text: Next, on June 27, the president's counsel, James St. Clair, opened President Nixon's impeachment defense before the House Judiciary Committee. In Nixon's defense St. Clair argued that the president could be impeached only on solid proof of "great offenses committed against the government," not simply "maladministration." During this phase of the hearings, Republican committee members and St. Clair were permitted to name witnesses they wanted to hear from and devise subpoenas they wanted issued, but any such requests had to be approved by the full committee, meaning the majority had an ability to block said requests if they wanted. After a long and contentious debate, the committee agreed to hear five such witnesses in closed session: John Dean (former White House counsel), Frederick LaRue (a former White House and Nixon re-election campaign aide), Herbert W. Kalmbach (Nixon's former personal lawyer), Alexander Butterfield (former Nixon deputy assistant), and Assistant U.S. Attorney General Henry E. Petersen.


title: Impeachment process against Richard Nixon

text: All through the hearings, President Nixon attempted to preserve his support in the House by wooing senior figures there, including some conservative Democrats, by inviting them to White House functions or evening cruises on the presidential yacht . At the same time, statements from White House officials grew increasingly more scathing, the overall impeachment inquiry was derided as a "partisan witch hunt" and the committee's proceedings derided as "a kangaroo court."


text: Additionally, finding himself increasingly paralyzed on the domestic front by Watergate, Nixon purposefully showcased his foreign affairs acumen by traveling to the Middle East, to Brussels for a NATO summit, and to the Soviet Union in June 1974. In Egypt he met with President Anwar Sadat, and was cheered by millions as a result of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy earlier that year. Then, in the Soviet Union, he and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the Threshold Test Ban Treaty. The White House worked to portray these visits, and the president himself, as vital to peace and prosperity in that part of the world. Unknown to the public at the time, Nixon was suffering a potentially fatal case of phlebitis. White House doctors reportedly tried to persuade Nixon to forego the trip, but he insisted; there was reportedly speculation among the president's security detail that he was deliberately courting death by insisting on going, believing that dramatic end preferable to suffering further Watergate troubles and possible impeachment.


text: On July 9, the Judiciary Committee released its own version of eight of the White House tapes of which Nixon had previously issued his own transcript. The committee transcripts benefited from superior playback equipment, which restored some of the potentially damaging statements that Nixon staffers had removed or heard differently. This was followed three days later by the committee's release of its accumulated evidence, which ran to 4,133 pages in all—3,891 pages assembled by the impeachment inquiry staff, as well as a 242-page rebuttal by James St. Clair, but contained neither commentary nor conclusions from the committee. Afterward St. Clair acknowledged for the first time publicly that a committee vote in favor of impeachment was likely, but White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler said the president remained confident that the full House would not impeach.


text: Ten days after arguing the case of "United States v. Nixon" before the U.S. Supreme Court, July 18, 1974, St. Clair presented his final argument against impeaching the president to the Judiciary Committee. A vote to impeach could be justified only by "clear and convincing" evidence, he told the committee, "because anything less than that, in my view, is going to result in recrimination, bitterness and divisiveness among the people." He then attempted to refute the charges related to Nixon's involvement in the Watergate cover-up, and also outlined the president's position on the various other issues brought before the committee by the inquiry staff. In closing St. Clair said, "in light of the complete absence of any conclusive evidence demonstrating Presidential wrongdoings sufficient to justify the grave action of impeachment, the committee must conclude that a recommendation of impeachment is not justified."


text: For his part, Doar, who had heretofore maintained a neutral stance on impeachment, painted a picture for the committee of a president who by his actions had attempted to subvert the Constitution. Speaking about the rule of law and presidential obligations and about the evidence, he made the case for articles of impeachment against on charges of: obstruction of justice, abuse of power for political purposes, defying Judiciary Committee subpoenas, and tax evasion. "Reasonable men acting reasonably," he said, "would find the president guilty" of misusing the power of his office. Afterward, Albert Jenner, the impeachment inquiry committee's chief minority counsel, said he "agreed with every word" Doar had spoken. Infuriated, committee Republicans sidelined Jenner on July 22, in favor of assistant minority counsel Sam Garrison.


text: A Harris Poll was released in mid-July which showed that 53 percent of Americans supported Nixon's impeachment by the House. That same poll showed that 47 percent thought he should be convicted in a Senate trial and removed from office, and 34 percent thought he should be acquitted (19 percent were undecided). A Gallup Poll, released July 25, revealed that Nixon's overall job approval rating had slipped to a new low point of 24 percent, down considerably from its pre-Watergate hearings peak of 67 percent at the end of January 1973 (immediately after announcing the Paris Peace Accords).


text: In a much-anticipated landmark ruling on July 24, 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered President Nixon to release all White House tapes, not just selected transcripts, pertinent to the Watergate investigation. The unanimous ruling in "United States v. Nixon" found that the president of the United States does not possess an absolute, unqualified executive privilege to withhold information. Writing for the court, Chief Justice Warren Burger stated:


text: A short while after the decision was made public, Nixon issued a statement saying that, while "disappointed in the result, I respect and accept the court's decision, and I have instructed Mr. St. Clair to take whatever measures are necessary to comply with that decision in all respects." The president was at the Western White House in California at the time, where he remained through July 28.


text: Ready to consider a resolution to impeach President Nixon, the Judiciary Committee resumed public hearings on July 24; the process of debating, amending and rewriting the proposal (known as "markup) continued through July 30. As agreed to by the committee, two days of general debate were held (July 24–25), and then each article of impeachment in the proposed resolution was considered separately. The final four-day debate on the articles had an estimated television audience of 35–40million people, according to Nielsen ratings, with the average U.S. household watching 1.9 days of the debates, for an average of 3 hours 49 minutes.


text: Chairman Rodino set the tone for the proceedings in his opening remarks, saying: "We have deliberated. We have been patient. We have been fair. Now the American people, the House of Representatives and the Constitution and the whole history of our republic demand that we make up our minds." Then, the second ranking Democrat on the committee, Harold Donohue, set the framework, introducing the proposed resolution of impeachment, which included two draft articles. The first accused Nixon of having obstructed justice by participating in the Watergate cover-up. The second listed a number of alleged abuses of presidential authority.


text: Next, one by one, committee members spoke. Democrat Jack Brooks, who had been enthusiastically working toward Nixon's impeachment and conviction, expressed his hope that Republicans could not, any more than Democrats, "tolerate the flouting of our laws by a president who is constitutionally charged with seeing to faithful execution of the laws." He also urged the committee not to waver in its pursuit of the president's impeachment. "This is not a pleasant duty, but it is our constitutional duty," he said. "Its performance may mean ignoring personal and political relationships of long standing. But we as well as the president are on trial for how faithfully we fulfill our constitutional responsibility."


text: Earlier in July, Brooks had drafted and distributed to all members of the committee a strongly-worded set of impeachment articles. Though strident and partisan, they provided the impetus for other Democrats to begin framing articles of their own. Further, the Brooks articles heavily influenced the set of articles presented to the committee on July 24. Because of the part he played in the president's downfall, Nixon later called Brooks his "executioner."


text: Walter Flowers, a Southern Democrat from Alabama, a state which supported Nixon in 1972, had been leaning against impeachment, but after a long struggle, he indicated on July 25 that he would vote for impeachment. The congressman said: "I felt that if we didn't impeach, we'd just ingrain and stamp in our highest office a standard of conduct that's just unacceptable." Charles Rangel had a somber yet positive take that day on the proceedings. Viewing them as confirmation of the Constitution's soundness, he declared: "Some say this is a sad day in America's history. I think it could perhaps be one of our brightest days. It could be really a test of the strength of our Constitution, because what I think it means to most Americans is that when this or any other president violates his sacred oath of office, the people are not left helpless."


text: On July 25, 1974, Democrat Barbara Jordan delivered a robust speech extolling the U.S. Constitution and its checks and balances. With a booming voice she declared: "I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." Her denunciation of President Nixon's abuses of power stirred the nation and earned her national recognition and praise for her rhetoric, genuineness, and insight.


text: The first visible crack in the ranks of Republican committee members opened July 23 when Lawrence Hogan announced that he would vote for impeachment, charging that Nixon had "lied repeatedly" to Congress and to the American people. He had frequently defended the president before the committee during the hearings, "but after reading the transcripts," he said, describing how he decided to support impeachment, "it was sobering: the number of untruths, the deception, and the immoral attitudes. At that point, I began tilting against the president, and my conviction grew steadily." Reflecting nearly 20 years later, Nixon described Hogan's defection as "a very bad blow."


text: Two days later, Republican Hamilton Fish indicated his willingness to support certain articles of impeachment. "At the very least," Fish explained, the president "is bound not to violate the law, not to order others to violate the law, and not to participate in the concealment of evidence respecting violations of the law of which he is made aware." William Cohen also announced his decision to vote in favor of impeachment, saying: "I have been faced with the terrible responsibility of assessing the conduct of a president that I voted for, believed to be the best man to lead this country. But a president who in the process by act or acquiescence allowed the rule of law and the Constitution to slip under the boots of indifference and arrogance and abuse." Similarly, M. Caldwell Butler also announced his decision to vote in favor of impeachment, saying: "For years we Republicans have campaigned against corruption and misconduct... but Watergate is our shame."


text: As the public hearings resumed, a coalition composed of Moderate Republicans Fish, Butler, Cohen, and Tom Railsback, plus Southern Democrats Walter Flowers, James Mann and Ray Thornton, began crafting articles of impeachment on abuse of power and obstruction of justice. Their work ensured that the wording of the committee's final set of articles would have solid bipartisan support.


text: Other Republicans on the committee, however, looked at the evidence but concluded that it did not meet their standards for impeachment. Wiley Mayne, for one, contended that the case against Nixon was circumstantial, nothing but "a series of inferences piled upon other inferences." Even so, he was critical of the administration's "moral tone" when he spoke on July 25, saying he certainly deplored "the sorry example which was set by the chief executive... in his personal as well as his official conduct."


text: Nixon's Republican defenders had, from the start of the impeachment hearings, construed the evidence as narrowly as possible, demanded ironclad proof and offered innocuous interpretations of information damaging to the president. Continuing that strategy during the televised debate, Charles W. Sandman Jr. asserted on July 24 that those advocating impeachment had failed to provide decisive evidence that the president had committed an impeachable offense. During his opening speech he said, "If somebody, for the first time in seven months, gives me something that is direct, I will vote to impeach." The next day, Charles E. Wiggins, perhaps President Nixon's strongest defender during the House proceedings, eloquently sought to reinforce the message that there was no specific evidence directly linking Nixon to any criminal act, declaring, "Simple theories, of course, are inadequate." He then added, "That is not evidence. A supposition, however persuasive, is not evidence. A bare possibility that something might have happened is not evidence."


text: By contrast, committee Democrats and pro-impeachment Republicans pointed to specific presidential acts and conversations they considered solid evidence. In doing so, they frequently turned to transcripts of taped presidential conversations to read back Nixon's own words. Among them was Democrat Elizabeth Holtzman, who recited quote after quote to frame her argument.


text: At the close of the marathon two-day general debate, Rodino said publicly for the first time that he would recommend the adoption of the articles of impeachment. By then it was clear that a sizable bipartisan majority of Judiciary Committee members were prepared to support the resolution formally proposing the impeachment of President Nixon—all 21 Democrats plus six Republicans according to "The New York Times". As the committee pressed ahead the next day to consider its proposed articles of impeachment, Deputy White House Press Secretary Gerald Lee Warren noted that Nixon was "virtually resigned to the likelihood" that the committee would recommend impeachment with a bipartisan majority. But nonetheless, he added: "Our belief is that the House will not vote out a bill of impeachment."


text: At the outset of the committee's proceedings on July 26, Paul Sarbanes offered a substitute for Harold Donohue's first article of impeachment. Formulated through negotiations between liberal Democrats, led by Jack Brooks, and the Southern Democrat – Moderate Republican coalition group, it passed, following two days of impassioned debate, by a 27–11 margin; with six Republicans voting in favor along with all 21 Democrats. The article alleged that the president had worked with subordinates to "delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation" into the Watergate break-in; to cover up, conceal and protect those responsible; and to conceal the existence and scope of other unlawful covert activities."


text: As debate on the article commenced, Republican opponents of impeachment complained that the article was unfair because it did not contain "specificity" regarding the details of the obstruction of justice charge, the dates, names and events on which it was based. One after another, they challenged those who would impeach to come up with more details in purposeful conversations to be linked together as part of a concerted plan by Nixon to obstruct justice. Use of the term became a focal point: as the "New York Times" reported, "For two days the 38 members of the House Judiciary Committee have argued and quibbled and sometimes shouted about the meaning of the word 'specificity.'" The question in part revolved around how much of the Constitution's requirements for due process and legal notice applied to an impeachment proceeding, as well as around evolving standards regarding the level of detail in criminal indictments in general.


text: Charles Sandman was one of those most vocal in demanding the specifics for each alleged obstructing act. He led the Republican opposition against the nine subsections of the Sarbanes proposal one by one. His objective was to maneuver those favoring impeachment into divisive arguments over what particulars to include. The "specificity" argument by the Nixon defenders appeared effective, which initially led some proponents of the article to worry, but ultimately caused them to rally.


text: John Doar distributed a list of brief discussion points detailing the evidence against the president, which one Democrat after another used to enumerate Nixon's misdeeds when it was their turn at the microphones. Proponents of the article also persistently countered arguments about the lack of specific details of the alleged obstruction of justice by stating that the supporting facts should and would be included in the committee's final report rather than jammed into the article itself.


text: Ultimately the "specificity" tactic proved ineffective and was abandoned. In acknowledging the reality of the situation, Sandman lamented on July 28 that, "There is no way the outcome of this vote is going to be changed by debate." In the end, the solid bipartisan vote in favor of the first article, which transcended ideological alliances, put to rest the charge that the committee's proceedings were nothing more than a partisan vendetta against the president.


text: On July 29, William Hungate offered a substitute for Donohue's second article of impeachment. Formulated through the same process as the first article substitute, it passed, following a spirited debate, by a 28–10 margin; with seven Republicans voting "yes" along with all 21 Democrats. The article stated that the president had "repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens" by "impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries." Moreover, it asserted that the president had violated his constitutional oath of office and failed in his duty to take care that the nation's laws are faithfully executed by:


text: In support of the president's impeachment, George E. Danielson made a forceful argument for Article II, calling it "the most important article this committee may pass out." He went on to say that: "The offenses charged are uniquely presidential offenses. No one else can commit them... Only the president can violate the oath of the office of president... Only the president can harm the presidency." Also supporting Article II (after opposing Article I) was the committee's second ranking Republican, Robert McClory, whose view it was that the article "really gets at the crux" of the committee's responsibility for holding the president accountable for his actions while in office. Its inclusion in the impeachment resolution would, he said, "aid future Presidents to know this Congress and this House Judiciary Committee will hold them to an oath of office and an obligation to see that the laws are faithfully executed."


text: Though there was no doubt that the article would be approved, Nixon's stalwart Republican defenders continued to press the president's case. Edward Hutchinson accused the Democrats of building their case on cherry picked events from the Nixon presidency, asking rhetorically, "Is it really fair? Does it depict the whole truth to examine the entire record of this administration... and to cull from that huge mass of official actions this relative handful of specific allegations and derive from them the proposition that the President's conduct has been repeatedly unlawful?" Charles Wiggins questioned whether abuses of power fell within the Constitutional definition of high crimes and misdemeanors. He warned that "Adoption of such an article would embed in our constitutional history for the first time... the principle that a president may be impeached because of the view of Congress that he has abused his powers although he may have acted in violation of no law." He also attempt to narrow the scope and gut key allegations, but every amendment he proposed was easily defeated by the substantial bipartisan majority favoring the article.


text: On July 30, the final day of its impeachment debate, Article III, charging Nixon with contempt of Congress for his defiance of eight Judiciary Committee subpoenas, issued during April, May and June 1974, was introduced by Robert McClory, and was approved by a narrow 21–17 margin. The president's refusal to comply with federal court and congressional subpoenas had been included among the various charges of abuses of authority in the initial version of Article II, but was absent from the substitute. Proponents argued that Nixon's consistent "stonewalling" constituted an impeachable offence as it threatened to diminish the House's constitutional impeachment power. McClory argued that the claim of executive privilege "has no place in an impeachment inquiry." Opponents argued that the dispute over access to evidence should have been handled either through the courts or by seeking a House citation for contempt of Congress. Seven Republican who had been part of the bipartisan coalition driving the first two articles returned to the party fold; one, Tom Railsback, warned that the Democratic majority appeared bent on "political overkill," by considering additional articles.


text: Next, John Conyers introduced an article charging that Nixon had intentionally concealed "the facts" from Congress and had submitted to Congress "false and misleading statements concerning the existence, scope and nature of American bombing operations in Cambodia" in disregard of Congress's constitutional power to declare war. Conyers, an outspoken Nixon critic (and number 13 on Nixon's Enemies List), argued that the president's desire to cover-up the facts of the bombing campaign was another example of the issue underlying "all of the acts [of presidential wrongdoing] that have been debated thus far." The article failed to gain widespread support, however, and was defeated 12–26. Nine Democrats, including Rodino, along with all 17 Republicans voted against it.


text: While no one challenged the veracity of the allegations contained in the article, it failed, Conyers later observed, because "condemning the Cambodian bombing would also have required us to indict previous administrations and to admit that the Congress has failed to fully meet its own constitutional obligations." Those opposed to including the article raised compelling arguments, pointing out that key congressional leaders of both political parties had been privy to the information and had neither said anything to the rest of Congress nor done anything about it, contending that the president's actions had been appropriate uses of his power as Commander-in-chief, and noting that this particular congressional-authority versus presidential-authority dispute had already been addressed by the War Powers Resolution (passed over Nixon's veto one year earlier). Another factor working against the proposal was the realization that putting the Cambodia article before the full House would interject the volatile issue of the role of the U.S. military in the Vietnam War into the impeachment debate.


text: Lastly, Edward Mezvinsky introduced an article charging that improvements made to Nixon's private homes at San Clemente, California and Key Biscayne, Florida at government expense constituted a violation of the Domestic Emoluments Clause, and also that his acknowledged underpayment of federal income taxes between 1969 and 1972 constituted willful tax evasion. Mezvinsky asserted that Nixon "took advantage of the Presidency to avoid paying proper taxes." Nixon's malfeasance since entering office was a "serious threat to our tax system," he said, because "we expect the law to be applied equally to every taxpayer." After a debate scheduled by the committee's leaders so as to reach the prime‐time television audience, the article was rejected, also by a 12–26 margin.


text: Those opposed to its inclusion as part of the impeachment resolution raised several objections. On the emoluments charge they pointed out that the property improvements made at the president's Florida and California residences had been made at the request of the U.S. Secret Service and contended that there was no direct evidence to show that the president knew that government money was being spent on the projects. On the taxes charge it was argued that there was insufficient evidence to prove an intent to defraud, and that the alleged crime was not an impeachable offense as it did not involve an abuse of presidential power.


text: The Judiciary Committee agreed to three articles of impeachment against President Nixon. Together they were a sharp rebuke of his conduct in office, as each one concluded with the same declaration, that:


text: The committee finished its work on July 30, 1974, two years, one month and 13 days after the Watergate break-in. "By its diligence and the bipartisan magnitude of its vote," "Time" Magazine wrote a few days later, "the House Judiciary Committee has virtually assured a substantial, bipartisan vote for impeachment in the full House. That in turn is sure to have an impact on the Senate, as will public opinion."


text: The article also specified nine ways by which the president was alleged to have carried out the plan to obstruct the investigation.


text: The article also cited five specific examples of alleged misconduct to substantiate this charge against the president.


text: Despite "a triple whammy" of events in late July—the widely covered Judiciary Committee hearings, the Supreme Court's order to surrender the tapes, and six Republican defections—Nixon, according to White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig, had not "changed one iota his sense of self‐confidence and sense of determination to see this thing through." He was closely studying the possible vote counts that impeachment in the House or trial in the Senate would get; Henry Kissinger later sympathetically described the president at this time as "a man awake in his own nightmare." Republican leaders in Congress were also estimating vote counts. During a July 29 meeting between House Minority Leader John Rhodes and Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, Rhodes estimated that impeachment in the House would get as many as 300 votes (well more than the 218 needed) and Scott surmised that there were 60 votes for conviction in the Senate (a little short of 67 necessary). Both felt that the situation was deteriorating for the president.


text: Public support for the president was also deteriorating. A Harris Poll completed August 3 found that two‐thirds (66%) of the American public "believe that President Nixon should be impeached over Watergate scandals and tried." The "pro‐impeachment" total had increased by 13 percentage points during the course of the Judiciary Committee's televised debate and votes on the articles of impeachment.


text: On August 2, the House Rules Committee announced that the Judiciary Committee's report on the three articles of impeachment would be completed by August 8, and that the House would begin debating them on August 19. "The Washington Post" reported on August 7 that the members of the Democratic and Republican leadership had agreed informally to cut in half the time for debating impeachment on the House floor. Thus the televised debate would have lasted for one week rather than two.


text: Soon after the Judiciary Committee approved the first article of impeachment, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and Senator Scott met to start planning for a likely impeachment trial. The 100 senators would have served as jurors, with Chief Justice Burger presiding; a group of House members would have prosecuted, with Nixon's lawyers defending. Following a delay to give the president time to prepare, the actual trial, according to Senator Jacob Javits, was unlikely to start before November and might run well into January 1975.


text: Francis R. Valeo, the secretary of the U.S. Senate, was put in charge of making the arrangements. It was decided that there would be television coverage of the trial, and technical preparations and discussions of specific ground rules for the press and the public were underway. Because Nixon might be forced to be in attendance during the Senate proceedings, Kissinger came up with plans to form a small group to manage the government in the president's place, to be composed of a few top Cabinet officers and congressional leaders as well as Chief of Staff Haig.


text: President Nixon complied with the Supreme Court order to deliver all subpoenaed tape recordings to Watergate investigators on July 30. White House secretaries prepared verbatim transcripts, and in accordance with Judge Sirica's order, copies went to St. Clair—who had not previously listened to any of the tapes, as Nixon had never granted him access. When transcripts were made public on August 5, a conversation on one, recorded June 23, 1972, only a few days after the break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices, proved that Nixon's assertion of having had no involvement in the cover-up was a lie. The tape, later known as the "smoking gun" tape, documented the initial stages of the Watergate cover-up. On it, Nixon and then-Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are heard formulating a plan to block investigations by having the CIA falsely claim to the FBI that national security was involved. This demonstrated both that Nixon had been told of the White House connection to the Watergate burglaries soon after they took place, and that he had approved plans to thwart the investigation. In a statement accompanying the release of the tape, Nixon accepted blame for misleading the country about when he had been told of White House involvement, saying he had a lapse of memory.


text: The following morning, August 6, Nixon attempted to rally his Cabinet's continued support. "In my opinion and in the opinion of my counsel, I have not committed any impeachable offense," he asserted. Therefore, he declared, "the constitutional process should be followed out to the end—wherever the end may be." In response, Vice President Ford, who had been crisscrossing the nation for months speaking in defense of the president, told Nixon that while he would continue to support Nixon's policies, he would no longer speak to the media or to the public on the subject of impeachment; Ford had issued a statement the previous evening saying he would "respectfully decline to discuss impeachment matters in public or in response to questions until the facts are more fully available."


text: Confronted with the incontrovertible fact that Nixon had played a leading role in the Watergate cover-up from its initial stages, the ranks of Nixon's defenders in Congress thinned rapidly. Various Senate Republicans expressed their "shock or outrage" and echoed the growing sentiment favoring the president's resignation. In a pointed statement, Robert P. Griffin, the assistant minority leader, urged the president to resign, saying: "I think we've arrived at a point where both the national interest and his own (Nixon's) interest would best be served by resigning." Nixon needed 34 votes to avoid conviction and removal. However, Bob Dole of Kansas speculated that "if the president had 40 votes (for acquittal in a Senate trial) a week ago, he had no more than 20 today." Additionally, John Tower of Texas said a tentative decision had been made "to send a delegation to the president to advise him of the strong sentiment among Republicans for retirement and to warn him that he will very likely be convicted in the Senate if he does not resign first." Barry Goldwater of Arizona agreed later that day to lead the delegation.


text: There was a continuous barrage of similar public declarations throughout the day by various House Republicans. Wiggins said that "the facts then known to me have now changed," and it was now clear to him that the president had a "plan of action" to cover up the break-in. For Wiggins, this was more than enough "to sustain at least one count against the president of conspiracy to obstruct justice." He urged Nixon to resign, saying that a protracted impeachment trial would not be in the nation's interest. While he announced he would vote to impeach Nixon for obstruction of justice, he would oppose the other two articles out of concern that they would set "unfortunate historical precedents." On August 2, Haig and St. Clair had invited Wiggins to review the transcripts prior to their release. Upon reading them, Wiggins concluded that they proved Nixon was involved in the cover-up. In Wiggins' view, this meant Nixon's cause in the House was "hopelessly lost," and probably lost in the Senate as well.


text: The decision of Nixon's staunchest defender on the Judiciary Committee to vote for impeachment was underlined in "The New York Times" headline of August 7, "Wiggins for Impeachment; Others in G.O.P. Join Him." The nine other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who had voted against every article of impeachment gave indication that they would vote to impeach Nixon for obstruction of justice when the vote was taken in the full House. This included some of Nixon's previously staunch supporters. David W. Dennis of Indiana said that Nixon had "destroyed his credibility" with his defenders on the committee, while Del Latta of Ohio lamented that the tapes made it obvious that "we certainly weren't given the truth" by the White House. "Devastating—impeachable," Sandman told reporters, now having the "specificity" he had demanded during the hearings. Ranking member Hutchinson announced he would support impeachment "with a heavy heart." Minority Leader Rhodes said that while he admired Nixon's accomplishments, "cover-up of criminal activity and misuse of federal agencies can neither be condoned nor tolerated." For this reason, Rhodes said, "when the roll is called in the House of Representatives, I will vote 'aye' on impeachment."


text: Among the few Republicans on Capitol Hill who still defended the president following the "smoking gun" revelation was Senator Carl Curtis, who implored Congress not to panic. He warned that the United States would become like a "banana republic" if Nixon was ousted in favor of Vice President Ford, who in turn would then select someone to fill the vice presidential slot. He said "this would mean both Ford and the new Vice President would be men who hadn't been elected to their high office, but merely nominated by a president under procedures for filling the vice presidency when it is vacant." Congressman Earl Landgrebe did as well, declaring: "Don't confuse me with the facts. I've got a closed mind. I will not vote for impeachment. I'm going to stick with my president even if he and I have to be taken out of this building and shot."


text: During the late afternoon of August 7, Senators Goldwater and Scott and Congressman Rhodes met with Nixon in the Oval Office and told him his support in Congress had all but disappeared. Scott told reporters afterward that they did not pressure Nixon to resign, but simply told the president that "the situation is very gloomy on Capitol Hill." Rhodes told the president he would face certain impeachment when the articles came up for vote in the full House. By Majority Leader O'Neill's estimate, no more than 75 representatives were willing to vote against the obstruction-of-justice article. Goldwater and Scott told the president that not only were there enough votes in the Senate to convict him, but that no more than 15 or so senators were willing to vote for acquittal. Goldwater later wrote that as a result of the meeting, Nixon "knew beyond any doubt that one way or another his presidency was finished." That night, Nixon finalized his decision to leave office.


text: Nixon met with Vice President Ford the following morning, August 8, to inform Ford of his intention to resign from office, and met with congressional leaders that evening to give them formal notice. Next, he met briefly with a group of longtime congressional friends, and then he informed the nation. Several days earlier, in advance of the release of the tapes on August 5, presidential speechwriter Ray Price had prepared two draft speeches for the president—one, a refusal-to-resign speech, and the second, a resignation speech. The latter served as the first draft of the speech Nixon delivered live on radio and television from the Oval Office that night.


text: In his address, Nixon said he was resigning because "I have concluded that because of the Watergate matter I might not have the support of the Congress that I would consider necessary to back the very difficult decisions and carry out the duties of this office in the way the interests of the nation would require." He also stated his hope that, by resigning, "I will have hastened the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." He then went on to review the accomplishments of his presidency, especially in foreign policy. Nixon acknowledged that some of his judgments "were wrong," and he expressed contrition, saying: "I deeply regret any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision." The speech contained no admission of wrongdoing, however, nor did it mention the articles of impeachment pending against him. Protesters outside the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue shouted "jail to the chief" throughout the night.


text: On the morning of August 9, 1974, after an emotional farewell to his Cabinet members and staff, Nixon and his family left the White House for San Clemente, California. He left behind a signed letter of resignation addressed to Secretary of State Kissinger (as required by the Presidential Succession Act of 1792), thereby becoming the first U.S. president to resign from office. His presidency officially ended at 11:35 am, when Kissinger received the letter, and Ford's began. A short while later, in the East Room of the White House, Ford was sworn into office by Chief Justice Burger, declaring "our long national nightmare is over."


text: Following Nixon's resignation, the impeachment process against him was closed. On August 20, the House voted to accept the final Judiciary Committee report by a vote of 412 to 3, with Republican Earl Landgrebe, plus Democrats Otto Passman and Sonny Montgomery casting the only no votes. The 528‐page report, published on August 22, laid out in detail what it called the "clear and convincing evidence" against Nixon. It also contained a statement from the committee's Republican members who had originally opposed impeachment, stating for the record that Nixon had not been "hounded from office" but rather had destroyed his own presidency through his patterns of deceit.


text: Though Nixon had not faced impeachment by the full House or a Senate trial, criminal prosecution was still a possibility at both the federal and state levels. Concerned about Nixon's well-being, and worried that the "ugly passions" aroused by the Watergate scandal would rise again during a lengthy Nixon prosecution, on September 8, 1974, President Ford granted Nixon a pardon for all crimes he had "committed or may have committed or taken part in" as president. Nixon was initially reluctant to accept the pardon because he did not want to admit guilt, but then agreed to do so. In his official acceptance of the pardon, Nixon said that he "was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy."


text: Public opinion at the time of the pardon was negative according to a September 6–9, 1974 Gallup Poll, which found that "only 38 percent of Americans said Ford should pardon Nixon, while 53 percent said he should not." Numerous congressional Democrats issued statements critical of the pardon, and in light of it, some even sought to reopen the impeachment process against the former president. Specifically, Judiciary Committee members Jerome Waldie, George Danielson, and Don Edwards spoke of pressing the committee to pursue the outstanding subpoenas in order to bring all the evidence out into the open and to complete the formal record of Nixon's wrongdoing while in office. Chairman Rodino, however, declared that "impeachment is dead," forestalling such a move.


text: The following month, Ford appeared voluntarily before the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Criminal Justice to explain the reasons behind the pardon. Two years later, lingering public resentment over the Nixon pardon was a factor in Ford's narrow loss to Democratic Party nominee Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election.


text: Nationwide, the 1974 midterm election was a landslide victory for the Democratic Party. In the House, Democrats won 49 seats previously held by Republicans and increased their majority above the two-thirds mark. Altogether, there were 93 freshmen representatives in the 94th Congress when it convened on January 3, 1975, 76 of them Democrats. Those elected to office that year later came to be known collectively as "Watergate Babies." Several Republican Judiciary Committee members were defeated in the 1974 elections by their Democratic opponents. Chief among them was Charles Sandman, who was soundly defeated by William J. Hughes. Also defeated were David W. Dennis, losing to Philip Sharp, Wiley Mayne, losing to Berkley Bedell, Harold Vernon Froehlich, losing to Robert John Cornell, and Joseph J. Maraziti, losing to Helen Stevenson Meyner.


text: Regarding the Judiciary Committee's process and its momentous recommendation that President Nixon be impeached and removed from office, Rodino, in a 1989 interview with Susan Stamberg of National Public Radio, said:


title: D'Margio Wright-Phillips

text: D'Margio Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 24 September 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays for Stoke City, as a right winger.


title: D'Margio Wright-Phillips

text: Wright-Phillips was born and raised in Manchester and attended St Bede's College. His father is Shaun Wright-Phillips and his grandfather is Ian Wright. His uncle, Bradley Wright-Phillips, is also a professional footballer and the all-time top scorer for the New York Red Bulls.


title: D'Margio Wright-Phillips

text: Wright-Phillips began his career with Manchester City. In February 2020 he moved on a loan to Blackburn Rovers until the end of the season, playing for Blackburn's youth team.


title: D'Margio Wright-Phillips

text: Wright-Phillips signed for Stoke City in February 2021. He scored on his debut for the club's under-23 team. He made his professional debut on 9 January 2022 in a 2–0 FA Cup victory over Leyton Orient, and his Football League debut a week later on 16 January, putting in a man of the match performance in the EFL Championship fixture against Hull City. He scored his first goal for Stoke on 22 January in a 3–2 defeat against Fulham. After breaking into the first-team, Wright-Phillips signed a new two-and-a-half year contract. He signed an improved contract in July 2022, reflecting his first-team status.


title: Mountain biking

text: Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, such as air or coil-sprung shocks used as suspension, larger and wider wheels and tires, stronger frame materials, and mechanically or hydraulically actuated disc brakes. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into five distinct categories: cross country, trail riding, all mountain (also referred to as "Enduro"), downhill, and freeride.


title: Mountain biking

text: This sport requires endurance, core strength and balance, bike handling skills, and self-reliance. Advanced riders pursue both steep technical descents and high incline climbs. In the case of freeride, downhill, and dirt jumping, aerial maneuvers are performed off both natural features and specially constructed jumps and ramps.


title: Mountain biking

text: Mountain bikers ride on off-road trails such as singletrack, back-country roads, wider bike park trails, fire roads, and some advanced trails are designed with jumps, berms, and drop-offs to add excitement to the trail. Riders with enduro and downhill bikes will often visit ski resorts that stay open in the summer to ride downhill-specific trails, using the ski lifts to return to the top with their bikes. Because riders are often far from civilization, there is a strong element of self-reliance in the sport. Riders learn to repair broken bikes and flat tires to avoid being stranded. Many riders carry a backpack, including water, food, tools for trailside repairs, and a first aid kit in case of injury. Group rides are common, especially on longer treks. Mountain bike orienteering adds the skill of map navigation to mountain biking.


title: Mountain biking

text: One of the first examples of bicycles modified specifically for off-road use is the expedition of Buffalo Soldiers from Missoula, Montana, to Yellowstone in August 1896.


title: Mountain biking

text: Bicycles were ridden off-road by road racing cyclists who used cyclocross as a means of keeping fit during the winter. Cyclo-cross eventually became a sport in its own right in the 1940s, with the first world championship taking place in 1950.


title: Mountain biking

text: In Oregon in 1966, one Chemeketan club member, D. Gwynn, built a rough terrain trail bicycle. He named it a "mountain bicycle" for its intended place of use. This may be the first use of that name.


title: Mountain biking

text: In England in 1968, Geoff Apps, a motorbike trials rider, began experimenting with off-road bicycle designs. By 1979 he had developed a custom-built lightweight bicycle which was uniquely suited to the wet and muddy off-road conditions found in the south-east of England. They were designed around 2 inch x 650b Nokian snow tires though a 700x47c (28 in.) version was also produced. These were sold under the Cleland Cycles brand until late 1984. Bikes based on the Cleland design were also sold by English Cycles and Highpath Engineering until the early 1990s.


title: Mountain biking

text: There were several groups of riders in different areas of the U.S.A. who can make valid claims to playing a part in the birth of the sport. Riders in Crested Butte, Colorado, and Mill Valley, California, tinkered with bikes and adapted them to the rigors of off-road riding. Modified heavy cruiser bicycles, old 1930s and '40s Schwinn bicycles retrofitted with better brakes and fat tires, were used for freewheeling down mountain trails in Marin County, California, in the mid-to-late 1970s. At the time, there were no mountain bikes. The earliest ancestors of modern mountain bikes were based around frames from cruiser bicycles such as those made by Schwinn. The Schwinn Excelsior was the frame of choice due to its geometry. Riders used balloon-tired cruisers and modified them with gears and motocross or BMX-style handlebars, creating "klunkers". The term would also be used as a verb since the term "mountain biking" was not yet in use. The first person known to fit multiple speeds and drum brakes to a klunker is Russ Mahon of Cupertino, California, who used the resulting bike in cyclo-cross racing. Riders would race down mountain fire roads, causing the hub brake to burn the grease inside, requiring the riders to repack the bearings. These were called "Repack Races" and triggered the first innovations in mountain bike technology as well as the initial interest of the public (on Mt. Tamalpais in Marin CA, there is still a trail titled "Repack"—in reference to these early competitions). The sport originated in California on Marin County's Mount Tamalpais.


title: Mountain biking

text: It was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s that road bicycle companies started to manufacture mountain bicycles using high-tech lightweight materials. Joe Breeze is normally credited with introducing the first purpose-built mountain bike in 1978. Tom Ritchey then went on to make frames for a company called MountainBikes, a partnership between Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly and Tom Ritchey. Tom Ritchey, a welder with skills in frame building, also built the original bikes. The company's three partners eventually dissolved their partnership, and the company became Fisher Mountain Bikes, while Tom Ritchey started his own frame shop.


title: Mountain biking

text: The first mountain bikes were basically road bicycle frames (with heavier tubing and different geometry) with a wider frame and fork to allow for a wider tire. The handlebars were also different in that they were a straight, transverse-mounted handlebar, rather than the dropped, curved handlebars that are typically installed on road racing bicycles. Also, some of the parts on early production mountain bicycles were taken from the BMX bicycle. Other contributors were Otis Guy and Keith Bontrager.


title: Mountain biking

text: Tom Ritchey built the first regularly available mountain bike frame, which was accessorized by Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly and sold by their company called MountainBikes (later changed to Fisher Mountain Bikes, then bought by Trek, still under the name Gary Fisher, currently sold as Trek's "Gary Fisher Collection"). The first two mass-produced mountain bikes were sold in the early 1980s: the Specialized Stumpjumper and Univega Alpina Pro. In 1988, "The Great Mountain Biking Video" was released, soon followed by others. In 2007, "" was released, documenting mountain bike history during the formative period in Northern California. Additionally, a group of mountain bikers called the Laguna Rads formed a club during the mid eighties and began a weekly ride, exploring the uncharted coastal hillsides of Laguna Beach, California. Industry insiders suggest that this was the birth of the freeride movement, as they were cycling up and down hills and mountains where no cycling specific trail network prexisted. The Laguna Rads have also held the longest running dowhill race once a year since 1986.


title: Mountain biking

text: At the time, the bicycle industry was not impressed with the mountain bike, regarding mountain biking to be short-term fad. In particular, large manufacturers such as Schwinn and Fuji failed to see the significance of an all-terrain bicycle and the coming boom in 'adventure sports'. Instead, the first mass-produced mountain bikes were pioneered by new companies such as MountainBikes (later, Fisher Mountain Bikes), Ritchey, and Specialized. Specialized was an American startup company that arranged for production of mountain bike frames from factories in Japan and Taiwan. First marketed in 1981, Specialized's mountain bike largely followed Tom Ritchey's frame geometry, but used TiG welding to join the frame tubes instead of fillet-brazing, a process better suited to mass production, and which helped to reduce labor and manufacturing cost. The bikes were configured with 15 gears using derailleurs, a triple chainring, and a cogset with five sprockets.


title: Mountain biking

text: Throughout the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, mountain biking moved from a little-known sport to a mainstream activity. Mountain bikes and mountain bike gear, once only available at specialty shops or via mail order, became available at standard bike stores. By the mid-first decade of the 21st century, even some department stores began selling inexpensive mountain bikes with full-suspension and disc brakes. In the first decade of the 21st century, trends in mountain bikes included the "all-mountain bike", the 29er and the one by drivetrain (though the first mass-produced 1x drivetrain was Sram's XX1 in 2012). "All-mountain bikes" were designed to descend and handle well in rough conditions, while still pedaling efficiently for climbing, and were intended to bridge the gap between cross-country bikes and those built specifically for downhill riding. They are characterized by of fork travel. 29er bikes are those using 700c sized rims (as do most road bikes), but wider and suited for tires of two inches (50mm) width or more; the increased diameter wheel is able to roll over obstacles better and offers a greater tire contact patch, but also results in a longer wheelbase, making the bike less agile, and in less travel space for the suspension. The single-speed is considered a return to simplicity with no drivetrain components or shifters but thus requires a stronger rider.


title: Mountain biking

text: Following the growing trend in 29-inch wheels, there have been other trends in the mountain biking community involving tire size. Some riders prefer to have a larger wheel in the front than on the rear, such as on a motorcycle, to increase maneuverability. This is called a mullet bicycle, most common with a 29-inch wheel in the front and a 27.5-inch wheel in the back. Another interesting trend in mountain bikes is outfitting dirt jump or urban bikes with rigid forks. These bikes normally use 4–5" travel suspension forks. The resulting product is used for the same purposes as the original bike. A commonly cited reason for making the change to a rigid fork is the enhancement of the rider's ability to transmit force to the ground, which is important for performing tricks. In the mid-first decade of the 21st century, an increasing number of mountain bike-oriented resorts opened. Often, they are similar to or in the same complex as a ski resort or they retrofit the concrete steps and platforms of an abandoned factory as an obstacle course, as with Ray's MTB Indoor Park. Mountain bike parks which are operated as summer season activities at ski hills usually include chairlifts that are adapted to bikes, a number of trails of varying difficulty, and bicycle rental facilities.


title: Mountain biking

text: In 2020, due to COVID-19, mountain bikes saw a surge in popularity in the US, with some vendors reporting that they were sold out of bikes under US$1000.


title: Mountain biking

text: The level of protection worn by individual riders varies greatly and is affected by speed, trail conditions, the weather, and numerous other factors, including personal choice. Protection becomes more important where these factors may be considered to increase the possibility or severity of a crash.


title: Mountain biking

text: A helmet and gloves are usually regarded as sufficient for the majority of non-technical riding. Full-face helmets, goggles and armored suits or jackets are frequently used in downhill mountain biking, where the extra bulk and weight may help mitigate the risks of bigger and more frequent crashes.


title: Mountain biking

text: Protective gear cannot provide immunity against injuries. For example, concussions can still occur despite the use of helmets, and spinal injuries can still occur with the use of spinal padding and neck braces. The use of high-tech protective gear can result in a revenge effect, whereupon some cyclists feel safe taking dangerous risks.


title: Mountain biking

text: Because the key determinant of injury risk is kinetic energy, and because kinetic energy increases with the square of the speed, effectively each doubling of speed can quadruple the injury risk. Similarly, each tripling of speed can be expected to bring a nine-fold increase in risk, and each quadrupling of speed means that a sixteen-fold risk increase must be anticipated.


title: Mountain biking

text: Higher speeds of travel also add danger due to reaction time. Because higher speeds mean that the rider travels further during his/her reaction time, this leaves less travel distance within which to react safely. This, in turn, further multiplies the risk of an injurious crash.


title: Mountain biking

text: In general, although protective gear cannot always prevent the occurrence of injuries, the use of such equipment is appropriate, as is maintaining it in serviceable condition. Because mountain biking takes place outdoors, ultraviolet radiation from sunlight is present, and UV rays are known to degrade plastic components. Accordingly, and as a rule of thumb, a bicycle helmet should be replaced every five years, or sooner if it appears damaged. Additionally, if the helmet has been involved in an accident or has otherwise incurred impact-type damage, then it should be replaced promptly, even if it does not appear to be visibly damaged.


title: Mountain biking

text: Cross-Country (XC) generally means riding point-to-point or in a loop including climbs and descents on a variety of terrain. A typical XC bike weighs around 9-13 kilos (20-30 lbs), and has of suspension travel front and sometimes rear. Cross country mountain biking focuses on physical strength and endurance more than the other forms, which require greater technical skill. Cross country mountain biking is the only mountain biking discipline in the Summer Olympic Games.


title: Mountain biking

text: All-mountain/Enduro bikes tend to have moderate-travel suspension systems and components which are stronger than XC models, typically 160-180mm of travel on a full suspension frame, but at a weight that is suitable for both climbing and descending.


title: Mountain biking

text: Enduro racing includes elements of DH racing, but Enduro races are much longer, sometimes taking a full day to complete, and incorporate climbing sections to connect the timed downhill descents (often referred to as stages). Typically, there is a maximum time limit for how long a rider takes to reach the top of each climb, while finishers of the downhill portions are ranked by fastest times.


title: Mountain biking

text: Historically, many long-distance XC races would use the descriptor "enduro" in their race names to indicate their endurance aspect. Some long-standing race events have maintained this custom, sometimes leading to confusion with the modern Enduro format, that has been adopted to the Enduro World Series.


title: Mountain biking

text: Enduro racing was commonly seen as a race for all abilities. While there are many recreational riders that do compete in Enduro races, the sport is increasingly attracting high-level riders such as Sam Hill or Isabeau Courdurier.


title: Mountain biking

text: Downhill (DH) is, in the most general sense, riding mountain bikes downhill. Courses include large jumps (up to and including ), drops of 3+ meters (10+ feet), and are generally rough and steep from top to bottom. The rider commonly travels to the point of descent by other means than cycling, such as a ski lift or automobile, as the weight of the downhill mountain bike often precludes any serious climbing.


title: Mountain biking

text: Because of the extremely steep terrain (often located in summer at ski resorts), downhill mountain biking is one of the most extreme and dangerous cycling disciplines. Minimum body protection in a true downhill setting entails wearing knee pads and a full-face helmet with goggles, albeit riders and racers commonly wear various forms of full-body suits that include padding at selected locations.


title: Mountain biking

text: Downhill-specific bikes are universally equipped with front and rear suspension, large disc brakes, and use heavier frame tubing than other mountain bikes. Downhill bicycles now weigh around , while the most expensive professional downhill mountain bikes can weigh as little as , fully equipped with custom carbon fiber parts, air suspension, tubeless tires and more. Downhill frames have anywhere from of travel and are usually equipped with a travel dual-crown fork.


title: Mountain biking

text: Four-cross/Dual Slalom (4X) is a discipline in which riders compete either on separate tracks, as in Dual Slalom, or on a short slalom track, as in 4X. Most bikes used are light hard-tails, although the last World Cup was actually won on a full-suspension bike. The track is downhill and has dirt jumps, berms, and gaps.


title: Mountain biking

text: Professionals in "" tend to concentrate either on downhill mountain biking or 4X/dual slalom because they are very different. However, some riders, such as Cedric Gracia, used to compete in both 4X and DH, although that is becoming more rare as 4X takes on its own identity.


title: Mountain biking

text: Freeride / Big Hit / Hucking, as the name suggests, is a 'do anything' discipline that encompasses everything from downhill racing without the clock to jumping, riding 'North Shore' style (elevated trails made of interconnecting bridges and logs), and generally riding trails and/or stunts that require more skill and aggressive techniques than XC.


title: Mountain biking

text: "Slopestyle" type riding is an increasingly popular genre that combines big-air, stunt-ridden freeride with BMX style tricks. Slopestyle courses are usually constructed at already established mountain bike parks and include jumps, large drops, quarter-pipes, and other wooden obstacles. There are always multiple lines through a course and riders compete for judges' points by choosing lines that highlight their particular skills.


title: Mountain biking

text: A "typical" freeride bike is hard to define, but typical specifications are 13-18 kilos (30-40 lbs) with of suspension front and rear. Freeride bikes are generally heavier and more amply suspended than their XC counterparts, but usually, retain much of their climbing ability. It is up to the rider to build his or her bike to lean more toward a preferred level of aggressiveness.


title: Mountain biking

text: Dirt Jumping (DJ) is the practice of riding bikes over shaped mounds of dirt or soil and becoming airborne. The goal is that after riding over the 'lip' the rider will become airborne, and aim to land on the 'knuckle'. Dirt jumping can be done on almost any bicycle, but the bikes chosen are generally smaller and more maneuverable hardtails so that tricks such as backflips, whips, and tabletops, are easier to complete. The bikes are simpler so that when a crash occurs there are fewer components to break or cause the rider injury. Bikes are typically built from sturdier materials such as steel to handle repeated heavy impacts of crashes and bails.


title: Mountain biking

text: Trials riding consists of hopping and jumping bikes over obstacles, without touching a foot onto the ground. It can be performed either off-road or in an urban environment. This requires an excellent sense of balance. The emphasis is placed on techniques of effectively overcoming the obstacles, although street-trials (as opposed to competition-oriented trials) is much like Street and DJ, where doing tricks with style is the essence. Trials bikes look almost nothing like mountain bikes. They use either 20", 24" or 26" wheels and have very small, low frames, some types without a saddle.


title: Mountain biking

text: Urban/Street is essentially the same as urban BMX (or Freestyle BMX), in which riders perform tricks by riding on/over man-made objects. The bikes are the same as those used for Dirt Jumping, having 24" or 26" wheels. Also, they are very light, many in the range of , and are typically hardtails with between 0-100 millimeters of the front suspension. As with Dirt Jumping and Trials, style and execution are emphasized.


title: Mountain biking

text: Trail riding or trail biking is a varied and popular non-competitive form of mountain biking on recognized, and often waymarked and graded, trails; unpaved tracks, forest paths, etc. Trails may take the form of single routes or part of a larger complex, known as trail centers. Trail difficulty typically varies from gentle 'family' trails (green) through routes with increasingly technical features (blue and red) to those requiring high levels of fitness and skill (black) incorporating demanding ascents with steep technical descents comparable to less extreme downhill routes. As difficulty increases trails incorporate more Technical Trail Features such as berms, rock gardens, uneven surface, drop offs and jumps. The most basic of bike designs can be used for less severe trails, but there are "trail bike" designs which balance climbing ability with good downhill performance, almost always having 120-150mm of travel on a suspension fork, with either a hard tail or a similar travel rear suspension. Many more technical trails are also used as routes for cross country, enduro, and even downhill racing.


title: Mountain biking

text: Mountain Bike Touring or Marathon is long-distance touring on dirt roads and single track with a mountain bike.


title: Mountain biking

text: With the popularity of the Great Divide Trail, the Colorado Trail and other long-distance off-road biking trails, specially outfitted mountain bikes are increasingly being used for touring. Bike manufacturers like Salsa have even developed MTB touring bikes like the Fargo model.


title: Mountain biking

text: Mixed Terrain Cycle-Touring or rough riding is a form of mountain-bike touring but involves cycling over a variety of surfaces and topography on a single route, with a single bicycle that is expected to be satisfactory for all segments. The recent surge in popularity of mixed-terrain touring is in part a reaction against the increasing specialization of the bicycle industry. Mixed-terrain bicycle travel has a storied history of focusing on efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and freedom of travel over varied surfaces.


title: Mountain biking

text: Bikepacking is a self-supported style of lightly loaded single or multiple night mountain biking. Bikepacking is similar to bike touring, however the two sports generally use different bikes and the main difference is the method of carrying gear. Bikepacking generally involves carrying less gear and using smaller frame bags while bike touring will use panniers.


title: Mountain biking

text: A typical bikepacking set-up includes a frame bag, handlebar roll, seat pack, and backpack and typical gear includes lightweight and basic camping gear, and a bike repair kit.


title: Mountain biking

text: Mountain bikes are generally used as many bike packing destinations are reached via forest-service roads or singletrack trails. Mountain bikes specific to bike-packing use a slightly taller frame to get the maximum frame bag capacity. This is achieved by using a longer headtube, a more horizontal top tube, and a reduced stem degree.


title: Mountain biking

text: Generally, bikepackers tend to cover anywhere from 25 to 75 miles (40 – 120 km) in a given day as the riding can be technical.


title: Mountain biking

text: Risk of injury is present when mountain biking, especially in the more extreme disciplines like downhill biking, free ride and dirt jumping. Injuries range from minor wounds, such as cuts and abrasions from falls on gravel or other surfaces, to major injuries such as broken bones, head or spinal injuries resulting from impacts with rocks, trees or the terrain being ridden on. Another risk factor is that mountain biking often takes place in wilderness or remote areas so emergency response can be delayed in the event of sustained injury.


title: Mountain biking

text: Protective equipment can protect against minor injuries and reduce the extent or seriousness of major impacts, but may not protect a rider from major impacts or accidents. To reduce the risk of injury, a rider will also take steps to minimize the risk of accidents, and thus the potential for injury; by choosing trails which fall within the range of their experience level, ensuring that they are fit enough to deal with the trail they have chosen, and keeping their bike in top mechanical condition.


title: Mountain biking

text: Lastly, maintenance of the rider's bike is carried out more frequently for mountain biking than for utility cycling or casual commuter biking. Mountain biking places higher demands on every part of the bike. Jumps and impacts can crack the frame or damage components or the tire rims, and steep, fast descents can quickly wear out brake pads. Since the widespread adoption of hydraulic and mechanical disk brakes on most mountain bikes from the late 1990s, the issues of brake pad wear, misalignment with, or slippage of rim brake pads on rims designed for rim brakes or "V brakes", has become a non-issue. Thus, whereas a casual rider may only check over and maintain their bike every few months, a mountain biker will check and properly maintain the bike before and after every ride.


title: Mountain biking

text: Mountain bikers have faced land access issues from the beginnings of the sport. Some areas where the first mountain bikers have ridden have faced extreme restrictions or elimination of riding.


title: Mountain biking

text: This opposition has led to the development of local, regional, and international mountain bike groups. The different groups that formed generally work to create new trails, maintain existing trails, and help existing trails that may have issues. Groups work with private and public entities from the individual landowner to city parks departments, on up through the state level at the DNR, and into the federal level. Different groups will work individually or together to achieve results.


title: Mountain biking

text: Advocacy organizations work through numerous methods such as education, trail workdays, and trail patrols. Examples of the education an advocacy group can provide include: Educate local bicycle riders, property managers, and other user groups on the proper development of trails, and on the International Mountain Bicycling Association's (IMBA), "Rules of the Trail." Examples of trail work days can include: Flagging, cutting, and signing a new trail, or removing downed trees after a storm. A trail patrol is a bike rider who has had some training to help assist others (including non-cyclists), trail users.


title: Mountain biking

text: The IMBA is a non-profit advocacy group whose mission is to create, enhance and preserve trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide. IMBA serves as an umbrella organization for mountain biking advocacy worldwide and represents more than 700 affiliated mountain biking groups. The group was originally formed to fight widespread trail closures. In 1988, five California mountain bike clubs linked to form IMBA. The founding clubs were: Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association, Bicycle Trails Council East Bay, Bicycle Trails Council Marin, Sacramento Rough Riders, and Responsible Organized Mountain.


title: Mountain biking

text: According to a review published by the International Mountain Bicycling Association, the environmental impact of mountain biking, as a relatively new sport, is poorly understood. The review notes that "as with all recreational pursuits, it is clear that mountain biking contributes some degree of environmental degradation". Mountain biking can result in both soil and vegetation damage, which can be caused by skidding, but also by the construction of unauthorised features such as jumps and bridges, and trails themselves. Several studies have reported that a mountain bike's impact on a given length of trail surface is comparable to that of a hiker, and substantially less than that of an equestrian or motorized off-road vehicle.


title: Mountain biking

text: A critical literature review by Jason Lathrop on the ecological impact of mountain biking notes that while recreational trail use in general is well studied, few studies explore the specific impact of mountain biking. He quotes the Bureau of Land Management: "An estimated 13.5 million mountain bicyclists visit public lands each year to enjoy the variety of trails. What was once a low use activity that was easy to manage has become more complex".


title: Mountain biking

text: The environmental impacts of mountain biking can be greatly reduced by not riding on wet or sensitive trails, keeping speeds modest so as to minimize cornering forces and braking forces, not skidding, and by staying on the trail.


title: Mountain biking

text: Mountain biking has been demonstrated to act as a human-mediated form of seed dispersal. Due to advancements in technology mountain bikers have begun to move onto trail networks once only accessible by hikers. The nature of their movement patterns also plays an important role as a vector for seed dispersal. Mountain bikes are not bound to any specific type of infrastructure and can therefore move freely between ecological environments acting as a connecting dispersal vector between habitats. Combined with their relatively long range and speeds they also contribute to long-range dispersal. In an effort to understand and assess the socio-ecological consequences of mountain bikes as a vector for seed dispersal Fabio Weiss, Tyler J. Brummer, and Gesine Pufal conducted an environmental impact study on forest trails in Freiburg, Germany. The results of the study found that although the majority of seeds detached from tires within the first 5–20 meters; small portions of seeds were still present after 200–500 meters contributing to moderate dispersal. The potential for long-distance dispersal was found through the transport of seeds on areas of the bike that did not come into frequent contact with the ground. The study also found that the majority of participants only cleaned their bikes on average every 70 km or every two rides. Rides executed in two different areas have the potential to connect previously unconnected habitats creating the potential for unwanted plant invasions.<br>


title: Mountain biking

text: To mitigate the accidental dispersal of an unwanted invasive species, the authors of the study proposed the following measures to support conservation:


title: Mountain biking

text: a) Clean the bike between rides in different habitats, before traveling and especially before entering sensitive natural areas and regions.<br>


title: Mountain biking

text: c) Educate mountain bike riders about the potential dispersal of different species (good stewardship begets riding privileges).<br>


title: Mountain biking

text: d) Encourage cooperation between mountain bikers and managing authorities (avoid condescending regulations, establishment of monitored designated riding areas).<br>


title: The Test Dream

text: "The Test Dream" is the 63rd episode of the HBO television series "The Sopranos" and the 11th episode of the show's fifth season. Written by series creator/executive producer David Chase and supervising producer Matthew Weiner, and directed by longtime series director Allen Coulter, it originally aired in the United States on May 16, 2004. This episode is unique in that it features an elaborate 20-minute dream sequence, alluded to in the title, featuring many actors from past seasons briefly reprising their roles.


title: The Test Dream

text: Cooking something for Tony, his girlfriend Valentina accidentally sets fire to the sleeve of her nylon kimono and is badly burned. After visiting her in a hospital burn unit, Tony calls on Tony B. Tony notices that his cousin is behaving erratically, but does not know the reason. Tony B has just learned that Angelo, his former cellmate and close friend, has been murdered by Phil and Billy Leotardo. Tony B says he has to leave soon with his sons, so Tony himself leaves.


title: The Test Dream

text: Tony checks into a luxury suite at the Plaza Hotel "to get a good night's sleep", and nearly runs into Dr. Melfi there. When evening comes, a bored Tony starts drinking and nuisance-calls Charmaine Bucco, to whom he is attracted; she tells her unknown caller to stop it. He makes a call for an Asian girl from an escort agency. He gets a voicemail from Silvio telling him about Angelo's murder. He immediately tries to call Tony B, who is already on the move and is not answering his phone. Tony then frantically calls Tony B's casino, Aunt Quintina, and the Bada Bing, telling everyone to let Tony B know he is looking for him. The prostitute arrives and, at some point, Tony falls asleep and has a long and vivid dream.


title: The Test Dream

text: Tony awakens with a start. Shortly afterward, he receives a visit from Christopher, who tells him that Tony B has killed Billy and wounded Phil. Tony goes to bed and, though it is not dawn yet, calls Carmela. He says, "I had one of my Coach Molinaro dreams." She is half asleep and they have a gentle, slow conversation.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: A confrontation between Russian forces and NATO forces over the Pristina International Airport occurred on 12 June 1999, in the aftermath of the Kosovo War. Russian troops occupied the airport ahead of a NATO deployment, resulting in a tense stand-off, which was resolved peacefully.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: The Kosovo War ended on 11 June 1999, and a joint NATO-Russian peacekeeping force was to be installed in Kosovo. Russia had expected to receive a peacekeeping sector independent of NATO, and was angered when this was refused. There was concern that a separate Russian sector might lead to a partition of Kosovo between a Serb-controlled north and Albanian south.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) deployed to Skopje in the FYR Macedonia during early March 1999. The purpose was to provide unified NATO command for several national contingents including a United States battalion which had been in North Macedonia for some years, together with newly arrived British, German, French and Italian battalions. The force was known as Kosovo Force (KFOR). The commander of KFOR was British Lieutenant General Mike Jackson, with three star rank. His superior officer was US Admiral James O. Ellis, NATO commander for southern Europe, based in Naples. Ellis reported to Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, although in practice Clark often bypassed Ellis to communicate directly with Jackson.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: Early on 11 June 1999, a column of about 30 Russian armoured vehicles carrying 250 Russian troops, who were part of the international peacekeeping force in Bosnia, moved into Serbia. At 10:30 this was confirmed by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and by pictures from CNN which showed that the Russians had hastily painted "KFOR" in white letters on their vehicles where they had previously been "SFOR". It was assumed that the column was heading for Pristina and Pristina International Airport ahead of the arrival of NATO troops.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: Upon hearing of the deployment, American NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Wesley Clark called NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana and was told "you have transfer of authority" in the area. Clark then provisionally ordered a contingent of British and French paratroopers to be flown in by helicopter to seize the airport by force. Staff officers had grave concerns that helicopters might be fired on by Serb forces and that entering Kosovo before the agreed time might cause the Serbs to pull out of the agreement. If the airborne force got into trouble it would have been very difficult to reach them overland through the mountainous country where bridges and tunnels were known to be prepared for demolition. As this operation would have been outside the newly signed agreement for NATO forces to move into Kosovo the following day, national governments had the right to withdraw their own forces and the French government pulled its battalion out. British paratroopers sat by Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters in a hot cornfield for most of the afternoon before standing down to prepare for the following day's move into Kosovo.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: At 05:00 on 12 June, the British 5th Airborne Brigade began flying into Kosovo from Skopje to secure the ten mile long Kačanik Gorge for the 4th Armoured Brigade to pass through to Pristina. From there, the lead reconnaissance troop in the race to Pristina was commanded by British Captain James Blunt. The first NATO troops to enter Pristina on 12 June 1999 were Norwegian Forsvarets Spesialkommando (FSK) troops and soldiers from the British Special Air Service's 22 SAS. However Russian troops arrived to the airport first. The FSK soldiers were the first to come in contact with the Russian troops at the airport and to report the developments back to Jackson. Jackson flew by helicopter to Pristina in the evening to hold a press conference then went to meet General Viktor Zavarzin, who commanded the small Russian force. Sheltering from heavy rain in the wrecked airport terminal, Jackson shared a flask of whisky with Zavarzin, leading to a warming of relations. That evening Clark was still concerned with the possibility of more Russian troops being flown in through NATO-controlled airspace. Russia had placed several airbases on standby and prepared battalions of paratroopers to depart for Pristina on Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft. Fearing that Russian aircraft were heading for the airport, Clark planned to order helicopters to block the runway, and requested helicopter support from Ellis. Jackson's staff contacted the US brigade and were told that the Americans were using their right to opt out of the operation. Two hours later they called to say that the operation was back on again. However, poor weather conditions rendered this impossible at that time.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: The following morning, Sunday 13 June, Clark arrived at Jackson's HQ in Skopje. It was pointed out to Clark that the isolated Russians could not be reinforced by air and that, in light of how vital Russian support had been to get peace agreement, antagonising them would only be counterproductive. Clark refused to accept this and continued to order that the runway be blocked, claiming to be supported by the NATO Secretary-General. Jackson refused to enforce Clark's orders, reportedly telling him "I'm not going to start the Third World War for you." When again directly ordered to block the runway, Jackson suggested that British tanks and armoured cars would be more suitable, in the knowledge that this would almost certainly be vetoed by the British government. Clark agreed.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: Jackson was ready to resign rather than follow Clark's order. The British Ministry of Defence authorised British force commander Richard Dannatt to use 4 Armoured Brigade to isolate the airfield but not to block the runways. Clark's orders were not carried out, and the United States instead placed political pressure on neighbouring states not to allow Russia to use their airspace to ferry in reinforcements. Russia was forced to call off the reinforcements after Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania refused requests by Russia to use their airspace.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: Negotiations were conducted throughout the stand-off during which Russia insisted that its troops would only be answerable to Russian commanders and that it would retain an exclusive zone for its own peacekeepers. NATO refused these concessions, predicting that it would lead to the partition of Kosovo into an Albanian south and a Serbian north. Both sides eventually agreed that Russian peacekeepers would deploy throughout Kosovo independently of NATO.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: After an agreement had been secured, Pristina Airport was reactivated by Britain's 53 Field Squadron (Air Support) of the Royal Engineers as a military airbase on 15 October 1999, then international air transport resumed to several European cities. During that period, the Russian KFOR along with NATO forces were in charge of security for the airport.


title: Incident at Pristina airport

text: Clark was subsequently removed from his NATO post early by General Hugh Shelton, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.


title: FlipTop Battle League

text: FlipTop Rap Battle League (Fliptop for short) is the first and largest running professional rap battle conference in the Philippines founded by Alaric Riam Yuson (known as Anygma) in 2010. The league promotes Pinoy hip hop. FlipTop is heavily influenced by the original rap battle leagues in the West founded in 2008 – Grind Time Now (US), King of the Dot (Canada) and Don't Flop (UK), which inspired the creation of FlipTop and other battle leagues around the world. The league also branched out into several divisions after its success. The league is currently under management of a self-produced events and artist management company, FlipTop Kru Corp which was established also by Yuson.


title: FlipTop Battle League

text: FlipTop initially gained criticism for its use of strong language, mockery and bullying, prompting the city government of Makati to ban rap battles in the area. As time passed, the events gained acceptance with the help of official FlipTop YouTube channel gaining more than one million subscribers for which they received the Golden Play Button Award, and over two million likes on its Facebook fanpage. Some emcees in the league recently are more focused on line delivery, hyping the audience in the battle, and gimmicks rather than dissing to attack the opponent; emcees also improved their penmanship. After it gained success and reputation via social media, many amateur and other rap battles arose such as Sunugan, Word War, Bolero Rap Battles, Bahay Katay, Flipshop, Flipcap etc. Due to its freestyle and rhymed content, some academics consider it as modern-day "balagtasan" although some rap artists discourage the idea. Some educators consider FlipTop as 21st century Philippine literature. Some emcees involved in FlipTop have gained commercial success like Abra, Dello, Loonie, Smugglaz, Shehyee, and others, which caught media attention. Some lines spoken by the emcees in battles became popular phrases used in the Philippines.


title: FlipTop Battle League

text: Due to the nature of the league and its mechanics, bashing or shaming emcees' relatives is inevitable during the battle. However, in an undercard match between Sinio and Shehyee during the Ahon 7 event on December 16, 2016, Shehyee threw disrespectful lines against Sinio's wife, Bie Sarmiento, during the battle. This led to Sinio aggressively rebutting Shehyee by dissing the latter's girlfriend, internet sensation Ann Mateo. Their match was uploaded on FlipTop's YouTube channel on February 2, 2017 and went viral with over five million views within four days. Sinio's harsh words about Ann Mateo received mixed reactions, and became a hot topic on social media. Controversy arose when Ann Mateo's mother saw the video and threatened Sinio with a lawsuit. Because of the situation, many netizens bashed Shehyee for being unprofessional for his failure to explain to his girlfriend's mother the mechanics of the league. Sinio felt that Shehyee was not to blame and that he understood Ann Mateo's mother's point-of-view. Shehyee tried to help Sinio in addressing the issue with Ann Mateo's mother. Ann Mateo did not share her reaction about the topic.


title: FlipTop Battle League

text: When the battle between Pistolero vs Luxuria was uploaded to FlipTop Youtube Channel, viewers noticed Luxuria reading her written lyrics on her smartphone in the middle of the battle instead of memorizing it, raising concerns of unfairness and cheating.


title: FlipTop Battle League

text: Besides Luxuria, there have been other instances of rappers reading their lyrics. Dopee and his partner Snob was caught in their DosPorDos battle reading their lyrics on a piece of paper for a few seconds. In another instance, rapper LilWeng pulled out an earphone to listen to his verses.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: Unlocked is a 2017 action thriller film directed by Michael Apted, written by Peter O'Brien, and starring Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Michael Douglas, John Malkovich and Toni Collette. It was Apted's final film before his death in 2021. It was released in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2017, by Lionsgate.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: After a Paris operation fails on her watch, Central Intelligence Agency interrogation officer Alice Racine works undercover at a community centre in London. The area is known for Islamic extremism, and she passes on intel to the security services, including MI5 Intelligence Chief Emily Knowles. Racine's former station chief and mentor Eric Lasch tells her she should not feel guilty for the Paris deaths and needs to get back into the field. The CIA and MI5 learn that radical imam Yazid Khaleel plans a biological attack on an American target on British soil in collaboration with American-born Islamic convert David Mercer. Frank Sutter, an officer from the CIA's London Station, tells Racine she has orders from Europe Division Chief Bob Hunter to help them interrogate and break Khaleel's captured courier, Lateef.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: In a hotel, Racine interrogates Lateef and coaxes the message he is to deliver to Mercer's representative. Before divulging the details of the message to Sutter, she receives a call from her handler, Ed Romley, who confusingly gives her the same mission brief as Sutter. Realising she has been tricked, Racine attempts to remove Lateef from their custody, but he dies during a gunfight. She retreats to Lasch's apartment, but operatives attack, and Racine witnesses Lasch's death. She escapes to a safe house owned by Lasch and apprehends burglar Jack Alcott, who is in the process of robbing the apartment. Restraining him in the bedroom, she contacts Hunter and Romley, who, despite claiming to believe her, per protocol, send SCO19 officers to apprehend her. After fighting two of the officers and being tasered, she is saved by Alcott and the two escape. When Alcott reveals he is a former Royal Marine who served in the Iraq War, Racine reluctantly allows him to accompany her. Racine seeks the help of Amjad, a friend and client from the community centre.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: She and Alcott confront Khaleel in a Moroccan restaurant, where he confesses he no longer believes in the radical extremism he promotes. Though he has given the courier a stand down order, Khaleel anticipates that Mercer will still proceed with the attack. While following an associate of Lateef, Racine discovers Alcott is working with Sutter, and the two fight; Racine escapes after Alcott is killed by an aggrieved third party. Racine approaches Knowles, who agrees to help Amjad stand in as the courier to meet with Mercer's representative. Knowles reveals to Racine that intelligence from the French DGSI suggests senior parties in the CIA allowed the Paris attack to take place, as one of the victims killed in the bombings was a CIA whistle blower. Romley's team track the bullets used in the killing of their men who apprehended Lateef to an AT308C sniper rifle, which is revealed to have been checked out of a Metropolitan Police armoury by corrupt MI5 operative John Wilson. Wilson, a part of the team providing cover for Knowles operation, guns down his fellow operatives, injures Knowles but fails to kill Racine. Amjad is killed in the crossfire.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: Racine heads to a meeting point organized by Sutter, where Lasch is not only alive but conspires with him. Racine kills Sutter, and, after a brief struggle, Lasch escapes. Racine tracks him to a warehouse outside of Wembley Stadium, where a sold-out game of American football is due to be played. Lasch reveals he wants the biological attack to occur; the visiting Americans will transport the virus back home and force the US Government to take the threat of biological warfare seriously. After shooting Wilson, Racine and Lasch engage in a brief fight, after which he falls to his death and Racine disarms the virus canisters. Knowing that Mercer will flee to Syria, Hunter instructs her to intercept him en route. As Mercer is about to meet with a contact in Prague, Racine cuts a deep incision into his groin, opening his femoral artery, killing him. Hunter meets with Racine and welcomes her back to active duty.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: In addition, Philip Brodie plays Wilson, a corrupt MI5 officer, while Tosin Cole plays Amjad, a young taxi driver and Racine's friend.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: On September 23, 2010, Warner Bros. optioned the film, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura set to produce. On April 7, 2014, Noomi Rapace joined the cast, with Mikael Håfström set to direct. On September 7, 2014, Michael Douglas and Orlando Bloom joined the cast. On November 6, 2014, John Malkovich and Toni Collette joined the cast. Principal photography began on November 3, 2014, and ended on January 17, 2015.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: The film was released in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2017, by Lionsgate. The film was released in the United States on September 1, 2017.


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 57 reviews and an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critical consensus states, ""Unlocked" strands an all-star cast in a spy thriller whose embrace of old-school formula might be refreshing if it weren't bogged down in genre clichés and a predictable plot." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 46 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Unlocked (2017 film)

text: Guy Lodge of "Variety" was not impressed with the film and wrote, "Years on from "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", Noomi Rapace is still ready for action, though this middling thriller lags behind her." Stephen Dalton of "The Hollywood Reporter" called it a "functional contemporary spy yarn" that is "played way too straight" and "brings nothing fresh to the formula besides the minor innovation of dropping an action heroine into a male-dominated field". Simran Hans of "The Guardian" gave the film one out of five stars and wrote, "A cast of stars proves unable to lift this derivative, turgid terrorism thriller."


title: Madison Hu

text: Madison Hu (born June 2, 2002) is an American actress. She is known for playing the role of Frankie Wong on the Disney Channel series "Bizaardvark", and for her previous recurring role as Marci on the Disney Channel series "Best Friends Whenever".


title: Madison Hu

text: Hu was born in Longview, Texas, the daughter of Chinese immigrants. She has an older brother who was born in China. Hu moved to Southern California, where she started to work as an actress.


title: Madison Hu

text: Hu started her career as a child actress. By about age six, Hu already had a manager in the entertainment industry. Hu's first notable role was on the Disney Channel series "Best Friends Whenever", playing the recurring character Marci. She was later cast in the leading role as Frankie in the Disney Channel series "Bizaardvark". Following her role on "Bizaardvark", it was announced that she had been cast in the science fiction film "Voyagers"; the film was released in April 2021. In April 2021, it was announced that Hu would co-star in an Indie horror film titled "Night Shift", alongside Lamorne Morris and Phoebe Tonkin. The film will be directed by Paul and Benjamin China.


title: Toyota Prius C

text: The Toyota Prius c ("c" stands for "city"), named the (""aqua"" is Latin for water) in Japan, is a full hybrid gasoline-electric subcompact/supermini hatchback manufactured and marketed by Toyota. The Prius c is the third member of the Prius family, and combines the features of a Yaris-sized car with a hybrid powertrain. The Prius c is priced lower than the conventional Prius and has a higher fuel economy in city driving under United States Environmental Protection Agency test cycles. The Prius c was ranked by the EPA as the 2012 most fuel efficient compact car when plug-in electric vehicles are excluded.


title: Toyota Prius C

text: The production version of the Aqua was unveiled in the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. The production Prius c was introduced in the U.S. at the January 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The Aqua was launched in Japan in December 2011 at a price of million (). Sales in several Asian markets began in January 2012. The Prius c was released in the U.S. and Canada in March 2012. Sales in Australia and New Zealand began in April 2012.


title: Toyota Prius C

text: The Aqua is considered the most successful nameplate launch in Japan in the last 20 years. , the Aqua/Prius c is the second most sold hybrid of Toyota after the regular Prius, with 1,380,100 units sold worldwide. Japan as the market leader with 1,154,500 units sold through January 2017. The Aqua was the top selling new car in Japan for three years in a row, from 2013 to 2015.


title: Toyota Prius C

text: The Prius C was discontinued in North America at the end of the 2019 model year. It was also discontinued in Australia in early 2020.


title: Toyota Prius C

text: The Toyota Prius c concept car was unveiled at the January 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The design takes cues from the Toyota FT-CH concept vehicle that was shown at the same event in 2010. Toyota explained that the 'c' in 'Prius c' stands for "city"-centric vehicle as it is much smaller than the normal Prius and is aimed at younger buyers without families who require little space.


title: Toyota Prius C

text: Together with the introduction of the production version of the Toyota Aqua at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, the carmaker also exhibited two other Aqua concepts, the Aqua Kiriri version and the Aqua Piriri.


title: Toyota Prius C

text: Built on an enhanced and streamlined Yaris-inspired platform, the Prius c features Toyota's Generation 3 Hybrid Synergy Drive with a 1.5-liter DOHC four-cylinder, 16–valve with VVT-i gasoline engine, the same engine model and displacement as on the earliest Priuses, but is now "beltless". The air conditioner is a self-contained unit containing a motor & compressor powered by the 144-volt traction battery, and the 12-volt battery is charged via a DC-DC converter also powered by the traction battery.