The Provisional Irish Republican Army is also referred to as the IRA, the PIRA, the Provos, or by its supporters as the Army or the 'RA. The PIRA usually refers to its members as volunteers. The IRA is a listed in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000. It is also listed as an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland. The United States does not list the IRA as a "foreign terrorist organization", but includes them in the category of "other selected terrorist groups also deemed of relevance in the global war on terrorism.".
The IRA's first strategy was to use force to destroy the Northern Ireland administration and to hurt or kill enough British soldiers and police officers that the British government would leave. The IRA recruited volunteers. They got more volunteers after the 1972 Bloody Sunday attack, in which the British military fired on protesters. The IRA then attacked against British military and economic targets. They were supported by arms and funding from Libya and from some groups in the United States.
The IRA agreed to a ceasefire in February 1975, which lasted nearly a year. Then the IRA decided it could not meet its goals with the ceasefire. As a result, the IRA launched a new strategy known as "the Long War". This started a war of attrition against the British. As well, they did more political activity through the political party Sinn Féin.
The 1981 Irish hunger strike in helped the IRA to gain support and win elections. This led to the Armalite and ballot box strategy which aimed at doing more political activity. The unsuccessful attempt to do more military attacks led republican leaders to look for a political solution. Sinn Féin got more distanced from the IRA. Following negotiations with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and with British civil servants, the IRA called a ceasefire in 1994. They expected that Sinn Féin would be included in political talks for solving the disputes. When the British government demanded the disarmament of the IRA before it allowed Sinn Féin into talks, the IRA called off its ceasefire in February 1996.
After the ceasefire was reinstated in July 1997, Sinn Féin was admitted into all-party talks. This produced the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The IRA's armed campaign, primarily in Northern Ireland but also in England and mainland Europe, caused the deaths of approximately 1,800 people. The dead included around 1,100 members of the British security forces, and about 640 civilians. The IRA itself lost 275–300 members, of an estimated 10,000 total over the 30-year period.
On 28 July 2005, the IRA Army Council announced an end to its armed campaign. The IRA stated that it would use only political and democratic processes. Soon after, the IRA destroyed its guns and bombs.
Two small groups split from the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA in 1986, and the Real IRA in 1997. Both reject the Good Friday Agreement and continue to engage in paramilitary activity.
Toa Payoh
Toa Payoh is a place in Singapore. It is found in the central area of the Singapore island and is well known for having the first bus interchange with air conditioner in it. The whole district covers a total of 845 ha in land area.
There are a few notable places in Toa Payoh. They are listed below:
The Toa Payoh stadium is a stadium in which the Singapore League club Balestier Khalsa F.C. plays its home games.
The Toa Payoh Town Park is a garden-landscaped park. It was known as Toa Payoh Town Garden before a temporary bus interchange had to be built at the location of the garden.
Loammi Baldwin
Colonel Loammi Baldwin (January 10, 1744-October 20, 1807) was a noted American engineer, politician, and a soldier in the American Revolutionary War.
Baldwin is known as the Father of American Civil Engineering. His five sons, Cyrus Baldwin (1773-1854), Benjamin Franklin Baldwin (1777-1821), Loammi Baldwin, Jr. (1780-1834), James Fowle Baldwin (1782-1862), and George Rumford Baldwin (1798-1888) were also well-known engineers. He surveyed and built the Middlesex Canal, but today he is perhaps best remembered for the Baldwin apple which he discovered when surveying the Middlesex Canal, and then developed at his farm
In 1774 Baldwin enlisted in a regiment, and commanded the Woburn militia at the Battle of Lexington and Concord as a major. At the beginning of the war he enlisted in the 26th Continental Regiment commanded by Colonel Samuel Gerrish. Here he rapidly advanced to be lieutenant-colonel, and on Colonel Gerrish's retirement in August 1775, he was placed in command of the regiment, and was soon commissioned colonel.
Until the end of 1775, Baldwin and his men stayed near Boston, but in April 1776, he was ordered with his command to New York City. On the night of December 25, 1776, in the face of a violent and extremely cold storm of snow and hail, General Washington and his army crossed the Delaware to the New Jersey side, and fought the Battle of Trenton. Baldwin and his regiment participated in both the crossing and the fight. In 1777, Baldwin resigned from the army because of ill health.
Baldwin was elected to various public offices between 1780 and 1796. He was appointed high sheriff of Middlesex County in 1780, and was the first to hold office after the adoption of the state constitution. From 1778-1784, he represented Woburn in the Massachusetts General Court (the state legislature). In 1794, he was a candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives, and obtained all the votes cast in Woburn but one.
Baldwin began work with his older sons on the Middlesex Canal in 1794 and after nine years, the canal began service in 1803. He later worked on Boston's fortifications. His son Cyrus continued his father's work on the Middlesex Canal as an agent for the canal company. His son Benjamin worked on the Boston Mill Dam for before an early death at age 43.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (born 21 October 1990) is a French chess Grandmaster and the 2009 World Junior Chess Champion. MVL, as he is sometimes called, is at present their strongest player.
He completed his final grandmaster norm in 2005, at 14 years, 4 months. He got his norms in these tournaments:
Eva Mendes
Eva Mendes (born March 5, 1974) is an American actress. She has been in movies including "The Other Guys" and "Training Day". She was born in Miami, Florida and grew up in Los Angeles, California.Currently married to Evan Davies.
Estrildid finch
The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They can be classified as the family Estrildidae (weaver-finch), or as a sub-group within the family Passeridae, which also includes the true sparrows.
They live in flocks and often colonial seed-eaters with short, thick, but pointed bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but vary widely in plumage colours and pattern.
All the estrildids build large domed nests and lay 5–10 white eggs. Many species build roost nests. Some of the fire-finches and pytilias are hosts to the brood-parasitic indigobirds and whydahs respectively.
Most are sensitive to cold and require a warm, usually tropical, habitat, although a few have adapted to the cooler climates of southern Australia.
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan) is an American retired NBA basketball player. He won the NBA Championship in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 all with the Los Angeles Lakers. He played college basketball at Michigan State University where he developed a rivalry and friendship with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird when he faced him in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship games. Although Johnson was a versatile player who played all five positions occasionally, he is considered by many to be the greatest point guard, passer and playmaker in the history of the game.
In 1991, Johnson made public that he had been diagnosed with HIV. He is a supporter of AIDS prevention.