title: Ball bearing

text: A more cost effective arrangement of the bearing outer ring, with similar benefits, is a snap ring groove at either or both ends of the outside diameter. The snap ring assumes the function of a flange.


title: Ball bearing

text: Cages are typically used to secure the balls in a Conrad-style ball bearing. In other construction types they may decrease the number of balls depending on the specific cage shape, and thus reduce the load capacity. Without cages the tangential position is stabilized by sliding of two convex surfaces on each other. With a cage the tangential position is stabilized by a sliding of a convex surface in a matched concave surface, which avoids dents in the balls and has lower friction. Caged roller bearings were invented by John Harrison in the mid-18th century as part of his work on chronographs.


title: Ball bearing

text: Ceramic bearing balls can weigh up to 40% less than steel ones, depending on size and material. This reduces centrifugal loading and skidding, so hybrid ceramic bearings can operate 20% to 40% faster than conventional bearings. This means that the outer race groove exerts less force inward against the ball as the bearing spins. This reduction in force reduces the friction and rolling resistance. The lighter balls allow the bearing to spin faster, and uses less power to maintain its speed.


title: Ball bearing

text: The ceramic balls are typically harder than the race. Due to wear, with time they will form a groove in the race. This is preferable to the balls wearing which would leave them with possible flat spots significantly harming performance.


title: Ball bearing

text: While ceramic hybrid bearings use ceramic balls in place of steel ones, they are constructed with steel inner and outer rings; hence the "hybrid" designation. While the ceramic material itself is stronger than steel, it is also stiffer, which results in increased stresses on the rings, and hence decreased load capacity. Ceramic balls are electrically insulating, which can prevent 'arcing' failures if current should be passed through the bearing. Ceramic balls can also be effective in environments where lubrication may not be available (such as in space applications).


title: Ball bearing

text: These bearings make use of both ceramic balls and race. These bearings are impervious to corrosion and rarely require lubrication if at all. Due to the stiffness and hardness of the balls and race these bearings are noisy at high speeds. The stiffness of the ceramic makes these bearings brittle and liable to crack under load or impact. Because both ball and race are of similar hardness, wear can lead to chipping at high speeds of both the balls and the race, which can cause sparking.


title: Ball bearing

text: Self-aligning ball bearings, such as the Wingqvist bearing shown in the picture, are constructed with the inner ring and ball assembly contained within an outer ring that has a spherical raceway. This construction allows the bearing to tolerate a small angular misalignment resulting from shaft or housing deflections or improper mounting. The bearing was used mainly in bearing arrangements with very long shafts, such as transmission shafts in textile factories.


title: Ball bearing

text: One drawback of the self-aligning ball bearings is a limited load rating, as the outer raceway has very low osculation (its radius is much larger than the ball radius). This led to the invention of the spherical roller bearing, which has a similar design, but uses rollers instead of balls. The spherical roller thrust bearing is another invention derived from the findings by Wingqvist.


title: Ball bearing

text: The calculated life for a bearing is based on the load it carries and its operating speed. The industry standard usable bearing lifespan is inversely proportional to the bearing load cubed. Nominal maximum load of a bearing, is for a lifespan of 1 million rotations, which at 50 Hz (i.e., 3000 RPM) is a lifespan of 5.5 working hours. 90% of bearings of that type have at least that lifespan, and 50% of bearings have a lifespan at least 5 times as long.


title: Ball bearing

text: The industry standard life calculation is based upon the work of Lundberg and Palmgren performed in 1947. The formula assumes the life to be limited by metal fatigue and that the life distribution can be described by a Weibull distribution. Many variations of the formula exist that include factors for material properties, lubrication, and loading. Factoring for loading may be viewed as a tacit admission that modern materials demonstrate a different relationship between load and life than Lundberg and Palmgren determined .


title: Ball bearing

text: If a bearing is not rotating, maximum load is determined by force that causes plastic deformation of elements or raceways. The indentations caused by the elements can concentrate stresses and generate cracks at the components. Maximum load for not or very slowly rotating bearings is called "static" maximum load.


title: Ball bearing

text: Also if a bearing is not rotating, oscillating forces on the bearing can cause impact damage to the bearing race or the rolling elements, known as brinelling. A second lesser form called false brinelling occurs if the bearing only rotates across a short arc and pushes lubricant out away from the rolling elements.


title: Ball bearing

text: For a rotating bearing, the dynamic load capacity indicates the load to which the bearing endures 1,000,000 cycles.


title: Ball bearing

text: If a bearing is rotating, but experiences heavy load that lasts shorter than one revolution, static max load must be used in computations, since the bearing does not rotate during the maximum load.


title: Ball bearing

text: If a sideways torque is applied to a deep groove radial bearing, an uneven force in the shape of an ellipse is applied on the outer ring by the rolling elements, concentrating in two regions on opposite sides of the outer ring. If the outer ring is not strong enough, or if it is not sufficiently braced by the supporting structure, the outer ring will deform into an oval shape from the sideways torque stress, until the gap is large enough for the rolling elements to escape. The inner ring then pops out and the bearing structurally collapses.


title: Ball bearing

text: A sideways torque on a radial bearing also applies pressure to the cage that holds the rolling elements at equal distances, due to the rolling elements trying to all slide together at the location of highest sideways torque. If the cage collapses or breaks apart, the rolling elements group together, the inner ring loses support, and may pop out of the center.


title: Ball bearing

text: In general, maximum load on a ball bearing is proportional to outer diameter of the bearing times the width of the bearing (where width is measured in direction of axle).


title: Ball bearing

text: Bearings have static load ratings. These are based on not exceeding a certain amount of plastic deformation in the raceway. These ratings may be exceeded by a large amount for certain applications.


title: Ball bearing

text: For a bearing to operate properly, it needs to be lubricated. In most cases the lubricant is based on elastohydrodynamic effect (by oil or grease) but working at extreme temperatures dry lubricated bearings are also available.


title: Ball bearing

text: For a bearing to have its nominal lifespan at its nominal maximum load, it must be lubricated with a lubricant (oil or grease) that has at least the minimum dynamic viscosity (usually denoted with the Greek letter formula_1) recommended for that bearing.


title: Ball bearing

text: The recommended dynamic viscosity decreases with rotating frequency. As a rough indication: for less than , recommended viscosity increases with factor 6 for a factor 10 decrease in speed, and for more than , recommended viscosity decreases with factor 3 for a factor 10 increase in speed.


title: Ball bearing

text: For a bearing where average of outer diameter of bearing and diameter of axle hole is , and that is rotating at , recommended dynamic viscosity is .


title: Ball bearing

text: Note that dynamic viscosity of oil varies strongly with temperature: a temperature increase of causes the viscosity to decrease by factor 10.


title: Ball bearing

text: If the viscosity of lubricant is higher than recommended, lifespan of bearing increases, roughly proportional to square root of viscosity. If the viscosity of the lubricant is lower than recommended, the lifespan of the bearing decreases, and by how much depends on which type of oil being used. For oils with EP ('extreme pressure') additives, the lifespan is proportional to the square root of dynamic viscosity, just as it was for too high viscosity, while for ordinary oils lifespan is proportional to the square of the viscosity if a lower-than-recommended viscosity is used.


title: Ball bearing

text: Lubrication can be done with a grease, which has advantages that grease is normally held within the bearing releasing the lubricant oil as it is compressed by the balls. It provides a protective barrier for the bearing metal from the environment, but has disadvantages that this grease must be replaced periodically, and maximum load of bearing decreases (because if bearing gets too warm, grease melts and runs out of bearing). Time between grease replacements decreases very strongly with diameter of bearing: for a bearing, grease should be replaced every 5000 working hours, while for a bearing it should be replaced every 500 working hours.


title: Ball bearing

text: Lubrication can also be done with an oil, which has advantage of higher maximum load, but needs some way to keep oil in bearing, as it normally tends to run out of it. For oil lubrication it is recommended that for applications where oil does not become warmer than , oil should be replaced once a year, while for applications where oil does not become warmer than , oil should be replaced 4 times per year. For car engines, oil becomes but the engine has an oil filter to maintain oil quality; therefore, the oil is usually changed less frequently than the oil in bearings.


title: Ball bearing

text: If the bearing is used under oscillation, oil lubrication should be preferred. If grease lubrication is necessary, the composition should be adapted to the parameters that occur. Greases with a high bleeding rate and low base oil viscosity should be preferred if possible.


title: Ball bearing

text: Most bearings are meant for supporting loads perpendicular to axle ("radial loads"). Whether they can also bear axial loads, and if so, how much, depends on the type of bearing. Thrust bearings (commonly found on lazy susans) are specifically designed for axial loads.


title: Ball bearing

text: For single-row deep-groove ball bearings, SKF's documentation says that maximum axial load is circa 50% of maximum radial load, but it also says that "light" and/or "small" bearings can take axial loads that are 25% of maximum radial load.


title: Ball bearing

text: Often Conrad-style ball bearings will exhibit contact ellipse truncation under axial load. That means that either the ID of the outer ring is large enough, or the OD of the inner ring is small enough, so as to reduce the area of contact between the balls and raceway. When this is the case, it can significantly increase the stresses in the bearing, often invalidating general rules of thumb regarding relationships between radial and axial load capacity. With construction types other than Conrad, one can further decrease the outer ring ID and increase the inner ring OD to guard against this.


title: Ball bearing

text: If both axial and radial loads are present, they can be added vectorially, to result in the total load on bearing, which in combination with nominal maximum load can be used to predict lifespan. However, in order to correctly predict the rating life of ball bearings the ISO/TS 16281 should be used with the help of a calculation software.


title: Ball bearing

text: The part of a bearing that rotates (either axle hole or outer circumference) must be fixed, while for a part that does not rotate this is not necessary (so it can be allowed to slide). If a bearing is loaded axially, both sides must be fixed.


title: Ball bearing

text: If an axle has two bearings, and temperature varies, axle shrinks or expands, therefore it is not admissible for both bearings to be fixed on both their sides, since expansion of axle would exert axial forces that would destroy these bearings. Therefore, at least one of the bearings must be able to slide.


title: Ball bearing

text: A 'freely sliding fit' is one where there is at least a 4 µm clearance, presumably because surface-roughness of a surface made on a lathe is normally between 1.6 and 3.2 µm.


title: Ball bearing

text: Bearings can withstand their maximum load only if the mating parts are properly sized. Bearing manufacturers supply tolerances for the fit of the shaft and the housing so that this can be achieved. The material and hardness may also be specified.


title: Ball bearing

text: Fittings that are not allowed to slip are made to diameters that prevent slipping and consequently the mating surfaces cannot be brought into position without force. For small bearings this is best done with a press because tapping with a hammer damages both bearing and shaft, while for large bearings the necessary forces are so great that there is no alternative to heating one part before fitting, so that thermal expansion allows a temporary sliding fit.


title: Ball bearing

text: If a shaft is supported by two bearings, and the center-lines of rotation of these bearings are not the same, then large forces are exerted on the bearing, which may destroy it. Some very small amount of misalignment is acceptable, and how much depends on type of bearing. For bearings that are specifically made to be 'self-aligning', acceptable misalignment is between 1.5 and 3 degrees of arc. Bearings that are not designed to be self-aligning can accept misalignment of only 2–10 minutes of arc (0.033-0.166 degrees) .


title: Ball bearing

text: In general, ball bearings are used in most applications that involve moving parts. Some of these applications have specific features and requirements:


title: Ball bearing

text: The ball size increases as the series increases, for any given inner diameter or outer diameter (not both). The larger the ball the greater the load carrying capacity. Series 200 and 300 are the most common.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify for most of these benefits, most workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings; the claimant's benefits are based on the wage earner's contributions. Otherwise benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are given based on need.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The Social Security Administration was established by the Social Security Act of 1935 and is codified in (). It was created in 1935 as the "Social Security Board", then assumed its present name in 1946. Its current leader is Kilolo Kijakazi, who serves on an acting basis.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA offers its services to the public through 1,200 field offices, a website, and a national toll-free number. Field offices, which served 43 million individuals in 2019, were reopened on April 7, 2022 after being closed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just to the west of Baltimore, at what is known as Central Office. In addition to its 1,200 field offices, the agency includes 10 regional offices, 8 processing centers, and 37 Teleservice Centers. , about 60,000 people were employed by SSA. Headquarters non-supervisory employees of SSA are represented by American Federation of Government Employees Local 1923.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA operates the largest government program in the United States. In fiscal year (FY) 2022, the agency expects to pay out $1.2 trillion in Social Security benefits to 66 million individuals. In addition, SSA expects to pay $61 billion in SSI benefits to 7.5 million low-income individuals in FY 2022.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The Social Security Act created a Social Security Board (SSB), to oversee the administration of the new program. It was created as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal with the signing of the Social Security Act of 1935 on August 14, 1935. The Board consisted of three presidentially appointed executives, and started with no budget, no staff, and no furniture. It obtained a temporary budget from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration headed by Harry Hopkins. The first counsel for the new agency was Thomas Elliott, one of Felix Frankfurter's "happy hot dogs".


title: Social Security Administration

text: The first Social Security office opened in Austin, Texas, on October 14, 1936. Social Security taxes were first collected in January 1937, along with the first one-time, lump-sum payments. The first person to receive monthly retirement benefits was Ida May Fuller of Brattleboro, Vermont. Her first check, dated January 31, 1940, was in the amount of US$22.54.


title: Social Security Administration

text: In 1939, the Social Security Board merged into a cabinet-level Federal Security Agency, which included the SSB, the U.S. Public Health Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and other agencies. In January 1940, the first regular ongoing monthly benefits began.


title: Social Security Administration

text: In 1946, the SSB was renamed the Social Security Administration under President Harry S. Truman's Reorganization Plan.


title: Social Security Administration

text: In 1953, the Federal Security Agency was abolished and SSA was placed under the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which became the Department of Health and Human Services in 1980. In 1994, Congress amended non-positive law and returned SSA to the status of an independent agency in the executive branch of government. In 1972, Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) were introduced into SSA programs to deal with the effects of inflation on fixed incomes.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA was one of the first federal agencies to have its national headquarters outside of Washington, D.C., or its adjacent suburbs. It was located in Baltimore initially due to the need for a building that was capable of holding the unprecedented amount of paper records that would be needed. Nothing suitable was available in Washington in 1936, so the Social Security Board selected the Candler Building on Baltimore's harbor as a temporary location. Soon after locating there, construction began on a permanent building for SSA in Washington that would meet their requirements for record storage capacity. However, by the time the new building was completed, World War II had started, and the building was commandeered by the War Department. By the time the war ended, it was judged too disruptive to relocate the agency to Washington. The Agency remained in the Candler Building until 1960, when it relocated to its newly built headquarters in Woodlawn.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The road on which the headquarters is located, built especially for SSA, is named Security Boulevard (Maryland Route 122) and has since become one of the major arteries connecting Baltimore with its western suburbs. Security Boulevard is also the name of SSA's exit from the nearby Baltimore Beltway (Interstate 695). A nearby shopping center has been named Security Square Mall, and Woodlawn is often referred to informally as "Security." Interstate 70, which runs for thousands of miles from Utah to Maryland, terminates in a park and ride lot that adjoins the SSA campus.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Due to space constraints and ongoing renovations, many headquarters employees work in leased space throughout the Woodlawn area. Other SSA components are located elsewhere. For example, the headquarters (also known as Central Office) of SSA's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review is located in Falls Church, Virginia.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA has a network of more than 1,200 community-based field offices. In fiscal year 2019, 43 million individuals visited these field offices to apply for benefits, get an original or replacement Social Security card, or receive other services. Field offices reopened in April 2022, after being closed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA provides a field office locator service, where members of the public can find office phone numbers and addresses.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA also provides services through a national toll-free number (1-800-772-1213) and a website. Retirement and disability benefits can be applied for online. For survivor benefits, however, members of the public must call or visit SSA in person to apply. In most states, individuals seeking a replacement Social Security card can apply for one online.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Members of the public can also apply for Supplemental Security Income at SSA's field offices. Field office staff will also assist SSI applicants with an application for food assistance through the SNAP program.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Much of the actual processing of initial benefits and subsequent adjustments to benefits is done in six large Program Service Centers located around the country.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The two main positions in Program Service Centers have long been Claims Authorizers and Benefits Authorizers. Claims Authorizers, now sometimes called claims specialists, establish initial benefits for program recipients. Benefits Authorizers process complicated changes of entitlements to existing beneficiaries, including life events, overpayments, underpayments, and so forth. The claims position is the higher-ranking of the two and initially required a college degree whereas the post-entitlement position did not. For decades, post-entitlement actions have been processed through a system known as Manual Adjustment, Credit and Award Processes (MADCAP).


title: Social Security Administration

text: The origins of the payment centers date back to 1942, when they were known as Area Offices. The first one was established in Philadelphia, with ones in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and New Orleans, Louisiana, soon following.


title: Social Security Administration

text: In addition, there are specialized processing centers for the Office of Earnings and International Operations and the Office of Disability Operations, both located in Baltimore.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Before the mid-1970s, the Program Service Centers were called Payment Centers. By the late 1960s, the Payment Centers had acquired a reputation as sources of poor bureaucratic performance that people did not want to work in, and a reorganization under a modules system was undertaken during the 1970s in an effort to improve matters. Each module would be assigned a certain block of social security numbers and it would process all aspects of a claim, from initial entitlement through various changes, notifications to beneficiaries, and so forth. Decades later, the modules system was still seen as one of the great improvements in SSA processing.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The centers have each employed around two thousand people or more, giving them a major local economic impact, and even relocations within the same metropolitan area have created political conflict.


title: Social Security Administration

text: When in the early 1970s, SSA and the General Services Administration said it intended to move payment center operations out of San Francisco and across the East Bay to Richmond, the move was opposed by San Francisco-representing Congressman Phillip Burton.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Burton's efforts were in vain, however, as construction in a redevelopment area in Richmond commenced and the move was made around 1975.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Similarly, in the late 1970s, SSA, the General Services Administration, and the Carter administration devised a plan to move the program service center from its main location, in two leased buildings on Horace Harding Expressway in Lefrak City in Rego Park, to a new federal building planned for a revitalization zone in the center of the Jamaica area of Queens. The move was championed by Congressman Joseph P. Addabbo, who represented Jamaica and whose district would gain the over 2,000 federal workers involved, but was opposed by Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal, whose district would lose them. According to Rosenthal, the potential negative impact of the move affected the Elmhurst and Corona neighborhoods most strongly.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The move was also supported by Representative Geraldine Ferraro, another powerful Queens figure, who sat on the House Public Works Committee.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The dispute was aired in Congressional hearings and embroiled Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and developer Richard Lefrak, supporting and opposing the move respectively, as well.


title: Social Security Administration

text: In the event, the move went forward and the new, 11-story building in Jamaica – by then named the Joseph P. Addabbo Federal Building, as the congressman had died in the interim – opened in 1988.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Initially, only 56 percent of the jobs in the United States were covered by Social Security. Today, the system is nearly universal, with 94 percent of individuals in paid employment in the United States working in covered employment.


title: Social Security Administration

text: State and local government workers are not required to participate in the Social Security program if they participate in a public retirement system through their employers. However, state and local governments, through agreements known as Section 218 agreements, may elect to participate in the program. Of the 23.2 million state and local workers in the United States, about 6.6 million are not covered by Social Security. Other workers not covered by Social Security include federal employees hired before 1984, railroad workers, some family employees, some students, and some members of the clergy.


title: Social Security Administration

text: If a job is not covered by Social Security, workers and employers do not pay Social Security payroll taxes. Social Security retirement and disability benefits are not payable unless individuals have sufficient work in Social Security covered employment. Individuals who work part of their careers in covered employment and part of their careers in non-covered employment and who receive pensions from non-covered employment may have their Social Security benefits reduced through the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or the Government Pension Offset (GPO).


title: Social Security Administration

text: Railroad workers were covered by the Railroad Retirement Board before Social Security was founded. Today, they still are, though a portion of each railroad pension is designated as "equivalent" to Social Security. Railroad workers also participate in Medicare. All state and local government employees hired since 1986, or whom are covered by Section 218 Agreements, participate in Medicare even if not covered for purposes of Social Security benefits.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA administers the retirement, survivors, and disabled social insurance programs, which can provide monthly benefits to aged or disabled workers, their spouses and children, and to the survivors of insured workers. In 2010, more than 54 million Americans received approximately $712 billion in Social Security benefits. The programs are primarily financed by taxes which employers, employees, and the self-insured pay annually. These revenues are placed into a special trust fund. These programs are collectively known as Retirement, Survivors, Disability Insurance (RSDI).


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA administers its disability program partly through its Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), which has regional offices and hearing offices across the United States. ODAR publishes a manual, called HALLEX, which contains instructions for its employees regarding how to implement its guiding principles and procedures.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The RSDI program is the primary benefits program administered by the U.S. federal government, and for some beneficiaries is the vital source of income. Increasing access to this benefit program for low-income or homeless individuals is one of SSA's goals. SSA is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and works with other municipal, county, state, local and federal partners to increase access and approval for SSI/SSDI benefits who are eligible.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA also administers the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which is needs-based, for the aged, blind, or disabled. Prior to the 1972 Amendments to the Social Security Act, low-income aged, blind, or disabled persons received benefits from state-run programs called Old-Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled. These programs received federal funding, but varied in terms of eligibility requirements and benefit payments. The 1972 Amendments replaced these programs with the SSI program. SSA was assigned responsibility for the SSI program and began operations in 1974. Federal benefit payments up to $794 for an SSI individual and $1,191 for an SSI couple are available from the program. SSI benefits are paid out of the general revenue of the United States of America. Some states supplement the federal amount.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Because SSI is needs-based, eligibility is restricted to persons with limited income and resources. In addition, eligibility is generally restricted to U.S. citizens, nationals, and some other groups (such as some refugees) who reside in one of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands. U.S. citizens and nationals who reside in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not eligible for SSI. In 2019, 8 million individuals received SSI, including 1.1 million disabled children, 4.6 million disabled adults, and 2.3 million persons 65 or older.


title: Social Security Administration

text: In some cases, individuals may be eligible for Social Security (RSDI) benefits and SSI benefits. For example, a disabled individual who worked in Social Security-covered employment and who has limited income and resources may receive a Social Security disability benefit (due to employment prior to disability) and a partial SSI benefit (due to limited income and resources). SSA refers to these beneficiaries as "concurrent" beneficiaries.


title: Social Security Administration

text: The administration of the Medicare program is a responsibility of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but SSA offices are used for determining initial eligibility, some processing of premium payments, and for limited public contact information. They also administer a financial needs-based program called Extra Help, which helps beneficiaries pay the premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance associated with prescription drug coverage under Part D of Medicare. Benefits under this program are estimated to be worth about $5,000 per year. Individuals may apply online for the Extra Help program or by calling SSA.


title: Social Security Administration

text: To ensure consistent and efficient treatment of Social Security beneficiaries across its vast bureaucracy, SSA has compiled a giant book known as the Program Operations Manual System (POMS) which governs practically all aspects of SSA's internal operations. POMS describes, in excruciating detail, a huge variety of situations regularly encountered by SSA personnel, and the exact policies and procedures that apply to each situation.


title: Social Security Administration

text: While the establishment of Social Security predated the invention of the modern digital computer, punched card data processing was a mature technology, and the Social Security system made extensive use of automated unit record equipment from the program's inception. This allowed the Social Security Administration to achieve a high level of efficiency. SSA expenses have always been a small fraction of benefits paid. As a percentage of assets, the administration costs are 0.39%.


title: Social Security Administration

text: SSA operates its own administrative adjudication system, which has original jurisdiction when claims are denied in part or in full. SSA decisions are issued by Administrative Law Judges and Senior Attorney Adjudicators (supported by about 6,000 staff employees) at locations throughout the United States of the U.S. Office of Hearing Operations (OHO pronounced "oh,oh") formerly Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), who hear and decide challenges to SSA decisions. Dissatisfied claimants can appeal to ODAR's Appeals Council, and if still dissatisfied can appeal to a U.S. District Court.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Over the years, OHO aka ODAR has developed its own procedural system, which is documented in the Hearings and Appeals Litigation Law Manual (HALLEX)


title: Social Security Administration

text: (HALLEX). ODAR was formerly known as the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) and, prior to the 1970s, the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. The name was changed to ODAR in 2007 to reflect the fact that about 75% of the agency's docket consists of disability cases. OHO aka ODAR also adjudicates disputes relating to retirement claims and has jurisdiction when the paternity of a claimant or the validity of a marriage is at issue when a claim is filed for benefits under the earnings record of a spouse or parent. The agency also adjudicates a limited number of Medicare claim issues, which is a residual legacy from when SSA was part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Bloomberg reported that SSA made a $32.3 billion mistake when reporting 2009 U.S. wage statistics. The error when corrected, further reduces the average 2009 U.S. wage to $39,055. In 2009 the average U.S. wage was reported as $39,269.


title: Social Security Administration

text: Each year, just before Mother's Day, SSA releases a list of the names most commonly given to newborn babies in the United States in the previous year, based on applications for Social Security cards. The report includes the 1,000 most common names for both genders. The Popular Baby Names page on the SSA website provides the complete list and allows searches for past years and particular names. For privacy reasons, SSA does not publish data for names with fewer than five occurrences in any given year.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Bible contains many references to slavery, which was a common practice in antiquity. Biblical texts outline sources and the legal status of slaves, economic roles of slavery, types of slavery, and debt slavery, which thoroughly explain the institution of slavery in Israel in antiquity. The Bible stipulates the treatment of slaves, especially in the Old Testament. There are also references to slavery in the New Testament.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Many of the patriarchs portrayed in the Bible were from the upper echelons of society, owned slaves, enslaved those in debt to them, bought their fellow citizens' daughters as concubines, and consistently enslaved foreign men to work on their fields. Masters were men, and it is not evident that women were able to own slaves until the Elephantine papyri in the 400s BC. Other than these instances, it is unclear whether or not state-instituted slavery was an accepted practice.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: It was necessary for those who owned slaves, especially in large numbers, to be wealthy because the masters had to pay taxes for Jewish and non-Jewish slaves because they were considered part of the family unit. Slaves were seen as an important part of the family's reputation, especially in Hellenistic and Roman times, and slave companions for a woman were seen as a manifestation and protection of a woman's honor. As time progressed, domestic slavery became more prominent, and domestic slaves, usually working as an assistant to the wife of the patriarch, allowed larger houses to run more smoothly and efficiently.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: In the 19th century United States, abolitionists and defenders of slavery debated the Bible's message on the topic. Abolitionists used texts from both the Old and New Testaments to argue for the manumission of slaves, and against kidnapping or "stealing men" to own or sell them as slaves.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Slaves had a variety of different purposes. To determine the function, many scholars look at repetitive descriptions in texts that were written around the same time and reports of other cultures from the well-documented Greco-Roman culture. One of the main functions of slaves was as status symbols for the upper members of society, especially when it came to dowries for their daughters. These slaves could be sold or given away as needed, but also showed that the family was capable of providing generous amounts for their daughters to be married off. They also catered to the needs of the temple and had more domestic abilities such as keeping up the household and raising farm animals and small amounts of crops. Masters often took advantage of their slaves being at their beck and call by requiring them to perform duties in public that the master had the ability to do himself. This showed a level of luxury which extended beyond the private sphere into the public. In addition to showing luxury, possession of slaves was necessary for a good family background, and many wealthy men viewed their colleagues who possessed only few slaves as the type of individual who needed to be pitied.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Israelites did not generally get involved in distant or large-scale wars, and apparently capture was not a significant source of slaves.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The taking of female captives is encouraged by Moses in Numbers 31. After being instructed by Yahweh to take vengeance upon the Midianites, Moses tells the Israelites to kill the male children and nonvirgin females but take the young virgins for themselves. Kent Brown at Whitworth University claims that since the army did not receive a direct instruction by Yahweh to take the virgin girls captive, this cannot be justified as the obeying of a divine order; rather the Israelites enslaved the virgin women of their own initiative.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: In the Deuteronomic Code, enemy nations that surrendered to the Israelites were to serve as tributaries. However, if they decided to war against Israel, all the men were to be killed and all the women and children were to be considered spoils of war.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: If the soldier desired to marry a captured foreigner he was to take her home to his house, shave her head, pare her nails, and discard her captive's garb. She would remain in his house a full month, mourning for her father and mother, after that he could go in to her and be her husband, and she be his wife. If he later wished to end the relationship, he could not sell her into slavery.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Harold C. Washington of the Saint Paul School of Theology cites Deuteronomy 21:10-14 as an example of how the Bible condones sexual violence committed by Israelites; they were taking advantage of women who, as war captives, had no recourse or means of self defense.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: M.I. Rey at the Graduate Institute of Religious Studies at Boston University argues that the passage is an endorsement of not only sexual slavery but genocidal rape, as the capture of these women is justified on the grounds of their not being Hebrew. Rey further argues that these women were not viewed as equals to Hebrew women, but rather as war trophies, and thus their captors had no qualms in engaging in sexual violence. However, the biblical command never specifies that the war in question is against non-Hebrews, but rather against generic "enemies", a term used in reference to Israelites as well as foreigners, and several wars between Israelite armies are recorded in the Bible.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: According to many Jewish commentators, the laws of the captive woman are not intended to encourage capture and forced marriage of women, but rather view it as inevitable in wartime and seek to minimize its occurrence and brutality. By this view, the laws of Deuteronomy 21:12-13 (that the captive woman must shave her head, spend a month in mourning, etc. before marriage) are intended "to remove [the captor's] desire for her, so that he not take her as wife".


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Deuteronomic Code forbids the Israelites from handing over fugitive slaves to their masters or oppressing them, and instructs that these fugitives should be allowed to reside where they wish. Although a literal reading would indicate that this applies to slaves of all nationalities and locations, the Mishnah and many commentators consider the rule to have the much narrower application, to just those slaves who flee from outside Israelite territory into it.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: It was also possible to be born into slavery. If a male Israelite slave had been given a wife by his owner, then the wife and any children which had resulted from the union would remain the property of his owner, according to the Covenant Code. Although no nationality is specified, 18th-century theologians John Gill (1697–1771) and Adam Clarke suggested this referred only to Canaanite concubines.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Like the rest of the Ancient Near East, the legal systems of the Israelites divided slaves into different categories: "In determining who should benefit from their intervention, the legal systems drew two important distinctions: between debt and chattel slaves, and between native and foreign slaves. The authorities intervened first and foremost to protect the former category of each--citizens who had fallen on hard times and had been forced into slavery by debt or famine."


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Poverty, and more generally a lack of economic security, compelled some people to enter debt bondage. In the Ancient Near East, wives and (non-adult) children were dependents of the head of household and were sometimes sold into slavery by the husband or father for financial reasons. Evidence of this viewpoint is found in the Code of Hammurabi, which permits debtors to sell their wives and children into temporary slavery, lasting a maximum of three years. The book of Leviticus also exhibits this, allowing foreign residents to sell their own children and families to Israelites, although no limitation is placed on the duration of such slavery. Biblical authors repeatedly criticize debt slavery, which could be attributed to high taxation, monopoly of resources, high-interest loans, and collapse of higher kinship groups.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Debt slaves were one of the two categories of slaves in ancient Jewish society. As the name implies, these individuals sold themselves into slavery in order to pay off debts they may have accrued. These individuals were not permanently in this situation and were usually released after six to seven years. Chattel slaves, on the other hand, were less common and were usually prisoners of war who retained no individual right of redemption. These chattel slaves engaged in full-time menial labor, often in a domestic capacity.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The earlier Covenant Code instructs that, if a thief is caught after sunrise and is unable to make restitution for the theft, then the thief should be enslaved.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: There were two words used for female slaves, which were "amah" (אָמָה) and "shifhah" (שִׁפְחָה). Based upon the uses in different texts, the words appear to have the same connotations and are used synonymously, namely that of being a sexual object, though the words themselves appear to be from different ethnic origins. Men assigned their female slaves the same level of dependence as they would a wife. Close levels of relationships could occur given the amount of dependence placed upon these women. These slaves had two specific roles: a sexual use and companionship. Their reproductive capacities were valued within their roles within the family. Marriage with these slaves was not unheard of or prohibited. In fact, it was a man's concubine that was seen as the "other" and shunned from the family structure. These female slaves were treated more like women than slaves which may have resulted, according to some scholars, due to their sexual role, which was particularly to "breed" more slaves.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Sexual slavery, or being sold to be a wife was common in the ancient world. Throughout the Old Testament, the taking of multiple wives is recorded many times. An Israelite father could sell his unmarried daughters into servitude, with the expectation or understanding that the master or his son could eventually marry her (as in Exodus 21:7-11.) It is understood by Jewish and Christian commentators that this referred to the sale of a daughter, who "is not arrived to the age of twelve years and a day, and this through poverty."


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The code also instructs that the woman was to be allowed to be redeemed if the man broke his betrothal to her. If a female slave was betrothed to the master's son, then she had to be treated as a normal daughter. If he took another wife, then he was required to continue supplying the same amounts of food, clothing, and conjugal rights to her. The code states that failure to comply with these regulations would automatically grant free manumission to the enslaved woman, while all Israelite slaves were to be treated as hired servants.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The betrothal clause seems to have provided an exception to the law of release in (cf. ), in which both male and female Israelite servants were to be given release in the seventh year.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The penalty if an Israelite engaged in sexual activity with an unredeemed female slave who was betrothed was that of scourging, with Jewish tradition seeing this as only referring to the slave, (versus , where both parties were stoned, being free persons), as well as the man confessing his guilt and the priest making atonement for his sin.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: As for Israelite slaves, the Covenant Code allows them to voluntarily renounce their seventh-year manumission and become permanent slaves (literally being slaves "forever"). The Law require that the slaves confirmed this desire "before God", a phrase which has been understood to mean at either a religious sanctuary, before judges, or in the presence of household gods. Having done this, slaves were then to have an awl driven through their ear into a doorpost by their master. This ritual was common throughout the Ancient Near East, being practiced by Mesopotamians, Lydians, and Arabs; in the Semitic world, the ear symbolised obedience (much as the heart symbolises emotion, in the modern western world), and a pierced earlobe signified servitude.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Holiness code of Leviticus explicitly allows participation in the slave trade, with non-Israelite residents who had been sold into slavery being regarded as a type of property that could be inherited.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Ten Commandments make clear that honouring the Shabbat was expected of slaves, not just their masters. The later book of Deuteronomy, having repeated the Shabbat requirement, also instructs that slaves should be allowed to celebrate the Sukkot festival.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Leviticus instructs that during the Sabbatical Year, slaves and their masters should eat food which the land yields, without being farmed. This commandment not to work the land is directed at the landowner and does not mention slaves, but other verses imply that no produce is sown by anyone in this year, and command that the land must "lie fallow". It is not mentioned whether slaves receive rest from non-agricultural work during this year.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Unlike the other books, Leviticus does not mention the freeing of Israelite slaves after six years, instead simply giving the vague instruction that Israelite slaves should not to be compelled to work "with rigour"; Maimonides argues that this was to be interpreted as forbidding open-ended work (such as "keep doing that until I come back"), and that disciplinary action was not to include instructing the slave to perform otherwise pointless work.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: A special case is that of the debtor who sells himself as a slave to his creditor; Leviticus instructs that in this situation, the debtor must not be made to do the work of slaves, but must instead be treated the same as a hired servant. In Jewish tradition, this was taken to mean that the debtor should not be instructed to do humiliating work - which only slaves would do - and that the debtor should be asked to perform the craft(s) which they usually did before they had been enslaved, if it is realistic to do so.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The earlier Covenant Code provides a potentially more valuable and direct form of relief, namely a degree of protection for the slave's person (their body and its health) itself. This codification extends the basic lex talionis ("...eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth..."), to compel that when slaves are significantly injured by their masters, manumission is to be the compensation given; the canonical examples mentioned are the knocking out of an eye or a tooth. This resembles the earlier Code of Hammurabi, which instructs that when an injury is done to a social inferior, monetary compensation should be made, instead of carrying out the basic lex talionis; Josephus indicates that by his time it was acceptable for a fine to be paid to the slave, instead of manumitting them, if the slave agreed. Nachmanides argued that it was a biblically commanded duty to liberate a slave who had been harmed in this way.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Hittite laws and the Code of Hammurabi both insist that if a slave is harmed by a third party, the third party must financially compensate the owner. In the Covenant Code, if an ox gores a slave, the ox owner must pay the servant's master a 30 shekel fine.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The murder of slaves by owners was prohibited in the Law covenant. The Covenant Code clearly institutes the death penalty for beating a free man to death; in contrast, beating a slave to death was to be "avenged" only if the slave does not survive for "one or two days" after the beating. Abraham ben Nathan of Lunel, a 12th-century Provençal scholar, Targum, and Maimonides argue that "avenged" implies the death penalty, but more recent scholars view it as probably describing a lesser punishment. A number of modern Protestant Bible versions (such as the New Living Translation, New International Version and New Century Version) translate the survival for "one or two days" as referring to a full and speedy recovery, rather than to a lingering death, as favoured by other recent versions (such as the New Revised Standard Version, and New American Bible).


title: The Bible and slavery

text: In a parallel with the "shmita" system the Covenant Code prescribes automatic manumission of male Israelite slaves after they have worked for six years; this excludes non-Israelite slaves, and specifically excludes Israelite daughters, who were sold into slavery by their fathers, from such automatic seventh-year manumission. Such were bought to be betrothed to the owner, or his son, and if that had not been done, they were to be allowed to be redeemed. If the marriage took place, they were to be set free if her husband was negligent in his basic marital obligations. The later Deuteronomic Code is seen by some to contradict elements of this instruction, in extending automatic seventh year manumission to both sexes.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Deuteronomic Code also extends the seventh-year manumission rule by instructing that Israelite slaves freed in this way should be given livestock, grain, and wine, as a parting gift; the literal meaning of the verb used, at this point in the text, for "giving" this gift seems to be "hang round the neck".The Gift is described in The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia as representing a gift of produce rather than of money or clothing; many Jewish scholars estimated that the value of the three listed products was about 30 shekels, so the gift gradually came to be standardised as produce worth this fixed value. The Bible states that one should not regret freeing the Slave, for slaves were worth Twice the Hired hand to The Master; Nachmanides enumerates this as a command rather than merely as a piece of advice.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: According to , Jeremiah also demanded that King Zedekiah manumit (free) all Israelite slaves (). Leviticus does not mention seventh-year manumission; instead it only instructs that debt-slaves, and Israelite slaves owned by foreign residents, should be freed during the national Jubilee (occurring either every 49 or every 50 years, depending on interpretation).


title: The Bible and slavery

text: While many commentators see the Holiness Code regulations as supplementing the prior legislation mandating manumission in the seventh year, the otherwise potentially long wait until the Jubilee was somewhat alleviated by the Holiness Code, with the instruction that slaves should be allowed to buy their freedom by paying an amount equal to the total wages of a hired servant over the entire period remaining until the next Jubilee (this could be up to 49 years-worth of wages). Blood relatives of the slave were also allowed to buy the slave's freedom, and this became regarded as a duty to be carried out by the next of kin (Hebrew: "Go'el").


title: The Bible and slavery

text: In the Old Testament, the differences between male and female enslavement were vast. Deuteronomic code applied mostly to men, while women were able to be subjected to a much different type of slavery. This change in status would require a female debt slave to become a permanent fixture of the household by way of marrying the father or the father's son. Deuteronomy 21:9 states that the female slave must be treated as a daughter if such permanent status is to be established.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the slavery of Israelites was abolished by the prophets after the destruction of the Temple of Solomon. The prophet Nehemiah rebuked the wealthy Israelites of his day for continuing to own Israelite slaves.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Slavery is mentioned numerous times in the New Testament. The word "servant" is sometimes substituted for the word "slave" in English translations of the Bible.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Bible says that Jesus healed the ill slave of a centurion and restored the cut off ear of the high priest's slave. In his parables, Jesus referenced slavery: the prodigal son, ten gold coins, unforgiving tenant, and tenant farmers. Jesus' teaching on slavery: spiritual slavery, a slave having two masters (God and mammon), slavery to God, acting as a slave toward others, and the greatest among his disciples being the least of them. Jesus also taught that he would give burdened and weary laborers rest. The Passion narratives are interpreted by the Catholic Church as a fulfillment of the Suffering Servant songs in Isaiah.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Jesus' view of slavery compares the relationship between God and humankind to that of a master and his slaves. Three instances where Jesus communicates this view include:


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Matthew 18:21-35: Jesus' Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, wherein Jesus compares the relationship between God and humankind to that of a master and his slaves. Jesus offers the story of a master selling a slave along with his wife and children.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Matthew 20:20-28: A series of remarks wherein Jesus recognizes it is necessary to be a slave to be "first" among the deceased entering heaven.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: Matthew 24:36-51: Jesus' Parable of the Faithful Servant, wherein Jesus again compares the relationship between God and humankind to that of a master and his slaves.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: In Paul's letters to the Ephesians, Paul motivates early Christian slaves to remain loyal and obedient to their masters like they are to Christ. Ephesians 6:5-8 Paul states, “Slaves, be obedient to your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ” which is Paul instructing slaves to obey their master. Similar statements regarding obedient slaves can be found in Colossians 3:22-24, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, and Titus 2:9-10. In Col 4:1 Paul advises members of the church, who are slave masters, to "treat your slaves justly and fairly, realizing that you too have a Master in heaven.” Adding to Paul's advice to masters and slaves, he uses slavery as a metaphor. In Romans 1:1 Paul calls himself “a slave of Christ Jesus” and later in Romans 6:18 Paul writes “You have been set free from sin and become slaves to righteousness.” Also in Galatians, Paul writes on the nature of slavery within the kingdom of God. Galatians 3:28 states: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We find similar patterns of speech and understanding about slavery in Peter's epistles. In 1 Peter 2:18, Saint Peter writes “Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse.” In 1 Timothy 1:10, Paul condemns enslavers with the sexually immoral, abusers of themselves with mankind, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The Epistle to Philemon has become an important text in regard to slavery; it was used by pro-slavery advocates as well as by abolitionists. In the epistle, Saint Paul writes to Saint Philemon that he is returning Saint Onesimus, a fugitive slave, back to him; however, Paul also entreats Philemon to regard Onesimus, who he says he views as a son, not as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ. Philemon is requested to treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul. According to Catholic tradition, Philemon freed Onesimus.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: The prospect of manumission is an idea prevalent within the New Testament. In contrast to the Old Testament, the New Testament's criteria for manumission encompasses Roman laws on slavery as opposed to the "shmita" system. Manumission within the Roman system largely depends on the mode of enslavement: slaves were often foreigners, prisoners of war, or those heavily indebted. For foreign-born individuals, manumission was increasingly amorphous; however, if subject to debt slavery, manumission was much more concrete: freedom was granted once the debt was paid. Children were often offered to creditors as a form of payment and their manumission was determined "ab initio"(at the outset) with the "pater"(family head). This "manicipia"(enslavement) of children by the "pater" did not exclude the selling of children into sexual slavery. If sold into sex slavery, the prospect of complete manumission became much less likely under the stipulations of Roman Law. being sold into sexual slavery meant greater chance of perpetual servitude, by way of explicit enslavement or forced marriage.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: One of the first discussions of manumission in the New Testament can be seen in Paul's interaction with Philemon's slave Onesimus. Onesimus was held captive with Paul, as he was a fugitive, run-away slave. Paul proceeds to baptize the slave Onesimus, and then writes to his owner, Philemon, telling him that he will pay whatever fee Onesimus owes for his fugitive status. Paul does not explicitly ask Philemon for Onesimus's manumission; however, the offer a "fee" for Onesimus's escape has been discussed as a possible latent form of manumission. Paul's treatment of Onesimus additionally brings into question of Roman slavery as a "closed" or "open" slave system. Open slave systems allow for incorporation of freed slaves into society after manumission, while closed systems manumitted slaves still lack social agency or social integration. Roman slavery exhibited characteristics of both, open and closed, systems which further complicates the letter from Paul to Philemon regarding the slave Onesimus.


title: The Bible and slavery

text: In the time of the New Testament, there were three modes in which a slave could be manumitted by his or her master: a will could include a formal permission of manumission, a slave could be declared free during a census, or a slave and master could go before a provincial official. These modes of manumission lend evidence to suggest that manumission was an everyday occurrence, and thus complicates New Testament texts encouraging manumission. In 1 Corinthians 7:21, Paul encourages enslaved peoples to pursue manumission; however, this manumission could be connoted in the boundaries of a closed slave system in which manumission does not equate to complete freedom. Modes of manumission, in the New Testament, are once again disputed in a letter from Paul to Galatians in which Paul writes "For freedom Christ has set us free".


title: The Bible and slavery

text: An argument made repeatedly is that the slavery mentioned in the Bible is quite different from chattel slavery practiced in the American South, and that in some cases the word "slave" is a mistranslation. For example, Hebrew slaves in Biblical and Talmudic times had many rights that slaves in the American South did not have, including the requirement that slaves are freed after seven years of servitude. (Israel's foreign slaves, by contrast, were enslaved for life.)


title: Rie Kugimiya

text: She was nominated for Best Actress in Leading Role in the first Seiyu Awards for the role of Louise in "The Familiar of Zero" and for Best Actress in Supporting Role for the role of Kagura in "Gintama", and jointly won Best Actress in a Supporting Role with Mitsuki Saiga at the second Seiyu Awards. Kugimiya won Best Actress in the third Seiyu Awards for the roles as Taiga Aisaka in "Toradora!" and her work in "Nabari no Ou".


title: Rie Kugimiya

text: In 1997, she earned her reputation from the company I'm Enterprise & We Flying Award at the first summer school of voice actors sponsored by Japan Narration Institute. Later, she became a member of I'm Enterprise.


title: Rie Kugimiya

text: In 1998, she debuted as a voice actress in the video game "etude prologue -Shaking heart-" as Tadami Saeki.


title: Rie Kugimiya

text: From the beginning of her debut, she plays the role of a teenage girl mainly from her childhood, using her voice quality. Later, she was appointed as a juvenile character, such as Taiki in "Twelve Kingdoms" and Alphonse Elric in "Fullmetal Alchemist" series, and began to take charge of various characters.


title: Rie Kugimiya

text: Kugimiya has also voiced several tsundere heroines, including Louise in "The Familiar of Zero" series, and Nagi Sanzenin in "Hayate the Combat Butler".


title: Rie Kugimiya

text: In 2008, she won for the Best Actresses in supporting roles at the 2nd Seiyu Awards. She won for the Best Actress in leading role at the 3rd Seiyu Awards. Within the Tamagotchi fandom she is known for her role in the Tamagotchi movies and anime as Mametchi. She has also contributed her voice to various merchandise such as "Mugen Puchipuchi Moe", a virtual keychain bubble-wrap popping game.


title: Vivid Entertainment

text: Vivid Entertainment Group is an American pornographic film production company, featuring internet content.


title: Vivid Entertainment

text: Vivid Entertainment is privately owned by Americans Steven Hirsch and Bill Asher, and Welshman David James.


title: Vivid Entertainment

text: In 2006, Vivid Entertainment was described by Reuters as one of the handful of studios that dominate the U.S. porn industry. It is based in Los Angeles, California. Founder Steven Hirsch is Co-Chairman, along with Bill Asher, who is also a Co-owner.


title: Vivid Entertainment

text: In February 2006, Vivid changed its condom-only policy to a condom-optional policy that lets performers decide whether or not to use them. In October 2010, Vivid stopped production as a precaution when an actor tested positive for HIV. An October 2012 open letter, from Steven Hirsch, took aim at a Los Angeles County plan that would require performers to wear condoms on set. Hirsch said the proposal would be costly and ineffective and was an example of unnecessary government intrusion into private bedrooms.


title: Vivid Entertainment

text: The following is a list of notable Vivid actresses (known as "Vivid Girls") during the first thirty years of Vivid. The most recent Vivid Girl, Allie Haze, terminated her contract with Vivid in 2012.


title: Vivid Entertainment

text: On December 6, 2007, Vivid Entertainment filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against PornoTube. The lawsuit alleged that the YouTube-like site profits from the illegal posting of Vivid's copyrighted films, and failed to comply with the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act, a federal age-verification and record-keeping law that applies to the adult film industry. The case was settled out of court.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: Evolution is a 2001 American comic science fiction film directed by Ivan Reitman. It stars David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore, and Ted Levine. It was released by DreamWorks Pictures in the United States and by Columbia Pictures internationally. The plot of the film follows college professor Ira Kane (Duchovny) and geologist Harry Block (Jones), who investigate a large meteor crash in Arizona. They discover that the meteor harbors extra-terrestrial lifeforms, which are evolving very quickly into large, diverse and outlandish creatures.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: "Evolution" was based on a story by Don Jakoby, who originally wrote it as a serious science fiction horror thriller film, until director Reitman hired David Diamond and David Weissman to re-write much of the script into a comedy which Don liked. Shooting took place from October 19, 2000 to February 7, 2001 in California and Page, Arizona, with an $80 million budget, and the film was released in the United States on June 8, 2001. The film grossed $98.4 million internationally. A short-lived animated series, "", loosely based on the film, was broadcast months after the film was released.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: A large meteor crashes in the barren Arizona desert late at night, which aspiring firefighter Wayne Grey witnesses. The next day, science professors Ira Kane and Harry Block from nearby Glen Canyon Community College investigate the crash site, discovering the meteor has landed in a large cave and 'bleeds' a strange blue liquid when scraped. They quickly learn that the meteor harbors extra-terrestrial nitrogen-based microorganisms that condense millions of years of evolution within a matter of hours: the next day, the microscopic organisms have evolved into asexual fungi and flatworms that cannot yet breathe oxygen, and aquatic life the day after that.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: After the U.S. Army soon seals off the site, Ira and Harry ask Brigadier General Russell Woodman, Ira's former boss, and the clumsy Dr. Allison Reed, senior researcher in epidemiology at the CDC, to aid in their research, but their efforts fail when two weeks later, Ira goes to court to be allowed to be part of the federal investigation. When Allison questions him as a witness, he reveals that he was discharged from the army in the summer of 1997 after an experiment in May of that year, in which he developed an anthrax vaccine and administered it to nearly 140,000 soldiers. This resulted in terrible consequences, which led to his dismissal from his position as a top-level researcher at USAMRIID. Upon returning to the lab, Ira and Harry discover that Woodman has stolen their research, forcing them to infiltrate the base in disguise to get another meteor sample. They discover that the caverns now harbor an alien rainforest teeming with tropical plant and animal life, including flying insects and carnivorous plant-life. That night, a large reptilian creature fatally mauls the owner of a local country club where Wayne works, and the next day a dog-sized frog-like animal attacks two elderly ladies in their home. Ira, Harry and Wayne find a valley behind the home filled with suffocating dragon-like creatures, which they theorize cannot yet breathe oxygen and are escaping from the meteor site through the local caverns. However, a newly-born dragon quickly adapts to the earth's oxygen and terrorizes a shopping mall before the trio gun it down.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: With the media becoming increasingly aware of the alien attacks, Governor Lewis visits the site demanding answers, furious at not being informed earlier about the situation. Allison believes that the aliens will engulf the United States in two months, and Woodman suggests a napalm strike to destroy the meteor's contents and the surrounding town. Though Lewis opposes bombing the community, primate-like creatures suddenly attack the base and wound several members, persuading him to approve Woodman's napalm strike. Disgusted, Allison quits the CDC and joins Ira's crew. Ira later realizes that intense heat triggers the aliens' DNA and that the initial impact to Earth activated its evolution. Woodman ignores Allison's pleas and the town begins evacuating for the impending bombing strike. Looking at the positions of nitrogen and carbon on the periodic table on the back of Allison's T-shirt, Ira theorizes that selenium might be as toxic to the aliens as arsenic is to Earth's carbon life. Rather surprisingly, two of his dumbest students, Deke and Danny Donald, recall that selenium sulfide is the active ingredient in Head & Shoulders hair shampoo, which they decide to use against the alien organisms.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: Wayne procures a firetruck and fills it with the shampoo with help from Ira's college students. However, Woodman's napalm strike goes off ahead of schedule before the team can try their plan, triggering the entire alien ecosystem to fuse together into a single immense amoeba-like blob that stands hundreds of feet tall. The giant mass begins multiplying through mitosis, which it would do infinitely until the country was overtaken by thousands of these gigantic creatures. The team maneuvers their firetruck underneath the mass and discovers a rectal-like orifice to spray the shampoo up-into; moments before the creature splits into two, the team succeeds and the monster explodes. The governor declares Ira, Harry, Wayne and Allison heroes; Wayne is made a fully-credentialed firefighter, and Ira and Allison begin dating.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: Later, Harry, Ira and Wayne are shown promoting Head & Shoulders for both hair-care and fighting the aliens.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: "Evolution" was based on a story by Don Jakoby, who originally wrote his draft in 1998 as a serious science fiction horror thriller that was described as "humorless and violent" and ""The Thing" meets "The Andromeda Strain"", envisioning John Carpenter to helm his idea. Ivan Reitman loved the script but saw potential in the film being successful as a comedy, calling it a "modern-day successor to "Ghostbusters"" he had always planned to make. Reitman hired writers David Diamond and David Weissman to re-write much of the script and combine it with elements of another screenplay, a comedy written by Todd Phillips and Scot Armstrong about three friends who hunt aliens. Although Jakoby was initially upset about the script's change in tone and atmosphere, Diamond and Wiessman worked closely with him to ensure the final product was something he was happy with. The original script ended with the alien organisms evolving into an ultra-intelligent humanoid species that climaxed with a "battle of wits", but this ending was deemed not exciting enough and was replaced with the climax seen in the final film.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: Reitman produced the film "Beethoven" in which Duchovny had a small role, and had him in mind as a leading man who could do comedy. Seann William Scott was cast after starring in "Road Trip" which Reitman also produced. Duchovny wanted to move away from the character he was known for in the "X-Files" television series, and thought a comedy about aliens would help him transition to different roles.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: Shooting took place from October 19, 2000 to February 7, 2001 in Page, Arizona and around the greater Los Angeles, California, particularly in the Santa Clarita, California region. The scenes taking place at the fictional Glen Canyon Community college were filmed at Cal State Fullerton. The shopping mall scenes took place at the Hawthrone Plaza in Hawthorne, California. The first scene to be shot was the monster attack on two elderly ladies.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: Tippett Studio was put in charge of designing over 18 various aliens in the film, each different from the last. Sony Pictures Imageworks handled the animation for the alien flatworm CGI sequence with the leech alien from the pool and some additional VFX provided from Pacific Data Images.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: The film's music score was composed by John Powell, conducted by Gavin Greenaway, and performed by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra. A soundtrack album was released on June 12, 2001 and is available on Varèse Sarabande.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 44% based on 139 reviews and an average rating of 4.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads. "Director Reitman tries to remake "Ghostbusters", but his efforts are largely unsuccessful because the movie has too many comedic misfires". On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 40 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" the film 2.5 out of 4, and wrote: "It's not good, but it's nowhere near as bad as most recent comedies; it has real laughs, but it misses just as many real opportunities".


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" wrote: "The movie itself evolves in reverse, starting life as a moderately clever grab bag of high-concept noodling and half-witty badinage before descending into the primordial ooze of explosions and elaborate lower- intestinal gags".


title: Evolution (2001 film)

text: "Evolution" was made into an animated series called "Alienators: Evolution Continues", which ran on Fox Kids from 2001 to 2002.


title: Vz. 58

text: The vz. 58 (or Sa vz. 58) is a 7.62×39mm assault rifle designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia and accepted into service in the late 1950s as the 7,62 mm samopal vzor 58 ("7.62mm submachine gun model 58"), replacing the vz. 52 self-loading rifle and the 7.62×25mm Tokarev Sa 24 and Sa 26 submachine guns.


title: Vz. 58

text: While externally the vz. 58 resembles the Soviet AK-47, it is a different design based on a short-stroke gas piston. It shares no parts with Kalashnikov rifles, including the magazine.


title: Vz. 58

text: Development of the weapon began in 1956; leading the project was chief engineer Jiří Čermák assigned to the Konstrukta Brno facility in the city of Brno. The Soviet Union had begun insisting that the Warsaw Pact forces standardize on a common ammunition. As a result, the prototype, known as the "Koště" ("broom"), was designed to chamber the intermediate Soviet 7.62×39mm M43 cartridge, rather than the Czech 7.62×45mm vz. 52 round, used in both the earlier vz. 52 rifle and the vz. 52 light machine gun. The assault rifle entered service in 1958 and over a period of 25 years (until 1984), over 920,000 weapons had been produced, fielded by the armed forces of Czechoslovakia, Cuba and several Asian and African nations.


title: Vz. 58

text: The vz. 58 was produced in three main variants: the standard vz. 58 P ("Pěchotní" or "infantry") model with a fixed buttstock made of a synthetic material (plastic impregnated wood, older versions used a wooden stock), the vz. 58 V ("Výsadkový"—"airborne"), featuring a side-folding metal shoulder stock, folded to the right side, and the vz. 58 Pi ("Pěchotní s infračerveným zaměřovačem"—"infantry with infrared sight"), which is similar to the vz. 58 P but includes a receiver-mounted dovetail rail bracket (installed on the left side of the receiver) used to attach an NSP2 night sight; it also has a detachable folding bipod and an enlarged conical flash suppressor.


title: Vz. 58

text: A successor to the vz. 58 was proposed in the 1990s; the 5.56×45mm NATO ČZ 2000 assault rifle has been suggested as a possible replacement but due to a general lack of defense funds within the Czech Republic, the program was postponed. Another recent contender is the ČZW-556 assault rifle and ČZW-762 light machine gun which both use lever-delayed blowback which has more reliable accuracy and performance over the gas operation. In 2011, the Czech army started replacing vz. 58 with CZ-805 BREN. While vz. 58 still remains the main assault rifle of the Slovak army, the Slovak army has also been eyeing CZ-805 as a possible replacement to the aging vz. 58 rifles.


title: Vz. 58

text: The vz. 58 is a selective fire gas-operated weapon that bleeds expanding combustion gases generated in the barrel from the ignited cartridge through a port drilled in the barrel, from the chamber, opening into a hollow cylinder located above the barrel that contains a short-stroke piston. The vz. 58 does not have a gas regulator and the full force of the gas pressure is exerted on the piston head, propelling it backwards in a single impulsive blow. The piston is driven back only when a shoulder on the piston rod butts against the seating and no further movement is possible. There is a light return spring held between the piston shoulder and the seating which returns the piston to its forward position. The gas cylinder is vented after the piston has traveled back and the remaining gases are exhausted into the atmosphere on the underside of the cylinder via two ports. The entire piston rod is chromium-plated to prevent fouling.


title: Vz. 58

text: The locking system features a locking piece hinged from the bolt and housed in the bolt carrier that contains two locking lugs which descend into and engage locking shoulders in the receiver's internal guide rails. The weapon is unlocked by the short tappet-like stroke of the piston rod as it strikes the bolt carrier and drives it rearwards. After of unrestricted travel, a wedge-like surface on the bolt carrier moves under the hinged breech locking piece and lifts it up and out of engagement with the locking recesses in the steel body. The hinged breech locking piece swings up and this movement provides the leverage required for primary extraction. The breech block is then carried rearwards extracting the empty cartridge casing from the chamber. A fixed ejector passes through a groove cut in the underside of the bolt and the case is flung upwards clear of the gun.


title: Vz. 58

text: The spring-loaded extractor and firing pin are both housed inside the bolt, while the fixed ejector is slotted inside the receiver. The extractor retains the firing pin and is powered by its own plunger and spring.


title: Vz. 58

text: The weapon does not have a conventional rotating hammer but a linear hammer instead. The hammer is a steel cylinder hollowed from one end almost throughout its entire length to accommodate its own operating spring. At the open end of the cylinder, a plate is welded and a groove is cut in each side of this to slide on the receiver guide rails. This linear hammer enters the hollow bolt and drives a free-floating firing pin forward with each shot.


title: Vz. 58

text: The vz.58 uses a trigger mechanism with a lever-type fire mode selector, which is also a manual safety against accidental discharge. When the selector lever is placed in its rear position ("1"—single fire) the sear is disabled and the left hammer catch is rotated by the disconnector, which is depressed by the bolt carrier after every shot and is therefore disconnected from the hammer catch. The forward setting of the selector lever ("30"—automatic fire) disables the disconnector, and the left hammer catch meshes with the sear mechanism. The center ("safe") setting with the selector lever pointing vertically downwards, mechanically lowers the trigger bar and the disconnector so there is no connection between the trigger and the semi-automatic sear which holds the hammer. The rifle also has an internal safety, which prevents the weapon from discharging when out of battery. The right linear hammer catch disables it, and it can only be released by pulling the charging handle back and cocking the weapon.


title: Vz. 58

text: The weapon is fed from a detachable box magazine with a 30-round cartridge capacity and made from a lightweight aluminium alloy. When the last round from the magazine is fired, the bolt will remain locked open on the bolt catch, activated by the magazine's follower. The magazine release tab is located at the base of the receiver on the left side, behind the magazine well. The bolt carrier has a built-in guide rail used for reloading from 10-round stripper clips (from the SKS rifle). Despite their similarity, vz. 58 magazines are not interchangeable with those of the Kalashnikov-pattern weapons.


title: Vz. 58

text: An interesting feature on this rifle is the ability to quickly change the type of stock. The vz. 58 can appear either with its original fixed stock (in either beech wood or composite material) or folding steel stock, or with one of the many aftermarket stocks available – including AR-15 style stock adapters that mount a buffer tube to the receiver. The latter usually has the buffer tube slightly angled down as to compensate for the very low ironsights on the vz. 58. Switching between the various options requires merely removal of a bolt at the rear of the receiver and swapping in the stock of choice.


title: Vz. 58

text: The rifle's iron sights consist of a fully adjustable front post and a tangent rear sight with a sliding notch with range denominations from 100 to 800 m, graduated every 100 m. Besides this, the left side of the rear sight leaf is marked with the letter "U" ("univerzální" meaning "universal"), for snap shooting, firing at moving targets and night combat at ranges up to 300 m. The rifle's sight radius is . The front sight base also serves as a mounting platform for the vz. 58 edged bayonet.


title: Vz. 58

text: Several modernization accessories have been manufactured for the vz. 58 platform from different companies.


title: Vz. 58

text: Accessories include "tactical" bolt release, extended and/or ambidextrous magazine release paddles, ambidextrous fire mode selectors, custom handguard rails, several types of sight mounting options and various muzzle brakes and compensators. Both civilian and military users use these upgrades, and they also see frequent use with private military companies in the Middle East.


title: Vz. 58

text: Additional equipment supplied with the rifle includes: 4 spare magazines, a magazine pouch (in either canvas, leather, or leatherette), vz. 58 bayonet and scabbard, cleaning brush and rod, muzzle cap, oil bottle, unified sling, front sight adjustment tool, disassembly aid and a threaded blank-firing adaptor. The vz. 58 also has a proprietary bipod, flash hider and scope mount for NSP-2 night vision scope (vz.58 Pi variant). Grenade launching inserts, as well as under barrel grenade launchers were developed but never adopted.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: I'm with You is the tenth studio album by the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records on August 26, 2011, in Europe and on August 29, 2011, in the US. The album made its debut at number one in 18 countries including the United Kingdom, while reaching number two in the United States and Canada.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Produced by Rick Rubin, "I'm with You" was the band's first studio album since 2006's "Stadium Arcadium", and its first to feature guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, following the departure of John Frusciante in 2009.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: The album received mostly favorable reviews, with many praising newcomer Josh Klinghoffer for breathing new life into the veteran group. The album featured four singles, including alternative number-one hit, "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie," "Monarchy of Roses," "Look Around" and "Brendan's Death Song." "Did I Let You Know" was released exclusively in Brazil thanks to response from a poll voted on by the fans, though it was not considered a proper single. A "Rolling Stone" Reader's Poll named "I'm with You" the 8th best album of 2011 and the album was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: In August 2007, at the close of the band's world tour in support of "Stadium Arcadium" (2006), the Peppers began a one-year hiatus, which subsequently stretched to more than two years. Bassist Flea stated, "I talked everyone into it and some people were more prone to it than others. [...] I just felt like I wanted to take two years away just to really look and see if the band was something we should still be doing. Things had gotten dysfunctional and not fun." During this time, Flea studied music theory at the University of Southern California, drummer Chad Smith recorded and toured with hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot, while guitarist John Frusciante recorded and released his 10th solo album, "The Empyrean". According to vocalist Anthony Kiedis, there was a collective decision "not [to] do anything Red Hot Chili Peppers-related for a minimum of one year. [...] We started in 1999, with the writing and the recording of "Californication", and we didn't really stop until the tour ended last year. We were all emotionally and mentally zapped at the end of that run." During the band's self-imposed hiatus, Frusciante departed from the band for a second time, stating, "There was no drama or anger involved, and the other guys were very understanding. They are supportive of my doing whatever makes me happy and that goes both ways." Regarding Frusciante's departure, Flea stated, "he just didn't want to do [the Red Hot Chili Peppers] anymore. He really wanted to do what he wants to do, on his own, without having to deal with the band dynamic, "our" band dynamic." Kiedis notes that, "John had become disenchanted with being in a touring rock band, which is completely understandable. He's a driven person in the world of music and sound, and he wanted to change gears."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Following Frusciante's departure, Kiedis stated that both he and Flea "had this intuitive feeling. We're not really done. We wanted to maintain the Red Hot Chili Peppers if we could do it in a way that upheld historically what we had accomplished. [...] There were some interesting conversations about, do we try to find someone we don't know, or maybe there is somebody right in our own backyard who is the perfect solution?" Flea commented on the band's eventual return stating, "For me, the biggest thing during the time off, and what really made me want to continue doing the band, specifically after John decided he didn't want to continue, [was] I just realized, Anthony, man, he's my brother, I love him so much, and we started this band when we were kids. I wanted to keep that going, I never want to let that go."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Frusciante was subsequently replaced by friend and frequent collaborator Josh Klinghoffer, who had been performing alongside the band during the final legs of the "Stadium Arcadium" tour. Regarding Klinghoffer's entry into the band, Smith noted, "We've known him a long time. He's super-talented, smart, handsome. He fits in perfectly, which is a good thing," and later stated: "We couldn't have asked for a better person to play music with." Klinghoffer noted, "I've always been attracted to the idea of a tight-knit unit, a band of family, a brotherhood. Since my earliest memory, they always seemed like a band with a lot of love for each other."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Joining the band in late 2009, Klinghoffer began writing and jamming with the band on October 12; the same day that friend and autobiographer Brendan Mullen died. According to Flea, "it was a poignant moment for us. It was an emotional thing." Klinghoffer notes that: "It was sort of a sad hello. Everybody lost a good friend."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Klinghoffer subsequently made his live debut with the band on January 29, 2010, performing a cover of the Neil Young song, "A Man Needs a Maid", at MusiCares event honouring Young. Prior to the event, Chad Smith noted, "it's the first time we've played out with Josh, just the four of us, so it'll be an exciting night for him. [...] We're taking it slow. One song at a time." Flea commented on Josh's impact on the band, saying that "over time he really revealed himself to be just the best person we could've got. And John Frusciante's such a powerful musician and left such an imprint on our band and gave so much as a writer, as a player, a serious part of our band, that no one could ever replace John. No one's ever going to step in and do what John did. But Josh came in and does what Josh does and does it in a beautiful way."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Kiedis noted, "There is no question – this is a beginning," with Smith confirming that statement by adding, "this is a new band. Same name, but it's a new band."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: The album was produced by Rick Rubin; in the same studio in which the band recorded "Californication", and at Shangri La. The album's recording sessions took place from September 2010 to March 2011. According to Rubin, the band recorded enough material to release a second double album, following "Stadium Arcadium" (2006), but ultimately decided not to. Rubin notes, "it was painful not to share all of the material that we had, but we felt it would be too much. We really wanted it to be 12 songs but it ended up being 14 just because nobody could agree on which 12." Regarding the band's decision to work with Rubin once again, Chad Smith stated, "We have a great working relationship with him. He's been working with us for 20 years. We feel that he's the fifth Chili Pepper. He's someone that we love and trust."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: "I'm with You" was claimed to be the first album specially mastered to optimize digital sound quality for iTunes Store customers who purchase the album through iTunes. The album was mastered using high-resolution sourced audio. Despite this, the mastering has been deemed extremely loud and over-compressed and therefore distorted, continuing the trend since "One Hot Minute".


title: I'm with You (album)

text: According to drummer Chad Smith, the band "wrote a lot of songs" during ten months, from October 12, 2009, to August 2010. Smith noted, "Every record is a real snapshot of where we're at during that time in our lives as a band and as a people. It's always been that way." Flea stated that the band wrote around 60–70 songs for the new album and writing took around nine months before they entered the studio with Rubin.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Regarding the departure of guitarist John Frusciante, and the arrival of Josh Klinghoffer, vocalist Anthony Kiedis stated, prior to the album's release, "it is always going to change the chemistry and feeling of the music when such a creative force as John Frusciante leaves. He was something unique that shaped our sound then, but now I think it's also something fresh and exciting to have a new, incredible musical mind working with us now. We are still the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but we also have to adapt and welcome new opportunities. After all, that is how we've survived all these years." Producer Rick Rubin commented on Klinghoffer's addition to the band, stating, "Josh is fantastic. He played with John Frusciante for many, many years and he actually toured with the Chili Peppers before, so he's sort of part of the extended family. He's stylistically very close to John but has a completely different trip. It sounds like the Red Hot Chili Peppers that you've never heard before." Flea remarked, "Josh is a very subtle musician and it's not so much about the big riff – it's more subtle, sublime, poetic texture type of playing. We’re just reacting to him, and it makes us play different, so we’re just going a different way, and it’s great. We still sound like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it’s really a lot different."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Kiedis commented on the overall writing process, noting, "this album has been one of evolution. Before, some of our jams were a bit hit-and-miss. On this record, a decent number of songs were actually thought out and planned in a way we had never done before. That is, with Flea's new knowledge of music theory, we explored the writing process with a bit more precision." During the band's hiatus, Flea studied musical theory classes at the University of Southern California, learning piano during his tenure. According to Kiedis, Flea's piano contributions to "I'm With You" added "a whole new dynamic" to the band's sound. According to Flea, Klinghoffer also wrote songs on piano for the album: "I started writing songs on piano for this record and Josh also wrote songs on piano, so a lot of the songs were written on the piano and then translated to [the] rock band. It has a different kind of feeling, kind of more of a liquid, poetic feeling is the best way I can describe it."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Flea said the three main things he was listening to during the creation of the album were underground kind of avant-garde electronic music, The Rolling Stones, and Johann Sebastian Bach.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: According to the band, "Brendan's Death Song" was the first song written for the album, with parts of "Annie Wants a Baby" written the same day. Album opener, "Monarchy of Roses," a darker song mixing funk and pop, was written and recorded under the working title, "Disco Sabbath." Other songs like "Did I Let You Know?" focus on social commentary about the planet while "Police Station" is a slow, emotional piece that tells a story of Kiedis running into various old friends throughout Los Angeles, all of whom had turned into down-on-their-luck, tragic figures. Kiedis reminisces about past times with these characters over a moody, complex chord progression from Klinghoffer. According to Kiedis, the final song written for the album was "Even You Brutus," written after the band stopped writing songs and was already in the recording studio. Flea came in and played a piece on the piano that the band felt they needed to turn into a song. "Dance, Dance, Dance" has been described as the most atmospheric and family-friendly song on the album.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: According to Flea, "Life and death is a major theme of the album." Other themes in the album include the beginning of romantic relationships, hardship of poverty, quitting drug abuse, and the dashing of dreams and wishes.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: During the writing process, Flea reportedly listened to the Rolling Stones' albums "Exile on Main Street" and "Tattoo You" frequently.


title: I'm with You (album)

text: According to Flea, the album is, at times, influenced by African music. Flea stated, "We've always all loved African music. Throughout our career we've played some African bits, but we never really captured it right. Josh and I tripped around Ethiopia with a group called Africa Express, which Damon Albarn organized. We saw music every night and jammed with musicians. Ethiopia is such a great country, beautiful place. So there are a couple African parts on the new songs. One is called "Did I Let You Know," which has a real African feeling, and there's another called "Ethiopia." I'm really grateful to Damon for bringing me along. It really widened my scope of humanity." Chad Smith also commented on the album's African influences, stating his love of a compilation album, entitled "The Afrosound of Colombia", and noting that the song, "Ethiopia", "puts a smile on my face."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: During a June 2011 interview with "Spin", Smith confirmed that controversial British artist Damien Hirst would design the album cover. On July 5, 2011, the cover artwork was released through the band's mailing list. Kiedis described the album's cover art, entirely white except for a fly perched on a capsule, by saying, "It's an image. It's art. Iconic. We didn't give it its meaning but it's clearly open to interpretation."


title: I'm with You (album)

text: Flea's daughter, Clara Balzary, has been involved with taking promotional photos of the band leading up to the release of the new album. Most of the first shots of the new lineup were taken by Balzary, and her photography is featured in the album artwork.