title: Batanes

text: The island group is located approximately north of the Luzon mainland and about south of Taiwan (Pingtung County), separated from the Babuyan Islands of Cagayan Province by the Balintang Channel, and from Taiwan by the Bashi Channel. The entire province is listed in the UNESCO tentative list for inscription in the World Heritage List. The government has been finalizing the site's inscription, establishing museums and conservation programs since 2001. Seven intangible heritage elements of the Ivatan have been set by the Philippine government in its initial inventory in 2012. The elements are undergoing a process to be included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.


title: Batanes

text: The ancestors of today's Ivatans descended from Austronesians who migrated to the islands 4,000 years ago during the Neolithic period. They lived in fortified mountain areas called "idjangs" and drank sugar-cane wine, or "palek". They also used gold as currency and produced a thriving agriculture-based industry. They were also seafarers and boat-builders. Batanes was a major site for the Maritime Jade Road, one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world, operating for 3,000 years from 2000 BCE to 1000 CE.


title: Batanes

text: In 1687, a crew of English freebooters headed by the slaver William Dampier came with a Dutch crew and named the islands in honour of their country's nobility. Itbayat was named "Orange Isle" after William of Orange, and Batan was named "Grafton Isle" after Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton. Sabtang Isle was named "Monmouth Isle" after James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. Capt. Dampier stayed for less than three months, and did not claim the islands for the British crown.


title: Batanes

text: In 1783, the Spanish claimed Batanes as part of the Philippines under the auspices of Governor-General José Basco y Vargas. The Bashi Channel was increasingly used by English East India Company ships and the Spanish authorities brought the islands under their direct administration to prevent them falling under British control. The Ivatan remained on their "idjang" castle-fortresses for some time. In 1790, Governor Guerrero decreed that Ivatans were to live in the lowlands and leave their remote "idjang". The mangpus, or indigenous Ivatan leaders, headed by the Ivatan hero Aman Dangat, revolted against the Spanish invaders. Using guns, the Spanish ended the revolution, killing various Ivatan leaders, which included the murder of Aman Dangat. Basco and Ivana were the first towns established under full Spanish control. Mahatao was then administered by Basco, while Uyugan and Sabtang, by Ivana. Itbayat was not organized until the 1850s, its coast being a ridge. Soon, Ilocanos came to the islands and integrated with the local population. Roads, ports, bridges, churches and government buildings were built in this time. Limestone technology used by the Spanish was also spread to the islands, making bridges strong and fortified. Some of these bridges still remain at Ivana and Mahatao. By 1890, many Ivatans were in Manila, and became "ilustrados", who then brought home with them the revolutionary ideas of the Katipunan. These Ivatans, who were then discontented with Spanish rule, killed the ruling General Fortea and declared the end of Spanish rule.


title: Batanes

text: Toward the end of the Spanish administration, Batanes was made a part of Cagayan. In 1909, the new American authorities organized it into an independent province. During the American colonial period, additional public schools were constructed and more Ivatan became aware of their place in the Philippines. In 1920, the first wireless telegraph was installed, followed by an airfield in 1930. New roads were constructed and the Batanes High School was instituted.


title: Batanes

text: Because of their strategic location, the islands was one of the first points occupied by invading Japanese imperial forces at the outbreak of the Pacific War. The morning of December 8, 1941, the Batan Task Force from Taiwan landed on the Batan Islands, which became the first American territory occupied by the Japanese. The purpose of the invasion was to secure the existing small airfield outside Basco, which was accomplished without resistance. Japanese fighters from Basco took part in the raid on Clark Air Base the following day. However, over the next several days, the success of the Japanese bombing of Clark Field rendered a base at Basco unnecessary, and on December 10, 1941, the naval combat force was withdrawn to participate in the invasion of Camiguin.


title: Batanes

text: One of the first School Superintendents on Batan was Victor de Padua, an Ilocano, who in 1942–45 during the Japanese occupation was made Provincial Governor. Early in 1945 the island was liberated by the Philippine Commonwealth forces of the 1st and 12th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army. In 1984, Pacita Abad, the foremost Ivatan visual artist, became the first woman to be awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award, breaking 25 years of male dominance. In her acceptance speech, she said, "it was long overdue that Filipina women were recognized, as the Philippines was full of outstanding women" and referred proudly to her mother.


title: Batanes

text: In 1993, the Batanes Protected Landscape and Seascape, which encompassed the entire province, was listed in the Tentative List of the Philippines for UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription in the future. In 1997, the Indigenous Peoples Rights act or IPRA was passed in Philippine Congress. The law paved the way for the indigenous territorial rights of the Ivatans. The province has since promoted its Ivatan roots. Part of the Ilocano population has returned to mainland Luzon. On December 7, 2004, Pacita Abad died after finishing her last international art work while suffering from cancer.


title: Batanes

text: The province has a total area of comprising ten islands situated within the Luzon Strait between the Balintang Channel and Taiwan. The islands are sparsely populated and subject to frequent typhoons. The three largest islands, Batan, Itbayat, and Sabtang, are the only inhabited islands.


title: Batanes

text: The northernmost island in the province, also the northernmost land in the entire Philippines, is Mavulis (or Y'ami) Island. Other islands in the chain are Misanga (or North), Ditarem, Siayan, Diogo (or Dinem), Ivuhos, and Dequey. The islands are part of the Luzon Volcanic Arc.


title: Batanes

text: Almost one-half of Batanes is hills and mountains. Batan Island is generally mountainous on the north and southeast. It has a basin in the interior. Itbayat Island slopes gradually to the west, being mountainous and hilly along its northern, eastern coast. As for Sabtang, mountains cover the central part, making the island slope outward to the coast.


title: Batanes

text: The islands are situated between the vast expanse of the waters of Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel, where the Pacific Ocean merges with the China Sea. The area is a sea lane between the Philippines and Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is rich with marine resources, including the rarest sea corals in the world.


title: Batanes

text: The province is hilly and mountainous, with only 1,631.5 hectares or 7.1% of its area level to undulating, and 78.2% or 17,994.4 hectares varying from rolling to steep and very steep. Forty-two percent (42%) or 9,734.40 hectares are steep to very steep land. Because of the terrain of the province, drainage is good and prolonged flooding is non-existent. The main island of Batan has the largest share of level and nearly level lands, followed by Itbayat and Sabtang, respectively. Itbayat has gently rolling hills and nearly level areas on semi-plateaus surrounded by continuous massive cliffs rising from above sea level, with no shorelines. Sabtang has its small flat areas spread sporadically on its coasts, while its interior is dominated by steep mountains and deep canyons. Batan Island and Sabtang have intermittent stretches of sandy beaches and rocky shorelines.


title: Batanes

text: The terrain of the province, while picturesque at almost every turn, has limited the potential for expansion of agriculture in an already very small province.


title: Batanes

text: Batanes has a tropical climate (Köppen climate classification "Am"). The average yearly temperature is , and the average monthly temperature ranges from in January to in July, similar to that of Southern Taiwan. Precipitation is abundant throughout the year; the rainiest month is August while the driest month is April. November to February are the coldest months. There is a misconception that Batanes is constantly battered by typhoons. Batanes is mentioned frequently in connection with typhoons, because it holds the northernmost weather station in the Philippines, thus, it is also a reference point for all typhoons that enter the Philippine area; however, in September 2016, Typhoon Meranti impacted the entire province, including a landfall on Itbayat.


title: Batanes

text: The 6 municipalities of the province comprise a total of 29 barangays, with "Ihuvok II" in Basco as the most populous in 2010, and "Nakanmuan" in Sabtang as the least.


title: Batanes

text: The natives are called Ivatans and share prehistoric cultural and linguistic commonalities with the Babuyan on Babuyan Island and the Tao people of Orchid Island.


title: Batanes

text: This divided homeland is a result of the Dutch invasion of Taiwan in 1624 (Dutch Formosa) and Spanish invasion in 1626 (Spanish Formosa). The northern half of the Ivatan homeland, Formosa and Orchid Island which were formally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, fell to the Dutch who were in turn expelled in 1662 by forces of the Chinese Southern Ming dynasty, led by the Chinese pirate Koxinga who then set himself up as The King of Taiwan.


title: Batanes

text: The southern half of the Ivatan homeland, the islands of Batanes, was reinforced and fortified by Spanish refugees from Formosa before being formally joined in the 18th century with the Spanish government in Manila.


title: Batanes

text: The main languages spoken in Batanes are Ivatan, which is spoken on the islands of Batan and Sabtang; Itbayaten, which is spoken primarily on the island of Itbayat. The Ivatan which is dominant in the province is considered to be one of the Austronesian languages. From college level down to elementary level, the language is widely spoken. The Ivatans widely speak and understand the Ilocano ("lingua franca" of northern Luzon), Tagalog, and English languages.


title: Batanes

text: The large majority (94%) of the island's people adhere to Roman Catholicism. The remaining faiths are other Christian Churches.


title: Batanes

text: An extensive survey of the ecology of Batanes provided the scientific basis for confirming the need for a national park in Batanes protecting the Batanes protected landscapes and seascapes, proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, submitted on August 15, 1993. An effort is underway to declare the whole province, along with the sugar central sites in Negros, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: Batanes

text: The province is the home of the unique conifer species "Podocarpus costalis". Although it is reportedly growing in some other places such as coasts of Luzon, Catanduanes and even Taiwan, full blossoming and fruiting are observed only in Batanes. Its fruiting capacity on the island remains a mystery but is likely due to several factors such as climate, soil and type of substratum of the island.


title: Batanes

text: Several species of birds, bats, reptiles and amphibians also inhabit the island; many of those are endemic to the Philippines. The island is also a sanctuary of different migratory birds during winter in the Northern Hemisphere.


title: Batanes

text: About 75% of the Ivatans are farmers and fishermen. The rest are employed in the government and services sector. Garlic and cattle are major cash crops. Ivatans also plant "camote" (sweet potato), cassava, "gabi" or tuber and a unique variety of white uvi. Sugarcane is raised to produce "palek", a kind of native wine, and vinegar.


title: Batanes

text: In recent years, fish catch has declined due to the absence of technical know-how. Employment opportunities are scarce. Most of the educated Ivatans have migrated to urban centers or have gone abroad.


title: Batanes

text: Distance and bad weather work against its economic growth. Certain commodities like rice, soft drinks, and gasoline carry a 75% to 100% mark-up over Manila retail prices.


title: Batanes

text: The island province of Batanes is accessible by air via the Basco Airport and Itbayat Airport. There are 3 flights per week from Manila by SkyJetAir, and from Tuguegarao (Cagayan) by small local airliners (as of January 2013). PAL Express flies to Batanes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since May 1, 2013.


title: Batanes

text: The Ivatan people of Batanes are one of the most egalitarian societies in the Philippines. The prime motivator of the cultural values of the Ivatans are imbibed in their pre-colonial belief systems of respecting nature and all people. The Ivatans, both the older and younger generations, have one of the highest incidences of social acceptance to minority groups in the country. The Ivatans also have a high respect for the elderly and the prowess of natural phenomena such as waves, sea breeze, lightning, thunders, earthquakes, and wildlife congregations. Discriminating someone based on skin color, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and traditions on nature is unacceptable in Ivatan values. Land grabbing is also a grave crime in Ivatan societies, making ancestral domain certification an important part of Ivatan jurisprudence since the enactment of the IPRA Law.


title: Batanes

text: In 2012, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the ICHCAP of UNESCO published "Pinagmulan: Enumeration from the Philippine Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage". The first edition of the UNESCO-backed book included (1) "Laji", (2) "Kapayvanuvanuwa Fishing Ritual", (3) "Kapangdeng Ritual", (4) "Traditional Boats in Batanes", (5) "Sinadumparan Ivatan House Types", (6) "Ivatan Basketry", and (7) "Ivatan (Salakot) Hat Weaving", signifying their great importance to Philippine intangible cultural heritage. The local government of Batanes, in cooperation with the NCCA, is given the right to nominate the 7 distinct elements into the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.


title: Bochum

text: Bochum ( , , ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the 16th largest city of Germany. On the Ruhr Heights ("Ruhrhöhen") hill chain, between the rivers Ruhr to the south and Emscher to the north (tributaries of the Rhine), it is the second largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, and the fourth largest city of the Ruhr after Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg. It lies at the centre of the Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area, in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, and belongs to the region of Arnsberg. Bochum is the sixth largest and one of the southernmost cities in the Low German dialect area. There are nine institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the Ruhr University Bochum ("Ruhr-Universität Bochum"), one of the ten largest universities in Germany, and the Bochum University of Applied Sciences ("Hochschule Bochum").


title: Bochum

text: The city lies on the low rolling hills of Bochum land ridge (Bochumer Landrücken), part of the Ruhrhöhen (highest elevations) between the Ruhr and Emscher rivers at the border of the southern and northern Ruhr coal region. The highest point of the city is at Kemnader Straße (Kemnader Street) in Stiepel at above sea level; the lowest point is at the Blumenkamp in Hordel.


title: Bochum

text: The terrain of Bochum is characterised by rolling hills that rarely have more than three per cent graduation. Steeper graduation can be found at the Harpener Hellweg near the Berghofer Holz nature reserve (3.4%), at Westenfelder Straße in the borough of Wattenscheid (3.47%), or at Kemnader Straße, which begins at the banks of the Ruhr in Stiepel (), and rises to its highest point in the centre of Stiepel (, a 5.1% increase).


title: Bochum

text: It is surrounded by the cities of (in clockwise direction) Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten, Hattingen, Essen and Gelsenkirchen.


title: Bochum

text: There is sedimentary rock of carbon and chalk. The geological strata can be visited in the former quarry of Klosterbusch and at the Geological Gardens.


title: Bochum

text: The urban area is divided into the river Ruhr catchment in the south and the Emscher catchment in the north. The Ruhr's tributaries are the Oelbach (where as well a waste water treatment plant is established), Gerther Mühlenbach, Harpener Bach, Langendreer Bach, Lottenbach, Hörsterholzer Bach and the Knöselbach. The Ruhr in combination with upstream reservoirs is also used for drinking water abstraction. The Emscher's tributaries are Hüller Bach with Dorneburger Mühlenbach, Hofsteder Bach, Marbach, Ahbach, Kabeisemannsbach and Goldhammer Bach. The industrial developments in the region since the 19th century were leading to a kind of division of labour between the two river catchments, pumping drinking water from the Ruhr into the municipal supply system and discharging waste water mainly into the Emscher system. Today approximately 10% of the waste water in the Emscher catchment is discharged via the Hüller Bach. and treated in the centralized waste water treatment plant of the Emschergenossenschaft in Bottrop. The ecological restoration of the Emscher tributaries initiated by the Emschergenossenschaft started with the Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park in 1989.


title: Bochum

text: The south of the city has woods, the best known of which are the . These are generally mixed forests of oak and beech. The occurrence of holly gives evidence of Bochum's temperate climate. 844 species of plants can be found within the city limts


title: Bochum

text: Bochum features an Oceanic climate (Köppen-Geiger classification Cfb) characterized by cool winters and short warm summers. Extreme temperatures are uncommon. However, temperatures rising above 30 °C (86 °F) are to be expected on multiple days in summer and the climate station closest to the City did record a peak temperature of 40 °C (104 °F) on July 25, 2019.


title: Bochum

text: On the other extreme, freezing temperatures are common between mid-November and late March. In some years, however, frosts may occur as late as early May. Temperatures below −10 °C are, especially in recent years, only seen on rare occasions. The city lies within the warmer extent of the 8a USDA plant hardiness zone (−12.2 to −9.4 °C or 10 to 15 °F). Some winters may pass without a frost below −5 °C (data from the nearest active climate station). These comparably mild conditions in Winter permit the planting of plants that would either not be reliably hardy or not able to bloom throughout Germany like "Trachycarpus" palms, Summer lilac, "Paulownia tomentosa" and Rosemary.


title: Bochum

text: However, winters can be unpredictable with strong fluctuations in temperatures: In mid-February 2021, the city was affected by a severe cold spell bringing temperatures down to –15 degrees Celsius (5 °F) accompanied by heavy snowfall which hindered traffic for multiple days. A week later, a temperature of 17 °C (63 °F) was recorded, an increase of 32°K.


title: Bochum

text: The total precipitation of 815mm is distributed relatively even throughout most the year but has a peak in winter and two minima in late spring and July, respectively. June shows a second peak in precipitation due to the return of the westerlies which leads to more thunderstorms being generated along frontal boundaries of atlantic low-pressure systems. In recent years, the city was affected by summer and spring droughts. Thunderstorms are not uncommon in the warm season and can generate intense downpours and sporadically hail.


title: Bochum

text: The city experiences little sunshine in winter with a minimum of 1,3h per day in December and a lot more in early summer and late spring with May featuring 7,5h per day. The total amount of sunshine per year is 1689h.


title: Bochum

text: Due to the cities northern latitude of 51°N, seasonal daylength variation is significant. The longest day of the year, June 21, features 16 h 38 min. of daylight while the shortest day of the year which is December 21 is only 7 h and 50 min. long.


title: Bochum

text: Bochum is divided into six administrative districts with a total of 362,213 inhabitants living in an urban area of .


title: Bochum

text: The current Mayor of Bochum is Thomas Eiskirch of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020.


title: Bochum

text: The Bochum city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:


title: Bochum

text: Bochum dates from the 9th century, when Charlemagne set up a royal court at the junction of two important trade routes. It was first officially mentioned in 1041 as "Cofbuokheim" in a document of the archbishops of Cologne. In 1321, Count Engelbert II von der Marck granted Bochum a town charter, but the town remained insignificant until the 19th century, when the coal mining and steel industries emerged in the Ruhr area, leading to the growth of the entire region. In the early 19th century it was part of the Grand Duchy of Berg, a client state of France, then it passed to Prussia following the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, and in 1871 it became part of the German Empire. The population of Bochum increased from about 4,500 in 1850 to 100,000 in 1904. Bochum acquired city status, incorporating neighbouring towns and villages. Additional population gains came from immigration, primarily from Poland. Bochum was the main center of the Polish community of the Ruhr, being the seat of various Polish organizations and enterprises. The Poles were subjected to anti-Polish policies aimed at Germanisation, and the Central Office for Monitoring the Polish Movement in the Rhine-Westphalian Industrial District ("Zentralstelle fur Uberwachung der Polenbewegung im Rheinisch-Westfalischen Industriebezirke") was established by the German authorities in Bochum in 1909.


title: Bochum

text: On 28 October 1938, 250 Polish or stateless Jews were expelled from Bochum to Poland. On 9 November 1938, Kristallnacht, the Bochum synagogue was set on fire and there was rioting against Jewish citizens. The first Jews from Bochum were deported to Nazi concentration camps and many Jewish institutions and homes were destroyed. Some 500 Jewish citizens are known by name to have been killed in the Holocaust, including 19 who were younger than 16 years old. Joseph Klirsfeld was Bochum's rabbi at this time. He and his wife fled to Palestine. In December 1938, the Jewish elementary school teacher Else Hirsch began organising groups of children and adolescents to be sent to the Netherlands and England, sending ten groups in all. Many Jewish children and those from other persecuted groups were taken in by Dutch families and thereby saved from abduction or deportation and death.


title: Bochum

text: On 15 July 1939, the Gestapo entered the headquarters of the Union of Poles in Germany in Bochum, searched it and interrogated its chief Michał Wesołowski, however, it did not obtain the desired lists of Polish activists, which had been previously hidden by Poles. Increased Nazi terror and persecutions of Poles followed, and in response, many Poles from the region came to Bochum for organizational and information meetings. During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the Nazis carried out mass arrests of local Polish activists, who were then sent to concentration camps. Local Polish premises and seats of organizations were looted and expropriated by Nazi Germany.


title: Bochum

text: During the war, Germany operated a prison in the city with three forced labour subcamps within present-day city limits, an additional detention center, a camp for Romani people in the present-day Wattenscheid district, and three subcamps of the Buchenwald concentration camp. A report from July 1943 listed 100 forced labour camps in Bochum.


title: Bochum

text: Because the Ruhr region was an area of high residential density and a centre for the manufacture of weapons, it was a major target in the war. Women with young children, school children and the homeless fled or were evacuated to safer areas, leaving cities largely deserted to the arms industry, coal mines and steel plants and those unable to leave.


title: Bochum

text: During the Holocaust, in 1942–1943, local Jews were deported to German-occupied Czechoslovakia, Latvia and Poland.


title: Bochum

text: Bochum was first bombed heavily in May and June 1943. On 13 May 1943, the city hall was hit, destroying the top floor, and leaving the next two floors in flames. On 4 November 1944, in an attack involving 700 British bombers, the steel plant, Bochumer Verein, was hit. One of the largest steel plants in Germany, more than 10,000 high-explosive and 130,000 incendiary bombs were stored there, setting off a conflagration that destroyed the surrounding neighbourhoods. An aerial photo shows the devastation.


title: Bochum

text: The town centre of Bochum was a strategic target during the Oil Campaign. In 150 air raids on Bochum, over 1,300 bombs were dropped on Bochum and Gelsenkirchen. By the end of the war, 38% of Bochum had been destroyed. 70,000 citizens were homeless and at least 4,095 dead. Of Bochum's more than 90,000 homes, only 25,000 remained for the 170,000 citizens who survived the war, many by fleeing to other areas. Most of the remaining buildings were damaged, many with only one usable room. Only 1,000 houses in Bochum remained undamaged after the war. Only two of 122 schools remained unscathed; others were totally destroyed. Hunger was rampant. A resident of neighbouring Essen was quoted on 23 April 1945 as saying, "Today, I used up my last potato... it will be a difficult time till the new [autumn] potatoes are ready to be picked – if they're not stolen."


title: Bochum

text: The US army ground advance into Germany reached Bochum in April 1945. Encountering desultory resistance, the US 79th Infantry Division captured the city on 10 April 1945.


title: Bochum

text: After the war, Bochum was occupied by the British, who established two camps to house people displaced by the war. The majority of them were former Polish "Zwangsarbeiter", forced labourers, many of them from the Bochumer Verein.


title: Bochum

text: Allied bombing destroyed 83% of the built up area of Bochum during World War II. More than sixty years after the war, bombs continue to be found in the region, usually by construction workers. One found in October 2008 in Bochum town centre led to the evacuation of 400 and involved hundreds of emergency workers. A month earlier, a buried bomb exploded in neighbouring Hattingen, injuring 17 people.


title: Bochum

text: After the war, Bochum was part of West Germany and the newly established state of North Rhine-Westphalia, consisting of the Rhineland and Westphalia.


title: Bochum

text: In the postwar period, Bochum began developing as a cultural centre of the Ruhr area. In 1965, the Ruhr University was opened, the first modern university in the Ruhr area and the first to be founded in Germany since World War II. Since the seventies, Bochum's industry has moved from heavy industry to the service sector. Between 1960 and 1980, the coal mines all closed. Other industries, such as automotive, compensated for the loss of jobs. The Opel Astra was assembled at the Opel Bochum plant; however, by 2009, the factory was in serious financial difficulties and in December 2012, Opel announced that it would stop vehicle production at the Bochum plant in 2016.


title: Bochum

text: In the course of a comprehensive community reform in 1975, Wattenscheid, a formerly independent city, was integrated into the city of Bochum. A local referendum against the integration failed. In 2007, the new synagogue of the Jewish community of Bochum, Herne und Hattingen was opened. In 2008, Nokia closed down its production plant, causing the loss of thousands of jobs, both at the plant and at local suppliers. 20,000 people showed up to protest against the closing. Within months, the Canadian high-tech company, Research in Motion, announced plans to open a research facility, its first outside Canada, adding several hundred jobs.


title: Bochum

text: Bochum has a municipal zoo, a large municipal park and a number of other gardens and parks. The Ruhr University Botanical Gardens has thousands of plants from all over the world. Among others there is a tropical garden, a cactus garden, and a Chinese garden designed in the southern Chinese style, the only one of its kind in Germany.


title: Bochum

text: The Geological Garden was the first of its kind in Germany. The nearly park is the site of an old coal mine, the Zeche Friederika, which operated from 1750 to 1907. In 1962, the property came under environmental protection and a decade later was turned into a geological garden.


title: Bochum

text: Other scenic areas include the West Park, Lake Kemnade, Lake Ümmingen and the municipal forest, Weitmarer Holz.


title: Bochum

text: Bochum is a cultural centre of the Ruhr region. There is a municipal theatre, the Schauspielhaus Bochum, and about 20 smaller theatres and stages. The musical "Starlight Express", which opened in 1988, is the longest-running musical in Germany.


title: Bochum

text: The Bermudadreieck (Bermuda Triangle), in the city center of Bochum, functions as the town's nightlife hub. Around sixty different bars and restaurants are located there, serving multicultural cuisine such as Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Spanish and German gastronomic specialties. Close to the Bermudadreieck is the Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr, opened in 2016.


title: Bochum

text: Bochum is connected to the Autobahn network by the A 40, A 43 and A 44 autobahns. In addition, Bochum has a ring road, built to expressway standards, consisting of four segments; the Donezk, Oviedo, Nordhausen and Sheffield-Ring roads. It serves as a three-quarter loop around central Bochum and begins and ends at Autobahn A40. Ruhr University Bochum is also served by an expressway running from the Nordhausen-Ring to Autobahn A43. Until 2012, a new interchange (Dreieck Bochum-West) between the Donezk-Ring and Autobahn A40 is being constructed within tight parameters due to the existence of a nearby factory.


title: Bochum

text: Apart from the autobahns and expressways, there is also a small ring road around the centre of Bochum, where most roads radiating out of Bochum begin. Most main roads in Bochum are multi-lane roads with traffic lights. Bochum is also served by the Bundesstraße 51 and Bundesstraße 226. B51 runs to Herne and Hattingen, and B226 runs to Gelsenkirchen and Witten.


title: Bochum

text: Bochum has a central station situated on the line from Duisburg to Dortmund, connecting the city to the long-distance network of Deutsche Bahn as well as to the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn network.


title: Bochum

text: Local service is supplied mainly by BOGESTRA, a joint venture handling transportation between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen. The Bochum Stadtbahn is a single underground line connecting the University of Bochum to Herne, and the Bochum/Gelsenkirchen tramway network is made up of several lines, partially underground, connecting to Gelsenkirchen, Hattingen and Witten. Public transport in the city is priced according to the fare system of the VRR transport association.


title: Bochum

text: As one of the few Ruhr area cities, Bochum is not directly connected with the German waterway net; the closest link is in the more northern located Herne at the Rhine-Herne Canal. In the south the border of Bochum is marked by the Ruhr. Up to the first half of the 19th century it was one of the most-travelled rivers in Europe and was mainly used for coal departure. Aside from cruise ships, it is no longer used for commercial navigation.


title: Bochum

text: The closest airports are Essen/Mülheim Airport (27 km), Dortmund Airport (31 km) and Düsseldorf Airport (47 km). To reach the airport in Düsseldorf, there are ICE, InterCity, RE and S railway lines. Other reachable airports are the Cologne Bonn Airport, the Weeze Airport, the Münster Osnabrück International Airport and the Paderborn Lippstadt Airport.


title: Bochum

text: In addition, there are 11 preparatory (British: grammar) schools ("Gymnasien"), 5 comprehensive schools ("Gesamtschulen"), 8 Realschulen and 2 private Waldorf schools.


title: Bochum

text: There is a major road in Bochum named Sheffield-Ring after its sister city Sheffield, England. There is also a long section of dual carriageway on the south-western edge of Sheffield, between the suburbs of Meadowhead and Gleadless, named Bochum Parkway.


title: Britain's Got Talent (series 15)

text: The fifteenth series of British talent competition programme "Britain's Got Talent" started on ITV from 16 April 2022 presented by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. The judges are the same as the previous series with Simon Cowell returning after missing the previous series live shows due to another electric bike accident where he was replaced by Ashley Banjo.


title: Britain's Got Talent (series 15)

text: The fifteenth series was won by stand-up comedian Axel Blake, with ventriloquist Jamie Leahey finishing in second place.


title: Britain's Got Talent (series 15)

text: The fifteenth series was planned for production and broadcast in 2021, yet ITV, Thames and Syco Entertainment were concerned on how to safely conduct filming in the midst of new Government restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in England. After initially deciding to postpone production until later in the year, all involved parties agreed that they would not produce a new series until the following year, when Government restrictions would be eased and conditions surrounding the pandemic would be favourable for large-scale television production. Auditions were filmed at the London Palladium in January 2022. The series commenced on ITV, on 16 April 2022. All four judges returned - Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams for their fifteenth, fifteenth, tenth and tenth series, respectively. This was Walliams's final series as a judge. Cowell returned after missing the live shows during the previous series due to a bicycle accident where he was replaced by Ashley Banjo who won the third series with Diversity.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: Sumela Monastery (, "Moní Panagías Soumelá"; , ) is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Theotokos located at "Karadağ" (Greek: "Sou Melá", meaning "Black Mountain") within the Pontic Mountains, in the Maçka district of Trabzon Province in modern Turkey.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: Nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of about facing the Altındere valley, it is a site of great historical and cultural significance, as well as a major tourist attraction within Altındere National Park. Due to an increase in rock falls, on 22 September 2015 the monastery was closed to the public for safety reasons for the duration of one year to resolve the problem; this was later extended to three years. It reopened to tourists 25 May 2019. The monastery is one of the most important historic and touristic venues in Trabzon.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: Soumela comes from the Greek 'Sou Melá', meaning "of black (mountain)" (as in the dark/black mountain).


title: Sumela Monastery

text: According to another etymological theory regarding the origin of the monastery's name, it comes from the Laz word "სუმელა" [sumela], which means "Trinity" in English.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: It is not known when the monastery was founded, but the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism places the date around AD 386, during the reign of the emperor Theodosius I (375–395). According to William Miller, two Athenian monks named Barnabas and Sophronios founded the monastery. It became famous for an icon of the Theotokos known as the "Panagia Gorgoepekoos", said to have been painted by the Apostle Luke.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: During its long history, the monastery fell into ruin several times and was restored by various emperors. During the 6th century, it was restored and enlarged by the Byzantine general Belisarius at the behest of emperor Justinian.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: It reached its present form in the 13th century after gaining prominence during the existence of the Empire of Trebizond. While the emperors Basil and John II had endowed the monastery richly, it was during the reign of Alexios III (1349–1390) that Sumela received its most important largess: according to legend, the young Alexios was saved from a storm by the Theotokos, and was bidden by her to restore the monastery. A chrysobull dated to 1365 confirms the freedom and autonomy of the monastery, together with all of its hereditary lands and dependents; exempts them from all taxes, except for one biannual tax; and restores to it the serfs whom the tax-collectors of Matzouka had illegally taken from it, listing 40 of the serfs by name. At that time, the monastery was granted an amount annually from imperial funds. During the time of Manuel III, son of Alexios III, and during the reigns of subsequent princes, Sumela gained further wealth from imperial grants.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: Following the conquest by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1461, it was granted the sultan's protection and given rights and privileges that were renewed by following sultans. The monastery remained a popular destination for monks and travelers through the years.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: In 1682 and for the following decades, the monastery housed the Phrontisterion of Trapezous, a well-known Greek educational institution of the region.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: Until the Russian occupation of Trabzon (1916–1918), the Sumela Monastery was active and was visited by monks and Christian and Muslim pilgrimages. In 1923, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and after the National War of Liberation, an independent Turkish Republic was founded by Ataturk. After 1923, the Sumela Monastery was abandoned following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey as laid down in the Treaty of Lausanne. In 1930, those who migrated founded a new monastery which they named as the new Panagia Sumela Monastery on the slopes of Mount Vermion, near the town of Naousa, in Macedonia, Greece. Some treasures from the old Sumela Monastery were carried to the new one in Greece.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: Due to a fire in 1930, the wooden parts of the Sumela Monastery were destroyed. In the following years, treasure hunters damaged and pillaged the other parts of the monastery.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: Today, the Sumela Monastery is a museum open to visitors. Restoration work is funded by the Government of Turkey. As of 2012, the Turkish government is funding reconstruction work, and the monastery is enjoying a revival in pilgrimage from Greece, Georgia and Russia. The monastery's primary function is as a tourist attraction. It overlooks forests and streams, making it popular for its aesthetics as well as its cultural and religious significance.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: On 15 August 2010, Orthodox divine liturgy was allowed to take place in the monastery compound. A special pass issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is required to visit on August 15, the day of the Dormition of the Theotokos or Feast of the Assumption, when a divine liturgy is held. Only 450 to 500 visitors are allowed inside the monastery, although widescreen televisions are available to observe the event at a nearby cafe.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: On 22 September 2015, the Monastery was closed to visitors for three years due to necessary restoration and field work. It reopened on May 18, 2019.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: In 2022, video footage showed modern music and dancing at the site. Amid outcry on the internet that the historic monastery was turned into a dance club, an explanation was given that this was done to promote tourism.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: The principal elements of the Monastery complex are the Rock Church, several chapels, kitchens, student rooms, a guesthouse, a library, and a sacred spring revered by Eastern Orthodox Christians.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: The large aqueduct at the entrance, which supplied water to the Monastery, is constructed against the side of the cliff. The aqueduct has many arches which have mostly been restored. The entrance to the Monastery leads up a long and narrow stairway. There is a guard-room next to the entrance. The stairs lead down from there to the inner courtyard. On the left, in front of a cave, there are several monastery buildings. The cave, which was converted into a church, constitutes the center of the monastery. The library is to the right.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: The large building with a balcony on the front part of the cliff was used for the monks' cells and for housing guests. It dates from 1840.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: The inner and outer walls of the Rock Church and the walls of the adjacent chapel are decorated with frescoes. Frescoes dating from the era of Alexios III of Trebizond line the inner wall of the Rock Church facing the courtyard. The frescoes of the chapel which were painted on three levels in three different periods are dated to the beginning of the 18th century. The frescoes of the bottom band are of superior quality.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: The frescoes of the monastery are seriously damaged due to vandalism. The main subject of the frescoes are biblical scenes telling the story of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.


title: Sumela Monastery

text: During the 2015–2017 restoration works, a secret tunnel was discovered which lead to a place which is believed to have served as a temple or chapel for Christians. Also, unseen frescoes were discovered depicting heaven and hell as well as life and death.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: Wesley Reid Scantlin (born June 9, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and only constant member of rock band Puddle of Mudd. He was named one of the "Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists" by "Hit Parader".


title: Wes Scantlin

text: Scantlin formed Puddle of Mudd in 1991. They released their debut EP "Stuck" in 1994, followed by a demo album called "Abrasive" in 1997. Four years later, the band added three new members and released their debut album "Come Clean". In 2003, they released their second album, "Life on Display". Their third album, "Famous", was released in 2007, followed by "" in 2009 and "Welcome to Galvania" in 2019.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: Scantlin sometimes tours with Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell, joining Cantrell in playing acoustic renditions of Alice in Chains songs. He was also one of the musicians who participated in Alice in Chains' reunion tsunami benefit show, and was one of many artists who worked with Carlos Santana on his album "All That I Am" for the song "Just Feel Better". The song was recorded twice with both Scantlin and Steven Tyler, but only Tyler's version appears on the album.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: Scantlin attended Park Hill High School in Kansas City. He has a son named Jordan (born 1997) from a previous relationship. He married Jessica Nicole Smith in January 2008. They divorced in May 2012.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: During an October 2017 show in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, Scantlin apologized to the audience for his on-and-offstage behaviour in previous years and admitted to struggling with addiction. He then announced his sobriety and began playing the song "Uh Oh", which he had previously written to address his problems.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: In March 2002, Scantlin and his then-fiancée, actress Michelle Rubin, were both arrested for allegations of domestic violence after witnesses reported seeing the couple fighting on the side of California's Highway 126 while on their way to a video shoot. Several witnesses reported seeing Scantlin forcing Rubin into a Jeep Cherokee driven by an unknown third person. Scantlin and Rubin were released after posting $20,000 bail each.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: During a February 22, 2004 show in Toledo, Ohio, Scantlin admitted to the audience that he was too intoxicated to continue after only four songs. Frustrated, his bandmates walked off.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: On September 24, 2007, Scantlin was banned from Graceland after entering an off-limits swimming pool.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: On December 11, 2011, Scantlin was pursued by the IRS for non-payment of back taxes in the region of $60,000.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: On April 4, 2012, Scantlin was arrested for cocaine possession, driving under the influence, and driving without a license in Culver City, California. He agreed to attend rehab to erase his potential five-year jail sentence. On September 4, he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct on a cross-country flight from Boston to Los Angeles. The plane had to make an emergency landing in Austin, Texas, where Scantlin was charged with public intoxication.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: In May 2013, Scantlin was arrested on domestic violence charges after he allegedly dragged ex-wife Jessica Nicole Smith and pulled her by the arm or shirt. In July, he was arrested on charges of felony vandalism after he used a buzzsaw to destroy property on his neighbor's patio.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: On January 4, 2014, Scantlin was sued by American Express for non-payment of debt. During a show at Trees Dallas on April 16, he threw a microphone and beer into the audience, as well as appearing to threaten and attempt to physically attack members of the audience. He also received criticism as he appeared to be lip-syncing during the performance.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: On January 16, 2015, Scantlin was arrested at Denver International Airport after taking a joyride on a baggage carousel and entering a restricted area. During a show on April 2, he smashed his guitar, headphones, and part of the drumkit before walking out. On April 15, he was arrested and charged for disorderly conduct at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. On July 26, he was arrested in the early morning after leading sheriff deputies on a high-speed chase in excess of 100 mph through Renville County, Minnesota. He faced a felony charge of fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and two gross misdemeanors of driving under the influence, but the charges were dropped. On August 5, he was arrested for driving under the influence in Sturgis, South Dakota.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: On January 10, 2016, Scantlin tried to re-enter the house he had lost via foreclosure the previous year, and was arrested for destroying property inside the residence. On April 2, he was arrested at his Los Angeles home. In February, during a concert in Northampton, Pennsylvania, Scantlin berated the sound manager and threatened to call the "Kansas City Mafia" on him before ending the show early. On August 16, he was caught drinking just before a flight to Louisville, Kentucky. He was removed from the flight and had to cancel a scheduled performance in Louisville. On August 23, Scantlin's neighbors called police after witnessing him rigging a fake bomb onto his vehicles in an attempt to deter thieves from entering them. The mock explosive, consisting of wires attached to the car motor and a gas tank, caused the bomb squad to be called and four surrounding buildings to be evacuated.


title: Wes Scantlin

text: On September 9, 2017, Scantlin was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after he tried to board a plane with a BB gun. His bail was set at $850,000.


title: In Plain Sight

text: In Plain Sight is an American drama television series that premiered on the USA Network on June 1, 2008. The series revolves around Mary Shannon (Mary McCormack), a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, office of the Federal Witness Security Program (WITSEC), more commonly known as the Federal Witness Protection Program. Shannon must find ways to balance her professional life of protecting witnesses, her professional relationship with her work partner, US Marshal Marshall Mann, and her problematic personal life. The show was filmed on location in Albuquerque. "In Plain Sight" concluded on May 4, 2012, after five seasons.


title: In Plain Sight

text: "In Plain Sight" was originally scheduled to premiere on Thursday, April 24, 2008, but USA Network held the series back when the WGA strike delayed production of the summer series "Burn Notice". It instead made its debut on Sunday, June 1, 2008. It was renewed on July 21, 2008, for a second season with a 16-episode run, which began April 19, 2009.


title: In Plain Sight

text: Then, following creative differences with Executive Producer David Maples, USA Network made the decision to use the season's 15th episode, the first part of a planned two-part season-ender, as the show's season finale. Series creator David Maples and co-producer Paul Stupin subsequently stepped down as executive producers at the end of season two, although they remained as consulting producers, and were replaced by John McNamara. Todd Williams and Lesley Ann Warren's roles were changed to guest stars, and a retooling of scriptwriting was designed to place greater emphasis on Mary's cases and less on her personal life, while retaining its character-driven storytelling. According to USA executive Jeff Wachtel, the shift in producers also reflects the network's desire that the show remain upbeat rather than overly dark.


title: In Plain Sight

text: "In Plain Sight" was renewed for a third season of 16 episodes on August 2, 2009. Although the previously planned 16th episode of season two was set to be the opening episode of season three, the episode was shelved and replaced by a new opening episode, written by new showrunner, John McNamara. The season was later reduced to 13 episodes when McNamara took a leave of absence for medical reasons. In a statement released exclusively to the Futon Critic, the producer of Universal Cable Productions said, "John Romano assumed executive producer responsibilities for the remaining episodes. Given the unexpected change, we decided to end the season at a natural spot—with the surprising cliffhanger of episode 13."


title: In Plain Sight

text: After the conclusion of season three, USA Network ordered two more seasons of "In Plain Sight" The fourth season premiered on May 1, 2011, in its original time slot. The fifth and final season began on March 16, 2012, and consisted of eight episodes. The series finale aired on May 4, 2012.


title: In Plain Sight

text: Jeff Beal composed the theme song for the series. W. G. Snuffy Walden composed the music for the first season, followed by Tree Adams for the second season. Evan Frankfort, Liz Phair, and Marc Dauer composed the music for the remainder of the series.


title: In Plain Sight

text: The pilot episode of "In Plain Sight" attracted 5.25 million viewers, making it USA Network's highest-rated series premiere since "Psych" in 2006. It also outperformed the previous summer's debut of "Burn Notice" by 32% and the network premiere of "" by 40%.


title: In Plain Sight

text: On March 31, 2009, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released season one of "In Plain Sight" on DVD in Region 1. Season two was released on DVD on March 9, 2010.


title: Pihla Viitala

text: Pihla Viitala (born 30 September 1982) is a Finnish actress. She studied acting at the Helsinki Theatre Academy.


title: Pihla Viitala

text: In 2004, Viitala married musician Kerkko Koskinen; the couple divorced in 2008. She married Kazakh-German Alex Schimpf in 2011, and the couple have one child together, daughter Astrid (b. 2012); the family lives in Helsinki.


title: First Hellenic Republic

text: The First Hellenic Republic () was the provisional Greek state during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. From 1822 until 1827, it was known as the Provisional Administration of Greece, and between 1827 and 1832, it was known as the Hellenic State.


title: First Hellenic Republic

text: "First Hellenic Republic" is a historiographical term. It is used by academics and the Greek government to emphasize the constitutional and democratic nature of the revolutionary regime prior to the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Greece, and associate this period of Greek history with the later Second and Third Republics.


title: First Hellenic Republic

text: In the first stages of the 1821 uprising, various areas elected their own regional governing councils. These were replaced by a central administration at the First National Assembly of Epidaurus in early 1822, which also adopted the first Greek Constitution, marking the birth of the modern Greek state. The councils continued in existence, however, and central authority was not firmly established until 1824/1825. The new state was not recognized by the Great Powers of the day, which, after initial successes, was threatened with collapse both from within due to civil war and from without through the victories of the Turco-Egyptian army of Ibrahim Pasha.


title: First Hellenic Republic

text: By 1827 the Greek revolution had almost been extinguished on the mainland, but by this time the Great Powers had come to agree to the formation of an autonomous Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty, as stipulated in the Treaty of London. Ottoman refusal to accept these terms led to the Battle of Navarino, which effectively secured complete Greek independence.


title: First Hellenic Republic

text: In 1827, the Third National Assembly at Troezen established the Hellenic State () and selected Count Ioannis Kapodistrias as Governor of Greece. Therefore, this period is often called Governorate (). After his arrival in Greece in January 1828, Kapodistrias actively tried to create a functional state and redress the problems of a war-ravaged country, but was soon embroiled in conflict with powerful local magnates and chieftains.


title: First Hellenic Republic

text: During the period of 1828–1830, the island of Samos was incorporated into the Republic as part of the Eastern Sporades province.


title: First Hellenic Republic

text: Kapodistrias was assassinated by political rivals in 1831, plunging the country into renewed civil strife. He was succeeded by his brother Augustinos, who was forced to resign after six months. The Fifth National Assembly at Nafplion drafted a new royal constitution, while the three "Protecting Powers" (Great Britain, France and Russia) intervened, declaring Greece a Kingdom in the London Conference of 1832, with the Bavarian Prince Otto of Wittelsbach as king.


title: Murderers' Row

text: Murderers' Row were the baseball teams of the New York Yankees in the late 1920s, widely considered some of the best teams in history. The nickname is in particular describing the first six hitters in the 1927 team lineup: Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri.


title: Murderers' Row

text: The term, which mimicked the name applied to a section of the Tombs prison in New York City, was applied to several different baseball teams before it became associated with the Babe Ruth-era Yankees. A 1905 newspaper article about the Yale baseball team notes that one of Yale's coaches, Billy Lush, who had been an outfielder with the Cleveland Naps the year before, was "a member of 'Murderer's Row,' as pitchers call the first six batters on the Cleveland list." The term was also used for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Athletics, and for some minor league and college teams. It was first applied to the Yankees in 1918, two years before Ruth joined the team.


title: Murderers' Row

text: The term was initially associated with the beginning of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Yankee teams in the mid-1920s, and is commonly recognized to refer specifically to the core of the 1927 Yankee hitting lineup.


title: Murderers' Row

text: Owner Jacob Ruppert is the man most often credited with building the team, although general manager Ed Barrow may have had as much to do with it. In a game of a July series against the Washington Senators, the Yankees beat their opponents 21–1, and prompted Senators' first baseman Joe Judge to say, "Those fellows not only beat you but they tear your heart out. I wish the season was over."


title: Murderers' Row

text: The 1927 season was particularly spectacular by baseball standards for the Yankees. After losing in the 1926 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, they went 110–44 the next year, winning the A.L. pennant by 19 games and sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1927 World Series. Only five teams have won more regular season games: the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners with 116, the 1998 Yankees with 114 and the 1954 Cleveland Indians and 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers with 111. However, the 1998 Yankees, 2001 Mariners, and 2022 Dodgers played eight more games. Both the Cubs and the Indians lost in the World Series, while the Mariners lost to the Yankees in the 2001 ALCS and the Dodgers lost to the Padres in the NLDS. The 1998 Yankees went 11–2 in the playoffs, sweeping the San Diego Padres in the World Series.


title: Murderers' Row

text: The 1927 Yankees batted .307, slugged .489, scored 975 runs, and outscored their opponents by a record 376 runs. Center fielder Earle Combs had a career best year, batting .356 with 231 hits, left fielder Bob Meusel batted .337 with 103 RBIs, and second baseman Tony Lazzeri drove in 102 runs. Gehrig batted .373, with 218 hits, 52 doubles, 18 triples, 47 home runs, a then record 175 RBIs, slugged at .765, and was voted A.L. MVP. Ruth amassed a .356 batting average, 164 RBIs, 158 runs scored, walked 137 times, and slugged .772. Most notably, his 60 home runs that year broke his own record and remained the Major League mark for 34 years until Roger Maris broke it by one with 61; however, just like the 1998 Yankees and 2001 Mariners, this was done in a 162-game schedule, a fact that Commissioner Ford Frick, a close friend of Ruth, wanted noted when the single-season home run record was to be referenced.


title: Murderers' Row

text: The 1927 Yankees pitching staff led the league in ERA at 3.20, and included Waite Hoyt, who went 22–7, which tied for the league lead in wins, and Herb Pennock, who went 19–8. Wilcy Moore won 16 as a reliever. Three other Yankee pitchers had ERAs under 3.00 that season.


title: Murderers' Row

text: After sweeping the Pirates in the Series, the Yankees repeated the feat by sweeping the Cardinals in the 1928 World Series. The Yankees remain the only team to ever sweep the World Series in consecutive years; the Yankee teams of 1938–1939 and 1998–1999 repeated the feat.


title: Murderers' Row

text: The 1927 Yankees would eventually send six players along with manager Miller Huggins and president Ed Barrow to the Baseball Hall of Fame. These were Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hoyt, Lazzeri, Combs, and Pennock. Only the 1928 Yankees had more, with nine players (including infielder Leo Durocher, inducted based on his subsequent managerial accomplishments) along with Huggins and Barrow.


title: Murderers' Row

text: The term "Murderers' Row" is commonly used as a descriptor for teams with formidable talent. It has also been used outside of sports, an example being the "Essex"-class carriers anchored at Ulithi Atoll, which were also known as Murderer's Row.


title: Murderers' Row

text: During the 2006 American League Division Series, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland referred to the 2006 Yankees as "Murderers' Row and Cano" since the entire lineup consisted of players such as Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and new second baseman Robinson Canó all of whom would have multiple All-Star game appearances over their careers. Despite Leyland's nomenclature, the team did not have the success of the original 1927 team as they were defeated by the Tigers in that series.


title: Murderers' Row

text: In 2016, ESPN announced "1927: The Diary of Myles Thomas". The core of the project is a historical novel in the form of a diary of Myles Thomas, written by Douglas Alden, published along the same timeline as the events unfolded almost 90 years ago. The project was an attempt to relive the 1927 season through Myles Thomas's diary entries, additional essays and real-time social-media components (including Twitter, etc). The diary runs the length of the full 1927 season, from April 13 through October 10, 1927.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: Manufacturing execution systems (MES) are computerized systems used in manufacturing to track and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods. MES provides information that helps manufacturing decision-makers understand how current conditions on the plant floor can be optimized to improve production output. MES works as real-time monitoring system to enable the control of multiple elements of the production process (e.g. inputs, personnel, machines and support services).


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: MES may operate across multiple function areas, for example management of product definitions across the product life-cycle, resource scheduling, order execution and dispatch, production analysis and downtime management for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), product quality, or materials track and trace. MES creates the "as-built" record, capturing the data, processes and outcomes of the manufacturing process. This can be especially important in regulated industries, such as food and beverage or pharmaceutical, where documentation and proof of processes, events and actions may be required.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: The idea of MES might be seen as an intermediate step between, on the one hand, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) or process control system on the other; although historically, exact boundaries have fluctuated. Industry groups such as MESA International - Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association - were created in the early 1990s to address the complexity, and advise on the execution of MES Systems.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: "Manufacturing Execution Systems [help] create flawless manufacturing processes and provide real-time feedback of requirement changes", and provide information at a single source. Other benefits from a successful MES implementation might include:


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: A wide variety of systems arose using collected data for a dedicated purpose. Further development of these systems during the 1990s introduced overlap in functionality. Then the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International (MESA) introduced some structure by defining 11 functions that set the scope of MES. In 2000, the ANSI/ISA-95 standard merged this model with the Purdue Reference Model (PRM).


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: A functional hierarchy was defined in which MES were situated at Level 3 between ERP at Level 4 and process control at Levels 0, 1, 2. With the publication of the third part of the standard in 2005, activities in Level 3 were divided over four main operations: production, quality, logistics and maintenance.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: Between 2005 and 2013, additional or revised parts of the ANSI/ISA-95 standard defined the architecture of an MES into more detail, covering how to internally distribute functionality and what information to exchange internally as well as externally.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: Over the years, international standards and models have refined the scope of such systems in terms of activities. These typically include:.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: The collection of systems acting on the ISA-95 Level 3 can be called manufacturing operations management systems (MOMS). Apart from an MES, there are typically laboratory information management system (LIMS), warehouse management system (WMS) and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). From the MES point of view possible information flows are:


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: Examples of systems acting on ISA-95 Level 4 are product lifecycle management (PLM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), human resource management (HRM), and process development execution system (PDES). From the MES point of view, possible information flows are:


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: In many cases, middleware enterprise application integration (EAI) systems are being used to exchange transaction messages between MES and Level 4 systems. A common data definition, B2MML, has been defined within the ISA-95 standard to link MES systems to these Level 4 systems.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: Systems acting on ISA-95 Level 2 are supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), programmable logic controllers (PLC), distributed control systems (DCS) and building automation systems (BAS). Information flows between MES and these process control systems are roughly similar:


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: Most MES systems include connectivity as part of their product offering. Direct communication of plant floor equipment data is established by connecting to the PLC. Often, plant floor data is first collected and diagnosed for real-time control in a DCS or SCADA system. In this case, the MES systems connect to these Level 2 systems for exchanging plant floor data.


title: Manufacturing execution system

text: Until recently, the industry standard for plant floor connectivity has been OLE for Process Control (OPC), but it is now moving to OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA); meaning that OPC-UA compatible systems will not necessarily run only on Microsoft Windows environment, but will also be able to run on Linux or other embedded systems, decreasing the cost of SCADA systems, and rendering them more open with robust security.


title: Posthuman

text: Posthuman or post-human is a concept originating in the fields of science fiction, futurology, contemporary art, and philosophy that means a person or entity that exists in a state beyond being human. The concept aims at addressing a variety of questions, including ethics and justice, language and trans-species communication, social systems, and the intellectual aspirations of interdisciplinarity.


title: Posthuman

text: Posthumanism is not to be confused with transhumanism (the biotechnological enhancement of human beings) and narrow definitions of the posthuman as the hoped-for transcendence of materiality. The notion of the posthuman comes up both in posthumanism as well as transhumanism, but it has a special meaning in each tradition. In 2017, Penn State University Press in cooperation with Stefan Lorenz Sorgner and James Hughes established the "Journal of Posthuman Studies", in which all aspects of the concept "posthuman" can be analysed.


title: Posthuman

text: In critical theory, the posthuman is a speculative being that represents or seeks to re-conceive the human. It is the object of posthumanist criticism, which critically questions humanism, a branch of humanist philosophy which claims that human nature is a universal state from which the human being emerges; human nature is autonomous, rational, capable of free will, and unified in itself as the apex of existence. Thus, the posthuman position recognizes imperfectability and disunity within oneself, and understands the world through heterogeneous perspectives while seeking to maintain intellectual rigor and dedication to objective observations. Key to this posthuman practice is the ability to fluidly change perspectives and manifest oneself through different identities. The posthuman, for critical theorists of the subject, has an emergent ontology rather than a stable one; in other words, the posthuman is not a singular, defined individual, but rather one who can "become" or embody different identities and understand the world from multiple, heterogeneous perspectives.


title: Posthuman

text: Approaches to posthumanism are not homogeneous, and have often been very critical. The term itself is contested, with one of the foremost authors associated with posthumanism, Manuel de Landa, decrying the term as "very silly." Covering the ideas of, for example, Robert Pepperell's "The Posthuman Condition", and Hayles's "How We Became Posthuman" under a single term is distinctly problematic due to these contradictions.


title: Posthuman

text: The posthuman is roughly synonymous with the "cyborg" of "A Cyborg Manifesto" by Donna Haraway. Haraway's conception of the cyborg is an ironic take on traditional conceptions of the cyborg that inverts the traditional trope of the cyborg whose presence questions the salient line between humans and robots. Haraway's cyborg is in many ways the "beta" version of the posthuman, as her cyborg theory prompted the issue to be taken up in critical theory. Following Haraway, Hayles, whose work grounds much of the critical posthuman discourse, asserts that liberal humanism—which separates the mind from the body and thus portrays the body as a "shell" or vehicle for the mind—becomes increasingly complicated in the late 20th and 21st centuries because information technology puts the human body in question. Hayles maintains that we must be conscious of information technology advancements while understanding information as "disembodied," that is, something which cannot fundamentally replace the human body but can only be incorporated into it and human life practices.


title: Posthuman

text: This body of work outlines the after-effects of long-term adaptation to cyborg technologies and their subsequent removal, e.g., what happens after 20 years of constantly wearing computer-mediating eyeglass technologies and subsequently removing them, and of long-term adaptation to virtual worlds followed by return to "reality." and the associated post-cyborg ethics (e.g. the ethics of forced removal of cyborg technologies by authorities, etc.).


title: Posthuman

text: Posthuman political and natural rights have been framed on a spectrum with animal rights and human rights. Posthumanism broadens the scope of what it means to be a valued life form and to be treated as such (in contrast to certain life forms being seen as less-than and being taken advantage of or killed off); it “calls for a more inclusive definition of life, and a greater moral-ethical response, and responsibility, to non-human life forms in the age of species blurring and species mixing. … [I]t interrogates the hierarchic ordering – and subsequently exploitation and even eradication – of life forms.”


title: Posthuman

text: According to transhumanist thinkers, a posthuman is a hypothetical future being "whose basic capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer unambiguously human by our current standards." Posthumans primarily focus on cybernetics, the posthuman consequent and the relationship to digital technology. Steve Nichols published the Posthuman Movement manifesto in 1988. His early evolutionary theory of mind (MVT) allows development of sentient E1 brains. The emphasis is on systems. Transhumanism does not focus on either of these. Instead, transhumanism focuses on the modification of the human species via any kind of emerging science, including genetic engineering, digital technology, and bioengineering. Transhumanism is sometimes criticized for not adequately addressing the scope of posthumanism and its concerns for the evolution of humanism.


title: Posthuman

text: Posthumans could be completely synthetic artificial intelligences, or a symbiosis of human and artificial intelligence, or uploaded consciousnesses, or the result of making many smaller but cumulatively profound technological augmentations to a biological human, i.e. a cyborg. Some examples of the latter are redesigning the human organism using advanced nanotechnology or radical enhancement using some combination of technologies such as genetic engineering, psychopharmacology, life extension therapies, neural interfaces, advanced information management tools, memory enhancing drugs, wearable or implanted computers, and cognitive techniques.


title: Posthuman

text: As used in this article, "posthuman" does not necessarily refer to a conjectured future where humans are extinct or otherwise absent from the Earth. Kevin Warwick says that both humans and posthumans will continue to exist but the latter will predominate in society over the former because of their abilities. Recently, scholars have begun to speculate that posthumanism provides an alternative analysis of apocalyptic cinema and fiction, often casting vampires, werewolves and even zombies as potential evolutions of the human form and being.


title: Posthuman

text: Many science fiction authors, such as Greg Egan, H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Bruce Sterling, Frederik Pohl, Greg Bear, Charles Stross, Neal Asher, Ken MacLeod, Peter F. Hamilton and authors of the Orion's Arm Universe, have written works set in posthuman futures.


title: Posthuman

text: A variation on the posthuman theme is the notion of a "posthuman god"; the idea that posthumans, being no longer confined to the parameters of human nature, might grow physically and mentally so powerful as to appear possibly god-like by present-day human standards. This notion should not be interpreted as being related to the idea portrayed in some science fiction that a sufficiently advanced species may "ascend" to a higher plane of existence—rather, it merely means that some posthuman beings may become so exceedingly intelligent and technologically sophisticated that their behaviour would not possibly be comprehensible to modern humans, purely by reason of their limited intelligence and imagination.


title: Religions by country

text: Pew Research Center report. The article Religious information by country gives information from The World Factbook of the CIA and the U.S. Department of State.


title: Squalene

text: Squalene is an organic compound. It is a triterpenoid with the formula CH. It is a colourless oil, although impure samples appear yellow. It was originally obtained from shark liver oil (hence its name, as "Squalus" is a genus of sharks). All plants and animals produce squalene as a biochemical intermediate to sterol biosynthesis. An estimated 12% of bodily squalene in humans is found in sebum. Squalene has a role in topical skin lubrication and protection.


title: Squalene

text: Squalene is a precursor for synthesis of all plant and animal sterols, including cholesterol and steroid hormones in the human body.


title: Squalene

text: Squalene is an important ingredient in some vaccine adjuvants: The Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline adjuvants are called MF59 and AS03, respectively.


title: Squalene

text: Squalene is the biochemical precursor to steroids. The squalene conversion begins with oxidation (via squalene monooxygenase) of one of its terminal double bonds, resulting in 2,3-oxidosqualene. It then undergoes an enzyme-catalysed cyclisation to produce lanosterol, which can be elaborated into other steroids such as cholesterol and ergosterol in a multistep process by the removal of three methyl groups, the reduction of one double bond by NADPH and the migration of the other double bond.


title: Squalene

text: Squalene is an ancient molecule. In plants, squalene is the precursor to stigmasterol. In certain fungi, it is the precursor to ergosterol. However, blue-green algae and some bacteria do not produce squalene.


title: Squalene

text: Squalene is biosynthesised by coupling two molecules of farnesyl pyrophosphate. The condensation requires NADPH and the enzyme squalene synthase.


title: Squalene

text: In 2020, conservationists raised concerns about the potential slaughter of sharks to obtain squalene for a COVID-19 vaccine.


title: Squalene

text: Environmental and other concerns over shark hunting have motivated its extraction from other sources. Biosynthetic processes use genetically engineered yeast or bacteria.


title: Squalene

text: Immunologic adjuvants are substances, administered in conjunction with a vaccine, that stimulate the immune system and increase the response to the vaccine. Squalene is not itself an adjuvant, but it has been used in conjunction with surfactants in certain adjuvant formulations.


title: Squalene

text: An adjuvant using squalene is Seqirus' proprietary MF59, which is added to influenza vaccines to help stimulate the human body's immune response through production of CD4 memory cells. It is the first oil-in-water influenza vaccine adjuvant to be commercialised in combination with a seasonal influenza virus vaccine. It was developed in the 1990s by researchers at Ciba-Geigy and Chiron; both companies were subsequently acquired by Novartis. Novartis was later acquired by CSL Bering and created the company Seqirus. It is present in the form of an emulsion and is added to make the vaccine more immunogenic. However, the mechanism of action remains unknown. MF59 is capable of switching on a number of genes that partially overlap with those activated by other adjuvants. How these changes are triggered is unclear; to date, no receptors responding to MF59 have been identified. One possibility is that MF59 affects the cell behaviour by changing the lipid metabolism, namely by inducing accumulation of neutral lipids within the target cells. An influenza vaccine called FLUAD which used MF59 as an adjuvant was approved for use in the US in people 65 years of age and older, beginning with the 2016-2017 flu season.


title: Squalene

text: A 2009 meta-analysis assessed data from 64 clinical trials of influenza vaccines with the squalene-containing adjuvant MF59 and compared them to the effects of vaccines with no adjuvant. The analysis reported that the adjuvanted vaccines were associated with slightly lower risks of chronic diseases, but that neither type of vaccines altered the rate of autoimmune diseases; the authors concluded that their data "supports the good safety profile associated with MF59-adjuvanted influenza vaccines and suggests there may be a clinical benefit over non-MF59-containing vaccines".


title: Squalene

text: Toxicology studies indicate that in the concentrations used in cosmetics, squalene has low acute toxicity, and is not a significant contact allergen or irritant.


title: Squalene

text: The World Health Organization and the US Department of Defense have both published extensive reports that emphasise that squalene is naturally occurring, even in oils of human fingerprints. The WHO goes further to explain that squalene has been present in over 22 million flu vaccines given to patients in Europe since 1997 without significant vaccine-related adverse events.


title: Max B

text: Charley Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his solo "Public Domain" and "Million Dollar Baby" series of mixtapes, and introducing the term "wavy" as a slang in popular lexicon.


title: Max B

text: He made his mixtape debut in 2006, and signed a recording deal with fellow Harlem-based rapper Jim Jones' label/group ByrdGang. Following a streak of financial and ethical grievances, Max B parted ways with Jones in 2008. The two became embroiled in a bitter feud which pitted Jones and his associates on one side, and Max B and his affiliates on the other. Max B is closely associated with producer Dame Grease, and fellow rapper French Montana where the two collaborated on the "Coke Wave" mixtape series.


title: Max B

text: In mid 2009, he was sentenced to 75 years in prison on conspiracy charges pertaining to armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and felony murder. While in prison, he secured a deal with Amalgam Digital to publish his debut album "Vigilante Season" which was released in 2011. On September 16, 2016, it was announced that Max B took a 20-year plea bargain for aggravated manslaughter and was set to be released on November 9, 2025.


title: Max B

text: Max B was born Charly Wingate on May 21, 1978 and raised in New York City. His mother, Sharon Wingate, the eldest of eight siblings, had battled with substance abuse for most of her life and eventually served a year and a half in prison for her crack addiction. Charly was largely raised by his grandparents. According to his mother, his grandmother taught Charly her strong religious values from a young age. As a child, he was friends with future rapper and Dipset founder Cam'ron. He grew up with music in the household, and had sung in the Boys Choir of Harlem. Despite his grandmother's best efforts, Charly was heavily influenced by the streets, and at the age of 18, began serving a sentence for robbery in 1997. Wingate went on to serve 8 years in prison, before being released in 2005. Following his release, he immediately began pursuing a career in music, choosing the stage name Max B. The "B" being shorthand for Biggaveli, a portmanteau referencing The Notorious B.I.G. ("Biggie Smalls"), Jay Z ("Jigga") and Tupac Shakur ("Makaveli"). According to Wingate, his love for rap music came from his deceased brother, Eric, who left him collections of cassettes while he went in and out of town.


title: Max B

text: In 2005, Max B appeared as a feature on various records, including "G's Up" and lead single "Baby Girl" off of Jones' sophomore album "" released in August. He appeared as a feature on "You Gotta Love It" off of Cam'ron's "Killa Season" album released in May 2006, and released his debut mixtape "Million Dollar Baby" the same month. Max B collaborated on the ByrdGang mixtape "M.O.B. (Members of ByrdGang)" released on July 7, and made several feature appearances on Jones' mixtape "The 7 Day Theory" released on September 27.


title: Max B

text: In 2006, Max B became embroiled in legal trouble when he was arrested on September 29 in connection to a botched robbery turned homicide that occurred in Fort Lee, New Jersey, allegedly involving his "on-again off-again girlfriend" Gina Conway and step-brother Kevin Leerdem. While away, Max B had already recorded several feature appearances on Jim Jones' third album "Hustler's P.O.M.E." which was released in November. In addition to writing for Jones on other tracks, most notably its lead single and Jones' highest-charting single to date "We Fly High" which was released on October 21.


title: Max B

text: Max B's second solo mixtape "Public Domain: Million Dollar Baby Radio" was released on November 2 while the rapper remained behind bars. Notable tracks off the record include "Deez My Streets" and "Dom Perignon" among others. Followed by his third mixtape "Public Domain 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer" released in December of that year. Notable tracks off the record include "Blow Me A Dub" and "De La Soul" among others. Both mixtapes were hosted by Connecticut-based veteran DJ Big Mike, whom Max would develop an extensive relationship with throughout his career.


title: Max B

text: After having spent 10 months imprisoned, Max B was released on July 11, 2007, on a reported $2 million in bail. Short of funds, portion of Max's bond was raised by selling his publishing over to his label owned by Jim Jones. It would eventually go on to become one of many grievances and disputes Max would share with his former labelmate and head Jim Jones. Max B's fourth mixtape "Public Domain: The Prequel" was released later in the month following his release from prison. He appeared as a feature on Styles P's "Holiday" off of his third album released on December 4. Max B collaborated on the "MOB2 (Members of ByrdGang 2)" mixtape released on October 20, and had written for Jones' digital album which came out on February 19 the following year.


title: Max B

text: Exactly one month prior to Max's release, on June 11, his friend Stack Bundles had been killed in his neighborhood of Far Rockaway, Queens. In a 2009 interview before his trial, Max expressed his loss stating, "That was fucked up because the nigga Stacks was close to me, I ain't even gonna front. I was in jail at the time, so a nigga was sitting. A nigga learned to cope with that thing pretty well though, R.I.P. to Stacks. Shout out to my nigga, he played me all the joints he had. Man, that was my nigga."


title: Max B

text: By 2008, Max B had left ByrdGang and publicly distanced himself from the "Dipset" movement. He had begun concentrating on his own rap collective named Gain Greene which included members Al Pac, Mak Mustard and Scarlett O'Harlem. He began associating with South Bronx rapper French Montana, then best known as the founder/host of the "street DVD" series Cocaine City, and who shared a similarly bitter history with Jim Jones. The two collaborated on their first song together "Waavvyy" off of French's sophomore tape "Live From Africa" released on April 29. Max also developed a close relationship with Boston rappers Mall G and T.P., Connecticut rapper Hollywood Fergie, and G-Unit's Tony Yayo.


title: Max B

text: On March 1, Max B released his first solo project since his departure from ByrdGang, his fifth mixtape "Million Dollar Baby 2". Notable tracks off the record include "Why You Do That" and "Sexy Love" among others. Hosted by New York-based Mexican-Belgian female DJ Lazy K, the two then released his sixth mixtape "Million Dollar Baby 2.5" on June 7. Notable tracks off the record include "Won't Go Far" and "She Touched It In Miami".


title: Max B

text: Max B released his seventh mixtape "Public Domain 3" on June 10, hosted by veteran DJ Whoo Kid. The record became a significant mark of Max's independence, including scathing references towards his former partner turned rival Jim Jones. Notable tracks off the record include "Picture Me Rolling", "Lip Sing", "Ready To Ride", and "Paperwork" featuring Al Pac.


title: Max B

text: On July 21, Max B released his eighth mixtape "Wavie Crockett". Notable tracks off the record include "Gotta Have It" and "Takin' Pictures" among others. With the popularity of his mixtapes, he had embarked on his first tour to the West Coast earlier in the year. The fourth installation in his flagship "Public Domain" series, "Domain Diego" was released on July 28, with a significant portion of the record having been recorded in San Diego, California during his trip. Notable tracks off the record include "Try Me" and "I'm So High" among others. On October 1, he released his tenth mixtape "Goon Music 1.5: The Doomship". Notable tracks off the record include "Free Al Pac", "I Wasn't There" and "Cops Come Runnin".


title: Max B

text: Following his departure from ByrdGang, Max B engaged in a bitter feud with Jim Jones alongside fellow rapper French Montana. According to interviews, French and Max shared a common group of friends and associates. However, due to French's existing problems with Jim Jones, and Max being signed to his ByrdGang at the time, the two had yet to collaborate. This would soon change as the two became embroiled in one of the more infamous street beefs in New York hip hop.


title: Max B

text: According to Max B, his beef with Jones stems from his allegations he was forced into a contract which offered him inadequate pay and no recognition of his contributions which included writing hooks, verses and melodies for Jim Jones during their stint together. He also alleges he was paid $300 for live shows where Jones earned in the range of $10–15,000. In his infamous interview on "The Come Up" Vol. 18 (2008), he confirmed having delivered "10 albums" worth of material to Jones to fulfill the terms of his contract.


title: Max B

text: In the case of French Montana, his beef with Jim Jones had begun earlier. Albeit also attributed to Jones' disdain towards French for the infamous footage in "Cocaine City" Vol. 4 (2006), depicting Jones and his Dipset crew being beaten and driven-out during a brawl in Rucker Park, by the Brooklyn-based Junior MAFIA associated with the late Notorious BIG. According to French, his personal problems with Jones stems from his claims that Jones was publicly insinuating having a hand with the people responsible for a shooting targeting French. In a 2009 interview with VladTV, French claimed that Jones – by then well known for his numerous feuds and provocations – was using the late-2003 incident to increase his reputation in the streets.


title: Max B

text: By the time Max B left ByrdGang in 2008, Jim Jones had garnered a streak of feuds with rappers, ranging from Junior MAFIA to would-be Jay-Z affiliate Tru Life. Tru Life had already appeared in various interviews, including one on "Cocaine City" Vol. 8 (2007) showing off two Dipset chains he claimed to have snatched off of Jones. Max B's affiliation with French and their mutual beef with Jim Jones was a very public one – resulting in numerous back-and-forth "diss" videos, interviews, confrontations and accusations – which appeared on street DVDs such as Cocaine City, Smack, Come Up, Sub-0, as well as websites such as "HipHopBeef.com" and "WorldStarHipHop.com" which were just beginning to gain a foothold. The feud also involved Jim Jones affiliate Hell Rell, and at differing points of time various rappers from Dipset or ByrdGang close to Jones.


title: Max B

text: On February 5, 2009, Max B and French Montana would go on to release their debut collaborative mixtape "Coke Wave", and which included productions from Dame Grease, Young Los and J. Cardim. The run up to which was marred by tension and confrontation between the feuding sides. Notable bits from the series of back-and-forth videos include, French and Max B mocking Hell Rell's standing in relation to Jones, and Rell firing back; Max B's allegations of infidelity by Jones' wife Chrissy; Max B recalling an off-camera altercation with Jones in the street in late 2008; footage of French and Max's crew confronting Jones at his Manhattan studio followed by a standoff with police in November ("Cocaine City" Vol. 12); and an attempted reprisal against Max B by ByrdGang leading to a brawl at a club in Brooklyn in January 2009.


title: Max B

text: In June 2008, Max B had signed a three-album deal with independent record label Amalgam Digital. Soon after, however, they would be prevented by Jim Jones' legal team from making any commercial releases of Max's music. This would continue until May 2010, a year after Max B was sentenced, where in a lawsuit victory a New York City judge ruled that Jones no longer had rights over the now-incarcerated rapper's music. Thereby allowing Amalgam to release his debut album "Vigilante Season". The project which was recorded in 2008, and originally intended to be released sometime after "Public Domain 3", was finally released on March 22, 2011. Notable songs from "Vigilante Season" include "Money Make Me Feel Better", "Where Do I Go" and "Lord Is Tryna Tell Ya Something" among others.


title: Max B

text: The first half of 2009 would be Max B's last as a free man. Following the release of his eleventh mixtape "Coke Wave" on February 5, he released his twelfth mixtape "Quarantine" on February 21 later that month. The fifth installation in his flagship "Public Domain" series, notable tracks off "Quarantine" include "I Ain't Tryna", "All My Life", "Don't Love Hoes", and "DJ Saved My Life" featuring Mak Mustard.


title: Max B

text: On June 4, Max B was sentenced to 75 years in prison, found guilty on 9 of 11 counts in the case involving himself, Gina Conway and Kevin Leerdam. Based on the testimony of Conway, he is accused of conspiring the event, and will be eligible for parole in 2042. Conway was sentenced to 18 years, and Leerdam was sentenced to life in prison.


title: Max B

text: Following his verdict, his fourteenth mixtape "Million Dollar Baby 3" was released on June 30. His fifteenth mixtape and sixth installment in his "Public Domain" series, "PD6: Walking The Plank", was released on July 12. Notable tracks off the record include "Dead Solver", "Never Wanna Go Back", "Letter To Stack Bundles", and "What You Want From Me" featuring Beanie Sigel and French Montana. His collaborative mixtape "Coke Wave 2" with French was released on November 3, 2009.


title: Max B

text: Albeit in prison since June 2009, Max B has been featured on various artists' records, utilizing preexisting recordings or through phoned-in verses and messages from prison. A collaborative mixtape titled "Dopeman" with fellow Gain Greene rapper Mak Mustard was released on April 4, 2010. A collaborative mixtape "A Wave Called Yes" with Amalgam labelmate Young Riot was released on May 26. The record contained two collaborative tracks featuring Curren$y who had signed to Amalgam in 2009, having had the opportunity to work with Max during his final months before his sentencing. In 2012, Isaiah Toothtaker released a collaborative mixtape called "Toothy Wavy" which featured phoned-in verses from Max B, and production by The Hood Internet. When Kanye West's album was scheduled to be named Waves, Max B (originator of the wave), expressed approval of the name change. He called in the Breakfast Club and said "It's all love. I appreciate it." In 2016, a phone conversation with French Montana was featured on the track "Siiiiiiiiilver Surffffeeeeer Intermission" from Kanye West's 7th studio album, "The Life of Pablo". He dropped a song with French Montana called "Hold On" in 2019.


title: Max B

text: Together with his producers Dame Grease and Young Los, newfound partner French Montana, and mixtape DJ's Big Mike and Lazy K, Max B had garnered a sizeable underground movement that pushed his music online and throughout the North Eastern region. Particularly noteworthy since, throughout their stint Max B and French would allege being "blackballed" by radio and media. In a September 25, 2008, video on WSHH, they would go on to accuse Jim Jones for using his influence to further dissuade labels and websites from covering the rappers.


title: Max B

text: As a response to being blackballed, the two would rely on grassroots and online methods of promotion. French Montana – who had a background in Cocaine City – and Max B, would utilize outlets such as street DVDs and hip hop websites to promote themselves and their respective projects. Since the early-2000s, street DVDs had emerged as a lucrative underground medium providing a "behind the scenes" look into the business and politics of major and upcoming rappers. By the late 2000s, websites such as WSHH and others would take on the same spot; consequently, marking the decline of street DVDs as an outdated and non-lucrative format.


title: Max B

text: Another tactic was to release a flood of music/mixtapes. In 2008 alone, Max B had released over half a dozen mixtapes. The "Coke Wave" mixtape, and its sequel "Coke Wave 2", were accompanied by DVD films which included music videos, in-studio footage, skits, and videos revolving around their beef with background commentary. "Coke Wave 2", in addition to the "Take A Look Into My Life" DVD, which were released subsequent to Max B's sentencing, further included footage related to his trial and commentary on his legal situation. French would touch on the subject of having been blackballed in a number of interviews following his mainstream breakout. In a 2012 interview from prison, Max B touched on the subject noting,


title: Max B

text: I was completely blackballed, my songs on the radio. I couldn't help myself but I was always able to help French do what he wanted to do [...] if I had to blow trial, at least I know a n**ga out there holding it down [...] I'm talking to French; we communicate a couple times a week [...] he real wavy right now.


title: Max B

text: According to authorities, Max sent his ex-girlfriend, Gina Conway, and his stepbrother Kelvin Leerdam, in 2006 to rob two men in a Holiday Inn, in Fort Lee, Northern New Jersey. On September 22, 2006, Conway and Leerdam ambushed Allan "Jay" Plowden in room 408 and restrained him with duct tape, while awaiting Plowden's partner, David Taylor. Also in the room was Gissele Nieven. When Taylor arrived, he was immediately shot, point-blank, execution-style, in the head. He did not have any money on him.


title: Max B

text: The crew fled the scene, Plowden then alerted the hotel front desk of the murder. As police entered the room, Plowden was caught moving $30,000 out of the room. Plowden was later charged with money laundering and identity theft. One week later Conway, Leerdam and coordinator Max B were apprehended and charged.


title: Max B

text: By June 6, 2009, he had been found guilty on 9 of 11 counts in the ongoing trial. On June 9, he was found guilty of murder conspiracy and robbery charges.


title: Max B

text: Max B was later sentenced to 75 years in prison on September 4, 2009. His mother, Sharon Wingate, and fellow rap artist French Montana said he plans to appeal his conviction. On March 19, 2010, Max B was granted an appeal with a new trial and lawyer.


title: Max B

text: In February 2012, rumors spread that Max's request for an appeal had been denied, but it since has been cleared up as an internet/blog/Twitter rumor. On August 30, 2012, Max's appeal was denied and he was set to remain in prison to finish his 75-year incarceration.


title: Max B

text: On September 16, 2016, French Montana released a statement revealing Max B has taken a plea bargain for aggravated manslaughter and is set to be released within 2 to 6 years. Max continues to seek a higher appeal. Rapper Jay-Z shouted out Max B in support in his Rick Ross and Dr. Dre collaboration "3 Kings."


title: Nigel Pearson

text: Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough. As a coach he has taken charge of Hull City, Southampton, Carlisle United, Leicester City, Derby County, OH Leuven, and Watford; and was assistant manager for England Under-21s and Newcastle United.