title: Geraint Thomas

text: After celebrating his 2018 Tour victory, Thomas was overweight at the start of the 2019 season. His only result of note before the Tour was a third-place overall finish at the Tour de Romandie in early May.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: In June, Thomas abandoned the Tour de Suisse following a crash, and required recovery time, which put his ability to perform at the Tour in doubt. His Ineos teammate Egan Bernal went on to win the race. Thomas and Bernal were named as joint team leaders for the 2019 Tour de France, after Chris Froome was ruled out of the race after suffering a serious crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné although some in the media expected an internal battle between the two. Bernal had been planned to lead his team's Giro squad, but missed the race after he broke his collarbone. His major wins of the season up to the Tour were the Paris–Nice stage race before his injury and the Tour de Suisse on his return.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: On Stage 2, Ineos placed second behind in a team time trial. . On Stage 3, rider Julian Alaphilippe launched a solo attack with to go over the final climb, the third-category Côte de Mutigny, catching and passing the remainder of the breakaway to win the stage and take the yellow jersey. The tenth stage was on relatively flat terrain. With remaining, splits occurred in the peloton as and others took to the front and broke the field apart in strong crosswinds. This effort proved decisive, as several overall contenders who were caught behind, including Thibaut Pinot, Richie Porte, Rigoberto Urán, Jakob Fuglsang and Mikel Landa, lost time on the front group. Thomas, Bernal, Alaphilippe maintained their position at the front of the race, amongst a reduced bunch. By the first rest day, the general classification was led by Alaphilippe, who had a lead of 1' 12" on Thomas, behind whom was Bernal in third place, just 4" from Thomas.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: On Stage 13, an individual time trial to Pau, Alaphilippe took the victory to extend his lead, with a time of 35' 00" across the course, achieving a victory on a day where he was expected to lose time to riders such as Thomas, who ended up in second place, fourteen seconds down. On stage 14, the last of the breakaway riders were caught by the leading group of general classification contenders at before the finish atop the "hors catégorie" Col du Tourmalet. With remaining, Thomas got detached from the lead group containing Alaphilippe, Emanuel Buchmann, Pinot, Bernal, Landa and Steven Kruijswijk. Pinot attacked in the final and held his lead to the finish line at the summit. On the final stage in the Pyrenees, Simon Yates took his second stage win of the race from a reduced breakaway of six at the summit of the first-category climb to Prat d'Albis. Pinot attacked the group of general classification contenders with remaining to finish in second place with Landa, 33 seconds behind, progressing to fourth overall. The duo of Bernal and Buchmann came in 33' down, followed by the last few breakaway riders, and then the group of favourites, led by Thomas, who finished 1' 22" behind Yates. The following day was the Tour's second rest day. By this point, overall race leader Alaphilippe was exceeding expectations, with a 1' 35" lead over Thomas. Kruijswijk was third at 1' 47", followed by Pinot, Bernal and Buchmann respectively.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: Stage 18, the first in the Alps, was led by breakaway riders throughout the stage's climbs, which included the first-category Col de Vars and the "hors catégorie" Col d'Izoard and Col du Galibier. With remaining of the Galibier, Bernal attacked from within the group of general classification contenders containing Alaphilippe and Thomas, allowing Bernal to recover half a minute on his rivals by the finish and move up to second overall. Around into stage 19, Pinot, who had been placed fifth in the general classification, abandoned the race with a leg muscle injury. At the head of the race in the closing kilometres of the planned second to last climb, the "hors catégorie" Col de l'Iseran, Bernal attacked from the group of overall contenders, catching and passing final breakaway riders by the summit. Alaphilippe was dropped following Bernal's attack, and was two minutes behind at the summit. During the descent, the race was neutralised when a hailstorm caused ice and landslides to block the route to the final climb to Tignes, particularly a mudslide at the foot of the descent before Val-d'Isère. Times for the general classification were taken at the summit of the Iseran, with the stage victory and most combative rider of the day not awarded. As a result, Bernal, who had been in second place overall, moved ahead of Alaphilippe and took the yellow jersey. The stage was shortened from to . The inclement weather also caused the penultimate stage to be reduced in length beforehand, from to , bypassing the first-category Cormet de Roselend and the second-category Côte de Longefoy, with the only climb being the "hors catégorie"-rated one to Val Thorens at the finish. A group of 29 riders established a two-and-a-half minute lead over the peloton, before being vastly reduced to six on the early slopes of the Val Thorens climb. With remaining, Nibali attacked from this group and soloed to victory, ten seconds ahead of chasers Landa and Alejandro Valverde. Close behind, Bernal and Thomas led the other general classification contenders Urán, Buchmann and Kruijswijk. Alaphilippe was dropped again, losing three minutes to Bernal and dropping from second overall to fifth. Thomas therefore finished the race in second place overall, 1' 11" down on Bernal.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: After a year disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas did not ride the Tour de France, after a mutual decision with his team, instead focusing his efforts on the Giro d'Italia. He entered September's Tirreno–Adriatico, ahead of the Giro d'Italia the following month. He finished second to compatriot Simon Yates on the fifth stage, which finished at the ski resort; he ultimately finished the race in second overall, behind Yates. In between Tirreno–Adriatico and the Giro d'Italia, Thomas made his first appearance in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, finishing 4th. A crash on the third stage of the Giro d'Italia fractured his pelvis, and ended his season. The race was eventually won by his domestique, compatriot and teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: In the Volta a Catalunya, Thomas finished third overall, behind teammates Adam Yates and Richie Porte. He then won the Tour de Romandie on the final day, moving ahead of Michael Woods, before finishing third at the 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné, winning the fifth stage. During the Tour de France he, along with many other riders, ran into crashes and bad luck during the first week. He did finish the Tour, finishing 41st overall while riding in support of Richard Carapaz, who took the final podium place.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: At the Tour de Suisse, he was part of an team that included Adam Yates, Daniel Martínez and Tom Pidcock. After gaining bonus seconds on the third stage, he trailed race leader Aleksandr Vlasov by seven seconds after the fifth stage. Following Vlasov's positive COVID-19 test ahead of the sixth stage, Thomas moved up to second overall, one second behind Jakob Fuglsang. Both were overhauled by Sergio Higuita on the seventh stage, with Higuita leading Thomas by two seconds going into the final individual time trial stage in Liechtenstein. Thomas finished second on the day to Remco Evenepoel, with Higuita finishing more than a minute down, which gave Thomas the overall victory. This was the fourth different major week-long stage race he had won, and his tenth podium in such races, eight of which came after the age of 30. His previous victories coming in Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné. Thomas had previous secured runners-up in GC in the 2015 Tour de Suisse.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: The 2022 Tour de France would be the 12th time Thomas rode the Grand Boucle. He entered the race along with teammates Adam Yates, Dani Martínez and Tom Pidcock with no one rider being the clear team favourite. Thomas proved himself to be the strongest rider in the race, save Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar, and by the Pyranees was the only rider left within striking distance of the two. Between the Alps and the Pyrenees there was rumor that Pogačar sought an alliance with Thomas, to which Thomas replied that they weren't speaking the night before discussing tactics, but whatever happens during the race, happens. Into the third week he was finally distanced by the two main protagonists, while being well ahead of the remainder of the peloton in the Pyranees. He rode well enough to put himself in position to finish on a Tour podium for the third time in his career. His strong performance during the final ITT made him the only rider to finish within ten minutes of Vingegaard and Pogačar on the road, and secured his podium position.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: In the 2022 Commonwealth Games he earned Wales a bronze medal in the time trial, despite an early crash costing him almost half a minute.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: Welsh-speaking fans of Geraint had begun singing a version of "Titw Tomos Las" by Hogia'r Wyddfa, a popular Welsh-language quintet from the 1960s and 1970s. The song, which is about the blue tit bird (Titw Tomos Las in Welsh) emphasised Geraint's surname, spelt Tomos in Welsh. BBC Radio Cymru promptly recorded an updated version of the song with two members of Hogia'r Wyddfa as well as contemporary group, Siddi, and brass band, Band Pres Llareggub, as well as local children. The song was recorded for Aled Hughes's morning programme on the national Welsh language station and shared on social media.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: Welsh singer-songwriter Max Boyce wrote a poem in honour of Thomas's Tour de France victory, "The Boy Who Climbed a Mountain", which Boyce performed at Thomas's Cardiff homecoming event in August 2018.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: In December 2019, an hour-long documentary titled "Geraint Thomas:The Road Will Decide" was broadcast on the BBC. It followed Thomas' 2018 Tour de France win as well as the feelings of his wife, Sara.


title: Geraint Thomas

text: Thomas met his wife, Sara Elen Thomas, through a mutual friend. The couple reside in Monaco, and were married in St Tewdrics House Chepstow, Wales, a Grade II listed Italianate villa that they purchased in October 2015. Geraint and Sara still own the property to this day and it is run as a wedding venue. The couple have a son, whose birth was announced on 4 October 2019. Thomas is a fan of Arsenal F.C.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: The 2001 Survivor Series was the 15th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on November 18, 2001, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was the last Survivor Series to be produced under the WWF name, as the company would be forced to change its name several months later as the result of a verdict in the World Wildlife Fund's lawsuit against the company; the company became World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. It was also the last Survivor Series held before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: The event marked the end of The Invasion angle, which had dominated WWF storylines since March when Vince McMahon purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Survivor Series is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), produced every November by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987. In what has become the second longest-running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble, and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring. The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 2001 event was the 15th event in the Survivor Series chronology and was scheduled to be held on November 18, 2001, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: WWF Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Vince McMahon was originally supposed to be part of the main event, but was replaced by Big Show due to injury. In addition, a title unification match between WCW Cruiserweight Champion Tajiri and WWF Light Heavyweight Champion X-Pac was canceled because X-Pac was injured and unable to compete. To resolve this, the WWF retired the Light Heavyweight Championship shortly after Survivor Series in favor of the Cruiserweight Championship lineage, which was rebranded as a WWF title. The European Title match between Christian and Al Snow was neither announced nor built ahead of time, but was set up during a segment on the Sunday Night Heat program that aired before the PPV.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: The event featured eight professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWF script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during, and after the event. Storylines played out on the WWF's weekly television shows, "Raw" and "SmackDown!".


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: The largest storyline that had pervaded the WWF in the preceding months was The Invasion, which came about due to the actual purchase of rival company World Championship Wrestling (WCW) by the WWF just prior to WrestleMania X-Seven. The storyline eventually grew into a WWF vs. WCW faction battle, and eventually Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) became a part of the battle by joining forces with WCW to create The Alliance.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: On the October 22, 2001 episode of "Raw", Vince and Linda McMahon challenged Shane and Stephanie McMahon to a "Winner Take All" match to determine the fate of both companies, with the winning side continuing to stay in business while the losing side would be forced to disband. However, Vince McMahon had to deal with multiple defections to the Alliance side, including Kurt Angle, as well as an increasingly heated feud between two of the WWF's biggest stars, The Rock and Chris Jericho, over the WCW Championship. Vince began spreading rumors to The Alliance that there was a mole within their faction. On an episode of "SmackDown!" before the Survivor Series, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the last man standing after both factions attacked each other in the ring. After that, Vince appeared on the entrance ramp and shared a smile with Austin, teasing that Austin would be the mole.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Before the event began, a dark match took place on Heat in which Lance Storm, Justin Credible, and Raven defeated Albert, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Spike Dudley.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: The event opened with Christian defending the WWF European Championship against Al Snow, Snow performed the Snow-Plow on Christian for a near-fall. After Snow chased Christian, Christian kicked the middle rope into Snow. Christian performed the Unprettier on Snow to retain the title.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: After that, WCW United States Champion Edge faced WWF Intercontinental Champion Test in a title unification match. Test performed a Pumphandle Slam on Edge for a near-fall. Edge performed a Spear on Test for a near-fall. Test attempted a Full Nelson Slam on Edge but Edge countered the move into a Roll Up to win the match.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Later, WCW Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) faced WWF Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) in a Steel Cage match to unify the titles. Stacy Keibler stole the cage door key off a referee and passed Bubba and D-Von a table. Matt prevented a 3D and escaped the cage. Jeff attempted a Swanton Bomb off the top of the cage through the table on D-Von but D-Von avoided the move, causing Jeff to fall through the table. Bubba pinned Jeff to win the match.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Next was an Immunity Battle Royal featuring members of both factions. The winner of the match would be protected from being fired for one year regardless of whether the WWF or Alliance won in the main event. Test won the match by last eliminating Billy Gunn.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: After that, Trish Stratus, Lita, Jacqueline, Mighty Molly, Jazz and Ivory wrestled in a 6-Pack Challenge for the vacant WWF Women's Championship. Trish performed the Stratusfaction on Ivory to win the title.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: In the main event, Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show) faced The Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Shane McMahon) in a winner take all 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match. Big Show was eliminated by Shane after a Leap of Faith. Shane was eliminated by Jericho after a Lionsault. Kane was eliminated by Van Dam after a Diving Thrust Kick. Undertaker was eliminated by Angle after Austin performed a Stone Cold Stunner on Undertaker and placed Angle on top of him. Booker was eliminated by Rock with a Roll Up. Van Dam was eliminated by Jericho after a Breakdown. Angle was eliminated after Rock forced Angle to submit to the Sharpshooter. Jericho was eliminated by Austin with a Roll Up. Jericho attacked Rock with a Breakdown and Austin pinned Rock for a near-fall. Austin applied the Sharpshooter on Rock but Rock touched the ring ropes, forcing Austin to break the hold. Rock applied the Sharpshooter on Austin but Austin touched the ring ropes, forcing Rock to break the hold. Rock performed a Stone Cold Stunner on Austin but Nick Patrick pulled Earl Hebner out of the ring, voiding the pinfall. Austin performed a Rock Bottom on Rock for a near-fall. Austin attacked Patrick and checked on Hebner but Rock pushed Austin into Hebner after an attempted Stunner from Austin. Rock attempted a Rock Bottom on Austin but Austin reversed it and performed a Stone Cold Stunner on Rock, but no referee was there to make the count when Austin covered him. While Austin tried to revive Hebner, Angle returned and hit Austin with the WWF Championship belt. Rock performed a Rock Bottom on Austin to win the match, putting the Alliance (WCW/ECW) out of business. After the match, Vince McMahon appeared on the entrance ramp and celebrated with The Rock.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: In 2008, J.D. Dunn of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 7.5 [Good], writing, "The actual survival match at the end is pretty good, but it's just more Rock/Austin, something that would have happened had the WCW buyout never occurred. Everything else was somewhere in the middle. The Hardyz and Dudleyz was played out, but at least it was a catalyst for the teased breakup of the Hardyz a few weeks later. With everyone else, it became a game of "how do we put this person over without actually putting them over anyone else?" That's why most of the midcard wound up treading water until the brand extension. I'll call this a recommended show for the main event and for historical reasons -- just not the ones the WWF was hoping for."


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: The next night on "Raw", Vince McMahon announced that the WCW Championship held by The Rock had become unbranded due to the dissolution of the Alliance and would be referred to simply as the World Championship. Several Alliance members were allowed to keep their jobs. Christian, The Dudley Boyz, and Rob Van Dam were all holding championships following the Alliance's loss (Christian was the WWF European Champion, the Dudley Boyz were the WWF Tag Team Champions, and Van Dam was the WWF Hardcore Champion). In addition, Stacy Keibler was able to stay employed due to her status as the valet for the Dudley Boyz and Test was able to after winning the Immunity Battle Royal. McMahon also debuted the infamous "Kiss My Ass Club" that night, where he said that an Alliance member- in this case Alliance Commissioner William Regal – would have to literally kiss his ass to keep his job.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: At the very top of the show, Paul Heyman was the first Alliance member fired. Furious over being fired, Heyman lunged at his now-former broadcast partner Jim Ross. The audience delighted in seeing Ross pummel Heyman before he was carted off by security. To replace him, Jerry Lawler was brought back, making his first appearance since his resignation from the company in the end of February after No Way Out. The Alliance co-owners, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, were called to the ring to answer for what they did. While Shane accepted his defeat and walked away, Stephanie tried to plead for her job, but was escorted from the ring by WWF security per orders by the WWF chairman Vince McMahon.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Based on his actions at the end of the WWF vs. Alliance Survivor Series match, for the majority of "Raw" Kurt Angle went around the backstage area portraying himself as the man who saved the WWF and wanting to be praised for doing so. Instead of that, Angle drew the ire of several WWF superstars including The Rock, who defeated him later that night. After the match Chris Jericho, who had been feuding with The Rock in the weeks leading up to Survivor Series over the newly rechristened World Championship, attacked him to reignite their feud.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Despite his self-congratulating attitude, no one found Angle to be the conquering hero he was portraying himself as and by the end of "Raw" he was depressed and told Vince McMahon that no one appreciated him. McMahon agreed with Angle and looked for a way to reward him.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: That reward came in the ring moments later, as McMahon was about to announce the stripping of the WWF Championship from Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had not yet appeared on the show. McMahon's intent was to award it to Kurt Angle as a token of his appreciation for Angle's actions at Survivor Series. However, before he could do so he was interrupted by Ric Flair, who returned to a WWF ring for the first time since January 1993. Flair then happily told McMahon that he "had bet on a winner last night," and said to a surprised McMahon that when Shane and Stephanie sold their stock in the WWF to purchase WCW and ECW, he was the consortium who had bought the stock, and as such, he was co-owner of the WWF and he and McMahon were now partners.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Austin then angrily returned, promptly going to the ring and attacking Angle, and then McMahon when he tried to help, while Flair idly stood by. Austin then became a face for the first time since WrestleMania X-Seven, when he claimed his WWF Championship, and celebrated with beers with Flair in the ring.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: Over the coming weeks the WWF decided what to do with the world championship situation, as there were now two world championships in the company. A tournament at Vengeance was conceived, where Austin and Angle would face each other for the WWF Championship and The Rock and Jericho would face each other for the World Championship. After those two matches, the winners would face off in one final match to unify both championships. Austin defeated Angle to retain the WWF Championship while Jericho defeated The Rock to win the World Championship. In the finals Jericho defeated Austin due to outside interference from Booker T to become the first ever Undisputed WWF Champion. As a measure of payback, Austin would go on to beat up Booker T in a supermarket on an episode of "SmackDown!." followed by a Bingo game at a Church during an episode of "Raw" after Booker T smashed the windows of Stone Cold's Pickup truck.


title: Survivor Series (2001)

text: This was the last Survivor Series to be held before the introduction of the first brand extension in March 2002, which split the roster into two distinct brands, Raw and SmackDown!, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. It was also the last Survivor Series under the WWF name, as the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002.


title: Flyting

text: Flyting or fliting is a contest consisting of the exchange of insults between two parties, often conducted in verse.


title: Flyting

text: The word "flyting" comes from the Old English verb meaning 'to quarrel', made into a noun with the suffix -"ing". Attested from around 1200 in the general sense of a verbal quarrel, it is first found as a technical literary term in Scotland in the sixteenth century. The first written Scots example is William Dunbar, "The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie", written in the late fifteenth century.


title: Flyting

text: Flyting is a ritual, poetic exchange of insults practiced mainly between the 5th and 16th centuries. Examples of flyting are found throughout Scots, Ancient, Medieval and Modern Celtic, Old English, Middle English and Norse literature involving both historical and mythological figures. The exchanges would become extremely provocative, often involving accusations of cowardice or sexual perversion.


title: Flyting

text: Norse literature contains stories of the gods flyting. For example, in "Lokasenna" the god Loki insults the other gods in the hall of Ægir. In the poem "Hárbarðsljóð", Hárbarðr (generally considered to be Odin in disguise) engages in flyting with Thor.


title: Flyting

text: In the confrontation of Beowulf and Unferð in the poem "Beowulf", flytings were used as either a prelude to battle or as a form of combat in their own right.


title: Flyting

text: In Anglo-Saxon England, flyting would take place in a feasting hall. The winner would be decided by the reactions of those watching the exchange. The winner would drink a large cup of beer or mead in victory, then invite the loser to drink as well.


title: Flyting

text: The 13th century poem "The Owl and the Nightingale" and Geoffrey Chaucer's "Parlement of Foules" contain elements of flyting.


title: Flyting

text: Flyting became public entertainment in Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries, when makars would engage in verbal contests of provocative, often sexual and scatological but highly poetic abuse. Flyting was permitted despite the fact that the penalty for profanities in public was a fine of 20 shillings (over £300 in 2022 prices) for a lord, or a whipping for a servant. James IV and James V encouraged "court flyting" between poets for their entertainment and occasionally engaged with them. "The Flyting of Dumbar and Kennedie" records a contest between William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy in front of James IV, which includes the earliest recorded use of the word shit as a personal insult. In 1536 the poet Sir David Lyndsay composed a ribald 60-line flyte to James V after the King demanded a response to a flyte.


title: Flyting

text: Flytings appear in several of William Shakespeare's plays. Margaret Galway analysed 13 comic flytings and several other ritual exchanges in the tragedies. Flytings also appear in Nicholas Udall's "Ralph Roister Doister" and John Still's "Gammer Gurton's Needle" from the same era.


title: Flyting

text: While flyting died out in Scottish writing after the Middle Ages, it continued for writers of Celtic background. Robert Burns parodied flyting in his poem, "To a Louse", and James Joyce's poem "The Holy Office" is a curse upon society by a bard. Joyce played with the traditional two-character exchange by making one of the characters representing society as a whole.


title: Flyting

text: Hilary Mackie has detected in the "Iliad" a consistent differentiation between representations in Greek of Achaean and Trojan speech, where Achaeans repeatedly engage in public, ritualized abuse: "Achaeans are proficient at blame, while Trojans perform praise poetry."


title: Flyting

text: Taunting songs are present in the Inuit culture, among many others. Flyting can also be found in Arabic poetry in a popular form called "naqā’iḍ", as well as the competitive verses of Japanese Haikai.


title: Flyting

text: Echoes of the genre continue into modern poetry. Hugh MacDiarmid's poem "A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle", for example, has many passages of flyting in which the poet's opponent is, in effect, the rest of humanity.


title: Flyting

text: Flyting is similar in both form and function to the modern practice of freestyle battles between rappers and the historic practice of the Dozens, a verbal-combat game representing a synthesis of flyting and its Early Modern English descendants with comparable African verbal-combat games such as "Ikocha Nkocha".


title: Flyting

text: In the Finnish epic "Kalevala", the hero Väinämöinen uses the similar practice of "kilpalaulanta" (duel singing) to defeat his opponent Joukahainen.


title: Flyting

text: In "The Roaring Trumpet", part of Harold Shea's introduction to the Norse gods is a flyting between Heimdall and Loki in which Heimdall utters the immortal line "All insults are untrue. I state facts."


title: Flyting

text: The climactic scene in Rick Riordan's novel "The Ship of the Dead" consists of a flyting between the protagonist Magnus Chase and the Norse god Loki.


title: Flyting

text: In the "Monkey Island" video game series, insults are often integral to duels such as sword fighting and arm wrestling.


title: Flyting

text: In "", in which the protagonist is a Viking themself, players can engage in flyting with various non-playable characters for prestige and other rewards.


title: Flyting

text: Some see the subculture of hip hop music known as Battle rap as a modern expression, providing a platform for two individuals to poetically insult each other.


title: Anasuya

text: Anasuya () is an ascetic, and the wife of Sage Atri in Hinduism. She is the daughter of Devahuti and Sage Kardama in Hindu texts. In the "Ramayana", she lives with her husband in a small hermitage on the southern border of the Chitrakuta forest. A pious woman who leads an austere life, she is described as having miraculous powers.


title: Anasuya

text: Anasuya is the sister of the sage Kapila, who also served as her teacher. She is extolled as "Sati Anasuya" (Ascetic Anasuya) and "Mata Anasuya" (Mother Anasuya), the chaste wife of Sage Atri. She becomes the mother of Dattatreya, the sage-avatar of Vishnu, Chandra, a form of Brahma, and Durvasa, the irascible sage avatar of Shiva. When Sita and Rama visit her during their exile, Anasuya is very attentive to them, giving the former an unguent that would maintain her beauty forever.


title: Anasuya

text: Anasuya is composed of two Sanskrit words: "ana" and "asūya," translating to the 'one who is free from jealousy or envy'".


title: Anasuya

text: The genealogy of Anasuya and her family is mentioned in the third book of the Bhagavata Purana. The sage Kardama marries Devahuti, the daughter of the Svayambhu Manu. They are described to have ten children, a son named Kapila, and nine daughters, including Anasuya. Each daughter is married to a rishi; Anasuya is married to Atri.


title: Anasuya

text: According to a legend from the Markandeya Purana, a Brahmin named Kaushika from Pratishthana used to visit a prostitute, despite being a Brahmin, and having a devoted wife, named Shandili, or Shilavati, in some versions. When he is unable to pay her for her services, the prostitute stopped seeing him, forcing him to return to his wife, who still cared for him. He still longed for the affection of the prostitute, so one day, he asked his wife to take him to her.


title: Anasuya

text: The sage Mandavya had been impaled in lieu of a crime and was lying on a spike in the forest, still alive due to his yogic powers. While being led by his wife through the deep forest at night, Kaushika, mistaking the sage for a thief, pushes him. Furious, Mandavya curses him to die before the next sunrise. To stop this curse from fruition, Shandili appeals to the solar deity, Surya, to not rise the next dawn. Surya acquiesces to the appeal of Shandili, as she is an extremely chaste and devoted woman. This leads to chaos in the universe, the deities not receiving their oblations, rainfall not occurring, grain not being cultivated, and people not performing their customary Vedic rituals. The deities go to Brahma, who suggests that they propitiate Anasuya, who was in the process of performing a great penance with her husband.


title: Anasuya

text: Accordingly, the divinities go to Anasuya, and the kind-hearted woman agrees to help them. Anasuya meets Shandili, and the two women engage in a conversation. The rishi's wife explains to Shandili that the entire universe was in peril because of her appeal to Surya, and discuss the necessity of a woman's devotion to her husband. Anasuya promises the woman that Kaushika would be free of his curse, as well as the leprosy he had contracted. Shandili directs the sun to rise again, and hence, Anasuya helps in the restoration of the sunrise. The deities, pleased by her actions, offer her a boon. Anusaya desires that the Trimurti (The supreme trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) be born to her, and that her husband and she be freed of the cycle of samsara. This boon is granted when Anusaya is mentally impregnated by Atri, and Chandra (Brahma), Dattatreya (Vishnu), and Durvasa (Shiva) are born to her as her sons.


title: Anasuya

text: Some legends state that later, when Rahu swallowed the sun, the whole world was cloaked in darkness. With powers granted by many years of austerity, Atri wrested the sun out of Rahu's hands, restoring light to the world, and pleasing the deities.


title: Anasuya

text: In a legend that is not featured in the primary Puranas, once, an argument ensued among the Tridevi (The trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati, the consorts of the Trimurti) regarding whom among them was the most virtuous of women. The mischievous sage divinity, Narada, appeared before them, and was chosen to judge the matter. Narada opined that Anasuya was the most virtuous of women. He slyly told the Tridevi that Anasuya's chastity was such that she could bake beans made of iron. The three goddesses attempted to perform the task, but failed, uniting them in their envy towards Anasuya. The goddesses demanded that their husbands, the Trimurti, visit Atri's hermitage, and test Anasuya's virtue for themselves.


title: Anasuya

text: Unable to persuade their wives from this course of action, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva assumed the guise of young sages, and visited Anasuya while Atri was bathing in a river. Invoking their rights of guests, the Trimurti claimed that due to a special fast they were undertaking, Anasuya would have to serve them food in the nude. Knowing that being seen naked by men other than her husband would cause her to lose her virtue, Anasuya sprinkled some water over her guests, turning them into infants. She then proceeded to disrobe, and served them food by breastfeeding them, hence both fulfilling their wishes, and still preserving her virtue. In some versions, she placed them in a cradle after lovingly nursing them as her own children. Informed by Narada of their consorts' plight, the chastened Tridevi descended upon Atri's hermitage, and requested Anasuya to restore their husbands to their true forms. The rishi's wife complied. The Trimurti, pleased that she had outwitted them, and that their wives had been humbled, offered Anasuya a boon. She asked that they be born as her children.


title: Anasuya

text: Variations of this legend present the rishi's wife also requesting the birth of a daughter named Shubhatreyi, and another where the Trimurti merge and turn into Anasuya's three-headed son, Dattatreya.


title: Anasuya

text: In the Ramayana, during their exile in the forest, Rama and Sita visit the hermitage of the sage Atri, and the sage and his wife, Anasuya, treat their guests with honour. Atri tells Rama about the tapas shakti (power acquired from penance) of his wife: Once, the world was bereft of rains, and the river Ganga had dried up, leading to the planet being plunged into a famine. Upon the request of the devas, Anasuya made the trees bear fruits once more, and resumed the flow of the Ganga. She also turned ten days into ten nights when they urged her to do so. Hearing about her powers, the prince grows to respect her. A similar legend exists in the Shiva Purana, where the goddess Ganga appears before Anasuya due to her devotion. The ascetic asks her to stay on the grove near her husband's hermitage, so that she could fetch him her holy water. Both Shiva and Ganga stay at the hermitage for a while, blessing the region.


title: Anasuya

text: Anasuya teaches Sita that absolute service to one's husband is the greatest tapas that is ordained to every woman. She teaches Sita the "strīdharmarahasya", translated as the secrets of the dharma of women, regarding their duties towards their husbands and in-laws. The princess regales the tale of her wedding to Rama upon the ascetic's urging. The ascetic presents Sita with a very sacred garland, as well as a sublime gem before the couple's departure.


title: Anasuya

text: The Anasuya Devi Temple is in Uttarakhand, located further upstream on the "Amrit Ganga," a tributary of the Alakananda river.


title: Anasuya

text: The Sati Anasuya Ashram is in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh, located further upstream on the Mandakini River. It is 16 km away from the town, and set amidst thick forests where the melody of birdsong plays all day. It was where sage Atri, his wife Anasuya, and their three sons (who were three incarnations of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva), lived and are said to have meditated.


title: Anasuya

text: Valmiki describes in the "Ramayana" that there once was no rain in Chitrakuta for ten years. There was a severe famine and nothing was left for animals and birds to eat or drink. Sati Anasuya performed intensive austerities and got the river Mandakini down on earth. This led to the growth of greenery and forests, and eliminated the suffering of all sages and animals.


title: Anasuya

text: The Sati Anasuya Ashrama, at present, is a very peaceful place where several streams from the hills converge and form the Mandakini River. It is said that Rama along with Sita had visited this place to meet Atri and Anasuya. It is believed that this is the location where Sati Anasuya explained to Sita the grandeur and the importance of "satitva". The dense forests of Dandaka start from this place. It is said to have been ruled by Ravana, who had appointed strong rakshasas such as Khara and Viradha as its rulers. The place is supposed to have once been infected by the terror of rakshasas.


title: Anasuya

text: Two movies in the Telugu language, both entitled "Sati Anasuya" were released in 1957 and 1971. The 1957 film was directed by Kadaru Nagabhushanam and starred Anjali Devi and Gummadi. The 1971 film was directed by B. A. Subba Rao. Jamuna played the role of Anasuya, Sharada played Sumati and Tadepalli Lakshmi Kanta Rao played Atri Maharshi. The musical score was provided by P. Adinarayana Rao.


title: Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

text: The Seventh Amendment (Amendment VII) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. This amendment codifies the right to a jury trial in certain civil cases and inhibits courts from overturning a jury's findings of fact.


text: An early version of the Seventh Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison, along with the other amendments, in response to Anti-Federalist objections to the new Constitution. Congress proposed a revised version of the Seventh Amendment to the states on September 28, 1789, and by December 15, 1791, the necessary three-quarters of the states had ratified it.


text: The Seventh Amendment is generally considered one of the more straightforward amendments of the Bill of Rights. While the Seventh Amendment's provision for jury trials in civil cases has never been incorporated (applied to the states), almost every state has a provision for jury trials in civil cases in its constitution. The prohibition of overturning a jury's findings of fact applies to federal cases, state cases involving federal law, and to review of state cases by federal courts. "United States v. Wonson" (1812) established the "historical test", which interpreted the amendment as relying on English common law to determine whether a jury trial was necessary in a civil suit. The amendment thus does not guarantee trial by jury in cases under maritime law, in lawsuits against the government itself, and for many parts of patent claims. In all other cases, the jury can be waived by consent of the parties.


text: The amendment additionally guarantees a minimum of six members for a jury in a civil trial. The amendment's twenty dollar threshold has not been the subject of much scholarly or judicial writing and still remains applicable despite the inflation that has occurred since the late 18th century ($20 in 1800 is ).


text: After several years of comparatively weak government under the Articles of Confederation, a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia proposed a new constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring a stronger chief executive and other changes. George Mason, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, proposed that a bill of rights listing and guaranteeing civil liberties be included. Other delegates—including future Bill of Rights drafter James Madison—disagreed, arguing that existing state guarantees of civil liberties were sufficient and any attempt to enumerate individual rights risked implying the federal government had power to violate every other right (this concern eventually led to the Ninth and Tenth Amendments). After a brief debate, Mason's proposal was defeated by a unanimous vote of the state delegations. In the final days of the convention, North Carolina delegate Hugh Williamson proposed a guarantee of trial by jury in federal civil cases, but a motion to add this guarantee was also defeated.


text: However, adoption of the Constitution required that nine of the thirteen states ratify it in state conventions. Opposition to ratification ("Anti-Federalism") was partly based on the Constitution's lack of adequate guarantees for civil liberties. Supporters of the Constitution in states where popular sentiment was against ratification (including Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York) successfully proposed that their state conventions both ratify the Constitution and call for the addition of a bill of rights.


text: One charge of the Anti-Federalists was that giving the U.S. Supreme Court jurisdiction "both as to law and fact" would allow it to deny the findings of jury trials in civil cases. Responding to these concerns, five state ratification conventions recommended a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to jury trial in civil cases.


text: In the 1st United States Congress, following the state legislatures' request, James Madison proposed twenty constitutional amendments based on state bills of rights and English sources such as the Bill of Rights 1689. Among them was an amendment protecting findings of fact in civil cases exceeding a certain dollar value from judicial review. Madison proposed that this amendment should be added directly to Article III, though Congress later determined to add the proposed Bill of Rights to the end of the Constitution, leaving the original text intact. Congress also reduced Madison's proposed twenty amendments to twelve, and these were proposed to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789.


text: By the time the Bill of Rights was submitted to the states for ratification, opinions had shifted in both parties. Many Federalists, who had previously opposed a Bill of Rights, now supported the Bill as a means of silencing the Anti-Federalists' most effective criticism. Many Anti-Federalists, in contrast, now opposed it, realizing the Bill's adoption would greatly lessen the chances of a second constitutional convention, which they desired. Anti-Federalists such as Richard Henry Lee also argued that the Bill left the most objectionable portions of the Constitution, such as the federal judiciary and direct taxation, intact.


text: On November 20, 1789, New Jersey ratified eleven of the twelve amendments, rejecting an amendment to regulate congressional pay raises. On December 19 and 22, respectively, Maryland and North Carolina ratified all twelve amendments. On January 19, 25, and 28, 1790, respectively, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Delaware ratified the Bill, though New Hampshire rejected the amendment on Congressional pay raises, and Delaware rejected the Congressional Apportionment Amendment. This brought the total of ratifying states to six of the required ten, but the process stalled in other states: Connecticut and Georgia found a Bill of Rights unnecessary and so refused to ratify, while Massachusetts ratified most of the amendments, but failed to send official notice to the Secretary of State that it had done so.


text: In February through June 1790, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island ratified eleven of the amendments, though all three rejected the amendment on Congressional pay raises. Virginia initially postponed its debate, but after Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791, the total number of states needed for ratification rose to eleven. Vermont ratified on November 3, 1791, approving all twelve amendments, and Virginia finally followed on December 15, 1791. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the ten successfully ratified amendments on March 1, 1792.


text: The Seventh Amendment encompasses two clauses. The Preservation Clause ("In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved") sets out the types of cases juries are required to decide, while the Re-examination Clause ("[N]o fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.") prevents federal judges from overturning jury verdicts in certain ways. The amendment is generally considered one of the more straightforward amendments of the Bill of Rights. Scholar Charles W. Wolfram states that it has usually "been interpreted as if it were virtually a self-explanatory provision". The term "common law" is used twice in the Seventh Amendment and means in both cases according to the National Constitution Center "the law and procedure of the courts that used juries, as opposed to Equity and other courts that did not use juries".


text: Unlike most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights, the Seventh Amendment has never been applied to the states. The Supreme Court stated in "Walker v. Sauvinet" (1875), "Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad v. Bombolis" (1916) and "Hardware Dealers' Mut. Fire Ins. Co. of Wisconsin v. Glidden Co." (1931) that states were not required to provide jury trials in civil cases. Nonetheless, most states voluntarily guarantee the right to a civil jury trial, and they must do so in certain state court cases that are decided under federal law.


text: The first judicial opinion issued on the amendment came in "United States v. Wonson" (1812), in which the federal government wished to retry the facts of a civil case it had lost against Samuel Wonson. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, acting as a circuit court judge, ruled for Wonson, stating that to retry the facts of the case would violate the Seventh Amendment. Regarding the amendment's phrase "the rules of common law", Story wrote:


text: Wonson's ruling established the "historical test", which interpreted the amendment as relying on English common law to determine whether a jury trial was necessary in a civil suit. Applying the historical test in "Parsons v. Bedford" (1830), for example, the Supreme Court found that jury trials were not constitutionally guaranteed for cases under maritime law, an area in which English common law did not require juries. The Court further clarified this rule as a "fixed historical test" in "Thompson v. Utah "(1898), which established that the relevant guide was English common law of 1791, rather than that of the present day. In "Dimick v. Schiedt" (1935), the Supreme Court declared that the Seventh Amendment was to be interpreted according to the common law of England at the time of the amendment's adoption in 1791. The Supreme Court in "Baltimore & Carolina Line, Inc. v. Redman" (1935) declared that the right of trial by jury thus preserved by the Preservation Clause is the right which existed under the English common law when the amendment was adopted. "The amendment not only preserves that right, but discloses a studied purpose to protect it from indirect impairment through possible enlargements of the power of reexamination existing under the common law, and, to that end, declares that "no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."" In "Baltimore & Carolina Line, Inc. v. Redman" (1935), the Supreme Court held that the amendment does not include "mere matters of form or procedure", but instead preserves the "substance" of the right to jury trial. The aim of the amendment is particularly to retain the common law distinction between the province of the court and that of the jury whereby, in the absence of express or implied consent to the contrary, issues of law are to be resolved by the court and issues of fact are to be determined by the jury under appropriate instructions by the court. In "Chauffeurs, Teamsters, and Helpers Local No. 391 v. Terry" (1990), the Court explained that the right to a jury trial provided by the Seventh Amendment encompasses more than the common law forms of action recognized in 1791 (when the Bill of Rights was ratified), but rather any lawsuit in which parties' legal rights were to be determined, as opposed to suits that involve only equitable rights and remedies.


text: In "Galloway v. United States" (1943), the Court permitted a directed verdict (a verdict ordered by a judge on the basis of overwhelming lack of evidence) in a civil suit, finding that it did not violate the Seventh Amendment under the fixed historical test. The Court extended the amendment's guarantees in "Beacon Theatres v. Westover" (1959) and "Dairy Queen, Inc. v. Wood" (1962), ruling in each case that all issues that required trial by jury under English common law also required trial by jury under the Seventh Amendment. This guarantee was also further extended to shareholder suits in "Ross v. Bernhard" (1970) and to copyright infringement lawsuits in "Feltner v. Columbia Pictures TV" (1998).


text: In "Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc." (1996), the Court ruled that many parts of patent claims are questions of law rather than of fact, and that the Seventh Amendment guarantee of a jury trial therefore does not necessarily apply.


text: Lawsuits against the federal government itself do not receive Seventh Amendment protections due to the doctrine of sovereign immunity. In "Lehman v. Nakshian" (1981), the Court ruled that "the plaintiff in an action against the United States has a right to trial by jury only where Congress has affirmatively and unambiguously granted that right by statute."


text: The Supreme Court has held that the Seventh Amendment's guarantee of a jury trial also guarantees a jury of sufficient size. The Court found a six-member jury sufficient to meet the amendment's requirements in "Colgrove v. Battin" (1973).


text: Little historical evidence exists to interpret the amendment's reference to "twenty dollars", which was added in a closed session of the Senate and is often omitted in judicial and scholarly discussion of the amendment. A "Harvard Law Review" article described it as "mysterious... of shrouded origin and neglected for two centuries", stating that "no one believes that the Clause bears on the right protected by the Seventh Amendment". According to law professor Philip Hamburger, the twenty-dollar requirement was intended to become obsolete by inflation, so that its application to more cases would be phased out gradually. $20 in 1800 is .


text: Congress has never extended federal diversity jurisdiction to amounts that small. Under federal law (28 U.S.C. §1332), the amount in dispute must exceed $75,000 for a case to be heard in federal court based on diversity of the parties' citizenship (the parties are from different states or different countries). However, civil cases may arise in federal court that are not diversity cases (e.g., in places like the District of Columbia that are federal jurisdictions), in which case the Twenty Dollars Clause may apply.


text: The Re-Examination Clause of the Seventh Amendment states: "In suits at common law... no fact tried by jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law." This clause forbids any court from re-examining or overturning any factual determinations made by a jury guaranteeing that facts decided by that jury cannot be reexamined at a later date. Exceptions to this prohibition are possible if it is later determined that legal errors were made or evidence submitted was insufficient in some way. In such cases the re-examination is conducted by another jury so the decision is still left in the hands of the people. The clause applies only to cases where private rights—i.e., rights that exist between private citizens—have been violated. The Re-Examination Clause applies not only to federal courts, but also to "a case tried before a jury in a state court and brought to the Supreme Court on appeal".


text: In "The Justices v. Murray", 76 U.S. 9 Wall. 274 (1869), the Supreme Court quoted Justice Joseph Story to explain the modes to reexamine facts tried by juries according to common law: "Mr. Justice Story ... referring to this part of the amendment, observed ... that it was 'a prohibition to the courts of the United States to re-examine any facts tried by a jury in any other manner [than according to Common Law]'. ... He further observed that 'the only modes known to the common law to re-examine such facts was the granting of a new trial by the court where the issue was tried, or the award of a venire facias de novo, by the appellate court, for some error of law that had intervened in the proceedings.


text: As common law provided, the judge could set aside (or nullify) a jury verdict when the judge decided the verdict was contrary to the evidence or the law. Common law precluded the judge from himself entering a verdict; a new trial, with a new jury, was the only course permissible. In "Slocum v. New York Insurance Co." (1913), the Supreme Court upheld this rule. Later cases have undermined "Slocum", but generally only when the evidence is overwhelming, or if a specific law provides narrow guidelines by which there can be no reasonable question as to the required outcome, may the court enter "judgment as a matter of law" or otherwise set aside the jury's findings.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: Sariska Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Alwar district, Rajasthan, India. It stretches over an area of comprising scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwar state and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958. It was given the status of a tiger reserve making it a part of India's Project Tiger in 1978. The wildlife sanctuary was declared a national park in 1982, with a total area of about . It is the first reserve in the world with successfully relocated tigers. It is an important biodiversity area in the Northern Aravalli leopard and wildlife corridor.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: The park is situated away from Hindaun, from Jaipur and from Delhi. It is a part of the Aravalli Range and the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion. It is rich in mineral resources, such as copper. In spite of the Supreme Court's 1991 ban on mining in the area, marble mining continues to threaten the environment.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: The dominant tree in the forests is dhok ("Anogeissus pendula"). Other trees include the salar ("Boswellia serrata"), kadaya (Sterculia urens), dhak ("Butea monosperma"), gol ("Lannea coromandelica"), ber ("Ziziphus mauritiana") and khair ("Acacia catechu"). Bargad ("Ficus benghalensis"), arjun ("Terminalia arjuna"), gugal ("Commiphora wightii") or bamboo. Shrubs are numerous, such as kair ("Capparis decidua"), adusta ("Adhatoda vesica") and jhar ber ("Ziziphus nummularia").


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: Apart from the Bengal tiger, the reserve harbours many wildlife species including Indian leopard, jungle cat, caracal, striped hyena, golden jackal, chital, sambar deer, nilgai, wild boar, small Indian civet, Javan mongoose, ruddy mongoose, honey badger, Rhesus macaque and Northern plains gray langur and Indian hare.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: Bird species present include grey partridge, white-throated kingfisher, Indian peafowl, bush quail, sandgrouse, treepie, golden-backed woodpecker, crested serpent eagle and the Indian eagle-owl.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: In 2003, 16 tigers lived in the reserve. In 2004, it was reported that no tigers were sighted in the reserve, and that no indirect evidence of tiger presence was found such as pug marks, scratch marks on trees, scats. The Rajasthan Forest Department explained that "the tigers had temporarily migrated outside the reserve and would be back after monsoon season". Project Tiger staff backed this assumption. In January 2005, it was reported that there were no tigers left in Sariska.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: In July 2008, two tigers from Ranthambhore National Park were relocated to Sariska Tiger Reserve. Another female tiger was relocated in February 2009.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: In 2012, two tiger cubs and their mother were spotted in the reserve bringing the total number of tigers to seven with five adults. In July 2014, two more cubs were spotted, so that there were 11 tigers in total.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: As of October 2018, there were 18 tigers including five cubs. By 2020, the tiger population in the reserve has risen to 20.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: In 2005, the Government of Rajasthan, in cooperation with the Government of India and Wildlife Institute of India, planned the re-introduction of tigers to Sariska and also the relocation of villages. Plans to construct a bypass were also discussed. It was decided to import one male and two females from Ranthambore National Park. The Wildlife Institute of India along with the Government of Rajasthan started tracking the relocated tigers with the help of ISRO's reconnaissance satellites. The first aerial translocation of the male tiger from Ranthambhore to Sariska was carried out on 28 June 2008 by helicopter.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: Only two of the four villages' experts were actually moved, though the second, Kankwari, was shifted long after the tigers were re-introduced. However, Kankwari fort has been renovated by the state tourism department, which can possibly violate wildlife protection norms. The first relocated village was Bhagani. Also, the diversion of roads crossing the reserve, an issue critical to the survival of its wildlife, continues to be a problem.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: One more tigress was shifted to Sariska from Ranthambhore in February 2009. On 28 July 2010, another tigress was brought from Ranthambhore National Park. Totaling five tigers — two males and three females — were living in the reserve until November 2010 when the first relocated tiger died due to poisoning.


title: Sariska Tiger Reserve

text: Unfortunately, the first three of the relocated tigers came from one father. Moreover, the first two tigresses have the same mother.


title: Video game modding

text: Video game modding (short for "modification") is the process of alteration by players or fans of one or more aspects of a video game, such as how it looks or behaves, and is a sub-discipline of general modding. Mods may range from small changes and tweaks to complete overhauls, and can extend the replay value and interest of the game.


title: Video game modding

text: Modding a game can also be understood as the act of seeking and installing mods to the player's game, but the act of tweaking pre-existing settings and preferences is not truly modding.


title: Video game modding

text: Mods have arguably become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games, as they add depth to the original work, and can be both fun for players playing the mods and as means of self-expression for mod developers.


title: Video game modding

text: People can become fans of specific mods, in addition to fans of the game they are for, such as requesting features and alterations for these mods. In cases where mods are very popular, players might have to clarify that they are referring to the unmodified game when talking about playing a game. The term "vanilla" is often used to make this distinction. "Vanilla "Minecraft"", for example, refers to the original, unmodified game.


title: Video game modding

text: As early as the 1980s, video game mods have also been used for the sole purpose of creating art, as opposed to an actual game. This can include recording in-game actions as a film, as well as attempting to reproduce real-life areas inside a game with no regard for game play value. This has led to the rise of artistic video game modification, as well as machinima and the demoscene.


title: Video game modding

text: Popular games can have tens of thousands of mods created for them. Popular websites dedicated to modding include Nexus Mods, Mod DB, and Steam Workshop.


title: Video game modding

text: Many mods are not publicly released to the gaming community by their creators. Some are very limited and just include some gameplay changes or even a different loading screen, while others are total conversions and can modify content and gameplay extensively. A few mods become very popular and convert themselves into distinct games, with the rights getting bought and turning into an official modification, or in some cases a stand-alone title that does not require the original game to play.


title: Video game modding

text: Technical and social skills are needed to create a mod. A group of mod developers may join together to form a "mod team".


title: Video game modding

text: "Doom" (1993) was the first game to have a large modding community. In exchange for the technical foundation to mod, id Software insisted that mods should only work with the retail version of the game (not the demo), which was respected by the modders and boosted "Doom"s sales. Another factor in the popularity of modding "Doom" was the increasing popularity of the Internet, which allowed modding communities to form. Mods for "Quake" (1996) such as "Capture the Flag" and "Team Fortress" became standard features in later games in the shooter genre. While first-person shooters are popular games to mod, the virtual pet genre with games such as "Petz" (1995) and "Creatures" (1996) fostered younger modders, particularly girls.


title: Video game modding

text: Mod-making tools are a variety of construction sets for creating mods for a game. Early commercial mod-making tools were the "Boulder Dash Construction Kit" (1986) and "The Bard's Tale Construction Set" (1991), which allowed users to create game designs in those series. Much more successful among early mod-making tools was the 1992 "" from Strategic Simulations, Inc., which allowed users to construct games based on the game world that was launched with the "Pool of Radiance" game.


title: Video game modding

text: By the mid 1990s, modding tools were commonly offered with PC games, and by the early 2000s, a game that launched with no modding tools was considered more worthy of note in a review than one that did. Maxis released the modding tools for "The Sims" (2000) before the game itself, resulting in a suite of fan-created mods being available at launch. The advertising campaign for "Neverwinter Nights" (2002) focused on the included Aurora toolset. The "World Editor" for "" (2002) allowed a variety of custom scenarios or maps to be created for the game, such as a number of tower defense and multiplayer online battle arena maps, the most notable of which was "Defense of the Ancients". The provision of tools is still seen as the most practical way that a company can signal to fans that its game is open for modding. Fans may also use and create open-source software tools for modding games.


title: Video game modding

text: There are also free content delivery tools available that make playing mods easier. They help manage downloads, updates, and mod installation in order to allow people who are less technically literate to play. Steam's "Workshop" service, for example, allows a user to easily download and install mods in supported games.


title: Video game modding

text: The potential for end-user change in game varies greatly, though it can have little correlation on the number and quality of mods made for a game.


title: Video game modding

text: In general the most modification-friendly games will define gameplay variables in text or other non proprietary format files (for instance in the "Civilization" series one could alter the movement rate along roads and many other factors), and have graphics of a standard format such as bitmaps. Publishers can also determine mod-friendliness in the way important source files are available, such as "Doom" having its art assets separate from the main program, which allowed them to be shared and modified.


title: Video game modding

text: Games have varying support from their publishers for modifications, but often require expensive professional software to make. One such example is "Homeworld 2", which requires the program Maya to build new in-game objects. However, there are free versions of Maya and other advanced modeling software available. There are also free and even open-source modeling programs (such as Blender) that can be used as well.


title: Video game modding

text: For advanced mods such as "Desert Combat" that are total conversions, complicated modeling and texturing software is required to make original content. Advanced mods can rival the complexity and work of making the original game content (short of the engine itself), rendering the differences in ease of modding small in comparison to the total amount of work required. Having an engine that is for example easy to import models to, is of little help when doing research, modeling, and making a photorealistic texture for a game item. As a result, other game characteristics such as its popularity and capabilities have a dominating effect on the number of mods created for the game by users.


title: Video game modding

text: A game that allows modding is said to be "moddable". "" as well as its predecessors, "" and "", are examples of highly moddable games, with an official editor available for download from the developer. "Daggerfall" was much less moddable, but some people released their own modifications nevertheless. Some modifications such as "Gunslingers Academy" have deliberately made the game more moddable by adding in scripting support or externalizing underlying code. "Supreme Commander" set out to be the 'most customisable game ever' and as such included a mod manager which allowed for modular modding, having several mods on at once.


title: Video game modding

text: The games industry is currently facing the question of how much it should embrace the players' contribution in creating new material for the game or mod-communities as part of their structure within the game. Some software companies openly accept and even encourage such communities. Others though have chosen to enclose their games in heavily policed copyright or Intellectual Property regimes (IPR) and close down sites that they see as infringing their ownership of a game.


title: Video game modding

text: For cross-platform games, mods written for the Windows version have not always been compatible with the Mac OS X and/or Linux ports of the game. In large part, this is due to the publisher's concern with prioritizing the porting of the primary game itself, when allocating resources for fixing the porting of mod-specific functions may not be cost-effective for the smaller market share of alternate platforms. For example, "Battlefield 1942", ported by Aspyr for Mac OS X, had file access issues specific to mods until the 1.61D patch. "Unreal Tournament 2004" does not have a working community mods menu for the Mac OS X version and, until the 3369 patch, had graphics incompatibilities with several mods such as "Red Orchestra" and "Metaball".


title: Video game modding

text: Also, mods compiled into platform-specific libraries, such as those of "Doom 3", are often only built for the Windows platform, leading to a lack of cross-platform compatibility even when the underlying game is highly portable. In the same line of reasoning, mod development tools are often available only on the Windows platform. id Software's Doom 3 Radiant tool and Epic Games' UnrealEd are examples of this.


title: Video game modding

text: Mod teams that lack either the resources or know-how to develop their mods for alternate platforms sometimes outsource their code and art assets to individuals or groups who are able to port the mod.


title: Video game modding

text: The mod specialist site for Macs, Macologist, has created GUI launchers and installers for many UT2004 mods, as well as solving cross-platform conversion issues for mods for other games.


title: Video game modding

text: In January 2005, it was reported that in "The Sims 2" (2004) modifications that changed item and game behavior were unexpectedly being transferred to other players through the official website's "exchange" feature, leading to changed game behavior without advance warning.


title: Video game modding

text: After the Hot Coffee mod incident, there were calls from the industry to better control modders. There is concern about mods which show nudity, and Bethesda does not allow mods with nudity to be uploaded on its website. Nexus allows for mods which allow nudity as long as nudity is not present in the preview image. One of the most popular mods of this type is Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Edition, which allows for body modification in Skyrim and Fallout 4, and has been downloaded at least 8.2 million times.


title: Video game modding

text: In 2015, members from the "Grand Theft Auto" fan site GTAForums reported instances of malware being circulated through modifications written using the .NET Framework for "Grand Theft Auto V". Two of the modifications in question, namely "Angry Planes" and "No Clip", came with code for loading a remote access tool, and a keylogger for stealing Facebook and Steam account credentials. The modifications in question have since been taken out of circulation, with affected players being advised to change their social media account passwords and disinfect their computers.


title: Video game modding

text: The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute user created content like mods, an aspect commonly known as Web 2.0. Video game modding was described as remixing of games and can be therefore seen as part of the remix culture as described by Lawrence Lessig, or as a successor to the playful hacker culture which produced the first video games.


title: Video game modding

text: Mods can be both useful to players and a means of self-expression. Three motivations have been identified by Olli Sotamaa for fans to create mods: to patch the game, to express themselves, and to get a foot in the door of the video game industry. However, it is very rare for even popular modders to make this leap to the professional video game industry. Poor suggests becoming a professional is not a major motivation of modders, noting that they tend to have a strong sense of community, and that older modders, who may already have established careers, are less motivated by the possibility of becoming professional than younger modders.


title: Video game modding

text: One of the first games that supported user modifications as packaged was "Lode Runner" (1983), which included a level editor which users could make and save levels to share with other players at the same computer.


title: Video game modding

text: id Software's "Wolfenstein 3D" (1992), one of the earliest first-person shooters, was released in a form that did not intent for users to be able to mod the game, but users were able to find ways to manipulate the game's files after scouring them for data locations to create their own levels and graphics. Because of this, when id developed their next game, "Doom", they purposely separated the game engine and other aspects related to the game's operation from the game levels and graphics, placing these into a WAD file, "WAD" short for "Where's All the Data?" In this manner, modders only needed to change the WAD file to mod the game, launching numerous "Doom" modding efforts. id's approach of separating data file from execution files became essential for modding of video games in the future.


title: Video game modding

text: Mods can extend the shelf life of games, such as "Half-Life" (1998), which increased its sales figures over the first three years of its release. According to the director of marketing at Valve, a typical shelf-life for a game would be 12 to 18 months, even if it was a "mega-hit". In early 2012, the "DayZ" modification for "ARMA 2" was released and caused a massive increase in sales for the three-year-old game, putting it in the top spot for online game sales for a number of months and selling over 300,000 units for the game. In some cases, modders who are against piracy have created mods that enforce the use of a legal game copy.


title: Video game modding

text: "Half-Life" had a Valve-run annual mod expo which began in 1999, showcasing the new games built using the Half-Life engine.


title: Video game modding

text: Due to the increasing popularity and quality of modding, some developers, such as Firaxis, have included fan-made mods in official releases of expansion packs. A similar case is that of Valve, when they hired "Defense of the Ancients" lead designer IceFrog in developing "Dota 2".


title: Video game modding

text: For example, a number of fan-made maps, scenarios and mods, such as the "Best of the Net" collection and "Double Your Pleasure", were included in the "Civilization II" expansion "Fantastic Worlds" and the "Civilization III" expansion "", and in the "Civilization IV" expansion "," two existing mods, "Rhye's and Fall of Civilization" and "Fall from Heaven" were included with the expansion (the latter through a spin-off called "Age of Ice"). Sid Meier, who had opposed supporting mods in "Civilization II", said that "the strength of the modding community is ... the very reason the series survived".


title: Video game modding

text: Copyright law, as it relates to video games and mod packs, is an evolving and largely unsettled legal issue. The legal uncertainty revolves around which party is legally the 'copyright owner' of the mods within the pack—the company that produced the game, the end-user that created the compilation, or the creators of the individual mods. Video games are protected by copyright law as a "literary work". In the United States context, the mechanisms of how the modder gets into the code of the game to mod it may violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act or even simply the end-user license agreement (EULA). Most EULAs forbid modders from selling their mods. A particular concern of companies is the use of copyrighted material by another company in mods, such as a "Quake" "Aliens vs. Predator" mod, which was legally contested by 20th Century Fox.


title: Video game modding

text: Some regard the fan use of copyrighted material in mods to be part of a "moral economy", and develop norms about the reuse of this material, often settling on a system of shared ownership, where mods and code are freely shared with the common good in mind. It has been argued that total conversion mods may be covered in the United States under the concept of fair use.


title: Video game modding

text: In 2006, part of the reason that "Second Life" generated interest was how user-generated content (mods) was central to the experience, and how the intellectual property rights remained with the creator-player. This was developed by the publisher into a market.


title: Video game modding

text: Mods themselves may introduce other copyrighted elements into video games which further complicate matters. Since 2013, it has become popular to mod in Thomas the Tank Engine into numerous games, typically replacing a boss character with Thomas. This tradition had started with "" with a mod created by Kevin Brock, replacing one of the game's dragons with Thomas. Mattel which owns the rights to Thomas issued takedown notices for Brock's mod for "Skyrim" and other games that featured Thomas, but other players began developing similar Thomas mods for other games.


title: Video game modding

text: In April 2015, Valve implemented a "paid mod" feature onto Steam; the first game to implement this feature was "". The move resulted in a swift backlash from the modding community, and after an enormous influx of complaints of overpriced mods, content that had been published without its creator's consent, and concerns over mods that contained third-party copyrighted content (i.e., material that neither Valve nor the mod creator owned), Valve discontinued the 'paid mod' feature entirely and agreed to refund those that spent money to purchase a mod. Other concerns identified included that being able to mod the game was a reason why players bought the game on PC in the first place, and a worry that newbie modders would not be able to stand on the shoulders of giants by modding pre-existing mods, and that mod teams would become unworkable. The removal of the system itself was also criticized.


title: Video game modding

text: A "total conversion" is a mod of an existing game that replaces virtually all of the artistic assets in the original game, and sometimes core aspects of gameplay. Total conversions can result in a completely different genre from the original.


title: Video game modding

text: The "Half-Life" modding community splintered across the different total conversions available, often modding for a particular total conversion rather than Half-Life in general. Examples of famous total conversions include "Counter-Strike" (1999), whose developers were hired by Valve to turn it into a commercial product, "Defense of the Ancients" (2003), which was the first MOBA to have sponsored tournaments, and "Garry's Mod" (2004), for which fans created thousands of game modes over its decade-long development.


title: Video game modding

text: Many popular total conversions are later turned into standalone games, replacing any remaining original assets to allow for commercial sale without copyright infringement. Some of these mods are even approved for sale despite using the IP of the original game, such as "Black Mesa".


title: Video game modding

text: An "overhaul" mod significantly changes an entire game's graphics and gameplay, usually with the intent to improve on the original, but not going as far as being a completely different experience. This can also include adding revised dialog and music.


title: Video game modding

text: Examples of overhaul mods include "Deus Ex: Revision", which was given permission from publisher Square Enix to release on Steam alongside the original game, and "GTA 5 Redux", which not only improves the original game's textures, but also adds a new weather system, visual effects, and adjusts the wanted system, weapons, and vehicle handling.


title: Video game modding

text: Randomizers are a type of user mod, typically atop games of the 8-bit and 16-bit generations, that keep the fundamental gameplay but randomize elements of the game to make it more of a challenge. Randomizers came out of the speedrunning community which had exhausted the challenge of racing through the game with one of the earliest being for "The Legend of Zelda" around 2015. In the "Zelda" randomizer, the mod moved the location of the dungeons, the layout of these dungeons, and the location of enemies in a random but procedurally generated manner (similar to roguelikes) based on a numerical seed, so that speedrunners would have to overcome these new changes. Their popularity grew as randomizer playthroughs were popular with streaming media. Some games have offered official randomizer modes as downloadable content, including "" in 2020, and "Axiom Verge" in 2021.


title: Video game modding

text: An "add-on" or "addon" is a typically small mod which adds to the original content of a specific game. In most cases, an add-on will add one particular element to a game, such as a new weapon in a shooting game, a new unit or map in a strategy game, a new vehicle or track in a racing game, items in a game like "Minecraft" or "Terraria", or additional contents in simulation games (such as new pilotable airplanes, e.g., the Airbus A330 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner). An example of a mod that adds functionality to augment or enhance a players experience is ComputerCraft; a Minecraft mod that adds programmable computers and robots to allow the player to automate tasks in-game. This can be accomplished without changing any of the original game's existing content. Many games are flexible and allow this, however that is not always the case. Some add-ons occasionally have to replace in-game content, due to the nature of a peculiar game engine. It may be the case, for example, that in a game which does not give a player the option to choose their character, modders wishing to add another player model will simply have to overwrite the old one. A famous example of this type of mod can be found for the "Grand Theft Auto" series wherein modders may use downloadable tools to replace content (such as models) in the game's directory. The "Left 4 Dead" series can also be modded with individual add-ons which are stored in a format, so that a player may choose to activate a given mod or not.


title: Video game modding

text: An "unofficial patch" can be a mod of an existing game that fixes bugs not fixed by an official patch or that unlocks content present in the released game's files but is inaccessible in official gameplay. Such patches are usually created by members of the game's fan base when the original developer is unwilling or unable to supply the functionality officially. "Jazz Jackrabbit 2" has an unofficial patch which adds and fixes many of its features. One effect of this type of mod is that hidden or partially deleted content can be revealed. An example is the "Hot Coffee" mod for "", which unlocks a sexually explicit minigame. The ESRB changed the rating of "GTA:SA" from "Mature" (M) to "Adults Only" (AO). In the fourth quarter of 2005, Rockstar released a "clean" version of the game with the "Hot Coffee" scenes removed ("Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" 1.01), allowing the rating of the game to be reverted to its original "Mature" rating. In May 2006, a similar event occurred with "".


title: Video game modding

text: An "art mod" is a mod that is created for artistic effect. Art mods are most frequently associated with video game art. However, modified games that retain their playability and are subject to more extensive mods (i.e. closer to total conversions) may also be classified as art games. Art mods are usually designed to subvert the original game experience. One example is the "Velvet-Strike" mod for "Counter Strike" in which the players spray-paint anti-violence messages in multiplayer games as a form of performance art. Another example is Robert Nideffer's "Tomb Raider I and II" patches which were designed to subvert the unofficial "Nude Raider" patch of the late 1990s by altering Lara Croft's sexual orientation. The origins of the art mod can be traced to the classic 1983 mod "Castle Smurfenstein" (a humorous subversion of "Castle Wolfenstein" which replaces the Nazi guards with Smurfs). The very first art mod, however, is generally considered to be Iimura Takahiko's 1993 "AIUEOUNN Six Features" (a modification of Sony's "System G").


title: Video game modding

text: After EA lost its license with Major League Baseball and ended support for "MVP Baseball 2005", the game's modding community has continued to support it by releasing updated roster lists and graphics every year, along with creating alternative baseball leagues (e.g. MVP Caribe, a total conversion) in the game.


title: Video game modding

text: Released 2011 received mixed reviews due to bugs and other issues. Modders fixed the game over time, got source code access granted, which lead to an official re-release under the name IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover BLITZ Edition.


title: Video game modding

text: A user interface mod changes parts of how players interact with the game, and commonly, mods to the UI reveal information that the player or modder believes is helpful in playing the game.


title: Video game modding

text: Mod packs are groups of mods put into one package for download, often with an auto-installer. A mod pack's purpose is to make it easier for the player to install and manage multiple mods. Mod packs may be created with the purpose of making the original game more accessible to new players or to make the game harder for veterans to enjoy.


title: National debt of Japan

text: US Dollars (1.28 quadrillion yen), or 266% of GDP, and is the highest of any developed nation. 43.3% of this debt is held by the Bank of Japan.


title: National debt of Japan

text: Japan's asset price bubble collapse in 1991 led to a prolonged period of economic stagnation described as the "lost decade", with GDP falling significantly in real terms through the 1990s. In response, the Bank of Japan set out in the early 2000s to encourage economic growth through a non-traditional policy of quantitative easing. By 2013, Japanese public debt exceeded one quadrillion yen (US$10.46 trillion), which was about twice the country's annual gross domestic product at that time, and already the largest debt ratio of any nation.


title: National debt of Japan

text: The public debt of Japan has continued to rise in response to a number of challenges, including but not limited to the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-08, the Tōhoku Earthquake in 2011, and the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in late 2019 which also held ramifications for Tokyo's hosting of the 2020 Summer Olympics. In August 2011, Moody's rating cut Japan's long-term sovereign debt rating by one notch to Aa3 from Aa2 in line with the size of the country's deficit and borrowing level. The large budget deficits and government debt since the 2008-09 global recession and the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 contributed to the ratings downgrade. In 2012 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Yearbook editorial stated that Japan's "debt rose above 200% of GDP partly as a consequence of the tragic earthquake and the related reconstruction efforts." Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the situation "urgent" due to the ballooning debt.


title: National debt of Japan

text: In order to address the Japanese budget gap and growing national debt, the Japanese National Diet, at the urging of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), passed a bill in June 2012 to double the national consumption tax to 10%. This increased the tax to 8% in April 2014. The originally scheduled 10% tax increase to be implemented in October 2015 was delayed until at least October 2019. The final increase to 10% was implemented on October 1, 2019. The goal of this increase was to halt the growth of the public debt by 2015, although reducing the debt would require further measures. The DPJ subsequently lost control of the Diet in late 2012, and Noda's successor Shinzo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party implemented the "Abenomics" program, which involved an additional 10.3 trillion yen of economic stimulus spending to balance out the negative impact of the consumption tax increase on economic growth.


title: National debt of Japan

text: Abenomics led to rapid appreciation in the Japanese stock market in early 2013 without significantly impacting Japanese government bond yields, although 10-year forward rates rose slightly. Around 70% of Japanese government bonds are purchased by the Bank of Japan, and much of the remainder is purchased by Japanese banks and trust funds, which largely insulates the prices and yields of such bonds from the effects of the global bond market and reduces their sensitivity to credit rating changes. Betting against Japanese government bonds has become known as the "widowmaker trade" due to their price resilience even if fundamental analysis indicates the contrary should be true.


title: National debt of Japan

text: Notwithstanding the stability of the market for Japanese government debt, the cost of servicing Japan's public debt uses up half of the state's tax revenues, and the cost of importing energy in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster has also negatively impacted Japan's longstanding current account surplus.


title: National debt of Japan

text: In 1947, during postwar economic chaos, the amount of bonds the government issued exceeded tax revenue. Later, it was thought that this was the root cause of postwar inflation, and the Japanese government enacted the Public Finance Act of Japan in response. The act established a balanced fiscal policy by prohibiting: 1) the issuance of government bonds to cover national debt, and, 2) the Bank of Japan from buying government bonds. Since the establishment of the 1955 System, the amount of held valuable securities in the bank – especially national bonds – had risen significantly. However, the 1965 budget issued 259 billion yen in deficit-covering bonds, and the next year's budget in 1966 allotted 730 billion yen in construction bonds. By 1990, the government did not issue a national bond due to the Japanese asset price bubble. Bonds were issued again in 1994, and have been issued every year since.


title: National debt of Japan

text: In 1995 (Heisei 9), Masayoshi Takemura, the former finance minister, declared the "Declaration of Fiscal Crisis" by issuing deficit-covering bond with higher frequency.


title: National debt of Japan

text: During the Japanese asset price bubble of the late 1980s, revenues were high due to prosperous conditions, Japanese stocks profited, and the amount of national bonds issued was modest. With the breakdown of the economic bubble came a decrease in annual revenue. As a result, the amount of national bonds issued increased quickly. Most of the national bonds had a fixed interest rate, so the debt to GDP ratio increased as a consequence of the decrease in nominal GDP growth due to deflation.


title: National debt of Japan

text: The growth of annual revenue was slowed down by the prolonged depression. Consequently, the governments started issuing additional national bonds to cover the interest payments. This national bond is called "renewal national bond". As a result of issuing these bonds, the debt is not actually repaid, and the amount of bonds issued continued to grow. Japan has continued to issue bonds to cover the debt since the asset price bubble collapse.


title: National debt of Japan

text: There was the phase that opportunity to act austerity policy rose when the fear for return (repayment) principal of interest was close-upped at any trouble happened. But, the policy was acted, that was the inadequate fiscal action by the government and bring finance under control by the Bank of Japan, when critical recession caused by austerity policy and others. There was the opinion that suggested a fear for general situation of the economic structure, that the Japanese economy experienced deflation caused by globalization and the growing international competition. These factors steered the direction of Japanese economic policy, hence, the perceived harmful impact to the economic strength of the country.


title: National debt of Japan

text: With the above-mentioned view point from the mobilizing of finances by the government or the action to monetary squeeze by the BOJ, or, from the view point that it has been deflation recession caused by long termed low demand, there are criticisms that it also cause an effect hurt power of economy the tend to promote increase efficiency of supply side. On the other hand, there are following suggestions for that criticisms:


title: National debt of Japan

text: A policy was planned and enacted in which the national central bank would directly buy the national bonds.


title: National debt of Japan

text: Economist Kazuhito Ikeo stated, "Quantitative easing and debt monetization are different from each other. We must not assume they are the same just because both involve the Bank of Japan buying government bonds. 'Lending money' is clearly different from 'giving money', but we just see the money move from one place to another, and they look exactly the same in that aspect.


title: National debt of Japan

text: The Public Finance Act prohibits the Bank of Japan from buying government bonds directly. Nevertheless, according to the provision, it is allowed to buy when the National Diet approves the bill. These regulations result from reflection that the Bank of Japan brought about violent inflation by their public bond purchases during the period from before to just after the War.


title: Tarja Halonen

text: Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), and as the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary (1974–1975) and a member of the City Council of Helsinki (1977–1996). Halonen was a Social Democratic Party member of parliament from 1979 until her election to the presidency in 2000. She also served as a minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health from 1987 to 1990, as Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1991, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2000.


title: Tarja Halonen

text: Halonen was an extremely popular president, with her approval ratings reaching a peak of 88 percent in December 2003. She was re-elected in 2006, defeating National Coalition Party candidate Sauli Niinistö in the second round by 51% to 48%. Ineligible to run in the 2012 presidential elections because of term limits, Halonen left office on 1 March 2012 and was succeeded by Niinistö.


title: Tarja Halonen

text: Widely known for her interest in human rights issues, Halonen served as the chairperson of the Finnish LGBT rights organization Seta in the 1980s, and she actively participated in the discussion of issues such as women's rights and the problems of globalization during her presidency. In 2006, she was mentioned by various commentators as a potential candidate for the United Nations Secretary-General selection, but she denied an interest at that time, stating that she wanted to finish her term as president before thinking about other career options. In 2009, "Forbes" named her among the 100 most powerful women in the world.


title: Tarja Halonen

text: Halonen is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.


title: Tarja Halonen

text: Tarja Halonen was born on 24 December 1943 in the district of Kallio, which at the time was a traditional working-class area in central Helsinki. Her mother Lyyli Elina Loimola was a set-dresser and her father Vieno Olavi Halonen worked as a welder. Halonen's parents married at the beginning of World War II and Tarja was born a few years later. Vieno Halonen was at the frontline during the Continuation War and Lyyli Halonen was working in a shoe factory when their daughter was born. When Halonen was two years old, her father Vieno Halonen went to the kiosk to buy a magazine and no longer returned home to his family. Halonen has not commented much on the incident since, but Halonen's parents officially divorced in 1948. Vieno Halonen was an award-winning soldier who fought in the 26th Infantry Regiment, so-called "Ace Regiment". Vieno Halonen was wounded three times during the war and after the war he was awarded first, second and fourth class Order of the Cross of Liberty medals. In later interviews, Tarja Halonen has said that she has met her father only a few times.


title: Tarja Halonen

text: After the divorce, in 1950, Lyyli Halonen married her new husband Thure Forss, who worked as an electrician and was very active in the working-class community. Both Halonen's mother and her stepfather influenced her world view extensively. Halonen later said that her mother was a true survivor, always an extremely active and resilient person who valued good, honest and modest hardworking people. When she entered politics, Halonen stated that these are also the qualities and attributes she respects in people.


title: Tarja Halonen

text: In 1950 she began her studies in Kallio Elementary school from where she later moved to Kallio Gymnasium and finally finished her matriculation examination in 1962. She began to study Art History in the University of Helsinki in 1962 but in autumn 1963 she changed her studies to law, and obtained her Master of Laws degree in 1968 specializing in criminal law.