title: Hitler and Mannerheim recording

text: Aside from this broad summary of the war in the East, Hitler did not reveal any of his future military plans, specifically an upcoming German offensive, which the Finns were informed of only the day before it occurred. Despite Hitler's visit and monologue, and a return visit from Mannerheim, the Nazis' continuing military crisis over the next six months would provoke the Finns into looking for a way out of their alliance with Germany.


title: Hitler and Mannerheim recording

text: After the tape was revealed to the public, some believed it was a fake because Hitler's voice sounded too soft. After listening to the recording, Rochus Misch, Hitler's former bodyguard and radio operator, said: "He is speaking normally, but I have problems with the tone; the intonation isn't quite right. Sometimes it seems okay, but at other points not. I have the feeling it's someone mimicking Hitler. It really sounds as if someone is mimicking him." Photographs taken on the day of the event showed that Hitler had been drinking alcohol, which could have affected his voice, as he rarely drank. Specialists from postwar Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office later examined the tape, and Head of Frequencies Stefan Gfroerer declared that it is "very obvious to us that this is Hitler's voice."


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after the Palais de la Cité, of French Kings in the 14th to 16th century. It is particularly known for its "donjon" or keep, a fortified central tower, the tallest in Europe, built in the 14th century, and for the chapel, Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, begun in 1379 but not completed until 1552, which is an exceptional example of Flamboyant Gothic architecture. Because of its fortifications, the château was often used as a royal sanctuary in times of trouble, and later as a prison and military headquarters. The chapel was listed as an historic monument in 1853, and the keep was listed in 1913. Most of the building is now open to the public.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The first royal residence was created by an act of Louis VII in 1178. The site had the advantages of good hunting in the surrounding forest, proximity to two former Roman roads to Sens and to Lagny, as well as access by water on the Marne and Seine rivers. It was used only occasionally by Louis VII and his successors, but Louis IX, or Saint Louis (1226–1270), used it much more often, second only to his time at the Palais de la Cité in Paris. He held meetings of the royal council there, and the Queen and his children often resided there when he was absent from Paris. When Louis IX purchased the reputed Crown of Thorns from the Emperor at Constantinople, Louis received the celebrated relic at Sens Cathedral, escorted it to Vincennes, and then accompanied it to its eventual home in the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. A few thorns from the crown of thorns and a small fragment of the reputed True Cross were deposited at Vincennes for placement in a future chapel. Louis IX said farewell to his family at Vincennes before his departure to the Crusades, from which he did not return.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Chateau was frequented by the Kings and their families. Philippe III (in 1274) and Philippe IV (in 1284) were each married there and three 14th-century kings died at Vincennes: Louis X (1316), Philippe V (1322) and Charles IV (1328). The residence at the time was a sprawling manor with four wings located in the northeast corner of the present chateau walls, begun in the late 13th century. It was transferred to the clergy of the Saint-Chapelle after the Keep was completed; vestiges were found during excavations in 1992–1996.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The defeats of the French and the capture of the King by the English in the Hundred Years War, as well as uprisings of the Parisian merchants under Etienne Marcel (1357–58) and a rural upraising against the crown, the Jacquerie (1360), persuaded the new French King, Jean II of France and his son, the future Charles V, that they needed a more secure residence close to, but not in the center of Paris. The King ordered the construction of a fortress at Vincennes with high walls and towers surrounding a massive keep or central tower, 52 meters (172 feet) high. The work was started in about 1337, and by 1364 the three lower levels of the keep were finished. Charles V moved into the keep in 1367 or 1368, while construction was still underway. When it was completed in 1369–70, it was the tallest fortified structure in Europe. The digging of the deep moat came next (1367), then the fortified gateway (1369). The walls and towers surrounding the keep were finished in 1371–72.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: In the turbulent 15th century, the Chateau became a refuge for the kings of France. It was the regular residence of Charles VI of France up until his madness, then was disputed by the two rivals of his succession, Philip the Good of Burgundy and Louis I, Duke of Orléans. In 1415 the knights of Henry V of England defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt. The Treaty of Troyes in 1420 granted the Chateau and the Ile-de-France to the English. Henry V of England installed his troops there, repaired the Chateau, and lived there until his death in 1422.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: An alliance between the Burgundians with Charles VII of France finally allowed the King to force the English out of the Ile-de-France and to reoccupy the Chateau. He and his successors rarely lived there, preferring the Loire Valley. His successor, Louis XI, also spent most of his time in the Loire Valley, but he made one major modification to Vincennes: He constructed a new royal residence within the walls, the first outside of the keep. It extended the entire length of the southeast wall.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Charles V had even greater ambitions for the Chateau. At the end of 1372, he began construction of another wall, a large square more than a kilometre () in length, with towers, to contain the additional buildings he intended to build. This was constructed between 1372 and 1385. The outer wall was given further reinforcement with the construction of a deep moat. The last project begun by Charles the V was laying the foundations of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes to hold a set of sacred relics obtained by Louis IX, but he died in 1380 in the Manoir de Beauté, a separate residence he had constructed in 1376–1377 southeast of Vincennes, when the work on the new Sainte-Chapelle had just begun.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes, begun in 1379, was still unfinished in the 16th century. In 1520 King Francois I, a frequent resident, resolved to complete it to celebrate the birth of his son and heir. After his death in 1547, Henry II of France took up the work, finishing the vaults, and adding the woodwork and especially the stained glass. It was completed in 1552.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: In the early 17th century, Marie De' Medici, the widow of the assassinated Henry IV of France, began a major project to replace the old pavilion of Louis XI and Francois I. Her son Louis XIII, then age ten, laid the first stone of the new residence in 1610. Louis XIV continued the program on an even larger scale; planned by the royal architect Louis Le Vau. his new residence in the French classical style, now the Batiment du Roi, was finished in 1658, and was twice the size of the Louis XIII residence. In 1688, work began on a new pavilion of the Queen, on the north side of the enclosure. A new formal garden with an orangerie, was built on the west side. A large group of painters and sculptors was assembled to decorate the new buildings. The ensemble was completed with a triumphal arch at the entrance, and was dedicated in August 1660, in time for the return of the King and his new bride to Paris. But the age of royal glory at Vincennes was brief; in 1682 Louis XIV moved the royal court to his residence at Versailles, and in 1715 Louis XV began his reign in Versailles. While the King occasionally went hunting at Vincennes, the Court did not return.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Following the royal departure in the early 18th century, an effort was made to turn the Chateau into a sort of pre-industrial park; the royal porcelain manufactory was opened in the Devil's Tower in 1740, but moved to a larger space in Sèvres in 1756. It was home for a time of an armaments factory and a porcelain factory, then an industrial bakery. It was used occasionally for horse races from 1777 until 1784. In 1787 the King put most of the buildings up for sale, but the sale was interrupted by the French Revolution. The Chateau took on a new role as a military base and prison.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Long before the French Revolution, notable prisoners had been held at the Chateau. Early prisoners included the future King Henry IV in 1574, Henri II de Condé (1652–1664); Nicolas Fouquet, the royal minister of finance of Louis XIV (September 1661); and the writer Denis Diderot. The Marquis de Sade was held there from 1777 to 1784, the writer Honoré Mirabeau from 1777 to 1784, and the famous swindler Jean Henri Latude, who escaped twice from the Vincennes and once from the Bastille. In 1784, after Mirabeau wrote a series of articles which exposed the abuses of the royal judicial system and the practice of keeping prisoners without trial, the use of the keep as prison was discontinued.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: At the end of February 1791, a mob of more than a thousand workers from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, encouraged by members of the Cordeliers Club and led by Antoine Joseph Santerre, marched out to the château, which, rumour had it, was being readied on the part of the Crown for political prisoners, and with crowbars and pickaxes set about demolishing it, as the Bastille had recently been demolished. The work was interrupted by the Marquis de Lafayette who took several ringleaders prisoners, to the jeers of the Parisian workers.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Following the French Revolution, the chateau was denounced as a symbol of oppression, but then was used again by Napoleon I to hold prisoners transferred from the Temple Prison in Paris, Napoleon demolished the Temple prison to prevent it from becoming a royalist shrine to Marie Antoinette, who had been held there. Two historical items from the Temple Prison are displayed at Vincennes; an armoured prison cell door, and a stove of ceramic tiles which had originally been in the cell of Marie Antoinette.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: During the reign of Napoleon, the chateau and its buildings underwent considerable reconstruction to serve as a military arsenal. A new wooden floor divided the Sainte-Chapelle into upper and lower levels, and it was turned into a storehouse for munitions. The Pavilion of the King and the Pavilion of the Queen became barracks for the garrison. Most of the towers of the surrounding wall, which were in a poor state of repair, were demolished, with the exception of the Tower of the Village, which still has its original height, and the Tower of the Woods, which had collapsed earlier. The moat of the chateau was also the site of a famous execution, that of Duc d'Enghien, which took place on 21 March 1804. He was accused of trying the reinstate the royal government. A willow tree in the moat was planted to mark the place he was executed, and is still there today.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: In 1814, after Napoleon's defeat in Russia, as the allied armies of the Sixth Coalition approached Paris, the chateau was commanded by General Pierre Yrieix Daumesnil. Daumesnil had a wooden leg, replacing a limb he lost at the Battle of Wagram (5–6 July 1809). When the allies demanded his surrender, Daumenil responded, "I shall surrender Vincennes when I get my leg back". He finally agreed to give up the fortress only when ordered to do by the newly restored King, Louis XVIII.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: During the Restoration and the July Monarchy, in the first half of the 19th century, the chateau and park were used by military, particularly the artillery; an artillery school was opened there in 1826. The surrounding park was used for military exercises and as a firing range. In the first part of the 19th century three separate forts were constructed within the park to serve as part of the defences of the city. In the mid-century, the separate forts were connected together into one very large military complex. The buildings of the chateau itself and its surroundings were the park as part of the new fortifications of the city. Some parts of the medieval complexes were modified to fit into the new defensive plan.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Under Napoleon III, the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes was declared an historical landmark, and in 1854 restoration of the chapel was begun by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.The keep of the chateau was given landmark status in 1913, though restoration did not begin until after the First World War.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Beginning just before 1860, the Emperor Louis Napoleon also began to develop an extensive new public park to the southeast of Paris, the Bois de Vincennes, modelled after the Bois de Boulogne he had begun on the other side of the city. The territory of the Bois de Vincennes, with the exception of the military bases, was ceded to the City of Paris on 24 July 1860, and became part of the XII arrondissement of Paris.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: On March 20, 1871, two days after the Paris Commune seized power in the city, Commune soldiers came to the Chateau and fraternised with the regular army soldiers. The Chateau surrendered to the Commune without a fight. A few weeks later, on 27 May, after the regular French army had recaptured Paris from the Commune, the Chateau was the last holdout where the red flag still flew. . A colonel of the regular army arrived and negotiated the surrender of the remaining Communards. The soldiers left peacefully, while some of the officers who had joined the Commune were arrested, tried and shot in the moat of the chateau. A plaque on the wall of the moat marks the place.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: During the First World War, the German spy Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad on October 15, 1917, in the moat of the Chateau.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The restoration of the chateau was halted in 1936 by concerns about the rising threat from Nazi Germany. Beginning in that year, a large underground bunker was dug beneath the Pavilion of the Queen in the southeast corner, to serve as the headquarters of the chief of staff. The generals Maurice Gamelin and then Maxime Weygand directed the defense of France from there, until they were overwhelmed by the German Blitzkrieg. France surrendered on June 14, 1940. The Germans then used it as a base for their own soldiers, as well as a prison where French Resistance members were held. One of the first members of the French Resistance, Jacques Bonsergent, was tried and executed there on November 10, 1940. On 20 August 1944, during the battle for the Liberation of Paris, 26 policemen and members of the Resistance arrested by soldiers of the Waffen-SS were executed in the eastern moat of the fortress, and their bodies thrown in a common grave.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: On the evening of August 24, 1944, the same day that the armoured division of General Leclerc reached the centre of Paris, the German forces occupying the Château set off explosives in the three storage areas of munitions, badly damaging the Pavilions of the King and Queen and opening a gap in the wall between the entry pavilion and tower of Paris, before they withdrew. The next day the 4th U.S. infantry division reached the Château and the eastern neighbourhoods of Paris.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: In 1948 the Chateau became the headquarters of France's Defence Historical Service, which maintains a museum in the keep. A major campaign began in 1986 to preserve and restore the architectural heritage of the Château.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Only traces remain of the earlier castle and the substantial remains date from the 14th century. The castle forms a rectangle whose perimeter is more than a kilometer in length (). It has six towers and three gates, each originally high, and is surrounded by a deep stone lined moat. The towers of the "grande enceinte" now stand only to the height of the walls, having been demolished in the 1800s, save the "Tour du Village" on the north side of the enclosure. The south end consists of two wings facing each other, the "Pavillon du Roi" and the "Pavillon de la Reine", built by Louis Le Vau.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Donjon or Keep of Vincennes was finished in 1369–70. It is high, the highest of its kind in Europe. Its walls are wide on each side, and at each corner is tower in diameter, the same height as the building. An additional tower, the height of the rest, is attached to the north of the northwest tower, providing support the whole structure and also containing latrines for all five levels of the keep. The wall at the base of the keep are 3.26 meters, or ten feet, thick. It served as both a royal residence and a very visible symbol of royal power.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The keep is one of the first known examples of rebar usage. Each of the eight floors has a central room about ten meters on each side. with a height varying from . Each of the lower four floors have s central column which reinforces the vaulted ceiling. The columns were decorated with sculpture and painted in bright colors.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: One striking feature of the construction was the use of iron bars to strengthen the structure. More than two and half kilometres () of iron bars, in various shapes, were built into the structure.Iron bars reinforced the doorways, windows and the ceilings of the corridors, and, unusually, belts of iron bars surrounded the entire tower at the ground level, fifth level and sixth level.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: In the Middle Ages the only access to the Keep was on the first floor, by a bridge from the terrace of the chatelet, where the King's offices were located. A narrow stairway, within the south wall. The two entrances on the ground floor were not added until the 18th century. When the keep was given an additional floor, and grand stairway was built connecting the two noble floors, the first and second.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Keep is surrounded by a rectangular stone wall, or "enceinte" about long one each side, high, and thick. It is crenelated at the top level with a walkway that was originally open but was given a tile roof in the 15th century and then the present slate roof. At each of the four corners is an Echauguette, a small watch tower that protrudes outward, to give better oversight of the walls. In the northeast corner of the walkway, next to the chatelet, is a group of rooms which originally were part of the working office of the King, on the second floor of the chatelet. They include a small chapel, a hall, and a chamber.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, the royal chapel of the residence, was built on the model of the Sainte Chapelle of the Palais de la Cité in Paris, though the plan was modified to have a single level, rather than two. Work began under Charles V of France in 1379, at the end of his reign. The exterior and interior sculpture was largely finished between 1390 and 1410. The west front was finished last; work was resumed in 1520, and it was inaugurated by Henry II of France in 1552. The west front is a good example of the late Gothic Flamboyant style, with three gabled arches one atop the other, framing and echoing the elaborate curling designs of the rose window. The stained glass windows of the interior reflected the changing style; the windows of the choir were Rayonnant Gothic, while those of the nave were Flamboyant.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Chapel suffered particularly from the vandalism of the French Revolution. Most all of the stained glass and the sculpture on tympanum and portals was smashed, but a few notable examples of 15th century sculpture survived, notably a sculpture of the Holy Trinity in the upper arches over the west portal. The outside walls are supported by enormous buttresses between the windows, each crowned by an ornate spire, giving them additional weight.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The nave and choir of the interior form a single vessel with five traverses. The oratories of the King and Queen are placed just before the choir. The summit of the vaults, where the ribs meet, are decorated with ornamental keystones, some with the coats-of-arms of Isabeau of Bavaria and Charles V of France. The painted decoration on some of the later vaults displays the H of Henry II of France and a K for Catherine de Medici.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The stained glass windows of the nave were installed between 1556 and 1559. Those in the nave were almost entirely destroyed in the French Revolution; only drawings remain.Some of the windows of the apse did survive. They illustrate the Apocalypse as recounted in the Gospel of Saint John. They were substantially restored in the 19th century under Louis Napoleon and again the 20th century.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Louis XIII built the King's pavilion between in the southwest corner between 1610 and 1617 near the beginning of his reign. Only the west facade of this building is still visible. In 1654–58, the royal architect Louis Le Vau enlarged the building surrounding the old structure with a new structure, in the French classical style. The new building has the same length as the old pavilion, but is twice as wide. The Pavilion of the Queen was built between 1658 and 1660, following the same basic design.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: The Pavilion of the King, three stories high, was built at the edge of a garden. The apartment of the King had five rooms, located on the first floor, looking west over the garden. The Queen's apartment in her pavilion followed the same plan, overlooking the courtyard. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the interiors fell into disrepair, then were almost totally destroyed, with the exception of some portions of the painted ceilings; the Germans had stored explosives in the two pavilions, and these exploded in fires set by the departing occupiers in August 1944.


title: Château de Vincennes

text: Fortunately, some portions of the painted and sculpted ceilings of the royal pavilions were saved in the 19th century; King Louis Philippe had a ceiling dismantled and transported from Vincennes to the Louvre Museum, where it was installed in room 639, a display of Egyptian Antiquities, where it can be seen today.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: The Wonderland Gang was a group of drug dealers involved in the Los Angeles cocaine trade during the late 1970s and early 1980s; their home base was located on Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles, California. On July 1, 1981, three members and one associate of the gang died in the Wonderland murders (also known as the "Four on the Floor murders" or the "Laurel Canyon murders").


title: Wonderland Gang

text: The Wonderland Gang mainly trafficked in the burgeoning cocaine trade of the era, but despite its role as the most influential and feared cocaine distributorship of its time in Los Angeles, some of its members were heroin addicts. Drugs were regularly dealt from the residence at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: The two bedroom split-level house was leased in Joy Miller's name. Miller and her live-in boyfriend, Billy DeVerell, were the usual residents; Ron Launius and his wife, Susan, were house guests.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: David Lind, ordinarily a resident of the Sacramento area, came to Los Angeles in the summer of 1981 at Launius' behest, to aid in their growing drug-distribution business. Lind and Launius had become friends while in prison and promised to deal drugs together upon their release. Lind and his girlfriend, Barbara Richardson, rode down to the Wonderland house on Lind's motorcycle and slept on the living room sofa.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Adult-entertainment legend John Holmes, famous at the time for his portrayal of the detective character Johnny Wadd in a series of pornographic films, was a frequent visitor who would purchase or scrounge cocaine from the gang.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Although the Wonderland Gang was mainly known for its drug sales, which concentrated on cocaine and the occasional heroin deal, the gang also gained revenues through burglaries and armed robberies of rival drug dealers. It was this last line of "business", particularly the armed robbery of Eddie Nash, that ultimately led to the group's sudden and violent end.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Ronald Lee Launius was a United States Air Force veteran of the Vietnam era, who had been dishonorably discharged and convicted of smuggling heroin from Vietnam back to the United States in the coffins of American service members.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Reportedly, at the time of his death, police investigators in California, largely in the Sacramento area, had 27 open homicide cases they believed were perpetrated by Launius. In May 1974, he was arrested for and charged with the 1973 murder of a reputed police drug informant who had been killed over a botched drug deal. After a key witness for the prosecution died in an unrelated police shootout, the murder charges against Launius were dropped. That year, however, Launius was convicted of smuggling heroin and cocaine across the US/Mexico border and eventually served three years of an eight-year sentence in a federal prison.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: A California police officer described the blond, bearded Launius as "one of the coldest people I ever met". Another officer commented, upon hearing of Launius' death, "I suppose they won't need many pall bearers". When asked to elaborate, the policeman explained: "A trash can only has two handles".


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Launius was known for remaining composed under pressure. His associate, David Lind, once said of him: "You could put a gun to his head and his pulse would never break 70". Launius' brazen and fearless nature led both to his dominance in the drug trade as well as his demise, stemming from the events leading up to his death in the Wonderland Murders. Launius and Susan Murphy, were married in Carson City, Nevada on April 16, 1971.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: William Raymond DeVerell was Launius' right-hand man and a voice of reason. David Lind characterized him as an otherwise decent individual who had been lured into the drug world because of the easy money and indicated that DeVerell experienced periods of self-loathing for his actions, during which he expressed a desire to stop dealing and using illegal drugs.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: DeVerell was an overhead crane operator – and heroin user – who had been arrested 13 times in relation to his addiction, which is part of the reason why he stayed in the gang. The autopsy performed after his murder identified numerous injection scars on his forearms, in addition to hyperplasia of the lymph nodes – a common sign of narcotics abuse.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: David Clay Lind was a biker, heroin addict, and member of the Aryan Brotherhood who befriended Launius when the two men served time in prison together. In 1981, at Launius' behest, Lind traveled to Los Angeles to join the Wonderland gang and assist them in running drugs. By the time of the Wonderland murders, Lind had been incarcerated several times for armed burglary, forgery, assault, and assault with the intent to commit rape. Specifically at the time of the murder, Lind testified in court that he was at a motel in the San Fernando Valley, consuming drugs with a male prostitute. Lind's position in the drug underworld was and remains murky due to allegations by rival drug dealers that he worked as a police informant.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Tracy Raymond McCourt was the driver of the stolen 1975 Ford Granada that carried the Wonderland Gang to Eddie Nash's home on the night of the robbery. Originally, McCourt was designated to take part in the home invasion itself, but a day or so before the event, conspirator David Lind (who derisively referred to McCourt as "Titmouse Tracy") took away McCourt's handgun, and McCourt was relegated to driving duty.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: In the years following the Wonderland murders, McCourt was reported to have moved to Colorado. He spent considerable time in the Colorado prison system, but when he was free he operated a successful mobile phone franchise. In 2001, he reportedly had been wanted by the Colorado Springs Police Department for "assault with a deadly weapon and failure to comply on the original charge of distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance".


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Joy Audrey Gold Miller was Billy DeVerell's girlfriend and the leaseholder of the Wonderland townhouse. Miller had two adult daughters and was the ex-wife of a Beverly Hills attorney. Miller was a heroin user who had fallen in with the Wonderland Gang through her self-immersion in drug culture. By the time Holmes had become involved with the group, Miller had been arrested seven times, been treated for breast cancer, and six months before had had a double mastectomy. Holmes claimed this did nothing to reduce her opiate usage.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Susan A. Murphy Launius, then 30, while not an official member of the gang, was married to gang member Ron Launius and had a drug habit. She was the sole survivor of the attack – suffering severe head injuries, amnesia, and a severed finger.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Barbara Lee Easton (married Walter Richardson in 1977 after graduating from Sacramento Cordova high school in 1976) Richardson, who was 22 at the time of her death, was associated with David Lind. Lind claimed she was his girlfriend, though he was 20 years older than her, and she was married. Both Richardson and Lind were said to be police informants in the Sacramento area not long before they traveled to southern California. Richardson's official autopsy report documented that she possessed intravenous drug injection site scars.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: On June 29, 1981, the Wonderland Gang, comprising Ron Launius, Billy DeVerell, David Lind, Tracy McCourt, and their associate, John Holmes, conspired to launch a home invasion and robbery upon Eddie Nash, a reputedly powerful organized crime figure who usually referred to himself in the third person as "The Nash". The robbery was an inside job set up by Holmes, who was a close associate of Nash's, and whom Nash regularly referred to as "my brother". Early in the morning of the robbery, Holmes visited Nash's mansion ostensibly to party and to buy drugs, but on his way out, left the patio door to the kitchen unlatched. The objective of the robbery was to steal a hoard of cash, heroin, and cocaine that Holmes claimed was in a safe embedded in Nash's bedroom floor, as well as to retrieve some antique guns the Wonderland Gang had stolen from another businessman and then subsequently, using Holmes as an intermediary, sold to Nash in exchange for drugs.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Holmes actually went to Nash's three times that morning. The first time, he forgot to unlatch the patio door; the second time, he did so but returned to the Wonderland hideout only to find some of the gang members were extremely high on heroin. After the members recovered, Holmes was worried that the patio door may have been locked again, so he returned to Nash's a third time, purchased some crack cocaine, ensured the door was unlatched, and notified the gang that the home was ready for invasion.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Launius, DeVerell, and Lind performed the invasion and robbery, while McCourt waited outside in a stolen Ford Granada and served as lookout. To avoid leaving any identifying traces, the men had previously dipped their fingers in a product known as "Liquid Band-Aid" so as to not leave any fingerprints behind. The men entered the property through the sliding glass door Holmes had left unlocked, and confronted Nash and his bodyguard, Gregory Diles, pretending to be police officers. As they were handcuffing both men, Lind accidentally shot Diles in the back after Launius bumped into him, injuring the bodyguard. Nash asked to pray for his children but was instead forced to open his safe.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: The robbery was seemingly successful, having yielded a lucrative haul for the gang; they absconded with more than $1.2 million ($ million today) worth of cocaine, heroin, quaaludes, cash, the antique guns, and jewelry. However, the events of the next several days would reveal this was a Pyrrhic victory, precipitating a chain of events that led to the demise of the gang.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Following the robbery, Holmes ended up back at Nash's home. Accounts vary as to how and why Holmes arrived there; according to some sources, Holmes went there himself to try to make himself appear innocent, whereas others claim Holmes was kidnapped by Nash's henchmen when they recognized him walking around wearing some of Nash's jewelry. Scott Thorson, who was buying drugs at Nash's home, wrote in his memoir "My Life with Liberace" (1988) that Nash had ordered Diles to bring Holmes to Nash's house, which Diles did after finding Holmes walking around Hollywood wearing one of Nash's rings. Thorson claimed to have witnessed Nash order Diles to beat Holmes, and said Nash threatened to kill Holmes and his family, until Holmes identified the people behind the robbery.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Around 3:00 AM, on July 1, two days after the Nash robbery, it is believed Holmes, Diles, and a number of unidentified men entered the Wonderland house and bludgeoned to death Launius, DeVerell, Miller, and Richardson; the weapons were believed to be either hammers or striated metal pipes. Launius' wife, Susan, survived the attack, although she was left with permanent brain damage and lost part of one finger. Neither Lind nor McCourt was present for the attack, as Lind was consuming drugs with a prostitute in the San Fernando Valley, and McCourt was at his own home.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Although neighbors would later report having heard screams, no phone calls were placed to the police until 4:00 PM on July 1, over 12 hours later, when furniture movers working at the house next door heard Susan Launius moaning and went to investigate. When questioned, neighbors said the drug-fueled Wonderland parties often included loud, violent screaming and disruptive noise, so when they heard the murders occurring, they simply believed another party was taking place. The house was notorious for round-the-clock mayhem and debauchery.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: John Holmes was arrested and charged with four counts of murder in March 1982, after his handprint was found in one of the bedrooms. Holmes was acquitted in June 1982, after a three-week trial. It determined that he was an unwilling participant who was forced to watch the attack. He spent 110 days in jail for contempt of court. Holmes died on March 13, 1988, from AIDS complications in Los Angeles.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: In 1990, Nash was charged in California state court with having planned the murders, and Diles was charged with participating in the murders, but both men were acquitted in 1991. Diles died in 1997 from liver failure.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: As of January 2017, Susan Launius is both the sole survivor of the Wonderland murders and the only living member of the Wonderland Gang.


title: Wonderland Gang

text: Any other assailants who might have participated in the bludgeoning attack on the Wonderland Gang have neither been identified nor prosecuted; their fate and whereabouts are unknown.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Fresh is a 1994 American crime drama film written and directed by Boaz Yakin in his directorial debut, also produced by Randy Ostrow and Lawrence Bender. It was scored by Stewart Copeland, a member of The Police. The story revolves around a preteen boy named Michael, nicknamed Fresh (portrayed by Sean Nelson), who runs drugs for gangsters. Inspired by the chess lessons of his father, an alcoholic speed-chess master (Samuel L. Jackson), Fresh devises and executes a brilliant plan to extricate himself and his drug-addicted sister (N'Bushe Wright) from their hopeless lives.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Marketed as a hip hop 'hood film, "Fresh" went relatively unnoticed by the public, but won critical acclaim. Critics praised the film for offering a realistic glimpse of life in New York City's projects during the crack epidemic. "There's shocking resonance to the notion of a grade-school boy who's become a criminal out of sheer pragmatism," wrote "Entertainment" "Weekly"'s Owen Gleiberman.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Twelve-year-old Michael a.k.a. "Fresh" stops at a Latina woman's apartment to pick up dime bags of heroin before he goes to school. Fresh notices that she has given him the wrong amount, trying to swindle him out of his delivery. Fresh warns her that his boss Esteban will be angry with the incorrect amount. The woman, a drug addict, "finds" the missing bag. He leaves, disgusted.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Next, he visits another apartment where several women and one man, Herbie, are measuring and cutting bricks of heroin. Herbie insults Fresh and makes crude comments about Fresh's sister, which angers Fresh. He rushes out because he is late for school. He meets up with another of Esteban's employees to count the drugs. The employee tells Fresh that Esteban wants to see him after handing Fresh his share of the money.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Fresh arrives late at school where he is his scolded by his teacher, Mrs. Coleman. At recess, Fresh and his best friend, Chuckie, watch the girls' cheerleading team and Fresh talks to one of them, Rosie. After school, Fresh goes to a wooded, abandoned area. In a secret hiding place where he stashes his earnings, his savings now come to a substantial amount. From there, he goes to his grandmother's house where his aunt and eleven cousins live.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: The next morning, Fresh is selling drugs when a desperate drug addict offers sex to Fresh in exchange for drugs, but he sends her away. At the end of the day, Jake, one of the lookouts, becomes angry and threatens to kill Kermit who didn't show up to pay $50 Kermit owes him. Fresh seeks out Corky — his boss as well as Jake's — in order to get paid but Corky tries to short him. Fresh demands more money since the lookouts like Jake make $50, while his pay is $100 for selling the drugs. Corky agrees.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Fresh takes the subway to Washington Square to play chess for cash with a man who is undefeated while his father Sam, a skilled chess player, sits at another table watching him. After winning, Fresh plays his father but loses. Fresh visits Chuckie, who proposes to enter their dog, Roscoe, in a dogfight to earn cash and urges Fresh to get him a job with Esteban. Fresh leaves him to visit Esteban, who is annoyed that Fresh is selling crack for other drug dealers. Fresh leaves Esteban to go where his sister Nichole works. He bumps into James, Nichole's drug-dealing boyfriend. Fresh warns Nichole that Esteban is interested in her. She tells him that she doesn't like the way Esteban looks at her "like a queen" and that she doesn't love James either, only the drugs he gives her.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Fresh goes to watch a neighborhood basketball game, where Jake begins to show jealously towards a smaller kid, Curtis. During the game Curtis humiliates Jake by scoring the winning basket. As Rosie sees Fresh and walks over to talk to him, Jake fatally shoots Curtis. Everyone leaves except Fresh. He walks past Curtis' corpse and finds Rosie on the ground, choking on blood, having been struck in the neck by a stray bullet and dies. The police arrive shortly, demanding information which Fresh refuses to provide.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Next day, Fresh plays chess with his father Sam again who scolds him for being distracted. Fresh loses but is able to put his Father's king in "check" for the 1st time. Later, Chuckie and Fresh arrive at the dogfight. Their dog wins. Chuckie wants to enter him into another fight but Fresh stops him, agreeing to get him a job with Esteban. They go to Esteban's apartment where Esteban and Nichole are finishing having sex. Esteban dismisses Chuckie after Chuckie boasts of "busting those dope moves". Esteban tells Fresh that he plans to groom Fresh to be his protege and wants Fresh to stop selling for other dealers.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Meanwhile, Corky has the police's attention since Jake's shooting. Fresh takes his own savings to a cocaine source, Hector (Anthony Ruiz), under the pretense of being the runner for Corky. Hector refuses to hand over the drugs to Fresh. Fresh threatens him and offers him a big sum of cash - the entirety of Fresh's personal savings. Hector takes the cash and tells Fresh where to pick up the drugs. Fresh says that the police have wire-tapped Corky's phone numbers and tells Hector not to call Corky.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: At school, Chuckie can't resist bragging about his supposed new job for Esteban. After school, he and Fresh buy science textbooks to hide the drugs. During the trip back, Chuckie almost gets arrested on the train for talking back to an officer, but Fresh deescalates the situation. They go to an abandoned house where Fresh is replacing their Heroin stash with Hector's Cocaine, while Chuckie keeps lookout thinking he's just there to hide it. When leaving, three armed men step out from behind the corner. Chuckie shoots at the men and runs, but trips. The gun falls under a car's tire. Chuckie tries to grab it but the tire is shot and it flattens over Chuckie's left hand, crushing it. Fresh runs back over to help him, to no avail, and Fresh runs away. The assailants kill Chuckie. Fresh is questioned by the police at the police station, but is let go.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Back at home, Fresh's aunt tells him that she cannot risk the lives of her eleven other children for him and informs him that he will be sent to a group home. At school, Fresh's friends blame him for Chuckie's death and now truly alone, Fresh kills Chuckie's dog. When Fresh goes outside, Jake forces him in the car with the three assailants, revealing that Jake was behind the ambush on the kids. They bring Fresh to Corky who is upset with Chuckie's bragging about moving base for Esteban - the same drugs that Corky is selling - and that Esteban is encroaching on his product. The drugs that Jake and the assailants took from Chuckie's bag reveal that both Fresh and Chuckie were carrying crack cocaine. Corky threatens to kill Fresh to send a message to rival dealers.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Fresh lies, stating he was being forced to sell for Jake. An astonished Jake pulls out his gun to shoot Fresh, but Corky's henchmen turn on Jake and Jake's friend, Red, who try to convince everyone that Fresh is lying. Fresh insists that Jake and Red were planning to oust Corky and he was only saying that he was selling for Esteban as protection. Fresh tells them to call Hector, who will reveal the truth. Corky calls Hector. The conversation is short, with Hector expressing concern over Corky's phone being wire-tapped, as Hector was told by Fresh. Corky then kills Red and Jake. Corky turns to Fresh and asks who else is involved. Fresh names James.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Fresh then goes to Esteban's warehouse and tells him that Corky's crew had jumped him and that Corky is planning to sell heroin as well. He tells Esteban that Corky's distributor is James and the two are planning to meet that night. He adds that Nichole is seeing James secretly because James is plotting with Corky to take Esteban out. Corky and his men arrive at James' place and storm in while Esteban, Fresh, and two other men wait in Esteban's car. Inside, Esteban's crew kills James, Corky, and Corky's men.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Afterwards, they drive to Esteban's place and Esteban sees Nichole is there. He tells his henchmen to take Fresh home. Fresh makes them stop the car and he leaves. He runs into a convenience store and makes a phone call. He then shows up at Esteban's apartment. Esteban lets him stay because he wants to confront Fresh for telling Nichole that he found her father in Staten Island and for urging her to leave for a rehabilitation center.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Angry, Esteban demands to know what else Fresh is hiding from him. The police arrive and as Esteban goes to answer the door, Fresh hides something under the bed. The police officer turns out to be Sgt. Perez, responding to a call about a domestic dispute, presumably the call Fresh made before he visited Esteban. Esteban denies any argument. Fresh comes forward and tells Perez that Esteban is a drug dealer who killed James, Corky, and several others earlier that night, and his sister is scared to speak up since he is now threatening her. Sgt. Perez checks under the bed and finds Esteban's gun, which he removed from the car after the shooting earlier, and the drugs Fresh planted. The police take Esteban away. Sgt. Perez promises witness protection for Fresh and his sister.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: The movie concludes with Fresh meeting his father again to play chess. His father berates him for being late and antagonizes Fresh before their game. Fresh's father looks up and sees Fresh sobbing, with tears quietly streaming down his face.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Upon release, "Fresh" received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 88% based on reviews from 40 critics, with an average rating of 7.61/10. The site's consensus reads: "Well cast and sharply directed, "Fresh" serves as an attention-getting calling card for writer-director Boaz Yakin as well as a gripping urban drama."


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" commended the "thoughtfulness of [Boaz] Yakin's direction" and wrote that he "doesn't include many violent episodes in this film, but the ones he stages are made so meaningful that their impact is brutalizingly intense." She complimented Adam Holender's cinematography and commented that he makes the film "extraordinarily handsome, with a sharply sunlit look that brings out the hard edges in its urban landscapes. The subject and visual style could not be more forcefully matched."


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Although he did not find its second half believable, Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B rating and called Nelson a "wondrous young actor". James Berardinelli called Jackson's supporting role "an example of an actor at his most focused" and called "Fresh" "an atypical thriller -- a film that succeeds because it defies many conventions of its genre." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film four out of four stars and called it "a movie filled with drama and excitement, unfolding a plot of brilliant complexity". He praised Nelson's performance as "extraordinary" and found its plot "focused and perceptive", praising it for its social commentary:


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: Other reviews of the film are more critical, suggesting that the main character Fresh becomes less human, and more of a product of the screenwriters as the film progresses in its second half.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: The film won the Filmmaker's Trophy at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. In 1995, Nelson won the Best Debut Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards.


title: Fresh (1994 film)

text: A soundtrack album was released on August 30, 1994 by RCA Records. It featured three songs by the Wu-Tang Clan and nine songs by old school hip hop artists, including The Cold Crush Brothers, Whodini, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Allmusic editor Chris Witt gave the soundtrack album four-and-a-half out of five stars and noted its old school tracks as the highlights, writing that "The contrast between the life and color of the old school tracks and the unrelenting gloom of the Wu-Tang cuts, produced over ten years later, suggests that hip-hop may have lost something in the intervening years."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Miles Taylor (born 1986/1987) is an American government official who served in the administrations of George W. Bush and Donald Trump. In the administration of the latter, he was an appointee who served in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff of the DHS. He was first recruited into the department by former DHS Secretary and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, serving as his senior advisor.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor wrote "The New York Times" op-ed in 2018 under the pen-name "Anonymous" that was entitled, "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" that drew widespread attention for its criticism of Trump. In September 2019, he left the administration and went to work for Google. In November 2019, again under the pen name "Anonymous" he published a book entitled, "A Warning". In October 2020, he revealed that he was "Anonymous" while campaigning against Trump's reelection.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In August 2020, Taylor produced an advertisement for Republican Voters Against Trump, denouncing Trump and endorsing Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election. He was the first former Trump administration official to endorse Biden. He later co-founded the Renew America Movement, alongside former Republican governors, members of Congress, and cabinet officials, with the objective to break Trump's hold on the Republican Party. In May 2022 he announced that he was leaving the Republican Party, and two months later, he co-founded the Forward Party with former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and former GOP Congressman David Jolly.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor grew up in La Porte, Indiana, where he was an Indiana state debate champion, and one of the valedictorians of his class at La Porte High School in 2006. While in high school, he served as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. He received a bachelor of arts degree in international security studies from Indiana University Bloomington, which he attended as a Harry S. Truman Scholar and Herman B. Wells Scholar. As a senior, he received IU's inaugural Presidential Student Internship and was a recipient of the Elvis J. Stahr Award awarded to the university's top few graduating seniors.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor received an MPhil in International Relations from New College, Oxford, which he attended as a 2012 Marshall Scholar.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor's decision to have a career in government was largely motivated by the September 11 attacks in 2001. He later said that he "wanted to focus my entire professional life on making sure a day like that wouldn't happen again, and dedicating my career to, what I thought, was the mission of this country, and that's the advancement of human freedom."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In 2007, while in college, Taylor interned in the office of the Secretary of Defense and the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2008, he worked as the briefing book coordinator at the Department of Homeland Security for Secretary Michael Chertoff and Deputy Secretary Paul A. Schneider. In 2009, he served as a regional policy intern for the Defense Department.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor was a political appointee in the administration of George W. Bush. He was a staffer for the House Appropriations Committee and then the Committee on Homeland Security, where he served on Chairman Michael McCaul's staff. Taylor was McCaul's chief speechwriter and national security advisor on counterterrorism and foreign policy. He also served as the majority staff lead for the congressional Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel. In 2015, he was named a Penn Kemble Fellow by the National Endowment for Democracy.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor joined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in February 2017, when John Kelly, later White House Chief of Staff, was Secretary of Homeland Security. Taylor served as DHS deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to Kelly. He later served as chief of staff of DHS toward the end of the tenure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and the beginning of Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan. Taylor described a version of the Trump administration's travel restrictions as "tough" but "tailored". He reportedly clashed with other officials to try to limit the number of countries affected by it. He was also involved in debates regarding Trump administration immigration policies. He later described the Trump administration family separation policy as a "sickening display of bad judgment". Taylor cited the "train wreck" policy as one of his reasons for quitting the Trump Administration in protest, calling it "one of the most disheartening and disgusting things I've ever experienced in public service."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor authored a September 2018 "The New York Times" op-ed entitled, "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" under the name "Anonymous". He said that, in April 2019, he had personally witnessed President Trump offer Homeland Security staff federal pardons for any criminal prosecution arising from their actions in stopping illegal immigration to the United States, and it was at that point that Taylor decided to resign from the department. He left DHS in June 2019, and anonymously released a follow-up book entitled, "A Warning" (November 2019), which included an account of the instability inside the Trump White House and administration. "USA Today" called the book "a scathing portrait of a president and administration in chaos," and "The Washington Post" wrote that the book had "no modern historical parallel for a firsthand account of a sitting president written in book form by an anonymous author". It reached number one on "The New York Times" Best Seller list.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor initially denied being "Anonymous" in a number of interviews. After he acknowledged that he was "Anonymous", he said he owed a "mea culpa" to those journalists, but noted that, as "Anonymous", he always had said that he "would ultimately come out under my own name". In an online discussion after the release of "A Warning", he had answered questions anonymously and said he would reveal his identity in the coming months before the 2020 election. He also pledged to donate the bulk of the proceeds from the book to nonprofit organizations such as the White House Correspondents' Association. Of his decision not to reveal his identity, Taylor said in October 2020:  "Issuing my critiques without attribution forced the President to answer them directly on their merits or not at all, rather than creating distractions through petty insults and name-calling. I wanted the attention to be on the arguments themselves."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In September 2019, Taylor was hired by Google as a government affairs and public policy manager with a title of head of national security policy engagement. He was later promoted to lead Google's advanced technology and security strategy. Around the same time, he also became a senior fellow at the Auburn University McCrary Center for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In August 2020, Taylor took a leave of absence from Google to support Joe Biden's presidential campaign. He made an advertisement for Republican Voters Against Trump, denouncing Trump and endorsing Biden in the 2020 presidential election. That same month, Taylor also wrote an opinion piece for "The Washington Post". Columnist Jennifer Rubin said the op-ed added "detail to what we could have only surmised was the story behind chaotic policy rollouts" and that the advertisement he released "may be the most compelling of the 2020 election cycle". The next day, Taylor appeared on multiple news and analysis shows saying that other former members of the Trump administration were considering speaking out similarly. On August 24, Taylor confirmed to NBC News that he was co-founding, with two other unnamed Republican officials, the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform (REPAIR), a group that aimed to oppose reelection of Trump and to reform the Republican Party after the 2020 election.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Journalist Judy Woodruff asked Taylor in a "PBS NewsHour" interview why he had spoken out when he did rather than immediately after leaving the administration. Taylor responded,


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor's attacks against Trump were extensive. Among other anecdotes, he revealed that Trump was too distracted to pay attention to intelligence briefings, that Trump refused internal recommendations to punish Moscow for interference in U.S. affairs, and that Trump wanted to "swap" Puerto Rico for Greenland because it was "dirty and the people were poor". Taylor also said that Trump tried to block emergency aid for California wildfire victims because it was a Democratic state, and that Trump told his homeland security secretary to take marching orders from cable talk-show host Lou Dobbs.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In 2020, Taylor, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In September 2020, Taylor revealed to The Lincoln Project that, before he resigned from the DHS, a senior presidential adviser told him about a list of executive orders that has been prepared in case President Trump would win a second term, which Taylor alleged were orders deemed unacceptable during a first term presidency because they could harm the president's chances of reelection. Later, BuzzFeed reporter Hamed Aleaziz concluded that Taylor was implying Stephen Miller was that senior presidential adviser, with "The Guardian" reiterating this claim and reporting that Miller's biographer Jean Guerrero warned about a "wishlist" of his relating to immigration policy under a Trump second term.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor also told news organizations that Trump ordered officials to have American flags raised back up when they were lowered in honor of Senator John McCain, and that Trump deliberately ignored warnings about the rise of domestic terrorism for political reasons. Taylor was also among those who appeared on a special that aired on CNN in October 2020, entitled, "The Insiders: A Warning from Former Trump Officials". During the special, Taylor criticized Trump's singular focus on immigration, especially the border wall, saying that his "wall-or-nothing approach to governing meant the president ignored some of the most critical homeland security threats to our country, cybersecurity challenges, counterterrorism, manmade and natural disasters, and foreign interference in our democracy."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In June 2021, Taylor tweeted that he would run in the 2024 United States presidential election as an independent if Trump were to win the Republican nomination. The plan is to split the conservative vote in order to deny Trump a victory, although he later indicated on Twitter that he was not seriously considering being the candidate. In an interview with MSNBC the same month, Taylor stated that "the number one national security threat I've ever seen in my life to this country's democracy is the party that I'm in — the Republican Party. It is the number one national security threat to the United States of America," ranking his party above "ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Russia". He also stated that if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (a Republican) became Speaker, it would represent "Trump's hand on that Speaker's gavel."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Taylor became a regular CNN contributor in August 2020. Following Trump's loss to Biden, Taylor stepped down from his role at Google, but continued appearing on CNN while working on other projects.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In the wake of the May 2021 decision by House Republicans to remove Representative Liz Cheney as conference chair because of her opposition to Trump, Taylor and Evan McMullin organized a group of more than 150 Republicans—including former governors, senators, congressmen, cabinet secretaries, and party leaders—to issue "A Call for American Renewal" threatening to form a third party if the Republican Party did not reform itself.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In June 2021, Taylor and McMullin launched a new organization, the Renew America Movement (RAM). The organization's stated goal is to recruit candidates in the 2022 elections to challenge candidates who continue to support Trump. In October 2021, Taylor and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman published an opinion piece in "The New York Times" announcing that RAM would be supporting "rational" Republicans and moderate Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections, with the goal of steering power away from members of the GOP who are pro-Trump. Taylor's group subsequently released a statement that they planned to raise "tens of millions" of dollars to defend a designated slate of House and Senate candidates in order to counter Donald Trump's hold on the Republican Party.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In July 2022, Taylor merged his organization -- Renew America Movement—with several others to launch a new political party in the United States, alongside former nationally known Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. In announcing the new Forward Party, Taylor told Reuters: "The fundamentals have changed. When other third party movements have emerged in the past it’s largely been inside a system where the American people aren’t asking for an alternative. The difference here is we are seeing an historic number of Americans saying they want one." Taylor


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In a "60 Minutes" interview in February 2022, Taylor recounted that he had two experiences that matched the Havana syndrome symptoms. Taylor also indicated that he was aware of a cabinet-level official who had similar episodes.


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: Although Taylor was a lifelong member of the Republican Party, he donated to the Barack Obama campaign in the 2008 presidential election. He has said that he was "gunning for John McCain... [but] wanted to be able to tell [his] kids that... [he] supported the first Black president of the United States."


title: Miles Taylor (security expert)

text: In May 2022, Taylor announced he was leaving the Republican Party over what he claimed was its espousal of "great replacement theory" rhetoric, especially in the wake of the Buffalo shooting. He stated that “it’s become glaringly obvious that my party no longer represents conservative values but in fact poses a threat to them—and to America.” Taylor is now a member of The Forward Party.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: Dimensions, properties, or conditions may have some variation without significantly affecting functioning of systems, machines, structures, etc. A variation beyond the tolerance (for example, a temperature that is too hot or too cold) is said to be noncompliant, rejected, or exceeding the tolerance.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: A primary concern is to determine how wide the tolerances may be without affecting other factors or the outcome of a process. This can be by the use of scientific principles, engineering knowledge, and professional experience. Experimental investigation is very useful to investigate the effects of tolerances: Design of experiments, formal engineering evaluations, etc.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: A good set of engineering tolerances in a specification, by itself, does not imply that compliance with those tolerances will be achieved. Actual production of any product (or operation of any system) involves some inherent variation of input and output. Measurement error and statistical uncertainty are also present in all measurements. With a normal distribution, the tails of measured values may extend well beyond plus and minus three standard deviations from the process average. Appreciable portions of one (or both) tails might extend beyond the specified tolerance.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: The process capability of systems, materials, and products needs to be compatible with the specified engineering tolerances. Process controls must be in place and an effective Quality management system, such as Total Quality Management, needs to keep actual production within the desired tolerances. A process capability index is used to indicate the relationship between tolerances and actual measured production.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: The choice of tolerances is also affected by the intended statistical sampling plan and its characteristics such as the Acceptable Quality Level. This relates to the question of whether tolerances must be extremely rigid (high confidence in 100% conformance) or whether some small percentage of being out-of-tolerance may sometimes be acceptable.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: Genichi Taguchi and others have suggested that traditional two-sided tolerancing is analogous to "goal posts" in a football game: It implies that all data within those tolerances are equally acceptable. The alternative is that the best product has a measurement which is precisely on target. There is an increasing loss which is a function of the deviation or variability from the target value of any design parameter. The greater the deviation from target, the greater is the loss. This is described as the Taguchi loss function or "quality loss function", and it is the key principle of an alternative system called "inertial tolerancing".


title: Engineering tolerance

text: Research and development work conducted by M. Pillet and colleagues at the Savoy University has resulted in industry-specific adoption. Recently the publishing of the French standard NFX 04-008 has allowed further consideration by the manufacturing community.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: Dimensional tolerance is related to, but different from fit in mechanical engineering, which is a "designed-in" clearance or interference between two parts. Tolerances are assigned to parts for manufacturing purposes, as boundaries for acceptable build. No machine can hold dimensions precisely to the nominal value, so there must be acceptable degrees of variation. If a part is manufactured, but has dimensions that are out of tolerance, it is not a usable part according to the design intent. Tolerances can be applied to any dimension. The commonly used terms are:


title: Engineering tolerance

text: This is identical to the upper deviation for shafts and the lower deviation for holes. If the fundamental deviation is greater than zero, the bolt will always be smaller than the basic size and the hole will always be wider. Fundamental deviation is a form of allowance, rather than tolerance.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: For example, if a shaft with a nominal diameter of 10mm is to have a sliding fit within a hole, the shaft might be specified with a tolerance range from 9.964 to 10 mm (i.e., a zero fundamental deviation, but a lower deviation of 0.036 mm) and the hole might be specified with a tolerance range from 10.04 mm to 10.076 mm (0.04 mm fundamental deviation and 0.076 mm upper deviation). This would provide a clearance fit of somewhere between 0.04 mm (largest shaft paired with the smallest hole, called the "Maximum Material Condition" - MMC) and 0.112 mm (smallest shaft paired with the largest hole, "Least Material Condition" - LMC). In this case the size of the tolerance range for both the shaft and hole is chosen to be the same (0.036 mm), meaning that both components have the same International Tolerance grade but this need not be the case in general.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: When no other tolerances are provided, the machining industry uses the following standard tolerances:


title: Engineering tolerance

text: When designing mechanical components, a system of standardized tolerances called International Tolerance grades are often used. The standard (size) tolerances are divided into two categories: hole and shaft. They are labelled with a letter (capitals for holes and lowercase for shafts) and a number. For example: H7 (hole, tapped hole, or nut) and h7 (shaft or bolt). H7/h6 is a very common standard tolerance which gives a tight fit. The tolerances work in such a way that for a hole H7 means that the hole should be made slightly larger than the base dimension (in this case for an ISO fit 10+0.015−0, meaning that it may be up to 0.015 mm larger than the base dimension, and 0 mm smaller). The actual amount bigger/smaller depends on the base dimension. For a shaft of the same size, h6 would mean 10+0−0.009, which means the shaft may be as small as 0.009 mm smaller than the base dimension and 0 mm larger. This method of standard tolerances is also known as Limits and Fits and can be found in ISO 286-1:2010 (Link to ISO catalog).


title: Engineering tolerance

text: The table below summarises the International Tolerance (IT) grades and the general applications of these grades:


title: Engineering tolerance

text: An analysis of fit by statistical interference is also extremely useful: It indicates the frequency (or probability) of parts properly fitting together.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: An electrical specification might call for a resistor with a nominal value of 100 Ω (ohms), but will also state a tolerance such as "±1%". This means that any resistor with a value in the range 99–101Ω is acceptable. For critical components, one might specify that the actual resistance must remain within tolerance within a specified temperature range, over a specified lifetime, and so on.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: Many commercially available resistors and capacitors of standard types, and some small inductors, are often marked with coloured bands to indicate their value and the tolerance. High-precision components of non-standard values may have numerical information printed on them.


title: Engineering tolerance

text: In civil engineering, clearance refers to the difference between the loading gauge and the structure gauge in the case of railroad cars or trams, or the difference between the size of any vehicle and the width/height doors, the width/height of an overpass or the diameter of a tunnel as well as the air draft under a bridge, the width of a lock or diameter of a tunnel in the case of watercraft. In addition there is the difference between the deep draft and the stream bed or sea bed of a waterway.


title: Miriam Flynn

text: Miriam Flynn (born June 18, 1952) is an American voice and character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the "National Lampoon's Vacation" and Grandma Longneck in "The Land Before Time" franchises. She has acted in other films and in several television series, the latter including a recurring role as Sister Helen on the Fox/WB sitcom "Grounded for Life".


title: Miriam Flynn

text: Before breaking into television, Flynn was a member of the Second City improv troupe in 1975. She appeared on stage alongside Shelley Long, George Wendt, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, and James Belushi.


title: Miriam Flynn

text: Flynn was a regular cast member in "The Tim Conway Show", a comedy-variety show that aired on CBS from March 1980 through summer 1981, acting in sketch comedy in each episode. She then starred in her own sitcom, "Maggie", on ABC, but the show was short-lived, airing in October and November 1981 and in April–May 1982 before being cancelled. She appeared in an episode of the classic television show Cheers entitled "Love Thy Neighbor" (Season 4, Episode 8, air date November 21, 1985) in which she played Phyllis Henshaw, Norm & Vera Peterson's next-door neighbor. In fall 1988, she co-starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom "Raising Miranda".


title: Miriam Flynn

text: In 1995, she was the voice of Maa the Ewe in the hit film, "Babe". In 1996–1997, she was a regular cast member in "Malcolm & Eddie", playing Kelly, a bar owner and landlord to the main characters, for the program's first season.


title: Miriam Flynn

text: From 2001 to 2005 she played the recurring character Sister Helen on the Fox/WB sitcom "Grounded for Life". In 2004, she played Coop's mom in "Megas XLR". Flynn also appeared in an episode of "George Lopez" "George VS. George" (2003) episode. In that episode she played the role of Brenda, a bank employee.


title: Miriam Flynn

text: As a voice artist, Flynn has been featured in "The Land Before Time" series, as Grandma Longneck after Linda Gary's death in 1995; on both "Taz-Mania" and "What-a-Mess" as the title character's mother, Jean; as Poil in "The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper"; and in "Family Guy" as well as Rudy's mother, Millie Tabootie on the Nickelodeon show, "ChalkZone" and Aunt Vera on the Cartoon Network show, "Ben 10".


title: Miriam Flynn

text: Her best known film role is as Cousin Catherine in "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983), "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989), "Vegas Vacation" (1997) and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2" (2003). Her other acting roles include "First Family" (1980), "National Lampoon's Class Reunion" (1982), "Mr. Mom" (1983), "Family Ties" (1986), "For Keeps" (1988), "18 Again!" (1988), "Stealing Home" (1988), "Lonely Hearts" (1991), "Evolution" (2001), "Wieners" (2008), "About Fifty" (2011) and "" (2011).


title: October Road (TV series)

text: October Road is an American drama television series. It premiered on ABC on March 15, 2007, following "Grey's Anatomy". It follows Nick Garrett (played by former "One Tree Hill" star Bryan Greenberg) who, after a decade, returns to his hometown, the fictional Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. The show takes place in the same world as the 1996 movie "Beautiful Girls"; both were written by Scott Rosenberg based on his life and friends.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: The series is produced by ABC Studios and "GroupM Entertainment"; the latter is a partnership of media agencies within WPP Group that financed the series in exchange for ABC network-wide advertising time. The show was created by André Nemec, Scott Rosenberg and Josh Appelbaum, who also serve as the series' executive producers.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: The second season of "October Road" premiered on Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: Upon hearing of the cancellation, the show's creators co-wrote a 10-minute series finale and filmed it with the cast; the finale was released on May 5, 2009, as a special feature on the season 2 DVD.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: Nick Garrett (Bryan Greenberg) left home ten years ago to go backpacking in Europe for a few weeks—and the brief trip ended up lasting for a decade. He left behind his girlfriend Hannah (Laura Prepon), best friend Eddie (Geoff Stults), and his family. Garrett is now a famous author and screenwriter living in New York City. Between the parties, social engagements, and living in a beautiful loft-style apartment, Garrett is suffering writer's block while working on his next story. His agent books him to do a one-day writing seminar at the local college in his picturesque hometown of Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. Nick is excited about coming home, but realizes the feeling isn't completely mutual although his family and most of his friends welcome him back effusively. Hannah has a son, Sam, 10, and due to his age Nick questions if the child might be his biological son. Eddie is upset with Nick for walking out on their business plans and for depicting him as a fool in his book. Others are also upset with things Nick wrote in his book about the town. Nick will soon learn that it will be quite a readjustment coming home and that nothing will ever be the same again.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: When Nick learns that Sam has a nut allergy like all male members of his family he decides to stay in Knights Ridge and persistently tries to obtain a job at that local college ("The Doof") despite botching the one-day seminar with a bad case of nerves. He eventually wears down the college Dean by pleading for the job on her lawn late at night. She finally relents after he badly sings "Where is Love?" from the musical "Oliver!". Nick seeks out the boy, Sam, but backs off when Hannah reproaches him. Nick's father also becomes convinced of Sam's paternity when he sees the boy has similar eyes to those of the widower's late wife.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: Nick eventually confronts Hannah with his belief about her boy's paternity. She disputes his view, pointing out how common peanut allergies are by asking patrons at the local bar for a show of hands of those with the allergy. Many people raise their hands. In the next few episodes. Nick and Hannah's feelings continue to develop. Hannah decides to break up with her boyfriend, prompting him to swear revenge on Nick. In the episodes to follow, Hannah's son, Sam, has an allergic reaction to a birthday cake made of nuts. In the tense episode that follows, Nick and Hannah are observed behaving like a couple in love. In the season finale, Nick rushes to her house to proclaim his love for her. They almost kiss, but are interrupted by Sam's supposed biological father.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: Portions of the show were filmed at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, in Newnan, Georgia, in Madison, Georgia, and Grant Park, Atlanta.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: Elements of Scott Rosenberg's 2001-2002 show "Going to California" were recycled; Evan Jones again played a character named "Ikey"; "Eddie Latekka" reappeared but played by a different actor; "Baggo" was referenced but unseen, while Brad William Henke and Sean Gunn played new characters. The boys' childhood friend Angela Ferilli moved to the town of Bishop Flats (where "Going to California" was set), which they then visited and which was said to be 'three towns over' from Knights Ridge.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: The show debuted to strong initial ratings, but fell 16% in its second episode, though its ratings were still substantially higher than "Men in Trees", the show it replaced upon its first-season conclusion.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: ABC originally planned on airing only four episodes of the series, leaving two episodes to be part of a second season. The network revised these plans on April 2, 2007, and the last episode of season one aired on April 26, 2007.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: "October Road" was renewed for a second season on May 11, 2007. The new season order was of 13 episodes, which could be extended to a full 22-episode season based on ratings. The new season saw Lindy Booth and Rebecca Field made cast members.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: The overall ratings for the first season—all episodes airing at 10:00 PM on Thursdays—were Rank #38, and 10.5 million viewers.


title: October Road (TV series)

text: Episode aired after a new "Grey's Anatomy", which on the night of "October Road's" pilot averaged 22.7 million viewers.


title: Kala (choreographer)

text: Kala, known professionally as Kala Master, is an Indian choreographer. She is the director of the Indian reality dance talent show, "Maanada Mayilada" – where she is one of the three judges. She was awarded the National Film Award for Best Choreography in 2000 for her folk dance sequences in the Malayalam film, "Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal".


title: Kala (choreographer)

text: A trained classical dancer, Kala, a school drop out, entered the film industry through the influence of her brother-in-law, the choreographer Raghuram. Making her debut as an assistant choreographer at the age of 12 in 1982, she got a break during the making of "Punnagai Mannan" in 1986 starring Kamal Haasan and Revathi, as director K. Balachander suggested Kala fill in for the busy Raghuram. She was then chosen again by Balachandar as the lead choreographer for "Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal" (1989).


title: Kala (choreographer)

text: She has since worked in over 4000 songs in various languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, Oriya, Bengali, English, Italian and Japanese. She has referred to the "Kozhi Koovum Neram achu" song in "Azhagan" as one of her leading pieces of work and also referred actress Bhanupriya as her favorite dancer. She was handed the opportunity to choreograph the Miss World 1996 Beauty Pageant held at Bangalore for which she received a special award of excellence. Moreover, she notes that a stage event in Malaysia featuring Prashanth and seven heroines, propelled her into fame. She was awarded the National Film Award for Best Choreography in 2000 for her folk dance sequences in the Malayalam film, "Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal". She became the first to start a cinematic dance school named Kala's Kalalaya which has five branches in Chennai. She manages it along with her sisters. Kala's merit is in popularising a peculiar dance form, cobbled together with borrowings from classical, Indian folk, bhangra and western steps. She also won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Choreographer for her work in "Chandramukhi".


title: Kala (choreographer)

text: She has since gone to specialise in directing dance reality shows, notably "Maanada Mayilada", which has finished nine seasons. She is currently judging dance reality show Odi Vilayadu Papa in Kalaignar TV.


title: Kala (choreographer)

text: Kala was born into a family of seven girls and revealed that she was brought up in a one-room house during her childhood. An elder sister Jayanthi, first started dancing and acted as heroine in two films – "Uthiripookkal" and "Poottatha Pookkal". Kala’s second sister Girija, learned Bharatanatyam at Kalakshetra; and went to work with choreographers Thangam and later Raghuram Master, whom she married later, and also become an independent choreographer. Kala was the sixth daughter, while Brinda, a leading choreographer, is her youngest sister.


title: Kala (choreographer)

text: One of her nephews, Prasanna Sujit, is also a film choreographer. One of her niece Master Gayathri Raghuram, daughter of late Raghuram Master and her sister Girija is also a choreographer and an actor. She has also introduced her another niece Keerthi, daughter of Jayanthi Master and wife of actor Shanthanu Baghyaraj, as an anchor in her dance reality show Manada Mayilada.


title: Kala (choreographer)

text: Kala was previously married to UAE based businessman, Govindarajan in 1997, who is the brother of actress Sneha. Kala had initially shifted to Dubai after her marriage but problems prompted her to return to Chennai and take up choreographing again. The pair got divorced in 1999, and soon after Kala and Brindha controversially made derogatory comments about Sneha's dancing ability to a magazine.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Kauffman Stadium (), often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium is named for Ewing Kauffman, the founder and first owner of the Royals. It opened in 1973 as Royals Stadium and was named for Kauffman twenty years later on July 2, 1993. Since its last major renovation in 2009, the listed seating capacity is 37,903.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Kauffman Stadium was built specifically for baseball during an era when building multisport "cookie-cutter" stadiums was commonplace. It is often held up along with Dodger Stadium (1962) in Los Angeles as one of the best examples of modernist stadium design. It is currently the only stadium in the American League to be named after a person and is also one of eight stadiums in Major League Baseball that does not have a corporate-sponsored name. The stadium is the sixth-oldest stadium in the majors and has hosted the 1973 and the 2012 MLB All-Star Games, along with Royals home games during the 1980, 1985, 2014, and 2015 World Series. Between 2007 and 2009, Kauffman Stadium underwent a $250 million renovation, which included updates and upgrades in fan amenities, a new Royals hall of fame area, and other updates throughout the facility.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: In 2022, the Royals announced intentions to leave Kauffman Stadium before the stadium's lease ends in 2030, and build a stadium in downtown Kansas City.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: In 1967, voters in Jackson County approved the bonds for the Truman Sports Complex, which replaced the multipurpose Municipal Stadium and featured a football stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs and a baseball stadium for the Kansas City Athletics. The owner of the Athletics, Charles O. Finley, had just signed a new lease to remain in Kansas City. The proposal of the Truman Sports Complex was unusual, as conventional wisdom at the time held that separate football and baseball stadiums were not commercially viable. Before the 1968 season, however, Finley moved the A's to Oakland, California, and their brand-new multi-purpose stadium.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: After the move, Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri threatened to press for the revocation of baseball's anti-trust exemption if they did not give Kansas City a new team. Major League Baseball responded by hastily granting expansion franchises to four cities, including a Kansas City team owned by local pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman. The new teams were due to start to play in . However, Symington forced MLB to move up the start date to as he was unwilling to have Kansas City wait three years to have baseball again. The other expansion team in the American League, the Seattle Pilots, were without a suitable stadium in 1969 and the accelerated schedule forced by Symington led to their bankruptcy after just one season. In 1970, they relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. With lawsuits pending, Seattle returned to the majors with the Mariners in 1977.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Jackson County continued its plans to build a new ballpark. Like the rest of the complex, it was designed by Kivett and Myers, and constructed by the joint venture of the Sharp, Kidde, and Webb construction firms. Royals Stadium broke ground on July 11, 1968, and was opened in on April 10, 1973, with a 12–1 win over the Texas Rangers that saw 39,464 fans in attendance. Five weeks later, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels threw the first of his seven no-hitters, blanking the Royals 3–0, three walks away from a perfect game. Two months later on July 24, the stadium hosted the first of its two All-Star Games.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Following the 1976 regular season, the Royals competed in the first postseason game of their history on October 9, but lost 4–1 at home to the New York Yankees in the ALCS. The Royals won the next game 6–3 on October 10 for their first postseason win in Royals Stadium.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: The first World Series game held in Kansas City was on October 17, 1980, against the Philadelphia Phillies. In the first inning, George Brett hit a home run down the right field line, and the Royals recorded their first-ever World Series win, 4–3 in ten innings, but lost the Series in six games.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: On October 11, 1985, in Game 3 of the ALCS, Brett hit two home runs off Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Doyle Alexander, made a back-handed stop at third base to throw out a runner at home, and recorded the final out to give the Royals a much-needed 6–5 win. The Royals went on to win the American League pennant in seven games.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Two weeks later, on October 27, the Royals clinched their first World Series title in franchise history, winning Game 7 in Royals Stadium. Led by the pitching of Bret Saberhagen, Darryl Motley's two-run home run, and George Brett's four hits, the Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11–0; Motley caught the title-clinching out. The Royals were the first team in the history of the World Series to lose the first two games of the series at home and come back to win.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: The stadium hosted the Royals' first playoff game in nearly 29 years when the city's former team, the Athletics, came to town in 2014 for the Wild Card Game. Despite trailing 7–3 in the eighth inning, Kansas City rallied to win 9-8 and advanced to the ALDS. They won their ALDS, the ALCS, and hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the World Series, but fell to the San Francisco Giants.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: In 2015, Kansas City returned to the playoffs, this time as the top seed in the American League. Games 1, 2, and 5 of the ALDS against the Houston Astros were played at the stadium, with the Royals winning Games 2 and 5, as well as Games 1, 2, and 6 of the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays, with the Royals winning all three games. The stadium hosted games 1 and 2 of the World Series against the New York Mets as a result of the American League winning the All-Star Game 6–3. The Royals won Game 1 (5-4 in 14 innings) and game 2 (7-1), as well and closed out the Mets in five games to win the 2015 World Series.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: In 2020, Kansas City-based design firm Pendulum unveiled a concept for a potential new downtown baseball stadium, showing an intimate facility with unique amenities. In November 2022, team owner John Sherman announced the franchise's intention to leave Kauffman Stadium before the lease ends in 2030, with intentions of building a new stadium in downtown Kansas City.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Kauffman Stadium was the only baseball-only park built in the majors (not counting temporary facilities) from 1966 to 1991. It was one of the few baseball-only facilities built in the majors during the heyday of the cookie-cutter stadium era, and is one of two such facilities (with Dodger Stadium) that are still active and were never converted for use as multi-purpose stadiums.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Although a baseball-only facility, its design took several stylistic cues from the multi-purpose stadiums of the day, plus the Googie style that was more prevalent in the decades prior. The main stadium itself is primarily concrete, with a smooth, uncovered concrete facade. The stands wrap around the infield and end at the foul poles, with smaller bleacher sections (or "outfield plazas," as the Royals call them) in the outfield. In their book, "The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip", Josh Pahigian and Kevin O'Connell wrote that it is essentially one-third of a cookie-cutter stadium, containing only the seats in a cookie-cutter stadium that provide the best views for baseball. The upper deck is quite steep, though not as high as other parks built during this time. Many minor-league stadiums built in the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, employ a similar design.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: The park's best-known feature is the fountain and waterfall display (known as the Water Spectacular) behind the right-field fence. At , it is the largest privately funded fountain in the world. The fountains are on display before and after the game and between innings, while the waterfalls are constantly flowing.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: When the stadium was originally built, Kansas City was the westernmost major league city other than those along the Pacific Coast (1,600 mi. [2,600 km] away), which was a major reason why the Royals initially decided to use a faster-draining AstroTurf surface. The Royals' home territory included a large swath of the Great Plains and Rockies, and Kauffman didn't want fans who drove many hundreds of miles to go home without seeing the game completed. The Truman Sports Complex's legendary groundskeeper, George Toma, best known as the head groundskeeper for every Super Bowl, thus had the job of maintaining two carpets for most of his career. He also maintained the surface at Arrowhead Stadium, which had AstroTurf from 1972 through 1993. However, Toma has said that artificial turf requires a good deal of maintenance as well; his crews were able to keep Royals Stadium's original carpet for two decades, somewhat longer than the typical lifetime for outdoor artificial turf. This is also due to the fact that Kauffman Stadium has never hosted a football game, and has no movable seating, thus avoiding the wear and tear typical of cookie-cutter stadiums.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: The stadium's AstroTurf was replaced by grass for the 1995 season. As part of the project, perforated tiles were installed at centers across the entire field in order to improve drainage.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: In 2014, the Royals started placing a "W" on the Hall of Fame wall for every home win, similar to the Chicago Cubs hoisting a white flag with a blue "W" at Wrigley Field for every Cub home win.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Prior to the 1991 season, a Sony Jumbotron full-color video board was installed beyond the left field wall. At tall and wide, it was the largest of its kind in the United States when it debuted, and remained in use through the 2007 season.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: In order to generate more home runs, Kauffman Stadium's outfield fences from bullpen to bullpen were moved in ten feet from their original dimensions, and the outfield wall height was reduced from to prior to the 1995 season. They were returned to their original dimensions prior to the 2005 season.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: On opening Day 1999, minor renovations were debuted, including the addition of the "Crown Club" premium seating area behind home plate between the dugouts, and dugout level suites. Kauffman Stadium's seats originally featured a descending color scheme of red, gold, and orange, similar to Arrowhead Stadium; the original field level seats in Kauffman Stadium were replaced by dark blue seats, and by 2000, the gold loge level seats and red upper level seats were all replaced by dark blue seats, the field level seats also getting cupholders.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: On April 4, 2006, Jackson County voters approved a 0.375% sales tax increase to fund plans to renovate the Truman Sports Complex. As part of this measure, every Jackson County residential address was to receive vouchers good for 50% off two tickets at Royals games on certain nights. The construction began with a ceremonial groundbreaking inside Kauffman Stadium on October 3, 2007, with completion of Kauffman Stadium in time for Opening Day in 2009, and full renovation of the complex (including nearby Arrowhead Stadium) by 2010, depending upon cost overruns. The team committed to a lease that will keep them in Kansas City until 2030, an extension of their current lease expiration of 2015.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Extensive renovations in the outfield including the relocation of the bullpens caused the left and right center field dimensions to be increased by .


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: The new HD scoreboard was one of the first features to be installed. It replaced the matrix board in the shape of the Royals logo that had been in use in the park since its opening, along with the video board in left field. It was adorned with a crown, giving it an appearance similar to the old matrix board. The new scoreboard was ready for Opening Day 2008. It is wide and tall, and was, at the time it entered service, the largest high-definition LED display in the world. The Kauffman Stadium screen was eventually surpassed by the new scoreboard at Seattle's T-Mobile Park in 2013. The display was assembled in 55 separate segments, including an active bottom taper to resemble the shield in the Royals logo. The video scoreboard alone cost $8.3 million, and the control room that operates it is staffed with 17 people on game days. Strobe lights atop the crown flash after every Royals home run.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: A second proposal on the April 2006 ballot would have installed a rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex. The roof could have been moved to cover either Kauffman Stadium or Arrowhead Stadium when needed. The proposal was defeated by less than 4,000 votes.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Beginning with the 2007 season, the Royals had a red seat placed in the stadium amongst the all-blue seats behind home plate to honor Buck O'Neil. Every game, there will be a person who embodies the spirit of Buck O'Neil selected from community nominees to sit in that seat, formerly occupied by O'Neil. The seat is located behind home plate in what was Section 101, Row C, Seat 1, until 2008. Due to the stadium renovations and accompanying section renumbering in 2009, the seat number is now Section 127, Row C, Seat 9, and the seat bottom is now padded. O'Neil played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues from 1937 to 1955.


title: Kauffman Stadium

text: Four statues lay out in the outfield concourse behind the fountains. Three of the statues are located in right field (George Brett, Dick Howser and Frank White). The fourth is located in left field, and is the former Royals owner Ewing Kauffman and his wife Muriel.