title: Negotiation

text: Bad faith negotiations are often used in political science and political psychology to refer to negotiating strategies in which there is no real intention to reach compromise or a model of information processing. The "inherent bad faith model" of information processing is a theory in political psychology that was first put forth by Ole Holsti to explain the relationship between John Foster Dulles' beliefs and his model of information processing. It is the most widely studied model of one's opponent: A state is presumed implacably hostile, and contra-indicators of this are ignored. They are dismissed as propaganda ploys or signs of weakness. Examples are John Foster Dulles' position regarding the Soviet Union.


title: Negotiation

text: The total of advantages and disadvantages to be distributed in a negotiation is illustrated with the term negotiation pie. The course of the negotiation can either lead to an increase, shrinking, or stagnation of these values. If the negotiating parties can expand the total pie, a win-win situation is possible, assuming that both parties profit from the expansion of the pie. In practice, however, this maximization approach is oftentimes impeded by the so-called small pie bias, i.e. the psychological underestimation of the negotiation pie's size. Likewise, the possibility to increase the pie may be underestimated due to the so-called incompatibility bias. Contrary to enlarging the pie, the pie may also shrink during negotiations e.g. due to (excessive) negotiation costs.


title: Negotiation

text: It is possible to quantify the conditions under which parties will agree to settle, and how legal expenses and the absolute coefficient of risk aversion affect the size of the pie as well as the decision to settle outside the court.


title: Negotiation

text: One view of negotiation involves three basic elements: "process", "behavior," and "substance". The process refers to how the parties negotiate: the context of the negotiations, the parties to the negotiations, the tactics used by the parties, and the sequence and stages in which all of these play out. Behavior refers to the relationships among these parties, the communication between them, and the styles they adopt. The substance refers to what the parties negotiate over: the agenda, the issues (positions and – more helpfully – interests), the options, and the agreement(s) reached at the end.


title: Negotiation

text: Another view of negotiation comprises four elements: "strategy", "process", "tools", and "tactics". The Strategy comprises top-level goals. Which typically include the relationship and the outcome. Processes and tools include the steps to follow and roles to take in preparing for and negotiating with the other parties. Tactics include more detailed statements and actions and responses to others' statements and actions. Some add to this "persuasion and influence", asserting that these have become integral to modern-day negotiation success, and so should not be omitted.


title: Negotiation

text: Strategic approaches to concession-making include consideration of the optimum time to make a concession, making concessions in installments, not all at once, and ensuring that the opponent is aware that a concession has been made, rather than a re-expression of a position already outlined, and aware of the cost incurred in making the concession, especially where the other party is generally less aware of the nature of the business or the product being negotiated.


title: Negotiation

text: Negotiators do not need to sacrifice effective negotiation in favor of a positive relationship between parties. Rather than conceding, each side can appreciate that the other has emotions and motivations of their own and use this to their advantage in discussing the issue. Understanding perspectives can help move parties toward a more integrative solution. Fisher et al. illustrate a few techniques that effectively improve perspective-taking in the book "Getting to Yes", and through the following, negotiators can separate people from the problem itself:


title: Negotiation

text: Additionally, negotiators can use specific communication techniques to build stronger relationships and develop more meaningful negotiation solutions.


title: Negotiation

text: A skilled negotiator may serve as an advocate for one party to the negotiation. The advocate attempts to obtain the most favorable outcomes possible for that party. In this process, the negotiator attempts to determine the minimum outcome(s) the other party is (or parties are) willing to accept, then adjusts their demands accordingly. A "successful" negotiation in the advocacy approach is when the negotiator can obtain all or most of the outcomes their party desires, but without driving the other party to permanently break off negotiations.


title: Negotiation

text: Skilled negotiators may use a variety of tactics ranging from negotiation hypnosis to a straightforward presentation of demands or setting of preconditions, to more deceptive approaches such as cherry picking. Intimidation and salami tactics may also play a part in swaying the outcome of negotiations.


title: Negotiation

text: Another negotiation tactic is the bad guy/good guy. Bad guy/good guy is when one negotiator acts as a bad guy by using anger and threats. The other negotiator acts as a good guy by being considerate and understanding. The good guy blames the bad guy for all the difficulties while soliciting concessions and agreement from the opponent.


title: Negotiation

text: The best alternative to a negotiated agreement, or BATNA, is the most advantageous alternative course of action a negotiator can take should the current negotiation end without reaching an agreement. The quality of a BATNA has the potential to improve a party's negotiation outcome. Understanding one's BATNA can empower an individual and allow him or her to set higher goals when moving forward. Alternatives need to be actual and actionable to be of value. Negotiators may also consider the other party's BATNA and how it compares to what they are offering during the negotiation.


title: Negotiation

text: Kenneth W. Thomas identified five styles or responses to negotiation. These five strategies have been frequently described in the literature and are based on the dual-concern model. The dual-concern model of conflict resolution is a perspective that assumes individuals' preferred method of dealing with conflict is based on two themes or dimensions:


title: Negotiation

text: Based on this model, individuals balance their concern for personal needs and interests with the needs and interests of others. The following five styles can be used based on individuals' preferences, depending on their pro-self or pro-social goals. These styles can change over time, and individuals can have strong dispositions toward numerous styles.


title: Negotiation

text: Three basic kinds of negotiators have been identified by researchers involved in The Harvard Negotiation Project. These types of negotiators are soft bargainers, hard bargainers, and principled bargainers.


title: Negotiation

text: Researchers from The Harvard Negotiation Project recommend that negotiators explore several tactics to reach the best solution for their problems, but this is often not the case (as when you may be dealing with an individual using soft or hard-bargaining tactics) (Forsyth, 2010).


title: Negotiation

text: Tactics are always an important part of the negotiating process. More often than not they are subtle, difficult to identify, and used for multiple purposes. Tactics are more frequently used in distributive negotiations and when the focus is on taking as much value off the table as possible. Many negotiation tactics exist. Below are a few commonly used tactics.


title: Negotiation

text: Communication is a key element of negotiation. Effective negotiation requires that participants effectively convey and interpret information. Participants in a negotiation communicate information not only verbally but non-verbally through body language and gestures. By understanding how nonverbal communication works, a negotiator is better equipped to interpret the information other participants are leaking non-verbally while keeping secret those things that would inhibit his/her ability to negotiate.


title: Negotiation

text: In a negotiation, a person can gain the advantage by verbally expressing a position first. By anchoring one's position, one establishes the position from which the negotiation proceeds. Similarly, one can "anchor" and gain an advantage with nonverbal (body language) cues.


title: Negotiation

text: Being able to read the non-verbal communication of another person can significantly aid in the communication process. By being aware of inconsistencies between a person's verbal and non-verbal communication and reconciling them, negotiators can come to better resolutions. Examples of incongruity in body language include:


title: Negotiation

text: The way negotiation partners position their bodies relative to each other may influence how receptive each is to the other person's message and ideas.


title: Negotiation

text: Emotions play an important part in the negotiation process, although it is only in recent years that their effect is being studied. Emotions have the potential to play either a positive or negative role in negotiation. During negotiations, the decision as to whether or not to settle rests in part on emotional factors. Negative emotions can cause intense and even irrational behavior and can cause conflicts to escalate and negotiations to break down, but may be instrumental in attaining concessions. On the other hand, positive emotions often facilitate reaching an agreement and help to maximize joint gains, but can also be instrumental in attaining concessions. Positive and negative discrete emotions can be strategically displayed to influence task and relational outcomes and may play out differently across cultural boundaries.


title: Negotiation

text: Dispositions for effects affect various stages of negotiation: which strategies to use, which strategies are chosen, the way the other party and their intentions are perceived, their willingness to reach an agreement, and the final negotiated outcomes. Positive affectivity (PA) and negative affectivity (NA) of one or more of the negotiating sides can lead to very different outcomes.


title: Negotiation

text: Even before the negotiation process starts, people in a positive mood have more confidence, and higher tendencies to plan to use a cooperative strategy. During the negotiation, negotiators who are in a positive mood tend to enjoy the interaction more, show less contentious behavior, use less aggressive tactics, and more cooperative strategies. This, in turn, increases the likelihood that parties will reach their instrumental goals, and enhance the ability to find integrative gains. Indeed, compared with negotiators with negative or natural affectivity, negotiators with positive affectivity reached more agreements and tended to honor those agreements more. Those favorable outcomes are due to better decision-making processes, such as flexible thinking, creative problem-solving, respect for others' perspectives, willingness to take risks, and higher confidence. The post-negotiation positive effect has beneficial consequences as well. It increases satisfaction with the achieved outcome and influences one's desire for future interactions. The PA aroused by reaching an agreement facilitates the dyadic relationship, which brings commitment that sets the stage for subsequent interactions. PA also has its drawbacks: it distorts the perception of self-performance, such that performance is judged to be relatively better than it is. Thus, studies involving self-reports on achieved outcomes might be biased.


title: Negotiation

text: Negative affect has detrimental effects on various stages in the negotiation process. Although various negative emotions affect negotiation outcomes, by far the most researched is anger. Angry negotiators plan to use more competitive strategies and cooperate less, even before the negotiation starts. These competitive strategies are related to reduced joint outcomes.


title: Negotiation

text: During negotiations, anger disrupts the process by reducing the level of trust, clouding parties' judgment, narrowing parties' focus of attention, and changing their central goal from reaching an agreement to retaliating against the other side. Angry negotiators pay less attention to the opponent's interests and are less accurate in judging their interests, thus achieving lower joint gains. Moreover, because anger makes negotiators more self-centered in their preferences, it increases the likelihood that they will reject profitable offers. Opponents who get angry (or cry, or otherwise lose control) are more likely to make errors.


title: Negotiation

text: Anger does not help achieve negotiation goals either: it reduces joint gains and does not boost personal gains, as angry negotiators do not succeed. Moreover, negative emotions lead to acceptance of settlements that are not in a positive utility function but rather have a negative utility. However, the expression of negative emotions during negotiation can sometimes be beneficial: legitimately expressed anger can be an effective way to show one's commitment, sincerity, and needs. Moreover, although NA reduces gains in integrative tasks, it is a better strategy than PA in distributive tasks (such as zero-sum). In his work on negative affect arousal and white noise, Seidner found support for the existence of a negative affect arousal mechanism through observations regarding the devaluation of speakers from other ethnic origins. Negotiation may be negatively affected, in turn, by submerged hostility toward an ethnic or gender group.


title: Negotiation

text: Albarracın et al. (2003) suggested that there are two conditions for emotional affect, both related to the ability (presence of environmental or cognitive disturbances) and the motivation:


title: Negotiation

text: According to this model, emotions affect negotiations only when one is high and the other is low. When both ability and motivation are low, the effect is identified, and when both are high the effect is identified but discounted as irrelevant to judgment.


title: Negotiation

text: A possible implication of this model is, for example, that the positive effects of PA have on negotiations (as described above) are seen only when either motivation or ability is low.


title: Negotiation

text: Most studies on emotion in negotiations focus on the effect of the negotiator's own emotions on the process. However, what the other party feels might be just as important, as group emotions are known to affect processes both at the group and the personal levels.


title: Negotiation

text: When it comes to negotiations, trust in the other party is a necessary condition for its emotion to effect, and visibility enhances the effect.


title: Negotiation

text: Emotions contribute to negotiation processes by signaling what one feels and thinks and can thus prevent the other party from engaging in destructive behaviors and indicate what steps should be taken next: PA signals to keep in the same way, while NA points out that mental or behavioral adjustments are needed.


title: Negotiation

text: Partner's emotions can have two basic effects on the negotiator's emotions and behavior: mimetic/ reciprocal or complementary. For example, disappointment or sadness might lead to compassion and more cooperation. In a study by Butt et al. (2005) that simulated real multi-phase negotiation, most people reacted to the partner's emotions in a reciprocal, rather than complementary, manner. Specific emotions were found to have different effects on the opponent's feelings and are strategies chosen:


title: Negotiation

text: Negotiation is a complex interaction. Capturing all its complexity is a very difficult task, let alone isolating and controlling only certain aspects of it. For this reason, most negotiation studies are done under laboratory conditions and focus only on some aspects. Although such studies have their advantages, they do have major drawbacks when studying emotions:


title: Negotiation

text: While negotiations involving more than two parties are less often researched, some results from two-party negotiations still apply to more than two parties. One such result is that in negotiations it is common to see language similarity arise between the two negotiating parties. In three-party negotiations, language similarity still arose, and results were particularly efficient when the party with the most to gain from the negotiation adopted language similarities from the other parties.


title: Negotiation

text: Due to globalization and growing business trends, negotiation in the form of teams is becoming widely adopted. Teams can effectively collaborate to break down a complex negotiation. There is more knowledge and wisdom dispersed in a team than in a single mind. Writing, listening, and talking, are specific roles team members must satisfy. The capacity base of a team reduces the number of blunders and increases familiarity in a negotiation.


title: Negotiation

text: However, unless a team can appropriately utilize the full capacity of its potential, effectiveness can suffer. One factor in the effectiveness of team negotiation is a problem that occurs through solidarity behavior. Solidarity behavior occurs when one team member reduces his or her utility (benefit) to increase the benefits of other team members. This behavior is likely to occur when interest conflicts rise. When the utility/needs of the negotiation opponent do not align with every team member's interests, team members begin to make concessions and balance the benefits gained among the team.


title: Negotiation

text: Intuitively, this may feel like a cooperative approach. However, though a team may aim to negotiate in a cooperative or collaborative nature, the outcome may be less successful than is possible, especially when integration is possible. The integrative potential is possible when different negotiation issues are of different importance to each team member. The integrative potential is often missed due to the lack of awareness of each member's interests and preferences. Ultimately, this leads to a poorer negotiation result.


title: Negotiation

text: Thus, a team can perform more effectively if each member discloses his or her preferences before the negotiation. This step will allow the team to recognize and organize the team's joint priorities, which they can take into consideration when engaging with the opposing negotiation party. Because a team is more likely to discuss shared information and common interests, teams must make an active effort to foster and incorporate unique viewpoints from experts from different fields. Research by Daniel Thiemann, which largely focused on computer-supported collaborative tasks, found that the Preference Awareness method is an effective tool for fostering knowledge about joint priorities and further helps the team judge which negotiation issues were of the highest importance.


title: Negotiation

text: Many of the strategies in negotiation vary across genders, and this leads to variations in outcomes for different genders, often with women experiencing less success in negotiations as a consequence. This is due to several factors, including that it has been shown that it is more difficult for women to self-advocating when they are negotiating. Many of the implications of these findings have strong financial impacts in addition to the social backlash faced by self-advocating women in negotiations, as compared to other advocating women, self-advocating men, and other advocating men. Research in this area has been studied across platforms, in addition to more specific areas like women as physician assistants. The backlash associated with this type of behavior is attributed to the fact that to be self-advocated is considered masculine, whereas the alternative, being accommodating, is considered more feminine. Males, however, do not appear to face any type of backlash for not being self-advocating.


title: Negotiation

text: This research has been supported by multiple studies, including one which evaluated candidates participating in a negotiation regarding compensation. This study showed that women who initiated negotiations were evaluated more poorly than men who initiated negotiations. In another variation of this particular setup, men and women evaluated videos of men and women either accepting a compensation package or initiating negotiations. Men evaluated women more poorly for initiating negotiations, while women evaluated both men and women more poorly for initiating negotiations. In this particular experiment, women were less likely to initiate a negotiation with a male, citing nervousness, but there was no variation with the negotiation initiated with another female.


title: Negotiation

text: Research also supports the notion that the way individuals respond in a negotiation varies depending on the gender of the opposite party. In all-male groups, the use of deception showed no variation in the level of trust between negotiating parties, however in mixed-sex groups, there was an increase in deceptive tactics when it was perceived that the opposite party was using an accommodating strategy. In all-female groups, there were many shifts in when individuals did and did not employ deception in their negotiation tactics.


title: Negotiation

text: The academic world contains a unique management system, wherein faculty members, some of whom have tenure, reside in academic units (e.g. departments), and are overseen by chairs, or heads. These chairs/heads are in turn supervised by deans of the college where their academic unit resides. Negotiation is an area where faculties, chairs/heads, and their deans have little preparation; their doctoral degrees are typically in a highly specialized area according to their academic expertise. However, the academic environment frequently presents situations where negotiation takes place. For example, many faculties are hired with the expectation that they will conduct research and publish scholarly works. For these faculties, where their research requires equipment, space, and/or funding, negotiation of a "start-up" package is critical for their success and future promotion. Also, department chairs often find themselves in situations, typically involving resource redistribution where they must negotiate with their dean, on behalf of their unit. And deans oversee colleges where they must optimize limited resources, such as research space or operating funds while at the same time creating an environment that fosters student success, research accomplishments, and more.


title: Negotiation

text: Integrative negotiation is the type predominately found in academic negotiation – where trust and long-term relationships between personnel are valued. Techniques found to be particularly useful in academic settings include:


title: Negotiation

text: The word "negotiation" originated in the early 15th century from the Old French "negociacion" from Latin "negotiatio" from "neg"- "no" and "otium" "leisure". These terms mean "business, trade, traffic". By the late 1570s negotiation had the definition, "to communicate in search of mutual agreement". With this new introduction and this meaning, it showed a shift from "doing business" to "bargaining about" business.


title: Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny

text: Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny is an American computer-animated streaming television series produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and premiered on Amazon Prime Video on November 16, 2018. The second half of the series was released on July 5, 2019. It is the second TV series in the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise following "". Developer Mitch Watson has confirmed that Mick Wingert would reprise his role from "Legends of Awesomeness" as Po.


title: Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny

text: Set after the events of "Kung Fu Panda 3", the series follows Po the panda on a fresh adventure featuring four panda kids (Nu Hai, Jing, Bao, and Fan Tong); who happen upon a mystical cave beneath the Panda Village. The panda kids accidentally absorb the chi of ancient and powerful Kung Fu warriors known as the four constellations; Blue Dragon, Black Tortoise, White Tiger and Red Phoenix - each of which somehow are with the panda; who has a quality opposite to that constellation's prime quality. They realize they are now destined to save the world from an evil force (Jindiao); who wishes to take over the world and steal the chi of the four constellations, landing Po with his biggest challenge yet - teaching this ragtag band of kids how to wield their new-found Kung Fu powers. They also defend the Forbidden City against an evil Komodo dragon named Shi Long alongside with an ancient evil demon.


title: Norm Abram

text: Norman L. Abram (born October 3, 1949) is an American carpenter, writer, and television host best known for his work on the PBS television programs "This Old House" and "The New Yankee Workshop". He is a master carpenter and has published several books and articles about the craft.


title: Norm Abram

text: Abram was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and raised in Milford, Massachusetts, where he attended high school. His father was a carpenter, who taught his son many of his practical skills. Norm first worked on a client's site at the age of 9, helping his father install hardwood floors. He worked with his father during summer vacations in high school and college.


title: Norm Abram

text: Abram initially studied mechanical engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he became a brother of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He found theoretical engineering courses to be uninteresting, and switched to studying business administration. He realized that he enjoyed practical hands-on work, and left UMass just short of degree.


title: Norm Abram

text: After leaving college, Abram worked for three years for a multimillion-dollar New England-based construction firm, and was rapidly promoted to a position as a site supervisor. In 1976, Abram went into business for himself, founding the general contracting firm Integrated Structures Inc. and operating it until 1989. His first major independent project was building a general store on Nantucket.


title: Norm Abram

text: In 1979, Norm Abram took a construction job building a small barn/garage/toolshed/workshop in the backyard of television producer Russell Morash, who had produced Julia Child's popular cooking program "The French Chef" for WGBH-TV in Boston. Impressed by Abram's small scrap pile and efficient work habits, Morash invited Abram to help with the renovation of a rundown Victorian house in Dorchester. A WGBH camera crew recorded the process for the first "This Old House" project, hosted by Bob Vila. Morash then asked Abram to appear as a regular on "This Old House", and Abram has become a fixture on the show ever since.


title: Norm Abram

text: On May 19, 2022, it was announced that after 43 years, Abram would retire from the show. A one-hour special titled "The House that Norm Built" aired online and on PBS stations on October 3, 2022, surveying his career with the program.


title: Norm Abram

text: In 1988, Morash planned to launch a spinoff of "This Old House" called "The New Yankee Workshop", featuring Abram. They needed a convenient place to videotape, and used the shop in the small building that Abram built in 1979 in Morash's backyard. The shop's layout and equipment were expanded and adapted to match Abram's preferences, in a space measuring . "The New Yankee Workshop" was first aired in 1989 with Abram as the host. The program showcased furniture or other projects and emphasized classic, elegant designs, made using a combination of simple handtools and newer power tools and equipment. The show aired for 21 seasons on PBS, then was suspended indefinitely as Abram decided to focus on other projects.


title: Norm Abram

text: Abram is on the board of trustees of Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. He delivered the 2001 commencement speech at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, which is renowned for its commitment to teaching craftsmanship. He has also contributed to efforts to train younger students in the building trades, such as the Generation NEXT apprenticeship program.


title: Norm Abram

text: Abram also voiced himself in the "Freakazoid!" episode "Normadeus", where he was kidnapped by the villainous Lobe and forced to make a special wooden weapon for him. He also appeared on "Between the Lions" and twice on "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"; and starred in a series of Foot Locker commercials titled "House of Hoops". Abram appeared on "Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman" in the episode "This Old... Lemonade Stand". He also appeared in the 2010 "Ace of Cakes" episode "Indy, Ice and Improv".


title: Norm Abram

text: Norm Abram is well known for his soft-spoken, calm manner of explaining precise, efficient woodworking techniques. He is usually seen wearing a plaid shirt, a style that has become his trademark. He begins his shows with a reminder about personal safety, specifically highlighting the importance of wearing safety glasses.


title: Norm Abram

text: Abram emphasizes the importance of focusing attention when performing dangerous operations, such as cutting with a power saw. He avoids working when rushed, tired, distracted, or after drinking even small amounts of alcohol. He advises against misusing tools or failing to sharpen them properly. He is not afraid to talk to himself in the shop, reviewing carefully the next steps before he undertakes them.


title: Norm Abram

text: The American Academy of Ophthalmology awarded Norm Abram its EyeSmart Distinguished Service Award on April 23, 2009. The award was presented for "his steadfast commitment to safety and the prevention of eye injuries".


title: Norm Abram

text: In 2018 Abram was selected for the Ken Burns Lifetime Achievement Award by the filmmaker who, with Old Sturbridge Village, gives the award to "individual[s] who [have] made a significant impact on the arts through a project that is relevant to the history Old Sturbridge Village works to preserve".


title: Norm Abram

text: Norm Abram has lived with his wife, Elise (a skilled potter), in a custom modified-classic two-story Colonial, timber-framed home that he built in Carlisle, Massachusetts, with the assistance of his father and other professionals. He wrote his book "Norm Abram's New House" (1995) based on his experiences planning and building the house.


title: Norm Abram

text: More recently, he bought a new old house in Rhode Island near the coast, where he plans to build a new woodworking shop, and he is also interested in learning shipbuilding.


title: Norm Abram

text: His fondness for plaid shirts is well-known and at times parodied, a prime example being the character Al Borland from "Home Improvement", portrayed by Richard Karn.


title: Norm Abram

text: Abram and his wife enjoy cooking and entertaining, visiting museums and art galleries, boating, kayaking, and fishing.


title: Norm Abram

text: He has also contributed to and , both published in 2004 by This Old House Books in conjunction with Sunset Books. Abram also serves on the editorial board of "This Old House" magazine, published by This Old House Ventures, Inc., also authoring the popular column, "Norm's Notebook".


title: Mark Speer

text: Mark Speer (born November 9, 1979) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the guitarist and one of the founding members of the musical trio Khruangbin.


title: Mark Speer

text: Mark Speer was born November 9, 1979 in Houston, Texas. The first music video he remembers seeing on MTV is Grandmaster Flash’s "The Message", the production of which he found intriguing. At the time, Speer thought that rock and roll music "was terrible", and thinks that people continue to associate him with rock music just because he plays guitar. One of the first concerts he attended as a child was that of Parliament-Funkadelic.


title: Mark Speer

text: Speer initially wanted to play drums but could not afford them, so he started playing bass guitar. Later, he borrowed a four-track cassette recorder from a friend of his dad, and was making tracks with Casio drums by playing them with his fingers. He wanted to put chords on them, so he borrowed a guitar from a friend and started learning jazz fusion chords.


title: Mark Speer

text: Speer met future bandmate Donald "DJ" Johnson in 2004 while playing in Rudy Rasmus' St. John's Methodist Church gospel band in Houston, Texas. The church employed Speer as the guitarist and Johnson as the organist. He later met Laura Lee through mutual friends, where they initially connected over a shared love of Afghan music and Middle Eastern architecture. In 2010, Speer and Lee went on tour with Yppah and Bonobo. During this time, they recruited DJ on drums and formed Khruangbin.


title: Mark Speer

text: Speer has recorded three studio albums with Khruangbin: "The Universe Smiles Upon You" (2015), "Con Todo el Mundo" (2018), and "Mordechai" (2020). His family owns a barn in Burton, Texas where Khruangbin records all their music, while the overdubs are done in SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston.


title: Mark Speer

text: A notable part of the band's visual style is the black wigs that Speer and his bandmate Lee wear on stage, and during promotional interviews and photoshoots. Originally this was to help them move from the stage to the merchandise stand without being recognised during early tours.


title: Mark Speer

text: Speer uses a Fender Stratocaster which is the only guitar he has. He replaced its neck and bridge pickups with DiMarzio Cruisers to avoid 60 cycle hum in studio settings. He uses D'Addario Chromes flatwound strings, buying .012-.052 sets and an additional single .010, throwing away the .052, and tuning to standard EADGBE. Due to the consistency of tone throughout the lifespan of flatwounds, he only changes his strings approximately once per tour. Similarly, Speer only has one guitar pick, which is worn to a round tip.


title: Mark Speer

text: In the studio, Speer uses a Fender Deluxe Reverb '65 Reissue guitar amplifier; live, he uses a '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb. He connects his guitar into a Dunlop Cry Baby pedal that he never turns off. From there, the connection goes to a Boss DS-1, Boss PS-3, MXR Dyna Comp, Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail, and Strymon El Capistan with an expression pedal. Sometimes, he uses his amp's vibrato effect.


title: Mark Speer

text: Much of Speer's guitar style comes from seeking to emulate the harmonic and timbral characteristics of other instruments, such as the krar, bağlama, rubab, shamisen, mbira, and djembe.


title: Mark Speer

text: Speer prefers the band's compositions to center primarily around bass and drums, instead of guitar. He provides occasional vocals for the band, although he dislikes singing in general.


title: Mark Speer

text: Speer has mentioned Roy Ayers, Prince, Roots Radics, Mark Knopfler, Steely Dan, Lata Mangeshkar, Sezen Aksu, DJ Sun, and Ernie Isley as his biggest influences. He described Kassav's album "Lagué mwen" as an album that changed his life. A self-professed "world music nerd" and a devoted crate digger, Speer is interested in music from all over the world, preferring music that is not in the English language, and tones that are not very prevalent in the Western music. In Khruangbin, Speer tries to replace the lead singer's role with his guitar, so he listens to a lot more singers than he does to guitar players.


title: RBS 70

text: RBS 70 (Robotsystem 70) is a man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) designed for anti-aircraft warfare in all climate zones and with little to no support from other forces. Originally designed and manufactured by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence (now Saab Bofors Dynamics, since 2000). It uses the RB 70 missile which is also in use in a number of other Swedish missile systems.


title: RBS 70

text: The RBS 70 was developed to supply the Swedish air defense with a low-cost, easy-to-use and effective short-range SAM system. Before RBS 70 the mainstay of Swedish air defense was American MIM-23 Hawk systems (RBS 77 and RBS 97 "Swedish HAWK"), American Redeye (RBS 69) and the Swedish Bofors m/48 AAA.


title: RBS 70

text: Mk 1 and Mk 2 followed shortly and are the standard RBS 70 with a range of 5,000–6,000 m and a ceiling of 3,000 m. Currently, RBS 70 is operational in 18 customer countries, on all continents and in arctic, desert, and tropical environments.


title: RBS 70

text: In 2003 the "BOLIDE" upgrade system was introduced to the RBS 70. The BOLIDE missile is an RBS 70 Mk 2 upgrade that is faster (Mach 2 vs Mach 1.6), with a range up to and can reach an altitude of 6 km. Deliveries were initiated in 2005.


title: RBS 70

text: In 2011, Saab Bofors Dynamics (successor company of Bofors Defence) announced the introduction of the new RBS 70 New Generation (RBS 70 NG). The upgraded version included an improved sighting system capable of night vision and improved training and after-action review features.


title: RBS 70

text: In 1990, the Royal Australian Navy embarked two RBS 70 units and Australian Army operators on board the fleet replenishment ship HMAS "Success" when it deployed to the Persian Gulf in the lead-up to the first Gulf War in Kuwait.


title: RBS 70

text: In 1992, a Venezuelan Army RBS 70 SAM is attributed with having shot down a rebel OV-10 Bronco during the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt on November 27.


title: RBS 70

text: The Australian government has announced the Short Range Ground Based Air Defence in 2017. The plan is to find a replacement for the RBS-70. As of 2019 the NASAMS is the chosen option. Defence Department has signed a contract with Raytheon Australia. Planned replacement of the RBS-70 is financial year 2022–23.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Ronnie Lee Gardner (January 16, 1961 – June 18, 2010) was an American criminal who received the death penalty for killing a man during an attempted escape from a courthouse in 1985, and was executed by a firing squad by the state of Utah in 2010. Gardner's case spent nearly 25 years in the court system, prompting the Utah House of Representatives to introduce legislation to limit the number of appeals in capital cases.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: In October 1984, Gardner killed Melvyn John Otterstrom, 37, during a robbery in Salt Lake City. While being moved in April 1985 to a court hearing for the homicide, he fatally shot attorney Michael Burdell, 36, in an unsuccessful escape attempt. Convicted of two counts of murder, Gardner was sentenced to life imprisonment for the first count and received the death penalty for the second. The state adopted more stringent security measures as a result of the incident at the courthouse. While held at Utah State Prison, Gardner was charged with another capital crime for stabbing an inmate in 1994. However, that charge was thrown out by the Utah Supreme Court because the victim survived.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: In a series of appeals, defense attorneys presented mitigating evidence of the troubled upbringing of Gardner, who had spent nearly his entire adult life in incarceration. His request for commutation of his death sentence was denied in 2010 after the families of his victims testified against him. Gardner's legal team took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to intervene.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: The execution of Gardner at Utah State Prison became the focus of media attention in June 2010, because it was the first to be carried out by firing squad in the United States in 14 years. Gardner stated that he sought this method of execution because of his Mormon background. On the day before his execution, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement clarifying its position on the issue of blood atonement of individuals. The case also attracted debate over capital punishment and whether Gardner had been destined for a life of violence since his difficult childhood.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Ronnie Lee Gardner was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was the youngest of Dan and Ruth Gardner's seven children. Dan was a heavy drinker who left the household to start another family while Ronnie was a toddler; Dan and Ruth divorced when Ronnie was 18 months old. Six months later, Ronnie was found malnourished and wandering the streets alone in a diaper. Child welfare workers filed a "failure to care" petition and took him into custody, though they later returned him to his mother. Gardner's relationship with his father was tumultuous; Dan did not believe he was Gardner's biological father and frequently told his son of his belief. According to Gardner, he was raised by an older sister, and was sexually abused by his siblings. Sometimes he and his sister Bonnie would run away and seek refuge in a "hobo camp." By the age of 10, Gardner was addicted to drugs and permitted access to alcohol. He and his brother Randy were arrested for stealing cowboy boots and taken into juvenile detention. Gardner recalled with distress that his father Dan came to take his brother Randy home and left him behind.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Gardner's mother married Bill Lucas, who had been incarcerated in Wyoming in 1968. The Gardner-Lucas family eventually had nine children. Gardner admired Lucas, who used his stepsons as lookouts while burglarizing homes. By his early teens, Gardner had been held in detention at a series of institutions, including an involuntary commitment at Utah State Hospital in Provo. Gardner was small as a boy, and described that he had to fight to defend himself and earn respect. As Gardner admitted, "I was a nasty little bugger."


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: While held at Utah State Industrial School in Ogden, Gardner was visited by Jack Statt, a man who was living with his brother Randy. According to Gardner, Statt met Randy at a bus stop and paid him $25 for oral sex. When released from the school in 1975, Gardner stayed with Statt. Although social workers noted the men in the household were dressed like women, Statt officially became a foster parent to Gardner and his brother. Gardner said that Statt performed sex acts on them and explained, "I thought life like that was normal." Gardner stated in a psychological evaluation that he worked as a prostitute while living with Statt, who psychologists say fit the profile of a pedophile. Gardner said his time in foster care was the most stable period of his life "Jack was a good man, and he tried to help us out."


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: While Gardner intermittently continued to go to the industrial school, he met Debra Bischoff at a Salt Lake City apartment complex where his mother lived. Bischoff described him as: "Very caring. He never put me in the rough situations he was in throughout his life. He sheltered me from that stuff." Gardner had a daughter in May 1977 and a son in February 1980 with Bischoff, but was convicted of robbery and sent to Utah State Prison in the same month his son was born. Gardner successfully escaped the prison's maximum security unit on April 19, 1981, and was shot in the neck while attempting to kill a man who he believed had raped Bischoff. In February 1983, he was identified as a ringleader in a disturbance in which inmates barricaded a cell block and started fires.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: On August 6, 1984, Gardner escaped from custody at the University of Utah Hospital after faking an illness by vomiting. He attacked transportation officer Don Leavitt and forced him to unlock his shackles by telling him: "I guess you know if that doctor comes back, I'll have to kill you both." In the course of the escape, Gardner struck Leavitt so hard that he needed wires to reconstruct his face. Gardner forced a medical student named Mike Lynch to take him from the premises on a motorcycle while pointing a gun into his back. On August 11, a letter carrier found Leavitt's firearm in a mailbox with a note from Gardner that said, "Here's the gun and wallet taken from the guard at the hospital. I don't want to hurt no one else. I just want to be free."


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: During the night of October 9, 1984, Gardner robbed the Cheers Tavern in Salt Lake City. While under the influence of cocaine, he shot bartender Melvyn John Otterstrom in the face, killing him. Otterstrom's cousin Craig Watson stated that the robbery "gained less than $100." Family members said Gardner attended Otterstrom's funeral and pretended to be a childhood friend. Following a tip, police apprehended Gardner three weeks later at the home of his cousin. Gardner said that the shooting occurred because Otterstrom put up a fight, but investigators did not find any evidence to support this claim. Gardner was held in custody in lieu of $1.5 million bail. His getaway driver was identified as Darcy Perry McCoy, who testified against him.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: During trial proceedings for the Otterstrom murder on April 2, 1985, Gardner attempted to escape from custody with a revolver smuggled into the Metropolitan Hall of Justice at Salt Lake City. Jim Kleine of the Salt Lake City Fire Department believed that the gun was passed to Gardner as he was being escorted into the courthouse from the underground parking lot. Gardner was immediately shot in the chest by guard Luther Hensley. Gardner then wounded unarmed bailiff George "Nick" Kirk in the abdomen. After running to the courtroom archives, Gardner confronted attorneys Robert Macri and Michael Burdell. According to Macri, after Gardner pointed the gun at him, he changed aim to Burdell, who had been doing pro bono work for his church. Burdell yelled, "Oh, my God," then Gardner shot him in the eye. Gardner made his way outside the building, where he was surrounded by dozens of police officers. Gardner threw the gun away, dropped and yelled: "Don’t shoot, I don’t have a gun."


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Gardner was taken to the University of Utah Health Services Center where he was listed in serious condition, but recovered. Burdell died about 45 minutes later while in surgery at Holy Cross Hospital. Kirk was initially listed in critical condition at LDS Hospital, but survived surgery. During a search of the courthouse, a bag of men's clothing was found in the basement under a women's restroom sink. Prosecutor Bob Stott believed Gardner's gun had been taped to a water fountain on the first floor. Darcy Perry McCoy was found unarmed and was arrested about a mile away. Her sister, Carma Jolley Hainsworth, was sentenced to eight years in prison for delivering the clothes and messages in preparation for the escape attempt, but the identity of the person who provided Gardner with the firearm was not known at the time. State corrections director William Vickrey cleared the actions of the prison guards who escorted Gardner, but Salt Lake County Sheriff N.D. "Pete" Hayward said that the guard who shot Gardner should have kept shooting until Gardner was dead. A review found that the guards were inhibited from shooting because Gardner had been using a hostage as a human shield. Sheriff Hayward said the escape attempt "appeared to be well-planned" and blamed the security breach on the layout of the Metropolitan Hall of Justice, which allowed unrestricted access to areas where prisoners were transported.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Otterstrom, a mountain climber and veteran of the 19th Special Forces Group of the Utah National Guard, was survived by his wife Kathy and his five-year-old son, Jason. Burdell  a Vietnam veteran, former engineer, and member of the Summum Church  was survived by his girlfriend, Donna Nu, who would go on to advocate against Gardner's execution.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Gardner was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. In June 1985, Gardner pleaded guilty to the murder of Otterstrom and received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. At one point, Gardner threatened to disrupt subsequent court hearings because he was upset over being required to wear a leg brace that would lock if he attempted to escape again. He was advised by guards that it would be to his benefit to behave in front of prospective jurors. District Judge Jay E. Banks instructed the jury, on October 22, 1985, that they had the option of a verdict for the lesser offense of manslaughter if they found Gardner to be under mental or emotional duress when he shot Burdell. The jurors deliberated less than three hours and found Gardner guilty of capital murder. Ultimately sentenced to death, Gardner selected execution by firing squad over lethal injection. Legislators in Utah eliminated the firing squad as a method of execution in 2004, but convicts who were sentenced before that date, such as Gardner, could still select that option. Since 1976, only two other people have been executed by firing squad in the United States, both in Utah: Gary Gilmore and John Albert Taylor. In contrast to Taylor, who said he chose the firing squad to embarrass the state, Gardner's attorney said that his client did not want to attract attention and simply preferred to die this way.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Gardner's incarceration as Utah's then-youngest inmate on death row was not uneventful. A hearing was held on February 19, 1987, in which Gardner and other inmates claimed "unconstitutional confinement" in unsanitary conditions with poor food.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: On October 28, 1987, Gardner broke a glass partition in a prison visiting area and had sex with a woman who was meeting him, while other inmates cheered and barricaded the doors. According to state prison spokesperson Juan Benavidez, though Gardner had "knocked out the lights", an officer who was in the control room "could still see what was going on." Gardner claimed breaking the glass was an accident. In 1993, Utah state representative Dan Tuttle introduced what he called "the Ronnie Lee Gardner bill" in which he proposed that law enforcement officers be permitted to shoot inmates attempting to escape, whether they are "armed or not."


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: On September 25, 1994, Gardner got drunk from consuming alcohol, which he fermented in his own prison cell sink, and stabbed inmate Richard "Fats" Thomas with a shiv fashioned from a pair of sunglasses. Thomas suffered nine puncture wounds to his face, mouth, arm and chest that were life-threatening, but made a full recovery. Though Thomas had survived the stabbing, Gardner was charged with another capital crime under a 1974 Utah law reserved for prison attacks by first-degree felony inmates. There was no precedent in the United States for a death penalty that was carried out for such a crime. The constitutionality of the law was challenged, with defense lawyers calling it "stale and anachronistic," and the charge against Gardner was thrown out by the Utah Supreme Court because the victim did not die.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: In February 1996, Gardner threatened to sue to force the state of Utah to execute him by firing squad. He had told a judge in a 1991 hearing that he was motivated by his children to seek lethal injection, but later changed his mind as they became older. He said that he preferred the firing squad because of his "Mormon heritage." Gardner also felt that lawmakers were trying to eliminate the firing squad, in opposition to popular opinion in Utah, because of concern over the state's image in the upcoming 2002 Winter Olympics.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: In 1998, the old Metropolitan Hall of Justice was vacated and replaced by the multimillion-dollar Scott M. Matheson Courthouse. Gardner's deadly escape attempt in 1985 was blamed on the open access and light security of the previous building and greatly influenced the tighter security measures adopted by Salt Lake City's new courthouse. Former prosecutor Kent Morgan stated, "Absolutely Gardner changed that." On March 3, 2001, the Metropolitan Hall of Justice was demolished.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: In 2007, U.S. federal judge Tena Campbell rejected Gardner's appeal that his attorneys were inadequate because they were unable to prove that he did not mean to kill his victim. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected motions for appeal by his defense on March 8, 2010. Gardner attempted to give up the process at least three times, but his attorneys convinced him to continue appealing each time. State court Judge Robin Reese signed an execution warrant on April 23 ordering the state to carry out the death sentence.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: At Gardner's commutation hearing on June 10, 2010, lawyers and medical experts in his defense argued whether meningitis contracted at the age of 4 had damaged his brain. Gardner had also huffed gas and glue with his siblings, and played with mercury stolen from gas meters by his stepfather to sell. Three of the jurors that sentenced Gardner to death signed an affidavit that they would have recommended life without parole, an option that was not available in Utah until 1992. Gardner claimed that he was a changed man who counseled other inmates and was interested in starting an organic farm project for youths on in Box Elder County, Utah. Gardner's attorney presented a letter his client wrote to Oprah Winfrey requesting funds for the project. Gardner also argued that it was not justifiable to execute him after so much time had passed since the crime.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Assistant state attorney general Tom Brunker argued against clemency, stating: "Mr. Gardner was sentenced to death and earned that death penalty because of his unflagging history of violent crime." The family of the late George "Nick" Kirk recounted how his being shot by Gardner affected their lives and ultimately shortened Kirk's life. Kirk's daughter Barb Webb said, "He's done a lot of horrific things in his past and I think, given the chance, he would do them all again." Jason Otterstrom, whose father Melvyn was murdered by Gardner, struggled to describe the impact upon his family. After listening to the testimony from the families of the victims, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole declined Gardner's commutation request, stating that the jury's verdict and sentence were "not inappropriate." The board members cited his violent record during incarceration and questioned his effort to reform as being "too little, too late." Gardner revealed at the hearing that it was Darcy Perry McCoy who provided him the gun with which he murdered Michael Burdell. Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Bob Stott said that McCoy would not be prosecuted because Gardner, the only witness, was going to be executed.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: The Utah Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings on June 14, 2010, exhausting Gardner's appeals within the state. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down final appeals on June 17, though a court order indicated that dissenting Justices Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens would have granted a stay of execution. Utah governor Gary Herbert also declined to intervene because Gardner had "a full and fair opportunity" in court. State attorney general Mark Shurtleff announced on Twitter that he signed off on the execution: "I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution."


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Opponents of capital punishment gathered at the Utah State Capitol to hold a rally during the final appeals. The protest was attended by Gardner's family, and was organized by Utahans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The protest also included the support of Brian King of the Utah House of Representatives, who pledged to urge the legislature to reconsider the use of the capital punishment. The family of murder victim Michael Burdell had also appealed on Gardner's behalf, stating that Burdell was a pacifist who would have opposed the death penalty.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: News media arrived from around the world and raised the issue of blood atonement because of Gardner's citation of his Mormon roots in selecting the firing squad. Some followers of Mormonism were taught that murder is so heinous that the blood of the offender must be spilled to pay for their sins. On the day before Gardner's execution, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints condemned the idea of blood atonement as a way to salvation. They released the following statement:


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: In the mid-19th century, when rhetorical, emotional oratory was common, some church members and leaders used strong language that included notions of people making restitution for their sins by giving up their own lives.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: However, so-called "blood atonement," by which individuals would be required to shed their own blood to pay for their sins, is not a doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe in and teach the infinite and all-encompassing atonement of Jesus Christ, which makes forgiveness of sin and salvation possible for all people.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Other denominations voiced their opposition to the use of capital punishment. David Henry, a Baptist minister in Salt Lake City, said: "Violence breeds violence ... . It doesn't work. It's ineffective, and it's brutalizing all of us." Keith O'Brien, a Roman Catholic Cardinal in Scotland, later used Gardner's cases to describe the "culture of vengeance" in the United States.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: According to polls, support for capital punishment had been steadily declining since the 1990s, but the majority of people in Utah still supported the death penalty in the period leading up to Gardner's scheduled execution. In 2010, Kay McIff of the Utah House of Representatives sponsored legislation to require condemned inmates to raise all appeal arguments in their first post-conviction petition, noting that Gardner's multiple appeals kept his case lingering on death row for nearly 25 years. The bill, HB202, passed the Utah House by a margin of 67-to-5 on February 1, 2011, and unanimously passed the Utah State Senate on February 17. The legislation was signed into law by the Governor on 22 March 2011. The law denies any stay of execution after a first appeal, without a judicial review of new evidence (or a pregnant appellant), that a judge determines would have materially affected the original case.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: The Utah Department of Corrections provided Gardner's attorney, Andrew Parnes, with documentation about executions by firing squad and lethal injection. The records included the Utah execution team's training and expertise. Parnes relayed the information to Gardner after agreeing not to disclose it to anyone else.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: On June 15, 2010, Gardner ate a last meal of steak, lobster tail, apple pie, vanilla ice cream and 7-Up, before beginning a 48-hour fast while watching "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy and reading "Divine Justice". According to his lawyers, the fast was motivated by "spiritual reasons." Gardner was visited by an LDS bishop and his family before his execution. Gardner walked voluntarily to his place of execution. When asked if he had any last words, he responded, "I do not, no."


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Gardner was executed on June 18, 2010, at 12:15 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time by a firing squad at Utah State Prison in Draper. He was placed in restraints on a black metal chair with a hood covering his head. Sandbags were arranged around him to absorb ricochets. The firing squad was made up of five anonymous volunteers who were certified police officers. The officers stood about from Gardner, aiming at a white target positioned over his heart. One of their .30-caliber Winchester rifles was selected at random and loaded with a non-lethal wax bullet so that they would not know with certainty who fired the fatal shots. According to the Utah Department of Corrections, the squad used a countdown cadence beginning with five and simultaneously firing right before two. His dark blue jumpsuit made it difficult to see the blood from his wounds. A medical examiner removed Gardner's hood to reveal his lifeless face. After verifying Gardner's lack of pulse at the neck and pupillary light reflex, the medical examiner pronounced him dead at 12:17 a.m. He was the first person to be executed by firing squad in the United States since the execution of John Albert Taylor 14 years earlier. A commemorative coin was commissioned for prison staff who participated in the execution.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Gardner's friends and family gathered outside the prison at a candlelight vigil while playing "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. They did not witness his execution, per his request. Some wore shirts with his prisoner number 14873. His body was cremated and released to his daughter to be taken back to Idaho with family members.


title: Ronnie Lee Gardner

text: Gardner's brother Randy Gardner has become an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, often wearing Ronnie's prison jumpsuit to anti-death penalty demonstrations.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: Lab Rats, also known as Lab Rats: Bionic Island for the fourth season, is an American comedy television series created by Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore that aired on Disney XD from February 27, 2012 to February 3, 2016. The series stars Billy Unger, Spencer Boldman, Kelli Berglund, Tyrel Jackson Williams, and Hal Sparks.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: A young teenager named Leo Dooley lives a normal life until the day his mother Tasha gets married to billionaire inventor Donald Davenport, with whom they move in. While trying to find his bedroom, Leo accidentally discovers teenage siblings with bionic superpowers living in his new basement. The series follows the bionic teens as they unravel in adventurous situations in an attempt to live life like a normal family in the fictional town of Mission Creek, California.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: As the series progresses, the series introduces various new characters, including Davenport's younger brother Douglas and Douglas' android son Marcus; Krane and his bionic soldiers Taylor, formerly known as S-1, and Sebastian, formerly known as S-3; and scientist Giselle and her android Troy West. In the third season, Davenport opens up a bionic academy on a bionic island to train Krane's soldiers to be the world's new bionic heroes.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: On May 10, 2010, Disney XD green-lit a pilot under the title of "Billion Dollar Freshmen", created by Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, as executive producers alongside Mark Brazill. The pilot was filmed in the summer of 2010. On July 13, 2011, Disney XD officially ordered "Lab Rats", with production to begin in September 2011 in Hollywood for a 2012 premiere. Starring in the series are Tyrel Jackson Williams as Leo, Billy Unger as Chase, Spencer Boldman as Adam, Kelli Berglund as Bree, and Hal Sparks as Davenport.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: On May 18, 2012, Disney XD renewed the series for a second season. On July 26, 2013, Disney XD renewed the series for a third season. On May 9, 2014, Disney XD renewed the series for a fourth season. On June 25, 2015, Kelli Berglund stated in an interview that the fourth season would be the final season.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: The series originally premiered on Disney XD on February 27, 2012, and on Disney Channel on March 2, 2012. In Canada, it first aired on Disney XD on February 24, 2012. It later stopped airing on Disney XD in Canada and moved to Disney Channel due to DHX Media losing Disney rights. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it first aired as a preview on March 29, 2012, and officially premiered on April 19, 2012. In South Africa, it premiered on Disney XD on June 10, 2012. In Australia and New Zealand, it first aired on Disney Channel on December 31, 2012, and officially premiered on January 10, 2013.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: "Variety" television critic Brian Lowry knocked the series' one-hour premiere for failing "to exhibit basic elements of coherence" and for featuring "too many lapses in logic".


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: The series launch of "Lab Rats" in February 2012 was the most-watched series premiere in Disney XD history, drawing 1.27 million viewers and performing well in key demographics. The followup encore of the premiere that aired on Disney Channel on March 2, 2012, ranked as the number-one telecast in kids 2–11 for the week of February 27–March 4, 2012, drawing 2.3 million viewers in the demographic.


title: Lab Rats (American TV series)

text: On September 3, 2015, it was announced that "Lab Rats" would have a joint spinoff series with "Mighty Med" under the title of "". Only Billy Unger and Kelli Berglund from "Lab Rats" were reported to be returning for the new series, alongside Bradley Steven Perry, Jake Short, and Paris Berelc from "Mighty Med". It was subsequently announced that "Lab Rats: Elite Force" would premiere on Disney XD on March 2, 2016.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Ted Arthur Haggard (; born June 27, 1956) is an American evangelical pastor. Haggard is the founder and former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and is a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches. He served as president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard made national headlines in November 2006 when male prostitute and masseur Mike Jones alleged that Haggard, who had advocated against the legalization of same-sex marriage, had paid him for sex for three years and had also purchased and used crystal methamphetamine. Haggard resigned his post at New Life Church and his other leadership roles shortly after the allegations became public. Later, Haggard admitted to drug use, some sexual activity with Jones, and an inappropriate relationship with a young man who attended New Life Church.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In 2010, Haggard and his wife, Gayle, founded Saint James Church in Colorado Springs; as of 2022, Haggard continues to serve as founding pastor at Saint James Church.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard was born in Indiana. His father, J. M. Haggard, a practicing veterinarian in Yorktown, Indiana, founded an international charismatic ministry, which was featured in a PBS Middletown documentary series. Haggard has stated that he was molested when he was seven years old.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In 1972, at age 16, Haggard became a born-again Christian after hearing a sermon from evangelist Bill Bright in Dallas, Texas, and becoming acquainted with the Christian apologetics of C. S. Lewis. As a co-editor of his high-school newspaper in 1974, Haggard published frank articles that described services that were available to prevent and deal with increasingly prevalent pregnancies and STDs. These articles scandalized his small town and embroiled him in a free-press lawsuit.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard describes feeling the call of God on his life after his first year in college while he was in the kitchen at home. He had been a telecommunications major with a minor in journalism, but after this experience he believed he had been called to be a pastor. Haggard subsequently attended Oral Roberts University, a Christian university in Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduating in 1978.


title: Ted Haggard

text: According to Haggard, in November 1984, when he was an associate pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, his confidant and mentor Danny Ost, a missionary to Mexico City, had a vision of Haggard founding his church in Colorado Springs. Accordingly, Haggard moved to Colorado shortly afterwards, and founded New Life Church. Initially, the 22 people who met in the basement of Haggard's house formed his church, which then grew to rented spaces in strip malls.


title: Ted Haggard

text: After 22 years, New Life Church operated from a campus in northern Colorado Springs and had a congregation of 14,000. In 1993, during what Haggard describes as his "first prayer journey," he traveled with a group to Israel. They stood on the Mount of Olives, where Haggard claims that he felt the Holy Spirit speak to him. "From that time until now," Haggard writes in "The Life-Giving Church," "apostolic power has blessed me. My only problems are with me – not with the enemy, not with circumstances, not with people."


title: Ted Haggard

text: Under Haggard's leadership, New Life Church formed the Association of Life-Giving Churches. It has been listed as a denomination by the U.S. National Association of Evangelicals. As of 2006, "Harper's Magazine" reported that it comprised some 300 congregations.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In November 2006, male prostitute and masseur Mike Jones alleged that Haggard had paid him for sex over a three-year period and had also purchased and used crystal methamphetamine. Jones said he had only recently learned of Haggard's true identity, and explained his reasons for coming forward by saying, "It made me angry that here's someone preaching against gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex." Jones made the allegations public in response to Haggard's political support for a Colorado Amendment 43 on the November 7, 2006, Colorado ballot that would ban same-sex marriage in that state. Jones told ABC News, "I had to expose the hypocrisy. He is in the position of influence of millions of followers, and he's preaching against gay marriage. But behind everybody's back [he's] doing what he's preached against." Jones hoped that his statements would sway voters.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard's immediate response was denial. He told a Denver television station, "I did not have a homosexual relationship with a man in Denver... I am steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife." Haggard also said, "I have never done drugsever. Not even in high school. I didn't smoke pot. I didn't do anything like that. I'm not a drug man. We're not a drinking family. I don't smoke cigarettes. I don't socially drink. We don't socially drink. We don't have wine in our house. We don't do that kind of thing." Many evangelical leaders initially showed support for Haggard and were critical of media reports, including James Dobson who issued a statement of support for Haggard, which stated: "It is unconscionable that the legitimate news media would report a rumor like this based on nothing but one man's accusation... Ted Haggard is a friend of mine, and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday's electionespecially the vote on Colorado's marriage-protection amendment, which Ted strongly supports."


title: Ted Haggard

text: Cornered by his voicemail to Mike Jones requesting methamphetamine, Haggard told the press, "I bought it [methamphetamine] for myself but never used it. I was tempted but I never used it." Haggard claimed he bought the methamphetamine but threw it away, and added that he had never met his accuser. Jones volunteered to take a polygraph test on a KHOW radio show hosted by Peter Boyles, where Jones first made the allegations. However, Jones's responses during the section of the polygraph test about whether he had engaged in sex with Haggard indicated deception. The test administrator, John Kresnik, discounted the test results because of Jones's stress and lack of eating or sleeping. Regardless, Haggard responded by saying, "We're so grateful that he failed a polygraph test this morning, my accuser did." Jones was not asked questions about drug use. Jones expressed doubt that he would retake the test, saying "I've made my point. He's the one who has discredited himself. He should admit it and move on."


title: Ted Haggard

text: Due to the scandal, Haggard went on administrative leave from New Life, saying, "I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek both spiritual advice and guidance." On November 2, 2006, senior church officials told Colorado Springs television station KKTV that Haggard had admitted to some of the claims made by Jones. In an e-mail to New Life Church parishioners sent on the evening of November 2, Acting Senior Pastor Ross Parsley wrote, "It is important for you to know that he [Haggard] confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true." Haggard admitted that he had purchased methamphetamine and received a massage from Jones, but denied using the drugs or having sex with Jones.


title: Ted Haggard

text: As it became apparent that at least some of the claims were true, some evangelical leaders such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell sought to distance themselves and downplay Haggard's influence on religious conservatives, his connections to the Bush administration, and the importance of the NAE.


title: Ted Haggard

text: On November 4, 2006, the Overseer Board of New Life Church released a statement that Haggard had been fired as senior pastor: "Our investigation and Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct." Ross Parsley, the Associate Senior Pastor, was then named Haggard's successor. Haggard then entered counseling by a team including Jack Hayford and Tommy Barnett who stated their intention to "perform a thorough analysis of Haggard's mental, spiritual, emotional and physical life," including the use of polygraph tests. The team was to include James Dobson, who later stepped aside, citing time constraints. H. B. London, Focus on the Family's vice president of church and clergy, took Dobson's place on the team. After the scandal was publicized, Haggard entered three weeks of intensive counseling, overseen by four ministers. In February 2007, one of those ministers, Tim Ralph, said that Haggard "is completely heterosexual."


title: Ted Haggard

text: On November 3, 2006, Haggard's resignation from his leadership role at the National Association of Evangelicals was accepted.


title: Ted Haggard

text: On January 23, 2009, less than one week before "The Trials of Ted Haggard" was released on HBO, officials from Haggard's former church announced that a young male church member had come forward in 2006 and that there was an "overwhelming pool of evidence [of an] inappropriate, consensual sexual relationship [that] went on for a long period of time [with Haggard]... it wasn't a one-time act." Haggard's successor, Brady Boyd, said the church reached a six-figure settlement with the man, who was in his early 20s at the time. According to the man, the contact was "not consensual". Later reports indicated that the relationship did not involve physical contact, but that on one occasion Haggard masturbated in front of the young man. The man, Grant Haas, added that New Life Church paid him $179,000 for counseling and college tuition.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard openly admitted to an inappropriate relationship with Haas on CNN and in other media; when asked if he had had additional gay relationships that have been unreported, Haggard did not provide a direct answer.


title: Ted Haggard

text: On July 26, 2022 religionnews.com published an article on new allegations against Haggard. Stating "The most recent allegations were made by Kirk “Seth” Sethman, who was ordained as a minister by St. James Church in 2012. Sethman recorded the statements of two young adult men who said Haggard touched them inappropriately on several occasions at the church. One of them was a minor at the time the touching began in 2019. Sethman said he first approached church elders with allegations about Haggard in 2020."


title: Ted Haggard

text: In April 2007, the Haggard family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to start a restoration process. They attended Phoenix First Assembly of God Church, whose pastor, Tommy Barnett, was on Haggard's counseling team. Haggard reached an agreement with New Life Church on a severance package that would pay him through 2007; one of the conditions was that he had to leave the Colorado Springs area. His last reported income was $138,000, not including benefits. On February 6, 2008, the new pastor at New Life Church issued a press release announcing that Haggard had requested to leave the team created to "restore" him and that as Haggard's restoration was "incomplete," he was not welcome to return to vocational ministry at New Life.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In August 2007, Haggard released a statement asking for monetary donations to help support his family while he and his wife attended classes at the University of Phoenix. Questions surfaced about the tax-exempt group "Families With a Mission" to which Haggard had urged people to contribute. According to Haggard, the group would use 10% of donations for administrative costs and forward 90% to Haggard; however, the group was dissolved in February 2007, according to the Colorado Secretary of State. A few days after Haggard's initial email statement, his restoration team stepped in to say his statement was "inappropriate" and that "Haggard was a little ahead of himself." They indicated that Haggard would not be working at the Dream Center or in ministry of any kind and that they advised Haggard to seek secular employment to support himself and his family.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In June 2008, with the severance deal of the New Life Church at an end, Haggard was "free to live where he wanted" and returned to his Colorado Springs home. Also in June, an email surfaced in which Haggard admitted masturbating with Jones and taking drugs, as alleged in 2006. Kurt Serpe, who provided the email, said Haggard "craved sex, he was a sexaholic." In November 2008, Haggard said in guest sermons at an Illinois church that his actions had roots in sexual abuse by an adult when he was seven years old. He also agreed to appear in Alexandra Pelosi's HBO documentary about his sex scandal titled "The Trials of Ted Haggard", that premiered on HBO in January 2009. According to the documentary, Haggard had begun a new career selling insurance.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In January 2009, after the release of "The Trials of Ted Haggard," Haggard and wife Gayle appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "Larry King Live", "Good Morning America", and other national media programs to offer a public apology and confession for the issues that spurred his resignation. The couple also appeared on the syndicated television show "Divorce Court" in April 2009. On the program, Ted says he wanted his wife to divorce him after the scandal, saying that he thought he had become so "toxic" that divorce was best for Gayle and their children. On March 11, 2009, Haggard attended a performance in New York of "This Beautiful City", a play about him and the Colorado Springs evangelical community. In August 2009, Haggard told "Charisma" magazine: "I do not believe my childhood experience is an excuse. I fell into sin and failed to extract myself. I am responsible, and I have repented." He also extols the benefits of qualified counselors: "I highly recommend qualified Christian counseling... for anyone losing their fight with any kind of compulsive thoughts or behaviors. ... I believe our generation of believers is going to have to accept that it's not always lack of faith if we need counseling for assistance with integrity. If I had gone to counseling, I probably could have completely avoided my crisis."


title: Ted Haggard

text: "Newsweek"'s June 7, 2010, issue's "Back Story" listed Haggard among prominent conservative activists who have a record of supporting anti-gay legislation and are later caught in a gay sex scandal. In a July 2010 interview he gave to CNN, Haggard claimed that his feelings of sexual attraction to other men had miraculously disappeared. Haggard portrayed his encounter with the male prostitute as a massage that went awry.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In October 2009, the "Colorado Springs Independent" published the first extensive interview with Haggard to appear in the secular press since the 2006 scandal. Over the course of a 2½-hour interview, the former pastor talked about the scandal, his agreement never to return to New Life or the state of Colorado, suicidal ideas, and the prospect of starting a new church in Colorado Springs. "Back in the old days," said Haggard, "when somebody would get in trouble, they'd just need to move 40 or 50 miles, or a hundred miles, and they could start again. Not anymore. Which is one of the reasons why we needed to come home. Because I needed to finish this story from here."


title: Ted Haggard

text: On November 4, 2009, Haggard posted a message on his Twitter account announcing his intent to begin public prayer meetings in his Colorado Springs home. On December 7, he started holding the prayer meetings in his barn. On June 6, 2010, the first meeting of the new church, with Haggard as pastor, was held at the Haggard home.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In 2010, Haggard and his wife, Gayle, established the Saint James Church in Colorado Springs. In 2015 he became a Free Methodist Church elder, having previously been a minister in the Southern Baptist Convention. As of September 2018, Haggard continues to serve as founding pastor at St. James Church.


title: Ted Haggard

text: On April 1, 2022, Haggard sold the warehouse housing Saint James Church for $1.95 million according to the El Paso County, Colo., Assessors office. The sale came after new allegations surfaced about Haggard's alleged inappropriate relationships with boys in the church and more alleged drug use.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard founded a new church in his home in 2022 looking to capitalize on a trend of home-based micro churches.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard developed a concept he called "The Life-Giving Church", which amounted to his ministry practice. He believed that churches and their members either lived "in the Tree of Life" or "in the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil", referring to the two trees in the Garden of Eden (see Gen. 2:9). He wrote a book, "The Life-Giving Church," to expound on this difference, and said that motivations are the key difference between two types of Christians. "One way we can tell which tree we are living in," wrote Haggard, "is our response to sin... one of the greatest marks of bearing His [Christ's] character is our response to someone else's sin. If we handle others' mistakes with a life-giving attitude, then we (and they) have the opportunity to enjoy great power and freedom. But if we handle others' mistakes negatively, then we're eating from the wrong tree and will begin to die." Christians who live in the "tree of life," writes Haggard, "grow in their understanding of right and wrong, and they find great insight, wisdom, victory, and joy in the stream of Jesus' righteousness." Those who dwell in the opposite tree find and display "frustration, judgmental attitudes, and death."


title: Ted Haggard

text: In "The Life-Giving Church", Haggard sets forth bylaws he initiated that were meant to help other churches with forming their own bylaws. A significant part of the bylaws was a universal pay scale Haggard instituted for all pastoral staff. Including himself, all pastors at New Life Church were paid on the same scale so that the longer one was employed, the better the pay became.


title: Ted Haggard

text: A significant part of Haggard's ministry at New Life Church was based around an entrepreneurial leadership model, which is also covered in "The Life-Giving Church." Haggard felt that young and upcoming leaders of the church would bog down in "cumbersome systems" in their churches and decide to take their talents elsewhere, resulting in the church losing its "brightest and best future leaders". Rather than a top-down command and control hierarchy where Haggard made all the decisions and people fell in line, he instituted a free market concept that encouraged young leaders to debate the best ideas (even to the point of disagreeing with him) and pursue God-inspired dreams and visions in their own departments and beyond. In Haggard's book, "Primary Purpose", he explains that the normal leadership style that governments and many corporations use is top down, while the servant leadership model he teaches is the opposite. In a visual representation, Haggard uses an upside down triangle to illustrate this concept. The leader is at the bottom and the people to be served are on top. This "Philippians 2 Attitude" comes from the scripture that states, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your interests, but also to the interests of others."


title: Ted Haggard

text: In 2005, Haggard was listed by "Time" magazine as one of the top 25 most influential evangelicals in America. Haggard was a firm supporter of former US President George W. Bush, and is sometimes credited with rallying evangelicals behind Bush during the 2004 election. Author Jeff Sharlet reported in 2005 that Haggard "talks to... Bush or his advisers every Monday" and stated at that time that "no pastor in America holds more sway over the political direction of evangelicalism."


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard has stated that fighting global warming is an important issue, a divisive issue among Evangelical leaders. Though he personally supported the Evangelical Climate Initiative, the NAE did not adopt a position.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In 2006, Haggard and his church supported Colorado Amendment 43 to the Colorado Constitution. It provided, "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state." Although Colorado law already defined marriage as being between a man and a woman, Haggard and other gay marriage opponents sought to enshrine the prohibition in the state constitution, so that the Colorado Supreme Court would not have the power to declare the statute unconstitutional. In the movie" Jesus Camp", Haggard says, "we don't have to debate about what we should think about homosexual activity. It's written in the Bible." Haggard initially opposed same-sex marriage, but supported civil unions for homosexual couples. He later came to support same-sex marriage as a civil institution, saying that while he still believes it is forbidden under Biblical law, he feels that "we need to be careful not to inculcate [biblical law] into civil law."


title: Ted Haggard

text: Under Haggard's leadership, the NAE released "For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility" in late 2004, "a document urging engagement in traditional culture war issues such as abortion and gay marriage but also poverty, education, taxes, welfare, and immigration". The NAE has stated that "homosexual activity, like adulterous relationships, is clearly condemned in the Scriptures."


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard has appeared on several broadcast network programs, including "Dateline NBC" and ABC's "20/20".


title: Ted Haggard

text: In early 2006, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins interviewed Haggard as part of a British television documentary entitled "The Root of All Evil?". He also appeared in the documentary "Jesus Camp" (2006), the History Channel documentary "The Antichrist", the documentary "Constantine's Sword" (2007), and the HBO documentary "Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi" (2007).


title: Ted Haggard

text: In 2009, Alexandra Pelosi made "The Trials of Ted Haggard", a film that documented Haggard's life in exile after the scandal. The film was aired on HBO, and it has been shown on HBO more than 40 times. "Trials" has received critical acclaim.


title: Ted Haggard

text: In 2012, Haggard appeared in the reality television show "Celebrity Wife Swap", where he "swapped wives" for one week with Gary Busey.


title: Ted Haggard

text: Haggard has been married to Gayle Alcorn since 1978. The couple have five children: Christy (1981), Marcus (1983, founder and former pastor of Boulder Street Church, Colorado Springs), Jonathan (1987), Alex (1990), and Elliott (1993).


title: Ted Haggard

text: In an interview published in the February 2011 issue of "GQ", Haggard said, "I think that probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual," adding that "Just like you're a heterosexual but you don't have sex with every woman that you're attracted to, so I can be who I am and exclusively have sex with my wife and be perfectly satisfied."


title: Varnish

text: Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various shades.


title: Varnish

text: Varnish is primarily used as a wood finish where, stained or not, the distinctive tones and grains in the wood are intended to be visible. Varnish finishes are naturally glossy, but satin/semi-gloss and flat sheens are available.


title: Varnish

text: The word "varnish" comes from Mediaeval Latin "vernix", meaning odorous resin, itself derived from Middle Greek "berōnikón" or "beroníkē", meaning amber or amber-colored glass. A false etymology traces the word to the Greek "Berenice", the ancient name of modern Benghazi in Libya, where the first varnishes in the Mediterranean area were supposedly used and where resins from the trees of now-vanished forests were sold.


title: Varnish

text: Early varnishes were developed by mixing resin—pine sap, for example—with a solvent and applying them with a brush to get the golden and hardened effect one sees in today's varnishes. Varnishing was a technique well known in ancient Egypt.


title: Varnish

text: Varnishing is also recorded in the history of East and South Asia; in India, China and Japan, where the practice of lacquer work, a species of varnish application, was known at a very early date. The Tang Chinese used medieval chemistry experiments to produce a varnish for clothes and weapons, employing complex chemical formulas applied to silk clothes of underwater divers, a cream designated for polishing bronze mirrors, and other formulas.


title: Varnish

text: Because of flammability concerns, many product containers list safety precautions for storage and disposal for varnishes and drying oils as they are flammable, and materials used to apply the varnishes may spontaneously combust. Many varnishes contain plant-derived oils (e.g. linseed oil), synthetic oils (e.g. polyurethanes) or resins as their binder in combination with organic solvents. These are flammable in their liquid state. All drying oils, certain alkyds (including paints), and many polyurethanes produce heat (an exothermic reaction) during the curing process. Thus, oil-soaked rags and paper can smolder and ignite into flames, even several hours after use if proper precautions are not taken. Therefore, many manufacturers list proper disposal practices for rags and other items used to apply the finish, such as disposal in a water filled container.


title: Varnish

text: Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent plus a metal drier to accelerate the drying. However, different types of varnish have different components. After being applied, the film-forming substances in varnishes either harden directly, as soon as the solvent has fully evaporated, or harden after evaporation of the solvent through curing processes, primarily chemical reaction between oils and oxygen from the air (autoxidation) and chemical reactions between components of the varnish.


title: Varnish

text: Resin varnishes dry by evaporation of the solvent and harden quickly on drying. Acrylic and waterborne varnishes dry by evaporation of the water but will experience an extended curing period for evaporation of organic solvents absorbed on the latex particles, and possibly chemical curing of the particles. Oil, polyurethane, and epoxy varnishes remain liquid even after evaporation of the solvent but quickly begin to cure, undergoing successive stages from liquid or syrupy, to tacky or sticky, to dry gummy, to dry to the touch, to hard.


title: Varnish

text: Environmental factors such as heat and humidity play a large role in the drying and curing times of varnishes. In classic varnish the cure rate depends on the type of oil used and, to some extent, on the ratio of oil to resin. The drying and curing time of all varnishes may be sped up by exposure to an energy source such as sunlight, ultraviolet light, or heat.


title: Varnish

text: There are many different types of drying oils, including linseed oil, tung oil, and walnut oil. These contain high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Drying oils cure through an exothermic reaction between the polyunsaturated portion of the oil and oxygen from the air. Originally, the term "varnish" referred to finishes that were made entirely of resin dissolved in suitable solvents, either ethanol (alcohol) or turpentine. The advantage to finishes in previous centuries was that resin varnishes had a very rapid cure rate compared to oils; in most cases they are cured practically as soon as the solvent has fully evaporated. By contrast, untreated or "raw" oils may take weeks or months to cure, depending on ambient temperature and other environmental factors. In modern terms, boiled or partially polymerized drying oils with added siccatives or dryers (chemical catalysts) have cure times of less than 24 hours. However, certain non-toxic by-products of the curing process are emitted from the oil film even after it is dry to the touch and over a considerable period of time. It has long been a tradition to combine drying oils with resins to obtain favourable features of both substances.


title: Varnish

text: Many different kinds of resins may be used to create a varnish. Natural resins used for varnish include amber, kauri gum, dammar, copal, rosin (colophony or pine resin), sandarac, balsam, elemi, mastic, and shellac. Varnish may also be created from synthetic resins such as acrylic, alkyd, or polyurethane. A varnish formula might not contain any added resins at all since drying oils can produce a varnish effect by themselves.


title: Varnish

text: Originally, turpentine or alcohol was used to dissolve the resin and thin the drying oils. The invention of petroleum distillates has led to turpentine substitutes such as white spirit, paint thinner, and mineral spirit. Modern synthetic varnishes may be formulated with water instead of hydrocarbon solvents.


title: Varnish

text: Violin varnishing is a multi-step process involving some or all of the following: primer, sealer, ground, color coats, and clear topcoat. Some systems use a drying oil varnish as described below, while others use spirit varnish made of resin(s) dissolved in alcohol. Touchup in repair or restoration is only done with solvent based varnish.


title: Varnish

text: Drying oil such as walnut oil or linseed oil may be used in combination with amber, copal, rosin or other resins. Traditionally the oil is prepared by cooking or exposure to air and sunlight, but modern stand oil is prepared by heating oil at high temperature without oxygen. The refined resin is sometimes available as a translucent solid and is then "run" by cooking or melting it in a pot over heat without solvents. The thickened oil and prepared resin are then cooked together and thinned with turpentine (away from open flame) into a brushable solution. The ingredients and processes of violin varnish are very diverse, with some highly regarded old examples showing defects (e.g. cracking, crazing) associated with incompatible varnish components.


title: Varnish

text: Some violin finishing systems use vernice bianca (egg white and gum arabic) as a sealer or ground. There is also evidence that finely powdered minerals, possibly volcanic ash, were used in some grounds. Some violins made in the late 18th century used ox blood to create a very deep-red coloration. Today this varnish would have faded and currently be a very warm, dark orange.


title: Varnish

text: Most resin or gum varnishes consist of a natural, plant- or insect-derived substance dissolved in a solvent, called "spirit varnish" or "solvent varnish." The solvent may be alcohol, turpentine, or petroleum-based. Some resins are soluble in both alcohol and turpentine. Generally, petroleum solvents, i.e. mineral spirits or paint thinner, can substitute for turpentine. The resins include amber, dammar, copal, rosin, sandarac, elemi, benzoin, mastic, balsam, shellac, and a multitude of lacquers.


title: Varnish

text: Synthetic resins such as phenolic resin may be employed as a secondary component in certain varnishes and paints.


title: Varnish

text: Over centuries, many recipes were developed which involved the combination of resins, oils, and other ingredients such as certain waxes. These were believed to impart special tonal qualities to musical instruments and thus were sometimes carefully guarded secrets. The interaction of different ingredients is difficult to predict or reproduce, so expert finishers were often prized professionals.


title: Varnish

text: Shellac is a very widely used single-component resin varnish that is alcohol-soluble. It is not used for outdoor surfaces or where it will come into repeated contact with water, such as around a sink or bathtub. The source of shellac resin is a brittle or flaky secretion of the female lac insect, "Kerria lacca", found in the forests of Assam and Thailand and harvested from the bark of the trees where she deposits it to provide a sticky hold on the trunk. Shellac is the basis of French polish, which for centuries has been the preferred finish for fine furniture. Specified "dewaxed" shellac has been processed to remove the waxy substances from original shellac and can be used as a primer and sanding-sealer substrate for other finishes such as polyurethanes, alkyds, oils, and acrylics.