title: Car rental

text: Although frequently not explicitly stated, US car rental companies are required by respective state law to provide minimum liability coverage, except in California and Arizona, where the driver is solely responsible. This covers costs to a third party in the event of an accident. In most states, it is illegal to drive a car without liability coverage. The rental car companies maintain liability insurance on their vehicles; however, some companies will charge for this, should you not provide your own insurance. As an example, in Maryland, the minimal level of liability coverage is $20,000 for bodily injury and $15,000 for property damage.


title: Car rental

text: It is typical, when renting a car, to be offered various forms of supplemental insurance and/or damage waivers as an optional extra at additional cost. There are several types of coverage:


title: Car rental

text: In the U.S., the sale of these supplemental insurance/waiver products may be regulated by each state's insurance department, and a special limited license may be required by the rental company in order to sell them. The specific coverage offered can differ substantially, depending on the state or country in which the car is rented.


title: Car rental

text: When cars are rented out to tourists, it adds vehicles on the roads. This can be an issue in countries already struggling with traffic congestion. When traffic congestion occurs, it may itself have a negative effect on tourist satisfaction.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: "Moonlight Shadow" is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records, and included on his eighth album, "Crises", of the same year. The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had collaborated with Mike Oldfield since 1980. It is Oldfield's most successful single, reaching number one on a number of charts around Europe.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: The single peaked at number four in the British charts, making it Oldfield's second-highest ranked single after "Portsmouth", which reached number three in 1976. "Moonlight Shadow" was successful throughout Europe; it reached number one in many countries, including Italy, Austria, Switzerland for four weeks and Norway for six weeks. It spent four weeks at number two in West Germany, hit number six in Australia, and peaked at number three in New Zealand and France. It was re-released as a maxi-CD single in 1993 to promote Oldfield's "Elements" box set, charting at number 52.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: A 12-inch single (later reissued on a 3" CD single) featured an extended version of the song with an extra verse, and the single B-side was "Rite of Man", which was a rare instance of Oldfield singing lead vocal. The extended mix also appears on his compilation album "The Platinum Collection".


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: In 1991, the song was re-released in France, and in 1993 it was featured on promos for "Elements" in France and Spain. The 1993 reissue included "Bones" and "In the Pool" as B-sides, which had previously been released as B-sides with "To France". Furthermore, the name of the song was used for the 2013 Universal Music compilation album of Oldfield's music, "".


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: Maggie Reilly sang "Moonlight Shadow" live when she toured with Oldfield in the 1980s. However, since then, other singers have performed the song live with Oldfield, including Anita Hegerland during the late 1980s, Pepsi Demacque at the "Tubular Bells III" premiere and at the Live Then & Now 1999 tour, Miriam Stockley at the Millennium concert and Nokia Night of the Proms in Germany, and Rosa Cedrón at Nokia Night of the Proms in Spain.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: The original cover art is an enlargement of the lower right corner of the "Crises" album cover by UK artist Terry Ilott. This shows a man with his foot on a ledge with the sea and sky in the background. The moon, the tower and its shadow from the album cover cannot be seen on the single cover.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: An early version of the song was entitled "Midnight Passion" with vocals by British singer Hazel O'Connor. Along with Maggie Reilly, a girlfriend of one of the roadies when Oldfield was on tour, Oldfield used a rhyming dictionary and recorded many of the lyrics word by word.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: According to bassist Phil Spalding the initial tracks recorded simultaneously for "Moonlight Shadow" were acoustic guitar (Oldfield), bass (Spalding), drums (Phillips) and electric guitar (Tim Renwick) in early February 1983 at Oldfield's studio in Denham, Buckinghamshire. Renwick's guitar track was apparently not used in the final track. The remaining tracks including the vocals and Oldfield on electric guitar were later overdubs.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: According to Oldfield, Virgin Records were immediately happy with the song and wanted more pieces similar to it. Reilly also sang on "Foreign Affair" on "Crises". An unplugged mix of the song appears on the 2013 Mercury Records reissue of the "Crises" album.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: Oldfield later sampled the drums from "Moonlight Shadow" for the song "Man in the Rain" on his 1998 album, "Tubular Bells III".


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: It has been suggested that the lyrics of the song are a reference to the murder of John Lennon, despite the fact that the events in the song do not correspond with those of Lennon's murder. Lennon was shot four times just before 11 pm, whereas in the song the time is 4 am and the number of shots is six. Also, the night Lennon was shot (8 December 1980) was a new moon, so there was no moonlight, and in the song, it is Saturday night, while Lennon was killed on a Monday night. When asked whether "Moonlight Shadow" is a reference to John Lennon's murder in a 1995 interview, Oldfield responded:


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: There are two versions of the video: the full-length original, and a shorter one which omits a verse. The reason for the shorter version was for the requirements of some TV broadcasters, and the way both versions are edited suggests that Oldfield's touring guitarist "Ant" (Anthony Glynne) performs the second, overdriven half of the guitar solo, which is not the case. Also in the video is Oldfield's touring drummer, Pierre Moerlen, miming the part played by Simon Phillips on the recording. The music video was directed by Keith McMillan and shot on location at Hatfield House and Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, England (the band are seen performing in Brocket Hall's ballroom and the girl runs in through the door and up the staircase in Brocket's hallway).


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: The song performed particularly well in European charts, reaching number one in countries such as Norway, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: "Moonlight Shadow" appeared on the soundtrack of the Italian comedy "Vacanze di Natale" (1983). It is also the theme song for Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior, a character in the BBC TV comedy series "The Fast Show".


title: Moonlight Shadow

text: In 2002, a cover by Groove Coverage peaked at No. 3 in the German Top 10 (simultaneously, a similar version of Oldfield's "To France" by Novaspace was in the German Top 30). "Moonlight Shadow" appeared on Groove Coverage's debut album, "Covergirl". The vocals are by Melanie Munch, who is known by her stage name Mell. Aside from the single remixes, the album also contains a piano version, featuring piano by Verena Rehm.


title: Socket wrench

text: A socket wrench (or socket spanner) is a type of spanner (or wrench in North American English) that uses a closed "socket" format, rather than a typical open wrench/spanner to turn a fastener, typically in the form of a nut or bolt.


title: Socket wrench

text: The most prevalent form is the ratcheting socket wrench, often informally called a ratchet. A ratchet incorporates a reversible ratcheting mechanism which allows the user to pivot the tool back and forth to turn its socket instead of removing and repositioning a wrench to do so.


title: Socket wrench

text: Other common methods of driving sockets include pneumatic impact wrenches, hydraulic torque wrenches, torque multipliers and breaker bars. Some lesser known hybrid drivers include striking wrench tools with square drive, and hydraulic impact wrenches (typically powered by on site hydraulic power such as present with military tanks, and many rail car applications).


title: Socket wrench

text: The basic contemporary form of socket is hexagonal, referred to as "6-point" for the pointed intersections where its six solid sided facets meet. These are attached to the driving tool via a male/female square connection fitting (called the "square drive"). Standard sizes of square drives around the world include square drive sizes (a "de facto" international standard with no metric equivalents) along with some lesser used drivers such as -inch square drive, and both No. 4 and No. 5 spline drives specified in ANSI B107 specifications. This wide range of square drive sizes provides for a wide variety of socket types and sizes to suit small to very large nuts and bolts. Some square drivers have a through hole to attach the socket to the driver (using a retaining ring with O-ring and pin type, or single piece molded retaining rings), a locking pin, or friction ball. Some common hand ratchets employ a quick release button on their top for quick socket release of smaller sockets. The tool chosen to drive the socket wrench ultimately supplies the mechanical advantage needed by the user to provide the torque needed to loosen or tighten the fastener as may be required. Larger drivers are typically used with higher torque, while smaller drivers are used for convenience in smaller low torque applications. Given the limits of human strength and fatigue, torque above of torque will generally involve some kind of power assist, instead of the user simply pushing on the handle of a wrench. Very large sockets and drivers are typically powered by hydraulics to achieve torque.


title: Socket wrench

text: Male drivers are also produced for use with socket head cap screws, and are often called "Allen drivers" (trademark) or the generic term "male bit drivers".


title: Socket wrench

text: The principal advantage of interchangeable sockets is that, instead of a separate wrench for each of the many different fastener sizes and types, only separate sockets are needed for each size and type. Because of their versatility, nearly all screw and bolt types now have sockets of different types made to fit their bolts or nuts. Sockets often come as a "socket set" with many different sizes or types of sockets to fit the heads of different-sized fasteners. A ratchet of the "set size" is often included with the socket set. Sockets are commonly available in fractional inch and metric sizes, and in short (shallow) and longer (deep) varieties.


title: Socket wrench

text: Wrenches in the form of sockets—that is, a female driver to envelop the male head of a fastener—have existed for centuries. Early examples include the keys used to wind clocks since the Middle Ages. The heads and sockets were typically square; hex heads eventually became more common starting in the 20th century. The ratcheting socket wrench, with interchangeable (indexable) sockets, was invented by an American, J.J. Richardson, of Woodstock, Vermont. The tool was patented () through the Scientific American Patent Agency on June 16, 1863. The first illustration of the tool appears on p. 248 of the April 16, 1864 issue of "Scientific American". In current American English usage, the term "socket wrench" describes the wrench, not the socket. However, the term "socket wrench" is not used in British English


title: Socket wrench

text: Square heads and sockets were the easiest to make in the era when hand filing was the typical method of manufacture. With the proliferation of modern manufacturing methods it became just as easy to make hex heads and sockets as square ones. The hex form allows easier wrenching in confined surroundings (where nearby obstacles obstruct the swing of the wrench), because fewer degrees of arc are needed on each swing before it is possible to reposition the wrench onto the next set of flats. Ratchet wrenches further reduce this problem, as the wrench need only swing as many degrees as it takes for the ratchet pawl to catch the next tooth.


title: Socket wrench

text: A number of other specialized ratchets—with hammer heads, multiple drive sizes, and other unusual features—are built by various manufacturers.


title: Socket wrench

text: There are also power tool versions of "air" (pneumatic) ratchets which use compressed air power to drive air powered socket wrenches which tighten or loosen nuts or bolts. A second major variety of compressed air powered tools are impact wrenches which are used for common tasks such as lug nuts on wheels. Electric powered impact wrenches for the same tasks are not uncommon. Small cordless 12 volt and 18 volt impact drivers are often used today as powered ratchets to remove and install nuts and bolts. Hydraulic motor ratchets with their characteristic higher torque are rare outside heavy industry. The sockets used for impact duty (called "impact sockets") are made with thicker walls and tempered to a lower hardness so as not to shatter under the impacts of the impact tool. They are typically finished in black oxide rather than the usual chrome plating of the hand-tool variety. Standard sockets (i.e. non-impact sockets) may shatter if used with impact wrenches, presenting a safety risk.


title: Socket wrench

text: referred by their number of “points” for the pointed intersections of their multi-faceted interior sides. Common designs include :


title: Socket wrench

text: Less frequently used shapes include the square 4-point, triple square 12-point (not to be confused with 12-point double hexagon), octagonal 8-point (not to be confused with the more common 8-point double square shape). These less common shapes are typically found in special applications or particular industries such as aircraft, PVC plumbing fittings or German and UK made automobiles. With rail cars, valve adjustment screws and pipe plugs, the 4-point square shaped driver can still be found in wide use both male and female configurations. Nuts and bolt heads are also produced in 12-point double hexagon shapes and various types of splines, more common to aircraft and aerospace applications.


title: Socket wrench

text: When working with common 6-point hexagonal fasteners, the 12-point shaped socket offers double the number of starting points or possible positions by which to put the socket on the nut, and so allows alignment every 30 degrees, rather than every 60 degrees of angle. Most manufacturers of sockets for larger hexagonal bolts produce them in 6-point (hexagonal) and limited sizes of 12-point (double-hexagonal) configurations.


title: Socket wrench

text: Some specialized sockets are made with a specialized "6 flute" etc. socket that attaches to damaged bolts of both metric and fractional inch sizes for removal. Some specialized sockets are made to fit specific specialized applications and are designed and sized for that specific application. Spark plug sockets, oxygen sensor sockets, ball joint sockets, axle nut sockets, etc. fit in this category.


title: Socket wrench

text: Telephone lines, waterworks, and certain vehicles. By far the most common use for them is with water meters, Which have 5 sided bolts or nuts.


title: Socket wrench

text: Sockets for use with an impact wrench or impact driver are expected to receive higher torques, which is also percussive, and so need to be made of tougher materials. They are made from a thicker, tougher and more ductile alloy steel, often using CrMo steel to replace the CrV steel used in non-impact sockets. Most impact sockets made for "standard" hexagonal fasteners have a six-point design.


title: Socket wrench

text: Chrome plated sockets are not suitable as the impact wrench may break the chrome plating, which can form razor sharp flakes - consequently impact sockets use different coatings - often a black phosphate conversion coating, or black oxide.


title: Socket wrench

text: Sockets are available in various depths or lengths, often divided by most manufacturers into two categories of "standard" and "deep" according to the ANSI or DIN standard they are made to and the tolerances allowed by those specifications for each length of socket. Because the standards allow for some flexibility in tolerances, it is common to see two manufacturers make deep sockets of the same size but with slightly different depths even though both meet the same specification. Standard length, otherwise known as "shallow" sockets, have a lower profile and allow a user to access nuts in narrow spaces. Deep sockets are useful for turning nuts onto bolts when the bolt extends upwards into the socket (as in the case of many bolted joints), a very typical example being exhaust clamp bolts on a car. Low-profile sockets, shorter even than standard sockets, are available for some applications, typically oil filter removal on engines with limited access.


title: Socket wrench

text: Although most manufacturers offer only those sizes and depths described within the common ANSI or DIN specifications, some exceptions do exist. Specialty manufacturers such as IMPERIAL-Newton Corp offer an expanded range of "extra deep" sockets for special industrial applications; and popular brands like Snap-on or Mac Tools offer what are called "semi-deep" or "mid-length" sockets, which provide much of a deep socket's depth, while fitting in tighter locations.


title: Socket wrench

text: Some sockets are designed to have the same outside diameter and shape within a given set size. Each pass-through socket, within a given socket set, is designed to be used with a "special" ratchet that fits on the outside of the socket and not to the middle of the socket. By fitting the outside of the socket they allow the bolt or stud to extend through the socket, eliminating the need for a deep socket in some applications. By attaching to the outside of the socket they also allow the socket to be built up to 50% shorter and with 20% less width which is an advantage in some situations. Pass-through sockets and ratchets are built for -inch, -inch and -inch sets in both SAE and metric sizes. By using a fine tooth ratchet and socket system that allow a pass-through ratchet to be used as a conventional ratchet handle with interchangeable -inch and -inch drives some ratchets can be used with standard sockets. They are built by a number of manufacturers with a variety of trade names. Craftsman Tools call theirs "Max Axess", and also sells GearWrench's "Pass-Thru" brands. Lowes calls their socket system "Xtreme Access", etc.. Ratcheting box end wrenches can often be employed in the same application, but will nearly always be significantly wider.


title: Socket wrench

text: Male bit drivers are sometimes incorrectly referred to as "sockets", but are in fact the opposite of a socket - a socket is a female recess or opening which receives another object. Common male bit drivers of this type include Allen hex wrenches (in both metric and fractional inch sizes), Torx (T-3 through T-50) spline wrenches, 4-point (square), and 12-point (triple square) male bit drivers. Other specialized screw heads that are often installed or removed with screwdriver type handles and appropriate type tip have socket varieties that fit the various screw head types and a can be attached to a socket wrench. Conversely, for low torque situations, a "socket spinner" screwdriver handle with a socket wrench type fitting on one end can be attached to many different types of sockets, bit drivers and extensions.


title: Socket wrench

text: These are some of the common accessories that are used with -inch, -inch, -inch (and so on) socket wrenches:


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: Brian Banks is a 2018 American biographical drama film directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Doug Atchison, and starring Aldis Hodge as Brian Banks, a high school football linebacker who was falsely accused of rape, convicted, sent to prison and upon his release, attempted to fulfill his dream of making the National Football League. The film premiered at the LA Film Festival in September 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on August 9, 2019.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) is a 27-year-old former high school football star living with his mother (Sherri Shepherd) in Long Beach, California. He is currently on parole and registered as a sex offender due to an incident 11 years prior where he and a classmate, Kennisha (Xosha Roquemore), sneaked off to kiss. When he overheard teachers approaching, he fled to avoid getting caught, leading the scorned Kennisha to falsely accuse him of raping her.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: On the advice of his attorney, Banks pled no contest to rape and was sentenced to six years of prison. His childhood dreams of becoming an NFL player are further damaged when new laws require him to wear an ankle monitor at all times and stay 2,000 feet away from schools and public gathering spots, preventing him from playing football, and he has trouble finding legitimate employment due to his criminal record.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: Banks approaches the California Innocence Project hoping to clear his name, and they advise him to write a plea of habeas corpus to the California legal system to get them to retry him. When this fails, Innocence Project founder Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear) explains that the justice system requires new evidence that incontrovertibly points to his innocence before they will hear his pleas; this excludes DNA evidence, which was taken during the original trial but never used in his defense.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: Innocence Project lawyers interview several of Banks' former classmates, but their word is not strong enough to cast doubt on Banks' conviction. Banks unexpectedly receives a Facebook friend request from Kennisha, leading him to devise a scheme with several of his friends to trick her into confessing on tape that the rape allegation was fraudulent.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: This seemingly succeeds, and Banks takes the tape to the Innocence Project. However, since Kennisha did not know she was being recorded, the evidence is inadmissible in court. Brooks sends the tape to the media, causing public outcry at the injustice of Banks' situation. Banks' parole officer calls him and warns him that his contact with Kennisha is a parole violation, but gives him until his parole expires before reporting the violation and placing Banks back in prison.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: Brooks approaches District Attorney Mateo (Jose Miguel Vasquez) and convinces him that Banks needs a new trial. Banks goes to court, but Kennisha refuses to testify and claims that Banks offered her $20,000 to say he didn't rape her on tape. Mateo and Brooks confront her and eventually get her to say on the record that her claim that Banks bribed her was a lie; this casts enough doubt on Banks' guilt to convince the judge to finally overturn Banks' conviction.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: Banks cuts off the ankle bracelet and heads to a local park, where he enjoys a game of football with some local children. The final narration reveals that Pete Carroll, a former University of Southern California coach who offered him a scholarship to USC during his high school days, invited him to try out for the Seattle Seahawks; failing to make the team due to his skills atrophying as a result of his extended time in prison, Banks trained hard over the next year and eventually was signed by the Atlanta Falcons.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: The film was theatrically released in the United States on August 9, 2019, to low box office results.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Brian Banks" was released alongside "The Kitchen", "Dora and the Lost City of Gold", "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and "The Art of Racing in the Rain", and was projected to gross around $2.5 million from 1,327 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $2.1 million. At the end of the film's theatrical release the film grossed $4.3 million.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads: "While it remains a reasonably inspiring drama, "Brian Banks" might have presented a more complex or fully realized version of the real-life story it dramatizes." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an average 4.5 out of 5 stars, while 72% said they would definitely recommend it to a friend.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: Reviewing the film in "The New York Times", Jeannette Catsoulis praised Hodge's performance, and the movie as a whole: it "isn't a great movie, but it is a worthwhile one". However, she criticised the minor characters as being "underwritten" and the screenplay as being "formulaic" and "heavyhanded", and the film overall as being "sometimes disappointingly bland". Alan Zilberman gave the film 3 stars out of 5 in his review for "The Washington Post", praising Hodge's performance and Shadyac's directing.


title: Brian Banks (film)

text: "Brian Banks" won the Audience Award for Fiction Feature Film at the 2018 "Los Angeles Film Festival".


title: California English

text: California English (or Californian English) collectively refers to varieties of American English native to California. A distinctive vowel shift was first noted by linguists in the 1980s in southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California. This helped to define an accent emerging primarily among youthful, white, urban, coastal speakers, and popularly associated with the valley girl and surfer dude youth subcultures. The possibility that this is, in fact, an age-specific variety of English is one hypothesis; however, certain features of this accent are intensifying and spreading geographically.


title: California English

text: Other documented California English includes a "country" accent associated with rural and inland white Californians, an older accent once spoken by Irish Americans in San Francisco, and distinctly Californian varieties of Chicano English associated with Mexican Americans. Research has shown that Californians themselves perceive a linguistic boundary between northern and southern California, particularly regarding the northern use of "hella" and southern (but now nationally widespread) use of "dude", "bro", and "like".


title: California English

text: As California became one of the most ethnically diverse U.S. states, English speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds began to pick up different linguistic elements from one another and also develop new ones; the result is both divergence and convergence within Californian English. However, linguists who studied English before and immediately after World War II tended to find few, if any, patterns unique to California, and even today most California English still basically aligns to a General or Western American accent.


title: California English

text: The variety of English most popularly associated with California largely correlates with the major urban areas along the coast. Notable is the absence of (the vowel sound of "caught, stalk, clawed," etc.), which has completely merged with (the vowel sound of "cot, stock, clod," etc.), as in most of the Western United States.


title: California English

text: A few phonological processes have been identified as being particular to California English. However, these vowel changes are by no means universal in Californian speech, and any single Californian's speech may only have some or none of the changes identified below. These sounds might also be found in the speech of some people from areas outside of California.


title: California English

text: One topic that has begun to receive much attention from scholars in recent decades has been the emergence of a vowel-based chain shift in California. This image on the right illustrates the California vowel shift. The vowel space of the image is a cross-section (as if looking at the interior of a mouth from a side profile perspective); it is a rough approximation of the space in a human mouth where the tongue is located in articulating certain vowel sounds (the left is the front of the mouth closer to the teeth, the right side of the chart being the back of the mouth). As with other vowel shifts, several vowels may be seen moving in a chain shift around the mouth. As one vowel encroaches upon the space of another, the adjacent vowel in turn experiences a movement in order to maximize phonemic differentiation.


title: California English

text: For convenience, California English will be compared with a "typical" General American English, abbreviated "GA". is pulled towards ("wreck" and "kettle" are sounding more like "rack" and "cattle" in other dialects), is pulled towards , and and merge ("cot" and "stock" are sounding more like "caught" and "stalk"): the cot-caught merger.


title: California English

text: Other vowel changes, whose relation with the shift is uncertain, are also emerging: moving through towards ("rude" and "true" are almost approaching "reed" and "tree", but with rounded lips), and moving beyond . is moving towards (so that, for example, "book" and "could" in the California dialect start to sound, to a GA speaker, more like "buck" and "cud"), is moving through , sometimes approaching ("duck, crust, what," etc. are sounding like how U.S. Southerners pronounce them, or like how other Americans might pronounce "deck, crest, wet," etc,).


title: California English

text: New vowel characteristics of the California Shift are increasingly found among younger speakers. As with many vowel shifts, these significant changes occurring in the spoken language are rarely noticed by average speakers. For example, while some characteristics such as the close central rounded vowel or close back unrounded vowel for are widespread in Californian speech, the same high degree of fronting for is found predominantly among young speakers.


title: California English

text: One dialect of English, mostly reported in California's rural interior, inland from the major coastal cities, has been popularly described as a "country," "hillbilly," or "twang" variety. This California English variety is reminiscent of and presumably related to Southern or South Midland U.S. accents, mostly correlated with white, outdoors-oriented speakers of the Central Valley. It has been studied even as far north as Trinity County but could possibly extend farther, and as far south as Kern County (metropolitan Bakersfield). Similar to the nonstandard accents of the South Midland and Southern United States, speakers of such towns as Redding and Merced have been found to use the word "anymore" in a positive sense and the verb "was" in place of the standard English plural verb "were". Related other features of note include the "pin–pen" merger, "fill–feel" merger, and "full–fool" merger.


title: California English

text: The Great Depression's westward Dust Bowl migrations of settlers into California from the Southern United States, namely from Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas, is the presumable cause of this rural white accent's presence in California's Central Valley. Rural northern California was also settled by Oklahomans and Arkansans, though perhaps more recently in the 1970s and 1980s, due to the region's timber industry boom. However, even in a single town, any given individual's identification with working and playing outdoors versus indoors appears to be a greater determiner of this accent than the authenticity of the individual's Southern heritage. For example, this correlates with less educated rural men of northern California documented as raising in a style similar to the Southern drawl. Overall, among those who orient toward a more town lifestyle, features of the California Vowel Shift are more prominent, but not to the same extent as in urban coastal communities such as San Jose. By contrast, among those who orient toward a more country lifestyle, the Southern features are more prominent, but some aspects of the California Vowel Shift remain present as well.


title: California English

text: The Mission brogue is a disappearing accent spoken within San Francisco, mostly during the 20th century in the Mission District. It sounds distinctly like New York and possibly Boston accents, due to a large number of Irish Americans migrating from those two East Coast cities to the Mission District in the late 19th century. It is today spoken only by some of the oldest Irish-American and possibly Jewish residents of the city. From before the 1870s to the 1890s, Irish Americans were the largest share of migrants coming to San Francisco, the majority arriving by way of Northeastern U.S. cities like New York and Boston, thus bringing those cities' ways of speaking with them. In San Francisco, the Mission District quickly became a predominantly Irish Catholic neighborhood, and its local dialect became associated with all of San Francisco as a way to contrast it with the rest of California. Sounding like a "real San Franciscan" therefore once meant sounding "like a New Yorker", the speakers said to "talk like Brooklynites". Other names included the "south of the Slot" (referring to the cable car track running down Market Street) or "south of Market" accent.


title: California English

text: Overall, starting in the later half of the 20th century, San Francisco has been undergoing dialect levelling towards the broader regional Western American English, for example: younger Mission District speakers now exhibit a full cot–caught merger, show the vowel shift of urban coastal Californians, and front the and vowels.


title: California English

text: Certain varieties of Chicano English are also native to California, sometimes even being spoken by non-Latino Californians. One example is East Los Angeles Chicano English, which has been influenced by both Californian and African American Vernacular English.


title: California English

text: The coastal urban accent of California traces many of its features back to Valleyspeak: a social dialect arising in the 1980s among a particular white youthful demographic in the San Fernando Valley, including Los Angeles.


title: California English

text: The popular image of a typical southern California speaker often conjures up images of the so-called Valley girls popularized by the 1982 hit song by Frank and Moon Zappa, or "surfer-dude" speech made famous by movies such as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". While many phrases found in these extreme versions of California English from the 1980s may now be considered passé, certain words such as "awesome", "totally", "for sure", "harsh", "gnarly", and "dude" have remained popular in California and have spread to a national, even international, level.


title: California English

text: A common example of a northern Californian colloquialism is "hella" (from "(a) hell of a (lot of)", and the euphemistic alternative "hecka") to mean "many", "much", "so" or "very". It can be used with both count and mass nouns. For example: "I haven't seen you in "hella" long"; "There were "hella" people there"; or "This guacamole is "hella" good". The word can be casually used multiple times in multiple ways within a single sentence. Pop culture references to "hella" are common, as in the song "Hella Good" by the band No Doubt, which hails from southern California, and "Hella" by the band Skull Stomp, who come from northern California.


title: California English

text: California, like other Southwestern states, has borrowed many words from Spanish, especially for place names, food, and other cultural items, reflecting the linguistic heritage of the Californios as well as more recent immigration from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. High concentrations of various ethnic groups throughout the state have contributed to general familiarity with words describing (especially cultural) phenomena. For example, a high concentration of Asian Americans from various cultural backgrounds, especially in urban and suburban metropolitan areas in California, has led to the adoption of the word "hapa" (itself originally a Hawaiian borrowing of English "half") to mean someone of mixed European/Islander or Asian/Islander heritage.


title: California English

text: In 1958, essayist Clifton Fadiman pointed out that northern California is the only place (besides England and the area surrounding Ontario and the Canadian Prairies) where the word "chesterfield" is used as a synonym for "sofa" or "couch".


title: California English

text: In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Inland Empire, Coachella Valley and San Diego, freeways are often referred to either by name or by route number but with the addition of the definite article "the", such as "the 405 North", "the 99" or "the 605 (Freeway)". This usage has been parodied in the recurring "Saturday Night Live" sketch "The Californians". In contrast, typical northern California usage omits the definite article. When southern California freeways were built in the 1940s and early 1950s, local common usage was primarily the freeway name preceded by the definite article, such as "the Hollywood Freeway". It took several decades for southern California locals to start to commonly refer to the freeways with the numerical designations, but usage of the definite article persisted. For example, it evolved to "the 605 Freeway" and then shortened to "the 605".


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth Bacon Custer (née Bacon; April 8, 1842 – April 4, 1933) was an American author and public speaker, and the wife of Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, United States Army. She spent most of their marriage in relative proximity to him despite his numerous military campaigns in the American Civil War and subsequent postings on the Great Plains as a commanding officer in the United States Cavalry.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Left nearly destitute in the aftermath of her husband's death, she became an outspoken advocate for his legacy through her popular books and lectures. Largely as a result of her decades of campaigning on his behalf, General Custer's image as the gallant fallen hero amid the glory of Custer's Last Stand was a canon of American history for almost a century after his death.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth Custer never remarried and died in 1933, four days short of her 91st birthday. She has been portrayed by a number of actresses, starting in the 1940s in films and later on television.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth "Libbie" Bacon was born in Monroe, Michigan, in 1842, the daughter of a wealthy and influential judge and state representative, Daniel Bacon (b. 1798). Her father had profitable investments in real estate and other business ventures.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Tragedy marked much of her childhood, with her three siblings and mother all dying before Elizabeth's thirteenth year. As she was the only one of the judge's children who would live to adulthood, her father doted on her, being charged by his dying wife to "...be both a mother and father..." to the young girl. Judge Bacon, nearly ten years later, stated "I have ever felt the force of these words... I feel the responsibility beyond anything in my life before or since."


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth Bacon was both beautiful and intelligent, graduating from a girls' seminary in June 1862 at the head of her class. Her father hoped she would make a good marriage with a man from her own elevated social status, and she rejected several suitors.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: She had briefly encountered her future husband George Armstrong Custer as a child, and socially met him again in the autumn of 1862, when he had returned to Monroe on leave from the first year of the American Civil War. He later wrote that he fell deeply in love with her as of their first formal meeting. She eventually returned these feelings, but her father refused to allow then-Captain Custer into the Bacon home or to permit her to meet him outside it, much less get married, as George proposed in the final week of 1862. He was from a poor, undistinguished family, and the judge hoped his daughter would have better than the life of an army wife. After Custer, just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg (where he played a significant role), was promoted to Brevet brigadier general, Judge Bacon finally relented and they were married in Monroe at the First Presbyterian Church on February 9, 1864.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth Custer and her husband George had a loving but tumultuous relationship. Both were stubborn, opinionated, and ambitious. Their private correspondence was filled with sexually charged double entendres.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: After the war, George reverted from his wartime rank of major general to his Regular Army rank of lieutenant colonel, although he did receive a brevet (honorary) promotion to major general which allowed him to wear the uniform and insignia of that rank. He was assigned to a series of dreary and unsatisfying assignments in Texas, Kansas, and the Dakota Territory. Life on the frontier outposts was difficult, and his career was plagued by problems including a court martial (brought about by his leaving the field to be with his wife).


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: The 1876 campaign against the Sioux seemed like a chance for glory to George Armstrong Custer. The couple's final home together was at Fort Abraham Lincoln near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota. From there, the general led the Seventh Cavalry in pursuit of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne who refused to be confined to the reservation system.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: After her husband and 5 of the 12 companies of the 7th Cavalry were wiped out at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in June 1876, many in the press, Army, and government criticized him for blundering into a massacre. President Ulysses S. Grant publicly blamed him for the disaster. Fearing that her husband would be made a scapegoat by history, Elizabeth Custer launched a one-woman campaign to rehabilitate her husband's image. Her assistance to Frederick Whittaker, the author of the first biography of George, helped enable the rapid production of the popular book, which praised George's career and set the tone for future biographers in the decades ahead.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth began writing articles and making speaking engagements praising the glory of what she presented as her "martyred" husband. Her three books—"Boots and Saddles" (1885), "Tenting on the Plains"—(1887), and "Following the Guidon" (1890) aimed at glorifying her husband's memory and were ultimately slanted in George's favor.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth remained utterly devoted to her husband and never remarried. Despite having spent her life traveling extensively throughout the United States (including winters in Florida) and the world, she never visited the valley of Little Big Horn. She was said to treasure a letter from President Theodore Roosevelt who stated that her husband was "one of my heroes" and "a shining light to all the youth of America." In later decades, historians reexamined George's actions leading up to and during the battle and found much to criticize.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: After an initial period of distress dealing with her late husband's debts, Elizabeth spent her over a half-century of widowhood in financial comfort attained as the result of her literary career and lecture tours, leaving an estate of over $100,000. She died in New York City, four days before her 91st birthday, on April 4, 1933, and was buried next to her husband at West Point. A few years before her death she told a writer that her greatest disappointment was that she never had a son to bear her husband's honored name.


title: Elizabeth Bacon Custer

text: Elizabeth Custer was portrayed by actress Olivia de Havilland in the 1941 film "They Died with their Boots On", by Mary Ure in the 1967 film "Custer of the West", by Blythe Danner in the 1977 television movie "The Court Martial of George Armstrong Custer", and by Rosanna Arquette in the 1991 television mini-series "Son of the Morning Star".


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: Evil Angels (released as A Cry in the Dark outside Australia and New Zealand) is a 1988 Australian drama film directed by Fred Schepisi. The screenplay by Schepisi and Robert Caswell is based on John Bryson's 1985 book of the same name. It chronicles the case of Azaria Chamberlain, a nine-week-old baby girl who disappeared from a campground near Ayers Rock in August 1980 and the struggle of her parents, Michael Chamberlain and Lindy Chamberlain, to prove their innocence to a public convinced that they were complicit in her death. Meryl Streep and Sam Neill star as the Chamberlains.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: The film was released less than two months after the Chamberlains were exonerated by the Northern Territory Court of Appeals of all charges filed against them. The film received generally favourable reviews, with Streep's performance receiving high praise and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, but was a box office disappointment, grossing only $6.9 million against its $15 million budget.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor Michael Chamberlain, his wife Lindy Chamberlain, their two sons, and their nine-week-old daughter Azaria are on a camping holiday in the Australian Outback. With the baby sleeping in their tent, the family enjoys a barbecue with their fellow campers when a cry is heard. Lindy returns to the tent to check and is certain she sees a dingo with something in its mouth running off as she approaches. When she discovers the infant is missing, everyone joins forces to search for her, without success. It is assumed what Lindy saw was the animal carrying Azaria, and a subsequent inquest rules her account of events as true.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: However, the tide of public opinion soon turns against the Chamberlains. For many, Lindy seems too stoic, too cold-hearted, and too accepting of the disaster that has befallen the family. Gossip about her begins to swell and soon is accepted as statements of fact. The couple's religious beliefs are not widely practised in the country, and when the media report a rumour that the name Azaria means "sacrifice in the wilderness", the public is quick to believe they decapitated their baby with a pair of scissors as part of a bizarre religious rite.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: Law-enforcement officials find new witnesses, forensics experts, and circumstantial evidence and reopen the investigation, eventually charging Lindy with murder. Seven months pregnant, she ignores her attorneys' advice to play to the jury's sympathy and appears stoic on the stand, convincing some onlookers of her guilt. As the trial progresses, Michael's faith in his religion and his belief in his wife falter, and he stumbles through his testimony, suggesting he is concealing the truth. In October 1982, Lindy is found guilty and immediately sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour, while Michael is found guilty as an accessory and given an 18-month suspended sentence.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: More than three years later, while searching for the body of an English tourist who fell from Uluru, police discover clothing that is identified as the jacket Lindy had insisted Azaria was wearing over her jumpsuit, which had been recovered early in the investigation. Lindy is immediately released from prison, the case is reopened and all convictions against the Chamberlains are overturned. The film ends with Michael commenting on the ongoing battle to clear the family's name.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: John Bryson's book "Evil Angels" was published in 1985 and film rights were bought by Verity Lambert, who got the interest of Meryl Streep. Robert Caswell wrote a script and Fred Schepisi agreed to direct. The movie was one of the most expensive and elaborate ever shot in Australia, with 350 speaking cast and 4,000 extras.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: In his review in "The New York Times", Vincent Canby said the film "has much of the manner of a television docudrama, ultimately being a rather comforting celebration of personal triumph over travails so dread and so particular that they have no truly disturbing, larger application. Yet "A Cry in the Dark" is better than that, mostly because of another stunning performance by Meryl Streep, who plays Lindy Chamberlain with the kind of virtuosity that seems to redefine the possibilities of screen acting ... Though Sam Neill is very good as Lindy Chamberlain's tormented husband, Miss Streep supplies the guts of the melodrama that are missing from the screenplay."


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: "Mr. Schepisi has chosen to present the terrible events in the outback in such a way that there's never any doubt in the audience's mind about what happened. The audience doesn't worry about the fate of the Chamberlains as much as it worries about the unconvincing ease with which justice is miscarried. Mr. Schepisi may have followed the facts of the case, but he has not made them comprehensible in terms of the film. The manner by which justice miscarries is the real subject of the movie. In this screenplay, however, it serves only as a pretext for a personal drama that remains chilly and distant ... As a result, the courtroom confrontations are so weakened that "A Cry in the Dark" becomes virtually a one-character movie. It's Mr. Schepisi's great good fortune that that one character is portrayed by the incomparable Meryl Streep."


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" observed, "Schepisi is successful in indicting the court of public opinion, and his methodical (but absorbing) examination of the evidence helps us understand the state's circumstantial case. In the lead role, Streep is given a thankless assignment: to show us a woman who deliberately refused to allow insights into herself. She succeeds, and so, of course, there are times when we feel frustrated because we do not know what Lindy is thinking or feeling. We begin to dislike the character, and then we know how the Australian public felt. Streep's performance is risky, and masterful."


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: In "The Washington Post", Rita Kempley said, "Streep – yes, with another perfect accent – brings her customary skillfulness to the part. It's not a showy performance, but the heroine's internal struggle seems to come from the actress' pores. Neill, who costarred with Streep in "Plenty", is quite good as a humble, bewildered sort who finally breaks under cross-examination." "Variety" made note of the "intimate, incredible detail in the classy, disturbing drama."


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: "Evil Angels" grossed A$3,006,964 at the box office in Australia. This was considered a disappointment considering the publicity and subject matter.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: In 2005, the phrase "The dingo took my baby!", was nominated by the American Film Institute in its list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. The quote, often incorrectly quoted as "a dingo ate my baby", became part of pop culture after the release of the movie, appearing on such shows as "Seinfeld", "The Simpsons", "Frasier", "Supernatural", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and "Baby Daddy", as well as The Rugrats Movie.


title: Evil Angels (film)

text: In June 2008, the AFI revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. "Evil Angels" was acknowledged as ninth best in the courtroom drama genre.


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 (, Am-241) is an isotope of americium. Like all isotopes of americium, it is radioactive, with a half-life of . is the most common isotope of americium as well as the most prevalent isotope of americium in nuclear waste. It is commonly found in ionization type smoke detectors and is a potential fuel for long-lifetime radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Its common parent nuclides are β from , EC from , and α from . is fissile and the critical mass of a bare sphere is and a sphere diameter of . Americium-241 has a specific activity of . It is commonly found in the form of americium-241 dioxide (). This isotope also has one meta state, , with an excitation energy of and a half-life of . The presence of americium-241 in plutonium is determined by the original concentration of plutonium-241 and the sample age. Because of the low penetration of alpha radiation, americium-241 only poses a health risk when ingested or inhaled. Older samples of plutonium containing contain a buildup of . A chemical removal of americium-241 from reworked plutonium (e.g. during reworking of plutonium pits) may be required in some cases.


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 has been produced in small quantities in nuclear reactors for decades, and many kilograms of have been accumulated by now. Nevertheless, since it was first offered for sale in 1962, its price, about per gram of , remains almost unchanged owing to the very complex separation procedure.


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 is not synthesized directly from uranium – the most common reactor material – but from the plutonium isotope . The latter needs to be produced first, according to the following nuclear process:


title: Americium-241

text: The plutonium present in spent nuclear fuel contains about 12% of . Because it converts to , can be extracted and may be used to generate further . However, this process is rather slow: half of the original amount of decays to after about 14 years, and the amount reaches a maximum after 70 years.


title: Americium-241

text: The obtained can be used for generating heavier americium isotopes by further neutron capture inside a nuclear reactor. In a light water reactor (LWR), 79% of neutron captures on convert to and 10% to its nuclear isomer :


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 decays mainly via alpha decay, with a weak gamma ray byproduct. The α-decay is shown as follows:


title: Americium-241

text: The α-decay energies are for of the time (the one which is widely accepted for standard α-decay energy), for 13% of the time, and for the remaining 2%. The γ-ray energy is for the most part, with little amounts of other energies such as , and .


title: Americium-241

text: The second most common type of decay that americium-241 undergoes is spontaneous fission, with a branching ratio of 3.6×10 and happening 1.2 times a second per gram of . It is written as such (the asterisk denotes an excited nucleus):


title: Americium-241

text: The least common (rarest) type of decay for americium-241 is cluster decay, with a branching ratio of less than 7.4×10. It is written as follows:


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 is the only synthetic isotope to have found its way into the household, where the most common type of smoke detector (the ionization-type) uses (americium-241 dioxide) as its source of ionizing radiation. This isotope is preferred over because it emits 5times more alpha particles and relatively little harmful gamma radiation. With its half-life of , the americium in a smoke detector decreases and includes about 3% neptunium after , and about 5% after . The amount of americium in a typical new smoke detector is (about 1/3000 the weight of a small grain of sand) with an activity of . Some old industrial smoke detectors (notably from the Pyrotronics Corporation) can contain up to . The amount of declines slowly as it decays into neptunium-237 (), a different transuranic element with a much longer half-life (about ). The radiated alpha particles pass through an ionization chamber, an air-filled space between two electrodes, which allows a small, constant electric current to pass between the capacitor plates due to the radiation ionizing the air space between. Any smoke that enters the chamber blocks/absorbs some of the alpha particles from freely passing through and reduces the ionization and therefore causes a drop in the current. The alarm's circuitry detects this drop in the current and as a result, triggers the piezoelectric buzzer to sound. Compared to the alternative optical smoke detector, the ionization smoke detector is cheaper and can detect particles which are too small to produce significant light scattering. However, it is more prone to false alarms.


title: Americium-241

text: The process for making the americium used in the buttons on ionization-type smoke detectors begins with americium dioxide. The is thoroughly mixed with gold, shaped into a briquette, and fused by pressure and heat at over . A backing of silver and a front covering of gold (or an alloy of gold or palladium) are applied to the briquette and sealed by hot forging. The briquette is then processed through several stages of cold rolling to achieve the desired thickness and levels of radiation emission. The final thickness is about , with the gold cover representing about one percent of the thickness. The resulting foil strip, which is about wide, is cut into sections long. The sources are punched out of the foil strip. Each disc, about in diameter, is mounted in a metal holder, usually made of aluminium. The holder is the housing, which is the majority of what is seen on the button. The thin rim on the holder is rolled over to completely seal the cut edge around the disc.


title: Americium-241

text: As has a "roughly" similar half-life to (432.2 years vs. 87 years), it has been proposed as an active isotope of radioisotope thermoelectric generators, for use in spacecraft. Even though americium-241 produces less heat and electricity than plutonium-238 (the power yield is for "vs." for ) and its radiation poses a greater threat to humans owing to gamma and neutron emission, it has advantages for long duration missions with its significantly longer half-life. The European Space Agency is working on RTGs based on americium-241 for its space probes as a result of the global shortage of plutonium-238 and easy access to americium-241 in Europe from nuclear waste reprocessing.


title: Americium-241

text: Its shielding requirements in an RTG are the second lowest of all possible isotopes: only requires less. An advantage over is that it is produced as nuclear waste and is nearly isotopically pure. Prototype designs of RTGs expect 2–2.2 W/kg for 5–50 W RTGs design, putting RTGs at parity with RTGs within that power range, as the vast majority of the mass of an RTG is not the isotopes, but the thermoelectrics, radiators, and isotope containment mass.


title: Americium-241

text: Oxides of pressed with beryllium can be very efficient neutron sources, since they emit alpha particles during radioactive decay:


title: Americium-241

text: Here americium acts as the alpha source, and beryllium produces neutrons owing to its large cross-section for the (α,n) nuclear reaction:


title: Americium-241

text: The most widespread use of neutron sources is a neutron probe – a device used to measure the quantity of water present in soil, as well as moisture/density for quality control in highway construction. neutron sources are also used in well logging applications, as well as in neutron radiography, tomography, and other radiochemical investigations.


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 is sometimes used as a starting material for the production of other transuranic elements and transactinides – for example, neutron bombardment of yields :


title: Americium-241

text: In the nuclear reactor, is also up-converted by neutron capture to and , which transforms by β-decay to :


title: Americium-241

text: Irradiation of by or ions yields the isotopes (einsteinium) or (dubnium), respectively. Furthermore, the element berkelium ( isotope) had been first intentionally produced and identified by bombarding with alpha particles, in 1949, by the same Berkeley group, using the same cyclotron that had been used for many previous experiments. Similarly, nobelium was produced at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia, in 1965 in several reactions, one of which included irradiation of with ions. Besides, one of the synthesis reactions for lawrencium, discovered by scientists at Berkeley and Dubna, included bombardment of with .


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 has been used as a portable source of both gamma rays and alpha particles for a number of medical and industrial uses. The gamma ray emissions from in such sources can be used for indirect analysis of materials in radiography and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, as well as for quality control in fixed nuclear density gauges and nuclear densometers. For example, this isotope has been employed to gauge glass thickness to help create flat glass. Americium-241 is also suitable for calibration of gamma-ray spectrometers in the low-energy range, since its spectrum consists of nearly a single peak and negligible Compton continuum (at least three orders of magnitude lower intensity).


title: Americium-241

text: Gamma rays from americium-241 have been used to provide passive diagnosis of thyroid function. This medical application is now obsolete. Americium-241's gamma rays can provide reasonable quality radiographs, with a 10-minute exposure time. radiographs have only been taken experimentally due to the long exposure time which increases the effective dose to living tissue. Reducing exposure duration reduces the chance of ionization events causing damage to cells and DNA, and is a critical component in the ""time, distance, shielding"" maxim used in radiation protection.


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 has the same general hazards as other americium isotopes: it is both extremely toxic and radioactive. Although α-particles can be stopped by a sheet of paper, there are serious health concerns for ingestion of α-emitters. Americium and its isotopes are also very chemically toxic as well, in the form of heavy-metal toxicity. As little as is the maximum permissible body burden for .


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 is an α-emitter with a weak γ-ray byproduct. Safely handling americium-241 requires knowing and following proper safety precautions, as without them it would be extremely dangerous. Its specific gamma dose constant is 3.14 x 10 mR/hr/mCi or 8.48 x10 mSv/hr/MBq at .


title: Americium-241

text: If consumed, americium-241 is excreted within a few days and only 0.05% is absorbed in the blood. From there, roughly 45% of it goes to the liver and 45% to the bones, and the remaining 10% is excreted. The uptake to the liver depends on the individual and increases with age. In the bones, americium is first deposited over cortical and trabecular surfaces and slowly redistributes over the bone with time. The biological half-life of is in the bones and in the liver, whereas in the gonads (testicles and ovaries) it remains permanently; in all these organs, americium promotes formation of cancer cells as a result of its radioactivity.


title: Americium-241

text: Americium-241 often enters landfills from discarded smoke detectors. The rules associated with the disposal of smoke detectors are relaxed in most jurisdictions. In the U.S., the "Radioactive Boy Scout" David Hahn was able to concentrate americium-241 from smoke detectors after managing to buy a hundred of them at remainder prices and also stealing a few. There have been a few cases of exposure to americium-241, the worst case being that of Harold McCluskey who, at the age of 64, was exposed to 500 times the occupational standard for americium-241 as a result of an explosion in his lab. McCluskey died at the age of 75, not as a result of exposure, but of a heart disease which he had before the accident.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: The fifth series of "The Great British Bake Off" first aired on 6 August 2014, with twelve contestants. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins presented the show and Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood returned as judges. Twelve contestants competed in this series, and the competition was held in Welford Park in Berkshire. The series was won by Nancy Birtwhistle, with Luis Troyano and Richard Burr finishing as runners-up.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: The programme was moved from BBC Two to BBC One starting this year, but the Masterclass episodes remained on BBC Two. A companion series, "", hosted by comedian Jo Brand, started this year on BBC Two.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: For their first bake, the contestants were required to make a Swiss Roll as their signature challenge in two and a half hours. For the technical bake, the bakers were set the challenge of baking a cherry cake in two hours using Mary Berry's recipe. In the showstopper challenge, the bakers were given three and a half hours to bake their own choice of classic British cakes in miniature. The bakers needed to make 36 cakes of identical size, shape and texture.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: In this episode, the bakers were challenged with creating biscuits. Firstly, in the signature, they had two hours to bake 36 savoury biscuits. In the technical challenge, they had one and a quarter hours with Mary Berry's recipe for 18 florentines, which the bakers found difficult. In the final challenge, the bakers had four hours to make some kind of 3D biscuit scene.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: In bread week, the bakers firstly had to make twelve rye bread rolls in three and a half hours. In the technical challenge, they were given three hours to make four ciabatta loaves using Paul's recipe, with the advice from Paul that they should be patient. In the showstopper, the bakers were required to make a bread centrepiece in four hours. The centrepiece should be a filled-loaf that is spectacular and tasty, and would be judged on its appearance, design and crust, and should be well-baked on the inside.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: For the signature bake, the judges gave the bakers two hours to make eight self-saucing puddings, meaning the sauce should come from the bake itself. The bakers may choose to make either a fondant or a sponge which creates its own sauce at the bottom. In the technical, they had to bake Mary's own tiramisu cake recipe in two and a half hours. In the showstopper, they had four and a half hours to make baked Alaskas.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Many of the bakers struggled to make baked Alaskas, as it was the hottest day of the year so far, and two of five refrigerators were broken, resulting in a struggle among the contestants for enough freezer space. During the bake, Diana took Iain's ice cream and sponge cake assembly out of the freezer to make room for hers, mistakenly leaving it out on a counter in the hot tent. When Iain found it, the ice cream had melted and, frustrated, he threw the sponge cake and melted ice cream in the dustbin. (It was later stated by producers that the dessert was only out for one minute.) Paul and Mary chastised him for this decision, explaining that they would rather have judged sample pieces of each baked Alaska component or even a melted final product than nothing at all, and his decision to present Paul and Mary with nothing to judge contributed to his elimination. Viewers of the show objected on Twitter, attacking Diana. Iain spoke out against these online attacks, and Diana claimed that the editing had distorted the truth, "stitching [her] up". She subsequently withdrew from the show after suffering an injury from a fall.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: For signature challenge, the bakers were set the task of a family-sized custard tart in two and a half hours. The tart should have a crispy base and silky custard. The technical challenge is set using one of Paul's recipes, and the bakers were required to make six mini pear pies, which are poached pears surrounded by rough puff pastry, to be completed in two hours. In the showstopper, the bakers were tasked with making tiered pies in four and half hours. The pies needed to be able to support themselves, and should have at least three tiers and share a common theme.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Before the round began, it was announced that Diana had withdrawn from the competition for health reasons; though specifics were not mentioned on air, Diana stated later that she had lost her sense of taste and smell in a fall.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: For the signature bake, the challenge was to bake a cake inspired by a European cake, but the cake had to be leavened with yeast. The bakers were given three hours for the challenge. The technical challenge was set using one of Mary's recipes for a Swedish Princess cake ("Prinsesstårta"). The recipe is the most complicated yet, requiring 26 separate ingredients with 14 stages, and to be completed in two and a quarter hours. For the showstopper challenge, the bakers were required to make a contemporary version of the Hungarian Dobos Torte in five hours. The cake should have at least two tiers, with particular emphasis on caramel sugar work on the cake.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: No one was eliminated this week as the judges could not agree on the worst-performing baker, stating it was between Richard and Kate. As Diana left the show before the previous week's contest due to illness, it was possible not to eliminate anyone.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: In their first task, the bakers were set the challenge of making twelve savoury pastry parcels, to be completed in an hour and three quarters. The parcels can be of any type of pastries, but should be uniform in size, well-filled, perfectly cooked and well-sealed to prevent leaks. The technical bake was one that for the first time none of the bakers had heard of, the Breton pastry kouign-amann, using one of Paul's recipes. The bakers should make twelve identical kouign-amanns in three and a half hours. For the final challenge, the bakers were required to make 24 Éclairs of two different flavours (12 of each) in four hours. The éclairs should be made of choux pastry and éclair-shaped, otherwise the bakers were free to do as they wished to produce a showstopper.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: For the signature bake, they were given the challenge of making sweet fruit loaves that must be free form. They had two and a half hours for the bake which is challenging as the bakers were required to use enriched dough which takes longer to proof. In the technical, they had two and a half hours to make a povitica, which Chetna had made for her signature loaf. This technical challenge was particularly hard for most of the bakers, many of whose loafs were raw inside and deemed unsafe to eat. Doughnuts were set as the challenge in the final task, and the bakers were required to make eighteen each of two different sorts, to be completed in four hours.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: For the signature challenge, the bakers had to make baklava, including their own filo pastry, with a time limit of three and a half hours to complete the challenge. There had to be two different types of baklava, and twenty-four portions in total. For the technical challenge, the bakers had to make a schichttorte, and had two hours to complete it. There had to be twenty layers in their schichttorte, and was one of Paul's recipes. For the showstopper challenge, the bakers had to make entremets, very small and fine cakes put in a window of a French pâtisserie. They had to make two different types of entremets, twelve of each, and had five hours to complete the challenge.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: In the final signature challenge, the bakers had to make Viennoiserie in three and a half hours. They had to make two different types of the pastry. In the technical, the judges decided to bring things "back to basics" by asking the bakers to bake 12 Victoria Sandwiches, Tartes au citron and Scones. The challenge, however, was that they had only two hours to make this and only three instructions. The final Showstopper was a Pièce Montée. The bakers were given five hours to make this, and the judges said it must be in some self-standing structure.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Mary and Paul demonstrated how to bake the technical challenges that they set for the bakers as well as their own favorite recipes for some of the other challenges set in the series. They also gave some tips on baking techniques. The Masterclasses episodes were shown on BBC2.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: In the fourth episode of the series, there was controversy over the events that preceded the elimination of contestant Iain Watters. During the final showstopper round contestants were tasked with producing a baked Alaska. Iain's ice cream was shown as having not set, and in a show of frustration, he threw his bake in the bin. The editing of the show suggested that another contestant, Diana Beard, had caused the failure by removing the ice cream from a freezer for her own ice cream, and the perceived "sabotage" resulted in a furore on social media networks.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: More than 800 complaints were lodged with the BBC, and some complained to the communication watchdog Ofcom. Some members of the cast, however, posted comments in support of Diana, and a BBC spokesman later issued a statement:


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: "As shown in the episode, Iain became the fourth baker to leave the tent because he didn't present Paul and Mary with anything to judge in the showstopper challenge and both judges were very clear about the reasoning behind the decision. Due to the extreme temperature in the tent that day, many of the bakers struggled to get their ice cream to set as seen in the episode. Diana removing Iain's ice cream from the freezer for less than a minute was in no way responsible for Iain's departure."


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: The claim that his dish was only left out for a short time was, however, challenged by Iain Watters, who said that it was left long enough to ruin the dessert.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Fellow contestant Jordan Cox criticized the show's production, claiming the freezers were not very good in quality, and were chosen only for their aesthetics.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Beard later gave an interview to BBC Radio Shropshire: "I'm disappointed with the way it's been portrayed. I've been stitched up, haven't I? We were 12 amateur bakers, [there's] no prize money involved. Why would I sabotage Iain's Baked Alaska? This has made it look like some cutthroat competition. I think someone's culpable for the editing, really." Beard also said that Iain's ice cream had been out of the freezer for no more than 40 seconds, and that her conscience was clear.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: A number of viewers complained to the BBC feedback show "Points of View" in the fifth series about the "constant smutty remarks" from the presenters Mel and Sue. This series was seen as having more innuendos than previous ones; some reviewers noted the "extra pinch of saucy spice" and "the increasingly filthy-minded hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins", though Series 3 winner John Whaite argued that innuendo is part of what made the show a success, while Paul Hollywood described the innuendo as banter in the spirit of the "Carry On" films and is a part of British culture, a view shared by others.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Luis Troyano also wrote a book, "Bake It Great", released on 20 August 2015. He died of oesophageal cancer in November 2020 at the age of 48.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Chetna Makan has written a baking book "The Cardamom Trail," released on 21 March 2016, as well as a cookbook "Chai, Chaat & Chutney: A Street Food Journey Through India", published on 6 July 2017. Makan has continued to write cookbooks focused on Indian cooking, with "Chetna's Healthy Indian, Chetna's Healthy Indian Vegetarian, and Chetna's 30-Minute Indian" published in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Martha Collison has written two baking books, "Twist," released on 14 July 2016, and "Crave", published 13 July 2017 with Harper Collins. She also has a weekly column with Waitrose and is a charity ambassador for Tearfund.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: Nancy Birtwhistle released her first book ‘Sizzle and Drizzle’ in 2020. She released her second book, Clean & Green: 101 Hints and Tips for a More Eco-Friendly Home in 2021.


title: The Great British Bake Off (series 5)

text: The series started with its highest ratings for its opening episode after its move to BBC One, with over 7 million tuning in according to overnight figures. This is adjusted to 8.5 million for its 7-day final viewing figure, making this its second most-watched episode after previous year's final. In the fourth episode, 8.1 million watched the original broadcast, but the "bingate" controversy gained the show a further 2 million viewers on the BBC iPlayer catch-up service, giving the show the biggest ever audience with 10.248 million viewers for the episode. The final of the show gained an overnight viewing figure of 12.29 million, and a consolidated average figure of 13.5 million, the highest viewing figure for a non-sporting event of the year on UK TV, after 2014 FIFA World Cup's England vs Uruguay match. Series 5 had an average of viewing figure of 10.1 million.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The C219 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class is the first generation of the CLS-Class range of four-door coupe features a fastback body style by Mercedes-Benz, and was produced between 2004 and 2010.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The CLS-Class has only four seats and is marketed by Mercedes as a four-door coupé. For this reason, in Germany and in whole Europe the model code name is C219 while in US the CLS is more commonly named as C219 model. It was the first model globally to introduce this four-door coupe style and VW followed with the Volkswagen CC model in 2008 and the Porsche Panamera and Audi A7 in 2009.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The car is less practical than the W211 E-Class that it is based on, with less legroom, headroom, and boot space. The CLS-Class is priced above the E-Class, but below the S-Class in the Mercedes model range.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The C219 CLS-Class is based on the Vision CLS concept that was unveiled at the 2003 Frankfurt International Motor Show. The design combined the roof-line of a coupé onto the body of a four-door chassis leading to a fastback vehicle. It featured new technologies such as cornering lights, an electrohydraulic braking system (Sensotronic Brake Control), a seven-speed (7G-Tronic) automatic transmission, and a turbo-diesel engine rated at and .


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The production version of the C219 CLS-Class was based on the W211 E-Class platform, and shares major components including the engines, transmissions and an identical wheelbase of . The car is longer, wider, and lower in comparison, and features, according to Mercedes, a 30% stiffer suspension setup and faster steering.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: Design patents were filed on July 24, 2002. The production version CLS500 debuted at the 2004 New York International Auto Show.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: Standard equipment includes heated automatically dimming mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, and an automatic climate control system. The CLS-Class comes with front and side airbags, and a smart sensor system connected to the seatbelts and airbags that can detect and react to an accident. Available options include: self-cleaning bi-xenon HID headlamps, radar-guided cruise control, keyless go, GPS navigation, Sensotronic Brake Control and AirMATIC air suspension that can be controlled from the driver and can be raised or lowered by .


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The CLS 55 AMG is a high-performance variant of the CLS-Class featuring a 5.4-litre supercharged V8 producing and , and was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2004. Compared to the standard model, the CLS 55 AMG has larger 360 mm brake discs with eight-piston callipers from the SL55 AMG, wider 18-inch alloy wheels, revised stiffer AirMATIC air suspension with multiple driving modes, AMG bodywork, and a five-speed automatic transmission.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The CLS 63 AMG was introduced in 2006, as the successor to the CLS 55 AMG. The car is powered by the then new Mercedes M156 engine that produces and ; with less torque than before in order to accommodate the new AMG Speedshift Plus 7G-Tronic seven-speed transmission, instead of the previous five-speed automatic. The new transmission includes a comfort, sport, and manual mode that allows for the manual changing of gears. Sport mode have shift speeds that are almost 30% faster than comfort and 50% faster than manual. The car also features an updated instrument cluster and alloy-wheel design.


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The CLS 63 AMG had a V8 petrol engine, with of torque and an electronically-limited top speed of . The CLS 63 AMG was able to reach in 4.5 seconds. Its curb weight was .


title: Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (C219)

text: The CLS Grand Edition was a special edition model of the CLS-Class, with only 560 units produced and sold in 2009. The CLS Grand Edition was available with all non-AMG models at the time, and the CLS 350 CDI model received performance improvements of and . Standard equipment included: bi-xenon headlights, titanium grey 18-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, laurel wood interior trim, and 'Grand Edition' insignia. Models were also offered with a choice of designo leather upholstery and four exclusive metallic exterior paint colours.


title: History of liberalism

text: Liberalism, the belief in freedom, equality, democracy and human rights, is historically associated with thinkers such as John Locke and Montesquieu, and with constitutionally limiting the power of the monarch, affirming parliamentary supremacy, passing the Bill of Rights and establishing the principle of "consent of the governed". The 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States founded the nascent republic on liberal principles without the encumbrance of hereditary aristocracy—the declaration stated that "all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". A few years later, the French Revolution overthrew the hereditary aristocracy, with the slogan "liberty, equality, fraternity" and was the first state in history to grant universal male suffrage. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, first codified in 1789 in France, is a foundational document of both liberalism and human rights, itself based on the U.S. Declaration of Independence written in 1776. The intellectual progress of the Enlightenment, which questioned old traditions about societies and governments, eventually coalesced into powerful revolutionary movements that toppled what the French called the Ancien Régime, the belief in absolute monarchy and established religion, especially in Europe, Latin America and North America.


title: History of liberalism

text: William Henry of Orange in the Glorious Revolution, Thomas Jefferson in the American Revolution and Lafayette in the French Revolution used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of what they saw as tyrannical rule. The 19th century saw liberal governments established in nations across Europe, South America and North America. In this period, the dominant ideological opponent of classical liberalism was conservatism, but liberalism later survived major ideological challenges from new opponents, such as fascism and communism. Liberal government often adopted the economic beliefs espoused by Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill and others, which broadly emphasized the importance of free markets and "laissez-faire" governance, with a minimum of interference in trade.


title: History of liberalism

text: During 19th and early 20th century in the Ottoman Empire and Middle East, liberalism influenced periods of reform such as the Tanzimat and Nahda and the rise of secularism, constitutionalism and nationalism. These changes, along with other factors, helped to create a sense of crisis within Islam which continues to this day—this led to Islamic revivalism. During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread even further as liberal democracies found themselves on the winning side in both world wars. In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism (often called simply "liberalism" in the United States) became a key component in the expansion of the welfare state. Today, liberal parties continue to wield power, control and influence throughout the world, but it still has challenges to overcome in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Later waves of modern liberal thought and struggle were strongly influenced by the need to expand civil rights. Liberals have advocated for gender equality, marriage equality and racial equality and a global social movement for civil rights in the 20th century achieved several objectives towards those goals.


title: History of liberalism

text: Isolated strands of liberal thought had existed in Western philosophy since the Ancient Greeks and in Eastern philosophy since the Song and Ming period, but the first major signs of liberal politics emerged in modern times. Many of the liberal concepts of Locke were foreshadowed in the radical ideas that were freely aired at the time. The pamphleteer Richard Overton wrote: "To every Individuall in nature, is given an individual property by nature, not to be invaded or usurped by any...; no man hath power over my rights and liberties, and I over no mans". These ideas were first unified as a distinct ideology by the English philosopher John Locke, generally regarded as the father of modern liberalism. Locke developed the radical notion that government acquires consent from the governed, which has to be constantly present for a government to remain legitimate. His influential "Two Treatises" (1690), the foundational text of liberal ideology, outlined his major ideas. His insistence that lawful government did not have a supernatural basis was a sharp break from previous theories of governance. Locke also defined the concept of the separation of church and state. Based on the social contract principle, Locke argued that there was a natural right to the liberty of conscience, which he argued must therefore remain protected from any government authority. He also formulated a general defence for religious toleration in his "Letters Concerning Toleration". Locke was influenced by the liberal ideas of John Milton, who was a staunch advocate of freedom in all its forms.


title: History of liberalism

text: Milton argued for disestablishment as the only effective way of achieving broad toleration. In his "Areopagitica", Milton provided one of the first arguments for the importance of freedom of speech—"the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties". Algernon Sidney was second only to John Locke in his influence on liberal political thought in eighteenth-century Britain and Colonial America, and was widely read and quoted by the Whig opposition during the Glorious Revolution. Sidney's argument that "free men always have the right to resist tyrannical government" was widely quoted by the Patriots at the time of American Revolutionary War and Thomas Jefferson considered Sidney to have been one of the two primary sources for the Founding Fathers' view of liberty. Sidney believed that absolute monarchy was a great political evil and his major work, "Discourses Concerning Government", was written during the Exclusion Crisis, as a response to Robert Filmer's "Patriarcha", a defence of divine right monarchy. Sidney firmly rejected the Filmer's reactionary principles and argued that the subjects of the monarch were entitled by right to share in the government through advice and counsel.


title: History of liberalism

text: Isolated strands of liberal thought that had existed in Western philosophy since the Ancient Greeks began to coalesce at the time of the English Civil War. Disputes between the Parliament and King Charles I over political supremacy sparked a massive civil war in the 1640s, which culminated in Charles' execution and the establishment of a Republic. In particular, the Levellers, a radical political movement of the period, published their manifesto "Agreement of the People" which advocated popular sovereignty, an extended voting suffrage, religious tolerance and equality before the law. The impact of liberal ideas steadily increased during the 17th century in England, culminating in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which enshrined parliamentary sovereignty and the right of revolution, and led to the establishment of what many consider the first modern, liberal state. Significant legislative milestones in this period included the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which strengthened the convention that forbade detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence. The Bill of Rights formally established the supremacy of the law and of parliament over the monarch and laid down basic rights for all Englishmen. The Bill made royal interference with the law and with elections to parliament illegal, made the agreement of parliament necessary for the implementation of any new taxes and outlawed the maintenance of a standing army during peacetime without parliament's consent. The right to petition the monarch was granted to everyone and "cruel and unusual punishments" were made illegal under all circumstances. This was followed a year later with the Act of Toleration, which drew its ideological content from John Locke's four letters advocating religious toleration. The Act allowed freedom of worship to Nonconformists who pledged oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy to the Anglican Church. In 1695, the Commons refused to renew the Licensing of the Press Act 1662, leading to a continuous period of unprecedented freedom of the press.


title: History of liberalism

text: The development of liberalism continued throughout the 18th century with the burgeoning Enlightenment ideals of the era. This was a period of profound intellectual vitality that questioned old traditions and influenced several European monarchies throughout the 18th century. In contrast to England, the French experience in the 18th century was characterised by the perpetuation of feudal payments and rights and absolutism. Ideas that challenged the status quo were often harshly repressed. Most of the philosophes of the French Enlightenment were progressive in the liberal sense and advocated the reform of the French system of government along more constitutional and liberal lines. The American Enlightenment is a period of intellectual ferment in the thirteen American colonies in the period 1714–1818, which led to the American Revolution and the creation of the American Republic. Influenced by the 18th-century European Enlightenment and its own native American Philosophy, the American Enlightenment applied scientific reasoning to politics, science and religion, promoted religious tolerance, and restored literature, the arts, and music as important disciplines and professions worthy of study in colleges.


title: History of liberalism

text: A prominent example of a monarch who took the Enlightenment project seriously was Joseph II of Austria, who ruled from 1780 to 1790 and implemented a wide array of radical reforms, such as the complete abolition of serfdom, the imposition of equal taxation policies between the aristocracy and the peasantry, the institution of religious toleration, including equal civil rights for Jews and the suppression of Catholic religious authority throughout his empire, creating a more secular nation. Besides the Enlightenment, a rising tide of industrialization and urbanization in Western Europe during the 18th century also contributed to the growth of liberal society by spurring commercial and entrepreneurial activity.


title: History of liberalism

text: In the early 18th century, the Commonwealth men and the Country Party in England, promoted republicanism and condemned the perceived widespread corruption and lack of morality during the Walpole era, theorizing that only civic virtue could protect a country from despotism and ruin. A series of essays, known as Cato's Letters, published in the "London Journal" during the 1720s and written by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, condemned tyranny and advanced principles of freedom of conscience and freedom of speech. They were an important influence on the development of Republicanism in the United States.


title: History of liberalism

text: In the 1760s, the "Middlesex radicals", led by the politician John Wilkes who was expelled from the House of Commons for seditious libel, founded the Society for the Defence of the Bill of Rights and developed the belief that every man had the right to vote and "natural reason" enabled him to properly judge political issues. Liberty consisted in frequent elections. This was to begin a long tradition of British radicalism.


title: History of liberalism

text: In contrast to England, the French experience in the 18th century was characterized by the perpetuation of feudalism and absolutism. Ideas that challenged the status quo were often harshly repressed. Most of the philosophers of the French Enlightenment were progressive in the liberal sense and advocated the reform of the French system of government along more constitutional and liberal lines.


title: History of liberalism

text: Montesquieu wrote a series of highly influential works in the early 18th century, including "Persian letters" (1717) and "The Spirit of the Laws" (1748). The latter exerted tremendous influence, both inside and outside France. Montesquieu pleaded in favor of a constitutional system of government, the preservation of civil liberties and the law and the idea that political institutions ought to reflect the social and geographical aspects of each community. In particular, he argued that political liberty required the separation of the powers of government. Building on John Locke's "Second Treatise of Government", he advocated that the executive, legislative and judicial functions of government should be assigned to different bodies, so that attempts by one branch of government to infringe on political liberty might be restrained by the other branches. In a lengthy discussion of the English political system, which he greatly admired, he tried to show how this might be achieved and liberty secured, even in a monarchy. He also notes that liberty cannot be secure where there is no separation of powers, even in a republic. He also emphasized the importance of a robust due process in law, including the right to a fair trial, the presumption of innocence and proportionality in the severity of punishment.


title: History of liberalism

text: Another important figure of the French Enlightenment was Voltaire. Initially believing in the constructive role an enlightened monarch could play in improving the welfare of the people, he eventually came to a new conclusion: "It is up to us to cultivate our garden". His most polemical and ferocious attacks on intolerance and religious persecutions indeed began to appear a few years later. Despite much persecution, Voltaire remained a courageous polemicist who indefatigably fought for civil rights—the right to a fair trial and freedom of religion—and who denounced the hypocrisies and injustices of the "Ancien Régime".


title: History of liberalism

text: Political tension between England and its American colonies grew after 1765 and the Seven Years' War over the issue of taxation without representation, culminating in the 1776 Declaration of Independence of a new republic, and the successful American Revolutionary War to defend the United States.


title: History of liberalism

text: The intellectual underpinnings for independence were provided by the pamphleteer Thomas Paine. His "Common Sense" pro-independence pamphlet was anonymously published on January 10, 1776 and became an immediate success. It was read aloud everywhere, including the Army. He pioneered a style of political writing that rendered complex ideas easily intelligible.


title: History of liberalism

text: The Declaration of Independence, written in committee largely by Thomas Jefferson, echoed Locke. After the war, the leaders debated about how to move forward. The Articles of Confederation, written in 1776, now appeared inadequate to provide security, or even a functional government. The Confederation Congress called a Constitutional Convention in 1787, which resulted in the writing of a new Constitution of the United States establishing a federal government. In the context of the times, the Constitution was a republican and liberal document. It remains the oldest liberal governing document in effect worldwide.


title: History of liberalism

text: The American theorists and politicians strongly believe in the sovereignty of the people rather than in the sovereignty of the King. As one historian writes: "The American adoption of a democratic theory that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, as it had been put as early as the Declaration of Independence, was epoch-marking".


title: History of liberalism

text: The American Revolution had its impact on the French Revolution and later movements in Europe. Leopold von Ranke, a leading German historian, in 1848 argued that American republicanism played a crucial role in the development of European liberalism: