title: Prague Metro

text: Longer-term season tickets can be bought on the smart ticketing system Lítačka card, for periods of one month (550 CZK), three months (1480 CZK) or the annual pass for 3650 CZK (10 CZK/day). Students studying in the Czech republic with a valid student license ISIC, children under 18 years old and seniors over 60 years of age can buy season tickets at reduced prices. Reduced ticket prices are: 130 CZK for 30 days, 360 CZK for 90 days or 1280 CZK for a year.


title: Prague Metro

text: Senior citizens can ride for free from the day of the 65th birthday (proof of age is needed e.g. by identity card, passport or another officially issued personal document with a photograph, name, surname and date of birth). Also children up to 14 years ride for free (proof of age is needed, if the child is 10 years or older).


title: Prague Metro

text: The tickets are the same for all means of transport in Prague (metro, trams, buses, funiculars and ferries).


title: Prague Metro

text: The announcement made through the public address system when the doors are closing, ""Ukončete, prosím, výstup a nástup, dveře se zavírají"" ("Please finish exiting and boarding, the doors are closing") has become a symbol of Prague for many tourists, and is possibly the first clear Czech phrase many travelers hear. The announcement has been similar since 1974, when the first line was opened, although the original version did not include the word "please". The announcements are voiced by on Line A, by on Line B, and by on Line C.


title: Prague Metro

text: Other announcements include: ""Vystupujte vpravo ve směru jízdy"" ("Exit on the right side in the direction of travel"), ""Konečná stanice, prosíme, vystupte"" ("Terminal station, please exit the train") and ""Přestup na linky S a další vlakové spoje"" ("Transfer to S lines and other railway connections").


The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. Its aim is to facilitate "the development of friendly relations" among governments through a uniform set of practices and principles; most notably, it codifies the longstanding custom of diplomatic immunity, in which diplomatic missions are granted privileges that enable diplomats to perform their functions without fear of coercion or harassment by the host country. The Vienna Convention is a cornerstone of modern international relations and international law and is almost universally ratified and observed; it is considered one of the most successful legal instruments drafted under the United Nations.


title: Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

text: Throughout the history of sovereign states, diplomats have enjoyed a special status. Their function to negotiate agreements between states demands certain special privileges. An envoy from another nation is traditionally treated as a guest, their communications with their home nation treated as confidential, and their freedom from coercion and subjugation by the host nation treated as essential.


text: The first attempt to codify diplomatic immunity into diplomatic law occurred with the Congress of Vienna in 1815. This was followed much later by the Convention regarding Diplomatic Officers (Havana, 1928).


text: The present treaty on the treatment of diplomats was the outcome of a draft by the International Law Commission. The treaty was adopted on 18 April 1961, by the United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities held in Vienna, Austria, and first implemented on 24 April 1964. The same Conference also adopted the Optional Protocol concerning Acquisition of Nationality, the Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes, the Final Act and four resolutions annexed to that Act. One notable aspect which arose from the 1961 treaty was the establishment of the Holy See's diplomatic immunity status with other nations.


text: Two years later, the United Nations adopted a closely related treaty, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.


text: The Vienna Convention is an extensive document, containing 53 articles. The following is a basic overview of its key provisions.


text: The same year the treaty was adopted, two protocols were added as amendments; countries may ratify the main treaty without necessarily ratifying these optional agreements.


text: , there are 193 state parties to the Vienna Convention, including all UN member states – with the exceptions of Palau and South Sudan – and the UN observer states of the Holy See and State of Palestine. The Republic of China signed and ratified the convention on 18 April 1961 and 19 December 1969, respectively, prior to the UN granting China's seat to the People's Republic of China. There are no states that have signed the treaty but not ratified it.


title: Armel Bella-Kotchap

text: Armel Bella-Kotchap (born 11 December 2001) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Southampton and the Germany national team.


title: Armel Bella-Kotchap

text: In July 2018, Bella-Kotchap joined VfL Bochum professional team 2018–19 summer training camp. In March 2019, Bella-Kotchap signed his first professional contract with VfL Bochum. He made his professional debut for Bochum in the 2. Bundesliga on 28 April 2019, starting in the away match against Erzgebirge Aue.


title: Armel Bella-Kotchap

text: On 21 June 2022, Bella-Kotchap joined Southampton on a four-year deal. Having established himself as a regular starter at centre-back, Bella-Kotchap dislocated his shoulder in a collision during the 1–1 draw with West Ham United on 16 October. As a result, he was expected to be out of action for several weeks.


title: Armel Bella-Kotchap

text: Bella-Kotchap began his youth international career with the Germany under-18 team, making his debut on 15 November 2018 in a friendly match against Cyprus, which finished as a 1–0 win.


title: Armel Bella-Kotchap

text: On 15 September 2022, Bella-Kotchap was included in the German senior squad for the first time. He made his debut as a late substitute on 26 September in a 3–3 draw with England.


title: Armel Bella-Kotchap

text: Bella-Kotchap was born in Paris, France, and is the son of former Cameroon international Cyrille Florent Bella.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Gali Janardhana Reddy (born 11 January 1967) is an Indian industrialist and politician affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Reddy was born on 11 January 1967. He has two brothers, G. Karunakara Reddy and G. Somashekara Reddy, and an elder sister, Rajeswari. He and his siblings were born in Bellary, Karnataka to Rukminamma and Chenga Reddy, a police constable.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: At the age of 21, Reddy established a residuary non-banking finance company called, Ennoble India Savings & Investment Company Limited, under the RBI in 1989. Across South India, the company had a total of 125 branches with a turnover of 350 crores. While the company was still functioning, it has stopped collecting deposits from 2003. He surrendered the Certificate of Registration to the RBI once all the money was returned with interest to depositors. Reddy was the first person from the non-banking sector in India to obtain an appreciation letter from the RBI.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: In 2001, he took over Obulapuram Mining Company (OMCPL) which had an iron-ore mining lease. The lease area contained large quantities of iron-ore lines although there was no market for these at the time. His dissenters assumed that acquiring OMCPL would be his downfall but the steady increases in iron-ore prices due to China’s construction boom proved the opposite.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Allegedly, his political clout helped him to get the iron-ore mining license in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh in 2004. He established the Bramhani Industries, a steel manufacturing unit, in the Kadapa district and gave employment to 10,000+ people.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Reddy came into political spotlight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections when the Reddy brothers were working as part of Sushma Swaraj's campaign. At the time, Swaraj had been competing as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Bellary against Sonia Gandhi, who belonged to the Indian National Congress, to become the MP. Although Swaraj was unsuccessful, she remained a patron of the Reddys and was known to visit Bellary frequently. After the Reddy brothers were charged during the mining scandal, Swaraj distanced herself from them. The allegations against Reddy brought a bad reputation for the BJP in Karnataka and exposed opportunistic politics in the state.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: In 2006, due to the BJP - Janta Dal (Secular) (JDS) coalition government and the efforts of Reddy, B. Sriramulu was made a Cabinet Minister. In 2006, Reddy was made a Member of the Legislative Council to recognize his active role in increasing the BJP presence in Bellary. However, in later years, Reddy fought with Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, and made allegations, and provided evidence of corruption, resulting in his suspension.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: However, H. D. Kumaraswamy did not hand over the government to B. S. Yeddyurappa at the required time. The State President of the party at the time, D. V. Sadananda Gowda and B. S. Yeddyurappa revoked Reddy’s suspension who then campaigned alongside Yeddyurappa for BJP during the Assembly Elections of 2008. Aided by Reddy’s efforts, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 110 seats and with the support of 5 independent MLA’s, BJP formed a government in South India for the first time on its own.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Reddy was then inducted as the Minister for Tourism and Infrastructure and the Minister in-charge of the Bellary district, setting many developmental milestones for the state and for Bellary during this period. In spite of allegations made against Reddy and his period of judicial custody, Reddy remains a popular politician which was witnessed by the state on 29 January 2017 when Reddy received a standing ovation from a large crowd at the HemaVema function in the palace grounds in Bangalore. Reddy did not contest the Karnataka assembly polls in 2018; however, his brothers, Sriramulu and four other candidates close to Reddy received a BJP ticket.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Reddy runs a school for mentally retarded children since 1997 and an old age home from 2004 with his own funds..


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: In July 2011, the Lokayukta of Karnataka, Santosh Hegde, published a report on the illegal mining activities in the Bellary region. Reddy was accused of completely rigging iron ore mining in this area and defrauding the government. Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation officials had clues to tax evasion and found that Reddy had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a one-dollar company in Singapore to camouflage the company's income suppression. They raided the place along with other investigative agencies and formed a report which served as the basis of the report on illegal mining. Reddy is said to have designed a "Zero-Risk system" of iron ore mining, where he seamlessly provided protection to unauthorized and unaccounted mining, with active connivance from government officials at all levels. The rule of the iron ore mafia under his command was called the "Republic of Bellary" in which no external control or governance mechanism had any effect.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: The CBI is investigating the alleged bribing of the Hyderabad Special Court judge T. Pattabhirama Rao by Reddy's family members (G.Somashekar Reddy & H.Suresh Babu) in order to secure his bail in the Obulapuram Mining Company case. Further investigations by CBI implicated others, including a retired judge T.V. Chalapathi Rao, in the "Cash for Bail" scandal. The IT department issued notices and Reddy provided an explanation to the department but these explanations were rejected by the CIT Appeals. He preferred to appeal in all the matters before the Hon'ble ITAT and the Hon'ble Tribunal has allowed all appeals in his favour by dismissing the stand taken by the IT department.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Reddy was criticised over the lavish wedding of his daughter, Brahmani, which was held in Palace Grounds, Bangalore. He allegedly spent 500 crores ($71 million) for his daughter's wedding. Brahmani married a 23-year-old MBA graduate who hails from a family operating gold mines in South Africa, Tanzania and granite marble businesses in Turkey.


title: G. Janardhana Reddy

text: Reddy was arrested on 5 September 2011 by the CBI, and taken to Hyderabad, Telangana. He is accused of involvement in illegal mining of iron ore in Bellary in Karnataka and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. This investigation is the culmination of a recommendation to the Income Tax Department and CBI by the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister K. Rosaiah and is not directly related to the findings of Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde. Once the CBI Court heard the lawyers' representations, he along with his brother-in-law, B. V. Srinivas Reddy, was remanded to judicial custody and sent to Chanchalguda Central Jail. The CBI also arrested senior officers of the IAS and IRS during ongoing investigations. On 4 August 2012, a CBI court extended the judicial custody of Janardhana Reddy and four others arrested in the illegal mining case until 7 September. On 21 January 2015, the Supreme Court granted his bail. The Supreme court agrees to hear Janardhana Reddy's appeal to visit Ballari on 24 May 2021.


title: Donna Lewis

text: Donna Lewis is a Welsh singer. She is best known for the 1996 pop hit single "I Love You Always Forever", which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, and also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States. In the latter country, the song peaked at number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100 for nine weeks, having been held off the summit by the Bayside Boys Remix of "Macarena" by Los Del Rio. It also became the highest-charting single on the "Billboard" Hot 100 by a Welsh artist since Bonnie Tyler topped the chart with "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1983. Additionally, the single is tied third among songs with the longest runs at number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and at second for most weeks at number one on the "Billboard" Mainstream Top 40 chart. Lewis teamed up with Richard Marx on the 1997 adult contemporary hit "At the Beginning" for the "Anastasia" soundtrack. In 1997, Lewis was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Female Artist.


title: Donna Lewis

text: After releasing her second album "Blue Planet", Lewis left Atlantic Records and independently released albums "Be Still" and "In the Pink". Her album "Brand New Day" was produced by David Torn and featured Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson and Dave King.


title: Donna Lewis

text: There are conflicting accounts regarding Lewis's birth date. According to her biography on the "Billboard" and AllMusic websites, written by employees of Rovi, and her BBC page, she was born on 6 August 1973. The following information is consistent with all sources: Lewis was born in Cardiff. She began playing the piano at the age of six. Her father, an amateur jazz pianist and guitarist lent encouragement, and at 14, she began composing original songs. Her formal training was at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, where she majored in classical composition for piano and flute. Lewis then went on to teach music for a year in Sussex before moving to Birmingham to sing in a bar band. During that time she set up a home studio and began recording demos. She became a popular live attraction and circa 1993 began sending her demos to record labels. Atlantic Records signed her in 1994.


title: Donna Lewis

text: An article in "People" from November 1996 presents a different timeline of these events. It states that Lewis's graduation from the Royal Welsh College took place in 1979 and that she played in piano bars throughout Britain and Europe for a period of five years, so like many people in the public eye, there may have been attempts to make her age appear younger than she really is. In November 1996, she had been married for ten years to her road manager and "[gave] her age as in her 30s". This information, if correct, would imply that she was born between 1957 and 1966. This is roughly consistent with a statement Lewis made in an interview in 2015: "When I was in the pop world [...], I wasn't a 19 year old—I was 30 or something like that." The context suggests that this refers to the time when she got her Atlantic record deal. The biography on Lewis's own website does not date events prior to 1996. An article in "Entertainment Weekly" from September 1996 states that Lewis "won't reveal her age—she and her husband/manager, Martin Harris, have been married for nine years, so 'you know I'm not 21'". According to Companies House records for 'Donna Lewis Limited', of which both Donna Lewis ('Singer Songwriter') and her husband Martin Harris ('Business Manager') were directors, she was born in August 1959.


title: Donna Lewis

text: In 1996, Atlantic Records released Lewis's first single, "I Love You Always Forever", a love song which was a hit on VH1. It was also successful on U.S. radio, staying at No. 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks, and spending 13 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the airplay chart. It exceeded one million "spins" on radio, to claim its place in music industry history as the most-played single up to that point. The single reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart in 1996, and spent 14 weeks in the chart. It helped her debut album, "Now in a Minute", to No. 31 in the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart, and No. 52 in the UK Albums Chart. It was certified platinum in the U.S.


title: Donna Lewis

text: Lewis recorded "At the Beginning" with Richard Marx for the 1997 film "Anastasia". Her second LP, "Blue Planet" (1998), won critical acclaim, but it was largely overlooked by the public. Although it produced a minor hit in continental Europe and Asia, "I Could Be the One", and a U.S. No. 1 dance single, "Love Him", Lewis parted ways with Atlantic Records and independently produced her third LP, "Be Still" (2002), which featured her on an almost entirely acoustic set. During the early 2000s, Lewis was featured as a guest vocalist on several trance music/house music recordings. Her fourth LP, "In the Pink", was released in 2008; its first single was "Shout," which was included in the soundtrack to the Marian Quinn film "32A". Lewis also sang lead vocals for her side project, Chute, which released their debut EP in April 2010. In March 2015, she released "Brand New Day", her first full-length LP in nearly a decade.


title: Donna Lewis

text: Lewis is married to Martin Harris, who is also her business manager. She resides in Boiceville, New York and has one son, Archie.


title: Upper limb

text: The upper limbs or upper extremities are the forelimbs of an upright-postured tetrapod vertebrate, extending from the scapulae and clavicles down to and including the digits, including all the musculatures and ligaments involved with the shoulder, elbow, wrist and knuckle joints. In humans, each upper limb is divided into the arm, forearm and hand, and is primarily used for climbing, lifting and manipulating objects.


title: Upper limb

text: In formal usage, the term "arm" only refers to the structures from the shoulder to the elbow, explicitly excluding the forearm, and thus "upper limb" and "arm" are not synonymous. However, in casual usage, the terms are often used interchangeably. The term "upper arm" is redundant in anatomy, but in informal usage is used to distinguish between the two terms.


title: Upper limb

text: In the human body the muscles of the upper limb can be classified by origin, topography, function, or innervation. While a grouping by innervation reveals embryological and phylogenetic origins, the functional-topographical classification below reflects the similarity in action between muscles (with the exception of the shoulder girdle, where muscles with similar action can vary considerably in their location and orientation.


title: Upper limb

text: The shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle, composed of the clavicle and the scapula, connects the upper limb to the axial skeleton through the sternoclavicular joint (the only joint in the upper limb that directly articulates with the trunk), a ball and socket joint supported by the subclavius muscle which acts as a dynamic ligament. While this muscle prevents dislocation in the joint, strong forces tend to break the clavicle instead. The acromioclavicular joint, the joint between the acromion process on the scapula and the clavicle, is similarly strengthened by strong ligaments, especially the coracoclavicular ligament which prevents excessive lateral and medial movements. Between them these two joints allow a wide range of movements for the shoulder girdle, much because of the lack of a bone-to-bone contact between the scapula and the axial skeleton. The pelvic girdle is, in contrast, firmly fixed to the axial skeleton, which increases stability and load-bearing capabilities.


title: Upper limb

text: The mobility of the shoulder girdle is supported by a large number of muscles. The most important of these are muscular sheets rather than fusiform or strap-shaped muscles and they thus never act in isolation but with some fibres acting in coordination with fibres in other muscles.


title: Upper limb

text: The glenohumeral joint (colloquially called the shoulder joint) is the highly mobile ball and socket joint between the glenoid cavity of the scapula and the head of the humerus. Lacking the passive stabilisation offered by ligaments in other joints, the glenohumeral joint is actively stabilised by the rotator cuff, a group of short muscles stretching from the scapula to the humerus. Little inferior support is available to the joint and dislocation of the shoulder almost exclusively occurs in this direction.


title: Upper limb

text: The large muscles acting at this joint perform multiple actions and seemingly simple movements are often the result of composite antagonist and protagonist actions from several muscles. For example, pectoralis major is the most important arm flexor and latissimus dorsi the most important extensor at the glenohumeral joint, but, acting together, these two muscles cancel each other's action leaving only their combined medial rotation component. On the other hand, to achieve pure flexion at the joint the deltoid and supraspinatus must cancel the adduction component and the teres minor and infraspinatus the medial rotation component of pectoralis major. Similarly, abduction (moving the arm away from the body) is performed by different muscles at different stages. The first 10° is performed entirely by the supraspinatus, but beyond that fibres of the much stronger deltoid are in position to take over the work until 90°. To achieve the full 180° range of abduction the arm must be rotated medially and the scapula most be rotated about itself to direct the glenoid cavity upward.


title: Upper limb

text: The arm proper ("brachium"), sometimes called the upper arm, the region between the shoulder and the elbow, is composed of the humerus with the elbow joint at its distal end.


title: Upper limb

text: The elbow joint is a complex of three joints — the humeroradial, humeroulnar, and superior radioulnar joints — the former two allowing flexion and extension whilst the latter, together with its inferior namesake, allows supination and pronation at the wrist. Triceps is the major extensor and brachialis and biceps the major flexors. Biceps is, however, the major supinator and while performing this action it ceases to be an effective flexor at the elbow.


title: Upper limb

text: The forearm (), composed of the radius and ulna; the latter is the main distal part of the elbow joint, while the former composes the main proximal part of the wrist joint.


title: Upper limb

text: Most of the large number of muscles in the forearm are divided into the wrist, hand, and finger extensors on the dorsal side (back of hand) and the ditto flexors in the superficial layers on the ventral side (side of palm). These muscles are attached to either the lateral or medial epicondyle of the humerus. They thus act on the elbow, but, because their origins are located close to the centre of rotation of the elbow, they mainly act distally at the wrist and hand. Exceptions to this simple division are brachioradialis — a strong elbow flexor — and palmaris longus — a weak wrist flexor which mainly acts to tense the palmar aponeurosis. The deeper flexor muscles are extrinsic hand muscles; strong flexors at the finger joints used to produce the important power grip of the hand, whilst forced extension is less useful and the corresponding extensor thus are much weaker.


title: Upper limb

text: Biceps is the major supinator (drive a screw in with the right arm) and pronator teres and pronator quadratus the major pronators (unscrewing) — the latter two role the radius around the ulna (hence the name of the first bone) and the former reverses this action assisted by supinator. Because biceps is much stronger than its opponents, supination is a stronger action than pronation (hence the direction of screws).


title: Upper limb

text: The wrist (), composed of the carpal bones, articulates at the wrist joint (or radiocarpal joint) proximally and the carpometacarpal joint distally. The wrist can be divided into two components separated by the midcarpal joints. The small movements of the eight carpal bones during composite movements at the wrist are complex to describe, but flexion mainly occurs in the midcarpal joint whilst extension mainly occurs in the radiocarpal joint; the latter joint also providing most of adduction and abduction at the wrist.


title: Upper limb

text: How muscles act on the wrist is complex to describe. The five muscles acting on the wrist directly — flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, extensor carpi radialis, extensor carpi ulnaris, and palmaris longus — are accompanied by the tendons of the extrinsic hand muscles (i.e. the muscles acting on the fingers). Thus, every movement at the wrist is the work of a group of muscles; because the four primary wrist muscles (FCR, FCU, ECR, and ECU) are attached to the four corners of the wrist, they also produce a secondary movement (i.e. ulnar or radial deviation). To produce pure flexion or extension at the wrist, these muscle therefore must act in pairs to cancel out each other's secondary action. On the other hand, finger movements without the corresponding wrist movements require the wrist muscles to cancel out the contribution from the extrinsic hand muscles at the wrist.


title: Upper limb

text: The hand (), the metacarpals (in the hand proper) and the phalanges of the fingers, form the metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP, including the knuckles) and interphalangeal joints (IP).


title: Upper limb

text: Of the joints between the carpus and metacarpus, the carpometacarpal joints, only the saddle-shaped joint of the thumb offers a high degree of mobility while the opposite is true for the metacarpophalangeal joints. The joints of the fingers are simple hinge joints.


title: Upper limb

text: The primary role of the hand itself is grasping and manipulation; tasks for which the hand has been adapted to two main grips — power grip and precision grip. In a power grip an object is held against the palm and in a precision grip an object is held with the fingers, both grips are performed by intrinsic and extrinsic hand muscles together. Most importantly, the relatively strong thenar muscles of the thumb and the thumb's flexible first joint allow the special opposition movement that brings the distal thumb pad in direct contact with the distal pads of the other four digits. Opposition is a complex combination of thumb flexion and abduction that also requires the thumb to be rotated 90° about its own axis. Without this complex movement, humans would not be able to perform a precision grip.


title: Upper limb

text: In addition, the central group of intrinsic hand muscles give important contributions to human dexterity. The palmar and dorsal interossei adduct and abduct at the MCP joints and are important in pinching. The lumbricals, attached to the tendons of the flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) and extensor digitorum communis (FDC), flex the MCP joints while extending the IP joints and allow a smooth transfer of forces between these two muscles while extending and flexing the fingers.


title: Upper limb

text: The motor and sensory supply of the upper limb is provided by the brachial plexus which is formed by the ventral rami of spinal nerves C5-T1. In the posterior triangle of the neck these rami form three trunks from which fibers enter the axilla region (armpit) to innervate the muscles of the anterior and posterior compartments of the limb. In the axilla, cords are formed to split into branches, including the five terminal branches listed below.


title: Upper limb

text: The muscles of the upper limb are innervated segmentally proximal to distal so that the proximal muscles are innervated by higher segments (C5–C6) and the distal muscles are innervated by lower segments (C8–T1).


title: Upper limb

text: The skeletons of all mammals are based on a common pentadactyl ("five-fingered") template but optimised for different functions. While many mammals can perform other tasks using their forelimbs, their primary use in most terrestrial mammals is one of three main modes of locomotion: unguligrade (hoof walkers), digitigrade (toe walkers), and plantigrade (sole walkers). Generally, the forelimbs are optimised for speed and stamina, but in some mammals some of the locomotion optimisation have been sacrificed for other functions, such as digging and grasping.


title: Upper limb

text: In primates, the upper limbs provide a wide range of movement which increases manual dexterity. The limbs of chimpanzees, compared to those of humans, reveal their different lifestyle. The chimpanzee primarily uses two modes of locomotion: knuckle-walking, a style of quadrupedalism in which the body weight is supported on the knuckles (or more properly on the middle phalanges of the fingers), and brachiation (swinging from branch to branch), a style of bipedalism in which flexed fingers are used to grasp branches above the head. To meet the requirements of these styles of locomotion, the chimpanzee's finger phalanges are longer and have more robust insertion areas for the flexor tendons while the metacarpals have transverse ridges to limit dorsiflexion (stretching the fingers towards the back of the hand). The thumb is small enough to facilitate brachiation while maintaining some of the dexterity offered by an opposable thumb. In contrast, virtually all locomotion functionality has been lost in humans while predominant brachiators, such as the gibbons, have very reduced thumbs and inflexible wrists.


title: Upper limb

text: In ungulates the forelimbs are optimised to maximize speed and stamina to the extent that the limbs serve almost no other purpose. In contrast to the skeleton of human limbs, the proximal bones of ungulates are short and the distal bones long to provide length of stride; proximally, large and short muscles provide rapidity of step. The odd-toed ungulates, such as the horse, use a single third toe for weight-bearing and have significantly reduced metacarpals. Even-toed ungulates, such as the giraffe, uses both their third and fourth toes but a single completely fused phalanx bone for weight-bearing. Ungulates whose habitat does not require fast running on hard terrain, for example the hippopotamus, have maintained four digits.


title: Upper limb

text: In species in the order Carnivora, some of which are insectivores rather than carnivores, the cats are some of the most highly evolved predators designed for speed, power, and acceleration rather than stamina. Compared to ungulates, their limbs are shorter, more muscular in the distal segments, and maintain five metacarpals and digit bones; providing a greater range of movements, a more varied function and agility (e.g. climbing, swatting, and grooming). Some insectivorous species in this order have paws specialised for specific functions. The sloth bear uses their digits and large claws to tear logs open rather than kill prey. Other insectivorous species, such as the giant and red pandas, have developed large sesamoid bones in their paws that serve as an extra "thumb" while others, such as the meerkat, uses their limbs primary for digging and have vestigial first digits.


title: Upper limb

text: The arboreal two-toed sloth, a South American mammal in the order pilosa, have limbs so highly adapted to hanging in branches that it is unable to walk on the ground where it has to drag its own body using the large curved claws on its foredigits.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II is a 2004 hack and slash action role-playing game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Developed by Black Isle Studios, the game was published by Interplay Entertainment, and distributed by Vivendi Universal Games in North America and Avalon Interactive in Europe. It is the sequel to the 2001 game "".


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: The game is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of "Dungeons & Dragons", and the gameplay is based on the rules of "Dungeons & Dragons" 3rd Edition, which were released in 2000. "Dark Alliance II" is a direct sequel to the original "Dark Alliance" game, with the story following five adventurers attempting to save Baldur's Gate from a growing evil, and ascertain the fate of the protagonists from the first game.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: "Dark Alliance II" was well-received on both platforms, although many critics felt it was not much of an advancement on the first game. A sequel was planned, but was cancelled early in development due to legal problems and the closure of Black Isle Studios after Interplay went bankrupt. The use of the Dark Alliance game engine led to a lawsuit filed by the engine's creators, Snowblind Studios, against publishers Interplay, which alleged the engine had been used in the game without Snowblind's permission.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II" is a real-time hack and slash action role-playing game presented in a 3D perspective, with a rotatable isometric three-quarter top-down view.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: At the beginning of the game, character stats are preset, with the player able to choose from five race/class combinations; a human barbarian (Dorn Redbear), a drow monk (Vhaidra Uoswiir), a moon-elf necromancer (Ysuran Auondril), a dwarven rogue (Borador Goldhand) or a human cleric (Allessia Faithhammer). The player can customize their character's stats through gaining experience points from defeating enemies. Every time the character increases in level, points are awarded corresponding to that level; i.e. if a character increases to level twelve, the player will gain twelve experience points to spend on the character's spells and feats. For every four levels which the character increases, the player is given one ability point to spend on one of the six core attributes (strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, charisma).


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Each of the five characters have their own unique fighting style and their own specific set of spells and feats. Gameplay strategy is thus different for each character. Dorn is a Barbarian, and his feats tend to focus on increasing his brute strength and ability to resist damage, as well as granting him powerful abilities to aid in melee combat, such as the ability to wield two-handed weapons in each hand. Vhaidra relies on unarmed combat, so her feats tend to focus on increasing her speed and combos, as well as granting her close-range abilities, such as pushing enemies away from her. As Ysuran is a necromancer, his feats tend to focus on increasing the power of his magic and granting him new spells, such as the ability to use shadow magic. Borador tends more towards archery, but is also capable of melee combat. His spells tend to focus on allowing him to use a shield offensively, and granting him the ability to set traps for enemies and disarm traps intended for the player. Allessia is a cleric and has access to many healing and defensive spells. She can also use melee combat. Later in the game she gains the ability to reanimate the dead, and have them fight alongside her.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Gameplay is semi-linear; most of the main quests can be performed in different orders, but only from within a group of given quests. For example, in Act I, the player can choose to tackle a series of kidnappings or investigate a spate of murders, but no other main quests are made available until both quests are complete. There are also optional side-quests, which do not have to be completed. There are more NPCs than in the first game, and the player can interact with many of them. Depending on which character the player is using, these NPCs may or may not provide information and assistance. Weapons, armor and items are only available for purchase from one location throughout the game, a shop in Baldur's Gate, although the stock changes at the commencement of each act, with the weapons increasing in expense and power. The HUD features the option to use either a transparent map that covers most of the screen, or a mini-map, with the player also given the option to turn the map off entirely.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: The game also features cooperative gameplay with another player. Both players share the same screen, and are thus limited in how far they can move away from one another. In co-op mode, both players get 50% of the experience for each kill, no matter which player makes the kill. Additionally, unlike in the original game, all treasure is shared 50/50 between both players, irrespective of which player collects it.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: A new feature in "Dark Alliance II" gives players the ability to create custom weapons and armor. Players can improve items by using runestones and gems. To increase the strength of an item, at least one runestone must be used. Gems are optional, although adding gems increases the strength further and enhances certain of the items' attributes. The player cannot place more gems on an item than runestones; if the player wishes to place four gems, they must have a minimum of four runestones attached. Each item can have two different types of gem attached at any one time, in addition to the required runestones. There are several different kinds of gem and each has a different effect on different types of item. For example, a pearl attached to a piece of armor gives +1 additional treasure drop, attached to a weapon gives +1 "Improved Critical", and attached to a trinket gives +1 Wisdom.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: The game contains four difficulty levels; "Easy", "Normal", "Hard" and "Extreme". Extreme is unlocked once the player has completed any of the other three levels. Extreme mode takes the form of a New Game Plus, and can only be played by importing a saved character from another game. The game also contains two secret characters; Drizzt Do'Urden and Artemis Entreri. Drizzt becomes available to use in the main game upon beating any difficulty level. Artemis is unlocked upon defeating Extreme.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: While the original game focused on three areas in the Sword Coast and Western Heartlands regions of the Faerûnian continent, the second game is predominately based in and around the city of Baldur's Gate itself.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: The game features five main playable characters; Dorn Redbear, Ysuran Aundril, Borador Goldhand, Vhaidra Uoswiir and Allessia Faithhammer, each of whom has come to Baldur's Gate for different reasons. Dorn seeks fame and glory. Vhaidra has come looking for vengeance against those who have attempted to destroy her family. Ysuran is suffering from amnesia and has come in the hope of finding clues to his past. Borador comes for wealth, in order to release his clan from its debt to the drow. Allessia comes to spread the word of Helm and advance to become a high-ranking priest.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: The game begins by revealing that after jumping through the portal at the top of the Onyx Tower, Vahn, Kromlech and Adrianna are taken prisoner by the vampire Mordoc SeLanmere.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Meanwhile, outside Baldur's Gate, Dorn, Vhaidra, Ysuran, Borador and Allessia meet on the Trade Way, and learn that since the collapse of Xantam's Guild, the route has become increasingly dangerous due to the rise of the Red Fang Marauders, a goblin army who prey on travelers. After infiltrating a nearby Marauders cave, and freeing the caravan guard Randalla, the heroes head to Wayfork Village, a nearby fiefdom. There, they rescue the village from the Marauders and kill their hobgoblin leader, Harnak.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Upon entering Baldur's Gate, Randalla hires them to investigate a series of murders in the city. At Bloodmire Manor, they learn that Luvia Bloodmire has been combining the body parts of various creatures in an attempt to make a new species, and has been giving her creations to Lady Aragozia Firewind. Her first creation, Argesh, has set up the Hands of Glory, a thieves' guild faction of the Marauders. The heroes kill Argesh, crippling the Hands of Glory, and infiltrate the main base of the Marauders. There, they defeat but do not kill the Red Queen, leader of the Marauders. They follow her to Lady Arogazia's manor, and learn that Arogazia is a member of the Zhentarim, a criminal network intent on ruling Faerûn. She has been using the Marauders in an effort to bring back the Onyx Tower. Along with her associate Kharne (a former member of Xantham's Guild, presumed killed in the first game), Arogazia escapes from the heroes, revealing herself as the polymorphed form of the red Dragon, Aizagora.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Impressed with their efforts, Jherek, a member of the Harpers, requests that the heroes find four elemental objects. Meanwhile, the Zhentarim are also trying to attain the objects to reactivate the Onyx Tower. During their journey, the heroes encounter Sleyvas, the humanoid lizard who betrayed the protagonists at the end of "Dark Alliance". He too is working for the Zhentarim, and the heroes kill him. After finding the four objects, each of the heroes pursues their own personal quest.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: After killing the dragon Baragoth, the druid inside Dorn is awakened. Ysuran realizes his horrific past and his hate crimes against humans, determining not to worry about the past, but instead build a good name for himself in the future. Borador frees Gandam's Hold and reclaims the Goblinbreaker name for his clan, who begin working on new forges to free themselves from their debt to fey folk. Vhaidra travels to Cloud Peaks and gets her revenge on a murderous black elf who assisted in the fall of her family's house. Allessia frees the Church of Helm in Baldur's Gate from Goreth Vileback, a cleric of Cyric.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: After the five return to town, Jherek enlists them for a journey to each of the Elemental Planes to activate the Elemental Foundations using the four objects they recovered. In each plane, they are attacked by the Zhentarim, who are in control of the Foundations. Luvia Bloodmire and Aizagora attack them, but are defeated. Upon returning from the final plane and speaking to Jherek, they are approached by Kharne. He tells them the Zhentarim no longer wish to reactivate the Onyx Tower, and that the Harpers and the Zhentarim have a common enemy; Mordoc SeLanmere. Mordoc believes he can use the Tower to bring about the downfall of Baldur's Gate, which will please his "allies in the east." His steward, Xanhast, interrogates Vahn, Adrianna and Kromlech, finding they know little of the larger scheme playing out. Kharne, Jherek and the five adventurers storm Mordoc's Keep of Pale Night. They rescue the trio of adventurers, forcing Mordoc to speed up his plans, and relocate the Onyx Tower into Baldur's Gate ahead of schedule.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Now called Mordoc's Gate, the entire population of the city are turned into zombies. The five adventurers attack the Tower, kill Xanhast, and attack Mordoc in the Elemental Plane of Shadows. After killing him, they destroy the Onyx Heart, supposedly destroying the Tower forever. This releases the citizens from their zombification, and led by Randalla, they thank the heroes for saving the city. Meanwhile, in a room with an Ancient Egyptian "milieu", a servant tells a stone sarcophagus that Mordoc has failed and Baldur's Gate still stands. The sarcophagus says that Mordoc's failure will not interrupt "my sacred mission", and orders his servant to prepare the army and ready his sun barge.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: "Dark Alliance II" was first mentioned as early as April 17, 2001, when Interplay Entertainment confirmed that if the first game was successful, a sequel would enter development immediately. The game was not officially announced until March 24, 2003, when Interplay revealed they were working on a sequel for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The only information available at the time was that the game would introduce item crafting, have five playable characters and was slated for a simultaneous PlayStation/Xbox release in the winter of 2003. On May 6, IGN published an interview with Kevin Osburn, head of the development team at Black Isle Studios and the game's producer. Osburn revealed the developers had taken on-board criticisms of the first game, and addressed those problems in the sequel, as well as making everything bigger, with more enemies, characters, weapons, locations and quests.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: At E3 in May 2003, Interplay showcased the Xbox version of the game, revealing three of the new characters: a human barbarian, a moon-elf necromancer and a drow monk. Interplay stated that if the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions sold well, they would consider porting the game to GameCube. In July, demos for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were released. All five characters were available for play, and their character-specific sidequests were finalized. Weapon creation was also showcased, as was co-op mode. The game was set for an October release. Both IGN and GameSpot were impressed with the demo, although both expressed some concern that the graphics were essentially the same as the first game. At the 2003 Gen Con in July, Interplay revealed the game was 90% complete and on schedule for an October release.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: On September 29, Interplay announced it had canceled its distribution deal with Vivendi Universal Games, due to alleged breaches of the working agreement and failure of payment. Herve Caen, CEO of Interplay, stated


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: In October, EB Games and GameStop websites changed the release dates for the game to January 2004. Interplay initially denied the delay, stating it was still aiming for a fourth quarter release, and would distribute the game themselves if need be. On November 6, Interplay announced it had resolved its legal dispute with Vivendi, and had returned to their prior distribution agreement. On November 12, they officially confirmed that "Dark Alliance II" would be delayed until early 2004.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: On December 8, reports surfaced that Interplay had shut down Black Isle Studios, although Interplay itself made no formal statement. On December 16, IGN reported that Black Isle Studios had definitely been closed, and now existed only as a brand under the Interplay label. They reported that when Black Isle's director had quit, the studio was placed under the management of Digital Mayhem, but with the agreement that Interplay would adopt a more hands-off approach. By this stage, Black Isle had already begun work on "Dark Alliance III". The title was cancelled after Interplay failed to retain the license to use the "Dungeons & Dragons" label from Wizards of the Coast, so Black Isle shifted focus to "Fallout 3". They handed in a 95% complete demo, including all game functionality. The next day, however, Interplay, who were several million dollars in debt, with just over $1 million in the bank, began to fire people from Digital Mayhem. Two weeks later, all but two members of the "Fallout" team were fired. This effectively meant Black Isle Studios no longer existed as anything other than a brand. Apparently, staff were told by Interplay that "we will continue to produce titles. If we feel that a title is worth of the Black Isle Studios' name then it will be released under that brand."


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: On December 18, Interplay denied shutting the studio, claiming "Black Isle Studios remains open with projects pending, the status of "Fallout 3" is under review, and "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel" will ship on January 13." The very next day, December 19, an anonymous former Black Isle employee confirmed to IGN that the studio had been closed, and that although "Dark Alliance II" would still be released, "Fallout 3" and "Dark Alliance III" had been officially cancelled.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: On January 5, 2004 Interplay announced that "Dark Alliance II" was complete and would be released for both PlayStation and Xbox on January 20. Interplay published the game, with Vivendi distributing in North America, and Avalon Interactive distributing in Europe.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: A remastered version of the game was released on Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on July 20, 2022.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: In November 2003, Snowblind Studios, developers of the original "Dark Alliance" and creators of the Dark Alliance engine, filed a lawsuit against Interplay. Snowblind alleged that Interplay had used the game engine in several games without their permission and withheld royalties due from the sale of those games. These games were the GameCube version of the first "Dark Alliance" game, which was developed by High Voltage Software, "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel", and "Dark Alliance II". The lawsuit was settled on April 19, 2005, and determined that while Interplay could continue to publish materials already using the Dark Alliance engine, they could not use the engine in any future projects. The lawsuit also saw Interplay transfer the "Baldur's Gate" trademark to Atari and temporarily transfer the "Dark Alliance" trademark to Snowblind; "Interplay hereby grants to Snowblind a security interest in the "Dark Alliance" Trademark to secure the investment and expected return of Snowblind and its licensees in the event of bankruptcy of Interplay."


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: A soundtrack for "Dark Alliance II" has not been released. In September 2013, composer Craig Stuart Garfinkle released an album called "Songs of the Dragon, V2" featuring primarily music from the game.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II" received "generally favorable reviews," with the PlayStation 2 version holding an aggregate score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on forty-four reviews, and the Xbox version 77 out of 100, based on forty-four reviews.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: "Game Informer"s Andrew Reiner scored the PlayStation 2 version 8.5 out of 10, calling it "role-playing bliss." He praised the range of characters, missions and weaponry, the item customization, the non-linear structure and the range of environments. Comparing the game to the original, he called it "a much deeper play with a higher level of interaction."


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: IGN's Ed Lewis scored the game 8.4 out of 10, writing "Black Isle Studios have made an appropriate continuation of the story, but don't create enough changes that some may feel a sequel deserves." He was critical of the similarity of the gameplay to the first game; "there is still all of the dungeon crawling action that has worked well in the past and still works here, but there's still not enough that's new to truly keep pushing the genre forward. There could be more weapons and more characters, but the real issue is that the world is still a fairly linear adventure with a steady pace towards the end."


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: GameSpot's Ryan Davis scored the game 8 out of 10, writing "Though not as impressive as the original game, "Dark Alliance II" will surely satisfy players looking for a well-crafted, accessible action RPG experience." He praised the range of missions, and the ability to craft new weaponry, but was critical of the graphics, which he felt hadn't really advanced from the first game. He concluded ""Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance" was an RPG for people who didn't like RPGs, and its sequel does a fine job of maintaining that design philosophy." "GameSpot" later named "Dark Alliance II" the best Xbox game of January 2004.


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Eurogamer's Ronan Jennings scored the Xbox version 7 out of 10, writing "in terms of progression, the only real difference between this and "Dark Alliance" is that the first game felt like it had better structure to it. In fact, "DAII" feels more like an expansion pack in that regard, with players sometimes given the option to complete quests in any order they choose [...] It's hard not to be disappointed in "Dark Alliance II". However, it's equally hard to criticise such a polished effort. On the one hand, it offers more of the great hack and slash gameplay that no one has emulated properly since the first "Dark Alliance". On the other hand, the magic of the original has definitely been diluted, where it really should have been enhanced."


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: GameSpy's Raymond Padulla scored the PlayStation 2 version 3 out of 5. He praised the differentiation in the fighting style of the playable characters, writing, "the additional variety in "Dark Alliance II" is one of the few cases where more translates to better." However, he felt that when compared with the original game, "while it is superior in a few ways, it's inferior in others." He was critical of the graphics, writing "there are a smattering of areas and effects that are cooler than the original, but for the most part the visuals look dated and uncreative [...] That isn't to say that the graphics are offensive, but compared to the original -- whose graphics were a strong point -- it's definitely a step down." He concluded "I was convinced that more of a great thing would be an even greater thing. I thought Black Isle would do as fine a job with the series as Snowblind did. I was wrong on both counts. While "Dark Alliance II" is a good game, it has barely progressed the series." Writing later in 2004, Allen Raucsh said much the same; "Black Isle Studios took over the development chores on this edition, and essentially delivered the same game again. Unfortunately, gamers had moved on [...] In short, while "Dark Alliance II" was by no means a bad game, it badly needed updating before it could become relevant again.".


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: In 2015, Ian Williams of "Paste" rated the game #7 on his list of "The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames". He commented: "The console market wanted in on the fun after so many years of rad "D&D" RPGs being on PC either exclusively or first. And that's how a loud, brash, fun as heck hack and slash RPG series set in the Forgotten Realms was born. It's way more "Diablo" than "Baldur's Gate", despite the name. That means, aside from the style of play, you can't design your characters from scratch. But the playable characters offer a wide variety of playstyles, while the customization as you level means that you can fine tune as you go. Topping it off is a co-op mode which is so much fun that even Drizzt showing up can't ruin."


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Mitch Vogel of "Nintendo Life" gave the game five stars out of ten, praising its gear crafting system and dark atmosphere while lamenting its sluggish combat, drab environmental design, lack of online, low build variety, and high price tag, writing, "While ["Dark Alliance II"] was likely once considered a solid and perhaps even a little daring example of an ARPG, it’s now been resolutely left in the dust by more modern releases."


title: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

text: Shaun Musgrave of "TouchArcade" compared the title unfavorably to modern offerings on the Switch such as "Diablo III" and the "Torchlight" franchise, citing the no-frills nature of the port and its high price tag as blemishes on a dated experience.


title: John Heitinga

text: John Gijsbert Alan "Johnny" Heitinga (born 15 November 1983) is a Dutch football coach and a former player who played as a centre back. He manages Jong Ajax, the reserves team of AFC Ajax.


title: John Heitinga

text: A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he played for their first squad from 2001 to 2008. After a one-year spell at Atlético Madrid in Spain, he signed for Everton in 2009. Joining Fulham for six months in January 2014, he then signed with German side Hertha BSC the following Summer, signing a two-year deal with the club from Berlin. In June 2015 he returned to his first club Ajax.


title: John Heitinga

text: Since his debut for Dutch national team in February 2004, Heitinga has over 85 caps, and he has represented his country at two World Cups (2006 and 2010) and three European Championships (2004, 2008, and 2012). In 2008, Heitinga was named Dutch Footballer of the Year. He is of mixed Dutch and Indo ancestry.


title: John Heitinga

text: Heitinga was part of the AFC Ajax youth team before making his debut for the first team on 26 August 2001 against Feyenoord. He was part a new wave of talent that fielded the likes of homegrown stars Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder, as well as Zlatan Ibrahimović and Cristian Chivu. He was featured in a documentary entitled "" alongside Ajax academy pupils Gregory van der Wiel, Mitchell Donald, Jeffrey Sarpong, Donovan Slijngard, Nordin Amrabat, Evander Sno, and Jeremain Lens.


title: John Heitinga

text: Heitinga quickly established himself as a strong addition to the team and became first-choice player under coach Co Adriaanse and later Ronald Koeman until he suffered a serious knee injury which kept him on the sidelines for over six months. His comeback was short-lived, as he played only one game before suffering yet another injury which again sentenced him to a long period of recovery.


title: John Heitinga

text: He made his second comeback at the start of the 2003–04 season and impressed in his first game since injury against FC Volendam, from where he went on to become a first choice central defender for the remainder of the season as well as a popular figure amongst the fans. When it was announced that he would be leaving Ajax at the end of the 2007–08 season, the fans gave him a fitting send-off by displaying a mosaic of him on the stands.


title: John Heitinga

text: Heitinga moved to Atlético Madrid at the end of the 2007–08 season for a fee of £8.8 million. His first season in Spain ended with Heitinga making 32 appearances – 27 in La Liga – and scoring three goals for Atlético.


title: John Heitinga

text: In September 2009, aged 25, Heitinga joined English Premier League club Everton on a five-year contract for a fee of around €7.04 million (£6.2 million). He was given squad number 5, though he was not eligible to represent Everton in the UEFA Europa League, having already played for Atlético Madrid in the qualifying stage of the Champions League. Heitinga made his debut for Everton on 13 September against Fulham after coming on for the injured Phil Neville. In his first season for the club, Heitinga made 35 appearances in all competitions. He played mostly as defensive midfielder, covering the absence of several players and showing great spirit and adaptability.


title: John Heitinga

text: In the 2010–11 FA Cup, Everton held holders Chelsea 1–1 in a replay at Stamford Bridge, sending the tie to penalties. Heitinga took Everton's fourth and scored. Phil Neville went on to score the winning penalty for Everton. Later that season, Heitinga scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw at home to Birmingham City. Heitinga was voted Everton's Player of the Season for 2011–12 by the club's supporters. He finally had an extended run of play as centre back, showing the passion and the commanding skills he always put on the field in the orange shirt. He then scored against Newcastle on the final day of the season with an unmarked header which put Everton 3–0, his second Premier League goal and his first in over 14 months.


title: John Heitinga

text: The 2012–13 season proved to be less successful for Heitinga as manager David Moyes opted to play Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin for much of Everton's season. Heitinga had to wait until an injury to Jagielka gave him a sustained run in the team but poor performances which included him being culpable for all three goals in a 3–3 draw with Aston Villa led to him being criticised by fans. However, in April Moyes praised Heitinga's mental strength for battling back after his earlier form in the season would have "broken" most players. Despite this, Heitinga revealed that he had rejected Everton's offer of a new contract at the end of the year. In January 2014 Everton and West Ham United agreed terms for the transfer of Heitinga. He turned down the move however saying, "You have to be convinced that you are taking the right step and I was not". He scored his last goal for the team in his last outing, Everton's 4–0 FA Cup win against Stevenage before eventually joining Fulham on a free transfer on transfer deadline day.


title: John Heitinga

text: On 31 January 2014, Heitinga signed for Fulham for a six-month deal on a free transfer. In a 3–1 loss against Chelsea on 1 March, Heitinga scored the only goal for Fulham. On 23 May 2014 he was released from the club at the end of his contract.


title: John Heitinga

text: On 25 June 2015, Ajax announced that Heitinga would return to the club, joining on a free transfer from German side Hertha BSC. He signed a one-year contract with the option of a second year. However, after playing only two Eredivisie matches in the first half of the season, Heitinga decided to retire from professional football on 1 February 2016.


title: John Heitinga

text: Having been part of Dutch international youth teams, Heitinga made his senior debut for the Netherlands on 18 February 2004 in a friendly game against the United States and made an immediate impact. Several months later, he scored his first goal from a Rafael van der Vaart free kick in a friendly against Greece.


title: John Heitinga

text: Although he did not take part in qualifying, Heitinga was later included in the squad for the Euro 2004 in Portugal since the Dutch under-21 team had failed to qualify for the European Championships. He started as first choice right back in the first two group stage matches but was suspended for the last match when he was sent-off for two bookable offences. After serving his suspension, he returned in the quarter-final against Sweden as a second-half substitute for Edgar Davids and converted his penalty as the Dutch won 5–4 on penalties. The Dutch, however, were eliminated by the hosts Portugal in the semi-finals.


title: John Heitinga

text: Heitinga's development as a player suffered two dips in form in the 2004–05 and the 2005–06 seasons, respectively. Despite club struggles, Heitinga never lost his spot in the national team under Marco van Basten, who took over as Dutch national coach in the summer of 2004. By the end of 2005, had also once again become a key player in the Ajax squad. He would also be selected by Van Basten for the Dutch team of 23 players to compete in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Germany. The Dutch side performed reasonably well at the World Cup, qualifying for the second round before again being knocked out by Portugal.


title: John Heitinga

text: Heitinga was also called up to the Dutch squad for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Since Euro 2008, he has been a regular in the right back position and has occasionally deputised in other defensive positions during an injury crisis. He made his 50th appearance for the Netherlands in a friendly against Paraguay on 18 November 2009.


title: John Heitinga

text: Heitinga was included in the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and was in the starting line-up for the Netherlands' first match in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark. Heitinga played in every game as the Netherlands reached the final for the third time, where they faced Spain. He started the match but was sent off in the 109th minute after being given his second yellow card for a foul on Andrés Iniesta.


title: John Heitinga

text: He became the fifth player to be sent off in a World Cup final. The Netherlands went on to lose the final 1–0 after Iniesta scored the winning goal for Spain in the 116th minute.


title: Dexamyl

text: Dexamyl (or Drinamyl in the UK) was a brand name combination drug composed of sodium amobarbital (previously called amylbarbitone and its brand name Amytal) and dextroamphetamine sulfate (Dexedrine) within the same pill. It was widely abused, and is no longer manufactured.


title: Dexamyl

text: First introduced in 1950 by Smith, Kline & French (SKF), Dexamyl was marketed as an anorectic obesity medication as well as an anxiolytic and antidepressant medication that did not cause agitation. Racemic amphetamine sulfate had already been marketed over-the-counter (OTC) since 1933 as a nasal decongestant inhaler device under the brand name Benzedrine, and also as an oral tablet since 1938. Dexamyl utilized its enantiopure isomer of greater central nervous system (CNS) selectivity, dextroamphetamine sulfate, to elevate mood and suppress appetite, whereas the concomitant barbiturate was included to broadly counteract potential adverse effects from dextroamphetamine. Its name is a portmanteau of "dextro"- amphetamine and "amyl"- barbitone.


title: Dexamyl

text: Dexamyl was discontinued in 1982 by SKF in favor of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) which were recently developed and shared treatment indications with Dexamyl yet lacked the high dependence potential and abuse liability which characterized long-term Dexamyl usage.


title: Dexamyl

text: British prime minister Anthony Eden was prescribed Dexamyl; he was using it to treat abdominal pain. It has been suggested that the drug impaired his judgment during the Suez Crisis. The failure of his Suez policies led to his ousting while he was recovering in Jamaica.


title: Dexamyl

text: In Britain during the early 1960s the drug was taken by "tired housewives", and was also abused by youths who took excessively large doses and nicknamed the triangular blue tablets "purple hearts" or "blues." This became a celebrated part of the Mod subculture. Dexamyl was the recreational drug of choice for main character of the film "Quadrophenia", who eventually suffers from amphetamine psychosis. They were widely abused.


title: Dexamyl

text: In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dexamyl spansules—a clear and green capsule containing green and white "beads"—became popular as a street-drug upper nicknamed "Christmas trees", a reference to its appearance.


title: Dexamyl

text: In his autobiography "My Life of Absurdity", author Chester Himes writes of his use of Dexamyl in the mid-1950s. He also writes that he stopped taking the drug after his friend Vandi Haygood died from "steady doses of Dexamyl".


title: Dexamyl

text: Dr. George C. Nichopoulos was indicted in May 1980 for having improperly prescribed Dexamyl and phenmetrazine (Preludin) to the singer Jerry Lee Lewis, despite knowing he was addicted to them.


title: Dexamyl

text: Dr. Patrick A. Mazza, team physician for the Reading Phillies, said he prescribed Dexamyl, Eskatrol, Dexedrine, and Preludin for Steve Carlton, Larry Christenson, Tim McCarver, Pete Rose, Larry Bowa, and Greg Luzinski. The charges against Mazza were dropped after he contended that he had provided the prescriptions in good faith to the baseball players at their request. The pill was writer Terry Southern's drug of choice for many years.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Sivakasi is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action dramedy film written and directed by Perarasu. The film stars Vijay in the main lead role, while Asin and Prakash Raj play supporting roles. The film's music is composed by Srikanth Deva, while the background score was composed by his father Deva. The film released on 1 November 2005 during Diwali. The film received positive reviews from the critics, ran for 150 days in theatres and performed commercially well. In 2007, the film was remade in Telugu and Bengali.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Sivakasi is a welder known for keeping rowdies in check. One day he chastises a jeweler's daughter, Hema, for wearing "skimpy clothing." After she instigates a false case against him, he humiliates her father by declaring his love for her at a wedding. In response, Hema claims he caused her sister's suicide. After fearing arrest and discovering Hema had no sister, he confronts her under the name Vaikasi, during which she declares her love. Doubting her, Sivakasi tells her to spend the night with him, but when she arrives at his house, her brothers take her back home. Fearing her death, Sivakasi recognizes his mistake and ensures her safety. Her father gives his blessing to the match.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Hema's brothers visit and remark that his current income is not enough to support Hema, causing him to throw them out of the house. Hema confronts Sivakasi, remarking he couldn't understand siblings as he was an orphan. Sivakasi reveals his real name, Muthappa, and that he was falsely blamed for setting off crackers near a possessed dancer 15 years earlier, a crime done by his brother Udhayappan. Hema berates him for ignoring his parents' love and declares they will marry only with his family's request.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Sivakasi returns to his village and discovers Udhayappan is now an MLA due to his mother-in-law Moolimungaari's influence. His mother works as a servant in her own house and is unable to recognize him. His sister operates a roadside stall in a nearby village in utter poverty with her husband and child. Sivakasi decides to improve their lot anonymously. One of his few confidants tells how his father died when Udhayappan claimed his mother had affairs. Enraged, Sivakasi beats up Udhayappan and his men, claiming to be the husband of a woman he raped, and is paid 1 million rupees for her false suicide note. The next day, when Udhayappan tries to sell off the ancestral property, Sivakasi reminds the buyers of Muthappa and how, without his signature, the sale is illegal. To avoid this, Udhayappan dresses a false body to look like Muthappa, but Sivakasi inserts a note saying his share of the property should be donated. The note is found valid and Udhayappan reveals his deception.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Later Udhayappan registers his MLA candidacy but finds Vairam contesting, supported by Sivakasi's money. The villagers see Sivakasi as an outsider, but he brings doubles of film stars to canvass for Vairam. Udhayappan brings the real Nayanthara, but Sivakasi makes her unintentionally support Vairam. Udhayappan, furious about Sivakasi, is visited by Hema and Sivakasi's friends who are looking for him.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Udhayappan goes to Sivakasi's house thinking he knows his identity. It is revealed that Hema lied that Muthappa and Sivakasi are friends. He threatens to kill their mother, and although Sivakasi burns his palms, he and Vairam decide to leave. At night, Vairam sees her husband getting kidnapped by someone who she thinks is Udhayappan, although it is Sivakasi in truth. When Vairam confronts her confused elder brother, he hits her, gaining her sympathy votes. Sivakasi fakes a threat by Udhayappan towards Vairam, resulting in Udhayappan's men attacking villagers. The people turn against him and Moolimungari, who is covered in cow dung for making Udhyappan an MLA. She threatens Udhayappan if he fails to be re-elected.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Udhayappan plans to kill his wife and frame Sivakasi to gain votes, but Sivakasi saves her. Sivakasi secretly burns a body with Vairam's husband's chain, making everyone think Udhayappan killed him. The people riot outside his house. Sivakasi calls him, saying he can have Vairam's husband back, but must hand over all ancestral property to her. Udhayappan signs it, thinking Muthappa can't sign, and finds one of his men.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Vairam wins the election and property, and she and her mother regain their old state. Sivakasi releases Vairam's husband and Udhayappan's wife. Udhayappan hears Muthappa has arrived, who is revealed to Vairam and her mother to be Sivakasi. An angry Moolimungari decides to kill Udhayappan, who decides to kill his brother. Moolimungari's men arrive and are about to kill Udhayappan, when their mother asks Muthappa to save him. Sivakasi rescues Udhayappan, who begs forgiveness for his actions and reunites with his wife. Muthappa and Hema are then married.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: After the success of "Thirupaachi", A. M. Rathnam called Perarasu to make a film with Vijay re-uniting with him for second time. "Sivakasi" was Perarasu's second collaboration with Vijay after "Thirupaachi" and producer Rathnam's third film with Vijay after "Kushi" (2000) and "Ghilli" (2004).


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Jyothika was reported to be heroine instead role went to Asin. Sridevika was originally offered the role of Vijay's sister but later went to Malayalam actress Lakshana. Simran was initially approached for item number after her rejection, Nayanthara agreed to replace Simran due to the persuasion of Vijay. Geetha was selected to play as Vijay's mother.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: Art director G. K. created the sets of T. Nagar with the sum of Rs. 12.0 million, one of the traditional Mylapore look complete with tall temple gopurams and Teppakulam and another of vintage Triplicane aura with mosques. There were reports that Vijay would perform dual roles but later proved false. feet of rolls has been used to shoot the film. The first schedule was completed in Chennai and the crew camped at Karaikudi for the second schedule, the third schedule was shot at Kushaldas Gardens with Vijay and Asin. Rocky Rajesh was doing the Stunt Master's job for Vijay's film Sivakasi. As Dharani wanted Rocky Rajesh to work for his Telugu film, he requested the director of Sivakasi, Perarasu to release him. Hence the climactic fight sequences were composed and finished in a short time by Thalapathy Dinesh of Chandramuki fame. Dubbing was held at Kalasa studios.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: The soundtrack was composed by Srikanth Deva. But Srikanth Deva was only able to composed the songs as he was composing for his ongoing project, Aacharya. Hence, the background score was composed by his father, Deva. All lyrics were penned by Perarasu.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: The film released on 1 November 2005. The satellite rights of the film were secured by Jaya TV. The film was given a U certificate by the Censor Board, with "three dialogue cuts".


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: "Ananda Vikatan" rated the film 42 out of 100. Indiaglitz wrote: "Sivakasi is one among the long line of formulaic masala mass entertainers that Vijay is now known to dish out. In Perarasu, Vijay has got a director who understands the hero as well as his fans". Behindwoods wrote: "The movie is worth seeing as it includes sentiment and entertainment. It is an action paired entertainer and worth considering". Sify wrote: "This FORMULA had worked well for director Perarasu and Vijay in Tirupachi and now the team has re-worked it. This time, however, it will test your patience as it is not meant for the class audience or those seeking quality entertainment. Perarasu and Vijay believe only in catering to the mass audience who want their dose of unpretentious masala mix". The Film ran 150 Days in Theatres.


title: Sivakasi (film)

text: "Sivakasi" was remade into Telugu as "Vijayadasami" in the year 2007. It was also remade into Bengali as "Aamar Pratigya" in the year 2008. And Remade in Bhojpuri as Karz Virasat ke in the year 2015.<ref name="https://www.cinestaan.com/movies/karz-virasat-ke-30853/cast-crew"></ref>


title: Government of South Africa

text: The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa.


title: Government of South Africa

text: Executive authority is vested in the President of South Africa who is head of state and head of government, and his Cabinet.


title: Government of South Africa

text: South Africa's government differs greatly from those of other Commonwealth nations. The national, provincial and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in the South African Constitution as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated".


title: Government of South Africa

text: Operating at both national and provincial levels ("spheres") are advisory bodies drawn from South Africa's traditional leaders. It is a stated intention in the Constitution that the country be run on a system of co-operative governance.


title: Government of South Africa

text: All bodies of the South African government are subject to the rule of the Constitution, which is the supreme law in South Africa.


title: Government of South Africa

text: The President, Deputy President and the Ministers make up the executive branch of the national government. Ministers are Members of Parliament who are appointed by the President to head the various departments of the national government. The president is elected by parliament from its members.


title: Government of South Africa

text: The third branch of the national government is an independent judiciary. The judicial branch interprets the laws, using as a basis the laws as enacted and explanatory statements made in the Legislature during the enactment. The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law and accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations. The constitution's bill of rights provides for due process including the right to a fair, public trial within a reasonable time.


title: Government of South Africa

text: Local government in South Africa consists of municipalities of various types. The largest metropolitan areas are governed by metropolitan municipalities, while the rest of the country is divided into district municipalities, each of which consists of several local municipalities. After the municipal election of 18 May 2011 there were eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 226 local municipalities.


title: Government of South Africa

text: Municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are elected every five years. The councils of metropolitan and local municipalities are elected by a system of mixed-member proportional representation, while the councils of district municipalities are partly elected by proportional representation and partly appointed by the councils of the constituent local municipalities.


title: Government of South Africa

text: In each legislative body, the party or coalition of parties holding a majority of seats forms the government. The largest party not in the government is recognised as the official opposition.


title: Terra incognita

text: Terra incognita or terra ignota (Latin "unknown land"; "incognita" is stressed on its second syllable in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or documented. The expression is believed to be first seen in Ptolemy's "Geography" c. 150. The term was reintroduced in the 15th century from the rediscovery of Ptolemy's work during the Age of Discovery. The equivalent on French maps would be terres inconnues (plural form), and some English maps may show "Parts Unknown".


title: Terra incognita

text: An urban legend claims that cartographers labelled such regions with "Here be dragons". Although cartographers did claim that fantastic beasts (including large serpents) existed in remote corners of the world and depicted such as decoration on their maps, only one known surviving map, the Hunt–Lenox Globe, in the collection of the New York Public Library,


title: Terra incognita

text: actually says "Here are dragons" (using the Latin form "HIC SVNT DRACONES"). However, ancient Roman and Medieval cartographers did use the phrase "HIC SVNT LEONES" ("Here are lions") when denoting unknown territories on maps.


title: Terra incognita

text: Alternatively, 'terra incognita' may also refer to the hypothesized continent Terra Australis Incognita ("The unknown land of the South"), as seen in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum map by Abraham Ortelius (1570).


title: Terra incognita

text: During the 19th century, "terra incognita" disappeared from maps; both the coastlines and the inner parts of the continents became fully explored, even prior to the advent of aerial photography and satellite imagery in the 20th century. However, the bottoms of oceans remain mostly unmapped, as do many other land surfaces in the Solar System. For example, only 40% of the surface of Neptune's Moon Triton has been mapped with the remainder being terra incognita.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Drexel Burnham Lambert was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, it was a Bulge Bracket bank, as the fifth-largest investment bank in the United States.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: The firm had its most profitable fiscal year in 1986, netting $545.5 million—at the time, the most profitable year ever for a Wall Street firm, and equivalent to $ billion in . Milken, who was Drexel's head of high-yield securities, was paid $295 million, the highest salary that an employee in the modern history of the world has ever received.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: The firm's aggressive culture led many Drexel employees to stray into unethical, and sometimes illegal, conduct. Milken and his colleagues at the high-yield bond department believed the securities laws hindered the free flow of trade. Eventually, Drexel's excessive ambition led it to abuse the junk bond market and become involved in insider trading. In February 1990, Drexel was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the chairmen of the New York Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was the first Wall Street firm to be forced into bankruptcy since the Great Depression.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: After Drexel's collapse, Kurt Eichenwald of "The New York Times" noted that the bank "fueled many of the biggest corporate takeovers of the 1980s."


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: I.W. "Tubby" Burnham, a 1931 graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, founded the firm in 1935 as Burnham and Company, a small New York City–based retail brokerage. Burnham started the firm with $100,000 of capital (equivalent to $ million in ), $96,000 of which was borrowed from his grandfather Isaac Wolfe Bernheim, the founder of a Kentucky distillery.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: It became one of the more successful brokerages in the country, eventually building its capital to $1 billion. While Burnham eventually branched out into investment banking, the company's ability to expand was limited by the structure of the investment banking industry of that time. A strict unwritten set of rules assured the dominance of a few large firms by controlling the order in which their names appeared in advertisements for an underwriting. Burnham, as a "sub-major" firm, needed to connect with a "major" or "special" firm in order to further expand.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Burnham found a willing partner in Drexel Firestone, an ailing Philadelphia-based firm with a rich history. Drexel Firestone traced its history to 1838, when Francis Martin Drexel founded Drexel & Company. His son, Anthony Joseph Drexel, became a partner in the firm at age 21, in 1847. The company made money in the opportunities created by mid-century gold finds in California. The company was also involved in financial deals with the federal government during the Mexican–American War and the U.S. Civil War. A. J. Drexel took over the firm when his father died in 1863. He partnered with J. P. Morgan and created one of the largest banking companies in the world, Drexel, Morgan & Co.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: In 1940, several former Drexel partners and associates formed an investment bank and assumed the rights to the "Drexel and Company" name. The old Drexel, which chose to concentrate on commercial banking after the Glass–Steagall Act regulated the separation of commercial and investment banking, was completely absorbed into the Morgan empire. The new Drexel grew slowly, coasting on its predecessor's historic ties to the larger securities issuers. By the early 1960s, it found itself short on capital. It merged with Harriman, Ripley and Company in 1965, and renamed itself Drexel Harriman Ripley. In the mid-1970s, it sold a 25 percent stake to Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, renaming itself Drexel Firestone.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Despite having only two major clients by the dawn of the 1970s, Drexel was still considered a major firm, and thus got a large chunk of the syndicates formed to sell stocks and bonds. It was a shell of its former self, however, as evidenced in 1973, when a severe drop in the stock market sent the firm reeling. Drexel management soon realized that a prominent name was not nearly enough to survive, and was very receptive to a merger offer from Burnham.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Even though Burnham was the surviving company, the more powerful investment banks (whose informal blessing the new firm needed to survive on Wall Street) insisted that the Drexel name come first as a condition of joining the "major" bracket. Thus, Drexel Burnham and Company, headquartered in New York, was born in 1973 with $44 million in capital.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: In 1976, it merged with William D. Witter (also known as Lambert Brussels Witter), a small "research boutique" that was the American arm of Belgian-based Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. The firm was renamed Drexel Burnham Lambert, and incorporated that year after 41 years as a limited partnership. The enlarged firm was privately held; Lambert held a 26 percent stake and received six seats on the board of directors. Most of the remaining 74 percent was held by employees. Burnham remained the enlarged firm's chairman. He handed the posts of president and CEO to Robert Linton, who had begun at Burnham and Company in 1945 as a stock certificate runner. Burnham handed the chairmanship to Linton as well in 1982.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Drexel's legacy as an advisor to both startup companies and fallen angels remains an industry model today. While Michael Milken (a holdover from the old Drexel) got most of the credit by almost single-handedly creating a junk bond market, another key architect in this strategy was Fred Joseph. Shortly after buying the old Drexel, Burnham found out that Joseph, chief operating officer of Shearson Hamill, wanted to get back into the nuts and bolts of investment banking and hired him as co-head of corporate finance. Joseph, the son of a Boston taxicab driver, promised Burnham that in 10 years, he would make Drexel Burnham as powerful as Goldman Sachs.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Joseph's prophecy proved accurate. The firm rose from the bottom of the pack to compete with and even top the Wall Street Bulge Bracket firms. While Milken was clearly the most powerful man in the firm (to the point that a business consultant warned Drexel that it was a "one-product company"), it was Joseph who succeeded Linton as president in 1984, adding the post of CEO in 1985.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Drexel, however, was more aggressive in its business practices than most. When it entered the mergers and acquisitions field in the early 1980s, it did not shy away from backing hostile takeovers—long a taboo among the established firms. Its specialty was the "highly confident letter", in which it promised it could get the necessary financing for a hostile takeover. Although it had no legal status, Drexel's reputation for making markets for any bonds it underwrote was such that a "highly confident letter" was as good as cash to many of the corporate raiders of the 1980s. Among the deals it financed during this time were T. Boone Pickens' failed runs at Gulf Oil and Unocal, Carl Icahn's bid for Phillips 66, Ted Turner's buyout of MGM/UA, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts successful bid for RJR Nabisco.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Organizationally, the firm was considered the definition of a meritocracy. Divisions received bonuses based on their individual performance rather than the performance of the firm as a whole. This often led to acrimony between individual departments, who sometimes acted like independent companies rather than small parts of a larger one. Also, several employees formed limited partnerships that allowed them to invest alongside Milken. These partnerships often made more money than the firm itself did on a particular deal. For instance, many of the partnerships ended up with more warrants than the firm itself held in particular deals.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: The firm had its most profitable fiscal year in 1986, netting $545.5 million—at the time, the most profitable year ever for a Wall Street firm, and equivalent to $ billion in . In 1987, Milken was paid executive compensation of $550 million for the year.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: According to Dan Stone, a former Drexel executive, the firm's aggressive culture led many Drexel employees to stray into unethical, and sometimes illegal, conduct. Milken himself viewed the securities laws, rules and regulations with some degree of contempt, feeling they hindered the free flow of trade. He was under nearly constant scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1979 onward, in part because he often condoned unethical and illegal behavior by his colleagues at Drexel's operation in Beverly Hills. He personally called Joseph, however, who believed in following the rules to the letter, on several occasions with ethical questions.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: The firm was first rocked on May 12, 1986, when Dennis Levine, a managing director in Drexel's M&A department, was charged with insider trading. Levine had joined Drexel only a year earlier. Unknown to Drexel management, he had spent his entire Wall Street career trading on inside information. Levine pleaded guilty to four felonies, and implicated one of his recent partners, super-arbitrageur Ivan Boesky. Largely based on information Boesky promised to provide about his dealings with Milken, the SEC initiated an investigation of Drexel on November 17. Two days later, Rudy Giuliani, then the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, launched his own investigation. Ominously, Milken refused to cooperate with Drexel's own internal investigation, only speaking through his attorneys. A year later, Martin Siegel, the co-head of M&A, pleaded guilty to sharing inside information with Boesky during his tenure at Kidder, Peabody.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: For two years, Drexel steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the criminal and SEC investigations into Milken's activities were based almost entirely on the statements of Boesky, an admitted felon looking to reduce his sentence. This was not enough to keep the SEC from suing Drexel in September 1988 for insider trading, stock manipulation, defrauding its clients and stock parking (buying stocks for the benefit of another). All of the transactions involved Milken and his department. The most intriguing charge was that Boesky paid Drexel $5.3 million in 1986 for Milken's share of profits from illegal trading. Earlier in the year, Boesky characterized the payment as a consulting fee to Drexel. Around the same year, Giuliani began seriously considering indicting Drexel under the powerful Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Drexel was potentially liable under the doctrine of "respondeat superior", which holds that companies are responsible for an employee's crimes.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: The threat of a RICO indictment unnerved many at Drexel. A RICO indictment would have required the firm to put up a performance bond of as much as $1 billion in lieu of having its assets frozen. This provision was put in the law because organized crime had a habit of absconding with the funds of indicted companies, and the writers of RICO wanted to make sure there was something to seize or forfeit in the event of a guilty verdict. Most Wall Street firms, then as now, relied heavily on loans. However, 96 percent of Drexel's capital was borrowed money, by far the most of any firm. This debt would have to take second place to any performance bond. Additionally, if the bond ever had to be paid, Drexel's stockholders would have been all but wiped out. Due to this, banks will not extend credit to a securities firm under a RICO indictment.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: By this time, several Drexel executives—including Joseph—concluded that Drexel could not survive a RICO indictment and would have to seek a settlement with Giuliani. Senior Drexel executives became particularly nervous after Princeton Newport Partners, a small investment partnership, was forced to close its doors in the summer of 1988. Princeton Newport had been indicted under RICO, and the prospect of having to post a huge performance bond forced its shutdown well before the trial. Indeed, the discovery of Milken's role in many of Princeton Newport's illicit doings led Joseph to conclude that Milken had indeed engaged in illegal activity. Joseph said years later that he'd been told that a RICO indictment would destroy Drexel within a month, if not sooner. As it turned out, even though Milken and Drexel signed a co-counsel agreement, Milken's legal team warned him that Drexel would almost certainly be forced to cooperate rather than risk being driven out of business by the pressures of the investigation.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Nonetheless, negotiations for a possible plea agreement collapsed on December 19 when Giuliani made several demands that were far too draconian even for those who advocated a settlement. Giuliani demanded that Drexel waive its attorney–client privilege, and also wanted the right to arbitrarily decide that the firm had violated the terms of any plea agreement. He also demanded that Milken leave the firm if the government ever indicted him. Drexel's board unanimously rejected the terms. For a time, it looked like Drexel was going to fight.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: Only two days later, however, Drexel lawyers found out about a limited partnership set up by Milken's department, MacPherson Partners, they previously hadn't known about. This partnership had been involved in the issuing of bonds for Storer Broadcasting. Several equity warrants were sold to one client who sold them back to Milken's department. Milken then sold the warrants to MacPherson Partners. The limited partners included several of Milken's children, and more ominously, managers of money funds. This partnership raised the specter of self-dealing, and at worst, bribes to the money managers. At the very least, this was a serious breach of Drexel's internal regulations. Drexel immediately reported this partnership to Giuliani, and its revelation seriously hurt Milken's credibility with many at Drexel who believed in Milken's innocence—including Joseph and most of the board.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: With literally minutes to go before being indicted (according to at least one source, the grand jury was actually in the process of voting on the indictment), Drexel reached an agreement with the government in which it entered an Alford plea to six felonies—three counts of stock parking and three counts of stock manipulation. It also agreed to pay a fine of $650 million—at the time, the largest fine ever levied under the Great Depression-era securities laws.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: The government had dropped several of the demands that had initially angered Drexel, but continued to insist that Milken leave the firm if indicted—which he did shortly after his own indictment in March 1989. Drexel's Alford plea allowed the firm to maintain its innocence while acknowledging that it was "not in a position to dispute the allegations" made by the government. Nonetheless, Drexel was now a convicted felon.


title: Drexel Burnham Lambert

text: In April 1989, Drexel settled with the SEC, agreeing to stricter safeguards on its oversight procedures. Later that month, the firm eliminated 5,000 jobs by shuttering three departments—including the retail brokerage operation. In essence, Drexel was jettisoning the core of the old Burnham & Company. The retail accounts were eventually sold to Smith Barney.