title: Volkswagen Touareg

text: In the 2006 Dakar Rally, Volkswagen driver Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Tina Thörner claimed second spot the highest ever for a diesel model in the new Race Touareg 2. It has a shorter wheelbase than the original Race Touareg, as well as increased visibility. For the 2007 Dakar Rally, VW driver Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford drove the Race Touareg 2 to 4th position overall. In the 2008 Central Europe Rally, Carlos Sainz drove his Race Touareg 2 to victory. Finally, in the 2009 edition of Rally Dakar, Volkswagen achieved a one-two result. Giniel de Villiers and co driver Dirk von Zitzewitz won the race ahead of Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford. With just two days to go, Carlos Sainz crashed out after dominating the rally for several days, thus preventing Volkswagen from making it a one-two-three result.


title: Volkswagen Touareg

text: A 1/32 slot car model of the Red Bull-sponsored Touareg, which is designed to run on the company's RAID track (which simulates off-road racing), is available from Ninco.


title: Volkswagen Touareg

text: On September 20, 2015 a Touareg V6 TDI driven by Rainer Zietlow, Marius Biela and Sam Roach completed the run of 19,000 km from Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, to the North Cape (Nordkapp) of Norway in a world record time of 9 days, 4 hours, 9 minutes and 27 seconds.


title: Volkswagen Touareg

text: For the record run, a stronger suspension was added, larger tires, a roll-cage and extra strong Hella head lights as well as additional tanks for a total range of . The V6 TDI engine as well as other mechanical parts such as gearbox and drive shafts were standard.


title: Volkswagen Touareg

text: The Touareg was "Car and Driver" magazine's Best Luxury SUV for 2003, "Motor Trend" magazine's Sport/Utility of the Year for 2004, "Four Wheeler" magazine's Four Wheeler of the Year for 2005, and Overlander's 2003 4WDOTY.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Jeffrey Keith Skilling (born November 25, 1953) is an American businessman who is best known as the CEO of Enron Corporation during the Enron scandal. In 2006, he was convicted of federal felony charges relating to Enron's collapse and eventually sentenced to 24 years in prison. The US Supreme Court heard arguments in the appeal of the case March 1, 2010. On June 24, 2010, the Supreme Court vacated part of Skilling's conviction and transferred the case back to the lower court for resentencing.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: In April 2011, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the verdict would have been the same despite the legal issues being discussed, and Skilling's conviction was confirmed; however, the court ruled Skilling should be resentenced. Skilling appealed this new decision to the Supreme Court, but the appeal was denied. In 2013, following a further appeal, and earlier accusations that prosecutors had concealed evidence from Skilling’s lawyers prior to his trial, the United States Department of Justice reached a deal with Skilling, which resulted in ten years being cut from his sentence, reducing it to 14 years. He was moved to a halfway house in August 2018 and released from custody in February 2019, after serving 12 years. In June 2020, Skilling was reported by Reuters to be fundraising for launch of an online oil and gas trading platform named Veld LLC.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Jeffrey Keith Skilling was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on November 25, 1953, the second of four children of Betty ("née" Clarke) and Thomas Ethelbert Skilling, Jr. His father was a sales manager for an Illinois valve company. His older brother, Tom Skilling, later became chief meteorologist at WGN-TV in Chicago. Skilling grew up between New Jersey and Aurora, Illinois. When he was 16 years old, he worked at WLXT-TV (channel 60), a UHF television station in Aurora. He graduated from West Aurora High School and received a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Skilling initially studied engineering before changing to business. After graduating in 1975, he went to work as a corporate planner for First City Bancorporation of Houston, Texas. He quit by 1977 to attend Harvard Business School. According to Skilling, during his admissions interview for Harvard Business School, he was asked if he was smart, to which he replied, "I'm "fucking" smart." This apparently so impressed the interviewer that it secured his place at the school. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979, graduating in the top 5% of his class as a Baker Scholar.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: After graduation, Skilling became a consultant at McKinsey & Company in the energy and chemical consulting practices. He eventually became one of the youngest partners in the history of McKinsey.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: As a consultant for McKinsey & Company, Skilling worked with Enron during 1987, helping the company create a forward market in natural gas. Skilling impressed Kenneth Lay in his capacity as a consultant, and was hired by Lay during 1990 as chairman and chief executive officer of Enron Finance Corp. In 1991, he became the chairman of Enron Gas Services Co., which was a result of the merger of Enron Gas Marketing and Enron Finance Corp. Skilling was named CEO and managing director of Enron Capital and Trade Resources, which was the subsidiary responsible for energy trading and marketing. He was promoted to president and chief operating officer of Enron during 1997, second only to Lay, while remaining the manager of Enron Capital and Trade Resources.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: During Skilling's management, Enron adopted "mark-to-market" accounting, in which anticipated future profits from any deal were accounted for by estimating their present value rather than historical cost. Skilling began advocating a novel idea: by promoting the company's aggressive investment strategy, the company didn't really need any "assets". This plan helped make Enron the largest wholesaler of gas and electricity, with $27 billion traded in a quarter. On February 12, 2001, Skilling was named CEO of Enron, replacing Lay. He was slated to succeed Lay as chairman as well in early 2002, but abruptly resigned six months later on 14 August 2001.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Skilling joked about the California energy crisis at one meeting of Enron employees by asking, "What is the difference between California and the "Titanic"? At least when the "Titanic" went down, the lights were on". Skilling later attributed the remark to frayed relations between Enron and California. His employees, meanwhile, plotted to keep the price of energy high in California.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: On March 28, 2001, PBS's "Frontline" interviewed Skilling, where he claimed for Enron "We are the good guys. We are on the side of angels".


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: On April 17, 2001, Skilling made what became an infamous comment during a conference call with financial analysts. In response to fund manager Richard Grubman saying "You know, you are the only financial institution that can't produce a balance sheet or cash flow statement with their earnings", Skilling replied: "Thank you very much, we appreciate that... asshole."


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Skilling unexpectedly resigned on August 14 of that year, citing personal reasons, and he soon sold large amounts of his shares in the corporation. Then-chairman Kenneth Lay, who previously served as CEO for 15 years, returned as CEO until the company filed for bankruptcy protection during December 2001. When brought in front of congressional committees, Skilling stated that he had "no knowledge" of the complicated scandal that would eventually result in Enron's bankruptcy.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Skilling was indicted on 35 counts of fraud, insider trading, and other crimes related to the Enron scandal. He surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on February 19, 2004, and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The indictments emphasized his probable knowledge of, and likely direct involvement with, the fraudulent transactions within Enron. About a month after quitting Enron, Skilling sold almost US$60 million of his stake in the company (in blocks of 10,000 to 500,000 shares), resulting in the prosecutors' allegation that he sold those shares with inside information of Enron's impending bankruptcy. Skilling's main attorney was Daniel Petrocelli, the 52-year-old civil litigator who represented Ron Goldman's father in his successful civil suit against O. J. Simpson for negligent death. Skilling spent $40 million in preparation for the trial, of which at least $23 million went to his defense lawyers' retainer. Skilling's younger brother Mark is an attorney and assisted his legal team during the criminal trial.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: In April 2004, Skilling got into a scuffle with patrons of a cigar bar in New York City after a night of drinking. He was not arrested, but he and his wife, Rebecca, who was hurt during the scuffle, were transported to a hospital where a blood test showed Skilling had a blood-alcohol level of 190 milligrams per deciliter (0.19% BAC), as indicated in the government's motion to modify conditions of Skilling's pretrial release order. Prosecutors moved against Skilling, asking a judge to increase his $5 million bond to $7 million, restrict his travel to Texas and impose a curfew. They argued that Skilling violated his bond's terms by drinking excessively and failing to report his contact with police to federal pretrial services authorities.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: The trial began on January 30, 2006, in Houston, despite repeated protests from defense attorneys calling for a change in venue on the grounds that "it was impossible to get a fair trial in Houston". Enron's bankruptcy, the largest in U.S. history when it was filed during December 2001, cost 20,000 employees their jobs. In addition, many of them lost their life savings. Investors also lost billions. Skilling and many of the company's executives had sold huge portions of their own Enron stock before the bankruptcy filing, making a substantial profit. On May 25, 2006, the jury returned with the following findings regarding Skilling:


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: In a front-page interview with "The Wall Street Journal" on June 17, 2006, Skilling claimed that he had been melancholic after the Enron bankruptcy and that he had considered suicide, but that his indictment actually ended his depression. He also claimed that the worst witness against him was himself, and that he would be able to survive a long prison term as long as he is given "something to do, something to accomplish" while in prison.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: On October 23, 2006, Skilling was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison, and was fined . All of his convictions save one were ultimately upheld on appeal, as was his sentence. Skilling's request to remain free during appeal was denied by Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 12, 2006. In ordering Skilling's immediate imprisonment, the judge wrote, "Skilling raises no substantial question that is likely to result in the reversal of his convictions on all of the charged counts," although the order also noted "serious frailties" were possible in some (but not all) of the convictions.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Skilling began his sentence on December 13, 2006, and was housed at the Montgomery Federal Prison Camp, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama until 2018. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he was scheduled for release on February 21, 2019, but on August 30, 2018 Skilling was released from prison and sent to a halfway house in Texas to serve out his prison sentence.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: The Securities and Exchange Commission had sued Skilling for his misdeeds in February 2004, around the time that the criminal case was brought. The SEC case was stayed, however, pending resolution of the criminal case. On December 8, 2015, federal judge Melinda Harmon granted summary judgment to the SEC and permanently barred Skilling from serving as an officer or director of a public company.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Prior to the trial, attorneys for Skilling requested that the notes taken from FBI agents during interviews with Andrew Fastow be given to the defense. A number of inconsistencies in the notes were discovered soon after.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: On April 3, 2008, Skilling's defense attorney, Daniel M. Petrocelli, argued with government prosecutors that Skilling's trial and the conviction itself was based on honest services fraud, which he said did not apply to Skilling. This argument was based on the idea that, even though Skilling committed illegal financial maneuvers, he did so in order to save the company and did not profit from it. This was cited as a possible basis for overturning some or all of his convictions; however, the chances of this were considered to be very narrow.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Experts believed Skilling's best chance was in citing a parallel appeals court decision that had dismissed guilty verdicts on three Merrill Lynch bankers accused of helping Enron to inflate profits.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: On October 30, 2008, Skilling was moved to a low-security prison near Littleton, Colorado, as his original prison, FCI Waseca, was being converted to an all-female facility.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Richard Dawkins' book "The Selfish Gene" was Skilling's favorite book and served as the foundation of his managerial philosophy. Skilling held, by his own interpretation, a Darwinian view of what makes the world work. He believed that money and fear were the only things that motivated people. Soon after being hired at Enron, he set up the Performance Review Committee (PRC), a twice-yearly process in which employees were publicly graded by management panels on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being lowest. Ratings were ostensibly based on job performance and feedback from colleagues and supervisors, but in reality, the highest grades were typically assigned to people bringing in money to the company, and people with internal connections. Employees' bonuses often rested significantly on their ranking, and those with the lowest ratings were supposed to be fired. The rankings were assigned on a curve at Skilling's direction, meaning that ten percent of people had to be graded five, regardless of absolute performance. They were given two weeks to try to find another job at Enron or be fired. The scheme came to be known as "rank and yank". Skilling described the PRC process as "the most important process we conduct as a company".


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Dawkins has distanced himself from Enron and Skilling, saying that Skilling misunderstood his book. Dawkins has said that he has never advocated selfishness as a means of progression.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: On October 13, 2009, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear two questions presented by Skilling's appeal. The Court subsequently scheduled and heard argument March 1, 2010.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: The first challenge by Skilling's defense was whether or not the federal "honest services fraud" statute (title 18 of the United States Code, section 1346) required the government to prove that Skilling's conduct was intended to achieve "private gain" (instead of being intended to advance his employer's interests); and, if not, if this statute is unconstitutionally vague. The Court heard two other cases about the same statute on December 8, several months before it heard Skilling's appeal: "Black v. United States" and "Weyhrauch v. United States".


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: The second issue – "in-house judging" – was whether or not, when a presumption of jury prejudice arises because of the widespread, community effect of the defendant's alleged conduct, plus, widespread, inflammatory pretrial publicity, the government may rebut that presumption; and, if so, if the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that no juror was actually prejudiced.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: In the arguments on March 1, the issue of jury selection received the most attention. Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor seemed especially bothered by the questioning of one potential juror who reported that she had lost from $50,000 to $60,000 in the Enron debacle. "How can we be satisfied that a fair and impartial jury was picked when the judge doesn't follow up when the juror said, 'I'm a victim of this crime, Sotomayor asked. The government maintained that the judge and the selection process were appropriate. Sri Srinivasan, a partner at O'Melveny & Myers, was Skilling's Washington defense attorney, and Justice Department lawyer Michael Dreeben argued for the government.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: On June 24, 2010, in an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court unanimously nullified Skilling's honest services fraud conviction, finding that "Skilling's misconduct entailed no bribe or kickback". The Court remanded the Skilling case back to the lower court for further proceedings to decide which charges must now be dismissed as the result of the invalidation of the honest services statute.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: In April 2011, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that since the jury was presented with "overwhelming evidence" that Skilling conspired to commit conspiracy fraud, the verdict would have been the same even if the honest services theory had never been presented, and Skilling's conviction was confirmed. The case in the Fifth Circuit is "United States of America v. Jeffrey K. Skilling", 06-20885. Skilling appealed this new decision to the Supreme Court, but was denied certiorari. In 2013, Skilling's lawyers and the Justice Department reached a deal that called for Skilling's sentence to be reduced to 14 years. The reduction was driven in part by a 2009 appeals court ruling that ordered a recalculation of Mr. Skilling’s sentence because of a mistake made by the judge in interpreting the federal sentencing guidelines. In exchange for his reduced sentence, Mr. Skilling gave up about $42 million, to be distributed to victims of Enron’s fraud. He also agreed not to pursue any further legal appeals, including a claim that would have accused the prosecution team of misconduct. Federal judge Simeon T. Lake III, who had presided over Skilling's 2006 trial, accepted the deal on June 21, 2013. Jeffrey Skilling was released from federal custody on February 21, 2019, after 12 years in federal prison.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: In June 2020, Skilling was reported by Reuters to be fundraising for launch of an online oil and gas trading platform named Veld LLC. In August 2021, Veld LLC filed as a business in the State of Texas. According to the public records available through the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Rebecca Carter, Skilling's wife, is listed as manager of the company. On August 30, 2022 the company became listed as inactive.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: Skilling has a daughter and two sons from his first marriage to Susan Long, which ended in divorce in 1997. His youngest child, John Taylor "JT" Skilling, was found dead from a drug overdose at age 20 in his apartment in Santa Ana, California on February 3, 2011.


title: Jeffrey Skilling

text: In March 2002, Skilling married Rebecca Carter, a former vice president for board communications and board secretary at Enron.


The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the Oscars for 1957, the two categories were combined to honor only the screenplay.


title: Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay

text: See also the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a similar award for screenplays that are adaptations of pre-existing material.


text: Woody Allen has the most nominations in this category with 16, and the most awards with 3 (for "Annie Hall", "Hannah and Her Sisters", and "Midnight in Paris"). Paddy Chayefsky and Billy Wilder have also won three screenwriting Oscars: Chayefsky won two for Original Screenplay ("The Hospital" and "Network") and one for Adapted Screenplay ("Marty"), while Wilder won one for Adapted Screenplay ("The Lost Weekend", shared with Charles Brackett), and two for Original Screenplay ("Sunset Boulevard", shared with Brackett and D.M. Marshman Jr., and "The Apartment", shared with I. A. L. Diamond)


text: Woody Allen also holds the record as the oldest winner (76) for "Midnight in Paris". Ben Affleck is the youngest winner (25) for "Good Will Hunting", co-written with Matt Damon (27).


text: Richard Schweizer was the first to win for a foreign-language film, "Marie-Louise". Other winners for a non-English screenplay include Albert Lamorisse, Pietro Germi, Claude Lelouch, Pedro Almodóvar, Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won. Lamorisse is additionally the only person to win or even be nominated for Best Original Screenplay for a short film ("The Red Balloon", 1956).


text: Muriel Box ("The Seventh Veil") was the first woman to win in this category; she shared the award with her husband, Sydney Box. The Boxes are also the first of two married couples to win in this category; Earl W. Wallace and Pamela Wallace ("Witness") are the others.


text: In 1996, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen became the only siblings to win in this category (for "Fargo"). Francis Ford Coppola ("Patton", 1970) and Sofia Coppola ("Lost in Translation", 2003) are the only father-daughter pair to win.


text: Preston Sturges was nominated for two different films in the same year (1944): "Hail the Conquering Hero" and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek". Oliver Stone achieved the same distinction in 1986, for "Platoon" and "Salvador". Maurice Richlin and Stanley Shapiro were nominated in 1959 for both "Operation Petticoat" and "Pillow Talk" and won for the latter.


text: Jordan Peele became the first and only African-American to win in this category for 2017's "Get Out".


text: Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won became the first Asian writers to win either Screenplay award, for 2019's "Parasite".


title: Bas Rutten

text: Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (; born 24 February 1965) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three-time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his career on a 22 fight unbeaten streak (21 wins, 1 draw). From 2007 to 2016, Rutten was the co-host of "Inside MMA" on AXS TV. Rutten became a naturalized American citizen receiving citizenship in the late 1990s.


title: Bas Rutten

text: As a professional fighter, one of his favorite tactics was the liver shot (both punch and kick), and he popularized its use in MMA. Rutten is known for his charisma and has capitalized on his celebrity status since retiring from fighting in 1999. He has worked as a color commentator in several MMA organizations, including Pride, and has appeared in numerous television shows, movies, and video games. He also coaches MMA and has authored several instructional materials.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten was born in Tilburg, Netherlands. At the age of six, he developed eczema and severe asthma. His eczema meant he always wore long sleeves, turtle necks and gloves, and his asthma meant he was unable to partake in exercise, and was consequently relatively skinny. He was bullied on a daily basis as a child.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Bas started training in boxing in the backyard of an elementary school with a friend. Rutten became interested in martial arts at age 12 after his family went on vacation to France, where the movie "Enter the Dragon" starring Bruce Lee was playing at a local movie theatre. Bas could not get in because the movie was rated 17+, so he and his brother Sjoerd snuck into the theatre. After he saw the movie, he took an interest in martial arts. At first, his conservative parents did not allow him to pursue his interest but at age 14, after two years of begging his parents, they allowed him to practice taekwondo. He picked it up very quickly and after a few months he got in a street fight with the biggest bully in town. Rutten, now more confident, took the challenge and broke the bully's nose and KO'd him with the first punch he threw. The police came to his parents' house and Rutten was immediately prohibited by his parents from further practicing martial arts.


title: Bas Rutten

text: At age 21, he moved out of his parents' house and once again started training taekwondo. He was committed, eventually earning a 2nd degree black belt. He then began learning Kyokushin karate and earned a 2nd-degree black belt.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Bas Rutten started competing in kickboxing at the age of 20 while working also as a bouncer and model. He fought 16 times, winning the first 14 matches by knockout, 13 in the first round, and losing his final two fights. One of them would be against Frank Lobman for the European Muay Thai title on 12 February 1991, with Rutten losing by KO in the first round. According to Rutten, he signed up for the match while under the influence and without any kind of earlier preparation, but he decided not to pull out. Another of his most famous fights was against Rene Rooze, who bit Rutten's ear during the match. In response, Bas landed a knee to the groin, which interrupted the match and caused a brawl.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten began his professional mixed martial arts career when he was working as an entertainer. He was scouted by Chris Dolman and invited to train at the Fighting Network RINGS Holland dojo. Though his first training was a difficult start for him, he focused on learning the rudiments of the art. In 1993, when Japanese pro wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki traveled to the Netherlands to scout fighters for their new "hybrid wrestling" organization, Pancrase, Rutten was immediately chosen. A precursor to modern mixed martial arts, the organization was the first of its kind and featured fighting with no closed fisted strikes to the face, and boasted early MMA names Frank Shamrock, Vernon White, Maurice Smith, Ken Shamrock, and Guy Mezger.


title: Bas Rutten

text: In September 1993, Rutten had his debut in Pancrase against the 45lb heavier Ryushi Yanagisawa, knocking him out with palms and knee strikes in only 48 seconds. The KO was so brutal that Yanagisawa was carried from the ring and spent two days in hospital, with Bas himself fearing for his life. Rutten's second match, however, would be against a more experienced opponent, Takaku Fuke, and it would expose his main weakness, which was his lack of groundfighting experience. Fuke took Rutten down and locked an armbar, which forced the Dutch fighter to spend a rope escape, though Bas was eventually able to land a knee strike to the liver to finish the match with a win.


title: Bas Rutten

text: His third match would be his first loss in Pancrase, as he faced a superior opponent in the form of Pancrase founder Masakatsu Funaki. Rutten was taken down and forced to close guard, a moment in which he accidentally hit Funaki with a closed-fisted punch. When he tried to apologize, the Japanese fighter capitalized and executed a toehold, making Rutten tap out. At that point of his career, Rutten realized the importance of the grappling aspect, and he started taping Pancrase trainings in order to practice those moves with his trainee Leon Van Dijk.


title: Bas Rutten

text: The training paid off, as Rutten submitted Japanese wrestler Kazuo "Yoshiki" Takahashi with an inverted heel hook during a grappling exchange that had been overconfidently initiated by Kazuo. The hold completely broke Takahashi's shin bone and gained Rutten an honorary 5th-degree black belt in Kyokushin Budokai by Jon Bluming after he learned the fact. Rutten then got his first high-level win against the other co-founder of Pancrase, the previously undefeated Minoru Suzuki. The Dutch fighter knocked him down with a body kick, resisted successfully all his submissions attempts on the ground and then hit a knee to the liver on a downed Suzuki, finishing him off. Rutten later said that this win was one of the happiest moments of his life.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Just 20 days later, Rutten faced another steep test, fighting future UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock, who was then one of the best Pancrase fighters. This time the Dutch had Masakatsu Funaki himself in his corner, as he had got the Japanese to formally teach him shoot wrestling. Rutten turned in a hard effort, being taken down by Shamrock and held under dominant position for most of the match. The more experienced Shamrock made Rutten spend rope escapes by submitting him with a pair of heel hooks and a rear naked choke, and although Rutten still tried on, he was ultimately choked out. After this, Rutten decided to omit strikes from his training and focus only on grappling, and he bounced back from the loss with a submission win over Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jason DeLucia, trading submission attempts with him before ending the match with a guillotine choke.


title: Bas Rutten

text: In December 1994, Rutten then participated in one of the greatest events in mixed martial arts history to the point, the King of Pancrase Tournament. The winner of this tournament would be crowned the first champion of Pancrase. Rutten was one of the four #1 seeds in the tournament, and his first fight was against MMA newcomer and future UFC champion Frank Shamrock. The fight was a controversial one, as Rutten locked an earlier rear naked choke under the ropes, only to have the referee to break it up without deducting a lost point from Frank. After that point, the two nullified each other until the end of the match, which saw an upset decision win for Shamrock. Frank also left the match with a broken nose by a high kick.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten found a measure of redemption after the upset loss by choking out expert grappler and King of Pancrase Tournament Finalist Manabu Yamada in his next fight, on 26 January 1995. Rutten was taken to the ground, but he clamped an arm triangle choke from half guard and exerted such a pressure that Yamada, refusing to tap out, was choked out and remained unconscious with his eyes wide open after the hold. Thanks to this performance against the tournament finalist, Rutten received a rematch and a title shot against tournament winner and then-current King of Pancrase Ken Shamrock for the King of Pancrase title on 10 March. The match was very anticipated, but it ended early when Shamrock executed a kneebar and forced Rutten to submit. According to the Dutch, the loss was due to his training partner Funaki teaching him the wrong way to escape a kneebar, which made Rutten spin in the opposite direction giving a tighter hold for Shamrock. After this failure, Rutten focused on grappling even harder and started training 2 to 3 times a day solely on submissions.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Again, Rutten's new training paid off, and he stole a win from Takaku Fuke with an armbar from the guard and a finishing heel hook. He then faced another dangerous striker, American kickboxing champion Maurice Smith, who in turn fell down to the mat to avoid Bas's striking. Rutten grappled with him and showed his technical brilliance, firstly submitting Smith with a heel hook performed with his own chin and later executing a figure-four toehold for the win. After dispatching next Jason DeLucia by submission as well, Rutten got a rematch with Frank Shamrock on 23 July. Their fight was similar to the first bout, with both men trading positions and holds, and again the referee controversially broke up two kneebars which were performed by Rutten next to the ropes, but this time Rutten would win the split decision.


title: Bas Rutten

text: The win granted him a challenge title match in September 1995 against the King of Pancrase Minoru Suzuki, which was their rematch from the fight at the beginning of their careers. The match was long and intense, as Suzuki rode Rutten for most of their exchanges in the bout, and actually managed to force him to spend a rope escape with a tight kneebar. Rutten held his own through his defensive acumen, occasionally countering with guillotine chokes and a surprising rolling kneebar from standing, until the match came to its last minutes. After getting from under a mount, Rutten threw a front kick to the body which downed Suzuki and followed with a guillotine choke, making the King of Pancrase tap out.


title: Bas Rutten

text: After putting his title defenses on hold due to an injury, Rutten returned to the ring in a rematch against Maurice Smith. Overwhelmed by Rutten's strikes, Smith opted for taking him down every time possible, but Rutten ended up performing a half guard sweep into a rear naked choke for the tap out. His next time would be against the man he debuted against in Pancrase, Ryushi Yanagisawa, and this time the match lasted 27:35. Despite breaking his hand during the match, Rutten scored three consecutive submissions through the affair before ending it with another rear naked choke.


title: Bas Rutten

text: In March 1996, Rutten faced Lion's Den fighter and future Ultimate Fighting Championship winner Guy Mezger. Through the fight, Rutten dominated the stand-up with liver shots and palm strikes, forcing Mezger to take him down and meet him on the ground. There Mezger was able to control Rutten, but was unable to score a submission, while the Dutch defended and capitalized on the stand-up segments to inflict damage. At the end, after a leglock exchange, Rutten locked a heel hook variation to submit Mezger.


title: Bas Rutten

text: On 16 May 1996 Rutten defended his title before Frank Shamrock in their third match, which was also for Shamrock's interim King of Pancrase title. Controlling the takedowns as usual, Shamrock gained north-south position several times, but was unable to submit Rutten, and Rutten in turn knocked him down with an open-handed uppercut. The two fighters struggled, and even fell off the ring in a failed takedown. In midst of the fight, Frank famously taunted Rutten by sticking out his tongue at him during a leglock exchange, which moved Bas to hit him in the face with a close-fisted punch, losing a point by red card as Shamrock expected. At the end, however, Rutten won the fight by TKO due to an eye cut, unifying the King of Pancrase belts.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Right after his match against Shamrock, Rutten had his rubber match against Jason DeLucia. The fight was controversial for DeLucia repeatedly claiming Rutten had hit him with a closed fist, which cost the Dutch fighter a yellow card and later a red card. In response, Rutten hit several shots to DeLucia's liver, rupturing it and knocking him out painfully.


title: Bas Rutten

text: At Pancrase 1996 Anniversary Show, taking place on 7 September, Rutten defended his undisputed title against Masakatsu Funaki in what is considered to be one of the greatest fights in Pancrase history. The Japanese wrestler came near finishing the match earlier with an ankle lock, but Rutten escaped miraculously and proceeded to fend Funaki off for the rest of the bout, utilizing the same stalling strategy he had used against Suzuki. Funaki made a wide usage of the knee-on-stomach and mount position to initiate leglock attacks, but the Dutch countered every time and eventually pushed Masakatsu away, a moment in which the Japanese threw an illegal kick to Rutten while he was getting up. In response, the Dutch fighter knocked Funaki down with a palm strike, and then completely broke his nose with a second palm strike to a supine Masakatsu. The stunned Japanese tried to trade hits with Rutten, only for Bas to capitalize on this with his famed striking game. Rutten knocked him down twice with palms and knees, and he followed landing a lengthy, unanswered string of strikes until a knee to the face finally downed Funaki for the KO victory. In doing so, he became a three-time King of Pancrase.


title: Bas Rutten

text: His next fight was an anticipated rematch with Manabu Yamada, which lasted only 0:54 before Rutten made him to tap out to a leg-entangled toehold. Following the match, he relinquished his title to be present for the birth of his second daughter.


title: Bas Rutten

text: On 22 March 1997 Rutten returned to Pancrase in a match against Osami Shibuya, a bout in which he was unexpectedly forced to fight for the draw after his own sternum broke through the struggle. The Dutchman avenged the accident in a rematch with Shibuya, in which he submitted the Japanese with a spinal lock from ura-gatame position he nicknamed "Bas Rutten Neck Crank."


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten returned to Pancrase, taking 8 more victories, bringing his unbeaten streak up to 19 straight fights.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten left Pancrase as one of the most dominant fighters in the history of the organization. MMA legend Ken Shamrock was the only fighter Rutten did not avenge a loss to. In 2000, when Rutten was PRIDE FC's color commentator, a third fight with Shamrock was entertained. Rutten agreed to come out of retirement to fight Shamrock in PRIDE FC. However, Shamrock stated that he already beat Rutten twice and that a third time wasn't necessary. Later, in 2002, Rutten said that he would not fight Shamrock again even if it was offered to him because of the friendship they developed over the years, and that he could not put his mind and heart into fighting Ken.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten was originally told about Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) before its first event in 1993, when would-be UFC competitor Ken Shamrock proposed it to him, but Rutten decided to stay in Pancrase, as he felt the "no rules" format was too dangerous and he did not want to risk his career so early. However, he signed with the UFC in 1998, after his Pancrase career. Rutten entered the UFC with a massive amount of hype; he was undefeated in his last 19 fights and was touted by the organization as the "world's greatest martial artist."


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten was originally scheduled to fight heavyweight champion Randy Couture in a title match for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in his first fight, but Couture had a contract dispute and left the UFC to sign with a different promotion. The title was then stripped from Couture and a tournament of sorts was set up to determine the next champion. Thus, the Dutchman's first fight in his quest for the UFC belt was against Fighting Network RINGS exponent Tsuyoshi Kosaka at UFC 18. During the bout, Rutten was repeatedly taken down and struck with ground and pound, but he ended up scoring a dramatic KO with just a minute left in overtime. The fight was a source of controversy because referee John McCarthy seemed to unfairly stand the fight up when Kosaka was mounted on Rutten and actively landing clean effective punches.


title: Bas Rutten

text: On 7 May 1999, at UFC 20, Rutten faced Kevin Randleman for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. The first four minutes consisted of Rutten taking unanswered punishment from his guard, getting blood on his face, but after the fight was stood up to check Rutten's cut, Rutten landed a hard kick to Randleman's liver, slowing his pace for the rest of the fight. They then exchanged strikes in Bas's guard, with the Dutch fighter opening a cut in Randleman via elbow strikes on top of his head, until the end of the overtime. The fight went to the judges, and they gave the split decision win to Rutten, crowning him as UFC Heavyweight Champion. This victory met a heated controversy from fans and professionals of the sport alike, among them Randleman's corner and Mark Coleman, who criticized the judges' decision. Fight judging at that point was not based on the current 10-point must system, but on whom the judges felt won the fight overall.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten vacated the title later in the year, in order to drop down to middleweight (now known as light heavyweight) a weight closer to his natural weight, in a bid to try to become the first person to hold a UFC title in two weight classes. However, he would end up never continuing his career, as while training for his next UFC fight in 1999 he suffered multiple serious injuries, including blowing out his knee (a long-running injury), tearing his biceps, and suffering a neck injury. He was forced to retire from MMA competition for the time being, by doctor's orders.


title: Bas Rutten

text: He was proposed a fight against Kazushi Sakuraba when he was contacted by Pride Fighting Championships, but Rutten declined due to an insufficient fight purse, preferring to sign up as a fight commentator. He was replaced by Wanderlei Silva in the card.


title: Bas Rutten

text: On 22 May 2015 UFC President Dana White appeared on Inside MMA to announce that Rutten would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame during International Fight Week in July. Rutten is the first European to be inducted, taking his place in the "Pioneers" wing of the UFC's new-look Hall of Fame.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz has credited Rutten for inspiration during his early days. Ortiz said; "I looked up to Bas Rutten. Bas was my idol. People were just so scared of fighting him, he was like the man. I thought that was what I need to do now. If I train as hard as he does then one day I'll be as good as him and two years later look where I am, I'm on top of the world. I've got to say thanks to him, (Bas) for helping me out by making me believe in dreams."


title: Bas Rutten

text: In May 2006, Rutten announced his return to MMA competition. Cleared by doctors to fight again, Rutten was slated to face Kimo Leopoldo in the now-defunct World Fighting Alliance on 22 July 2006, at The Forum in Los Angeles. Two days before the event, Kimo tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. In place of Kimo, Rutten fought Ruben "Warpath" Villareal. Rutten took a first-round victory by way of technical knockout after low kicks left his opponent unable to stand. With that he brought up his professional record to 28 wins 4 losses and 1 draw. After the fight, Rutten tested positive for hydrocodone, morphine, and diphenhydramine.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten competed in Japanese professional wrestling following his Pancrase tenure. He made his debut at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2000 event, where he teamed up with Alexander Otsuka to defeat the team of Naoki Sano and Ricco Rodríguez, with Rutten personally submitting Sano with a crossface chickenwing. He also wrestled in Battlarts, defeating Carl Malenko by KO via palm strike.


title: Bas Rutten

text: In 2002, Rutten debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a part of Antonio Inoki's MMA army. Before his first match, he was featured in vignettes learning the shining wizard from watching Keiji Mutoh tapes in order to adapt to NJPW professional wrestling. He mostly wrestled in singles matches, beating both rookies and veterans like Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Masayuki Naruse. In July, he challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Yuji Nagata, but he was defeated. After three months, in October, he was featured in a special European Catch Wrestling Rules Match against Osamu Nishimura with Tony St. Clair as a special referee. The match went to a time limit draw after ten rounds, despite Nishimura's illegal blows. The same month, Rutten dropped down to the junior heavyweight division and received another title match, this time against Koji Kanemoto for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but he was unsuccessful.


title: Bas Rutten

text: After his retirement from fighting in 1999, Rutten focused on becoming an actor, getting small parts on TV shows such as "Martial Law", "18 Wheels of Justice", "The King of Queens", "Lights Out" and the Canadian series "Freedom", as well as appearing in low budget movies such as "Shadow Fury", "The Eliminator", and the comedy short "The Kingdom of Ultimate Power" which was featured in the 2005 L.A. Film Festival. It also won the first prize at the short film festival in NY for "best comedy".


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten was also the color commentator for the English productions of Pride Fighting Championships events, calling nearly every event from Pride 1 through the 2005 Grand Prix. Known for his sense of humor and first-hand knowledge of the sport, Rutten quickly became a fan favorite commentator. In April 2006 he announced that he would not continue to announce for Pride, due to the constant flying to Japan, and being away from his family every month.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten has a cameo in the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the in-game TV show called "The Men's Room." He also did motion capture for the main character's fighting moves. He said that when he arrived at the motion-capture place in New York he asked the people in charge how violent they wanted to have it and they told him to "give it all he got". After two hours they stopped him and said, "It's OK, you don't have to go any further".


title: Bas Rutten

text: He was also featured in "WCW vs. the World" for the PlayStation, but was named "Thunder Dome" to avoid copyright laws.


title: Bas Rutten

text: On 23 January 2008, he was announced as the new Vice President, Fighter Operations reporting directly to IFL CEO Jay Larkin. His role was to build relations between the IFL and its fighters as well as work on potential match-ups between fighters. He also hosted the weekly shows "Battleground" and "International Fight League" with Kenny Rice. This all ended when IFL went out of business in late 2008.


title: Bas Rutten

text: In 2009, he appeared in the music video for Listen to Your Friends by the rock band New Found Glory, "fighting" lead vocalist Jordan Pundik.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Bas and Rice hosted "Inside MMA", a weekly MMA variety show on AXS TV. The pair also did remote English commentary and play-by-play for Dream events broadcast in North America on HDNet. The pair were eventually replaced by Guy Mezger and Michael Schiavello, who attend the events live in Japan. He is currently appearing in public health service ads, airing on Cartoon Network. He also made a public service announcement against trying out MMA at home but CagePotato ridiculed it for its mixed messages.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten was featured in the 2012 American sports comedy movie Here Comes the Boom alongside Kevin James and Henry Winkler. Rutten played the role of a former MMA fighter and Dutch immigrant Niko trying to gain US citizenship. In return for his help in gaining citizenship, Niko helps train 42-year-old biology teacher Scott (Kevin James) to become a MMA fighter in the UFC. The film also features former UFC fighter Krzysztof Soszynski, former Muay Thai kickboxer Mark DellaGrotte along with cameo roles for Bruce Buffer, Chael Sonnen, Jason Miller, Satoshi Ishii, Mark Muñoz, Herb Dean, Wanderlei Silva, and Joe Rogan amongst others.


title: Bas Rutten

text: On 23 October 2013, the World Series of Fighting announced Rutten as a member of the broadcast team for WSOF events on NBCSN along with Todd Harris.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten is certified as an instructor of both MTBN Thai Boxing and mixed martial arts, as well as krav maga.


title: Bas Rutten

text: In 2006, Rutten was a team coach for the International Fight League, an MMA organization that focused on team combat. His team, the Anacondas, defeated the Silverbacks 3–2. He is also a former investor in the Legends MMA gym in Hollywood and used to teach there occasionally, and is now a part owner of the MMA gym Bas Rutten's Elite Mixed Martial Arts in Thousand Oaks, California. He teaches a MMA class on Tuesdays.


title: Bas Rutten

text: He has also trained former street fighter Kimbo Slice for his professional MMA bouts, as well as professional wrestler Samoa Joe.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten's main reason for success in Pancrase was his well-rounded fighting style, excelling both in striking and grappling. His stand-up offensive, learned from the Dutch school of Muay Thai, Karate and Taekwondo was aggressive yet deceptively technical. According to Frank Shamrock, it often intimidated other fighters. He would say, "His kickboxing was devastating. It was something everybody feared. The other thing he had was a basic understanding of real fighting ... Bas had that street fighter mentality." One of his favored tactics was unbalancing his opponents with push kicks against the ring ropes before overwhelming them with palm strikes and body punches, nullifying their ability to counterattack or defend. Rutten never developed an effective takedown defense, but he was apt at landing strikes while being taken down, having knocked out opponents before they could complete the technique. The most famous aspect of his striking, however, was his skill to target the opponent's liver, using punches, knees and kicks to damage it and incapacitate his adversary.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten's groundwork was built through a slow evolution and was unusual for being mostly self-taught. Initially counting only on defense rudiments learned from Chris Dolman, he developed his game by copying Pancrase trainings and became a dangerous submission fighter. His grappling style was patterned after Pancrase's native shoot wrestling (better known as "Catch wrestling" in the west), and he focused on chokeholds, leglocks, and a solid submission defense, which helped him to avoid being forced to submit by even high-level offensive grapplers like Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten currently lives in Westlake Village, California, with his wife Karin and two daughters – Sabine and Bianca. Rutten also has a daughter from his first wife; her name is Rachele. He became a citizen of the United States twenty years ago. By the end of 2015, he received his first grandchild, a grandson from Rachele, who currently lives in Belgium.


title: Bas Rutten

text: He became known for the victory celebration known as "Rutten Jump", in which he would do a jumping split after winning a fight. Rutten talked about the origins of the Rutten Jump on his website: "When I won my first fight in Pancrase, I was so hyped that I jumped up in the splits to each side of the ring. Why? I don't know. But, it became my trademark and I had to do it after every fight that I won."


title: Bas Rutten

text: In 2010, Rutten partnered with clothing brand, Tokyo Five, to produce and star in a cooking show titled "Grandma's Kitchen with Bas Rutten". The show's pilot was scheduled to air 26 February 2010; however, due to a physical altercation between Rutten and co-hosts, production has been delayed indefinitely.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Rutten is a practicing Catholic, talking about his faith in God on YouTube. Raised in a Catholic family, Rutten stopped practicing the faith at around 12 years old when his parents stopped attending church, but he returned to the faith in 2013. He has credited his friend Kevin James, and others, with helping him in his journey back to Catholicism. Rutten has spoken out against anti-Catholic discrimination in Hollywood.


title: Bas Rutten

text: Bas Rutten is known for his brawls and bar fights around the world. In particular, he once threw Paul Varelans through a glass window in Russia via kimura lock when Varelans tried to bite his back, and immediately after he disarmed and assaulted an armed bouncer. He also participated in a brawl that took place at a bar in Sweden in which he fought several bouncers at the same time. This fight is particularly notorious as it landed Rutten in a Swedish jail.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Milk is a 2008 American biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Sean Penn as Milk and Josh Brolin as Dan White, a city supervisor, and Victor Garber as San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Attempts to put Milk's life to film followed a 1984 documentary of his life and the aftermath of his assassination, titled "The Times of Harvey Milk", which was loosely based upon Randy Shilts's 1982 biography, "The Mayor of Castro Street" (the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 1984, and was awarded Special Jury Prize at the first Sundance Film Festival, among other awards). Various scripts were considered in the early 1990s, but projects fell through for different reasons, until 2007. Much of "Milk" was filmed on Castro Street and other locations in San Francisco, including Milk's former storefront, Castro Camera.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: The film was released to critical acclaim and grossed $54 million worldwide. It earned numerous accolades from film critics and guilds for Penn and Brolin's performance, Van Sant's directing, and Black's screenplay, it received 8 Oscar nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, including Best Picture and went on to win two: Best Actor for Penn, his second Oscar, and Best Original Screenplay for Black.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: The film opens with archival footage of police raiding gay bars and arresting patrons during the 1950s and 1960s, followed by Dianne Feinstein's November 27, 1978 announcement to the press that Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone had been assassinated. Milk is seen recording his will throughout the film, nine days (November 18, 1978) before the assassinations. The film then flashes back to New York City in 1970, the eve of Milk's 40th birthday and his first meeting with his much younger lover, Scott Smith.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Dissatisfied with his life and in need of a change, Milk and Smith decide to move to San Francisco in the hope of finding larger acceptance of their relationship. They open Castro Camera in the heart of Eureka Valley, a working-class neighborhood in the process of evolving into a predominantly gay neighborhood known as The Castro. Frustrated by the opposition they encounter in the once Irish-Catholic neighborhood, Milk utilizes his background as a businessman to become a gay activist, eventually becoming a mentor for Cleve Jones. Early on, Smith serves as Milk's campaign manager, but he grows frustrated with Milk's devotion to politics, and he leaves him. Milk later meets Jack Lira, a sweet-natured but unbalanced young man. As with Smith, Lira cannot tolerate Milk's devotion to political activism, and eventually hangs himself. Milk clashes with the local gay "establishment" which he feels to be too cautious and risk-averse.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: After two unsuccessful political campaigns in 1973 and 1975 to become a city supervisor and a third in 1976 for the California State Assembly, Milk finally wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 for District 5. His victory makes him the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in California and the third openly homosexual politician in the entire US. Milk subsequently meets fellow Supervisor Dan White, a Vietnam veteran and former police officer and firefighter. White, who is politically and socially conservative, has a difficult relationship with Milk, and develops a growing resentment for Milk when he opposes projects that White proposes.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Milk and White forge a complex working relationship. Milk is invited to, and attends, the christening of White's first child, and White asks for Milk's assistance in preventing a psychiatric hospital from opening in White's district, possibly in exchange for White's support of Milk's citywide gay rights ordinance. When Milk fails to support White because of the negative effect it will have on troubled youth, White feels betrayed, and ultimately becomes the sole vote against the gay rights ordinance. Milk also launches an effort to defeat Proposition 6, an initiative on the California state ballot in November 1978. Sponsored by John Briggs, a conservative state senator from Orange County, Proposition 6 seeks to ban gays and lesbians (in addition to anyone who supports them) from working in California's public schools. It is also part of a nationwide conservative movement that starts with the successful campaign headed by Anita Bryant and her organization "Save Our Children" in Dade County, Florida to repeal a local gay rights ordinance.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: On November 7, 1978, after working tirelessly against Proposition 6, Milk and his supporters rejoice in the wake of its defeat. A desperate White favors a supervisor pay raise, but does not get much support, and shortly after supporting the proposition, resigns from the Board. He later changes his mind and asks to be reinstated. Mayor Moscone denies his request, after being lobbied by Milk.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: On the morning of November 27, 1978, White enters City Hall through a basement window to conceal a gun from metal detectors. He requests another meeting with Moscone, who rebuffs his request for appointment to his former seat. Enraged, White shoots Moscone in his office and then goes to meet Milk, where he guns him down, with the fatal bullet delivered execution-style. The film suggests that Milk believed that White might be a closeted gay man.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: The last scene is a candlelight vigil held by thousands for Milk and Moscone throughout the streets of the city. Pictures of the actual people depicted in the film, and brief summaries of their lives follow.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: A number of Milk's associates, including speechwriter Frank M. Robinson, Teamster Allan Baird and school teacher-turned-politician Tom Ammiano portrayed themselves. Additionally, Carol Ruth Silver, who served with Milk on the Board of Supervisors, plays a small role as Thelma. Cleve Jones also has a small role as Don Amador. Anne Kronenberg makes an appearance as a stenographer, and Daniel Nicoletta appears as Carl Carlson.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: In early 1991, Oliver Stone was planning to produce, but not direct, a film on Milk's life; he wrote a script for the film, called "The Mayor of Castro Street". In July 1992, director Gus Van Sant was signed with Warner Bros. to direct the biopic with actor Robin Williams in the lead role. By April 1993, Van Sant parted ways with the studio, citing creative differences. Other actors considered for Harvey Milk at the time included Richard Gere, Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino, and James Woods.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: In April 2007, the director sought to direct the biopic based on a script by Dustin Lance Black, while at the same time, director Bryan Singer was developing "The Mayor of Castro Street", which had been in development hell. By the following September, Sean Penn was attached to play Harvey Milk and Matt Damon was attached to play Milk's assassin, Dan White. Damon pulled out later in September due to scheduling conflicts. By November, Focus Features moved forward with Van Sant's production, "Milk", while Singer's project ran into trouble with the writers' strike. In December 2007, actors Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Alison Pill, and James Franco joined "Milk", with Brolin replacing Damon as Dan White. "Milk" began filming on location in San Francisco in January 2008.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: The production design and costume design crew for the film researched the history of the city's gay community in the archives of the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco, where they spent several weeks reviewing photographs, film and video, newspapers, historic textiles and ephemera, as well as the personal belongings of Harvey Milk, which were donated to the institution by the estate of Scott Smith. The crew also talked to people who knew Milk to shape their approach to the era.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: The filmmakers also revisited the location of Milk's camera shop on Castro Street and dressed the street to match the film's 1970s setting. The camera shop, which had become a gift shop, was bought out by the filmmakers for a couple of months to use in production. Production on Castro Street also revitalized the Castro Theatre, whose facade was repainted and whose neon marquee was redone. Filming also took place at the San Francisco City Hall, while White's office, where Milk was assassinated, was recreated elsewhere due to the city hall's offices having become more modern. Filmmakers also intended to show a view of the San Francisco Opera House from the redesign of White's office. Filming finished March 2008.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: The film offers special thanks to "The Times of Harvey Milk" for "its enormous contribution to the making of this movie", and to its director and producer, Rob Epstein.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: In the month leading up to "Milk's" release, Focus Features kept the film out of all film festivals and restricted media screenings, seeking to briefly avoid word-of-mouth and the partisanship it could generate. "Milk" premiered in San Francisco on October 28, 2008, initiating a marketing dilemma that Focus Features struggled to face due to the film's subject matter. The studio hoped to stay above the politics of the ongoing general elections, especially California's anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8, which parallels the anti-gay rights Proposition 6 that is explored in the film.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Regardless, many reviewers and pundits have noted that the highly acclaimed film has taken on a new significance after the successful passage of Proposition 8 as a galvanizing point of honoring a major gay political and historical figure who would have strongly opposed the measure. Gay activists called on Focus Features to pull the film from the Cinemark Theatres chain as part of a series of boycotts because Cinemark's chief executive, Alan Stock, donated $9,999 to the Yes on 8 campaign.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: In the United States, "Milk" was given a limited release on November 26, 2008, and expanded to additional theaters each of the following weekends to a maximum of 882 screens. The film made the top 10 box office list on its opening weekend with earnings of $1.4 million in 36 theaters. At the box office, the film more than doubled its production cost of $20 million.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: "Milk" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 10, 2009. The DVD comes with deleted scenes and three featurettes: "Remembering Harvey", "Hollywood Comes to San Francisco", and "Marching for Equality".


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: As of August 2009, the DVD release of the film has sold an estimated 600,413 units, resulting in $11.3 million in revenue.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 245 reviews, with an average rating of 8.00/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by Sean Penn's powerhouse performance, "Milk" is a triumphant account of America's first openly gay man elected to public office." At Metacritic, which assigns a rating to reviews, the film has an average score of 84 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Todd McCarthy of "Variety" called the film "adroitly and tenderly observed", "smartly handled", and "most notable for the surprising and entirely winning performance by Sean Penn." He added, "while "Milk" is unquestionably marked by many mandatory scenes . . . the quality of the writing, acting and directing generally invests them with the feel of real life and credible personal interchange, rather than of scripted stops along the way from aspiration to triumph to tragedy. And on a project whose greatest danger lay in its potential to come across as agenda-driven agitprop, the filmmakers have crucially infused the story with qualities in very short supply today – gentleness and a humane embrace of all its characters."


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Kirk Honeycutt of "The Hollywood Reporter" said the film "transcends any single genre as a very human document that touches first and foremost on the need to give people hope" and added it "is superbly crafted, covering huge amounts of time, people and the zeitgeist without a moment of lapsed energy or inattention to detail . . . Black's screenplay is based solely on his own original research and interviews, and it shows: The film is richly flavored with anecdotal incidents and details. "Milk" surfaces in a season filled with movies based on real lives, but this is the first one that inspires a sense of intimacy with its subjects."


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" called "Milk", "A Marvel", and wrote the film "is a fascinating, multi-layered history lesson. In its scale and visual variety it feels almost like a calmed-down Oliver Stone movie, stripped of hyperbole and Oedipal melodrama. But it is also a film that like Mr. Van Sant's other recent work – and also, curiously, like David Fincher's "Zodiac", another San Francisco-based tale of the 1970s – respects the limits of psychological and sociological explanation."


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: "Christianity Today", a major Evangelical Christian periodical, gave the film a positive response. It stated that ""Milk" achieves what it sets out to do, telling an inspiring tale of one man's quest to legitimize his identity, to give hope to his community. I'm not sure how well it'll play outside of big cities, or if it will sway any opinions on hot-button political issues, but it gives a valiant, empathetic go of it." It also stated that the portrayal of Dan White was very fair and humanized and portrayed as more of a tragically flawed character, rather than a "typical 'crazy Christian villain' stereotype".


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: In contrast, John Podhoretz of the conservative magazine "Weekly Standard" blasted the portrayal of Harvey Milk, saying that it treated the "smart, aggressive, purposefully offensive, press-savvy" activist like a "teddy bear". Podhoretz also argued that the film glosses over Milk's polyamorous relationships; he opined that this contrasts Milk with present-day gay rights activists fighting over monogamous same-sex marriage. Podhoretz mentioned as well that the film concentrates on Milk's opposition to the Briggs Initiative while ignoring that both Governor Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter had made more public statements against it.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Screenwriter and journalist Richard David Boyle, who described himself as a former political ally of Milk's, stated that the film made a creditable effort at recreating the era. He also wrote that Penn captured Milk's "smile and humanity", and his sense of humor about his homosexuality. Boyle reserved criticism for what he felt was the film's inability to tell the whole story of Milk's election and demise.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: Luke Davies of "The Monthly" applauded the film for recreating "the atmosphere, the sense of hope and battle; even the sound design, bustling with street noise, adds much vibrancy to the tale", but voiced criticisms in regard to the message of the film, stating "while the film is a political narrative in a grand historical sense, the murder of Milk is neither a political assassination nor an act of homophobic rage. Rather, it is an act of revenge for perceived wrongs and public humiliation," Davies continues to postulate that "It seems as likely that Milk would have been murdered were he heterosexual. So the film can't be the heroic tale of a political martyr it needs to be in order to hold us and take our breath away. It's a simpler story, about a man who fought an extraordinary political fight and who was killed, arbitrarily and unnecessarily." Although Davies found Penn's portrayal of Milk moving, he adds that "on a minor but troubling note, there are times when Penn's version of 'gay' acting veers dangerously close to a twee version of his childlike (read: 'mentally retarded') acting in "I Am Sam"." All his criticisms aside, Davies concludes that "the heart of the film – and while it is not perfect, it is uplifting – lies in Penn's portrayal of Milk's generosity of spirit.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: "The Advocate", while supporting the film in general, criticized the choice of Penn given the actor's support for the Cuban government despite the country's anti-gay rights record. Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen said in the article "that Sean Penn would be honored by anyone, let alone the gay community, for having stood by a dictator that put gays into concentration camps is mind-boggling." "Los Angeles Times" film critic Patrick Goldstein commented in response to the controversy, "I'm not holding my breath that anyone will be holding Penn's feet to the fire."


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Movie City News shows that the film appeared in 131 different top ten lists, out of 286 different critics lists surveyed, the 4th most mentions on a top ten list of the films released in 2008.


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: In late March 2009, Samoa's Censorship Board banned the film from distribution, without giving a reason. Samoan human rights activist Ken Moala disputed the ban, commenting that "It's really harmless, I don't know how it would affect Samoan lifestyle. It is totally different and not applicable to here, it is pretty tame really." The Pacific Freedom Forum issued a press release stating that "Samoa is the only nation worldwide where censors have specifically banned the multi-Academy Award winning film", limiting Samoans to smuggled or pirated versions. American Samoan Monica Miller, the Forum's co-chair, stated, "Observers are left to wonder at the censorship standards being applied in a country where fa'afafine have a well established and respected role." Fa'afafine are biologically men raised to assume female gender roles, making them a third gender well accepted in Samoan society. The Fa'afafine Association also criticised the ban, describing it as a "reject[ion of] the idea of homosexuality".


title: Milk (2008 American film)

text: On April 30, Principal Censor Leiataua Niuapu released the reason for the ban, saying the film had been deemed "inappropriate and contradictory to Christian beliefs and Samoan culture": "In the movie itself it is trying to promote the human rights of gays. Some of the scenes are very inappropriate in regard to some of the sex in the film itself, it's very contrary to the way of life here in Samoa." Samoan society is, in the words of the BBC, "deeply conservative and devoutly Christian".


title: Vulfpeck

text: Vulfpeck is an American funk band founded in 2011 by Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss and Joe Dart. The band has released four extended plays, five studio albums and a live album, having released all of their music independently. The band gained recognition in 2014 for releasing "Sleepify", a silent album that exploited a loophole in Spotify's royalty distribution. Their first studio album, "Thrill of the Arts", was released in 2015 and debuted at number 16 on the "Billboard" R&B Albums chart. The band is one of the first to sell out Madison Square Garden without a manager or backing label, and released the recorded performance as a live album. The band's sixth album, "Schvitz", is set to release in early 2023.


title: Vulfpeck

text: The band members attended University of Michigan's music school. They first came together for a recording session at the Duderstadt Center, a university facility that houses an arts library and other resources. After reading an interview with German producer Reinhold Mack, band founder Jack Stratton conceived of Vulfpeck as an imagined German version of the U.S. session musicians of the 1960s such as the Funk Brothers, the Wrecking Crew, and Muscle Shoals. The idea was to channel that era of the live rhythm section.


title: Vulfpeck

text: The band's founding members are Jack Stratton on keyboards, drums and guitar, Theo Katzman on guitar, drums and vocals, Woody Goss on keyboards, and Joe Dart on bass. Touring partners and frequent collaborators include Antwaun Stanley, Joey Dosik and Cory Wong. Other contributing musicians include Charles Jones, Christine Hucal, David T. Walker, Bernard Purdie, James Gadson and Blake Mills.


title: Vulfpeck

text: The band's first release was titled "Beastly". It was released in April 2011 as a YouTube video. The track was noted for its bass performance by "No Treble", an online magazine for bass players. The band released its first EP, "Mit Peck", in 2011 and a second EP, "Vollmilch", in 2012. In 2013, three band members backed Darren Criss on his national tour, and Joe Dart was ranked as "No Treble"'s 5th-favorite bassist. Vulfpeck's first live performance was at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, Michigan, followed by a performance in New York City at the Rockwood Music Hall in October 2013. The band released its third EP, "My First Car", in August 2013. The EP features Antwaun Stanley on the band's first vocal track. A review of "My First Car" called it less energetic compared to the band's first two EPs but "still a fitting addition to a unique catalogue of music".


title: Vulfpeck

text: In March 2014, Vulfpeck released "Sleepify", a ten-track silent album on Spotify, in order to raise funds for an admission-free tour. The album generated $20,000 in royalties over a two-month period. Subsequently, Spotify removed the album stating it violated their terms of content. The band's royalty generation scheme received international press coverage. In July the band received the royalties and soon after announced the Sleepify Tour.


title: Vulfpeck

text: In August 2014, the band released its fourth EP, "Fugue State". The EP's second track "1612" is styled after Wardell Quezergue's works and features Antwaun Stanley on vocals. The song's title was inspired by the entrance code to an Airbnb Stratton was subletting. The admission-free Sleepify Tour took place in September 2014. Tour locations included San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Ann Arbor and New York City. In 2015, Stratton proposed a more equitable model for Spotify payout distribution in which each artist's payout is based solely on that artist's listeners, rather than every listener using the service.


title: Vulfpeck

text: Vulfpeck released "Thrill of the Arts" in October 2015. The album featured contributions by several artists including David T. Walker, Charles Jones and Blake Mills. Jim Fusilli of "The Wall Street Journal" called the music "gritty, in-your-face, not-prettified funk played with fire" and a homage to old-school funk and soul. The album debuted at number 16 on the U.S. R&B Albums chart. The band and Goodhertz Inc. released a production plug-in called Vulf Compressor. The band performed on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in November 2015.


title: Vulfpeck

text: Vulfpeck's second album "The Beautiful Game" was released in October 2016. It featured contributions by several artists including Cory Wong and Adam Levy. The album debuted at number 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The band's third album, "Mr Finish Line", was released in November 2017. It featured veteran instrumentalists James Gadson, Bootsy Collins, Michael Bland, David T. Walker, and vocalists Coco O., Antwaun Stanley, Joey Dosik, Christine Hucal, and Charles Jones. In 2016 and 2017 the band performed regularly with Antwaun Stanley and guest artists including several shows with Bernard Purdie and Ziggy Modeliste. The band performed a cover of "Boogie On Reggae Woman" on SiriusXM radio.


title: Vulfpeck

text: Vulfpeck's fourth album, "Hill Climber", was released in December 2018 and featured Cory Wong, Joey Dosik, Antwaun Stanley, Ryan Lerman, Larry Goldings, Mike Viola, Monica Martin, and Louis Cole. In 2019, the Music Man guitar company introduced the Joe Dart Bass signature guitar, and subsequently the Joe Dart Jr. and Joe Dart II bass guitars. Dart was ranked first by "Bass Guitar" magazine as the coolest new bassist.


title: Vulfpeck

text: In September 2019, the band headlined a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden, one of the first to do so without a manager or record label. Recording of the performance was released as a live album, titled "Live at Madison Square Garden", along with a full concert film. The live performance featured touring partners Stanley, Wong, Dosik, and guest artists Charles Jones, Chris Thile, Dave Koz, Nate Smith, Mark Dover, Richie Rodriguez and others.


title: Vulfpeck

text: In August 2020, the band auctioned off the record space of the tenth track on their fifth album "The Joy of Music, the Job of Real Estate" to the New York City-based band Earthquake Lights. The album was released in October 2020. In 2020, the band issued a compilation album of eight songs featuring Antwaun Stanley, and a compilation album of eleven songs written by Woody Goss. In 2021 the band issued vinyl-exclusive compilation albums highlighting the works of Katzman and Dart.


title: Vulfpeck

text: In January 2022 the band released an album of original recordings titled "Vulf Vault 005: Wong's Cafe". Highlighting Cory Wong's work, produced by him and released on streaming under his name, the album includes contributions by Eddie Barbash. In August 2022, the band's label released an album of new recordings by Vulfmon (Jack Stratton's alter-ego) titled "Vulf Vault 006: Here We Go Jack", featuring contributions from David T. Walker, Monica Martin, Mike Viola and others.


title: Vulfpeck

text: In November 2022, Vulfpeck announced their return to music by revealing their 2022 album "Schvitz", as well as releasing the first single from the album, "Sauna".


title: Vulfpeck

text: The band's production style is modeled after live TV performances of the past, such as "The Midnight Special", "The Old Grey Whistle Test", and "Beat-Club". The band aims for a simple and minimal sound where each instrument contributes and does not dominate. Recordings are done live with real instruments, and seldom are different takes cut and mixed. Improvisation is a significant part of song development. The compositions are modeled after unconventional song structures of the past, such as "Ooh Child" with an A and B section where each section provides a lift, and "If You Want Me to Stay" with a repetitive eight bar progression.


title: Vulfpeck

text: In 2018, Vulf Records, the band's label, released a six-track record by The Fearless Flyers, a quartet consisting of drummer Nate Smith, bassist Joe Dart, and guitarists Cory Wong and Mark Lettieri, with contributors Sandra Crouch, Blake Mills and Elizabeth Lea. In 2019, the Flyers released a second six-track record titled "The Fearless Flyers II", featuring Chris Thile and Joey Dosik. In 2020, the Flyers released the full-length album "Tailwinds", featuring a horn section consisting of saxophonists Grace Kelly, Kenni Holmen and Alekos Syropoulos. In 2021, the quartet released the live album "Flyers Live at Madison Square Garden". In 2022, the quartet released a third six-track record titled "The Fearless Flyers III".


title: Vulfpeck

text: In 2019, band keyboardist Woody Goss released "A Very Vulfy Christmas", a compilation of eight jazz-style rearrangements of Vulfpeck originals. The tracks feature drummer Dana Hall and bassists Matt Ulery and Joe Fee.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: The Type 31 frigate or Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a planned class of frigate intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the 2020s alongside the submarine-hunting Type 26 frigate. Designed by Babcock International, it is also marketed under the name Arrowhead 140 and is based on the hull of the frigate.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: It is intended that the Type 31 frigate will replace some of the general-purpose Type 23 frigates. The Type 31 is part of the British government's "National Shipbuilding Strategy".


title: Type 31 frigate

text: The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) authorised the Global Combat Ship (GCS) programme which would replace the Royal Navy's thirteen Type 23 frigates. Earlier that year, BAE Systems was awarded a four-year, £127 million contract by the Ministry of Defence to design the new class. It was planned that two variants of the class would be built: five general purpose frigates and eight anti-submarine warfare frigates. There was to be little difference between the two variants, except for the Sonar 2087. Initial expectations were that construction would start in 2016 and the ships would gradually replace the Type 23 frigates by the mid-2030s. The 2015 Defence Review decided that only the eight anti-submarine warfare Type 26 frigates would be ordered and five general purpose frigates to an altogether different design would be ordered to give at least 13 frigates in RN service.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: The resultant General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) was to be a lighter, flexible and more affordable general purpose frigate class. According to the 2015 SDSR, the lower cost of these frigates could lead to the Royal Navy acquiring more than five, therefore increasing its overall numbers of frigates and destroyers. During a defence and security lecture in July 2016, GPFF was referred to as the Type 31 frigate by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones. who also stated that Type 31 frigates could permanently operate "East of Suez"; from the Persian Gulf region to the Asia-Pacific. During the same month, BAE Systems revealed two general purpose frigate designs: the "Avenger class" which was based on the ""Amazonas"-class/River-class Batch 2 offshore patrol vessel" and the "Cutlass class" that was described as a "significantly stretched and enhanced derivation of the "Al Shamikh"-class corvette design". "The Sunday Times" stated that Babcock International and BMT had also submitted one design each.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: In October 2017 the "Financial Times" stated that "..officials inside the Ministry of Defence, the Treasury and Royal Navy have long resented the obligation, set a decade ago, to maintain skills and shipbuilding capacity at BAE's shipyards on the Clyde regardless of naval needs." It quoted Francis Tusa, a defence analyst, who argued that the competition appeared to be designed to break BAE's hold on naval shipbuilding; "Were they to have bid as BAE Systems, they wouldn't win. That is absolutely obvious. The fact is that the Type 31 is slanted probably to exclude any bid that includes BAE." However, this was denied by the MoD which stated that the competition was designed to improve speed of delivery and reduce cost.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: In order to maintain national shipbuilding capacity, the 2017 national shipbuilding strategy proposed ordering an initial batch of five Type 31e frigates with an initial in-service date in 2023, with their cost limited to a maximum of £250m each, to be followed by a second batch order of Type 31 for the Royal Navy. The Type 31 is projected to be built in modular form as with the carriers at several commercial shipyards, and assembled in one central yard.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: Throughout 2017 several designs from different companies were suggested as contenders for the Type 31. BAE submitted two designs, "Avenger", essentially an improved Batch 3 River-class OPV, and "Cutlass", a significantly stretched and enhanced derivation of the "Al Shamikh"-class corvette. BMT submitted a design called "Venator 110", with Steller Systems putting forward project "Spartan" and Babcock offered a design named "Arrowhead 120".


title: Type 31 frigate

text: In October 2017, BAE Systems announced that it would withdraw from the Type 31e competition as a main contractor, citing the capacity constraints of its shipyards on the Clyde, which were full with the work on the new s and Type 26 frigates. Instead, BAE announced a partnership with Cammell Laird, whereby BAE would provide its expertise in design and systems integration, while Cammell Laird would be the prime contractor and be responsible for the assembly of the ships at its yard at Birkenhead. The planned design was named "Leander", a reference to three previous classes of ship in the Royal Navy.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: In November 2017, it was announced that BMT and Babcock signed a co-operation agreement for the Type 31. They did not choose between their respective "Venator 110" or "Arrowhead 120" designs, but instead would explore their designs to determine the best possible option. In late May 2018, Babcock, partnered with BMT and Thales Group announced the "Arrowhead 140" design, based on the hull of the Danish s.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: The competition was suspended on 20 July 2018 due to 'insufficient compliant bids' being received, however "The Times" claimed this was due to a "funding crisis". The competition was restarted in August 2018.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: Both the BAE Systems and Babcock led entrants had already been put forward when the competition was temporarily suspended. The third bid was submitted by the Atlas Elektronik UK-led team. Both the Babcock and Atlas proposals included Ferguson Marine on the Clyde and Harland & Wolff in Belfast. By August 2019 both of these companies announced that they were in financial difficulties.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: It was announced on 12 September 2019 that the Arrowhead 140 design had been selected for the Type 31 frigate. A contract was formally awarded to Babcock on 15 November 2019, for an average production cost of £250 million per ship and an overall programme cost set to be £2 billion with £1.25 billion value to Babcock.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: On 20 January 2020, the Public Accounts Committee was informed by the Permanent Secretary for Defence that the first ship will be launched by 2023 but the in-service date will be in 2027. This is in contrast to earlier statements that the in-service date would be in 2023. In September 2022, John Howie, chief corporate affairs officer for Babcock International, stated that all five ships would be "delivered" to the Navy by 2028, though other sources suggested that the actual "in service" date might be somewhat later.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: During a July 2016 Defence Select Committee hearing, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones described the GPFF as "to be a much less high-end ship. It is still a complex warship, and it is still able to protect and defend and to exert influence around the world, but it is deliberately shaped with lessons from wider industry and off-the-shelf technology to make it... more appealing to operate at a slightly lower end of Royal Navy operations." IHS Janes described it as a "credible frigate" that will cover "maritime security, maritime counter-terrorism and counter-piracy operations, escort duties, and naval fire support... [sitting] between the high-end capability delivered by the Type 26 and Type 45, and the constabulary-oriented outputs to be delivered by the five River-class Batch 2 OPVs."


title: Type 31 frigate

text: A September 2017 graphic released by the Royal Navy stressed modular adaptability and flexible construction of the design for export opportunities. Core requirements of the Type 31e frigate include a medium calibre gun, point defence systems, hangar and a flight deck for Wildcat or ten tonne helicopter operated by a crew of around 100 with space for 40 more personnel. The British government released a Request for information (RFI) in September 2017, detailing the desired characteristics of the Type 31e. The RFI provides greater details such as a "Medium Calibre Gun" of greater than , a point defence anti-air missile system and the optional ability to launch and recover unmanned aerial vehicles. Forces News reported that the design will contain Sea Ceptor missiles, an advanced air and surface surveillance and target indication radar such as the Thales NS100 and be able to operate either an AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA2 or an AgustaWestland Merlin HM2. Other sources suggested that the ship may possess only a limited air defence capability, centred on an eight-cell Sea Ceptor SAM battery, but perhaps incorporating anti-ship Naval Strike Missiles which may migrate from retiring Type 23 frigates and be fitted on the Type 31. Whatever its missile armament, on 1 October 2020, BAE Systems announced it was under contract to supply five Bofors 57 Mk3 medium calibre guns and ten Bofors 40 Mk4 small calibre guns to the Royal Navy for the first five Type 31 frigates.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: On 2 November, 2021, First Sea Lord Tony Radakin stated that Type 31 frigates will be fitted for but not with the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: On 30 June 2021, it was reported that Babcock was in discussions with Greece, Indonesia, Poland and two other countries about potential Type 31 contracts.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: On 16 September 2021, Babcock announced that it had signed an agreement with PT PAL Indonesia allowing it to design two Type 31 derivatives for the Indonesian Navy. The class are known locally as "Red White Frigate" ("Fregat Merah Putih"). The first steel cut of the first Red White frigate were done on 9 December 2022.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: On 4 March 2022, Babcock announced that it won the Polish frigate competition. The Polish Armaments Agency selected Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 (AH140) from three different platform design proposals provided by the PGZ-MIECZNIK Consortium.


title: Type 31 frigate

text: Together, the five ships will be known as the "Inspiration class". In May 2021, the names of the five Type 31 ships were announced by the First Sea Lord; these were selected to represent key themes of the future plans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines:


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2019. His race wins include the Indianapolis 500 (2000, 2015), Monaco Grand Prix (2003), 24 Hours of Daytona (2007, 2008, 2013), British Grand Prix (2005), Italian Grand Prix (2001, 2005), Grand Prix of Long Beach (1999), and the Race of Champions (2017). Montoya is, alongside Fernando Alonso, one of only two active drivers who have won two legs of the Triple Crown of Motorsport in its more recent definition. Montoya is one of three drivers, along with Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney, to win at least one race in Indy car racing, Formula One, and the NASCAR Cup Series.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: In October 2009, Montoya was ranked 30th on "Times Online"s list of the Top 50 Formula One drivers of all time.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Montoya was born in Bogotá, Colombia, where he was taught the techniques of karting from an early age by his father Pablo, an architect and motorsport enthusiast.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Montoya moved to the Colombian Formula Renault Series in 1992, while racing there he won four of eight races and had five poles. The same year he also participated in the U.S. Skip Barber driving school, and was hailed by driving instructors as being one of the best pupils to ever come through their school. 1993 saw Montoya switch to the Swift GTI Championship, a series he dominated by winning seven of eight races and earning eight poles. In 1994, Montoya raced in three separate series: The Sudam 125 Karting (won the title), Barber Saab Pro Series (finished third in points, won two races), and Formula N in Mexico (won the title). He graduated from the Colegio San Tarsicio in Bogotá in the same year. Montoya developed into a strong qualifier, in some cases taking 80% of a season's pole positions. For the next three years Montoya raced in various divisions, continually progressing upward. He raced in the 1995 British Formula Vauxhall Championship, winning three races and finishing third in the championship. In 1996, he raced in the British Formula 3 with Fortec Motorsport, winning two races, and finishing 5th in the championship points standings, as well as taking part in events in Zandvoort, Netherlands and Silverstone.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Montoya got the opportunity to advance in his motor racing career when he was hired by the RSM Marko team to compete alongside Craig Lowndes in the 1997 International Formula 3000 season. In the ten races during the season, Montoya had three wins and three pole positions. He finished his rookie season second in the championship points standings, just 1.5 points shy of taking the overall season title. During this time, Williams noticed his potential and invited him to test with the team at Barcelona, Spain along with three other drivers. Montoya was the fastest of them all and he and Max Wilson were signed by WilliamsF1 to be test drivers for the following season.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Alongside his Formula One testing duties for Williams, he competed again in F3000 and took the title in a close contest with Nick Heidfeld who was driving for McLaren's F3000 team. During the 1998 F3000 season, Montoya opened the season up with a record four straight pole positions. He also achieved another record that year by being the first driver to lap the entire grid, at the Pau Grand Prix. Montoya won the 1998 F3000 season with four wins, seven pole positions, and nine podium finishes in twelve races.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Renault, Williams's engine supplier for most of the 1990s, left Formula One at the end of the 1997 season. With no major engine suppliers available, Williams were forced to sign a contract to run customer engines for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In 1998 the team failed to win a race for the first time in a decade. For the 1999 season, in the hope of attracting more investors to the underperforming team, Frank Williams agreed to a driver swap with CART team owner Chip Ganassi, in which Ganassi's 1997 and 1998 CART champion driver, Alex Zanardi, would return to Formula One and Montoya would take his place in the competitive American series.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: While Zanardi had a miserable year in Formula One, Montoya, with Honda power and a Reynard chassis at his disposal, took the American motorsport scene by storm. He took the 1999 title in his rookie year, something accomplished six years earlier by former Formula One Champion Nigel Mansell.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: The season that saw Montoya crowned as the youngest ever CART FedEx Championship Series Champion at the age of 24 was closely fought, especially with Dario Franchitti who led the championship going into the final race in California. Both drivers finished the season with equal number of points but Montoya took the title by virtue of having won seven races to the Scotsman's three. His victory in the last race that year, the Marlboro 500, was overshadowed by the death of Greg Moore during the race; Montoya first heard the news after parking his car in victory lane and was seen sobbing.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: The CART rookie attracted criticism—notably from Michael Andretti and his team for his aggressive style of driving.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Montoya still had a contractual relationship with Williams and after his impressive rookie season the Grove-based team were keen for him to drive for them in Formula One. However, he decided to race in the US for one more year.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: In 2000, the Ganassi team switched to Toyota engines and Lola chassis. The package was strong for ovals and high speed tracks, but was less well suited to street and most road circuits. Toyota's engines were not yet reliable and often failed the team. Despite this, Montoya led more laps than anyone else and took the maiden victory for a Toyota engine in the series. But he failed to finish in 40% of the races, and was out of contention for the championship.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: The Ganassi team also competed in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 of the rival Indy Racing League series using a G-Force chassis and a Comptech-tuned Oldsmobile Aurora engine. Montoya and his CART teammate Jimmy Vasser were the first CART drivers to "cross-over" to drive in the Indy 500 since 1996. In the event, the Colombian led 167 of 200 laps and claimed top honours at the end of the race, taking an easy victory on his first attempt. He was the first to do so since Formula One World Champion Graham Hill in 1966 and was the first Colombian winner. His compatriot Roberto José Guerrero had previously finished twice as runner up.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Montoya won the Miller Lite 225 the next week at The Milwaukee Mile. That victory marked his eighth and Toyota's first win in the CART (later Champ Car World Series) series.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Over the weekend of the 2000 United States Grand Prix, Williams-BMW announced a two-year deal for Montoya to partner Ralf Schumacher starting in 2001. During the first half of his Formula One career, he consolidated his position as a fast driver and a race win challenger; Montoya became a title contender during 2003 but the hopes of fighting for the title gradually faded as his cars lacked pace.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: Montoya made his Formula One debut for the BMW-powered Williams team in the 2001 Formula One season at the Australian Grand Prix. In that race, he qualified 11th and went off in the first corner and went further down the order but, with a good drive and a high rate of retirements, he went up to fifth until he retired with an engine failure.


title: Juan Pablo Montoya

text: The second round was the Malaysian Grand Prix and Montoya qualified better in sixth place but stalled on the grid and had to start from the back. He only lasted for three laps before retiring after spinning off in a rain shower.