title: Plasma globe

text: The plasma lamp was invented by Nikola Tesla, during his experimentation with high-frequency currents in an evacuated glass tube for the purpose of studying high voltage phenomena. Tesla called his invention an "inert gas discharge tube". The modern plasma lamp design was developed by James Falk and MIT student Bill Parker.


title: Plasma globe

text: Although many variations exist, a plasma globe is usually a clear glass sphere filled with a mixture of various gases (most commonly neon, sometimes with other noble gases such as argon, xenon and krypton) at nearly atmospheric pressure. Plasma globes are driven by high-frequency (approximately ) alternating current at . The drive circuit is essentially a specialized power inverter, in which current from a lower-voltage DC supply powers a high-frequency electronic oscillator circuit whose output is stepped up by a high-frequency, high-voltage transformer. The radio-frequency energy from the transformer is transmitted into the gas within the globe through an electrode at its center. Additionally, some designs utilize the globe as a resonant cavity, which provides positive feedback to the drive transistor through the transformer. A much smaller hollow glass orb can also serve as an electrode when it is filled with metal wool or a conducting fluid that is in communication with the transformer output. In this case, the radio-frequency energy is admitted into the larger space by capacitive coupling right through the glass. Plasma filaments extend from the inner electrode to the outer glass insulator, giving the appearance of moving tendrils of colored light within the volume of the globe (see corona discharge and electric glow discharge). If a hand is placed close to the globe it produces a faint smell of ozone, as the gas is produced by high voltage interaction with atmospheric oxygen.


title: Plasma globe

text: Some globes have a control knob that varies the amount of power going to the center electrode. At the very lowest setting that will light or "strike" the globe, a single tendril is made. This single tendril's plasma channel engages enough space to transmit this lowest striking energy to the outside world through the glass of the globe. As the power is increased, this single channel's capacity is overwhelmed and a second channel forms, then a third, and so on. The tendrils each compete for a footprint on the inner orb as well. The energies flowing through these are all of the same polarity so they repel each other as like charges: a thin dark boundary surrounds each footprint on the inner electrode.


title: Plasma globe

text: The globe is prepared by pumping out as much air as is practical. The globe is then back-filled with neon to a pressure similar to one atmosphere. If the radio-frequency power is turned on, if the globe is "struck" or "lit", now, the whole globe will glow a diffuse red. If a little argon is added, the filaments will form. If a very small amount of xenon is added, the "flowers" will bloom at the ends of the filaments.


title: Plasma globe

text: The neon available for purchase for a neon-sign shop often comes in glass flasks at the pressure of a partial vacuum. These cannot be used to fill a globe with a useful mixture. Tanks of gas, each with its specific, proper, pressure regulator and fitting, are required: one for each of the gases involved.


title: Plasma globe

text: Of the other noble gases, radon is radioactive, helium escapes through the glass relatively quickly, and krypton is expensive. Other gases such as mercury vapor can be used. Molecular gases may be dissociated by the plasma.


title: Plasma globe

text: Placing a finger tip on the glass creates an attractive spot for the energy to flow because the conductive human body (having non-ohmic resistance of about 1000 ohms at room temperature) is more easily polarized than the dielectric material around the electrode (i.e. the gas within the globe) providing an alternative discharge path having less resistance. Therefore, the capacity of the large conducting body to accept radio frequency energy is greater than that of the surrounding air. The energy available to the filaments of plasma within the globe will preferentially flow toward the better acceptor. This flow also causes a single filament, from the inner ball to the point of contact, to become brighter and thinner. The filament is brighter because there is more current flowing through it and into the 150 pF capacity, or capacitance, presented by an object, a conducting body, the size of a human. The filament is thinner because the magnetic fields around it, augmented by the now-higher current flowing through it, causes a magnetohydrodynamic effect called pinch: the plasma channel's own magnetic fields create a force acting to compress the size of the plasma channel itself.


title: Plasma globe

text: Much of the movement of the filaments is due to heating of the gas around the filament. When gas along the filament is heated, it becomes more buoyant and rises, carrying the filament with it. If the filament is discharging into a fixed object (like a hand) on the side of the globe, it will begin to deform into a curved path between the central electrode and the object. When the distance between the electrode and the object becomes too great to maintain, the filament will break and a new filament will reform between the electrode and the hand (see also Jacob's Ladder, which exhibits a similar behavior).


title: Plasma globe

text: An electric current is produced within any conductive object near the orb. The glass acts as a dielectric in a capacitor formed between the ionized gas and the hand.


title: Plasma globe

text: In ("Incandescent Electric Light", 1894 February 6), Nikola Tesla describes a plasma lamp. This patent is for one of the first high-intensity discharge lamps. Tesla used an incandescent-type lamp globe with a single internal conductive element and excited the element with high voltage currents from a Tesla coil, thus creating the brush discharge emanation. He gained patent protection on a particular form of the lamp in which a light-giving small body or button of refractory material is supported by a conductor entering a very highly exhausted globe or receiver. Tesla called this invention the single terminal lamp, or, later, the "Inert Gas Discharge Tube".


title: Plasma globe

text: The Groundstar style of plasma globe was created by James Falk and marketed to collectors and science museums in the 1970s and 1980s. Jerry Pournelle in 1984 praised Orb Corporation's Omnisphere as "the most fabulous object in the entire world" and "magnificent ... a new kind of art object", stating "you can't buy mine for any price".


title: Plasma globe

text: The technology needed to formulate gas mixtures used in today's plasma spheres was not available to Tesla. Modern lamps typically use combinations of xenon, krypton and neon, although other gases can be used. These gas mixtures, along with different glass shapes and integrated-circuit-driven electronics, create the vivid colors, range of motions, and complex patterns seen in today's plasma spheres.


title: Plasma globe

text: Plasma globes are mainly used as curiosities or toys for their unique lighting effects and the "tricks" that can be performed on them by users moving their hands around them. They might also form part of a school's laboratory equipment for demonstration purposes. They are not usually employed for general lighting. However, in recent years, some novelty stores have begun selling miniature plasma globe nightlights that can be mounted on a standard light socket.


title: Plasma globe

text: Plasma globes can be used for experimenting with high voltages. If a conductive plate or wire coil is placed on the globe, capacitive coupling can transfer enough voltage to the plate or coil to produce a small arc or energize a high voltage load. This is possible because the plasma inside the globe and the conductor outside it act as plates of a capacitor, with the glass in between as a dielectric. A step-down transformer connected between the plate and the globe's electrode can produce lower-voltage, higher-current radio frequency output. Careful earth grounding is essential to prevent injury or damage to equipment.


title: Plasma globe

text: Bringing conductive materials or electronic devices close to a plasma globe may cause the glass to become hot. The high voltage radio frequency energy coupled to them from within the globe may cause a mild electric shock to the person touching, even through a protective glass casing. The radio frequency field produced by plasma globes can interfere with the operation of touchpads used on laptop computers, digital audio players, cell phones, and other similar devices. Some types of plasma globes can radiate sufficient radio frequency interference (RFI) to interfere with cordless telephones and Wi-Fi devices several feet or some meters away.


title: Plasma globe

text: If an electrical conductor touches the outside of the globe, capacitive coupling can induce enough potential on it to produce a small arc. This is possible because the globe's glass acts as a capacitor dielectric: the inside of the lamp acts as one plate, and the conductive object on the outside acts as the opposite capacitor plate. This is a dangerous action that can damage the globe or other electronic devices, and presents a fire ignition hazard.


title: Plasma globe

text: Perceptible amounts of ozone can be formed on the surface of a plasma globe. Many people can detect ozone at concentrations of , which is right below the lowest concentration at which ozone is considered harmful to health. Exposure of produces headaches, burning eyes, and irritation to the respiratory passages.


title: Zakhm

text: Zakhm () is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Kunal Khemu, Pooja Bhatt, Sonali Bendre and Nagarjuna.


title: Zakhm

text: "Zakhm" was awarded with the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. Devgn's performance won him his first National Film Award for Best Actor.


title: Zakhm

text: Music director Ajay argues with his wife, Sonia. Sonia wants to give birth to their child in England whereas Ajay wants his child to be born in India and does not want to go to England (because of the insecurity caused by the Mumbai riots).


title: Zakhm

text: Ajay soon learns that his mother has been burned by a group of Muslim rioters while leaving a temple and is in a critical condition. In a flashback, the struggles that his mother had to undergo to raise her children are shown. She was in love with a Hindu film producer Raman Desai but was not allowed to marry him on account of her Muslim faith. He marries her but does not document or acknowledge their marriage as it was done without any traditional upholdings. The fact that she had children with a Hindu man forces her to hide her faith and live her life as a Hindu, even in front of her son.


title: Zakhm

text: After his father's sudden death caused by an accident on the day Ajay's younger brother is born, Ajay realizes his mother is a Muslim. She makes him promise to bury her according to her faith when she dies, for it is only through a proper burial that she will be able to find herself reunited with her lover in heaven. She also takes a promise from Ajay that he will never tell his brother about her real identity. Ajay's mother succumbs to the burns. Sonia learns about her mother-in-law's past life and decides not to leave Ajay. She stands by him and supports his decision to bury his mother. However, Ajay's task is impeded by a fundamentalist leader Subodhbhai, who wanted to make this a political issue and encouraged the Hindu youth to kill Muslims. Anand happens to be a youth leader and Ajay's younger brother. But when Anand learns of Subodhbhai's intentions, he stands by his brother's decision to bury their mom according to Islamic customs. Her body is buried as she had desired, and she reunites with Raman in heaven. At last, Ajay is seen releasing his mother's Mangalsutra in the sea, indicating the end of her life of struggle and meeting with her husband.


title: Zakhm

text: The music was composed by M. M. Keeravani with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. The soundtrack was released by the HMV Audio Company. The composer selected Chitra for " Gali main aaj Chand nikala " but due to date issues the song was later sung by Alka Yagnik.


title: Zakhm

text: Mukhtar Anjoom of "Deccan Herald" wrote that "Mahesh Bhatt foolishly swerves and rams the brakes while cruising along a solid theme. By making it personalized, he fails to tackle the wider ramifications of divisive politics and fritters away the opportunity to make a masterpiece of his swansong".


title: Zakhm

text: The story has been adapted into a TV series, named "Naamkarann", airing on STAR Plus from September 2016.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: , later known as was a Japanese "daimyō". He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful "daimyō" of the Sengoku period. Known as the "Dragon of Echigo", while chiefly remembered for his prowess on the battlefield as a military genius, Kenshin is also regarded as an extremely skillful administrator who fostered the growth of local industries and trade and his rule saw a marked rise in the standard of living of Echigo.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin is famed for his honourable conduct, his military expertise, a long-standing rivalry with Takeda Shingen, his numerous defensive campaigns to restore order in the Kantō region as the "Kanto Kanrei", and his belief in the Buddhist god of war—Bishamonten. Many of his followers and others believed him to be the Avatar of Bishamonten, and called Kenshin the "God of War".


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: His original name was Nagao Kagetora (長尾景虎). He changed his name to Uesugi Masatora (上杉政虎) when he inherited the Uesugi clan name in order to accept the official title of "Kantō Kanrei" (関東管領). Later he changed his name again to Uesugi Terutora (上杉輝虎) to honor the 13th "shōgun" Ashikaga Yoshiteru (足利義輝), and finally to Kenshin (上杉謙信) after he vowed to become a Zen-Buddhist; in particular, he would become renowned for being a devotee of Bishamonten.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin was born in the Tiger year (Chinese zodiac) and always kept the word "tora" (虎, tiger) in his names. He is respected as "The Tiger of Echigo" for his intelligent capabilities and excellent contributions.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin is also referred to as "The Dragon of Echigo" because of his Kakarimidareryuu (懸かり亂れ龍) ensign displayed on the battlefield. His rival Takeda Shingen was called "The Tiger of Kai". They fought several times at Battles of Kawanakajima. In some versions of Chinese mythology (Shingen and Kenshin had always been interested in Chinese culture, especially the works of Sun Tzu), the Dragon and Tiger have always been bitter rivals who try to defeat one another, but neither is ever able to gain the upper hand.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: His ceremony of departure to war started with praying at the shrine of Bishamonten, a traditional farewell meal with the generals with three dishes (symbolizing good fortune) and three cups, which also symbolized good luck and onmyōdō's heaven, earth and man. It was followed by two shouts "Ei!" (Glory") and "O!" (Yes!) with the assembled troops, also repeated three times, and the army standard lowered to the generals as a way of respect. In the end, Kenshin re-dedicated to the war god with the "bow of Hachiman", and mounted his horse surrounded by three flag banners; first with the first character of the Bishamonten's name, second with the red rising sun on blue (Emperor's gift), and the warring dragon flag.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Born as Kagetora, he was the third or fourth son of the noted warrior Nagao Tamekage (長尾為景), and his life presents a unique story - he was not from the Uesugi, but Nagao clan. His father's family were the retainers of the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi clan, and his father has gained some renown with his military victories over his lords Uesugi Akisada, Uesugi Sadanori and Uesugi Funayoshi. However, in later years, Tamekage found himself at odds with the neighboring Ikkō-ikki of Hokuriku, and as the political power in the region started to shift in favor of the Ikkō-ikki (due largely to the sudden rise of Hongan-ji), the situation for Echigo quickly deteriorated. It came to a peak in 1536, when Kenshin's father gathered up an army and marched westward. However, upon arriving at Sendanno (December 1536) in Etchū, his forces were suddenly attacked by Enami Kazuyori, and in the resulting fracas Tamekage himself was slain, and his army put to flight.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: The impact back at Echigo was immediate. Nagao Harukage, Tamekage's eldest son, immediately made his bid for control of the Nagao, and succeeded in this claim after a power struggle which resulted in the death of one of his brothers, Kageyasu. Kenshin was removed from the conflict and relocated to Rinsen-ji temple, where he spent his life from 7 to 14 dedicated to study, martial arts and Zen.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: At the age of 14, Kenshin was suddenly contacted by Usami Sadamitsu and a number of other acquaintances of his late father. They urged the young Nagao son to go to Echigo and contest his older brother's rule. It would seem that Harukage hadn't proven the most effective or inspiring leader (probably due to ill health), and his failure to exert control and gain support of the powerful "kokujin" families had resulted in a situation which was nearly to the point of tearing the province apart. As the story is told, at first Kenshin was reluctant to take the field against his own brother, but was eventually convinced that it was necessary to the survival of Echigo. At the age of 15 he was placed in joint command of Tochio Castle, making a reputation for himself by successfully defending it against the rebels who were plotting against the Uesugi, and Kenshin succeeded in wresting control of the Nagao clan from Nagao Harukage in 1548.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Nagao Harukage stepped down from the lead of the clan and provincial government and gave the titles to his younger brother. Harukage died five years later in 1553. At the age of 19 Kenshin became the head of the Nagao clan and entered the Kasugayama Castle, but still as the retainer of the Uesugi clan.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In the year 1551, Kenshin was called upon to provide refuge in his castle for his nominal lord, Uesugi Norimasa, who had been forced to flee there due to the expansion into the Kantō region by the lord Hōjō Ujiyasu from the Hōjō clan. He agreed to give the warlord shelter, under specific terms, but was not in a position at the time to move against the Hōjō. The terms were Norimasa's adoption of Kenshin as his heir, the change of name from Kagetora to Terutora (later Kenshin), the title Lord of Echigo, and the Kantō Kanrei post as "shōgun"s deputy.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In 1552, the Uesugi started to wage war against the Hōjō clan. Though his rule over the Nagao and Uesugi clan were now unquestioned, much of Echigo was still independent of this young warlord's grasp. Kenshin immediately set out to cement his power in the region, but these efforts were still in their infant stages when far more pressing concerns appeared. Ogasawara Nagatoki and Murakami Yoshikiyo, two Shinano lords, both appeared before Kenshin requesting his help in halting the advances of the powerful warlord Takeda Shingen. Around the time Kenshin became the new lord of Echigo, Shingen had won major victories in Shinano Province. With the Takeda's conquests taking them remarkably close to the borders of Echigo, Kenshin agreed to take the field on two fronts, however the conflicts between the three lords showed also various alliances and treaties.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin's military success is related to his successful reform efforts on trade, market, transportation network (taxing mechanism in the port towns), and revenues generated by the cloth trade. The result was control over commerce which the previous government did not have. He also established feudal ties with the warrior population by land grants. The so-called "Funai Statutes" show the provisions that apply to the traditional elites and common folk, tax breaks due to war exhaustion, with intent to centralize and consolidate the lands around his capital, which were followed by further reforms for the consolidation of the imperial lands prior the 1560–1562 Kantō campaign. However, despite Kenshin's control over agriculture and the economy, he did not thoroughly implement key reforms such as cadastral surveys, important for military obligations, implying Kenshin's focus on commerce. The management of the administration, military organization, as well in some minor battles in Echigo Funai were handed by vassal Kurata Gorōzaemon.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: What followed after the triple alliance of Kenshin was the beginning of a rivalry which became legendary in the history of Japan and the Sengoku period. In the first conflict between the two, both Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen were very cautious, only committing themselves to indecisive skirmishes. Over the years, there would eventually be a total number of five such engagements at the famous site of Kawanakajima (1553–1564), though only the fourth would prove to be a serious, all-out battle between the two.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In 1561, Kenshin and Shingen fought the biggest battle they would fight, the fourth battle of Kawanakajima. Kenshin used an ingenious tactic: a special formation where the soldiers in the front would switch with their comrades in the rear, as those in the frontline became tired or wounded. This allowed the tired soldiers to take a break, while the soldiers who had not seen action would fight on the front lines. This was extremely effective and because of this Kenshin nearly defeated Shingen. In "Kōyō Gunkan" there is one of the most famous instances of single combat in samurai history; during this battle, Kenshin managed to ride up to Shingen and slashed at him with his sword. Shingen fended off the blows with his iron war fan or "tessen". Kenshin failed to finish Shingen off before a Takeda retainer drove him away. Shingen made a counter-attack and the Uesugi army retreated. The result of the fourth battle of Kawanakajima is still uncertain. Many scholars are divided on who the actual victor was, if the battle was actually decisive enough to even declare one, thus is generally considered a draw. It is considered to be the largest casualty battle in the Sengoku period, with loss of estimated 72 percent of Kenshin's army and 62 percent of Shingen's army, but Shingen also lost two of his most important generals during the battle, namely his advisor Yamamoto Kansuke and younger brother Takeda Nobushige. Some more conservative estimates place the casualties around 20 percent.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In 1563, Shingen allied with Hōjō Ujiyasu against the Uesugi clan, they captured Matsuyama Castle in Musashi Province. In 1565, Shingen then took Kuragano Castle and Minowa Castle in Kōzuke province. In 1571, Kenshin attacked Shingen's satellite Ishikura Castle in Kōzuke province, and they again faced each other at the Battle of Tonegawa, to once again disengage.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In addition, after Shingen broke with the Hōjō, there was an incident when the Hōjō boycotted salt supplies to Kai Province. When Kenshin heard of Shingen's problem, he sent salt to Shingen from his own province. Kenshin commented that the Hōjō had "performed a very mean act". Kenshin added, "I do not fight with salt, but with the sword".


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin's respect for Shingen is evident from his reaction to Shingen's death: he privately wept and stated, "I have lost my good rival. We won't have a hero like that again!"


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Though his rivalry with Takeda Shingen was legendary, Uesugi Kenshin actually had a number of other ventures occurring around the times of these famous battles (1553–1564). In the year 1559, he made a trip with escort of 5,000 men to pay homage to the "shōgun" in Kyoto. This served to heighten his reputation considerably, and added to his image as a cultured leader as well as a warlord. This same year he was pushed once again by Uesugi Norimasa to take control of the Kantō back from the Hōjō, and in 1560 he was able to comply. In August of the same year, he put southern Echigo under control of a five-man council for broad mobilization, as well formed a small investigative council for any kind of unrest.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Heading a campaign against Hōjō Ujiyasu from fall 1560 to the summer of 1561, Kenshin was successful in taking a number of castles from the clan, like Numata Castle and Umayabashi Castle, which ended with the first siege of Odawara Castle in Sagami Province. He managed to break the defenses and burn the town, but the castle itself remained unconquered due to threats from Shingen, and thus seized Kamakura.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In 1563, Kenshin saved his ally Ōta Sukemasa who was under siege by both Hōjō Ujiyasu and Takeda Shingen, while in November 1569 when Shingen sieged Odawara Castle, Ujiyasu requested help from Kenshin.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In 1566, after Yura clan of Kozuke Province changed their allegiance to Hojo clan. Later in 1574, Kenshin ordered the Satake clan to attack Yura clan Kanayama Castle, and participated in the siege himself, but Kanayama castle withstood the attack.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: The other main area which interested Uesugi Kenshin was Etchū Province in the west, and Kenshin would spend nearly half his life involved in the politics of that province. The land was inhabited by two feuding clans, the Jinbo and the Shiina. Kenshin first entered the dispute as a mediator in the early 1550s between rivals Shiina Yasutane and Jinbō Nagamoto, but he later sided with the Shiina and took over the Jinbo clan. Decades later, Kenshin turned against the Shiina clan, taking their main castle in 1575 and having Shiina Yasutane assassinated in 1576 by Kojima Motoshige.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In 1563, Kenshin occupied Sano Domain of Kōzuke Province. He besieged Karasawa Castle against Sano Masatsune and made strong inroads into the region, forcing many of the smaller warlords to submit to him.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: At this point, by 1564 Kenshin controlled both Etchū Province and Kōzuke Province. By the 1570s, Kenshin governed Echigo Province, some adjacent provinces, all Hokuriku seaboard, and routed Oda Nobunaga's forces in Echizen Province.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Starting in the year 1576, Kenshin began to consider the issue of Oda Nobunaga, who had since grown to be Japan's most powerful warlord of the time. Kenshin broke his alliance with Nobunaga. Through the mediation of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, he reconciled with Kennyo, formed an alliance, and became a member of the power opposed to Nobunaga. With both Takeda Shingen and Hōjō Ujiyasu dead, Kenshin was no longer blocked off from this realm of expansion. So, when the death of Hatakeyama Yoshitaka, a lord in Noto Province, sparked up confusion and conflict, Kenshin was quick to use the opportunity, taking land from the weakened clan and successfully besieged Nanao Castle, which put him in a position to threaten Nobunaga and his allies. In response, Nobunaga pulled together his own forces and those of his two best generals, Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie, to meet Kenshin at the Battle of Tedorigawa (1577) in Kaga Province.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin based his 30,000 strong army at the castle of Matsuto, while Oda Nobunaga's forces arrived with 50,000 troops led by many famous generals. Despite Nobunaga's superior numbers, Kenshin managed to score a solid victory on the field. At first, Kenshin anticipated that Nobunaga would try to move by night over the river for dawn attack and thus refused to engage the Nobunaga army. Then he pretended to send forth a small unit to attack Nobunaga's main force from behind and gave his enemy a great opportunity to crush his remaining force. Nobunaga took the bait. Nobunaga's force attacked at night expecting a weakened opponent at the front; instead Kenshin's full military might was waiting. Having lost 1,000 men in combat and some more as the Oda troops attempted to escape across the Tedori River, Nobunaga ordered a retreat into Ōmi Province. However, Kenshin, who described the opponent's performance as "surprisingly weak", had a false impression to have defeated Nobunaga, as the Oda army was actually led by Shibata Katsuie. Eventually, Kenshin secured the Noto Province from the Oda clan.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In October 1577, Uesugi Kenshin arranged to put forth a grand army to continue his assaults into Nobunaga's land. In 1578 he entered alliance with Takeda Katsuyori against Nobunaga, but held up by bad weather, he died of an esophageal cancer in the spring of 1578. His death poem was:


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: The cause of Kenshin's death has been questioned throughout the years. The theory accepted by most scholars is that early sources record his deterioration of health condition, his complaints of pain in the chest "like an iron ball", and as "Kenshin Gunki" (1582) records "on the 9th day of the 3rd month he had a stomach ache in his toilet. This unfortunately persisted until the 13th day when he died". However, it is also speculated that he was victim of one of the most famous ninja assassinations, by a ninja concealed in the cesspool beneath the latrine at Kenshin's camp with a short spear or sword. The theories are not mutually exclusive — the assassin, if he existed, and was possibly sent by Nobunaga, might simply have fatally wounded an already-dying man. However, as his anticipation of own death is recorded in the death poem, the possibility of the assassination is less likely.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Domestically, Kenshin left behind a succession crisis. While he never had any children of his own, Kenshin adopted two boys during his lifetime. His nephew, Uesugi Kagekatsu, was probably adopted for deflection of the antagonism by Kagekatsu's father, Nagao Masakage, relatives and supporters. Another adopted son, Uesugi Kagetora, who was originally the son of Hōjō Ujiyasu, was adopted to secure the Echigo's borders. Some suppose that Kagekatsu was intended to be gradually set up as his heir, while others that Kenshin decided to divide the estates between the two.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Both sons had external blood ties, and reasonable claims. Kagetora was besieged at Otate in 1578, and although contacted for aid Hōjō Ujimasa and Takeda Katsuyori, the former backed down. Kagekatsu married Takeda's sister, and eventually was able to secure his succession. Kagetora fled to a castle near the Echigo-Shinano border where he committed suicide in 1579.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: The death caused local power struggles, with the result of almost decade long infighting in Echigo between 1578 and 1587, usually divided into "Otate Disturbance" (1578–1582) and "Shibata rebellion" (1582–1587). The resistance of the Kagetora's supporters continued for few years in north-central Echigo. In 1582, Shibata Shigeie, who was a vassal of Kagekatsu, led a rebellion in north Echigo, probably due to low rewards for his support of Kagekatsu, but even more the Kagekatsu's granting control over the toll barriers in the port of Niigata to Takemata Yoshitsuna.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: However, in the aftermath of the costly internal struggle, the Oda clan exploited rebellions against Kagekatsu to advance right up to the border of Echigo, having captured Noto and Kaga while the Uesugi brothers were busy with the infighting. This combined with the destruction of the Takeda clan, Uesugi's then ally and long time Oda enemy, would come close to destroying the Uesugi clan before Oda Nobunaga's own death once again shattered the balance of power in Japan.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: The Kenshin Festival takes place every August in Jōetsu since 1926. The procession starts at Kasugayama Castle for the reenactment of the fourth Kawanakajima battle, with an army of 400–1,000 soldiers. Japanese singer-songwriter Gackt portrayed Kenshin on several occasions since 2007, and thanks to his participation, the festival in 2015 reached record high attendance of 243,000 people.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: The Echigo Kenshin Sake Festival is held every October and reaches attendance of roughly 100,000 visitors.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In the mid 20th century Japanese novelist theorized that Uesugi Kenshin was a woman after he discovered a report on 16th century Japan in the monastery of Toledo which was used as a fort during the Spanish Civil War. This report about Japan was written by a person named Gonzalez of Spain to King Philip II. In that report, Gonzalez refers to a certain Uesugi as "tia" (aunt) of Uesugi Kagekatsu, the biological son of Kenshin's sister. The discovery of this letter led the novelist to theorize that "in the West, Uesugi Kenshin is a woman". On this basis, Yagiri wrote the "" (Female Uesugi Kenshin theory). Other evidence supporting this theory is that Kenshin had severe stomach cramps on a monthly basis around the 10th of the month (recorded in the Kōyō Gunkan) and actually planned his military campaigns around these cramps. The cause of Kenshin's death is recorded in Matsudaira Tadaaki's history "" (当代記) as a form of uterine cancer (大虫).


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: According to some accounts of Kenshin's personal life, he had an interest in traditionally feminine subjects, such as historical novels, poetry, and calligraphy aimed at the female audience. Kenshin's appearance was reportedly feminine; portraits of Kenshin made in the Edo period (1600-1868) tried to reinforce a masculine appearance, while those of the Sengoku period (1467-1615) display a more female appearance, with fair skin and long hair. Kenshin was the only one allowed to freely enter the women's quarters in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, which was a rare occurrence. Kenshin had neither biological children nor wife or concubine. His relations with women and men are only written of in tales and nothing is historically proven.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In popular culture, the question regarding Kenshin's gender has often been answered by portraying Kenshin as female. Critics of this theory claim that women could not succeed to the leadership of a samurai clan. Advocates of the theory refute the critics by noting that women leaders of samurai clans were not entirely unknown during the 16th century, as was the case of Tachibana Ginchiyo, Ii Naotora, Lady Otsuya, Otazu, Onamihime and others.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin is the main protagonist of Chōgorō Kaionji's epic historical novel "Ten to Chi to" ("Heaven and Earth") and NHK taiga drama adaptation "Ten to Chi to" (1969) where was played by Kōji Ishizaka. Kenshin, played by Isao Natsuyagi is featured in 1979 film "G.I. Samurai", and played by Eiichi Kanakubo is a minor character in Akira Kurosawa's 1980 jidaigeki "Kagemusha". The 1990 movie adaptation of Kaionji's novel, "Heaven and Earth" directed by Haruki Kadokawa, where's Kenshin played by Takaaki Enoki, covers the rivalry between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, focusing mainly on the character of Kenshin who is referred to by his original name Kagetora. The film has been praised for its realistic depictions of warfare and battles of the period. Being a box office success in Japan, it is also famous for holding the world record for most saddled horses used in one sequence — 800 horses were in a battle segment. Kaionji's novel was also adapted by TV Asahi for their 50th anniversary as 2008 TV drama special where Kenshin was played by Masahiro Matsuoka. The manga Yukibana no Tora by Akiko Higashimura, serialised in Shogakukan's "seinen" manga magazine "Hibana" from March 2015 to August 2017, also portrays its main protagonist Kenshin as a woman.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In the 2007 NHK taiga drama, "Fūrin Kazan", Uesugi Kenshin is portrayed by Japanese singer-songwriter Gackt. Gackt recalls that Kenshin was always portrayed as a very tough man, but wanted to play him with the female myth in the mind, which presented him clean-shaven and with long hair, although received some harsh criticism, co-actor Ken Ogata expressed his approval of Gackt's work and audience demanded the increase of his role in the series. The 2009 NHK Taiga drama "Tenchijin" partly re-tells the story of Uesugi Kenshin, played by Hiroshi Abe, although its main focus is on Naoe Kanetsugu, the page and later advisor to Uesugi Kenshin's adopted son and heir Kagekatsu. Kenshin was again voiced by Gackt in the anime of the gag manga, "Tono to Issho" (2010–2011). The live-action drama "" cast actress Mayuko Arisue as Kenshin. Gackt participated in the production, but voiced Oda Nobunaga. Kenshin also appears in a gender bender parallel universe anime series "".


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: Kenshin has been featured in many video games, such as the Koei's "Samurai Warriors" and "Warriors Orochi" and Capcom's "Sengoku Basara" series. He is a playable character in "Pokémon Conquest" ("Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition" in Japan), where he is the warlord of Illusio with his partner Pokémon being Gallade and Mewtwo. A female Kenshin, as Nagao Kagetora, also appears in the mobile game "Fate/Grand Order", voiced by actress and singer Nana Mizuki. Similarly appearing as a female character, Kenshin is found in the Rance series most notably in Sengoku Rance.


title: Uesugi Kenshin

text: In Cobra Kai, Season 5 episode 2, Terry Silver shows Chozen a samurai sword that he purchased at an auction, telling Chozen that it was used by Kenshin in the fourth battle of Kawanakajima.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: Dame Jacqueline Wilson (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring realistic topics such as adoption and divorce without alienating her large readership. Since her debut novel in 1969, Wilson has written over 100 books.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: Jacqueline Aitken was born in Bath, Somerset, on 17 December 1945. Her father, Harry, was a civil servant and her mother, Biddy, was an antiques dealer. She particularly enjoyed books by Noel Streatfeild, as well as American classics like "Little Women" and "What Katy Did". At the age of nine, she wrote her first "book", "Meet the Maggots", which was 21 pages long. Wilson was given the nickname Jacky Daydream at school, which she later used as the title of her autobiography, which tells of her life as a primary school-aged child.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: Wilson attended Coombe Girls' School in Surrey and Carshalton Technical College. After leaving school at age 16, she began training as a secretary but then applied to work with the Dundee-based publishing company DC Thomson on a new girls' magazine, "Jackie".


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: When Wilson began to focus on writing, she completed several crime fiction novels before dedicating herself to children's books. At the age of 40, she took A-level English and earned a grade A. She had mixed success with about 40 books before the breakthrough to fame in 1991 with "The Story of Tracy Beaker", published by Doubleday.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: As her children's novels frequently feature themes of adoption, divorce and mental illness, they tend to attract controversy, yet are well loved by children and adults alike.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: In June 2013, Wilson was appointed a professorial fellow of the University of Roehampton, and a Pro-Chancellor. In February 2014, it was announced that she would be appointed Chancellor of the university (its honorary figurehead) from August 2014. She was reappointed in 2017 for a further three years. She teaches modules in both the Children's Literature and Creative Writing master's degree (MA) programmes offered by the university. She concluded her term as Chancellor in August 2020.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: Wilson is patron of the charity Momentum in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, which helps Surrey children undergoing treatment for cancer (and their families), and also a patron of the Letterbox Club, a BookTrust initiative. Until she moved away from Kingston-upon-Thames she was a patron of the Friends of Richmond Park.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: In The Big Read, a 2003 poll conducted by the BBC, four of Wilson's books were ranked among the 100 most popular books in the UK: "Double Act", "Girls In Love", "Vicky Angel", and "The Story of Tracy Beaker". Fourteen books by Wilson ranked in the top 200. In 2002, she replaced Catherine Cookson as the most borrowed author in Britain's libraries, a position she retained until being overtaken by James Patterson in 2008.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: For her work, Wilson has won many awards including the Smarties Prize and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. "The Illustrated Mum" (1999) won the annual Guardian Prize, a book award judged by a panel of British children's writers, and the annual British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year; it also made the 1999 Whitbread Awards shortlist. "The Story of Tracy Beaker" won the 2002 Blue Peter People's Choice Award, and "Girls in Tears" was the Children's Book of the Year at the 2003 British Book Awards. Two of her books were "Highly Commended" runners-up for the annual Carnegie Medal: "The Story of Tracy Beaker" (1991) and "Double Act" (1995).


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: In June 2002, Wilson was appointed an OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she served as the fourth Children's Laureate. In that role, Wilson urged parents and carers to continue reading aloud to children long after they are able to read for themselves. She also campaigned to make more books available for blind people and campaigned against cutbacks in children's television drama.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: In October 2005, she received an honorary degree from the University of Winchester in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. In July 2007, the University of Roehampton awarded her an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Letters) in recognition of her achievements in and on behalf of children's literature. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Dundee, the University of Bath and Kingston University.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: In the 2008 New Year Honours, Wilson was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). In July 2012, Dame Jacqueline was also elected an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 2017, Wilson received the Special Award at the BAFTA Children's Awards.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: For her lifetime contribution as a children's writer, Wilson was a UK nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: A dramatisation of Wilson's "Double Act", written and directed by Vicky Ireland, was first performed at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London from 30 January to 12 April 2003, and toured throughout the UK. The playscript was published by Collins Plays Plus. Ireland has also written dramatisations of "The Lottie Project" (performed at Polka Theatre and San Pol Theatre, Madrid), "Midnight", "Bad Girls" and "Secrets", which were also commissioned by the Polka Theatre, and a dramatisation of "The Suitcase Kid" which was performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond and later toured throughout the UK. The scripts for these plays were published by Nick Hern Books.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: In her teens, Jacqueline Aitken began a relationship with partner Millar Wilson, whom she married in 1965 when she was 19. Two years later, they had a daughter named Emma. Her husband later left her for another woman. They divorced in 2004.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: In April 2020, Wilson announced she was in a same-sex relationship. She revealed that she had been living with her partner, Trish, for 18 years.


title: Jacqueline Wilson

text: Wilson's health issues have included heart failure, having an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, previously needing renal dialysis and now being the recipient of a kidney transplant.


title: Bill of materials

text: A bill of materials or product structure (sometimes bill of material, BOM or associated list) is a list of the raw materials, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components, parts, and the quantities of each needed to manufacture an end product. A BOM may be used for communication between manufacturing partners or confined to a single manufacturing plant. A bill of materials is often tied to a production order whose issuance may generate reservations for components in the bill of materials that are in stock and requisitions for components that are not in stock. There are two types of bill materials.


title: Bill of materials

text: A BOM can define products as they are designed (engineering bill of materials), as they are ordered (sales bill of materials), as they are built (manufacturing bill of materials), or as they are maintained (service bill of materials). The different types depend on the business need and use for which they are intended. In process industries, the BOM is also known as the formula, recipe, or ingredients list. The phrase "bill of material" (or "BOM") is frequently used by engineers attributively to refer not to the literal bill, but to the current production configuration of a product, to distinguish it from modified or improved versions under study or in test.


title: Bill of materials

text: Sometimes the term "pseudo-bill of materials" or "pseudo-BOM" is used to refer to a more flexible or simplified version. Often a place-holder part number is used to represent a group of related (usually standard) parts that have common attributes and are interchangeable in the context of this BOM.


title: Bill of materials

text: In electronics, the BOM represents the list of components used on the printed wiring board or printed circuit board. Once the design of the circuit is completed, the BOM list is passed on to the PCB layout engineer as well as the component engineer who will procure the components required for the design.


title: Bill of materials

text: BOMs are of hierarchical nature, with the top level representing the finished product which may be a sub-assembly or a completed item. BOMs that describe the sub-assemblies are referred to as modular BOMs. An example of this is the NAAMS BOM that is used in the automotive industry to list all the components in an assembly line. The structure of the NAAMS BOM is System, Line, Tool, Unit and Detail.


title: Bill of materials

text: The first hierarchical databases were developed for automating bills of materials for manufacturing organizations in the early 1960s. At present, this BOM is used as a data base to identify the many parts and their codes in automobile manufacturing companies.


title: Bill of materials

text: A bill of materials "implosion" links component pieces to a major assembly, while a bill of materials "explosion" breaks apart each assembly or sub-assembly into its component parts.


title: Bill of materials

text: A single-level BOM resolved to list the effectively needed quantities of components to produce a product (rather than to list each individual part by its logical name) is also called "quantity synopsis parts list".


title: Bill of materials

text: A BOM can also be visually represented by a product structure tree, although they are rarely used in the workplace. For example, one of them is Time-Phased Product Structure where this diagram illustrates the time needed to build or acquire the needed components to assemble the final product. For each product, the time-phased product structure shows the sequence and duration of each operation.


title: Bill of materials

text: A configurable bill of materials (CBOM) is a form of BOM used by industries that have multiple options and highly configurable products (e.g. telecom systems, data-center hardware (SANS, servers, etc.), PCs, cars).


title: Bill of materials

text: The CBOM is used to dynamically create "end-items" that a company sells. The benefit of using CBOM structure is that it reduces the work-effort needed to maintain product structures. The configurable BOM is most frequently driven by "configurator" software, however it can be enabled manually (manual maintenance is infrequent because it is unwieldy to manage the number of permutations and combinations of possible configurations). The development of the CBOM is dependent on having a modular BOM structure in place. The modular BOM structure provides the assemblies/sub-systems that can be selected to "configure" an end-item.


title: Bill of materials

text: While most configurators utilize top-down hierarchical rules syntax to find appropriate modular BOMs, maintenance of very similar BOMs (i.e., only one component is different for various voltages) becomes highly excessive. A newer approach, (bottom-up/rules-based structuring) utilizing a proprietary search engine scheme transversing through selectable componentry at high speeds eliminates the planning modular BOM duplications. The search engine is also used for all combinatorial feature constraints and GUI representations to support specification selections.


title: Bill of materials

text: To decide which assembly variant of the parts or components is to be chosen, they are attributed by the product options which are the characteristic features of the product. If the options of the product build an ideal Boolean algebra, it is possible to describe the connection between parts and product variants with a Boolean expression, which refers to a subset of the set of products.


title: Bill of materials

text: Parts which will not be assembled at all in one or more variants are typically marked as "DNP" (for "do not populate" or "do not place") in the affected variants. Other less frequently used designators for this include "NP" ("no placement", "not placed"), "NF" ("no fit", "not fitting"), "DNM" ("do not mount"), "NM" ("not mounted"), "NU" ("not used"), "DNI" ("do not install", "do not insert"), "DNE" ("do not equip"), "DNA" ("do not assemble"), "DNS" ("do not stuff"), "NOFIT" etc.


title: Bill of materials

text: A multi-level bill of materials (BOM), referred to as an indented BOM, is a bill of materials that lists the assemblies, components, and parts required to make a product in a parent-child, top-down method. It provides a display of all items that are in parent-children relationships. When an item is a sub-component, of a (parent) component, it can in-turn have its own child components, and so on. The resulting top-level BOM (item number) would include children; a mix of finished sub-assemblies, various parts and raw materials. A multi-level structure can be illustrated by a tree with several levels. In contrast, a single-level structure only consists of one level of children in components, assemblies and material


title: Sortition

text: In governance, sortition (also known as selection by lottery, selection by lot, allotment, demarchy, stochocracy, aleatoric democracy, democratic lottery, and lottocracy) is the selection of political officials as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates. The system intends to ensure that all competent and interested parties have an equal chance of holding public office. It also minimizes factionalism, since there would be no point making promises to win over key constituencies if one was to be chosen by lot, while elections, by contrast, foster it. In ancient Athenian democracy, sortition was the traditional and primary method for appointing political officials, and its use was regarded as a principal characteristic of democracy.


title: Sortition

text: Today, sortition is commonly used to select prospective jurors in common-law systems and is sometimes used in forming citizen groups with political advisory power.


title: Sortition

text: Athenian democracy developed in the 6th century BC out of what was then called isonomia (equality of law and political rights). Sortition was then the principal way of achieving this fairness. It was utilized to pick most of the magistrates for their governing committees, and for their juries (typically of 501 men). Aristotle relates equality and democracy:


title: Sortition

text: In Athens, "democracy" (literally meaning rule by the people) was in opposition to those supporting a system of oligarchy (rule by a few). Athenian democracy was characterised by being run by the "many" (the ordinary people) who were allotted to the committees which ran government. Thucydides has Pericles make this point in his Funeral Oration: "It is administered by the many instead of the few; that is why it is called a democracy."


title: Sortition

text: The Athenians believed sortition, not elections, to be democratic and used complex procedures with purpose-built allotment machines ("kleroteria") to avoid the corrupt practices used by oligarchs to buy their way into office. According to the author Mogens Herman Hansen, the citizen's court was superior to the assembly because the allotted members swore an oath which ordinary citizens in the assembly did not, therefore the court could annul the decisions of the assembly.


title: Sortition

text: Both Aristotle and Herodotus (one of the earliest writers on democracy) emphasize selection by lot as a test of democracy, writing, "The rule of the people has the fairest name of all, equality ("isonomia"), and does none of the things that a monarch does. The lot determines offices, power is held accountable, and deliberation is conducted in public."


title: Sortition

text: Past scholarship maintained that sortition had roots in the use of chance to divine the will of the gods, but this view is no longer common among scholars. In Ancient Greek mythology, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades used sortition to determine who ruled over which domain. Zeus got the sky, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld.


title: Sortition

text: In Athens, to be eligible to be chosen by lot, citizens self-selected themselves into the available pool, then lotteries in the kleroteria machines. The magistracies assigned by lot generally had terms of service of one year. A citizen could not hold any particular magistracy more than once in his lifetime, but could hold other magistracies. All male citizens over 30 years of age, who were not disenfranchised by atimia, were eligible. Those selected through lot underwent examination called dokimasia to avoid incompetent officials. Rarely were selected citizens discarded. Magistrates, once in place, were subjected to constant monitoring by the Assembly. Magistrates appointed by lot had to render account of their time in office upon their leave, called euthynai. However, any citizen could request the suspension of a magistrate with due reason.


title: Sortition

text: The "brevia" was used in the city states of Lombardy during the 12th and 13th centuries and in Venice until the late 18th century. Men, who were chosen randomly, swore an oath that they were not acting under bribes, and then they elected members of the council. Voter and candidate eligibility probably included property owners, councilors, guild members, and perhaps, at times, artisans. The Doge of Venice was determined through a complex process of nomination, voting and sortition.


title: Sortition

text: Lot was used in the Venetian system only in order to select members of the committees that served to nominate candidates for the Great Council. A combination of election and lot was used in this multi-stage process. Lot was not used alone to select magistrates, unlike in Florence and Athens. The use of lot to select nominators made it more difficult for political sects to exert power, and discouraged campaigning. By reducing intrigue and power moves within the Great Council, lot maintained cohesiveness among the Venetian nobility, contributing to the stability of this republic. Top magistracies generally still remained in the control of elite families.


title: Sortition

text: S"crutiny" was used in Florence for over a century starting in 1328. Nominations and voting together created a pool of candidates from different sectors of the city. The names of these men were deposited into a sack, and a lottery draw determined who would get to be a magistrate. The scrutiny was gradually opened up to minor guilds, reaching the greatest level of Renaissance citizen participation in 1378–1382.


title: Sortition

text: In Florence, lot was used to select magistrates and members of the Signoria during republican periods. Florence utilized a combination of lot and scrutiny by the people, set forth by the ordinances of 1328. In 1494, Florence founded a Great Council in the model of Venice. The nominatori were thereafter chosen by lot from among the members of the Great Council, indicating a decline in aristocratic power.


title: Sortition

text: During the Age of Enlightenment, many of the political ideals originally championed by the democratic city-states of ancient Greece were revisited. The use of sortition as a means of selecting the members of government, however, was not strongly advocated for by many of the more prominent Enlightenment thinkers. In fact, in those few cases in which sortition is discussed in Enlightenment literature, it is generally treated dismissively; even those Enlightenment philosophers who do address the subject of sortition and acknowledge some of its merits tend to ultimately decide against it as a selective method.


title: Sortition

text: Montesquieu, for example, whose classic work "The Spirit of Laws" is often quoted in support of sortition, provides one of the most direct discussions of the concept in Enlightenment political writing. “The suffrage by lot,” he argues, “is natural to democracy; as that by choice is to aristocracy.” In making this statement about the democratic nature of sortition, Montesquieu echoes the philosophy of much earlier thinkers such as Aristotle, who also viewed election as aristocratic. However, Montesquieu rejects the use of sortition without much further consideration. “Yet as this method is in itself defective,” he continues, “it has been the endeavor of the most eminent legislators to regulate and amend it.” Other writers, such as Rousseau and Harrington, also acknowledge the link between sortition and democracy, though they too demonstrate an unwillingness to accept it as the foundation of government.


title: Sortition

text: Bernard Manin, a French political theorist, points out the surprising nature of sortition’s decline during the Enlightenment in his book "The Principles of Representative Government". “What is indeed astonishing,” he says, “in the light of the republican tradition and the theorizing it had generated, is the total absence of debate in the early years of representative government about the use of lot in the allocation of power.” There are several possible explanations as to what forces caused this demonstrated disinterest in the use of sortition in modern government. The first potential explanation that Manin offers is that the choosing of rulers by lot may have been viewed as impractical on such a large scale as the modern state. A second possible explanation is that it was viewed as incompatible with the Enlightenment view of political consent.


title: Sortition

text: Because financial gain could be achieved through the position of mayor, some parts of Switzerland used random selection during the years between 1640 and 1837 to prevent corruption.


title: Sortition

text: Local government in parts of Tamil Nadu such as the village of Uttiramerur traditionally used a system known as kuda-olai where the names of candidates for the village committee were written on palm leaves and put into a pot and pulled out by a child.


title: Sortition

text: Before the random selection can be done, the pool of candidates must be defined. Systems vary as to whether they allot from eligible volunteers, from those screened by education, experience, or a passing grade on a test, or screened by election by those selected by a previous round of random selection, or from the membership or population at large. A multi-stage process in which random selection is alternated with other screening methods can be used, as in the Venetian system.


title: Sortition

text: One robust, general, public method of allotment in use since 1997 is documented in RFC 3797: Publicly Verifiable Nominations Committee Random Selection. Using it, multiple specific sources of random numbers (e.g., lotteries) are selected in advance, and an algorithm is defined for selecting the winners based on those random numbers. When the random numbers become available, anyone can calculate the winners.


title: Sortition

text: David Chaum, a pioneer in computer science and cryptography, proposed Random-Sample Elections in 2012. Via recent advances in computer science, it is now possible to select a random sample of eligible voters in a verifiably valid manner and empower them to study and make a decision on a matter of public policy. This can be done in a highly transparent manner which allows anyone to verify the integrity of the election, while optionally preserving the anonymity of the voters. A related approach has been pioneered by James Fishkin, director of the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford, to make legally binding decisions in Greece, China and other countries.


title: Sortition

text: In Ancient Greece, a Kleroterion was used to select eligible and willing citizens to serve jury duty. This bolstered the initial Athenian system of democracy by getting new and different jury members from each tribe to avoid corruption.


title: Sortition

text: Sortition is most commonly used to form citizens' assemblies. As an example, Vancouver council initiated a citizens' assembly that met in 2014–15 in order to assist in city planning.


title: Sortition

text: Sortition is commonly used in selecting juries in Anglo-Saxon legal systems and in small groups (e.g., picking a school class monitor by drawing straws). In public decision-making, individuals are often determined by allotment if other forms of selection such as election fail to achieve a result. Examples include certain hung elections and certain votes in the UK Parliament. Some contemporary thinkers have advocated a greater use of selection by lot in today's political systems, for example reform of the British House of Lords and proposals at the time of the adoption of the current Constitution of Iraq.


title: Sortition

text: Sortition is also used in military conscription, as one method of awarding US green cards, and in placing students into some schools.


title: Sortition

text: Sortition also has potential for helping large associations to govern themselves democratically without the use of elections. Co-ops, employee owned businesses, housing associations, Internet platforms, student governments, and countless other large membership organizations whose members generally do not know many other members yet seek to run their organization democratically often find that elections are problematic. The essential leadership decisions are made by the nomination process, often generating a self-perpetuating board whose nominating committee selects their own successors. Randomly selecting a representative sample of members to constitute a nominating panel is one procedure that has been proposed to keep fundamental control in the hands of ordinary members and avoid internal board corruption.


title: Sortition

text: A modern advocate of sortition, political scientist John Burnheim, argues for systems of sortition as follows:


title: Sortition

text: Magnus Vinding in his book "Reasoned Politics" argues that one of the main advantages of sortition is its comparative efficiency: first, according to the author, sortition “could allow political decision-makers to focus on studying and deciding on the relevant issues rather than worrying about sending the right signals to optimize their election prospects.” And second, “resources devoted to zero-sum pursuits, such as election campaigns and lobbies that fund opposing politicians, could instead be devoted to positive-sum endeavors.”


title: Sortition

text: Cognitive diversity is an amalgamation of different ways of seeing the world and interpreting events within it, where a diversity of perspectives and heuristics guide individuals to create different solutions to the same problems. Cognitive diversity is not the same as gender, ethnicity, value-set or age diversity, although they are often positively correlated. According to numerous scholars such as Page and Landemore, cognitive diversity is more important to creating successful ideas than the average ability level of a group. This "diversity trumps ability theorem" is essential to why sortition is a viable democratic option. Simply put, random selection of persons of average intelligence performs better than a collection of the best individual problem solvers.


title: Sortition

text: Sortition is inherently egalitarian in that it ensures all citizens have an equal chance of entering office irrespective of any bias in society:


title: Sortition

text: Random selection has the ability to overcome the various demographic biases in race, religion, sex, etc. apparent in most legislative assemblies. Greater perceived fairness can be added by using stratified sampling. For example, the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in British Columbia sampled one woman and one man from each electoral district and also ensured representation for First Nations members. Bias may still exist if particular groups are purposefully excluded from the lottery such as happened in Ancient Athens where women, slaves, younger men and foreigners were not eligible.


title: Sortition

text: Greek writers who mention democracy (including Aristotle, Plato, and Herodotus) emphasize the role of selection by lot, or state outright that being allotted is more democratic than elections. For example, Plato says:


title: Sortition

text: Sortition may be less corruptible than voting. Author James Wycliffe Headlam explains that the Athenian Council (500 administrators randomly selected), would commit occasional mistakes such as levying taxes that were too high. Additionally, from time to time, some in the council would improperly make small quantities of money from their civic positions. However, "systematic oppression and organized fraud were impossible." These Greeks recognized that sortition broke up factions, diluted power, and gave positions to such a large number of disparate people that they would all keep an eye on each other, making collusion fairly rare. Furthermore, power did not necessarily go to those who wanted it and had schemed for it. The Athenians used an intricate machine, a kleroterion, to allot officers. Headlam also explains that "the Athenians felt no distrust of the lot, but regarded it as the most natural and the simplest way of appointment."


title: Sortition

text: Like Athenian democrats, critics of electoral politics in the 21st-century argue that the process of election by vote is subject to manipulation by money and other powerful forces, and because legislative elections give power to a few powerful groups, they are believed to be a less democratic system than selection by lot from among the population.


title: Sortition

text: An inherent problem with electoral politics is the over-representation of politically active groups in society who tend to be those who join political parties. For example, in 2000 less than 2% of the UK population belonged to a political party, while in 2005 there were at best only 3 independent MPs (see List of UK minor party and independent MPs elected) so that 99.5% of all UK MPs belonged to a political party.


title: Sortition

text: Additionally, participants grow in competence by contributing to deliberation. Citizens are more significantly empowered by being a part of decision-making that concerns them. Most societies have some type of citizenship education, but sortition-based committees allow ordinary people to develop their own democratic capacities through participation.


title: Sortition

text: Elected representatives typically rely on political parties in order to gain and retain office. This means they often feel a primary loyalty to the party and will vote contrary to conscience to support a party position. Representatives appointed by sortition do not owe anything to anyone for their position.


title: Sortition

text: Sortition could also reduce political polarization by removing some of its sources like election campaigns and lobbies. In a broader cultural context, the media would potentially be less centered on presenting politics as a zero-sum game for votes between politicians or political parties, which could lead to less political polarization as well.


title: Sortition

text: The representativeness and statistical properties of institutions like councils (committees), magistrates (cabinets) and juries selected by lot were mathematically examined by Andranik Tangian, who confirmed the validity of this method of appointment.


title: Sortition

text: The most common argument against pure sortition (that is, with no prior selection of an eligible group) is that it takes no account of skills or experience that might be needed to effectively discharge the particular offices to be filled. Were such a position to require a specific skill set, sortition could not necessarily guarantee the selection of a person whose skills matched the requirements of being in office unless the group from which the allotment is drawn were itself composed entirely of sufficiently specialized persons. This is why sortition was not used to select military commanders (strategos) in ancient Athens.


title: Sortition

text: By contrast, systems of election or appointment ideally limit this problem by encouraging the matching of skilled individuals to jobs for which they are suited.


title: Sortition

text: The same argument is made by Edmund Burke in his essay "Reflections on the Revolution in France" (1790):


title: Sortition

text: In case demographic stratification is not rigorously put in place, there is always the statistical possibility that sortition may put into power an individual or group that do not represent the views of the population from which they were drawn. This argument is mentioned by Isocrates in his essay "Areopagiticus" (section 23):


title: Sortition

text: This argument applies to juries, but less to larger groups where the probability of, for example, an oppressive majority, are statistically insignificant. The modern processes of jury selection and the rights to object to and exclude particular jurors by both the plaintiff and defence are used to potentially lessen the possibilities of a jury not being representative of the community or being prejudicial towards one side or the other. Today, therefore, even juries in most jurisdictions are not ultimately chosen through pure sortition.


title: Sortition

text: Those who see voting as expressing the "consent of the governed" maintain that voting is able to confer legitimacy in the selection. According to this view, elected officials can act with greater authority than when randomly selected. With no popular mandate to draw on, randomly selected politicians lose a moral basis on which to base their authority and are open to charges of illegitimacy.


title: Sortition

text: Since it is statistically unlikely that a given individual will participate in the deliberative body, sortition creates two groups of people, the few randomly chosen politicians and the masses. Identifying the source of sortition's legitimacy has proven difficult. As a result, advocates of sortition have suggested limiting the use cases of sortition to serving as consultative or political agenda-setting bodies.


title: Sortition

text: In an elected system, the representatives are to a degree self-selecting for their enthusiasm for the job. Under a system of pure, universal sortition the individuals are not chosen for their enthusiasm. Many electoral systems assign to those chosen a role as representing their constituents; a complex job with a significant workload. Elected representatives choose to accept any additional workload; voters can also choose those representatives most willing to accept the burden involved in being a representative. Individuals chosen at random from a comprehensive pool of citizens have no particular enthusiasm for their role and therefore may not make good advocates for a constituency.


title: Sortition

text: Unlike elections, where members of the elected body may stand for re-election, sortition does not offer a mechanism by which the population expresses satisfaction or dissatisfaction with individual members of the allotted body. Thus, under sortition there is no formal feedback, or accountability, mechanism for the performance of officials, other than the law.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: $17.3 million in cash was robbed from the Charlotte, North Carolina, regional office vault of Loomis, Fargo & Co. on the evening of October 4, 1997. The robbery was committed by Loomis vault supervisor David Scott Ghantt, his married girlfriend Kelly Campbell (a former Loomis co-worker), Steven Eugene Chambers (a one-time FBI informant), his wife Michelle Chambers, Michael Gobbies, and four other co-conspirators. An FBI criminal investigation ultimately resulted in the arrest and conviction of eight people directly involved in the heist, as well as sixteen others who had indirectly helped them, and the recovery of approximately 88% of the stolen money.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: This robbery was the second-largest cash robbery on U.S. soil at the time, as only seven months earlier, on March 29, 1997 in Jacksonville, Florida, Philip Noel Johnson stole $18.8 million from the Loomis Fargo armored vehicle he was driving.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Although the history of the predecessor Wells Fargo & Company dates back to 1852, Loomis Fargo & Company was established in 1997 by the consolidation of Wells Fargo Armored Service and Loomis Armored Inc.; the resulting corporation employed 8,500 people and provided armored transportation, cash handling services, and automatic teller machine maintenance. Its Charlotte office would be the victim of David Scott Ghantt and his confederates later that year.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: David Ghantt struck up a relationship with fellow Loomis Fargo employee Kelly Campbell, and they continued to maintain contact even after Campbell left the company. In August 1997, Campbell informed Ghantt of an old high school friend of hers, Steve Chambers, who could assist Ghantt in executing a massive cash robbery of the Loomis Fargo vault in one night. Chambers had broached the possibility of a robbery to Campbell earlier in the summer.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: The plan was for Ghantt to commit the robbery and then quickly leave the country for Mexico – but to leave the bulk of the cash with Chambers. Chambers would then occasionally wire Ghantt money and see to his basic financial needs; when "the heat was off," Ghantt was to re-enter the U.S. and the money would be split up among all of the co-conspirators.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: With the plan in place, Ghantt sent a newly employed co-worker home early (reportedly at 6 p.m) who had been assigned to train with him. He then proceeded to load about $17.3 million in cash (approximately $11 million of which was in $20 bills) into the back of a company van.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Outside the building, Ghantt met up with Campbell, Chambers, and others who were involved in the plot, and drove off to a printing business called Reynolds & Reynolds in northwest Charlotte. From there, the money was moved from the company vehicle to private vehicles. Then, keeping with the plan, Ghantt took $50,000 (the maximum that could by law be taken across the border without further authorization) with him and left for Mexico, winding up at the popular Yucatan Peninsula resort-island of Cozumel.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Loomis Fargo employees could not open the vault the next morning and called the police. The police then called the FBI because most of the money handled at the facility belonged to banks, which technically made it a bank robbery — a federal offense.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Investigators considered Ghantt to be the prime suspect almost from the beginning. He was the only employee unaccounted for the next morning, and videotapes recovered at the Loomis Fargo Charlotte office showed Ghantt removing "cubes of cash" and loading it into a Loomis Fargo armored van for over an hour.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Two days later, when the FBI found the Loomis Fargo armored van, they discovered almost $3.3 million in cash left in the back of the van; it was later discovered that the thieves had miscalculated the sheer bulk of the small denomination currency, and that they simply left the cash that they could not take with them in the back of the van. Investigators also found Ghantt's pickup truck, abandoned at the warehouse. Inside the truck, they found Ghantt's ring and surmised this was a sign of Ghantt's intention to end his relationship with his wife.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Although the FBI investigation was able to quickly connect Ghantt to Campbell, connecting Ghantt to Chambers was a more difficult task. Tips had led the FBI to begin monitoring Chambers's (and his wife's) activities, but it was not until the FBI recorded a phone call from Ghantt in Mexico that the final connection was made. By then, the FBI had become greatly concerned for Ghantt's personal safety; they had learned that Chambers had plotted to have Ghantt killed in a murder for hire scheme using a "hit man" named Michael McKinney.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: The FBI investigation was aided by the gang's extravagant spending. They had initially agreed to control their spending for a year or two, in the belief that the government would vigorously track the spending habits of any and all suspects for at least a year before relenting.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Chambers had no intention of following those rules, believing the FBI would never connect him to Ghantt. He and his wife, Michelle, moved from their mobile home in Lincoln County to a luxury house in the wealthy Cramer Mountain section of Cramerton. They kept several furnishings from the previous owners, including a painting of Elvis Presley on black velvet. They also bought a BMW Z3 with cash and made several large purchases, including a $600 cigar store Indian. Campbell used part of her share of the money to buy a Toyota Sienna minivan in two cash installments.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: An additional tip reached the FBI when Michelle Chambers made a large deposit at a bank. She had previously been making frequent small deposits to avert suspicion. But after one visit, she asked a teller "How much can I deposit before you have to report it to the feds?" followed by "Don't worry, it is not drug money," the bank filled out a suspicious activity report, which ultimately reached the FBI.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Ghantt's spending in Mexico was extravagant at first. He had stayed in a luxury hotel and paid for expensive food and activities such as scuba diving and parasailing. Ghantt reported to Chambers that his supply of money was running low, but Chambers sent Ghantt just $8,000. Ghantt, in order to conserve this money, curtailed his spending. He also took various measures to change his appearance, such as shaving, after a patron at a restaurant pointed out to him that he "looked like the man who robbed a bank of $20 million."


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: After successfully tracing Ghantt's phone call, FBI agents coordinated with Mexican police to arrest Ghantt on March 1, 1998, at Playa del Carmen, a city near Cancun. The next day, Steve and Michelle Chambers, Kelly Campbell, and four others were arrested.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: On March 12, a Charlotte grand jury indicted the eight co-conspirators for bank larceny and money laundering; the latter offense was included because of how they spent the stolen money.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Nine other relatives and friends were also charged with money laundering, as they had co-signed for safe deposit boxes used to store some of the money; prosecutors opted to charge them on the grounds that they should have known the money was obtained illegally. On similar grounds, four other people were ultimately also charged with money laundering.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty. They received sentences and probation ranging from several years to 11 years and three months in federal prison for Steve Chambers, who was also fined more than $3,500,000. The only defendant to not plead guilty, Chambers's attorney Jeff Guller, was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to eight years in prison. By comparison, Ghantt served seven years in prison and was fined $26,000. He was released in 2006. Michelle Chambers received a harsher sentence than Ghantt — seven years and eight months — because she had violated several bond conditions.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: The defendants were the targets of many barbed jokes in Charlotte and across the country, in part because of their extravagant spending. For a time, it was nicknamed "the hillbilly heist" because nearly all of the major players in the case came from small towns around Charlotte.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: It was later confirmed by the FBI that more than 88% of the stolen cash had been located or otherwise accounted for. More than 2 million dollars is still missing to this day.


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: Steven Chambers finished serving his sentence in November 2006. In February 2009 the Associated Press reported that Chambers had chosen to describe himself as "changed".


title: October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery

text: "Rocket Science", a 1998 double-disc album by Charlotte-based radio personalities John Boy & Billy, includes a track ("Marvin: The Loomis Caper") mocking the defendants.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: Anthony Henderson (born June 17, 1973), better known as Krayzie Bone, is an American rapper, singer, producer, and entrepreneur. He is a member of the rap group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: Henderson comes from a fourth generation family of Jehovah's Witnesses, and as such does not celebrate Christmas. He believes many rappers are unintentionally following the agenda of the Illuminati.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: After finding success with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Krayzie Bone recorded his solo debut, "Thug Mentality 1999", in 1999. The album was released as a double disc set, featuring a large selection of guest appearances, including Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Mo Thugs, Mariah Carey, ThugLine, The Marley Brothers, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Cuban Link, Gangsta Boo, E-40, 8 Ball & MJG, Kurupt, Naughty By Nature and Snoop Dogg. Largely produced by multi instrumentalist Romeo Antonio The album was certified platinum by the RIAA.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: In 2001, Krayzie released "Thug On Da Line", which received generally positive reviews from music critics and went gold.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: In 2005 Krayzie Bone was featured in the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire. "Ridin'" was awarded "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. It was also nominated for Best Rap Song. It became number one in December on the Piczo Chart 3 months after its physical release. The song also topped the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart when it was released there. The song ranked #3 on "Rolling Stone"<nowiki>'s</nowiki> "100 Best Songs of 2006" and #91 on VH1's


title: Krayzie Bone

text: "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". It was the best selling ringtone in 2006, with 3.2 million sales, certified by the RIAA as the first multi-platinum Mastertone artist in history. It was also awarded the last Best Rap Video at the MTV Video Music Awards, which was awarded in 2006.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: During an April 2014 press conference, Krayzie Bone announced that the first installment of the "Chasing the Devil" trilogy album would be released July 22, 2014 by RBC Records. However, it was pushed back and ultimately released on November 20, 2015.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: Aside from music, Krayzie Bone has since then ventured into the business world. He was a founding member of Mo Thugs Family, a collective of Cleveland-based rap and Hip-Hop musical acts. He broke apart from the group in 1999 to form ThugLine Records, or TL. He had administrated the label to fellow Bone Thugs member Wish Bone as its president and co-CEO. The group has presently reunited and continue to tour as a whole. In many videos he can be spotted wearing a chain that says TL. In 2010 the name ThugLine Records was changed to The Life Entertainment. In order to reach out to more artists and identify the best talent for the label, Conquer The Industry was developed as an internet channel to help up and coming music artists break into the music industry. As a part of his entrepreneurial drive, Krayzie Bone launched a clothing and accessory line named "TL Apparel" which is a direct tie to his music. Many of his fans support his clothing line as they joined him in the grand opening of the store in Los Angeles.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: In 2018 Krayzie Bone signed a deal to distribute his digital media company,”Krayzie Bone Media” with The Digital Soapbox Network.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: His first show “Quick Fix”-The Afterhours was his first project with the network. In 2019 he started the conspiracy podcast #TruthTalks which has garnered a large online following.


title: Krayzie Bone

text: Most recently, Krayzie Bone has found renewed public interest after Bone Thugs-N-Harmony battled long time rivals Three Six Mafia in one of the more notable Verzuz showdowns. With his name back in the spotlight, Krayzie has seized this opportunity to start the “Spread the Love” foundation, a venture in which investments are used to help the youth excel in music and arts within the Cleveland community. On the music side of things, Krayzie Bone teamed up with Fatlip (of The Pharcyde) to assist him on the lead single (“Dust in the Wind”) for his album, “Sccit & Siavash The Grouch Present… Fatlip - Torpor”. The single dropped on February 18, 2022 and marks the first time a member of Bone Thugs collaborated with a member of The Pharcyde.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Zoltan Bathory (born in 1978) is a Hungarian-American musician and martial artist. He is the founder and rhythm guitarist of Las Vegas-based heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. In 2010, he was named Golden God's "Best Shredder" by "Metal Hammer" magazine.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: He is an actively competing martial artist, a black belt in both jiu-jitsu and judo, and 2021's Jiu-Jitsu American Nationals Silver Medalist. in Black Belt Masters Super Heavy Division. Bathory is also a founding board member of the veterans nonprofit Home Deployment Project in Las Vegas and sits on the Board of Advisors at VETPAW (Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife), an anti-poaching organization operating on the African continent, composed of US combat veterans.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Bathory joined the post-grunge band U.P.O. in 2004, replacing Ben Shirley on bass. He left the band in 2005, switched back to guitar, and went on to form the heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch in Los Angeles, California.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Five Finger Death Punch recorded their debut album in 2006 with engineers Steve Bruno and Mike Sarkisyan. It was mixed by Soulfly/Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader. Soon after finishing the album, the band was signed by a major management company The Firm and "The Way of the Fist" was released on July 31, 2007. This self-produced record sold 500,000 copies in the US and spawned three top-10 singles. Their follow-up album, "War Is the Answer" was released on September 22, 2009, through Prospect Park Records. The record debuted number 7 on the "Billboard" 200 and all four singles (off of the album) made it to the top 10 mainstream rock charts. "War Is the Answer" stayed on "Billboard"s Top 100 for over a record-breaking 92 weeks and sold over 1,000,000 copies.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Their third record "American Capitalist" was even more successful. It debuted at number 3 on the "Billboard" 200, had another three top 10 singles and it achieved Gold status within a year of its release. It has since been certified Platinum. In 2013, the band released a double studio album "The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1" and "Volume 2" within three months from each other. Both albums debuted at number 2 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. "Volume 1" featured guest vocalists Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Maria Brink of In This Moment, Tech N9ne, Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, and Max Cavalera of Sepultura and Soulfly. Both albums also became certified Platinum.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: The band's sixth record "Got Your Six" was the band's biggest first-week commercial success. The record was number one on "Billboard" 200's physical sales chart and number 2 on the overall charts. Since 2010, only six metal albums had achieved RIAA Certified Platinum Status: Metallica's "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct" and five of Five Finger Death Punch's albums ("War Is the Answer", "American Capitalist", "Wrong Side of Heaven, Volume 1" and "Volume 2", and "Got Your Six"). The band have had twenty one top 10 hit singles on U.S. Mainstream Rock Radio. Bathory won the "Best Shredder" award at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. The award was the third Golden God trophy the band received (the first was for 2009 Best New Artist and the second for 2010 Breakthrough Artist, respectively).


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In 2013, the band was nominated and won another Golden God Award (Song of the Year) with "Lift Me Up". This number one mainstream rock hit featured Rob Halford of Judas Priest as a guest vocalist. Halford and Rob Zombie joined the band's performance at the Golden Gods Award Ceremony.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In 2017, it was announced that Bathory expanded into artist management and took a new band, Bad Wolves, under his wing. Bad Wolves' first record "Disobey" was released in May 2018 via Eleven Seven Records. The Bathory managed band's first single "Zombie" became a number one hit in the United States and several other countries.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In 2009, B.C. Rich launched three Zoltan Bathory Artist Signature Guitars: Bathory – Assassin (Artist Signature Model). Bathory runs this through TC Electronic G-System and Diamond Amplifiers. He uses a Dunlop heavy core string set (gauge of .13 to .66).


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: It was announced in November 2014, that DBZ Guitars had teamed up with Bathory to create the company's first ever Diamond signature guitars. Although Bathory made the switch to Diamond/DBZ guitars in late 2014, the company claims he goes way back with Diamond, as he designed several guitars in Diamond's arsenal in the past (Bird of Pray, Halcyon) and he's used their amplifiers for over a decade.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Five Finger Death Punch have played many military benefit concerts, visited bases around the world and spearheaded a fundraising campaign for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In 2014, the band launched a campaign that raised over $225,000. The band used their recent music video for their latest single "Wrong Side of Heaven" to focus on the theme and launched website 5fdp4Vets.com. They also started selling a custom jersey which was designed by Bathory, on Indiegogo. The funds raised went to organizations that raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Bathory was elected as the chairman of development of the non-profit organization The Home Deployment Project in Las Vegas, helping veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic homelessness.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In 2017, it was announced that Bathory had joined VETPAW (Veterans Empowered To Protect African Wildlife), an anti-poaching organization consisting of US combat veterans. VETPAW focuses on fighting against illegal rhino killings on the continent. To achieve this, VETPAW launched Operation Rhino Shield in South Africa where they deployed a team of Army, Marine and Navy veterans on private reserves that are under direct threat from rhino poachers.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Bathory is a long-time supporter of law enforcement and first responders. In 2017, Five Finger Death Punch donated $58,000 to The Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation, an organization recognized by the Department of Justice, that's available to assist the departments and families of fallen police officers by identifying all the federal and state benefits that are available for them.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In 2018, Bathory spearheaded another campaign wherein his band Five Finger Death Punch donated a portion of their ticket sales ($95,000) to C.O.P.S. (Concerns of Police Survivors), an organization that supports families of officers killed in the line of duty by offering scholarships, counseling services and peer support.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In 2019, Five Finger Death Punch teamed up with Brantley Gilbert, Brian May of Queen and Kenny Wayne Shepherd to re-record a new version of Shepherd's song "Blue on Black". All proceeds from the recording is donated to First Responders via The Gary Sinise Foundation.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In his private life, Bathory is an actively competing martial artist, who practices judo (black belt) and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (black belt), often appearing in martial art magazines. He is married to Heather Grace Gracie, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s Founding Father Carlos Gracie’s grand daughter. He is a member of the Gracie Humaita Jiu-Jitsu Competition Team, under Professor Amilcar Cipili (5th Degree) and 8th Degree Black Belt Master Royler Gracie. Bathory won the silver medal at the 2021 American National JiuJitsu Championship in the Black Belt Super Heavy Weight Masters Division and the Open Weight Class Absolute Division. He also placed second at the Abu-Dhabi Pro Jiu-Jitsu World Trials and at The North American Grappling Championship in 2011. He placed third at the 2012 Masters World Championship in his division. He is one of the few civilians certified by the US Army as an L1 Modern Army Combatives Instructor – Close Quarter Combat. Bathory also practices Wing Chun Kung-Fu under Grand Master Randy Williams C.R.C. Academy and Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu under professor John Simons III. Bathory is featured in former Navy Seal Team 6 operator Clint Emerson's "100 Deadly Skills Combat Edition – The Most Dangerous Men in America" series.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: In May 2014, Bathory joined Monster Jam Free Style World Champion Jimmy Creten's Monster Truck Racing Team 2Xtreme Racing as their driver behind the wheel of the new "Knucklehead" truck. Bathory's professional debut took place in California at the WGAS Motorsport Flip Fest Monster Truck and Motocross Show. Bathory raced at Florida's EastBay Race Way, Kansas City Speedway, Newfoundland Raceway in Canada, and appeared at the 2015 Monster Jam Finals in Las Vegas.


title: Zoltan Bathory

text: Bathory is a contributing writer and social-political commentator for the nationally distributed "Skillset" magazine.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with multiple aisles and a fuselage diameter of more than , allowing at least seven-abreast seating and often more travel classes.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: Historically, beginning in the late 1960s and continuing through the 1990s, twin engine narrow-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 Classic, McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 and Airbus A320 were primarily employed in short to medium-haul markets requiring neither the range nor the passenger-carrying capacity of that period's wide-body aircraft.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: The re-engined B737 MAX and A320neo jets offer 500 miles more range, allowing them to operate the 3,000 miles transatlantic flights between the eastern U.S. and Western Europe, previously dominated by wide-body aircraft.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: Norwegian Air Shuttle, JetBlue Airways and TAP Portugal will open up direct routes bypassing airline hubs for lower fares between cheaper, smaller airports.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: The B737NG 3,300-mile range is insufficient for fully laden operations and operates at reduced capacity like the A318, while the Airbus A321LR could replace the less fuel efficient B757s used since their production ended in 2004.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: Boeing will face competition and pricing pressure from the Embraer E-Jet E2 family, Airbus A220 (formerly Bombardier CSeries) and Comac C919.


title: Narrow-body aircraft

text: Between 2016 and 2035, Flightglobal expects 26,860 single-aisles to be delivered for almost $1380.0 billion, 45% Airbus A320 family ceo and neo and 43% Boeing 737 NG and max.