title: Java Man

text: Judging from anatomical and archeological aspects as well as Java Man's ecological role, meat from vertebrates was likely an important part of their diet. Java Man, like other "Homo erectus", was probably a rare species. There is evidence that Java Man used shell tools to cut meat. Java Man's dispersal through Southeast Asia coincides with the extirpation of the giant turtle "Megalochelys", possibly due to overhunting as the turtle would have been an easy, slow-moving target which could have been stored for quite some time.


title: Java Man

text: "H. erectus" arrived in Eurasia approximately 1.8 million years ago, in an event considered to be the first African exodus. There is evidence that the Java population of "H. erectus" lived in an ever-wet forest habitat. More specifically the environment resembled a savannah, but was likely regularly inundated ("hydromorphic savanna"). The plants found at the Trinil excavation site included grass (Poaceae), ferns, "Ficus", and "Indigofera", which are typical of lowland rainforest.


title: Java Man

text: The control of fire by "Homo erectus" is generally accepted by archaeologists to have begun some 400,000 years ago, with claims regarding earlier evidence finding increasing scientific support. Burned wood has been found in layers that carried the Java Man fossils in Trinil, dating to around from 500,000 to 830,000 BP. However, because Central Java is a volcanic region, the charring may have resulted from natural fires, and there is no conclusive proof that "Homo erectus" in Java controlled fire. It has been proposed that Java Man was aware of the use of fire, and that the frequent presence of natural fires may have allowed Java Man "opportunistic use [... that] did not create an archeologically visible pattern".


title: Joe Marler

text: Joseph William George Marler (born 7 July 1990) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Harlequins in the Premiership. He is also one of the hosts of The Joe Marler Show podcast with Tom Fordyce.


title: Joe Marler

text: Marler was educated at Maynards Green Primary School and Heathfield Community College and began playing at the age of 11 for Eastbourne Sharks. His stepping stones in the game not only include playing for Sussex Under 14-18 but also representing London & South East in 2006.


title: Joe Marler

text: Marler started his career at Haywards Heath RFC in Sussex where he played in the same side as fellow England international Billy Twelvetrees.


title: Joe Marler

text: Marler joined the Harlequins Academy in 2008 and made his first team debut in the 2009-2010 season, after spending some time on loan to Esher and Worthing. Marler has described his time in the lower tiers as a necessary learning curve that has allowed him to experience all the tricks of the trade at prop. He particularly points to the technical advice he received from one Bobby Walsh, a former coach, on scrummaging. The knowledge gained at this level has allowed him to occasionally cover the tighthead side of the scrum.


title: Joe Marler

text: In May 2011 Marler started for the Harlequins side that defeated Stade Français in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup. The following season saw Marler play a crucial part in helping Harlequins claim their first ever League title by starting in the 2011–12 Premiership final victory over Leicester Tigers.


title: Joe Marler

text: Marler captained Harlequins for the 2014-2015 season, replacing Chris Robshaw due to his commitments as England captain in the 2015 World Cup year. Marler then passed on the captaincy of Harlequins to teammate Danny Care in the following season. In January 2016 it was announced that Marler had signed a new contract to stay at the club and later that year he started for the Harlequins side that were defeated by Montpellier in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup.


title: Joe Marler

text: On 26 June 2021 Marler won his second league title starting for the Harlequins side that defeated Exeter Chiefs 40-38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever.


title: Joe Marler

text: In 2008 Marler was captain for England at U18s level. He represented England U20 in the 2009 Six Nations Under 20s Championship and was a member of the squad that finished runners up to New Zealand at the 2009 IRB Junior World Championship. The following year saw him score two tries in a game against Wales in the 2010 Six Nations Under 20s Championship. He also scored a try in a defeat against South Africa as England finished fourth at the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship. He was called into the senior England squad for the 2010 end of year tests as injury cover for David Wilson. In January 2011 Marler started for England A against Italy.


title: Joe Marler

text: Marler was selected for the 2012 summer tour of South Africa and on 9 June 2012 made his senior debut starting in the opening test defeat to the Springboks. Marler was selected for the 2013 series against Argentina and then became a regular member of the squad. Coach Stuart Lancaster included Marler in his squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and he started for the hosts in the pool stage as they failed to reach the knockout phase.


title: Joe Marler

text: New head coach Eddie Jones included Marler in his squad for the 2016 Six Nations Championship and he came off the bench in the concluding game of the tournament as England defeated France to achieve their first grand slam in over a decade. The following year saw Marler given the honour of leading the team out on his 50th cap against Scotland in the penultimate round of the 2017 Six Nations Championship. He also started in the last round of the tournament defeat away to Ireland which ensured England failed to complete consecutive grand slams and also brought an end to a record equalling eighteen successive Test victories.


title: Joe Marler

text: In September 2018 Marler announced his retirement from international rugby but later reversed his decision, re-joining the England squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Marler came off the bench for the semi-final victory over New Zealand and was a second half replacement for Mako Vunipola in the final as England were defeated by South Africa to finish runners up.


title: Joe Marler

text: In March 2020, Marler was banned from playing for 10-weeks after he grabbed Alun Wyn Jones' genitals during a Six Nations match against Wales. As a result of the coronavirus lockdown, the ban ended without Marler missing any matches since every fixture that Marler could have played was postponed.


title: Joe Marler

text: In December 2020 Marler was a second-half substitute for Ellis Genge as England defeated France in the final of the Autumn Nations Cup.


title: Joe Marler

text: On 19 April 2017, Marler was one of 41 players selected for the British & Irish Lions' tour to New Zealand in June and July of that year. He made five appearances in the tour games but did not feature in the Test series against New Zealand.


title: Joe Marler

text: Marler was recruited into the Barbarians squad in 2019, making his only appearance for the team against England on 2 June alongside team mate James Horwill who captained the team. Marler returned to play for England again, 4 months later at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.


title: Joe Marler

text: Marler was recruited again to the squad in 2022, after missing out on a call up to England's 2022 Autumn nations series fixtures alongside fellow England international Zach Mercer. The squad was coached by super Rugby champions' coach Scott Robertson and Heineken Cup winning coach Ronan O'Gara. The team are set to face All Blacks XV on 13th November, with Marler set to face the Barbarians 5 days later with his club side Harlequins.


title: Joe Marler

text: In 2020, Marler wrote a book about his life: "Loose Head, Confessions of an (un)professional rugby player", published by Ebury Press. He also hosts the podcast "The Joe Marler Show."


title: My Fair Princess

text: My Fair Princess, also known as Return of the Pearl Princess or Princess Returning Pearl (), is a 1998–1999 Taiwanese television costume drama jointly produced by Yi Ren Communications Co. (怡人傳播公司) in Taiwan and Hunan Broadcasting System in China. Season 1 (1998) was filmed in 1997, and Season 2 (1999) in 1998–1999. Both seasons were filmed in Beijing, Chengde and the Bashang Plateau in China, and first shown on China Television in Taiwan.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Written by creator Chiung Yao, the story is set in 18th-century Qing dynasty during the Qianlong Emperor's reign. It follows tomboyish and innocent Xiaoyanzi, originally an orphaned and semi-literate vagrant in Beijing who, after befriending the emperor's illegitimate daughter Xia Ziwei, becomes a princess in place of her by accident. Although some characters, the plot premise, and certain sections of the story are based on historical events and figures, considerable artistic license was employed.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Originally made with a small budget and little-known young actors, My Fair Princess became a massive hit in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and is considered the most commercially successful Chinese-language series in history. Hunan Broadcasting System, after achieving ratings as high as 65% of audience shares, became China's second largest network. Meanwhile, little-known cast members were made household names and teen idols over night, like the actress trio of Zhao Wei, Ruby Lin and Fan Bingbing, who are still among the biggest stars in Chinese entertainment more than 15 years later.


title: My Fair Princess

text: After a successful writing career which saw many of her works adapted into films and television series, Taiwanese romance novelist Chiung Yao and her husband Ping Hsin-tao established Yi Ren Communications Co. (怡人傳播公司) in 1985 to produce television dramas. (The company later transferred to Chiung Yao's son Chen Chung-wei and daughter-in-law Ho Hsiu-chiung.) In 1987, the Republic of China government on Taiwan began to allow visits to People's Republic of China for the first time since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. China did not allow visits outside China until 1990, and only then to a few select countries. In her first trip in 1988, Chiung Yao became friends with Ouyang Changlin, then a reporter working for Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS), who encouraged her to start producing dramas in China due to more diverse landscape and cheaper labor cost.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In 1989, Chiung Yao began filming for the first time in China in Changsha, Hunan, assisted by HBS and Beijing Television (BTV). Most of the actors, equipment, and production crew came from Taiwan, while the Chinese stations produced chiefly cheap labor (such as extra actors) in exchange for broadcasting rights in China. Being the first Taiwanese television production assisted by Chinese stations, the drama "Wan-chun" ran into many problems with the Taiwanese government. However, as years went by, restrictions in the Republic of China loosened and Chiung Yao began to use more and more Chinese actors and crew members in her productions, such as director Li Ping. The quality of China's television production also improved in the 1990s during the Chinese economic reform, while the market also began to surpass Taiwan's as the economy became more market-oriented. By 1992, HBS was no longer just a collaborator in Chiung Yao's productions but a financial partner and a co-producer.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In 1995, Ouyang became the station head of HBS. As Chiung Yao had an agreement with Taiwan's China Television (CTV) to produce 2 dramas for CTV for 1998, Ouyang and Chiung Yao decided to produce them together. The first drama, "Tears in Heaven" (蒼天有淚), featured a more established cast of Jiang Qinqin, Vincent Chiao, Athena Chu, Chen Chao-jung and Deng Jie and was anticipated to be more successful, drawing considerable resources from the companies. The second drama of the year was thus left with a limited budget.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In 1997, during a tour of Beijing, Chiung Yao passed Gongzhufen (literally "Princess's Tomb"). She was told of the story behind the place: according to legend, Qianlong Emperor had adopted a commoner-born daughter who, after her death, was buried there alone as she was deemed unfit to be buried with the Manchu princesses. Nothing else was known about her. Using this legend, Chiung Yao wrote "My Fair Princess" as the second drama series.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In the mid-1990s, Taiwanese agent Lee Ching-ping was in Beijing scouting for prospective local actors when a referrer sent her a tape of the obscure 1995 Chinese drama "Adventures of Sisters in Beijing" (姐姐妹妹闯北京). The recommended actress left little impression, but a supporting actress "with big eyes" caught Lee's attention. Eventually Lee located that actress, Zhao Wei (Vicki Zhao), who in 1997 was a 21-year-old freshman in the Performing Institute of Beijing Film Academy. Chiung Yao was also impressed by Zhao's acting and decided to cast her in the major role of Xia Ziwei, after reaching an agreement with her school.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Taiwanese actress Lee Ting-yi was originally chosen to portray the titular character Xiaoyanzi. However, about a week before filming was to begin, she could no longer participate due to scheduling conflicts with a film she was in. With little time remaining, the company asked if Zhao, who had the script and was asked to memorize Ziwei's lines, would portray Xiaoyanzi instead. As Lee Ching-ping recalled in 2007:


title: My Fair Princess

text: Other reshuffling was in order. After considering 15-year-old Fan Bingbing, who was eventually cast as Jinsuo, the company settled on 21-year-old Ruby Lin, originally cast as Princess Saiya, as Ziwei. (Zhao's classmate in Beijing Film Academy, Zhang Heng, became Saiya.) Lin had just signed with Chiung Yao's company and was better known in her native Taiwan. However, after a few days of filming, sponsors claimed Lin was not attractive enough and wanted her replaced. Her return flight to Taiwan was purchased, and her replacement, Zheng Zefan or Zheng Jiaxin, another classmate of Zhao's, arrived on set. Zheng was later cast as the minor character Du Ruolan. However, Taiwanese director Sun Shu-pei predicted correctly "Ruby Lin will be very popular one day" and insisted on casting her, and Lin stayed. She said the difficult days drew her closer to Zhao, who showed her around Beijing to cheer her up.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Former boyband members Alec Su (Yongqi) and Julian Chen (Fu Ertai) of the disbanded Xiao Hu Dui—neither with much acting experience—and TV star Zhang Tielin (Qianlong Emperor) were the only notable cast members. Due to budget limitations, many cast members were film school students like Zhao. Many of the older actors had limited television experience: Zhou Jie (Fu Erkang) was a stage actor with the National Theatre Company of China, while Dai Chunrong (the empress) was a qinqiang actress.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Filming began on 18 July 1997 in Beijing. Unable to afford the cost of filming inside the Forbidden City, most scenes were shot in Chengde Mountain Resort, Chengde, Hebei as well as several locations in Beijing: Prince Gong Mansion, Beijing Grand View Garden, Miniature Garden of Old Beijing, and Beijing Film Studio. Sun Shu-pei remembered being jealous of the large-budget "Yongzheng Dynasty", filming next to them in Chengde. To save cost, all jewelries used were made of plastic, and Zhao Wei developed an infection from reaction to the plastic earrings.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Not only did cast members all make less than ¥48,000 (roughly $5800 in 1997) for 5 months of filming, they were also subjected to extremely long working hours. According to Sun, "the actors normally got up at night to do makeups and apply costumes, and film all the way until it was too dark to see. Sometimes they could not sleep at all." Zhang Tielin estimated "two to three hours" of sleep each night and recalled Zhao and Lin stumbling downstairs in each other's arms half-asleep, tripping and sliding to the bottom of a car as they tried to enter it in frigid weather, and sleeping on a narrow bench together at the set. Zhao remembered throwing up from exhaustion. Despite frequently having to get up at 3:30 AM, none of the young actors waited until arriving at the set to start memorizing lines, according to Li Mingqi (Wet-Nurse Rong), the oldest actor:


title: My Fair Princess

text: Season 2 began filming on 15 September 1998 with a much larger budget, owing to the unexpected success of Season 1. In addition to Season 1 locations, Season 2 was also filmed in Kangxi Grassland, Xiangshan Park, Workers Cultural Palace and Mei Lanfang's former residence (all in Beijing).


title: My Fair Princess

text: Unlike the "neglected" Season 1 where not a single outsider showed up to watch the filming, Season 2's filming was extensively covered by the media. Every morning, leaving the hotel was difficult for the cast members, as it was filled with fans, many from out of town. Describing the madness, Fan Bingbing wrote in 2004:


title: My Fair Princess

text: In the year 1759, 17-year-old Xia Ziwei and her maid Jinsuo travel from Jinan to the Qing Empire capital Beijing, in an effort to meet her father, the Qianlong Emperor, for the first time. Qianlong Emperor had a relationship with her mother Xia Yuhe during a trip to Daming Lake, Jinan 18 years ago, and Xia Yuhe had held the secret away from Ziwei until her recent death, before which she told Ziwei to seek her father. Unable to enter the Forbidden City, Ziwei and Jinsuo meet adventuress Xiaoyanzi, also 17, at a wedding. An orphan since a young age, Xiaoyanzi lives with siblings Liu Qing and Liu Hong in a dazayuan (residential compound). The two girls become sworn sisters, and Ziwei informs Xiaoyanzi of her mission.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei decide that going to the mountains during the emperor's hunting trip offers the best chance to meet him. As the climb proves too difficult for the frail Ziwei and Jinsuo, Ziwei gives Xiaoyanzi her mother's fan and painting, both gifts from the emperor, and sends Xiaoyanzi as her messenger. Xiaoyanzi successfully reaches the hunting grounds but is accidentally shot by an arrow from Prince Yongqi, Qianlong Emperor's 5th son, during the hunt. Qianlong Emperor recognizes her items and mistakes the unconscious Xiaoyanzi for his and Xia Yuhe's daughter. Once Xiaoyanzi wakes up and recovers, she is given the title "Princess Huanzhu" ("Princess Returning Pearl"), while officially declared as "adoptive" daughter of the Emperor. Attempts to reveal the truth go unsuccessfully, and she also realizes that she may be charged with deceiving the emperor — an automatic death sentence — if the truth comes out.


title: My Fair Princess

text: One day, Ziwei sees Xiaoyanzi parading the streets in a sedan chair as a princess and believes Xiaoyanzi has deceived her. She chases after the sedan chair, causing a commotion, and gets beaten by soldiers. Fu Erkang, one of the emperor's bodyguards, rescues her and learns of her story. Afterwards, Ziwei and Jinsuo begin to live at the Fu household as Erkang and Ziwei gradually begin to fall in love.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Meanwhile, Yongqi, Fu Erkang and his brother Fu Ertai sneak Xiaoyanzi out of the Forbidden City to reunite her with Ziwei, who kindly forgives her. Not wanting to risk Xiaoyanzi's life, Ziwei is willing to keep the secret and give up her claims to be princess. However, as Erkang is the son of minister Fu Lun, they cannot marry as long as she is only a commoner. The gang decide the best way to reveal the secret to the emperor is to bring Ziwei and Jinsuo into the Forbidden City as imperial maids. In the palaces, Ziwei quickly attracts the emperor's attention with her talents, intelligence, and compassion. This arouses the jealousy of the empress, who secretly has her stabbed with needles at the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Ziwei nearly dies but is rescued by her friends. Qianlong Emperor becomes more impressed with Ziwei after this incident, and decides to take her as well as Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi on a private trip outside of Beijing, dressed as civilians.


title: My Fair Princess

text: During the trip, feelings between Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi, who is aware that she is not his sister, begin to rise. The trip is abruptly ended when a group of Dacheng Jiao sect members try to assassinate the emperor. Ziwei bravely shields the emperor from a knife before the assassins are all obliterated. Ziwei miraculously survives the stabbing, and the emperor decides to marry Ziwei as his concubine.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Meanwhile, Princess Saiya from Tibet has arrived in Beijing. She develops a crush on Erkang, and Qianlong Emperor decides to approve their marriage. As Ziwei and Erkang are deeply in love by this point, the gang decide to finally reveal Ziwei's secret. The emperor is shocked by the possibility that the girl he wanted to marry is in fact his daughter, and particularly angry that Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, two girls he trust the most, have tricked him. Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei and Jinsuo are all imprisoned at the Imperial Clan Court to await interrogations.


title: My Fair Princess

text: On orders of the empress, Liang Tinggui, the man in charge of the Imperial Clan Court, tries to force the girls to sign a statement that their intentions were to murder the emperor. When they refuse, the trio are whipped harshly. Knowing that the three cannot survive long in such conditions, Yongqi, Erkang, Ertai and the Liu siblings risk their lives and break into the jail to free the girls. At the same time, Qianlong Emperor realizes how much he loves Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei and decides to release them, but is furious after discovering that they had already escaped.


title: My Fair Princess

text: After briefly on the run, the friends decide to return to the Forbidden City. Despite his original intention to behead them all, Qianlong Emperor is heartbroken to learn that the three girls were tortured in prison. He forgives all of them, beheads Liang Tinggui, and accepts both Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi as his daughters. He also orders the empress to be punished but relents after Ziwei pleads mercy on her behalf.


title: My Fair Princess

text: The last obstacle, the marriage proposal between Saiya and Erkang, is solved when Ertai courts Saiya and successfully wins her heart. The story concludes with a ceremony, during which Ziwei is proclaimed "Princess Mingzhu" ("Princess Bright Pearl"), and Qianlong Emperor announcing the engagements between Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi, Ziwei and Erkang, and Ertai and Saiya. He also officially abolishes the princess title of Xiaoyanzi, giving a lesser title "Lady Huanzhu" instead.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In the year 1760, the Uyghur leader Ali Khoja sends his daughter Hanxiang to become a concubine for the Qianlong Emperor. Hanxiang was born with a natural scent that attracts butterflies. She has long loved another man, Mengdan, with whom she unsuccessfully eloped several times.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei, Yongqi, and Erkang meet Mengdan at the restaurant and hotel recently opened by Liu Qing and Liu Hong. There, they learned of the love story of Mengdan and Hanxiang. Ultimately, they decide to help Hanxiang escape the Forbidden City and escape with Mengdan.


title: My Fair Princess

text: With the empress dowager returning to the palace, the empress and Wet-Nurse Rong plot against Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, creating tension between Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei and the empress dowager by continuously pointing out the imperfections of the two girls. The empress dowager, being extremely traditional, takes an immediate disliking to Xiaoyanzi's lack of education and proper manners, while being extremely suspicious and resenting to acknowledge Ziwei's status as her granddaughter as it is unclear if she is actually Qianlong's illegitimate child. Ziwei also had a near-death experience at the torture of empress dowager after being accused of plotting to kill Qianlong after the empress had a voodoo doll planted in her bedroom. Qing'er, Qianlong's niece and a favorite companion of empress dowager, ultimately figures out the doll could not have been made by Ziwei or Xiaoyanzi. Xiaoyanzi, remaining to be referred as princess despite the change of her title, also temporarily escapes the palace where she is kept as a slave in a chess shop because she could not take the rigid rules and Yongqi repeatedly emphasizing the need to be more educated. She mistakes his good intentions as him being ashamed of her when he has all along loved her for who she is. Yongqi does this at the insistence of Qianlong as empress dowager has repeatedly threatened to end both Yongqi's and Erkang's respective engagement as she believed that Xiaoyanzi is not good enough to be Yongqi's wife and that Erkang is better paired with her favorite Qing'er, who is without doubt of royal descent. After Xiaoyanzi's return, Yongqi and the others plead to empress dowager to accept Xiaoyanzi for who she is and to not force the rigid rules on her, for, not being a real Princess, she can never meet the empress dowager's expectations. The empress dowager has no choice but to accept their engagement after Yongqi and Erkang both reveal that they would rather live as a commoner with Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei than remain as a Prince and a royal imperial guard.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Qing'er serves as a rival love interest between Erkang and Ziwei at empress dowager's insistence but despite Qing'er's actual feelings for Erkang, she does not want to get involved between Erkang and Ziwei after realizing that he would never be able to love her as well. She becomes good friends with Ziwei and ultimately helps Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi out of trouble when the empress dowager is furious at them for their various actions that does not meet in accordance with proper lady like manners.


title: My Fair Princess

text: After several attempts to resist Qianlong who was trying to force himself on her, Hanxiang accidentally cuts Emperor Qianlong's arm. When the empress dowager finds out about this, she secretly forces Hanxiang to drink poison as punishment. Xiaoyanzi, Yongqi, Ziwei, Jinsuo, and Erkang rush back but are not able to make it in time. Hanxiang is said to have died. Before she "dies", the aroma emitting from her body strengthens and tens of hundreds of butterflies fly to her side and circle the room. They leave and so does the aroma. In the end, Hanxiang is saved by the repeated attempts from Xiaoyanzi. She is ultimately saved by eating the life-saving medicine that her father gave her, in the case of an emergency. After this affair, Hanxiang loses her scent.


title: My Fair Princess

text: After Hanxiang's escape, the group lies to Qianlong that Hanxiang turned into a butterfly and flew away. As a result of Wet-Nurse Rong and the empress plotting against Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei,


title: My Fair Princess

text: the birthday of Ziwei is denied by her grandaunt and granduncle, making it incompatible with the year Qianlong supposedly met Ziwei's mother. When Qianlong finds out Ziwei might not be his daughter, he sends the five to jail. Yongqi escapes after pretending that he is sick. Qianlong later sentences Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei to death. Jinsuo is sent away as a forced labor, while Erkang is imprisoned for 15 years and his titles are annulled. However, they eventually escape with help from their friends, especially Qing'er and Consort Ling. They decide to leave the Forbidden City permanently and travel to Dali. They are temporarily reunited with Mengdan and Hanxiang and witness their marital union before ultimately traveling to Dali separately. This is the last time these two characters appear in the series.


title: My Fair Princess

text: On the trip, they encounter many incidences where they lend a hand to save the weak such as stepping in to prevent the burning at the stake of a local girl who was impregnated out of wedlock and saved her life. On the road they encounter Qianlong's men who were intent on capturing them alive and to not hurt them at Qianlong's orders. Xiaoyanzi and Jinsuo are captured and taken away separately while Ziwei falls out of the carriage and temporarily loses her eyesight. Xiao Jian and Yongqi rescue Xiaoyanzi and are horrified to find a reclusive, terrified, and blind Ziwei while keeping the emotionally strained Erkang at arm's length after being afraid of becoming a permanent burden to him. At Erkang's insistence and reassurance, Ziwei finally accepts the reality that she may be permanently blind and that she can still live a fulfilling life with him by her side. The five of them travel together to the next city while leaving behind markers for Liu Qing, Liu Hong, and Jinsuo as they search for doctors able to cure Ziwei's blindness. Erkang leaves Ziwei in the care of Xiaoyanzi temporarily as he goes on to ask for directions to the next doctor, Xiaoyanzi becomes preoccupied with a game of Chess going on at a nearby table in the middle of the street and completely forgets about the blind Ziwei. As a result, Ziwei is taken by a local thug and is sold to a local brothel while a frantic Erkang and a deeply repentant Xiaoyanzi search the streets. Ziwei is ultimately found with the help of Xiao Jian's connections in the city and was able to save herself with the threat of suicide as Erkang saves her just in time. Erkang forgives Xiaoyanzi at Ziwei's insistence and they are finally reunited with Jinsuo, Liu Qing and Liu Hong. Liu Qing and Liu Hong had traveled to rescue Jinsuo and ultimately hide in a rural village where Jinsuo was to recover from her injuries. Jinsuo and Liu Qing fall in love as he takes care of her and are later married after being reunited with the group.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Throughout this time, Qianlong realizes that he truly misses the presence of Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei and he reveals to Consort Ling that him sentencing them to death was ultimately out of pure rage and that in the end, Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei would indeed ultimately be spared had Erkang and Yongqi not rescued them. The group continue to run for their life as they mistake Qianlong's men for assassins when they were really sent on the orders of the empress. Erkang and Yongqi are hurt and Ziwei miraculously recovers her sight after being terrified at Erkang's near-death experience. Qianlong is horrified as he receives reports of Erkang and Yongqi getting hurt in the subsequent fights and Ziwei's blindness and finally sends Fulun to contact them as Erkang would ultimately listen to his father and believe that Qianlong has finally forgiven them and would like their safe return.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Along the way, they discover that the mysterious guy they met at Liu Qing and Liu Hong's restaurant who has helped them throughout this whole fugitive stage, Xiao Jian, is actually Xiaoyanzi's long-lost brother after Yongqi's jealousy at his kindness to Xiaoyanzi becomes too overbearing as he mistakes it as him trying to steal Xiaoyanzi away. Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi had repeatedly argued throughout this time as Xiaoyanzi firmly believes that Yongqi was still hung up on being a Prince and could not accept her commoner ways while Yongqi would disagree with her actions and decisions. It is later revealed to Erkang that the reason Xiaoyanzi is an orphan is because of Qianlong. Xiaoyanzi's father was rallying against the government and later their whole family was sentenced to death as a result. In order to save Xiao Jian and Xiaoyanzi, they were sent away separately. Xiao Jian ultimately decides against revealing the truth to Xiaoyanzi and to give up the act of revenge at Erkang's insistence to preserve Xiaoyanzi's upbeat happiness, and to have Qianlong continue to love and adore her as his own daughter for she has always desired the love of a father.


title: My Fair Princess

text: After Fulun finds the group, they believe that Qianlong has forgiven them but unanimously decide to not return as their feelings towards Qianlong and the Forbidden City have changed. They desire the carefree life of commoners without the rigid rules and chaos that surrounded their life while living in the Forbidden City where Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei were particularly susceptible to punishment. In the end, the Emperor travels himself to convince them to return to the Forbidden City as he does not care if they helped Hanxiang escape, or if Ziwei is actually his daughter. There, he awards both Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi with a gold ensign Each one can excuse them from three executions. The empress dowager ultimately forgives Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi at the insistence of Qianlong and acknowledges them as her granddaughters. Qianlong and the empress dowager later discover the empress had been plotting against Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei sending assassins to kill them along with Erkang and Yongqi disguising it as the command of Qianlong. It is also revealed that the voodoo doll was planted by the empress, and Ziwei's granduncle and grandaunt lied about the birthday of Ziwei after being bribed by the empress, thus clarifying Ziwei's identity as a princess. Qianlong is furious and commands both the empress and her maidservant, Wet-Nurse Rong, to be beheaded. However, Ziwei pulls out her gold insignia and uses up two pardons: one for Wet-Nurse Rong and one for the empress.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Because of this affair, Wet-Nurse Rong and the empress both grow appreciative of Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi. Afterwards, Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi, along with Ziwei and Erkang, are finally married.


title: My Fair Princess

text: All lyrics were written by Chiung Yao, although Hsu Chang-te helped with the lyrics of Track 2. The lyrics for tracks 1 and 8 are the same and based on a few lines in a Han dynasty "yuefu" love poem, the content of which was featured prominently in Ziwei and Erkang's romance (translation by Ma Xiaodong):


title: My Fair Princess

text: Track 7 by Zhao Wei won bronze prize for "Outstanding Mandarin Song" at the 1999 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. Tracks 6, 7 and 8 were also included in Zhao's debut album "Swallow" (1999).


title: My Fair Princess

text: Most songs were covered in Vietnamese. Yến Khoa had an entire cover album "Hoàng Châu Cát Cát" (2001), which includes "Tình Hồng Như Mơ" (cover of Track 8), "Khi Có Em Trong Đời" (cover of Track 6), "Em Như Nụ Hồng" (cover of Track 7), "Phiêu Du Giữa Đời" (cover of Track 9) and "Gió Cuốn Bụi Bay" (cover of Track 10). Other Vietnamese covers include Đan Trường's "Hoài Niệm Cũ" (cover of Track 1), Đan Trường & Cẩm Ly's "Tình Hồng Như Mơ" (cover of Track 11), Tú Quyên's "Trong Em Tình Vẫn Sáng" (cover of Track 2), and Hoàng Châu's "Đời Em Là Cánh Bướm" (also cover of Track 2).


title: My Fair Princess

text: Taiwan's China Television (CTV), which had a prior agreement with Chiung Yao's company, was the first channel to broadcast Season 1 from 28 April to 29 May 1998. Average ratings were high at 12.1%, with the highest rating reaching 17%, prompting CTV to rerun it immediately on 1 June, which again topped the ratings charts. Zhao Wei, who went back to study at the Beijing Film Academy, said the first sign that her life was changing was receiving "rooms upon rooms" of fan mail from Taiwan at her school dormitory. After it was later broadcast in China, Zhao received over 100,000 letters total, sometimes 1,000 in a day.) On 18 March 1999, CTV broadcast Season 1 the third time in less than a year, and again it topped the ratings at 5.6%. Season 1 brought NT$70 million to the station. The much longer Season 2 was then broadcast from 21 April to 25 June 1999 and reran immediately, stoking viewer enthusiasm in the series from March until 13 December 1999. Average ratings for Season 2 was 13.68%, the highest ratings in Taiwan since 1996. It was surpassed in 2001 by the Taiwanese-made Meteor Garden.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In China, HBS initially had problems selling its broadcasting rights. Some stations doubted it would be successful, as it was so different from typical Chiung Yao tearjerkers. When it was finally broadcast on Beijing Television (BTV) in Beijing, the average audience share was 44%. On HBS's Hunan Television (HNTV) in Hunan, it reached 54%. After it was rerun two months later, ratings were No. 1 at 26.7%. Season 2, first broadcast in June 1999 as in Taiwan, averaged more than 50% across the board, reaching as high as 65% on HNTV. Commercial returns were immense; copyrights in China were sold for ¥390,000 per episode for Season 1 and ¥545,000 per episode for Season 2. BTV earned over ¥25 million from Season 2 commercials, whereas Shanghai Television (SHTV), with average ratings of 55% in Shanghai for Season 2, made over ¥40 million. In contrast, all actors earned less than ¥2,000 per episode for Season 1. Even in the 2010s, reruns on HNTV would still finish at the top of national ratings in China of the year.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In Hong Kong, Asia Television (ATV) relied on the series to beat rival TVB in prime time for the first time, with 58% of the audience share for the Season 2 finale in 1999.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In Mongolia, ratings were so high that distributors showed the last three episodes of Season 1 in movie theaters.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In South Korea, it became an unexpected hit on the small Gyeongin Television, achieving 4% at the Seoul National Capital Area according to Nielsen Korea. Many Korean fans started to study Chinese.


title: My Fair Princess

text: The series was also popular in many Southeast Asian countries. Zhao Wei and Ruby Lin visited Ho Chi Minh City together in February 2001. They visited an SOS Children's Village and sang at the "Xuân 2001" ("Spring 2001") concert. Pursued by fans, they remained in their hotel instead of shopping.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In China, the series was blamed for numerous accidents ranging from multiple deaths caused by overused television sets to at least six accidental deaths of Chinese children attempting to imitate Xiaoyanzi's hanging attempt. In March 1999, a girl left home alone intending to go to Zhao Wei's hometown Wuhu to meet "Xiaoyanzi". Some called for the media to report more negative news on Zhao to curb the celebrity worship syndrome epidemic. Many parents and teachers were also concerned with the character Xiaoyanzi, as the character's lack of education, discipline, and manners may be a negative example for children. In September 1999, a man sued Chiung Yao, Hunan Television, Hunan Broadcasting System, and his local Zhejiang Television for ¥80 million for mental anguish to his family due to watching the drama, calling Xiaoyanzi a "psychiatric patient" who had caused "extremely serious consequences" to children who "liked, worshipped, studied and imitated" her. He demanded an immediate halt on the show and its merchandising. Although the case was not accepted, his opinion was echoed by Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference member Wei Minglun (魏明伦), who in 2002 proposed measures to prevent "rogue" characters like Xiaoyanzi from being idolized by youth.


title: My Fair Princess

text: The show was also criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of the Qing dynasty and history. In 2000, Qianlong Emperor's 7th-generation descendant Yu Ziwei (毓紫薇) published a letter to Chiung Yao criticizing the story as irresponsible to the Aisin Gioro clan. She also stated the drama significantly disrupted her life because the character Xia Ziwei has her given name "Ziwei". Similar criticism was voiced by at least one other Aisin Gioro descendant, Puyang (溥杨).


title: My Fair Princess

text: The English version of Season 1 was dubbed at the Bang Zoom! Entertainment studio under director Wendee Lee in 2013. It is scheduled to be released by Rock Motion Picture Voice-Over Distribution Company. In the translation, Xiaoyanzi ("Swallow") became "Sparrow" while Ziwei ("Myrtle") became "Rose".


title: My Fair Princess

text: While the first two seasons featured almost the same cast, most cast members declined the offer to star in another sequel. The Season 3 script was also delayed for a year because of Chiung Yao's personal matters. When it was finally ready, almost 4 years later, Zhao, Lin and Su (who had shot another Chiung Yao series together in "Romance in the Rain") were in the process of filming other projects and could not participate. Zhou Jie was the only returning main actor.


title: My Fair Princess

text: A 98-episode remake of the first series was filmed in June 2010, and aired in 2011. Akin to the previous version, the remake had three parts but more comedic elements than the original. After airing in China, both critics and audiences expressed disappointment in the casting and script.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Viewership was also much lower compared with the original. Ratings for the remake was 1.5% in China, which was average for a Hunan Television show. In Taiwan, the rating was 0.7%, not only ranking last, but also becoming the lowest rating of a Chiung Yao television series in decades.


title: My Fair Princess

text: In Vietnam, Season 1 was adapted into a 20-episode 2002 cải lương series titled "Hoàng Châu Các Các", starring Phương Mai and Vũ Linh.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Season 1 was adapted into a Cantonese opera titled "Waan Jyu Gaak Gaak Bei Hei Cung Fung" (還珠格格悲喜重逢), with Ye Youqi portraying Xiaoyanzi (Siu-yin-ji) and Jiang Wenduan portraying Xia Ziwei (Ha Ji-mei). The VCD was released in 2004.


title: My Fair Princess

text: Because of its popularity, exaggerated acting, and cheesy dialogue, the show was often parodied online in China. An online group named Xudu Bar (胥渡吧) became famous for videos where they dubbed scenes from the series with altered dialogue and comical voices. As a result, the wet nurse character Rong became an Internet meme. In 2014, during the 5th series of the reality competition "China's Got Talent", five members of Xudu Bar dubbed their videos live before Zhao Wei, Alec Su, and other judges.


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: The fourth season of "Teen Wolf", an American supernatural drama created by Jeff Davis, premiered on June 23, 2014. The series was renewed for a fourth season of 12 episodes on October 12, 2013.


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: Two months after the end of Season 3 and still healing from tragic losses (Allison, Boyd, Erica and Aiden), Scott (Tyler Posey), Stiles (Dylan O'Brien), Lydia (Holland Roden) and Kira (Arden Cho) return to a new semester of school with more human worries than supernatural, while also trying to help their new friend, Malia (Shelley Hennig), integrate back into society. But Kate Argent's (Jill Wagner) surprising resurrection brings a new threat to Beacon Hills along with the emergence of another mysterious enemy known simply as the Benefactor. Scott must also uphold the responsibility of his first Beta werewolf, Liam Dunbar (Dylan Sprayberry).


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: A fourth season of 12 episodes was confirmed and premiered on June 23, 2014, on MTV. Filming began in February 2014.


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: Crystal Reed and Daniel Sharman did not return, making this the first season of the show not to star Reed and the first since season two not to star Sharman. Jill Wagner (Kate Argent) confirmed on "Wolf Watch" that she will be appearing more this season after her character made a surprise appearance in the season 3 finale.


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: New cast additions include Meagan Tandy as Braeden (who only appeared in 2 episodes of season 3), Dylan Sprayberry as "Liam", Khylin Rambo as Mason "an out-and-proud athlete" and Mason Dye as Garrett. In addition to this, Dylan O'Brien and Jeff Davis confirmed in interviews that Malia Tate (Shelley Hennig) and Kira Yukimura (Arden Cho) would be regulars this season and join the pack.


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: On July 14, 2014, during the original airing of the fourth episode of the season, there was an audio failure in one of the scenes. MTV posted the scene, with the proper audio, on its official Facebook account the following day.


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 67% and an average rating of 4.98/10 for the fourth season, based on 12 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, ""Teen Wolf"s fourth season refreshingly seeks to mix things up but feels less confident than its predecessors, giving viewers reason to fear that this series may already be long in the tooth."


title: Teen Wolf (season 4)

text: Season 4 was released on DVD in the United States on June 9, 2015, 20 days before the premiere of Season 5 on June 29, 2015.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Glen Clay Higgins (born August 24, 1961) is an American politician and reserve law enforcement officer from the state of Louisiana. A Republican, Higgins is the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district. The district, which contains much of the territory once represented by former Governor Edwin Edwards and former Senator John Breaux, is in the southwestern corner of the state and includes Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Iberia and Opelousas. Higgins won the runoff election on December 10, 2016, defeating fellow Republican Scott Angelle.


title: Clay Higgins

text: As well as being an elected official, Higgins continues to hold a law enforcement commission in a reserve capacity with the Louisiana Attorney General's office.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins is known for his ties to fringe, far-right, anti-government militia groups such as the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Clay Higgins is the seventh of eight children. He was born in New Orleans, and his family moved to Covington, Louisiana, when he was six years old. The family raised and trained horses. After graduation from Covington High School, Higgins attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but did not graduate.


title: Clay Higgins

text: At age 18, Higgins enlisted in the Military Police Corps of the Louisiana National Guard, serving for six years (1979–85) and reaching the rank of staff sergeant.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In 2004, Higgins became a patrol officer for the Opelousas City Police Department. By 2007, Police Chief Perry Gallow was prepared to take major disciplinary action against Higgins. In a letter to the City Council, he wrote, "Clay Higgins used unnecessary force on a subject during the execution of a warrant and later gave false statements during an internal investigation...although he later recanted his story and admitted to striking a suspect in handcuffs and later releasing him". Higgins resigned before disciplinary action could be imposed.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In September 2016, during his congressional campaign, Higgins claimed to have resigned from the police force for other reasons, calling Gallow "a peacock, a colorful, flightless bird". Gallow, by then retired as police chief, publicly disputed Higgins's version of events.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins worked for the Port Barre Police Department through 2010. In 2011, he joined the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office. After the office's public information officer was reassigned in October 2014, Higgins was appointed to the position and promoted to captain. As public information officer, Higgins made videos for the parish Crime Stoppers program. He first used standard scripts, but began to improvise in his own style, appealing to suspects to surrender and sometimes threatening them by name. His videos went viral, and in 2015 he was described by national media as the "Cajun John Wayne" for his intimidating persona. Sheriff Bobby Guidroz urged restraint, advising Higgins to refrain from personal comments about suspects and to keep a professional tone in his videos.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins also made a video for the state police, with a script that prompted protests from suspects' families and the ACLU. He resigned from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office in February 2016. Guidroz had warned him against using disrespectful and demeaning language about suspects, ordering him to "Tone down his unprofessional comments on our weekly Crime Stoppers messages". He issued a statement saying that Higgins's comments underlined "a growing undertone of insubordination and lack of discipline on Higgins’ part". Guidroz said that Higgins had gone against department policy by misusing his badge and uniform for personal profit and gain, citing Higgins's wearing a uniform in an ad for a security firm. He also reprimanded Higgins for using his badge and uniform on his personal website to support sales of T-shirts and shot glasses for his Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). Higgins had also used the department's physical address in registering his corporation with the state. Both actions were against department policy.


title: Clay Higgins

text: "Salon" reported that during this period, Higgins "negotiated paid speaking appearances with other police departments. In one email, Higgins discussed his request for a speaker's fee that included shopping money for his wife and part of the fuel for a friend's private plane." He asked for cash payments. Higgins also conducted his private business via email on "his government email-account during work hours without the permission or knowledge of his supervisors. Higgins also appears to have attempted to conceal his earnings from the IRS in order to avoid wage garnishment for unpaid taxes. Whether those actions constitute tax fraud is unclear."


title: Clay Higgins

text: Shortly after resigning from St. Landry Parish, in March 2016, Higgins was accepted and sworn in as a Reserve Deputy Marshal in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana. Reserve forces in city and Parish Sheriff's offices in Louisiana receive regular training and are commissioned as law enforcement officers. They are part-time and made up of persons from many walks of life.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In 2019, Higgins retired his commission as a Reserve Deputy Marshal. He maintains an active law enforcement commission as a reserve officer with the Louisiana Attorney General's office.


title: Clay Higgins

text: After Higgins's resignation from the St. Landry Sheriff's Office, Chris Comeaux, a Republican campaign staffer, recruited him to run for office. In May 2016, Higgins declared his candidacy in the 2016 election in the 3rd district. He crossed district lines to run for this seat, as his home in Port Barre is in the neighboring 5th district. Members of the House are not constitutionally required to live in the district they represent. A Super PAC headed by U.S. Senator David Vitter's former chief of staff supported Higgins's candidacy.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins finished second in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 8, behind Republican Scott Angelle, in which nearly 68% of the parish voted. He faced Angelle in a runoff election on December 10 and won with 56.1% of the vote; turnout had declined to about 28% of voters.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins was challenged by Democrats Rob Anderson, Mildred "Mimi" Methvin, Larry Rader, and Verone Thomas, Libertarian Aaron Andrus, and Republican Josh Guillory. President Trump endorsed Higgins. He defeated all six challengers in the jungle primary, winning reelection without a runoff.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In response to protests in response to the police shooting death of Trayford Pellerin, Higgins made a post on Facebook stating he would "drop 10 of you where you stand."


title: Clay Higgins

text: He has said that he sleeps on an air mattress on the floor of his Capitol Hill office. He works out and showers in the House gymnasium in the early morning.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins voted with other Republicans in favor of the American Health Care Act of 2017, which would have repealed and replaced major portions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In December 2017, Higgins voted with other Republicans in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He touted the Act's benefits, but the Congressional Budget Office projected that GDP growth would decline to 2.4% in 2019 as business investment and government purchases slowed.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins is anti-abortion and has compared women choosing to terminate their pregnancy to the Holocaust.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins supports gun rights and opposes the regulation of firearms. In 2017, he said, "The modern hysteria over guns is another example of our weakened society. Guns weren't really regulated at all prior to the '60s in America. Throughout our history, prior to just 50 years ago, a child could purchase a gun from any seller, if Daddy sent him with the money."


title: Clay Higgins

text: In 2018, Higgins commented on his Facebook page about a "New York Times" op-ed by retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens that called for the repeal of the Second Amendment. Higgins said, "Judge John Paul Stevens, Your Honor, whatever... put together any badass socialists you can muster. As their attorney, make sure they have their affairs in order. Molon Labe."


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins opposes the carrying of weapons at demonstrations. In 2020 he posted on Facebook that he would "drop 10 of you where you stand", referring to potential armed demonstrators.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In July 2018, House Democrats called for a floor vote on abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). House Republicans refused and called for the House to vote on a resolution by Higgins and Kevin McCarthy to support ICE.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins opposes same-sex marriage. He says he believes that states should have the right to ban same-sex marriage, contrary to the Supreme Court's ruling in "Obergefell v. Hodges".


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins supported Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail travel from certain countries, saying, "The president's executive order for a short-term restriction on visa entries from seven countries that are known to foster terrorists, combined with a systematic review of our immigration and vetting procedure, is reasonable."


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins has promoted himself and spoken at rallies by anti-government militia groups. When informed that a Black militia group protesting police brutality might show up at a protest, however, he suggested on Facebook in September 2020 that he would shoot them ("drop any 10 of you where you stand"). He included a picture of Black militia members at a protest. Facebook removed the post per its policy to remove content that "incites or facilitates serious violence".


title: Clay Higgins

text: On February 28, 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Higgins tweeted, "You millennial leftists who never lived one day under nuclear threat can now reflect upon your woke sky. You made quite a non-binary fuss to save the world from intercontinental ballistic tweets", the meaning of which became a subject of minor debate.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In December 2020, Higgins was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of "Texas v. Pennsylvania", a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.


title: Clay Higgins

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Higgins was an outspoken skeptic, and asserted that the Chinese Communist Party had created the disease as biological warfare.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In May 2020 CNN interview, Higgins described face masks as a "bacteria trap" and said they did not help to slow the spread of COVID-19, noting that he did not believe they were effective as smells are able to pass through them.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In May 2021, Higgins wrote on Facebook, "I do not support mandatory vaccines, mask mandates or any form of required vaccine passport." In July 2021, he introduced a bill that would make it illegal for employers to mandate vaccination for their employees.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In the same month, Higgins confirmed that he and his wife had both contracted COVID-19 in January 2020, and that they had since contracted it a second time, along with their son. He has not publicly revealed his vaccination status.


title: Clay Higgins

text: In early July 2017, Higgins posted a five-minute video on YouTube from Auschwitz concentration camp, including a section from within one of the gas chambers. He said, "This is why homeland security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible". This video was widely condemned as inappropriate, including by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, whose spokesman wrote in a Twitter post that "the building should not be used as a stage". Higgins later removed the video and issued an apology.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Several of Higgins's Facebook posts have been removed for contravening the company's policy against inciting violence. On September 1, 2020, Higgins posted a photograph of protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest in Louisiana, suggesting that armed demonstrators should be met with force to "eliminate the threat". After Facebook deleted the post, Higgins wrote: "America is being manipulated into a new era of government control. Your liberty is threatened from within. […] Welcome to the front lines, Ladies and Gentlemen. I suggest you get your mind right. I’ll advise when it’s time gear up, mount up, and roll out." This post was deleted for contravening the same policy.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Higgins has been married four times. Higgins married Eloisa Rovati. They had a daughter together, who died a few months after she was born. Higgins and Rovati divorced. She later died in an automobile crash. Higgins then married Rosemary "Stormy" Rothkamm-Hambrice. He adopted her child from a previous marriage, and they had two more children together. They divorced in 1999. Higgins's third wife was Kara Seymour. They also divorced, and Higgins lives in Port Barre, Louisiana, with his fourth wife, Becca.


title: Clay Higgins

text: Rothkamm-Hambrice, then living in Mississippi, filed suit against him the day after the 2016 election for unpaid child support of more than $140,000, including interest on overdue payments. Higgins said that he sought reduced payments in 2005 after changing careers to law enforcement, but the issue was never settled. "The Daily Advertiser" reported: "Calls about the case made by this newspaper in September, first to the Texas Attorney General's Office, then to Louisiana courts, brought similar responses from both places: Clay Higgins was not in trouble with the courts in either state over the child support payments."


title: Clay Higgins

text: In August 2021, Higgins challenged a critic from Alaska who had called him a "traitor" for voting against certifying the 2020 election results to a physical fight in a ring, saying that he would be in Alaska in 2022; the challenge was accepted.


title: Jorrit Faassen

text: Jorrit Joost Faassen (born 24 February 1980) is a Dutch businessman. He was allegedly the husband of Maria Vorontsova and the son-in-law of Russian president Vladimir Putin.


title: Jorrit Faassen

text: Faassen was born in Leiderdorp in the Netherlands, the elder of two sons born to Jozef Faassen and Felicitas van de Stadt. His father was a naval officer in Willemstad, Curaçao until 1986, a colonel in the 1990s and then a head of department in the Royal Netherlands Navy. Faassen is a nephew of the Dutch painter Casper Faassen.


title: Jorrit Faassen

text: On 15 April 2006, he moved to Moscow where he had been a director at Stroytransgaz but left that post to take a top posting in 2007 at Gazprom, where he no longer works. He was the deputy chairman of MEF Audit, a Russian consulting group, until mid 2015 when MEF Audit removed his name from their website.


title: Jorrit Faassen

text: Faassen married Maria Vorontsova, the eldest daughter of Russian president Vladimir Putin, in summer 2008 in Wassenaar in the Netherlands.


title: Jorrit Faassen

text: On 14 November 2010, along the () near Moscow, Faassen was beaten by four bodyguards of the Russian banker Matvey Urin, the co-owner of Trado-Bank (), previously the head of Breeze Bank () and associated with four other Moscow banks, all six of which subsequently went bankrupt. A half hour after this occurred, Urin was detained and later incarcerated at Butyrka and subsequently lost his wealth and vast holdings. Urin received a 8.5 year sentence and was released in September 2018.


title: Jorrit Faassen

text: Faassen and Vorontsova have a son, born in August 2012. In 2013, they were living in a penthouse atop the highest residential building in Voorschoten; they lived in the Crimea district () of Voorschoten with neighbors fearing for their safety following what had happened to Matvey Urin. In 2014, Dutch residents called for Vorontsova to be expelled from the country after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in Ukraine. In 2015, they were reported to be living in Moscow.


title: Coot

text: Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica, the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water. They are close relatives of the moorhen. However, the Coot typically appears 'dumpier' and lacks the distinctive red frontal face of the moorhen.


title: Coot

text: The genus "Fulica" was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae". The genus name is the Latin word for a Eurasian coot. The name was used by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in 1555. The type species is the Eurasian coot.


title: Coot

text: Coots have prominent frontal shields or other decoration on the forehead, with red to dark red eyes and coloured bills. Many have white on the under tail. The featherless shield gave rise to the expression "as bald as a coot", which the "Oxford English Dictionary" cites in use as early as 1430. Like other rails, they have long, lobed toes that are well adapted to soft, uneven surfaces. Coots have strong legs and can walk and run vigorously. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are weak fliers, though northern species nevertheless can cover long distances. They typically congregate in large rafts in open water. They are socially gregarious and messy aquatic feeders.


title: Coot

text: The greatest species variety occurs in South America, and the genus likely originated there. They are common in Europe and North America. Coot species that migrate do so at night. The American coot has been observed rarely in Britain and Ireland, while the Eurasian coot is found across Asia, Australia and parts of Africa. In southern Louisiana, the coot is referred to by the French name "poule d'eau", which translates into English as "water hen".


title: Coot

text: Coots are omnivorous, eating mainly plant material, but also small animals, fish and eggs. They are aggressively territorial during the breeding season, but are otherwise often found in sizeable flocks on the shallow vegetated lakes they prefer.


title: Coot

text: Chick mortality occurs mainly due to starvation rather than predation as coots have difficulty feeding a large family of hatchlings on the tiny shrimp and insects that they collect. Many chicks die in the first 10 days after hatching, when they are most dependent on adults for food. Coots can be very brutal to their own young under pressure such as the lack of food, and after about three days they start attacking their own chicks when they beg for food. After a short while, these attacks concentrate on the weaker chicks, who eventually give up begging and die. The coot may eventually raise only two or three out of nine hatchlings. In this attacking behaviour, the parents are said to "tousle" their young. This can result in the death of the chick.


title: Regional organization

text: Regional organizations (ROs) are, in a sense, international organizations (IOs), as they incorporate international membership and encompass geopolitical entities that operationally transcend a single nation state. However, their membership is characterized by boundaries and demarcations characteristic to a defined and unique geography, such as continents, or geopolitics, such as economic blocs. They have been established to foster cooperation and political and economic integration or dialogue among states or entities within a restrictive geographical or geopolitical boundary. They both reflect common patterns of development and history that have been fostered since the end of World War II as well as the fragmentation inherent in globalization, which is why their institutional characteristics vary from loose cooperation to formal regional integration. Most ROs tend to work alongside well-established multilateral organizations such as the United Nations. While in many instances a regional organization is simply referred to as an international organization, in many others it makes sense to use the term "regional organization" to stress the more limited scope of a particular membership.


title: Regional organization

text: Examples of ROs include, amongst others, the African Union (AU), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Arab League (AL), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Council of Europe (CoE), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), European Union (EU), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Union of South American Nations (USAN).


title: Truck driver

text: A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Malaysia and Singapore) is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, which is commonly defined as a large goods vehicle (LGV) or heavy goods vehicle (HGV) (usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck).


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers provide an essential service to industrialized societies by transporting finished goods and raw materials over land, typically to and from manufacturing plants, retail, and distribution centers. Truck drivers are responsible for inspecting their vehicles for mechanical items or issues relating to safe operation. Others, such as driver/sales workers, are also responsible for sales, completing additional services such as cleaning, preparation, and entertaining (e.g. cooking, making hot drinks) and customer service. Truck drivers work closely with warehouse associates and warehouse workers who assist in loading and unloading shipments.


title: Truck driver

text: In Australia, drivers of trucks and truck/trailer combinations with gross vehicle mass greater than must rest for 15 minutes every 5.5 hours, 30 minutes every 8 hours, and 60 minutes every 11 hours (includes driving and non-driving duties). In any 7-day period, drivers must spend 24 hours away from their vehicles. Truck drivers must complete a logbook documenting hours and kilometres spent driving.


title: Truck driver

text: In Canada, driver hours of service (HOS) regulations are enforced for drivers who operate a "truck, tractor, trailer, or any combination of them that has a gross vehicle weight in excess of or a bus that is designed and constructed to have a designated seating capacity of more than 24 persons, including the driver." However, there are two sets of hours of service rules: one for above 60th parallel north and one for below. Below latitude 60 degrees, drivers are limited to 14 hours on duty in any 24-hour period. These 14 hours include a maximum of 13 hours driving time. Rest periods are 8 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period, as well as an additional 2-hour period of rest that must be taken in blocks of no fewer than 30 minutes.


title: Truck driver

text: The concept of "Cycles" refers to the total amount of time drivers can be on duty in a given period before they must take time off. Cycle 1 is 70 hours in a 7-day period and cycle 2 is 120 hours in a 14-day period. Drivers using cycle 1 must take off 36 hours at the end of the cycle before being allowed to restart the cycle again. Cycle 2 is 72 hours off duty before being allowed to start again.


title: Truck driver

text: Receipts for fuel, tolls, etc., must be retained as MTO officers can request them to further verify the accuracy of information contained in drivers' logbooks during inspections.


title: Truck driver

text: In the European Union, drivers' working hours are regulated by EU (EC) No 561/2006, which entered into force on 11 April 2007. The nonstop driving time may not exceed 4.5 hours. After 4.5 hours of driving, drivers must take a break period of at least 45 minutes, which can be split into 2 breaks, the first being at least 15 minutes and the second being at least 30 minutes.


title: Truck driver

text: The daily driving time shall not exceed 9 hours and may be extended to at most 10 hours no more than twice each week. The weekly driving time may not exceed 56 hours. In addition to this, a driver cannot exceed 90 hours driving in a fortnight. Within each 24-hour period after the end of the previous daily or weekly rest period, drivers must take a new daily rest period. An 11-hour (or more) daily rest is called a regular daily rest period. Alternatively, drivers can split a regular daily rest period into two periods. The first period must be at least 3 hours of uninterrupted rest and can be taken at any time during the day. The second must be at least 9 hours of uninterrupted rest for a total minimum rest of 12 hours. Drivers may reduce daily rest periods to no fewer than 9 continuous hours, but this can be done no more than three times between any two weekly rest periods; no compensation for the reduction is required. Daily rests between 9 and 11 hours long are referred to as reduced daily rest periods. Daily rests may be taken in a vehicle as long as it has suitable sleeping facilities and is stationary.


title: Truck driver

text: Multi-manning refers to (at least) two drivers driving the same vehicle during each period between two consecutive daily rests or between a daily rest and a weekly rest period. Another driver is optional for the first hour of multi-manning but mandatory for the remainder of the period. This allows for vehicles to depart from operating center and collect a second driver along the way, provided this is done within an hour of the first driver starting work.


title: Truck driver

text: Vehicles manned by two or more drivers are governed by the same rules as single-manned vehicles apart from daily rest requirements.


title: Truck driver

text: When vehicles are manned by two or more drivers, each driver must have a daily rest period of at least 9 consecutive hours within the 30-hour period starting at the end of the last daily or weekly rest period.


title: Truck driver

text: Organizing drivers’ duties in such a fashion enables a crew's duties to be spread over 21 hours. The maximum driving time for a two-man crew taking advantage of this concession is 20 hours before a daily rest is required (although only if "both" drivers are entitled to drive 10 hours). Under multi-manning, the ‘second’ driver in a crew may not necessarily be the same driver from


title: Truck driver

text: the duration of the first driver's shift but could be any number of drivers as long as the conditions are met. Whether second drivers could claim the multi-manning concession in these circumstances depends on their other duties. On multi-manning operations, the first 45 minutes of a period of availability is considered a break so long as the co-driver does no work.


title: Truck driver

text: When drivers accompany vehicles transported by ferry or train, daily rest requirements are more flexible.


title: Truck driver

text: A regular daily rest period may be interrupted no more than twice, but the total interruption must not exceed 1 hour in total. This allows for a vehicle to be driven on to a ferry and off again at the end of the crossing. When the rest period is interrupted in this way, the total accumulated rest period must still be 11 hours. A bunk or couchette must be available during the rest period.


title: Truck driver

text: A regular weekly rest period is a period of at least 45 consecutive hours. An actual working week starts at the end of a weekly rest period and finishes when another weekly rest period is commenced, which may mean that weekly rest is taken in the middle of a fixed (Monday–Sunday) week. This is perfectly acceptable as the working week is not required to be aligned with the ‘fixed’ week defined in the rules, provided compliance of all relevant limits. Alternatively, drivers can take a reduced weekly rest period of (a minimum of) 24 consecutive hours. If a reduction is taken, it must be compensated for by an equivalent period of rest taken in one block before the end of the third week following the week in question. The compensating rest must be attached to a period of rest of at least 9 hours – effectively either a weekly or daily rest period.


title: Truck driver

text: For example, if a driver reduces a weekly rest period to 33 hours in week 1, they must compensate by attaching a 12-hour period of rest to another rest period of at least 9 hours before the end of week 4. This compensation cannot be taken in several smaller periods. A weekly rest period that falls in two weeks may be counted in either week but not in both.


title: Truck driver

text: However, a rest period of at least 69 hours in total may be counted as two back-to-back weekly rests (e.g. a 45-hour weekly rest followed by 24 hours), provided the driver does not exceed 144 hours’ work either before or after the rest period in question. Where reduced weekly rest periods are taken away from base, these may be taken in a vehicle provided it has suitable sleeping facilities and is stationary.


title: Truck driver

text: Provided that road safety is not jeopardized, and to enable a driver to reach a suitable stopping place, a departure from the EU rules may be permitted to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, the vehicle, or its load. Drivers must note all reasons for doing so on the back of their tachograph record sheets (if using an analogue tachograph) or on a printout or temporary sheet (if using a digital tachograph) at the latest on reaching the suitable stopping place (see relevant sections covering manual entries). Repeated and regular occurrences, however, might indicate to enforcement officers that employers were not in fact scheduling work to enable compliance with the applicable rules.


title: Truck driver

text: "If you are subject to the work time limits (and are required to complete a logbook), you must record all your work and rest times in a logbook approved by the Transport Agency (you can only maintain 1 logbook at a time)."


title: Truck driver

text: In the United States, the hours of service (HOS) of commercial drivers are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers are limited to 11 cumulative hours driving in a 14-hour period, following a rest period of no fewer than 10 consecutive hours. Drivers employed by carriers in "daily operation" may not work more than 70 hours within any period of 8 consecutive days.


title: Truck driver

text: Drivers must maintain a daily 24-hour logbook record of duty status documenting all work and rest periods. The record of duty status must be kept current to the last change of duty status and records of the previous seven days retained by the driver in the truck and presented to law enforcement officials on demand.


title: Truck driver

text: Electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) can automatically record, among other things, the time the vehicle is in motion or stopped. An FMCSA ruling mandated use of EOBRs, also known as Electronic Logging Device (ELD), began on December 18, 2017. The new mandate applies to all carriers not under FMCSA exemptions.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers are paid according to many different methods. These include salary, hourly, and a number of methods which can be broadly defined as piece work. Piece work methods may include both a base rate and additional pay. Base rates either compensate drivers by the mile or by the load.


title: Truck driver

text: A company driver who makes a number of "less than truckload" (LTL) deliveries via box truck or conventional tractor-trailer may be paid an hourly wage, a certain amount per mile, per stop (aka "drop" or "dock bump") or per piece delivered, unloaded, or tailgated (i.e., moved to the rear of the trailer).


title: Truck driver

text: The main advantage of being paid by the mile may be that a driver is rewarded according to measurable accomplishment. The main disadvantage is that what a driver may accomplish is not so directly related to the effort and, perhaps especially, the time required for completion.


title: Truck driver

text: Household goods drivers deal with the most complexity and thus are typically the highest paid, potentially making multiples of a scheduled freight-hauler.


title: Truck driver

text: Mileage calculations vary from carrier to carrier. Hub miles, or odometer miles ("hub" refers to hubometer, a mechanical odometer mounted to an axle), pay the driver for every mile. Calculations are generally limited to no more than 3–5% above the estimates of mileage by the carrier before red flags appear, depending on the carrier's financial compensation or how it rates the mileage estimation capabilities of the software used. One version of hub miles includes only those per carrier designated route, i.e., a set number of miles. "Out of route" miles of any incentive are provided by the driver to the carrier for free.


title: Truck driver

text: Many of the largest long haul trucking companies in the United States pay their drivers according to short miles. Short miles are the absolute shortest distance between two or more zip codes, literally a straight line drawn across the map. These short miles rarely reflect the actual miles required to pick up and deliver freight, but they will be used to calculate driver earnings.


title: Truck driver

text: Short miles are on average about 10% less than actual miles, but in some cases the difference can be as large as 50%. An extreme (but not unheard of) example would be a load that picked up in Brownsville, Texas, and delivered in Miami, Florida, a journey requiring a driver to travel over 1,600 miles. The short routing, however, would measure the distance as only 750 miles, as if the truck could drive across the Gulf of Mexico. Another extreme example would be a load that picked up in Buffalo, New York, and delivered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, not giving any consideration that three of America's Great Lakes lie between that load's origin and destination.


title: Truck driver

text: Other obvious obstacles would be mountains and canyons. Truck-prohibited routes sometimes create this same phenomenon, requiring drivers to drive several truck-legal routes and approach a destination from behind (essentially driving a fish hook-shaped route), because the most direct route cannot accommodate heavy truck traffic.


title: Truck driver

text: Some trucking companies have tried to alleviate these discrepancies by paying their drivers according to "practical miles." This occurs when dispatchers provide a route to follow and pay the driver accordingly based on the route. This is done to compensate drivers for the actual work done. These routes largely follow the Interstate Highway system but sometimes require drivers to use state and U.S. highways and toll roads. Trucking companies practice this method to attract and retain veteran drivers.


title: Truck driver

text: Household goods (HHG) miles, from the "Household Goods Mileage Guide" (aka "short miles") was the first attempt at standardizing motor carrier freight rates for movers of household goods, some say at the behest of the Department of Defense for moving soldiers around the country, long a major source of steady and reliable revenue. Rand McNally, in conjunction with the precursor of the National Moving & Storage Association developed the first "Guide" published in 1936, at which point it contained only about 300 point-to-point mileages.


title: Truck driver

text: Today, the 19th version of the Guide has grown to contain distances between more than 140,000 cities, zip codes, or highway junctions.


title: Truck driver

text: Percentage-based pay is a common pay structure for owner-operators signed on to haul freight for specific companies. In this type of pay structure, owner-operators are paid a percentage of the gross load revenue. This percentage varies depending on the services provided by the company. For example, an owner-operator who receives 95% of the load revenue may only be provided with dispatch services while an owner-operator who receives 65% of the load revenue may have a company-provided trailer, insurance, or other benefits. In most cases, the owner-operator also receives 100% of the fuel surcharges.


title: Truck driver

text: While not common, company drivers can also be paid by percentage of the load. This is typically a percentage of revenue, the same as owner-operators, with some company drivers instead paid a percentage of the load profit.


title: Truck driver

text: Companies such as Dupré Logistics, which traditionally paid by the mile, have switched to hourly wages. Regional and local drivers are usually paid by the hour. In 2011 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the average heavy and over-the-road truck driver hourly wage to be $21.74 per hour.


title: Truck driver

text: The BLS reported in 2012 that the median hourly wage was $18.37 per hour. In May 2013, the BLS reported a mean average hourly pay ranging from $12.21 (bottom 10%) to $28.66 per hour (top 10%). In March 2014, Payscale.com published that the entry-level truck driver ranged from $11.82 to $20.22 an hour and the average hourly rate was reported as $15.53 an hour. Certain special industry driving jobs such as oilfield services like vacuum, dry bulk, and winch truck drivers can receive a $22.00 or higher hourly wage. A December 2020 survey found the average truck driver in the United States works 70–80 hours per week and earns between $.28 cents to $.40 per mile.


title: Truck driver

text: In Australia, heavy vehicle licenses are issued by the states but are a national standard. There are 5 classes of license required by drivers of heavy vehicles:


title: Truck driver

text: A person must have a C class (car) license for one year before they can apply for an LR or MR class license and two years before they can apply for an HR. To upgrade to an HC class license, a person must have an MR or HR class license for one year. To upgrade to an MC class license, a person must have an HR or HC class license for one year.


title: Truck driver

text: Driver's licenses in Canada, including commercial vehicle licenses, are issued and regulated provincially. Regarding CDLs (commercial drivers licenses), there is no standardization between provinces and territories.


title: Truck driver

text: C1+E Lorries between 3,500 kg and 7,500 kg with a trailer over 750 kg - total weight not more than 12,000 kg (if you passed your category B test prior to January 1, 1997, you will be restricted to a total weight not exceeding 8,250 kg).


title: Truck driver

text: In Australia, for example, a HC license covers buses as well as goods vehicles in the UK and most of the EU; however, a separate license is needed.


title: Truck driver

text: D1+E Combinations of vehicles where the towing vehicle is in subcategory D1 and its trailer has a MAM of over 750 kg, provided that the MAM of the combination thus formed does not exceed 12,000 kg and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle.


title: Truck driver

text: The United States employs a truck classification system, and truck drivers are required to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) to operate a CMV with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 26,000 pounds.


title: Truck driver

text: Acquiring a CDL requires a skills test (pre-trip inspection and driving test) and knowledge test (written) covering the unique handling qualities of driving a large, heavily loaded commercial vehicle, and the mechanical systems required to operate such a vehicle (air brakes, suspension, cargo securement, et al.), must be declared fit by medical examination no less than every two years.


title: Truck driver

text: A person must be at least 18 years of age to obtain a CDL. Drivers under 21 are limited to operating within their state of licensing (intrastate operation). Many major trucking companies require driver applicants to be at least 23 years of age with a year of experience, while others hire and train new drivers as long as they have a clean driving history.


title: Truck driver

text: The U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) stipulates the various classes of CDLs and associated licensing and operational requirements and limitations.


title: Truck driver

text: A CDL can also contain separate endorsements required to operate certain trailers or to haul certain cargo. These endorsements are noted on the CDL and often appear in advertisements outlining the requirements for employment.


title: Truck driver

text: Other endorsements are possible, e.g., M endorsement to transport metal coils weighing more than , but are tested and issued by individual states and are not consistent throughout all states (as of this writing, the M endorsement is unique to New York). The laws of the state where a driver's CDL is issued are considered the applicable laws governing that driver.


title: Truck driver

text: If a driver either fails the air brake component of the general knowledge test or performs the skills test in a vehicle not equipped with air brakes, the driver is issued an air brake restriction, restricting the driver from operating a CMV equipped with air brakes.


title: Truck driver

text: Specifically, the five-axle tractor-semitrailer combination most commonly associated with the word "truck" requires a Class A CDL to drive. Beyond that, the driver's employer (or shipping customers, in the case of an independent owner-operator) generally specifies what endorsements their operations require a driver to possess.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers are responsible for checking the axle and gross weights of their vehicles, usually by being weighed at a truck stop scale. Truck weights are monitored for limit compliance by state authorities at weigh stations and by DOT officers with portable scales.


title: Truck driver

text: Commercial motor vehicles are subject to various state and federal laws regarding limitations on truck length (measured from bumper to bumper), width, and truck axle length (measured from axle to axle or fifth wheel to axle for trailers).


title: Truck driver

text: The relationship between axle weight and spacing, known as the Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula, is designed to protect bridges.


title: Truck driver

text: A standard 18-wheeler consists of three axle groups: a single front (steering) axle, the tandem (dual) drive axles, and the tandem trailer axles. Federal weight limits for NN traffic are:


title: Truck driver

text: The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division of the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) regulates the length, width, and weight limits of CMVs used in interstate commerce.


title: Truck driver

text: Interstate commercial truck traffic is generally limited to a network of interstate freeways and state highways known as the National Network (NN). The National Network consists of (1) the Interstate Highway System and (2) highways, formerly classified as Primary System routes, capable of safely handling larger commercial motor vehicles, as certified by states to FHWA.


title: Truck driver

text: State weight and length limits (which may be lesser or greater than federal limits) affect the only operation of the NN. There is no federal height limit, and states may set their own limits which range from 13 feet 6 inches to 14 feet. As a result, the height of most tractor/trailers range between 13' and 15'. States considered to be in the eastern half of the United States use 13'6" as the maximum height. The boundary states are Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma (the only state west of the north/south line), Arkansas, and Louisiana. States west of these have maximum heights of 14', with the exception of Colorado and Nebraska, which have a maximum height of 14'6". Alaska has a maximum height of 15'.


title: Truck driver

text: Uniquely, the State of Michigan has a gross vehicle weight limit of , which is twice the U.S. federal limit. While it is contended that this is why Michigan has the worst roads in the country (along with lack of funding—Michigan ranks lowest among the 50 states), a measure to change the law was just defeated in the Michigan Senate.


title: Truck driver

text: In the United States, there is a lot of unpaid time, usually at a shipper or receiver where the truck is idle awaiting loading or unloading. Prior to the 2010 HOS changes it was common for 4–8 hours to elapse during this evolution. CSA addressed this and incorporated legal methods for drivers and trucking companies to charge for this excessive time. For the most part, loading/unloading times have fallen into a window of 2–4 hours although longer times are still endured.


title: Truck driver

text: In 2006, the U.S. trucking industry as a whole employed 3.4 million drivers. A major problem for the long-haul trucking industry is that a large percentage of these drivers are aging, and are expected to retire. Very few new hires are expected in the near future, resulting in a driver shortage. Currently, within the long-haul sector, there is an estimated shortage of 20,000 drivers. That shortage is expected to increase to 63,000 by 2018. Trucking (especially the long-haul sector) is also facing an image crisis due to the long working hours, long periods of time away from home, the dangerous nature of the work, the relatively low pay (compared to hours worked), and a "driver last" mentality that is common throughout the industry.


title: Truck driver

text: To help combat the shortage, trucking companies have lobbied Congress to reduce driver age limits, which they say will reduce a recruiting shortfall. Under current law, drivers need to be 21 to haul freight across state lines, which the industry wants to lower to 18 years old.


title: Truck driver

text: Employee turnover within the long-haul trucking industry is notorious for being extremely high. In the 4th quarter of 2005, turnover within the largest carriers in the industry reached a record 136%, meaning a carrier that employed 100 drivers would lose an average of 136 drivers each year.


title: Truck driver

text: Part of the reason for the shortage is the economic fallout from deregulation of the trucking industry. Michael H. Belzer is an internationally recognized expert on the trucking industry, especially the institutional and economic impact of deregulation. He is an associate professor, in the economics department at Wayne State University. He is the author of "Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation". His major opus was critically well received. Low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation. "[This book] argues that trucking embodies the dark side of the new economy." "Conditions are so poor and the pay system so unfair that long-haul companies compete with the fast-food industry for workers. Most long-haul carriers experience 100% annual driver turnover. As the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" wrote: "The cabs of 18-wheelers have become the sweatshops of the new millennium, with some truckers toiling up to 95 hours per week for what amounts to barely more than the minimum wage. [This book] is eye-opening in its appraisal of what the trucking industry has become."


title: Truck driver

text: Due to the nature of the job, most drivers stay out longer than 4 weeks at a time. A few for months on end and even longer. For the average large company driver in the United States 6 weeks is the average, with each week out garnering the driver one day off. This usually accrues to a set maximum of 6 or 7 days. This is the average for OTR (Over The Road) Line Haul and Regional drivers. Vocational and Local drivers are usually home every night or every other night. Most tractors are equipped with sleeper berths that range from 36" to as large as 86" in length. While there are larger sleepers that get up to 144" in length, these are not seen in the mainline segment of trucking. Those are usually seen in the specialized and household moving segments, where the load is either permitted for overweight or oversize or is very light yet bulky.


title: Truck driver

text: From 1992–1995, truck drivers had a higher "total" number of fatalities than any other occupation, accounting for 12% of all work-related deaths. By 2009, truck drivers accounted for 16.8% of transportation-related deaths. In 2016 alone, 475,000 crashes involving large trucks were reported to the police: 0.8% were fatal and 22% resulted in injury. Among crash fatalities generally, 11.8% involved at least one large truck or bus. In 2016, property damages resulting from truck and bus crashes cost several billion dollars.


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers are five times more likely to die in a work-related accident than the average worker. Highway accidents accounted for a majority of truck driver deaths, most of them caused by confused drivers in passenger vehicles who are unfamiliar with large trucks.


title: Truck driver

text: Still, progress has been made. While there has been a 29% increase in fatal crashes since 2009, this number is still lower than what it was in 2005. The safety of truck drivers and their trucks is monitored and statistics compiled by the FMCSA or Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration who provides online information on safety violations. If a truck is stopped by a law enforcement agent or at an inspection station, information on the truck complies and OOS violations are logged. A violation out of service is defined by federal code as an imminent hazard under 49 U.S.C. § 521(b)(5)(B), "any condition likely to result in serious injury or death". National statistics on accidents published in the FMCSA Analysis and Information online website provides the key driver OOS categories for the year 2009 nationally: 17.6% are log entry violations, 12.6% are speeding violations, 12.5% drivers record of duty not current, and 6.5% requiring driver to drive more than 14 hours on duty. This has led to some insurance companies wanting to monitor driver behavior and requiring electronic log and satellite monitoring.


title: Truck driver

text: In 2009 there were 3380 fatalities involving large trucks, of which 2470 were attributed to combination unit trucks (defined as any number of trailers behind a tractor). In a November 2005 FMCSA report to Congress, the data for 33 months of large truck crashes was analyzed. 87 percent of crashes were driver error. In cases where two vehicles, a car and a truck, were involved, 46 percent of the cases involved the truck's driver and 56 percent involved the car's driver. While the truck and car in two vehicle accidents share essentially half the burden of the accidents (not 70 percent as stated above), the top six driver factors are essentially also the same and in approximately equivalent percentages: Prescription drug use, over the counter drug use, unfamiliarity with the road, speeding, making illegal maneuvers, inadequate surveillance. This suggests that the truck driver makes the same errors as the car driver and vice versa. This is not true of the vehicle caused crashes (about 30 percent of crashes) where the top failure for trucks is caused by the brakes (29 percent of the time compared to 2% of the time for the car).


title: Truck driver

text: Truck drivers often spend their nights parked at a truck stop, rest area, or on the shoulder of a freeway ramp. Sometimes these are in secluded areas or dangerous neighborhoods, which account for a number of deaths due to drivers being targeted by thieves for their valuable cargo, money, and property, or for the truck and trailer themselves. Drivers of trucks towing flatbed trailers are responsible for securing and strapping down their cargo (which often involves climbing onto the cargo itself), and if the load requires tarping necessitates climbing on the load to spread out tarps. Tarps can weigh up to 200 lbs each and the cargo can require up to 3 tarps per load which account for a number of deaths and injuries from falling. Drivers spend long hours behind the wheel, which can cause strain on the back muscles. Some drivers are responsible for unloading their cargo, which can lead to many back strains and sprains due to overexertion and improper lifting techniques. If the cab of the truck is not appropriate for the driver's size, the driver can lose visibility and easy access to the controls and be at higher risk for accidents.


title: Truck driver

text: A study published in 2002 by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division of the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) shows that "parking areas for trucks and buses along major roads and highways are more than adequate across the nation when both public (rest areas) and commercial parking facilities are factored in."


title: Truck driver

text: A 2000 highway special investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) contains the following statistics:


title: Truck driver

text: One challenge of finding truck parking is made difficult perhaps not because there are insufficient parking spaces "nationwide", but where the majority of those spaces are not located, and most needed; near the most densely populated areas where demand for trucked goods is greatest.