title: Southwestern Athletic Conference

text: Marching bands have a rich tradition being a centerpiece of pride and school spirit for each institution in the conference. Furthermore, the competitiveness, prestige, pageantry, and showmanship of SWAC marching bands significantly add to the unique identity and culture of the conference.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: Michael DeLorenzo (born October 31, 1959) is an American actor, director, writer, producer, dancer, and musician. He is known for his work in television and film.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: DeLorenzo was raised in The Bronx, New York. His late father, Arthur DeLorenzo, was of Italian descent and his late mother, Carmen DeLorenzo, was from Puerto Rico. DeLorenzo is the second eldest of four children. He has one sister and two brothers.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: DeLorenzo first began performing at a young age as a dancer with Tina Ramirez's Ballet Hispanico. DeLorenzo went on to receive various scholarships from the School of American Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet and the New York School of Ballet. He danced alongside Rudolph Nureyev and the National Ballet of Canada. DeLorenzo performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the American Ballet Theatre. He went on to attend the Manhattan-based High School of Performing Arts, made famous by the movie and television series "Fame". He danced with Richard Thomas' U.S. Terpsichore Ballet Company, but suffered a serious dance injury forcing him to leave a career in professional ballet.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: DeLorenzo has acted on the stage, in film, and on television. One of DeLorenzo's first acting roles was on stage in the Broadway revival of "West Side Story", appearing as one of the members of the Sharks street gang. He then moved on to appear in the 1980 movie "Fame" and the television show "Fame" (1982–1987) as a series regular. DeLorenzo appeared in television shows such as "Miami Vice" and "A Different World". and appeared in movies such as "Fast Forward" (1985) directed by Sidney Poitier. DeLorenzo continued to work on Broadway appearing in the musical Streetheat in 1985. DeLorenzo worked with Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. He appeared in Jackson’s music video "Beat It", and in Lionel Richie's music video "Running With the Night", "Ballerina Girl", and "Dancing on the Ceiling". He appeared in other music videos and dance performances such as Alexander O'Neal's "Fake". He danced in Chaka Khan's performance of "I Feel for You" at the 1985 Grammy Awards.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: DeLorenzo won a Drama-Logue Award for Best Actor in a play at the Mark Taper Forum titled "Stand Up Tragedy" with a performance portraying five different roles,(1989). For his performance on the stage, he was tapped by the producers of the ABC sitcom "Head of the Class" to star as Alex Torres, alongside Howard Hesseman joining the last two seasons of the series (1989–1991). In 1994, DeLorenzo played the role of Detective Eddie Torres, the brooding cop with a heart in Dick Wolf's urban police drama TV series "New York Undercover". This was the first time in American television history featuring two people of color (DeLorenzo and fellow actor Malik Yoba) in the starring roles in a prime time drama. For his performance, DeLorenzo was awarded the NCLR American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 1996 and 1998. DeLorenzo went on to star in the Showtime drama "Resurrection Blvd.", playing embittered boxing champion Carlos Santiago. For his performance, DeLorenzo won the Imagen Award for Best Actor and the Vision Award for Best Performance in Drama.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: DeLorenzo has appeared in numerous movies including Rob Reiner's drama "A Few Good Men" (1992) as Pfc. William T. Santiago, as Rafael Cano in "Alive" (1993), in "Mi Familia" (1995) as Butch Mejia, "The Wall" (1998) as Luis. and many others (refer to Filmography below). DeLorenzo continues to act in other notable film and TV shows such as "", "Numb3rs", "Ghost Whisperer" and "". DeLorenzo also appeared in various independent feature films. On May 25, 2013, he won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Los Angeles Movie Awards for his role as Keith Caverns in "The Employer". In 2016, DeLorenzo took on the role of the complex and entangled paraplegic witness Fausto in the CBS police procedural drama "Blue Bloods" (episode titled Mob Rules, fourth episode of the seventh season). He played José Sarria, a political LGBT activist in the Academy Award-winner Dustin Lance Black's "When We Rise" (2017), directed by Gus Van Sant.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: Michael DeLorenzo is a director and a member of the Directors Guild of America. While at Showtime, DeLorenzo directed episodes of "Resurrection Blvd." He has directed and produced films and short films. He also directed music videos that featured new and upcoming artists.


title: Michael DeLorenzo

text: DeLorenzo is also a vocalist, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He plays the guitar, drums and piano. He partnered with an R&B girl group called Teen Dream, under the moniker "Valentino" and released the single "Get Busy" (1987). In the mid-to-late 1990s, during his tenure on "New York Undercover", some of his songs appeared on the show—one of them titled, "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight". His songs also have appeared on Showtime's "Resurrection Blvd." DeLorenzo co-wrote "Angel", a song for "The Sims 2". In 2009, his album "Rescue Me" was released.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: "Man of Constant Sorrow" (also known as "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow") is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally titled "Farewell Song" in a songbook by Burnett dated to around 1913. A version recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928 gave the song its current titles.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Several versions of the song exist that differ in their lyrics and melodies. The song was popularized by the Stanley Brothers, who recorded the song in the 1950s; many other singers recorded versions in the 1960s, most notably by Bob Dylan. Variations of the song have also been recorded under the titles of "Girl of Constant Sorrow" by Joan Baez and by Barbara Dane, "Maid of Constant Sorrow" by Judy Collins, and "Sorrow" by Peter, Paul and Mary. It was released as a single by Ginger Baker's Air Force with vocals by Denny Laine.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Public interest in the song was renewed after the release of the 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", where it plays a central role in the plot, earning the three runaway protagonists public recognition as the Soggy Bottom Boys. The song, with lead vocal by Dan Tyminski, was featured on the film's highly successful, multiple platinum-selling soundtrack. That recording won a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: The song was first published in 1913 with the title "Farewell Song" in a six-song songbook by Dick Burnett, titled "Songs Sung by R. D. Burnett—The Blind Man—Monticello, Kentucky". There exists some uncertainty as to whether Dick Burnett is the original writer. In an interview he gave toward the end of his life, he was asked about the song:


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Whether or not Burnett was the original writer, his work on the song can be dated to about 1913. The lyrics from the second verse—'Oh, six long year I've been blind, friends'—would hold true with the year he was blinded, 1907. Burnett may have tailored an already existing song to fit his blindness, and some claimed that he derived it from "The White Rose" and "Down in the Tennessee Valley" "circa" 1907. Burnett also said he thought he based the melody on an old Baptist hymn he remembered as "Wandering Boy". According to hymnologist John Garst, though, no song with this or a similar title had a tune that can be identified with "Constant Sorrow". Garst nevertheless noted that parts of the lyrics suggest a possible antecedent hymn, and that the term 'man of sorrows' is religious in nature and appears in Isaiah 53:3. The song has some similarities to the hymn "Poor Pilgrim," also known as "I Am a Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow," which George Pullen Jackson speculated to have been derived from a folk song of English origin titled "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea".


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Emry Arthur, a friend of Burnett's, released a recording of the song in 1928, and also claimed to have written it. Arthur titled his recording "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", the name that the song came to be more popularly known. The lyrics of Burnett and Arthur are very similar with minor variations. Although Burnett's version was recorded earlier in 1927, Columbia Records failed to release Burnett's recording; Arthur's single was thus the earliest recording of the song to be released, and the tune and lyrics of Arthur's version became the source from which most later versions were ultimately derived.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Several similar songs were found in Kentucky and Virginia in the early 20th century. English folk-song collector Cecil Sharp collected four versions of the song in 1917–1918 as "In Old Virginny", which were published in 1932 in "English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians". The lyrics were different in details from Burnett's, but similar in tone. In a version from 1918 by Mrs Frances Richards, who probably learned it from her father, the first verse is nearly identical to Burnett and Arthur's lyrics, with minor changes like Virginia substituting for Kentucky. The song is thought to be related to several songs such as "East Virginia Blues". Norman Lee Vass of Virginia claimed his brother Mat wrote the song in the 1890s, and the Virginia versions of the song show some relationship to Vass's version, though his melody and most of his verses are unique. This variant was thought to be influenced by "Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies"/"The Little Sparrow".


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: An older version described by Almeda Riddle was dated to around 1850, but with texts that differ substantially after the first line. John Garst traced elements of the song back to the hymns of the early 1800s, suggesting similarity in its tune to "Tender-Hearted Christians" and "Judgment Hymn", and similarity in its lyrics to "Christ Suffering", which included the lines "He was a man of constant sorrow / He went a mourner all his days."


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: On October 13, 2009, on the "Diane Rehm Show", Ralph Stanley of the Stanley Brothers, whose autobiography is titled "Man of Constant Sorrow", discussed the song, its origin, and his effort to revive it:


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Many later singers have put new and varied lyrics to the song. Most versions have the singer riding a train fleeing trouble, regretting not seeing his old love, and contemplating his future death, with the promise that he will meet his friends or lover again on the beautiful or golden shore. Most variants start with similar lines in the first verse as the 1913 Burnett's version, some with variations such as gender and home state, along with some other minor changes:


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: The 1928 recording by Emry Arthur is largely consistent with Burnett's lyrics, with only minor differences. However, the reference to blindness in the second verse of Burnett's lyrics, "six long year I've been blind", had been changed to "six long years I've been in trouble", a change also found in other later versions that contain the verse.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: In around 1936, Sarah Ogan Gunning rewrote the traditional "Man" into a more personal "Girl". Gunning remembered the melody from a 78-rpm hillbilly record (Emry Arthur, 1928) she had heard some years before in the mountains, but the lyrics she wrote were considerably different from the original after the first verse. The change of gender is also found in Joan Baez's "Girl of Constant Sorrow" and another variant of the song similar to Baez's, Judy Collins's title song from her album "A Maid of Constant Sorrow".


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: In 1950, the Stanley Brothers recorded a version of the song they had learned from their father. The Stanley Brothers' version contains some modifications to the lyrics, with an entire verse of Burnett's version removed, the last line is also different, and 'parents' of the second verse have turned into 'friends'. The performances of the song by the Stanley Brothers and Mike Seeger contributed to the song's popularity in the urban folksong circles during the American folk music revival of the 50s and 60s.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Bob Dylan recorded his version in 1961, which is a rewrite based on versions performed by other folk singers such as Joan Baez and Mike Seeger. A verse from the Stanleys' version was removed, and other verses were significantly rearranged and rewritten. Dylan also added personal elements, changing 'friends' to 'mother' in the line 'Your mother says that I'm a stranger' in reference to his then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo's mother. In Dylan's version, Kentucky was changed to Colorado; this change of the state of origin is common, for example, Kentucky is changed to California in "Girl of Constant Sorrow" by Joan Baez and "Maid of Constant Sorrow" by Judy Collins.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Aside from the lyrics, significant variations also exist in the melody of the song in many of these versions.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Burnett recorded the song in 1927 with Columbia; this version was unreleased and the master recording destroyed. The first commercially released record was by Emry Arthur, on January 18, 1928. He sang it while playing his guitar and accompanied by banjoist Dock Boggs. The record was released by Vocalion Records (Vo 5208) and sold well, and he recorded it again in 1931. As the first released recording of the song, its melody and lyrics formed the basis for subsequent versions and variations. Although a few singers had also recorded the song, it faded to relative obscurity until The Stanley Brothers recorded their version in 1950 and helped popularize the song in the 1960s.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: The use of the song in the 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" led to its renewed popularity in the 21st century. The song has since been covered by many singers, from the Norwegian girl-group Katzenjammer to the winner of the eighth season of "The Voice" Sawyer Fredericks.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: On November 3, 1950, the Stanley Brothers recorded their version of the song with Columbia Records at the Castle Studios in Nashville. The Stanleys learned the song from their father Lee Stanley who had turned the song into a hymn sung "a cappella" in the Primitive Baptist tradition. The arrangement of the song in the recording however was their own and they performed the song in a faster tempo. This recording, titled "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", was released in May 1951 together with "The Lonesome River" as a single (Columbia 20816). Neither Burnett nor Arthur copyrighted the song, which allowed Carter Stanley to copyright the song as his own work.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: On September 15, 1959, the Stanley Brothers re-recorded the song on King Records for their album "Everybody's Country Favorite". Ralph Stanley sang the solo all the way through in the 1950 version, but in the 1959 version, he was joined by other members of the band in added refrains. The fiddle and mandolin of the early version were also replaced by guitar, and a verse was omitted. This version (King 45-5269) was released together with "How Mountain Girls Can Love" as a single that October 1959.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: In July 1959, the Stanley Brothers performed the song at the Newport Folk Festival, which brought the song to the attention of other folk singers. It led to a number of recordings of the song in the 1960s, most notably by Joan Baez (1960), Bob Dylan (1961), Judy Collins (1961), and Peter, Paul and Mary (1962).


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: In November 1961 Bob Dylan recorded the song, which was included as a track on his 1962 eponymous debut album as "Man of Constant Sorrow". Dylan's version is a rewrite of the versions sung by Joan Baez, New Lost City Ramblers (Mike Seeger's band), and others in the early 1960s. Dylan also performed the song during his first national US television appearance, in the spring of 1963. Dylan's version of the song was used by other singers and bands of 1960s and 70s, such as Rod Stewart and Ginger Baker's Air Force.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: Dylan performed a different version of the song that is a new adaptation of Stanleys' lyrics in his 1988 Never Ending Tour. He performed the song intermittently in the 1990s, and also performed it in his European tour in 2002. A performance was released in 2005 on the Martin Scorsese PBS television documentary on Dylan, "No Direction Home", and on the accompanying soundtrack album, "".


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: The song was recorded in 1970 by Ginger Baker's Air Force and sung by Air Force guitarist and vocalist (and former Moody Blues, future Wings member) Denny Laine. The single was studio recorded, but a live version, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, was included in their eponymous 1970 "debut album". The band used a melody similar to Dylan's, and for the most part also Dylan's lyrics (but substituting 'Birmingham' for 'Colorado'). The arrangement differed significantly, with violin, electric guitar, and saxophones, although it stayed mainly in the major scales of A, D and E. It was the band's only chart single.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: A notable cover, titled "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", was recorded by the fictional folk/bluegrass group The Soggy Bottom Boys from the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". The producer T Bone Burnett had previously suggested the Stanley Brothers' recording as a song for The Dude in the Coen brothers' film "The Big Lebowski", but it did not make the cut. For their next collaboration, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", he realized that the song would suit the main character well. The initial plan was for the song to be sung by the film's lead actor, George Clooney; however, it was found that his recording was not up to the required standard. Burnett later said that he had only two or three weeks to work with Clooney, which was not enough time to prepare Clooney for the recording of a credible hit country record.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: The song was recorded by Dan Tyminski (lead vocals), with Harley Allen and Pat Enright, based on the Stanleys' version. Tyminski also wrote, played, and changed the guitar part of the arrangement. Two versions by Tyminski were found in the soundtrack album, with different backup instruments. In the film, it was a hit for the Soggy Bottom Boys, and would later become a real hit off-screen. Tyminski has performed the song at the Crossroads Guitar Festival with Ron Block and live with Alison Krauss.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: The song received a CMA Award for "Single of the Year" in 2001 and a Grammy for "Best Country Collaboration with Vocals" in 2002. The song was also named Song of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2001. It peaked at No. 35 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It has sold over a million copies in the United States by November 2016.


title: Man of Constant Sorrow

text: In 2002, Cledus T. Judd recorded a parody titled "Man of Constant Borrow" with Diamond Rio on his album "Cledus Envy".


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The Kurdistan Democratic Party (; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party states that it combines "democratic values and social justice to form a system whereby everyone in Kurdistan can live on an equal basis with great emphasis given to rights of individuals and freedom of expression."


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: In 1946, the leader of the Soviet-backed Republic of Mahabad, Qazi Muhammad, announced the formation of a "Kurdish Democratic Party" based in Iran, or Eastern Kurdistan. The Soviet Union, then supporting the Kurdish national struggle against the monarchies of Iran and Iraq, instructed Mustafa Barzani to place himself under the authority of Qazi Muhammad. It is not clear whether Barzani ever formally agreed to this arrangement, but as a fugitive from Iraqi authorities he relied upon the goodwill of the Iranian Kurds and their Soviet backers, and local Kurds were ordered by the authority of the Republic of Mahabad to house and feed his destitute forces.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: It was "well-known in nationalist circles that the relations between the two men [Barzani and Qazi] were not easy". Barzani attempted to create a special dispensation for the Barzanis in Iran, but Qazi rebuffed them stating "There is to be only one party, and you must not operate separately from it." In the meantime, Barzani was negotiating with Baghdad to allow his return to Iraq, and was successfully attempting to convince prominent Iraqi Kurds of the need for an Iraqi KDP. Rizgari, the Kurdish section of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP), was vehemently opposed to the idea, as it would fracture the purpose of pan-Kurdish unity and give legitimacy to the Iraq-Iran border that divided Kurdistan.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Nevertheless, Barzani's manoeuvrings were successful and he split Rizgari, even gaining support from committed leftists because of the wide popularity he enjoyed amongst Kurdish people, and his position as chief notable of the tribal elders, who it was argued, the nationalist movement needed on their side if it were to be militarily successful.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The new KDP of Iraq held its first congress in Baghdad on August 16, 1946. The 32 delegates elected a central committee with Hamza Abd Allah as secretary-general, Shaykh Latif and Kaka Ziad Agha as vice-presidents, and Barzani as president-in-exile. The party demanded autonomy for Iraqi Kurdistan, stating that the political and economic situation of the Kurds in Iraq was different from that of Iran. The party programme was not specific about any social or economic content for fear of alienating the highly conservative tribal chiefs and landlords who had agreed to support it.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: After the collapse of the Mahabad republic in early 1947, Ibrahim Ahmad, previously the Sulaymaniyah representative of the Iranian KDP (KDP-I), joined the Iraqi KDP. Ahmad was a highly influential Leftist intellectual, who by 1951 had succeeded in rallying most of the Iraqi Kurdish leftist-nationalists to the KDP, which in turn, took the opportunity to convene a second party congress and duly elect Ahmad as secretary-general (effectively acting chairman).


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, the KDP and the Kurdish members of the Iraqi Communist Party steadily increased their working relationship – in many cases fielding joint candidates. The ICP campaigned directly against the aghas (tribal elders) and won the support of the workers in the cities of Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaymaniyah – while the KDP reassured the aghas that the ICP was ultimately under their control. By 1954 the KDP was advocating the replacement of the Iraqi monarchy with a popular democratic republic – much to the consternation of many of their tribal supporters.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Indeed, in 1956, the antagonism between the Kurdish aghas and the KDP-ICP reached such a height that emissaries for the former contacted the British consul in Mosul requesting arms and finance to establish an "anti-Communist and independent Kurdistan" in northern Iraq.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: On July 14, 1958, Brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim and his fellow "Free Officers" (modeled after Nasser's Egyptian Free Officers) staged a successful coup that promised a brighter future for the Kurds of Iraq. Although the KDP and ICP were excluded from the new United National Front government, Qasim formed a three-man "Sovereignty Council" of a Sunni, a Shi'i, and a Kurd. The KDP immediately pledged its support for the new regime, in its newspaper hailing a new era of "freedom and equality for the Kurdish and Arab peoples".


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Ibrahim Ahmad attempted to pressure Qasim into including Kurdish autonomy in the Provisional Constitution. However, Qasim was under much greater pressure from his deputy Abdul Salam Arif and other pan-Arab Nationalists – not least the Ba'ath – who wanted to take Iraq into the United Arab Republic (UAR). They objected to Qasim's apparently pro-Kurdish attitude and his friendliness towards Mustafa Barzani in particular.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Qasim and Mulla Mustafa had developed a close relationship, as Qasim saw in Barzani a powerful military ally that he could employ as a counterweight to the pan-Arab nationalists, who, he feared, threatened to subvert Iraq to Nasser's Egypt. Qasim had officially named him Chairman of the KDP (a position he held on paper since the party's founding), gave him one of Nuri as-Said's old residences in Baghdad, an automobile, and a "handsome monthly stipend" (salary). Mulla Mustafa would prove his loyalty in March 1959, where he helped Qasim suppress a serious uprising in Mosul of pan-Arab nationalists and Ba'athist officers – at the behest of Mulla Mustafa, Kurds, in tandem with the Communists (also led by a Kurd) attacked Mosul wreaking havoc on Nationalists and Baathists and killing as many as 2,500 people in four days. While the Communists and Kurds settled scores, Qasim used the revolt as a pretext to purge Nationalists and Baathists from the Iraqi armed forces and government.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Qasim used an almost identical event that July, but this time in Kirkuk, as a pretext to act against the KDP's closest allies, the Communists. In 1959 half of the 150,000 population of Kirkuk was Iraqi Turkmen, with the balance comprising Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, and Armenians (in that order). Mulla Mustafa's triumphal visit to the city the previous October had resulted in bloodshed, but this time killings were carried out by Communist and Kurdish members of a group called the "Popular Resistance Force", who attacked shops and their owners. As many as 50 Turkmen were killed. Qasim held the Communists responsible and claimed to have uncovered plans for a similar action in Baghdad. During the next few months, Mulla Mustafa helped Qasim reduce the ICP and there was open conflict in Iraqi Kurdistan between the KDP, backed by Kurdish tribesmen, and the Kurdish Communists.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Meanwhile, an ideological rift developed in the KDP between the intellectual and leftists Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani on the one hand, and Mulla Mustafa and the Barzanis on the other. Mulla Mustafa "talked freely, with a bitterness amounting to hatred, against the... intellectual presumptuousness of the KDP politicians, singling out Ibrahim Ahmad for his particular dislike". While Ahmad complained of Mulla Mustafa's "selfishness, arbitrariness, unfairness, tribal backwardness and even his dishonesty." But while each wanted to reduce the others' influence in the KDP, each also knew that the other was indispensable in securing the loyalty of their respective support-bases – the tribal villagers and nomads for Barzani, and the urban and educated for Ahmad/Talabani.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: During the 1950s, Mulla Mustafa strengthened his position by eliminating the forces of rival tribes – the Harkis, Surchis, Baradustis, and Zibaris. Qasim urged restraint, but Mulla Mustafa pressed on regardless, a much intertribal bloodletting followed, eventually taking such scalps as Ahmad Muhammad Agha, chief of the Zibaris.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: As a result of this and past violence in Mosul and Kirkuk, Qasim slowly began to distance himself from the Mulla Mustafa and the KDP, and in a 1960 speech publicly disparaged the Barzani clan. Qasim feared Barzani hegemony and began supporting the Harki and Zibari tribes against Mulla Mustafa. The Kurds for their part, in particular Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani, felt increasingly frustrated that Qasim had taken no practical steps towards Kurdish autonomy.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Kurdistan slowly and almost inadvertently headed towards revolt, and between 1961 and 1963, violence engulfed Kurdistan and the longstanding divisions between the socialist-nationalists such as Talabani, and Mulla Mustafa and the old tribal Aghas solidified as they disagreed as to how to conduct the revolt and for what purpose. Mullah Mustafa unsuccessfully sought the assistance first of Britain, and then the USA – which lost him any of the remaining allies he had in the Iraqi Communist Party. The whole country descended into chaos as a quarter of the villages of Kurdistan were attacked and 80,000 refugees created.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Qasim not only lost control of the mountains of Kurdistan, but was being isolated politically in Baghdad by the pan-Arab nationalists, and it seemed only a matter of time before he lost power.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The KDP, together with many other Kurds, welcomed the February 1963 Iraqi coup d'état, believing the various Baath assurances that Kurdish autonomy would be guaranteed. Unfortunately for the Kurds, the zeitgeist had thoroughly turned against them, as in Baghdad there was a widespread belief that they were being used as a Trojan horse by either Iran, the West, or both. Negotiations on the status of Kurdistan deadlocked, especially over the status of Kirkuk. The KDP demanded control over the city and its rich oilfields, whereas the government countered that the 1947 census showed that Kurds made up only 25% of the population of the city, and Iraqi Turkmen over half. Mulla Mustafa threatened war, and Baghdad took up the challenge. Baath troops occupied Sulaymaniyah and declared martial law and a curfew, rounding up political leaders and activists. Three days later when martial law was lifted, 80 bodies were found in a mass grave and hundreds more went missing. Kurdish delegates were arrested throughout Iraq, and the intellectuals of the KDP quarreled with Mulla Mustafa over his tactics.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The first Ba'ath government was overthrown and replaced by a "National Command of the Revolutionary Council" (NCRC) led by Abdul Salam Arif. While this regime's ideology was essentially the same, it favored peace with the Kurds as the war had been costly and unpopular. Indeed, Arif had contacted Mulla Mustafa before the coup in order to elicit his co-operation to resist the Baath offensive until he could oust them himself.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Mulla Mustafa signed an agreement with Arif in his personal capacity, rather than as president of the KDP. This infuriated Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani as the agreement omitted any mention of self-administration, let alone autonomy – the whole point for which they had been fighting. Arif threatened force against any Kurdish opponent of Mulla Mustafa, while Mulla Mustafa declared that any resistance to Baghdad would constitute a declaration of war against himself and the Barzanis. Mulla Mustafa informed Arif that he had no objection to the abolition of Kurdish political parties, so long as it served the "interests of Iraq", and began to receive arms and funds from Abdul Salam Arif.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Yet again, the Kurdish political scene was divided between the intelligentsia of Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani who decried this complicity, and as they saw it, submission to Baghdad, and Mulla Mustafa who rallied the conservatives and tribal leaders to his side. Furious debates and campaigning followed, but Ahmad's and Talabani's arguments could not dislodge Mulla Mustafa's position as the popular figurehead of the Kurdish people. Mulla Mustafa would accept not dissent, and, fearing for their lives, Ahmad and his followers slipped away at night from a heated discussion with Mulla Mustafa, and retreated back to their stronghold in Mawat.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: At the 6th Party Congress of the KDP in July 1964, representatives from the Ahmad-Talabani faction were promptly arrested upon arrival. A few fays later Mulla Mustafa sent his son, Idris Barzani with a large force to drive Ahmad, Talabani, and their 4,000 or so followers into exile in Iran. With that, Mulla Mustafa had finally achieved undisputed control of the KDP.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: In the ensuing four years until the next Ba'ath coup, the Kurds continued their guerrilla war against the Iraqi regime. By 1966, Mulla Mustafa had enlisted the support of Baghdad's two foremost ideological enemies – Iran and Israel. He believed these two countries, in addition to the United States, would ultimately help him win independence from Baghdad.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: In 1968 the second Ba'ath Coup was successful, and an agreement called the Bazzaz Declaration was reached between the KDP and the Ba'ath. Although Ba'ath Party founder Michel Aflaq called for equal rights for all ethnic and religious minorities under Arab rule, in practice the new regime ultimately became more chauvinist than any before. The Arab nationalists had not forgotten the atrocities they suffered at the hands of the Mulla Mustafa and the Barzanis in 1959. One of the Baath's leading advocates of a more considered and amenable approach to the Kurdish question in these early days was Saddam Hussein. Ahmad and Talabani also welcomed the new Ba'ath regime, as they felt more at home with its socialist ethos than any previous Baghdad government.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Nevertheless, Baghdad was growing apprehensive with regards to Iran's continued involvement in Kurdistan – including supplying sophisticated artillery to Mulla Mustafa – and its recent claim to sovereignty over Bahrain. In an attempt both at appeasement and to undermine the growing strength of Mullah Mustafa, the Baath government declared its commitment to the 1968 Bazzaz Declaration and announced that Kurdish should be taught in all Iraqi schools and universities; that a new Kurdish university was to be established in Sulaymaniyah; and that Nawruz was to be recognized as a national holiday. Mulla Mustafa pressed on regardless, and shelled the government's oil installations in Kirkuk – much to the embarrassment of Baghdad internationally, particularly with the British-owned Iraqi Petroleum Company.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Talabani and Ahmad then sought the endorsement of the new Ba'ath regime, presenting themselves as both more responsible leaders and closer in ideology to the Ba'ath. In reality both Mulla Mustafa and Ahmad-Talabani jostled for influence and recognition from Baghdad. President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was trying to consolidate his power in Arab Iraq, especially against the communists, so he ordered his deputy Saddam Hussein to travel to Kurdistan to reach a peace agreement with the Kurds. In 1970, Saddam traveled to Kurdistan to conclude an accord with Mulla Mustafa. A truly democratic, federalist, and equitable 15-point agreement was reached, and the accord concluded with the statement "History will bear witness that you [the Kurds] did not have and never will have as sincere a brother and dependable an ally as the Arab people."


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The peace didn't last long. As might be expected, the earliest obstacle was the demographic one. In 1972, when the government proposed to apply the 1957 census figures to Kirkuk, Mullah Mustafa rejected it, knowing that it would show the Iraqi Turkmen were the majority in the city – and given the events of 1959, the Turkmen were likely to prefer Ba'ath rule to Kurdish. Mulla Mustafa refused to close the border with Iran as he had agreed to, and appealed to the United States for aid despite promising not to seek outside assistance. Moreover, by mid-September 1972 Mulla Mustafa was receiving a US$50,000 stipend from Israel to distract and undermine the Ba'ath. Meanwhile, the government nationalized the country's oil facilities, provoking Kurdish fears that they would lose out on their own oil resources. Rhetoric on both sides intensified, and there were clashes in Kirkuk and Sinjar. Mulla Mustafa boasted to the Washington Post in June 1973: "We are ready to act according to US policy, if the US protect us from the wolves. In the even of sufficient support we should be able to control the Kirkuk oilfields and confer exploitation rights on an American company."


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Negotiations dragged on, but Mulla Mustafa was unwilling to budge on Kirkuk – despite being advised to do so by his own European advisors.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Emboldened by offers of support from the US, Israel, and Iran, Mulla Mustafa allowed the deadline to expire. This caused several high-ranking KDP Politburo members to defect to the Iraqi National Front in Baghdad. The most significant of these defections was that of Mulla Mustafa's eldest son, Ubayd Allah Barzani, who claimed that his father "does not want self-rule to be implemented even if he were given Kirkuk and all of its oil. His acceptance of the law will take everything from him, and he wants to remain absolute ruler," further condemning his father for failing to implement agrarian reform. Around this same time a section of the KDP (led by Hashim Aqrawi, Ahmad Muhammad Saeed al-Atrushi and Barzanis son Ubaidallah) split to join the Ba'ath-sponsored National Progressive Front.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: With approximately 50,000 trained peshmerga and possibly another 50,000 irregulars at his disposal, Mulla Mustafa was confident in the face of an Iraqi military assault. Against such a force Baghdad could deploy 90,000 troops, but importantly backed by over 1,200 tanks and armored vehicles, and 200 aircraft. With Iranian, as well as covert American and Israeli support, the Peshmerga were able to combat the technologically superior Iraqi army. Iranian support ended when it reached an agreement with Iraq during the OPEC Conference in March 1975, encouraged by the United States, culminating in the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Unable to continue receiving ammunition for its anti-air and anti-armor weaponry, Mulla Mustafa ordered the KDP to begin retreating to avoid repercussions from the Iraqi Army. 200,000 Kurdish refugees fled to Iran, and there were somewhere in the region of 20,000 casualties on each side


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: After its suppression of the armed resistance, the Ba'ath razed at least 1,400 villages to create a security belt along the Turkish and Iranian borders. At least 600,000 civilians were deported to collective "re-settlement camps", with anyone caught trying to abandon these camps being executed on the spot. The Iraqi government also used this opportunity to settle demographic scores in their favor – resettling Kurds from disputed territories and moving in Arab families in their place. The Ba'ath even offered financial incentives to Arabs who took Kurdish wives.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: In the wake of their defeat during the 1974–1975 War, Mustafa Barzani and his sons Idris and Masoud fled to Iran. The power vacuum they left behind was thus filled by their ideological nemesis Jalal Talabani, who, together with his leftist supporters announced in Damascus the formation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Despite the terrible hardships suffered by the Kurds as a whole, intra-Kurdish feuding did not cease following the 1974–1975 war, as KDP groups ambushed and killed PUK fighters on several occasions in 1976–1977. Talabani vowed revenge, and at various moments ordered his troops to fire upon any KDP troops – but suffered from operational weaknesses compared to the KDP. Feuding and splitting continued throughout the late 1970s, as the KDP, PUK, and KDP-I jostled for influence and funding from neighboring states.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: At the commencement of the Iran–Iraq War, Saddam Hussein was able to publicly boast that "the Kurdish organizations would never be able to achieve anything since they are hopelessly divided against each other and subservient to foreign powers." In April 1981, the KDP, Iraqi Communist Party, and the newly formed Kurdish Socialist Party colluded to attack PUK positions in Erbil governorate. The following month the PUK counter-attacked, killing 50 communists and capturing another 70. Each party accused the other of being in the pocket of Baghdad, and even Ankara.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: As Saddam was assured of support both financial and militarily in his war against the Islamic Republic of Iran not only from the US, but from France, Britain, and the USSR, the Kurdish groups eventually came to the realization that they must unite against the common foe (Saddam). In 1986 the KDP, PUK, KSP, and ICP announced a joint declaration calling for unity against the Ba'ath regime and in November Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani finally met to form an official alliance, in Tehran. By May 1987 the KPDP, Pasok, Kurdistan Toilers' Party, and the Assyrian Democratic Movement all joined what was known as the Kurdistan Front, and now all Kurdish parties were receiving monetary and military support from Iran.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: With the Kurds in a seemingly stronger position than in any time since the 1960s, and their betrayal in the mind of Saddam complete, large-scale repression commenced. In Sulaymaniyah (PUK territory) Saddam rounded up 500 male children, aged 10–14, and had a substantial number of them tortured before being killed.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The KDP and PUK received advanced weaponry from Iran, such as SAM-7 missiles, that allowed them for the first time in decades to capture and hold military centers and civilian territory from the Iraqi Army. As Saddam felt increasingly threatened, he commissioned his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid also known as Chemical Ali for his use of chemical weapons against Kurdish towns such as Halabja, to launch the Al-Anfal campaign. Thousands of Kurdish villages were destroyed, and at least 180,000 civilians perished.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: In August 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded and effectively annexed Kuwait in a move that brought international condemnation from the UN, EU, and the Arab League. Subsequently, a UN-authorized coalition force from thirty-four nations led by the United States intervened against Iraq. This was the moment all Iraqi opposition figures – Kurdish, Shi'a, and anti-Saddamist Sunnis – had been waiting for, and the United States encouraged the uprisings.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The KDP and the PUK publicly sought to dispel speculation that they would be willing to participate in a US-inspired ousting of Saddam for fear of displeasing their Iranian allies. They were also hesitant to engage in the early phases of the war for the fear that chemical weapons would again be used against their civilian populations, as during the Iran–Iraq War.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: However, with the wholesale defeat of Iraqi forces by early 1991, unrest gathered pace in Kurdistan. Popular uprisings sprang up in Ranya, Dohuk, Sulaymaniyah, and Erbil. Masud Barzani himself stated "The uprising came from the people themselves. We didn't expect it." The KDP and PUK Peshmerga gained territory as far south as the Kirkuk–Baghdad highway – encouraged by continued calls of American support and the success of the Shi'a uprising in the south of Iraq.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: In the face of international and UN pressure, the United States, Britain, and France led Operation Provide Comfort and established the No-Fly Zones over what was to become the Kurdistan Regional Government.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: As the Iraqi Army re-took Kirkuk and the other southernmost Kurdish areas, while the American and European air forces prevented further encroachment, the KDP-PUK led Kurdistan Front was compelled to, once again, negotiate an autonomy deal with Saddam Hussein. Masud Barzani and Jalal Talabani negotiated, and acted, as separate leaders. Barzani continued to insist upon Kirkuk, while Talabani, deeply sceptical of any of Saddam's promises, warned against signing any agreement that would not demand international recognition. This disunity weakened the Kurdish position, and Saddam preferred to deal with Barzani.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Negotiations stalled, and Saddam strengthened his position by isolating the Kurdish region, cutting off all imports and exports leading up to a harsh winter. Kurds began to demonstrate against both Saddam and the ineffectiveness of their leaders, chanting "We want bread and butter, not Saddam and not the Kurdistan Front!" Masud Barzani stated: "Our governing process is paralyzed... there is a crisis in the Kurdistan Front."


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The isolation gave the Kurdish leadership the chance to hold elections, without Baghdad's interference. Thus in May 1992, the first Kurdish democratic elections in history took place. The election campaigning had little to do with ideology, and was mostly about loyalty to either tribe or Peshmerga group (KDP or PUK). Indeed, some groups literally sold their votes to one of the two leading parties. The PUK espoused a slightly more robust form of self-government, but the results accorded basically to each party's territorial control. The KDP won 51 of the available 100 seats, with the PUK winning the remaining 49. For all its incompetence and occasional instances of fraud and vote-selling, the election was nevertheless an historic, milestone event – the first of its kind in the Middle East outside Lebanon, Israel, and Turkey.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Despite this success, the division between the two parties was deep-seated. The KDP and Barzani loyalists were mostly from the north of the region and Bahdini-speakers, while the PUK's support was almost exclusively from the Sorani-speaking area, and based in the more progressive city of Sulaymaniyah. One veteran Kurdish politician said: "They [Barzani and Talabani] do not trust each other. If you visit one all he can do is talk about the other. They are obsessed with their party rivalry ... they do not work out any common strategy. There is not strategy at all, except to get ahead of the other party." When PUK veteran Fuad Masum was appointed Prime Minister, he resigned in protest of the bipolar situation. Thus the Kurdistan Region was effectively two states within a state, ruled by two different parties, armies, and security forces.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Fighting broke out in May 1994 between the KDP and the PUK, dividing Iraqi Kurdistan into two regions, with the KDP receiving support from the Iraqi government as well as Turkey and Iran. The PKK fought alongside the PUK, and the United States would intervene in 1996 and negotiate a peace agreement in September 1998.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: According to the "Financial Times", both the KDP and PUK became wealthy recipients of Iraq's oil money transferred to them in cash by Paul Bremer.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Most recently, when the Movement for Change called for the resignation of the Cabinet and the disbanding of the Kurdistan Regional Government following the 2011 Egyptian protests, the KDP responded to the accompanying protests against the Kurdistan Regional Government, by opening fire, killing two protesters and wounding several others. Later in the evening, they burnt down several buildings belonging to Movement for Change, including a TV and radio station. This has led to more demonstrations and public outrage. Both governing and opposing parties criticized the party for causing unnecessary unrest, stating that there is no need for the Kurdish government to step down. Both Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch have urged for the protests to be allowed and for an independent investigation into the killings to be made.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Kurdistan Democratic Party was established on August 16, 1946, under the leadership of Mustafa Barzani.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The structure and party administration is divided into regions or branches known as "liq", districts as "nawcha", local organisations as "rek-khraw" and cells as "shana". Each liq is subdivided into nawchas; nawchas into rek-khraws and rek-khraws into shanas.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: Members of Political Bureau or Central Committee head each branch. Other members are elected at branch and district conferences.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The first congress of the party convened in Baghdad in 1946, thanks to Barzani's initiative in the aftermath of the Republic of Mahabad Indeed, the peculiar circumstances of the Kurdish people necessitated the existence of a patriotic, nationalist and democratic party capable of leading the movement of the Kurds. At this congress, the party's statute was formulated and Barzani was elected the first president of the party.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The Second Congress convened in Baghdad in March 1951 at a time when some of the party's leadership members had been arrested by the Iraqi regime and the party members were subjected to arrest and chasing under martial laws and the party ranks were beginning to disintegrate.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The Third Congress convened in Kirkuk on January 26, 1953, with the view of reinforcing the party ranks. It was in this congress that the party's name was changed from the Kurdish Democratic Party into the Kurdistan Democratic Party. It was also decided to form a number of Kurdish popular and professional organisations, and the name of the party's organ was changed from Rizgari to Khebat.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: This congress convened in Baghdad, October 4–7, 1959 following the demise of the Iraqi Monarchy amidst considerable political freedom. Mustafa Barzani and his comrades had already returned home from the Soviet exile. This Congress is considered to be one of the most important congresses of the KDP and the first one to be attended by Barzani. In this congress, the KDP was able to rid itself of the ideological conflicts and adopt a nationalist and progressive position.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The Fifth Congress convened at the KDP's Headquarter in Baghdad in early May 1960. It convened following the announcement of the political parties' law. This was the first time for the KDP to be officially permitted to conduct its activities publicly and legally.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: This congress convened in Qala Diza in early July 1964. It was devoted to the conflicts, within the leadership, brought about by the negotiations that had taken place between the Kurdish movement and the Iraqi regime. Representatives from the Ahmad-Talabani faction were arrested on arrival.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The Seventh Congress convened in Galala on November 15, 1966, in the wake of June 29 agreement. The KDP seized the chance to further unify its ranks


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: This congress convened in Naw Pirdan on July 1, 1970, almost four months after March 11 Agreement with the objective of enhancing the ranks of the party, the people of Kurdistan and that of Iraqi people as whole. This congress is considered to be a very important one with regard to organisation, maximum attendance by party members, guests, friends of the party and the Kurdish people as well as realisation of the congressional objectives.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: This congress convened on the Iraqi–Iranian–Turkish borders, December 4–13, 1979. It was the first congress after the death of its leader Mustafa Barzani. It was also the first congress after the 1975 conspiracy. The congress was considerably successful in reorganising the parties ranks and re-establishment of the May Revolution institutions. It was in this congress that Masoud Barzani was elected the chairman of the KDP; in his words, "this was the most difficult and burdensome congress". Sami Abd al Rahman and other intellectuals began to dissociate themselves from the party, dissatisfied with the traditionalism implicit in Barzani leadership and its supporters, and by the close ties forged by Idris Barzani and the Khomeini regime.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: This congress of the KDP convened in the district of Margewer, December 12–17, 1989. It was in the aftermath of the well documented barbaric chemical attacks against the Kurds and the Anfal operations by the Iraqi regime resulting in the annihilation of tens of thousands of helpless people, displacement and deportation of a similar number of innocent civilians with devastation of more than 4.500 Kurdish villages and townships. In this congress heavy emphasis was laid on unifying the party ranks, and consolidating the Kurdistan Front and popular unity.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: This congress was convened in Erbil on August 16, 1993, against the background of new and rapid developments in Kurdish politics and the region. Over two-thirds of the Kurdistan Region was controlled by the Kurds and an elected Kurdish National Assembly with a regional government was running the affairs of Kurds. In the 11th Congress, a number of other political parties reunited with the KDP and further consolidated and strengthened the party's position amongst the Kurdish nation.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: This congress was convened in Erbil from October 6 to October 13 and held against a background of several years of internal conflicts and KDP's leading role in the third cabinet of the regional government. The developments in the region and the world all contributed to KDP's new outlook and approaches to international and regional politics. New figures and fresh blood were introduced into the new leadership through a democratic election of Central Committee.


title: Kurdistan Democratic Party

text: The party's 13th congress was held in December 2010 in Erbil, capital of Kurdistan, under the banner of Renewal, Justice and Coexistence. The congress re-elected Masoud Barzani as president of the party and welcomed the appointment of Nechirvan Barzani as vice president.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Rafael Reyes (born August 2, 1975), also credited as Leafar Seyer, is an American author, artist and musician credited with creating the Cholo Goth genre of music, which lyrically explores the realities of gang and street life.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Reyes joined the Sherman 27th Street Grant Hill Park gang when he was a teenager to save his father's life after a skirmish at a local market. Upon graduating high school, Reyes opened San Diego's first vegan/vegetarian Mexican restaurant, Pokéz, with his father. After running the restaurant for eighteen years, and after his father's death, he sold Pokéz to his younger brother. In 2011, he wrote and published "Living Dangerously", a "roman à clef" about his life as a gang member, and toured California to promote the book.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Looking for a more direct way to interact with an audience, in 2011, Reyes formed his first band, Baptism of Thieves, followed by Vampire. With the break-up of those bands, he created Prayers (credited under the pseudonym Leafar Seyer) with Tijuana-born Dave Parley. He also performs solo as Nite Ritual.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Prayers released their debut album "SD KILLWAVE" in 2013, with two videos, "From Dog to God" directed by Chukk Nastee aka Charles Christ and "Ready to Bleed". Prayers then released an EP entitled, "GOTHIC SUMMER", in mid-2014. Prayers opened for the Cult during that band's 2014 tour.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Reyes conceived Prayers' video for the song "Gothic Summer," the title track of their first EP, released in May 2014, which won the 2015 San Diego Film Festival Award for Best Music Video. Gavin Filipiak, the video's director also won for Best Editing in the music video category.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: On May 26, 2015, Prayers released the title track of the Travis Barker-produced second album, "Young Gods" as a video single, through Noisey/Vice Magazine. In the song, he references Aleister Crowley: The lyrics "do what thy will shall be the law" is an homage to the English occultist's "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," while Crowley's magical formula for Tetragrammaton is explicated in the song's final lines.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: He also began to focus on his artwork, showing in San Diego. He has since shown in Los Angeles at Coagula Curatorial with John Fleck and John Roecker as part of the successful "Two Johns and a Whore" group show.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Reyes developed and then left Diamond Dogs, a group of retired gang members with an interest in art and music, as an outlet for young men looking for an alternative to gang life. Diamond Dogs provides outreach, emotional and artistic support in a positive environment while stressing the importance of community and family.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: In January 2015, Reyes was included in a special exhibition at the LA Art Show, "Dark Progressivism: Metropolis Rising" which included important Southern Californian Chicano, Cholo and street artists. "Dark Progressivism: Metropolis Rising" was the first international showing of this uniquely Southern California genre.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Reyes's sculpture "Southland" debuted at Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) as part of "Dark Progressivism: The Built Environment" which ran November 22, 2017, through January 2018. The exhibition included many important, influential, and internationally known artists from Southern California, many of whom, like Reyes, created new work for the museum show. Prayers videos were incorporated as part of the overall installation.


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: On February 24, 2018, his first solo art show in several years opened at These Days, in downtown Los Angeles, dovetailing with the release of Prayers' video, "One 9 One 3".


title: Rafael Reyes (artist)

text: Reyes met Kat Von D in 2016, when Von D appeared in a video per Reyes' request. Reyes also wrote the song "Black Leather" for Von D, who provided vocals for the duets and additional tracks. The song is on the album 'Baptism of Thieves'. Von D is featured in the video for the song.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: The Smurfs 2 is a 2013 American 3D fantasy comedy film loosely based on "The Smurfs" comic book series created by the Belgian comics artist Peyo. It is the second film in the "Smurfs" film series and a sequel to the 2011 film "The Smurfs", produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Kerner Entertainment Company and Hemisphere Media Capital, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film is directed by Raja Gosnell, who helmed the first, with all the main cast returning. New cast members include Christina Ricci and J. B. Smoove as members of the Naughties, and Brendan Gleeson as Patrick Winslow's stepfather.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: "The Smurfs 2" was released on July 31, 2013 to generally negative reviews from critics for poor attempts at humor, characters, plot, screenplay and perceived lack of fidelity to its source material. The film is dedicated to Jonathan Winters, who voiced Papa Smurf and died on April 11, 2013. A fully animated reboot titled "" was released on April 7, 2017, directed by Kelly Asbury with Sony and Kerner returning to produce the film while having an all new cast (with the exception of Frank Welker as Azrael).


title: The Smurfs 2

text: In preparation for her birthday celebration, the Smurfs read the story of Smurfette, how she was created by Gargamel to destroy them, only for Papa Smurf to rescue her and turn her fully into a Smurf. Meanwhile, she is having nightmares about reverting to her original form and betraying her fellow Smurfs by turning them over to Gargamel. The Smurfs are preparing a surprise party, but as Smurfette tries to find out what her fellow Smurfs are planning, none of them are saying a word. She takes this to mean that everyone has forgotten her birthday.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: In Paris, Gargamel and Azrael are now celebrities, amazing people with Gargamel's sorcery, but he is running low on the Smurf essence that gives him his magic powers. With his new creations, evil Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties, named Vexy and Hackus, Gargamel creates a portal to Smurf Village by using the Eiffel Tower as a conduit so that he can kidnap Smurfette as revenge on The Smurfs for previously defeating him and, through her, obtain Papa's secret formula for creating Smurfs. However, Gargamel is too large to go through the portal, so he sends Vexy through it to kidnap Smurfette.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: The Smurfs witness the abduction of Smurfette and inform Papa, who uses his magic to create crystals that allow several of his Smurfs to travel directly to the residence of their human allies, Patrick and Grace Winslow, in New York City in order to seek his help to rescue Smurfette. Papa originally intends for Brainy, Hefty and Gutsy to use the crystals, but through an accident, Clumsy, Grouchy and Vanity use them instead. The Smurfs arrive in Patrick and Grace's apartment right after the celebration of their son Blue's fourth birthday where they meet Patrick's stepfather, Victor Doyle, who is a constant embarrassment to Patrick. The Smurfs soon discover Gargamel is in Paris and set off with the Winslows and Victor to find him.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Upon arrival in Paris, Patrick and Grace work with Victor to distract Gargamel during one of his performances, while the Smurfs sneak backstage in Gargamel's dressing room to look for Smurfette, only to discover what Gargamel is planning. At the same time, Smurfette escapes from her prison, and Vexy and Hackus chase after her. Vexy encourages her to become one of them, claiming that naughty is fun. Upon her return to Gargamel's hotel suite with the Naughties, Gargamel presents her with a tiny dragon wand as a feigned act of kindness. Smurfette still refuses to give Gargamel the formula until she sees the Naughties are dying due to a lack of Smurf essence. Faced without an alternative to save them, Smurfette writes the formula down and Gargamel uses it to turn the Naughties into real Smurfs. Immediately after they become Smurfs, Gargamel puts them into his Smurfalator so he can carry out the rest of his plan.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Meanwhile, Patrick, Victor and the Smurfs work together to rescue Smurfette. The Smurfs are soon captured and put into the Smurfalator, powering Gargamel's large-sized dragon wand. Patrick and Victor arrive just in time to destroy the Smurfalator together, causing an explosion of Smurf essence that destroys the written formula and frees the Smurfs from their cages. Everyone is blasted out of Gargamel's lair through a sewer hole where Patrick and Victor reunite with Grace and Blue. Gargamel reappears out of the sewer hole only to be blasted away by Smurfette with her new wand. He then falls onto the Notre Dame Cathedral, where he accidentally brings a stone gargoyle to life, which then throws him to the top of the Eiffel Tower where fireworks are then set off, sending him into the air. The Smurfs bid farewell to the Winslows, then return home with Vexy and Hackus to celebrate Smurfette's birthday.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: In two post-credit sequences, Gargamel and Azrael are pulled into the portal, sending them back to their castle, and they later have a fight.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: On August 9, 2011, Sony Pictures Animation announced a sequel to be released on August 2, 2013, which was later rescheduled to July 31, 2013 (two years and two days after the release of its predecessor). Director Raja Gosnell and producer Jordan Kerner returned for the film. Katy Perry confirmed at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards that she would be reprising her role as Smurfette. Sony began working on the sequel in early 2011 with writers J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick and David Ronn. By early August 2011, the first draft of the script was completed. On April 26, 2012, Sony announced that the film went into production. Filming took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The film also marked the last appearance of Jonathan Winters, who voiced Grandpa Smurf on the 1980s TV series and Papa Smurf in the first film. Winters died on April 11, 2013 (by then, work had already ended on this film).


title: The Smurfs 2

text: On July 11, 2013, it was announced that Sofía Vergara's role was cut from the film. Gosnell, the director of the film, explained: "She came to Paris and did a tiny little cameo for us, but ultimately for story clarity we had to omit that scene. ... It just muddied things up a bit. So it was a sad day for us, but she'll always be part of our Smurfy family." Several scenes were filmed in the new film studios Cité du Cinéma founded by Luc Besson in Saint-Denis in France.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: The film was theatrically released in the United States on July 31, 2013. Sony teamed up with marketing partners in the United States to promote the film through McDonald's Happy Meals with a set of 16 toys during the summer of 2013. Sony also teamed up with Build-A-Bear Workshop to release three customized limited edition stuffed animals of Vexy, Hackus and Smurfette.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: "The Smurfs 2" was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Blu-ray 3D on December 3, 2013. The 3D and Blu-ray combo packs also included a hand-drawn/computer-animated short film "". The film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 1, 2016.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 14% approval rating with an average rating of 4/10, based on 94 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Like its predecessor, "Smurfs 2" may amuse small children, but it's largely an unambitious, charm-free collection of slapstick gags and one-liners." The rating put the film as the 16th on the list of worst reviewed films of 2013. Metacritic calculated a weighted average score of 34 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. "The Smurfs 2" was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Justin Lowe of "The Hollywood Reporter" said "Beyond a few chuckle-worthy one-liners and some amusing visual comedy, there's not much to engage adults, although the wee ones should be distracted enough." Matt Patches of "Time Out New York" gave the film two out of five stars, saying "Patient Adult Smurfs will be checking their watches as Excitable Child Smurfs lose themselves in the high jinks." Frank Lovece of "Newsday" gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Not Smurftastic, but not Smurfawful, either." Loren King of "The Boston Globe" gave the film two out of four stars, saying "That the mushroom- dwelling blue creatures still manage to be endearing even in their second big-screen extravaganza (in 3-D, no less) is about the best that can be said of "Smurfs 2." Kyle Smith of the "New York Post" gave the film one out of four stars, saying "They're as lethally uninteresting as Barney the Purple Dinosaur, though a Godzilla-style "Barney vs. Smurfs" is a movie I would pay to see, provided maximum destruction were promised."


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Joe Williams of the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" said "It's not exactly "Ratatouille," but this quasi-animated movie makes an amusing late-summer vacation from superheroes and shoot-'em-ups." Gregg Turkington of On Cinema gave the film five bags of popcorn, suggesting Jonathan Winters deserved an Oscar for the film and that it was the best performance of his career.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Other reviews were more agnostic regarding the film's quality. Mark Olsen of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the film two and a half stars out of five, saying "Right down to the brute functionality of its title, ""The Smurfs 2"" may be the platonic ideal of a major studio sequel - no markedly better or worse than the first and with just enough difference to lay claim to being something new."


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Claudia Puig of "USA Today" gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying "This insipid, and sometimes awkward, blend of animation, computer generation and live action wastes a ton of talent and lacks a true sense of whimsy." Jordan Hoffman of the "New York Daily News" gave the film two out of five stars, saying "Voicing Papa Smurf here turned out, alas, to be comedian Jonathan Winters' final role. (A crueler fate than Orson Welles signing off with 1986's animated ""? You be the judge.)" Alonso Duralde of "The Wrap" said ""The Smurfs 2" will keep a child reasonably entertained for 105 minutes—but so will a large, empty cardboard box. The box is more likely to stimulate a child's imagination and less likely to contain jokes about testicles." Peter Howell of the "Toronto Star" gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying ""The Smurfs 2" has everything you hated about the first movie, and more."


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Sean O'Connell of "The Washington Post" gave the film two out of five stars, saying "I found ""The Smurfs 2"" to be more enjoyable and far less obnoxious than [the original]. This, of course, is like saying having a cavity filled is preferable to a root canal, but in the dog days of the summer blockbuster season, beggars can't be smurfers." Peter Hartlaub of the "San Francisco Chronicle" gave the film zero stars out of four, saying "There's a dark and gratuitously negative vibe to ""The Smurfs 2"" that makes it unfit even for the undiscriminating young moviegoers that made the first one a hit." Bill Goodykoontz of "The Arizona Republic" gave the film two out of five stars, saying "There are a few laughs here and there, along with a couple of jokes for grown-ups uncomfortably squeezed in. But this is a movie made for two groups: small children and people who have fond memories of the TV show. For them, it'll be fun, and the assurance of a third "Smurfs" scheduled for 2015 will be welcome news." Nick Schager of "The Village Voice" said "Its tolerant messages remain buried beneath lame pop-culture references, hectic slapstick, fart jokes, and endless Smurf-puns that (Azaria's funny, over-the-top cartoon villainy aside) make one pine for the Smurfpocalypse."


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Neil Genzlinger of "The New York Times" gave the film two out of five stars, saying "The movie doesn't have the wit of the first installment and seems as if it might be hard for young children to follow, though who knows with young children?" Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a C, saying "The trouble with this stunted sequel is that the doughy, blobby-hatted Smurfs are mostly window dressing for an abrasive slapstick bash built around a tiresome kidnap plot." Bruce Ingram of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film two out of five stars, saying ""The Smurfs 2" probably isn't any worse than you might expect. On the other hand, it's almost certainly not any better. It's just a matter of figuring out how much punishment you're willing to endure for the sake of the small child you're taking to the movies." Kevin McFarland of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a D+, saying "The film undermines its rudimentary plot points at every turn with base humor. By marginally addressing the Smurfette Problem, Smurfs 2 is at least slightly superior to the absolutely dire first film, but it remains a series for kids whose parents can't just pop in a DVD of something better."


title: The Smurfs 2

text: "The Smurfs 2" grossed $71,017,784 in North America, and $276,527,576 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $347,545,360. Box Office Mojo values the film's budget at $105 million, while "Deadline Hollywood" reported that the film's negative cost was $146 million, with $21 million gained from the production benefits. In addition, Sony spent $46.3 million on the film's marketing in the United States, and $45.3 million in other countries (excluding Japan). Earning $200 million less than its predecessor, the film did not meet Sony's expectation, which was generally attributed to the original's negative reception and competition from another family sequel, "Despicable Me 2".


title: The Smurfs 2

text: In North America, the film debuted at #1 on its opening day, earning $5.2 million. The film opened to #3 in its first weekend, behind "2 Guns" and "The Wolverine", earning $18.2 million. Over its extended five-day weekend, it earned $27.8 million, below the original's three-day weekend ($35.6 million), and below Sony's projection of $35 million, which blamed too many PG-rated films in theatres.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Outside North America, the film debuted with $52.5 million from 43 countries. In Russia and Latin America, it performed better than the first film, while in Europe, it under-performed.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: The Smurfs 2: Music from and Inspired By, the soundtrack of the film, was released on July 23, 2013. Britney Spears contributed an original song titled "Ooh La La", which is played at the film's credits. Many other artists were featured on the soundtrack, including Becky G, Owl City, Nelly Furtado, Austin Mahone, and G.R.L.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: The Smurfs 2 is the score of the film. Heitor Pereira composed the original score for the film, which was released on August 6, 2013, by Varèse Sarabande Records.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: A video game based on the film, titled "The Smurfs 2", was published by Ubisoft on July 23, 2013. Developed by Ubisoft and WayForward Technologies, it was released as an action-adventure platformer to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, and as an interactive storytelling book and collection of mini-games to Nintendo DS.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: By May 2012, just a few weeks after production of "The Smurfs 2" was announced, Sony Pictures Animation and Columbia Pictures had been already developing a script for "The Smurfs 3", with writers Karey Kirkpatrick and Chris Poche. Initially set for a release in summer 2015, Sony announced in March 2014 that plans for "The Smurfs 3" had been folded and instead, it would reboot the series with a completely computer-animated film.


title: The Smurfs 2

text: Directed by Kelly Asbury, the reboot titled "Smurfs: The Lost Village", was released on April 7, 2017 to mixed reviews, but was seen by both critics and audiences as an improvement over the live action films.


title: Ed Burns

text: Edward P. Burns (born January 29, 1946) is an American screenwriter, novelist, and producer. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. For HBO, they have collaborated on "The Corner," "The Wire," "Generation Kill", "The Plot Against America", and "We Own This City". Burns is a former Baltimore police detective for the Homicide and Narcotics divisions, and a public school teacher. He often draws upon these experiences for his writing.


title: Ed Burns

text: Burns served in the infantry during the Vietnam War. He then served in the Baltimore Police Department for twenty years. When he worked in Homicide his partner was Detective Harry Edgerton, who would later become the basis for Frank Pembleton on the television series "".


title: Ed Burns

text: Following his retirement from the police force, Burns became a teacher in the Baltimore public school system. He has said that he stumbled into teaching with little preparation because of the intense demand for teachers in inner-city schools. He taught seventh and eight grade. Psychologically, he compared the experience of teaching to the Vietnam War.


title: Ed Burns

text: He found the experience profoundly challenging because of the emotional damage that the vast majority of his students had already experienced before reaching the classroom. He saw his primary role as instilling caring behavior in his pupils. He felt his major impact was in giving the children an example of an "adult who's consistent, who's always there, who always comes through with what he said, then that's a new world for them."


title: Ed Burns

text: In 1995, he co-authored, with Simon, "", the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the notion that he observe a single drug corner. It was named a Notable Book of the Year by "The New York Times". An adaptation of the book, also called "The Corner", was produced as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards.


title: Ed Burns

text: Burns was a producer, writer, and co-creator (also with Simon) of the HBO series "The Wire". They originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. He had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for "The Baltimore Sun". Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."


title: Ed Burns

text: They chose to take "The Wire" to HBO because of their existing working relationship from the 2000 miniseries "The Corner". Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot.


title: Ed Burns

text: The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of white working class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate the forces currently arrayed against individuals."


title: Ed Burns

text: Burns has called education the theme of the fourth season. The writing drew extensively on his experience as a teacher. Rather than solely focusing on the school system, the fourth season looks at schools as a porous part of the community that are affected by problems outside their boundaries. Burns states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for.


title: Ed Burns

text: The fifth and final season focuses on the media's coverage of crime and corruption in Baltimore, tapping into Simon's past with "The Sun". Burns was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale, "-30-". The show was nominated for several Emmys and numerous other awards.


title: Ed Burns

text: Burns traveled to Africa to film a miniseries as a producer and writer for "Generation Kill" (airdates July 13 to August 24, 2008) for HBO Network. The seven-part miniseries received 10 Emmy nominations. His influence on the show stems from the year he spent in Vietnam. Burns stated that as a writer "(He) can use the universal experience of war to create a realistic scenario for the viewers."


title: Ed Burns

text: He also drew from his experience as a writer for "The Wire". David Simon and Burns wrote for both shows and had similar ideas in characterisation for the show. Burns stated that he wanted "To make characters into characters, not cliches. Just as we did on "The Wire"."


title: Ed Burns

text: Burns co-created the HBO miniseries "The Plot Against America" with Simon. The six episode miniseries premiered in 2020.


title: Ed Burns

text: Burns is an executive producer and writer for the HBO miniseries "We Own This City". The series was developed by Simon and George Pelecanos from the non-fiction book of the same name by former "Baltimore Sun" reporter Justin Fenton. The series focuses on police corruption in the Baltimore Police Department and particularly the Gun Trace Taskforce.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the presidency of William McKinley.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The Panic of 1893 has been traced to many causes, one of those points to Argentina; investment was encouraged by the Argentine agent bank, Baring Brothers. However, the 1890 wheat crop failure and a failed coup in Buenos Aires ended further investments. In addition, speculations in South African and Australian properties also collapsed. Because European investors were concerned that these problems might spread, they started a run on gold in the U.S. Treasury. Specie was considered more valuable than paper money; when people were uncertain about the future, they hoarded specie and rejected paper notes.


title: Panic of 1893

text: During the Gilded Age of the 1870s and 1880s, the United States had experienced economic growth and expansion, but much of this expansion depended on high international commodity prices. Exacerbating the problems with international investments, wheat prices crashed in 1893. In particular, the opening of numerous mines in the western United States led to an oversupply of silver, leading to significant debate as to how much of the silver should be coined into money (see below). During the 1880s, American railroads experienced what might today be called a "bubble": investors flocked to railroads, and they were greatly over-built.


title: Panic of 1893

text: One of the first clear signs of trouble came on 20 February 1893, twelve days before the inauguration of U.S. President Grover Cleveland, with the appointment of receivers for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, which had greatly overextended itself. Upon taking office, Cleveland dealt directly with the Treasury crisis and successfully convinced Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which he felt was mainly responsible for the economic crisis.


title: Panic of 1893

text: As concern for the state of the economy deepened, people rushed to withdraw their money from banks, and caused bank runs. The credit crunch rippled through the economy. A financial panic in London combined with a drop in continental European trade caused foreign investors to sell American stocks to obtain American funds backed by gold.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The economic policies of President Benjamin Harrison have been characterized as a contributing factor to the depression.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The People's Party, also known as the 'Populists', was an agrarian-populist political party in the United States. From 1892 to 1896, it played a major role as a left-wing force in American politics. It drew support from angry farmers in the West and South. It was highly critical of capitalism, especially banks and railroads, and allied itself with the labor movement.


title: Panic of 1893

text: Established in 1891 as a result of the Populist movement, the People's Party reached its height in the 1892 presidential election, when its ticket, consisting of James B. Weaver and James G. Field, won 8.5% of the popular vote and carried five states (Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, and North Dakota), and the 1894 House of Representatives elections when it won nine seats. Built on a coalition of poor, white cotton farmers in the South (especially North Carolina, Alabama and Texas) and hard-pressed wheat farmers in the Plains States (especially Kansas and Nebraska), the Populists represented a radical form of agrarianism and hostility to elites, cities, banks, railroads, and gold.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The Free Silver movement arose from a synergy of farming and mining interests. Farmers sought to invigorate the economy and thereby end deflation, which was forcing them to repay loans with increasingly expensive dollars. Mining interests sought the right to turn silver directly into money without a central minting institution. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, while falling short of the Free Silver movement's goals, required the U.S. government to buy millions of ounces of silver above what was required by the 1878 Bland–Allison Act (driving up the price of silver and pleasing silver miners). People attempted to redeem silver notes for gold. Ultimately, the statutory limit for the minimum amount of gold in federal reserves was reached and U.S. notes could no longer be successfully redeemed for gold. Investments during the time of the panic were heavily financed through bond issues with high-interest payments. Rumors regarding the National Cordage Company (NCC)'s financial distress (NCC was the most actively traded stock at the time) caused its lenders to call in their loans immediately, and the company went into bankruptcy receivership as a result. The company, a rope manufacturer, had tried to corner the market for imported hemp. As demand for silver and silver notes fell, the price and value of silver dropped. Holders worried about a loss of face value of bonds, and many became worthless.


title: Panic of 1893

text: A series of bank failures followed, and the Northern Pacific Railway, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad failed. This was followed by the bankruptcy of many other companies; in total over 15,000 companies and 500 banks, many of them in the West, failed. According to high estimates, about of the workforce was unemployed at the panic's peak. The huge spike in unemployment, combined with the loss of life savings kept in failed banks, meant that a once-secure middle-class could not meet their mortgage obligations. Many walked away from recently built homes as a result.


title: Panic of 1893

text: As a result of the panic, stock prices declined. Five hundred banks closed, 15,000 businesses failed, and numerous farms ceased operation. The unemployment rate hit 25% in Pennsylvania, 35% in New York, and 43% in Michigan. Soup kitchens were opened to help feed the destitute. Facing starvation, people chopped wood, broke rocks, and sewed by hand with needle and thread in exchange for food. In some cases, women resorted to prostitution to feed their families. To help the people of Detroit, Mayor Hazen S. Pingree launched his "Potato Patch Plan", which were community gardens for farming.


title: Panic of 1893

text: President Grover Cleveland was blamed for the depression. Gold reserves stored in the U.S. Treasury fell to a dangerously low level. This forced President Cleveland to borrow $65 million in gold from Wall Street banker J.P. Morgan and the Rothschild banking family of England. His party suffered enormous losses in the 1894 elections, largely being blamed for the downward spiral in the economy and the brutal crushing of the Pullman Strike. After their defeat in 1896, the Democrats did not regain control of any branch of the Federal Government until 1910.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The Panic of 1893 affected many aspects of the shipping industry, both by rail and by sea. It arrested the acquisition of ships and rolling stock and pushed down shipping rates.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The bad omen of investors switching from equity based stocks to constant return bonds in 1894 was mirrored in the corporate finance actions of railroads which reduced their acquisition of rolling stock. Railroad expansion including capital expenditures rose again in 1895, but slowed in 1897 during another economic trough.


title: Panic of 1893

text: In 1893, the total railroad mileage in the U.S. was 176,803.6 miles. In 1894 and 1895, railroads only expanded 4,196.4 miles, although 100,000 miles of rail was added from 1878 to 1896. In 1893, the year following the panic, one fourth of all rail mileage went into receivership. The U.S. Census placed this value at close to $1.8 billion (not adjusted for inflation), the largest amount recorded between 1876 and 1910. This was over $1 billion (also not adjusted for inflation) more than the next largest amount, in 1884.


title: Panic of 1893

text: In 1894, the U.S. Army intervened during a strike in Chicago to prevent property damage. The Pullman Strike began at the Pullman Company in Chicago after Pullman refused to either lower rent in the company town or raise wages for its workers due to increased economic pressure from the Panic of 1893. Since the Pullman Company was a railroad car company, this only increased the difficulty of acquiring rolling stock.


title: Panic of 1893

text: The maritime industry of the United States did not escape the effects of the Panic of 1893. The total gross registered merchant marine tonnage employed in "foreign and coastwise trade and in the fisheries", as measured by the U.S. Census between 1888 and 1893, grew at a rate of about 2.74%. In 1894, however, U.S. gross tonnage decreased by 2.9%, and again in 1895 by 1.03%.


title: Panic of 1893

text: In 1894, the rate for a bushel of wheat by rail dropped from 14.70¢ in 1893 to 12.88¢. This rate continued to decrease, reaching a terminal rate in 1901 of 9.92¢ and never reached 12 cents between 1898 and 1910.


title: Panic of 1893

text: Between 1893 and 1894, average shipping rates by lake or canal per wheat bushel decreased by almost 2 cents, from 6.33¢ to 4.44¢. Rates on the transatlantic crossing from New York City to Liverpool also decreased, from 2 and 3/8 to 1 and 15/16, but this reflected a trend downward since 1891.


title: Patina

text: Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze and similar metals and metal alloys (tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes) or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen produced by age, wear, and polishing), or any similar acquired change of a surface through age and exposure.


title: Patina

text: Additionally, the term is used to describe the aging of high-quality leather. The patinas on leather goods are unique to the type of leather, frequency of use, and exposure.


title: Patina

text: Patinas can provide a protective covering to materials that would otherwise be damaged by corrosion or weathering. They may also be aesthetically appealing.


title: Patina

text: On metal, patina is a coating of various chemical compounds such as oxides, carbonates, sulfides, or sulfates formed on the surface during exposure to atmospheric elements (oxygen, rain, acid rain, carbon dioxide, sulfur-bearing compounds). In common parlance, weathering rust on steel is often mistakenly referred to as patina. Patina also refers to accumulated changes in surface texture and color that result from normal use of an object such as a coin or a piece of furniture over time.


title: Patina

text: Archaeologists also use the term "patina" to refer to a corticated layer that develops over time that is due to a range of complex factors on flint tools and ancient stone monuments. This has led stone tool analysts in recent times to generally prefer the term "cortification" as a better term to describe the process than "patination".


title: Patina

text: In geology and geomorphology, the term "patina" is used to refer to discolored film or thin outer layer produced either on or within the surface of a rock or other material by either the development of a weathering rind within the surface of a rock, the formation of desert varnish on the surface of a rock, or combination of both. It also refers to development as the result of weathering of a case-hardened layer, called "cortex" by geologists, within the surface of either a flint or chert nodule.


title: Patina

text: The word "patina" comes from the Italian "patina" (shallow layer of deposit on a surface), derived from the Latin "patĭna" (pan, shallow dish). Figuratively, patina can refer to any fading, darkening, or other signs of age, which are felt to be natural or unavoidable (or both).


title: Patina

text: The chemical process by which a patina forms or is deliberately induced is called "patination", and a work of art coated by a patina is said to be "patinated".


title: Patina

text: The green patina that forms naturally on copper and bronze, sometimes called verdigris, usually consists of varying mixtures of copper chlorides, sulfides, sulfates and carbonates, depending upon environmental conditions such as sulfur-containing acid rain. In clean air rural environments, the patina is created by the slow chemical reaction of copper with carbon dioxide and water, producing a basic copper carbonate. In industrial and urban air environments containing sulfurous acid rain from coal-fired power plants or industrial processes, the final patina is primarily composed of sulphide or sulphate compounds.


title: Patina

text: A patina layer takes many years to develop under natural weathering. Buildings in damp coastal/marine environments will develop patina layers faster than ones in dry inland areas.


title: Patina

text: Facade cladding (copper cladding; copper wall cladding) with alloys of copper, e.g. brass or bronze, will weather differently from "pure" copper cladding. Even a lasting gold colour is possible with copper-alloy cladding, for example Colston Hall in Bristol, or the Novotel at Paddington Central, London.


title: Patina

text: Antique and well-used firearms will often develop a layer of rust on the action, barrel, or other steel parts after the original finish has worn. This layer of rust is often erroneously called a patina.


title: Patina

text: Artists and metalworkers often deliberately add patinas as a part of the original design and decoration of art and furniture, or to simulate antiquity in newly made objects. The process is often called distressing.


title: Patina

text: A wide range of chemicals, both household and commercial, can give a variety of patinas. They are often used by artists as surface embellishments either for color, texture, or both. Patination composition varies with the reacted elements and these will determine the color of the patina. For copper alloys, such as bronze, exposure to chlorides leads to green, while sulfur compounds (such as "liver of sulfur") tend to brown. The basic palette for patinas on copper alloys includes chemicals like ammonium sulfide (blue-black), liver of sulfur (brown-black), cupric nitrate (blue-green) and ferric nitrate (yellow-brown). For artworks, patination is often deliberately accelerated by applying chemicals with heat. Colors range from matte sandstone yellow to deep blues, greens, whites, reds, and various blacks. Some patina colors are achieved by the mixing of colors from the reaction with the metal surface with pigments added to the chemicals. Sometimes the surface is enhanced by waxing, oiling, or other types of lacquers or clear-coats. More simply, the French sculptor Auguste Rodin used to instruct assistants at his studio to urinate over bronzes stored in the outside yard. A patina can be produced on copper by the application of vinegar (acetic acid). This patina is water-soluble and will not last on the outside of a building like a "true" patina. It is usually used as pigment.


title: Patina

text: Patina is also found on slip rings and commutators. This type of patina is formed by corrosion, what elements the air might hold, residue from the wear of the carbon brush, and moisture; thus, the patina needs special conditions to work as intended.


title: Patina

text: Patinas can also be found in woks or other metal baking dishes. The process of applying patinas to cookware is known as seasoning. The patina on a wok is a dark coating of oils that have been polymerized onto it to prevent food from sticking. Scrubbing or using soap on a wok or other dishware could damage the patina and possibly allow rust.


title: Patina

text: Knife collectors that own carbon steel blades sometimes force a patina onto the blade to help protect it and give it a more personalized look. This can be done using various chemicals and substances such as muriatic acid, apple cider vinegar, or mustard. It can also be done by sticking the blade into any acidic vegetable or fruit such as an orange or an apple.


title: Patina

text: In the case of antiques, a range of views are held on the value of patination and its replacement if damaged, known as repatination.


title: Patina

text: Preserving a piece's look and character is important and removal or reduction may dramatically reduce its value. If patination has flaked off, repatination may be recommended. Appraiser Reyne Haines notes that a repatinated metal piece will be worth more than one with major imperfections in the patina, but less than a piece still with its original finish.


title: Cadence

text: In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin "cadentia", "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards. A harmonic cadence is a progression of two or more chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music. A rhythmic cadence is a characteristic rhythmic pattern that indicates the end of a phrase. A cadence can be labeled "weak" or "strong" depending on the impression of finality it gives. While cadences are usually classified by specific chord or melodic progressions, the use of such progressions does not necessarily constitute a cadence—there must be a sense of closure, as at the end of a phrase. Harmonic rhythm plays an important part in determining where a cadence occurs.