title: Fiat 500L

text: Approximately one percent of 500L production is expected to be sold in Serbia, with 90% exported from Serbia via the port of Bar, Montenegro.


title: Fiat 500L

text: In 2013, a ship carrying the first 3,000 Fiat 500L units for the North American market docked in the port of Baltimore to unload its first consignment, subsequently delivering the remainder of its cargo to the Canadian port of Halifax.


title: Fiat 500L

text: Fiat markets the 500L in various trim levels worldwide, beginning in 2014 in the US with four trim levels: Pop, Easy, Trekking, and Lounge — subsequently consolidated to three levels with model year 2017. Trim levels available globally include Sport in Canada in lieu of "Easy" — and Pop Star in Europe. Engine and transmission options vary by country and model year. Available transmissions include a six-speed manual, dual-clutch transmission (DCT), and an Aisin six-speed traditional torque converter automatic.


title: Fiat 500L

text: The entry level trim, typically marketed as "Pop", includes electrically operated windows and door locks, Uconnect 5.0 system with 5-inch touchscreen interface, handsfree calling, Bluetooth-streaming audio, voice-controllable radio, hill start assist and a reconfigurable interior design marketed as "Magic Cargo Space", which includes a three-level rear cargo floor panel, fold-flat front passenger seat as well as "for-aft sliding, fold and tumble, reclining" rear seating. Typically no option packages are offered.


title: Fiat 500L

text: Upper trim levels (variously marketed as "Easy, Sport, Pop Star or Lounge") include more standard features and numerous option packages, including satellite navigation, leather trim, heated front seats, dual-pane panoramic sunroof or fixed sunroof (Europe), 6.5" Uconnect system, roof colour options, fog lights, power outlets, illuminated visor mirrors and chrome trim.


title: Fiat 500L

text: Trekking models, first presented at the 2012 LA Auto Show feature revised front and rear fascias, optional two-tone Nero/Marrone (black/brown) interior upholstery and distinct options packages. In 2017, the Fiat 500L Trekking is renamed Fiat 500L Weekend in some markets, including France.


title: Fiat 500L

text: To complement the regular length 500L, codenamed Fiat L0 (or Ellezero) (design code 330), in 2013 Fiat began marketing a lengthened seven-seat variant in Europe known as the 500L "Living" (or "MPW" in Ireland and the UK), developed under project code L1, Elleuno, or design code 334.


title: Fiat 500L

text: In 2021, new 500 family Hey Google series debuts with Google assistant, so customers can connect to their car even when they are away from it, using their own voice to request and receive information on the car and to interact with it. They can do so via their smartphone or the Google Nest Hub.


title: Fiat 500L

text: For model year 2018, all models received slightly-revised exterior styling, as well as interior revisions, including a TFT color instrument display screen centered on the instrument panel, replacing the previous monochrome LCD instrument display screen.


title: Fiat 500L

text: A new Uconnect 4C 7.0 infotainment system, replaces the Uconnect 3 5.0BT and Uconnect 3C 6.5N units. The new unit includes an AM-FM radio tuner with Radio Data System (RDS), SiriusXM Satellite Radio.


title: Fiat 500L

text: Engine and transmission options include either a 6-speed manual or Aisin 6-speed automatic, the latter as the sole transmission for the North American market.


title: Fiat 500L

text: With the facelift, the seven-seat model was renamed the 500L Wagon (including in Ireland and in the UK, where pre-facelift models had a different name than anywhere else). The Fiat 500L Trekking (Fiat 500L Weekend in France) was renamed the Fiat 500L Cross Look (Fiat 500L Cross in France, and later Fiat 500L City Cross, and then just 500L).


title: Fiat 500L

text: For most markets, the 500L is available with a range of petrol and diesel engines: the 2-cylinder 0.9 L Twin Air and the 4-cylinder 1.4 L petrol, and the 1.3 L and 1.6 L MultiJet II common rail diesel engines. In North America the 500L is available with only a single 1.4 L turbo petrol engine, not available in Europe. A "Natural Power" methane powered version of the 0.9 L Twin Air is available in selected European markets.


title: Fiat 500L

text: All petrol models are equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission, with an automatic option only in North America. The 1.3 L diesel is available with a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automated manual transmission called "MTA Dualogic". The 1.6 diesel is only available with a 6-speed manual.


title: Fiat 500L

text: The 1.6 MultiJet II and 1.4 T-Jet engine versions for the 500L, 500L Trekking and 500L Living were unveiled in Frankfurt Motor Show 2013.


title: Fiat 500L

text: For 2014 three new engine options (1.6 MultiJet II (120PS) turbo diesel, 1.4 T-Jet (120PS) petrol, 1.4 Turbo LPG) were announced for all 500L derivatives. A 1.4 turbo LPG engine models of 2014 Fiat 500L would be available at later date.


title: Fiat 500L

text: The 2014 Fiat 500L was tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and it received a "Top Safety Pick" award:


title: Fiat 500L

text: For the USA introduction of the 500L, Fiat launched a commercial created by the Doner Company filmed in Old Salem, North Carolina and starring Bryce Pinkham. Titled "Italian Invasion," the ad showed Paul Revere noticing an Italian rather than British Invasion.


title: Fiat 500L

text: For the 2013 launch of the 500L Trekking, Fiat broadcast a commercial by the agency Leo Burnett promoting its suitability for everyday adventuring.


title: Fiat 500L

text: FCA donated eight dark grey 500Ls for Pope Francis's 2015 visit to the United States, two of which the Pope rode in. After serving the Pope, the cars were donated to organizations involved in the Pope's visit, including the Archdioceses of Washington, Philadelphia, and New York.


title: Fiat 500L

text: 7-seat 500L Wagon was discontinued in 2021. It exited some major export markets some years before (United Kingdom mid-2018, France late 2019).


title: Fiat 500L

text: The 500L was the best-selling car in Serbia in 2013 and from 2015 to 2017. Serbia is not included in above Europe figures.


title: Fiat 500L

text: 2013 SEMA concepts: Two special versions of the 500L were unveiled in 2013 SEMA Show with a "surf and turf" theme. The 500L Adventurer is a version of 5-seat Fiat 500L with bright white body colour, with Mopar roof rails and a roof basket, and many other accessories from the Mopar range. The 500L Thalassa is based on the Fiat 500 Beach Cruiser from 2012, with bright orange body work and 18" orange wheels and other Mopar accessories.


title: Fiat 500L

text: 2014 Fiat 500L Beats Edition: The Beats Edition was produced in association with artist and record producer Dr. Dre, Interscope Geffen A&M Records chairman and record producer Jimmy Iovine, with two-tone grey/black livery in matt or gloss finish and new interior trim. It went on sale in spring 2014 Italy, and subsequently in other markets.


title: Smurfette

text: Smurfette (French: La Schtroumpfette) is one of the protagonists from the comic strip "The Smurfs". Smurfette was created by the evil wizard Gargamel, the Smurfs' archenemy, in order to spy on them and sow jealousy. However, she decides that she wants to be a real Smurf and Papa Smurf casts a spell that changes her hair from black to blonde as a sign of her transformation. She was the only female Smurf until the creation of Sassette. A Granny Smurf was also later introduced, although it is unclear how she was created. Thierry Culliford, the son of the comics' creator, Peyo, and current head of the Studio Peyo, announced in 2008 that more female Smurfs would be introduced in the stories. Smurfette has stereotypical feminine features, with long blonde wavy hair, long eyelashes, and wears a white dress and white high heels. She is the love interest of almost every Smurf.


title: Smurfette

text: The adventure of Smurfette first started in "Spirou" magazine in 1966. She was made by Gargamel the evil wizard as a means to create unrest in the Smurf village. When this was discovered, Papa Smurf succeeded in turning her into a real Smurf, altering her appearance at the same time. She still was a source of problems between the Smurfs, though, and at the end of this story, she left the Smurf village, thus restoring the status quo of the community. She made the occasional on-off appearance, but when the animated TV series of the Smurfs was introduced in the 1980s, she was featured as a permanent character, appearing in stories in which she was not included in the original source comics. Subsequently, the comics also started to feature her as a permanent character.


title: Smurfette

text: Hal Erickson said in "Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1949-1993" that the reintroduction of Smurfette as a permanent character in the animated series was "bowing to merchandising dictates" in order to "appeal to little girl toy consumers." Jeffery P. Dennis, author of the journal article "The Same Thing We Do Every Night: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons," said that the inclusion of Smurfette in the cartoon version of "The Smurfs" was likely to serve as an object of heterosexual desire for the other Smurfs and to end speculation arguing that the Smurfs were gay. In a response to Dennis's statements, Martin Goodman of "Animation World Network", said that Dennis had not taken into account Erickson's comments about merchandising. Goodman further argued that capturing the young female audience would increase ratings, so the networks were more likely trying to pander to young girls than trying to defuse gay rumors. To back this up is the fact that Smurfette was the most frequently merchandised of the Smurfs.


title: Smurfette

text: Smurfette was magically created from clay by the Smurfs' enemy, Gargamel, so that she would use her charms to cause jealousy and competition among the Smurfs. He leaves her in the forest and Hefty Smurf takes her to the Smurf village, where she is given her own house.


title: Smurfette

text: Smurfette tries to woo the Smurfs, but they are unresponsive to her attempts. Papa Smurf takes pity on her and takes her to his laboratory, where they lock themselves in while he performed "plastic smurfery" on her in which her hair is made blonde, her eyelashes have been lengthened, and her nose has been shortened. Every Smurf of the village (even Grouchy Smurf) falls in love with her, but Smurfette is still unsure as to whether she is a "real" Smurf. Papa Smurf advises her that she will know what to do when the situation calls for it and will prove herself.


title: Smurfette

text: Unknowingly, Papa Smurf's actions caused Gargamel's plan to work after all, since the Smurfs were constantly competing for Smurfette's attention and the village was in chaos. Finally, the breaking point was reached when she caused the smitten Poet Smurf to open the sluice hatch of the village's reservoir dam, which promptly jammed and thus caused the village to be flooded. From an off-hand comment by Smurfette, the Smurfs then realized that she was Gargamel's creation, and put her on trial for her unwitting allegiance. Although acquitted, Smurfette realized the trouble her continued presence was causing and decided to leave the Smurf village. The Smurfs got their revenge on Gargamel by using the same process that he had used to create Smurfette, but in this case they built a human-sized, wart-covered, ugly old hag who spoke in Smurf language and chased the horrified sorcerer all over the forest.


title: Smurfette

text: Smurfette returned occasionally to the village, though she found that her presence still aroused conflict. When the Smurfs argued about which one should marry her, she herself announced that she would take Grouchy Smurf, who had customarily stated "I hate marriage", thus making her point that the subject was closed. The Smurfs then moderated their passion for her, worshipping from a distance, and she settled permanently in the village. She even learned to speak in Smurf language when previously she had spoken in straight human speech in accordance with Gargamel's magic.


title: Smurfette

text: Her influence could still be used for positive actions. When Hefty Smurf tried to organize the Olympic Smurfs, the other Smurfs showed no interest. But when it was later announced that the winner would get a kiss from Smurfette, this produced a mad rush for the signing-in office.


title: Smurfette

text: The Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the Smurfs, introduced in 1981, had her as an actual Gargamel spy and saboteur who intentionally tries to disrupt life in the village. She was magically created from blue clay, "sugar and spice but nothing nice, crocodile tears, half a pack of lies, a chatter of a magpie, and the hardest stone for her heart". She is found in the forest by Hefty Smurf ("The Smurfs", season 1 volume 1, "The Smurfette").


title: Smurfette

text: Working for Gargamel, Smurfette makes several failed attempts to defeat the Smurfs. In the dam incident, she used a slice of cake to lure Greedy Smurf into opening it. When Greedy tried to close the dam again, Smurfette yanked it back. Greedy soon caught on, all the tugging eventually threw Smurfette off balance and she promptly fell into the river. While Greedy hammered the dam back down, Papa Smurf rescued Smurfette and sent her to Smurf court.


title: Smurfette

text: With the entire village angrily aware of her treachery, Smurfette finally admitted her slavery to Gargamel and tearfully offered to submit to the Smurfs' judgement. The Smurfs' kindness to Smurfette caused her to want nothing else than to be a real Smurf, so Papa Smurf absolved her of her guilt and offered to try to free her by making her a real Smurf. Papa Smurf magically undid some of Gargamel's spells and consequently turned Smurfette into a more beautiful creature. Her hair grew and became blonde. Her dress became frillier. As a final touch, her shoes turned into high-heel pumps. Of course, everyone now loved her and actually fought to do trivial favors for her such as walking her home.


title: Smurfette

text: When Gargamel made contact with her again, he was alarmed by the changes in her visage and realized that Papa Smurf had undone his control of her. He managed to placate her and manipulated her into luring the Smurfs into a trap. The trap was successful with the entire community captured and Smurfette was aghast at her unwitting role in it. However, she was then able to spectacularly undo her mistake by disguising herself as the masked "Lone Smurf" to lure away Gargamel and Azrael on a chase that both allowed her to incapacitate the villains and to free the Smurfs. At the conclusion of the story, any doubts of the Smurfs regarding Smurfette's loyalty were resolved and she was made a welcome permanent member of their village. She quickly rose through the ranks and would sometimes be left in charge of the Smurf village while Papa Smurf was away. One of the show's beloved running gags was Smurfette hugging and kissing Papa Smurf as well as the other Smurfs and Smurfette reprimanding Brainy.


title: Smurfette

text: Smurfette's original artificial nature arose again in the sequel episode, "Smurfette Unmade". In this story, Gargamel tells his apprentice Scruple (who was an added character by this time) about how he regrets creating her; Scruple comments on how bad it is that Gargamel cannot turn her evil again and he remembers there is a way. They kidnap her and prepare a spell which initially does not seem to work and the Smurfs take her home. When Scruple turns on the next page of Gargamel's spellbook, the two of them realize that the spell "is" complete but its effects will not become apparent until the next full moon's midnight, which happens to be that very night. The effects include Smurfette changing back to her original appearance and malicious personality before she could consult Papa Smurf on the matter. Thus changed into her original form, Smurfette manages to hide by concealing her black hair with a wig (in spite of her clothes and shoes being a dead giveaway) but the Smurfs eventually learn the truth when she arranges for the Smurfs to be captured. Papa Smurf says he cannot repeat the spell that had initially turned her good. However, just as Gargamel is about to get Baby Smurf to test his gold-making potion (over Smurfette's objections), Smurfette's conscience rebels and she changes back into her blond-haired form. Gargamel and Scruple attempt to capture her to prevent themselves from losing again, but Smurfette destroys the potions and sends the Smurfs' archenemies into a tree. They all return home, with Papa Smurf guessing that Smurfette's Smurf nature is too strong to ever be fully removed.


title: Smurfette

text: Lucille Bliss was the voice of Smurfette in 219 episodes of the cartoon. Smurfette is voiced by pop singer Katy Perry in the 2011 film version, and its 2013 sequel, Melissa Sturm in "" and "" and another pop singer Demi Lovato in "". Bérangére McNeese voices her in the "Smurfs reboot."


title: Smurfette

text: Smurfette became the popular example of a trope that was soon baptized with her name by Katha Pollitt. Smurfette, like many female characters in TV and movies, is the only female in an otherwise all-male cast, thus this is called "The Smurfette Principle". Other such characters include Miss Piggy of the Muppets or Princess Leia in "Star Wars" and Marilyn Monroe. Critics have pointed out that this lone female character is normally a stereotype of femininity and the object of desire, therefore offering a very limited depiction of women.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: During the Second conference of the Military Counsel of the Entente in Chantilly, it was decided to continue with the attempts at a breakthrough. The task for the Entente forces on the Macedonian front was to inflict major defeats on the Bulgarian army and effect a wide breakthrough in the Balkans in a relatively short time. The Allied command, which expected reinforcements, planned a major assault in the direction of Vardar and Doiran. In 1917 the 2nd (Bulgarian) Thracian Infantry Division was replaced at Doiran by the 9th Pleven Infantry division under the command of Colonel Vladimir Vazov.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: On 9 and 10 February the Allies attacked the 33rd Svishtov and 34th Troyan Regiments but were repulsed by a decisive counter-attack by the Troyan Regiment. The British advance on 21 February was repulsed by Bulgarian artillery after a two-day battle.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: The Allied command found that the Bulgarian positions were better fortified than in the previous year, so it ordered a systematic artillery barrage on these defences. In the meantime, it continued the development of their forming-up ground which was 800–1,500 m from the defensive lines of the Pleven Division. To make the breakthrough, the British concentrated three divisions (the 22nd, 26th, 60th), with its artillery – more than 43,000 men, 160 guns, 110 mortars and 440 machine-guns. The objective did not differ much from the battle in the previous year, the main blow was on a front of 5–6 km towards Kalatepe.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: The prognosis of the Bulgarian command for a major Allied offensive was confirmed by intelligence. The 9th Pleven Division was reinforced and had a total of 30,000 men, 147 guns, 35 mortars, 130 machine-guns.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: According to the orders of the High Command the front was divided into three zones with different widths: the right from the River Vardar to the Varovita heights with a width of 13 km, was defended by 1st Brigade (6 battalions with 48 guns, 12 mortars and 56 machine guns); the central from the Varovita heights to the Karakondzho heights, 4 km wide, defended by the 57th Regiment (3 battalions) and the left from the Karakondzho heights to Lake Doiran, 9 km wide, defended by 2nd Brigade (6 battalions, 76 guns, 19 mortars and 52 machine-guns).


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: In 1917 the Bulgarian defensive positions and fortifications were further improved. It included two main positions with two rows of continuous trenches 1,5 – 2 metres deep, 200 to 1000 m apart and linked with passages for communication. In front of these positions there was a two line system of wire entanglements. Between the rows of trenches watch points, shelters, machine-gun nests and sunken batteries were constructed. Behind these defences there were concrete galleries, fire positions for the artillery and platforms for ammunition. In front of the main position there were smaller fortifications, with a partly constructed secondary position 2 – 5 km to its rear.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: The battle for a breakthrough in the Bulgarian positions began on 22 April and continued intermittently until 9 May 1917. The assault began with a bitter four-day artillery barrage in which the British fired about 100,000 shells. As a result, the earthworks and some wooden structures in the front positions were destroyed. The Bulgarians also opened fire from the batteries between Vardar and Doiran. Vladimir Vazov ordered fire day and night on the Allied positions. The initial several-hour struggle between the British and Bulgarian batteries was followed by a one-hour Bulgarian counter-barrage in which 10,000 shells were fired.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: The British infantry began its attack on the night of 24–25 April – 12 companies attacked the Bulgarian 2nd Brigade and after a bloody fight managed to take the "Nerezov", "Knyaz Boris" and "Pazardzhik" positions. After a Bulgarian counter-attack the British were repulsed with heavy casualties and by 8 pm had retreated. The British assaults on the right and central fronts were also repulsed with heavy casualties after help from the Bulgarian artillery.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: The British attacks in the next two days were defeated by constant Bulgarian fire and counter-attacks. Due to this fire the British withdrew to their initial positions on 27 April, the Bulgarians immediately started to reconstruct the destroyed fortifications.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: Due to criticism by their high command, the British made new attempts at a breakthrough. On 8 May, after a long artillery barrage, they began another attack. The main assault started at 9 pm with five waves of British troops attacking the Bulgarian positions. After four attacks during the night of 8–9 May the British were defeated and suffered enormous casualties. A "Times" correspondent wrote that the British soldiers called the "Boris" point "the valley of death".


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: The artillery duel continued until 9 May but due to heavy casualties the British had to abandon all attacks. They lost 12,000 killed, wounded and captured of which more than 2,250 were buried by the Bulgarian defenders. The losses of the Ninth Pleven Infantry Division were 2,000 of whom 900 died from disease and wounds.


title: Battle of Doiran (1917)

text: In the next 16 months, the front was relatively quiet apart from local skirmishes. Both sides used that time to further strengthen and consolidate their positions. In 1918 a massive Anglo-Greek attack was repulsed by the Pleven Division in the Third Battle of Doiran.


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: Within the Marxist movement, revisionism represents various ideas, principles and theories that are based on a significant revision of fundamental Marxist premises that usually involve making an alliance with the bourgeois class.


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: The term "revisionism" is most often used by those Marxists who believe that such revisions are unwarranted and represent a "watering down" or abandonment of Marxism—one such common example is the negation of class struggle. As such, revisionism often carries pejorative connotations and the term has been used by many different factions. It is typically applied to others and rarely as a self-description. By extension, people who view themselves as fighting against revisionism have often self-identified as anti-revisionists.


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: The term "revisionism" has been used in a number of contexts to refer to different revisions (or claimed revisions) of Marxist theory. Those who opposed Karl Marx's revolution through his lens of a violent uprising and sought out more peaceful, electoral means for a socialist revolution are known as revisionists. Eduard Bernstein, a close acquaintance of Marx and Engels, was one of the first major revisionists, and was prominent in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: In the late 19th century, the term "revisionism" was used to describe democratic socialist writers such as Eduard Bernstein, who sought to revise Karl Marx's ideas about the transition to socialism and claimed that a revolution through force was not necessary to achieve a socialist society. The views of Bernstein gave rise to reformist theory, which asserts that socialism can be achieved through gradual peaceful reforms from within a capitalist system.


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: In the 1920s and 1930s, the International Left Opposition led by Leon Trotsky, which had been expelled from the Communist International, accused the leadership of the Comintern and Soviet Union of revising the internationalist principles of Marxism and Leninism in favor of the aspirations of an elite bureaucratic caste which had come to power in the Soviet Union. The Trotskyists saw the nascent Stalinist bureaucracy as a roadblock on the proletariat's path to world socialist revolution; to the shifting policies of the Comintern, they counterposed the Marxist theory of permanent revolution. Meanwhile, the Soviet authorities labeled the Trotskyists as "revisionists" and eventually expelled them from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, whereupon the Trotskyists founded their Fourth International.


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: In the 1940s and 1950s within the international communist movement, "revisionism" was a term used by Marxist-Leninists to describe communists who focused on consumer goods production instead of heavy industry; accepted national differences instead of promoting proletarian internationalism; and encouraged liberal reforms instead of remaining faithful to established doctrine. Revisionism was also one of the charges leveled at Titoists as punishment for their pursuit of a relatively independent communist ideology, amidst a series of post-World War II purges beginning in 1949 in Eastern Europe by the Soviet administration under Stalin. After Stalin's death, a more democratic form of socialism briefly became acceptable in Hungary during Imre Nagy's government (1953–1955) and in Poland during Władysław Gomułka's government, containing ideas that the rest of the Soviet bloc and the Soviet Union itself variously considered revisionist, although neither Nagy nor Gomułka described themselves as revisionists, since to do so would have been self-deprecating.


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: After the 1956 Secret Speech that denounced Stalin, many communist activists, astounded and disheartened by what they saw as the betrayal of Marxist–Leninist principles by the very people who had founded them, resigned from Western communist parties in protest. These quitters were sometimes accused of revisionism by those communists who remained in these parties, although some of these same loyalists also shortly thereafter split from the same communist parties in the 1960s to become the New Left, indicating that they too were disillusioned by the actions of the Soviet Union by that point in time. Most of those who left in the 1960s started aligning themselves with Mao Zedong as opposed to the Soviet Union. An example was E. P. Thompson's "New Reasoner".


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: In the early 1960s, Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China revived the term "revisionism" () to attack Nikita Khrushchev and the Soviet Union over various ideological and political issues, as part of the Sino-Soviet split. The Chinese routinely described the Soviets as "modern revisionists" through the 1960s. This usage was copied by the various Maoist groups that split off from communist parties around the world. In 1978, the Sino-Albanian split occurred, which caused Enver Hoxha, the General Secretary of Albania, to also condemn Maoism as revisionist. This caused a split in the Maoist movement, with some following the Albanian Party of Labour's line, most notably the Communist Party of New Zealand and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist).


title: Revisionism (Marxism)

text: In addition to its pejorative use, academics have used the term "revisionism" to describe post-Stalin, Eastern European writers who criticized one-party rule and argued in favor of freedom of the press and of the arts, intra- and sometimes inter-party democracy, independent labor unions, the abolition of bureaucratic privileges, and the subordination of police to the judiciary.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: , known as simply Tenchi Muyo! in North America, is a collection of Japanese OVAs created by Masaki Kajishima and animated by AIC. Initially released in 1992, it marked the beginning of the "Tenchi Muyo!" franchise, composed of several manga, OVAs, TV series, and other related media. The first two OVA series were later licensed and distributed in North America by Pioneer Entertainment, with Funimation taking over the rights for the third series, and later taking over the rights for the first two OVAs. In 2020, Crunchyroll acquired worldwide streaming rights (outside Asia) for the fourth and fifth seasons of the OVA.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: The distribution of the first OVA series was originally started in September 1992 and released six episodes that lasted until 1993. The first series was so successful that a seventh special episode was released in September 1993, followed by a second OVA series with six additional episodes that begun distribution in September 1994 and lasted for one year until September 1995. However, the second OVA series ended on a cliffhanger and it was not until nearly eight years later in 2003 that a third OVA series was distributed in Japan. The third OVA series continued the "Tenchi Muyo" OVA storyline with six episodes, followed by a special episode released in September 2005 that concluded the third OVA storyline.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: The "Ultimate Collection" box set release of the first two OVAs from Geneon was one of the few releases from the company to feature THX-certified audio and video.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: On October 16, 2015, a fourth OVA series was announced to be in production, the first episode of which was released on November 30, 2016. Subsequent episodes were released with an interval of three months each, and the final part of the series arrived on September 13, 2017. On July 12, 2019, it was announced that a fifth OVA series is currently in development with Masaki Kajishima again serving as chief director and Hideki Shirane writing and overseeing scripts. Keitaro Motonaga is credited as director. The six-episode OVA series was released from February 28, 2020 to May 28, 2021.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: For other characters within the OVA continuity that make a brief appearance in the OVA series, see also: "Tenchi Muyo! GXP".


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: The English-dubbed version of OVAs 1 and 2 was originally aired on San Jose PBS superstation, KTEH in the late 1990s as part of its Sunday Late-Prime (9pm-after 12) Sci-Fi programming block, and then later picked up by Cartoon Network in July 2000 for broadcast on its Toonami block (US and Europe). The Toonami version was heavily edited for content and to remove blood, profanity and nudity, as well as to shorten the length of the episodes to fit broadcast standards, and featured custom opening and closing credits. The series also ran on Cartoon Network and then later CNX in the UK.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: After Cartoon Network's rights to broadcast the show expired, the now-defunct International Channel (later AZN Television) picked up the rights to air the dubbed version in 2004.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: As of April 1, 2012, only one episode of OVA 3 has aired on basic cable television in the United States. However, the Funimation Channel had the third season in rotation for a time.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: The special features the anime debut of Kiyone Makibi and Sasami's alter-ego, Pretty Sammy (the latter made her debut in the Tenchi Muyo! drama CD, "Tenchi Muyo! Special: Creation of the Universe Journey across Space-Time").


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: As usual, Mihoshi Kuramitsu was asleep on the deck of the house while everyone else (with the notable exception of Ryoko) was doing chores. After Ayeka questions Mihoshi's qualifications of being a Galaxy Policewoman, Mihoshi then tells the story of her and her partner Kiyone's greatest adventure: the "Ultra-Energy Matter" caper.


title: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

text: In the story, Mihoshi casts the Masaki household as the various characters in the story: Ryoko as the thief, Tenchi as a Galaxy Policeman, Ayeka as Tenchi's heiress fiancée, Sasami as an apprentice detective, Washu as a mad scientist (not a far stretch of the imagination), and Ryo-Ohki as... Ryo-Ohki. As the investigation progresses (not to mention romantic rivalries between "Ryoko" and "Ayeka"), the detectives stumble onto a plot to destroy the universe.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: General elections were held in Nigeria on 28 and 29 March 2015, the fifth quadrennial election to be held since the end of military rule in 1999. Voters elected the President and members to the House of Representatives and the Senate. The incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, sought his second and final term.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The elections were first scheduled to be held on 14 February 2015. However, the electoral commission postponed it by six weeks to 28 March, mainly due to the poor distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, and also to curb ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in certain north-eastern states. The government closed its land and sea borders from midnight on 25 March until the end of the polling date. The election was extended to 29 March due to delays and technical problems with the biometric card readers.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: It was the most expensive election ever to be held on the African continent. Nigeria is the continent's most populous country, has the largest economy and is its leading oil producer. Opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election by more than 2.5 million votes. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat on 31 March, before the results from all 36 states had been announced. The election marked the first time an incumbent president had lost re-election in Nigeria. The President-elect was sworn-in on 29 May 2015, marking the first time since Nigeria gained independence in 1960 that a sitting government peacefully transferred power to an elected member of the opposition. Buhari flipped many states that had voted PDP in the previous election.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Article 134 (2) of the Nigerian Constitution stipulates that a presidential candidate will be duly elected after attaining both the highest number of votes cast, and having received at least a quarter of the votes at each of at least two-thirds of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). If no candidate satisfies the requirement, a second election will be held between the two leading candidates within seven days from the pronouncement of the result.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: It had long been assumed that incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan would run for re-election, as despite declining approval ratings, he was still thought to be popular and had several high-profile supporters. Jonathan officially confirmed his candidacy on 11 November at a rally in Abuja, announcing to cheering supporters:


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Jonathan ran unopposed in the People's Democratic Party (PDP) primaries on 10 December 2014, receiving the nomination of the party. However, this was against an unwritten rule that the PDP's presidential candidacy should alternate between Muslim northerners and Christian southerners, and opposition to Jonathan's candidacy had led to the defection of dozens of PDP MPs in the House of Representatives.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Prior to the elections, the All Progressives Congress was formed as an alliance of four opposition parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Congress for Progressive Change, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Its primaries, also held on 10 December, were won by retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari, who defeated Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and newspaper editor Sam Nda-Isaiah.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: As of February 2015, "Though the APC's voter base is in the north, it enjoys support all over the country, unlike the opposition in 2011."


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: A presidential and Vice presidential Debate was conducted by the Nigerian media with majority of the candidates attending.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The debate was attended by the then incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan, and his vice Namadi Sambo, while as predicted, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari boycotted the debate while his vice presidential nominee attended.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The debate which lasted for approximately an hour was watched by over 20 million people in Nigeria, with radios and the Internet conveying through other means.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The main opposition Goodluck Jonathan faced was from Muhammadu Buhari of the APC. While inaugurating a 250-bed Orthopaedic Hospital in Wamakko, Buhari said: "We will stop corruption and make the ordinary people, the weak and the vulnerable our top priority".


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: After a botched governor's election in Anambra State, there were serious concerns that the election would not go smoothly. The country's election commission had promised a better election process, hoping that combating electoral fraud would prevent the violence that had plagued previous Nigerian elections. Despite this, a pre-election poll by Gallup noted that only 13% of Nigerians had confidence in the honesty of elections.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The Socialist Party of Nigeria filed for registration as a political party to contest the election, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused the registration. The SPN sued the INEC at the Federal High Court, claiming that INEC had failed to respond to their petition within 30 days as prescribed by law and that thus it would have to be registered automatically.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The presidential election was a trending topic in Nigeria on Twitter, one social media platform reflecting public opinion; although PDP/GEJ may simply have had better support on social media, which is not representative of the population as a whole. According to Impact Social, based on data from 40,000 tweets, Facebook messages, blogs, and other internet outlets that mention PDP or GEJ, 70% of public opinion toward President Jonathan is positive, but messaging on the economy has taken up 6% of election conversation and was seen as a key PDP strength. Social media support for Buhari/APC was a bit "noisier" without a single issue leveraged by the campaign to gain traction: there was general frustration that the campaign lacked consistency, content and focus on the important issues at hand. Social media also played a vital role in serving as a watchdog for the integrity of the election process, as results from polling stations were quickly posted, thus preventing electoral officials from announcing different results from the ones already publicised online.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: In January 2015, the #bringbackourgirls campaign raised alarm over plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude Chibok and some communities currently under the control of the Boko Haram from getting the permanent voter cards (PVCs) for the February elections. Jonathan's already controversial handling of the situation was exacerbated by the Twitter campaign that was launched in mid 2014, #BringBackJonathan2015, which was widely considered to be insensitive to the victims and their families. Jonathan eventually called for banners containing the hashtag to be taken down and asked for the hashtag to not be used.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: On 8 February 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced that "presidential and national assembly elections will now hold on 28 March while the governorship and state assemblies election will take place on 11 April," mainly due to the poor distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, and also the security concerns related to the Boko Haram insurgency in certain north eastern states.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The postponement was called on the grounds of the INEC failing to deliver Permanent Voters' Cards to millions (around 34%) of voters – reportedly only around 45.1mn of 68.8mn registered voters had received PVC's. Additionally, on 5 February, the National Council of State (chaired by President Jonathan) told INEC that it had just launched a major, decisive offensive against Boko Haram for six weeks. Due to the assets and resources that would go into this offensive, the military would be unable to provide security and logistics support for elections. This is a disputable claim, since election security is the primary responsibility of not the military (which should only act as support) but the police and civil defence corps. There is speculation over whether or not the postponement was motivated by politics rather than security and has raised questions over the political neutrality of the military as well as the independence of INEC.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Critics have pointed out that even with the postponement, the Nigerian government is unlikely to re-establish control in all the affected areas by the date of the election. Distribution of the Permanent Voters' Card (PVC) has begun in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the three affected states. Estimates of the number of IDPs range from 868,235 to 1.5 million people, and is not yet clear how successful efforts will be to organise elections under these circumstances. Key Government officials in Nigeria are publicly stating their opposition to the postponement. Senator Chris Ngige, for example, has accused the PDP of pressuring INEC to postpone the general elections.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: In addition to growing criticism within Nigeria, on 8 February Vanguard reported that "the United States said it was 'deeply disappointed' by the delay." US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had urged that elections be held on time, "[warned] the Nigerian government against using 'security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process.'" Additionally, the British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, has revealed that he, too, is disgruntled by the news: "The security situation should not be used as a reason to deny the Nigerian people from exercising their democratic rights. It is vital that the elections are kept on track and held as soon as possible". Deutsche Welle reported that "The postponement has been seen by critics as a ploy by President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to buy time to sway support from the popular main opposition candidate and former military dictator, Muhammadu Buhari."


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: By 7 February 2015, threats of post-election violence from both sides remained a concern, given that hundreds of people died in the rioting that followed the 2011 Nigerian presidential election, and rhetoric was running high. It was reported that "the Council of Imams and Ulamas in Kaduna State ... told the Niger Delta militants threatening chaos if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the presidential election that they stand to lose if there is a war." The GMB Volunteers, a group described as a "frontline voluntary organization made up of professionals, ethnic and religious groups," has criticised hate advertisements directed against APC candidate General Muhammadu Buhari.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: On 9 February, although "Nigerian civil society" was "in uproar" over the postponement, the north east remained calm, and voters there appeared willing to wait.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Groups such as the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) have "advised political parties to stop making hate speeches against opponents."


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The Nigeria Women Platform for Peaceful Election (NWPPE) is collaborating with United Nations Women to hold training sessions for journalists on gender-based violence and gender sensitive reporting. A "women situation room", similar to a "civil society situation room" is planned for monitoring violence against women during the elections.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who has called the postponement "an obstruction of democracy", nonetheless released a statement saying "I charge Nigerians to be calm, non-violent and steadfast. We must be determined to make sure postponement does not demoralize or disenfranchise us. We must see this as a challenge for us to remain resolute in yearning for a new democratic government; one that will not see itself as above the people."


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: On 31 January, a concert was held in Owerri, Imo State, as part of the RSVP concert series, urging young people to RSVP – Register, Select, Vote and Protect. "Register – pick your Permanent Voters' card-PVC, Select (select your candidates), and Vote – vote not Fight, and Protect – protect your mandate." A second RSVP concert was planned for Lagos on 8 February.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The postponement was the topic of a Council on Foreign Relations online conference call with John Campbell on 28 February 2015.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: According to the Nigerian Constitution, the presidential election must be held by 28 April. As Section 25 of the 2010 Electoral Act states, the date is to be no later than 30 days before the expiration of the previous office holder's term of office.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Buhari was supported by "The Economist" "with a heavy heart" as "the least awful" option; the newspaper was scathing about the repression and economic policy of Buhari's previous regime, but praised his subsequent adherence to democratic process, anti-corruption stance, and the legitimacy he held in the Muslim North as a stronger platform with which to combat Boko Haram.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The website of the Independent National Electoral Commission was hacked on election day by a group calling itself the Nigerian Cyber Army.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Voting was extended due to technical problems with electronic card readers. The technology was introduced to prevent voter fraud, but was opposed by President Goodluck Jonathan who called it a "huge national embarrassment" when problems caused a delay. President Jonathan himself failed to be accredited by the card reader, which was shown live on national television.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Boko Haram attempted to disrupt the election by attacking voting centres, killing 41 people. An opposition politician, Umaru Ali, was gunned down in one attack.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: The Jos Forum Inter-communal Dialogue Process was established to serve as a sustainable and impartial dialogue mechanism to be used by the communities to handle disputes. In 2015, the Jos Peace Dialogue Forum has already served as a platform for various political parties to discuss challenges and commit to peaceful elections in 2015.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: Election observer missions [EOM] were deployed from the African Union (AU), Commonwealth of Nations, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU); and were led by Amos Sawyer, Bakili Muluzi, John Kufuor, and Santiago Fisas respectively.


title: 2015 Nigerian general election

text: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the citizens and the government for conducting a peaceful and orderly election. The AUEOM concluded that the elections were conducted in a "peaceful atmosphere" and met the "continental and regional principles of democratic elections". ECOWAS EOM said that it met the "criteria of being free and transparent" despite "pockets of incidents and logistical challenges." The Commonwealth EOM described the conduct as "generally peaceful and transparent."


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, was one of a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place in April 1944 on Slapton Sands in Devon. Coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire injuries during the exercise, and an Allied convoy positioning itself for the landing was attacked by E-boats of Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine", resulting in the deaths of at least 749 American servicemen.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Because of the impending invasion of Normandy, the incident was under the strictest secrecy at the time and was only minimally reported afterwards.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: In late 1943, as part of the build-up to D-day, the British government set up a training ground at Slapton Sands, Devon, to be used by Force "U", the American forces tasked with landing on Utah Beach. Slapton Beach was selected for its similarity to Utah Beach: a gravel beach, followed by a strip of land and then a lake. Approximately 3,000 local residents in the area of Slapton, now South Hams District of Devon, were evacuated. Some had never left their villages before being evacuated.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Landing exercises started in December 1943. Exercise Tiger was one of the larger exercises that took place in April and May 1944. The exercise was to last from 22 April until 30 April 1944, and covered all aspects of the invasion, culminating in a beach landing at Slapton Sands. On board nine large tank landing ships (LSTs), the 30,000 troops prepared for their mock landing, which also included a live-firing exercise.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Protection for the exercise area came from the Royal Navy. Four O-class destroyers, three Motor Torpedo Boats and two Motor Gun Boats patrolled the entrance to Lyme Bay while three Motor Torpedo Boats were stationed off Cherbourg, where German E-boats were based.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: The first phase of the exercise focused on marshalling and embarkation drills, and lasted from 22 to 25 April. On the evening of 26 April the first wave of assault troops boarded their transports and set off, the plan being to simulate the Channel crossing by taking a roundabout route through Lyme Bay, in order to arrive off Slapton at first light on 27 April.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: The first practice assault took place on the morning of 27 April and was marked by an incident involving friendly fire. H-hour was set for 07:30, and was to include live ammunition to acclimatise the troops to the sights, sounds and even smells of a naval bombardment. During the landing itself, live rounds were to be fired over the heads of the incoming troops by forces on land, for the same reason. This followed an order made by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, who felt that the men must be hardened by exposure to real battle conditions. The exercise was to include naval bombardment by ships of Force U Bombardment Group fifty minutes prior to the landing.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Several of the landing ships for that morning were delayed, and the officer in charge, American Admiral Don P. Moon, decided to delay H-hour for 60 minutes, until 08:30. Some of the landing craft did not receive word of the change. Landing on the beach at their original scheduled time, the second wave came under fire, suffering an unknown number of casualties. Rumours circulated along the fleet that as many as 450 men were killed.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: On the day after the first practice assaults, early on the morning of 28 April, the exercise was blighted when Convoy T-4, consisting of eight LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, was attacked by German E-boats in Lyme Bay. Nine German E-boats had left Cherbourg shortly after midnight, avoiding the British MTBs watching the port area and patrols in the English Channel.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Around 0130 hrs six E-boats of the 5. S-Boot Flottille (5th E-Boat Flotilla) commanded by Korvettenkapitän Bernd Klug saw eight dark ships and split into three pairs to attack with torpedoes: first "Rotte 3" ("S-136" & "S-138"), then "Rotte 2" under Oberleutnant zur See Goetschke ("S-140" & "S-142"), then "Rotte 1" ("S-100" & "S-143"). The final three E-boats of the nine, S-Boot Flottille commanded by Korvettenkapitän Götz Freiherr von Mirbach ("S-130", "S-145" & "S-150"), saw the red flares for attack (or may have heard the contact report sent at 0203 hrs) and joined the attack. After, within the "Rotte 1" pair, "S-100" collided with "S-143" and damaged its superstructure, the boats decided to leave, masking their retreat with smoke while sending another contact report. "S-145" attacked the ships with gunfire. The attack ended circa at 0330 hrs. The Germans had been puzzled by the strange-looking ships which did not look like merchantmen. They estimated that they were some type of American landing ship with a shallow draft as the initial torpedoes from "Rotte 3" and "Rotte 2" seemed to miss.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Of the two ships assigned to protect the convoy, only one was present. , a corvette, was leading the LSTs in a straight line, a formation that later drew criticism since it presented an easy target to the E-boats. The second ship that was supposed to be present, , a World War I destroyer, had been in a collision with an LST, suffered structural damage and left the convoy to be repaired at Plymouth. Because the LSTs and British naval headquarters were operating on different frequencies, the American forces did not know this. was dispatched as a replacement, but did not arrive in time to help protect the convoy.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: The remaining ships and their escort fired back and the E-boats made no more attacks. In total, 749 servicemen (551 United States Army and 198 United States Navy) were killed during Exercise Tiger. Many servicemen drowned or died of hypothermia in the cold sea while waiting to be rescued. Many had not been shown how to put on their lifebelt correctly, and placed it around their waist, the only available spot because of their large backpacks. In some cases this meant that when they jumped into the water, the weight of their combat packs flipped them upside down, dragging their heads under water and drowning them. Dale Rodman, who travelled on "LST-507", commented: "The worst memory I have is setting off in the lifeboat away from the sinking ship and watching bodies float by". The 248 bodies that were recovered were sent to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey on 29 April. The unit with the most casualties was the 1st Special Engineer Brigade.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Vice Admiral Kirk of the US Navy immediately realised the huge damage E-boats could inflict on slow-moving landing craft with minimal defences and feared that the German success in Lyme Bay could be repeated on D-day, with disastrous consequences. On 4 May 1944 he sent a signal to Admiral Sir Ramsay of the Royal Navy arguing for heavy aerial and naval bombardment of Cherbourg:


title: Exercise Tiger

text: The attack was reported up the chain of command to Dwight D. Eisenhower on 29 April. Eisenhower was enraged that the convoy was sailing in a straight line and not zig-zagging, that the attack reduced reserves of LSTs, that it indicated to the Germans that the Allies were nearly ready to invade, and that ten American officers with knowledge of the invasion were missing. The missing officers had BIGOT-level clearance for D-Day, meaning that they knew the invasion plans and could have compromised the invasion should they have been captured alive. As a result, the invasion was nearly called off until the bodies of all ten victims were found. He ordered that all the officers' bodies, and any incriminating papers they might have had, be found. The ten American officers were from the 1st Engineer Special Brigade; they knew when and where the Utah and Omaha landings were to take place, and had seen the amphibious DUKWs that were to take the Rangers to below Pointe du Hoc. Merely knowing that exercises were taking place at Slapton was of interest to the Germans; the historian Stephen Ambrose suggests that the insistence in May by Hitler that the Normandy area be reinforced was because "he noticed the similarity between Slapton Sands and the Cotentin beach".


title: Exercise Tiger

text: There were reports that S-boats were nosing through the wreckage for information with searchlights or torches. The shore batteries around nearby Salcombe Harbour had visually spotted unidentified small craft, but were ordered not to fire on them as it would have shown the Germans that the harbour was defended and disclosed the battery position.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: As a result of official embarrassment and concerns over potential leaks just prior to the real invasion, all survivors were sworn to secrecy about the events by their superiors. There is little information about exactly how individual soldiers and sailors died. The US Department of Defense stated in 1988 that record-keeping may have been inadequate aboard some of the ships, and the most pertinent log books were lost at sea. A ninth LST () was scheduled to be in the convoy, but was damaged. Author Nigel Lewis speculates that some or all of its infantrymen may have been aboard "LST 507" when it went down. Various eyewitness accounts detail hasty treatment of casualties and rumours circulated of unmarked mass graves in Devon fields.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Official histories contain little information about the tragedy. Some commentators have called it a cover-up, but the initial critical secrecy about Tiger may have merely resulted in longer-term quietude. In his book "The Forgotten Dead: Why 946 American Servicemen Died Off The Coast Of Devon In 1944 – And The Man Who Discovered Their True Story", published in 1988, Ken Small declares that the event "was never covered up; it was 'conveniently forgotten'".


title: Exercise Tiger

text: The casualty statistics from Tiger were not released by Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) until August 1944, along with the casualties of the actual D-Day landings. This report stated that there were 442 army dead and 197 navy, for a total of 639. (However, Moon had reported on 30 April that there were 749 dead.) Charles B. MacDonald, author and former deputy chief historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, notes that information from the SHAEF press release appeared in the August issue of "Stars and Stripes". MacDonald surmises that the press release went largely unnoticed in light of the larger events that were occurring at the time. The story was detailed in at least three books at the end of the war, including Captain Harry C. Butcher's "My Three Years With Eisenhower" (1946), and in several publications and speeches.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: Devon resident and civilian Ken Small took on the task of seeking to commemorate the event, after discovering evidence of the aftermath washed up on the shore while beachcombing in the early 1970s.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: In 1974, Small bought from the U.S. Government the rights to a submerged tank from the 70th Tank Battalion discovered in his search. In 1984, with the aid of local residents and diving firms, he raised the tank, which now stands as a memorial to the incident. The local authority provided a plinth on the seafront to put the tank on, and erected a plaque in memory of the men killed. The American military honoured and supported him. Small died of cancer in March 2004, a few weeks before the 60th anniversary of Exercise Tiger.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: A plaque was erected, in 1995, at Arlington National Cemetery entitled "Exercise Tiger Memorial". In 1997, the Exercise Tiger Association established a memorial to Exercise Tiger veterans in Mexico, Missouri. It is a 5,000-pound stern anchor from an LST of the Suffolk County Class on permanent loan from the Navy. In 2006, the Slapton Sands Memorial Tank Limited (a non-profit organisation, one of whose directors is Small's son Dean) established a more prominent memorial listing the names of all the victims of the attacks on Exercise Tiger.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: In 2012, a memorial plaque was erected at Utah Beach, Normandy, on the wall of a former German anti-aircraft bunker. An M4 Sherman tank stands as a memorial to Exercise Tiger at Fort Rodman Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts.


title: Exercise Tiger

text: In 2019, the US servicemen who died in the exercise were remembered in an art installation by artist Martin Barraud. Bootprints of 749 troops were laid out on Slapton Sands to mark the 75th anniversary of Exercise Tiger. Commemorative bootprints and special plaques made by veterans to represent each of the 22,763 British and Commonwealth servicemen and women who were killed on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944 were sold. Mr Barraud said:


title: Houska Castle

text: Houska Castle is an early Gothic castle in the municipality of Blatce in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It lies about north of Prague. It is one of the best preserved castles of the period. Some notable features of the castle include a predominantly Gothic chapel, green chamber with late-Gothic paintings, and a knight's drawing room.


title: Houska Castle

text: Folklore considers this castle to cover one of the gateways to Hell, built to prevent demons (trapped in lower levels) from reaching the rest of the world.


title: Houska Castle

text: Houska Castle was built in the second half of the 13th century probably on the orders of Bohemian ruler Ottokar II of Bohemia during his reign (1253–78) to serve as an administration center from which the extensive royal estates could be managed. Later on, it passed to the hands of the aristocracy, frequently passing from the ownership of one to another. The castle was built in an area of forests, swamps and mountains with no external fortifications, no source of water except for a cistern to collect rainwater, no kitchen, far from any trade routes, and with no occupants at its time of completion. From 1584 to 1590, it underwent Renaissance-style modifications, losing none of its fortress features as it looks down from a steep rocky cliff. In the 18th century, it stopped serving as a noble residence and fell into a state of disrepair before being renovated in 1823. In 1897, it was purchased by Princess Hohenlohe and in 1924, the times of the First Republic, bought by the President of Škoda, Josef Šimonek. As of 2020, it was owned by his descendants.


title: Houska Castle

text: During World War II, the Wehrmacht occupied the castle until 1945. The Nazis were said to have conducted experiments into the occult. According to one source, "multiple myths about their supposed occult involvements there". Another source states locals believed that the Nazis had been using the "powers of Hell" for their experiments. As of early 2020, the castle was open to the public and had been since 1999. Tourists may visit the chapel with fading frescoes and murals "including pictures of demon-like figures and animal-like beings".


title: Houska Castle

text: Houska Castle, and most specifically the chapel, was constructed over a large hole in the ground that is a "gateway to Hell", which is allegedly so deep that no one could see the bottom of it. Animal-human hybrids were reported to have crawled out of it, and dark-winged, otherworldly creatures flew in its vicinity. Legend has it that when construction began in the castle, all of the prisoners that were sentenced to death were offered a pardon if they consented to be lowered by rope into the hole, and report back on what they saw. When the first person was lowered, he began screaming after a few seconds, and when pulled back to the surface, he looked as if he had aged 30 years. He had grown wrinkles and his hair had turned white.


title: Houska Castle

text: According to the Prague Tourism web site, the castle is reputed to have various types of ghosts, "a bullfrog/human creature, a headless horse, and an old woman" as well as the remains of "demonic beasts who escaped the pit".


title: Houska Castle

text: The castle was not built as a residence, but was instead built because the hole was thought to be a gateway to hell. Thus, by constructing the Gothic building's defensive walls facing inward, they were able to keep the demons trapped in the lower level's thickest walls closest to the hole of the castle.


title: Houska Castle

text: The Travel Channel series "Legendary Locations" covered several sites in Season 2, Episode 4, including the castle "said to protect a portal to hell".


title: Houska Castle

text: Houska Castle was featured on an episode of "Ghost Hunters International" which aired on SyFy on 22 July 2009. "Most Haunted Live" visited the castle on March 26, 2010. The French team of paranormal investigators, "R.I.P recherches investigations paranormal", investigated the Castle in 2013 in their episode "The Hell Gate" (Episode 3, Season 2).


title: Houska Castle

text: This folklore was also the basis for the Doctor Who graphic novel "Herald of Madness" (2019), which is set at Houska Castle and was first published in Doctor Who Magazine 535–539.


title: Little David

text: Little David was the nickname of an American 36-inch (914 mm) caliber mortar designed to breach the Siegfried Line and then used for test-firing aerial bombs during World War II. With the same calibre as the British Mallet's Mortar, constructed in May 1857, it is one of the largest-calibre guns ever built, having a larger calibre than both of Germany's Schwerer Gustav and Dora which were railway guns.


title: Little David

text: The mortar was developed as an extension of a previous proposal to destroy heavy concrete fortifications such as the Siegfried Line with massive plastic explosive charges delivered by rocket or bomb. During a discussion between representatives of the Ballistic Research Laboratory and the Office of the Chief of Ordnance it was suggested that instead of dropping such a charge from an airplane, it could be fired from a mortar. Development began of a 914 mm siege mortar firing a 3,600 lb shell. The mortar's base was a large steel box that was placed below ground, with its top flush with the surrounding surface, allowing the mortar's muzzle to be lowered horizontal for loading at ground level.


title: Little David

text: After the Siegfried Line was breached with conventional forces, Little David was instead considered for use against the extremely strong fortifications during the expected invasion of Japan. The decision was made to test for this purpose, but the end of the war also removed all need for Little David to be deployed. The mortar was able to be transported as a two-piece mobile unit, consisting of the barrel and the base transported by two M25 tractors. In addition to the two main loads, the Little David unit would also include a bulldozer and crane with bucket to dig the emplacement for the mortar's base.


title: Little David

text: The huge mortar could be ready to fire in 12 hours. The largest (800 mm) known German artillery weapons were hauled on 25 railway cars and required three weeks to put in firing position, but had a longer range of compared to the of Little David.


title: Little David

text: Little David was by calibre one of the largest artillery pieces ever produced, although Dora fired a heavier shell. Little David's overall effectiveness would have been questionable because of its limited range and accuracy. When Japan surrendered, the invasion became unnecessary, and Little David (still in its trial phase) never saw combat.


title: Little David

text: With the closure of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Ordnance Museum and relocation to Fort Lee, the status of Little David is currently unknown as only restored pieces made the transfer.


title: Timeboxing

text: In agile principles, timeboxing allocates a fixed and maximum unit of time to an activity, called a timebox, within which planned activity takes place. It is used by agile principles-based project management approaches and for personal time management.


title: Timeboxing

text: Timeboxing is used as a project planning technique. The schedule is divided into a number of separate time periods (timeboxes), with each part having its own deliverables, deadline and budget. Sometimes referred to as "schedule as independent variable" (SAIV). "Timeboxing works best in multistage projects or tasks that take little time and you can fit them in the same time slot. It is also worth implementing in case of duties that have foreseeable time-frames of completion."


title: Timeboxing

text: In project management, there are generally considered to be three constraints: time (sometimes schedule), cost (sometimes budget), and scope. (Quality is often added as a fourth constraint---represented as the middle of a triangle.) The assumption is that a change in one constraint will affect the others.


title: Timeboxing

text: Without timeboxing, projects usually work to a fixed scope, in which case when it becomes clear that some deliverables cannot be completed within the planned timescales, either the deadline has to be extended (to allow more time to complete the fixed scope) or more people are involved (to complete the fixed scope in the same time). Often both happen, resulting in delayed delivery, increased costs, and often reduced quality (as per The Mythical Man-Month principle).


title: Timeboxing

text: With timeboxing, the deadline is fixed, meaning that the scope would have to be reduced. As this means organizations have to focus on completing the most important deliverables first, timeboxing often goes hand-in-hand with a scheme for prioritizing of deliverables (such as with the MoSCoW method).


title: Timeboxing

text: Timeboxes are used as a form of risk management, to explicitly identify uncertain task/time relationships, i.e., work that may easily extend past its deadline. Time constraints are often a primary driver in planning and should not be changed without considering project or sub-project critical paths. That is, it's usually important to meet deadlines. Risk factors for missed deadlines can include complications upstream of the project, planning errors within the project, team-related issues, or faulty execution of the plan. Upstream issues might include changes in project mission or backing/support from management. A common planning error is inadequate task breakdown, which can lead to underestimation of the time required to perform the work. Team-related issues can include trouble with inter-team communication; lack of experience or required cross-functionality; lack of commitment/drive/motivation (i.e. poor team building and management).


title: Timeboxing

text: Many successful software development projects use timeboxing, especially smaller ones. Adopting timeboxing more than tripled developer productivity at DuPont in the '80s. In some cases, applications were completely delivered within the time estimated to complete just a specification. However, Steve McConnell argues that not every product is suitable and that timeboxing should only be used after the customer agrees to cut features, not quality. There is little evidence for strong adoption amongst the largest class of projects.


title: Timeboxing

text: Agile software development advocates moving from "plan driven" to "value driven" development. Quality and time are fixed but flexibility allowed in scope. Delivering the most important features first leads to an earlier return on investment than the waterfall model.


title: Timeboxing

text: A lack of detailed specifications typically is the result of a lack of time, or the lack of knowledge of the desired end result (solution). In many types of projects, and especially in software engineering, analyzing and defining "all" requirements and specifications before the start of the realization phase is impossible. Timeboxing can be a favorable type of contracting for projects in which the deadline is "the" most critical aspect and when not all requirements are completely specified up front. This also allows for new feedback or insights discovered during the project to be reflected in the end result.


title: Timeboxing

text: Timeboxing can be used for personal tasks, in which case it uses a reduced scale of time (e.g., thirty minutes) and of deliverables (e.g., a household chore instead of project deliverable), and is often called timeblocking.


title: Timeboxing

text: Personal timeboxing is also said to act as a life hack to help curb perfectionist tendencies (by setting a firm time and not overcommitting to a task) which can also enhance creativity and focus (by creating a sense of urgency or increased pressure).


title: Children of the plantation

text: "Children of the plantation" was a euphemism used during the time of slavery in the United States, to identify the offspring born to black female slaves and white men, usually the slave's owner, one of the owner's relatives, or the plantation overseer. Plantation owners raping female slaves was a common occurrence. These children were born into slavery, through a legal doctrine known as "partus sequitur ventrem". They were classified as mulattoes, a former term for a multiracial person. The one drop rule meant that they could never be part of white society. Some of the fathers treated these children well, sometimes providing educational or career opportunities, or manumitting (freeing) them. Examples are Archibald and Francis Grimké, and Thomas Jefferson's children by Sally Hemings. Others treated their multiracial children as property; Alexander Scott Withers, for instance, sold two of his children to slave traders, where they were sold again.


title: Children of the plantation

text: Alex Haley's "" (1993) is a historical novel, later a movie, that brought knowledge of the "children of the plantation" to public attention. Edward Ball's "Slaves in the Family" (1998), written by a White descendant of slave owners, describes this complex legacy. Toni Morrison wrote that this sexual usage of slaves was known as "droit du seigneur", the "right of the lord", a term originating in the feudalism of medieval Europe.


title: The Alarm

text: The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s.


title: The Alarm

text: The Alarm's highest charting single in Britain is 1983's "Sixty Eight Guns", which reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. Their 1984 album, "Declaration", which contained "Sixty Eight Guns", peaked at number six on the UK Albums Chart.


title: The Alarm

text: In 1977, a punk band was formed in Rhyl, Wales, billed as "The Toilets". It contained Mike Peters (alias Eddie Bop), Glyn Crossley (alias Steve Shock), Richard "O'Malley" Jones (alias Bo Larks) and Nigel Buckle (alias Des Troy). The band ceased to exist in 1978; they renamed themselves Quasimodo and played note-for-note covers of The Who's "Live At Leeds" with guitarist Dave Sharp. This group also included Karl Wallinger on keyboards. Later the group named themselves Seventeen, with both Mike Peters and Nigel Buckle alongside Eddie MacDonald (who had been Mike Peters' next-door-but-one neighbour in Edward Henry Street, Rhyl). Seventeen began as a three-piece but were soon joined by guitarist David Kitchingman (who changed his name to Dave Sharp) and became a power pop mod band who released a single ("Don't Let Go" / "Bank Holiday Weekend") in March 1980 and toured with the Stray Cats later that year. They played their last concert together under the new name of "Alarm Alarm" in January 1981 at the Half Moon, Herne Hill, London, but this would also be the last time this name was used.


title: The Alarm

text: The band soon reformed under the new name of The Alarm (with Nigel Buckle changing his surname to 'Twist'), and played their first gig at The Victoria Hotel, Prestatyn, north Wales, on 6 June 1981, opening with "Shout to the Devil", which would later appear on the "Declaration" album.


title: The Alarm

text: They moved from North Wales to London in September 1981, and the band recorded a one-off 7" single. One thousand copies were pressed that month, featuring "Unsafe Building" on the "electric" side and "Up For Murder" on the "acoustic" side. The single was noticed by Mick Mercer, who featured it as his single of the month in his "ZigZag" magazine. The band played a show with The Fall in December 1981, where a journalist from "Sounds" noticed them. This journalist attended the band's next show, at Upstairs at Ronnie's in London's West End. Also at this show was a representative of Wasted Talent, who arranged a meeting between the band and Ian Wilson, U2's agent. Wilson arranged another show in order to assess the band's quality, was impressed, and became their manager soon after. To celebrate, The Alarm played with U2 at the Lyceum Ballroom on 22 December 1981.


title: The Alarm

text: In 1982, the band began to record demos for various record labels, but had little success. At this point, they were playing with three acoustic guitarists. The band were eventually offered a deal by I.R.S. Records. This forced them to make a decision on who was to play which musical instrument, and it was decided that Peters would concentrate on singing, with Sharp on guitar and Macdonald playing bass.


title: The Alarm

text: "Marching On" was released as a single in October 1982, and the band's sound started to become clear. On stage, they would almost always begin gigs acoustically, before finishing with electric guitars. Constant gigging in London helped the band build up a following, and in December 1982, they played four shows with U2. These shows were the first time that Bono joined the Alarm on stage.


title: The Alarm

text: A new song, "The Stand", was recorded in Battersea in April 1983, and was released in the UK as a single. The song's lyrics were inspired by Stephen King's novel of the same name. Outside the UK, the song was released as part of a five-track EP, entitled "The Alarm". The EP was released to coincide with the Alarm's first tour of the U.S. in June 1983. Following the success of the sessions that produced "The Stand", I.R.S. picked up their recording option on the band, signalling the start of work on an album. Another session with producer Mick Glossop was arranged to produce a new single, with "Blaze of Glory" recorded and released.


title: The Alarm

text: In June 1983, the Alarm embarked on their first tour of the U.S., supporting U2 on the War Tour. The 18-date tour went a long way in establishing the band in the U.S. "The Stand" was quickly released by I.R.S. to capitalize on this, supported by TV appearances on "The Cutting Edge" and "American Bandstand".


title: The Alarm

text: Following the tour, the band returned to the UK to begin working with producer Alan Shacklock on the new album. They focused on re-recording "Blaze of Glory" and "Sixty Eight Guns". After the sessions, the band recorded a video for "Sixty Eight Guns" and flew back to America to begin their first headline American tour as well as playing in support of The Pretenders. "Sixty Eight Guns" was released as a single on 12 September 1983, and charted the following week at number 50. The same week, the band performed the song on the BBC Television music show "Top of the Pops". The song subsequently climbed into the Top 20 and remains their highest charting single, peaking at No. 17.


title: The Alarm

text: The band had been recording the new album from July 1983, and by the time of the "Top of the Pops" appearance they had recorded the backing tracks to most of the songs. After completing a U.S. tour and a headline tour of the UK in late 1983, the band returned to the studio to record the backing tracks for the rest of the songs.


title: The Alarm

text: On 6 November 1983, the band recorded an acoustic radio session for the BBC. This session saw the debut of three brand new songs: "Walk Forever by My Side", "One Step Closer to Home" and "Unbreak the Promise".


title: The Alarm

text: On 7 November, the band returned to the recording studio to finish recording the album, now titled "Declaration". In December, the Alarm returned to the U.S. for a third headline tour. The weather was atrocious, and on 6 December, the car in which the band was travelling crashed, although none of the four members was injured. They returned to the UK on 17 December and appeared as part of an Anti-Nuclear Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre, London.


title: The Alarm

text: Whilst the band had been in the US, Alan Shacklock and sound engineer Chris Porter finished mixing the album. The band played a handful of gigs supporting The Police over Christmas, and by 5 January 1984, the album had been mixed and finalised. "Declaration" was released by I.R.S. Records on 14 February 1984. A week later, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at Number 6.


title: The Alarm

text: In November 1984, the Alarm recorded demos of nine brand-new songs, including "Absolute Reality". They played their new material to the American producer Jimmy Iovine, who agreed to come to the UK in January 1985 to begin work on the follow-up to "Declaration". During this period, Peters appeared solo at a number of events, including the Greenbelt Festival in Northamptonshire, playing Alarm material as well as some unrecorded personal songs. Studio sessions were booked for early 1985, and a UK headline tour was booked for May 1985, to coincide with the release of the new album. However, Iovine never came to the UK to work with the Alarm, eventually citing personal reasons. The band had to cancel the sessions and look for another producer. Alan Shacklock was unavailable, so Ian Wilson (the band's manager) convinced I.R.S. to release the Shacklock-produced "Absolute Reality" as a single to promote the UK dates in May. "Absolute Reality" was released on 18 February 1985, entering the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart a week later. After a series of appearances at European festivals and a new producer (Mike Howlett), the Alarm began work on their follow-up album, "Strength". The band teamed up with MTV, I.R.S. Records, and UCLA's Campus Events to present one of the first live satellite broadcasts from UCLA on 12 April 1986. They played at Queen's "Live at Wembley '86" concert on 12 July 1986.


title: The Alarm

text: "Strength" was released on 1 October 1985 and was another UK success, and brought them into the top 40 of the US "Billboard" 200 album chart for the first time; additionally, the single "Spirit of '76" was a Top 40 UK hit. The Alarm took a break after the supporting tour, but returned in 1987 with "Eye of the Hurricane" and landed a tour slot supporting Bob Dylan. A concert EP, "Electric Folklore Live", followed in 1988. They also had a hit single in the UK in 1987 with "Rain in the Summertime" (from "Eye of the Hurricane"), which gave them their second-best placing on the UK chart.


title: The Alarm

text: The band toured extensively through the United States and Europe through the 1980s into 1991. They gained much popularity in 1983 when they were the opening act for U2, a band to whom they were often compared musically. On 13 March 1988, the Alarm performed at The Fillmore in San Francisco with The 77s and House of Freaks.


title: The Alarm

text: 1989's "Change" was an homage to the group's native Wales, and was accompanied by an alternate Welsh-language version, "Newid". Produced by Tony Visconti, "Change" spawned the group's biggest Modern Rock hit in America, "Sold Me Down the River", which also put them in the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 Top 50 for the first and only time. "Devolution Working Man Blues" and "Love Don't Come Easy" also earned radio airplay, and the track "A New South Wales" had an appearance by the Welsh Symphony Orchestra and the Morriston Orpheus Male Voice Choir. Although it was popular in Wales, it did not sell as well as the group's earlier works, and internal band dissension, exacerbated by deaths in both Peters' and Twist's families, made 1991's "Raw" the original Alarm's final effort.


title: The Alarm

text: After the release of "Raw" in 1991, despite their success and relative longevity, Peters announced on stage at the Brixton Academy that he was leaving the band.


title: The Alarm

text: "We've shared some great moments in time over the last ten years and tonight I would like to thank all the people who have supported me from the beginning to the end. Tonight this is my last moment with the Alarm, I'm going out in a Blaze of Glory – my hands are held up high". This came as much of a shock to his colleagues as to the audience. Following this show Peters signed his legal right to one quarter of the Alarm name and logo over to the other three. Peters and Sharp both embarked on solo careers.


title: The Alarm

text: After the Alarm, Peters teamed up with a band of unknown musicians to form The Poets Of Justice (which included his wife Jules Peters on keyboards), and embark on a solo career which produced a number of singles and albums. In 2000, the Alarm released a complete collection covering all recorded material by the band. It also included sleeve notes to which all four members had contributed. This was the first project to which all four original members had contributed since Peters left the band in 1991.


title: The Alarm

text: Following the box set release, Peters used the Alarm name on the tour to promote the complete collection release. The musicians Peters used were his backing band in the late 1990s; Steve Grantley from Stiff Little Fingers, Craig Adams from The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and The Cult, and James Stevenson from Chelsea and Gene Loves Jezebel. The Alarm name was followed by an MM++ that indicated in Roman numerals what year the record was released. Over the past decade Peters has replaced the band members as needed when Adams, Stevenson or Grantley have pursued other projects.


title: The Alarm

text: In February 2004, Peters' new line-up of Alarm MM++ carried out a hoax on the British music industry by issuing "45 RPM" under the fictitious name The Poppy Fields. Peters, having garnered positive feedback for the song, decided to disassociate it from his veteran band to have it judged on its own merits, and recruited a young group called the Wayriders to lip-sync the song in the video. The so-called Poppy Fields took "45 RPM" into the UK Top 30 before the hoax was revealed, setting the stage for the album "In the Poppy Fields".


title: The Alarm

text: The Alarm appeared together for a one-off show on the VH1 television programme "Bands Reunited" in 2005, and performed live in London with a subsequent expanded DVD/CD release of the episode.


title: The Alarm

text: In 2005, Peters discovered that he was suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. At this time, he started a cancer foundation called Love Hope Strength to help with the fight against cancer. In October 2007, Peters, along with 38 other musicians, cancer survivors and supporters, made a 14-day trek to the Mount Everest base camp to perform the highest concert ever on land to raise awareness and money to fight cancer. Other musicians included Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of The Fixx, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats and Nick Harper. Peters is the co-founder of The Love Hope and Strength Foundation with fellow leukemia survivor James Chippendale, CEO of Ascend Insurance Brokerage in Austin, Texas.


title: The Alarm

text: In 2006, the new version of Alarm MM++ released a second studio album, "Under Attack". It spawned another UK Top 30 hit, "Superchannel". In 2008 A third studio album entitled "Guerrilla Tactics" was released. The Alarm's song "Sixty Eight Guns" has been featured in a Heineken television advertisement in the U.S. In April, 2008 Sharp launched his own version of the band, AOR – Spirit of The Alarm, to showcase the band's American set lists from the late 1980s.


title: The Alarm

text: In 2009 the Alarm released "21", a "best of" collection of songs from their 2000's output. The collection included a new remix of the single "45 RPM", as well as remixes and alternate takes of 20 other songs. This was followed by a fourth studio album, "Direct Action", in April 2010 and then by "The Sound And Fury" in 2011, an album of 12 re-imagined tracks from the catalog of the Alarm and of Mike Peters.


title: The Alarm

text: 2013 saw the release of "Vinyl", which featured new tracks written for the soundtrack album and performed by Mike Peters and The Alarm with guest vocals from the film's main stars, Phil Daniels and Keith Allen. The film, written and directed by Sara Sugarman, is loosely based on the true events surrounding The Poppy Fields and release of the single "45 RPM." It also features a cameo appearance of Mike Peters. "Vinyl" is a British comedy film that has aging rock star Johnny Jones (Phil Daniels) fool the media into believing his music is that of a new fresh young rock group from North Wales. However, as the media frenzy develops the truth has to come out. The Alarm took the step of touring the soundtrack album with a showing of the film at selected venues in the UK during March and April 2013.


title: The Alarm

text: In 2014 Peters started the process of "reimagining" the Alarm's full, original albums as new recordings for the 21st century. He began with "Declaration [30th Anniversary]" in 2014, followed quickly by "Peace Train ," a collection of b-sides reimagined"." The songs were not mere re-recordings, and were not meant to replace the original songs, but instead offer fresh takes on the classics played through the lens of 30 years of experience. Some of the songs have updated lyrics to match the passage of time, while others contain edited verses, or lyrics from demo versions of the songs before they were recorded for the albums and singles. Peters continued this process for "<nowiki>Strength : [30th Anniversary]</nowiki>" and its companion album. "Majority" in 2015.


title: The Alarm

text: The band released a new studio album, "Equals", on In Grooves Records, in July 2018. This was followed by a companion album, "Sigma", released a year later. Peters' wife Jules currently plays keyboards in the band and James Stevenson has adopted a multi-instrumentalist role playing guitar, bass guitar, bass pedals and a bass/six string double-neck guitar made for him by Gordon-Smith Guitars


title: The Alarm

text: In 2021, the band wrote and recorded a new album, "War", in 50 days, reflecting on the pandemic and lockdown situation. In some ways a companion piece to the earlier album, "Raw".


title: The Alarm

text: "The Red Wall of Cymru", as recorded by the Alarm, is Wales' official anthem for the Euro 2020. It features fans recorded in football grounds all across Wales.


title: The Alarm

text: Historian Martin Johnes has argued that the band are part of the contemporary history of Wales. His case is based on how the Alarm reflected cultural trends within Wales, and the band are discussed in his book "Wales since 1939" (2012).


title: The Alarm

text: "The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following, who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles."


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Michael John Gallagher (born March 3, 1984) is an American politician who serves as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in the 2016 elections and took office on January 3, 2017.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Gallagher lived in Green Bay through middle school. After his parents' divorce, he moved to California and studied at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, while spending summers in Wisconsin. Gallagher later said his teachers "endowed me with a love for history and set me on a path to earning a Ph.D. with a focus on Cold War history." He graduated in 2002 as a valedictorian.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Gallagher was a United States Marine Corps intelligence officer, serving seven years (2006–13) on active duty. He twice deployed to the Al Anbar Province, Iraq, serving on General Petraeus's CENTCOM Assessment Team as a commander of intelligence teams. He assessed American military strategy in the Middle East and Central Asia in his role as a counterintelligence officer, and as a member of the CENTCOM assessment team.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Gallagher earned his B.A. in 2006 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. With a growing interest in global security, he changed his major from Spanish to Arabic. Gallagher completed a 117-page long senior thesis, "New Approaches to Asymmetric Threats in the Middle East: From Fighting to Winning", under the supervision of Frederick Hitz. At this time he completed a summer internship abroad with the Rand Corporation in Cambridge, United Kingdom, working on a strategic study of terrorist groups such as Basque separatists.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Having served on his first tour of duty in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps, Gallagher began a MSSI (Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence) at National Intelligence University, graduating in 2010.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Gallagher completed a second M.A, in security studies, in 2012 and a third, in government, in 2013, both from Georgetown University. He then began doctoral studies, writing a dissertation on the administrations of Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Cold War, receiving his Ph.D. in government and international relations in 2015.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Gallagher served as a Republican staffer on the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker hired him as a foreign policy advisor in February 2015, in preparation for his 2016 presidential campaign.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: After Walker dropped out of the presidential race, Gallagher worked as a senior marketing strategist for Breakthrough Fuel, a supply-chain management company. He then ran for Wisconsin's 8th congressional district seat, to which Reid Ribble was not seeking reelection. Gallagher won the primary against Wisconsin state senator Frank Lasee and Forestville village president Terry McNulty.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: In the general election, Gallagher defeated Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, 63% to 36%. He was reelected in 2018 over Brown County assistant district attorney Beau Liegeois.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Gallagher voted in line with President Donald Trump's position 93.8% of the time in the 115th Congress and 84.2% of the time in the 116th Congress, but broke with the White House on issues such as the Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey and Trump's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. He voted against the majority of his party about 8.7% of the time.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: In 2018, Gallagher argued that power in the House of Representatives was too concentrated in the leadership; he proposed allowing committee members to choose their own chairs and ranking members, rather than having these positions be selected by the parties' steering committees. This proposal was rejected in a House Republican vote. Gallagher also argued for consolidating the appropriating and authorizing House committees and a reform of the House calendar that would have the chamber sit "at least five days a week for three consecutive weeks, then spend a full week back in their districts" (a change from the current congressional practice of very short legislative workweeks and frequent long weekends allowing members more time in their districts). His unsuccessful reform proposals were praised by Norm Ornstein, a scholar of Congress, as "constructive" although unlikely to be adopted.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: Gallagher voted for the 2017 Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In 2017, he called the ACA "unsustainable". In 2018, Gallagher voted to expand eligibility for health savings accounts; in 2019, he voted against a proposal to allow the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.


title: Mike Gallagher (American politician)

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin, Gallagher's district had some of the nation's highest infection rates. He did not take a position on the Wisconsin state legislature's lawsuit seeking to invalidate Governor Tony Evers's directive to mandate the wearing of masks in public as a way to combat the transmission of the virus.