title: Olympic Tower

text: Olympic Tower has a floor area ratio of 21.6, the maximum permitted in the city when it was completed. The tower received development bonuses in exchange for including a public atrium and for including more than the minimum of retail space that was required for new buildings in the zoning district. In addition to its land lot, the building uses approximately of air development rights above neighboring buildings, giving it a total lot area of approximately . When Olympic Tower was developed, buildings in the densest commercial districts could have a FAR of up to 18, but the tower's development bonuses collectively enabled a 20 percent increase in the maximum FAR.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The facade is clad with glass that is tinted brown. The curtain wall is made of black anodized aluminum. According to Whitson Overcash, the glass facade was meant to reflect St. Patrick's Cathedral to the south.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Olympic Tower's facade contains two stories of retail space, 19 stories of office space, and 30 stories of apartments. Olympic Tower has several mechanical systems, including steam heating and cooling, secondary water, ventilation, and domestic hot water systems. In total, it was built with of usable space. According to floor plans, Olympic Tower has a single mechanical core at the center of each floor, which contains the elevators, stairs, restrooms, and utility rooms.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The 21-story retail and office base measures along Fifth Avenue and along the northern side. The southern side of the base is long on 51st Street; the retail space in the lowest stories extends another eastward along that street. The upper stories are rectangular in form, measuring on Fifth Avenue by about 177.5 feet on 51st Street. The pedestrian atrium on the lowest stories measures about wide and long between 51st and 52nd Streets.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The superstructure is unconventional in that the lower stories are made of steel while the upper stories are made of cast concrete. Though the superstructure uses conventional methods of steel and concrete construction, the combination of both types of construction is less common. The superstructure for the first 21 stories is composed of structural steel columns and girders, and the floor slabs are covered with reinforced concrete. On the upper 30 stories, the columns and floor slabs are made of reinforced concrete. Concrete had better acoustics, the apartments did not require as deep a floor slab compared to the steel frame, and the apartments did not require flexible partitions like the office stories did. The developer, Tishman Speyer, decided not to use a mixture of steel and concrete superstructures for later projects because it was time-consuming and expensive. Steel frames topped by concrete frames have since been used in structures such as the Bloomberg Tower.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The steel structure for the office and retail stories divides the floor area into bays of . A steel vertical truss rises through the first 21 stories of the building. The 22nd floor is designed as a transitional floor where vertical and lateral loads from the upper stories are transferred onto the steel truss. The concrete columns of the upper stories and the steel columns of the lower stories are not perfectly aligned, so the 22nd floor acts as a truss with transfer girders connecting the columns on the upper and lower stories. Steel billet plates, with thicknesses of between , are welded to the girders' top flanges. Above the billet plates are steel base plates with dowels on their top sides, to which the cast concrete columns' rebar cages are connected. A concrete shear wall rises above the 22nd floor. The concrete floor slabs are about thick for the 23rd through 34th floors and are about thick for the 35th through 51st floors.


title: Olympic Tower

text: A midblock pedestrian atrium, originally known as Olympic Place, is included in Olympic Tower's design. The atrium, connecting 51st and 52nd Streets, covers and is designed as the office lobby. The atrium contains two stories and is high on average. The upper tier of the atrium contains retail space, and the atrium also contains a three-tiered waterfall. The waterfall is built above a driveway for garbage trucks.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The atrium is enclosed at either end with revolving doors and, as designed, had minimal exterior signage advertising its presence. When Olympic Tower was being developed, the city allowed developers to enclose their public spaces as long as these spaces had heating and cooling systems. The city also incentivized developers to build enclosed spaces by awarding higher development bonuses for public spaces that were heated and cooled; this legislation was changed after Olympic Tower was constructed. Additionally, the atrium was originally sparsely outfitted and had few chairs and tables. Under city laws regulating privately owned public spaces, Olympic Tower's owners were obligated to provide a minimum number of trees, light fixtures, benches, movable chairs, and planters. A writer for "The Washington Post" stated in 1992 that the atrium's "white chairs discourage lingering".


title: Olympic Tower

text: Moed de Armas and Shannon renovated the atrium in 2019. As part of the renovation, "Triangulated Passage Work," a set of sculptural artworks by Liam Gillick, was installed in the atrium. The works consist of five sculptured panels mounted on the walls. The atrium's lighting system was designed to be active 24 hours a day, but the intensity of the light throughout the day was adjusted to align with the circadian rhythms. A new cafe was installed in the atrium as well. As part of the renovation, a green wall with five types of plants was installed on parts of the atrium's walls.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The office component of the building consists of the third through 21st floors. The office space covers approximately . The office stories cover on average. Initially, the eighth floor was leased as short-term executive offices and the ninth floor was marketed to small tenants. The developers included numerous amenities to entice large companies. These included a Telex service, stock quotation machines, and a news ticker.


title: Olympic Tower

text: , Olympic Tower has 229 condominium units. When the building was constructed, it had 230 apartments on the top 30 stories. The condominium entrance was on 51st Street, just west of the entrance to the atrium on that side. The residential stories start at floor 22 and cover on average. They are arranged with up to eight apartments to a floor, most with one or two bedrooms. The apartments contain full-height windows and ceilings. The designs of the rooms are relatively simple and, because the full-height windows did not allow mechanical systems to be embedded in the facade, each apartment has central ventilation. Many of the apartments are oriented so their living rooms faced the Hudson River to the west as well as the East River to the east. When Olympic Tower opened, its condominiums were described by an Associated Press writer as "very European in concept", as most bathrooms had bidets and a hallman delivered mail directly to each apartment.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The top two floors contain four duplexes with the only fireplaces in the entire building. One of the duplexes was occupied by Adnan Khashoggi and was built with its own swimming pool, as well as five bedrooms, six bathrooms, indoor gardens, a 300-seat catering kitchen, a ballroom, and a sauna. Another duplex contains a living room facing north and west, a dining room, a butler's pantry, a kitchen, a private elevator, four bedrooms, and a sauna. The penthouse apartments were the highest in the world when Olympic Tower was completed, although the uninhabited domes of the Waldorf Astoria New York were slightly taller.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Amenities for the residential portion of the building included a health club, newsstand, sauna, and wine cellar. The residential section also has a fitness center and bicycle parking. When it opened, Olympic Tower had security guards at every entrance, as well as intrusion alarms connected to a computer. The tower also had a high number of service staff, including a doorman, hallman, elevator operators, maids, and three concierges, as well as 24/7 dry cleaning and room service. One of the first managers of Olympic Tower said of the concierge service: "We run this more like a hotel than a residence."


title: Olympic Tower

text: By the late 1960s, Best & Co. was struggling financially despite a program of investment from its owner, the McCrory Corporation. At the time, Best's was considering adding a tower over their Fifth Avenue flagship. The company hired Arlen Realty to manage the development. Best's developers acquired the air rights over 647 Fifth Avenue and the Cartier Building, which allowed them to build a taller building than would have been ordinarily permitted. The developers also considered obtaining the air rights over St. Patrick's Cathedral. Arlen originally hired Norval White and Elliot Willensky to design a building above the Best's store itself.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Aristotle Onassis established a family trust called Victory Development in March 1970. Victory formed a joint venture with Arlen to acquire Best's Fifth Avenue flagship, 647 Fifth Avenue, and the Cartier Building. Architect Morris Lapidus was hired for the initial iteration of the project. Lapidus recalled that he had begged Arthur Levien and Arthur G. Cohen, the presidents of Arlen Realty, "for two long years" to be hired for Arlen and Best's development. Because of his relatively small amount of experience in office design, Arlen had initially been hesitant to hire Lapidus, who specialized in residential buildings. However, after Arlen rejected proposals from six other firms, the company allowed Lapidus one week to create a design.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Lapidus proposed an "L"-shaped 40-story building, the bottom half of which would have been a granite slab. Meshulam Riklis, chairman of McCrory's parent corporation Rapid America, recalled that the slab would be topped by a glass "cube" with a sky plaza, a full-story art gallery, offices, and executive apartments. 647 Fifth Avenue would have been demolished, but the Cartier and Best's buildings would have remained in place. The building would have included an atrium between 51st and 52nd Streets as well as a plaza running to Fifth Avenue. Onassis and Riklis approved of Lapidus's plan and hired him to create designs for the Olympic/Arlen project.


title: Olympic Tower

text: In October 1970, McCrory executives decided to liquidate Best's and close all its stores, including the flagship location at Fifth Avenue and 51st Street. McCrory's president Samuel Neaman said at the time that the site of Best's Fifth Avenue flagship was worth more as a potential real estate development than as a retail location. By then, the joint venture planned to tear down the Best's store and erect a skyscraper called Olympic Tower on the site. Cohen was negotiating with several department store chains to open a store in the base, which, along with a public atrium, would allow a greater development bonus for the skyscraper. Shortly after the closure of Best's was announced, an editorial appeared in "The New York Times", specifically naming Lapidus's involvement in Olympic Tower as an example of Fifth Avenue's decline. According to Lapidus, the editorial created difficulties with his involvement in the project. Lapidus's exhibit that year at the Architectural League of New York also influenced opinions against his Olympic Tower proposal.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Around the same time as planning for Olympic Tower was taking place, a special zoning district was created along Fifth Avenue. In February 1971, New York City mayor John Lindsay proposed the district as a means to preserve the retail character of Fifth Avenue's midtown section. The legislation provided development "bonuses" like additional floor area in exchange for the inclusion of ground-story retail, and it encouraged the construction of Fifth Avenue skyscrapers with retail, offices, and apartments. The legislation went into effect in April 1971. After the zoning district was created, the mayoral Office of Midtown Planning, led by Jaquelin Robertson, collaborated with Olympic and Arlen to add mixed uses to Olympic Tower. Robertson's office perceived Lapidus's design as excessively unconventional and influenced Olympic and Arlen to reconsider the design. Lapidus was subsequently fired and replaced with Kahn & Jacobs, which was also dismissed.


title: Olympic Tower

text: In September 1971, Lindsay announced that SOM would design Olympic Tower. The 50-story building would include retail on the lower floors, offices on the middle floors, and apartments on the upper floors. A two-story atrium would run through the building, connecting with St. Patrick's Cathedral to the south and another atrium and Paley Park to the north. Cohen said Terence Cooke, the Archbishop of New York and the cardinal of St. Patrick's, was "very pleased" with the plans. The building would be the first to be developed within the Fifth Avenue zoning district. Olympic Airways initially intended to renovate 647 Fifth Avenue with a glass facade similar to that of the tower. After architectural critics Ada Louise Huxtable, Paul Goldberger, and other people in the architectural community objected, SOM decided to retain the original facade on 647 Fifth Avenue, which had been designed by Hunt & Hunt.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Olympic Tower's developers hired a graphics design firm to create a sign with propellers that spelled the building's name three times. The sign was mounted on the building's scaffolding, and the propellers would spin every time wind blew. By June 1973, the steel framework had passed the twelfth story. The first retail lease in the building was signed in October 1973 to confectionery Perugina, a subsidiary of Italian manufacturer Buitoni. Olympic Tower Associates released an offering plan for its 230 condominiums in May 1974. The offering valued the condominiums at $46.9 million (equivalent to $ million in ), the most expensive offering for a building in New York City.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Olympic Tower was formally dedicated on September 6, 1974. At the time, more than 70 percent of the commercial space had been leased and 24 of the apartments had been sold. The first residents were expected to move into the building in early 1975. The building cost $95 million in total (equivalent to $ million in ) and the residential units ranged from $40,000 for a studio ($ in ) to $650,000 for a duplex unit with nine rooms ($ million in ). Robertson, who had started working for Arlen, said of the tower's opening: "It would bring people back to midtown". The building had been planned with 230 apartments, but some of the units were subdivided after the most expensive units sold extremely quickly. By December 1974, three-quarters of the office space was leased and forty of the residences had been sold.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Most of the residential units were sold to non-American owners, and the buyers included governments and corporations. Brochures were printed in French, German, Japanese, and Spanish, as well as English. Arlen advertised the building in Europe, South America, and Mexico. Arlen also hired four decorators to create model apartments. The company commissioned a photographer to take photos from a crane on the roof, which were then displayed in the sales office. The public areas and building documents were designed with a silver and brown color scheme; these colors were even used on the personalized hard hats that were given to prospective buyers. Arlen vice president Stanley Thea said the building had been advertised "to a select core of 80.000 people around the world", while Robertson said "Finally we are building in the 1970s what was shown in the movies of the 1940s—penthouses on the 50th floor." Most of these units were intended as pieds-à-terre and some wealthy owners bought multiple apartments. Olympic Tower's bylaws specified that the condominium board wait twenty days before approving any sale of a residential unit.


title: Olympic Tower

text: By 1975, foreign residents had bought about 80 percent of the condominiums for between $122,000 and $650,000 apiece. Mexicans and Venezuelans made up a quarter of all buyers. Only 20 apartments remained unsold and the office space was 85 percent occupied. However, the retail mall did not yet have any restaurants. All the office space was occupied by 1978. Arlen sold its interest in Olympic Tower to Williston S.A., a Panamanian company that was owned by the Onassis family, in late 1979. At that time, Arlen was several hundred million dollars in debt and was selling off many of its properties.


title: Olympic Tower

text: In its first five years of operation, none of Olympic Tower's retail space had been rented out, and the atrium was for the most part empty. As a result, New York City Planning Commission head Robert F. Wagner Jr. threatened to revoke Olympic Tower's certificate of occupancy in 1979, saying the building's owners had not upheld an agreement to add stores to the retail mall in exchange for zoning bonuses. Afterward, Olympic Tower's owners opened a newsstand, public restrooms, and restaurant space in the atrium. The restaurant La Cote Basque was operating at Olympic Tower by 1981. In addition, Delices operated a pastry shop, bar, and a terrace called Le Cafe at ground level, as well as a restaurant called La Cascade in the basement, overlooking the waterfall. The public atrium at Olympic Tower was completely rented by August 1982. The atrium was also used for events such as concerts.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Other luxury residential towers such as Trump Tower and 500 Park Tower were developed nearby in the 1980s. Afterward, prices of residential units at Olympic Tower started to decline in comparison to units in the newer buildings. By 1985, the average unit at Olympic Tower sold for $202,000 per room ($ million in ). Units at Trump Tower, which was also on Fifth Avenue, sold for an average of $263,910 per room ($ million in ). Olympic Tower's condominium units continued to see high demand from Europeans looking to live on Fifth Avenue, though critics said the residences were not well maintained. The midtown section of Fifth Avenue was again becoming a fashionable retail strip by the mid-1990s. Several large brands had offered to occupy some of Olympic Tower's retail space, but Olympic Tower Associates rejected these offers. One brokerage executive said the building's operators "want a tenant in keeping with H.Stern, Mark Cross and Versace", which already occupied retail space on the block.


title: Olympic Tower

text: In May 2012, the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation sold a 49.9 percent stake in the commercial portion of the tower and three neighboring structures to real estate investment firm Crown Acquisitions for $420 million. Olympic Tower and the structures at 647 Fifth Avenue, the Cartier Building, and 10 East 52nd Street were valued at about $1 billion. At the time, all the retail tenants were paying less than , significantly less than the market rent paid at similar structures. Crown Acquisitions purchased the remaining ownership interests in Olympic Tower and the three neighboring structures for $652 million in May 2015. In the same transaction, Oxford Properties acquired a majority interest.


title: Olympic Tower

text: The owners received a $760 million commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) interest-only loan in May 2017 from Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Olympic Tower's owners used the tower itself to back the CMBS loan. The loan was broken into 11 pari passu senior notes totaling $611 million and 3 junior notes totaling $149 million. The banks also originated a $240 million mezzanine loan which was subsequently sold to TIAA and Mirae Asset Financial Group. Oxford Properties hired MdeAS Architects to renovate Olympic Tower's atrium. The refurbished space reopened in January 2019.


title: Olympic Tower

text: When the building opened in 1975, Onassis's companies Olympic Airways and Victory Development respectively took the entire fifth and sixth floors. Law firm Golembock & Barrell took the 11th floor and part of the 12th floor, Bermudan marketing firm JOC took the 17th through 19th floors, and Riklis's conglomerate Rapid American took the 14th through 16th floors and the 20th and 21st floors.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Since 1998, the National Basketball Association has had its headquarters at the property. The organization occupies across floors 11 through 20 with a lease extending through 2035. Richemont's North America subsidiary has also been headquartered at the property since 2001, with their current space covering on floors three through nine. Michael Dell's investment firm MSD Capital occupies roughly on floors 10 and 21. The building's Fifth Avenue retail space is occupied by luxury retailers such as Richemont, H.Stern, Armani Exchange, Longchamp, Furla, and Jimmy Choo Ltd.


title: Olympic Tower

text: When the building opened, Aristotle Onassis took an apartment for himself. Another original occupant was fashion designer Halston, who occupied the entire 21st floor for his showroom, workroom, and design rooms until 1984. Billionaire Adnan Khashoggi owned a penthouse duplex from 1976 to 1993. The Marcos family of the Philippines allegedly owned five condominiums at Olympic Tower, including a ten-room apartment on the 43rd floor. The administration of Philippine President Corazon Aquino seized the Marcos apartment in the late 1980s while recovering some unexplained wealth of the Marcos family.


title: Olympic Tower

text: Later occupants included actress Anne Hathaway and her then-partner Raffaello Follieri, who lived at Khashoggi's old residence until 2012. The choreographer, director, and dancer Ron Field also lived in the building. Alessandra and Allegra Gucci, the daughters of Maurizio Gucci, owned a penthouse, which they listed for sale in August 2015. According to court documents, Venezuelan kingpin Alejandro Betancourt López also bought a penthouse in the building.


title: Olympic Tower

text: After SOM's plans for the building were announced, a writer for "Newsday" said Olympic Tower would provide "a clear test of strength between God and Mammon", being right across from St. Patrick's Cathedral. "Progressive Architecture" magazine characterized the new plans as having attracted attention from members of the public who wanted to see Fifth Avenue's revival. According to a writer for the website CityRealty, Olympic Tower's design was "more conservative, yet paradoxically also more cutting-edge" compared to the Galleria condominiums on 57th Street, which was built around the same time.


title: Olympic Tower

text: When the building opened, Paul Goldberger of "The New York Times" criticized the facade as being "not as refined as Skidmore Owings and Merrill's best work". Goldberger called the building's architecture "oppressively banal" and described it as "overwhelm[ing] Fifth Avenue like an aircraft carrier beside a row of sailboats". Ada Louise Huxtable of the same newspaper said Olympic Tower was "about as nondescript as anything that size can be" and described the residential lobby as "mildly offensive in design and taste and quite disposable". Huxtable saw Olympic Place as a "cop-out" and said that, with the inclusion of the plaza, "Olympic Tower has given the city the back of its hand". Suzanne Stephens of "Progressive Architecture" said that the tower was "awkward in form, but slick in style, a solution that conveys signs of urbanity rather than creating a sense of urban place".


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Margaret Ellen Noonan (born 1950), known as Peggy Noonan, is a weekly columnist for "The Wall Street Journal", and contributor to NBC News and ABC News. She was a primary speechwriter and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan from 1984 to 1986 and has maintained a center-right leaning in her writings since leaving the Reagan administration. Five of Noonan's books have been "New York Times" bestsellers.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Noonan was born on September 7, 1950, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a merchant seaman. She is of Irish descent. Noonan is a graduate of Rutherford High School in Rutherford, New Jersey, and Fairleigh Dickinson University.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Noonan worked as the daily CBS Radio commentary writer for anchorman Dan Rather at CBS News, whom she once called "the best boss I ever had." From 1975 through 1977 she worked the overnight shift as a newswriter at WEEI Radio in Boston, where she was later Editorial and Public Affairs Director.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In 1984, Noonan, as a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, authored his "Boys of Pointe du Hoc" speech on the 40th anniversary of D-Day. She also wrote Reagan's address to the nation after the "Challenger" explosion, drawing upon the poet John Magee's words about aviators who "slipped the surly bonds of earth ... and touched the face of God." The latter is ranked as the eighth best American political speech of the 20th century, according to a list compiled by professors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Texas A&M University. The "Pointe du Hoc" speech ranks as the 58th best speech of the century, according to the website American Rhetoric.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: She also worked on a tribute Reagan gave to honor President John F. Kennedy at a fundraising event held at the McLean, Virginia, home of Senator Edward M. Kennedy in the spring of 1984.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Later, while working for then Vice President George H. W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign, Noonan coined the phrase "a kinder, gentler nation" and also popularized "a thousand points of light", two memorable catchphrases used by Bush. Noonan also wrote Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans, in which he pledged: "". Bush's subsequent reversal of this pledge is often cited as a major reason for his defeat in his 1992 re-election campaign.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In 1995, Noonan received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In mid-August 2004, Noonan took a brief unpaid leave from "The Wall Street Journal" to campaign for George W. Bush's reelection.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: During the 2008 presidential campaign, Noonan wrote about Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy in "The Wall Street Journal". In one opinion piece, Noonan expressed her view that Palin did not demonstrate "the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office," concluding that Palin's candidacy marked a "vulgarization in American Politics" that is "no good... for conservatism... [or] the country." Such commentary resulted in a backlash from many conservatives. In July 2022, in a column about the rise of remote work and empty office buildings, she wrote, "I don’t want America to look like an Edward Hopper painting. He was the great artist of American loneliness—empty streets, tables for one, everyone at the bar drinking alone. We weren’t meant to be a Hopper painting. We were meant to be and work together."


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Noonan is an author, a columnist for "The Wall Street Journal", and a commentator on several news shows, including CNN, where she distanced herself from more conservative Republicans and Donald Trump's presidency. She was one of the founding members of wowOwow.com, along with Liz Smith, Lesley Stahl, Mary Wells Lawrence, and Joni Evans.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In 2017, Noonan won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, for "rising to the moment with beautifully rendered columns that connected readers to the shared virtues of Americans during one of the nation's most divisive political campaigns."


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In 1985, Noonan married Richard W. Rahn, who was then chief economist at the US Chamber of Commerce. Their son Will was born in 1987.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Noonan and her husband were divorced after five years of marriage. In 1989 she returned with her son to her native New York. In 2004, according to an interview with "Crisis Magazine", she lived in a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights with her son, who attended the nearby Saint Ann's School.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Noonan lives in New York City. She is a practicing Roman Catholic and attends St. Thomas More Church on Manhattan's Upper East Side.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: While Noonan's speechwriting has been praised, her books and "Wall Street Journal" columns have been the source of criticism and mockery. Critics have singled out her reliance on personal anecdotes to make broad assertions about current events and changes in American politics and society.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In her book "What I Saw at the Revolution", she recounts seeing two homeless people outside the White House and then comments: "In Washington in the eighties, as in every American city, the street people no longer tried to arouse an empathy or create a connection that might prompt a hand into a pocket. They often sought to menace ... In Washington in the eighties the insane were coolly used to advance ideological aims—cruelty in the name of higher compassion, engineered by men and women who were lauded in the press for their decency and concern."


title: Peggy Noonan

text: On the day prior to the 2012 United States presidential election, Noonan wrote an article on her "Wall Street Journal" blog predicting a Mitt Romney victory after seeing Romney yard signs during a trip to Florida, among other indicators. Noonan's prediction was the subject of ridicule.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Nate Silver wrote asking Noonan to present evidence concerning her charge that the IRS was auditing taxpayers for political reasons.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In a March 2013 column, she used her experience staying at a short-staffed airport hotel to demonstrate the Obama administration's lack of focus on job creation and infrastructure spending, even though infrastructure was a significant component of Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which Noonan had previously criticized in November 2010.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In August 2019, Noonan was mocked for writing a column on Donald Trump's support among Hispanic Americans which centered on a conversation she had with a Dominican friend who worked at the deli counter at her grocery store. In June 2019, Noonan wrote a column about the loyalty of Trump's supporters that was based on conversations she had with her sister and her uncle.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: During Hurricane Katrina, she called for looters in New Orleans to be shot. Henry Giroux called it a "barely coded rationale to shoot low-income Black people."


title: Peggy Noonan

text: Recurring themes in Noonan's books and columns include the decline of civility, social graces, religiosity, patriotism, bipartisanship and statesmanship in contemporary American politics and society, as well as enduring praise for past conservative political figures such as Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. As a result, her writing is criticized for being overly nostalgic.


title: Peggy Noonan

text: In June 2019, after Noonan called on congressional Democrats to censure President Trump in the wake of the Mueller report, he attacked her on Twitter, calling her "simplistic" and claiming that she "is stuck in the past glory of Reagan." In June 2022, Trump issued a statement calling Noonan a "weak and frail RINO ... who did much less for Ronald Reagan than she claims, and who actually said bad things about him and his ability to speak" after she wrote in the "Wall Street Journal" that the Republican Party was "rejecting" Trump in the aftermath of the 2021 United States Capitol attack.


title: Fugget About It

text: Fugget About It is a Canadian adult animated sitcom created by Nicholas Tabarrok and Willem Wennekers for Teletoon's late night block, Teletoon at Night. The show is rated 14A for sexuality, violence, and profanity, which makes it the first and only adult-oriented project by 9 Story Media Group. The show was created from the Pilot Project contest on Teletoon. The show premiered in the United States, exclusively on Hulu on October 13, 2013.


title: Fugget About It

text: On June 9, 2014, it was announced that a third season of the show had been ordered. It was revealed at Fan Expo Canada 2015 that the third season would air in November on Adult Swim.


title: Fugget About It

text: The series follows a New York City Mafia capo named Jimmy Falcone who moves to Regina, Saskatchewan to join the Witness Protection Program after he kills his mob boss. While pleading for his uncle Francesco "Cheech" Falcone's life, Don Gambini told Jimmy that he was required to kill his uncle. Then he made a sexual innuendo about Jimmy's oldest daughter Theresa, so Jimmy threw Don Gambini out the 19th-floor window to his death. The rest of the Gambini mob retaliated by trying to kill Jimmy, not caring if any of his family got killed. With no other options, Jimmy cuts a deal with the FBI to protect his family, and they agree to place the Falcones in Witness Protection if Jimmy testifies against his fellow mobsters. This results in Jimmy and his family moving to Regina and living a new life under the name McDougal.


title: Randy Fenoli

text: Randy Fenoli is an American television presenter and fashion designer who is mainly known for his work on wedding dresses and his own TV show "Randy to the Rescue" and "Say Yes to the Dress". He was the fashion director for the wedding dress store Kleinfeld Bridal from 2007 to 2012.


title: Randy Fenoli

text: Born in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, Fenoli grew up with a love of fashion and began sewing dresses when he was only nine years old, eventually expanding his efforts into the areas of make-up artistry, hair styling and entertainment. After winning the Miss Gay America competition in 1990, performing as Brandi Alexander, he used the prize money to enroll at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. He was offered a job working for Vivian Dessy Diamond, of the Vivian Diamond company. Subsequently, his design experience paid off when he was offered a job at Kleinfeld. He is now an independent consultant.


title: Randy Fenoli

text: He has been a fashion designer since 1992. In 2007, Fenoli made his television debut on the U.S. cable channel TLC with "Say Yes To The Dress", where his wit and fashion sensibilities charmed viewers. Since 2011 he has hosted "", broadcast in Spain and Italy, and "Randy to the Rescue".


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Michael Dunlop (born 10 April 1989) is a Northern Irish professional motorcycle racer. Part of a motorcycle racing dynasty, Michael is the brother of the late William Dunlop, son of Robert and nephew of former World Champion Joey Dunlop.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: He won the Armoy road race on 27 July 2019 just 16 days after breaking his pelvis. The victories were Dunlop's 18th and 19th around his home circuit at Armoy.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: He is a former solo-machine lap record holder for the Snaefell Mountain Course set during the 2016 Senior TT in a time of 16 minutes 53.929 seconds at an average speed of . Dunlop was the first rider in the history of the Isle of Man TT to achieve a lap of the course in under 17 minutes.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop was described in 2015 as having "an aggressive style" which was "spectacular to watch". This pugnacious attitude has led to numerous confrontations with race teams, rival competitors and on occasion, his late brother. In addition he has often refused to acknowledge the names of his fellow cometitors.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: He made his TT debut in 2007, where his best finish was 25th in the Superbike TT. He made the decision to ride in the 2008 races at the last minute after the death of his father at the North West 200 earlier in the year. He finished 10th in the Senior TT with a fastest lap of 124.773 mph, making him the fastest Dunlop around the TT Course. Dunlop joined his father and uncle Joey in the record books in 2009 when he won the Supersport TT race on a 600cc Yamaha.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop has also won at the North West 200, recording his only victory to date at the 250 cc race in 2008. His father was killed during practice for this event.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop took part in the Classic Superbike race at the Manx GP on Friday 31 August. He took the win in the Classic Superbike race at the Manx Grand Prix 2012. This was his sixth title on the Mountain Course and his third Manx Grand Prix race win following his debut, and victory, in the 2006 Newcomers MGP race. During the two-week 2012 Manx GP Dunlop worked in the pits for a team in the 600 Junior Race.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: At the start of the 2015 Road Racing season, Dunlop had a poor start with race team Milwaukee Yamaha, and during the practice week of the 2015 Isle of Man TT, he dramatically left Yamaha to rejoin his previous team, BuildBase BMW, in order to give him the best chance of a good result.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: In February 2016, it was announced that Dunlop would again ride BMW in the Superbike class at International road races during the 2016 racing season, provided by Hawk Racing. The announcement was made at the MCN Motorshow at the Excel, confirming that Dunlop will be riding the 2016 BMW S1000RR.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop opened his account at the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races in the Superbike race, which he led from start to finish. Astride a BMW S1000RR, Dunlop bettered the existing absolute course speed record attained during one-lap, also setting a new average speed for the six lap race of 130.306 mph in a race-record time of 1 hour, 44 minutes, 14.259 seconds for the 226 miles of racing. In addition Dunlop also won the prestigious John Williams Trophy.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop's second race of the week was the Supersport Junior 600 TT, race 1. The opening lap saw him dicing at the head of the field with Ian Hutchinson. By the end of the four-lap race, Dunlop finished in second place behind Hutchinson. Following routine post-race inspection of the machines, Dunlop's bike was deemed to have infringed race regulations with non-standard parts, and he was subsequently disqualified.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop returned to the start line for the second race of 6 June, the Superstock TT on a 1000 cc BMW. However, handling difficulties contributed to him retiring from the race at the end of the opening lap.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: In the second of the two Supersport Junior races, Dunlop finished second to Hutchinson. For the last race of Dunlop's schedule on Friday 10 June, he led the six-lap Senior TT from lap one, extending his lead over runner-up Ian Hutchinson, winning with a 31-second margin, raising his own absolute lap record speed previously set on Saturday, 4 June by a small amount, and setting a new race record time.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: During the 2016/2017 closed season there were various rumours of possible proposals for 2017. After Hawk Racing's switch from BMW to Suzuki for 2017, Dunlop signed for the Bennett's Suzuki Racing Team campaigning the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 as part of a four-man squad. Dunlop will concentrate on International road races with team mates Sylvain Guintoli and Taylor Mackenzie in British Superbikes and Richard Cooper in National Superstock 1000.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: After an introduction to the new machine at Mallory Park, Dunlop pre-season tested with teammates at Circuito de Velocidad de Cartagena and Almeria in Spain for five days. This was followed by a further work up at Donington Park on 22 March.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: The qualifying week for the 2017 Isle of Man TT was plagued by poor weather. Following a sporadic week of qualifying the first race day was given over to additional qualifying and practice, which meant the curtain raiser to the meeting, the Superbike TT, was postponed for 24 hours.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Racing got underway on Sunday, 4 June. Dunlop formed up on the grid at the TT Grandstand on board the Bennett's Suzuki in what were ideal conditions. Setting the early pace, Dunlop crossed the line at the head of the field at the end of lap 1, posting a time of 17 minutes 15.79 seconds from a standing start, clocking and average speed of .


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Going into the second lap with a slender 1.8 second lead over Dean Harrison, Dunlop continued to head the field until he was forced to retire at Handley's Corner.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: In the opening Supersport race, Dunlop took his place on the grid astride his familiar MD Racing Yamaha. Dicing for the lead with James Hillier at the end of the opening lap, Dunlop came into the pit stop at the end of lap 2 with a 2.75 second lead. Taking another second from Hillier at the end of lap 3, Dunlop continued to edge ahead on the final lap, coming home with a winning margin of 12.5 seconds.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: At the end of March, 2018, it was announced in a press release by TAS Racing that Dunlop had been signed by the team to campaign factory BMWs in the premier racing categories of the 2018 racing season.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: After some pre-season testing with the Tyco BMW squad, Dunlop made his way to the curtain raiser to the Irish Road Racing season, the Cookstown 100. Qualifying third fastest in the Superbike category Dunlop opened his 2018 campaign by taking victory aboard his MD Racing Honda in the Supersport Invitation race.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop's first competitive outing on the S-1000RR saw him competing in the Open A race. Starting in the lead group he crossed the line at the head of the field only to be awarded second place behind Derek Shiels, losing by 5 seconds on corrected time.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: A series of crashes plagued the event, resulting in the cancellation of the remainder of the race programme including the highlight of the meeting, the Cookstown 100 Superbike race.


title: Michael Dunlop

text: Dunlop won the opening race of the 2018 Isle of Man TT with a race time of 01:44:13.398 and an average lap speed of .


The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (, DPS) is a populist political party in Montenegro. A former long-time ruling party sitting at the opposition for the first time as of 2020, it was formed on 22 June 1991 as the successor of the League of Communists of Montenegro, which had governed Montenegro within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since World War II, and has remained a major force in the country ever since. The party is a member of the Socialist International and the Progressive Alliance, and an associate of the Party of European Socialists. During the 1990s, DPS was the major centre-left, social-democratic party in favour of Serbian-Montenegrin unionism. However, since 1997, the party has embraced Montenegrin independence and has been improving ties with the West, slowly turning into a catch-all party embracing Atlanticism, Montenegrin nationalism, neoliberalism, and pro-Europeanism.


title: Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro

text: Since its formation and the introduction of a multi-party system, the DPS has played a dominant role in Montenegrin politics, forming the backbone of every coalition government until the 2020 parliamentary election, when it entered the opposition. This marked the first time since 1945 that the party, including its predecessor incarnation, had not been in power. Prior to the 2020 election, the party strongly supported the controversial religious freedom law, causing tensions across Montenegro and the rise of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegrin politics. The Church gaining more power gave motivation for the ethnic nationalist faction to rise in the party, with which some members such as the civic nationalist Filip Vujanović had issues since 2011. The ethnic nationalist wing of the party also supported renewing the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which led to the DPS being accused of creating a "party church".


text: The party evolved from the League of Communists of Montenegro as a reformist force after Yugoslavia's dissolution. In the 1990s, party was based on democratic socialism, social democracy, and Serbian–Montenegrin unionism. In the 2000s, the party switched policy towards a common state with Serbia and would become the main proponent of the independence of Montenegro in 2006. In the 2010s and 2020s, the party is characterized by populist, big tent politics with a slight centre-left lean, alongside elements of nationalism and a pro-European stance towards European integration. The PDS also followed most mainstream, centre-left, social-democratic parties moving to the right since the 1980s, as a result of the post-war displacement of Keynesianism, by embracing Third Way economics and politics but has been described as one of the most radical neoliberal centre-left parties. Many considered the party and its three decades rule to have been in practice a kleptocratic and authoritarian regime.


text: After its ninth congress in November 2019, the DPS dominantly increased its ethnic Montenegrin nationalist discourse by officially and institutionally supporting the rights of the canonically unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church, announcing its "re-establishment". According to the ODIHR and Freedom House reports that the party established a hybrid regime as well an electoral authoritarian system. After the fall of its populist regime from the position of power after 30 years due to results of the 2020 Montenegrin parliamentary election, the party said that the Krivokapić Cabinet, a big tent ruling coalition, represents "threat for Montenegrin statehood and its independence". The period before the 2020 parliamentary election was marked by the high polarization of the electorate. Several corruption scandals of the ruling party triggered 2019 Montenegrin anti-corruption protests, while a controversial religion law sparked another wave of protests. Election monitoring observer OSCE stated that "[a]buse of state resources gave the ruling party an unfair advantage" and of inciting ethnic hatred, and said that although the elections were competitive, the governing party also benefited from a lack of independent media.


text: In foreign policy, the party maintains Atlanticist and Europeanist positions, condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and positioning itself in an anti-Russian role.


text: According to some analysts, the DPS, together with its coallition partners, as well some newly founded nationalist parties, started pushing the narrative of "Montenegro being left to Serbia by the United States and the EU", but these assessments have no foundation in the post-Ukrainian invasion international scenario.


text: The history of the DPS begins with the political turmoil in Yugoslavia in the late 1980s. After Slobodan Milošević seized power in the League of Communists of Serbia, he went on to organize rallies that eventually ousted the leaderships of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia local branches in Vojvodina, Kosovo, and Montenegro. This series of events, collectively known as the Anti-bureaucratic revolution, swept into power new party leadership in Montenegro, one allied with Milošević, personified in Momir Bulatović, Milo Đukanović, and Svetozar Marović.


text: Under this new leadership, the League of Communists of Montenegro won by a landslide in the 1990 Montenegrin general election, the first relatively free multi-party election in Socialist Montenegro, held in December 1990, taking 83 out of 125 seats in the Parliament of Montenegro. The party had a significant head start in the elections, as it had the entire established party structure at its disposal, while newly formed competition had to start from scratch. The party changed its name to the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro ("Demokratska partija Crne Gore") on 22 June 1991.


text: With Bulatović as the president, the DPS closely aligned Montenegro with Serbia and the policies of Slobodan Milošević. The party was firmly in power during the turbulent early 1990s, which saw the breakup of Yugoslavia and the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars. During these years, the party endorsed a union and close relations with Serbia, its sole partner in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) from 1992. The party maintained the support of the electorate in this difficult period for Montenegro, winning both the 1992–1993 and 1996 parliamentary elections.


text: On July 11, 1997, the party's national committee "Glavni odbor" (GO) held a closed doors session after which the committee selected Milica Pejanović-Đurišić to replace Bulatović as the party president. The party split had enormous implications, making a political confrontation between Đukanović and Bulatović inevitable. This manifested in the 1997 Montenegrin presidential election held in October, which Đukanović won by a thin margin. Bulatović went on to form the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro (SNP) out of his defeated DPS faction, whose platform held a unionist position on the question of Yugoslavia and its short-lived successor state, Serbia and Montenegro. Meanwhile, Đukanović became a fierce opponent of Slobodan Milošević politics.


text: As a result of Đukanović's relationship with the United States, Montenegro received significant amounts of economic aid during this period, and negotiated limitations on NATO bombings of its territory in 1999, whereas the rest of Yugoslavia was subject to significantly heavier attacks. The DPS government gradually severed ties with Serbia by taking control over customs and the economy, introducing first the German mark, and subsequently the euro as legal tender, and generally reducing the influence of the federal government in Montenegro.


text: Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević on 5 October 2000, the DPS showed signs of greater support for Montenegrin independence. The campaign for the 2002 parliamentary elections was devoted to the question of Montenegro's independence. The European Union mediated negotiations between the DPS and the newly elected democratic government in Serbia in 2003 imposed a three-year waiting period before an independence referendum could be held. The transitional period saw the transformation of the FR Yugoslavia to a loose union called Serbia and Montenegro. During the existence of the union state, the party congress added the goal of a "democratic, internationally-recognized, independent Montenegro" to its official platform. The party then spearheaded the pro-independence campaign ahead of Montenegro's referendum in 2006. With 55.5% of voters opting for independence, Montenegro became an independent state on 3 June 2006.


text: At the 2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election as well as the subsequent 2009 and 2012 parliamentary elections, the DPS confirmed its position as the strongest political party in Montenegro. The party has formed the basis of all parliamentary majorities and has been the backbone of all government cabinets since independence, usually with its now traditional ally the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro and ethnic minority parties. Former party vice-president Filip Vujanović served as the president of Montenegro for three terms from 2002 until 2018, having won presidential elections in 2003, 2008, and 2013, being succeeded by party leader Milo Đukanović in 2018.


text: Đukanović remains the party president and its undisputed authority, serving either as Prime Minister or President of Montenegro from 1991 to 2006, 2008 to 2010 and 2012 to 2016. In 2006, the party leadership chose Željko Šturanović, former Minister of Justice, to succeed Đukanović as Prime Minister, until his resignation on 31 January 2008 for health reasons, whereupon Đukanović replaced him, only to resign again in December 2010 while retaining his role as DPS party leader. After winning the 2012 parliamentary elections, Đukanović once again assumed the position of Prime Minister. In 2015, the centre-left Social Democratic Party left the coalition with the DPS, accusing ruling party of corruption and abuse of power. At the 2020 parliamentary election, DPS decided to run independently, with single candidate spot on the electoral list given to the nationalist Liberal Party of Montenegro. Election eventually resulted in a victory for the opposition parties and the fall of the authoritarian DPS, after governing the country for 30 years, since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 23 October 2019, the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people — 31 men and 8 women — were found in the trailer of an articulated refrigerator lorry in Grays, Essex, United Kingdom. The trailer had been shipped from the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Purfleet, Essex, UK, and the lorry cab and its driver are believed to have originated from Northern Ireland. Investigations are being led by Essex Police, and involve the national authorities of the UK, Belgium, Ireland and Vietnam.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Nine people have so far been convicted of crimes related to the incident in the UK and a further nineteen have been jailed in Belgium.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: The lorry cab, a Scania R-series, was registered in Bulgaria in 2017 in the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen, but had not returned there since, according to the Bulgarian foreign ministry. The refrigerated trailer was leased on 15 October from a rental company in County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland. Refrigerated trailers can be kept airtight and frozen to preserve perishables, which could lead to an occupant dying of suffocation or hypothermia should they become trapped inside.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: The lorry cab and the trailer arrived separately in Purfleet, Essex, from where they travelled together the short distance to Grays. Police believe that the cab was driven from Northern Ireland on 19 October. It then travelled through the Republic of Ireland to Dublin, and from there by sea to Holyhead in Wales, from where it was driven to Purfleet. The trailer was loaded onto the freight ferry "Clementine" in Zeebrugge in Belgium. GPS data showed it had previously travelled to Dunkirk and Lille in France and Bruges in Belgium. It arrived in Purfleet, a town with a port on the Thames, at around 00:30 on 23 October and was picked up with the cab there about half-an-hour later.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: The Zeebrugge port chairman said it was "highly unlikely" the migrants entered the trailer there, and that breaking the seal, loading 39 people and resealing the trailer without being noticed would be "virtually impossible".


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 23 October 2019, shortly after 01:40 BST, staff of the East of England Ambulance Service responding to a 999 call made by the driver, Maurice Robinson, who found 39 bodies in a refrigerated articulated lorry. The lorry was in Eastern Avenue at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex. The ambulance service informed Essex Police, who arrived shortly afterwards.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Soon after the police arrived, Eastern Avenue was closed and not fully re-opened until 25 October. The lorry driver was a 25-year-old man from Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: The ambulance service said that all 39 people were dead before it arrived, and attempts at resuscitation could not be made. The deceased—31 males and 8 females—included 10 teenagers; the 2 youngest were 15-year-old boys.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: They are believed to have been either victims of human trafficking (for example, as forced labourers), migrants who paid smugglers to move them to the United Kingdom, or both. Smugglers often force migrants to work off the cost of the trip in slave-like conditions. There have been a number of incidents in which migrants to Europe died or were injured as a result of dangerous transportation methods. In an incident in Dover in June 2000, 58 Chinese nationals died in similar circumstances.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 23 November, it was reported that one of the teenagers later found dead had gone missing from an asylum centre in the Netherlands.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 11 February 2020, Essex Police said that post-mortems gave a combination of hypoxia and hyperthermia as the provisional causes of death.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Initially the police said the deceased were all Chinese nationals and the Chinese embassy in London sent officials to assist with identification.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 2 November, police clarified they were all Vietnamese. The family of a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman made public her last text message to her parents which she sent as she was dying; her family said they paid around £30,000 to smuggle their daughter from Vietnam to the UK.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 3 November, Vietnamese officials provided DNA samples from people in Nghệ An Province and essential documents to help identify the deceased. By 7 November, all of the deceased had been formally identified. Names, ages and hometowns were released on 8 November; 20 were from Nghệ An Province, 10 from Hà Tĩnh, 4 from Haiphong, 3 from Quảng Bình, 1 from Diễn Châu District and 1 from Thừa Thiên-Huế.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: A murder investigation was launched on the morning of the day of the discovery. The investigation was the "largest mass fatality victim identification" investigation in the history of Essex Police. The National Crime Agency suggested that organised crime might be involved.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: The investigation is being led by Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten, a Senior Investigating Officer within the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: The lorry and bodies were moved from the scene to a secure location in Tilbury Docks, another nearby port on the Thames, to continue the investigation. Police later moved the bodies to a mortuary at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford for post-mortems to be carried out.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke in Dáil Éireann and said that Irish authorities would investigate any involvement regarding their country. In the evening of 23 October, the Belgian prosecutor's office announced that they would also investigate the lorry's transit through their country. The police suspect that an Irish people-smuggling ring which has been under investigation for around a year might be involved.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 24 October, the "Evening Standard" speculated that the trailer had travelled from the Netherlands before its departure from Belgium. British police had also searched two properties in Northern Ireland. Belgian officials said the people were trapped in the trailer for at least 10 hours.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 25 October, police arrested a man and a woman from Warrington, Cheshire, on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people, and another man at Stansted Airport regarding the same offences. On 27 October, it was announced that these three had been released on bail. After extended questioning, on 26 October Essex Police charged the driver they had arrested with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering. He appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on 28 October, when the Crown Prosecution Service alleged that he was part of a "global ring" of people smugglers. He was remanded in custody, to appear at the Central Criminal Court on 25 November.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 26 October, the Irish police said they had detained a man in his 20s at Dublin Port who was of interest to Essex Police as part of its investigation into the lorry deaths. He was charged with unrelated offences. A Belgian public prosecutor said that this was the lorry driver they had been searching for, who had been seen on CCTV ten times at Zeebrugge while dropping off the refrigerated trailer. Two days later, the prosecutor said that the lorry driver pretended that the trailer was filled with cookies and biscuits.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 29 October, Essex Police announced that two brothers from Armagh, Northern Ireland, one of whom owned the haulage company operating the lorry cab detained at Grays, were wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking offences related to the incident. On 20 April 2020, one of the brothers, a 40-year-old man, was arrested by Gardaí in the Republic of Ireland on a European Arrest Warrant and charged with 39 counts of manslaughter and immigration offences.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 1 November, a man from Northern Ireland was re-arrested in the holding cells of the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin following the execution of a European Arrest Warrant issued in the UK. He was charged with 41 offences, including 39 of manslaughter, and extradition proceedings began in the Irish High Court. In February 2020, the man was given leave to appeal the extradition judgment.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 4 November, Vietnamese police arrested eight suspects in the central province of Nghệ An in connection with the smuggling ring. In February 2020 five men and two women were charged in Vietnam with "organising or broking others to flee abroad or stay abroad illegally".


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 29 January 2020, a man from Essex, who was the subject of a European Arrest Warrant, was detained in Frankfurt. He was returned to the UK where he was charged with 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 9 February 2020, a man was arrested in Northern Ireland on suspicion of manslaughter and facilitating unlawful immigration, and was released on bail.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 4 March 2020, a man from Essex was charged with an immigration offence related to the deaths. The offence allegedly occurred between May 2018 and October 2019. On 16 March 2020, a man from Birmingham was charged with an immigration offence related to the incident. The man is accused of "conspiring to smuggle non-EU nationals into the UK, contrary to immigration law, between 1 May 2018 and 24 October 2019."


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 17 April 2020, a 42-year-old man from Tottenham was charged with an immigration offence related to the deaths. He was accused of "conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU person". On 20 April 2020 a 40-year-old man was arrested in the Republic of Ireland in connection with the deaths. He faced 39 charges of manslaughter as well as immigration offences. On 29 April 2020 he appeared before the High Court via videolink, during which he was described as the "ringleader" of a criminal gang. His solicitor applied for bail and the prosecution opposed it. Bail was refused on 30 April.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 26 May 2020 French and Belgian police announced the arrest of 26 people suspected of human trafficking in relation to the Essex lorry deaths. Authorities said a series of simultaneous early morning raids had taken place in both countries on 25 May 2020. The police operation was organised with a cross-border team organised by Eurojust that included Belgium, France, the UK and Ireland. Thirteen people were arrested in France.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 15 December 2020, a Vietnamese man who was believed to have been involved in transporting 10 of the 39 migrants from a safehouse in Anderlecht was arrested in Redditch by National Crime Agency officers on a European Arrest Warrant issued by a Belgian judge.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 17 March 2021 a 23-year-old haulier from Caledon, County Tyrone was charged with conspiracy to assist illegal immigration in connection with the deaths. On 14 April 2021 he pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial in 2023.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: In June 2021 Italian authorities and the National Crime Agency arrested a 27-year-old Romanian man near Milan in connection with the deaths, charging him with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 17 June 2021 a Vietnamese man who is being sought by Belgian authorities for extradition in connection with the deaths was arrested at a supermarket petrol station in Middlesbrough. A National Crime Agency spokesman said that the individual was "suspected by the Belgian authorities of having played a key role in placing at least 10 migrants inside that lorry."


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: in July 2022, Essex Police released an image of a man who is wanted in connection with the deaths. 48 year old Romanian national Marius Mihai Draghici is believed to be part of the conspiracy to smuggle the migrants into the UK.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 25 November 2019, Maurice Robinson pleaded guilty in the Central Criminal Court to conspiring with others to assist illegal immigration and acquiring criminal property. He was remanded in custody until 13 December when he appeared in court, via a video link from Belmarsh Prison in London where he was being held until his trial. On 8 April 2020, he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the 39 victims.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: A second man, from County Armagh, also appeared at the Central Criminal Court on 13 December and pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit human trafficking offences between 1 May 2018 and 24 October 2019, by arranging or facilitating the travel of other people with a view to exploitation. He also denied conspiring to assist unlawful immigration over the same period, but did not enter any plea regarding 39 charges of manslaughter with which he was charged.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 15 May 2020 Ronan Hughes, the man accused of being a ringleader, attended the High Court in Ireland by video link from Cloverhill Prison in Dublin. Counsel for the defence argued that many of the alleged offences occurred outside the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom and that the extradition warrant was unclear about whether the United Kingdom was asserting that the alleged offences occurred in UK jurisdiction or were extraterritorial. Counsel for the Minister for Justice, Ronan Kennedy SC disagreed, calling the claim of extraterritoriality a red herring and that the court should not engage in a "fanciful debate" as to whether other states had jurisdiction to try these offences. The counsel for the state pointed out that the 39 people died after the trailer had entered the UK and that it was nonsensical to suggest their deaths had occurred anywhere other than the UK. The fact that many locations were mentioned in the warrant did not mean that the offences were extraterritorial and the accused was in the UK and had acted to further an act of conspiracy that underpinned the charges of manslaughter. Judge Burns remanded the accused until 12 June 2020, when Ireland's High Court ordered his extradition to the UK.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 28 August 2020 Ronan Hughes, from County Armagh, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people found in the trailer. Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, of Tilbury, and Gazmir Nuzi, of Tottenham, also pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration in June and September 2020 respectively.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: In January 2021, an extradition hearing was held at Westminster Magistrates' Court for a Vietnamese man, said to be aged 18, who appeared via videolink from HM Prison Wandsworth accused of transporting 10 of the 39 from a safehouse in Anderlecht. In March 2021, the man appeared in court again accused by Belgian authorities of being a member of a criminal organisation, being involved in human trafficking and using forged documents. He was described as an organiser for the people-trafficking organisation, arranging accommodation and transit for money. On 8 April 2021, his extradition was approved.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 21 December 2020, verdicts were returned on Romanian ringleader Gheorghe Nica of Basildon and lorry driver Eamonn Harrison from County Down. Both were found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to transport and assist illegal migrants. In addition, Valentin Calota from Birmingham and Christopher Kennedy, from County Armagh, were found guilty of immigration offences. Sentencing hearings for all eight guilty men are expected in January 2021. Prosecutors are considering charges against a further three people.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 11 January 2021, Gazmir Nuzi was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment after admitting a limited role in the smuggling ring, with the prosecution accepting that he was not part of the organised crime group. He was immediately released having already served his sentence in custody.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 22 January 2021 the culprits were jailed for the incident. Four people received a custodial sentence of at least 13 years. The two main offenders, Ronan Hughes and Gheorghe Nica, were given 20 years (for 39 counts of manslaughter and conspiring to bring people into the country unlawfully) and 27 years (for manslaughter and people-smuggling), respectively.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Two lorry drivers who were also involved in the incident were also jailed. Eamonn Harrison, who delivered the trailer to Zeebrugge was sentenced to 18 years. Maurice Robinson, who collected the trailer from Purfleet and discovered the dead bodies, was sentenced to 13 years and 4 months.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Three other men were sentenced for conspiring to facilitate unlawful immigration: lorry driver Christopher Kennedy was sentenced to seven years, pickup driver Valentin Calota was sentenced to four and a half years and Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga was sentenced to three years.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: On 21 March 2022, Dragos-Stefan Damian was jailed for three years and ten months after being found guilty of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: In January 2022, 19 people were convicted in Belgium of being part of a people smuggling ring connected to the deaths, including the ringleader Vo Van Hong who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. All of the others convicted were Vietnamese or Belgians of Vietnamese origin and were accused of buying supplies for the migrants, transporting them in taxis or acting as look-outs at safe houses.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet that he was "appalled" at the incident, giving his thoughts to the victims and their families, adding that the Home Office was working alongside Essex Police on the case. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said that she was "shocked and saddened by this utterly tragic incident", and that Immigration Enforcement were working with the Essex Police. António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, tweeted that those responsible "must be swiftly brought to justice". Diane Abbott, Shadow Home Secretary, said greater international co-operation was needed to prevent similar events happening again.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Extra UK immigration officers are to be deployed at the Belgian border port of Zeebrugge and more Border Force staff will operate at Purfleet as a result of the incident.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Campaigners against human trafficking organised a vigil to take place outside the Home Office on 24 October in solidarity with the casualties. Following the incident, the Chief Executive of the charity group Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants said that the British government needs to open safe routes and make quick decisions regarding asylum seekers to prevent such attempts, sentiments echoed by the Refugee and Migrant Rights Director of Amnesty International UK. Other refugee groups have expressed concern that the border confusion surrounding Brexit will give more opportunities for groups to commit similar crimes.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Channel 4 postponed a television series called "Smuggled" that was due to air on 28 October, in which British citizens try to smuggle themselves from mainland Europe to the UK. The first part was broadcast on 4 November after re-editing in the light of the 39 deaths, despite the Home Office describing the timing as "both insensitive and irresponsible". Channel 4 defended its decision as meeting its public service obligations, arguing that revelation of the ease with which people could be smuggled into Britain had become a "matter of urgent public interest".


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK, said in a tweet that the embassy was in "close contact with the British police to seek clarification and confirmation of the relevant reports" and that "we read with heavy heart the reports about the death of 39 people".


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: In an editorial headlined, "The UK must bear responsibility," the Global Times, a state-run newspaper, said that the responsibility for the deaths lay with Britain and other European countries. This was when the victims were still believed to be of Chinese origin.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Later, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised a CNN reporter's question, which had contrasted the incident with the Chinese government's depiction of a more economically prosperous China. The question was then further criticised by Chinese media after the victims were found not to be Chinese.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: In the CNN report, this question was described to be "about the possibility of Chinese citizens being illegally trafficked" and "was rebuffed by the spokesperson".


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: After reports that Vietnamese citizens might be among the deceased, Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, Vietnamese Prime Minister, ordered the country's Public Security Ministry and the authorities of its two central provinces of Hà Tĩnh and Nghệ An, where a number of missing citizens come from, to launch a probe into the case. He also urged his country's Foreign Ministry to direct the Vietnamese embassy in UK to closely monitor the situation, co-ordinate with the British authorities to verify the identities of the victims and take protective measures in case it was confirmed Vietnamese were among them. After confirmation that they were all from Vietnam, the Vietnamese government strongly condemned human trafficking and called on all countries to combat such activities to prevent a recurrence of the incident.


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: Families of those who died told reporters that they had been told that neither the British nor Vietnamese governments were willing to cover the cost of repatriating the bodies back to their homes. The deputy chair of the Can Lộc District, had reportedly been told by officials that the Vietnamese government offered to only pay the costs of bringing the bodies "home from the airport" and would pay in advance on behalf of the families only if the families would later pay them back. A father of one of the deceased said he was given two options: having the ashes returned for 41,100,000 Vietnam dong (£1,470) or receiving the body for 66,240,000 Vietnam dong (£2,209).


title: Essex lorry deaths

text: An international fundraiser through GoFundMe raised money to help cover the potential additional debts that the families might incur bringing home the deceased. Additionally, money was donated by Vingroup, and other Vietnamese associations across Europe. By the end of November, all bodies had been repatriated to Vietnam. Families were worried they could still be left in debt, despite over £84,000 having been raised to help them.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Stratospheric aerosol injection is a proposed method of solar geoengineering (or solar radiation modification) to reduce global warming. This would introduce aerosols into the stratosphere to create a cooling effect via global dimming and increased albedo, which occurs naturally from volcanic eruptions. It appears that stratospheric aerosol injection, at a moderate intensity, could counter most changes to temperature and precipitation, take effect rapidly, have low direct implementation costs, and be reversible in its direct climatic effects. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that it "is the most-researched [solar geoengineering] method, with "high agreement" that it could limit warming to below 1.5°C." However, like other solar geoengineering approaches, stratospheric aerosol injection would do so imperfectly and other effects are possible, particularly if used in a suboptimal manner.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Various forms of sulfur have been shown to cool the planet after large volcanic eruptions. However, as of 2021, there has been little research and existing natural aerosols in the stratosphere are not well understood. so there is no leading candidate material. Alumina, calcite and salt are also under consideration. The leading proposed method of delivery is custom aircraft.<ref name="doi10.1029/2010GL0439752"></ref>


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Various forms of sulfur were proposed as the injected substance, as this is in part how volcanic eruptions cool the planet. Precursor gases such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide have been considered. According to estimates, "one kilogram of well placed sulfur in the stratosphere would roughly offset the warming effect of several hundred thousand kilograms of carbon dioxide." One study calculated the impact of injecting sulfate particles, or aerosols, every one to four years into the stratosphere in amounts equal to those lofted by the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, but did not address the many technical and political challenges involved in potential solar geoengineering efforts. Use of gaseous sulfuric acid appears to reduce the problem of aerosol growth. Materials such as photophoretic particles, titanium dioxide, and diamond are also under consideration.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Various techniques have been proposed for delivering the aerosol or precursor gases. The required altitude to enter the stratosphere is the height of the tropopause, which varies from 11 kilometres (6.8 mi/36,000 ft) at the poles to 17 kilometers (11 mi/58,000 ft) at the equator.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: The latitude and distribution of injection locations has been discussed by various authors. Whilst a near-equatorial injection regime will allow particles to enter the rising leg of the Brewer-Dobson circulation, several studies have concluded that a broader, and higher-latitude, injection regime will reduce injection mass flow rates and/or yield climatic benefits. Concentration of precursor injection in a single longitude appears to be beneficial, with condensation onto existing particles reduced, giving better control of the size distribution of aerosols resulting. The long residence time of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may require a millennium-timescale commitment to SRM if aggressive emissions abatement is not pursued simultaneously.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Primary aerosol formation, also known as homogeneous aerosol formation, results when gaseous combines with oxygen and water to form aqueous sulfuric acid (HSO). This acidic liquid solution is in the form of a vapor and condenses onto particles of solid matter, either meteoritic in origin or from dust carried from the surface to the stratosphere. Secondary or heterogeneous aerosol formation occurs when HSO vapor condenses onto existing aerosol particles. Existing aerosol particles or droplets also run into each other, creating larger particles or droplets in a process known as coagulation. Warmer atmospheric temperatures also lead to larger particles. These larger particles would be less effective at scattering sunlight because the peak light scattering is achieved by particles with a diameter of 0.3 μm.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: It is uncertain how effective any solar geoengineering technique would be, due to the difficulties modeling their impacts and the complex nature of the global climate system. Certain efficacy issues are specific to stratospheric aerosols.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Early studies suggest that stratospheric aerosol injection might have a relatively low direct cost. The annual cost of delivering 5 million tons of an albedo enhancing aerosol (sufficient to offset the expected warming over the next century) to an altitude of 20 to 30 km is estimated at US$2 billion to 8 billion. In comparison, the annual cost estimates for climate damage or emission mitigation range from US$200 billion to 2 trillion.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: A 2016 study finds the cost per 1 W/m of cooling to be between 5–50 billion USD/yr. Because larger particles are less efficient at cooling and drop out of the sky faster, the unit-cooling cost is expected to increase over time as increased dose leads to larger, but less efficient, particles by mechanism such as coalescence and Ostwald ripening. Assume RCP8.5, -5.5 W/m of cooling would be required by 2100 to maintain 2020 climate. At the dose level required to provide this cooling, the net efficiency per mass of injected aerosols would reduce to below 50% compared to low-level deployment (below 1W/m). At a total dose of -5.5 W/m, the cost would be between 55-550 billion USD/yr when efficiency reduction is also taken into account, bringing annual expenditure to levels comparable to other mitigation alternatives.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Solar geoengineering in general poses various problems and risks. However, certain problems are specific to or more pronounced with stratospheric sulfide injection.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Almost all work to date on stratospheric sulfate injection has been limited to modeling and laboratory work. In 2009, a Russian team tested aerosol formation in the lower troposphere using helicopters. In 2015, David Keith and Gernot Wagner described a potential field experiment, the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), using stratospheric calcium carbonate injection, but as of October 2020 the time and place had not yet been determined.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: In 2012, the Bristol University-led Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) project planned on a limited field test in order to evaluate a potential delivery system. The group received support from the EPSRC, NERC and STFC to the tune of £2.1 million and was one of the first UK projects aimed at providing evidence-based knowledge about solar radiation management. Although the field testing was cancelled, the project panel decided to continue the lab-based elements of the project. Furthermore, a consultation exercise was undertaken with members of the


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: attitudes to the SPICE test. This research found that almost all of the participants in the poll were willing to allow the field trial to proceed, but very few were comfortable with the actual use of stratospheric aerosols. A campaign opposing geoengineering led by the ETC Group drafted an open letter calling for the project to be suspended until international agreement is reached, specifically pointing to the upcoming convention of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2012.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Most of the existing governance of stratospheric sulfate aerosols is from that which is applicable to solar radiation management more broadly. However, some existing legal instruments would be relevant to stratospheric sulfate aerosols specifically. At the international level, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP Convention) obligates those countries which have ratified it to reduce their emissions of particular transboundary air pollutants. Notably, both solar radiation management and climate change (as well as greenhouse gases) could satisfy the definition of "air pollution" which the signatories commit to reduce, depending on their actual negative effects. Commitments to specific values of the pollutants, including sulfates, are made through protocols to the CLRTAP Convention. Full implementation or large scale climate response field tests of stratospheric sulfate aerosols could cause countries to exceed their limits. However, because stratospheric injections would be spread across the globe instead of concentrated in a few nearby countries, and could lead to net reductions in the "air pollution" which the CLRTAP Convention is to reduce.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: The stratospheric injection of sulfate aerosols would cause the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer to be applicable due to their possible deleterious effects on stratospheric ozone. That treaty generally obligates its Parties to enact policies to control activities which "have or are likely to have adverse effects resulting from modification or likely modification of the ozone layer." The Montreal Protocol to the Vienna Convention prohibits the production of certain ozone depleting substances, via phase outs. Sulfates are presently not among the prohibited substances.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: In the United States, the Clean Air Act might give the United States Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate stratospheric sulfate aerosols.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Welsbach seeding is a patented climate engineering method, involving seeding the stratosphere with small (10 to 100 micron) metal oxide particles (thorium dioxide, aluminium oxide). The purpose of the Welsbach seeding would be to "(reduce) atmospheric warming due to the greenhouse effect resulting from a greenhouse gases layer," by converting radiative energy at near-infrared wavelengths into radiation at far-infrared wavelengths, permitting some of the converted radiation to escape into space, thus cooling the atmosphere. The seeding as described would be performed by airplanes at altitudes between 7 and 13 kilometres.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: The method was patented by Hughes Aircraft Company in 1991, US patent 5003186. Quote from the patent:


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: "Global warming has been a great concern of many environmental scientists. Scientists believe that the greenhouse effect is responsible for global warming. Greatly increased amounts of heat-trapping gases have been generated since the Industrial Revolution. These gases, such as CO, CFC, and methane, accumulate in the atmosphere and allow sunlight to stream in freely but block heat from escaping (greenhouse effect). These gases are relatively transparent to sunshine but absorb strongly the long-wavelength infrared radiation released by the earth."


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: "This invention relates to a method for the reduction of global warming resulting from the greenhouse effect, and in particular to a method which involves the seeding of the earth's stratosphere with Welsbach-like materials."


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: The method has never been implemented, and is not considered to be a viable option by current geoengineering experts; in fact the proposed mechanism is considered to violate the second law of thermodynamics. Currently proposed atmospheric geoengineering methods would instead use other aerosols, at considerably higher altitudes.


title: Stratospheric aerosol injection

text: Mikhail Budyko is believed to have been the first, in 1974, to put forth the concept of artificial solar radiation management with stratospheric sulfate aerosols if global warming ever became a pressing issue. Such controversial climate engineering proposals for global dimming have sometimes been called a "Budyko Blanket".


title: London Calling (song)

text: "London Calling" is a song by the British punk rock band the Clash. It was released as a single from the band's 1979 double album of the same name. This apocalyptic, politically charged rant features the band's post-punk sound, electric guitar and vocals.


title: London Calling (song)

text: The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The title alludes to the BBC World Service's station identification: "This is London calling ...", which was used during World War II, often in broadcasts to occupied countries.


title: London Calling (song)

text: The lyrics reflect the concern felt by Strummer about world events with the reference to "a nuclear error" – the incident at Three Mile Island, which occurred earlier in 1979. Joe Strummer has said: "We felt that we were struggling about to slip down a slope or something, grasping with our fingernails. And there was no one there to help us."


title: London Calling (song)

text: The line "London is drowning / And I live by the river" comes from concerns that if the River Thames flooded, most of central London would drown, something that led to the construction of the Thames Barrier. Strummer's concern for police brutality is evident through the lines "We ain't got no swing / Except for the ring of that truncheon thing" as the Metropolitan Police at the time had a truncheon as standard issued equipment. Social criticism also features through references to the effects of casual drug taking: "We ain't got no high / Except for that one with the yellowy eyes".


title: London Calling (song)

text: The lyrics also reflect desperation of the band's situation in 1979 struggling with high debt, without management and arguing with their record label over whether the "London Calling" album should be a single or double album. The lines referring to "Now don't look to us / Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust" reflects the concerns of the band over its situation after the punk rock boom in England had ended in 1977.


title: London Calling (song)

text: According to a retrospective assessment by Allmusic critic Donald A. Guarisco, the song "cleverly crossbreeds anthemic hard rock with reggae by juxtaposing slashing, staccato guitar riffs with an undulating rhythm section beat as Strummer lays down a snarling vocal..." Guarisco finds that this gives the song "a hypnotic sense of drive."


title: London Calling (song)

text: The song fades out with a Morse code signal spelling S-O-S, reiterating the earlier urgent sense of emergency, and further alluding to drowning in the river.


title: London Calling (song)

text: "London Calling" was recorded at Wessex Studios located in a former church hall in Highbury in North London. This studio had already proved to be a popular location with the Sex Pistols, the Pretenders and the Tom Robinson band. The single was produced by Guy Stevens and engineered by Bill Price.


title: London Calling (song)

text: Continuing the theme of the retro Elvis Presley-inspired "London Calling" LP cover, the single sleeve (front and back) is based on old Columbia 78 rpm sleeves. The cover artwork was designed by Ray Lowry and is identical to the Columbia sleeve but with the blank 78 covers from the original changed to classic rock and punk LP sleeves. From left to right they are, the Beatles' debut "Please Please Me", "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols", "The Rolling Stones" debut, "The Clash"s debut, Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" and the "Elvis Presley" debut LP.


title: London Calling (song)

text: The single has several issues, all with different covers. Four are from 1979 (catalogue number: 8087; S CBS 8087; 128087; S CBS 8087). In 1988, a special limited edition boxed set was released, containing three tracks, "London Calling" on side one, "Brand New Cadillac" and "Rudie Can't Fail" on side two, a poster and two badges (catalogue number: CLASH B2). Two were released by CBS Records in 1991 (catalogue number: 656946; 31-656946-22) both with "Brand New Cadillac" on the B-side, the second one has an additional track on side two "Return to Brixton (Jeremy Healy 7" Remix)" (see the table below).


title: London Calling (song)

text: In 2012, on the occasion of the International Record Store Day, a limited edition 7" was released, with a new mix of the song by Mick Jones, and an instrumental version on the B-side.


title: London Calling (song)

text: "London Calling" was released as the only single from the album in the UK and reached No. 11 in the charts in January 1980, becoming at once the band's highest-charting single until "Should I Stay or Should I Go" hit No. 1 ten years later. The song did not make the U.S. charts, as "Train in Vain" was released as a single and broke the band in the United States, reaching No. 23 on the pop charts.


title: London Calling (song)

text: BBC Radio One DJ Annie Nightingale made a bet with Strummer that "London Calling" would make the UK Top 10 without them appearing on "Top of the Pops", the stake being a Cadillac ("Brand New Cadillac" being the second track on the "London Calling" album). When the record peaked at number 11, Nightingale was saved by a listener who donated a Cadillac. The Cadillac was subsequently auctioned to raise funds for the recession hit steel town of Corby.


title: London Calling (song)

text: "London Calling" was the first Clash song to chart elsewhere in the world, reaching the top 40 in Australia. The success of the single and album was greatly helped by the music video shot by Don Letts showing the band playing the song on a boat (Festival Pier), next to Albert Bridge on the south side of the Thames, Battersea Park in a cold and rainy night at the beginning of December 1979.


title: London Calling (song)

text: The single fell off the charts after 10 weeks, but later re-entered the chart twice, spending a total of 15 non-consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart.


title: London Calling (song)

text: Over the years, "London Calling" has become regarded by many critics as the band's finest. In 2004, "Rolling Stone" rated the song as No. 15 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the highest position of the band and of any punk rock song. In 1989, the magazine also rated the album of the same name as the best album of the 1980s—although it was released in late 1979 in Britain, it came out in January 1980 in the USA. In 2011, "Paste" ranked the song number two on their list of the 18 greatest songs by the Clash. In 2020, "The Guardian" ranked the song number five on their list of the 40 greatest songs by the Clash.


title: London Calling (song)

text: "London Calling" was also ranked No. 42 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s". It was erroneously listed as being released in 1982, when it was fact released in 1979. It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.


title: London Calling (song)

text: The Clash turned down a request from British Telecom to use the song for an advertising campaign in the early 1990s. In 2002, the band incurred criticism when they sold the rights to Jaguar for a car advertisement. In an interview posted on his website, Strummer explained the reasons for the deal. "Yeah. I agreed to that. We get hundreds of requests for that and turn 'em all down. But I just thought Jaguar ... yeah. If you're in a group and you make it together, then everybody deserves something. Especially twenty-odd years after the fact."


title: London Calling (song)

text: The song was used for a 2012 British Airways advertisement, picturing a jet aeroplane taxiing through the streets of London passing numerous landmarks and parking outside the Olympic Stadium.


title: London Calling (song)

text: Joe Strummer later became a DJ for the BBC World Service, on a programme called "Joe Strummer's London Calling".


title: London Calling (song)

text: Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Clash gave permission to a Ukrainian punk band named Beton to rewrite the song as an anti-invasion anthem and charity fund-raiser titled "Kyiv Calling".


title: Effects unit

text: An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.


title: Effects unit

text: Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in electric blues and rock music; dynamic effects such as volume pedals and compressors, which affect loudness; filters such as wah-wah pedals and graphic equalizers, which modify frequency ranges; modulation effects, such as chorus, flangers and phasers; pitch effects such as pitch shifters; and time effects, such as reverb and delay, which create echoing sounds and emulate the sound of different spaces.


title: Effects unit

text: Most modern effects use solid-state electronics or digital signal processors. Some effects, particularly older ones such as Leslie speakers and spring reverbs, use mechanical components or vacuum tubes. Effects are often used as stompboxes, typically placed on the floor and controlled with footswitches. They may also be built into guitar amplifiers, instruments (such as the Hammond B-3 organ), tabletop units designed for DJs and record producers, and rackmounts, and are widely used as audio plug-ins in such common formats as VST, AAX, and AU.


title: Effects unit

text: Musicians, audio engineers and record producers use effects units during live performances or in the studio, typically with electric guitar, bass guitar, electronic keyboard or electric piano. While effects are most frequently used with electric or electronic instruments, they can be used with any audio source, such as acoustic instruments, drums, and vocals.


title: Effects unit

text: An effects unit is also called an "effect box", "effects device", "effects processor" or simply an "effect". The abbreviation "F/X" or "FX" is sometimes used. A pedal-style unit may be called a "stomp box", "stompbox", "effects pedal" or "pedal". Unprocessed audio coming into an effects unit is referred to as "dry", while the processed audio output is referred to as "wet".