title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Sprint was originally offered in parts of the western US for the 1985 model year; subsequently Chevrolet marketed the Sprint across North America. All models were initially three-door hatchbacks. Starting in 1986, a five-door hatchback version was offered, called the Sprint Plus. That year, another model called the Sprint ER was offered that included a few extra features, such as an "upshift" light to indicate the ideal speed to shift to the next highest gear on manual transmission models. Although air conditioning was offered in all years, the three-speed automatic transmission wasn't offered until 1986. All models featured front-wheel drive and 12-inch steel wheels, which were covered by white hub caps on the Turbo Sprint regardless of body color.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Turbocharged versions of the 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine were available in the Turbo Sprint in both the United States and Canada beginning with the 1987 model year. The fuel injected Turbo Sprint utilized an IHI RHB32 turbocharger. Colors were limited to white and red for the Turbo Sprint. Sales were insignificant in the United States (around 1,550 cars sold in model year 1988, less than three percent of overall Sprint sales), but somewhat stronger in Canada.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: For the 1988 model year, the naturally-aspirated hatchback was named the Chevrolet Sprint Metro. Production of the first Geo Metro models began at Suzuki's plant in Hamamatsu, Japan.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The name "Chevette Sprint" was considered before simply calling the Colombian model (first generation) the "Chevrolet Sprint" — to distinguish it from the originally Opel-designed knock down kits imported from Brazil for assembly in Colombia. When presented on 7 October 1986, the Sprint caused a sensation. Colombian Sprints were all five-door hatchbacks fitted with the 993 cc three-cylinder G10A engine and a five-speed manual transmission. The Sprint remained in production virtually unchanged until 2004, with a total production of 70,848. Slight modifications were made in 1987, including increasing the wheel sizes from 12" to 13" and with modernized bumpers and headlights. Another slight update took place in 1997 bringing with it monopoint fuel injection and an increase in power from .


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The first generation Cultus was sold in Pakistan as Suzuki Khyber, by Pak Suzuki assembly line been produced between 1989 and 2000, only in GA trim level. It was equipped with a carburetor base four-strike engine, and a five-speed manual transmission. Production was ended in 2000, replaced by second generation Cultus.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The second generation Cultus was first appeared in Japan in September 1988, followed by its European debut as the Swift at the Brussels Auto Salon in October. General Motors, whose Design Center assisted in its development, designated it the GM M platform. The chassis, engines, and drivetrains were developed by Suzuki, being mostly modified variants of the first generation Cultus. The second generation offered new styling and four-wheel independent strut suspension. A turbocharged three-cylinder version remained fairly popular in Canada, which was the only market for the version which was not even available in its homeland Japan.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: It was available with a 1.0-liter three-cylinder with a power output of , a 1.3-liter four-cylinder, and later a 1.6-liter four-cylinder (for the sedan only). The higher powered Cultus/Swift GTi had an improved G13B engine which featured hollow camshafts, stronger web casting on the engine block, a better flowing intake manifold (the prior generation intake manifold had its shape compromised to fit into the engine bay), and its ECU now had electronic control over ignition timing. It now put out of power. The GTi also featured all wheel disc brakes. Japanese GTi's have a much higher compression ratio (11.5:1) and accordingly more power at , and were also offered with permanent four-wheel drive.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In June 1989, Suzuki introduced their first three-box sedan since the discontinuation of the Fronte 800 in 1969. Sold as the "Cultus Esteem" in Japan, it was also available with a larger 1.6-liter engine never offered in the hatchbacks. In the Japanese market, the 1.3-liter single-cam engine was changed to a 16-valve version in July 1990, which increased power to . Suzuki facelifted the Cultus in July 1991 for the 1992 model year. The update involved the relocation of the rear license plate to the rear bumper from in between the tail lamps. The gap vacated by the license plate was filled in with either a black plastic panel or translucent red perspex panel integrating with the tail lamps. At the front, Suzuki revised the bumper's airdam, and inside, the interior was substantially re-designed. In the Japanese market, the Cultus Esteem's carburetted 1.6 was replaced by a single-point fuel injection 1.5-liter G15A engine with , to fit a lower tax category. The single-cam 1.3 was also updated with fuel injection in July 1991, although its power remained .


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: All Swifts (export models) got a redesigned front and rear fascia as well as a new dashboard. GS sedans received power steering and new hubcaps. The 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine received a new cylinder head assembly: the engine of the previous generation used the same block and corresponding components but featured a head with valves in a V-formation straddling a single camshaft with rocker arms on shafts, whereas now the cylinder head assumed a much slimmer profile, owing to the valves now being in a vertical, inline configuration, actuated by inverted buckets also serving as hydraulic valve lash adjusters, all underneath a single overhead camshaft.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The first European-built model was a "Suzuki Swift" manufactured in September 1992 in Esztergom, Hungary. Updates in 1996 followed, and model year 2000 modifications included a version fitted with the same Suzuki four-wheel drive system that had been available in the Japanese market until February 1996 and badged as the Subaru Justy. The last modifications were made on the European "Gen II" from model year 2002 but only for the Hungarian market, the 1.3-liter engine was also changed to 16-valve version and produces . The production of the three-door models ended in September 2002. In the same year, in December, the four-door sedan version was also discontinued. The last variation available was a five-door version, which was offered until March 2003.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In Ecuador, the local Aymesa plant assembled some versions of this vehicle. The three-door version was called Suzuki Forsa II, while the four-door sedan version was badged Chevrolet Swift. In 1999, General Motors de Ecuador took over AYMESA's production of General Motors vehicles, including Suzuki-based ones. Production of the sedan ended about 1996, while the hatchback version continued to being produced until 2003 at least and it was badged as Chevrolet Forsa in latter years. These were powered by the 1.3-liter four. Cultus variants were available in Colombia from 1991 until 2004, where it was called the Chevrolet Swift. They were assembled by GM-Colmotores in Bogotá. A stripped-down version of the 1.3-liter Swift sedan was also marketed as the Suzuki Taxi.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The hatchback was sold in Indonesia as the Forsa Amenity from 1990 until 1992, and, after a facelift, as the Eleny from 1992 until 1994. The sedan arrived in 1991 was marketed as the Suzuki Forsa Esteem, although the "Forsa" portion was eventually dropped. Most versions had a carburetted, uncatalyzed version of the 1298 cc G13BA 8-valve engine with at 6000 rpm. Power claimed later increased to 73 PS. The Esteem and five-door Amenity/Eleny were assembled CKD in Indonesia, while a small number of three-door hatchbacks were imported fully built-up. From 1992 there was also a " Limited Edition" of the Esteem with power steering, front fog lamps, body-colored bumpers, a rear spoilers, and a number of stickers. The Esteem sedan was also available with a carburetted 1.6-liter G16A 16-valve engine (SF416), sold as Esteem GT. The Esteem continued to be available until about 1996.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In China, the Cultus was known as the Suzuki Lingyang and was built by Chang'an. Production started in 1999 and ended in early 2015. The only engine choice was the 1.3-liter "G13BB" engine mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The Lingyang was facelifted in 2007, 2010 and 2012.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Cultus was gradually replaced by the slightly larger Cultus Crescent (Baleno or Esteem elsewhere) in Japan in 1995. However, the 3-door hatchback continued to be available with a 1.0-liter engine as the Cultus 1000F until January 2000, positioned as cheaper alternative of the Cultus Crescent.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The vehicle entered Pakistani market in 1989 with units imported from Japan, it was only available in sedan form as Swift Sedan and powered by a 1.0-litre engine producing . In 1991, Pak Suzuki started the local production for the domestic market and renamed to Suzuki Margalla. It gained a bigger 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine and paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. The production continued until 1998 when it was succeed by Suzuki Baleno sedan. Almost two years later, the production returned in 2000 as a 5-door hatchback and marketed as Suzuki Cultus. It had a three-cylinder 1.0-liter engine from the imported 1989–1991 Swift Sedan. In 2002, factory fitted CNG-powered option was launched along with several improvements, followed by another changes in 2005. Major facelift occurred in 2007 with new fuel injected 1.0-liter four-cylinder engine, new bumpers and seat upholstery with broader head rests. It continued to be produced until late 2016, with sales ended on 1 February 2017.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Following limited 1985–1988 sales of the Forsa, the nameplate was changed to Suzuki Swift. The Swift was available as a three-door GTi and five-door GLX hatchback. Designed by General Motors, the design echoed that of the contemporary Chevrolet Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire. A four-door sedan followed in 1990 – imported from Japan. For Swifts in North America, the 1.0-liter three-cylinder was only available in Canada where it was sold from 1992 to 1994. In 1990, the GLX was dropped; an inexpensive GA 3-door was added as were GA, GL and GS four-door sedan. At the same time, the GTi name was changed to GT because of an out-of-court settlement with Volkswagen of America over their similarly named GTI. The Swift nameplate moved on to separate from the Cultus, eventually being placed on the North American "third generation" model.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Swift featured a 993 cc inline three-cylinder engine producing . The G10 engine weighed and was the same as used in the Geo Metro and other North American iterations. Other engine configurations included a carbureted or fuel injected SOHC eight-valve 1.3-liter G13. Trim levels included the 1.0 GA and the 1.0 GL. The GA model included plastic wheelcovers, four-speed gearbox and cloth trim. The GL model included more equipment such as a five-speed gearbox, alloy wheels, a sunroof, and air conditioning in some markets.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: With the first generation, Suzuki marketed the Swift GTi with the G13B engine – a DOHC 16 valve, 1.3-liter, inline four-cylinder engine with an aluminum block and cylinder head, forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods, and cast aluminum high compression pistons (10:1 compression ratio). Its power output is .


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The second generation received a modest restyle and other production changes in 1992, including changes to the bumpers, tail lights and interior. GT/GTi versions were equipped with larger sway-bars, and the camshafts were now solid. Production for the North American market ended in 1994. From 1995 onward, the redesigned North American-exclusive Suzuki Swift was built at CAMI Automotive, receiving all the modifications of its Pontiac and Geo/Chevrolet siblings – only ever available in the three-door body style, however.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The second generation Cultus was sold as the Geo Metro in the US and Canada, and as the Pontiac Firefly in Canada and the Middle East, and as the Chevrolet Sprint in Canada. Unlike the four-cylinder Swifts, General Motors-badged units usually featured the 1-liter G10 engine, with a turbocharged version and a larger 1.3 available in some Canadian market versions. In late 1989, production began at CAMI Automotive, with a mere 660 cars finished the first year. From here on out, all Metro models with the exception of convertibles would be produced in Canada.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In the United States, a single engine was available from 1989 through 1994: a 1.0-liter I3 engine. Rated at 60 hp (39 kW), the engine achieved 38 city, 45 highway mpg per the revised 2007 EPA mileage standards. The detuned engine in the XFi, introduced in 1990, is optimized for high mileage. It combines a shorter duration cam, leaner fuel map, two ring pistons, and a higher final drive gear model to achieve 43 city, 51 highway per the revised 2007 EPA mileage standards.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: As per the first generation, a turbocharged variant of G10 was also available in the Canadian Pontiac Firefly from 1989 to 1991. It was no longer available in the US market, however.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Canadian market Metros had the 1.3-liter engine available as an option beginning in 1993 in the three-door GSi model, and as standard equipment in the sedan (exclusive to the Canadian market at the time: American market Metros were not available in a sedan body style until 1995).


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Only available as a hatchback (later also a convertible) in the United States, the Canadian market also received Japanese-built four-door sedans. Canadian sales of the Geo Metro only began in 1992, after the demise of the Asüna brand. For 1990, the Metro's second model year, Geo introduced the Metro "LSi" models, which included an automatic transmission, air conditioning and a stereo with cassette player. Geo also introduced the frugal XFi model, featuring a lower powered economy-tuned version of the three-cylinder engine, a higher final drive gear ratio, and certain deleted interior amenities (e.g., the passenger mirror). It thereby achieved 43 city, 51 highway per the revised 2007 EPA mileage standards. XFi made up less than 10% of Metro sales. A little bit later, the Japanese-built convertible model debuted, available in "LSi" trim. In 1991, GM increased convertible production and added paint options. In 1992, the Metro received a facelift with new hubcaps, exterior modification and new interior controls.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In 1993, both LSi hatchbacks and the convertible were discontinued. Automatic door locks, which deploy after the car reaches a speed of approximately 8 mph (13 km/h) were introduced this year. In 1994, five-door hatchback production ended. In 1994, Geo dropped the XFi model.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Under its "Geo Metro" US badging, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) judged the 1.0L Geo Metro/Suzuki Cultus as the leading "gasoline-fueled" vehicle within their Greenest Vehicles list of 1998 and 1999.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Partially because of the renewed interest in the Metro/Cultus due to rising fuel costs, the July 2009 issue of the US "Car and Driver" included a 1998 Metro/Cultus 3-door hatchback among vehicles tested for fuel efficiency alongside two hybrid models: the 2010 Honda Insight and 2010 Toyota Prius models. During a 600-mile long, mixed driving conditions, route. While notably lacking in modern conveniences and weighing considerably less, the Cultus/Metro tied in first place with the Prius for best overall fuel economy at .


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Sprint badge continued to be used in the Canadian market until the Geo brand was introduced in 1992. Unlike its American counterparts, the Canadian Sprint remained available with the 1.0-liter turbo engine.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Introduced for 1989, the Firefly was also available as a convertible and as a four-door sedan from 1990 until 1991. All hatchbacks were manufactured at CAMI, while convertibles and sedans were sourced from Japanese production. The Firefly was not marketed for the 1992 and 1993 model years when the 1993-only "Asüna" brand introduced the larger 1992 LeMans to replace the Passport Optima and the pre-facelift Firefly.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In 1994, the Firefly returned with a facelift following the demise of the Asüna brand, available as a hatchback and a sedan. It was short-lived, being replaced by the third generation for the next year.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Maruti 1000, made by Maruti Udyog is a sedan-type car produced in India between October 1990 and 2000. The car is a rebadged Suzuki Cultus/Swift and was introduced in October 1990 (although Maruti had been showing the car since 1989). With a large waiting list for all Maruti cars, a computerised lottery was used to decide who got a chance to buy a Maruti 1000. This was remarkable as the car was considered a luxury vehicle at the time, hard to conceive of from today's viewpoint – but in 1990, when it was released, its purchase price was high enough that it was out of reach for more than 99.5% of India's population. It sold at Rs. 381,000. A period commentator even accused the 1000 of being a project "by the elite for the elite.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The car came with a 970 cc engine whose output was just 46 hp and proved underpowered for a car that weighed . This outdated engine was also installed by Suzuki in the Cultus/Swift range for a few other developing markets. A 1.0 GLX version, fully equipped with air conditioning, "deluxe carpets," and leather interior, was also available to those able to pay for the car in foreign exchange.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In November 1994, an upgraded version of this car, with a more powerful 1.3-liter engine, was released with similar looks and the new name Maruti Esteem. Initially, the car looked very similar to the Maruti 1000, except for different fabric in seats and door trims and an 'ESTEEM' badging at the rear. The first model had a carburetted engine but this was replaced by an fuel injected 16-valve unit in 2000. The engine was found to have one of the highest power-to-weight ratios in the under two-liter class, and helped the Esteem reach considerable success in Indian auto racing, where it is still popular in rallying. Soon in end-1995, two trims were launched, base LX and the higher VX. The latter boasted of contemporary features like power steering, power locking and 4 door power windows. An automatic AX variant also was released in June 1996 with a torque-converter type automatic transmission. Air conditioning and remote fuel lid opener was standard in Esteem unlike the 1000. The Maruti 1000 was kept below the Esteem and remained in production until March 2000 and was eventually discontinued due to low sales.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In October 1997, the Esteem received a full facelift which included a new grille, new tail lights and new head lights much inspired by the Holden cousins. The rear also gained an extra cluster of lights as standard replacing the previous black panel.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In January 2000, when Maruti launched Esteem with MPFI system, the LX variant got equipped with front power windows and central locking. Chrome radiator grille, rear armrest and driver seat height adjuster also became a part of Esteem's equipment list. Several new colour options also were added.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In August 2002, another minor change was made when the chrome grille was replaced by a mesh grille and a rear spoiler was added in the top VXi trim. Special edition models such as Limited and Velocity also were released in 2002.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Another facelift took place in July 2004, consisting of new lights and bumpers, which were borrowed from the Chinese "Changan Suzuki Lingyang" (Antelope) version of the Swift sedan. The new version also received clear lens tail lights and new wheel covers, while new colours were introduced again.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Esteem was also available with a 1527 cc Peugeot TUD5 diesel engine as well, at a slightly higher price. When Bharat Stage 3 emission rules were made stricter, Maruti phased out this diesel variant sometime in 2005. The models offered in the mid-2000s were:


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The 1.3-liter (74 mm (2.9 in) bore by 75.5 mm (3 in) stroke) 16-valve SOHC engine has a compression ratio of 9.0:1 and makes at 6000 rpm and 105 Nm (77.4 ft·lbf) of torque at 3000 rpm, this was later increased to 110 Nm. The same engine was later used by the then upgraded Maruti Gypsy King, Maruti Versa and the Maruti Suzuki Swift. The Peugeot-sourced "TUD5" 1.5-liter (77 mm (3 in) bore by 82 mm (3.2 in) stroke) eight-valve engine had a compression ratio of 23.0:1 and made at 5000 rpm and 96 Nm (70.8 ft·lbf) of torque at 2500 rpm. The Esteem received a major facelift in 2004 and production ended in December 2007, with the car being replaced by the new Suzuki Swift DZire.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Suzuki Cultus developed through generation two in Japan, and was superseded by the Cultus Crescent – a larger offspring of the Cultus.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The second generation was introduced in 1988 with similar dimensions and but redesigned to make better use of the cargo area and cabin space. Like its predecessor, the new Cultus was available as a 3- or 5-door hatchback, and was powered by G-series engines from 1.0 to 1.3 liters. However, this last one had adopted an SOHC 16-valve arrangement, with standard fuel injection. Power was and , respectively. For the first time, 4WD was optional on the larger engine.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Cultus GTi was now much more powerful, reaching 115 PS JIS (85 kW) with updated version of the previous GTi engine: the G13B engine that had higher compression pistons (11.5:1 compression ratio), tubular exhaust headers, a tubular intake manifold, larger camshafts and a reprogrammed ECU. Some models of the Cultus GTi were also available with all-wheel drive.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: More well outfitted versions were the Cultus Ellesse (which included automatic air conditioning, central locking, power windows and adjustable steering wheel) and the Esteem, a sedan version. The Esteem featured a larger 1.5-liter engine, capable of reaching , and it was available with optional 4WD. The equipment was the same as the Cultus Ellesse.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In 1992, Suzuki introduced a two-seat convertible, based on the hatchback body – and dropped it again shortly thereafter.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Suzuki Cultus and Cultus Crescent were two distinct but related models sold in Japan by Suzuki – with the Cultus Crescent eventually superseding the Cultus. The Cultus Crescent was introduced in the Japanese market in January 1995 sharing the same platform and many components from the Cultus – although with a chassis stretched by 10 cm (4 in) and featuring completely different styling.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The Cultus Crescent was available initially in two body variants, a three-door hatchback and a four-door saloon. In February 1996, Suzuki introduced the Cultus Crescent Wagon, Suzuki's first station wagon (excluding kei cars). In May 1998, the base Cultus/Swift was renamed "Cultus M Series" in Japan, and Suzuki consequently dropped the "Crescent" name on the larger model, which was now simply called Cultus, and received new front end styling. The 1.6-liter 4WD variant was extended to the rest of the lineup, but not the 1.8-liter engine, which was only available in the other body styles other than the wagon in export markets. The Cultus remained in production in Japan until August 2002, after a year of overlapping with its replacement, the larger and entirely new Aerio.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Production of the Cultus began in other countries and was available in developing markets such as India as the Maruti Suzuki Baleno until production ceased in 2007 to make way for the Suzuki SX4. Elsewhere internationally, the larger Cultus Crescent was marketed as the Suzuki Baleno and Esteem. In the Philippines, it was marketed as the Chevrolet Cassia.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Mark 1 Introduced March 1984, the SA Swift was front-wheel drive, with a solid axle and drum brakes on the rear, with front disc brakes.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Mark 2 New rounder body shape with mechanicals similar to the SA model and the solid rear axle replaced by a trailing arm setup.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: Assembly also commenced in India (Maruti Suzuki), Hungary (Magyar Suzuki), Pakistan (Pak Suzuki Motors), Indonesia (Suzuki Indomobil Motor), China (Changan Suzuki) and by General Motors in Canada and several South American countries. When production of the Swift began at Magyar Suzuki in 1992, Suzuki invested $230 million in capital for the new company and flew each of its Hungarian workers to Japan for training in its production methods. Production of the second generation cabriolet stopped in 1995, followed by three-door models in 2002. The four-door sedans were continued to be manufactured in China until 2015, while the five-door models of the second generation (under the nameplate Cultus) were manufactured in Pakistan until late 2016.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: The second-generation Celerio is sold in Pakistan under the "Cultus" nameplate, which was launched there on 22 April 2017.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: In 1992, Nobuhiro Tajima used a heavily modified twin engined Cultus in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.


title: Suzuki Cultus

text: A Suzuki Swift GTi driven by Mark Brame and Henry Draper won the 1992 Yokohama 6-Hour for Production Cars at the Winton circuit in Victoria, Australia on 29 November 1992.


title: Rashi

text: Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; , 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud and commentary on the Hebrew Bible (the "Tanakh"). Acclaimed for his ability to present the basic meaning of the text in a concise and lucid fashion, Rashi appeals to both learned scholars and beginner students, and his works remain a centerpiece of contemporary Jewish study. His commentary on the Talmud, which covers nearly all of the Babylonian Talmud (a total of 30 out of 39 tractates, due to his death), has been included in every edition of the Talmud since its first printing by Daniel Bomberg in the 1520s. His commentary on Tanakh—especially on the Chumash ("Five Books of Moses")—serves as the basis for more than 300 "supercommentaries" which analyze Rashi's choice of language and citations, penned by some of the greatest names in rabbinic literature.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi had no male descendants; his three children were all girls. He invested himself in their education; his writings and the legends surrounding him suggest that his daughters were well-versed in the Torah and Talmud (in a time when women were not expected to study those) and would for instance help him when he was too weak to write. His daughters would marry his disciples; most present-day Ashkenazi rabbinical dynasties can trace their lineage back to his daughters Miriam or Yocheved.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi was also one of the first authors to write in Old French (the language he spoke in everyday life, which he used alongside Hebrew), as most contemporary French authors instead wrote in Latin. As a consequence, theology aside, his work is also valued in the present day for the insight it gives into the language and culture of Northern France in the 11th century.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's surname, Yitzhaki, derives from his father's name, Yitzhak. The acronym "Rashi" stands for Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, but is sometimes fancifully expanded as Rabban Shel YIsrael which means the "Rabbi of Israel", or as Rabbenu SheYichyeh (Our Rabbi, may he live). He may be cited in Hebrew and Aramaic texts as (1) "Shlomo son of Rabbi Yitzhak", (2) "Shlomo son of Yitzhak", (3) "Shlomo Yitzhaki", and myriad similar highly respectful derivatives.


title: Rashi

text: In older literature, Rashi is sometimes referred to as "Jarchi" or "Yarhi" (), his abbreviated name being interpreted as Rabbi Shlomo Yarhi. This was understood to refer to the Hebrew name of Lunel in Provence, popularly derived from the occitan "luna" "moon", in Hebrew , in which Rashi was assumed to have lived at some time or to have been born, or where his ancestors were supposed to have originated. Later Christian writers Richard Simon and Johann Christoph Wolf claimed that only Christian scholars referred to Rashi as Jarchi, and that this epithet was unknown to the Jews. Bernardo de Rossi, however, demonstrated that Hebrew scholars also referred to Rashi as Yarhi. In 1839, Leopold Zunz showed that the Hebrew usage of Jarchi was an erroneous propagation of the error by Christian writers, instead interpreting the abbreviation as it is understood today: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki. The evolution of this term has been thoroughly traced.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi was an only child born at Troyes, Champagne, in northern France. His mother's brother was Simeon bar Isaac, rabbi of Mainz. Simon was a disciple of Gershom ben Judah, who died that same year. On his father's side, Rashi has been claimed to be a 33rd-generation descendant of Johanan HaSandlar, who was a fourth-generation descendant of Gamaliel, who was reputedly descended from the Davidic line. In his voluminous writings, Rashi himself made no such claim at all. The main early rabbinical source about his ancestry, Responsum No. 29 by Solomon Luria, makes no such claim either.


title: Rashi

text: His fame later made him the subject of many legends. One tradition contends that his parents were childless for many years. Rashi's father, Yitzhak, a poor winemaker, once found a precious jewel and was approached by non-Jews who wished to buy it to adorn their idol. Yitzhak agreed to travel with them to their land, but en route, he cast the gem into the sea. Afterwards he was visited by either the Voice of God or the prophet Elijah, who told him that he would be rewarded with the birth of a noble son "who would illuminate the world with his Torah knowledge."


title: Rashi

text: Another legend also states that Rashi's parents moved to Worms, Germany while Rashi's mother was pregnant. As she walked down one of the narrow streets in the Jewish quarter, she was imperiled by two oncoming carriages. She turned and pressed herself against a wall, which opened to receive her. This miraculous niche is still visible in the wall of the Worms Synagogue.


title: Rashi

text: According to tradition, Rashi was first brought to learn Torah by his father on Shavuot day at the age of five. His father was his main Torah teacher until his death when Rashi was still a youth. At the age of 17 he married and soon after went to learn in the yeshiva of Rabbi Yaakov ben Yakar in Worms, returning to his wife three times yearly, for the Days of Awe, Passover and Shavuot. When Rabbi Yaakov died in 1064, Rashi continued learning in Worms for another year in the yeshiva of his relative, Rabbi Isaac ben Eliezer Halevi, who was also chief rabbi of Worms. Then he moved to Mainz, where he studied under another of his relatives, Rabbi Isaac ben Judah, the rabbinic head of Mainz and one of the leading sages of the Lorraine region straddling France and Germany.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's teachers were students of Rabbeinu Gershom and Rabbi Eliezer Hagadol, leading Talmudists of the previous generation. From his teachers, Rashi imbibed the oral traditions pertaining to the Talmud as they had been passed down for centuries, as well as an understanding of the Talmud's logic and forms of argument. Rashi took concise, copious notes from what he learned in yeshiva, incorporating this material in his commentaries. He was also greatly influenced by the exegetical principles of Menahem Kara.


title: Rashi

text: He returned to Troyes at the age of 25, after which time his mother died, and he was asked to join the Troyes "Beth din" (rabbinical court). He also began answering halakhic questions. Upon the death of the head of the "Bet din", Rabbi Zerach ben Abraham, Rashi assumed the court's leadership and answered hundreds of halakhic queries.


title: Rashi

text: At some time around 1070 he founded a yeshiva which attracted many disciples. It is thought by some that Rashi earned his living as a vintner since Rashi shows an extensive knowledge of its utensils and process, but there is no evidence for this. Most scholars and a Jewish oral tradition contend that he was a vintner. The only reason given for the centuries-old tradition that he was a vintner being not true is that the soil in all of Troyes is not optimal for growing wine grapes, claimed by the research of Rabbi Haym Soloveitchik. There exists a reference to a seal said to be from his vineyard.


title: Rashi

text: Although there are many legends about his travels, Rashi likely never went further than from the Seine to the Rhine; the utmost limit of his travels were the yeshivas of Lorraine.


title: Rashi

text: In 1096, the People's Crusade swept through the Lorraine, murdering 12,000 Jews and uprooting whole communities. Among those murdered in Worms were the three sons of Rabbi Isaac ben Eliezer Halevi, Rashi's teacher. Rashi wrote several "Selichot" (penitential poems) mourning the slaughter and the destruction of the region's great yeshivot. Seven of Rashi's "Selichot" still exist, including "Adonai Elohei Hatz'vaot"", which is recited on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and "Az Terem Nimtehu", which is recited on the Fast of Gedalia.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi died on July 13, 1105 (Tammuz 29, 4865) at the age of 65. He was buried in Troyes. The approximate location of the cemetery in which he was buried was recorded in "Seder Hadoros", but over time the location of the cemetery was forgotten. A number of years ago, a Sorbonne professor discovered an ancient map depicting the site of the cemetery, which lay under an open square in the city of Troyes. After this discovery, French Jews erected a large monument in the center of the square—a large, black and white globe featuring the three Hebrew letters of רשי artfully arranged counterclockwise in negative space, evoking the style of Hebrew microcalligraphy. The granite base of the monument is engraved: "Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki — Commentator and Guide".


title: Rashi

text: In 2005, Yisroel Meir Gabbai erected an additional plaque at this site marking the square as a burial ground. The plaque reads: ""The place you are standing on is the cemetery of the town of Troyes. Many Rishonim are buried here, among them Rabbi Shlomo, known as Rashi the holy, may his merit protect us"".


title: Rashi

text: Rashi had three daughters, Yocheved, Miriam and Rachel, all of whom married Talmudic scholars. Legends exist that Rashi's daughters wore tefillin. While some women in medieval Ashkenaz did wear tefillin, there is no evidence that Rashi's daughters did or did not do so.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's commentary on the Tanakh—and especially his commentary on the Chumash—is the essential companion for any study of the Bible among Orthodox Jews. Drawing on the breadth of Midrashic, Talmudic and Aggadic literature (including literature that is no longer extant), as well as his knowledge of Hebrew grammar and halakhah, Rashi clarifies the "simple" meaning of the text so that a bright child of five could understand it. At the same time, his commentary forms the foundation for some of the most profound legal analysis and mystical discourses that came after it. Scholars debate why Rashi chose a particular Midrash to illustrate a point, or why he used certain words and phrases and not others. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi wrote that "Rashi's commentary on Torah is the 'wine of Torah'. It opens the heart and uncovers one's essential love and fear of G-d."


title: Rashi

text: Scholars believe that Rashi's commentary on the Torah grew out of the lectures he gave to his students in his yeshiva, and evolved with the questions and answers they raised on it. Rashi completed this commentary only in the last years of his life. It was immediately accepted as authoritative by all Jewish communities, Ashkenazi and Sephardi alike.


title: Rashi

text: The first dated Hebrew printed book was Rashi's commentary on the Chumash, printed by Abraham ben Garton in Reggio di Calabria, Italy, 18 February 1475. (This version did not include the text of the Chumash itself.)


title: Rashi

text: Today, tens of thousands of men, women and children study "Chumash with Rashi" as they review the Torah portion to be read in synagogue on the upcoming Shabbat. According to halakha, a man may even study the Rashi on each Torah verse in fulfillment of the requirement to review the Parsha twice with Targum (which normally refers to Targum Onkelos) This practice is called in Hebrew: "Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum". Since its publication, Rashi's commentary on the Torah is standard in almost all Chumashim produced within the Orthodox Jewish community.


title: Rashi

text: Rabbi Mordechai Leifer of Nadvorna said that anyone who learns the weekly Parsha together with the commentary by Rashi every week, is guaranteed to sit in the Yeshiva (school) of Rashi in the Afterlife.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi wrote the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, covering nearly all of the Babylonian Talmud (a total of 30 tractates). Rashi's commentary, drawing on his knowledge of the entire contents of the Talmud, attempts to provide a full explanation of the words and of the logical structure of each Talmudic passage. Unlike other commentators, Rashi does not paraphrase or exclude any part of the text, but elucidates phrase by phrase. Often he provides punctuation in the unpunctuated text, explaining, for example, "This is a question"; "He says this in surprise", "He repeats this in agreement", etc.


title: Rashi

text: As in his commentary on the Tanakh, Rashi frequently illustrates the meaning of the text using analogies to the professions, crafts, and sports of his day. He also translates difficult Hebrew or Aramaic words into the spoken French language of his day, giving latter-day scholars a window into the vocabulary and pronunciation of Old French.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi exerted a decisive influence on establishing the correct text of the Talmud. Up to and including his age, texts of each Talmudic tractate were copied by hand and circulated in yeshivas. Errors often crept in: sometimes a copyist would switch words around, and other times incorporate a student's marginal notes into the main text. Because of the large number of merchant-scholars who came from throughout the Jewish world to attend the great fairs in Troyes, Rashi was able to compare different manuscripts and readings in Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, Midrash, Targum, and the writings of the Geonim, and determine which readings should be preferred. However, in his humility, he deferred to scholars who disagreed with him. For example, in Chulin 4a, he comments about a phrase, "We do not read this. But as for those who do, this is the explanation..."


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's Talmud commentary spread quickly, reaching Jews as far as Yemen by mid-12th century. It has been included in every version of the Talmud since its first printing in the fifteenth century. It is always situated towards the middle of the opened book display; i.e., on the side of the page closest to the binding.


title: Rashi

text: Some of the other printed commentaries which are attributed to Rashi were composed by others, primarily his students. Akiva Eger stated that the commentary on Nazir was not in fact by Rashi, while Zvi Hirsch Chajes stated that the commentary on Taanit was not by Rashi. In some editions of the Talmud, the text indicates that Rashi died before completing the tractate, and that it was completed by a student. This is true of Makkot (the end of which was composed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Judah ben Nathan), and of Bava Batra (finished, in a more detailed style, by his grandson the Rashbam). The commentary attributed to Rashi on Horayot was thought by some to have been written by Judah ben Nathan, but evidence was uncovered indicating that the commentary on Horayot was from the school of Gershom ben Judah. There is a legend that the commentary on Nedarim, which is clearly not his, was actually composed by his daughters. Another legend states that Rashi died while writing a commentary on Talmud, and that the very last word he wrote was 'tahor,' which means pure in Hebrew - indicating that his soul was pure as it left his body.


title: Rashi

text: About 300 of Rashi's responsa and halakhic decisions are extant. Although some may find contradictory to Rashi's intended purpose for his writings, these responsa were copied, preserved, and published by his students, grandchildren, and other future scholars. "Siddur Rashi", compiled by an unknown student, also contains Rashi's responsa on prayer. Many other rulings and responsa are recorded in Mahzor Vitry. Other compilations include "Sefer Hapardes", edited by Rabbi Shemayah, Rashi's student, and "Sefer Haorah", prepared by Rabbi Nathan Hamachiri.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's writing is placed under the category of post-Talmudic, for its explanation and elaboration on the Talmud; however, he not only wrote about the meaning of Biblical and Talmudic passages, but also on liturgical texts, syntax rules, and cases regarding new religions emerging. Some say that his responsa allows people to obtain "clear pictures of his personality," and shows Rashi as a kind, gentle, humble, and liberal man. They also showed the great deal of common sense and intelligence he had.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's responsa not only addressed some of the different cases and questions regarding Jewish life and law, but it shed light into the historical and social conditions which the Jews were under during the First Crusade. He covered the following topics and themes in his responsa: linguistic focus on texts, law related to prayer, food, and the Sabbath, wine produced by non-Jews, oaths and excommunications, sales, partnerships, loans and interest, bails, communal affairs, and civil law. Rashi's responsa can be broken down into three genres: questions by contemporary sages and students regarding the Torah, the law, and other compilations.


title: Rashi

text: For example, in his writing regarding relations with the Christians, he provides a guide for how one should behave when dealing with martyrs and converts, as well as the "insults and terms of [disgrace] aimed at the Jews." Stemming from the aftermath of the Crusades, Rashi wrote concerning those who were forced to convert, and the rights women had when their husbands were killed.


title: Rashi

text: A main characteristic of Rashi's writing was his focus on grammar and syntax. His primary focus was on word choice, and "essentially [he acts] as a dictionary where he defines unusual Hebrew words." He searches for things that may not be clear to the reader and offers clarification on the inconsistency that may be present. Rashi does so by "filling in missing information that [helps] lead to a more complete understanding" of the Torah. Rashi focused the majority of his responsa, if not all, on a "meticulous analysis of the language of the text." A portion of his writing is dedicated to making distinctions between the "peshat", or plain and literal meaning of the text, and the "aggadah" or rabbinic interpretation. One of Rashi's grandchildren, Rabbi Samuel B. Meir or Rashbam, heavily critiqued his response on his "commentary on the Torah [being] based primarily on the classic midrashim (rabbinic homilies)."


title: Rashi

text: Rashi also influenced non-Jewish circles. His commentaries on the Bible, especially those on the Pentateuch, circulated in many different communities. In the 12th–17th centuries, Rashi's influence spread from French and German provinces to Spain and the east. He had a tremendous influence on Christian scholars. The French monk Nicolas de Lyre of Manjacoria, who was known as the "ape of Rashi", was dependent on Rashi when writing the 'Postillae Perpetuate' on the Bible. He believed that Rashi's commentaries were the "official repository of Rabbinical tradition" and significant to understanding the Bible. De Lyre also had great influence on Martin Luther. Rashi's commentaries became significant to humanists at this time who studied grammar and exegesis. Christian Hebraists studied Rashi's commentaries as important interpretations "authorized by the Synagogue".


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's influence grew the most in the 15th century; from the 17th century onwards, his commentaries were translated into many other languages. Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch was known as the first printed Hebrew work. Rashi on the Torah was translated into English by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann from 1929 to 1934 (Pentateuch with Rashi's Commentary Translated into English). Although Rashi had an influence on communities outside of Judaism, his lack of connection to science prevented him from entering the general domain and he remained more popular among the Jewish community.


title: Rashi

text: Although Rashi's interpretations were widely respected, there were some who criticized his work. After the 12th century, criticism on Rashi's commentaries became common on Jewish works such as the Talmud. The criticisms mainly dealt with difficult passages. In general, Rashi provides the "peshat" or literal meaning of Jewish texts, while his disciples known as the Tosafot ("additions"), gave more interpretative descriptions of the texts. The Tosafot's commentaries can be found in the Talmud opposite Rashi's commentary. The Tosafot added comments and criticism in places where Rashi had not added comments. The Tosafot went beyond the passage itself in terms of arguments, parallels, and distinctions that could be drawn out. This addition to Jewish texts was seen as causing a "major cultural product" which became an important part of Torah study.


title: Rashi

text: Although often disagreeing with his interpretations, the Tosafot always speak of Rashi with great respect.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's commentary on the Talmud continues to be a key basis for contemporary rabbinic scholarship and interpretation. Without Rashi's commentary, the Talmud would have remained a closed book. With it, any student who has been introduced to its study by a teacher can continue learning on his own, deciphering its language and meaning with the aid of Rashi.


title: Rashi

text: The Schottenstein Edition Elucidated translation of the Talmud bases its English-language commentary primarily on Rashi's, and describes his continuing importance as follows:


title: Rashi

text: In 2006, the Jewish National and University Library at Hebrew University put on an exhibit commemorating the 900th anniversary of Rashi's death (2005), showcasing rare items from the library collection written by Rashi, as well as various works by others concerning Rashi.


title: Rashi

text: Voluminous supercommentaries have been published on Rashi's commentaries on the Bible and Talmud, including "Gur Aryeh" by Rabbi Judah Loew (the Maharal), "Sefer ha-Mizrachi" by Rabbi Elijah Mizrachi (the Re'em), and "Yeri'ot Shlomo" by Rabbi Solomon Luria (the Maharshal). Almost all rabbinic literature published since the Middle Ages discusses Rashi, either using his view as supporting evidence or debating against it. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in his "Rashi Sichos", often addresses several of these commentaries at once.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's explanations of the Chumash were also cited extensively in "Postillae Perpetuae" by Nicholas de Lyra (1292–1340), a French Franciscan. De Lyra's book was one of the primary sources that was used in Luther's translation of the Bible.


title: Rashi

text: Rashi's commentaries have been translated into many languages including English. Notable English translations are Rosenbaum and Silbermann 's "Pentateuch with Rashi's Commentary Translated into English" and Artscroll's "Rashi".


title: Rashi

text: The semi-cursive typeface in which Rashi's commentaries are printed both in the Talmud and Tanakh is often referred to as "Rashi script." This does not mean that Rashi himself used such a script: the typeface is based on a 15th-century Sephardic semi-cursive hand, posterior to Rashi's death by several hundred years. Early Hebrew typographers such as the Soncino family and Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer in Venice, employed in their editions of commented texts (such as the Mikraot Gedolot and the Talmud, in which Rashi's commentaries prominently figure) what would become called "Rashi script" to distinguish the rabbinic commentary from the primary text proper, for which they used a square typeface.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: United States v. Microsoft Corporation, 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), was a landmark American antitrust law case at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally maintaining its monopoly position in the personal computer (PC) market, primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers (OEMs) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer and use other programs such as Netscape and Java.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: At the initial trial, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Microsoft's actions constituted unlawful monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit partially overturned that judgment. The two parties later reached a settlement in which Microsoft agreed to modify some of its business practices.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: By the 1990s Microsoft was one of the most successful software companies in the world. "InfoWorld" wrote:


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: The Federal Trade Commission began an inquiry in 1992 over whether Microsoft was abusing its monopoly in the PC operating system market. The commissioners deadlocked with a 2–2 vote in 1993 and closed the investigation, but the Department of Justice (DOJ), led by Janet Reno, opened its own investigation later that year, resulting in a settlement on July 15, 1994, in which Microsoft consented not to tie other Microsoft products to the sale of Windows but remained free to integrate additional features into the operating system. In the years that followed, Microsoft insisted that Internet Explorer (IE) was not a "product" but a "feature" that it was allowed to add to Windows, although the DOJ did not agree with this definition.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: The government alleged that Microsoft had abused monopoly power on Intel-based personal computers in its handling of operating system and web browser integration. The central issue was whether Microsoft was allowed to bundle its IE web browser software with its Windows operating system. Bundling the two products was allegedly a key factor in Microsoft's victory in the browser wars of the late 1990s, as every Windows user had a copy of IE. It was further alleged that this restricted the market for competing web browsers (such as Netscape Navigator or Opera), since it typically took extra time to buy and install the competing browsers. Underlying these disputes were questions of whether Microsoft had manipulated its application programming interfaces to favor IE over third-party browsers. The government also questioned Microsoft's conduct in enforcing restrictive licensing agreements with original equipment manufacturers who were required to include that arrangement.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Microsoft argued that the merging of Windows and IE was the result of innovation and competition, that the two were now the same product and inextricably linked, and that consumers were receiving the benefits of IE for free. Opponents countered that IE was still a separate product that did not need to be tied to Windows, since a separate version of IE was available for Mac OS. They also asserted that IE was not really free because its development and marketing costs may have inflated the price of Windows.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: The case was initially tried before Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit began on May 18, 1998, with the Department of Justice joined by the Attorneys General of twenty U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The case organized by the Department of Justice was focused less on interoperability and more on predatory strategies and market barriers to entry, built upon the allegation that Microsoft forced computer makers to include its Internet browser as a part of the installation of Windows software.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Bill Gates was called "evasive and nonresponsive" by a source present at his videotaped deposition. He argued over the definitions of words such as "compete", "concerned", "ask", and "we"; certain portions of the proceeding would later provoke laughter from the judge when an excerpted version was shown in court. "Businessweek" reported that "early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying 'I don't recall' so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle. Many of Gates's denials and pleas of ignorance were directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mails Gates both sent and received." Intel Vice-president Steven McGeady, called as a witness, quoted Paul Maritz, a senior Microsoft vice president, as having stated an intention to "extinguish" and "smother" rival Netscape Communications Corporation and to "cut off Netscape's air supply" by giving away a clone of Netscape's flagship product for free.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: A number of videotapes were submitted as evidence by Microsoft during the trial, including one that demonstrated that removing Internet Explorer from Microsoft Windows caused slowdowns and malfunctions in Windows. In the videotaped demonstration of what then-Microsoft vice president Jim Allchin stated to be a seamless segment filmed on one PC, the government noticed that some icons mysteriously disappeared and reappeared on the PC's desktop, suggesting that the effects might have been falsified. Allchin admitted that the blame for the tape problems lay with some of his staff. "They ended up filming it—grabbing the wrong screen shot", he said of the incident. Later, Allchin re-ran the demonstration and provided a new videotape, but in so doing Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when IE is removed. Mark Murray, a Microsoft spokesperson, berated the government attorneys for "nitpicking on issues like video production".Microsoft later submitted a second inaccurate videotape into evidence. The issue was how easy or difficult it was for America Online users to download and install Netscape Navigator onto a Windows PC. Microsoft's videotape showed the process as being quick and easy, resulting in the Netscape icon appearing on the user's desktop. The government produced its own videotape of the same process, revealing that Microsoft's videotape had conveniently removed a long and complex part of the procedure and that the Netscape icon was not placed on the desktop, requiring a user to search for it. Brad Chase, a Microsoft vice president, verified the government's tape and conceded that Microsoft's own tape was falsified.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: When the judge suggested that Microsoft offer a version of Windows that did not include Internet Explorer, Microsoft responded that the company would offer manufacturers a choice: one version of Windows that was obsolete, or another that did not work properly. The judge asked, "It seemed absolutely clear to you that I entered an order that required that you distribute a product that would not work?" David Cole, a Microsoft vice president, replied, "In plain English, yes. We followed that order. It wasn't my place to consider the consequences of that."


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Gates and his successor as CEO Steve Ballmer were so worried about the outcome of the case that they discussed leaving Microsoft "if they really screw the company that badly, really just split it up in a totally irrational way", Gates recalled. Microsoft defended itself in the public arena, arguing that its attempts to "innovate" were under attack by rival companies jealous of its success, and that government litigation was merely their pawn. A full-page ad appeared in "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" on June 2, 1999, created by a think tank called The Independent Institute. The ad was presented as "An Open Letter to President Clinton from 240 Economists on Antitrust Protectionism." It said in part, "Consumers did not ask for these antitrust actions – rival business firms did. Consumers of high technology have enjoyed falling prices, expanding outputs, and a breathtaking array of new products and innovations. ... Increasingly, however, some firms have sought to handicap their rivals by turning to government for protection. Many of these cases are based on speculation about some vaguely specified consumer harm in some unspecified future, and many of the proposed interventions will weaken successful U.S. firms and impede their competitiveness abroad."


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Judge Jackson issued his findings of fact on November 5, 1999, holding that Microsoft's dominance of the x86-based personal computer operating systems market constituted a monopoly, and that Microsoft had taken actions to crush threats to that monopoly, including applications from Apple, Java, Netscape, Lotus Software, RealNetworks, Linux, and others. On April 3, 2000, Jackson issued his conclusions of law, holding that Microsoft had committed monopolization, attempted monopolization, and tying in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: On June 7, 2000, the District Court ordered a breakup of Microsoft as its remedy. According to that judgment, Microsoft would have to be split into two separate units, one to produce the operating system and one to produce other software components. Microsoft immediately appealed the judgment to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: After Microsoft filed its appeal, the U.S. government and the states in the suit requested a process that would skip the intermediate Circuit Court and send the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. Such an action is permitted by a section of the United States Code that gives the Supreme Court jurisdiction to hear direct appeals from the District Court level in certain antitrust cases initiated by the federal government, if "the district judge who adjudicated the case enters an order stating that immediate consideration of the appeal by the Supreme Court is of general public importance in the administration of justice." The states also filed a petition for certiorari before judgment at the Supreme Court, requesting the same direct appeal process without going through the Circuit Court. The Supreme Court rejected these requests and sent the appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: On June 28, 2001. the Circuit Court overturned Judge Jackson's rulings against Microsoft. This was partly because Jackson had improperly discussed the case with the news media while it was still in progress, violating the Code of Conduct for American judges. The Circuit Court judges accused Jackson of unethical conduct and determined that he should have recused himself from the case. Thus the Circuit Court adopted a "drastically altered scope of liability" due to Jackson's conduct, which was favorable for Microsoft.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Jackson's response was that Microsoft's conduct itself was the cause of any "perceived bias"; Microsoft executives had, according to him, "proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false. ... Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior management is not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of its wrongdoing."


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Ultimately, the Circuit Court overturned Jackson's holding that Microsoft should be broken up as an illegal monopoly. However, the Circuit Court did not overturn Jackson's findings of fact, and held that traditional antitrust analysis was not equipped to consider software-related practices like browser tie-ins. The case was remanded back to the D.C. District Court for further proceedings on this matter, with Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly presiding.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: The Department of Justice announced on September 6, 2001, that it was no longer seeking to break up Microsoft and would instead seek a lesser antitrust penalty. Microsoft decided to draft a settlement proposal allowing PC manufacturers to adopt non-Microsoft software.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: On November 2, 2001, the DOJ reached an agreement with Microsoft to settle the case. The proposed settlement required Microsoft to share its application programming interfaces with third-party companies and appoint a panel of three people who would have full access to Microsoft's systems, records, and source code for five years in order to ensure compliance. However, the DOJ did not require Microsoft to change any of its code nor did it prevent Microsoft from tying other software with Windows in the future. On August 5, 2002, Microsoft announced that it would make some concessions towards the proposed final settlement ahead of the judge's decision. On November 1, 2002, Judge Kollar-Kotelly released a ruling that accepted most of the proposed DOJ settlement. Nine states and the District of Columbia (which had been pursuing the case together with the DOJ) did not agree with the settlement, arguing that it did not go far enough to curb Microsoft's anti-competitive business practices. On June 30, 2004, the D.C. Circuit Court approved the settlement with the Justice Department, rejecting the states' claims that the sanctions were inadequate.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Microsoft's obligations under the settlement, as originally drafted, expired on November 12, 2007. However, Microsoft later "agreed to consent to a two-year extension of part of the Final Judgments" dealing with communications protocol licensing, and stated that if the government later wished to extend those aspects of the settlement as far as 2012, it would not object. The government made clear that the extension was intended to serve only to give the relevant part of the settlement "the opportunity to succeed for the period of time it was intended to cover", rather than being due to any "pattern of willful and systematic violations".


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: After the 2002 settlement, industry pundit Robert X. Cringely believed a breakup was not possible, and that "now the only way Microsoft can die is by suicide." Andrew Chin, an antitrust law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who assisted Judge Jackson in drafting the findings of fact at the initial District Court trial, wrote that the settlement gave Microsoft "a special antitrust immunity to license Windows and other 'platform software' under contractual terms that destroy freedom of competition." Law professor Eben Moglen noted that the way Microsoft was required to disclose its APIs and protocols was useful only for “interoperating with a Windows Operating System Product”, not for implementing support of those APIs and protocols in any competing operating system.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Economist Milton Friedman believed that the antitrust case against Microsoft set a dangerous precedent that foreshadowed increasing government regulation of an industry that had been relatively free of government intrusion, and that future technological progress in the industry will be impeded as a result. The magazine "Business & Economic Research" argued that, contrary to Friedman's concerns, the settlement actually had little effect on Microsoft's behavior. The fines, restrictions, and monitoring imposed were not enough to prevent it from "abusing its monopolistic power and too little to prevent it from dominating the software and operating system industry." For that reason, Microsoft remained dominant and monopolistic after the trial, and it continued to stifle competitors and innovative technology.


title: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

text: Chris Butts, writing in the "Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property", argued that the U.S. government recognized the benefits of including a web browser with an operating system. At the appellate level, the government dropped the claim of tying given that—as laid out in Section 1 of the Sherman Act—it would have had to prove that more harm than good resulted from the type of tying carried out by Microsoft.


title: Apocynaceae

text: Apocynaceae (from "Apocynum", Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the family are native to the European, Asian, African, Australian, and American tropics or subtropics, with some temperate members. The former family Asclepiadaceae (now known as Asclepiadoideae) is considered a subfamily of Apocynaceae and contains 348 genera. A list of Apocynaceae genera may be found here.


title: Apocynaceae

text: Many species are tall trees found in tropical forests, but some grow in tropical dry (xeric) environments. Also perennial herbs from temperate zones occur. Many of these plants have milky latex, and many species are poisonous if ingested, the family being rich in genera containing alkaloids and cardiac glycosides, those containing the latter often finding use as arrow poisons. Some genera of Apocynaceae, such as "Adenium", bleed clear sap without latex when damaged, and others, such as "Pachypodium", have milky latex apart from their sap.


title: Apocynaceae

text: The former family Asclepiadaceae is included in Apocynaceae according to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group III (APG III) modern, largely molecular-based system of flowering plant taxonomy.


title: Apocynaceae

text: The dogbane/milkweed family includes annual plants, perennial herbs, stem succulents, woody shrubs, trees, or vines. Most exude a milky latex when cut.


title: Apocynaceae

text: Leaves are simple. They may appear one at a time (singly) with each occurrence on alternating sides of the stem (alternate), but usually occur in pairs (and rarely in whorls). When paired, they occur on opposite sides of the stem (opposite), with each pair occurring at an angle rotated 90° to the pair below it (decussate).


title: Apocynaceae

text: There is no stipule (a small leaf-like structure at the base of the leaf stem), or stipules are small and sometimes fingerlike.


title: Apocynaceae

text: Flowers have radial symmetry (actinomorphic), and are borne in heads that are cymes or racemes, or are solitary in axils. They are perfect (bisexual), with a synsepalous, five-lobed calyx united into a tube at the base. Inflorescences are terminal or axillary. Five petals are united into a tube with four or five epipetalous stamens. The style head is swollen. The pollen is transported in foam. The ovary is usually superior, "bicarpellary," and "apocarpous," with a common fused style and stigma. (Fig. 5. and Fig.6. in the illustration of "Rhigospira quadrangularis" show a typical tripartite style which divides into three zones (specialised for pollen deposition, viscin secretion, and the reception of pollen)


title: Apocynaceae

text: The fruit is a drupe, a berry, a capsule, or a (frequently paired) follicle. The seeds are often winged or have appendages of long silky hairs.


title: Apocynaceae

text: Many species of plants from the family Apocynaceae have some toxicity, with some being extremely poisonous if parts are ingested, or if they are not handled properly. Genera containing cardiac glycosides— "Cerbera", "Nerium", "Asclepias", "Cascabela", "Strophanthus," "Acokanthera", "Apocynum," "Thevetia," etc.—have therapeutic ranges, but are often associated with accidental poisonings, in many cases lethal (see below). Alkaloid-producing species like "Rauvolfia serpentina," "Catharanthus roseus," and "Tabernanthe iboga" are likewise the source of compounds with therapeutic ranges, but which have significant associated toxicities if not taken in appropriate doses and in controlled fashion. (See below)


title: Apocynaceae

text: Several members of the family Apocynaceae have had economic uses in the past. Several are sources of important natural products—pharmacologic tool compounds and drug research candidates, and in some cases actual prescription drugs. Cardiac glycosides, which affect heart function, are a ready example. Genera studied and known to contain such glycosides include "Acokanthera", "Apocynum", "Cerbera", "Nerium", "Thevetia" and "Strophanthus." "Rauvolfia serpentina" (Indian snakeroot) contains the alkaloid reserpine, which has been used as an antihypertensive and an antipsychotic drug but its adverse effects limit its clinical use. "Catharanthus roseus" yields alkaloids used in the treatment of cancer. "Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana, and Tabernaemontana undulata" contain the alkaloid ibogaine, which is a psychedelic drug which may help with drug addiction, but which has significant adverse effects, with ibogaine being both cardiotoxic and neurotoxic. Ajmalicine, an alkaloid found in "Rauvolfia" spp., "Catharanthus roseus", and "Mitragyna speciosa", is an antihypertensive drug used in the treatment of high blood pressure.


title: Apocynaceae

text: Many genera are grown as ornamental plants, including "Amsonia" (bluestar), "Nerium" (oleander), "Vinca" (periwinkle), "Carissa" (Natal plum), "Allamanda" (golden trumpet), "Plumeria" (frangipani), "Thevetia", "Mandevilla" (Savannah flower), and "Adenium" (desert-rose).


title: Apocynaceae

text: In addition, the genera "Landolphia", "Carpodinus", and "Mascarenhasia" have been used as commercial sources of inferior rubber. (See Congo rubber).


title: Apocynaceae

text: There are limited dietary uses of plants from this family. The flower of "Fernaldia pandurata" (common name: "") is edible. "Carissa" (Natal plum) produces an edible fruit, but all other parts of the plant are poisonous. The genus "Apocynum" was reportedly used as a source of fiber by Native Americans. The aromatic fruit juice from "Saba comorensis" (syn. "Landolphia comorensis", the Bungo or Mbungo fruit) is used as a drink.


title: Apocynaceae

text: Finally, ethnopharmacologic and ethnotoxicologic uses are also known. The roots of "Tabernanthe iboga" and certain "Voacanga" species have traditionally been used ceremonially as hallucinogens in Africa. The ibogaine-type alkaloids responsible for the psychoactivity of these plants have been studied with regard to the treatment of drug addiction. The juice of "Acokanthera" species such as "A. venenata" and the milky juice of the Namibian "Pachypodium" have been used as poison for arrow tips.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: In April 2013, Forbes estimated Yamauchi's net worth at $2.1 billion; he was the 13th richest person in Japan and the 491st richest in the world. In 2008, Yamauchi was Japan's wealthiest person with a fortune at that time estimated at $7.8 billion.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi was born in Kyoto to father Shikanojo Inaba and mother Kimi. His father abandoned them both when he was five years old, and his mother was unable to cope as a single parent so she gave him up to her parents. With his grandfather being a business owner, this adoption aligned his future inheritance of what would become Nintendo. He was sent to a preparatory school in Kyoto at age twelve. He planned to study law or engineering, but World War II disrupted his studies. Since he was too young to fight, he was put to work in a military factory. Once the war ended in 1945, Yamauchi went to Waseda University to study law. He married Michiko Inaba. With the absence of Yamauchi's father, his grandparents met to arrange the marriage.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: In 1948, Yamauchi's grandfather and president of Nintendo, Sekiryo Kaneda, suffered a stroke. As he had no other immediate successor, he asked Yamauchi to come immediately to Nintendo to assume the job of president. He had to leave his law degree at Waseda University to do so. Yamauchi would only accept the position if he were the only family member working at Nintendo. Reluctantly, Yamauchi's grandfather agreed, and died shortly thereafter in 1949. Under the agreement, his older cousin had to be fired. Due to his young age and total lack of management experience, most employees did not take Yamauchi seriously and resented him. Soon after taking over, he had to deal with a strike by factory employees who expected him to cave in easily. Instead, he asserted his authority by firing many long-time employees who questioned his authority. He had the company name changed to Nintendo Karuta and established its new headquarters in Kyoto. Yamauchi led Nintendo in a "notoriously imperialistic style". He was the sole judge of potential new products, and only a product that appealed to him and his instincts went on the market.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: He was the first to introduce the plastic Western playing card into the Japanese market. Western playing cards were still a novelty in Japan and the public associated them with Western-styled gambling games such as poker and bridge. Most gambling activities were technically illegal by default with only the few legally sanctioned exceptions of horse racing, pachinko, and lottery. Therefore, the market for anything which was associated with gambling, including hanafuda, was limited. Yamauchi's first "hit" came when he made a licensing agreement with Walt Disney in 1959 for his plastic playing cards. Nintendo targeted its playing cards as a tool for party games that the whole family could enjoy, a foreshadowing of the company's approach going into the 21st century. Disney's tie-in was made towards that end. Nintendo's Disney playing card was also accompanied by a small, thin booklet with many tutorials for different card games. The strategy succeeded and the product sold an unprecedented 600,000 units in one year, soon gracing Nintendo with the domination of the Japanese playing card market. With this success, Yamauchi once again changed the company name to Nintendo Company Limited and took the company public and became the chairman. He then decided to travel to the U.S. to visit the United States Playing Card Company, the world's biggest manufacturer of playing cards. Upon arriving in Cincinnati, Yamauchi was disappointed to see a small-scale office and factory. This led to the realization that card manufacturing was an extremely limited venture.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Upon his return to Japan, Yamauchi decided to diversify the company. Some of the new areas he ventured into included a taxi company called Daiya, a love hotel with rooms rented by the hour (which he reportedly frequented), and individually portioned instant rice. All of these ventures eventually failed and brought the company into the brink of bankruptcy. However, one day, Yamauchi spotted a factory engineer named Gunpei Yokoi playing with a simple extendable claw, something Yokoi made to amuse himself during his break. Yamauchi ordered Yokoi to develop the extendable claw into a proper product. The product was named the Ultra Hand and was an instant hit. It was then that Yamauchi decided to move Nintendo's focus into toy making. With an already established distribution system into department stores for its playing cards, the transition was a natural one for Nintendo. Yamauchi created a new department called Games and Setup, manned initially by only Yokoi and another employee who looked after the finances and was situated in a warehouse in Kyoto for the purpose of research and development. Gunpei Yokoi was solely assigned to develop new products. Yokoi utilized his degree in engineering by developing what is now known as electric toys such as the Love Tester and a light gun using solar cells for targets. These electric toys were quite a novelty in the 1960s when most other toys were simple in origin, such as toy blocks or dolls. Eventually, Nintendo succeeded in establishing itself as a major player in the toy market.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi realized that technological breakthroughs in the electronic industry meant that electronics could be incorporated into entertainment products since the prices were decreasing. Atari and Magnavox were already selling gaming devices for use with television sets. Yamauchi negotiated a license with Magnavox to sell its game console, the Magnavox Odyssey. After hiring several Sharp Electronics employees, Nintendo launched the Color TV Game 6 in Japan, which was followed by several revisions and updates of this series.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi had Nintendo expand into the United States to take advantage of the growing American arcade market. He hired his son-in-law Minoru Arakawa to head the new American operation. Their Japanese hits such as "Radar Scope", "Space Fever", and "Sheriff" did not achieve the same success in the United States, so Yamauchi turned to designer Shigeru Miyamoto's pet project, "Donkey Kong" in 1981, which became a smash hit.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi infused Nintendo with a unique industrial development process. He instituted three separate research and development units, which competed with one another and aimed for innovation. This system fostered a high degree of both unusual and successful gadgets. Yokoi, who headed R&D1, created the first portable LCD video game featuring a microprocessor called the Game & Watch. Although the Game & Watch was successful, Yamauchi wanted something that was cheap enough that most could buy it yet unique enough so that it would dominate the market for as long as possible.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi was so confident with the Famicom that he promised an electronics company one million unit orders within two years. The Famicom easily reached that goal. After selling several million units, Yamauchi realized the importance of the software that ran on the game systems and made sure the system was easy to program. Yamauchi believed that technicians did not create excellent games, but artists did. The Famicom was released in the United States as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Yamauchi, with no engineering or video game background, was the only one deciding which games were to be released. His remarkable intuition for what people would want in the future may have been one of the reasons for Nintendo's success. To help spring creativity, he created three research and development groups and allowed them to compete against each other. This caused the designers to work harder to try to get their games approved.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan. It was released a year later in North America and in 1992 in Europe, in both regions as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The Super Famicom was sold out within three days in Japan and had gamers camping for days outside shops in hope of getting the next shipment. Nintendo showed major expansion during this period with new plants, R&D facilities and a partnership with Rare. Yamauchi had displayed from the beginning a knack at identifying good games even though he had never played them, and he continued to do so alone until at least 1994. A 1995 article in "Next Generation" reported that Yamauchi, though 68 years old, "remains very much in charge" of Nintendo and called him "The most feared and respected man in the videogame industry".


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: In 1995, the Virtual Boy was released but did not sell well. Nevertheless, Yamauchi said at a press conference that he still had faith in it and that the company would continue developing games for it. In the fiscal year ending 31 March 1995, Nintendo achieved revenues of 416 billion yen.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: In 1996, Nintendo released its new, fully 3D capable console, the Nintendo 64. Around this time Yamauchi publicly stated that he wanted to retire but did not think there were any good candidates to succeed him yet. A year later, he announced that he would retire by 2000, regardless of the lack of a good successor, and in particular wanted to end his career with the launch of the 64DD. In 1999, Yamauchi and Nintendo announced their intentions to work on a new system with an IBM Gekko processor and Matsushita DVD technology codenamed Dolphin. This system was named GameCube. Yamauchi talked at E3 about the impact that the release of Xbox would have on the GameCube.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi touted the GameCube as a machine designed exclusively to be a video game console, opting not to include media playback. This emphasis towards "performance only" and the creation of hardware that would allow developers to "easily create games" is what Yamauchi believed would set the GameCube apart from its competitors.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi also wanted the machine to be the least expensive of its kind, in his belief that people "do not play with the game machine itself. They play with the software, and they are forced to purchase a game machine in order to use the software. Therefore the price of the machine should be as cheap as possible." Nintendo hence priced the GameCube significantly less expensively than its rivals in the market, although the console's games were priced identically to those designed for the competing systems.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: On 24 May 2002, Yamauchi stepped down as president of Nintendo and was succeeded by the head of Nintendo's Corporate Planning Division, Satoru Iwata. Yamauchi subsequently became the chairman of Nintendo's board of directors. He left the board on 29 June 2005, due to his age, and because he believed that he was leaving the company in good hands. Yamauchi also refused to accept his retirement pension, which was reported to be around $9 to $14 million, believing that Nintendo could put it to better use. He remained Nintendo's largest shareholder, and as of 2008 retained a 10% share in Nintendo. He was the 12th richest man in Japan due to his shares in Nintendo since its success with the Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. He donated the majority of the 7.5 billion yen to build a new cancer treatment center in Kyoto. In 2006, he founded Shigureden, a museum of poetry in Kyoto.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: In 1950, Yamauchi's wife Michiko gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Yōko. During the next few years, Michiko had several miscarriages and was often ill. In 1957, she gave birth to another daughter, Fujiko and, shortly after, a son named Katsuhito.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: When Yamauchi's father, Shikanojō, returned years later to see his son, Yamauchi refused to speak to him. When Yamauchi was close to 30, his half-sister contacted him and informed him that Shikanojō had died of a stroke. At the funeral, he met his father's wife and their four daughters whom he never knew existed. He began feeling sorry that he had not taken the opportunity to reconcile with his father when he was still alive. The death of his father changed Yamauchi, and he grieved for months and cried freely. From then on he made regular visits to his father's grave.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: Yamauchi has been described as a stern man with a single-minded focus on his business. He did not play video games; his sole serious hobby was the strategy board game Go, though Masayuki Uemura, the primary engineer of the original NES, has stated that he also enjoyed hanafuda and would play cards with Nintendo employees at parties. He was ranked a seventh Dan at Go, roughly equivalent to chessmaster.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: In the early 1990s, the professional baseball team the Seattle Mariners were available for sale and United States Senator Slade Gorton asked Nintendo of America to find a Japanese investor who would keep the club in Seattle. Yamauchi offered to buy the franchise, even though he had never been to a baseball game. Although the owner accepted the offer, the MLB commissioner Fay Vincent and ownership committee were strongly opposed to the idea of a non-North American owner and did not approve the deal. However, following the strong support and sentiments of the people of Seattle and press the commissioner formally approved the deal, under the condition that Yamauchi had less than 50% of the vote. This was a major development in American baseball, because this opened the gates for Japanese baseball players to American league teams, which had been previously denied. In 2000, the club made its first profit of $2.6 million since its acquisition by Yamauchi. Yamauchi never attended a Mariners game.


title: Hiroshi Yamauchi

text: On 19 September 2013, aged 85, Yamauchi died at a hospital following complications of pneumonia. Nintendo released a statement stating that its staff members were mourning the loss of their former president.


title: Sergeant first class

text: Sergeant First Class (SFC) is a military rank in some militaries and other uniformed organizations around the world, typically that of a senior non-commissioned officer.


title: Sergeant first class

text: Sergeant First Class (SFC) is the seventh enlisted rank (E-7) in the U.S. Army, ranking above staff sergeant (E-6) and below master sergeant and first sergeant (E-8), and is the first non-commissioned officer rank designated as a senior non-commissioned officer (SNCO).


title: Sergeant first class

text: A sergeant first class is typically assigned as a platoon sergeant at the company level or "battalion operations non-commissioned officer in charge" at the battalion level, but may also hold other positions depending on the type of unit. In a combat arms role, a sergeant first class is typically second in charge (under an officer, typically a second lieutenant, serving as the platoon leader) of from 14 soldiers and four tanks in an armor platoon to 36 soldiers and four squads in a rifle platoon. A sergeant first class's primary responsibilities are tactical logistics, tactical casualty evacuations, and serving as the senior tactical adviser to the platoon leader. Sergeant first class replaced the rank of technical sergeant in 1948. (However, the U.S. Air Force, which separated from the Army in 1947, retained the rank of technical sergeant and the U.S. Marine Corps had the rank of technical sergeant until 1959.)


title: Sergeant first class

text: A sergeant first class is addressed as "sergeant" except in certain situations, such as field artillery units, in which a sergeant first class serving as platoon sergeant is commonly referred to as "Smoke." If a sergeant first class is appointed to fill the role of first sergeant, he or she is addressed as "First Sergeant." Typically a sergeant first class assigned on a manning document to fill a first sergeant role while being promotable to master sergeant can be frocked to first sergeant rank and hold the insignia due its position.


title: Sergeant first class

text: Sergeant first class is the first enlisted rank in the U.S. Army to be selected by the centralized promotion system. As such, it is considerably more difficult to achieve than the previous ranks. A sergeant first class is the first enlisted rank to be considered a senior non-commissioned officer, and a soldier achieving the rank gains not only prestige, but several benefits due to the position. Contrary to popular belief due to a common apocryphal saying, it does not take an "Act of Congress" to reduce a sergeant first class in rank. The reduction authority from sergeant first class to staff sergeant is reserved for Commanders of organizations authorized a commander in the rank of colonel (COL) or higher. For separate detachments or companies, the reduction authority will be the next higher headquarters within the chain of command. The higher headquarters must be authorized by a commander in the rank of colonel or higher.


title: Sergeant first class

text: The rank title of sergeant first class (SFC) existed in the Army from 1890 until 1920 when it was eliminated in an army-wide simplification of enlisted ranks which had grown into a system containing 128 different rank insignia. The rank of SFC was used in several technical branches such as the Army Medical Department and in the Ordnance, Signal, and Quartermaster Corps and was equivalent to the field service ranks at the company/battery/troop "staff" NCO level, such as color sergeant, supply sergeant, or radio sergeant. The Army restored the rank of SFC in 1948 when it replaced technical sergeant.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Inside the NBA, branded for sponsorship purposes as Inside the NBA presented by Kia, is the postgame show for "NBA on TNT" broadcasts. The program features host Ernie Johnson with analysts Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal, with various supporting and fill-in analysts.


title: Inside the NBA

text: "Inside the NBA" debuted after TNT acquired the rights to broadcast NBA games during the 1989–90 season. In its first season, there were no permanent hosts or analysts. Craig Sager, Hannah Storm, Vince Cellini, Tim Brando and Fred Hickman shared hosting duties at various points of the season. In the following season, Ernie Johnson Jr., formerly a sideline reporter, took over as the show's full-time host, a role he retains to this day.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Initially, "Inside the NBA" focused on recaps of the day's games. Occasionally, Johnson invited a former or current NBA player or coach to sit in as a guest analyst. Kenny Smith joined Johnson full-time in 1998.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Newly-retired former NBA All-Star Charles Barkley joined TNT in 2000 and became notorious for his bold, and at times controversial, statements on the air.


title: Inside the NBA

text: In late 2002, Barkley told Kenny Smith that he would "kiss [his] ass" if Houston Rockets then-rookie Yao Ming scored 19 points in a game, which was followed by Yao doing exactly that later that week. As a result, on "Listen Up! With Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson" that Thursday, Barkley kissed the rear end of a donkey that Smith brought into the studio. In 2002, a controversial "Sports Illustrated" cover, in which Barkley was portrayed in chains (as a slave), which led to a debate between Smith and Barkley about the merits of the cover.


title: Inside the NBA

text: During the 2000s, TNT added a third analyst alongside Smith and Barkley. Hall of Famer Magic Johnson served as the third analyst between 2003 and 2007, and Reggie Miller and Chris Webber split the role between 2008 and 2011.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Before the 2011–12 season, TNT hired Shaquille O'Neal as a studio analyst. O'Neal's addition led "Inside the NBA" to add the Shaqtin' a Fool segment, featuring bloopers from around the league.


title: Inside the NBA

text: During the and playoffs, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green made occasional appearances on "Inside the NBA". In 2022, Green was added to TNT's analyst roster, and would contribute occasionally on the show while still an active player.


title: Inside the NBA

text: The popularity of the program has led the NBA to air reruns of the show (as well as reruns of other TNT NBA studio programs, "NBA Tip-Off", the "American Express Halftime Report" and "Game Break") on the TNT Overtime on NBA.com. Analysts from the show, with the notable exception of Barkley, have been featured in the popular "NBA 2K" video game series beginning with "NBA 2K15". Beginning in 2011, the team has also covered the NCAA men's basketball tournament as CBS began partnering with Turner for "NCAA March Madness".


title: Inside the NBA

text: During the 2021–22 season, "Inside the NBA" airs after TNT Tuesday games during the NFL regular season and on Thursday nights once football season ends. TNT moved its marquee games to Tuesday in the autumn and early in the winter in order to avoid competition with Thursday Night Football. The postgame shows after TNT Tuesday games, beginning in January, were rebranded as the "NBA on TNT Postgame Show", with Adam Lefkoe as host and analysts O'Neal, Candace Parker and Dwyane Wade.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Wade decided not to return to NBA on TNT coverage for the 2022–23 season, choosing to focus on other business interests. Jamal Crawford replaced Wade as an analyst on "NBA on TNT" Tuesdays.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Prior to the 2022–23 season, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports announced contract renewals for all four of the main "Inside the NBA" panelists, including a 10-year extension for Barkley that he called "a life-altering deal".


title: Inside the NBA

text: "Shaqtin' a Fool" is a blooper segment started by O'Neal when he joined the show in 2012 that has become popular since. Frequent nominees include JaVale McGee, Kendrick Perkins, Nick Young, Otto Porter, and Brandon Knight although even All-Stars like LeBron James, Blake Griffin, James Harden and Russell Westbrook have been featured.


title: Inside the NBA

text: "Area 21" is a segment hosted by Kevin Garnett, who joined the show following his retirement before the 2016–17 season. Noted for being more informal and by the presence of a "cuss button" for when Garnett or a guest wants to swear, which has sometimes been left unused.


title: Inside the NBA

text: "EJ's Neat-O Stat of the Night" is the traditional ending segment, sometimes noted for its lack of continued sponsorship ("Presented by NO ONE - Unsullied by sponsorship since 1989"), although Dave & Buster's, Taco Bell, Jim Beam, JBL, and EA Sports have sponsored it. It can sometimes feature interesting or humorous stats, but the segment is sometimes used for a comedy sketch.


title: Inside the NBA

text: "Who He Play For?" is a start-of-season customary game where Barkley is challenged to name the new teams of a number of NBA journeymen.


title: Inside the NBA

text: "Players Only" was the name given to the Monday edition between 2017 and 2019, reserved for players-turned-analysts such as Webber, O'Neal, Garnett, Isiah Thomas, Chris Bosh and Baron Davis. WNBA players such as Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker would sit in as analysts for these broadcasts.


title: Inside the NBA

text: "Gone Fishin'" is a segment aired whenever a team is knocked out of the playoffs (or a team failed to make the playoffs), and is usually accompanied by doctored photos of players on the team, and notable figures from the team's home city, on fishing boats with analyst Kenny Smith. It has its roots in the 1990s; when the Suns had a chance to eliminate a team, their gorilla mascot would hold a fishing pole to indicate the opponents would be "gone fishin'". The catchphrase has its own page on NBA.com and has also become a metaphor for being eliminated from the playoffs. MLB on TBS uses a similar phrase for when a team gets knocked out of the postseason, called "Gone huntin'", as most North American hunting seasons occur in mid-to-late fall. The NHL on TNT uses a similar phrase for when a team gets knocked out of the postseason, called "Gone Golfin'", as most North American's golfing occur in early-to-late summer.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Some segments of "Inside" have become famous and are sometimes referenced in callbacks on other episodes, or in other media.


title: Inside the NBA

text: While filling in for an injured Steve Kerr on a Los Angeles Lakers-Sacramento Kings broadcast, Charles Barkley made disparaging comments about the age of referee Dick Bavetta. The conversation between Barkley and play-by-play man Marv Albert eventually led him to comment that he could outrun Bavetta, and any other man of his age (Bavetta was 67 at the time).


title: Inside the NBA

text: This led Johnson and Smith to note that Bavetta, a physically fit referee whose job required him to run up and down the court on a nightly basis, would likely beat Barkley (who had become woefully out of shape compared to his playing career) in a race. Bavetta challenged Barkley to a footrace, which was then scheduled for the upcoming All-Star Weekend.


title: Inside the NBA

text: The race was heavily hyped on the Internet, receiving some mainstream attention as well. Several NBA players weighed in with predictions, and the overwhelming majority picked Bavetta to win the race.


title: Inside the NBA

text: Despite being the underdog, Barkley won the race by a comfortable margin. Both men ended up falling after the race; Bavetta dove for the finish line, and Barkley stumbled backwards and fell upon victory. With the race decided, the two exchanged a friendly hug and kiss. The race raised $50,000 for charity, and All-Star Saturday Night on TNT drew its highest number of television households in its twenty-two-year history.


title: Inside the NBA

text: During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, following the Golden State Warriors' upset of the Dallas Mavericks, Barkley made some degrading comments about Oakland, California, saying things such as "it makes me mad, mad that they're in Golden State and not LA" and "it's not a city". In response, the scoreboard at the Oracle Arena began showing a graphic of the Warriors' mascot throwing a pie at Barkley.