title: Zurich Airport

text: The airport fire brigade records more than 1000 operations per year. In 2004, 260 of these involved incidents involving aircraft, including emergency or safety landings.


title: Zurich Airport

text: Vehicles that not only cross taxiways and runways reserved for aircraft on the designated roads, but also use them for business purposes, must be equipped with a transponder and radio and can thus be tracked on tracking websites (e.g. Flightradar24). The transponder sign or radio name for the Follow-Me vehicles is Zebra.


title: Zurich Airport

text: In 2014, five companies were licensed for aircraft refuelling at the airport, operating 16 tankers and 28 dispensers.


title: Zurich Airport

text: The rescue service at Zurich Airport was established around 1982 as the original "fire-fighting ambulance". Its primary purpose was to protect fire-fighting personnel during fire-fighting operations, and secondarily to provide medical care for injured passengers. It was quickly recognised that there was also a steadily growing need for rescue services for the population outside the airport, and often neighbouring hospitals that were able to provide this service could not cope due to capacity bottlenecks, or the corresponding structures were not available in the Zürcher Unterland at the time. When the airport was privatized in 2000 to form the public limited company Unique (Flughafen Zürich AG), the rescue service was then separated from the fire service as a separate division within the Safety&Security department.


title: Zurich Airport

text: In the last year of its existence in 2007, the Rescue Service at Zurich Airport carried out around 5800 missions with 36 paramedics and three trainees. The majority of the operations were carried out in the region around the airport, which at that time comprised 28 contractual communities. There were three ambulances on standby during the day and two ambulances at night, which was carried out in two shifts of twelve hours each. The teams were on duty four times a day (twice a day and twice at night). As a novelty, Zurich Airport Emergency Medical Services consistently applied the amended labor law, i.e. it was one of the few employers to fully credit the working time of twelve hours without deductions ("attendance time"/effective working time).


title: Zurich Airport

text: There was no permanently installed emergency medical system at the airport site. The paramedics are equipped with extended skills that allow the administration of medication according to algorithms. As part of a quality control of the measures carried out, all operations were checked by the Medical Director. At the same time, an annual review of medication and algorithmic knowledge took place. Only after passing the written and practical test was the paramedic authorized to administer medication for another year. If an emergency physician was needed, the resources of the partner organisations REGA (helicopters) or the NEF of "Schutz und Rettung Zürich" could be called upon.


title: Zurich Airport

text: Project SUS After two project studies, Unique (Flughafen Zürich AG) decided in the summer of 2007 to outsource the rescue service together with the operations centre and the professional fire brigade and to sell it to the "Schutz und Rettung" (Protection and Rescue) department of the city of Zürich for an amount of CHF 22 million. This was also due to the needs of the city of Zürich, as its professional fire brigade in particular had problems meeting the required arrival times with long journeys to the north of the city of Zürich. At the same time, it was possible to avoid the cost-intensive construction of a new base for rescue services and fire brigades in the rapidly growing north. A comprehensive contract was drawn up for the takeover of the entire department, which will be reassessed after ten years. The outsourcing resulted in massive internal restructuring, which replaced the previous organisational form. Since January 1, 2008, the base at the airport has been known as the "Wache Nord". With a strong positive operating result in 2007 and a reduced staffing level as of January 1, 2008, the catchment area of the rescue service expanded to include the northern districts of Zürich Schwamendingen, Seebach and Oerlikon.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Michael Charles Leach (March 9, 1961 – December 12, 2022) was an American college football coach who primarily coached at the NCAA Division I FBS level. He was a two-time national coach of the year, three-time conference coach of the year and the mastermind behind the NCAA record-setting air raid offense. He was the head coach at Texas Tech University from 2000 to 2009, where he became the winningest coach in school history. After Texas Tech, he coached at Washington State University from 2012 to 2019, where he recorded the third-most wins of any coach in school history. He then coached at Mississippi State from 2020 until his death in 2022.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach was known for directing offenses using lots of passing to several receivers, in a spread system known as the air raid, which Leach developed with Hal Mumme when Mumme was head coach and Leach was offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State, and Kentucky in the 1990s. Leach's offenses with Mumme, and later as a head coach himself, have broken numerous school and NCAA records. On eighteen occasions, Leach led his unranked team to victory over a team ranked in the AP poll, which is the most in the AP era.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Mike Leach was born to Frank and Sandra Leach in Susanville, California. His father Frank was a forester and the family moved around several times while Leach was growing up, before finally settling in Cody, Wyoming. Leach was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While growing up in Cody, he joined Boy Scout Troop 58 and earned the rank of Eagle in 1975. Leach graduated from Cody High School in 1979; he played football there from 1975–1978 and was recruited to play at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. An ankle injury he sustained in high school ruled out playing college football, so he played rugby instead.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach stayed close to the football program, occasionally sitting in on film room sessions. Led by head coach LaVell Edwards, offensive coordinator Norm Chow, and quarterbacks Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, and Steve Young, BYU played with a pass-heavy offense, which was uncommon in college football at that time. Leach graduated in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in American studies.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In 1986, Leach earned a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California. He is also one of the most prominent graduates of the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama, from which he earned a Master's of Sports Science in sports coaching in 1988.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In 1987, Leach began his coaching career as an assistant at Cal Poly and College of the Desert (in 1988).


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Also in 1989, he joined Hal Mumme's staff at Iowa Wesleyan University as offensive coordinator. The pair spent three seasons there before moving to Valdosta State (1992–1996) and then Kentucky (1997–1998). The partnership was known for the development of the air raid offense, which allowed their teams to rank highly in offensive statistics and set numerous records. Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch became a No. 1 overall NFL draft pick.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: For the 1999 season, Leach joined the Oklahoma staff under head coach Bob Stoops. Oklahoma's offense, which had ranked 11th in the Big 12 Conference in 1998, improved under Leach to first in the conference in 1999.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: After one year at Oklahoma, Leach was hired as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, another Big 12 member.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Under Leach, the Red Raiders' best finishes came with three nine-win seasons in 2002, 2005, and 2007 and an 11-win season in 2008. In 2002, Tech swept its in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M for the first time since 1997 and then defeated Clemson, 55–15, in the Tangerine Bowl. It was the Red Raiders' first postseason win since 1995 when they beat the Air Force Falcons in the Copper Bowl. In 2005, the Red Raiders opened their season with a 6–0 record, their best start since 1998. Leach built a strong passing offense at Tech, where the Red Raiders led the NCAA in passing yardage for four years in a row.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: He inserted Kliff Kingsbury at quarterback for three years. Kingsbury broke the NCAA records for completions in a career. Kingsbury was succeeded at the position by B. J. Symons, who produced the most passing yards in a season in NCAA history. Sonny Cumbie followed, leading the Red Raiders to an upset of the then-4th ranked California in the Holiday Bowl. Cody Hodges succeeded Cumbie, and subsequently led the NCAA in passing. Graham Harrell, the first non-senior starting QB since Kingsbury, struggled early in the 2006 season. However, he showed steady improvement beginning with the game against Iowa State and ended the season with a record-setting comeback victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Harrell also set NCAA records for passes completed in a season and career amongst others.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Texas Tech was known for its high-scoring offense and come-from-behind victories during Leach's tenure. A 70–35 win over TCU in 2004 began with TCU leading 21–0 with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter. Before Tech's scoring drives started, a TCU defensive back was caught mouthing into a TV camera, "They aren't going to score." Later in the season, Texas Tech beat Nebraska, 70–10, forcing the Cornhuskers to give up more points in a single game than they had before in their 114-year history. In 2005, the Red Raiders were losing to Kansas State, 13–10, late in the second quarter but won the game 59–20. Also in 2005, Tech had a halftime lead of 14–10 over Texas A&M. By the end of the game, they increased the margin to 56–17. It was the Aggies' worst loss to the Red Raiders in the 64-year-old series.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach was chosen to coach the South team during the 2007 inaugural Inta Juice North-South All-Star Classic game.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: At the end of the 2008 season, Leach was 76–39 with the Red Raiders, including 7–2 against the Texas A&M Aggies and 2–7 against the Texas Longhorns. With a 5–4 record, he is the all-time winningest coach in postseason play in Tech football history. Leach was one of only sixteen active college football coaches who had never had a losing season after he left Texas Tech. This was followed by a 3–9 season in his seminal year with Washington State. Of those, he is among nine who have been a head coach for at least five seasons.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In February 2009, Leach signed a three-year contract extension with Texas Tech that would have paid him at least $2.5 million per year if he had stayed through 2013. Leach's guaranteed compensation would have been $1.6 million in 2006, $1.65 million in 2007, $1.75 million in 2008, $1.85 million in 2009 and $2.15 million in 2010.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: During his post-game press conference after the 2007 loss against Texas, Leach used most of his time to rail against the officiating crew for what he felt were bad calls. He speculated that the officials may have favored Texas because the head official lived in Austin, because they were incompetent, or possibly because the conference wanted Texas to appear in a BCS bowl because of the increased appearance fees that such a bowl generates for the conference. Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press wrote, "Leach was upset officials disallowed two Tech touchdowns in the third quarter. The first was overruled when video replay clearly showed the receiver let the ball hit the ground. On the next play, a touchdown pass was negated by a holding penalty. Leach also wanted, but didn't get, a flag for roughing the quarterback." The "Lubbock Avalanche-Journal" reported, "Big 12 policy prohibits coaches from commenting publicly about game officials, so Leach's actions leave him open to reprimand, fine or worse." ESPN reported, "Big 12 official spokesman Bob Burda did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment. Leach's rant will likely draw a fine from the league and possibly a suspension."


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On November 13, 2007, the Big 12 fined Leach $10,000, the largest fine in Big 12 history. Leach also received a reprimand and was warned that further violations could result in suspension. In a Big 12 coaches' conference call that day, Leach added that he did not regret making any of the comments. Leach announced that he would appeal the fine. Tech alumni and fans began raising money to aid Leach in paying the penalty in the event that it was upheld. Optionally, the proceeds raised could be used charitably. So, just before Christmas 2007, Leach requested that the nearly $5,000 raised be used to purchase 400 hams to give to families in Lubbock, Texas. Future donations were to go to the university or athletic department. Following the 2008 Gator Bowl, in which Virginia scored twice on penalties against Tech for intentional grounding in the end zone, Leach joked, "I felt like we had a back there on the one safety, but I don't comment on officiating. I just give out hams is what I do."


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach, along with players Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree were featured on the cover of the 2008 edition of "Dave Campbell's Texas Football". The magazine predicted that the 2008 Red Raider football team would be the best in Texas and would challenge for the Big 12 South title. Following a 9–0 beginning to the season, including a win over the undefeated #1 Texas Longhorns, Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers announced that the university would renegotiate Leach's contract following the conclusion of the football regular season and give him an extension.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: The Red Raiders ended the 2008 regular season with 11 wins and 1 loss, the best in school history. The season also marked the first win over a #1 ranked team. Tech, along with Oklahoma and Texas, shared the Big 12 Conference South division title. On December 2, 2008, the Associated Press named Leach the Big 12 Coach of the Year. He received 16 votes for the honor by the agency's panel, while Texas' Mack Brown got 4. He won co-Coach of the Year honors from the Big 12 coaches; Oklahoma's Bob Stoops received the same recognition for the same season. The "Dallas Morning News" named him Coach of the Year as well. He garnered the 2008 George Munger Award, which is given annually to the top college coach of the year by the Maxwell Football Club.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: After much controversy about how the tie-breaker should be handled between Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech fans, the Red Raiders ended up being left out of the BCS because of a rule that states only two teams from each conference could enter BCS play per season. Oklahoma won the tie-breaker on account of their higher BCS ranking, ultimately losing to Florida in the national championship. Texas Tech also ended up losing that year in the Cotton Bowl to Ole Miss 47–34.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach interviewed for the University of Washington head coaching job, which was vacated by Tyrone Willingham. ESPN reported that Leach withdrew his name from the coaching search following his interview. Auburn, where Tommy Tuberville resigned, had also been rumored to have contacted Leach. In an interview with the Associated Press, Tech quarterback Graham Harrell stated that there was a "great chance" Leach could leave. Harrell noted that Leach might leave for a newer challenge. After Leach withdrew his name from consideration for the Washington job, Harrell retracted his statements and believed Leach would remain the Red Raiders' coach.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Tech athletic director Gerald Myers had indicated that he would give a raise to Leach before Tech's bowl game, which he later negotiated. Leach and the university settled on a five-year extension worth $12.7 million after months of negotiations over the clauses of the contract.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On October 31, 2009, after the Red Raiders' win over Kansas, Leach tied his predecessor Spike Dykes as the all-time winningest coach in Texas Tech's 85-year football history. On November 21, 2009, Leach passed Dykes for first all-time on the school's wins list with a win over Oklahoma.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On December 28, 2009, Leach was suspended indefinitely by Texas Tech pending investigation of alleged inappropriate treatment of Adam James, son of former SMU and New England Patriots running back (and former ESPN college football analyst) Craig James. On December 16, James suffered a concussion. He was examined the next day, and told not to practice that afternoon due to the concussion. According to a James family source, Leach ordered him to stand in the equipment room near the Raiders' practice facility.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: According to the "Lubbock Avalanche-Journal", school officials claim they gave Leach an ultimatum to apologize to James in writing by December 28 or Leach be suspended. His attorney, Ted Liggett, disputed the characterization of events as reported by the university and other news sources, and said that James had been treated reasonably in light of his condition.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach sought an injunction that would have allowed him to coach in the 2010 Alamo Bowl. However, on December 30, Texas Tech fired Leach, calling his refusal to apologize to James "a defiant act of insubordination." This was the day before Leach was reportedly owed an $800,000 tenure bonus and over $1,700,000 for contractual guaranteed income for 2009. Texas Tech lawyers handed a termination letter to Liggett just minutes before the two sides were to appear in a Lubbock courtroom for a hearing. Liggett was also told that Leach would not be allowed to coach in the Alamo Bowl regardless of how the hearing turned out. School officials later said that other incidents had come to light during its investigation of Leach, but declined to elaborate. Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill was named interim head coach and led the team during their appearance in the Alamo Bowl.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In a statement, Leach said that he believed the firing was motivated in part by simmering acrimony over the contract negotiations. He also said he planned to sue Texas Tech for wrongful termination.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On December 31, Leach spoke with "The New York Times" in his first interview since being fired from Texas Tech. He said that he did not know where James had been taken, having only ordered him taken "out of the light." He claimed the controversy stemmed from Craig James' constant lobbying for more playing time for his son, whom he characterized as lazy and feeling entitled.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On January 8, 2010, Leach formally filed suit against Texas Tech for wrongful termination and other claims. He claimed that school officials not only fired him without cause, but issued defamatory statements in a willful attempt to keep him from being hired elsewhere. During a deposition for the case obtained by the "Lubbock Avalanche-Journal", Adam James admitted under oath that he found the closet incident "funny." In May 2010, District Judge Bill Sowder dismissed all but one of Leach's claims on the grounds of sovereign immunity, but he allowed Leach's claim for breach of contract to proceed, finding that Texas Tech had waived its immunity on this claim by its conduct. The judge also dismissed Leach's claims against three university administrators. Both parties took steps to appeal the decision, although Leach's attorneys said they would drop their appeal if Texas Tech would do likewise and allow the breach of contract claim to proceed to a jury trial. Early in 2011, Texas 7th Court of Appeals ruled that Texas Tech was immune from Leach's claim of breach of contract but that Leach can claim non-monetary reparations. Leach's attorney Paul Dobrowski announced his intention to appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In February 2012, the Texas Supreme Court denied Leach's petition for review. After that denial, Texas Tech attorney Dicky Gregg stated "As we've said from the beginning, we were right on the law and the facts, and the (Texas) Supreme Court has just held that we were correct on the law."


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: "Friday Night Lights" series creator Peter Berg has hinted that he has written a movie script for the characters from the TV series that is based on Leach's firing from Texas Tech.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On August 6, Judge Sowder issued a summary judgement dismissing Leach's lawsuits against ESPN, Spaeth Communications, and Craig James. Leach's attorneys indicated they would appeal.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In August 2010, Leach joined CBS College Sports Network, where he worked as a color analyst with play-by-play announcer Roger Twibell.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In 2010, Leach joined host Jack Arute to co-host "College Football Playbook" on SiriusXM College Sports Nation Channel 91, which airs weekdays 12 pm – 3 pm ET.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In 2011, Leach released an autobiographical book, "Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and in Life", through Diversion Books. The book debuted at number six on "The New York Times" Best Seller list.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach was considered by many in the national media to be a candidate for the head coaching vacancies at University of Miami, University of Maryland, and University of Minnesota following the 2010 regular season. After at least two interviews at Maryland, he was considered the frontrunner for that job until the administration decided instead to hire Randy Edsall away from UConn. Leach was mentioned in connection with a number of other vacancies in head-coaching positions during 2011, including Washington State, Arizona, Ole Miss, Kansas, Penn State, and Tulane.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach agreed to terms with Washington State on November 30, 2011 and began coaching for the 2012 season. His five-year rollover contract made Leach the fourth-highest paid coach in the Pac-12. On December 5, 2019, Leach received a contract extension through 2024.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach's first season in Pullman was a controversial one. Washington State was 3–9 overall and 1–8 in Pac-12 play; the lone wins were against FCS Eastern Washington, UNLV, and an upset of rival Washington in the Apple Cup in Pullman. On November 10, more allegations of player abuse erupted when star wide receiver Marquess Wilson quit the team citing "physical, emotional and verbal abuse" by the coaching staff. Immediately after the allegations were made, university president Elson Floyd issued a statement indicating that he had requested investigations into the alleged incident(s) from both the WSU Athletic Department and the Pac-12 Conference. The investigations determined that the claims made against Leach were without merit, and Wilson later recanted the allegations. Leach received a 2-year contract extension on November 18, 2013 after leading the Washington State Cougars to their best record since 2006.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach led WSU to a 6–6 regular season in 2013 that had them bowl eligible for the first time in a decade. They were led on offense by Connor Halliday, who set school and conference records for passing. The Cougars defeated USC, California, Arizona, and Utah for a conference record. Invited to the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, WSU led most of the game, but lost to the Colorado State Rams. Down by sixteen points with under three minutes to play, the Rams mounted an all-time great comeback, winning with a field goal as time expired in regulation. The Cougars led the nation in passing offense and total offense and Leach was awarded a pay raise for the Cougars' 2013 performance.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: The 2014 season saw the Cougars regress to a record. The Cougars defeated Portland State Utah and Oregon State


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: In 2015, despite a season-opening loss to FCS school Portland State, the Cougars had their breakthrough season of the Leach era with a record, in the Pac-12. The Cougars were invited to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, where they beat the Miami Hurricanes This was the best Cougar record since the 2003 team went


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: WSU began the 2016 season with two losses, but rallied off eight consecutive wins before dropping their final two games. The success of their season, led by Luke Falk at quarterback, landed them in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego where they lost to Minnesota of the Big Ten. WSU finished in the Pac-12, with notable wins over Oregon and #15 Stanford. It was the Cougars' best conference finish in thirteen seasons, but the bowl loss gave WSU an overall record of


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Washington State was in the Pac-12 in 2017. They were again invited to the Holiday Bowl where they lost to Michigan State and finished overall.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach recruited graduate transfer Gardner Minshew at quarterback in time for the 2018 season and it paid big dividends. The Cougars won a school record-tying ten games, the first time they had won that many in the regular season since the Rose Bowl year of 2002. They also surged as high as seventh in major polling and went into the Apple Cup with a chance to clinch the Pac-12 North title and a shot at the Rose Bowl, but lost 28–15 to rival Washington in the snow in Pullman, a sixth consecutive loss to the Huskies. The Cougars were invited to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio to play the Iowa State Cyclones of They won 28–26 for a school record 11th win.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: After Minshew went to the NFL, Leach led Washington State to a 6–7 record in 2019. Notably, Leach and the Cougars lost to unranked UCLA while ranked #19 going into the game. WSU ended the regular season with Leach's seventh consecutive Apple Cup loss.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On January 9, 2020, Leach agreed to be the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. His contract was reported to pay him $5 million annually. The season started with a 44–34 upset victory over no. 6 LSU, who had won the CFP National Championship the previous season. The team struggled the rest of the season, winning only two more games, 24–17 over Vanderbilt and 51–32 over Missouri, finishing the regular season at 3–7. Despite the losing record, the Bulldogs were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl, as the NCAA waived bowl eligibility requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mississippi State faced off against no. 24 Tulsa, defeating the Golden Hurricane 28–26 to finish with an overall record of 4–7.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Although he did not play college football, Leach played wide receiver under John McDougall, the longtime coach at Cody High School in Cody, Wyoming. Under Coach MacDougall, Cody played in two top division state championships while Leach was a student, winning one in 1976 in triple overtime against coach John Deti's Laramie Plainsmen.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach was the oldest of six siblings. He and his wife, Sharon, were the parents of four children, along with three grandchildren.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Famous among fans for his fascination with 18th-century pirates such as Blackbeard and Calico Jack, Leach lectured his players on the history of pirates, and told them before games to "swing their swords." His office had been described as a museum of pirate paraphernalia. In particular, Leach admired the teamwork exhibited by pirates:


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach spent time during each off-season pursuing non-sport interests. Besides pirates, he had studied topics such as Native American leader Geronimo, American pioneer Daniel Boone, grizzly bears, chimpanzees, whales, and American artist Jackson Pollock.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: Leach made a cameo appearance on the TV series "Friday Night Lights". In the show's fourth season, he portrayed a "random loon" at a gas station who implores a despondent coach Eric Taylor to "swing your sword" and "find your inner pirate."


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: During the spring of 2019, Leach co-taught a five-week seminar at Washington State, "Insurgent Warfare and Football Strategies," alongside Washington politician Michael Baumgartner.


title: Mike Leach (American football coach)

text: On December 11, 2022, Leach experienced an undisclosed health issue and was hospitalized in Jackson, Mississippi. That evening, "Sports Illustrated" reporter Ross Delenger reported that Leach was in critical condition. "The Clarion-Ledger" reported that Leach had suffered a massive heart attack and had not received medical attention for 10 to 15 minutes, and had also suffered seizures that may have contributed to brain damage as a result. He died the following day at the age of 61. In a statement, Mississippi State gave the cause of death as "complications due to a heart condition".


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subspecies. A member of the Artamidae, the Australian magpie is placed in its own genus "Gymnorhina" and is most closely related to the black butcherbird ("Melloria quoyi"). It is not closely related to the European magpie, which is a corvid.


title: Australian magpie

text: The adult Australian magpie is a fairly robust bird ranging from in length, with black and white plumage, gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. The male and female are similar in appearance, but can be distinguished by differences in back markings. The male has pure white feathers on the back of the head and the female has white blending to grey feathers on the back of the head. With its long legs, the Australian magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground.


title: Australian magpie

text: Described as one of Australia's most accomplished songbirds, the Australian magpie has an array of complex vocalisations. It is omnivorous, with the bulk of its varied diet made up of invertebrates. It is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range. Common and widespread, it has adapted well to human habitation and is a familiar bird of parks, gardens and farmland in Australia and New Guinea. This species is commonly fed by households around the country, but in spring (and occasionally in autumn) a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive, swooping and attacking those who approach their nests. Research has shown that magpies can recognise at least 100 different people, and may be less likely to swoop individuals they have befriended.


title: Australian magpie

text: Over 1000 Australian magpies were introduced into New Zealand from 1864 to 1874, but have subsequently been accused of displacing native birds and are now treated as a pest species. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Fiji, where the birds are not considered an invasive species. The Australian magpie is the mascot of several Australian and New Zealand sporting teams, including the Collingwood Magpies, the Western Suburbs Magpies, Port Adelaide Magpies and, in New Zealand, the Hawke's Bay Magpies.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie was first described in the scientific literature by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as "Coracias tibicen", the type collected in the Port Jackson region. Its specific epithet derived from the Latin "tibicen" "flute-player" or "piper" in reference to the bird's melodious call. An early recorded vernacular name is "piping poller", written on a painting by Thomas Watling, one of a group known collectively as the Port Jackson Painter, sometime between 1788 and 1792. Other names used include "piping crow-shrike", "piping shrike", "piper", "maggie", "flute-bird" and "organ-bird". The term "bell-magpie" was proposed to help distinguish it from the European magpie but failed to gain wide acceptance.


title: Australian magpie

text: "Tarra-won-nang", or "djarrawunang", "wibung", and "marriyang" were names used by the local Eora and Darug inhabitants of the Sydney Basin. "Booroogong" and "garoogong" were Wiradjuri words and Victorian terms included "carrak" (Jardwadjali), "kuruk" (Western Victorian languages), "kiri" (Dhauwurd Wurrung language) and "kurikari" (Wuluwurrung). Among the Kamilaroi, it is "burrugaabu", "galalu", or "guluu". In Western Australia it is known as "warndurla" among the Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara, and "koorlbardi" amongst the south west Noongar peoples. In South Australia, where it is the State emblem, it is the "kurraka" (Kaurna), "murru" (Narungga), "urrakurli" (Adnyamathanha), "goora" (Barngarla), "konlarru" (Ngarrindjeri) and "tuwal" (Bunganditj).


title: Australian magpie

text: The bird was named for its similarity in colouration to the European magpie; it was a common practice for early settlers to name plants and animals after European counterparts. However, the European magpie is a member of the Corvidae, while its Australian counterpart is placed in the family Artamidae (although both are members of a broad corvid lineage). The Australian magpie's affinities with butcherbirds and currawongs were recognised early on and the three genera were placed in the family Cracticidae in 1914 by John Albert Leach after he had studied their musculature. American ornithologists Charles Sibley and Jon Ahlquist recognised the close relationship between woodswallows and the butcherbirds in 1985, and combined them into a Cracticini clade, in the Artamidae. The Australian magpie is placed in its own monotypic genus "Gymnorhina" which was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840. The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek "gumnos" for "naked" or "bare" and "rhis", "rhinos" "nostrils". Some authorities such as Glen Storr in 1952 and Leslie Christidis and Walter Boles in their 2008 checklist, have placed the Australian magpie in the butcherbird genus "Cracticus", arguing that its adaptation to ground-living is not enough to consider it a separate genus. A molecular genetic study published in a 2013 showed that the Australian magpie is a sister taxon to the black butcherbird ("Melloria quoyi") and that the two species are in turn sister to a clade that includes the other butcherbirds in the genus "Cracticus". The ancestor to the two species is thought to have split from the other butcherbirds between 8.3 and 4.2 million years ago, during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, while the two species themselves diverged sometime during the Pliocene (5.8–3.0 million years ago).


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie was subdivided into three species in the literature for much of the twentieth century—the black-backed magpie ("G. tibicen"), the white-backed magpie ("G. hypoleuca"), and the western magpie ("G. dorsalis"). They were later noted to hybridise readily where their territories crossed, with hybrid grey or striped-backed magpies being quite common. This resulted in them being reclassified as one species by Julian Ford in 1969, with most recent authors following suit.


title: Australian magpie

text: There are currently thought to be nine subspecies of the Australian magpie, although there are large zones of overlap with intermediate forms between the taxa. There is a tendency for birds to become larger with increasing latitude, the southern subspecies being larger than those further north, except the Tasmanian form which is small. The original form, known as the black-backed magpie and classified as "Gymnorhina tibicen", has been split into four black-backed races:


title: Australian magpie

text: The white-backed magpie, originally described as "Gymnorhina hypoleuca" by John Gould in 1837, has also been split into races:


title: Australian magpie

text: The adult magpie ranges from in length with a wingspan, and weighing . Its robust wedge-shaped bill is bluish-white bordered with black, with a small hook at the tip. The black legs are long and strong. The plumage is pure glossy black and white; both sexes of all subspecies have black heads, wings and underparts with white shoulders. The tail has a black terminal band. The nape is white in the male and light greyish-white in the female. Mature magpies have dull red eyes, in contrast to the yellow eyes of currawongs and white eyes of Australian ravens and crows. The main difference between the subspecies lies in the "saddle" markings on the back below the nape. Black-backed subspecies have a black saddle and white nape. White-backed subspecies have a wholly white nape and saddle. The male Western Australian subspecies "dorsalis" is also white-backed, but the equivalent area in the female is scalloped black.


title: Australian magpie

text: Juveniles have lighter greys and browns amidst the starker blacks and whites of their plumage; two- or three-year-old birds of both sexes closely resemble and are difficult to distinguish from adult females. Immature birds have dark brownish eyes until around two years of age. Australian magpies generally live to around 25 years of age, though ages of up to 30 years have been recorded. The reported age of first breeding has varied according to area, but the average is between the ages of three and five years.


title: Australian magpie

text: Well-known and easily recognisable, the Australian magpie is unlikely to be confused with any other species. The pied butcherbird has a similar build and plumage, but has white underparts unlike the former species' black underparts. The magpie-lark is a much smaller and more delicate bird with complex and very different banded black and white plumage. Currawong species have predominantly dark plumage and heavier bills.


title: Australian magpie

text: One of Australia's most highly regarded songbirds, the Australian magpie has a wide variety of calls, many of which are complex. Pitch may vary as much as four octaves, and the bird can mimic over 35 species of native and introduced bird species, as well as dogs and horses. Magpies have even been noted to mimic human speech when living in close proximity to humans. Its complex, musical, warbling call is one of the most familiar Australian bird sounds. In Denis Glover's poem "The Magpies", the mature magpie's call is described as "quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", one of the most famous lines in New Zealand poetry, and as "waddle giggle gargle paddle poodle", in the children's book "Waddle Giggle Gargle" by Pamela Allen. The bird has been known to mimic environmental sounds as well, including the noises made by emergency vehicles during the New South Wales wildfire state of emergency for Australian bushfire.


title: Australian magpie

text: When alone, a magpie may make a quiet musical warbling; these complex melodious warbles or subsongs are pitched at 2–4 KHz and do not carry for long distances. These songs have been recorded up to 70 minutes in duration and are more frequent after the end of the breeding season. Pairs of magpies often take up a loud musical calling known as "carolling" to advertise or defend their territory; one bird initiates the call with the second (and sometimes more) joining in. Often preceded by warbling, carolling is pitched between 6 and 8 kHz and has 4–5 elements with slurring indistinct noise in between. Birds will adopt a specific posture by tilting their heads back, expanding their chests, and moving their wings backwards. A group of magpies will sing a short repetitive version of carolling just before dawn ("dawn song"), and at twilight after sundown ("dusk song"), in winter and spring.


title: Australian magpie

text: Fledgling and juvenile magpies emit a repeated short and loud (80 dB), high-pitched (8 kHz) begging call. Magpies may indulge in beak-clapping to warn other species of birds. They employ several high pitched (8–10 kHz) alarm or rallying calls when intruders or threats are spotted. Distinct calls have been recorded for the approach of eagles and monitor lizards.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie is found in the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea, between the Oriomo River and Muli Strait, and across most of Australia, bar the tip of Cape York, the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts, and the southwest of Tasmania. Birds taken mainly from Tasmania and Victoria were introduced into New Zealand by local Acclimatisation Societies of Otago and Canterbury in the 1860s, with the Wellington Acclimatisation Society releasing 260 birds in 1874. White-backed forms are spread on both the North and eastern South Island, while black-backed forms are found in the Hawke's Bay region. Magpies were introduced into New Zealand to control agricultural pests, and were therefore a protected species until 1951. They are thought to affect native New Zealand bird populations such as the tui and kereru, sometimes raiding nests for eggs and nestlings, although studies by Waikato University have cast doubt on this, and much blame on the magpie as a predator in the past has been anecdotal only. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Sri Lanka, although the species has failed to become established. It has become established in western Taveuni in Fiji, however.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie prefers open areas such as grassland, fields and residential areas such as parks, gardens, golf courses, and streets, with scattered trees or forest nearby. Birds nest and shelter in trees but forage mainly on the ground in these open areas. It has also been recorded in mature pine plantations; birds only occupy rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest in the vicinity of cleared areas. In general, evidence suggests the range and population of the Australian magpie has increased with land-clearing, although local declines in Queensland due to a 1902 drought, and in Tasmania in the 1930s have been noted; the cause for the latter is unclear but rabbit baiting, pine tree removal, and spread of the masked lapwing ("Vanellus miles") have been implicated.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie is almost exclusively diurnal, although it may call into the night, like some other members of the Artamidae. Natural predators of magpies include various species of monitor lizard and the barking owl. Birds are often killed on roads or electrocuted by powerlines, or poisoned after killing and eating house sparrows or mice, rats or rabbits targeted with baiting. The Australian raven may take nestlings left unattended.


title: Australian magpie

text: On the ground, the Australian magpie moves around by walking, and is the only member of the Artamidae to do so; woodswallows, butcherbirds and currawongs all tend to hop with legs parallel. The magpie has a short femur (thigh bone), and long lower leg below the knee, suited to walking rather than running, although birds can run in short bursts when hunting prey.


title: Australian magpie

text: The magpie is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range, living in groups occupying a territory, or in flocks or fringe groups. A group may occupy and defend the same territory for many years. Much energy is spent defending a territory from intruders, particularly other magpies, and different behaviours are seen with different opponents. The sight of a raptor results in a rallying call by sentinel birds and subsequent coordinated mobbing of the intruder. Magpies place themselves either side of the bird of prey so that it will be attacked from behind should it strike a defender, and harass and drive the raptor to some distance beyond the territory. A group will use carolling as a signal to advertise ownership and warn off other magpies. In the "negotiating display", the one or two dominant magpies parade along the border of the defended territory while the rest of the group stand back a little and look on. The leaders may fluff their feathers or caroll repeatedly. In a "group strength display", employed if both the opposing and defending groups are of roughly equal numbers, all magpies will fly and form a row at the border of the territory. The defending group may also resort to an aerial display where the dominant magpies, or sometimes the whole group, swoop and dive while calling to warn an intruding magpie's group.


title: Australian magpie

text: A wide variety of displays are seen, with aggressive behaviours outnumbering pro-social ones. Crouching low and uttering quiet begging calls are common signs of submission. The "manus flutter" is a submissive display where a magpie will flutter the primary feathers in its wings. A magpie, particularly a juvenile, may also fall, roll over on its back and expose its underparts. Birds may fluff up their flank feathers as an aggressive display or preceding an attack. Young birds display various forms of play behaviour, either by themselves or in groups, with older birds often initiating the proceedings with juveniles. These may involve picking up, manipulating or tugging at various objects such as sticks, rocks or bits of wire, and handing them to other birds. A bird may pick up a feather or leaf and flying off with it, with other birds pursuing and attempting to bring down the leader by latching onto its tail feathers. Birds may jump on each other and even engage in mock fighting. Play may even take place with other species such as blue-faced honeyeaters and Australasian pipits.


title: Australian magpie

text: A 2022 study showed cooperative behaviour, along with a moderate level of problem-solving, when magpies ("G. tibicen") assisted one another to remove tracking devices placed on their bodies in a specially-designed harness by researchers for conservation purposes. This was the first recorded example of birds acting in this way to remove tracking devices, a form of rescue behaviour.


title: Australian magpie

text: Magpies have a long breeding season which varies in different parts of the country; in northern parts of Australia they will breed between June and September, but not commence until August or September in cooler regions, and may continue until January in some alpine areas. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure made of sticks and lined with softer material such as grass and bark. Near human habitation, synthetic material may be incorporated. Nests are built exclusively by females and generally placed high up in a tree fork, often in an exposed position. The trees used are most commonly eucalypts, although a variety of other native trees as well as introduced pine, "Crataegus", and elm have been recorded. Other bird species, such as the yellow-rumped thornbill ("Acanthiza chrysorrhoa"), willie wagtail ("Rhipidura leucophrys"), southern whiteface ("Aphelocephala leucopsis"), and (less commonly) noisy miner ("Manorina melanocephala"), often nest in the same tree as the magpie. The first two species may even locate their nest directly beneath a magpie nest, while the diminutive striated pardalote ("Pardalotus striatus") has been known to make a burrow for breeding into the base of the magpie nest itself. These incursions are all tolerated by the magpies. The channel-billed cuckoo ("Scythrops novaehollandiae") is a notable brood parasite in eastern Australia; magpies will raise cuckoo young, which eventually outcompete the magpie nestlings.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie produces a clutch of two to five light blue or greenish eggs, which are oval in shape and about . The chicks hatch synchronously around 20 days after incubation begins; like all passerines, the chicks are altricial—they are born pink, naked, and blind with large feet, a short broad beak and a bright red throat. Their eyes are fully open at around 10 days. Chicks develop fine downy feathers on their head, back and wings in the first week, and pinfeathers in the second week. The black and white colouration is noticeable from an early stage. Nestlings are usually fed exclusively by the female, though the male magpie will feed his partner. Individual males do feed nestlings and fledglings, to varying degrees, from sporadic to equal frequency to the female. The Australian magpie is known to engage in cooperative breeding, and helper birds will assist in feeding and raising young. This does vary from region to region, and with the size of the group—the behaviour is rare or non-existent in pairs or small groups.


title: Australian magpie

text: Juvenile magpies begin foraging on their own three weeks after leaving the nest, and mostly feeding themselves by six months old. Some birds continue begging for food until eight or nine months of age, but are usually ignored. Birds reach adult size by their first year. The age at which young birds disperse varies across the country, and depends on the aggressiveness of the dominant adult of the corresponding sex; males are usually evicted at a younger age. Many leave at around a year old, but the age of departure may range from eight months to four years.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie is omnivorous, eating various items located at or near ground level including invertebrates such as earthworms, millipedes, snails, spiders and scorpions as well as a wide variety of insects—cockroaches, ants, earwigs, beetles, cicadas, moths and caterpillars and other larvae. Insects, including large adult grasshoppers, may be seized mid-flight. Skinks, frogs, mice and other small animals as well as grain, tubers, figs and walnuts have also been noted as components of their diet.


title: Australian magpie

text: It has even learnt to safely eat the poisonous cane toad by flipping it over and consuming the underparts. Predominantly a ground feeder, the Australian magpie paces open areas methodically searching for insects and their larvae. One study showed birds were able to find scarab beetle larvae by sound or vibration. Birds use their bills to probe into the earth or otherwise overturn debris in search of food. Smaller prey are swallowed whole, although magpies rub off the stingers of bees and wasps and irritating hairs of caterpillars before swallowing.


title: Australian magpie

text: Magpies are ubiquitous in urban areas all over Australia, and have become accustomed to people. A small percentage of birds become highly aggressive during breeding season from late August to late November – early December or occasionally late February to late April – early May, and will swoop and sometimes attack passersby. Attacks begin as the eggs hatch, increase in frequency and severity as the chicks grow, and tail off as the chicks leave the nest.


title: Australian magpie

text: Magpie attacks occur in most parts of Australia, though Tasmanian magpies are much less aggressive than their mainland counterparts. Magpie attacks can cause injuries, typically wounds to the head. Being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury or even fatal accidents.


title: Australian magpie

text: Magpies may engage in an escalating series of behaviours to drive off intruders. Least threatening are alarm calls and distant swoops, where birds fly within several metres from behind and perch nearby. Next in intensity are close swoops, where a magpie will swoop in from behind or the side and audibly "snap" their beaks or even peck or bite at the face, neck, ears or eyes. More rarely, a bird may dive-bomb and strike the intruder's (usually a cyclist's) head with its chest. A magpie may rarely attack by landing on the ground in front of a person and lurching up and landing on the victim's chest and pecking at the face and eyes.


title: Australian magpie

text: The percentage of magpies that swoop has been difficult to estimate but is significantly less than 9%. Almost all attacking birds (around 99%) are male, and they are generally known to attack pedestrians at around from their nest, and cyclists at around . There appears to be some specificity in choice of attack targets, with the majority of individuals specializing on either pedestrians or cyclists.


title: Australian magpie

text: Smaller - especially younger - people, lone people, and people travelling quickly (i.e., runners and cyclists) appear to be targeted most often by swooping magpies. Anecdotal evidence suggests that if a magpie sees a human trying to rescue a chick that has fallen from its nest, the bird will view this help as predation, and will become more aggressive to humans from then on. A recent fatal attack in Brisbane involved a five-month old baby girl who sustained fatal injuries after her mother tripped and fell while trying to avoid a swooping magpie. This prompted council workers to install extra signage at parks.


title: Australian magpie

text: Magpies are a protected native species in Australia, so it is illegal to kill or harm them. However, this protection is removed in some Australian states if a magpie attacks a human, allowing for the bird to be killed if it is considered particularly aggressive (such a provision is made, for example, in section 54 of the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act). More commonly, an aggressive bird will be caught and relocated to an unpopulated area. Magpies have to be moved a considerable distance, as almost all are able to find their way home from distances of less than . Removing the nest is of no use, as birds will breed again and possibly be more aggressive the second time around.


title: Australian magpie

text: If it is necessary to walk near the nest, wearing a broad-brimmed or legionnaire's hat or using an umbrella will deter attacking birds, but beanies and bicycle helmets are of little value, as birds attack the sides of the head and neck. Magpies prefer to swoop at the back of the head; therefore, keeping the magpie in sight at all times can discourage the bird. A basic disguise such as sunglasses worn on the back of the head may fool the magpie as to where a person is looking. Eyes painted on hats or helmets will deter attacks on pedestrians but not cyclists. Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike, and the use of cable ties on helmets has become common and appears to be effective.


title: Australian magpie

text: Some claim that hand-feeding magpies can reduce the risk of swooping. Magpies will become accustomed to being fed by humans, and although they are wild, will return to the same place looking for handouts. The idea is that humans thereby appear less of a threat to the nesting birds. Although this has not been studied systematically, there are reports of its success.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian magpie featured in aboriginal folklore around Australia. The Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara in the northwest of the country used the bird as a signal for sunrise, awakening them with its call. They were also familiar with its highly territorial nature, and it features in a song in their "Burndud", or songs of customs. It was a totem bird of the people of the Illawarra region south of Sydney.


title: Australian magpie

text: Under the name piping shrike, the white-backed magpie was declared the official emblem of the Government of South Australia in 1901 by Governor Tennyson, and has featured on the South Australian flag since 1904. The magpie is a commonly used emblem of sporting teams in Australia, and its brash, cocky attitude has been likened to the Australian psyche. Such teams tend to wear uniforms with black and white stripes. The Collingwood Football Club adopted the magpie from a visiting South Australian representative team in 1892. The Port Adelaide Magpies would likewise adopt the black and white colours and Magpie name in 1902. Other examples include Brisbane's Souths Logan Magpies and Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies. Disputes over who has been the first club to adopt the magpie emblem have been heated at times. Another club, Glenorchy Football Club of Tasmania, was forced to change uniform design when placed in the same league as another club (Claremont Magpies) with the same emblem.


title: Australian magpie

text: In New Zealand, the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union team, from Napier, New Zealand, is also known as the magpies. One of the best-known New Zealand poems is "The Magpies" by Denis Glover, with its refrain "Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", imitating the sound of the bird – and the popular New Zealand comic "Footrot Flats" features a magpie character by the name of Pew.


title: Australian magpie

text: The Australian Magpie won the inaugural Australian Bird of the Year poll conducted by "Guardian Australia" and BirdLife Australia in late 2017. The Australian magpie won the 2017 contest with 19,926 votes (13.3%), narrowly ahead of the Australian white ibis. The magpie slumped to the #4 place in the 2019 poll, and to the #9 place in the 2021 poll. The voting rules changed in all three years of the Bird of the Year poll, which may have affected the results.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private label program that includes grocery and household items, clothing, baby products, pharmaceuticals, cellular phones, general merchandise and financial services. Loblaw is the largest Canadian food retailer, and its brands include President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Most of Loblaw's 136,000 full-time and part-time employees are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers, with the exception of workers at The Real Canadian Wholesale Club in Alberta, who are members of the Christian Labour Association of Canada.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Loblaw's regional food distribution divisions include Westfair Foods Ltd. in Western Canada and Northern Ontario, National Grocers Co. Ltd. in Ontario, Provigo Inc. in Quebec, and Atlantic Wholesalers Ltd. in Atlantic Canada.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: In 1919, Toronto grocers Theodore Pringle Loblaw and J. Milton Cork opened the first Loblaw Groceterias store modelled on a new and radically different retail concept, namely "self serve". The traditional grocery store provided a high level of personal service but was a labour-intensive operation. Customers typically had to wait while a clerk fetched items from behind a counter. Other goods, such as sugar and flour, had to be individually weighed and the order then tallied by hand and added to the customer’s account. Home delivery, by wagon, was usually included free of charge. Loblaw and Cork, friends from the days when both worked as young clerks in the Cork family grocery store, believed they could cut costs by introducing self service combined with cash and carry. While cash stores were not new, the idea of allowing customers to select their own merchandise was a new concept. The pair had heard of the Piggly Wiggly "self serving store" in the United States and travelled to Memphis, Tennessee, to see it in operation first hand. With customers allowed to browse freely, pick up their own goods and then pay cash at a central checkout counter, with no credit or home delivery, operating costs were reduced. The two came away convinced that a similar style of operation could work in Canada. But Loblaw was met with scepticism:


title: Loblaw Companies

text: In the early days when I started the cash and carry business, I was told that it could not be done, but my contention was that the people of Toronto and Ontario would welcome the opportunity to carry their groceries home,


title: Loblaw Companies

text: The first Loblaw Groceterias Co. store opened at 2923 Dundas St. W., Toronto, in June 1919. Months later, a second location, at 528 College Street, followed. The ’groceterias’ name was apparently derived from cafeteria - a popular self serve restaurant format. Along with the Loblaw name, the outlets featured big "We Sell For Less" signs across their storefronts. Inside, the stores were clean and well lit, with items neatly displayed and clearly marked:


title: Loblaw Companies

text: From the entry, one passes through a turnstile which permits egress only. Just inside are piles of market baskets from which the customer helps himself and proceeds in his quest for food at lower prices. Out in front, the shelves are packed with bottled and canned goods, whose names are household words, all plainly tagged with price. Further back, one finds teas, coffee fancy biscuits and cheese, all wrapped ready to carry home ... The customer having selected her purchases, carries her basket to one of the counters near the point of exit. Here her purchases are quickly totaled on an adding machine and she receives her slip. While she pays the bill her groceries are neatly packed in a larger bag.."


title: Loblaw Companies

text: While produce was limited and fresh meats largely excluded from the early stores, sales proved strong. Within its first five months of operation, the chain's second location had expanded its sales room into that part of the store normally reserved for storage. In spite of the success of the new groceteria format, Cork did not feel that traditional, full-service grocery stores were in danger of going out of business since many customers still valued the extension of credit, individual serve and home delivery. A year later, another Toronto grocer, C.B. Shields, joined with Loblaw and Cork.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: In 1928, with 69 stores throughout Ontario, the company unveiled its new state-of-the-art head office and warehouse at Fleet and Bathurst streets, along today's Lake Shore Blvd, in Toronto. At a cost of million, the Loblaw warehouse was likened to a "temple of commerce" and hailed as a model of efficiency. One newspaper report described it as, "the most modern warehouse building of its kind in the dominion." The warehouse, which served as a distribution centre and manufacturing depot, included an interior loading dock that could simultaneously accommodate eight railway freight cars and 23 large trucks. It featured its own electric tram railway, four giant ovens for baking a ton of cake and half a ton of cookies a day, huge drums for blending tea, 22 thousand feet of ammonia-filled pipes for refrigeration, and a system of pneumatic tubes for sending messages from department to department. A "punched card" tabulating system, forerunner to today's computer, would be installed for tracking inventory as the first of its kind in the Canadian grocery industry. For Loblaw employees, the warehouse included amenities such as bowling lanes and a billiards room, along with an auditorium for putting on plays. That same year, the American company expanded beyond New York State with the opening of outlets in Chicago, Illinois.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: By October 1929, Loblaw Groceterias' rapid expansion had attracted the attention of competitor Dominion Stores Limited, another Toronto-based food store chain. In a letter to its shareholders, Dominion management put forward a plan to purchase a controlling interest in Loblaw, funded by a preferred share offering. Weeks later, though, stock markets around the world collapsed and the


title: Loblaw Companies

text: In 1933, company co-founder Theodore Pringle Loblaw died suddenly of complications from minor surgery. Eulogized as "the Merchant Prince" by the press, Loblaw was remembered not only for his accomplishments in business but also his religious conviction and personal philanthropy that benefited local charities such as the Kiwanis Boys Clubs of Toronto and the Stevenson Memorial Hospital of his hometown of Alliston, Ontario. After Loblaw's death, co-founder John Milton Cork took charge of the company.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: During the early 1930s, Loblaw Groceterias began converting many of its outlets to "Market Stores" that featured full-service meat and produce departments for the first time. Previously excluded because of the chain's 'self serve' format and the need to cut meats and weigh produce, the new departments proved popular with customers. By 1936, over half of all Ontario locations had been converted to the new format that expanded sales "without a corresponding increase in store overhead." The company also began updating the appearance of its stores to the new, modern, streamlined look. In terms of branding, while the chain often promoted itself as "Loblaw's" in newspaper ads, it wasn’t until 1939 that the first "Loblaws" signs went up on store facades - replacing the Loblaw Groceterias Co. Limited signage. In addition to the new meat and produce departments, frozen food sections were also featured - a first in Canada. Loblaw also began introducing other modern amenities such as "electronic eye" automatic doors and mechanical ventilation systems for the comfort of shoppers.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Store construction, halted during World War II, resumed in the late 1940s as Loblaw undertook a program of "expansion and modernization." Parking lots, a new phenomenon for the chain, became an important design component of the company's "supermarkets" in the post-war era. In particular, Loblaw promoted its new "rear entrance and exit stores," with checkout counters at the back that allowed shoppers, increasingly motorized and suburban, direct access to their cars. Other modernizations included "healthfully-cool refrigerated" air conditioning, introduced by Loblaw in 1949 - the first Canadian grocery chain to do so. In spite of such innovations, the chain still hearkened back to its retail roots with references to the "self-serve" nature of its fruit, vegetable and meat departments.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: In 1947, a major shift in corporate ownership took place with the purchase of 100,000 Class B shares of Loblaw Groceterias Co. Limited by Canadian industrialist W. Garfield Weston. Weston, president of George Weston Limited, whose interests included baking, grocery wholesaling, and paper manufacturing, acquired the block of voting stock from Loblaw co-founder J. Milton Cork. Although the share purchase did not represent majority control of Loblaw, Weston was able to have his old friend and colleague George C. Metcalf appointed to the board of directors, as well as named vice president and general manager. By 1953, though, Garfield Weston had secured majority control through parent company George Weston Limited and Metcalf was appointed


title: Loblaw Companies

text: president of Loblaw Groceterias. With Weston in control, a program of rapid expansion, particularly through acquisition, followed as the company extended its holdings beyond Ontario into other regions of Canada and into the United States.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: In 1953, Loblaw Groceterias acquired majority control of Loblaw Inc., the former American branch of the company with stores in New York State, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, through a purchase of stock from George Weston Limited. That same year, Loblaw also bought the Power Supermarkets chain of


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Toronto. More noteworthy, though, was its decision to take a 25 per cent stake in Chicago-based National Tea Co., a major supermarket chain with some 750 stores in twelve states, three years later. With an ever-increasing array of retail assets, Loblaw Companies Limited was incorporated in 1956 as holding company for Loblaw Groceterias and the recently acquired holdings south of the border. That same year, Loblaw also announced a major new thrust into Western Canada with 32 supermarkets slated for construction. Other acquisitions followed, including Atlantic Wholesalers in the Maritimes with its associated retail outlets. At its height, Loblaw Companies Limited would represent the third largest grocery retailer in


title: Loblaw Companies

text: As large as Loblaw had grown, food retailing remained highly competitive and special promotions and customer loyalty programs were introduced as a way of attracting and retaining consumers. During the 1950s, car giveaways were a popular highlight of many grand openings of new Loblaws supermarkets. In 1959, the company entered the trading stamp wars with its own Lucky Green Stamps. Loblaw president George Metcalf brought store managers together for an early morning meeting in Toronto to make the surprise announcement, informing them that the


title: Loblaw Companies

text: stamps, redeemable for household gifts, had already been delivered to their stores. While at first quite popular, the program was finally concluded in 1967 as customers increasingly saw trading stamps as an expensive promotion that translated into higher prices at the checkout counter.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: During the 1960s, while Loblaw set record sales, corporate profits declined. An era of aggressive expansion had paid off in terms of revenue growth but apparently at the expense of profitability. As shareholders complained about a lack of information from the company, frustrated analysts, unsure as to the corporate structure or holdings, became increasingly reluctant to recommend the stock. Loblaw annual meetings were better known for their distribution of cookies, cake and groceries than information on operating performance. While George Metcalf remained head of Loblaw Companies Limited, chairman W. Garfield Weston began making changes to senior executive ranks, including the appointment of Leon Weinstein, former head and son of the founders of Power Supermarkets, as president of Loblaw Groceterias Co. Limited from 1968 to 1970. Weinstein soon indicated his intent to "stop giving away baskets of groceries at annual shareholder meetings and try to raise dividends." To find out what Loblaws shoppers thought about the chain, Weinstein introduced a questionnaire on his personal letterhead, "asking customers to check-off their complaints," and received 65,000 replies, or three times the number expected.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: In spite of attempts to get a handle on operational issues, Loblaws was still perceived as an "ailing supermarket chain." Meanwhile, pre-tax profits for Loblaw Companies Limited declined from million in 1966 to $18.6 million in 1971, "and then vanished altogether." By the late 1960s, the company had begun selling assets. Between 1968 and 1974, Loblaw sold $164 million in holdings to corporate parent George Weston Limited in an apparent extension of "financial assistance." Yet Loblaw continued to make acquisitions. In 1969, it bought a controlling interest in Sayvette, a money-losing Toronto-based discount department store chain and went on to spend $8.7 million to acquire 100 percent ownership. But as competition heated up, losses mounted and stores were closed. The last Sayvette shut its doors in late 1977.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: By the early 70s, Loblaw was struggling under the weight of too much debt with millions of dollars of financial obligations coming due over the next few years. At the same time, its stores were badly in need of refurbishing and sales were in virtual free fall. Within a year, the company's share of the crucial Ontario market had been


title: Loblaw Companies

text: cut in half as a result of price wars among the major chains. South of the border, things looked somewhat better but only on the surface, with many of the company's supermarkets in large American inner cities in decline. A


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Canadian royal commission study years later noted "the company's failure to spend sufficient funds on the refurbishing of its existing supermarkets and the opening of new ones," in addition to a dividend policy that could not be justified on the basis of earnings. Loblaw also found itself constrained by various financial arrangements. In particular, so-called "lease and leaseback" agreements effectively


title: Loblaw Companies

text: prevented it from closing many of its smaller, money-losing outlets. To make matters worse, senior management was often reluctant or intransigent when it came to making operational changes. Faced with the possible bankruptcy of Loblaws, Garfield Weston asked his youngest son, W. Galen Weston, a successful entrepreneur and retailer in his own right, to take a close look at the chain to see if it could be saved. In February 1972, Galen


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Weston was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Loblaw Companies Limited. With financing secured through a family holding company that freed Loblaw from its leaseback agreements, Weston began rationalizing operations, shutting down dozens of unprofitable stores while remodelling those that remained. "As a 200 store chain, we didn't look very good. As a 100 store chain, we looked very good indeed." In addition to dozens of store closures, warehouse operations were consolidated and new distribution centres built.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Galen Weston next brought in Toronto designer Don Watt. Known for his innovative product packaging and use of photography, Watt proposed a complete makeover of Loblaw's corporate image and retail space. Although Watt had little experience in supermarket design, Weston gave him the go ahead to remodel one of the stores. Weston reportedly told Watt that, "Loblaws is in such trouble that if it doesn’t work, it doesn't matter. If it works - good." On a budget of only $30,000, the renovations took place at night so the store could stay open during the day. Along with a complete redesign inside and out, that included new colours and a new repeating 'L' Loblaws logo, Watt made changes to traditional grocery store layout. He doubled the floor space of the produce department and moved it from the back of the store to the front. He also introduced new design elements such as moveable bins and huge photo enlargements of fresh fruits, vegetables and meats to graphically convey quality and freshness. Wood panelling covered over old walls and broken mirrors to give the interior a fresh, contemporary feel. Within the first few months of the remodelling, sales increased 60 percent.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Meanwhile, on the promotional side, a new advertising campaign was rolled out which featured Canadian actor William Shatner of "Star Trek" fame. TV viewers were told that, "More than the price is right...but by


title: Loblaw Companies

text: gosh, the price is right." Other changes involved the introduction of basic managerial techniques, such as profit and loss statements at the store level. But as the company slowly regained market share in Ontario, it began bleeding red ink when it came to its U.S. operations and in particular its National supermarket chain. The company initiated a similar program of rationalization and renewal which saw hundreds of stores closed and others remodelled. In 1976, Loblaw suspended the dividend on both its Class A and B shares as management cited "anticipated large extraordinary losses" by year’s end. The company also sold its Chicago Division of


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Canada, Nabob Foods Limited was also sold off. Meanwhile, parent George Weston Limited injected an additional $29 million into Loblaw through a purchase of treasury shares. By the end of the decade, through rationalization of both its retail stores


title: Loblaw Companies

text: and various businesses, Loblaw Companies Limited, as well as George Weston Limited, had returned to profitability. One Canadian business magazine described what W. Galen Weston and team had pulled off as a classic turnaround


title: Loblaw Companies

text: After 10 years of ruthless, painful reorganization, which involved divestitures, acquisitions and massive store closings, he and his team have transformed the Weston-Loblaw group into a lean, profitable, progressive,


title: Loblaw Companies

text: rational, superbly managed company - a winner and a world leader in what is still a perilous, savagely competitive business.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: By 2019, the company's strategy to increase on-line sales of groceries was well established. (Loblaw stores were offering either delivery or customer pickup of orders placed on-line.) In spite of the limited sales in this category, about 10% of the market for all retailers, the company continued to move forward with the concept. "I see online being more relevant and more important to customers going forward. That’s why we’re focused on it", said Greg Ramier president of the market division at Loblaw Cos., in an interview by the Toronto Star.


title: Loblaw Companies

text: Loblaw also moved to rejuvenate its own private label program by allocating millions of dollars to the development of in-store brands. <!--In addition to redesigned packaging, the company imposed strict quality control standards.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Doug Stanhope (born March 25, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, author, political activist and podcast host. His stand-up material favors caustic and often obscene observations of life in the style of Bill Hicks and Bill Burr, which he delivers while consuming alcohol. Politically, he has favored libertarianism and once endorsed the Free State Project, a proposed political migration of at least 20,000 libertarians to a single low-population state to foster libertarian ideas.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Stanhope was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to a middle class family. His father Russ was head of science at Stanhope's school, and died in 2000. His mother Bonnie ("née" Kirk) was a waitress. A recovering alcoholic, she divorced her husband when Stanhope was ten years old, quit drinking and moved to Florida. In 1998, he persuaded her to live near him in West Hollywood. In her later life she suffered from emphysema. In 2008, at her request, she wished for Stanhope to be involved in an assisted suicide with a mixture of cocktails and prescription morphine. Stanhope waited until the statute of limitations had expired for the ensuing credit card fraud before telling the story in his stand-up act and his second book. Stanhope has an elder brother, Jeff.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: At age 12, Stanhope's school psychiatrist wrote a letter to his mother detailing his concern with Stanhope's tendency to sketch gory images and adult-themed cartoons, suggesting he was "in need of professional help". Stanhope quit school at fifteen. Among his early comedy influences were Monty Python and National Lampoon. Before he started comedy full-time, Stanhope worked in telemarketing, "borderline legal stuff, trying to scam people basically".


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Eventually Stanhope left Worcester and lived in Los Angeles for six months. Following this he moved around from Florida, back to Massachusetts, to Oceanside, California, back to Massachusetts again, to Idaho, before settling in Las Vegas. He now lives in Bisbee, Arizona.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Stanhope began his stand-up comedy career in 1990 at age 23, first performing at an open mic night at a Las Vegas bar. He developed his act in Las Vegas before moving to Phoenix, Arizona, where he landed a gig as a house MC at a comedy club.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 1995, he settled in West Hollywood which he "hated [...] so much" partly due to the slump in comedy acts at the time. Among his regular spots were the Hollywood Improv or The Comedy Store, before he became based in Playa del Rey and worked in clubs outside the city center. Around this time, he landed a development deal and "flirted" with the idea of producing a sitcom by co-writing a pilot episode with a writer of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". He later described the script as a "piece of shit", and felt thankful it was never picked up. In 1995, Stanhope won the San Francisco International Comedy Competition against Dane Cook in a three-week contest.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in New York City, Stanhope received some criticism from audiences over his comments regarding the event. This included protests outside of his gigs and attacks on stage.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In July 2002, Fox aired back-to-back episodes of Stanhope's hidden camera television show "Invasion of the Hidden Cameras". The project began in 1999, with Stanhope writing and producing various pranks for it, before the network decided to withdraw its broadcast. Stanhope accused "Spy TV" of stealing half of his ideas and achieving good ratings as a result. He starred as one of the pranksters on "Spy TV".


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In August 2002, Stanhope won the Strathmore Press Award for his week-long run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as voted by 40 press critics. The prize was £1,000 and a feature in the British celebrity magazine "OK!". Following the run, Stanhope signed with his longtime manager Brian Hennigan.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2003 and 2004, Stanhope co-hosted the fifth and sixth seasons of "The Man Show" with Joe Rogan. He agreed to the project in order to become more financially stable. Among the show's segments included Stanhope lasting five rounds in a boxing match with Tonya Harding in which the Stanhope lost by decision, and his mother reviewing pornographic films. He hosted his own radio show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio in 2005. That year, Stanhope hosted "".


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Stanhope established a group of touring comics known as "The Unbookables" featuring such artists as Andy Andrist, and Brendon Walsh, among others. The Unbookables' first CD, "Morbid Obscenity", was released in 2006.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In June 2006, Stanhope was booked to perform several shows at the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in Kilkenny, Ireland. However, roughly ten minutes into his set, a joke about Irish men committing pedophilia because of the ugliness of Irish women caused a hostile reaction from the audience. The incident led to the cancellation of Stanhope's remaining appearances at the festival. That August, he returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, agreeing to a full three-week residency. At one show, one of his routines sparked a violent affray with an angered audience member and the police were called in, causing Stanhope to leave the venue. He gained 5-star reviews from the press. On his opening night he took what was believed to be an ecstasy tablet that was handed to him by a member of the audience. At the 2008 Fringe, Stanhope announced A Day with Doug, an opportunity to spend an entire day with him for £7,349, the average amount that comedians lose when they are booked at one of the four biggest venues at the festival.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Stanhope announced his intention to seek election as the United States President in the 2008 election on the Libertarian Party ticket. He added: "It seemed like a funny thing to do [...] But people were either amused or horrified at the idea of me representing their party". His focus was for "individual freedom, self-government and making America fun again".


title: Doug Stanhope

text: His live show was placed in the top 5 of the "20 Best Live Shows of 2009" by London's "The Guardian" newspaper.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2010, Stanhope recorded a series of vignettes for the British news show "Newswipe with Charlie Brooker". In 2013, he did the same during "Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe" as "the voice of America". On November 17, 2010, Stanhope signed to rock and metal label Roadrunner Records to launch their new comedy label, Roadrunner Comedy. On May 3, 2011, the album was released: "". This was supported with an international tour, which included a 25-night residency at the Leicester Square Theatre in London. By this time, Stanhope had won "Time Out New York" Best Comedy Performance award twice.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2011, in co-operation with the mayor of Reykjavík and comedian Jón Gnarr, Stanhope scheduled a performance in Iceland's only maximum security prison, Litla-Hraun. The show took place on September 25. Also in 2011, Stanhope appeared on the FX series "Louie" as Eddie Mack, a comedian that Louis C.K. knew 20 years earlier when they first started performing, in the season 2 episode entitled "Eddie", first aired on August 11, 2011. He spoke of his role: "I tried to beg out of it. I said, I suck at acting. He had to talk me into trying", and auditioned online through Skype.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2012, Stanhope released his comedy special "Before Turning the Gun on Himself", recorded in Salt Lake City. He took the show's name from a phrase that he noted was commonly used on online news articles. Also in 2012, he impersonated John Lydon in a pre-taped radio interview with Mike Ragogna after the studio mistakenly called his number thinking it was Lydon's.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: On February 16, 2013, Stanhope debuted "The Doug Stanhope Podcast", recorded out of his home in Bisbee, Arizona. In 2014, it was hosted by the All Things Comedy network.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In May 2013, an appeal initiated by Stanhope raised nearly $126,000 for Rebecca Vitsmun and her family whose home was destroyed by the 2013 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. He said he did so in support of her declared atheism, saying he admired her courage in a predominantly Christian state.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2014, Stanhope announced on "The Howard Stern Show" that he was working with Johnny Depp on a show. According to Stanhope, Depp befriended him in Europe and had an unknown project in mind for him. He had a supporting role in the 2014 Chris Rock film "Top Five", playing a police officer.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Stanhope appeared on "Bar Rescue" as Jon Taffer's guest to watch the recon of the Pomona, California, bar Friar Tucks in an episode called ""Storming the Castle"".


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In May 2015, Stanhope announced that he was writing a book about his life with his mother, an occasional subject in his comedy. The book, entitled "Digging Up Mother: A Love Story", was released on May 10, 2016, and includes a foreword by Johnny Depp.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Stanhope filmed his comedy special "No Place Like Home" on November 21, 2015, at the Bisbee Royale in Bisbee. The film was produced by Johnny Depp.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In June 2016, actress Amber Heard sued Stanhope for his "defamatory" claim that she was blackmailing her ex-husband Johnny Depp. Heard dropped the lawsuit in the aftermath of her and Depp's $7 million divorce settlement.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2017, Stanhope released his third book, "This is Not Fame". It is a collection of stories about being an infamous comedian.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2020, Stanhope released his latest special, "The Dying of a Last Breed", filmed at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then released his fourth book, "No Encore for the Donkey".


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Although Stanhope's views have led people to believe that he is a liberal, he does not accept this characterization. Stanhope says that libertarianism was a phase he went through, but described himself as an anarchist in 2017.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2004, he endorsed the Free State Project, a proposed political migration of at least 20,000 libertarians to a single low-population state, in order to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas. According to Stanhope this is an idea "that could produce tangible change in our lifetime."


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2012, Stanhope originally supported Republican Ron Paul for the 2012 presidential election, but later endorsed Libertarian Gary Johnson.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2013, Stanhope appeared at a Bisbee, Arizona City Council Meeting to express his support for civil unions between gay couples following reports that local churches were planning to bus in local members to filibuster the vote. He stated "I am not gay and I think marriage is stupid. I have no dog in this fight except human equality." The meeting started with a prayer led by a local preacher and Stanhope's speech mentioned this, stating "I thought it was absolutely abhorrent that this would open with a preacher preaching Jesus in a city function. I am shaking with rage..." The measure to allow civil unions eventually passed with a 5–2 vote.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: In 2002, Stanhope and his girlfriend Renee Morrison staged a fake marriage ceremony in Las Vegas. He later said that it was "mocking the institution of marriage", and that it was not legal. At one point, the two were expecting a child but opted for abortion, and Stanhope got a vasectomy. Stanhope dated comedian and former attorney Betsy Wise for 18 months. Around 2005 Stanhope met his current partner Amy "Bingo" Bingaman, who he has referred to as his girlfriend and wife, and they reside in Bisbee, Arizona. Stanhope is opposed to having children and cites overpopulation as a reason.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: Stanhope is known for his heavy alcohol consumption and is a self-confessed drunk. In a 2011 interview, he said the last time he was sober on stage was in 2003. He is also known for dressing in thrift store clothing.


title: Doug Stanhope

text: He describes himself as pro-choice and pro-drug. In an interview with PETA, Stanhope criticized the use of wild animals for entertainment purposes as well as the fur trade.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a paternalistic form of British political conservatism. It advocates the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political democracy, in combination with social and economic programmes designed to benefit the ordinary person. According to this political philosophy, society should be allowed to develop in an organic way, rather than being engineered. It argues that members of society have obligations towards each other and particularly emphasises paternalism, meaning that those who are privileged and wealthy should pass on their benefits. It argues that this elite should work to reconcile the interests of all classes, including labour and management, rather than identifying the good of society solely with the interests of the business class.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: The describing phrase 'one-nation Tory' originated with Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), who served as the chief Conservative spokesman and became Prime Minister in February 1868. He devised it to appeal to working-class people, who he hoped would see it as a way to improve their lives via factory and health acts as well as greater protection for workers. The ideology featured heavily during Disraeli's terms in government, during which considerable social reforms were passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Conservative Party moved away from paternalism in favour of free market capitalism. In the first half of the 20th century, fears of extremism saw a revival of one-nation Conservatism. The Conservative Party continued to espouse the philosophy throughout the post-war consensus from 1945. One-nation thinking influenced their tolerance of the Labour government's Keynesian intervention in the economy, formation of a welfare state and the National Health Service. Thanks to Iain Macleod, Edward Heath and Enoch Powell, special attention after 1950 was paid to one-nation conservatism that promised support for the poorer and working class elements in the Party coalition.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: Later years saw the rise of the New Right, espoused by leaders such as Margaret Thatcher. This strand of conservatism rejected one-nation thinking and attributed the country's social and economic troubles to the welfare state and Keynesian policies. In the 21st century, leaders of the Conservative Party have publicly favoured a one-nation approach. For instance, David Cameron, who led the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016, named Disraeli as his favourite Conservative and some commentators and MPs have suggested that Cameron's ideology contained an element of one-nationism. Other commentators have questioned the degree to which Cameron and his coalition embodied one-nation conservatism, instead locating them in the intellectual tradition of Thatcherism. In 2016, Cameron's successor Theresa May referred to herself as a one-nation conservative in her first speech as Prime Minister and outlined her focus on one-nation principles. May's successor, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has made similar assertions.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: One-nation conservatism was conceived by the Conservative British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who outlines his political philosophy in two of his novels: "Coningsby" (1844), and "Sybil" (1845). Disraeli's conservatism proposed a paternalistic society with the social classes intact, but with the working class receiving support from the establishment. He emphasised the importance of social obligation rather than individualism. The phrase was coined because Disraeli feared a Britain divided into two nations, one of the rich and one of the poor, as a result of increased industrialisation and inequality. One-nation conservatism was his solution to this division, namely a system of measures to improve the lives of the people, provide social support and protect the working classes.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: Disraeli justified his ideas by his belief in an organic society in which the different classes have natural obligations to one another. He saw society as naturally hierarchical and emphasised the obligations of those at the top to those below. This was a continuation of the feudal concept of "noblesse oblige", which asserted that the aristocracy had an obligation to be generous and honourable. To Disraeli, this implied that government should be paternalistic. Unlike the New Right of the late 20th century, one-nation conservatism identifies its approach as pragmatic and non-ideological. Its proponents would say that it accepts the need for flexible policies and as such one-nation conservatives have often sought compromise with their ideological opponents for the sake of social stability. Disraeli justified his views pragmatically by arguing that should the ruling class become indifferent to the suffering of the people, society would become unstable and social revolution would become a possibility.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: One-nation conservatism has its origins in the repercussions of the Industrial Revolution, which had caused widespread inequality, poverty and social discontent in Britain. Tory politicians such as Richard Oastler, Michael Thomas Sadler and Lord Shaftesbury combined their elitist responsibility and a strong humanitarian element with their involvement in the Factory Acts. They were critical of individualism and classical economics, they also disliked the 1834 New Poor Law and believed in the role of the state in guaranteeing decent housing, working conditions, wages and treatment of the poor.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: Disraeli adopted one-nation conservatism for both ethical and electoral reasons. Before he became leader of the Conservative Party, the Reform Act 1867 had enfranchised the male working-class. As a result, Disraeli argued that the party needed to pursue social reforms if it were to have electoral success. He felt that one-nationism would both improve the conditions of the poor and portray the Liberal Party as selfish individualists.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: While in government, Disraeli presided over a series of social reforms which supported his one-nation politics and aimed to create a benevolent hierarchy. He appointed a Royal Commission to assess the state of law between employers and employees. As a result, Richard Cross was moved to pass the Employers and Workmen Act 1875. This act made both sides of industry equal before the law and the breach of contract became a civil offence, rather than criminal. Cross also passed the Conspiracy, and Protection of Property Act in the same year which enshrined the worker's right to strike by ensuring that acts carried out by a workers' group could not be indicted as conspiracy.