a partnership agreement with the respective program of Etihad Airways and miles can be earned through several Sindbad partners.


title: Oman Air

text: The original livery features a white fuselage and a red vertical stabilizer with the former Oman Air logo. A green stripe is painted on the rear fuselage, and the Oman Air Arabic and English logos are painted on top of the windows using the corporate red-green palette. The wingtip is painted red. The current livery also features a white fuselage, but the vertical stabilizer changed to blue, with the new logo painted in gold.


title: Oman Air

text: As of July 2020, Oman Air operates a network of 50 destinations in 27 countries out of its primary hub at Muscat. The country that sees the most services is India with 11 destinations.


title: Nina Turner

text: Nina Hudson Turner ( Hudson; born December 7, 1967) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was a Cleveland City Council member from 2006 to 2008 and a member of the Ohio Senate from 2008 until 2014. Turner was the Democratic nominee for Ohio Secretary of State in 2014, but lost in the general election against incumbent Jon Husted, receiving 35.5 percent of the vote. Her politics have been variously described as progressive, left-wing, or far-left.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner supported Bernie Sanders in his 2016 presidential campaign, and became president of the Sanders-affiliated group Our Revolution in 2017. She served as a national co-chair of Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign. Turner ran in the Democratic primary for 2021 special election for Ohio's 11th congressional district, and conceded the race after losing to Shontel Brown by a margin of 5.66% of the vote. Turner unsuccessfully challenged Brown for the seat again in 2022, garnering 33.5% of the vote to Brown's 66.5% in the Democratic primary.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. She was born Nina Hudson, to parents, Faye and Taalib, the first of seven children. Her father and mother separated by the time Turner was five years old. Her mother worked as a preacher and as a nurse's aide in a senior home, struggled with high blood pressure all her life and died in 1992 at the age of 42.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner graduated from Cleveland's John F. Kennedy High School in 1986. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and a Master of Arts degree from Cleveland State University.


title: Nina Turner

text: She has an Associate in Arts degree from Cuyahoga Community College where she is now a tenured assistant professor of history.


title: Nina Turner

text: She began her professional career as an aide in 2001 to then-state Senator Rhine McLin. Turner worked for Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White. She later lobbied for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District at the state and federal levels.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner made a run for Cleveland City Council in 2001, but was defeated by the incumbent, Joe Jones. In November 2004, Jones resigned his City Council seat. His wife, Tonya Jones, was the top vote-getter in a September nine-way, non-partisan primary race to select a candidate to fill Jones' seat. In the November 2005 election, Turner defeated Tonya Jones to become the Council Member for Ward One, the first African American woman in the seat.


title: Nina Turner

text: In September 2008, Senator Lance Mason resigned his 25th District seat in the Ohio Senate to accept an appointment to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Turner was unanimously selected by the Ohio Senate Democratic caucus to serve the remainder of Mason's four-year Senate term. She resigned her City Council seat to accept the appointment on September 15, 2008. In the 128th General Assembly, Turner was the Ranking Minority member on the Senate Highways & Transportation and Judiciary Criminal Justice Committees.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner won a full term in 2010, running unopposed in the general election. She was elected as Minority Whip halfway through the 129th General Assembly. She was Minority Whip in the following General Assembly. By then her district consisted of the eastern side of Cuyahoga County as well as half of Lake County (including the Village of Fairport Harbor, the Village of Grand River, the City of Painesville and parts of Painesville Township; but excluding the City of Kirtland, the Village of Kirtland Hills, the Village of Waite Hill, the City of Willoughby Hills and most of the City of Mentor).


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner considered running against incumbent Marcia Fudge in the 2012 Democratic primary for Ohio's 11th congressional district but declined, opting to stay in the State Senate.


title: Nina Turner

text: As a political statement against legislation attempting to restrict women's access to contraception and abortion, in March 2012, Turner introduced a bill to regulate men's reproductive health. Before getting a prescription for erectile dysfunction drugs, a man would have to get a notarized affidavit signed by a recent sexual partner affirming his impotency, consult with a sex therapist and receive a cardiac stress test. She said the proposed statute would be parallel to recent legislation written by male legislators restricting women's reproductive health and that she was equally concerned about men's reproductive health. The proposed legislation was not meant to be passed, but as a way of bringing attention to similar bills targeted towards women.


title: Nina Turner

text: In January 2014, Turner led unsuccessful efforts to change Ohio's rape custody law. It permits visitation and custody by men who father children via rape or sexual assault against a woman or girl. Turner wanted to protect rape victims/survivors and children conceived as a result of rape by preventing parental custody rights from being provided to rapists who fathered their children. She said it may be difficult for people to contemplate that a person would desire parental rights for a child conceived due to rape, though it occurs. She and fellow Democrat Charleta Tavares introduced SB-171. It would allow rape victims to file court claims terminating their attacker's parental rights and permit a mother to place her child up for adoption without being required to seek her attacker's approval. The bill was stalled in the senate.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner has been a member of the faculty at her alma mater Cuyahoga Community College since 1998. She was an assistant professor of history there, where she taught African-American history, African-American women's history, American history, and women's studies.


title: Nina Turner

text: In the 2016 presidential election, Turner initially supported Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination but switched her support to Bernie Sanders. After Clinton won the nomination, Turner was invited by Jill Stein to become the Green Party's nominee for Vice President, but she declined saying, "I believe that the Democratic Party is worth fighting for." Turner went on to decline to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States Presidential Election against Donald Trump, saying that she would endorse the party's platform in the election not an individual.


title: Nina Turner

text: In December 2016, Turner served as a member of the DNC Unity Reform Commission in Washington D.C. to address concerns that arose regarding the presidential nominating process, particularly regarding the roles of caucuses, superdelegates, and corporate donations.


title: Nina Turner

text: In 2016, Turner became the president and public face of Our Revolution, a progressive political action organization that grew out of Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign.


title: Nina Turner

text: According to a May 2018 review by "Politico", Our Revolution was "flailing" and "in disarray" a year into her leadership. By May 2018, the organization's monthly fundraising totals were one-third of what they had been May 2017. According to "Politico", the group operated primarily as a vehicle for Sanders and had "shown no ability to tip a major Democratic election in its favor—despite possessing Sanders's email list, the envy of the Democratic Party—and can claim no major wins in 2018 as its own". There was infighting within the group as figures in the organization speculated whether Turner was using the organization for a presidential run of her own. They questioned whether she was settling scores from 2016 with the Democratic National Committee and criticized her hiring of associates to senior positions within the organization. Our Revolution also endorsed Dennis Kucinich in the race for the Democratic nomination for the 2018 Ohio governorship; questions were raised about Turner's close relation to Kucinich's running mate.


title: Nina Turner

text: On February 21, 2019, Turner was named a national co-chair of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign. She appeared on "Hardball with Chris Matthews", "Meet the Press", "Politics Nation, State of the Union," and other programs in support of Sanders.


title: Nina Turner

text: A few weeks before the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Turner expressed her disdain for being forced to choose between presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and incumbent Donald Trump. She told Peter Nicholas of The Atlantic, "it's like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of shit in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the whole thing.’ It's still shit." Turner declined to endorse Joe Biden in the 2020 United States Presidential election after Biden officially became the Democratic nominee.


title: Nina Turner

text: In September 2020, in partnership with Mercury Public Affairs, Turner launched the progressive public affairs firm Amare Public Affairs.


title: Nina Turner

text: On July 1, 2013, Turner declared her candidacy for Ohio Secretary of State, challenging Republican Jon Husted. On September 18, 2014, Bill Clinton officially supported Turner's candidacy. Turner was defeated 60%–35% by Husted.


title: Nina Turner

text: In September 2021, Turner filed paperwork with the FEC to run for Congress in the same district in 2022. Although she did not officially declare her intention to run for the seat at that time, her filing "leaves the door open. Turner has conceded in the past that she will make another run for Congress," according to "The Plain Dealer".


title: Nina Turner

text: On January 26, 2022, Turner announced her intention to run against Brown for the second time. Turner was not re-endorsed by prominent members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who endorsed her last year.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner's politics have been described in the media as progressive, left-wing, or far-left. She identifies as a democratic socialist.


title: Nina Turner

text: During Turner's runs for congress, she supported Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, a $15 minimum wage, legalizing cannabis, canceling student debt, and tuition-free tertiary education.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner has worked for CNN as a contributor. In June 2017, she began a regular segment on The Real News Network called "The Nina Turner Show". In 2018, Turner portrayed a fictitious version of herself in the pilot episode of the television series "Black Lightning", praising actor Cress Williams' character Jefferson Pierce.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner is married to Jeffery Turner, Sr. They have a son, Jeffrey Turner, Jr., a lieutenant in the Ohio National Guard. They reside in Cleveland while Turner works out of Washington, D.C.


title: Nina Turner

text: Turner is a Christian and has publicly stated how her faith forms a basis for her political convictions.


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 American documentary film produced by Walden Media and released in most countries by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by James Cameron after his 1997 film "Titanic". During August and September 2001, Cameron and a group of scientists staged an expedition to the wreck of the RMS "Titanic" and dived in Russian deep-submersibles to obtain more detailed images than anyone had before. With the help of two small, purpose-built remotely operated vehicles, nicknamed "Jake" and "Elwood", the audience too can see inside the "Titanic", and with the help of CGI, audiences can view the ship's original appearance superimposed on the deep-dive images.


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: Also along for the ride Cameron invited his friend, actor Bill Paxton, who played Brock Lovett in the 1997 film. Paxton narrates the event through his eyes. The film premiered for IMAX 3D and was nominated for a BFCA award for Best Documentary. The submersibles Mir 1 and Mir 2 carried the filming team on 12 dives.


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: Director James Cameron returns to the site of the 1912 wreck of the RMS "Titanic", aboard the Russian research vessel "Akademik Mstislav Keldysh" with a team of history and marine experts, and his friend Bill Paxton. Cameron and the crew document the interiors and exteriors of the wreckage using 3D technology designed for the documentary. While diving on September 11, 2001, the filming crew hears about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Afterward, they all compare and reflect on the tragedy of 9/11 with the tragedy of the "Titanic."


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: Throughout the movie, there are re-enactments of events that are discussed that use CGI recreations of the interior of the "Titanic".


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: The feature film on the DVD is 90 minutes long and is available in a two-disc edition and as the fifth disc in the Titanic five-Disc Deluxe Limited Edition.


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on a three-disc Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD edition on September 11, 2012.


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: The film grossed $17.1 million from a maximum release of 97 theaters in the United States. It also grossed $11.7 million internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $28.8 million.


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that the documentary earned 80% positive reviews based on 102 reviews and an average score of 7.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The underwater footage is both beautiful and awe-inspiring." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 67 out of 100 from 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: The official soundtrack's score were composed and conducted by Joel McNeely, and the orchestrations were conducted by David Brown, Marshall Bowen, and Frank Macchia. The album was also recorded and mixed by Rich Breen, edited by Craig Pettigrew, and mastered by Pat Sullivan. The album was ultimately produced by James Cameron, Randy Gerston and Joel McNeely and released by Disney's Hollywood Records label. Part of the film was filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.


title: Ghosts of the Abyss

text: Toad the Wet Sprocket lead singer and songwriter Glen Phillips contributed the opening track, "Departure". James Cameron loved the band's 1991 track "Nightingale Song" but found Columbia Records' licensing fee too high (it wanted over $5,000 for the use of the one minute he wanted to use) so he contacted the band's management hoping they could re-record it for his film, only to find they had broken up in 1998 and could not. However, during the negotiations Cameron asked if Phillips would be interested in writing a new track in the spirit of the older song and "Departure" was created. it was produced, mixed, and all instruments played by Phillips in his garage studio though this was not credited in the CD booklet.


title: Shangdu

text: Shangdu (, ), also known as Xanadu (; Mongolian: "Šandu"), was the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty of China before Kublai decided to move his throne to the former Jin dynasty capital of Zhōngdū () which was renamed Khanbaliq (present-day Beijing). Shangdu is located in the present-day Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia. In June 2012, it was made a World Heritage Site for its historical importance and for the unique blending of Mongolian and Chinese culture.


title: Shangdu

text: Venetian traveller Marco Polo described Shangdu to Europeans after visiting it in 1275. It was conquered in 1369 by the Ming dynasty army under the Hongwu Emperor. In 1797, historical accounts of the city inspired the famous poem "Kubla Khan" by the English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.


title: Shangdu

text: Shangdu was located in what is now Shangdu Town, Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia, north of Beijing. It is about northwest of the modern town of Duolun. The layout of the capital is roughly square shaped with sides of about . It consists of an "outer city", and an "inner city" in the southeast of the capital which has also roughly a square layout with sides about , and the palace, where Kublai Khan stayed in summer. The palace has sides of roughly , covering an area of around 40% the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The most visible modern-day remnants are the earthen walls though there is also a ground-level, circular brick platform in the centre of the inner enclosure.


title: Shangdu

text: The city, originally named Kaiping (, "Kāipíng", "open and flat"), was designed by Chinese architect Liu Bingzhong from 1252 to 1256, and Liu implemented a "profoundly Chinese scheme for the city's architecture". In 1264 it was renamed Shangdu by Kublai Khan. At its zenith, over 100,000 people lived within its walls. In 1369 Shangdu was occupied by the Ming army, put to the torch and its name reverted to Kaiping. The last reigning Khan Toghun Temür fled the city, which was abandoned for several hundred years.


title: Shangdu

text: In 1872, Steven Bushell, affiliated with the British Legation in Beijing, visited the site and reported that remains of temples, blocks of marble, and tiles were still to be found there. By the 1990s, all these artifacts were completely gone, most likely collected by the inhabitants of the nearby town of Dolon Nor to construct their houses. The artwork is still seen in the walls of some Dolon Nor buildings.


title: Shangdu

text: Today, only ruins remain, surrounded by a grassy mound that was once the city walls. Since 2002, a restoration effort has been undertaken.


title: Shangdu

text: The Venetian explorer Marco Polo is widely believed to have visited Shangdu in about 1275. In about 1298–99, he dictated the following account:


title: Shangdu

text: The lament of Toghon Temur Khan (the "Ukhaant Khan" or "Sage Khan"), concerning the loss of Daidu (Beijing) and Heibun Shanduu (Kaiping Xanadu) in 1368, is recorded in many Mongolian historical chronicles. The "Altan Tobchi" version is translated as follows:


title: Shangdu

text: In 1614, the English clergyman Samuel Purchas published "Purchas his Pilgrimes – or Relations of the world and the Religions observed in all ages and places discovered, from the Creation unto this Present". This book contained a brief description of Shangdu, based on the early description of Marco Polo:


title: Shangdu

text: In 1625 Purchas published an expanded edition of this book, recounting the voyages of famous travellers, called "Purchas his Pilgrimes". The eleventh volume of this book included a more detailed description of Shangdu, attributed to Marco Polo and dated 1320:


title: Shangdu

text: In 1797, according to his own account, the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was reading about Shangdu in "Purchas his Pilgrimes", fell asleep, and had an opium-inspired dream. The dream caused him to begin the poem known as 'Kubla Khan'. Unfortunately Coleridge's writing was interrupted by an unnamed "person on business from Porlock", causing him to forget much of the dream, but his images of Shangdu became one of the best-known poems in the English language.


title: Shangdu

text: Coleridge described how he wrote the poem in the preface to his collection of poems, "Christabel, Kubla Khan, and the Pains of Sleep", published in 1816:


title: Shangdu

text: Coleridge's poem opens similarly to Purchas's description before proceeding to a vivid description of the palace's varied pleasures:


title: Shangdu

text: In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) gave a continent-sized area of Saturn's moon Titan the name Xanadu, referring to Coleridge's poem. Xanadu raised considerable interest in scientists after its radar image showed its terrain to be quite similar to earth's terrain with flowing rivers (probably of methane and ethane, not of water as they are on Earth), mountains (of ice, not conventional rock) and sand dunes.


title: Shangdu

text: Thanks to the poem by Coleridge, Xanadu became a metaphor for splendor and opulence. It was the name of Charles Foster Kane's estate in the film "Citizen Kane", that of Mandrake the Magician in the long-running comic strip, as well as the upstate retreat of villain Xanatos in the Gargoyles TV series. The title of the 1980 film "Xanadu" starring Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John is a reference to Coleridge's poem, which also led to the song by Electric Light Orchestra and Newton-John, "Xanadu".


title: Shangdu

text: In the Kurt Vonnegut novel "Timequake", Xanadu is the name of a retreat for prolific writers in a resort on Cape Cod. Xanadu was featured in the short story by Ray Bradbury called "A Miracle of Rare Device", written in 1962 and republished in 1964 in the collection "The Machineries of Joy". The story was later made into a television episode. "In Xanadu" is a 1989 travel book by William Dalrymple; at the age of 22 he sets off along the Silk Road from Antioch.


title: Shangdu

text: In early 1980, Teena Marie had a US R&B top 40 hit with "Behind the Groove" that mentions Xanadu. In 1968, UK pop/rock group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich had a UK number one hit with "The Legend of Xanadu". Another known reference to Coleridge's poem is the song "Xanadu" by Canadian rock band Rush in their 1977 album "A Farewell to Kings". In their debut album "Welcome to the Pleasuredome", Frankie Goes to Hollywood referred to the poem in the title track. German metal band Blind Guardian references Xanadu and building a "pleasure-dome" in the song Sacred Mind from their 2015 album Beyond the Red Mirror.


title: Shangdu

text: In the Japanese light novel and anime series "Shakugan no Shana", Xanadu is the name of the paradise to be created by the God of Creation (Snake of the Festival). In the sci-fi/cyberpunk/fantasy novels "Otherland" by Tad Williams, Paul Jonas passes through a "simworld", or highly realistic simulation, of Xanadu, as described in Coleridge's poem. It is also mentioned in episode 9 ("Protocol") of Serial Experiments Lain anime, in form of the historical hypertext project called Project Xanadu by Ted Nelson.


title: Shangdu

text: Xanadu is revealed to be an alternate name for the utopian city of Tralla-La, a setting from the Scrooge McDuck Disney comic books, originally created by Carl Barks and expanded on by Don Rosa in his story "Return To Xanadu", where it is revealed that Genghis Khan had the capital of his empire placed there after he occupied the city, and hid the massive treasury of the Mongul Empire in the massive underground reservoir that drained the river flowing through the city, creating the "sunless sea" mentioned in Coleridge's poem.


title: Shangdu

text: The city name is also the name of one of the most popular RPGs of the 1980s for several home computers, called "Xanadu: Dragonslayer II".


title: Shangdu

text: The setting of the video game "Sunless Sea", an enormous cavern containing a subterranean sea, is inspired by the poem. It features a Khanate depicted as a remnant of Kubilai's, as well as an "Abora Gate".


title: Yume Nikki

text: "Yume Nikki" was distributed as freeware on 2channel beginning in June 2004, with updates continuing until 2007. Despite its limited distribution format, it gained a cult following on the Japanese textboard 2channel and later in the West, aided by its fan-made English translation. The game has received critical praise for its surreal visual style and emphasis on open-ended exploration; its nonlinear gameplay led some critics to describe it as a precursor to walking simulators. Its visual style and horror elements inspired numerous fangames and influenced later indie games. In 2018, "Yume Nikki" was published on Steam, and a 3D reboot called "" was released.


title: Yume Nikki

text: "Yume Nikki" is an exploration-based adventure game with no dialogue, combat, or plot; there is also no way to reach a game over. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki who lives alone. The game begins inside her apartment, which the player is initially unable to leave. The player can save their progress by sitting at Madotsuki's desk and writing in her dream diary. Sleeping in her bed causes Madotsuki to start dreaming.


title: Yume Nikki

text: Her dream begins in a room closely resembling her apartment. On leaving the room, Madotsuki enters an area commonly referred to as the Nexus, which contains a series of new doors. Each door leads to a different area in the dream world, with areas having distinct environments and designs. The player's objective is to explore these areas and collect 24 different Effects, which change Madotsuki's appearance or equipment when used. Effects can be collected by interacting with certain objects and non-player characters (NPCs). Other objects can send Madotsuki to different areas. Throughout the game, random events occur, which can be cutscenes or have interactive elements. The game's ending, unlocked after the player collects all 24 Effects, shows Madotsuki jumping off of the balcony of her apartment.


title: Yume Nikki

text: "Yume Nikki" was independently developed and published by Kikiyama, a pseudonymous Japanese developer about whom very little is known. They created the game using the RPG Maker 2003 engine. Kikiyama first shared a build of the game on June 26, 2004, on the Japanese textboard 2channel. They continued to update the game until 2007, stopping at version 0.10. After its initial release, it received a fan-made English translation. From 2011 to 2018, Kikiyama's status was unknown as they were unresponsive to all contact. A popular theory proposed that they could have died, possibly in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. On January 10, 2018, "Yume Nikki" was released on Steam by publisher Playism, and Kadokawa Games, the developer of the RPG Maker software, confirmed that Kikiyama was still alive and involved with the project.


title: Yume Nikki

text: "Yume Nikki" received positive critical reception for its unique, surreal visual style. Its visual style has been compared to the 16-bit graphics of "EarthBound". Ryan McSwain, writing for "Hardcore Gaming 101", remarked that the game created surprisingly good visuals by using layering effects and "eye-catching animations". He also praised the game's music and sound design. Giada Zavarise of "Rock Paper Shotgun" said that the game's pixel-art style influenced a movement of indie horror games like "Ao Oni" and "Ib". She also attributed some of the game's popularity to the fact that its "dreamy" imagery invites speculation about its meaning. "Wired's" Julie Muncy also pointed to the game's surreal imagery and said that it appeals to those interested in dream interpretation.


title: Yume Nikki

text: The gameplay and atmosphere were also well-received by critics, who identified the game's emphasis on exploration as a major appeal. Some critics called it an early example of a walking simulator. Muncy described it as being "rich in atmospheric dream worlds" and said its surreal world-building logic creates uneasiness in players. McSwain and Zavarise agreed that the game's world was enjoyable to explore and had distinct and interesting locations They both criticized the lack of any guides or maps, which made it too easy for the player to get stuck. McSwain also criticized the game's random events for being too difficult to encounter due to their rarity. Zavarise specifically said the early parts of the game, before the player is able to memorize paths and landmarks, were the most likely to drive new players away.


title: Yume Nikki

text: Originally receiving a limited Japanese-only release, "Yume Nikki" later gained a larger cult following in the West, due in part to its fan-made English translation. Gita Jackson of "Kotaku" also attributed this following to the game's "unusual visual style and oppressive tone". Caty McCarthy of "USgamer" compared its proliferation across the internet in the mid-2000s to that of "Cave Story". Due to the game's open-ended nature and the accessibility offered by the RPG Maker software, "Yume Nikki" has inspired the creation of a number of fangames, some of which have attempted to explore theories about the original game; notable fangames include "" and ".flow". It has also influenced other indie games, including "Ao Oni", "Ib", "", and "Undertale." In January 2018, games journalist Lewis Denby started a podcast named "Dream Diary" which explores the history and theories surrounding the game's origins and its rise in popularity.


title: Yume Nikki

text: "Yume Nikki" has seen semi-official adaptations into a manga and light novel. The manga was illustrated by Hitoshi Tomizawa, and was serialized in Takeshobo's web magazine "Manga Life Win+" beginning in May 2013. The light novel is titled "" and was written by Akira and illustrated by Aco Arisaka. It was licensed for digital distribution in English by J-Novel Club. "PC Gamer" reported that the manga and light novel were criticized for providing explanations for things the game had left open to interpretation, and the "Yume Nikki" merchandise distributor stated that the adaptations were not created as canonical extensions of Kikiyama's original ideas.


title: Yume Nikki

text: Along with the release of "Yume Nikki" on Steam, a two-week countdown appeared on the Kadokawa Games website. At the end of the countdown, a reboot called "" was announced. The game, which is rendered in 3D, was developed by Kadokawa under the supervision of Kikiyama, and features some design concepts and characters left unused in the original game. Many of the characters and locations from the original returned in the reboot, and puzzle and platforming elements were added. It was released on Steam on February 23, 2018 and for the Nintendo Switch on February 21, 2019.


title: Yume Nikki

text: "Dream Diary" received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregate site Metacritic. Critics comparing the two games generally felt that "Dream Diary" was not as good as the original. Adam Smith of "Rock Paper Shotgun" said that it had lost the "mysterious horror and charm" of the original. Azario Lopez of "DualShockers" felt that the developers' passion for the original game was apparent in "Dream Diary" visuals and sound design, but felt that it could ultimately never live up to the standard of the original. Kevin Lynn of "Adventure Gamers" felt that "Dream Diary's" visuals were a "solid translation" of the original's into 3D, but said "Yume Nikki" defining open-ended gameplay had been sacrificed in favor of adventure game tropes.


title: Black Tortoise

text: The Black Tortoise () is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. Despite its English name, it is usually depicted as a tortoise entwined together with a snake. The name used in East Asian languages does not mention either animal; the alternative name "Black Warrior ~ Dark Warrior ~ Mysterious Warrior" is a more faithful translation.


title: Black Tortoise

text: It represents the north and the winter season, thus it is sometimes called Xuanwu (Black Tortoise, lit. Black Warrior) of the North ().


title: Black Tortoise

text: In Japan, it is named Genbu. It is said to protect Kyoto on the north side, being one of the four guardian spirits that protect the city. It is represented by the Kenkun Shrine, which is located on top of Mt Funaoka in Kyoto.


title: Black Tortoise

text: The creature's name is identical to that of the important Taoist god Xuanwu, who is sometimes (as in "Journey to the West") portrayed in the company of a turtle and a snake.


title: Black Tortoise

text: During the Han dynasty, people often wore jade pendants that were in the shape of turtles. Because of the ancient Chinese influence on Japan, honorific titles and badges in Japan also often referred to the turtle or tortoise.


title: Black Tortoise

text: The northern gates of Chinese palaces were often named after the Xuanwu. Most famously, the Incident at Xuanwu Gate, where Li Shimin killed his brothers Jiancheng and Yuanji and seized power in a coup, took place at the north gate of the Taiji Palace, in the north of Chang'an.


title: Black Tortoise

text: In ancient China, the tortoise and the serpent were thought to be spiritual creatures symbolizing longevity. The min people custom of building turtle-shaped tombs may have had to do with the desire to place the grave under the influence of the Black Tortoise.


title: Black Tortoise

text: In the classic novel "Journey to the West", Xuanwu was a king of the north who had two generals serving under him, a "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General". This god had a temple in the Wudang Mountains of Hubei and there are now a "Tortoise Mountain" and a "Snake Mountain" on opposite sides of a river near Wuhan, Hubei's capital. Taoist legend has it that Xuanwu was the prince of a Chinese ruler but was not interested in taking the throne, opting instead to leave his parents at age 16 and study Taoism. According to the legend, he eventually achieved divine status and was worshiped as a deity of the northern sky.


title: Black Tortoise

text: Other Chinese legends also speak of how the "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General" came to be. During Xuanwu's study to achieve enlightenment and divine status, he was told that, in order to fully achieve divinity, he must purge all human flesh from his body. Since he had always eaten the food of the world, despite all his efforts, his stomach and intestines were still human. A god then came and changed his organs with divine ones. Once removed, the original stomach and intestines were said to have become a tortoise and a snake, respectively. The tortoise and snake became demons and terrorized people. Now divine, Xuanwu heard of this and returned to slay the monsters he had unleashed on the countryside. However, as the snake and tortoise showed remorse, he did not kill them but instead let them train under him to atone for their wrongdoings. They then became the Tortoise and Snake generals and assisted Xuanwu with his quests (another legend held that the mortal organs were tossed out to become Wuhan's Tortoise and Snake mountains).


title: Black Tortoise

text: According to another source, once Xuanwu had begun his study of the Way, he discovered that he must purge himself of all of his past sins to become a god. He learned to achieve this by washing his stomach and intestines in the river. Washing his internal organs, his sins dissolved into the water in a dark, black form. These then formed into a black tortoise and a snake who terrorized the country. Once Xuanwu learned of this, he returned to subdue them as in the other story.


title: Black Tortoise

text: As with the other three Symbols, there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the Black Tortoise. The names and determinative stars are:


title: Thelma Ritter

text: Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was an American actress, best known for her comedic roles as working-class characters and her strong New York accent. She won the 1958 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and received six nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, more than any other actress in the category.


title: Thelma Ritter

text: Ritter was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 14, 1902, the first child of Charles and Lucy Ritter, both natives of the United States. Her father at that time was a bookkeeper, and he became a shore company's office manager.


title: Thelma Ritter

text: At age 11, Ritter portrayed Puck in a semi-professional dramatic society's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". As a teenager, she appeared in high-school plays and stock companies. She later received formal training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (ADA). That training came after her initial effort to attend the academy was rebuffed. After graduating from Manual Training High School, she achieved her goal of studying at ADA.


title: Thelma Ritter

text: Although she subsequently struggled to establish a stage career, Ritter decided to take a hiatus from acting to raise her two children—Monica and Joe—by her husband Joseph Moran (whom she married in 1927). Moran was also an actor, but changed professions in the mid-1930s, opting to become an agent and then an advertising executive.


title: Thelma Ritter

text: Ritter's first professional experience came with stock theater companies in New York and New England. Her Broadway credits include "UTBU" (1965), "New Girl in Town" (1956), "In Times Square" (1931), and "The Shelf" (1926).


title: Thelma Ritter

text: Ritter's first movie role was in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947). She made a memorable impression in a brief uncredited part, as a frustrated mother unable to find the toy that Kris Kringle has promised her son. Her third role, in writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949), left a mark, although Ritter was again uncredited. Mankiewicz kept Ritter in mind, and cast her as Birdie Coonan in "All About Eve" (1950), which earned her an Oscar nomination. A second nomination followed for her work in the Mitch Leisen ensemble screwball comedy "The Mating Season" (1951) starring Gene Tierney and John Lund. She enjoyed steady film work for the next dozen years.


title: Thelma Ritter

text: She appeared in many of the episodic drama TV series of the 1950s and 1960s, such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "General Electric Theater", and "The United States Steel Hour" ‘’Wagon Train’’. Other film roles were as James Stewart's nurse in "Rear Window" (1954) and as Doris Day's maid in "Pillow Talk" (1959). Although best known for comedy roles, she played the occasional dramatic role, most notably in "With a Song in My Heart" (1952), "Pickup on South Street" (1953), "Titanic" (1953), "The Misfits" (1961), and "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962), for which she received her final Oscar nomination. Her last work was an appearance on "The Jerry Lewis Show" on January 23, 1968.


title: Thelma Ritter

text: During her career, Ritter was nominated for an Oscar six times, giving her the distinction of being one of the three actresses (tied with Deborah Kerr and Amy Adams) with the second most nominations for the award in an acting category without a win, surpassed only by Glenn Close with eight. The current record for all actors is Close and Peter O'Toole with eight nominations without a win, followed by Richard Burton with seven nominations. Both Kerr and O'Toole received honorary awards from the Academy, however. In 1955, Thelma Ritter co-hosted the Oscar ceremony, notably trading wisecracks with Bob Hope.


title: Thelma Ritter

text: In 1958, Ritter won a Tony Award in a rare tie (with her co-star, Gwen Verdon) for their work in "New Girl".


title: Minutes

text: Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting (abbreviation MoM), protocols or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include a list of attendees, a statement of the activities considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the activities.


title: Minutes

text: The name "minutes" possibly derives from the Latin phrase "minuta scriptura" (literally "small writing") meaning "rough notes".


title: Minutes

text: Minutes may be created during the meeting by a typist or court reporter, who may use shorthand notation and then prepare the minutes and issue them to the participants afterwards. Alternatively, the meeting can be audio recorded, video recorded, or a group's appointed or informally assigned secretary may take notes, with minutes prepared later. Many government agencies use minutes recording software to record and prepare all minutes in real-time.


title: Minutes

text: Minutes are the official written record of the meetings of an organization or group. They are not transcripts of those proceedings. Using "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised" (RONR), the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was "done" at the meeting, not what was "said" by the members. The organization may have its own rules regarding the content of the minutes.


title: Minutes

text: For most organizations or groups, it is important for the minutes to be terse and only include a summary of the decisions. A verbatim report (transcript) is typically not useful. Unless the organization's rules require it, a summary of the discussions in a meeting is neither necessary nor appropriate.


title: Minutes

text: The minutes of certain groups, such as a corporate board of directors, must be kept on file and are important legal documents. Minutes from board meetings are kept separately from minutes of general membership meetings within the same organization. Also, minutes of executive sessions may be kept separately. Committees are not required to keep formal minutes although less formal notes may be taken. For committees, their formal records are the reports submitted to their parent body.


title: Minutes

text: The format of the minutes can vary depending on the standards established by an organization, although there are general guidelines. Robert's Rules of Order contains a sample set of minutes.


title: Minutes

text: Generally, minutes begin with the name of the body holding the meeting (e.g., a board) and may also include the place, date, list of people present, and the time that the chair called the meeting to order.


title: Minutes

text: Since the primary function of minutes is to record the decisions made, all official decisions must be included. If a formal motion is proposed and seconded, then (regardless whether it passes) this is recorded. The voting tally may also be included. The part of the minutes dealing with a routine motion might note merely that a particular motion was "moved by Ann and passed". It is not strictly necessary to include the name of the person who seconds a motion. Where a tally is included, it is sufficient to record the number of people voting for and against a motion, but requests by participants to note their votes by name may be allowed. If a decision is made by roll-call vote, then all of the individual votes are recorded by name. If it is made by general consent without a formal vote, then this fact may be recorded.


title: Minutes

text: Minutes are sometimes submitted by the person who is responsible for them (often the secretary) at a subsequent meeting for review. The traditional closing phrase is "Respectfully submitted" (although this is no longer common), followed by the officer's signature, his or her typed (or printed) name, and his or her title.


title: Minutes

text: Usually, one of the first items in an order of business or an agenda for a meeting is the reading and approval of the minutes from the previous meeting. If the members of the group agree (usually by unanimous consent) that the written minutes reflect what happened at the previous meeting, then they are approved, and the fact of their approval is recorded in the minutes of the current meeting. If there are significant errors or omissions, then the minutes may be redrafted and submitted again at a later date. Minor changes may be made immediately using the normal amendment procedures, and the amended minutes may be approved "as amended". It is normally appropriate to send a draft copy of the minutes to all the members in advance of the meeting so that the meeting is not delayed by a reading of the draft.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Ride Along is a 2014 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tim Story and starring Ice Cube, and Kevin Hart.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: The film follows Ben Barber (Kevin Hart), a security guard who must prove to his girlfriend's police officer brother, James Payton (Ice Cube), that he is worthy of marrying her. During their 24-hour patrol of Atlanta, Ben accidentally gets wrapped up in James' hunt for an arms dealer, Omar (Laurence Fishburne).


title: Ride Along (film)

text: The film was produced by Relativity Media, Cube Vision Productions and Universal Pictures, and distributed by Universal Pictures. Following two premieres in Atlanta and Los Angeles, the film was released worldwide on January 17, 2014. A sequel, "Ride Along 2", was released on January 15, 2016.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Undercover detective James Payton is on an falsifying passports operation by "Omar". After a shootout with the smugglers, his lieutenant asks him to drop the Omar case, which he doesn't.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Ben Barber, a jumpy, short, tight-up high school security guard who plays video games in his spare time, applies to the Atlanta City Police Academy. He asks James for his blessing to marry his sister, Angela. He says Ben has to go on a "ride along" to prove he's worthy of her. If successful, James will recommend him for the academy, and give his blessing.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Taking Ben to the station, James asks dispatch to give him all the 1-26s that are called in, which he has Ben take care of. Questioning the informant Runflat, James uncovers the connection between Serbia and "Omar" and hears a shipment will come in later that day. Leaving the park, James takes Ben to the local shooting range and finds out that Zastava M92's have been given to the store. When a 1-26 is called in, so Ben and James go to the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, where drunken 'Crazy Cody' is being disorderly. Ben tries to subdue him but can't, so James arrests him.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Ben asks to be taken home before Angela's call. He tells her about his stressful day, and she tells him James plays poker with a guy named Crazy Cody, and that 1-26s are code for annoying situations for newbies as a joke. He then goes into the police station and sees Cody laughing with James, Santiago and Miggs.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Upset, Ben refuses to go home and instead takes a 1-26 for a disturbance at a strip club. There, two men get into a mexican standoff with James and Ben which Ben, believing is another joke call, fools around. James subdues them, then they are tipped off about a gun deal with Omar's men. Ben confronts James about the 1-26s.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: James receives a call from Santiago in the car, finding out that Runflat had turned himself in. Ben says Runflat's brother told him in the park Runflat had just got out of prison, news to James so, another clue. They talk to Runflat's other brother, J, to get the location of the gun deal. During the conversation, Ben accidentally shoots J, who reveals where and when the deal will take place.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Deciding to infiltrate the warehouse with Santiago and Miggs, James leaves Ben in the car. They betray him, turning out to be crooked cops working for Omar. James is then tied up, which Ben sees. Santiago mocks and criticizes James for being unsociable and egocentric. As the deal begins, Ben pretends to be Omar (as no one has ever seen the real Omar). Successfully fooling them, he wreaks havoc at the deal. Just as he is about to leave with James, the real Omar appears. A shootout ensues, and many of Omar's men are killed. Ben shows his sharp reflexes and knowledge of battle (thanks to his gaming). James and Ben take the money from the deal and escape before the warehouse explodes as Ben's grenade hits a box of explosives and destroys James's car. Unbeknownst to them, Santiago, Miggs and Omar escape.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Santiago and Miggs arrive at Angela's apartment, tying her up. As she was playing one of Ben's interactive games, Ben's fellow gamers hear the confrontation between Angela, Miggs and Santiago through Ben's headset. At the hospital, being for a gunshot wound in the leg, Ben receives a call from a fellow gamer, who tells James something's going on at the apartment. After seeing some cops arriving at the hospital, James and Ben sneak out to the apartment with Omar's money. James injures Miggs, before fighting with Santiago. As Santiago is about to shoot James, Angela knocks him out. Ben gets knocked out by Omar in a fight. Omar takes the bag of money and Angela, and leaves.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: James follows Omar and Angela, confronting him. Just as Omar is about to shoot James, Ben slides over a car and kicks him. James shoots Omar twice, injuring him. Police arrest Omar, Miggs, and Santiago, and James finally gives Ben his blessing.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: In a mid-credits scene, Ben and Angela are engaged, and Ben is weeks away from graduating from the police academy. At a barbecue at James', Ben blows up the barbecue and goes flying into the bushes, killing the neighbor's dog.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Additional cast includes Gary Owen as Crazy Cody, Jay Pharoah as Runflat, David Banner as Pawnshop Jay, Dragoș Bucur as Marko, Gary Weeks as Dr. Cowan, Jacob Latimore as Ramone and Benjamin Flores, Jr. as Morris, Runflat's brother.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: On November 29, 2009, "The Hollywood Reporter" announced that comedian Jason Mantzoukas had been hired to write cop-buddy comedy film "Ride Along" for New Line Cinema, originally written by Greg Coolidge, with Ice Cube set to star in and produce the film along with Matt Alvarez, through Cube's film company, Cube Vision Productions. The film was originally offered to Warner Bros., but according to Cube, the Warner executives reportedly passed down the offer because they told him that an action movie with two Black stars wouldn't sell well overseas; a studio executive claimed that the concerns about the stars were false and that the true reason of passing down "Ride Along" was because script disagreements. On July 11, 2012, Universal Pictures acquired the distribution rights to the film from New Line, with production starting in October, Tim Story was set to direct the film, rewritten by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, and produced by Will Packer and Larry Brezner. On October 31, the studio announced the film would be released on January 17, 2014.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Ice Cube joined the cast on November 29, 2009, to play the lead role, Detective James; the story was then about a rogue cop who tries to break off his sister's engagement to an upper-crust white psychiatrist by inviting his future brother-in-law on a ride-along. Kevin Hart joined the cast on July 11, 2012 to play Ben, a high school security guard, with his character changed from white to black. On October 16, John Leguizamo joined the cast of the film to play an undercover cop. On October 30, Tika Sumpter, Bryan Callen, and Jay Pharoah joined the cast; Sumpter plays Angela, Ben's fiancée and James' sister, while Callen plays an undercover cop, and Pharoah plays a street informant.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: On November 9, "Backstage" posted that the film's director was looking for adult extras of all ethnicities for the background in the film. On November 16, Bruce McGill joined the cast of the film to play a hard-nosed lieutenant. On December 7, Gary Owen also joined the cast, followed by Laurence Fishburne.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: Principal photography on the film began on October 31, 2012 in Atlanta, and crews were filming some scenes at Underground Atlanta on October 31 and November 1. On October 31, "CBS Atlanta" posted the news that Atlanta police are warning residents that there would be a simulated gun battle inside the mall area during the filming on Thursday, November 1. It was a 35-day shoot, which wrapped up filming on December 19 in Atlanta.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: On April 29, 2013, Christopher Lennertz was hired to score the film. Lennertz previously collaborated with Story on the 2012 comedy "Think Like A Man". The soundtrack was released digitally on January 14, 2014 by Back Lot Music, while a CD version was released on January 28 by Varèse Sarabande.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: A teaser trailer and an image were released on July 1, 2013. On September 26, studio revealed the first teaser poster featuring Cube and Hart. On November 5, eight new images from the set and the poster were revealed. A second trailer of the film was revealed from studio on November 7. On December 19, Universal released a full length trailer for the film.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: On the night of January 6, 2014, the film's first premiere was held at Atlantic Station in Atlanta. On January 13, the Los Angeles premiere was held at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. Following the two premieres, the film was released worldwide on January 17, 2014.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: The film's 3-day opening weekend gross was $41,516,170, at 2,663 US and Canadian theaters (an average $15,590 per theater gross), giving "Ride Along" the then-record for highest domestic opening weekend gross in the month of January, ahead of 2008's "Cloverfield". For the 4-day record-breaking MLK weekend, the film grossed $48,626,380. The film held the number one spot at the US box office for three weeks, grossing $21 million and $12 million in its second and third weekends. The North American domestic gross was $134,202,565, with the international gross being $19,059,619, bringing the worldwide total to $153,262,184.


title: Ride Along (film)

text: "Ride Along" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 15, 2014. This release included an alternate ending, a gag reel, deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary and a feature commentary of the film by Story. In the United States, the film has grossed $13.5 million from DVD sales and $8.7 million from Blu-ray sales, making a total of $22.2 million.