title: Languages of Scotland

text: Scots has its origins in the variety of Early northern Middle English spoken in southeastern Scotland, also known as Early Scots. That began to diverge from the Northumbrian variety due to 12th and 13th century immigration of Scandinavian-influenced Middle English-speakers from the North and Midlands of England. Later influences on the development of Scots were from Romance languages via ecclesiastical and legal Latin, Norman and later Parisian French due to the Auld Alliance; as well as Dutch and Middle Low German influences due to trade and immigration from the Low Countries. Scots also includes loan words resulting from contact with Scottish Gaelic. Early medieval legal documents include a body of Gaelic legal and administrative loanwords. Contemporary Gaelic loanwords are mainly for geographical and cultural features, such as "ceilidh", "loch" and "clan", and also occur in colloquialisms such as "gob" and "jilt".


title: Languages of Scotland

text: From the 13th century Early Scots spread further into Scotland via the burghs, early urban institutions which were first established by King David I. The growth in prestige of Early Scots in the 14th century, and the complementary decline of French in Scotland, made Scots the prestige language of most of eastern Scotland. By the 16th century Middle Scots had established orthographic and literary norms largely independent of those developing in England. Modern Scots is used to describe the language after 1700, when southern Modern English was generally adopted as the literary language.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: There is no institutionalised standard variety, but during the 18th century a new literary language descended from the old court Scots emerged. This variety abandoned some of the more distinctive old Scots spellings, adopted many standard English spellings (although from the rhymes it is clear that a Scots pronunciation was intended) and introduced what came to be known as the apologetic apostrophe, generally occurring where a consonant exists in the Standard English cognate. This Written Scots drew not only on the vernacular but also on the King James Bible, and was also heavily influenced by the norms and conventions of Augustan English poetry. Consequently, this written Scots looked very similar to contemporary Standard English, suggesting a somewhat modified version of that, rather than a distinct speech form with a phonological system which had been developing independently for many centuries. This modern literary dialect, "Scots of the book" or Standard Scots once again gave Scots an orthography of its own, lacking neither "authority nor author". During the 20th century a number of proposals for spelling reform were presented. Commenting on this, John Corbett (2003: 260) writes that "devising a normative orthography for Scots has been one of the greatest linguistic hobbies of the past century." Most proposals entailed regularising the use of established 18th and 19th century conventions, in particular the avoidance of the apologetic apostrophe.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Spoken Scots comprises many dialects, none of which may be said to be more "true" Scots than any other. This diversity is often seen as a mark of local pride among Scots. There are four dialect groupings: Insular Scots – spoken in Orkney and Shetland; Northern Scots – spoken in Caithness, Easter Ross, Moray, Aberdeenshire and Angus; Central Scots – spoken in the Central Lowlands and South West Scotland; and Southern Scots – spoken in the Scottish Borders and Dumfriesshire. A Jewish hybrid of the early 20th century is Scots-Yiddish.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Scottish (Standard) English is the result of language contact between Scots and the Standard English of England after the 17th century. The resulting shift towards Standard English by Scots-speakers resulted in many phonological compromises and lexical transfers, often mistaken for mergers by linguists unfamiliar with the history of Scottish English. Furthermore, the process was also influenced by interdialectal forms, hypercorrections and spelling pronunciations. Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic. The most Gaelic influenced variety being Hebridean English, spoken in the Western Isles.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Distinct vocabulary, often from Latin and Lowland Scots, is still used in Scottish legal terminology.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Norn is an extinct North Germanic, West Scandinavian, language that was spoken in Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. Norn evolved from the Old Norse that was widely spoken in the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and the west coast of the mainland during the Viking occupation from the 8th to the 13th centuries. After the Northern Isles were ceded to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, its use was discouraged by the Scottish government and the Church of Scotland (the national church), and it was gradually replaced by Lowland Scots over time. Norn persisted well into the 19th century, as the Faroese linguist Jakob Jakobsen wrote:


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Most of the use of Norn/Norse in modern-day Shetland and Orkney is purely ceremonial, and mostly in Old Norse, for example the Shetland motto, which is "Með lögum skal land byggja" ("with law shall land be built") which is the same motto used by the Icelandic police force and inspired by the Danish Codex Holmiensis.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: There are some enthusiasts who are engaged in developing and disseminating a modern form called Nynorn ("New Norn"), based upon linguistic analysis of the known records and Norse linguistics in general.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Latin is also used to a limited degree in certain official mottos, for example "Nemo Me Impune Lacessit", legal terminology ("Ultimus haeres" and "condictio causa data causa non-secuta"), and various ceremonial contexts. Latin abbreviations can also be seen on British coins and in mottos etc. The use of Latin has declined greatly in recent years. At one time, Latin and Ancient Greek were commonly taught in Scottish schools (and were required for entrance to the ancient universities until 1919, for Greek, and the 1960s, for Latin), and Scottish Highers are still available in both subjects. Latin's presence is almost two thousand years old in Scotland, but it has rarely been a community language.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Norman French was historically used in Scotland, and appears in some mottos as well. Some works of medieval literature from Scotland were composed in this language. After the twelfth-century reign of King David I and the so-called "Davidian Revolution", the Scottish monarchs are perhaps better described as Scoto-Norman than Gaelic, often preferring French culture to native Scottish culture. A consequence was the spread of French institutions and social values including Canon law. The first towns, called burghs, appeared in the same era, and as they spread, so did the Middle English language. These developments were offset by the acquisition of the Norse-Gaelic west, and the Gaelicisation of many of the noble families of French and Anglo-French origin and national cohesion was fostered with the creation of various unique religious and cultural practices. By the end of the period, Scotland experienced a "Gaelic revival" which created an integrated Scottish national identity.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: The use of Ancient Greek is almost entirely gone in Scotland, but one example would be the motto of St Andrews University, ΑΙΕΝ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΥΕΙΝ ("AIEN ARISTEUEIN") ("Ever to Excel" or "Ever To Be The Best")


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Scotland's deaf community tends to use British Sign Language. There are a few signs used in Scotland which are unique to the country, as well as variations in some signs from Dundee to Glasgow (similar to accents). Most deaf people in Scotland are educated in mainstream schools.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Other sign languages in use in Scotland include Makaton, and Signed English, a sign language based on the English language.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: There are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing "languages" from "dialects", although a number of paradigms exist, which render sometimes contradictory results. The exact distinction is therefore a subjective one, dependent on the user's frame of reference. (See Dialect)


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Scottish Gaelic and Irish are generally viewed as being languages in their own right rather than dialects of a single tongue but are sometimes mutually intelligible to a limited degree – especially between southern dialects of Scottish Gaelic and northern dialects of Irish (programmes in each form of Gaelic are broadcast on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta), but the relationship of Scots and English is less clear, since there is usually partial mutual intelligibility.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Since there is a very high level of mutual intelligibility between contemporary speakers of Scots in Scotland and in Ulster (Ulster Scots), and a common written form was current well into the 20th century, the two varieties have usually been considered as dialects of a single tongue rather than languages in their own right; the written forms have diverged in the 21st century. The government of the United Kingdom "recognises that Scots and Ulster Scots meet the Charter's definition of a regional or minority language". Whether this implies recognition of one regional or minority language or two is a question of interpretation. Ulster Scots is defined in legislation (The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999) as: "the variety of the Scots language which has traditionally been used in parts of Northern Ireland and in Donegal in Ireland".


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Some resent Scottish Gaelic being promoted in the Lowlands, although it was once spoken everywhere in mainland Scotland including, to an extent, the extreme south-east (that part of Scotland which was originally Northumbria) and the extreme north-east (Caithness).


title: Languages of Scotland

text: Two areas with mostly Norse-derived placenames (and some Pictish), the Northern Isles (Shetland and Orkney) were ceded to Scotland in lieu of an unpaid dowry in 1472, and never spoke Gaelic; its traditional vernacular Norn, a derivative of Old Norse mutually intelligible with Icelandic and Faroese, died out in the 18th century after large-scale immigration by Lowland Scots speakers. To this day, many Shetlanders and Orcadians maintain a separate identity, albeit through the Shetland and Orcadian dialects of Lowland Scots, rather than their former national tongue. Norn was also spoken at one point in Caithness, apparently dying out much earlier than Shetland and Orkney. However, the Norse speaking population were entirely assimilated by the Gaelic speaking population in the Western Isles; to what degree this happened in Caithness is a matter of controversy, although Gaelic was spoken in parts of the county until the 20th century.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: According to the 2001 census Scottish Gaelic has 58,652 speakers (roughly 1% of the population of Scotland). In total 92,400 people aged three and over in Scotland had some Gaelic language ability in 2001. 15,723 of these reside in the Outer Hebrides, where the language is spoken by the majority of the population. There are also large populations of speaker in other parts of the Highlands.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: In a 2010 Scottish Government study, 85% of respondents noted they speak Scots. According to the 2011 census, 1,541,693 people can speak Scots in Scotland, approximately 30% of the population.


title: Languages of Scotland

text: The 2011 census asked people to specify the language that they used at home. This found that the language used by majority of people aged 3 and over (92.6%) was English.


title: Philippa Boyens

text: Philippa Jane Boyens (born 1962) is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer who co-wrote the screenplay for Peter Jackson's films "The Lord of the Rings" series, "King Kong", "The Lovely Bones", and the three-part film "The Hobbit", all with Jackson and Fran Walsh.


title: Philippa Boyens

text: She, Jackson, and Walsh won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "" at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004. She was also co-producer on every one of Jackson's films since "King Kong", and on "District 9". Prior to screen-writing, Boyens worked in theater as a playwright, teacher, producer, and editor. She also spent time as director of the New Zealand Writers Guild.


title: Philippa Boyens

text: Born in 1962, Boyens is the daughter of John Fraser Boyens and Jane Moana Menhennet. She was educated at Massey High School, and was later a part-time student at the University of Auckland, graduating with a BA in English and history in 1994. She received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the university in 2006.


title: Philippa Boyens

text: She has three children: daughter Phoebe Gittins and son Calum Gittins (both with actor Paul Gittins); and a second son, Isaac Miller. Phoebe appeared as a Hobbit in "", as one of George Harvey's victims in "The Lovely Bones", and as a wench in the Prancing Pony in ""; Calum appeared as Haleth in ""; and Isaac appeared as a young Hobbit in a flashback of the Old Took's party in the extended edition of "".


title: Philippa Boyens

text: In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Boyens was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film.


title: Philippa Boyens

text: Boyens first became a Tolkien fan as a child. When she came on board to help the writing team on "The Lord of the Rings", she had already read the book seven times.


title: Eurogame

text: A Eurogame, also called a German-style board game, German game, or Euro-style game, (generally just referred to as board games in Europe) is a class of tabletop games that generally has indirect player interaction and abstract physical components. Eurogames are sometimes contrasted with American-style board games, which generally involve more luck, conflict, and drama. They are usually less abstract than chess or Go, but more abstract than wargames. Likewise, they generally require more thought and planning than party games such as "Pictionary" or "Trivial Pursuit".


title: Eurogame

text: Contemporary Eurogames, such as "Acquire", appeared in the 1960s. The 3M series of which "Acquire" formed a part became popular in Germany, and became a template for a new form of game, one in which direct conflict or warfare did not play a role, due in part to aversion in postwar Germany to products which glorified conflict.


title: Eurogame

text: The genre developed as a more concentrated design movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Germany. The genre has spread to other European countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. "The Settlers of Catan", first published in 1995, paved the way for the genre outside Europe.


title: Eurogame

text: Though neither the first Eurogame nor the first such game to find an audience outside Germany, it became much more popular than any of its predecessors. It quickly sold millions of copies in Germany, and in the process brought money and attention to the genre as a whole.


title: Eurogame

text: Germany purchased more board games "per capita" than any other country . While many Eurogames are published and played in Anglophone markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, they occupy a niche status there. Other games in the genre to achieve widespread popularity include "Carcassonne", "Puerto Rico", "Ticket to Ride", and "Alhambra".


title: Eurogame

text: Eurogames tend to be focused on challenge for players. They feature economics and the acquisition of resources rather than direct conflict, and have a limited amount of luck. They also differ from abstract strategy games like chess by using themes tied to specific locales, and emphasize individual development and comparative achievement rather than direct conflict. Eurogames also emphasize the mechanical challenges of their systems over having the systems match the theme of the game. They are generally simpler than the wargames that flourished in the 1970s and 1980s from publishers such as SPI and Avalon Hill, but nonetheless often have a considerable depth of play.


title: Eurogame

text: One consequence of the increasing popularity of this genre has been an expansion upwards in complexity. Games such as Puerto Rico that were considered quite complex when Eurogames proliferated in the U.S. after the turn of the millennium are now the norm, with newer high-end titles like Terra Mystica and Tzolkin being significantly more difficult to master.


title: Eurogame

text: While many titles (especially the strategically heavier ones) are enthusiastically played by gamers as a hobby, Eurogames are, for the most part, well-suited to social play. In keeping with this social function, various characteristics of the games tend to support that aspect well, and these have become quite common across the genre. In contrast to games such as Risk or Monopoly, in which a close game can extend indefinitely, Eurogames usually have a mechanism to stop the game within its stated playing time. Common mechanisms include a pre-determined winning score, a set number of game turns, or depletion of limited game resources. Playing time varies from a half-hour to a few hours, with one to two hours being typical. Generally Eurogames do not have a fixed number of players like chess or bridge; although there is a sizeable body of German-style games that are designed for exactly two players, most games can accommodate anywhere from two to six players (with varying degrees of suitability). Six-player games are somewhat rare, with Power Grid and Caverna (the latter supporting seven player games) being two examples, or require expansions, as with The Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne. Players usually play for themselves individually, rather than in a partnership or team.


title: Eurogame

text: A growing number of Eurogames support solo play with modified rulesets. To win, the player either has to achieve specific single-player campaign goals or beat the score of a simulated opponent that takes actions according to special rules outlined in the scenario. Recent Eurogames suitable for solo play include Wingspan, Terraforming Mars or Spirit Island.


title: Eurogame

text: Another prominent characteristic of these games is the lack of player elimination. Eliminating players before the end of the game is seen as contrary to the social aspect of such games. Most of these games are designed to keep all players in the game as long as possible, so it is rare to be certain of victory or defeat until relatively late in the game. Related to no-player-elimination, Eurogame scoring systems are often designed so that hidden scoring or end-of-game bonuses can catapult a player who appears to be in a lagging position at end of play into the lead. A second-order consequence is that Eurogames tend to have multiple paths to victory (dependent on aiming at different end-of-game bonuses) and it is often not obvious to other players which strategic path a player is pursuing. Balancing mechanisms are often integrated into the rules, giving slight advantages to lagging players and slight hindrances to the leaders. This helps to keep the game competitive to the very end, an example of which is Power Grid, where the turn order is determined by number of cities (and biggest power plant as the tie-breaker), such that players further ahead are handicapped in their option of plays.


title: Eurogame

text: A wide variety of often innovative mechanisms or mechanics are used, and familiar mechanics such as rolling dice and moving, capture, or trick taking are avoided. If a game has a board, the board is usually irregular rather than uniform or symmetric (such as Risk rather than chess or Scrabble). The board is often random (as in The Settlers of Catan) or has random elements (such as Tikal). Some boards are merely mnemonic or organizational and contribute only to ease of play, such as a cribbage board; examples of this include Puerto Rico and Princes of Florence. Random elements are often present, but do not usually dominate the game. While rules are light to moderate, they allow depth of play, usually requiring thought, planning, and a shift of tactics through the game and often with a chess- or backgammon-like opening game, middle game, and end game.


title: Eurogame

text: Eurogame designs tend to de-emphasize luck and random elements. Often, the only random element of the game will be resource or terrain distribution in the initial setup, or (less frequently) the random order of a set of event or objective cards. The role played by deliberately random mechanics in other styles of game is instead fulfilled by the unpredictability of the behavior of other players.


title: Eurogame

text: Although not relevant to actual play, the name of the game's designer is often prominently mentioned on the box, or at least in the rule book. Top designers enjoy considerable following among enthusiasts of Eurogames. For this reason, the name "designer games" is often offered as a description of the genre. Recently, there has also been a wave of games designed as spin-offs of popular novels, such as the games taking their style from the German bestsellers "Der Schwarm" and "Tintenherz".


title: Eurogame

text: The Internationale Spieltage, also known as Essen Spiel, or the Essen Games Fair, is the largest non-digital game convention in the world, and the place where the largest number of eurogames are released each year. Founded in 1983 and held each fall in Essen, Germany, the fair was founded with the objective of providing a venue for people to meet and play board games, and show gaming as an integral part of German culture.


title: Eurogame

text: A "World Boardgaming Championships" is held annually in July in Pennsylvania, USA. The event is nine days long and includes tournament tracks of over a hundred games; while traditional wargames are played there, all of the most popular tournaments are Eurogames and it is generally perceived as a Eurogame-centered event. Attendance is international, though players from the U.S. and Canada predominate.


title: Eurogame

text: The most prestigious German board game award is the Spiel des Jahres ("game of the year"). The award is very family-oriented. Shorter, more approachable, games such as Ticket to Ride and Elfenland are usually preferred by the committee that gives out the award.


title: Eurogame

text: In 2011, the jury responsible for the Spiel des Jahres created the Kennerspiel des Jahres, or connoisseur's game of the year, for more complex games.


title: Eurogame

text: The Deutscher Spiele Preis ("German game prize") is also awarded to games that are more complex and strategic, such as Puerto Rico. However, there are a few games with broad enough appeal to win both awards: The Settlers of Catan (1995), Carcassonne (2001), Dominion (2009).


title: Eurogame

text: Xbox Live Arcade has included popular games from the genre, with "Catan" being released to strong sales on May 13, 2007, "Carcassonne" being released on June 27, 2007. "Lost Cities" and "Ticket to Ride" soon followed. "Alhambra" was due to follow later in 2007 until being cancelled.


title: Eurogame

text: The iPhone received versions of The Settlers of Catan and "Zooloretto" in 2009. Carcassonne was added to the iPhone App Store in June 2010. Later, Ticket to Ride was developed for both the iPhone and the iPad, significantly boosting sales of the board game tremendously.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: Armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) is a type of spin-stabilized kinetic energy projectile for anti-armour warfare. Each projectile consists of a sub-calibre round fitted with a sabot. The combination of a lighter sub-calibre projectile with a full-calibre propellant charge allows for an increase in muzzle velocity compared to full-calibre rounds, giving the round increased armour-penetration performance. To further enhance their armour-penetration capabilities, APDS rounds typically feature a hardened core made from tungsten or another hard, dense material.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: For a given calibre, APDS ammunition can effectively double the armour penetration of a gun when compared to full-calibre rounds such as AP, Armour-piercing Capped (APC), and Armour piercing Capped Ballistic Cap (APCBC) projectiles.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: APDS-rounds were commonly used in large calibre tank guns up until the early 1980s, but have since been superseded by armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) projectiles, which use fin-stabilization and can be fired from smoothbore guns. APDS rounds remain in use for small or medium calibres, such as in saboted light armour penetrator (SLAP) ammunition.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: Armour piercing discarding sabot munitions were developed to increase penetrating performance of anti-tank projectiles by generating higher impact velocity. A larger projectile would require a completely new weapon system, but increasing velocity faced the limitation that steel armour-piercing (AP) projectiles shattered at velocities above about 850 m/s when uncapped. Tungsten carbide, with twice the density of steel, was seen as a solution, due to its greater hardness and ability to withstand shock and pressure, but its greater weight reduced velocity.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: In the 1930s, to increase terminal velocity without increasing diameter, engineers working for the French Edgar Brandt company developed "saboted" ammunition, in which a heavier sub-calibre core was surrounded by a lightweight "sabot" (the French word for 'shoe'), that was retained for the duration of the flight until impact. They fielded two calibres; the 75 mm/57 mm for the 75mm Mle 1897/33 anti-tank gun and 37 mm/25 mm for several 37 mm gun types just before the French-German armistice of 1940, before evacuating to the United Kingdom, to join ongoing anti-tank ammunition development efforts there. The British term for this construction was "Armour-Piercing, Composite Rigid" (APCR)


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: While the sabot improved short range effectiveness, the additional drag caused the performance of the shot to fall off dramatically with increasing range. Between 1941–1944, Permutter and Coppock, two designers with the UK Armaments Research Department (ARD), developed a sabot that was discarded immediately after leaving the barrel, so the smaller, heavier, sub-projectile could carry on at the much higher velocity, suffering less drag due to its smaller diameter.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: In mid-1944, the resulting APDS (the 'D' standing for "discarding") projectile type was introduced into service for the UK's 57mm QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun and later in September 1944 for the 76mm QF 17 pounder anti-tank gun.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: The sabot of a large calibre APDS consists of a light high strength alloy full diameter pot and base unit, which is screwed together. The front part of the pot has three-four petals (sabots) which are covered with a centring band (often a nylon derivative). The rear half has a rubber obturator and driving band (again nylon) held in place by the screw-in base unit. The base unit, if a tracer element is attached to the sub-projectile, has a hole located at the centre. Before firing, the sub-projectile and sabot are locked together.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: Due to the high setback forces (g-forces), friction between the pot and sub-projectile allows spin to be transferred, thus stabilising the sub-projectile. Small/medium calibre APDS use a lightweight high strength alloy base pot and three or more plastic petals. To transfer the spin to the core in small/medium calibre weapons, the core tends to have a notch at its base. Under bore acceleration, which can be higher than 100,000 g, the uneven base is forced into the softer pot material, locking the sub-projectile to the pot and imparting spin.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: Not all small/medium calibre APDS rely on this technique, another method for spin coupling is by using the forward plastic petals. The petals are of a slightly larger diameter than the lands in the rifled bore. This forces the petals tightly against the core, increasing the friction between them and allowing the spin to be transferred.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: The sub-calibre projectile consists of a high density core with a penetrating cap, enclosed within a high strength sheath (steel) with a lightweight alloy (aluminium-magnesium alloy) ballistic cap. For modern small/medium calibre APDS projectiles, the core is not sheathed and the ballistic and penetrating caps are combined. A tracer element may be added to the APDS sub-projectile, for large calibre weapons this is part of the outer sheath, for small/medium calibre weapons it is contained within a hollow cavity in, or attached to, the base of the core.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: Most modern APDS projectiles use high strength shock resistant tungsten alloys. The main constituent is tungsten, alloyed or sintered with/to cobalt, copper, iron or nickel. Very few APDS use depleted uranium (DU) titanium alloy for the penetrator material, though the retired 20 mm MK149-2 Phalanx CIWS round did use DU.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: When a large calibre APDS is fired and while still within the bore, the setback forces shear the forward petals, partly unlocking the sub-projectile from the sabot, but still holding it rigidly within the pot. Gas pressure is used to delay the unlocking of the pins holding the rear part of the sub-projectile by gyroscopic forces. Once outside the barrel, the pins, centring band and forward petals are released or discarded by projectile spin, the aerodynamic drag removes the pot/base unit.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: As an APDS sub-projectile does not require driving bands and the core is supported at the base and ogive region, a far more aerodynamic projectile shape can be chosen. This, in combination with the sub-projectile's higher sectional density, gives the resulting sub-projectile vastly reduced aerodynamic drag in comparison to full-calibre tungsten-core projectiles, such as armour-piercing, composite rigid (APCR). Both the higher initial velocity and the reduced drag result in higher velocity at impact. This also lowers flight time and improves accuracy. Accuracy can suffer if there are unwanted sabot/sub-projectile interactions during discard.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: The sequence upon impact of the APDS projectile, for example the 120 mm L11, as used on the Chieftain tank, fired L15 APDS (muzzle velocity 1370 m/s), goes as follows: the lightweight ballistic cap is crushed, the penetrating cap then strikes the armour, distributing the shock across the whole surface of the core's nose, reducing the initial shock experienced by the core. The steel sheath surrounding the core peels away, and the core goes on to penetrate the armour. The penetration of the L15 APDS is approximately 355 mm of rolled homogeneous armour at 1000 m.


title: Armour-piercing discarding sabot

text: Many newer medium calibre APDS cores use a frangible high density alloy, the resulting projectiles are called Frangible Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FAPDS) for APDS types, or FRAP (Frangible Armour Piercing) for full-calibre projectiles. During penetration, a frangible projectile's core fragments into many high-velocity pieces. The effect of a frangible projectile on a lightly armoured target is much the same as a high explosive incendiary round, but with a cloud of dense, high-velocity fragments penetrating deeper into the target's interior. Upon striking heavy armour the effect of FAPDS is more akin to a standard APDS, albeit with higher fragmentation of the core, and hence lethality if the armour is perforated.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: "Glamorous" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie featuring American rapper Ludacris for the former's debut studio album, "The Dutchess" (2006). It was released as the third single from "The Dutchess" worldwide except for in the United Kingdom, where it served as the second single. The song was serviced to mainstream radios on January 23, 2007, and to Rhythmic radios on February 20, 2007, in the United States, through A&M Records, together with will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: It was written by Fergie, Ludacris, will.i.am, Elvis Williams and Polow da Don; the latter also produced the song. "Glamorous" is an airy R&B song that has a slower feel from the album's previous hip hop and dance-tinged singles. The lyrics deal with the lead staying rooted despite her success and fame. "Glamorous" garnered generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who commented on its smooth, generic sound and its lyrics, which have been likened to those of Gwen Stefani's "Luxurious" (2005), Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny from the Block" (2002) and Madonna's "Material Girl" (1985).


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: The song achieved commercial success worldwide, peaking inside the top 10 in several countries, including Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. "Glamorous" peaked at number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and became Fergie's second number one hit on the chart as a solo artist. The song also became her third best-selling song in the United States, amassing sales of over 3,000,000 copies as of August 2012, and earning a double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for "Glamorous" features Fergie in scenes in which she portrays a successful actress and a teenager, acting as flashbacks from her past. The song was heavily sampled by Jack Harlow for his 2022 single "First Class", which also went number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: "Glamorous" was written by the artists alongside will.i.am, Elvis Williams and producer Polow da Don. will.i.am, was in charge of the song's arrangement while Ron Fair produced the additional vocals present on the track. The song features co-writer Williams, who provided the keys, and Mike Hartnett, who played the guitars. The technical work performed on "Glamorous" includes engineering, which was orchestrated principally by Travis Daniels and was assisted by Mack Woodward. Tal Herzberg, who has worked the Black Eyed Peas on previous studio recordings, performed additional engineering on the track with the use of Pro Tools. Tony Maserati was signed as the principal mix engineer while Ryan Kennedy assisted him at The Record Plant in Hollywood, California. The song was finally recorded at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia and The Record Plant in Hollywood, California by "Angry" Mike Eleopoulos.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: "Glamorous" was released as the third single from "The Dutchess" (2006), after "London Bridge" and "Fergalicious". A&M Records, together with will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records, solicited the song to mainstream radios on January 23, 2007, and to Rhythmic radios on February 20, 2007, in the United States. It was later released as a single around the world on March 16, 2007, as a CD single.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: "Glamorous" is a downtempo R&B song that has a smooth, silky feel and contains elements of techno. Music critics likened the song to Gwen Stefani's "Luxurious" and Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny from the Block". According to Dan Gennoe of "Yahoo! Music", the song is comparable to the music of Janet Jackson. Spence D. of "IGN" noted that the song contained a mid-1980s vibe and influences of musical works by Madonna and Prince. According to the digital music sheet published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song was written in a key of C major. Having a beat measure of 130 beats per minute, it is set in common time and moves through a moderately fast tempo. The vocals range from a low register of E to a high register of C. It has a basic sequence of G-Am7-Fmaj7 as its chord progression. Lyrically, "Glamorous" is an autobiographical account about how Fergie has remained true to her background, despite widespread fame and mainstream success. It also samples “If You Ain't Got No Money” by Raheem the Dream.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: Bill Lamb of "About.com" gave "Glamorous" a three and a half star rating, praising the song's smooth R&B feel but dismissed its use of spelling out the title in the lyrics. Lamb also noted that "The frequent sparks of self-referential humor present in much of Fergie's music are missing here which limits the distinctiveness of this song" and explained it "veers a bit uncomfortably close" to Gwen Stefani's 2005 single "Luxurious" ("Love. Angel. Music. Baby.", 2004). He concluded his review, writing "unlikely to be a 3rd #1 for Fergie, and it may even struggle for top 10 status, but it is likely to linger as pleasant pop filler on the radio for the first few months of 2007." Spence D. of "IGN" called the song "somewhat generic", praising Fergie's flow and Ludacris' appearance on the track, but ultimately called it a "rather vapid exercise".


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: Liz Black of "Cinema Blend" called "Glamorous" "a stunning account of her ability to keep it real despite life in the first class." Kelefa Sanneh of "New York Times" wrote "Glamorous" and "Clumsy" to be songs fans can savor. Brian Rafferty of "Idolator" praised it as a "perfect No. 1 for a quarter when there ain’t shit else going on" and called Fergie's mid-song interjection of "fuck y'all" more convincing than the profanities present in RJD2's "The Third Hand" (2007), naming it the best gratuitous curse word in the top ten.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: In the United States, "Glamorous" made its debut on the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 98 on the issue dated January 27, 2007, while the previous single "Fergalicious" was still inside the top five. A month later, it rose to number nine, in that week becoming the "greatest digital gainer". In the following week, it fell to number 33 following the removal of the single from digital retailers. "Glamorous" returned in the top 10 after its re-release, rising from number 55, and peaked at number one on the issue dated March 24, 2007, selling 166,000 downloads during that week. It became her second number one single in the United States and held the top position for two weeks. The single spent 29 weeks on the "Billboard" Hot 100, 24 of which were in the top 50. The single went on to sell 3,012,000 digital downloads in the United States, enough to earn a double-platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Glamorous" stands as Fergie's third best-selling single behind "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Fergalicious". The song was moderately successful on "Billboard" component charts Adult Pop Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while achieving chart topping success on Hot Dance Club Songs and reaching number two on Pop Songs. In Canada, the song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: The commercial reception of "Glamorous" in other countries was generally positive, with some countries matching the success experienced in the United States. In Australia, the song debuted at number 10 on the singles chart. It eventually rose to number two on May 28, 2007, being held off by Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend". The song eventually left the chart after 26 weeks, selling 70,000 copies in the country and earned a platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). On the 2007 end of the year charts, it ranked number 10 on the singles chart and number six on the urban chart. "Glamorous" entered the New Zealand Top 40, like in Australia, at number 10. The song ascended and come down within the top 20 for nine weeks, reaching number nine twice during that time. The song shipped over 7,500 copies to New Zealand, earning a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, the song made its first appearance on the singles chart on February 18, 2007, at number 56. It jumped to number 27 the next week and continued rising until its seventh week, when it peaked at number six. The song spent three weeks inside the top 10 and exited the chart after six months. According to The Official Charts Company, the song sold 205,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In Ireland, the song reached a peak position of number three in its seventh week like it did in the United Kingdom, but lasted inside the top 10 longer (ten weeks).


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: Directed by Dave Meyers, and shot in an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, the video, which had its world premiere on MTV's "TRL" on February 7, 2007, begins in the year 1994 with Fergie and Polow da Don at a keg party in East Los Angeles before she was famous, with everyone at the party shouting "If you ain't got no money take yo broke ass home". The camera then rotates upward where it is present day and Fergie is lounging in a Gulfstream G550 business jet, and as the chorus suggests, "flying first class, up in the sky". The captain is played by Freddy Rodriguez. She is seen watching the music video on her LG enV for her band's "Pump It". Fergie then lands and enters a limo waiting for her where she goes with her friends to a drive thru at a Taco Hall, as indicated by the takeout bag she collects, though the lyrics comment that this is Taco Bell instead. The video at this point does a transition to the past (1990s) where it is suggested Fergie came to this same restaurant with her friends before her glamorous life. The transition occurs as Fergie sings of the days when she had a Mustang. The limo transforms into a Mustang convertible. She and her friends are wearing fashion and have hairstyles similar to those of 1980s pop culture. The video then returns to present day where Fergie and Ludacris are shown shooting a film called "Glamorous", a throwback to "Bonnie and Clyde". The couple are shown holding Thompson submachine guns while being held up by police near a canyon, apparently for stealing money. Ludacris raps his verse to Fergie telling her all the expensive things he will buy for her. Fergie and Ludacris are then shown shooting down the cops, after which the film shoot ends. After the shoot, Fergie proceeds to sit in a chair with her name on it, as people rush over to do her makeup. While this is happening, she thanks her fans for making her famous. Scenes of this are intercut with Fergie getting back on the plane she came on, while she flashes back to when she was younger, where her father warned her about the coldness of show business. Fergie is then shown at the same kegger from earlier in the video, with her Black Eyed Peas bandmate apl.de.ap, Alfonso Ribeiro, Polow da Don, and B-Real from Cypress Hill with whom she clinks plastic glasses, followed with the plane she is on in the present day flying into London as the sun sets.


title: Glamorous (Fergie song)

text: Credits adapted from the liner notes of "The Dutchess", A&M Records, Will.i.am Music Group, Interscope Records.


title: Denzel Ward

text: Denzel Nehemiah Ward (born April 28, 1997) is an American football cornerback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State.


title: Denzel Ward

text: Ward attended Nordonia High School in Macedonia, Ohio. He played cornerback and wide receiver for the Knights football team. He also played basketball and ran track. As a senior at the Division 1 region 1 finals, he ran a personal best time of 10.49 seconds in the 100 meters, placing 1st. His personal best in the 200 meters is 21.38 seconds, in which he placed third at the state championships. He committed to Ohio State University to play college football.


title: Denzel Ward

text: Ward attended and played college football at Ohio State under head coach Urban Meyer. As a true freshman at Ohio State in 2015, Ward played in 12 games, recording seven tackles. As a sophomore in 2016, he played in all 13 games and had 23 tackles. Ward became a starter as a junior in 2017. Entering the 2018 NFL Draft, Ward decided not to play in the 2017 Cotton Bowl.


title: Denzel Ward

text: On December 29, 2017, Ward released an official statement through his Twitter account announcing his decision to forgo his senior season and enter the 2018 NFL Draft. Ward also decided to skip the Cotton Bowl Classic. Ward attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed the majority of combine drills, but opted to skip the short shuttle and three-cone drill. His overall performance impressed scouts and helped solidify his position as the top cornerback prospect. Ward tied for first, among all players, in the 40-yard dash (4.32s) and his broad jump (11'4") was the best among all players, regardless of position. He also tied for second in the vertical jump (39") among his position group and tied for eighth in the bench press (16 reps) among cornerbacks who participated.


title: Denzel Ward

text: Ward attended pre-draft visits with multiple teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Ward was projected to be a top ten pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the top cornerback prospect in the draft by Sports Illustrated and NFL analyst Mike Mayock and was ranked as the second best cornerback by DraftScout.com.


title: Denzel Ward

text: The Cleveland Browns selected Ward in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft. Ward was the first defensive back drafted in 2018 and became the highest selected cornerback from Ohio State since Shawn Springs, who was selected third overall in the 1997 NFL Draft.


title: Denzel Ward

text: On July 24, 2018, the Cleveland Browns signed Ward to a fully guaranteed four-year, $29.16 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $19.29 million.


title: Denzel Ward

text: Ward entered training camp slated as the No. 1 starting cornerback on the depth chart after the departures of Jason McCourty and Jamar Taylor. Head coach Hue Jackson named Ward the starting cornerback to begin the regular season, alongside Terrance Mitchell.


title: Denzel Ward

text: He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Cleveland Browns' season-opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers and recorded six combined tackles, broke up three passes, and made two interceptions during their 21–21 tie. Ward made his first career interception off a pass attempt by Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, that was originally intended for wide receiver Antonio Brown, in the first quarter. On October 7, 2018, Ward recorded five combined tackles, tied his season-high of three pass deflections, made one interception, and a blocked field goal in a 12–9 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens. His performance earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Overall, he finished his rookie season with 53 tackles, three interceptions, 11 pass deflections, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries in 13 games, of which he started 12. He was named to the Pro Bowl and the NFL All-Rookie Team.


title: Denzel Ward

text: In week 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Ward recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Andy Dalton and returned it for a 61 yard touchdown during the 27–19 win.


title: Denzel Ward

text: In Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys, Ward recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Dak Prescott late in the fourth quarter to seal a 49–38 victory for the Browns. In Week 11 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Ward recorded 4 pass deflections and an interception late in the fourth quarter off a pass thrown by Carson Wentz to help secure the 22–17 victory for the Browns. Ward was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the Browns on December 31, 2020, and activated on January 13, 2021.


title: Denzel Ward

text: The Browns exercised Ward's fifth-year option on April 23, 2021, which guarantees a salary of $13.29 million for the 2022 season.


title: Denzel Ward

text: Ward had a very productive season for the Browns, posting 43 tackles, 10 pass deflections, while also having 3 interceptions, one being a pick-six against the Bengals in Week 9, which went for 99 yards. He was named to the 2022 Pro Bowl, his second selection of his career.


title: Denzel Ward

text: On April 18, 2022, the Cleveland Browns signed Ward to a five-year contract extension worth $100.5 million, with $71.25 million guaranteed. In Week 13 Ward recovered a fumble and returnerd it for a touchdown against the Houston Texans.


The 2016 United States Senate election in Nevada was held November 8, 2016 to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Nevada, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The state primary election was held June 14, 2016.


title: 2016 United States Senate election in Nevada

text: Incumbent Democratic Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Minority Leader and former Senate Majority Leader, initially said he would seek re-election to a sixth term, but announced on March 26, 2015, that he would retire instead.


text: Former Democratic State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican U.S. Representative Joe Heck in the general election on November 8, 2016. Heck won sixteen of the state's seventeen counties; however, since Cortez Masto won Clark County, which comprises nearly three-quarters of the state's population, she defeated Heck statewide by almost 27,000 votes, and became the first female and first Latina Senator in Nevada's history.


text: Cortez Masto won her bid to succeed Harry Reid 47.10-44.67, or by 2.43%, running 0.01% better than Hillary Clinton.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and the third busiest in the world after Switzerland and Japan.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight services, formerly operated by NS Cargo, merged with DB Schenker in 2000. NS runs 4,800 scheduled domestic trains a day, serving 1.1 million passengers. The NS also provides international rail services from the Netherlands to other European destinations and carries out concessions on some foreign rail markets through its subsidiary Abellio.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: World War I caused an economic downturn in the Netherlands that caused the two largest Dutch railway companies, Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) and Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS), to become unprofitable. The companies avoided bankruptcy by integrating their operations, which occurred by 1917. The cooperation was by economic and ideological reasons. The state provided support by buying shares in both companies. In 1938, the state bought the remaining shares and merged the companies to create NS; NS was not nationalised.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: During World War II, NS was forced by the Germans to construct railways to Westerbork transit camp and transport almost a hundred thousand Jews to extermination camps. The company's only wartime strike was during the Dutch famine of 1944–45; NS opted not to strike a year earlier.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: NS played a pivotal role in the post-war reconstruction of the Netherlands; only it could provide the required logistical services in a time when there was little alternative to rail transport. The company declined in the 1960s - like many other railways - and operated at a loss. There was increased competition from other modes of transport. In addition, national coal distribution from Limburg became less profitable; the discovery of a gas field near Slochteren led to coal losing market share to natural gas in power plants and homes. NS' response, the "Spoorslag '70" plan which increased service and introduced intercity service, failed to restore profitability. The company was deemed nationally important and received state subsidies.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: NS was reorganized following the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and the 1991 EU Directive 91/440; the latter required railway infrastructure and transport activities to be managed independently. Although the state called the process "corporatization" ("verzelfstandiging"), it really only meant the withdrawal of subsidies. The changes were carried out by Rob den Besten, who became chief executive officer of NS after the retirement of Leo Ploeger.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: NS' infrastructure division was split off into NS Railinfratrust. Plans to split the remainder of NS met with limited success due to trade union opposition; the new companies created were NS Reizigers , locomotive maintenance company NedTrain. Passenger transport was to be conducted on a commercial basis, but the state continued to subsidize non-viable routes. Internally, route managers assumed de facto control, The freight business, NS Cargo, merged with Deutsche Bahn; the resulting company operated as Railion in 2000 and then as DB Cargo. Performance deteriorated after the reforms, and the company suffered multiple unorganized strikes. The entire board of directors resigned in late-2001.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Another change in strategy followed. Karel Noordzij became CEO in 2002 and reversed many of the reforms to restore confidence in the company. The state no longer considered competitive passenger service to be viable, and began granting concessions with the goal of one concession per line. NS received a concession to run main line routes until 2025.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The timetable change on 10 December 2006 saw the most routes to approximate the symmetry time in clock-face schedules to the one used in most other European countries. Previously, this was different at the minute (46 seconds) and led to problems with cross-border trains. the company's CEO is former minister Wouter Koolmees, after Marjan Rintel left to become CEO of KLM.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: NS was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused massive drops in passenger numbers. The company received significant financial support from the national government in order to keep the company solvent. In 2022, the company made significant cuts in its timetable, running fewer and shorter trains, as a consequence of personnel shortages.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The NS covers most of the country, with almost all cities connected, mostly with a service frequency of two trains an hour or more and at least four trains per hour between all of the largest five cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven) as well as some smaller cities (Nijmegen, Amersfoort, Arnhem, 's-Hertogenbosch, Dordrecht and Leiden). From December 2008 train frequencies were increased on the following services: Arnhem–Nijmegen (8 trains per hour) and The Hague–Rotterdam (12 trains per hour), Amsterdam Centraal–Hoofddorp (16 trains per hour). A night train service was added between Utrecht, Gouda and Rotterdam. Trains usually run between 5:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. although there is also a nightline which connects major cities in the Randstad throughout the night, as well as in weekends also some major cities in North Brabant.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: In addition to its domestic services, NS is also a partner (along with Stena Line and its British railway company Abellio Greater Anglia) in the "Dutchflyer" service. NS has also entered into a partnership with KLM to operate services on the new HSL-Zuid under the name Intercity Direct towards Breda and Brussels. Intercity Direct is part of NS International; other services such as Thalys to France and Intercity-Express to Germany and Switzerland are also part of NS International.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The "hoofdrailnet" is the official core internal passenger rail network of the Netherlands. Currently, NS has a concession until 1 January 2015 to provide all passenger services on this network, except that on some stretches there is an overlap with lines for which other operators have a concession. Some of the most notable of these stretches are those from Elst railway station to Arnhem Centraal railway station, where NS shares tracks with Arriva, and further on to Arnhem Velperpoort. Here the tracks are shared by three operators, as Breng, ultimately part of Transdev, operates there in addition to the two previously mentioned operators. Officially the overlaps do not constitute competition on the same lines.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The concession was free of charge until 2009, and costs an increasing amount since then, up to €30 million for the year 2014. The concession distinguishes the main stations and other stations. Except on New Year's Eve, the main stations have to be served at least twice an hour per direction from 6 a.m. to midnight and the other stations at least once an hour. Exceptions are possible until the start of the next concession.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The next concession period is 2025–2035. For the 2015–2025 concession, requirements include: for every train service where on average more than one-third of the passengers travel longer than 30 minutes, a train with a toilet is used, every newly ordered train has a toilet and in 2025 every train has to have a toilet. Currently trains on the hoofdrailnet without a toilet include the NS SGMm numbers 2111 to 2125, the so-called classical "Sprinter" and the Sprinter Lighttrain (SLT, these trains are being converted periodically to have a toilet on board).


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The OV-chipkaart is the common form of fare payment. Single or return tickets, used by incidental travellers and tourists, are available at ticket machines and service counters at a surcharge of €1. They are a disposable use-once only. It is possible to buy e-tickets online on the Dutch Railways website. E-tickets can also be purchased on the Belgian NMBS/SNCB B-Europe website. For long-term use, season tickets are available.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Travelling with these cards and tickets, one has to register starting a journey ("check-in") and ending it ("check out") at the destination. One always has to travel away from the point of one's latest check-in. Thus, in the case of a voluntary detour, one has to check out and check in to register starting a new journey.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Travellers need to be aware of the various companies other than the Nederlandse Spoorwegen. One needs to check out with one company and check in with another on some stations. There is common tariff system with four smaller passenger train operating companies: Keolis Nederland and Connexxion in the centre and the east, Veolia on the 'Maaslijn' and 'Heuvellandlijn' in the southeast, Arriva in the north and most of the east of the country and on the 'Merwede-Lingelijn' (from Dordrecht to Geldermalsen).


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The OV-chipkaart is also used on buses and trams, where hourly tickets are for sale for those who have too little credit to travel but enough cash.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: NS defines off-peak hours as weekdays from 09:00-16:00 and 18:30-06:30, and on Saturdays and Sundays the whole day. Therefore, the full fare is required on weekdays 06:30-09:00 and 16:00-18:30. With an OV-chipkaart that allows for a discount or free travel, one is automatically granted the discount or free travel at the time of checking in. There are several season tickets available that suit individual preferences.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The NS corporate logo was designed in 1968 by Gert Dumbar and Gert-Jan Leuvelink, both of the graphic design company Tel Design. Introduced in that same year, it replaced an earlier design which had been used since 1946. The logo, pervasive within trains and railway stations in the Netherlands, plays a significant part in Nederlandse Spoorwegen's signage, promotions, advertising, and graphic design.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: The logo usually appears in blue or black on a dark yellow or white background. Since its introduction, NS livery has also had this same distinct dark yellow or white colour. The logo is a widened letter 'N' and a sideways (reversed) 'S'-shape. The two arrows in the logo represent the train's movement, and the two lines in the middle represent the track.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: In dealing with the general public, these distinctions are not made and the terms Nederlandse Spoorwegen and NS are used.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: NS has contracts with Connexxion and BBA, now Veolia Transport for the provision of bus services to replace train services in the case of planned and unplanned cancellations.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: On 23 July 2010 NS sold Strukton to the construction company Oranjewoud N.V.. This concluded a long history of planning, designing and executing track development done by the NS.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: There is a delay refund scheme entitling passengers to a partial or full refund of the ticket price if a journey is delayed by half an hour or more. The scheme does not apply on short-distance journeys (tickets less than €2.30) and cases in which the delay is the result of planned cancellations that were announced some days in advance. Refunds are, in general, half the ticket price of a one-way trip after a delay of over 30 minutes, and the full ticket price after a delay of one hour or more. That applies to nearly all kinds of tickets. The refund is not considered monetary compensation for lost time but rather as a reduction in charges where poor service has been provided. The system has been improved for holders of some rail passes. Part of the cost of the scheme is paid by ProRail, since they are responsible for part of the delays.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Tobacco smoking is prohibited both on trains and in stations. Smoking on trains has been prohibited since 2004, with smoking in stations permitted in designated smoking zones, until this too was disallowed in October 2020.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Since June 2003, the sale of coffee, soft drinks, beer, sandwiches, candy, etc., has ceased aboard domestic trains. The increasing number of Servex convenience stores at railway stations and the relatively short duration of most train journeys in the Netherlands have lowered the demand for on-train services. In 2005, a much reduced in-train service of drinks and small snacks has been reintroduced on longer journeys. Now, the RailTender service primarily operates in the intercity trains on the trajectory between Utrecht and Zwolle/Eindhoven, Zwolle and Almere, 's-Hertogenbosch and Nijmegen, Apeldoorn and Amersfoort, Rotterdam and Breda/Roosendaal/Antwerp.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Conductors have a smartphone with a timetable, fares information, and a separate card reader to read the OV-chipkaart.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: Train drivers use a tablet with an app called "TimTim" to save energy and keep up with the timetable. The train driver can also see other trains that are in front or behind his train.


title: Nederlandse Spoorwegen

text: <nowiki>In 2018, NS saw its number of passengers increase by nearly 3 percent. On average, 1.3 million people took the train on a weekday, 100.000 more than in 2016 and the over 250 NS train stations are becoming increasingly crowded.


title: Industrial waste

text: Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and gravel, masonry and concrete, scrap metal, oil, solvents, chemicals, scrap lumber, even vegetable matter from restaurants. Industrial waste may be solid, semi-solid or liquid in form. It may be hazardous waste (some types of which are toxic) or non-hazardous waste. Industrial waste may pollute the nearby soil or adjacent water bodies, and can contaminate groundwater, lakes, streams, rivers or coastal waters. Industrial waste is often mixed into municipal waste, making accurate assessments difficult. An estimate for the US goes as high as 7.6 billion tons of industrial waste produced annually, as of 2017. Most countries have enacted legislation to deal with the problem of industrial waste, but strictness and compliance regimes vary. Enforcement is always an issue.


title: Industrial waste

text: Hazardous waste, chemical waste, industrial solid waste and municipal solid waste are classifications of wastes used by governments in different countries. Sewage treatment plants can treat some industrial wastes, i.e. those consisting of conventional pollutants such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Industrial wastes containing toxic pollutants or high concentrations of other pollutants (such as ammonia) require specialized treatment systems. ("See" Industrial wastewater treatment).


title: Industrial waste

text: Many factories and most power plants are located near bodies of water to obtain large amounts of water for manufacturing processes or for equipment cooling. In the US, electric power plants are the largest water users. Other industries using large amounts of water are pulp and paper mills, chemical plants, iron and steel mills, petroleum refineries, food processing plants and aluminum smelters.


title: Industrial waste

text: Many less-developed countries that are becoming industrialized do not yet have the resources or technology to dispose their wastes with minimal impacts on the environment. Both untreated and partially treated wastewater are commonly fed back into a near lying body of water. Metals, chemicals and sewage released into bodies of water directly affect marine ecosystems and the health of those who depend on the waters as food or drinking water sources. Toxins from the wastewater can kill off marine life or cause varying degrees of illness to those who consume these marine animals, depending on the contaminant. Metals and chemicals released into bodies of water affect the marine ecosystems.


title: Industrial waste

text: Wastewater containing nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) often causes eutrophication which can kill off existing life in water bodies. A Thailand study focusing on water pollution origins found that the highest concentrations of water contamination in the U-tapao river had a direct correlation to industrial wastewater discharges.


title: Industrial waste

text: Thermal pollution—discharges of water at elevated temperature after being used for cooling—can also lead to polluted water. Elevated water temperatures decrease oxygen levels, which can kill fish and alter food chain composition, reduce species biodiversity, and foster invasion by new thermophilic species.


title: Industrial waste

text: Solid waste, often called municipal solid waste, typically refers to material that is not hazardous. This category includes trash, rubbish and refuse; and may include materials such as construction debris and yard waste. Hazardous waste typically has specific definitions, due to the more careful and complex handling required of such wastes. Under US law, waste may be classified as hazardous based on certain characteristics: ignitability, reactivity, corrosivity and toxicity. Some types of hazardous waste are specifically listed in regulations.


title: Industrial waste

text: One of the most devastating effects of industrial waste is water pollution. For many industrial processes, water is used which comes in contact with harmful chemicals. These chemicals may include organic compounds (such as solvents), metals, nutrients or radioactive material. If the wastewater is discharged without treatment, groundwater and surface water bodies—lakes, streams, rivers and coastal waters—can become polluted, with serious impacts on human health and the environment. Drinking water sources and irrigation water used for farming may be affected. The pollutants may degrade or destroy habitat for animals and plants. In coastal areas, fish and other aquatic life can be contaminated by untreated waste; beaches and other recreational areas can be damaged or closed.


title: Industrial waste

text: In Thailand the roles in municipal solid waste (MSW) management and industrial waste management are organized by the Royal Thai Government, which is organized as central (national) government, regional government, and local government. Each government is responsible for different tasks. The central government is responsible for stimulating regulation, policies, and standards. The regional governments are responsible for coordinating the central and local governments. The local governments are responsible for waste management in their governed area. However, the local governments do not dispose of the waste by themselves but instead hire private companies that have been granted the right from the Pollution Control Department (PCD) in Thailand. The main companies are Bangpoo Industrial Waste Management Center, General Environmental Conservation Public Company Limited (GENCO), SGS Thailand, Waste Management Siam LTD (WMS), and Better World Green Public Company Limited (BWG). These companies are responsible for the waste they have received from their customers before releasing it to the environment, burying it.


title: Industrial waste

text: The 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) provides for federal regulation of industrial, household, and manufacturing solid and hazardous wastes in the United States. RCRA aims to conserve natural resources and energy, protect human health, eliminate or reduce waste, and to clean up waste when needed. RCRA first began as an amendment to the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, and in 1984, Congress passed the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) which strengthened RCRA by:


title: Industrial waste

text: Furthermore, the EPA uses Superfund to find sites of contamination, identify the parties responsible, and in the occurrences where said parties are not known or able to, the program funds cleanups. Superfund also works on figuring out and applying final remedies for cleanups. The Superfund process is to: 1) collect necessary information (known as the Remedial Investigation (RI) phase); 2) assess alternatives to deal with any potential risks to the environmental and human health (known as the Feasibility Study (FS) stage); 3) determine the most suitable remedies that could lower the risks to more adequate levels. Some sites are so contaminated because of past waste disposals that it takes decades to clean them up, or bring the contamination down to acceptable levels, thus requiring long-term management over those sites. Hence, sometimes figuring out a final remedy is not possible, and so, the EPA has developed the Adaptive Management plan.


title: Industrial waste

text: The EPA has issued national regulations regarding the handling, treatment and disposal of wastes. EPA has authorized individual state environmental agencies to implement and enforce the RCRA regulations through approved waste management programs.


title: Industrial waste

text: State compliance is monitored by EPA inspections. In the case that waste management guideline standards are not met, action against the site will be taken. Compliance errors may be corrected by enforced cleanup directly by the site responsible for the waste or by a third party hired by that site. Prior to the enactment of the Clean Water Act (1972) and RCRA, open dumping or releasing wastewater into nearby bodies of water were common waste disposal methods. The negative effects on human health and environmental health led to the need for such regulations. The RCRA framework provides specified subsections defining nonhazardous and hazardous waste materials and how each should be properly managed and disposed of. Guidelines for the disposal of nonhazardous solid waste includes the banning of open dumping. Hazardous waste is monitored in a "cradle to grave" fashion; each step in the process of waste generation, transport and disposal is tracked. The EPA now manages 2.96 million tons of solid, hazardous and industrial waste. Since establishment, the RCRA program has undergone reforms as inefficiencies arise and as waste management processes evolve.


title: Industrial waste

text: The 1972 Clean Water Act is a broad legislative mandate to protect surface waters (rivers, lakes and coastal water bodies). A 1948 law had authorized research and development of voluntary water standards, and had provided limited financing for state and local government efforts. The 1972 law prohibited, for the first time, uncontrolled discharges of industrial waste, as well as municipal sewage, into waters of the United States. EPA was required to develop national standards for industrial facilities and standards for municipal sewage treatment plants. States were required to develop water quality standards for individual water bodies. Enforcement is mainly delegated to state agencies. Major amendments to the law were passed in 1977 and 1987.


title: Gay bar

text: A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term "gay" is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities.


title: Gay bar

text: Gay bars once served as the centre of gay culture and were one of the few places people with same-sex orientations and gender-variant identities could openly socialize. Other names used to describe these establishments include "boy bar", "girl bar", "gay club", "gay pub", "queer bar", "lesbian bar", "drag bar", and "dyke bar", depending on the niche communities that they served.


title: Gay bar

text: With the advent of the Internet and an increasing acceptance of LGBT people across the Western world, the relevance of gay bars in the LGBT community has somewhat diminished. In areas without a gay bar, certain establishments may hold a gay night instead.


title: Gay bar

text: Gathering places favoured by homosexuals have operated for centuries. Reports from as early as the 17th century record the existence of bars and clubs that catered to, or at least tolerated, openly gay clientele in several major European cities. The White Swan (created by James Cook and Yardley, full name unknown), on Vere Street, in London, England, was raided in 1810 during the so-called Vere Street Coterie. The raid led to the executions of John Hepburn and Thomas White for sodomy. The site was the scene of alleged gay marriages carried out by the Reverend John Church.


title: Gay bar

text: It is not clear which place is the first gay bar in the modern sense. In Cannes, France, such a bar had already opened in 1885, and there were many more in Berlin around 1900. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands gay bars were established throughout the first quarter of the 20th century.


title: Gay bar

text: The very first gay bar in Europe and probably in the world was the Zanzibar in Cannes on the French Riviera. The Zanzibar was opened in 1885 and existed for 125 years, before it was closed in December 2010. Among its visitors were many artists, like actor Jean Marais and comedians Thierry Le Luron and Coluche.


title: Gay bar

text: Paris became known as a centre for gay culture in the 19th century, making the city a queer capital during the early 20th century, when the Montmartre and Pigalle districts were meeting places of the LGBT community. Although Amsterdam, Berlin, and London had more meeting places and organizations than Paris, the latter was known for the "flamboyance" of LGBT quarters and "visibility" of LGBT celebrities.


title: Gay bar

text: Paris retained the LGBT capital image after the end of World War II, but the center of the meeting place shifted to Saint-Germain-des-Prés. In the 1950s and 1960s the police and authorities tolerated homosexuals as long as the conduct was private and out of view, but gay bar raids occurred and there were occasions when the owners of the bars were involved in facilitating the raids. Lesbians rarely visited gay bars and instead socialized in circles of friends. Lesbians who did go to bars often originated from the working class. Chez Moune, opened in 1936, and New Moon were 20th-century lesbian cabarets located in Place Pigalle, which converted to mixed music clubs in the 21st century.


title: Gay bar

text: In Berlin, there was gay and lesbian night life already around 1900, which throughout the 1920s became very open and vibrant, especially when compared to other capitals. Especially in the Schöneberg district around Nollendorfplatz there were many cafes, bars and clubs, which also attracted gay people who had to flee their own country in fear of prosecution, like for example Christopher Isherwood. The gay club Eldorado in the Motzstraße was internationally known for its transvestite shows. There was also a relatively high number of places for lesbians. Within a few weeks after the Nazis took over government in 1933, fourteen of the best known gay establishments were closed. After homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969, many gay bars opened in West Berlin, resulting in a lively gay scene.


title: Gay bar

text: In the 18th century, molly houses were clandestine clubs where gay men could meet, drink, dance and have sex with each other. One of the most famous was Mother Clap's Molly House.


title: Gay bar

text: The first gay bar in Britain in the modern sense was The Cave of the Golden Calf, established as a night club in London. It opened in an underground location at 9 Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, in 1912 and became a haunt for the wealthy, aristocratic and bohemian. Its creator Frida Strindberg née Uhl set it up as an avant-garde and artistic venture. The club provided a solid model for future nightclubs.


title: Gay bar

text: After homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK in 1967, gay bar culture became more visible and gradually Soho became the centre of the London LGBT community, which was "firmly established" by the early 1990s. Gay bars, cafes, restaurants and clubs are centred on Old Compton Street.


title: Gay bar

text: Other cities in the UK also have districts or streets with a concentration of gay bars, like for example Stanley Street Quarter in Liverpool, Canal Street in Manchester and the Birmingham Gay Village.


title: Gay bar

text: In Amsterdam, there were already a few gay bars in the first quarter of the 20th century. The best known was , in Nes, which was first mentioned in 1911 and existed until the late 1930s. The oldest that still exists is Café 't Mandje, which was opened in 1927 by lesbian Bet van Beeren. It closed in 1982, but was reopened in 2008.


title: Gay bar

text: After World War II, the Amsterdam city government acted rather pragmatic and tolerated the existence of gay bars. In the 1960s their number grew rapidly and they clustered in and around a number of streets, although this was limited to bars, clubs and shops and they never became residential areas for gays, like the gay villages in the US.


title: Gay bar

text: Since the late 1950s the main Amsterdam gay street was Kerkstraat, which was succeeded by Reguliersdwarsstraat in the early 1980s, when the first openly gay places opened here, like the famous cafe April in 1981, followed by dancing Havana in 1989. Other streets where there are still concentrations of gay bars are Zeedijk, Amstel and Warmoesstraat, the latter being the center of the Amsterdam leather scene, where the first leather bar already opened around 1955. The Queen's Head is a gay bar located at Zeedijk 20 in the centre of Amsterdam


title: Gay bar

text: The bar Centralhjørnet in Copenhagen opened in 1917 and became a gay bar in the 1950s. It now claims to be one of the oldest gay bars in Europe. The main Copenhagen gay district is the Latin Quarter.


title: Gay bar

text: Because of the high prevalence of homophobia in Russia, patrons of gay bars there often have had to be on the alert for bullying and attacks. In 2013, Moscow's largest gay bar, Central Station, had its walls sprayed with gunfire, had harmful gas released into a crowd of 500 patrons, and had its ceiling nearly brought down by a gang who wanted to crush the people inside. Nonetheless, gay nightlife is increasing in Moscow and St. Petersburg, offering drag shows and Russian music, with some bars also offering discreet gay-only taxi services.


title: Gay bar

text: Under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975, homosexuality was illegal. However, in 1962, Spain's first gay bar, Tony's, opened in Torremolinos and a clandestine gay bar scene also emerged in the 1960s and early 1970s in Barcelona.


title: Gay bar

text: There are many institutions in the United States that claim to be the oldest gay bar in that country. Since Prohibition ended in 1933, there are a number of notable gay bars that have opened:


title: Gay bar

text: Because of a raid on a Mexico City drag ball in 1901, when 41 men were arrested, the number 41 has come to symbolize male homosexuality in Mexican popular culture, figuring frequently in jokes and in casual teasing. The raid on the "Dance of the 41" was followed by a less-publicized raid of a lesbian bar on 4 December 1901 in Santa Maria. Despite the international depression of the 1930s and along with the social revolution overseen by Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–1940), the growth of Mexico City was accompanied by the opening of gay bars and gay bathhouses. During the Second World War, ten to fifteen gay bars operated in Mexico City, with dancing permitted in at least two, El África and El Triunfo. Relative freedom from official harassment continued until 1959 when Mayor Ernesto Uruchurtu closed every gay bar following a grisly triple-murder. But by the late 1960s several Mexican cities had gay bars and, later, U.S.-style dance clubs. These places, however, were sometimes clandestine but tolerated by local authorities, which often meant that they were allowed to exist so long as the owners paid bribes. A fairly visible presence was developed in large cities such as Guadalajara, Acapulco, Veracruz and Mexico City. Today, Mexico City is home to numerous gay bars, many of them located in the Zona Rosa, particularly on Amberes street, while a broad and varied gay nightlife also flourishes in Guadalajara, Acapulco, in Cancun attracting global tourists, Puerto Vallarta which attracts many Americans and Canadians, and Tijuana with its cross-border crowd. However, there are at least several gay bars in most major cities.


title: Gay bar

text: The first recorded use of the term "gay bar" is in the diaries of homosexual British comedian Kenneth Williams: "16 January 1947. Went round to the gay bar which wasn't in the least gay." At the time Williams was serving in the British Army in Singapore. In the 1970s, straight nightclubs began to open their doors to gay clients on designated nights of the week. In the 1980s, a lesbian bar named Crocodile Rock opened in Far East Plaza, which remains to this day the oldest lesbian bar in Singapore. Today, many gay bars are located on the Neil Road stretch, from Taboo and Tantric, to Backstage Bar, May Wong's Café, DYMK and Play. Mega-clubs like Zouk and Avalon are also a big draw for the gay crowd.


title: Gay bar

text: The oldest gay bar in Beijing is the Half-and-Half, which in 2004 had been open over ten years. The first lesbian bar in China (also in Beijing) was Maple Bar, opened in 2000 by pop singer Qiao Qiao. The On/Off was a popular bar for both gay men and lesbians. The increase in China's gay and lesbian bars in recent years is linked to China's opening up to global capitalism and its consequent economic and social restructuring.


title: Gay bar

text: The oldest continuously operating Japanese gay bar, New Sazae, opened in Tokyo in 1966. Most gay bars in Tokyo are located in the Shinjuku Ni-chōme district, which is home to about 300 bars. Each bar may only have room to seat about a dozen people; as a result, many bars are specialized according to interest.


title: Gay bar

text: In Seoul, most gay bars were originally congregated near the Itaewon area of Seoul, near the U.S. military base. But in recent years, more clubs have located in the Sinchon area, indicating that "safe spaces" for Korean LGBT people have extended beyond the foreign zones, which were traditionally more tolerant. One male bar patron said Korean bar culture was not as direct as in the United States, with customers indicating their interest in another customer by ordering him a drink through a waiter. The oldest lesbian bar in Seoul is Lesbos, which started in 1996.


title: Gay bar

text: Jordan's most famous and oldest gay-friendly establishment is a combination bar/cafe/restaurant and bookshop in Amman called Books@cafe, opened in 1997. When the bar was first opened, it was infiltrated by government undercover agents who were concerned about its effect on public morality and outed the owner as homosexual to his family and friends. Now, however, the owner claims to have no problem with the government and has since opened a second establishment.


title: Gay bar

text: The history of gay and lesbian bars in South Africa reflects the racial divisions that began in the Apartheid era and continue, to some extent, in the 21st century.


title: Gay bar

text: The first white gay bar opened in the Carlton Hotel in downtown Johannesburg in the late 1940s, catering exclusively to men of wealth. In the 1960s, other urban bars began to open that drew more middle and working class white men; lesbians were excluded. The language of Gayle had its roots in the Cape Coloured and Afrikaans-speaking underground gay bar culture. In 1968, when the government threatened to pass repressive anti-gay legislation, queer culture went even further underground, which meant clubs and bars were often the only places to meet. These bars were often the targets of police raids. The decade of the 1970s was when urban gay clubs took root. The most popular gay club of Johannesburg was The Dungeon, which attracted females as well as males, and lasted until the 1990s. The 1979 police assault on the New Mandy's Club, in which patrons fought back, has been referred to as South Africa's Stonewall.


title: Gay bar

text: In the 1980s, police raids on white gay clubs lessened as the apartheid government forces found itself dealing with more and more resistance from the black population. In the black townships, some of the shebeens, unlicensed bars established in people's homes and garages, catered to LGBTQ clients. During the struggle against apartheid, some of these shebeens were important meeting places for black gay and lesbian resistance fighters. Lee's, a shebeen in Soweto, for example, was used as a meeting place for black gay men who were part of the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA) but did not feel welcome in the GASA offices.


title: Gay bar

text: With the establishment of the post-apartheid 1996 constitution that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as race, South Africa's gay night life exploded, though many bars continued to be segregated by race, and fewer blacks than whites go to the urban bars. The 2005 inaugural gay shebeen tour was advertised as a gay pub crawl that would provide an opportunity for South Africans and foreigners to "experience true African gay Shebeen culture".


title: Gay bar

text: Gay bars have been heavily impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For example, San Francisco had over 100 gay bars when the epidemic hit in the early 1980s; by 2011 there were only about 30 remaining. Millions of gay men around the world died during the worst years of the epidemic (before effective treatment) which resulted in fewer gay men owning and patronizing gay bars.


title: Gay bar

text: Gay bars have always been a place of refuge and support for gay men impacted by the virus. Many fundraising, testing, support group, and free condom events are present at gay bars.


title: Gay bar

text: A few commentators have suggested that gay bars are facing decline in the contemporary age due to the pervasiveness of technology. Andrew Sullivan argued in his 2005 essay "The End of Gay Culture" that gay bars are declining because "the Internet dealt them a body blow. If you are merely looking for sex or a date, the Web is now the first stop for most gay men".


title: Gay bar

text: June Thomas explained the decline by noting that there is less need for gay-specific venues like bars because gay people are less likely to encounter discrimination or be made unwelcome in wider society. "Entrepreneur" magazine in 2007 included them on a list of ten types of business that would be extinct by 2017 along with record stores, used bookstores and newspapers.


title: Gay bar

text: Many commentators have argued there has been some recent decline in gay-specific venues mainly due to the modern effects of gentrification. But despite the decline, gay bars still exist in relatively strong numbers and thrive in most major cities where male homosexuality is not heavily condemned. They also asserted most gay men never stopped finding great value in gay-specific venues and being in the company of other gay men. Unlike gay bars, lesbian bars have become a rarity around the world. Many articles have been published discussing possible reasons as to why lesbian bars struggle to exist despite a growing lesbian population.


title: Gay bar

text: Like most bars and pubs, gay bars range in size from the small, five-seat bars of Tokyo to large, multi-story clubs with several distinct areas and more than one dance floor. A large venue may be referred to as a nightclub, club, or bar, while smaller venues are typically called bars and sometimes pubs. The only defining characteristic of a gay bar is the nature of its clientele. While many gay bars target the gay and/or lesbian communities, some (usually older and firmly established) gay bars have become gay, as it were, through custom, over a long period of time.


title: Gay bar

text: The serving of alcohol is the primary business of gay bars and pubs. Like non-gay establishments they serve as a meeting place and LGBT community focal point, in which conversation, relaxation, and meeting potential romantic and sexual partners is the primary focus of the clientele. Historically and continuing in many communities, gay bars have been valued by patrons as the only place closeted gay men and lesbians can be open and demonstrative about their sexuality without fear of discovery. Gerard Koskovich of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society explains that "[Gay bars] were a public place where gay people could meet and start to have a conversation, where they didn't feel like sexual freaks or somehow not part of the larger social fabric; from that came culture, politics, demands for equal rights."


title: Gay bar

text: Gay bars traditionally preferred to remain discreet and virtually unidentifiable outside the gay community, relying exclusively on word of mouth promotion. More recently, gay clubs and events are often advertised by handing out eye-catching flyers on the street, in gay or gay-friendly shops and venues, and at other clubs and events. Similar to flyers for predominantly heterosexual venues, these flyers frequently feature provocative images and theme party announcements.


title: Gay bar

text: While traditional gay pub-like bars are nearly identical to bars catering to the general public, gay dance venues often feature elaborate lighting design and video projection, fog machines and raised dancing platforms. Hired dancers (called go-go girls or go-go boys) may also feature in decorative cages or on podiums. Gay sports bars are relatively unusual, but it is not unusual for gay bars to sponsor teams in local sports/game leagues, and many otherwise traditional gay pubs are well known for hosting post-game parties—often filling with local gay athletes and their fans on specific nights or when major professional sporting events are broadcast on TV. Some of the longest established gay bars are unofficial hosts of elaborate local 'Royal Court' drag pageants and drag-related social groups.


title: Gay bar

text: Gay bars and nightclubs are sometimes segregated by sex. In some establishments, people who are perceived to be of the "wrong" sex (for example, a man attempting to enter a women's club) may be unwelcome or even barred from entry. This may be more common in specialty bars, such as gay male leather fetish or BDSM bars, or bars or clubs which have a strict dress code. It is also common in bars and clubs where sex on the premises is a primary focus of the establishment. On the other hand, gay bars are usually welcoming of transgender and cross-dressed people, and drag shows are a common feature in many gay bars, even men-only spaces. Some gay bars and clubs which have a predominantly male clientele, as well as some gay bathhouses and other sex clubs, may offer occasional women-only nights.


title: Gay bar

text: A few gay bars attempt to restrict entry to only gay or lesbian people, but in practice this is difficult to enforce. Most famously, Melbourne's Peel Hotel was granted an exemption from Australia's Equal Opportunities Act by a state tribunal, on the grounds that the exemption was needed to prevent "sexually-based insults and violence" aimed at the pub's patrons. As a result of the decision, the pub is legally able to advertise as a "gay only" establishment, and door staff can ask people whether they are gay before allowing them inside, and can turn away non-gay people.


title: Gay bar

text: Already categorized as gay or lesbian, many gay bars in larger cities/urban areas take this sub-categorization a step further by appealing to distinct subcultures within the gay community. Some of these sub-cultures are defined by costume and performance. These bars often forge a like-minded community in dozens of cities with leather gay bars, line-dancing gay bars, and drag revues. Other subcultures cater to men who fit a certain type, one that is often defined by age, body type, personality, and musical preference. There are some bars and clubs that cater more to a working class/blue collar crowd and some that cater to a more upscale clientele. There are gay bars that cater to "twinks" (young, smooth-bodied pretty boys) and others that cater to bears (older, larger, hairier alternatives to the well-manicured and fey gay stereotype). There are also gay bars that cater to certain races, such as ones for Asian men "and their admirers", Latin men, or black men.


title: Gay bar

text: Music, either live or, more commonly, mixed by a disc jockey (DJ), is often a prominent feature of gay bars. Typically, the music in gay bars include pop, dance, contemporary R&B, house, trance, and techno. In larger North American cities and in Australia, one or more gay bars with a country music theme and line dancing are also common, as are bars known for retro 1960s pop and "Motown Sound."


title: Gay bar

text: While some gay bars open their doors to all LGBTQ people, other bars cater specifically to lesbians. In recent years many popular lesbian bars have closed down. In 2015, JD Samson made a documentary exploring the very few remaining lesbian bars in the United States.


title: Son of Rambow

text: Son of Rambow is a 2007 comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings and inspired by "First Blood". The film premiered on 22 January 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Glasgow Film Festival. The film was also shown at the 51st BFI London Film Festival. "Son of Rambow" was released in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2008 and opened in limited release in the United States on 2 May 2008. Set over a summer during Thatcher's Britain, the film is a coming of age story about two schoolboys and their attempts to make an amateur film inspired by "First Blood".


title: Son of Rambow

text: Will Proudfoot is a quiet and shy 11-year-old boy who comes from a family that belongs to the strict Plymouth Brethren church. Will is forbidden from watching films or television and is made to leave his classroom when the teacher puts on a documentary. In the corridor, he meets Lee Carter, the 12-year-old worst-behaved boy in school, thrown out of another class for bad behaviour. They accidentally break a fish bowl in the corridor; Lee volunteers to take the blame, pretending that the punishment is torture, in exchange for Will's watch, which belonged to his dead father. Moreover, Lee demands that Will performs the stunts in a film Lee is making with home video equipment owned by his 16-year-old bullying older brother, Lawrence, which Lawrence uses in his video bootlegging enterprise. He intends to enter the "Screen Test" Young Film-Makers' Competition.


title: Son of Rambow

text: Will accepts, after accidentally seeing the film "First Blood" at Lee's house while hiding from Lawrence. He becomes very enthusiastic, and plays several dangerous action scenes, culminating in the two boys becoming 'blood brothers' after Lee saves Will from drowning. Lee finds Will's sketch book, full of colourful and glorious ideas, and starts to incorporate some of them into his film script. The two become best friends, but Will has to keep it secret from his family and the increasingly interfering Brother Joshua of the Brethren, who clearly has designs on his mother.