title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Westfield was originally formed as a township on January 27, 1794, from portions of Elizabeth Township, while the area was still part of Essex County, and was incorporated on February 21, 1798, as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature. It became part of the newly formed Union County on March 19, 1857. Portions of the township have been taken to form Rahway Township (February 27, 1804), Plainfield Township (April 5, 1847), Cranford Township (March 14, 1871), Fanwood Township (March 6, 1878; now known as Scotch Plains) and Mountainside (September 25, 1895). The Town of Westfield was incorporated on March 4, 1903, replacing Westfield Township. The name of the town is derived from its location in the western, undeveloped fields of the Elizabethtown tract.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: As recently as 2017, the Broaddus family living in Westfield received threatening letters from a supposed stalker who referred to himself as "The Watcher," causing a national sensation. The Broaddus family's experience, along with the 1971 John List family murders that also occurred in Westfield, were later adapted into the 2022 Netflix series "The Watcher".


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the town had a total area of 6.74 square miles (17.46 km), including 6.72 square miles (17.42 km) of land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km) of water (0.28%).


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Germantown and Tamaques Reservation Mill.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Six municipalities border the town of Westfield: Mountainside to the north, Springfield Township to the northeast, Garwood and Cranford to the east, Clark to the southeast, and Scotch Plains to the west and southwest.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The upper reaches of the Rahway River Parkway run through the township along tributaries of the Rahway River.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The Robinson's Branch of the Rahway River additionally flows through the southern portion of Westfield en route to the Robinson's Branch Reservoir, also known as the Clark Reservoir.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The Westfield Memorial Library was founded in 1873 as the "Every Saturday Book Club" and has evolved over the past century into the Westfield Memorial Library of today. The Library is located in a large, modern, Williamsburg-style building at 550 East Broad Street. The library's collection consists of over 250,000 books, two dozen public computers, a wide array of multimedia options, a large youth services area with a vivid mural depicting Westfield history, and multiple tables and carrels for studying. The library offers classes for adults and children, storytimes for children, and computer instruction.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Westfield's downtown features many local and national stores and several landmarks that were shown and used in the NBC network television show "Ed" such as the Rialto Theater. There are over 40 restaurants and casual dining establishments throughout the downtown. Downtown is located mostly north of the Westfield train station. The downtown area has a mix of independent stores and boutiques as well as national stores. Over one-third of the retailers and restaurants have existed for 25 years or more.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Downtown Westfield, with over 200 retail establishments and 400 commercial enterprises, is a regional destination in New Jersey. The Downtown Westfield Corporation (DWC) manages the Special Improvement District (SID) area's growth and enhancement. The DWC participates in the National Main Street program associated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is funded by a SID assessment on downtown properties and operates as the district's management agency. The DWC sponsors marketing efforts and promotions, special event planning, urban design and building improvement projects. The DWC works closely with the town government and volunteer groups to improve the downtown area. In 2004, Westfield won the Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust. In 2010, Westfield was the winner of the America in Bloom contest for communities with a population of 25,001–50,000 against the other two towns entered in their category. Shopping and dining in Westfield attracts citizens from other communities across the state.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Several war memorials (including ones dedicated to the Korean War, World War II, Spanish–American War, and the Vietnam War) are located in a plaza near the downtown. The plaza is also home to the September 11 Memorial Park, which pays special tribute to the residents of Westfield who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Downtown Westfield hosts events and festivals throughout the year. Throughout the summer, jazz groups perform live, outdoors, every Tuesday night. October 2018 saw the first annual AddamsFest, honoring Westfield resident Charles Addams. The festival featured exhibits, lectures, film screenings, and a masquerade ball, among other things. Other festivals include the Spring Fling and FestiFall.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: In August 2020, Le Tote announced that Lord & Taylor, the town's only department store and the chain's only freestanding location in New Jersey, would close as part of a plan to shut down 38 Lord & Taylor store nationwide. Efforts are being made to redevelop the site.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $127,799 (with a margin of error of +/− $10,580) and the median family income was $150,797 (+/− $11,480). Males had a median income of $111,762 (+/− $7,767) versus $71,217 (+/− $5,624) for females. The per capita income for the town was $63,498 (+/− $4,577). About 0.9% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: As of the 2000 United States census there were 29,644 people, 10,622 households, and 8,178 families residing in the town. The population density was 4,403.1 people per square mile (1,700.7/km). There were 10,819 housing units at an average density of 1,607.0 per square mile (620.7/km). The racial makeup of the town was 89.98% White, 3.88% African American, 0.09% Native American, 4.08% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 1.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.82% of the population.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: There were 10,622 households, out of which 40.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.0% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.0% were non-families. Of all households, 19.3% were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.20.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: In the town, the population was spread out, with 28.4% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The median income for a household in the town was $98,390, and the median income for a family was $112,145. Males had a median income of $82,420 versus $45,305 for females. The per capita income for the town was $47,187. About 1.7% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Westfield is governed under a Special Charter granted by an act of the New Jersey Legislature. The town is one of 11 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that operate under special charters. The governing body is comprised of a Mayor and an eight-member Town Council, with all positions filled in partisan elections. The Mayor is elected directly by the voters at-large to a four-year term of office. The Town Council consists of eight members, with two members elected from each of four wards. Town Council members are elected to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with one seat in each ward coming up for election every other year. The Town Council holds meetings every two weeks where it discusses legislation under consideration, and which are open to the public.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: , the Mayor of Westfield is Democrat Michelle W. "Shelley" Brindle, whose term of office ends on December 31, 2025. Members of the Westfield Town Council are David M. Contract (Ward 3; D, 2025), Michael J. Dardia (Ward 2; D, 2025), Linda S. Habgood (Ward 1; D, 2025), Scott A. Katz (Ward 4; D, 2023), Mark LoGrippo (Ward 3; Republican, 2023), Dawn Mackey (Ward 4; D, 2025), Mark Parmelee (Ward 2; D, 2023) and Emily Root (Ward 1; D, 2023 - appointed to serve an unexpired term).


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: In April 2022, the Town Council selected Emily Root from a list of three alternatives submitted by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the Ward 1 seat expiring on December 2023 that had been held by James Boyes until he resigned from office earlier that month. Root will serve on an interim basis until the November 2022 general election, when voters will select a candidate to serve the balance of the term of office.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The Westfield Police Department (WPD) has provided police protection to the town since 1903. The chief of police is Christopher Battiloro, who was appointed to the position in December 2018, after serving for four months on an interim basis. The department operates a Patrol Division, Traffic Safety Bureau, Records Bureau, Detective Bureau and its own Emergency Services Unit. Westfield's Parking Services also falls under the jurisdiction of the WPD, and is responsible for monitoring parking and traffic safety within Westfield's Central Business District and near schools. The WPD also has a Law Enforcement Explorers Post, Post #90. Each division of the WPD operates different vehicles, most with a black-and-white paint scheme.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The Westfield Fire Department was formed in 1875 following a fire that destroyed a city block on East Broad Street. The WFD is a combination department with 36 paid/career firefighters and 15 volunteer firefighters. There are four platoons of eight (a Battalion Chief, two Lieutenants and five Firefighters) working a 24-/72-hour work schedule out of two fire stations. Administrative members include the Chief of Department, the Deputy Chief of Operations, and the Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention. The Fire Safety Inspector position in the Fire Prevention Bureau was eliminated in January 2009 due to budget cuts. The Chief of Department is Anthony Tiller.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Westfield Fire Headquarters, located at 405 North Avenue West, is staffed 24 hours a day by a Battalion Chief (Shift Commander), a lieutenant and three firefighters. These personnel make up the engine company, first due on the north side of town, and the ladder company. A reserve engine company and a utility pick-up are also housed at fire headquarters. The office of the Chief of Department and the Deputy Chief of Operations are located here as well.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Station 2, located at 1029 Central Avenue, is staffed 24 hours a day by a lieutenant and two firefighters. These personnel make up the engine company, first due on the south side of town. A reserve engine company, a utility pick-up, and a spare SUV are also housed at Station 2. The Fire Prevention Bureau is located at Station 2 and houses the office of the Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The WFD in operates a fleet of four E-One Engines (2 x 2,000 GPM & 2 x 1,500 GPM) and 1 Pierce Arrow XT 100' Rearmount Ladder, one support SUV, and three staff 4x4 vehicles. The paint scheme for the older apparatus (Engine 4) is yellow, with the newer apparatus (Ladder 1, Engines 2, 3 & 5) being red bodies with white cabs. The support vehicles, a Ford Pick-Up (Utility 7), a Chevy Pick-Up (Utility 8), and a Jeep Cherokee (Car 9) are red with white striping and the remaining staff vehicles, for Chief Officers, are unmarked Dodge Durangos (Car 1,11,12).


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The WFD responds annually to approximately 2,000 calls for service. The WFD serves as a backup EMS agency for the town if the Westfield Volunteer Rescue Squad is not readily available. All members are CPR-Defib certified with 27 members currently New Jersey certified EMTs with the remaining members trained to the first responder level. Both stations are staffed with FF/EMTs 24 hours a day.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The WFD is also a partner in the Union County Fire Mutual Aid agreement, responding to numerous requests for aid to any of the other 20 municipalities in Union County.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The career firefighters (excluding the Chief and Deputy Chiefs) are members of New Jersey Firefighter's Mutual Benevolent Association (NJ FMBA) Local 30.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The Westfield Volunteer Rescue Squad is staffed around the clock by volunteer certified EMTs. Shifts range from 5 hours in the morning and afternoon to 14 hours overnight. The Squad has three ambulances with a crew every shift. Members are paged in the event that another emergency arises and the original crew is answering a medical call. Dispatchers are also volunteers, answering phones directly from the police line.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Westfield is located in the 7th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 21st state legislative district.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Union County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners, whose nine members are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis with three seats coming up for election each year, with an appointed County Manager overseeing the day-to-day operations of the county. At an annual reorganization meeting held in the beginning of January, the board selects a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. , Union County's County Commissioners are


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Vice Chair Christopher Hudak (D, Linden, term as commissioner ends 2023; term as vice chair ends 2022),


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 20,684 registered voters in Westfield, of which 6,485 (31.4% vs. 41.8% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 5,244 (25.4% vs. 15.3%) were registered as Republicans and 8,942 (43.2% vs. 42.9%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 13 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. Among the town's 2010 Census population, 68.2% (vs. 53.3% in Union County) were registered to vote, including 97.5% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.6% countywide).


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 8,080 votes (50.9% vs. 66.0% countywide), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 7,555 votes (47.6% vs. 32.3%) and other candidates with 147 votes (0.9% vs. 0.8%), among the 15,866 ballots cast by the town's 21,797 registered voters, for a turnout of 72.8% (vs. 68.8% in Union County). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 9,345 votes (54.5% vs. 63.1% countywide), ahead of Republican John McCain with 7,541 votes (44.0% vs. 35.2%) and other candidates with 154 votes (0.9% vs. 0.9%), among the 17,141 ballots cast by the town's 21,251 registered voters, for a turnout of 80.7% (vs. 74.7% in Union County). In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 8,442 votes (50.6% vs. 58.3% countywide), ahead of Republican George W. Bush with 8,037 votes (48.2% vs. 40.3%) and other candidates with 110 votes (0.7% vs. 0.7%), among the 16,683 ballots cast by the town's 20,441 registered voters, for a turnout of 81.6% (vs. 72.3% in the whole county).


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 64.1% of the vote (6,303 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 34.5% (3,394 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (131 votes), among the 10,053 ballots cast by the town's 21,513 registered voters (225 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 46.7%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 6,070 votes (51.0% vs. 41.7% countywide), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 4,776 votes (40.2% vs. 50.6%), Independent Chris Daggett with 900 votes (7.6% vs. 5.9%) and other candidates with 58 votes (0.5% vs. 0.8%), among the 11,893 ballots cast by the town's 20,982 registered voters, yielding a 56.7% turnout (vs. 46.5% in the county).


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Public school students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grades attend the Westfield Public Schools. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of 10 schools, had an enrollment of 6,304 students and 500.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.6:1. The district has a central kindergarten, six neighborhood elementary schools (grades 1–5), two middle schools (grades 6–8) divided by a "North Side / South Side" boundary, and one high school (grades 9–12). The schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: For high school, public school students from Westfield and all of Union County are eligible to apply to attend the Union County Vocational Technical Schools, which include Union County Magnet High School, Union County Academy for Information Technology, Union County Academy for Allied Health Sciences, Union County Vocational Technical High School and Union County Academy for Performing Arts.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Holy Trinity Interparochial School is a Middle States-accredited Catholic school run by the three parishes of Holy Trinity and St. Helen's in Westfield along with Our Lady of Lourdes in Mountainside, which offers education from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade and operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: , the town had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Union County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The main road serving Westfield is New Jersey Route 28, which runs for about two miles alongside the commuter railroad that marks the boundary between the town's North and South Sides. Westfield can also be accessed by Exits 135 and 137 of the nearby Garden State Parkway, or by the Lawrence, Mountain, or Springfield Avenue exits of U.S. Route 22.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: NJ Transit (NJT) provides passenger rail service from the Westfield train station on the Raritan Valley Line to Newark Penn Station with connecting service to New York Penn Station. Westfield riders are able to make a one-seat ride (no transfer necessary) into NY Penn Station during weekday off-peak hours, which was made possible by upgrades of the NJT train equipment to operate into New York City. Westfield's position and schedule on the Raritan Valley Line make it desirable for commuters, as several times in the morning and evening rush hours a non-stop service operates to/from Newark Penn Station. On these non-stop services, the one-way journey time to/from NY Penn Station is 50 minutes, or 20 minutes to/from Newark Penn Station. This easy access to New York is what draws so many people to the town of Westfield.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The NJT 113 bus route provides one-seat service to New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal seven days per week from the town center, taking approximately one hour to NYC, with additional service available along Route 22 on the northern edge of the town (NJT bus routes 114 and 117), taking approximately 45 minutes. The 59 route provides local bus service between Plainfield and Newark.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately 20 minutes away, most conveniently reached via Route 22 or NJT trains. Linden Airport, a general aviation facility, is in nearby Linden, New Jersey.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Residential telephone service is provided by Verizon Communications. Westfield cable television is supplied by Comcast , which also delivers Westfield Community Television (channel 36), News 12 New Jersey (channel 62), and Scotch Plains Local Access Channel (channel 34) Verizon FiOS is also offered in Westfield, which gives the option of digital cable, high-speed internet and telephone service. Power is supplied through the Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Gas is supplied by Elizabethtown Gas and water by American Water of New Jersey. Recycling is collected curbside by private haulers contracted by the Department of Public Works on a biweekly basis, while trash is collected by private haulers hired by residents.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: Westfield is served by the locally published weekly newspaper, "The Westfield Leader". "The Record-Press" had served the community until it ended publication in 2008. Westfield is also served by multi-community newspapers including the "Courier News", a daily newspaper based in Bridgewater Township, and "The Star-Ledger" based in Newark. "Westfield Patch" is an online news source dedicated strictly to local Westfield news that is updated around the clock by a small staff of paid editors and volunteer contributors. Likewise, "TAPInto Westfield" is an online news source dedicated to local Westfield news.


title: Westfield, New Jersey

text: The local community access channel 36 operates out of the Municipal Building on Broad Street in Westfield on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and half of every Sunday. WCT provides limited community-related programming, coverage of town council meetings, and operates the WCT Bulletin Board. WCT shares time on channel 36 with Blue Devil Television, which originates from Westfield High School and produces nearly 200 original productions each academic year.


title: Human After All

text: Human After All is the third studio album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, first released on 14 March 2005 through Virgin Records. Unlike their previous studio album "Discovery" (2001), whose sound was inspired by disco and garage house and produced over the period of two years, "Human After All" was more minimalistic and improvisational with a mixture of heavier guitars and electronics, and was produced in six weeks.


title: Human After All

text: "Human After All" received mixed reviews from critics, who derided its minimalistic, repetitive nature and its six-week production time. However, the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" charted in several countries, while the title track charted in France. Daft Punk incorporated the songs into their Alive 2006/2007 tour, which received critical acclaim. "Human After All" reached number one on the "Billboard" Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album.


title: Human After All

text: An early press release stated that the record "[retained] their trademark Daft Punk sound, this time with a more spontaneous and direct quality to the recording". "Human After All"s brief creation and minimal production had been decided upon beforehand as a counterpoint to "Discovery", which had been produced in two years. Thomas Bangalter said that they were "definitely seduced at the time by the idea of doing the opposite of" their previous studio album. He compared the deliberately unpolished record to "a stone that's unworked".


title: Human After All

text: "Human After All" was created primarily with two guitars, two drum machines, a vocoder and one eight-track machine. It was produced in six weeks from September to November 2004, with four of those weeks spent mixing. A majority of the album's sound and timbre was crafted by using a DigiTech synth wah effect pedal. Bangalter stated that the album was "about this feeling of either fear or paranoia" and "not something intended to make you feel good". He said that both it and the 2006 film "Daft Punk's Electroma" are "extremely tormented and sad and terrifying looks at technology, but there can be some beauty and emoting from it". He acknowledged the perceived mechanical quality of the record, but felt that it expressed "the dance between humanity and technology".


title: Human After All

text: At the time of "Human After All"'s release, Daft Punk considered it their favourite of their albums, and described it as "pure improvisation". Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo said that every album they made was "tightly linked with our lives" and that "the internal, personal stuff Thomas went through during "Human After All" made it closer to where he was at the time".


title: Human After All

text: Leading up to the release of "Human After All", promotional CDs of the album were distributed with tamper-evident seals, as well as individual watermarks to identify each recipient. Retail copies on CD also implemented Copy Control protection against unauthorized duplication. The album nevertheless leaked online several months before release, but fans confused by its radically different style initially speculated that it was a fake designed to foil online filesharing.


title: Human After All

text: In 2013, "Spin" wrote that the official release of the album had been ill-timed, as it occurred after the end of the "major-label electronica movement" of the 1990s, but before the rise of independent dance labels such as DFA Records and Ed Banger. Daft Punk gave no interviews to promote the album, as they felt this would run contrary to the album's theme of the media as an oppressive force. The only official statement given by Daft Punk at the time was: "We believe that "Human After All" speaks for itself". De Homem-Christo later said that choosing to be silent was the biggest mistake they had ever made.


title: Human After All

text: Bangalter emphasized that their only promotion for the album would be through its music videos. To that end, Daft Punk directed the videos for "Robot Rock" and "Technologic", having previously directed the video for their song "Fresh". Tony Gardner directed the video for "The Prime Time of Your Life", though Bangalter predicted that it would be impractical for promotional use due to its graphic content. Daft Punk intended to make a video for the song "Human After All" as well, but the footage they shot for it was expanded to create the film "Daft Punk's Electroma" instead. Songs from "Human After All" also appear in the Daft Punk compilation "Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005" and the live album "Alive 2007".


title: Human After All

text: The cover image of "Human After All" features the Daft Punk logo displayed on a television screen. Each single from the album features a cover with a different image on a similar screen. Bangalter cited the novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell as an inspiration for the record.


title: Human After All

text: The album topped the "Billboard" Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and peaked at number 98 on the "Billboard" 200. It peaked at number three in France and received a double gold certification from the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) one month after its release. It also received a silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 10. As of May 2013, the album has sold 127,000 copies in the US and 80,838 copies in the UK. The first single from the album, "Robot Rock", received moderate attention, reaching number 32 in the UK and number 15 on the "Billboard" Hot Dance Club Songs chart, but was not a major hit. The second single, "Technologic", only hit number 40 in the UK but did considerably better in airplay and was featured in an iPod commercial. The title track "Human After All" reached number 93 in France.


title: Human After All

text: At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, "Human After All" received an average score of 57, indicating "mixed or average reviews", based on 28 reviews. In his review for "Blender" magazine, Simon Reynolds said that "Discovery"s blissful and "open-hearted" music had been replaced by "an archly ironic dance-rock that feels desultory and numb – verging on autistic". "Q" felt that it lacked the "fun" of Daft Punk's previous work. Barry Walters of "Rolling Stone" said that the duo generally "repeats rather than elaborates its riffs", and that they "exaggerate their band's own robotic tendencies here, much to the detriment of its grooves". Dorian Lynskey of "The Guardian" called the album "a joyless collection of average ideas stretched desperately thin". Robert Christgau from "The Village Voice" graded the album a "dud", indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought".


title: Human After All

text: In a positive review, Matthew Weiner of "Stylus Magazine" stated, "it's the same story, track after track, willfully mistaking alternation for variation, intensification for development and dynamics. In other words, a shining example of pop songcraft in the 21st century". "Mojo" magazine said that it "strips out the most flamboyant frills to create a more incisive sound". "Human After All" was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album, but lost to the Chemical Brothers album "Push the Button".


title: Human After All

text: The Alive 2006/2007 tour, which featured songs from "Human After All", caused many to reassess the album. Pedro Winter, Daft Punk's manager at the time, stated, "When we put out "Human After All", I got a lot of bad feedback, like, 'It's so repetitive. There's nothing new. Daft Punk used to be good.' Then they came back with the light show, and everyone shut their mouths... People even apologized, like, 'How could we have misjudged Daft Punk?' The live show changed everything. Even if I'm part of it, I like to step back and admire it. Me, I cried." Bangalter said that the album "was the music we wanted to make at the time we did it. We have always strongly felt there was a logical connection between our three albums, and it's great to see that people seem to realize that when they listen now to the live show".


title: Human After All

text: Human After All: Remixes is an album consisting of various remixes of songs from "Human After All" by musicians such as Soulwax and Justice. It was originally released on 29 March 2006 exclusively in Japan. On 17 June 2014, a reissue of the album was released, also exclusive to Japan. The new edition featured four additional bonus tracks. On 9 August 2014, this version of the album was silently released internationally for the first time, containing an additional remix of "Technologic" by Le Knight Club.


title: John Boozman

text: John Nichols Boozman ( ; born December 10, 1950) is an American politician and former optometrist serving as the senior United States senator from Arkansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2011. He is the dean of Arkansas's congressional delegation.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, where his father was stationed with the U.S. Air Force, but the family eventually returned to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he was raised. He is the brother of the late state senator Fay Boozman. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he played football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, and later graduated from the Southern College of Optometry. He co-founded a private optometry clinic in 1977 and worked as a volunteer optometrist for low-income families. He won a special election in 2001 to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as assistant majority whip and sat on the Republican Policy Committee. He was an advocate for drug policy issues and chaired the Veterans' Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, where he led the passage of bills expanding services for unemployed veterans.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman was elected to the United States Senate in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln by a 21-point margin and becoming the first Republican to be elected to the seat since Reconstruction. He took office in January 2011 and is the ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade and the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies. He is also a senior member of the United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Boozman became the senior senator from Arkansas in 2015 when Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor left the Senate after his defeat by Tom Cotton. Boozman was reelected in 2016 and 2022.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of Marie E. ( Nichols) and Fay Winford Boozman, Jr. (1923–1991). Boozman's father, whose last address was in Rogers, Arkansas, was a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force. His elder brother, Fay Boozman (1946–2005), was also a politician. After graduating from Northside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Boozman played football for the Arkansas Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas, which he attended from 1969 to 1973, while completing his pre-optometry requirements. He did not graduate from the University of Arkansas. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977 and entered private practice that same year as co-founder of Boozman-Hof Regional Eye Clinic in Rogers, which has become a major provider of eye care to Northwest Arkansas. He established the low vision program at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock and worked as a volunteer optometrist at an area clinic that provides medical services to low-income families.


title: John Boozman

text: Before his election to Congress, Boozman served two terms on the Rogers Public School Board, which governs one of Arkansas's largest school districts.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman was elected to Congress in a special election after his predecessor, Asa Hutchinson, resigned to become the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Boozman was unopposed in 2002, defeated Democratic State Representative Jan Judy 59%-38% in 2004, and defeated Democratic nominee Woodrow Anderson III in 2006. The Democrats did not field a candidate against him in 2008, and he won with over 78% of the vote against token opposition from a Green Party candidate.


title: John Boozman

text: In October 2002, Boozman voted in favor of the Iraq Resolution that led to the Iraq War. In 2011, after 4,500 Americans and hundreds of thousands of civilians had died, he said: "Right now, Iraq has a stable police force, a stable military. And hopefully that will continue, and they’ll be successful in having a form of democracy that is not a safe haven for terrorism in the future.”


title: John Boozman

text: Starting during the 108th Congress, Boozman served as an Assistant Whip, making him responsible for helping House Republican Whips Roy Blunt and Eric Cantor secure the votes for or against major legislation.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman was also named to the Speaker's Task Force for a Drug-Free America in 2003. The task force advised House Speaker Dennis Hastert on major drug policy issues and helped author legislation regarding recreational drugs, including anti-methamphetamine legislation. Boozman was the lead author of the Stop Marketing Illegal Drugs to Minors Act, a bill that would increase penalties on criminals who design and market drugs such as candy-flavored meth for kids. He was praised by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, earning the organization's Congressional Leadership Award in 2009. In 2006, Congress passed a Boozman-authored provision promoting an expanded role for drug courts in efforts to reduce drug abuse and recidivism.


title: John Boozman

text: During the 2008 presidential campaign, Boozman endorsed former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee for president.


title: John Boozman

text: In the 109th Congress, Boozman chaired the Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, which focuses on ensuring veterans have a smooth transition to civilian life. He has used his seat on the Veterans Affairs Committee to pass legislation honoring the service and sacrifice of United States military veterans and increasing benefits to them and their families. In the 111th Congress, Boozman introduced and the House of Representatives passed the Veterans Retraining Act of 2009, which provides resources and training opportunities for unemployed veterans. The House also passed several other Boozman-authored bills, including one that creates grants to help disabled veterans adapt their homes and vehicles to meet their needs.


title: John Boozman

text: In May 2004, Boozman was appointed to the House Policy Committee, a committee of Republicans who vet issues and formulate legislation to address them.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman was also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), an inter-parliamentary organization of legislators from the 19 member countries of NATO and 20 associate countries. He was also appointed vice-chairman of the British American Parliamentary Group, a group of American and British lawmakers who meet to discuss issues of concern and fortify the already strong alliance between the two nations.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman was a member of numerous House caucuses, including the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, the National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus, the Congressional Rural Caucus and the Congressional Sportsman's Caucus. He was also one of the founding members of the Congressional I-49 Caucus to promote completion of Interstate 49, and chaired the Congressional Caucus on the Ivory Coast and West Africa Caucus.


title: John Boozman

text: Congress.org's power rankings rated Boozman's power rating at 7.31, making him the 386th most powerful member out of 435.


title: John Boozman

text: According to the April 28, 2007, "Washington Post," Boozman was told by officials in the White House about its intention to fire Bud Cummins, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and replace him with Tim Griffin, an aide to Karl Rove. According to the "Post," none of the Democrats in Arkansas' congressional delegation were told that Cummins was to be one of eight U.S. Attorneys to be fired. Although Boozman did not represent any counties in the Eastern District, he was informed because he was the only Republican in the state's congressional delegation.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman told the "Post" and the Associated Press that White House officials had promised him that Griffin would be subject to Senate confirmation. Instead, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appointed Griffin as interim U.S. Attorney, using a provision of the Patriot Act that has since been repealed due to the controversy. Boozman also said that he did not think Cummins should have been fired because he was "very well respected and has served the president well."


title: John Boozman

text: In 2010, Boozman did not run for reelection to the House and instead ran for the Senate seat held by incumbent two-term Democrat Blanche Lincoln. He won the May 2010 Republican primary and defeated Lincoln in the general election with nearly 58% of the vote.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman won a second term in 2016, defeating former U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge with 59.8% of the vote. He became the first Republican to be popularly elected to a second term in the Senate from Arkansas.


title: John Boozman

text: On March 6, 2021, Boozman announced he would seek a third term as Senator. He won his third term in 2022, defeating Democrat Natalie James with 65.8% of the vote.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman and Tom Cotton initially objected to the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count. After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, they voted to support it. Boozman said: "The events that transpired in Washington were not only shocking and unlawful, but represent a dark moment in our country's history that we must reckon with today and in the days to come."


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman voted for legislation requiring the Food and Drug Administration to improve safety by regulating non-corrective colored contact lenses as medical devices. President Bush signed this legislation into law in 2005.


title: John Boozman

text: In the 111th Congress, Boozman introduced legislation (H.R. 2230) to provide tax credits for teachers and principals who work in challenging, low-income schools. He has also introduced legislation to reform the No Child Left Behind Act. One bill (H.R. 2229) would give states latitude to adopt alternate and modified standards for children with disabilities.


title: John Boozman

text: Other Boozman bills include legislation to provide a tax credit for volunteer firefighters, a bill to require that parents be notified when a minor seeks an abortion, and a bill to create alternatives to traditional foreign aid to poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman opposes abortion. After "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" in June 2022, he wrote: "The Supreme Court’s decision to affirm there is no constitutional right to indiscriminately sacrifice the lives of children in their mothers' wombs is the culmination of decades of work to correct the tragic, deadly lie that unborn babies are expendable and undeserving of protection."


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman introduced legislation in the 110th Congress calling for a study of the historic Butterfield Overland Mail Trail for the potential addition to the National Trails System. This legislation passed as part of an omnibus bill (P.L. 111-11), and was signed by Obama on March 30, 2009.


title: John Boozman

text: In addition to preserving the historical significance of the Butterfield Trail, Boozman supported an effort to secure the home of the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith; in January 2007, it was announced that Fort Smith would be the museum's permanent home. In the 111th Congress, Boozman introduced legislation to recognize the 225th Anniversary of the U.S. Marshals Service with a commemorative coin to be minted in 2014.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman has penned three bills, each enacted into law, to name certain U.S. Post Offices in Arkansas, including naming The Harrison Post Office after former Arkansas Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman voted against the Affordable Care Act on November 7, 2009, later writing: "I am for health care reform, unfortunately, this bill does more harm than good."


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman supported Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He voted with Trump's stated position 91.5% of the time, and voted to acquit Trump in both of his impeachment trials.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman has an A rating from the National Rifle Association for his support of gun rights. In May 2011, he voted to table an amendment that prohibited usage of the Patriot Act to access firearm records. In April 2013, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Boozman was one of 46 senators to vote against a bill that would have extended background checks to all firearm transfers. He voted with 40 Republicans and five Democrats to stop the bill.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman voted against the proposed Feinstein Amendment, in 2016, that sought to ban the sale of firearms to known and/or suspected terrorists, claiming that it would deprive Americans of due process.


title: John Boozman

text: In November 2013, Boozman was one of 32 senators (all Republican) to vote against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill prohibiting discrimination in organizations of 15 or more employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity.


title: John Boozman

text: In April 2014, Boozman voted against a cloture motion for the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that establishes additional penalties for violations of equal pay requirements in the Fair Labor Standards Act, including a prohibition on an employer from paying a wage rate to employees of a particular sex that is lower than the rate paid to employees of the opposite sex for equal work unless such payment is made due to certain factors including but not limited to "a bona fide factor other than sex". Some groups characterized the legislation as redundant, citing the 1963 Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act as existing protections against wage discrimination based on gender or race. The Senate Republican Conference called it "the latest ploy in the Democrats' election-year playbook".


title: John Boozman

text: In September 2004, Boozman voted for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The amendment did not pass.


title: John Boozman

text: In July 2006, Boozman co-introduced and voted for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The amendment did not pass.


title: John Boozman

text: In April 2009, Boozman voted against the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which sought to define crimes committed against a person because of their sexual orientation or gender identity as hate crimes: "I opposed this legislation because it creates a new federal offense for so-called hate crimes, and adds a special class crimes potentially motivated by the victims sexual orientation, 'gender identity', or the perceived thoughts of the alleged criminal." The act passed the House.


title: John Boozman

text: In December 2010, Boozman voted against repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, claiming that the "current policy has worked well" and that "we haven't had any significant problems with it." The vote passed by a margin of 250-175, and Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed.


title: John Boozman

text: In December 2012, Boozman voted against ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities sought to "promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity," but the convention only reached 61 of the 66 votes required for passage.


title: John Boozman

text: In February 2013, Boozman voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. The bill passed by a 78–22 margin. He cited concerns "about the constitutionality of allowing tribal courts jurisdiction over non-Native Americans who are accused of committing an act of domestic violence on tribal lands or against Native Americans” as part of his opposition to the measure.


title: John Boozman

text: In September 2012, Boozman voted to block advancement of the Veterans Job Corps Act of 2012, even though he partially authored the bill. The bill, which would have established a $1 billion Veterans Jobs Corps at a time when the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans was 10.9%, fell two votes shy (58–40) of the 60 needed for passage. The legislation underwent changes related to how it would offset spending, which led Boozman to vote against it.


title: John Boozman

text: In 2017, Boozman was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. According to OpenSecrets, Boozman has received nearly $150,000 from oil, gas and coal interests since 2012. He claimed that EPA regulations are creating a dirtier climate abroad and providing no gain to the United States.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman wrote: "I commend President Trump for taking the appropriate steps to make a clean exit from it so we can continue to pursue an 'all-of-the-above' approach to meeting our energy needs free of the significant litigation risk created by the agreement." He added: "It is important to stress that a clean exit from the Paris climate accord will not take away the United States' seat at the table in future discussions, nor will it detract from our efforts to pursue renewable energy solutions."


title: John Boozman

text: In March 2017, Boozman co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which made it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government.


title: John Boozman

text: In January 2019, Boozman was one of eleven Republican senators to vote to advance legislation intended to block Trump's intent to lift sanctions against three Russian companies.


title: John Boozman

text: On May 28, 2021, Boozman voted against creating a January 6 commission to investigate the 2021 United States Capitol attack.


title: John Boozman

text: Boozman lives in Rogers with his wife, Cathy Marley Boozman. They have three daughters. He has raised Polled Hereford cattle that were competitive in the show ring, and in bull testing at Oklahoma State University. The Boozman family is active in the 4-H program.


title: John Boozman

text: On April 22, 2014, Boozman underwent emergency heart surgery. In 2017, he underwent a successful followup procedure that was recommended by doctors who had been monitoring his aorta since a tear in it was surgically repaired in 2014.


title: John Boozman

text: John’s ophthalmologist brother, Fay Winford Boozman III, co-founded the Boozman Regional Eye Clinic (now named BoozmanHof Regional Eye Clinic) with John after receiving his ophthalmology degree. Fay was elected to the Arkansas Senate in 1994 as a Republican and was nominated for the United States Senate in Arkansas in the 1998 election, losing to Democratic Congresswoman Blanche Lincoln 55% to 42%. Despite his defeat, Fay was nominated to be director of the Arkansas Health Department in 1999. He remained close with former Governor Mike Huckabee, and with his brother Fay until his accidental death on his farm in 2005, aged 59.


title: Odonata

text: Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of their total group, Odonatoptera, first appeared in Late Carboniferous.


title: Odonata

text: The two common groups are distinguished with dragonflies, placed in the suborder Epiprocta, usually being larger, with eyes together and wings up or out at rest, while damselflies, suborder Zygoptera, are usually smaller with eyes placed apart and wings along body at rest.


title: Odonata

text: All Odonata have aquatic larvae called naiads (nymphs), and all of them, larvae and adults, are carnivorous. The adults can land, but rarely walk. Their legs are specialised for catching prey. They are almost entirely insectivorous.


title: Odonata

text: Fabricius coined the term "Odonata" in 1793 from the Ancient Greek (Ionic form of ) 'tooth'. One hypothesis is that it was because their maxillae are notably toothed. Most insects also have toothed mandibles.


title: Odonata

text: The word "dragonfly" usually refers to only Anisoptera, but is also sometimes used to refer to all Odonata Odonata enthusiasts avoid ambiguity by using the term "true dragonfly", or simply "anisopteran", when referring to just the Anisoptera. The term "warriorfly" has also been proposed. Some 5,900 species have been described in this order.


title: Odonata

text: This order is closely related to mayflies and several extinct orders in a group called the Palaeoptera, but this grouping might be paraphyletic. What they do share with mayflies is the nature of how the wings are articulated and held in rest (see insect flight for a detailed discussion).


title: Odonata

text: In some treatments, the Odonata are understood in an expanded sense, essentially synonymous with the superorder Odonatoptera but not including the prehistoric Protodonata. In this approach, instead of Odonatoptera, the term Odonatoidea is used. The systematics of the "Palaeoptera" are by no means resolved; what can be said however is that regardless of whether they are called "Odonatoidea" or "Odonatoptera", the Odonata and their extinct relatives do form a clade.


title: Odonata

text: The Anisoptera was long treated as a suborder, with a third suborder, the Anisozygoptera (ancient dragonflies). However, the combined suborder Epiprocta (in which Anisoptera is an infraorder) was proposed when it was found that the "Anisozygoptera" was paraphyletic, composed of mostly extinct offshoots of dragonfly evolution. The four living species placed in that group are (in this treatment) in the infraorder Epiophlebioptera, whereas the fossil taxa that were formerly there are now dispersed about the Odonatoptera (or Odonata "sensu lato"). World Odonata List considers Anisoptera as a suborder along with Zygoptera and Anisozygoptera as well-understood and widely preferred terms.


title: Odonata

text: Tarsophlebiidae is a prehistoric family of Odonatoptera that can be considered either a basal lineage of Odonata or their immediate sister taxon.


title: Odonata

text: The largest living odonate is the giant Central American helicopter damselfly "Megaloprepus coerulatus" (Zygoptera: Pseudostigmatidae) with a wing span of . The heaviest living odonates are "Tetracanthagyna plagiata" (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae) with a wing span of , and "Petalura ingentissima" (Anisoptera: Petaluridae) with a body length of (some sources ) and wing span of . The longest extant odonate is the Neotropical helicopter damselfly "Mecistogaster linearis" (Zygoptera: Pseudostigmatidae) with a body length of . Sometimes the giant Hawaiian darner "Anax strenuus" (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae) is claimed to be the largest living odonate with an alleged wing span of , but this seems to be a myth as only wing spans are scientifically documented.


title: Odonata

text: Odonata and their ancestors come from one of the oldest winged insect groups. The fossils of odonates and their cousins, including Paleozoic "giant dragonflies" like "Meganeuropsis permiana" from the Permian of North America, reached wing spans of up to and a body length of , making it the largest insect of all time. This insect belonged to the order Meganisoptera, the griffinflies, related to odonates but not part of the modern order Odonata in the restricted sense. They have one of the most complete fossil records going back 319 million years.


title: Odonata

text: The smallest living dragonfly is "Nannophya pygmaea" (Anisoptera: Libellulidae) from east Asia, with a body length of and a wing span of . The smallest damselflies (and also the smallest odonates) are species of the genus "Agriocnemis" (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) with a wing span of only .


title: Odonata

text: These insects characteristically have large rounded heads covered mostly by well-developed, compound eyes, which provide good vision, legs that facilitate catching prey (other insects) in flight, two pairs of long, transparent wings that move independently, and elongated abdomens. They have three ocelli and short antennae. The mouthparts are on the underside of the head and include simple chewing mandibles in the adult.


title: Odonata

text: Flight in the Odonata is direct, with flight muscles attaching directly to the wings; rather than indirect, with flight muscles attaching to the thorax, as is found in the Neoptera. This allows active control of the amplitude, frequency, angle of attack, camber and twist of each of the four wings entirely independently.


title: Odonata

text: In most families there is a structure on the leading edge near the tip of the wing called the pterostigma. This is a thickened, hemolymph–filled and often colorful area bounded by veins. The functions of the pterostigma are not fully known, but it most probably has an aerodynamic effect and may also have a visual function. More mass at the end of the wing may also reduce the energy needed to move the wings up and down. The right combination of wing stiffness and wing mass could reduce the energy consumption of flying. A pterostigma is also found among other insects, such as bees.


title: Odonata

text: The nymphs have stockier, shorter, bodies than the adults. In addition to lacking wings, their eyes are smaller, their antennae longer, and their heads are less mobile than in the adult. Their mouthparts are modified, with the labium being adapted into a unique prehensile organ for grasping prey. Damselfly nymphs breathe through external gills on the abdomen, while dragonfly nymphs respire through an organ in their rectum.


title: Odonata

text: Although generally fairly similar, dragonflies differ from damselflies in several, easily recognizable traits. Dragonflies are strong fliers with fairly robust bodies and at rest hold their wings either out to the side or out and downward (or even somewhat forward). Damselflies tend to be less robust, even rather weak appearing in flight, and when at rest most species hold their wings folded back over the abdomen (see photograph below, left). Dragonfly eyes occupy much of the animal's head, touching (or nearly touching) each other across the face. In damselflies, there is typically a gap in between the eyes.


title: Odonata

text: Odonates are aquatic or semi-aquatic as juveniles. Thus, adults are most often seen near bodies of water and are frequently described as aquatic insects. However, many species range far from water. They are carnivorous (or more specifically insectivorous) throughout their life, mostly feeding on smaller insects.


title: Odonata

text: Male Odonata have complex genitalia, different from those found in other insects. These include grasping cerci for holding the female and a secondary set of copulatory organs on the abdomen in which the sperm are held after being produced by the primary genitals. To mate, the male grasps the female by the thorax or head and bends her abdomen so that her own genitalia can be grasped by the copulatory organs holding the sperm. Male odonates have a copulatory organ on the ventral side of abdominal segment 2 in which they store spermatozoa; they mate by holding the female's head (Anisoptera) or thorax (Zygoptera) with claspers located at the tip of the male abdomen; the female bends her abdomen forward to touch the male organ and receive sperm. This is called the "wheel" position.


title: Odonata

text: Eggs are laid in water or on vegetation near water or wet places, and hatch to produce pronymphs which live off the nutrients that were in the egg. They then develop into instars with approximately 9–14 molts that are (in most species) voracious predators on other aquatic organisms, including small fishes. The nymphs grow and molt, usually in dusk or dawn, into the flying teneral immature adults, whose color is not yet developed. These insects later transform into reproductive adults.


title: Odonata

text: Odonates can act as bioindicators of water quality in rivers because they rely on high quality water for proper development in early life. Since their diet consists entirely of insects, odonate density is directly proportional to the population of prey, and their abundance indicates the abundance of prey in the examined ecosystem. Species richness of vascular plants has also been positively correlated with the species richness of dragonflies in a given habitat. This means that in a location such as a lake, if one finds a wide variety of odonates, then a similarly wide variety of plants should also be present. This correlation is not common to all bioindicators, as some may act as indicators for a different environmental factor, such as the pool frog acting as a bioindicator of water quality due to its high quantity of time spent in and around water.


title: Odonata

text: In addition, odonates are very sensitive to changes to average temperature. Many species have moved to higher elevations and latitudes as global temperature rises and habitats dry out. Changes to the life cycle have been recorded with increased development of the instar stages and smaller adult body size as the average temperature increases. As the territory of many species starts to overlap, the rate hybridization of species that normally do not come in contact is increasing. If global climate change continues many members of Odonata will start to disappear. Because odonates are such an old order and have such a complete fossil record they are an ideal species to study insect evolution and adaptation. For example, they are one of the first insects to develop flight and it is likely that this trait only evolved once in insects, looking at how flight works in odonates, the rest of flight can be mapped out.


title: Odonata

text: Lists of Odonata species of Australia - Britain - Canada (dragonflies | damselflies) - Estonia - Finland - France - India - Ireland - Slovenia - South Africa - Sri Lanka - Taiwan


title: Thymoma

text: A thymoma is a tumor originating from the epithelial cells of the thymus that is considered a rare malignancy. Thymomas are frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis; thymoma is found in 20% of patients with myasthenia gravis. Once diagnosed, thymomas may be removed surgically. In the rare case of a malignant tumor, chemotherapy may be used.


title: Thymoma

text: A third of all people with a thymoma have symptoms caused by compression of the surrounding organs by an expansive mass. These problems may take the form of superior vena cava syndrome, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), cough, or chest pain.


title: Thymoma

text: One-third of patients have their tumors discovered because they have an associated autoimmune disorder. As mentioned earlier, the most common of those conditions is myasthenia gravis (MG); 10–15% of patients with MG have a thymoma and, conversely, 30–45% of patients with thymomas have MG. Additional associated autoimmune conditions include thymoma-associated multiorgan autoimmunity, pure red cell aplasia and Good syndrome (thymoma with combined immunodeficiency and hypogammaglobulinemia). Other reported disease associations are with acute pericarditis, agranulocytosis, alopecia areata, ulcerative colitis, Cushing's disease, hemolytic anemia, limbic encephalopathy, myocarditis, nephrotic syndrome, panhypopituitarism, pernicious anemia, polymyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis, scleroderma, sensorimotor radiculopathy, "stiff person syndrome", systemic lupus erythematosus and thyroiditis.


title: Thymoma

text: One-third to one-half of all persons with thymoma have no symptoms at all, and the mass is identified on a chest X-ray or CT/CAT scan performed for an unrelated problem.


title: Thymoma

text: Thymoma originates from the epithelial cell population in the thymus, and several microscopic subtypes are now recognized. There are three principal histological types of thymoma, depending on the appearance of the cells by microscopy:


title: Thymoma

text: Thymic cortical epithelial cells have abundant cytoplasm, vesicular nucleus with finely divided chromatin and small nucleoli and cytoplasmic filaments contact adjacent cells.


title: Thymoma

text: Thymic medullary epithelial cells in contrast are spindle shaped with oval dense nucleus and scant cytoplasm


title: Thymoma

text: When a thymoma is suspected, a CT/CAT scan is generally performed to estimate the size and extent of the tumor, and the lesion is sampled with a CT-guided needle biopsy. Increased vascular enhancement on CT scans can be indicative of malignancy, as can be pleural deposits. Limited biopsies are associated with a very small risk of pneumomediastinum or mediastinitis and an even-lower risk of damaging the heart or large blood vessels. Sometimes thymoma metastasize for instance to the abdomen.


title: Thymoma

text: The diagnosis is made via histologic examination by a pathologist, after obtaining a tissue sample of the mass. Final tumor classification and staging is accomplished pathologically after formal surgical removal of the thymic tumor.


title: Thymoma

text: Selected laboratory tests can be used to look for associated problems or possible tumor spread. These include: full blood count, protein electrophoresis, antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor (indicative of myasthenia), electrolytes, liver enzymes and renal function.


title: Thymoma

text: The Masaoka Staging System is used widely and is based on the anatomic extent of disease at the time of surgery:


title: Thymoma

text: Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for thymoma. If the tumor is apparently invasive and large, preoperative (neoadjuvant) chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may be used to decrease the size and improve resectability, before surgery is attempted. When the tumor is an early stage (Masaoka I through IIB), no further therapy is necessary. Removal of the thymus in adults does not appear to induce immune deficiency. In children, however, postoperative immunity may be abnormal and vaccinations for several infectious agents are recommended. Invasive thymomas may require additional treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and cisplatin).. Recurrences of thymoma are described in 10-30% of cases up to 10 years after surgical resection, and in the majority of cases also pleural recurrences can be removed. Recently, surgical removal of pleural recurrences can be followed by hyperthermic intrathoracic perfusion chemotherapy or intrathoracic hyperthermic perfused chemotherapy (ITH).


title: Thymoma

text: Prognosis is much worse for stage III or IV thymomas as compared with stage I and II tumors. Invasive thymomas uncommonly can also metastasize, generally to pleura, bones, liver or brain in approximately 7% of cases. A study found that slightly over 40% of observed patients with stage III and IV tumors survived for at least 10 years after diagnosis. The median age of these patients at the time of thymoma diagnosis was 57 years.


title: Thymoma

text: Patients who have undergone thymectomy for thymoma should be warned of possible severe side effects after yellow fever vaccination. This is probably caused by inadequate T-cell response to live attenuated yellow fever vaccine. Deaths have been reported.


title: Thymoma

text: Men and women are equally affected by thymomas. The typical age at diagnosis is 30–40, although cases have been described in every age group, including children.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield population was 74,112 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the 15th most populous municipality and the 12th most populous county in Colorado. Broomfield is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Several railroads figure in the development of this area. The Colorado Central Railroad built a narrow gauge line from Golden in 1873, the Denver, Utah and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1881, and the Denver, Marshall and Boulder Railway built a line through what would become Broomfield in 1886. The Denver, Utah and Pacific was widened to standard gauge in 1889. One of the early names for the area was Zang's Spur, after the railroad spur serving Adolph Zang's grain fields.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: The municipality of Broomfield was incorporated in 1961 in the southeastern corner of Boulder County. While it is unsure how it received its name, most researchers guess it is from the broomcorn grown in the area, a tall sorghum that farmers sold for use as brooms and whisk brooms. Over the next three decades, the city grew through annexations. Eventually, Broomfield spilled into portions of four counties: Adams, Boulder, Jefferson and Weld.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: In the 1990s, city leaders felt increasing chagrin with the need to deal with four separate court districts, four different county seats, and four separate county sales tax bases. They began pushing to make Broomfield a consolidated city-county similar to Denver, reasoning that they could provide services more responsively if it had its own county government. They sought an amendment to the Colorado State Constitution to create a new county. The amendment was passed in 1998, after which a three-year transition period followed. On November 15, 2001, Broomfield County became the 64th and smallest county of Colorado. It is the most recently created county in Colorado, and also in the United States as a whole if county equivalents are not included.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: On February 20, 2021, United Airlines Flight 328 experienced an engine failure after takeoff from Denver International Airport and debris from the engine landed in parts of Broomfield.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Broomfield is located midway between downtown Denver and Boulder along U.S. Route 36. Its coordinates are (39.931817, -105.065919).


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: The elevation in Broomfield ranges from 5,096 to 5,856 feet. At the 2020 United States Census, Broomfield had a total area of including of water. It is the smallest county by area in Colorado and the 5th smallest in the United States. Broomfield is the second most densely populated county in Colorado behind Denver.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport formerly known as Jefferson County (Jeffco) Airport is located in Broomfield.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: According to the Köppen climate classification system, Broomfield has a Cold Semi-arid climate ("BSk"). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the Plant Hardiness zone is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of -9.4 °F (-23.0 °C).


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential natural vegetation Types, Broomfield would have a Grama, aka Bouteloua / Buffalo grass ("65") vegetation type and a Shortgrass prairie ("17") vegetation form.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: The 2017 census estimates there were 68,341 people living in the city. The population density was 2,193 per square mile as of the 2010 census. The racial makeup of the city was 86.1 percent White, 11.1 percent Hispanic or Latino, 6.1 percent Asian, 2.1 percent from two or more races, 1.1 percent African American, 0.6 percent Native American, and 0.1 percent Pacific Islander.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: There were 22,016 households, of which 41.2 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8 percent were married couples living together, 8.2 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8 percent were non-families. 19.3 percent of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.2 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 people, and the average family size was 3.19 people.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Age distribution figures show 26.2 percent of residents under the age of 18 and 9.9 percent age 65 years or older. The median age was 36.4 years. Females made up 50.2% of the population.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: The median household income was $79,034 and the median family income was $96,206 in 2013. The per capita income for the city was $38,792. 48.1 percent of the population over age 25 held a bachelor's degree or higher.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: When the county was formed in 2001, it was a swing county, and the city itself had voted for the winning candidate in each presidential election from 2000 to 2020. In the 2012 election, incumbent president and Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney by roughly five percentage points. In recent years, the county has trended towards the Democratic Party. In 2016, it voted decisively for Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden won the county by an even larger margin in 2020.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: As of March 1, 2021, 15,671 voters were Democrats, 11,658 voters were Republicans, and 23,354 voters were not affiliated with any party.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: In the 1990s, Broomfield and other area suburbs experienced tremendous economic growth, much of it focused in technology.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: The Flatiron Crossing Mall is a large shopping and entertainment center, anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, Macy's, and Forever 21.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: The "Broomfield Enterprise" is the local newspaper. KBDI-TV, the secondary PBS member station for the Denver area, is licensed to Broomfield.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Ball, Vail Resorts, MWH Global, Flatiron Construction, Webroot, Noodles & Company, WhiteWave Foods and Mrs. Fields are headquartered in Broomfield.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: According to Broomfield's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Broomfield's recreation opportunities include the Paul Derda Recreation Center and pool, athletic fields, courts and rinks and open space and trails.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Broomfield has an extensive trail system that connects the various lakes and parks. A scenic trail connects the Stearns Lake and the Josh's Pond on the west side of town. Broomfield also has a 9/11 memorial containing a piece of a steel beam from one of the towers.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Broomfield also has a skate park with many different features such as bowls, a large half pipe and several "street" obstacles.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Broomfield operates as a consolidated city-county. The city council acts simultaneously as the board of county commissioners, and the police chief is simultaneously the county sheriff. The Broomfield Police Department performs all of the duties that would normally be performed by a county sheriff's office, including operating the county jail (detention center), providing security and bailiff services for the Broomfield Municipal, County, and District Courts and the Combined Courts Building, and providing civil process in the county. The police chief can be hired or fired at will by the city council, which makes Broomfield's sheriff, along with Denver's, the only non-elected sheriffs in the state.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Since Broomfield used to be divided among four counties, students living in the city were served by the separate school districts for their county. While the city is now united within one county, the city is still separated among multiple school districts.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: There are five school districts that overlap Broomfield, but the two largest school districts in Broomfield are Adams Twelve Five Star Schools and[Boulder Valley School District.


title: Broomfield, Colorado

text: Broomfield features two large public high schools (Broomfield High School, which underwent significant renovations from 2009 to 2010, and Legacy High), two public middle schools and eight public elementary schools. There are three private schools: Broomfield Academy, with an academic preschool, an elementary school and a middle school; Holy Family, a Catholic high school; and Nativity of Our Lord Parish, a Catholic elementary school. Broomfield also contains two K-12 charter schools, Prospect Ridge Academy, and Front Range Academy, which has two Broomfield campuses.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Bacterial conjugation is the transfer of genetic material between bacterial cells by direct cell-to-cell contact or by a bridge-like connection between two cells. This takes place through a pilus. It is a parasexual mode of reproduction in bacteria.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: It is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer as are transformation and transduction although these two other mechanisms do not involve cell-to-cell contact.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Classical "E. coli" bacterial conjugation is often regarded as the bacterial equivalent of sexual reproduction or mating since it involves the exchange of genetic material. However, it is not sexual reproduction, since no exchange of gamete occurs, and indeed no generation of a new organism: instead an existing organism is transformed. During classical "E. coli" conjugation the "donor" cell provides a conjugative or mobilizable genetic element that is most often a plasmid or transposon. Most conjugative plasmids have systems ensuring that the "recipient" cell does not already contain a similar element.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: The genetic information transferred is often beneficial to the recipient. Benefits may include antibiotic resistance, xenobiotic tolerance or the ability to use new metabolites. Other elements can be detrimental and may be viewed as bacterial parasites.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Conjugation in "Escherichia coli" by spontaneous zygogenesis and in "Mycobacterium smegmatis" by distributive conjugal transfer differ from the better studied classical "E. coli" conjugation in that these cases involve substantial blending of the parental genomes.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: The F-factor is an episome (a plasmid that can integrate itself into the bacterial chromosome by homologous recombination) with a length of about 100 kb. It carries its own origin of replication, the "oriV", and an origin of transfer, or "oriT". There can only be one copy of the F-plasmid in a given bacterium, either free or integrated, and bacteria that possess a copy are called "F-positive" or "F-plus" (denoted F). Cells that lack F plasmids are called "F-negative" or "F-minus" (F) and as such can function as recipient cells.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Among other genetic information, the F-plasmid carries a "tra" and "trb" locus, which together are about 33 kb long and consist of about 40 genes. The "tra" locus includes the "pilin" gene and regulatory genes, which together form pili on the cell surface. The locus also includes the genes for the proteins that attach themselves to the surface of F bacteria and initiate conjugation. Though there is some debate on the exact mechanism of conjugation it seems that the pili are not the structures through which DNA exchange occurs. This has been shown in experiments where the pilus are allowed to make contact, but then are denatured with SDS and yet DNA transformation still proceeds. Several proteins coded for in the "tra" or "trb" locus seem to open a channel between the bacteria and it is thought that the traD enzyme, located at the base of the pilus, initiates membrane fusion.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: When conjugation is initiated by a signal the relaxase enzyme creates a nick in one of the strands of the conjugative plasmid at the "oriT". Relaxase may work alone or in a complex of over a dozen proteins known collectively as a relaxosome. In the F-plasmid system the relaxase enzyme is called TraI and the relaxosome consists of TraI, TraY, TraM and the integrated host factor IHF. The nicked strand, or "T-strand", is then unwound from the unbroken strand and transferred to the recipient cell in a 5'-terminus to 3'-terminus direction. The remaining strand is replicated either independent of conjugative action (vegetative replication beginning at the "oriV") or in concert with conjugation (conjugative replication similar to the rolling circle replication of lambda phage). Conjugative replication may require a second nick before successful transfer can occur. A recent report claims to have inhibited conjugation with chemicals that mimic an intermediate step of this second nicking event.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: If the F-plasmid that is transferred has previously been integrated into the donor's genome (producing an Hfr strain ["High Frequency of Recombination"]) some of the donor's chromosomal DNA may also be transferred with the plasmid DNA. The amount of chromosomal DNA that is transferred depends on how long the two conjugating bacteria remain in contact. In common laboratory strains of "E. coli" the transfer of the entire bacterial chromosome takes about 100 minutes. The transferred DNA can then be integrated into the recipient genome via homologous recombination.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: A cell culture that contains in its population cells with non-integrated F-plasmids usually also contains a few cells that have accidentally integrated their plasmids. It is these cells that are responsible for the low-frequency chromosomal gene transfers that occur in such cultures. Some strains of bacteria with an integrated F-plasmid can be isolated and grown in pure culture. Because such strains transfer chromosomal genes very efficiently they are called Hfr (high frequency of recombination). The "E. coli" genome was originally mapped by interrupted mating experiments in which various Hfr cells in the process of conjugation were sheared from recipients after less than 100 minutes (initially using a Waring blender). The genes that were transferred were then investigated.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Since integration of the F-plasmid into the "E. coli" chromosome is a rare spontaneous occurrence, and since the numerous genes promoting DNA transfer are in the plasmid genome rather than in the bacterial genome, it has been argued that conjugative bacterial gene transfer, as it occurs in the "E. coli" Hfr system, is not an evolutionary adaptation of the bacterial host, nor is it likely ancestral to eukaryotic sex.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: In addition to classical bacterial conjugation described above for "E. coli", a form of conjugation referred to as spontaneous zygogenesis (Z-mating for short) is observed in certain strains of "E. coli". In Z-mating there is complete genetic mixing, and unstable diploids are formed that throw off phenotypically haploid cells, of which some show a parental phenotype and some are true recombinants.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Conjugation in "Mycobacteria smegmatis", like conjugation in "E. coli", requires stable and extended contact between a donor and a recipient strain, is DNase resistant, and the transferred DNA is incorporated into the recipient chromosome by homologous recombination. However, unlike "E. coli" Hfr conjugation, mycobacterial conjugation is chromosome rather than plasmid based. Furthermore, in contrast to "E. coli" Hfr conjugation, in "M. smegmatis" all regions of the chromosome are transferred with comparable efficiencies. The lengths of the donor segments vary widely, but have an average length of 44.2kb. Since a mean of 13 tracts are transferred, the average total of transferred DNA per genome is 575kb. This process is referred to as "Distributive conjugal transfer." Gray et al. found substantial blending of the parental genomes as a result of conjugation and regarded this blending as reminiscent of that seen in the meiotic products of sexual reproduction.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Bacteria related to the nitrogen fixing "Rhizobia" are an interesting case of inter-kingdom conjugation. For example, the tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid of "Agrobacterium" and the root-tumor inducing (Ri) plasmid of "A. rhizogenes" contain genes that are capable of transferring to plant cells. The expression of these genes effectively transforms the plant cells into opine-producing factories. Opines are used by the bacteria as sources of nitrogen and energy. Infected cells form crown gall or root tumors. The Ti and Ri plasmids are thus endosymbionts of the bacteria, which are in turn endosymbionts (or parasites) of the infected plant.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: The Ti and Ri plasmids can also be transferred between bacteria using a system (the "tra", or transfer, operon) that is different and independent of the system used for inter-kingdom transfer (the "vir", or virulence, operon). Such transfers create virulent strains from previously avirulent strains.


title: Bacterial conjugation

text: Conjugation is a convenient means for transferring genetic material to a variety of targets. In laboratories, successful transfers have been reported from bacteria to yeast, plants, mammalian cells, diatoms and isolated mammalian mitochondria. Conjugation has advantages over other forms of genetic transfer including minimal disruption of the target's cellular envelope and the ability to transfer relatively large amounts of genetic material (see the above discussion of "E. coli" chromosome transfer). In plant engineering, "Agrobacterium"-like conjugation complements other standard vehicles such as tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). While TMV is capable of infecting many plant families these are primarily herbaceous dicots. "Agrobacterium"-like conjugation is also primarily used for dicots, but monocot recipients are not uncommon.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: On the Way to the Wedding is a 2006 historical romance written by Julia Quinn, published by Avon. It is the eighth and final novel of Quinn's Bridgerton series set in Regency England and tells the story of Gregory, the youngest male Bridgerton sibling.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: It won the 2007 RITA Award for Best Long Historical Romance, and reached #5 in the "New York Times" Bestseller List and # 4 in the "USA Today" bestseller list.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: Quinn noted that the title was derived from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Some of the heroine's slightly obsessive-compulsive tendencies were taken directly from traits of Quinn and her husband.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: The hero of the novel is Gregory Bridgerton, the youngest male and last unmarried sibling in the Bridgerton family. After catching a glimpse of the "breathtakingly perfect curve of her neck" at a house party, Gregory falls immediately in love with the beautiful and extremely sought-after Hermione Watson. After he makes his attraction known, Hermione's best friend, the pretty-but-not-quite-as-attractive Lady Lucinda "Lucy" Abernathy informs him that Hermione is already in love, but with someone unsuitable - her father's secretary. Believing that Gregory is more sincere in his attempts to gain Hermione's favor than her other suitors, Lucy agrees to help him win Hermione's heart.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: During the course of the house party, Lucy and Gregory become friends and then develop romantic feelings for each other. The author details Gregory's difficulty in determining whether his love for Lucy is real, or if it is simply an infatuation such as he felt for Hermione. Lucy is likewise given an inner conflict, as she is essentially engaged to Lord Haselby, an arranged match which she has always accepted.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: After realising he is in love with her, Gregory rushes to the church to stop Lucy's wedding to Haselby. Gregory arrives moments before the two exchange vows and confesses that he wants to marry Lucy. However, Lucy chooses to marry Haselby with a reason unknown to anyone, but Lucy and her uncle.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: The Romance Writers of America named "On the Way to the Wedding" the 2007 RITA Award winner for Best Long Historical Romance. "Romantic Times" also nominated it for an award in 2006 in the category Historical Love & Laughter.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: Kathe Robin of "Romantic Times" gave a rave review of the novel, remarking that "Quinn deftly merges the elements of a Shakespearean comedy with the climax of "The Graduate", delivering an utterly delightful love story that will have readers grinning with pleasure the instant the book is opened until the marvelous ending." The review in "Publishers' Weekly" describes the novel as "as frothy and festive as a glass of bubbly, and more than worthy of a toast", but laments that the books does not include more interactions between the Bridgerton siblings, as previous books in the series had done.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: "On the Way to the Wedding" reached number 5 on the "New York Times" Bestseller List for paperback fiction. The novel was on the "USA Today" bestseller list for six weeks, peaking at number 4.


title: On the Way to the Wedding

text: The book series the novel is a part of has been adapted by Shondaland and Netflix into a television series titled "Bridgerton" which premiered in 2020. Gregory is played by actor Will Tilson who has appeared in both season 1 and season 2.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Romanos IV Diogenes (Greek: Ρωμανός Διογένης), Latinized as Romanus IV Diogenes, was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, was crowned Byzantine Emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and to stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery, where he died of his wounds.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Romanos Diogenes was the son of Constantine Diogenes and a member of a prominent and powerful Byzantine Greek family from Cappadocia, the Diogenoi, connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in Asia Minor. His mother was a daughter of Basil Argyros, brother of the emperor Romanos III. Courageous and generous, but also impetuous, Romanos rose with distinction in the army due to his military talents, and he served on the Danubian frontier. At that time some parts from the theme of Bulgaria were organized as a new province with the centre at Serdica, and he became a duke of that province in 1067. However, he was eventually convicted of attempting to usurp the throne of the sons of Constantine X Doukas in 1067. While waiting to receive his sentence from the regent Eudokia Makrembolitissa, he was summoned into her presence and advised that she had pardoned him and that she had furthermore chosen him to be her husband and the guardian of her sons as emperor. She took this course of action primarily due to her concern that unless she managed to find a powerful husband, she could easily lose the regency to any unscrupulous noble, and also because she was infatuated with the popular Romanos. Her decision was met with little protest as the Seljuk Turks had overrun much of Cappadocia and had even taken the important city of Caesarea, meaning that the army needed to be placed under the command of an able and energetic general.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: After a written oath promising never to remarry, extracted from Eudokia by Constantine X, had been set aside by the Patriarch of Constantinople, John Xiphilinos, and the approval of the senate obtained, on 1 January 1068 Romanos married the empress and was crowned Emperor of the Romans.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Romanos IV was now the senior emperor and guardian of his stepsons and junior co-emperors, Michael VII, Konstantios, and Andronikos Doukas. However, his elevation had antagonised not only the Doukas family, in particular the "Caesar", John Doukas who led the opposition of the palace officials to Romanos' authority, but also the Varangian Guard, who openly expressed their discontent at the marriage of Eudokia. Romanos therefore decided that he could only exercise his authority by placing himself at the head of the army in the field, thereby focusing the whole government's attention on the war against the Turks.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: By 1067, the Turks had been making incursions at will into Mesopotamia, Melitene, Syria, Cilicia, and Cappadocia, culminating with the sack of Caesarea and the plundering of the Church of St Basil. That winter they camped on the frontiers of the empire and waited for the next year's campaigning season. Romanos was confident of Byzantine superiority on the field of battle, looking on the Turks as little more than hordes of robbers who would melt away at the first encounter. He did not take into account the degraded state of the Byzantine forces, which had suffered years of neglect from his predecessors, in particular Constantine X Doukas. His forces, mostly composed of Sclavonian, Armenian, Bulgarian, and Frankish mercenaries, were ill-disciplined, disorganised, and uncoordinated, and he was not prepared to spend time in upgrading the arms, armour, or tactics of the once-feared Byzantine army. It was soon evident that while Romanos possessed military talent, his impetuosity was a serious flaw.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: The first military operations of Romanos did achieve a measure of success, reinforcing his opinions about the outcome of the war. Antioch was exposed to the Saracens of Aleppo who, with help from Turkish troops, began an attempt to reconquer the Byzantine province of Syria. Romanos began marching to the southeastern frontier of the empire to deal with this threat, but as he was advancing towards Lykandos, he received word that a Seljuk army had made an incursion into Pontus and had plundered Neocaesarea. Immediately he selected a small mobile force and quickly raced through Sebaste and the mountains of Tephrike to encounter the Turks on the road, forcing them to abandon their plunder and release their prisoners, though a large number of the Turkish troops managed to escape.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Returning south, Romanos rejoined the main army, and they continued their advance through the passes of Mount Taurus to the north of Germanicia and proceeded to invade the Emirate of Aleppo. Romanos captured Hierapolis, which he fortified to provide protection against further incursions into the south-eastern provinces of the empire. He then engaged in further fighting against the Saracens of Aleppo, but neither side managed a decisive victory. With the campaigning season reaching its end, Romanos returned north via Alexandretta and the Cilician Gates to Podandos. Here he was advised of another Seljuk raid into Asia Minor in which they sacked Amorium but returned to their base so fast that Romanos was in no position to give chase. He eventually reached Constantinople by January 1069.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Plans for the following year's campaigning were initially thrown into chaos by a rebellion by one of Romanos' Norman mercenaries, Robert Crispin, who led a contingent of Frankish troops in the pay of the empire. Possibly due to Romanos not paying them on time, they began plundering the countryside near where they were stationed at Edessa, and attacking the imperial tax collectors. Although Crispin was captured and exiled to Abydos, the Franks continued to ravage the Armeniac Theme for some time. In the meantime, the land around Caesarea was again overrun by the Turks, forcing Romanos to spend precious time and energy in expelling the Turks from Cappadocia. Desperate to begin his campaign proper, he ordered the execution of all prisoners, even a Seljuk chieftain who offered to pay an immense ransom for his life. Having brought a measure of peace to the province, Romanos marched towards the Euphrates via Melitene, and crossed the river at Romanopolis, hoping to take Akhlat on Lake Van and thus protect the Armenian frontier.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Romanos placed himself at the head of a substantial body of troops and began his march towards Akhlat, leaving the bulk of the army under the command of Philaretos Brachamios with orders to defend the Mesopotamian frontier. Philaretos was soon defeated by the Turks, whose sack of Iconium forced Romanos to abandon his plans and return to Sebaste. He sent orders to the Dux of Antioch to secure the passes at Mopsuestia, while he attempted to run down the Turks at Heracleia. The Turks were soon hemmed in in the mountains of Cilicia, but they managed to escape to Aleppo after abandoning their plunder. Romanos once again returned to Constantinople without the great victory he was hoping for.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Romanos was detained at Constantinople in 1070, while he dealt with many outstanding administrative issues, including the imminent fall of Bari into Norman hands. They had been besieging it since 1068, but it had taken Romanos two years to respond. He ordered a relief fleet to set sail, containing sufficient provisions and troops to enable them to hold out for much longer. The fleet was intercepted, however, and defeated by a Norman squadron under the command of Roger, the younger brother of Robert Guiscard, forcing the final remaining outpost of Byzantine authority in Italy to surrender on 15 April 1071.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Meanwhile, Romanos was undertaking a number of unpopular reforms at home. He reduced a great deal of unnecessary public expenditure on court ceremonials and beautifying the capital. He reduced the public salaries paid to much of the court nobility, as well as reducing the profits of tradesmen. His preoccupation with the military had also made him unpopular with the provincial governors and the military hierarchy, as he was determined to ensure they could not abuse their positions, especially through corrupt practices. He incurred the displeasure of the mercenaries by enforcing much needed discipline. Romanos was also deeply unpopular with the common people, as he neglected to entertain them with games at the hippodrome, nor did he alleviate the burdens of the peasants in the provinces. All this animosity would help his enemies when the time came to move against him.