title: James Weldon Johnson

text: The achievement of his father, a preacher, and the headwaiter at the St. James Hotel, a luxury establishment built when Jacksonville was one of Florida's first winter resort destinations, inspired young James to pursue a professional career. Molded by the classical education for which Atlanta University was known, Johnson regarded his academic training as a trust. He knew he was expected to devote himself to helping black people advance. Johnson was a prominent member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Johnson and his brother Rosamond moved to New York City as young men, joining the Great Migration out of the South in the first half of the 20th century. They collaborated on songwriting and achieved some success on Broadway in the early 1900s. Over the next 40 years, Johnson served in several public capacities, working in education, the diplomatic corps, and civil rights activism. In 1904, he participated in Theodore Roosevelt's successful presidential campaign. After becoming president, Roosevelt appointed Johnson as United States consul at Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, where he served from 1906 to 1908, and then to Nicaragua, where he served from 1909 to 1913.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In 1910, Johnson married Grace Nail, whom he had met in New York City several years earlier while he was working as a songwriter. A cultured and well-educated New Yorker, Grace Nail Johnson later collaborated with her husband on a screenwriting project. After their return to New York from Nicaragua, Johnson became increasingly involved in the Harlem Renaissance, a great flourishing of art and writing. He wrote his own poetry and supported work by others, also compiling and publishing anthologies of spirituals and poetry. Owing to his influence and his innovative poetry, Johnson became a leading voice in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: He became involved in civil rights activism, especially the campaign to pass the federal Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, as Southern states did not prosecute perpetrators. He was a speaker at the 1919 National Conference on Lynching. Starting as a field secretary for the NAACP in 1917, Johnson rose to become one of the most successful officials in the organization. He traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, for example, to investigate a brutal lynching that was witnessed by thousands. His report on the carnival-like atmosphere surrounding the burning-to-death of Ell Persons was published nationally as a supplement to the July 1917 issue of the NAACP's "Crisis" magazine, and during his visit there he chartered the Memphis chapter of the NAACP. His 1920 report about "the economic corruption, forced labor, press censorship, racial segregation, and wanton violence introduced to Haiti by the U.S. occupation encouraged numerous African Americans to flood the State Department and the offices of Republican Party officials with letters" calling for an end to the abuses and to remove troops. The United States finally ended its occupation of Haiti in 1934, 16 years after the threat of Germany in the area had been ended by its defeat in the First World War.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Appointed in 1920 as the first executive secretary of the NAACP, Johnson helped increase membership and extended the movement's reach by organizing numerous new chapters in the South. During this period, the NAACP was mounting frequent legal challenges to the Southern states' disenfranchisement of African Americans, which had been established at the turn of the century by such legal devices as poll taxes, literacy tests, and white primaries.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: While attending Atlanta University, Johnson became known as an influential campus speaker. In 1892, he won the Quiz Club Contest in English Composition and Oratory. He founded and edited the "Daily American" newspaper in 1895. At a time when Southern legislatures were passing laws and constitutions that disenfranchised blacks and Jim Crow laws to impose racial segregation, the newspaper covered both political and racial topics. It was terminated a year later due to financial difficulty. These early endeavors were the start of Johnson's long period of activism.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In 1904, he accepted a position as the treasurer of the Colored Republican Club, started by Charles W. Anderson. A year later he was elected as president of the club. He organized political rallies. During 1914, Johnson became editor of the editorial page of the "New York Age", an influential African-American weekly newspaper based in New York City. In the early 20th century, it had supported Booker T. Washington's position for racial advancement by industrious work within the racial community, against the arguments of W. E. B. Du Bois for development of a "talented tenth" and political activism to challenge white supremacy. Johnson's writing for the "Age" displayed the political gift that soon made him famous.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In 1916, Johnson started working as a field secretary and organizer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which had been founded in 1910. In this role, he built and revived local chapters. Opposing race riots in Northern cities and the lynchings frequent in the South during and immediately after the end of World War I, Johnson engaged the NAACP in mass demonstrations. He organized a silent protest parade of more than 10,000 African Americans down New York City's Fifth Avenue on July 28, 1917, to protest the still frequent lynchings of blacks in the South.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Social tensions erupted after veterans returned from the First World War, and tried to find work. In 1919, Johnson coined the term "Red Summer" and organized peaceful protests against the white racial violence against blacks that broke out that year in numerous industrial cities of the North and Midwest. There was fierce competition for housing and jobs.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Johnson traveled to Haiti to investigate conditions on the island, which had been occupied by U.S. Marines since 1915, ostensibly because of political unrest. As a result of this trip, Johnson published a series of articles in "The Nation" in 1920 in which he described the American occupation as brutal. He offered suggestions for the economic and social development of Haiti. These articles were later collected and reprinted as a book under the title "Self-Determining Haiti."


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In 1920, Johnson was chosen as the first black executive secretary of the NAACP, effectively the operating officer position. He served in this role through 1930. He lobbied for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill of 1921, which was passed easily by the House, but repeatedly defeated by the white Southern bloc in the Senate.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Throughout the 1920s, Johnson supported and promoted the Harlem Renaissance, trying to help young black authors to get published. Shortly before his death in 1938, Johnson supported efforts by Ignatz Waghalter, a Polish-Jewish composer who had escaped the Nazis of Germany, to establish a classical orchestra of African-American musicians.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In the summer of 1891, following his freshman year at Atlanta University, Johnson went to a rural district in Georgia to teach the descendants of former slaves. "In all of my experience there has been no period so brief that has meant so much in my education for life as the three months I spent in the backwoods of Georgia," Johnson wrote. "I was thrown for the first time on my own resources and abilities." Johnson graduated from Atlanta University in 1894.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: After graduation, he returned to Jacksonville, where he taught at Stanton, a school for African-American students (the public schools were segregated) that was the largest of all the schools in the city. In 1906, at the young age of 35, he was promoted to principal. In the segregated system, Johnson was paid less than half of what white colleagues earned. He improved black education by adding the ninth and tenth grades to the school, to extend the years of schooling. He later resigned from this job to pursue other goals.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: While working as a teacher, Johnson also read the law to prepare for the bar. In 1897, he was the first African American admitted to the Florida Bar Exam since the Reconstruction era ended. He was also the first black in Duval County to seek admission to the state bar. In order to be accepted, Johnson had a two-hour oral examination before three attorneys and a judge. He later recalled that one of the examiners, not wanting to see a black man admitted, left the room. Johnson drew on his law background especially during his years as a civil rights activist and leading the NAACP.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In 1930, at the age of 59, Johnson returned to education after his many years leading the NAACP. He accepted the Spence Chair of Creative Literature at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The university created the position for him in recognition of his achievements as a poet, editor and critic during the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to discussing literature, he lectured on a wide range of issues related to the lives and civil rights of black Americans. He held this position until his death. In 1934, he also was appointed as the first African-American professor at New York University, where he taught several classes in literature and culture.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: As noted above, in 1901 Johnson had moved to New York City with his brother J. Rosamond Johnson to work in musical theater. They collaborated on such hits as "Tell Me, Dusky Maiden", "Nobody's Looking but the Owl and the Moon," and the spiritual "Dem Bones", for which Johnson wrote the lyrics and his brother the music. Johnson composed a poem which was later set to music to become "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" to honor renowned educator Booker T. Washington who was visiting Stanton School, when the poem was recited by 500 school children as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln's birthday. This song became widely popular and has become known as the "Negro National Anthem," a title that the NAACP adopted and promoted. The song included the following lines:


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Lift ev'ry voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring,Ring with the harmonies of liberty;Let our rejoicing rise, high as the list'ning skies,Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us,Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,Let us march on 'til victory is won.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" had influenced other artistic works, inspiring art such as Gwendolyn Ann Magee's quilted mosaics. "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" contrasted with W.E.B. Du Bois's exploration in "Souls of Black Folk" of the fears of post-emancipation generations of African Americans.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: After some successes, the brothers worked on Broadway and collaborated with producer and director Bob Cole. Johnson also collaborated on the opera "Tolosa" with his brother, who wrote the music; it satirized the U.S. annexation of the Pacific islands. Thanks to his success as a Broadway songwriter, Johnson moved in the upper echelons of African-American society in Manhattan and Brooklyn.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In 1906, Johnson was appointed by the Roosevelt Administration as consul of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. In 1909, he transferred to Corinto, Nicaragua. During his stay at Corinto, a rebellion erupted against President Adolfo Diaz. Johnson proved an effective diplomat in such times of strain.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: His positions also provided time and stimulation to pursue his literary career. He wrote substantial portions of his novel, "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man," and his poetry collection, "Fifty Years," during this period. His poetry was published in major journals such as "The Century Magazine" and in "The Independent."


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Johnson's first success as a writer was the poem "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (1899), which his brother Rosamond later set to music; the song became unofficially known as the "Negro National Anthem." During his time in the diplomatic service, Johnson completed what became his best-known book, "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man," which he published anonymously in 1912. He chose anonymity to avoid any controversy that might endanger his diplomatic career. It was not until 1927 that Johnson acknowledged writing the novel, stressing that it was not a work of autobiography but mostly fictional.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In this period, he also published his first poetry collection, "Fifty Years and Other Poems" (1917). It showed his increasing politicization and adoption of the black vernacular influences that characterize his later work.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Johnson returned to New York, where he was involved in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. He had a broad appreciation for black artists, musicians and writers, and worked to heighten awareness in the wider society of their creativity. In 1922, he published a landmark anthology "The Book of American Negro Poetry," with a "Preface" that celebrated the power of black expressive culture. He compiled and edited the anthology "The Book of American Negro Spirituals," which was published in 1925.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: He continued to publish his own poetry as well. Johnson's collection "" (1927) is considered most important. He demonstrated that black folk life could be the material of serious poetry. He also comments on the violence of racism in poems such as "Fragment," which portrays slavery as against both God's love and God's law.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Following the flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, Johnson reissued his anthology of poetry by black writers, "The Book of American Negro Poetry," in 1931, including many new poets. This established the African-American poetic tradition for a much wider audience and also inspired younger poets.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: In 1930, he published a sociological study, "Black Manhattan" (1930). His "Negro Americans, What Now?" (1934) was a book-length address advocating fuller civil rights for African Americans. By this time, tens of thousands of African Americans had left the South for Northern and Midwestern cities in the Great Migration, but the majority still lived in the South. There they were politically disenfranchised and subject to Jim Crow laws and white supremacy. Outside the South, many faced discrimination but had more political rights and chances for education and work.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: At least one of Mr. Johnson's works was credited as leading to a movie. "Go Down, Death!" was a Harlemwood Studios production, directed by Spencer Williams. In the film credits, it states, "Alfred N. Sack Reverently Presents..." (the film), with hymns playing in the background. The film opens:


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: The film featured an all African-American cast, including Myra D. Hemings, Samuel H. James, Eddie L. Houston, Spencer Williams and Amos Droughan, among others. It also included a dancing and band sequence, depicting a fun-looking, middle-class oriented club with drinks and gambling, as its opening backdrop.


title: James Weldon Johnson

text: Johnson died in 1938 while vacationing in Wiscasset, Maine, when the car his wife was driving was hit by a train. His funeral in Harlem was attended by more than 2,000 people. Johnson's ashes are interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: In the "Halo" science fiction universe, an Arbiter is a ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon Covenant Elites. In the 2004 video game "Halo 2", the rank is given to a disgraced commander named Thel 'Vadamee as a way to atone for his failures. Although the Arbiter is intended to die serving the Covenant leadership, the High Prophets, he survives his missions and the Prophets' subsequent betrayal of his kind. When he learns that the Prophets' plans would doom all sentient life in the galaxy, the Arbiter allies with the Covenant's enemies (humans) and stops the ringworld Halo from being activated. The Arbiter is a playable character in "Halo 2" and its 2007 sequel "Halo 3." The character also appears in "" and additional expanded universe material. A different Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee appears in the 2009 real-time strategy game "Halo Wars", which takes place 20 years before the events of the main trilogy.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: The appearance of the Arbiter in "Halo 2" and the change in perspective from the main human protagonist Master Chief to a former enemy was a plot twist "Halo" developer Bungie kept highly secret. The character's name was changed from "Dervish" after concerns that the name reinforced a perceived United States-versus-Islam allegory in the game's plot. Actor Keith David lends his voice to the character in "Halo 2", "3", and "5", while David Sobolov voices the Arbiter of "Halo Wars".


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: The Arbiter has appeared as action figures and other collectibles and marketing, in addition to appearances in the games. Bungie intended the sudden point of view switch to a member of the Covenant as a plot twist that no one would have seen coming, but the character in particular and the humanization of the Covenant in general was not evenly received by critics and fans. "Computer and Video Games" derided the Arbiter's missions as some of the worst parts of "Halo 2". Conversely, IGN lamented the loss of the Arbiter's story in "Halo 3" and missed the added dimension the character provided to the story.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: The concept of the Arbiter came from early story discussions for "Halo 2". Bungie designer Jaime Griesemer and story director Joseph Staten discussed playing from the perspective of an alien soldier to see the other side of the war between the human United Nations Space Command and alien Covenant. "What if you were the guy whose butt was on the line for protecting the most valuable religious object in the entire world, and you blew it?" said Staten. "That seems like a pretty interesting story, and one we should tell." "Halo" developer Bungie's former content manager Frank O'Connor said that the inclusion of the Arbiter as a playable character in "Halo 2" was supposed to be a "secret on the scale of a Shyamalan plot twist" and that Bungie kept the public uninformed until the game's release; O'Connor never included it in the weekly development updates posted at Bungie's website, and insisted story details about the Arbiter's past would remain mysterious. Staten said that the purpose of introducing the Arbiter was "to offer another, compelling point of view on a war where telling friend from foe wasn't always clear-cut. We knew we had a trilogy on our hands, so we were looking past the shock of playing as the enemy [to the events of "Halo 3"]". While there were those in Bungie who were against the Arbiter as a player character, Staten chalked its inclusion in the game to a combination of wearing down his opponents and the gameplay sandbox opportunities that came from having Covenant allies.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: The Arbiter changed very little during development, as the overall appearance of the alien Covenant Elites (Sangheili) had been designed and developed for the previous game, 2001's "". The only substantial difference between the Arbiter and other Elites was special ceremonial armor, which appeared in early concept sketches as part of the character's final design. During "Halo 2"s early developmental stages the character's name was "Dervish", a name from the Sufi sect of Islam. Bungie picked the name because of its evocation of an otherworldly holy warrior. Out of context, Microsoft Game Studios' "geocultural review" consultants found nothing wrong with the name. However, as Tom Edwards, a consultant who worked with Microsoft during the review noted, "within the game's context this Islamic-related name of 'Dervish' set up a potentially problematic allegory related to "Halo 2"s plot—the [United States]-like forces (Master Chief/Sarge) versus Islam (the religious Covenant, which already had a 'Prophet of Truth' which is one title for Muhammad)". In the geopolitical reality after the September 11 attacks, sensitivity to the name remained high, and the character's name was changed. The switch came so late that the game's voice lines had to be re-recorded, and some game manuals were printed with the wrong name.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: For "Halo 5", the Arbiter's armor was redesigned, explained in-universe as a tribute to previous Arbiters and as a symbol of transition for the Elites. 343 Industries designed the armor to look "medieval" and antiquated, and incorporated brass and leather accents instead of something more futuristic.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: The Arbiter in the main video games is voiced by American actor Keith David. David noted that he enjoys voicing complicated characters who have a past. To make an impact with voice acting, he said, is difficult—"it's either good acting or it's bad acting". David is not a frequent video game player, but stated in 2008 that he had become more known for his work as the Arbiter than for his other roles.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Presented in "Halo 2", the rank of "Arbiter" is bestowed upon a Covenant Elite by the Covenant leadership—the High Prophets—during a time of crisis; the position is typically given to shamed Elites as an opportunity to regain their honour prior to their deaths via suicide missions of importance to the Covenant. The Arbiter in the main "Halo" games is named Thel 'Vadamee. Previously a commander in the Covenant military, he is shamed for failing to stop the human soldier Master Chief from destroying the Forerunner ringworld Halo (as depicted during the events of ); the Covenant revere the Forerunners as gods and believe the rings are the key to the salvation central to their religion. Thel 'Vadamee is spared execution by the High Prophets and becomes the newest Arbiter. His first mission is to silence a renegade Elite who has been preaching that the Prophets have lied to the Covenant. The Arbiter is then sent to the newly discovered Delta Halo to retrieve the key necessary to activate the ring. Though he succeeds in his mission, the Arbiter is betrayed by the Brute Chieftan Tartarus; Tartarus reveals that the Prophets have ordered the replacement of the Elites with Brutes in the Covenant power structure. Though the Arbiter is believed dead, he and Master Chief are rescued by the parasitic Flood intelligence Gravemind. Gravemind reveals that the activation Halos are weapons of destruction, not salvation, and sends the Arbiter to stop Tartarus from activating the ring as the Covenant falls into civil war. In the process, the Arbiter and allied Elites forge an alliance with the humans Miranda Keyes and Avery Johnson. Together they kill Tartarus and stop the activation of Delta Halo, triggering a failsafe; the remaining Halo installations are put on standby from remote activation from a Forerunner installation known as the Ark. As a playable character, the Arbiter was identical to the Master Chief, save for the replacement of a flashlight with an active camouflage system.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: While Thel 'Vadamee remains a playable character in "Halo 3" during cooperative gameplay (the second player in a game lobby controls him), the game's story never switches to the point of view of the character as in "Halo 2". For much of "Halo 3", the Arbiter assists human forces in their fight against hostile Covenant forces alongside Master Chief. They follow Covenant forces through a portal to the Ark, where the Arbiter kills the final surviving High Prophet. During the escape, the ship Arbiter and Master Chief are on is split in two; the Arbiter crashes safely to Earth while Master Chief is presumed lost. Novels and other works detail the Arbiter's efforts in the subsequent civil war that breaks out among the Sangheili.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Thel 'Vadamee reappears in "", where his forces, the Swords of Sangheilios, remain locked in combat with a faction of Covenant on Sanghelios. When a group of human soldiers travel to Sanghelios and rescues the Arbiter from attack, the Arbiter assists them in an assault on the final Covenant stronghold of Sunaion. After the human artificial intelligence Cortana begins subjugating the galaxy, the Arbiter and the Master Chief are reunited.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Taking place 20 years before the events of "Halo: Combat Evolved", Ensemble Studio's "Halo Wars" (2009) features a different Arbiter from the character seen in the trilogy. Lead designer David Pottinger described Ensemble's Arbiter as a "mean guy. He's Darth Vader times ten." The characterization stemmed from a desire to make the Covenant more basically "evil" in order to provide a good-guy–bad-guy conflict. Parts of the Arbiter's backstory before the game's events are explained in a tie-in graphic novel, "Halo Wars: Genesis". The Elite, Ripa 'Moramee, was given the rank after he fought and lost a campaign against his own clan. The Arbiter acts as the primary enemy of the game, charged with the destruction of humanity by the Prophet of Regret. He is ultimately killed by human forces at the game's climax.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: An Arbiter is depicted in "Halo Legends", a collection of anime short films developed between 343 Industries and numerous Japanese animation studios; "The Duel" shows how the position of Arbiter was stripped of its prestige and influence.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: An Arbiter makes a non-canon appearance as a guest playable character in "Killer Instinct: Season Three", voiced by Ray Chase. He uses several weapons from the "Halo" series in combat, and fights in the Arena of Judgment, a stage set in the midst of a battle on Sanghelios. According to franchise development director Frank O'Connor, this character is an "amalgam" of historical characters.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Thel 'Vadamee also appears in several "Halo" novels, including "Halo: First Strike" and "The Cole Protocol", the latter of which his name is first mentioned, which details his career before and during the events of "Combat Evolved" and "Halo 2", prior to being named the Arbiter.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Following the release of "Halo 2", Joyride Studios released an Arbiter action figure. This particular model was reviewed by Armchair Empire's Aaron Simmer as a "great translation of the source material into plastic". Several models of the Arbiter are featured in the "Halo ActionClix" collectible game, produced as promotional material prior to the release of "Halo 3". McFarlane Toys was given the task of developing a "Halo 3" line of action figures, and a sculpt of the Arbiter was released in the second series of figures after the game's release in July 2008. A large-scale, non-articulated Arbiter figure was produced by McFarlane as part of the "Legendary Collection". Other Arbiter merchandise includes MegaConstrux toys and Funko Pops.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: The initial reception of the Arbiter as a playable character in "Halo 2" was mixed from fans and critics alike. O'Connor described the Arbiter as the most controversial character Bungie had ever created. Several publications enjoyed the added dimension to the Covenant by having the Arbiter as a playable character, and praised the added stealth gameplay and new story afforded by the character twist. Critics from "The Artifice" and "The Escapist" argued it was the Arbiter, not the Master Chief, who had a realized character arc in the game, and whose active participation made the ending of the game richer.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Alternatively, publications like GameSpot thought that while the Arbiter and Covenant side added "newfound complexity to the story", it distracted the player from Earth's fate. Reviewer Jarno Kokko said that while he did not personally dislike playing as the character, the idea of "people disliking the concept of playing on the other side in a game that is supposed to be the 'Master Chief blows up some alien scum' show" was a plausible complaint. Among some fans, the character was reviled. A panel of "Halo 2" reviewers argued that though the decision to humanize the Covenant by the introduction of the Arbiter was welcome, the execution in-game was lacking; critics highlighted the perceived poor quality of the Arbiter's missions compared to those played as the Master Chief. Looking back at the game's release ten years later, "Den of Geek" described players as having a "love–hate relationship" with the character, and that the furor over the twist was only overshadowed because of the controversy of the game's cliffhanger ending.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: The reception of the Arbiter's elimination as a main playable character in "Halo 3" was similarly mixed. Hilary Goldstein of IGN decided the change took away the "intriguing side-story of the Arbiter and his Elites", in the process reducing the character's role to that of "a dude with a weird mandible and a cool sword". Likewise, Steve West of Cinemablend stated that the one important event in the game for the Arbiter would be lost on anyone for whom "Halo 3" was their first game in the series. Goldstein took issue with the poor artificial intelligence of allies in the game and singled out the Arbiter in particular, describing the character as useless. "The New York Times" Charles Herold found that in comparison to "Halo 2", where the character played a central role, the Arbiter in "Halo 3" was "extraneous". On the opposite end of the spectrum were reviewers like G4tv, who argued that the Arbiter was more likeable, not to mention more useful, as an AI sidekick instead of the main player. MSNBC rated the Arbiter one of game's top alien characters, and "Comic Book Resources" described the Arbiter's reception as a transition from divisive character to fan favorite.


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: "Halo Wars"s cinematics and voice acting were widely lauded, although one reviewer wrote that the characters were stereotypical and unlikeable. Dakota Grabowski of PlanetXbox360 considered the Arbiter the most confusing character in the game's story. Conversely, GamePro listed the Arbiter as one of the best things about the game, saying that while it was a different character than the Arbiter seen in "Halo 2" and "Halo 3", he was "like an alien Jack Bauer amped up on drugs".


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Despite the resistance to the character, Bungie staff defended the character's introduction. "I'd much rather experiment and do something surprising, and not have everybody appreciate it, than just turn the crank and do another alien war movie with a space marine," said "Halo 2" design lead Jaime Griesemer. Community lead Brian Jarrard attributed some of the fan backlash to a discord between the game's marketing and the actual gameplay. "I think, even more so than playing as the Arbiter, the thing that people were disappointed with and angry about is that they were promised this experience, through the marketing, of being really backs against the wall, Earth's under siege, we're going to do all we can to save our home planet... In reality, the game only had two missions that actually did that." Referring to "Halo 2"s cliffhanger ending, Griesemer said, "I think if we'd been able to finish that last couple of missions and get you properly back on Earth, a lot of the reaction would have been placated."


title: Arbiter (Halo)

text: Retrospective reviews on The Arbiter since Halo 2's release have been more positive. In 2021, a "Polygon" article stated "the Arbiter gives Master Chief a run for his money as "badass video game protagonist", and he does it in only six missions." A piece in The Escapist stated "Thel 'Vadam is the only character in the Halo games with a proper character arc" and "All told then, more than 15 years after his introduction, the Arbiter continues to hold an uneasy but influential place in the Halo franchise. When he was introduced, he expanded the series's scope with grand narrative ambition but some frustrating gameplay choices. When he was mothballed, that ambition seemed to leave with him."


title: Udanpirappe

text: Udanpirappe () is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Era. Saravanan. Produced by Suriya and Jyothika via 2D Entertainment, it stars Jyothika, M. Sasikumar and Samuthirakani, in lead roles. The film features music composed by D. Imman, whilst cinematography and editing were handled respectively by R. Velraj and Ruben. It was released for streaming through the digital platform Amazon Prime Video on 14 October 2021. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was also Jyothika's 50th film.


title: Udanpirappe

text: The opening scene starts with two kids jumping into a well. One of the villagers come to Vairavan’s house and seeks help as his tractor and says police were disrespectful to him. Vairavan's wife assures him that Vairavan will help. Then we can see hitmen were hired to kill Vairavan. He beats them up for killing a dog without knowing they came to kill him. It is established that Vairavan is a village don and respected wealthy man who does good for everyone in the village. Mathangi and her husband Sargunam, who is a school teacher, are introduced as a loving couple. Sargunam does not speak to Vairavan due to differences in their philosophies. Sargunam believes that everyone must go to court and not practice violence like Vairavan.


title: Udanpirappe

text: Vairavan’s son Vivek is studying in the US, and when he comes back to visit the village, he meets Sargunam and reprimands him, saying that he does not need his family. In the flashback it is revealed that the two kids which earlier fell in the well were Sargunam’s son and Vivek. Mathangi sees them and jumps to save them. She is not able to save both, and hence, she leaves her own son to save Vivek. Sargunam blames Vairavan for his son’s death as he believes it is his influence that made him fall into the well. Mathangi loves Vairavan and hence vows to make them together and not speak to Vairavan until her husband speaks to him.


title: Udanpirappe

text: Meanwhile, they propose to surge an alliance between the two families through marriage of Vivek to Sargunam’s daughter Keerthana. When the marriage was about to take place, Keerthana is stabbed, and Sargunam blames Vairavan’s violence for it again as neither he or Keerthana has enemies.


title: Udanpirappe

text: Vairavan deduces that the person who stabbed his niece is Adhiban, who acts like a good man to the villagers but in reality has bad intentions and is a serial sexual assaulter. Vairavan is being searched by police for beating up people. Sargunam provides information to the police on Vairavan’s whereabouts near to Adhiban’s house. Mathangi visits Adhiban’s house and kills him as he tries to molest her. She learns that he also sexually assaulted Keerthana before stabbing her. The reason for stabbing her was Sargunam’s case on his borewell. Vairavan disposes his body off.


title: Udanpirappe

text: Post-completion of "Ponmagal Vandhal", Jyothika was reported to act in another production of Suriya's 2D Entertainment. The film, directed by Era. Saravanan of "Kaththukutti" (2015) fame, began production on 28 November 2019 with M. Sasikumar and Samuthirakani joining the shoot. Jyothika and Sasikumar reportedly played the role of siblings in the film, while Samuthirakani plays Jyothika's husband. Nivedhithaa Sathish essayed the role of Jyothika's daughter in the film. Speaking to "The Times of India", Saravanan said it is "a village-based script that throws light on why it’s important to nurture relationships". Composer D. Imman, cinematographer R. Velraj and editor Ruben, also joined the technical crew.


title: Udanpirappe

text: Following the launch ceremony in Chennai, the film began production on 29 November, with shooting took place on Thanjavur and Pudukkottai. The shooting of the film wrapped before March 2020, prior to the COVID-19 lockdown in India, but post-production came to halt and was resumed lately after lockdown relaxations.


title: Udanpirappe

text: D. Imman composed the film's soundtrack. This film marks his first collaboration with Era. Saravanan and Jyothika and third collaboration with Sasikumar after "Vetrivel" and "Kennedy Club". The first single "Anney Yaaranney" was released on 7 October 2021 by Sony Music South and sung by Shreya Ghoshal. Another single "Othapana Kaatteri" was released on 11 October 2021 and sung by Sid Sriram.The lyrics were written by Yugabharathi and Snehan.


title: Udanpirappe

text: "Udanpirappe" was released directly on Amazon Prime Video on 14 October 2021 as a part of 2D Entertainment's four-film deal with the streaming service.


title: Udanpirappe

text: Ranjani Krishankumar of "Film Companion" wrote, "Grandstanding dialogues, relationships without connections and a convoluted climax sequence make this film barely passable."


title: Heat lightning

text: Heat lightning, also known as silent lightning, summer lightning, or dry lightning (not to be confused with dry thunderstorms, which are also often called dry lightning), is a misnomer used for the faint flashes of lightning on the horizon or other clouds from distant thunderstorms that do not appear to have accompanying sounds of thunder.


title: Heat lightning

text: The actual phenomenon that is sometimes called heat lightning is simply cloud-to-ground lightning that occurs very far away, with thunder that dissipates before it reaches the observer. At night, it is possible to see the flashes of lightning from very far distances, up to , but the sound does not carry that far. In the United States, lightning is especially common in Florida, which is considered the deadliest state for lightning strikes in the country. This is due to high moisture content in the lower atmosphere and high surface temperature, which produces strong sea breezes along the Florida coast. As a result, heat lightning is often seen over the water at night, the remnants of storms that formed during the day along a sea breeze front coming in from the opposite coast.


title: Heat lightning

text: Heat lightning is not to be confused with electrically induced luminosity actually generated at mesospheric altitudes above thunderstorm systems (and likewise visible at exceedingly great ranges), a phenomenon known as "sprites".


title: Heat lightning

text: The movement of sound in the atmosphere depends on the properties of the air, such as temperature and density. Because temperature and density change with height, the sound of thunder is refracted through the troposphere. This refraction results in spaces through which the thunder does not propagate. The sound of thunder often reflects off the Earth's surface. The rumbling sound is partly due to these reflections. This reflection and refraction can leave voids where thunder cannot be heard.


title: Heat lightning

text: Earth's curvature also contributes to distant observers not hearing the thunderclap. Thunder is more likely to reflect off the Earth's surface before it reaches an observer far from the strike, and only the right refraction and reflection of the sound off of the atmosphere will give it the range it needs to be heard far away. The reflection and refraction in the troposphere determines who hears the strike and who doesn't. Usually, the troposphere will reflect the light, and leave out the sound - in these cases some fraction of the light emanating from distant thunderstorms (whose distant clouds may be so low to the horizon as to be essentially invisible) is scattered by the upper atmosphere and thus visible to remote observers.


title: Heat lightning

text: Under optimum conditions, the most intense thunderstorms can be seen at up to over flat terrain or water when the clouds are illuminated by large lightning discharges. However, an upper limit of is more common due to topography, trees on the horizon, low to mid-level clouds, and the fact that local visibilities are generally no more than . The height of the anvil (the large, plume-like top of a thunderhead) also contributes— is very common in the mid latitudes for warm-season thunderstorms, but the anvil height can range from to a current record of .


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The Valley of Mexico () is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec. The ancient Aztec term ('Land Between the Waters') and the phrase Basin of Mexico are both used at times to refer to the Valley of Mexico. The Basin of Mexico became a well known site that epitomized the scene of early Classic Mesoamerican cultural development as well.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The Valley of Mexico is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The valley contains most of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, as well as parts of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, and Puebla. The Basin of Mexico covers approximately in the NNE-SSW direction with length to width dimensions of approximately to The Valley of Mexico can be subdivided into four basins, but the largest and most-studied is the area that contains Mexico City. This section of the valley in particular is colloquially referred to as the "Valley of Mexico".


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The valley has a minimum elevation of above sea level and is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that reach elevations of over . It is an enclosed valley with no natural outlet for water to flow to the sea although there is a gap to the north where there is a high mesa but no high mountain peaks. Within this vulnerable watershed all the native fishes were extinct by the end of the 20th century. Hydrologically, the valley has three features. The first feature is the lakebeds of five now-extinct lakes, which are located in the southernmost and largest of the four sub-basins. The other two features are piedmont, and the mountainsides that collect the precipitation that eventually flows to the lake area. These last two are found in all four of the sub-basins of the valley. Today, the Valley drains through a series of artificial canals to the Tula River, and eventually the Pánuco River and the Gulf of Mexico. Seismic activity is frequent here, and the valley is an earthquake-prone zone.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The valley has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, attracting humans with its mild climate (average temperatures between 12 and 15 °C, or 54 and 59 °F), abundant game and ability to support large-scale agriculture. Civilizations that have arisen in this area include the Teotihuacan (800 BC to 800 AD) the Toltec Empire (10th to 13th century) and the Aztec Empire (1325 to 1521). When the Spaniards arrived in the Valley of Mexico, it had one of the highest population concentrations in the world with about one million people. After the Conquest, the Spaniards rebuilt the largest and most dominant city here, Tenochtitlan, renaming it Mexico City. The valley used to contain five lakes called Lake Zumpango, Lake Xaltocan, Lake Xochimilco, Lake Chalco and the largest, Texcoco, covering about of the valley floor, but as the Spaniards expanded Mexico City, they began to drain the lakes' waters to control flooding. Although violence and disease significantly lowered the population of the valley after the Conquest, by 1900 it was again over one million people. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen an explosion of population in the valley along with the growth of industry. Since 1900, the population has doubled every fifteen years. Today, around 21 million people live in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area which extends throughout almost all of the valley into the states of Mexico and Hidalgo.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The growth of a major urban industrial centre in an enclosed basin has created significant air and water quality issues for the valley. Wind patterns and thermal inversions trap contaminants in the valley. Over-extraction of ground water has caused new flooding problems for the city as it sinks below the historic lake floor. This causes stress on the valley's drainage system, requiring new tunnels and canals to be built.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The Valley of Mexico attracted prehistoric humans because the region was rich in biodiversity and had the capacity of growing substantial crops. Generally speaking, humans in Mesoamerica, including central Mexico, began to leave a hunter-gatherer existence in favor of agriculture sometime between the end of the Pleistocene epoch and the beginning of the Holocene. The oldest known human settlement in the Valley of Mexico is located in Tlapacoya, located on what was the edge of Lake Chalco in the southeast corner of the valley in contemporary Mexico State. There is reliable archeological evidence to suggest that the site dates as far back as 12,000 BC. After 10,000 BC, the number of artifacts found increases significantly. There are also other early sites such as those in Tepexpan, Los Reyes Acozac, San Bartolo Atepehuacan, Chimalhuacán and Los Reyes La Paz but they remain undated. Human remains and artifacts such as obsidian blades have been found at the Tlapacoya site that has been dated as far back as 20,000 BC, when the valley was semi-arid and contained species like camels, bison and horses that could be hunted by man. However, the precise dating of these artifacts has been disputed.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Giant Columbian mammoths once populated the area, and the valley contains the most extensive mammoth kill sites in Mexico. Most of the sites are located on what were the shores of Lake Texcoco in the north of the Federal District and the adjacent municipalities of Mexico State such as in Santa Isabel Ixtapan, Los Reyes Acozac, Tepexpan and Tlanepantla. Mammoth bones are still occasionally found in farmland here. They have been discovered in many parts of the Federal District itself, particularly during the construction of the city's Metro lines and in the neighborhoods of Del Valle in the center, Lindavista to the center-north and Coyoacán in the south of the city. The symbol for Line 4's Talisman station of the Mexico City Metro is a mammoth, due to the fact that so many bones were uncovered during its construction. However, the richest site for mammoth remains in the valley is at the Paleontological Museum in Tocuila, a site located near the town of Texcoco in Mexico State. Although there is some evidence around the old lakeshores that the first populations here survived by hunting, gathering, and possibly by scavenging, evidence from this time period is scarce.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Tlatilco was a large pre-Columbian village and culture in the Valley of Mexico situated near the modern-day town of the same name in the Mexican Federal District. It was one of the first significant population centers to arise in the valley, flourishing on the western shore of Lake Texcoco during the Middle Pre-Classic period, between 1200 BC and 200 BC. It was originally classified as a necropolis when it was first excavated, but it was determined that the many burials there were under houses of which nothing remains. It was then classified as a major chiefdom center. The Tlatilcans were an agricultural people growing beans, amaranth, squash and chili peppers, reaching their peak from 1000 to 700 BC.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The next-oldest confirmed civilization is in the far south of the valley and is called Cuicuilco. This archaeological site is located where Avenida Insurgentes Sur crosses the Anillo Periférico in the Tlalpan borough of the city. The old settlement once extended far beyond the boundaries of the current site, but it is buried under lava from one of the volcanic eruptions that led to its demise, and much of the modern city is built over this lava. The settlement was located where an old river delta used to form in the valley with waters from Mount Zacatépetl located in what is now the Tlalpan Forest. Cuicuilco was believed to have reached city status by 1200 BC and began to decline around 100 BC - AD 150. However, even though the ceremonial pyramid was abandoned, the site remained a location to leave offerings up to AD 400, although lava from the nearby Xitle volcano completely covered it.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Around 2,000 years ago, the Valley of Mexico became one of the world's most densely populated areas and has remained so since. After the decline of Cuicuilco, the population concentration shifted north, to the city of Teotihuacan and later to Tula, both outside the lake's region of the valley. Teotihuacan became an organized village around 800 BC but it was around 200 BC that it began to reach its height. When it did, the city had approximately 125,000 inhabitants and covered of territory. It was dedicated primarily to the obsidian trade and at its peak was an important religious center and pilgrimage for the valley. In the early 8th century, with the rise of the Toltec empire, Teotihuacan ceased to be a major urban centre and the population shifted to Tollan or Tula on the northern front of the Valley of Mexico.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: After the end of the Toltec empire in the 13th century and the decline of the city of Tula, the population shifted once again, this time to the lakes region of the valley. With this migration came the concept of a city-state based on the Toltec model. By the end of the 13th century, some fifty small urban units, semi-autonomous and with their own religious centers, had sprung up around the lakeshores of the valley. These remained intact with a population of about 10,000 each under Aztec rule and survived into the colonial period. All of these city-states, including the largest and most powerful, Tenochtitlan, with more than 150,000 inhabitants, claimed descent from the Toltecs. None of these cities was completely autonomous or self-sufficient, resulting in a conflictive political situation, and a complex system of agriculture in the valley. These city-states had similar governmental structures based on the need to control flooding and store water for irrigating crops. Many of the institutions created by these hydraulic societies, such as the building and maintenance of chinampas, aqueducts and dikes, were later co-opted by the Spanish during the colonial period.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The largest and most dominant city at the time of the Spanish conquest was Tenochtitlan. It was founded by the Mexica (Aztecs) on a small island in the western part of Lake Texcoco in 1325, and was extended with the use of chinampas, human-made extensions of agricultural land into the southern lake system, to increase productive agricultural land, covering about . The inhabitants controlled the lake with a sophisticated system of dikes, canals and sluices. Much of the surrounding land in the valley was terraced and farmed as well, with a network of aqueducts channeling fresh water from springs in the mountainsides into the city itself. Despite being the dominant power, the need to rely on resources from other parts of the valley led to the Aztec Triple Alliance between Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan at the beginning of the empire. However, by the time the Spanish arrived in 1519, Tenochtitlan had become the dominant power of the three, causing grievances that the Spaniards were able to exploit. However, despite Tenochtitlan's power outside the valley, it never completely controlled all of the valley itself, with the altepetl of Tlaxcala the most prominent example.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in 1521, the Spanish rebuilt and renamed Tenochtitlan as Mexico City. They started with essentially the same size and layout as the Aztec city but as the centuries progressed, the city grew as the lakes shrank. Just after the conquest, disease and violence had decreased the population in the valley, especially of the native peoples, but after that, the population grew all through the colonial period and in the century after independence.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: By the early 20th century, the population of Mexico City alone had risen to over one million people. A population explosion began early in the 20th century, with the population of the city itself doubling approximately every 15 years since 1900, partly attributed to the fact that the federal government has favored development of the metropolitan area over other areas of the country. This has spurred investment in infrastructure for the city, such as electricity, other power sources, water supply and drainage. These have attracted businesses which in turn have attracted more population. Since the 1950s, urbanization has spread out from beyond the bounds of the Federal District to the surrounding jurisdictions, especially to the north into the State of Mexico making for the Mexico City Metropolitan area, which fills most of the valley. Today, this metropolitan area accounts for 45 per cent of the country's industrial activity, 38 percent of GNP, and 25 percent of the population. Much of its industry is concentrated in the northern part of the Federal District and the adjoining cities in the state of Mexico. While population growth has slowed and even declined in the city proper, the outer limits of the metropolitan area keep growing. Much of this growth has occurred on the mountainsides of the valley, in the form of illegal settlements in ecologically sensitive areas. Overall urban settlement in the valley has expanded from about in 1940 to in 1990. The metropolitan area has about 21 million residents and about 6 million cars.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Mexico City is vulnerable to severe air pollution problems due to its altitude, its being surrounded by mountains and the winds patterns of the area. The altitude, with its low oxygen levels, makes for poor combustion of fossil fuels leading to unsafe levels of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. The valley is surrounded by mountain ranges with one small opening to the north. The surrounding mountains and climate patterns here make it difficult to clear out the smog produced. The valley has internal wind patterns which circulate around the valley without a prevailing wind to push contaminants in a single direction. The most significant climatic phenomena here is "thermal inversion," which is prevalent in the winter months when the cooler air of the valley is trapped by relatively warmer air above. Adding to this is that prevailing winds outside the valley move from north to south, in through the Valley's one opening, where incidentally most of the region's industry is located. These factors diminish in the summer and the situation is helped by the arrival of the rainy season, but the valley's southern latitude and the abundance of sunlight allows for dangerous levels of ozone and other dangerous compounds.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: While still considered one of the most polluted places on the planet, the valley's air pollution problems are not as bad as they were several decades ago. One major problem that was brought under control was the lead contamination in the air with the introduction of unleaded gasoline. Two other contaminants that have been brought under control are carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. The contamination problems that remain are primarily with ozone and fine particles (soot) (between 2.5 micrometers and 10 micrometers). Thirty to fifty percent of the time, Mexico City's levels of fine particles of ten micrometers, the most dangerous, exceed levels recommended by the World Health Organization.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: In the 1940s, before large-scale burning of fossil fuels in the area, the visibility of the valley was about , allowing for daily viewing of the mountain ranges that surround the valley, including the snow-capped volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Since that time, the average visibility has come down to about . Mountain peaks are now rarely visible from the city itself. While reduced visibility in the valley was due to sulfur emissions in the past, it is now due to fine particles in the air.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The effects on humans living in an enclosed, contaminated environment have been documented, especially by Nobel Prize winner Dr Mario J. Molina. He claims fine particle pollution is the greatest concern because of lung damage. According to him, the city's residents lose about 2.5 million working days every year due to health problems associated with fine particles.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The Valley of Mexico is a closed or endorheic basin which geologically divides into three hydrologic zones, the low plain, which is essentially the bed of now-extinct lakes, the piedmont area and the surrounding mountains. The old lakebeds correspond to the lowest elevations of the valley in the south are mostly clay with a high water content and are almost entirely covered by urban development. In the piedmont area, these clays become mixed with silts and sands, and in some areas close to the mountains, the piedmont is largely composed of basalt from old lava flows. The valley is enclosed completely by mountain ranges, from which flow rain and melting snow into the valley's hydraulic system. This groundwater flow produces a number of springs in the foothills and upwellings in the valley floor. This underground flow is the source of the five aquifers that provide much of the drinking water to Mexico City located in Soltepec, Apan, Texcoco, Chalco-Amecameca and underneath Mexico City itself.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Before the 20th century, the Mexico City portion of the valley contained a series of lakes, with saline lakes to the north near the town of Texcoco and freshwater ones to the south. The five lakes, Zumpango, Xaltoca, Xochimilco, Chalco, and the largest, Texcoco used to cover about of the basin floor. Small mountains such as the Sierra de Guadalupe and Mount Chiconaultla partially separated the lakes from each other. All the other lakes flowed toward the lower Lake Texcoco, which was saline due to evaporation. The lakes were fed by a number of rivers such as the San Joaquin, San Antonio Abad, Tacubaya, Becerra, Mixcoac and Magdalena Contreras, carrying runoff and snowmelt from the mountains.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Long before the arrival of the Spanish, the lake system had been shrinking due to climate change. Warmer temperatures had increased evaporation and reduced rainfall in the area so that the lakes’ waters were shallow at about deep as early as the Tlapacoya culture, around 10,000 BC. During the Aztec Empire, the northern lakes were inaccessible by canoe during the dry season from October to May.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: For 2000 years, humans have been interfering with and altering the hydraulic conditions of the valley, especially in the lakes region. The Aztecs built dikes for flood control and to separate the saline water of the northern lakes from the fresh water of the southern ones. After the destruction of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the Spaniards rebuilt the Aztec dikes but found they did not offer enough flood protection.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The arrival of the Spanish and subsequent efforts to drain the area for flood control was a major infrastructure project, called the , was pursued the entire colonial period.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: The idea of opening drainage canals first came about after a flood of the colonial city in 1555. The first canal was begun in 1605 to drain the waters of Lake Zumpango north through Huehuetoca which would also divert waters from the Cuautitlán River away from the lakes and toward the Tula River. This project was undertaken by Enrico Martínez and he devoted 25 years of his life to it. He did succeed in building a canal in this area, calling it Nochistongo, leading waters to the Tula Valley, but the drainage was not sufficient to avoid the Great Flood of 1629 in the city. Another canal, which would be dubbed the "Grand Canal" was built parallel to the Nochistongo one ending in Tequixquiac. The Grand Canal consists of one main canal, which measures in diameter and long. The drainage project was continued after independence, with three secondary canals, built between 1856 and 1867. During the presidency of Porfirio Díaz (r. 1876–1911) drainage again became a priority. Díaz completed it officially in 1894, although work continued thereafter. Despite the Grand Canal's drainage capacity, it did not solve the problem of flooding in the city.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: From the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico City began to sink rapidly and pumps needed to be installed in the Grand Canal, which before had drained the valley purely with gravity. Along with the pumps, the Grand Canal was expanded with a new tunnel through the low mountains called the Xalpa to take the canal past Tequisquiac. Even so, the city still suffered floods in 1950 and 1951. Despite its age, the Grand Canal can still carry out of the valley, but this is significantly less than what it could carry as late as 1975 because continued sinking of the city (as much as ) weakens the system of water collectors and pumps.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: As a result, another tunnel, called the Emisor Central, was built to carry wastewater. Although it is considered the most important pipe in the country, it has been damaged by overuse and corrosion of its diameter walls. Because of lack of maintenance and gradual decrease in this tunnel's ability to carry water, there is concern that this tunnel will soon fail. It is continuously filled with water, making it impossible to inspect it for problems. If it fails, it would most likely be during the rainy season when it carries the most water, which would cause extensive flooding in the historic center, the airport and the boroughs on the east side.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Because of this, another new drainage project is planned that will cost US$1.3 billion. The project includes new pumping stations, a new drainage tunnel and repairs to the current system of pipes and tunnels to clear blockages and patch leaks.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Over-pumping of groundwater in the 20th century has hastened the disappearance of the lakes. The old lake beds are almost all paved except for some canals preserved in Xochimilco, mostly for the benefit of visitors who tour them on brightly painted , boats similar to gondolas.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Historically, Mexico City's potable water supply came via aqueduct from the mountain springs on the valley sides like that in Chapultepec as most of the water in Lake Texcoco was saline. These were originally built by the Aztecs and were rebuilt by the Spaniards. In the mid-1850s, potable groundwater was found underneath the city itself, which motivated the large-scale drilling of wells. Today, 70% of Mexico City's water still comes from five principal aquifers in the valley. These aquifers are fed by water from natural springs and runoff from precipitation.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: It was only when the population reached about six million that Mexico City started to need to appropriate water from outside the valley.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Today, Mexico City faces a serious water deficit. Because of increased demand from a growing population, increasing industry, and ecosystem degradation in the form of deforestation of the surrounding mountains, more water is leaving the system than is entering. It is estimated that of water is needed to support the potable and agricultural irrigation needs of Mexico City's population. The main aquifer is being pumped at a rate of , but is only being replaced at , or about half of the extraction rate, leaving a shortfall of .


title: Valley of Mexico

text: This over-extraction of groundwater from the old clay lake bed has been causing the land upon which the city rests to collapse and sink. This problem began in the early 20th century as a consequence of the drainage of the valley for flood control. Since the beginning of the 20th century, some areas of Mexico City have sunk . In 1900, the bottom of the lake was lower than the median level of the city center. By 1974, the lake bottom was higher than the city. The first signs of dropping ground water levels was the drying up of natural springs in the 1930s, which coincides with the beginning of intensive exploitation of the aquifer system through wells between deep. Today, Mexico City is sinking between five and forty centimeters (0.2 and 1.3 ft) per year, and its effects are visible. El Ángel de la Independencia ("The Angel of Independence") statue, located on Paseo de la Reforma was built in 1910, anchored by a foundation deep beneath what was the surface of the street at that time. However, because the street has sunk around it, steps have been added to allow access to the statue's base.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Subsidence of the valley floor beneath has caused flooding problems as now much of the city has sunk below the natural lake floor. Currently, pumps need to work 24 hours a day all year round to keep control of runoff and wastewater. Despite this, flooding is still common, especially in the summer rainy season, in lower-lying neighborhoods such as Iztapalapa, forcing residents to build miniature dikes in front of their houses to prevent heavily polluted rainwater from entering their homes. Subsidence also causes damage to water and sewer lines, leaving the water distribution system vulnerable to contamination which carries risks to public health.


title: Valley of Mexico

text: Measures other than drainage have been implemented to contain flooding in the city. In 1950, dikes were built to confine storm runoff. Rivers that run through the city were encapsulated in 1950 and 1951. Rivers such as the Consulado River, Churubusco River and the Remedio River are encased in concrete tunnels which take their waters directly to the drainage system to leave the Valley. Two other rivers, the San Javier and the Tlalnepantla, which used to feed the old lake system, are diverted before they reach the city and their waters now flow directly into the Grand Canal. No water from these rivers is allowed to sink into the ground to recharge the aquifer. While the rivers and streams that flow down from the mountain peaks still begin the way they always have, their passage through the shantytowns lacking city sanitation schemes that surround Mexico City turns them into open combined sewers. Therefore, their final stages are frequently culverted or added to the existing major culverted rivers to keep this water from contaminating the aquifer.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Mustang Boss 302 is a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang originally produced by Ford in 1969 and 1970, alongside its more powerful sibling the Boss 429 Mustang. Ford revived the name for another two year production run in 2012 and 2013. It was produced for the Trans Am racing series.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Camaro/Mustang rivalry had begun in 1967 with the introduction of the Chevrolet Camaro by General Motors. The Camaro was the largest threat to the lead Ford had in the "pony car" field, a market segment largely created by Ford with the introduction of the Mustang in mid-year 1964. The performance of the Mustang with 289 and 390 engines was not up to the Camaro, with its small block and big block V8. In an effort to improve the Mustang's image, Ford made a 428 Cobra Jet V8, and a Ford Boss 302 engine optional for the 1968 mid-year and 1969 models, respectively.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The 1969–70 Boss 302 (Hi-Po) engine was created in 1968 for the SCCA's 1969 Trans-Am road racing series. Available in the Boss 302 Mustangs of 1969–70, it's a unique Ford small-block engine featuring a thin-wall, high nickel content block casting. It differed substantially from regular 302s, with 4-bolt mains, screw in freeze plugs, and heads using a canted valve design being developed for the planned 351 Cleveland (which debuted the following year). The construction was aided by the two engines sharing a cylinder head bolt pattern, though the Boss 302 heads had to have their coolant passages slightly modified.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: This optional engine, and indeed the entire vehicle package, including handling and aerodynamic aids, was made available for the express purpose of meeting the homologation guidelines to compete in the SCCA Trans-Am series, which limited engine displacement to 305 C.I.D. (5.0L) in order to compete. The Boss 429 Mustang was born in a similar way, except with the intent of homologating Ford's new "semi-HEMI" 429 C.I.D. (7.0L) engine (to race in NASCAR, instead of Trans Am). The much larger engine in the Boss 429 reflects the less restrictive engine displacement limits of NASCAR at the time.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Boss 302 Mustang was styled by Larry Shinoda, a former GM employee. The car featured a reflective "c-stripe". The fake air scoops in the rear quarter panel fenders of the regular production 1969 Mustangs were eliminated on the Boss 302 models. A black horizontal rear window shade and a blackout hood were both options. It was one of the first production models with a front spoiler and rear deck wing. The name "Boss" came about when Shinoda was asked what project he was working on, he answered "the boss's car" because the project was a secret. Also Shinoda had called it the "Boss" as an homage to the new President of Ford Semon "Bunkie" Knudson who had brought Shinoda over from GM's Chevrolet Division after Knudson had left.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: Changes for the 1970 model year included side "hockey stick" stripes which started along the top of the hood, along with the 1970 grille which replaced the four headlights with two vents in the outside position while retaining dual headlights within the grille opening. The dual exhaust system was redesigned, along with the competition suspension and a standard Hurst shifter. The intake valves were slightly smaller, and cast aluminum valve covers replaced the chrome. With a suggested price of $3,720, a total of 7,013 were sold.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: In addition to a lower ride height, standard equipment included front disc brakes, larger sway bars, heavier duty spindles, reinforced shock towers, a four speed manual transmission, and the solid-lifter Boss 302 V8 engine, with its free-breathing Cleveland style heads, which had valves larger than most engines more than a third larger in displacement. This "G Code" engine was rated at .


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The 1970 model could accelerate from 0 to in 6.9 seconds, and the quarter mile (~400 m) took 14.6 seconds, reaching a speed of .


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: Although Ford's Drag Pack option with a special oil cooler was never formally offered on the Boss 302, it was often included with the 4.30:1 rear axle ratio. This coveted option is recognizable when the hood is opened to reveal Ford's vertically mounted oil cooler in front of the radiator. Ford also had an option for Boss 302's and 429's for deluxe interior rather than standard interior


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The SCCA Trans-Am series was popular in the late 1960s, especially after the birth of the "pony car". A type of "stock-car" racing usually held on road courses, the series limited maximum engine displacement to 5 liters, or 305 cubic inches. In an effort to be competitive, various Detroit car manufacturers produced some a number of variants of their usual "pony car" lineups in both road and track trim (for homologation purposes), equipped with high-performing variants of their "small" 300-inch class V8 engines in order to make as much power as possible from the limited displacement. The Boss 302 program was part of an effort by the Ford Motor Company to win the coveted SCCA Trans-Am Championship in 1969 and 1970. Penske Camaros had triumphed in 1968 and 1969. Team Penske switched to AMC Javelin the following year so the Boss 302's direct competition in the 1970 series were the AAR Cudas, the Pontiac Firebird, the Team Chaparral Camaros, and the Penske AMC Javelins.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Ford entry for 1969 and 1970 was the Boss 302 Mustang. In 1969, two factors prevented victory; 1) Tire trouble. 2) Slow pit stops. With Roger Penske (a.k.a. "The organizer") as Chevrolet's racing team manager, the pit stops were magically choreographed and organized to perfection. When pit stop times between Mustangs and Camaros are compared, it turns out Ford lost several races "in the pits". Ford was also using Firestone brand tires, which gave them trouble in 1969. In 1970 they switched to Goodyear. The factory effort was headed up by Bud Moore, who fielded two cars in the 1970 season, and won the championship that year. The Bud Moore Mustangs edged out Team Penske's Javelins, and lead Penske driver Mark Donohue lost out to Bud Moore driver Parnelli Jones. Then, in 1971 AMC came out with a redesigned Javelin and returned to the track with ex-Mustang driver, George Follmer and Mark Donohue. With Mark Donohue behind the wheel of the AMC Javelin, the Mustang and the others were defeated in 1971, and again with George Follmer driving the Javelin in 1972.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Boss Mustang platform experienced racing success in Australia, with Canadian-born driver Allan Moffat, driving his Coca-Cola-sponsored Mustang to a recorded 101 wins from 151 starts. Moffat's car was a gift from Ford's American in-house race car fabrication and engineering facility, Kar Kraft, and finished off by Bud Moore Engineering. Moffat raced the Mustang in the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) from 1969 to 1972. Although he failed to place in the top 10 in 1969, he finished 6th in 1970, 2nd in 1971 and 3rd in 1972. As of December 2012, this car has been fully restored to original, and is owned by Queensland based collector David Bowden who regularly shows the car at historic events throughout Australia.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: Since its restoration, the only person Bowden has allowed to drive the car (other than his son Dan) is its former owner Allan Moffat. Moffat has said that the car is his favourite car of his 30 years in racing, and that the gift of the car from Ford in 1969 was a pivotal moment in his career.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Boss 302 is reproduced as a model and toy, with diecast models including Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Ertl's "American Muscle", and many others. It is recognizable by the "hockey stick" side stripe, rear louvers and chin spoiler (although those features can also signify a Boss 429 Mustang). The 1970 is available, but there are also some 4-headlight 1969 models as well.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: Many "Boss clones" (i.e. replicas) have been created, with varying degrees of accuracy, out of regular fastback cars due to the relative rarity and expense of existing examples of the original automobiles, especially race-prepped models.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: In 2007, Saleen and American Racing Legend, Parnelli Jones, created a limited-edition version of the Mustang. Though often called the Saleen/Parnelli Jones S302, it was designed to pay homage to the legendary 1970 Boss 302 that Parnelli Jones had raced in back in the Trans Am series against Javelins, Camaros and Cudas. With only 500 built, all were delivered in the color Grabber Orange. In this homage to the Trans Am race car driven by Parnelli Jones, Steve Saleen modified virtually everything to make it a great looking and great driving car that resembles the championship winning car of 1970. To deliver the Parnelli Jones experience each of the 500 cars were bored and stroked to 302ci to match the Boss 302 motor in the race car. The 302ci Saleen built, 3-valve V8 produces 400 hp and 390 ft-lbs of torque. The high revving engine was blueprinted and balanced, equipped with a Saleen forged steel crankshaft, forged aluminum pistons, Saleen forged connecting rods, Saleen ported aluminum cylinder heads, competition Saleen camshafts and matching valve springs that allow it to rev to its 6,500 rpm all day long if called upon. It's a refreshing change from the "take two blowers and call me in the morning" speed prescription we've all gotten hooked on in the modular engine era. It's also equipped with Saleen under drive pulleys, a billet harmonic balancer and lightweight aluminum flywheel. The rest of the drivetrain includes a rugged Tremec 5-speed transmission with a special close-ratio Saleen shifter and 3.73 rear gears. The exhaust is run through the Saleen 2 1/2" performance stainless system that sounds incredible. The appearance modifications are subtle but make this Mustang stand out. Like the Boss 302 of 1970 modifications include the iconic flat black Shaker hood, rear louvers, special chrome surround of the unique front and rear fascia, replica mini-lite alloy wheels, replica rear wing, special side skirts, special front spoiler, billet aluminum fuel fill door, hood pins and limited-edition badging. The interior is stunning. It's Black leather with Grabber Orange inserts. Even the dash is autographed by Parnelli Jones and Steve Saleen. Perhaps the best part of this car is the reworked Racecraft suspension that Saleen was so famous for in his race cars, along with the Parnelli inspired Watts link rear suspension components just like the 1970 race car. The car handles like it is on rails, yet is smooth and comfortable. Braking is incredible with special Saleen 4-piston front calipers and vented rotors . This car is a balance of power and handling the "Yin and the Yang" that makes for an unforgettable drive.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: Ford revived the Boss 302 nameplate for 2012. The standard 2011 Ford Mustang GT's 5.0-liter Coyote V8 engine is enhanced and was referred to within Ford's development teams as the Road Runner engine. Upgrades include a forged rotating assembly, CNC ported heads, revised camshafts and a high flow "runners in the box" intake taken from the 302R racecar. It produces at 7400 rpm – over the standard GT's . The engine loses about of torque at peak when compared to the standard GT. It is rated at at 4500 rpm and comes with a 6-speed MT-82 manual transmission. A solid rear axle with 3.73:1 differential uses carbon fiber plates in its limited slip differential or an optional Torsen differential. The quad exhaust system made up of two standard Mustang GT outlets and two side pipes that exit on either side of the rear crossover. The side pipes send the exhaust through metal "Attenuation" discs to create an extra growling exhaust sound. The discs are removable and include a spacer plate sized to match aftermarket exhaust dump valves.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Boss 302 takes the Mustang GT's suspension and adds higher-rate coil springs, stiffer bushings, and a larger diameter rear stabilizer bar. The body is lowered up front and just in the rear to give it a more raked stance designed to recall the original. The shock absorbers are adjustable at the shock tower by using a flat head screwdriver. The standard Mustang traction control system and electronic stability control programs have been altered with a new intermediate sport mode designed to allow for more flexibility on the track.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The aero package (i.e. spoilers, splitters, etc.) is almost entirely copied from the Boss 302R race car. The 19-inch black-alloy racing wheels are 9-inches wide up front and 9.5-inches out back and come fitted with 255/40-19 (front) and 285/35-19 (rear) Pirelli P-Zero tires.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: Ford produced just over 4000 Boss 302 models in both 2012 and 2013, with just over 750 of those models each year being the Laguna Seca edition.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The Boss 302 Laguna Seca edition is a further upgraded version of the Boss 302. Additions include Recaro sport seats, a Torsen limited-slip rear differential (both optional on the standard Boss 302), revised suspension tuning with unique spring and damper rates, and a larger rear stabilizer. The Laguna Seca model loses its rear seats, which are replaced by a cross-car X-brace to increase structural rigidity approximately 10%. It rides on 19x9-inch front (255/40-19) and 19x10 inch rear (285/35-19) light-weight alloy wheels with R-compound ultra high-performance tires. Ford Racing front brake ducts help cool the brakes.


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The 2012 Laguna Seca Boss 302 comes in two colors – Black or Ingot Silver – with a red roof and red accents. For 2013, color choices include both School Bus Yellow and Black, both with reflective matte silver stripes. A more aggressive front splitter and a larger rear spoiler increase downforce for high speed track use. Ford produced 750 Laguna Seca versions for 2012 and 2013 years (750 total).


title: Boss 302 Mustang

text: The limited-edition Laguna Seca is designed to maintain street-legality while bridging the gap between the Boss 302 and the track-only Boss 302R and 302S.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Bat-and-ball games (or safe haven games) are field games played by two opposing teams. Action starts when the defending team throws a ball at a dedicated player of the attacking team, who tries to hit it with a bat and run between various safe areas in the field to score runs (points). The defending team can use the ball in various ways against the attacking team's players to force them off the field when they are not in safe zones, and thus prevent them from further scoring. The best known modern bat-and-ball games are cricket and baseball, with common roots in the 18th-century games played in England.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: The teams alternate between "batting" (offensive role), sometimes called "in at bat" or simply "in", and "fielding" (defensive role), also called "out in the field" or "out". Only the batting team may score, but teams have equal opportunities in both roles. The game is counted rather than timed. The action starts when a player on the fielding team (the "bowler" or "pitcher") puts the ball in play with a delivery whose restriction depends on the game. A player on the batting team attempts to strike the delivered ball, commonly with a "bat", which is a club whose dimensions and other aspects are governed by the rules of the game. If the ball is not fairly delivered to the batter (i.e. not thrown within his reach), then penalties generally occur that help the batting team score.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: The batter generally has an obligation to hit certain balls that are delivered within his reach (i.e. balls aimed at a designated area, known as the strike zone or wicket), and must hit the ball so that it is not caught by a fielder before it touches the ground. The most desirable outcome for the batter is generally to hit the ball out of the field, as this results in automatically scoring runs; however, in certain bat-and-ball games, this can result in a penalty against the batter. If the ball is struck into the field, then the batter may become a runner trying to reach a safe haven or "base"/"ground". While in contact with a base, the runner is "safe" from the fielding team and in a position to score runs. Leaving a safe haven places the runner in danger of being put out (eliminated). The teams switch roles when the fielding team 'puts out'/'gets out' enough of the batting team's players, which varies by game.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: In modern baseball, the fielders put three "players" out. In cricket, they "dismiss" all players but one, though in some forms of cricket, there is a limit on the number of deliveries (scoring opportunities) that each team can have, such that the fielding team becomes the batting team without getting anyone out. In many forms of early American baseball (townball, roundball), a single out ended the inning. Some games permit multiple runners and some have multiple bases to run in sequence. Batting may occur, and running begin (and potentially end), at one of the bases. The movement between those "safe havens" is governed by the rules of the particular sport. The game ends when the losing team has completed the maximum number of innings (batting/scoring turns), which may range from 1 (as in limited-overs cricket) to 9 (as in baseball) or more. Ties are generally broken (if at all) by allowing each team to have an additional turn to score.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Some variations of bat-and-ball games do not feature bats, with batters instead using parts of their bodies to hit the ball; these variations may also give the batter possession of the ball at the start of each play, eliminating the defensive team's role in starting the action. A prominent example of this is Baseball5, one of the main sporting disciplines governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation along with baseball and softball.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Cricket and rounders are some of the earliest bat-and-ball sports, and originated in England. Baseball appeared later in its modern form, having been shaped in America. Over time, several variations of baseball appeared in America, with some being informal (kickball) and others becoming professional sports in their own right (softball). In 1971, the ODI (One Day International) format of cricket was first played internationally; the ODI format shortened cricket from a five-day long game (Test cricket) to a one-day long game. In 2003, the T20 format of cricket was invented, further shortening the game to roughly 3 hours. And in 2017, an even shorter format of cricket, known as T10 cricket, was played in its first major tournament, the Abu Dhabi T10; T10 cricket lasts approximately 90 minutes. In the same year, a variation of baseball was invented by the World Baseball Softball Confederation known as Baseball5, which removes several elements of conventional baseball such as the pitcher and the bat. Baseball5 is similar to other baseball variants that have been historically played in different countries, such as cuatro esquinas in Cuba and punchball in America.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: There is a great deal of variation among bat-and-ball games; for example, more runs are generally scored in a cricket match than dozens of baseball games combined, and while a T10 cricket match generally ends in 90 minutes, a Test cricket batter may bat for hours over several consecutive days. Overall, most bat-and-ball games can be categorized as being baseball-like or cricket-like, with many of them following the same basic outline:


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: This list may not apply to all bat-and-ball games, but covers certain features common to many of them:


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: In cricket and baseball, the playing field is large (at the highest levels of each sport, the minimum distance between the two furthest ends of the field is about ), and is divided into an infield and outfield (based on proximity to the batting area).


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Cricket has the delivery and hitting of the ball done in the same area where the batters can run (the cricket pitch), while baseball does the running in a separate area. The distance between the two batsmen's grounds in cricket (the areas that batsmen run between to score runs) is (though batsmen may run slightly less distance, since they are allowed to use their bats to touch their grounds), while the distance between bases in baseball is and in softball is .


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Most bat-and-ball games have playing area in front of the batter (such as Schlagball), but may (like baseball) restrict batters from hitting the ball behind themselves or too far to the side; see foul territory.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Bat-and-ball sports can be modified to be played in an indoor court. For example, indoor cricket takes place in a facility, while Baseball5 is played on a -square field.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: In baseball-like games, the fielders (also known as "position players") operate in a standard set of baseball positions because it is generally possible to cover most of the field by spacing the fielders out in certain ways. By contrast, the significantly larger cricket field has many possible cricket fielding positions, with the 11 fielders occupying the slips cordon behind the batter, or other areas of the field.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: T20 cricket and baseball both last about 3 hours, while other forms of cricket can last either multiple days or less than three hours. Informal bat-and-ball games may take place in shorter periods of time, and in general, the possibility of a team's batters getting out rapidly in succession makes it theoretically possible for certain periods of play in most bat-and-ball games to end quicker than usual, with the opposite also being possible in some cases. Both baseball and cricket can theoretically go forever, since baseball games end only after a certain number of outs and innings in cricket can be prolonged by illegal deliveries; however, in limited overs cricket, fielding teams are penalized if they do not bowl enough legal deliveries at a certain rate, which essentially imposes a time limit of sorts on these types of games.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: When one of the teams is not leading and only they have completed all of their allotted batting turns, this allows the other team to win automatically by surpassing the number of runs scored by the first team. In cricket, this situation is referred to as a "run chase", with the "target" of the batting team being the number of runs scored by the other team plus one. In baseball, the home team can be considered to be chasing, with the aim of scoring the "walk-off" (winning) runs, when they are not leading anytime after the eighth inning, as a regulation game sees the trailing team bat at least nine times and the teams alternating the batting, with the home team always batting last.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: In addition to the number of runs a team won by over their opponents, other factors which are relevant to determining which team wins, such as the number of outs or legal deliveries that were remaining in the batting team's turn (if they won/there was a limit on either resource), can be included with the statement of the result. The result may also mention how many more times the losing team batted than the winning team.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: In some circumstances, a complete game may not be possible in its originally envisioned timeframe because of weather or other reasons. In baseball-like games, which generally have many innings, it is possible to call the result of a game after both teams have batted only a few of their scheduled turns, or otherwise to finish/replay the game at a later date. In cricket, however, which is generally played to only one or two batting turns per team, a match may not be callable for the simple reason that only one of the teams has had the chance to score so far. However, cricket matches that are interrupted by rain can still be considered completable so long as there is enough time left in the match to allow the second-batting team to face a sufficiently long batting turn; in these circumstances, a rain rule is applied such that any runs scored by the first-batting team are usually devalued.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Bat-and-ball games can be played with modified rules in unorthodox places, such as in the street or the backyard. Oftentimes, players are forbidden or penalized for hitting the ball out of the field into an area where it would be hard to reach, and play may be modified so as to ensure all players have an opportunity to participate, such as in Kwik cricket.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: At the international level, the World Baseball Classic is the premier baseball tournament. For cricket, the ODI World Cup, ICC T20 World Cup, and ICC World Test Championship are the premier tournaments. The Pesäpallo World Cup is played every 3 years.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: At the domestic level, baseball tends to be played in leagues with 2 major divisions, with the playoffs being contested in a best-of-seven format. T20 leagues in cricket tend to have 6 to 8 teams and follow the Page playoff system (two semi-finals, with an additional match played to determine which team enters the second semi-final, followed by a final).


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Gilli Danda (which is related to several other traditional games in other parts of the world) is an Indian game with similarities to baseball and cricket. The aim of the game is for the batter to knock a stick on the ground up into the air using a stick held in the hand, and then to hit the airborne stick as far as possible. The batter is out if the stick is caught by a player on the other team before it touches the ground. Points are earned either based on the distance the stick travels, or by the batter running to a designated area while the fielders collect the batted stick and throw it back to the hitting area to try to get the batter out. The game ends after each team has batted once, with each team batting until all of its players are out.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Striking the ball with a "bat" or any type of stick, or having the defensive team deliver the ball to the batter, is not crucial. These games use the foot or hand to hit the ball, and make it significantly easier to hit the ball overall, either by placing significant restrictions on the way the defensive team delivers the ball to the batter, or by giving the batter possession of the ball at the start of each play. Otherwise their rules may be similar or even identical to baseball or cricket. The first two use a large (35 cm) soft ball.


title: Bat-and-ball games

text: Some features common to most bat-and-ball games are also present in other games. For example, there are several variations of tag (such as kho-kho and kabaddi) which also feature the concept of teams taking turns on offense and defense, with players attempting to tag opponents to get them out. (Baseball, one of the main bat-and-ball games, also features players trying to tag opponents to get them out). Two of these tag variants, atya-patya and surr, also have offensive players score points (or otherwise help their team win) based on how far they can advance (based on progression from one safe area to the next, with each safe area being a place out of the reach of the defenders) without being tagged out by the defensive players.


title: Yenisey

text: The Yenisey (, "Yeniséy"; , "Gorlog mörön"; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, "Gorlog müren"; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, "Uluğ-Hem"; Khakas: Ким суғ, "Kim suğ"; Ket: Ӄук, "Quk"; Nenets: Ензя-ям’, "Enzja-jam"), also romanised as Yenisei, Enisei, or Jenisej, is the fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course before draining into the Yenisey Gulf in the Kara Sea. The Yenisey divides the Western Siberian Plain in the west from the Central Siberian Plateau to the east; it drains a large part of central Siberia.


title: Yenisey

text: It is the central one of three large Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean (the other two being the Ob and the Lena).


title: Yenisey

text: The maximum depth of the Yenisey is and the average depth is . The depth of river outflow is and inflow is .


title: Yenisey

text: The Yenisey proper, from the confluence of its source rivers Great Yenisey and Little Yenisey at Kyzyl to its mouth in the Kara Sea, is long. From the source of its tributary Selenga, it is long. It has a drainage basin of . The Yenisey flows through the Russian federal subjects Tuva, Khakassia and Krasnoyarsk Krai. The city of Krasnoyarsk is situated on the Yenisey.


title: Yenisey

text: The Brekhovskie Islands (Russian-language article: "") lie in the Yenisey estuary and have an area of some 1,400,000 hectares. They provide a wetland habitat for rare and endangered birds and are an internationally important nesting and breeding area for several types of waterfowl. The most north-easterly of the islands, Nosonovskij Ostrov ("Nose Island") was visited by Fridtjof Nansen in 1913.


title: Yenisey

text: The Yenisey basin (excluding Lake Baikal and lakes of the Khantayka headwaters) is home to 55 native fish species, including two endemics: "Gobio sibiricus" (a gobionine cyprinid) and "" (a grayling). The grayling is restricted to Khövsgöl Nuur and its tributaries. Most fish found in the Yenisey basin are relatively widespread Euro-Siberian or Siberian species, such as northern pike ("Esox lucius"), common roach ("Rutilus rutilus"), common dace ("Leuciscus leuciscus"), Siberian sculpin ("Cottus poecilopus"), European perch ("Perca fluviatilis") and Prussian carp ("Carassius gibelio"). The basin is also home to many salmonids (trout, whitefish, charr, graylings, taimen and relatives) and the Siberian sturgeon ("Acipenser baerii").


title: Yenisey

text: The Yenisey valley is habitat for numerous flora and fauna, with Siberian pine and Siberian larch being notable tree species. In prehistoric times Scots pine, "Pinus sylvestris", was abundant in the Yenisey valley circa 6000 BC. There are also numerous bird species present in the watershed, including, for example, the hooded crow, "Corvus cornix".


title: Yenisey

text: The Taimyr herd of tundra reindeer ("Rangifer tarandus" "sibiricus"), the largest reindeer herd in the world, migrates to winter grazing ranges along the Yenisey. It had an estimated 800,000-850,000 individuals as of 2010, but has peaked at over one million.


title: Yenisey

text: River steamers first came to the Yenesei River in 1864 and were brought in from Holland and England across the icy Kara Sea. One was the SS Nikolai. The SS Thames attempted to explore the river, overwintered in 1876, but was damaged in the ice and eventually wrecked in the river. Success came with the steamers Frazer, Express in 1878, and the next year, Moscow hauling supplies in and wheat out. The Dalman reached Yeniseisk in 1881.